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When Chaplin first entered films he would revive his stage drunk act at the drop of a hat. Fields and the Marx Bros. would constantly recreate their many stage sketches on film and Keaton's entire film career harkened back to routines he once performed as part of the THREE KEATONS. In fact, pretty much any stage comic worth their salt would recreate some portion of their stage routines once they entered film. It's odd that Harry Langdon never really did. Twenty years on stage perfecting one act and he never felt compelled to refer back to it in any of his silent or sound movies?

As I say, I find it odd....

With several of his films still missing, who can say with absolute certainty that he didn't? Remember, before DUCK SOUP was located, many people wondered why it took Roach so long to "team" Laurel & Hardy. Perhaps he shot "Johnny's New Car" for Sol Lesser, or maybe that's the bit misssing from HIS FIRST FLAME. I doubt that it is, but it doesn't matter what I think; it's not based on evidence. Langdon's puzzle is still missing too many pieces. I do take your point: It probably wouldn't have hurt Harry to revive the bit after his popularity slipped. Then again, perhaps he worked it into one of the missing Paramount shorts. Only time will tell...hopefully.

Joe Migliore

I have always been of the opinion that Lesser did film the act - why else would people like Capra claim that he watched a 'film' of Langdon's act? - and maybe that's why Langdon never felt compelled to commit it to film again. On the other hand, it must had become fairly obvious that it would only be used as a reference, and for that reason alone you would think Langdon would had liked a professional reenactment of his act.

Gary Johnson wrote:Twenty years on stage perfecting one act and he never felt compelled to refer back to it in any of his silent or sound movies?

Well, we'll set aside the fact that, as part of his divorce settlement with Rose, SHE got the performance rights to much of their vaudeville material....

Thing is, Langdon didn't do just one act during those years. Yes, he pretty much spent the entire period utilizing a prop car, but he revamped and/or completely rewrote the act several times between 1906-1923. And bits from some of those acts showed up in films; to cite the most obvious example, the gag with Harry and Viola Dana in that Hollywood on Parade short is right out of Langdon's After the Ball (1921-23).

Interesting that this topic should arise, since feetofmud.com has just posted an excerpt from the Langdon book that I'm currently co-authoring, which covers the contents of and reaction to ONE of those acts during the years 1910-1915: http://www.feetofmud.com/feetofmud/Boulevard.html

Michael

It's not that surprising that this topic came up since that was the website that got me thinking of Langdon's act. I was already under the impression that his act continually evolved in those years, so thanks for that confirmation, Michael. And obviously I am not aware of every gag and bit that Langdon performed on stage for twenty years but the main set piece was always 'that car' and that had me perplexed that a long sequence with a recalcitrant auto never made it into any of his films. It sounds tailor made for Sennett and Del Lord. But I guess you answered that question by informing us of the divorce settlement.

So I do look forward to your book when it comes out. As a teaser, at what point does the Langdon charater that we know begin appearing on stage?

Gary Johnson wrote:As a teaser, at what point does the Langdon charater that we know begin appearing on stage?

As best as I can determine, based on the written evidence, Langdon the innocent man-child made his tentative debut no later than 1916, in Johnny's New Car. I say "tentative" because it took him about five more years to trust in that specific persona for longer than a vignette or two.

Michael

BearManor Media has seen fit to make our Harry Langdon book, LITTLE ELF, available now:

http://www.bearmanormedia.com/index.php ... uct_id=509

The webpage is not terribly detailed, so here's what fifty bucks buys: A 692-page extravaganza that is half biography, half filmography, illustrated with over 500 images. We combed through paper, microfilm and digital archives - plus the films themselves - to put together the most complete and thorough accounting of Langdon's life and career imaginable. Errors from previous books are explained and corrected. Steve Massa's Foreword and Ed Watz's Introduction set the stage.

As a bonus, the book also contains:

1) FIVE of Langdon's vaudeville scripts, straight from the Library of Congress archive, exactly as Harry (or his agent) typed 'em up. This includes TWO versions of "Johnny's New Car."

2) An illustrated full synopsis of HEART TROUBLE (1928).

3) TEN vintage profiles from various movie magazines from 1925-33.

For you talkie buffs, we found the dialogue and action continuities for the five Gillstrom-Paramount shorts (along with some stills for three of 'em), and these are summarized in the filmography.

On behalf of my partner, Chuck Harter, this was absolutely a labor of love, and even if you're one of the "Langdon haters" that Richard has written about, you're going to find things to like about this book. There's plenty of behind-the-scenes material and more than enough contemporary criticism (we included not only reviews for Langdon's films, but also exhibitor comments wherever possible) to get a true feel for the late silent-early talkie era, and just where Langdon stood before James Agee came along. Plus an entire chapter devoted to the Laurel & Hardy (and ZENOBIA) saga. (Reviews and exhibitor comments are also included for the four L&H films upon which Langdon worked, and THOSE should open a few eyes!)

We hope you enjoy it and look forward to reading the comments to come!

Michael

Gary Johnson wrote:When Chaplin first entered films he would revive his stage drunk act at the drop of a hat. Fields and the Marx Bros. would constantly recreate their many stage sketches on film and Keaton's entire film career harkened back to routines he once performed as part of the THREE KEATONS. In fact, pretty much any stage comic worth their salt would recreate some portion of their stage routines once they entered film. It's odd that Harry Langdon never really did. Twenty years on stage perfecting one act and he never felt compelled to refer back to it in any of his silent or sound movies?

As I say, I find it odd....

From surviving stills it would appear that at least some portion of Langdon's first and never released film for Sol Lesser, "Skyscrapers," contained elements of his car act.