"Reaching for the Moon" is a love story about a rather obnoxious millionaire (sort of like Tony Stark of the 1930s) and a woman's attempts to hook him. Despite his playboy reputation, it seems the guy is pretty indifferent to women up until Bebe Daniels sets her sights on him. A far cry from real life, as Fairbanks was quite the playboy.
This is a very rough film, as the plot seemed a bit flat (similar stuff was done much better a few years later--such as the films of Astaire and Rogers) and Douglas Fairbanks' voice was a bit thin. Plus, his advancing years made him a little less believable as the male stud-muffin that he played here. He was frankly a very far cry from his handsome leading man days of the silent era. It also didn't help that the copy on Netflix's on-demand feature was terrible. The print looked very degraded and I am surprised they featured a film in this condition. Frankly it's not a bad movie but in this condition it's really not worth the trouble except for silent film fans wanting to see one of Fairbanks' few sound films.
This is a very rough film, as the plot seemed a bit flat (similar stuff was done much better a few years later--such as the films of Astaire and Rogers) and Douglas Fairbanks' voice was a bit thin. Plus, his advancing years made him a little less believable as the male stud-muffin that he played here. He was frankly a very far cry from his handsome leading man days of the silent era. It also didn't help that the copy on Netflix's on-demand feature was terrible. The print looked very degraded and I am surprised they featured a film in this condition. Frankly it's not a bad movie but in this condition it's really not worth the trouble except for silent film fans wanting to see one of Fairbanks' few sound films.