Before discussing the film proper, I would like to get in some background info and Stooge links of interest. FIDDLESTICKS was released by Mack Sennett in 1927, well after Langdon left Sennett to do independent features. Sennett had a backlog of Langdon films not yet released after Langdon left and FIDDLESTICKS is one of them. Released in November 1927, four of the six features Langdon made after leaving Sennett have already been released by this point! So yes, there was a lot of Langdon product in 1927 as a result. You’ll notice one of the writers credited here is Frank Capra. I’m not going to get into the Capra/Langdon controversy as it has been discussed in several different other places, but it’s at least worth mentioning Capra is a writer here. Stooge fans will notice Harry Edwards as the director, who in the twenties was in much better form. At Columbia in the forties he was a controversial figure with The Three Stooges and Vera Vague refusing to work with him after a while. With Harry Langdon in the twenties, it was another story. Edwards was in his prime and was a major collaborator with Langdon. You’ll also notice Vernon Dent in dual roles here. Dent was another major player in the Langdon story. As important to Langdon as he was The Three Stooges - maybe a tad more so, even.
As for FIDDLESTICKS itself, one of my favorite Harry Langdon short comedies. I’m a sucker for these old comedies set in these first generation immigrant neighborhoods. Add that Langdon is playing a big upright bass like Oliver Hardy (though Langdon plays with a bow, Hardy finger style) and FIDDLESTICKS works as brother to Laurel and Hardy’s BELOW ZERO in my mind. It is funny Langdon came to prominence at Mack Sennett in the twenties. Outside of Langdon, the best Sennett of the twenties (a lot of it directed by Del Lord) had really elaborate gags, massive chase scenes and knockabout slapstick. Langdon’s comedy is of a slower kind. There are two pantomime scenes in FIDDLESTICKS which are definitely Langdon like and not the kind of thing associated with Sennett. At one point, Langdon is washing himself with water. He dries himself by the window, meticulously moving his clothes and body in a way to dry himself with the wind. The fact a simple task like drying one self can be such a ritual is unique in itself and fascinating to watch. Most comedians focus on broad slapstick, with Langdon, it’s drying oneself. My favorite bit of pantomime is when he’s walking down the street, back turned to the camera. He keeps shaking his leg and adjusting his pants in a way to get a fly out. Then he moves to the side and methodically lifts his leg up to stomp the fly on the ground. Langdon uses his body elaborately to tell a simple story of removing a fly and stomping on it, all with his back to the camera. Great stuff.
Langdon’s character is also really out of touch with the rest of the world. He’s an awful bass player but thinks he’s great. The neighbors issue a complaint to his instructor, so the instructor rushes Langdon a diploma just so he can stop him from annoying the neighbors. Langdon can’t see what’s going on, believing he’s an accredited musician. He then goes out on the street to play with the instructor’s band and is too dense to realize the neighbors are throwing stuff at the band because of his lousy playing. He doesn’t get it until the instructor verbally tells him the diploma was a farce. Even the way Langdon moves is out of step. When the neighbors throw objects out of the window, notice how all the other band members run right away and how delayed Langdon’s reaction is. When he finally does run away, it’s another direction than everyone else. When it is discovered by the junk dealer that throwing objects on the street after Langdon plays gives the dealer free junk to grab and sell for profit, it leads to a wonderful sight gag of Langdon playing in a giant cage, protecting him from the objects being hurled at him. Langdon himself still looks oblivious in the cage, just happy to be playing! One of my all time favorite Langdon images, for sure.
The previously mentioned instructor and junk dealer are both played by Vernon Dent wearing different make ups. He does a wonderful job in both and any fan of Vernon Dent should watch this and other Langdon films he was in. So yeah, I really enjoy FIDDLESTICKS and can’t think of one bad thing to say about it. Langdon is not for everybody, but he’s definitely for me. If you’ve never seen his work before, I think FIDDLESTICKS is a great intro, hence why I reviewed this one first. You better believe there’ll be more Langdon reviews in the future.
