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.
Showing posts with label Harry Langdon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harry Langdon. Show all posts
Sunday, 1 April 2012
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Saturday Afternoon (Langdon 1926)
An acquired taste you know, Langdon. Everyone says so. It does seem to be one of those truths universally acnowledged. And yeah I guess there is some truth there, and yeah I'd probably have to say that I'm still in the process of acquiring that taste. I'm not quite in the position still where I can load up a DVD of one of his films that I haven't seen before with a smile of pure boundless enthusiasm on my face. That said, this film has helped the process along considerably- it's a really sweet, funny, wonderful film, and Langdon's character makes sense. I'm not sure, from what I've seen elsewhere- and as I'm hinting, my experience of Langdon so far isn't vast- that that's always the case.
He has a dragon of a wife at home here, but a dragon in the Laurel and Hardy tradition- slim and beautiful, but stern-faced and entirely in charge of her man. At the end of a hard morning's work, a rogueish pal (Vernon Dent, who looks like Ronnie Barker hamming it up) encourages Harry to slip away from his wife and go on a double-date. Harry kep a coin or two back from his paycheck and obliges. The date is not a storybook one, but Harry and wife are reconciled at the end.
There are huge similarities between Harry and Stan Laurel you know- it's obvious even to a novice schlapstick schmuck like me. I think particularly in the way Harry knows he wants to be with these girls without entirely knowing why, or knowing what he's going to do with them once he's got them. There's a lovely moment where Harry and his date are walking down the street, and flirting in such an innocent pre-pubescent way. It's probably best not to analyse this stuff too much but there's something invigorating and life-affirming about this moment, and the rest of the movie around it.
The car scene at the end, with Harry unknowingly straddled between two automobiles (what do you call those bits at the sides of old cars? something damn obvious I'm sure) is neatly done too. But I think it's the feel of the film as a whole rather than the contributing moments that makes this so satisfying- if there are more Harry Langdon films like this around I'm going to be happy.
He has a dragon of a wife at home here, but a dragon in the Laurel and Hardy tradition- slim and beautiful, but stern-faced and entirely in charge of her man. At the end of a hard morning's work, a rogueish pal (Vernon Dent, who looks like Ronnie Barker hamming it up) encourages Harry to slip away from his wife and go on a double-date. Harry kep a coin or two back from his paycheck and obliges. The date is not a storybook one, but Harry and wife are reconciled at the end.
There are huge similarities between Harry and Stan Laurel you know- it's obvious even to a novice schlapstick schmuck like me. I think particularly in the way Harry knows he wants to be with these girls without entirely knowing why, or knowing what he's going to do with them once he's got them. There's a lovely moment where Harry and his date are walking down the street, and flirting in such an innocent pre-pubescent way. It's probably best not to analyse this stuff too much but there's something invigorating and life-affirming about this moment, and the rest of the movie around it.
The car scene at the end, with Harry unknowingly straddled between two automobiles (what do you call those bits at the sides of old cars? something damn obvious I'm sure) is neatly done too. But I think it's the feel of the film as a whole rather than the contributing moments that makes this so satisfying- if there are more Harry Langdon films like this around I'm going to be happy.
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