When the Clouds Roll By

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acsdoug D @acsdoug Jun 14, 2025 While the film is a rather standard "boy meets girl, boy loses girl. boy gets girl in the end" story, there are some quirky and surreal bits that make the film worth a watch. See more Nick M @RT62896014 Oct 11, 2024 God, I love Douglas Fairbanks. His sense of humor is heartwarming and timeless, and this film is one of the best of his comedies I've yet seen. As one would expect, the acrobatics are impressive as always, his million dollar smile is just as infectious, and the intertitles are hilarious in and of themselves, but this film is just *special*. Normally we see him as a man's man and best-friend-to-the-world type, but for a switch his character in Clouds is neurotic, fear-driven, and ineffectual. A nefarious psychologist has chosen him as a research subject to see what it takes to bring a man to the point of death through circumstance and mental state alone. At every turn he conspires to ruin Fairbanks's life as the poor man attempts to better himself. As I write this it sounds like a tragedy or psychological thriller, but it is very much a comedy! His character arc is delightful to behold, the narrative is zippy, well-constructed, and thoroughly entertaining, and Fairbanks himself simply buzzes with energy. The man hardly ever stops moving, and each choice feels natural and genuine. Surprisingly, the film ventures into what might be described as proto-surrealism at a couple of junctures, which I certainly wasn't expecting. I don't want to get into any more specifics because I would hate to ruin any surprises for anyone, but the last 20 minutes or so are particularly awesome and hilarious in turn. This is a must-see! See more Thomas M @TMProofreader May 8, 2019 The best romance movie ever made! See more Sep 4, 2010 A very bizzare but interesting film none the less, a quirky odd love story. There are some amazing scenes in this film. For example the lead Douglas Fairbanks consumes his dinner then the film goes into his stomach and the food is dancing around very odd, but fascinating to watch. Although this film starts so oddly it settles for a romantic formula film and looses it's uniqueness. It's a shame because the film could have been great a unique silent cinema experience, there isn't a lot like it, well for the first half of the film at least. See more Read all reviews

When the Clouds Roll By

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