When the Clouds Roll By on AllMovie

This lively silent romantic comedy was the second film made by Douglas Fairbanks Sr. for the new United Artists company. Much of the film is a satiric broadside aimed at the then-innovational field of psychiatry. Wealthy young bachelor Fairbanks allows a pompous head-shrinker to influence his romantic pursuit of Greenwich Village artist Katherine Williams. There's action, athletics and laughs aplenty, topped by a terrific climactic flood sequence. The film's highlight is Fairbanks' therapy-induced dream, a triumph of special effects which is still capable of amazing audiences "jaded" by Spielberg and Lucas. When the Clouds Roll By comes to a hilariously ironic conclusion when the "psychiatrist" is revealed to be an escaped mental patient.