Remembering HARRY LANGDON and my book on his silent films

Back in 2012, I did a book on Harry Langdon’s silent movies, and it turned to be a rather significant project at several levels. As to why I chose to write about these movies in the first place, I just got tired of Harry Langdon being an enigma, even among some of the most learned silent comedy buffs. thought a thorough assessment of his silent films, one-by-one, was necessary, and now that every available Langdon silent comedy is accessible on DVD, I thought it was also time.

I had just completed work on the book “Early Charlie Chaplin: The Artist as Apprentice at Keystone Studios” for Scarecrow Press, which was my tenth book, but first one written with the contribution of my friend Terri Lynch. who took on the role of proof reader; tightening my prose and suggesting rewrites to clarify some passages. She was a lot of help, so I asked her to work on the Langdon project as well. Terri had some awareness of Chaplin, and had never heard of Langdon, but she still agreed to provide the same service for this project.

As I examined the Sennett-produced Langdon shorts, I was impressed with how the comedian worked hard to incorporate his subtle gestures within the parameters of the knockabout Keystone style. Even in the earlier, most offbeat Langdon efforts, he is obviously trying to bring something out that is beyond the trappings of the knockabout Sennett style. The directors he was given were Keystone stalwarts who were blind to these attempts. Director Harry Edwards, however, recognized it, and allowed for this character, which Langdon had been honing on stage for years, to emerge and slowly overtake the method and structure of the film. Since Langdon's comedies became more and more successful, Sennett did not balk at the comedian and director's choice to challenge his established method. Thus, films like “All Night Long,” “Feet of Mud,” “Boobs in the Wood,” and “Saturday Afternoon” emerged as being among Langdon's finest work. The evolution was clear, the journey was enlightening, and Langdon's enormous significance in the realm of silent screen comedy made sense. It was such of a fascinating project to work on, I gave it more time than usual, and was finishing one chapter after another, completely enveloped in the quirky style of this strange and captivating performer.

I believed it would benefit the project if Terri would see a complete Langdon film, helping her better understand my chapters on someone with whom she had no familiarity. I pointed out that Langdon's Sennett-produced feature His First Flame was available complete on youtube. Terri watched it and her proofing of that chapter took on a greater depth, assisted by this new frame of reference. But what was completely unexpected was how much Terri made a connection to Harry Langdon, and his work, almost immediately. She told me:

What I had been reading about him helped me understand what to

look for and I was impressed right away. I was immediately taken by

his subtlety. I don't like obvious, blatant comedy, but Langdon required

me to watch very closely. Even the blinking of his eyelids generated an

emotional response.

Terri later took it upon herself to track down films like "His Marriage Wow" and “Saturday Afternoon” on youtube to better understand and appreciate the work she was proofing. I decided that as I wrote about the First National features, I would give Terri the DVDs along with my chapters, then she could watch the film before she proofed the writing. Terri practically co-wrote the remainder of the book, adding full paragraphs about certain scenes that she felt were necessary to the discussion. She loved “Tramp Tramp Tramp,” and by the time she watched “The Strong Man,” which she continues to call her "sentimental favorite," she was a bonafide Harry Langdon fan. Terri had misgivings about “Long Pants,” a film I love, but understood my perspective.

Being new to the films, Terri had little awareness of Frank Capra's claims that Harry was a mere puppet who was told how to move and act, and that once the comedian assumed greater control, he failed completely. All she knew was what she read in my chapters as she proofed them. Thus, when she saw Three's a Crowd she comfortably told me how much she admired it and agreed with me that it is his masterpiece. Her notes on my chapter, when recalling Harry's first appearance in the film as he sits up in bed, stated: "every blink of his eyes meant something."

I had every intention of celebrating this brilliant comedian's work, to be another in a succession of comedy geeks to defend him against Capra's lofty claims, to insist that his self-directed films had a real style and substance that even some of my fellow comedy buffs don't embrace. But Terri helped inspire this process because silent comedy was new and exciting to her, and I lived vicariously through her discoveries. It enhanced my already passionate appreciation of a comedian who came along after Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd had fully established themselves as the Big Three, and quickly caught up to make it a Big Four.

Harry Langdon is unlike any of the other comedians. He stood his ground as an artist and comfortably engaged in some edgy, quirky, surreal ideas. A champion of surrealists, Langdon's ideas were too far ahead of the mainstream, and that is why his stardom did not sustain that the highest level for the entirety of his career (the transition to sound films just as he was starting to direct his own features was another problem).

Harry Langdon remains an enigma in some circles, perhaps because his edgy artistry is not as accessible as the sentimental Chaplin, the technically adept Keaton, or the exciting Harold Lloyd. My book examining his silent screen work argues that his films of the 1920s show a creative journey that is as intellectually stimulating and imaginative as it is amusing and entertaining.

I asked Terri to co-write my next one, Buster Keaton’s Silent Shorts. She agreed to do so, and it became one of the books of which I am most proud. At the time, Terri stated, "What I really want is to co-write a book on Harry Langdon!" It's ok, Terri, you already have.

Here is the AMAZON link to my book: THE SILENT FILMS OF HARRY LANGDON (ignore the wagging head who didn't like it, the rest of the reviews are great - haha). CLICK HERE.