American Aristocracy is a breezy satirical silent farce totally dominated by its star, Douglas Fairbanks Sr. Screenwriter Anita Loos based the film's plot on her own short story, which cast a jaundiced eye on "nouveau riche" Americans who tried to buy their way into society's upper crust during the pre-World War I years. Fairbanks plays the scion of an old, established and very wealthy Virginian family, who believes in democracy rather than plutocracy. He takes it upon himself to puncture the pretensions of a bunch of would-be snobs at a vacation resort, finding time to quell a plan to sell arms to Mexican insurgents. It goes without saying that he wins the heroine (Jewel Carmen), a would-be snob who turns out to be a "regular fellow" at heart. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi