Down to Earth (1917 film)

Down to Earth
Down to Earth
Directed by	John Emerson
Written by	Douglas Fairbanks (story); Anita Loos (scenario); John Emerson (scenario); Anita Loos (intertitles)
Produced by	Douglas Fairbanks
Starring	Douglas Fairbanks
Cinematography	Victor Fleming; Harry Thorpe
Distributed by	Artcraft Pictures
Release date	August 12, 1917;
Running time	5 reels
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

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Down to Earth

Down to Earth, also known as The Optimist, is a 1917 American comedy romance film starring Douglas Fairbanks and Eileen Percy, and directed by John Emerson. Most of the principal photography was filmed in Yosemite National Park.^[1]^[2]

Synopsis[]

Bill Gaynor (Fairbanks) follows Ethel (Percy), the girl he loves, to a sanitarium she is staying to recuperate from a nervous break down. Ethel had previously refused his proposal in favor of a socialite, Charles Riddles (Charles K. Gerrard). Bill hatches up a plan to save Ethel and the other hypochondriacs from the sanitarium, taking them on his yacht through the ruse of a smallpox scare. The yacht crashes onto an island, where Bill makes the invalids work for their own food and where they all overcome their illnesses. Two months later, Charles discovers that Palm Beach is actually in the valley below them, and he escapes the camp. Charles meets up with a friend to complain about his Ordeal and with his friend's encouragement, they return to the camp and try to "kidnap" Ethel. Bill (Who was not taking his usual siesta) catches them in the act, and tying one arm behind his back, kicks Charles' ass. Bill admits to Ethel that they are not on an actual desert island, but she tells him that she has known that for a month. As the two float away in a row boat, the other patients comment that they should return to their siestas because the story is over.^[3]^[4]