Topic: Lucky Stars (1925) - Harry Langdon

[Paul Pain]

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016053/

The next two shorts, supposedly HORACE GREELEY, JR. and THE WHITE WING'S BRIDE, are lost shorts.  We thus move to LUCKY STARS.


LUCKY STARS is a direct vehicle for Harry Langdon.  All else is gravy.  Harry's innocent childlike qualities are featured front and center throughout this one.

Harry is gullible, timid, naïve, and more in this short.  First, he consults an astrologer who tells him to follow his "lucky stars."  All after is a series of mishaps that befall the innocent and well-intended man.  A crate is recklessly through on his trunk; he boards the wrong train; falls into the clutches of a quack; gets chiseled; falls for a vamp; and gets chased by angry citizens of a town.

The funniest part may be Harry with the alcoholic beverage.  This drink leads to a funny exchange between he and Vernon Dent involving turn-arounds and deception.  It ends with the glass put on the ground awkwardly in the middle of a street.

The other highlight is Harry mixing the "medicine."  First, observe how he adds the ingredients; second, watch him mixing the snake oil.  Throughout everything, Harry brilliantly carries every scene by his body language.

[metaldams]

About two minutes of footage from HORACE GREELY, JR. exists.

My understanding of HORACE GREELY, JR. and THE WHITE WING’S BRIDE is they were shot in 1923 for Sol Lesser but not released at the time.  Mack Sennett bought the films when he bought Langdon’s contract and released them in 1925 while Langdon was filming HIS FIRST FLAME, a feature.  Since this took longer to film, Sennett released these old Sol Lesser films to get Langdon product out there in the interim.

The release order of Langdon’s silents and actual filming order, all the way up to 1927 do not reflect Harry’s artistic development.  It must have been unconsciously jarring for the public.

[Freddie Sanborn]

About two minutes of footage from HORACE GREELY, JR. exists.

My understanding of HORACE GREELY, JR. and THE WHITE WING’S BRIDE is they were shot in 1923 for Sol Lesser but not released at the time.  Mack Sennett bought the films when he bought Langdon’s contract and released them in 1925 while Langdon was filming HIS FIRST FLAME, a feature.  Since this took longer to film, Sennett released these old Sol Lesser films to get Langdon product out there in the interim.

The release order of Langdon’s silents and actual filming order, all the way up to 1927 do not reflect Harry’s artistic development.  It must have been unconsciously jarring for the public.

From what I’ve read, Pathe owned those two Lesser films, not Sennett. Just like Sennett would do later, Pathe delayed their release knowing that Langdon’s popularity would only grow under Sennett. This practice really hurt Harry. His First Flame was shot in 1925 but held back until 1927 AFTER Harry had released Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, The Strong Man, and Long Pants. His First Flame must have looked archaic compared to Harry’s mature First National work.

[metaldams]

Yeah, according to IMDb, it is Pathe, so I stand corrected.  Could have sworn I read somewhere it was Sennett who released it, but I guess not.

[Paul Pain]

This practice explains the jarring setbacks we see in some of these shorts... they've been stewing a while before release.

[metaldams]

This practice explains the jarring setbacks we see in some of these shorts... they've been stewing a while before release.

When we start doing the features, for every short released after, it was filmed before TRAMP, TRAMP, TRAMP. All of those shorts were filmed in 1925 or earlier and in the case of FIDDLESTICKS, released late 1927.  That one is between THREE’S A CROWD and THE CHASER, which is more jarring when you actually watch those two features.

….and yeah, agree with Freddie.  HIS FIRST FLAME indeed must have seemed archaic at the time it was released.

[metaldams]

      It’s funny.  I was watching Langdon walk and move around in this short and it reminded me of something that I could not figure out at first.  Langdon will move a step in one direction followed by a half step in the opposite direction looking completely confused and disoriented.  It then dawned on me what it was - my friend’s baby son, who just turned one this past Saturday.  I visited my friend a little more than a month ago and took about a minute’s worth of video footage on my phone of the kid trying to walk.  He can only walk when he holds onto something for support at this point, but that wobbly nature is like Harry at times.

      LUCKY STARS is completely surreal and this short is, at times, the most minimalist Harry has been to date.  Check out that opening scene.  He’s basically staring at the sky, not doing much, yet manages to be funny and captivating at the same time.  When he finally does get up, he continues sky gazing while being confused like a baby in the multiple directions he takes a step.  Also check him out on that train, he looks so confused and lonely.  It’s worth repeating, he was a total original, no one else before him was like this that I can recall.

      The beer scene with Vernon has got to be the highlight, another in my personal highlight reel of Langdon scenes.  Just that glass of beer lying on the ground and the confused and disoriented Harry, deciding whether to obey the allure of alcohol or following the orders of Vernon Dent yelling at him.  The topper is when Harry starts yelling at the beer the way Vernon yells at him!   The constant back and forth movement and the way Langdon’s attention and motive shifts is fantastic.

      Gotta give old Vernon some credit as an entertaining carny and Natalie Kingston looks gorgeous here, about the only competition to keep my eyes off Harry.  Love the old Mexican town scenery and find the whole short fun to watch.  Another classic.

[metaldams]

…..oh, and got to mention the blank stare and pause from Harry when the luggage crushes his luggage of pies on the ground.  Another fine Langdon moment.

[Umbrella Sam]

Another fun 20 minutes with Harry. Admittedly, I don’t think they do a great job following through with the setup; the idea of all this stuff predicted to Harry coming true is a nice idea, but the whole scene with Natalie Kingston never really goes anywhere and they very well could have cut it and not lost anything. That being said, I agree about Harry’s reaction to the luggage being crushed and him constantly going back and forth with the beer being the big highlights; both great moments that take advantage of his character being out of touch with the world. I also really like his interaction with the customer who won’t take the medicine; slowly Harry convinces himself more and more that this man needs the medicine to the point where he’s giving up his money for the man’s health! And, while it’s not necessarily funny, I do like watching him play the banjo while Vernon is promoting the medicine; it’s just fun watching him knowing that was something he actually enjoyed playing in real life. The scenery and costumes are standouts too; even though it mostly takes place at night, it looks very nice visually. I often have to remind myself that these are Sennett shorts, because they really don’t feel like them. It’s to the credit of Langdon and his crew that they managed to create such a unique style and follow it through at a studio that normally had a set style of humor.

[HomokHarcos]

I'm really becoming a huge fan of Langdon, in terms of ranking my favorite classic comedians I'm starting to think he would rank third, after Laurel and Hardy and The Three Stooges.

Harry as a character is somebody I'm always drawn to, he does such a believable job playing his character, that I feel sympathetic and sorry for him, something that's rare for me in fictional characters. I like the luggage scene where the the suitcases start falling down. My other favorite part was seeing Harry and Vernon work together with the typical carny scene, it's funny that Harry is playing the banjo while Vernon was selling it, I wonder if they were supposed to be singing an advertising jingle, it's a funny thought. The part with the vamp, I agree wasn't as strong, but Natalie Kingston did the best she could.