Article: DVD; VIEWS; Fairbanks wields a swift sword.(VARIETY)

Byline: Randy A. Salas; Staff Writer

That sly smile, those effortless acrobatics, the masterful swordplay - all defined the swashbuckling heroes played by the inimitable early-film legend Douglas Fairbanks.

"There was never anybody in his league, as far as we were concerned," said director Orson Welles, who grew up idolizing Fairbanks - as did, he noted, his friend Laurence Olivier. Fairbanks "had something that nobody ever equaled - a kind of charm, a kind of dash, a sort of innocent arrogance that has never been seen since on the screen."

Welles' 12-minute tribute, taken from his 1971 TV series "The Silent Years," is among the supplements on ...

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