His Picture in the Papers on AllMovie

The then-current "crazes" for publicity and vegetarianism supplied the foundation for the delightful Douglas Fairbanks Sr. vehicle His Picture in the Papers. Fairbanks plays Pete Prindle, the irresponsible son of health-food manufacturer Proteus Prindle (Clarence Handysides). Prindle Sr. hopes that Pete will follow in his footsteps: Unfortunately, the boy is not only constitutionally incapable of sticking to business, but he also has a fondness for good red meat and other such "non-nutritional" foodstuffs. Likewise, Pete's girlfriend Christine Cadwallader (Loretta Blake) shuns health foods for the finer things in life. Christine's dad (Charles Butler), a railroad man and a disciple of vegetarianism, disapproves of such gastronomic recklessness. Still, he agrees to give his blessing to Pete and Christine's marriage -- but only on the condition that Pete can attain a half interest in Prindle Sr.'s business. To prove his worth, Pete concocts a publicity campaign for his dad's products, claiming that consumers have gotten fat and healthy consuming old man Prindle's vegetarian confections. But only when Pete saves one of Pop Cadwallader's prize trains from destruction is he able to get his "picture in the papers" -- thereby saving his dad's business and winning the girl in one fell swoop. The hilariously timely subtitles for His Picture in the Papers were co-written by director John Emerson and his equally talented wife Anita Loos.