Film & Shorts Discussions > Random Comedy Reviews

Saturday Afternoon (1926) - Harry Langdon

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Paul Pain:


IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017347/

Long story short... I budgeted my time to watch and review this short... and discovered it was significantly longer than the rest and that I didn't have time to watch it.  The short that should have been next, THERE HE GOES, is mostly lost.

Have at it, folks...

Paul Pain's review
There is no review.  Read metaldams' review below mine because he and I are in 100% agreement on this one.  I make further comments though.

This short solidified for me an increasingly strong reality: Harry Langdon was indeed the fourth head on a Mount Rushmore of silent comedy.  Those four heads need not be named, but it is indisputable that Harry has (1) a completely unique persona, (2) a completely unique approach to comedy, and (3) the ability to be consistently funny even when everything else in the short is bad.  Look away from that Mount Rushmore, and you will always find one of those three things lacking.

Paul Pain:

Here is the surviving footage from THERE HE GOES.

metaldams:
Just edit in your review later. I did that a few times during my Stooge run.

HomokHarcos:
This is the film that proves to me that Harry Langdon and Vernon Dent could have been a full fledged comedy duo; they have fantastic chemistry and the story of them getting away from abusive wives and spending the day out with friendlier women is a plot that would be later used by Laurel and Hardy. The main difference being that Vernon Dent is much less innocent and is clearly aware of what he is doing.

I like the gag of Harry Langdon hiding his money under the rug, it reminds me of Stan Laurel hiding his money to keep it from being taken by his wife. Surprisingly, Harry actually stands up to his wife and says he's taking charge and is going to go out with other women, his wife thinks he's just bluffing, but he's actually not. Things of course don't go according to plan as their get stuck on the road and their boyfriends get angry.

Supposedly they made talkies as a comedy duo for Paramount, unfortunately they are all lost.

metaldams:
Concerning THERE HE GOES.  You can read my little comment about it in the comment section of the YouTube video (metaldams78 with the Cliff Burton avatar).  I was having a rough day at work and had a fifteen minute break.  Went into my car, checked YouTube on my phone and this came up in my recommendations.  I was thrilled I got to get a few minutes of “new” Langdon to watch during my work break.  Totally cheered me up.  Hopefully the rest shows up someday.  I believe this may have been the last Sennett short released before Harry signed his First National contract - not that there weren’t plenty of Sennett shorts released after anyway.

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