El Robinson moderno

Douglas Fairbanks and his friends are yachting near a remote tropical island. On a lark, Fairbanks bets his friends that without any supplies, he can make a ideal life for himself. They agree to return later for him to check on his progress and so Fairbanks and his dog jump overboard--swimming to their new home.

Once on the island, Fairbanks seems excited by the prospect of creating his own home and civilizing the place. Soon, he has all the comforts of home and is quite happy--having rigged up all kinds of conveniences and really cool labor-saving devices. However, out of the blue arrives a man (who he of course christens 'Friday') and a young lady who has run away from an arranged marriage on her own island. Suddenly, his tropical getaway has become a rather crowded place! Overall, it's an amazingly interesting film considering that mostly it consists of Fairbanks doing a monologue. The gadgets helped but the script was well-written and interesting. Not a bad film at all, as it's unique and a nice variation on the old Daniel Defoe novel.

As you watch the movie, you may be a bit surprised by the nudity. While the film certainly isn't chock full of it, the film illustrates that in the days before the adoption of a strengthened Production Code in 1934, films were a lot more liberal in their sensibilities than we'd usually assume--much more so than even most films of the 1960s. The 1930s certainly was NOT a time of prudishness and repression--at least not the first part of the decade.

By the way, I have seen many silent Fairbanks films. However, with this sound film you can hear why he perhaps didn't make more talking pictures, as his voice is rather thin and high-pitched--certainly not the voice you'd expect from a matinée idol--as he was in the 1920s. But, despite this limitation, he was an amazingly spry man of nearly 50--moving about like a much younger man--almost like he did in the old days of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD and THE MARK OF ZORRO. This, by the way, turned out to be his second to last film.

A wealthy American bets his buddies he can act like MR. ROBINSON CRUSOE and stay quite happily all alone for several months on a deserted South Seas Island.

The Silent Era's greatest adventure star, Douglas Fairbanks, makes a brief return to his glory days in this lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek film which has become unfortunately obscure. With an original story by Elton Thomas (Doug's pseudonym) this was one of only four talkie films which would star Fairbanks; he also acted as producer. Released in some venues as a silent film - which explains the long sections without direct dialogue - the movie would give Doug one last bite at that particular apple.

Ever the affable good fellow, 49-year-old Doug is still agile as a cat and his innocent flirtation with lovely Maria Alba, his 22-year-old Spanish co-star , isn't too mawkish even though he's easily old enough to be her father. Miss Alba's first scene, however, quickly reminds the viewer of the movie's pre-Code standing.

Location filming in Fiji, Samoa & Tahiti are certainly big benefits to the story. Doug made sure the plot gave him the sort of scenes he loved to play: fanciful (all the wonderful contrivances & contraptions which make his tree house more comfortable) and exciting (Fairbanks gets to match wits against an entire tribe of headhunters).

Although sometimes rather intrusive, Alfred Newman's score is still richly evocative of the South Seas. He would later rework some of the melodies for even greater effect in THE HURRICANE (1937).

Douglas Fairbanks (as Steve Drexel) longs for the adventurous life of Robinson Crusoe, so he jumps from his yacht and swims to a remote South Seas island with his dog Rooney. Mr. Fairbanks leaves yachting partners William Farnum and Earle Browne behind, to (presumably) continue their planned tiger hunting jaunt. "Mr. Robinson Crusoe" proves to be amazingly resourceful - the island provides him with a sexy girl "Saturday" (Maria Alba) and, of course, dangerous head-hunting natives!

Fairbanks is incredibly athletic, as usual; but, he over-performs and talks too much. Ms. Alba is very sensual, especially when she first beds down in Fairbanks' "penthouse"; and watch as she is being prepped for her native wedding - she appears to be nude, as photographed through a reflective pool of water. This appears to have been a lighthearted "vanity" production for superstar Fairbanks, which hasn't aged well.

*** Mr. Robinson Crusoe (8/19/32) A. Edward Sutherland ~ Douglas Fairbanks, Maria Alba, William Farnum

Steve Drexel is sailing to Sumatra with his friends & dog Rooney when their yacht reaches a deserted island. Making a bet that he couldn't survive on the island, Drexel & his dog jump ship. Spending a month on the island they prove to be formidable survivalists. When a native girl who doesn't want to get married arrives on the island, Drexel finds himself drawn to her. But her jilted groom & an army of natives descend on the island.

An amusing skit satirising the Defoe classic, Mr. Robinson Crusoe manages to turn a classic piece of survivalist literature into a cheap comedy flick. Unless you're a trained engineer with experience in building a settlement with native materials, there is no way you could possibly make the mini city that Douglas Fairbanks does here. That is not to say that Mr. Robinson Crusoe is not a watchable film – it does have its moments. The film has its amusements but ultimately is just a lightweight comedy of which the 1930s saw a whole flood of. I was kind of surprised to see incidental nudity in the film – Maria Alba's naked body is seen reflected off the river she is bathing in – which is very unusual for the early 1930s.

An enjoyably offbeat story and a fun role for Douglas Fairbanks make "Mr. Robinson Crusoe" an entertaining light feature. The story is kept as simple as possible, because the highlights are Fairbanks' athleticism, his character's wide variety of gadgets and animal companions, and Maria Alba as the very endearing Saturday.

The story is never intended to be taken seriously, but it certainly works as entertainment. It starts with Fairbanks's character accepting a bet that he and his dog can survive on an isolated desert island. A long stretch of the movie is devoted simply to showing his numerous inventions and tricks for surviving in the wild, while at the same time he makes several animal friends. This part works surprisingly well, and plenty of imagination went into all the devices and such. Of the animals, the monkey is particularly entertaining, and is rather talented itself.

Fairbanks does quite well carrying the load during the parts in which he has no human to talk to. Once the more action-oriented part begins, he is of course in familiar territory, and at least in this one feature he looks just about as energetic and youthful as ever.

The most action-oriented sequences are interspersed with the tenderer scenes with Alba's character, which makes for an interesting contrast during that part of the movie. This is the kind of movie that is very enjoyable if you are in the mood for something a little different, and/or for anyone who has fond memories of Fairbanks's fine silent-era classics.