Harry Langdon ...The Forgotten Clown

Rating:
Summary: Mature Langdon + Early Capra = Good stuff
Review: This collection contains three solid feature length films from Harry Langdon, who is often listed with the "big three" (Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd) as the greatest of the silent comedy stars. These films are surely among the best of Langdon's output. Fans of director Frank Capra will also enjoy these early writing and directing efforts, and connections can be made between the Harry Langdon persona of these films and some of Capra's later cast of innocent, idealistic heroes (John Doe, Mr. Smith, Harry Bailey). Also interesting to note is how the 4 comedians seemed to take material from one another and develop it in their own way. Some of the gags in these films invite comparisons with past and future gags of the other comedians; for example, the war scenes in "The Strong Man" resemble Chaplin's "Shoulder Arms", while the vaudeville scenes resemble "The Circus".

Harry Langdon's character, in both appearance and behavior, resembles that of a child. The obstacles he faces are those of a child in an adult world: confronting physical and emotional abuse by adult bullies of both genders, trying to make sense of and control inner feelings, especially feelings of attraction to women, and surviving in a world without having developed a strong sense of right and wrong. This amorality is aptly illustrated in a scene from "Long Pants". Harry wishes to dump his bride-to-be on their wedding day so that he can flee to his true love, a cocaine dealer, who is in prison. He concocts a plan whereby he takes his bride to the woods (in full wedding apparel) and, during a game of hide-and-seek, tries to shoot her in the back with a shotgun! The concept, of course, is not funny (although his ineptitude at executing the plan has funny moments) but it's somewhat typical of watching a Langdon movie -- his character's antics often invoke a response that is laughter combined with disbelief in his lack of a sense of morality.

This is an extreme example, and most of the themes are of a more innocent sort. Indeed, there is a sweetness in the tone of much of the films, especially Tramp Tramp Tramp, which mostly involves a coast to coast walking race that Harry has entered in order to save his father's business. One laughter technique that Langdon uses often is to evoke a prolonged sequence of conflicting emotional responses to a situation that he can't fully grasp. In Tramp Tramp Tramp, for example, there is a scene in which he is staring at a picture of a woman on a billboard whom he has fallen for. Suddenly, by chance, the woman (Joan Crawford) appears in front of him. His confused response, alternating various states of joy and confusion, is quite funny, and becomes more funny as the response is prolonged. Sometimes, however, this technique falls flat, as in a scene in the same movie involving a taxi cab driver.

In general, I recommend this DVD to Capra fans or Langdon fans, or those wishing to extend their appreciation of silent screen comedy.