Topic: Larry Semon appreciation thread

[falsealarms]

Many years ago, I heard an interview with Moe where he mentioned Larry Semon in passing as a "great comedian."

But until last week, I had never seen any of Semon's films. The Vitagraph Comedy Collection Blu-ray rectified that.

To say the Semon films on that set left an impression on me would be an understatement.

I didn't know what to expect and went in with no expectations. But I was often blown away by Semon, particularly in films like The Grocery Clerk, The Bell Hop, and The Head Waiter.

The frenetic pacing, the physical comedy, the energy, and the extravagant gags, leave no wonder as to why Semon was popular in his time.

I've seen all the Keaton silents, including those with Arbuckle, along with several of the Chaplin Mutuals, a couple Langdon silents, a few Lloyd silents, and some of the silent Laurel & Hardys.

To me, Semon at his best can stand head to head with any of those.

Now, I'm eager to see more of his work. Restored versions of some of his other shorts, like The Rent Collector, The Bakery, and The Show, show up on Flicker Alley's Laurel or Hardy set.

Anyone else here a Semon fan?

It would have been interesting to see what he might have done in the sound era had he lived that long.

[metaldams]

I have a ton of Semon shorts on disc, but one of the nice things about that Vitagraph set is that 3rd disc collects a bunch on one disc.  All my other shorts are scattered throughout multiple collections.

Overall, I like Larry, but there are caveats.  One reelers like HINDOOS AND HAZARDS are actually what I want to see more of at this point.  The earlier stuff has more of Larry and tend to be pretty creative and fast paced.

As for the two reelers - I like them in small doses.  The first short I ever saw was THE GROCERY CLERK on the Slapstick Encycopedia set over twenty years ago.  I was just as blown away as you.  The gags and the pure spectacle were out of this world.  However, when watching a bunch in order - there is a sameness.  Somebody is almost guaranteed to get some gook on his or her person and it will be highly telegraphed before hand.  A man swinging off a silo or airplane?  Very common.  Yes, it’s an amazing stunt, but done a lot.  Another thing to consider - unlike Keaton, Semon doesn’t do his own stunts.  There are large stretches in his films where he’s actually not on screen.

Yes, I do like the guy, but I can’t watch multiple shorts in a row like I can with other comedians.  When placed in isolation with different style comedy shorts?  Then they really hit the spot.

[falsealarms]

I have a ton of Semon shorts on disc, but one of the nice things about that Vitagraph set is that 3rd disc collects a bunch on one disc.  All my other shorts are scattered throughout multiple collections.

Overall, I like Larry, but there are caveats.  One reelers like HINDOOS AND HAZARDS are actually what I want to see more of at this point.  The earlier stuff has more of Larry and tend to be pretty creative and fast paced.

As for the two reelers - I like them in small doses.  The first short I ever saw was THE GROCERY CLERK on the Slapstick Encycopedia set over twenty years ago.  I was just as blown away as you.  The gags and the pure spectacle were out of this world.  However, when watching a bunch in order - there is a sameness.  Somebody is almost guaranteed to get some gook on his or her person and it will be highly telegraphed before hand.  A man swinging off a silo or airplane?  Very common.  Yes, it’s an amazing stunt, but done a lot.  Another thing to consider - unlike Keaton, Semon doesn’t do his own stunts.  There are large stretches in his films where he’s actually not on screen.

Yes, I do like the guy, but I can’t watch multiple shorts in a row like I can with other comedians.  When placed in isolation with different style comedy shorts?  Then they really hit the spot.

If I see more of his films, maybe I will have a different opinion but I watched the 5-6 on the Vitagraph disc in the span of about 48 hours and they held up for me. HINDOO and HAZARDS was a lot of frenetic fun as well.

I will say, even though it may be his most known film, THE SAWMILL wasn't as good as some other ones on that set. The score of the short also felt like it wasn't right, at least to me.

What do you think of some of his other films like THE BAKERY, THE SHOW, and THE RENT COLLECTOR? I believe I read THE RENT COLLECTOR may be incomplete - those three are on the LAUREL OR HARDY set, along with one he made with Laurel, BEARS AND BAD MEN (1918).

[NoahYoung]

If I were him I would have changed my last name...
 

I've only see a handful of his stuff, usually with Stan or Ollie. Never made an impression on me. A few months ago I picked up a Blackhawk print of BATHING BEAUTIES AND BIG BOOBS on 8mm, and it was just "ok." Not sure how that title got by the censors!

[Tony Bensley]

For me, the one Larry Semon short that made an impression was KID SPEED (1924), which is on a 2 disc Laurel & Hardy Public Domain DVD set from the mid 2000s.

Larry's foray into feature films with THE WIZARD OF OZ (1925) is pretty underwhelming to me, though. Especially the version that's narrated in children's storybook form by a 1970s soft core adult film actress, whose name escapes me (Paging Noah Young?  ), at the moment!

CHEERS!