The Matrimaniac

This is one of my favorite early comedies starring Douglas Fairbanks, mostly, I think, because it wastes no time in getting to the action, which is within the construction of a journey/adventure plot. And, the action is fast paced without appearing choppy, as was the case of many early silent films. (Keystone slapstick comedies were often at fault there, but also were some of Fairbanks's other vehicles, as well as many other films due in part to editing handicaps back then.) In the opening sequence, we're introduced to the loony voyage that is a couple running off to elope and the ensuing chase as her father and his preferred suitor try to stop them. The rest is comedic mayhem and plenty of opportunities for Doug to show off his athleticism, pep, and smile.

"The Matrimaniac" is another of Fairbanks's several collaborations with scenarist and title writer Anita Loos, who provides him with a tight, humorous, no-exposition, no-filler romp this outing. A new addition is Constance Talmadge as the leading lady, fresh off her career-making turn as the ingénue Mountain Girl in D.W. Griffith's "Intolerance". Unfortunately, Fairbanks and Talmadge never teamed up again, probably because of the Hollywood standard practice back then of one star to a picture; both stars were top comedians in their day—starring in feature-length comedies while the supposedly less-refined clowns and Keystone-types were stuck making short films. Although Talmadge is mostly overshadowed by Fairbanks here, she does more with and gives her comedic touch to the usually rather thankless role of Doug's leading lady.

Viewers who associate the name of Douglas Fairbanks with Robin Hood, D'Artagnan, and other swashbuckling roles may be surprised to learn that he started his movie career in a series of light satirical comedies. In these films Doug usually played a well-meaning but trouble prone young gentleman of the modern age, similar to the roles played a few years later by Harold Lloyd. One such comedy is the oddly titled The Matrimaniac, in which Doug spends almost the entire, brief running time desperately attempting to elope with pretty Constance Talmadge. Actually, Doug spends most of the running time running; and also leaping out of windows, on and off trains, climbing walls, and even sliding across telephone wires high overhead. This is a movie that MOVES!

The Matrimaniac wastes no time on exposition. We never learn anything about the young couple, such as how they met, what he does for a living, or why her father opposes the match. And after all, who cares? The story grabs our attention right away with the elopement sequence, then we're off and running (and leaping, climbing, etc.), with no time to think about any unnecessary stuff. Much of the humor in this film is comparatively understated, as when an explanatory title wryly complains that the lovers are violating the rules of romance by eloping through the front door in broad daylight. There's a nice running gag concerning the I.O.U.s Doug leaves all over the region, as he "borrows" various items needed to help in his pursuit of the girl. And happily, you won't find the strained puns or racial gags which mar so many comedies of the period.

Doug is very much the center of attention, but the supporting players deserve notice. Leading lady Connie Talmadge, perhaps best remembered as The Mountain Girl in Griffith's Intolerance, went on to have a substantial starring career of her own in the '20s, but unfortunately never played opposite Fairbanks again. Winifred Westover, seen here in a small but significant role as the hotel maid who helps the lovers triumph, later married Western star William S. Hart. And unsung character actor Fred Warren is quite sympathetic as the minister who is shanghaied to marry the two runaways. The poor guy gets dragged into the lovers' situation early on, when his bath is interrupted by an insistent Doug, then spends much of his time trying to keep up with the leading man. He's suffering from a head-cold, bewildered by all the frantic activity, and to top it off, thrown into jail! Warren is practically Doug's co-star in this film. His minister is the butt of much of the humor, but he proves to be a good sport about it all -- and he's well rewarded for his pains, eventually.

It's no masterpiece, but The Matrimaniac is lightly enjoyable and well worth seeing, and packs a lot of incident into its brisk 45-minute running time -- accent on "running."

This is a very neat and well-delivered comedy. It is not as wonderful as the more surreal The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (the same year) or When the Clouds Roll By (1919) but it is still very enjoyable.

There is a 9.5mm Pathescope version of the film (just ten minutes) available on youtube and, although it is terrible condition, it is very interesting to observe the changes made from the original in abbreviating the film from the original 45 minutes. Jimmy, who, in the original, film is Douglas' rival and the father's chosen son-in-law is here changed into the brother, presumably because all of the business between him and the girl is cut (as is the part of the maid, whom he flirts with by mistake in the original after she has changed clothes with the heroine). Quite a neat little edit (since the final scene is cut) is to transpose a scene from near the beginning where the overs kiss to the end, thus providing an alternative punch-line.

There is however a third change that has nothing to do with the abbreviation and is a shocking reminder of a rather unpleasant change that had taken place in US society between the time when the film first appeared in 1916 (with its sly reference at the beginning to pre-wartime slogans "preparedness" and "watchful waiting") and the early to mid-1920s when this Pathescope version would have appeared. In the original the father has Douglas and the priest arrested as "escaped lunatics". In this Pathescope version they are arrested as escapees from Ellis Island. In 1921 the Quota Act had been passed in response to growing anti-immigrant sentiment and, from being the place where immigrants were welcomed to the US, Ellis Island had become essentially a detention centre for (now) illegal immigrants....

Doug and Constance Talmadge want to get married, but her father, Wilbur Higby objects. So they elope by train to Jazzville. Complications ensue.

It's another occasion for Doug to show off. He climbs buildings and bridges, walks across wires, and even wrestles with a donkey who only goes backwards. Miss Talmadge also gets to do some very amusing things like insulting would-be husband Clyde Hopkins and escaping from a locked hotel room. Except for a very brief preface, it's all a series fo chases carried out at speed by Doug, and a slower, deliberate pace by those who oppose him.

Victor Fleming is Doug's cameraman, as he would be for another three years. He and director Paul Powell clearly understand how to create excitement. We are treated to constant motion in Doug's solo scenes. Either Doug, or something in the background, is in constant motion, or it's a setting shot and no more than a second and a half is expended on it. Titles are likewise brief. There's no need for long establishing shots in a movie like this.

Douglas Fairbanks brings youthful athleticism and infectious good humour to a manic comedy that is something of a forerunner of the screwball comedies that were so popular in the 1930s. He's trying to elope with 18-year-old Constance Talmadge, but fate, a disapproving father and a jealous love rival keep throwing seemingly insurmountable obstacles in his direction, all of which he deftly sidesteps with wit and ingenuity. The 46 minute runtime flies by thanks to the breakneck pace, but while Fairbanks makes an engaging hero, one can't help wondering what magic Keaton or Lloyd would have conjured out of such a scenario.