Topic: The Hitch Hiker (1933) - Harry Langdon

[Paul Pain]

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024126/

This should be a very familiar setting.  Oh, how familiar this short is.  THE STRONG MAN remade as a talkie!!  OK, not quite, but after some early scenes to set up the plot, this is mostly a remake of the limburger-instead-of-chest-rub gag from THE STRONG MAN.  This time, however, the rival is none other than Vernon Dent.

The opening scene is a great excuse just to see Harry out of sync with the rest of the world as he messes up a movie scene.  This sees Harry do some water aerobics to establish a reason for him to have a cold.

After this, we get a treat.  THE HITCH HIKER,  in 1933, shows early airplane travel in a way that is highly educational to modern audiences as to what those early flights were like.  After some mix-ups, hobo Harry is on the plane.  From there, it's the cold scene from THE STRONG MAN with a different twist on the ending.

This scene is fantastic in sound just as was in silent, and again it is superior to the version from ALL THE WORLD'S A STOOGE.  I prefer the first one, but the addition of sound and the always formidable Vernon Dent makes this one a classic in its own right.  THIS short NEEDS TO BE RESTORED ASAP!!!  Harry carries this routine here just as well, if not a little better than his first interpretation and really puts a stamp on his comic style.

Is it too daring to say Harry adapted to sound better than most of his contemporaries?  What are your reasons to support or debunk this question?

[Freddie Sanborn]

I love the fact that the actors at the beginning were ringers for Garbo and Gilbert.

[Umbrella Sam]

Even though the majority of it is mostly a remake of a scene from THE STRONG MAN, it still plays well in sound and it has the benefit of having Vernon as the rival. That may not sound like much at the beginning, but I think this short does show how much Vernon contributes simply by being there. Whereas in THE STRONG MAN, the original actor kind of just acted annoyed along with everyone else, Vernon is more lively in his reactions with Harry and stands a bit more independently to the other passengers. Outside of an occasional interruption by Ruth Clifford (who later voiced Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse in the 1940s), this is mostly just Harry and Vernon. They do a funny, but brief hat mixup and Harry does his signature little punch with Vernon responding with a large swing. I love the little glares he gives Vernon before hitting him, those were pretty funny too. There’s also the twist that Harry makes Vernon sick in the process, which allows for a hilarious moment where Harry decides to be friendly and stick the cheese in front of Vernon’s face to smell. Is it better than the silent take? First off, it’s amazing I’m even asking that at all, as I was expecting this to totally pale in comparison, but it actually is quite close. There is enough changed in this version to actually recommend it as a standalone sequence. Yeah, the coughing from Harry can occasionally be a bit much, but that’s really the only complaint I have. It’s a good remake, and the newer setup works too, especially Harry’s over the top movements when trying to hitchhike. A fun short and, yeah, definitely one I would like to see restored too.

As for the question of Harry adapting to sound better than his contemporaries...I agree, mostly based on the fact that his sound persona was not drastically different from his silent persona; he did basically just do the same thing, but with sound and no evidence of artistic interference really until the later Columbia shorts. I might try going deeper into this subject a bit later as I think it is an interesting debate topic, but for now I will cite some examples of Langdon sound films that I think are good support for that: THE FIGHTING PARSON, THE BIG KICK, KNIGHT DUTY, I DON’T REMEMBER, and COLD TURKEY. There are more, of course, which we’ll get to soon enough, but those 5 often come to mind when I think of Langdon’s sound shorts.

[metaldams]

I’ll comment on the film this weekend, but to comment on adapting to sound….

Going by my personal tastes and not necessarily the tastes of the public at the time - Lloyd adapted best.   WELCOME DANGER was too long and awkward, but after that, I felt like I was just watching Lloyd films again, with sound added.  Feels closest to a continuation of the silent days for me.

Keaton lost control though his acting in sound was fine.  Chaplin took forever to do sound and when he did, he wasn’t The Tramp anymore.  Good films, especially MONSIEUR VERDOUX, but by the forties, sound was so established.  Langdon seemed to go back to his roots doing these shorts and old routines.

[metaldams]

….and in shorts, throw Chase and Laurel and Hardy in the Lloyd category - continuing on like nothing happened.  Smooth transition.

[metaldams]

Yes, throw me in the crowd that feels Harry and Vernon belong together and the vapor rub/Limburger cheese scene indeed measures up to THE STRONG MAN.  Vernon Dent makes all the difference with his reactions, plus Harry’s slow punch and Vernon’s reaction simply works best in this version.  The coup de grace, however, would have to be Vernon being so annoyed with Langdon that he opens the emergency hatch on the plane and dumps Harry down it.  How angry would you have to be at a person to do that?  So funny.

But in addition to the great remake of THE STRONG MAN scene, Harry gets his perfect introduction - being mistaken for and then interacting with dummies.  Dummies, along with Vernon, are Harry’s ideal support.  As Freddie points out, indeed a nice Garbo/Gilbert parody in the beginning, and I have the director pegged as a conglomerate of Von Stroheim, Von Sternberg, Von Erich, Von Raschke - Von Somebody, basically one of those wild European directors.  I also love the way Harry’s fall from the plane comes back to the filming scene, bringing the short full circle. 

Speaking of that beginning scene, is that the same lake used in all those early Keystone shorts?  Sure looks like it, anyway.