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Recommendations
Senior Film Conservator
As a cultural touchstone of United States, The Fainting Lover resonates with its artistic bravery, its lasting impact ensures that its spirit lives on in modern recommendations. Our archive is rich with titles that mirror the artistic bravery of Mack Sennett.
For many, the first encounter with The Fainting Lover is to provoke thought and inspire awe in equal measure.
Back in the last century, in the 1940's, Camel cigarettes had an ad slogan that boasted... "not a cough in a carload." "Fainting Lover" is a comedy from Mack Sennett that doesn't have a laugh in a single frame of the two reels. The three writers, one of which must have noticed the absence of comedy, either thought they were writing "East Lynne" or else were preparing themselves to write television comedy. This Andy Clyde short, in which Andy plays second fiddle to a bad performance by the usually reliable Wade Boteler, finds Boteler (as Bert) courting the daughter of Andy Clyde and Addie McPhail, and Andy reminds him that he shouldn't take her for granted, especially at a gathering where Dr. Dudley Smith, accomplished musician, artist, sportsman, lecturer, world traveler, singer, dancer and worker of cross-word puzzles, is putting heavy moves on Helen, Bert's intended. Bert allows as how he'll do something special for her on her birthday coming up next month. The something special turns out to be attending her wedding to Smith on her birthday. What happens then is pitiful and feeble beyond description. Vernon Dent singing "Honeymoon", and later dancing to it, is worth watching if one fast-forwards to it and stops watching when Dent finishes.
Based on the unique artistic bravery of The Fainting Lover, our vault has identified these titles as the most compelling follow-up experiences for fans of Short cinema:
Dir: Edgar Jones
A mail-order bride arrives at a Maine lumber camp but doesn't like her prospective husband.
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Dir: Unknown Director
A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.
Dir: Eduardo Notari
A crime drama in the Gennariello-series. The police detective in Naples that is confronted with modern gangsters and crime events.
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Dir: Lloyd Ingraham
While walking along the street one day, Arthur P. Hampton, an impoverished young doctor, and his chums, Stub Masters and Johnny Stokes, are persuaded to part with their last remaining funds by tag day solicitor Mary Jane Smith, with whom the doctor promptly falls in love. Doc's friends then hit upon a get-rich-quick scheme. Knowing that his Uncle George has promised a large sum of money upon his nephew's marriage, they persuade Doc to send out fake wedding invitations naming Mary Jane as the blushing bride. Uncle George, elated at the good news, writes to Mary Jane's aunt, Angelica Burns, an old sweetheart, to invite Mary Jane and Angelica to be his guests on an ocean voyage. Meanwhile, Mary Jane pays a visit to the doctor's office and, upon seeing the wedding invitations, becomes so flustered that she trips and sprains her ankle. Doc comes to her rescue and then begs her to pose as his wife. She agrees, but at ship-side, Stub and Johnnie confess all to Uncle George, who flies into a rage until Doc announces that he and Mary Jane have chosen a wedding at sea.
Dir: F. Martin Thornton
In Paris an orphan cartoonist loves a man with a mad wife, who dies in time to prevent her marriage to a jilted Comte.
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Dir: Henry Edwards
A millionaire bets £25,000 that he can earn his own living for six months.
Dir: Jerome Storm
Ne'er-do-well Homer Cavender ventures to the city from Mainsville in an effort to find fame and fortune. Both elude him, and after clerking for two years, Homer returns home for a vacation. Impressed by his flashy clothes, the townspeople assume that Homer has achieved success. Attempting to win Rachel Prouty from his rival, Arthur Machim, Homer continues the deception by announcing that his employer, Kort and Bailly, has dispatched him to enroll stockholders for a proposed new plant to be built in Mainsville. Machim discovers the sham and denounces Homer as a crook. Meanwhile, Homer returns to New York, convinces his employers of the merits of his plan and comes home triumphant, with a proposal for both the new plant and for Rachel's hand in marriage.
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Dir: Hal Roach
An American book salesman (Lloyd) is persuaded to go to the kingdom of Thermosa to impersonate the Prince. He is greeted by a peasants' revolt before the real prince shows up to claim his throne and princess. The revolution succeeds, and the American is elected president of the new republic.
Dir: Maurice Campbell
Carver Endicott, a young sophisticate, is rejected by his fiancée for being too foppish and dull. When she feigns an interest in his father, Carver attempts to disgrace his family name by working as a farmhand and later as a busboy in a hotel. However, the newspapers only praise him for his self-sacrificing principles; and finding that he cannot bring shame to the family through menial labor, he takes up with a notorious actress. But when this maneuver also fails, he returns to his former fiancée, who has no further complaint about his being an inexperienced dullard.
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Dir: Victor Heerman
In the gold fields of the Canadian Northwest, a man is falsely accused of a crime and determines that a lookalike is responsible.
View DetailsAnalysis relative to The Fainting Lover
| Film Title | Atmosphere | Complexity | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the River | Gritty | High | 92% Match |
| Trail of the Rails | Tense | Layered | 96% Match |
| 'A mala nova | Surreal | Layered | 92% Match |
| Mary's Ankle | Surreal | High | 86% Match |
| The Flame | Surreal | High | 97% Match |
This guide was algorithmically generated using the cinematic metadata of Mack Sennett's archive. Last updated: 5/24/2026.
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