American Aristocracy (1916)
52 mins | Adventure, Satire | 12 November 1916
According to the 16 September 1916 Motion Picture News, Douglas Fairbanks had just returned after several days of filming in Watch Hill, RI, a fashionable and exclusive summer resort within the larger town of Westerly: "The hotel and cottage guests proved so enthusiastic that many were allowed to take part in some of the bigger scenes filmed there." One of the "extras" was former U.S. Secretary of the Navy Truman Newberry. The 27 October 1916 Variety, mentioning that Watch Hill was the "scene of the action" in American Aristocracy, added that the story was "a satire on society in general, the punch being that the present American aristocracy is founded on dollars and cents rather than on lineage."
Anita Loos probably wrote the film's scenario as well as its story. Most likely she also wrote the sub-titles. Soon after this movie's release, Douglas Fairbanks requested that Loos write all of his subsequent films' sub-titles, the 2 December 1916 issues of both Motography and Motion Picture News announced. "Mr. Fairbanks is convinced that the drawing power of the plays in which he is featured can be greatly affected, favorably or otherwise, by the amount of ingenuity or commonplaceness evinced by the writer of the captions....[He said,] 'There have been cases I could mention where her comments outshone the scenes themselves.'" Loos at the time was written up in the trades as being a precocious teenager, but in fact she was twenty-eight when she wrote American Aristocracy.
Contemporary reviews contradict existing prints of the film by giving the names of characters as Geraldine Hick, Leander Hick, and Percy Horton. ...
According to the 16 September 1916 Motion Picture News, Douglas Fairbanks had just returned after several days of filming in Watch Hill, RI, a fashionable and exclusive summer resort within the larger town of Westerly: "The hotel and cottage guests proved so enthusiastic that many were allowed to take part in some of the bigger scenes filmed there." One of the "extras" was former U.S. Secretary of the Navy Truman Newberry. The 27 October 1916 Variety, mentioning that Watch Hill was the "scene of the action" in American Aristocracy, added that the story was "a satire on society in general, the punch being that the present American aristocracy is founded on dollars and cents rather than on lineage."
Anita Loos probably wrote the film's scenario as well as its story. Most likely she also wrote the sub-titles. Soon after this movie's release, Douglas Fairbanks requested that Loos write all of his subsequent films' sub-titles, the 2 December 1916 issues of both Motography and Motion Picture News announced. "Mr. Fairbanks is convinced that the drawing power of the plays in which he is featured can be greatly affected, favorably or otherwise, by the amount of ingenuity or commonplaceness evinced by the writer of the captions....[He said,] 'There have been cases I could mention where her comments outshone the scenes themselves.'" Loos at the time was written up in the trades as being a precocious teenager, but in fact she was twenty-eight when she wrote American Aristocracy.
Contemporary reviews contradict existing prints of the film by giving the names of characters as Geraldine Hick, Leander Hick, and Percy Horton. These reviews also give Delgado as the name of the character played by Arthur Ortego, but no such character name appears in existing prints.
The December 1916 Motion Picture Magazine ran a photo-illustrated short-story adaptation of American Aristocracy.
According to the Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database, this film is extant.
On a field expedition to the wealthy resort of Narraport-by-the-Sea, Rhode Island, amateur entomologist and caterpillar chaser Cassius Lee is attracted to Geraldine Hicks, the restless daughter of the millionaire inventor of "Hicks' Hatpin With the Hump"—the hump keeps it from falling out. Narraport is the sort of place where Mrs. Budhauser, wife of the brewer king, is snubbed by the wives of distillers. Malted milk manufacturer Percy Peck, who is wooing Geraldine, exploits his resemblance to Cassius by asking him to perform a daring stunt for which Percy will take the credit. While posing as Percy, however, Cassius learns that the malted milk king is in fact illegally shipping gunpowder to Mexico in malted milk bottles. While he investigates Percy's factory, Cassius is knocked out by Percy's henchmen, and Percy departs for Mexico, taking as captives Geraldine and her father, who have also learned of Percy's treason. After alerting the authorities, Cassius pursues the boat in a hydroplane and engages Percy's gang in a battle that is resolved by the arrival of American naval forces on a torpedo boat. Geraldine and Cassius, now lovers, despair of getting her snobbish father's permission to marry until an accidental discovery turns Cassius into an industrialist, and hence an eligible ...
On a field expedition to the wealthy resort of Narraport-by-the-Sea, Rhode Island, amateur entomologist and caterpillar chaser Cassius Lee is attracted to Geraldine Hicks, the restless daughter of the millionaire inventor of "Hicks' Hatpin With the Hump"—the hump keeps it from falling out. Narraport is the sort of place where Mrs. Budhauser, wife of the brewer king, is snubbed by the wives of distillers. Malted milk manufacturer Percy Peck, who is wooing Geraldine, exploits his resemblance to Cassius by asking him to perform a daring stunt for which Percy will take the credit. While posing as Percy, however, Cassius learns that the malted milk king is in fact illegally shipping gunpowder to Mexico in malted milk bottles. While he investigates Percy's factory, Cassius is knocked out by Percy's henchmen, and Percy departs for Mexico, taking as captives Geraldine and her father, who have also learned of Percy's treason. After alerting the authorities, Cassius pursues the boat in a hydroplane and engages Percy's gang in a battle that is resolved by the arrival of American naval forces on a torpedo boat. Geraldine and Cassius, now lovers, despair of getting her snobbish father's permission to marry until an accidental discovery turns Cassius into an industrialist, and hence an eligible suitor.
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