Frank Capra’s first on screen credit with Harry Langdon was PLAIN CLOTHES. I have the Harry Langdon: Lost and Found DVD set that came out in 2007. Richard Roberts makes a point in his audio commentary that Langdon is fully developed at this point and Capra is nowhere to be found. Yet online sources say Capra has worked on this one. Either Roberts, who really is knowledgeable on this stuff, is wrong, the Internet is wrong, or new information has come to light in the past fifteen years indicating Capra worked on ALL NIGHT LONG uncredited. If Capra did work on this and if this indeed his first Langdon film, Langdon was Langdon before Capra. However, ALL NIGHT LONG is the first short, from a writing perspective, that is 100% Langdon. So maybe, going by the theory Capra did enter here, Capra was the final ingredient. However, Langdon’s films were certainly heading here without him. But yeah, I’m curious as to where the info of Capra working on this short came from. On screen credit, at least, is PLAIN CLOTHES.
That out of the way, ALL NIGHT LONG is indeed a classic and much better than THE LEATHER NECKER. When I say this is 100% Langdon, I mean no Mack Sennett Bathing Beauties, no big chases that don’t incorporate Langdon’s characters and no hints that Langdon is part of the neurotypical world. Natalie Kingston, who plays Vernon Dent’s girlfriend and will be Langdon’s leading lady for a while going forward, comes on to Harry, in front of Vernon, right away. The kiss reaction, done later by Stan Laurel, is indeed a signature Langdon moment. I love the look on his face, the slow reaction, his falling out of the window and his drunken like walk back into the house. What are they cranking there, three frames per second? Anyone, a great Langdon moment and not the kind of thing I can’t picture any other comedian of the time doing. What is also hysterical is how long it takes Langdon to figure out that Vernon’s girl. There is one shot of the two sitting at the dinner table where Langdon looks oblivious and Dent has this mean scowl on his face. A perfect shot of the dynamic between the two.
Other favorite moments are Harry in the mirror in the beginning of the short. He sees his reflection and greets himself like it’s another person. I see cats looking in the mirror videos on YouTube where they are similarly confused. I love the excited and confused jerky mannerisms Langdon displays when walking with Vernon after being invited to dinner, the long gaze after he reads his girlfriend’s letter, the climb on the pole dodging the missiles - really all of this short. A great Langdon short and great story. For any Stooge fan who may read this wondering why we care about this stuff, Vernon Dent. Classic Vernon Dent.