Once upon a time, Douglas Fairbanks was satisfied with living the life of an ordinary man. Of course, he was troubled with an athletic complex which found expression in his entering houses by way of fire escapes and windows rather than through doors. But nevertheless he wore Stein-Block Clothes, rode on railroad trains, and in general portrayed "the man in the street."

"The Black Pirate" is typical of Mr. Fairbankses later manner. The scene is the Spanish Main, the time the seventeenth century, the plot, in so far as there is any, centers about the Duke of Arnaldo, whose ship is seized by pirates who cause the death of his father. The Duke escapes--Dong always escapes--and swears eternal vengeance against, the pirates. He beats the pirate captain in a fierce duel, becomes the pirate leader, captures the princess, walks the plank for crying to save her life, swims several leagues both under and on the water to effect her rescue and finally overcomes the pirates.

A note on the programs mentions in most enlogistic terms the overture, requesting that absolute silence be maintained during its playing. Imagine then our suprise when the audience of Boston's most straight-laced playhouse, the playhouse where a drunken Harvard football team had been refused admittance voiced its displeasure at the undue length of this overture by stamping its feet and clapping its hands long before the conductor had given the final wave of his baton. No steps were taken by the Tremont officials to evict the originators of this original stunt, nor did the burly arm of the law interpose to silence the whistles and catcalls that encouraged Mr. Fairbanks to greater amatory efforts.