Harry Langdon: At Hal Roach 1929-30 Coming in April
While comedy short subjects were a staple of the movie-going experience in the 1930s and 40s, most short comedies (beyond those of The Three Stooges) have rarely been seen since their original release. Happily, the short comedies of Hal Roach Studios (also known as “The Lot of Fun”) have been making their way back to the public through DVD collections from Kit Parker Films’ label The Sprocket Vault.
Previous collections have included Volume One and Two of Charley Chase’s sound comedies, as well as a collection of the Thelma Todd/Zasu Pitts shorts. On April 14th, silent comedy great, Harry Langdon, gets his turn in the spotlight with a complete collection of the rare talkies that he made from 1929-30. I didn’t know that all of these films survived, so I’m very curious to check out this release.
Here are the details from the Amazon pre-order page:
Harry Langdon: At Hal Roach 1929-30
After falling from Hollywood stardom at the end of the Silent Era, quirky silent film comedian Harry Langdon made not only his first talking films, but also his first screen comeback with a series of eight two-reelers for comedy producer Hal Roach. This pre-code series offers an interesting and entertaining look at what critic James Agee referred to as Langdon’s baby dope fiend characterization, presented for the only time in sound as the undiluted comic creation he made famous in silent films. Langdon had developed a strange, stream-of-consciousness vocal patter in vaudeville, as showcased here. With another fifteen years to go in talkies after he made these shorts, Harry Langdon would never again deliver to films full-force his truly bizarre humor. Along for the ride is the beautiful comedienne Thelma Todd in some of her earliest film appearances at the Lot of Fun, as well as others from the Hal Roach Stock Company like Edgar Kennedy and Max Davidson. This is Harry Langdon at his most surreal. 1929: Hotter Than Hot, Sky Boy, Skirt Shy ; 1930: The Head Guy , The Fighting Parson, The Big Kick, The Shrimp, The King
Special Features:
- La estación de gasolina (Spanish language version of The Big Kick)
- Hal Roach Presents Harry Langdon (1929)
- Hal Roach Studio Auction (1963)
- Commentary by Richard M. Roberts
- Photo Gallery
- Supplemental music composed and performed by Andrew Earle Simpson.
I’ve seen all these movies (via TCM) except the first two in the list. I find them hilarious, especially “The King”, where it appears that the Roach writers FINALLY figured out just what to DO with the little elf. But there were indeed later efforts where he does everything “full force”… for instance, an ‘Educational Pictures’ short called “The Big Flash” (1932). He actually reprises quite a number of schticks from earlier movies as well as new ones for an original story. I hope someday somehow someone can put all the Langdon Educational shorts AND the Columbia shorts on DVD/Blu-ray for us.
There are so many comedy short subjects just sitting in vaults. I would love to see them all released eventually on DVD, Blu-ray, or Digital HD.