Sunday, 1 April 2012

Soldier Man (Langdon 1926)

A few brilliant moments aside- the King's parade notably, Harry as the mock-King failing to understand his subjects' reverence- this is pretty tiresome. The initial scenario- the soldier still fighting the war because no-one has told him it is over- would be famously re-used by Langdon for Stan and Ollie's 'Blockheads', and to much better effect than here. Langdon carries off the mainly solo stuff of the first few minutes very well- his expressions and gestures are beautiful- but the material itself is a bit laboured. And from fighting a solo war the Langdon character somehow ends up as an impostor king, and that takes up the rest of your picture. Right up until the 'it was all a dream' conclusion. Always a sign that no-one involved could think up a better ending.
I didn't dislike this, but it didn't make my heart sing. You get to briefly see Langdon in a dual role though- he plays the alcoholic monarch before the king gets abducted by rebels- and so there's a certain amount on novelty value in there if nothing else.

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