The Nut

1921 ActionComedy 74 minutes Directed by Theodore Reed

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About The Nut

Charlie Jackson (Douglas Fairbanks) loves Estrell Wynn (Marguerite De La Motte), who wants rich families to take poor children into their homes each day. She knows none of those families, so he offers to arrange a meeting. He first hires men who turn out to be burglars and gamblers, then tries dummies. She is not fooled. He later rescues her, and she agrees to marry him. Barbara La Marr plays Claudine Dupree.

Cast & crew

More about The Nut

Theodore Reed directed. Fairbanks produced and shared the script with William Parker and Lotta Woods. Kenneth Davenport supplied the story. William C. McGann, Harris Thorpe, and Charles Warrington photographed it. United Artists released it in the United States on 6 March 1921. Six reels, 74 minutes. A DVD copy runs 65 minutes. William Lowery plays Philip Feeney. Gerald Pring plays Gentleman George. Morris Hughes plays Pernelius Vanderbrook Jr. Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin appear uncredited, and they are named in the advertisements. The Internet Archive identifier is The_Nut.

Themes

  • a plan for poor children
  • fake millionaires
  • a rescue and a wedding
  • Charlie Jackson
  • Estrell Wynn
  • dummies
  • burglars
  • Fairbanks
  • Claudine

Making

Reed shot it as a string of Fairbanks stunts hung on Estrell's theory, including the dummy reception and the rescue.

Look

William C. McGann, Harris Thorpe, and Charles Warrington photographed the dummy party and the rescue.

Preservation

A print survives. The American release is 74 minutes. A DVD version runs 65 minutes. A copy is on the Internet Archive.

Notes

  • The opening title calls Estrell 'HER' and introduces Charlie as the hero.
  • Frank Campeau, Jeanne Carpenter, and Charles Stevens are also uncredited.
  • The dummies are Charlie's second attempt, after the fake millionaires fail.
  • A shorter 65-minute version is the one issued on DVD.
  • United Artists, the company Fairbanks had formed with Pickford, Chaplin, and Griffith, distributed it.

Scenes

  • Charlie presents burglars and gamblers as the rich hosts Estrell wanted.
  • He tries a roomful of dummies. She walks out.
  • He gets her away from the trouble and she says she will marry him.

Also available

  • Internet Archive (The_Nut)