Reggie Mixes In

"Reggie Mixes In" is a below average vehicle for Douglas Fairbanks. It's one of his earliest comedies, from before his turn to swashbucklers in the 1920s. He plays the wealthy Reggie Van Deuzen, who apparently was born into money since there's no indication in the film that he worked for it. Reggie falls in love with a girl from the slums and so decides to "mix in"; he pretends to be poor, rents a shabby flat and gets a job as a bouncer at a rough nightclub. There, he mixes it up with gang members and ends up fighting a gang boss for the girl. It's not a very good scenario, and the pacing is rather slow and uneventful for a Fairbanks comedy—and it's not funny. Much of the humor is some knockabout between Reggie and his servant, which wasn't Fairbanks's usual style. Christy Cabanne wasn't a good director. Three of my least favorite Fairbanks films ("The Lamb", "Flirting with Fate" and this one) were made by him, and soon after he made them, Triangle fired him. In his other early pictures, Fairbanks was beginning more fruitful collaborations with the likes of Allan Dwan, John Emerson, Victor Fleming and Anita Loos.

The print/transfer I saw was rather poor, but viewable. It may have been missing some footage, as there are some especially abrupt cuts between a couple scenes; otherwise, this was even more of a slipshod production. Additionally, the subplot of the other woman, Lemona, who's after Reggie's money, doesn't really go anywhere in the print I saw and, regardless, should have been dropped. The film ran about 45 minutes. Perhaps, one point of interest in "Reggie Mixes In" for classic cinema fans is Bessie Love as Doug's leading lady; in the silent and early sound eras, she was also a notable star.