Around the World with Douglas Fairbanks is basically a 1930s travel vlog

Is it worth your time?

If you want a stiff, factual documentary, run away. This is for people who just want to watch a movie star be a movie star in front of the Taj Mahal. If you need a plot or, I don't know, a point, you are going to be bored out of your mind within ten minutes.

Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. has this specific energy. It’s like he’s perpetually trying to convince the camera that he’s the most interesting guy in the room. Usually, he is. But in Around the World with Douglas Fairbanks, the whole thing feels a bit like a vanity project gone loose.

There’s this moment where he’s just wandering through a market, and the framing is so casual it feels like a mistake. Most directors back then were obsessed with perfect staging, but here, it’s just vibes. Victor Fleming is in the mix too, which is funny when you remember he went on to do massive stuff like Gone with the Wind. Here, he’s basically just holding the light meter.

It lacks the structure of something like Alice Hunting in Africa, which at least has a weird, fever-dream narrative going for it. This movie just drifts. It hits a spot, Fairbanks makes a face, a local person looks confused, and then they sail to the next place. It is deeply unserious.

Oddly specific observations:

• The way Fairbanks tries to engage with local crowds is so mid-1930s. It is equal parts polite and completely oblivious.
• The editing feels like it was done on a moving train. Sometimes the geography doesn't make any sense at all.
• There is a distinct lack of heavy equipment, which makes the whole thing feel surprisingly intimate, for better or worse.

I caught myself wondering if they just packed a suitcase and hoped for the best. It’s got that imperfect charm you only find in pre-war travelogues. It reminds me a bit of the random energy in Dummies, just with way more budget and way more teeth-flashing grins.

Honestly? It’s not a good film in the way critics usually define that word. But it’s a weird, sunny window into a guy who just wanted to show off the world to his friends. The silence in some of the wide shots is actually kind of haunting, even if Fairbanks breaks the mood immediately by jumping onto a wall or something. 🤸‍♂️

It’s not a masterclass. It’s a postcard. Treat it like one.