A lifelong Anglophile, Fairbanks had come to England in 1933 with his famous father. By this time, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.'s career was winding down. Likewise, despite having been signed to a contract by Paramount at age 14 and appearing in several high profile films like The Dawn Patrol (1930) and Morning Glory (1933), Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. suffered from an uneven career. While in England, the pair was introduced to producer-director Alexander Korda, whose current production, The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), impressed the Fairbanks men. An agreement was struck between Korda and Fairbanks Sr., offering Korda a stake in United Artists. And the next film for both father and son would be made for Korda. For Douglas Fairbanks Sr., it would be his final film, The Private Life of Don Juan (1934). And for Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., the film Catherine the Great (1934) would kick off a string of films made in Britain.
The next year, he appeared in Mimi (1935) made for British International Pictures (BIP). Soon the younger Fairbanks found he needed money, however -- to support his lifestyle and to fund a production company he was hoping to form. He turned to Hollywood friend Irving Asher for a loan. And as repayment, Fairbanks agreed to appear in the next film Asher was producing, Man of the Moment. And so, second-generation Hollywood star Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. ended up in one of Warner's best so-called "quota quickies" (films made to fulfill the British law that a certain percentage of films screened in the U.K. had to be made in the country).
The money from Asher also allowed Fairbanks to form Criterion Films, which he registered as an English-based company in 1935. Thanks to his family ties, Fairbanks' little film studio would also benefit from backing and worldwide distribution from United Artists. Fairbanks' first Criterion project was The Amateur Gentleman (1936). The film cast him as an innkeeper's son trying to clear his father's name. And Fairbanks' own father was on hand to see his son's first venture as producer. Fairbanks, Sr. toured the set of The Amateur Gentleman with friends Lord and Lady Mountbatten, finding the 13,000 square foot ballroom reconstruction (the largest set ever built at that time for a British film) quite impressive.
The film broke records at a few London theaters, but overall, The Amateur Gentleman was a disappointment. Criterion Films would go on to produce two more pictures, in which Fairbanks also starred, Accused (1936) and Jump for Glory (1937) before he returned to Hollywood. Fairbanks' first film back in America would be the successful, star-filled The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) with Ronald Colman, Mary Astor and David Niven.
In all, Fairbanks' British period in the 1930s which produced Man of the Moment was just a taste of things to come for the star not content being just an actor. Not only did he manage to do what few second generation Hollywood actors can -- overcome comparisons to his legendary father and establish a career on his own terms, but Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. also achieved success as an entrepreneur, a decorated Navy Lieutenant in World War II, a socialite in English circles and a good will ambassador. He also continued to spend large amounts of time in England -- and in 1949, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was made an Honorary Knight of the British Empire.
Producer: Irving Asher
Director: Monty Banks
Screenplay: Guy Bolton, Roland Pertwee, A.R. Rawlinson, Yves Mirande (play)
Cinematography: Basil Emmott, Leslie Rowson
Art Direction: Peter Proud
Cast: Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (Tony), Laura La Plante (Mary), Claude Hulbert (Rufus), Margaret Lockwood (Vera), Donald Calthrop (Butler), Peter Gawthorne (Father).
BW-82m.
by Stephanie Thames
