The Power of the Press *** (1928, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Jobyna Ralston) – Classic Movie Review 12,014

Frank Capra’s 1928 silent film The Power of the Press stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr as a cub reporter and Jobyna Ralston as a young woman suspected of murder.

Director Frank Capra’s 1928 Columbia Pictures American silent drama film The Power of the Press is based on a story by Frederick A Thompson, and stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr as an aspiring newspaper cub reporter and Jobyna Ralston as a young woman suspected of murder.

The 18-year-old Douglas Fairbanks Jr gives a breezy, no-nonsense performance as Clem Rogers, the honest, eager young newspaper reporter who exposes a mayor election scandal, in Capra’s fast-paced, involving exposé story.

The District Attorney (Charles Clary) has been shot dead and Fairbanks Jr arrives on the scene to see a woman escaping through a window, leaving her purse behind, revealing that she is the mayor (Edward Davis)’s daughter (Jobyna Ralston).

The Power of the Press is a bright and interesting early silent film from director Capra, with a good atmosphere and sassy attitudes.

The film was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2005, as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

The 1943 Columbia Pictures film Power of the Press is unrelated.

The Power of the Press is directed by Frank Capra, runs 62 minutes, is made and released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Frederick A Thompson [Fred Thompson] (screenplay, story) and Sonya Levien (writer), is shot in black and white by Ted Tetzlaff and Chester A Lyons, is produced by Jack Cohn, and is designed by Harrison Wiley.

The cast are Douglas Fairbanks Jr as Clem Rogers, Jobyna Ralston as Jane Atwill, Mildred Harris as Marie Weston, Philo McCullough as Robert Blake, Wheeler Oakman as Van, Robert Edeson as City Editor, Edwards Davis as Mr John Atwill, Dell Henderson as Bill Johnson, Charles Clary as District Attorney Nye, Spottiswoode Aitken as Sports Writer, and Frank Manning as Detective.

Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was the son of actor Douglas Fairbanks and once married to Joan Crawford, and is best known for The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), Gunga Din (1939) and The Corsican Brothers (1941).

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,014

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