Topic: Harry Langdon At Hal Roach: The Talkies 1929 - 30 4/14/20

[metaldams]

http://www.silentcomedymafia.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2325

It looks like the Hal Roach Langdon set will be released after all.  Pre-order March 10. Release April 14.  DVD only $29.95.  Another must buy.  I’m glad another Roach set is being released.

[falsealarms]

Very glad to see this. I posted this here last year (and later deleted it) because a few sources jumped the gun on this announcement over the summer.

Day one purchase for me. Anyone buying it is encouraged to leave positive Amazon reviews.

[metaldams]

Very glad to see this. I posted this here last year (and later deleted it) because a few sources jumped the gun on this announcement over the summer.

Day one purchase for me. Anyone buying it is encouraged to leave positive Amazon reviews.

Yes, I’m aware of the Amazon policy.  I will post a review like I did the Charley Chase volume. Not really much to ask for getting to see these films - which I’m thankful for.

[metaldams]

Pre-order now up.  Will probably review these films.

[falsealarms]

Release date is a only a few weeks away now.

HOTTER THAN HOT and SKY BOY have lost soundtracks but they will be presented here with music and subtitles according to one person who received a screener.

I don't know if it's just a coincidence but the Kindle version of LITTLE ELF: A Celebration of Harry Langdon is just $9.95 right now. The paperback goes for aorund $50.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DBGFDE/ref=docs-os-doi_0

[metaldams]

Release date is a only a few weeks away now.

HOTTER THAN HOT and SKY BOY have lost soundtracks but they will be presented here with music and subtitles according to one person who received a screener.

I don't know if it's just a coincidence but the Kindle version of LITTLE ELF: A Celebration of Harry Langdon is just $9.95 right now. The paperback goes for aorund $50.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DBGFDE/ref=docs-os-doi_0

Really looking forward to this release and will be discussing the films in some form, I’m sure.  Mine was pre ordered a while back.

[falsealarms]

In The Balcony review: http://inthebalcony.com/harry-langdon.html

[falsealarms]

A capsule review from Leonard Maltin does NOT mince words.... the fact he sees these as "among the worst two-reelers ever made" makes me want to see them even more. I have not seen any of these previously.

https://leonardmaltin.com/show-boat-tex-avery-and-more-a-dvd-blu-ray-survey/

The meteoric rise and fall of silent-film comedian Harry Langdon is the stuff of legend. Video producer Kit Parker has now provided comedy completists a rare opportunity to see how Langdon fared in his one and only season of talkie shorts for Hal Roach. What’s more, he has added subtitles to a pair of comedies for which the soundtracks no longer exist. This only confirms how inane the dialogue was. It’s a sad but undeniable fact that these are among the worst two-reelers ever made.

Yet there is a certain fascination to watching Langdon, whose timing is off and whose infantile character is woefully unfunny. The same is true for a surviving Spanish-language edition of The Big Kick. The saving grace in a handful of shorts is the effervescent Thelma Todd, who gives each woebegone script her best shot.

[Freddie Sanborn]

All I can say about Maltin’s review is that Harry Langdon is in the same boat as our Stooges. People who don’t understand his comedy REALLY hate him and are completely blind to his virtues. The fact is that these were well-reviewed in 1929-30 by both the trade papers and exhibitors. The only reason that Langdon left Roach after one season is because Harry had a solid offer from First National to co-star in a prestigious feature (A Soldier’s Plaything). Roach generously let him out of his contract. I like Leonard’s work and his books were my gateway drug to classic comedy. But he swings and misses on this one.

A capsule review from Leonard Maltin does NOT mince words.... the fact he sees these as "among the worst two-reelers ever made" makes me want to see them even more. I have not seen any of these previously.

https://leonardmaltin.com/show-boat-tex-avery-and-more-a-dvd-blu-ray-survey/

The meteoric rise and fall of silent-film comedian Harry Langdon is the stuff of legend. Video producer Kit Parker has now provided comedy completists a rare opportunity to see how Langdon fared in his one and only season of talkie shorts for Hal Roach. What’s more, he has added subtitles to a pair of comedies for which the soundtracks no longer exist. This only confirms how inane the dialogue was. It’s a sad but undeniable fact that these are among the worst two-reelers ever made.

Yet there is a certain fascination to watching Langdon, whose timing is off and whose infantile character is woefully unfunny. The same is true for a surviving Spanish-language edition of The Big Kick. The saving grace in a handful of shorts is the effervescent Thelma Todd, who gives each woebegone script her best shot.

[metaldams]

All I can say about Maltin’s review is that Harry Langdon is in the same boat as our Stooges. People who don’t understand his comedy REALLY hate him and are completely blind to his virtues. The fact is that these were well-reviewed in 1929-30 by both the trade papers and exhibitors. The only reason that Langdon left Roach after one season is because Harry had a solid offer from First National to co-star in a prestigious feature (A Soldier’s Plaything). Roach generously let him out of his contract. I like Leonard’s work and his books were my gateway drug to classic comedy. But he swings and misses on this one.

I’m not sure Martin is a 100% Langdon hater - he just may be one of the guys who thinks Langdon artistically fell after he and Frank Capra parted ways.  There’s a lot of them out there.  As for me, I think THREE’S A CROWD is a masterpiece, for starters.  But yeah Freddie, I agree with the sentiment of your post. 

As for the Roach stuff, I can understand the shorts not being for everyone, but among the worst two reelers ever made?  Nothing here is lower than the worst of the Besser shorts or the parade of faceless comedians studios were chugging out short comedies with.  I have seen the six shorts with surviving soundtracks and they’re all interesting and at their best, have a few amazing moments.  I look forward to revisiting these.

[Freddie Sanborn]

Here is The Shrimp from 1930, admittedly one of the best of the bunch. Watch it and see if you agree with Maltin that these were among the worst shorts ever made.  https://youtu.be/KsUA5ijSgLA

An extra treat is an unbilled appearance by Max Davidson.

[metaldams]

Here is The Shrimp from 1930, admittedly one of the best of the bunch. Watch it and see if you agree with Maltin that these were among the worst shorts ever made.  https://youtu.be/KsUA5ijSgLA

An extra treat is an unbilled appearance by Max Davidson.

THE SHRIMP is the first Langdon talkie I ever saw and it is a fascinating short.  A friend dubbed it for me on what may be one of the worst prints I’ve ever seen, but I’ve since seen a better print, specifically the link you put up.

There is one Roach short at a train station, I want to say THE HEAD GUY - but I may have the title mixed up with something else, where there’s a close up of Langdon just emoting and talking in an almost indescribable way, and this goes on for a long time.  I remember I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen.  I’ll revisit that scene for sure when I get the set. 

I’m really happy the Roach talking catalog is being released with such care, finally.  Columbia/Sony has it right with The Three Stooges, Keaton and Chase, but I wish they would extend beyond that - there’s so much more.

[falsealarms]

Author James Neibaur takes a film by film look at this set: https://jln4151.wixsite.com/jlneibaur-writer/post/dvd-review-harry-langdon-at-the-hal-roach-studios-1929-1930

He's more flattering than Maltin was on these films, concluding "they are much better than their reputation."

[metaldams]

Author James Neibaur takes a film by film look at this set: https://jln4151.wixsite.com/jlneibaur-writer/post/dvd-review-harry-langdon-at-the-hal-roach-studios-1929-1930

He's more flattering than Maltin was on these films, concluding "they are much better than their reputation."

Just curious, how much Langdon are you familiar with?

[falsealarms]

Just curious, how much Langdon are you familiar with?

Honestly, not a ton. I'm familiar with his career. But as far as his films, I've only seen some of his Columbia shorts that have popped up on YouTube. And despite generally poor video quality, I've liked most of those. Cold Turkey especially.

While I've gotten into silents a little more the last few years, silent shorts especially, I'm still more of a sound-era guy. His talkie output hasn't been very accessible on home video over the years for various reasons. That's mostly why I'm not too familiar with his actual films.

The sound era works of others of the time (Laurel & Hardy,  Buster Keaton, Marx Bros, Wheeler & Woolsey, W.C. Fields, Charley Chase, etc) has been much easier to see.

I suppose going into this set without much of an opinion of Langdon could be a good thing or a bad thing.

[metaldams]

Honestly, not a ton. I'm familiar with his career. But as far as his films, I've only seen some of his Columbia shorts that have popped up on YouTube. And despite generally poor video quality, I've liked most of those. Cold Turkey especially.

While I've gotten into silents a little more the last few years, silent shorts especially, I'm still more of a sound-era guy. His talkie output hasn't been very accessible on home video over the years for various reasons. That's mostly why I'm not too familiar with his actual films.

The sound era works of others of the time (Laurel & Hardy,  Buster Keaton, Marx Bros, Wheeler & Woolsey, W.C. Fields, Charley Chase, etc) has been much easier to see.

I suppose going into this set without much of an opinion of Langdon could be a good thing or a bad thing.

Hal Roach Langdon is an unusual place to go when you’ve only seen a few Columbia shorts, which should make your reaction to them that much more interesting.  Again with these negative reviews, there is this big thing in the Langdon community where he’s viewed as a lost has been the moment he and Frank Capra split, which was in 1927.  I don’t buy it one bit.  I have seen the six Langdon shorts in this collection with sounds plus a few Educationals and Columbias as well as A SOLDIER’S PLAYTHING and ZENOBIA and enjoy it all.  I admit I like his silent stuff best, but not to the point where I can’t enjoy the talkies for the funny films they are.

If you do want to check out his silent stuff, I reviewed FIDDLESTICKS a few weeks ago in the Random Comedy Reviews section, complete with a link to a YouTube video of the short.  Worth checking out and it also has Vernon Dent in a dual role.

[falsealarms]

Hal Roach Langdon is an unusual place to go when you’ve only seen a few Columbia shorts, which should make your reaction to them that much more interesting.  Again with these negative reviews, there is this big thing in the Langdon community where he’s viewed as a lost has been the moment he and Frank Capra split, which was in 1927.  I don’t buy it one bit.  I have seen the six Langdon shorts in this collection with sounds plus a few Educationals and Columbias as well as A SOLDIER’S PLAYTHING and ZENOBIA and enjoy it all.  I admit I like his silent stuff best, but not to the point where I can’t enjoy the talkies for the funny films they are.

If you do want to check out his silent stuff, I reviewed FIDDLESTICKS a few weeks ago in the Random Comedy Reviews section, complete with a link to a YouTube video of the short.  Worth checking out and it also has Vernon Dent in a dual role.

I'm hoping my set ships soon and gets here some time this week. Honestly, I don't let the negative reviews phase me with something I haven't seen. At the end of the day I'll be making my own mind up on these.  I'm just looking forward to checking out some Roach material I haven't seen before. I've resisted watching a couple of these on YouTube figuring the prints will be better on the DVD. I'll have to check out more of his work.

[metaldams]

I'm hoping my set ships soon and gets here some time this week. Honestly, I don't let the negative reviews phase me with something I haven't seen. At the end of the day I'll be making my own mind up on these.  I'm just looking forward to checking out some Roach material I haven't seen before. I've resisted watching a couple of these on YouTube figuring the prints will be better on the DVD. I'll have to check out more of his work.

My copy is not scheduled to arrive until either this weekend or early next week.  I’ll be pitching my thoughts as I’m watching them (and yes, I’ll get that Amazon review up), and I look forward to the audio commentaries as well, which I know will be historically defending these films.

Edit:  and literally when I finish typing the above, I get an email saying it’s shipped and will arrive Thursday!  Earlier than the original date posted, I know what I’ll be watching this weekend.

[falsealarms]

My copy is not scheduled to arrive until either this weekend or early next week.  I’ll be pitching my thoughts as I’m watching them (and yes, I’ll get that Amazon review up), and I look forward to the audio commentaries as well, which I know will be historically defending these films.

Edit:  and literally when I finish typing the above, I get an email saying it’s shipped and will arrive Thursday!  Earlier than the original date posted, I know what I’ll be watching this weekend.

Did you order yours from Amazon? That's where I ordered mine a couple months ago - it was originally supposed to arrive on release day, then Thursday due to coronavirus related delays. But here it is on Tuesday night and still no shipment notice. I might bail on it and get it from Best Buy if there's another delay.

[metaldams]

Did you order yours from Amazon? That's where I ordered mine a couple months ago - it was originally supposed to arrive on release day, then Thursday due to coronavirus related delays. But here it is on Tuesday night and still no shipment notice. I might bail on it and get it from Best Buy if there's another delay.

Yup from Amazon.  Preordered a while back.

[Freddie Sanborn]

Here’s a generally positive review from the “In the Balcony” site: http://www.inthebalcony.com/harry-langdon.html

[falsealarms]

Looks like Friday will be delivery day for me. I recently moved from the  Northeast to the Midwest for a job, and I'll be watching these mere miles from Harry's hometown of Council Bluffs. There's even a street named after him there.

[metaldams]

Looks like Friday will be delivery day for me. I recently moved from the  Northeast to the Midwest for a job, and I'll be watching these mere miles from Harry's hometown of Council Bluffs. There's even a street named after him there.

That’s great and had no clue you’re from Iowa. 

My set actually arrived today.  Watched the first three shorts and commentaries.  HOTTER THAN HOT is excellent.  Any film where Langdon is a pyromaniac who asks Thelma Todd if she wants to do “boom boom” is good as is, but when you add the doll gag on the couch...real good stuff.  SKY BOY has some cool wintry outdoor bits and SKIRT SHY, which I’ve seen before, is on the surreal side.  Very interesting set and the Richard Roberts commentaries are always worth hearing.  Will place my Amazon review when I finish the set.

[falsealarms]

That’s great and had no clue you’re from Iowa. 

My set actually arrived today.  Watched the first three shorts and commentaries.  HOTTER THAN HOT is excellent.  Any film where Langdon is a pyromaniac who asks Thelma Todd if she wants to do “boom boom” is good as is, but when you add the doll gag on the couch...real good stuff.  SKY BOY has some cool wintry outdoor bits and SKIRT SHY, which I’ve seen before, is on the surreal side.  Very interesting set and the Richard Roberts commentaries are always worth hearing.  Will place my Amazon review when I finish the set.

Until a few months ago, I had spent my entire life in upstate NY but moved to Omaha for a job. HOTTER THAN HOT sounds like one of the more intriguing shorts on the disc - it's too bad about the missing soundtrack.  It'll be interesting to watch a sound short without a soundtrack but with music instead.

[Freddie Sanborn]

Were you near Elmira, Hal Roach’s hometown and the setting of the train station in The Head Guy?

Until a few months ago, I had spent my entire life in upstate NY but moved to Omaha for a job. HOTTER THAN HOT sounds like one of the more intriguing shorts on the disc - it's too bad about the missing soundtrack.  It'll be interesting to watch a sound short without a soundtrack but with music instead.