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Fiddlesticks (1927) - Harry Langdon

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Offline metaldams



     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.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline Paul Pain

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I will get to this one tomorrow night.  I didn't know Harry had any silent shorts.  I only knew of his Columbia's.
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Offline metaldams

I will get to this one tomorrow night.  I didn't know Harry had any silent shorts.  I only knew of his Columbia's.

Not my personal list - I’ve stopped ranking comedians years ago - but as far as silent comedians go, Harry Langdon is usually ranked fourth behind Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd.  Considering there were a zillion silent comedians, not bad.  I am a huge fan of his silent work myself and look forward to your opinion.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline Paul Pain

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Is Vernon Dent also playing one of the brothers?

I just watched this and enjoyed it a lot.  Langdon really does tell a nice story with subtlety, although he's a bit heavy with the mime makeup.  He is really suited to the silents, much like Buster was.  A good choice to introduce the world to Harry... much better than his Columbia material with which I am familiar.

Vernon Dent is fantastic here and is visibly 20 years younger.  I think tomorrow I will pay some homage to him.

10/10 [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke]
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Offline metaldams

Is Vernon Dent also playing one of the brothers?

I just watched this and enjoyed it a lot.  Langdon really does tell a nice story with subtlety, although he's a bit heavy with the mime makeup.  He is really suited to the silents, much like Buster was.  A good choice to introduce the world to Harry... much better than his Columbia material with which I am familiar.

Vernon Dent is fantastic here and is visibly 20 years younger.  I think tomorrow I will pay some homage to him.

10/10 [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke] [poke]

Not sure who the actors are who play the brothers, but not Vernon.  Yeah, it is a trip seeing a younger version of Vernon.  SATURDAY AFTERNOON is a trip watching an early 30’s Vernon chat it up with young ladies and even earlier than that, you can see him be a rival for MABEL NORMAND in THE EXTRA GIRL.  Lots of young Vernon footage out there.

Glad you enjoyed this short.  I do like talking Langdon and some of it is very under appreciated, but his silent stuff is his most classic period. 
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline Umbrella Sam

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This is definitely a film that works better as a silent film than it would have as a sound film. Instead of having to endure an awful sounding bass player, we get to imagine what it sounds like instead, and those title cards really do a good job at conveying how awful it truly is.

Langdon’s character is very fascinating considering how different he was from the other major silent comedians of the time. While Keaton would often use resourcefulness to get his way, Langdon often gets his way through pure luck. The scene where the store owner thinks Langdon’s bass is his is a good example. When the customer gives Langdon 10 dollars for the violin, Langdon gives it to the store owner and also tries to explain that the other customer meant for the money to be given to him. But of course, the store owner thinks he’s buying the bass, so Langdon just happens to get the bass back. I thought that was a pretty funny situation. The piano part towards the end is another good example.

Otherwise, the rest of it is basically people throwing stuff at Langdon...and, yeah, that actually is a very funny concept, especially when the band he’s trying to play with doesn’t know that he’s the one ruining everything at first.

Overall, it’s a very funny short, and a really interesting concept.

10 out of 10
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Offline metaldams

This is definitely a film that works better as a silent film than it would have as a sound film. Instead of having to endure an awful sounding bass player, we get to imagine what it sounds like instead, and those title cards really do a good job at conveying how awful it truly is.

Langdon’s character is very fascinating considering how different he was from the other major silent comedians of the time. While Keaton would often use resourcefulness to get his way, Langdon often gets his way through pure luck. The scene where the store owner thinks Langdon’s bass is his is a good example. When the customer gives Langdon 10 dollars for the violin, Langdon gives it to the store owner and also tries to explain that the other customer meant for the money to be given to him. But of course, the store owner thinks he’s buying the bass, so Langdon just happens to get the bass back. I thought that was a pretty funny situation. The piano part towards the end is another good example.

Otherwise, the rest of it is basically people throwing stuff at Langdon...and, yeah, that actually is a very funny concept, especially when the band he’s trying to play with doesn’t know that he’s the one ruining everything at first.

Overall, it’s a very funny short, and a really interesting concept.

10 out of 10

I have to disagree about a bad bass player in sound film not working.  If less people had your attitude - I’d be a famous actor.  [pie]

Nice write up and the thing about good things happening to Langdon, or the fact he is guided by the hand of God, is what Frank Capra always said he invented.  There is even an early Langdon short called, “Luck o’ the Foolish.”  The problem with Capra’s proclamation is that this idea was established with Langdon’s character way before Capra started collaborating.
- Doug Sarnecky