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 Mack Sennett Comedies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mack Sennett Comedies. Show all posts
Sunday, 1 April 2012
Saturday, 24 March 2012
Wandering Willies (Bevan / Clyde 1926)
Bevan is plump and moon-faced with a droopy caterpillar moustache. Clyde is a freaky-looking dude, mama, like a minstrel with half his facepaint scraped off. Both new to me. I'm learning though, I'm learning. Be patient.
They are a pair of wastrels on the scrounge here, but essentially this is a series of barely linked little sketches, with great imagination and variety. As the film reaches the final title you can't quite see how you've ended up here from there, but hell the journey's been fun. Bevan seems to be pretty much the lead man here, though they do work well as a pair- their styles are such that they can easily carry scenes on their own as well as together, and that's probably rarer than it seems with double acts.
Trying to pin a plot on this magnificent nonsense is hard- looking for free food they hit on the idea of one of them dressing up as a policeman while pushing the other round in a baby's carriage. Well, of course. Most obvious idea in the world. When that fails they find themselves in a pantomime cow costume that's about to be fed to the lions. And eventually they find some work. And that of course conveys not the merest essence of what's actually going on on the screen. There are magical little moments wherever you look- my favourite was Clyde trying to keep up with a police patrol wagon by pulling on a cop's braces, but let's be frank, everyone's going to have their favourite here. There's so much crammed into these two reels- sure it never reaches the heights of any of the great silent clowns, but just for sheer effort and imagination you have to love what's on offer here. And a Keystone cops chase to round it off too.
They are a pair of wastrels on the scrounge here, but essentially this is a series of barely linked little sketches, with great imagination and variety. As the film reaches the final title you can't quite see how you've ended up here from there, but hell the journey's been fun. Bevan seems to be pretty much the lead man here, though they do work well as a pair- their styles are such that they can easily carry scenes on their own as well as together, and that's probably rarer than it seems with double acts.
Trying to pin a plot on this magnificent nonsense is hard- looking for free food they hit on the idea of one of them dressing up as a policeman while pushing the other round in a baby's carriage. Well, of course. Most obvious idea in the world. When that fails they find themselves in a pantomime cow costume that's about to be fed to the lions. And eventually they find some work. And that of course conveys not the merest essence of what's actually going on on the screen. There are magical little moments wherever you look- my favourite was Clyde trying to keep up with a police patrol wagon by pulling on a cop's braces, but let's be frank, everyone's going to have their favourite here. There's so much crammed into these two reels- sure it never reaches the heights of any of the great silent clowns, but just for sheer effort and imagination you have to love what's on offer here. And a Keystone cops chase to round it off too.
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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