{"product_id":"around-the-world-in-80-minutes-with-douglas-fairbanks-mod-dvd-movie","title":"Around the World in 80 Minutes with Douglas Fairbanks (MOD) (DVD MOVIE)","description":"With the advent of sound, the world's leading screen idol, Douglas Fairbanks, experienced a downturn in his fortunes. His thin, reedy voice was not suited to the talkies, his marriage to Mary Pickford was on the outs, and his son, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., had replaced him as a major box-office draw. Faced with the Hollywood equivalent of a mid-life crisis, Doug called up three of his best friends - director Victor Fleming, cinematographer Henry Sharp, and production manager Charles Lewis - and took them on a six-month tour of Asia, ostensibly to shoot a travelogue for United Artists (of which Fairbanks was still a major shareholder.) Their first stop is Honolulu, followed in quick succession by Japan, China, Peking, Hong Kong, Indochina, the Philippines, Siam, and India. Fairbanks and company spend time at such noteworthy spots as the Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat, the Summer Palace and the Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum. While in Tokyo, Doug catches up with his old pals, legendary Japanese actors Sojin Kamiyama and Sessue Hayakawa. In Indochina, he is provided with fifty elephants by the Maharanee of Cooch-Behar, who sends him on a leopard-hunting expedition. Between ports of call, Doug is shown exercising on the deck of a ship, dressed in only a (shockingly brief) sarong, his athletic body on full display (showing that pre-Code standards didn't just apply to the ladies!) This sometimes disparate footage is bound together by Fairbanks' narration, which was written by Robert E. Sherwood (later an Academy Award winner for his screenplay for \u003ci\u003eThe Best Years of Our Lives\u003c\/i\u003e.) Though fairly progressive in dealing with foreign cultures for 1931, it sometimes falls back on the stereotypes of the era, as when Fairbanks calls Hawaiians \"wonderfully simple people\" or Filipinos \"strange, primitive savages.\" There are also scenes clearly shot in the studio, such as Fairbanks fighting a tiger hand-to hand (!) and Doug and Victor Fleming watching a Japanese geisha girl undress through a peephole (one could never imagine the director of \u003ci\u003eThe Wizard of Oz\u003c\/i\u003e as a Peeping Tom!) The film's conclusion, with Doug and friends returning to Hollywood via magic carpet, references Fairbanks' classic \u003ci\u003eThief of Bagdad\u003c\/i\u003e (1924). A highly unusual piece of cinematic archaeology, \u003ci\u003eAround the World in 80 Minutes With Douglas Fairbanks\u003c\/i\u003e has to be seen to be believed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"COLOR: #0000ff\"\u003eDVD Details\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026gt;Rated:  NR\u003cbr\u003e\u0026gt;Runtime:  1 hours,  20 minutes\u003cbr\u003e\u0026gt;Encoding: Region 1(US \u0026amp; Canada)\u003cbr\u003e\u0026gt;Originally Released:  1\/1\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u0026gt;Label:  Alpha Video\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStarring: Douglas Fairbanks\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"BORDER-BOTTOM: blue 3px solid; BORDER-LEFT: blue 3px solid; WIDTH: 675px; HEIGHT:140px; BORDER-TOP: blue 3px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: blue 3px solid\"\u003eThis product is made-on-demand by the manufacturer using DVD-R recordable media. Almost all DVD players can play DVD-Rs (except for some older models made before 2000) - please consult your owner's manual for formats compatible with your player. These DVD-Rs may not play on all computers or DVD player\/recorders. To address this, the manufacturer recommends viewing this product on a DVD player that does not have recording capability. \u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Alpha Video","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53382099042604,"sku":"089218797094","price":18.92,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0772\/6327\/4284\/files\/Around-the-World-in-80-Minutes-with-Douglas-Fairbanks-MOD-DVD-MOVIE.jpg?v=1782468025","url":"https:\/\/www.margaritasvideostore.com\/products\/around-the-world-in-80-minutes-with-douglas-fairbanks-mod-dvd-movie","provider":"Margarita's Video Store LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}