Harry Langdon Movies
After working several odd jobs, Harry Langdon joined an Omaha medicine show and went on to spend 20 years traveling with minstrel shows, circuses, burlesque, and vaudeville; he had some success with a comedy act called "Jimmy's New Car." Langdon was in his late 30s when he joined Mack Sennett's film company in 1923. He quickly appeared in numerous two-reel comedies, in the course of which he developed his own screen persona: his childlike face covered by traditional pantomime white make-up, he wore a tightly buttoned jacket as though he were a boy who had outgrown it. Juvenile in appearance, he played the bewildered, clumsy, wide-eyed simpleton out of step with the behavior of normal adults, eerily baffled by erotic situations and naively trusting in the world's goodness. The character caught on, and by 1926 he was one of the Big Four of American screen comedy (along with Chaplin, Lloyd, and Keaton). His best work was done in collaboration with director Harry Edwards and writer Frank Capra. Langdon's enormous success fuelled his ego, and after a year or two he dispensed with Edwards and Capra and took sole responsibility for his films. Langdon was soon fired by his film company, after which he returned to vaudeville for almost two years. When he returned to Hollywood, the sound era was underway and he was out of touch with prevailing fashions. He went on to appear in numerous films as a character player, and also starred in dozen of talkie shorts, never reclaiming his earlier popularity. ~ All Movie Guide
The fourth of Oscar-winning short-subject director Youngson's comedy compilations (the earlier ones were Golden Age of Comedy, When Comedy was King, and Days of Thrills and Laughter) is, amazingly, almost as full and fresh as those earlier efforts, containing highlights from such silent comedy classics as Chaplin's Floorwalker, Easy Street, Pawnshop and, best of all, Rink; Buster Keaton's Balloonatic and Daydreams; Harry Langdon's Smile Please, and the prototypical Laurel and Hardy team-up, Lucky Dog. Youngson's choice of material is unquestionably fine, and equally satisfying is the quality of the film clips, courtesy of archivist Paul Guffanti. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Ed Wynn hosts this compilation of comedic material from the likes of Imogene Coca and Buster Keaton. ~ All Movie Guide
Robert Youngson's second feature-length compilation of silent comedy highlights (the first was The Golden Age of Comedy), When Comedy Was King covers the years 1914 to 1929. Using snipettes from the 1929 Charley Chase 2-reeler Movie Night as a framing device, Youngson offers vintage clips from the silent era's greatest clowns. The film's first section is devoted to Charlie Chaplin's formative Keystone comedies, notably Kid Auto Races at Venice and His Trysting Place (the humor in this sequence is slightly dampened by the narrator's sanctimonious comments concerning Chaplin's political views). We are next regaled with Fatty Arbuckle and Mabel Normand in the riotous Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1915), followed by top-hatted Wallace Beery chaining 17-year-old Gloria Swanson to the railroad tracks in Teddy at the Throttle (1916). From Sennett, we move to the studios of Hal Roach, where wacky inventor Snub Pollard holds court in It's a Gift (1923) and Edgar Kennedy, Stu Erwin, Anita Garvin and Marion Byron try and fail to purchase four ice cream cones in A Pair of Tights (1928). Baby-faced Harry Langdon is next on the docket, dealing with aggressive kitchen help, unwelcome old pals and a mysterious spy in The First Hundred Years (1925). Next up, Buster Keaton inadvertently lays waste to a police parade in the brilliant 2-reeler Cops (1922). Brief snippets of such mid-1920s Mack Sennett stars as Billy Bevan, Andy Clyde and Ben Turpin follow Langdon and Keaton. The closing sequence of When Comedy Was King consists of the 1929 Laurel and Hardy tit-for-tat classic Big Business, virtually in its entirety. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The first of documentary producer Robert Youngson's feature-length silent comedy compilations, The Golden Age of Comedy began life as a short subject, consisting of vintage clips from the Mack Sennett vaults. When Youngson struck a deal with the Hal Roach studios, he was able to expand the film's running time with pristine-quality vignettes from the Roach catalogue. While many past greats are highlighted in Golden Age, the compilation's true "stars" are Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, shown at their very best in lengthy excerpts from such 2-reel classics as The Second Hundred Years (1927), You're Darn Tootin' (1928) Two Tars (1928) and Double Whoopee (1929) (the latter featuring a 17-year-old starlet named Jean Harlow). Thanks to Youngson, the legendary pie fight scene from Laurel and Hardy's Battle of the Century (1927) was saved from the brink of extinction and is included herein. The rest of the film offers choice comic bits from the likes of Ben Turpin, Billy Bevan, Will Rogers, Charley Chase, Harry Langdon, and even Carole Lombard. Our only carp is that the narration is frequently superfluous; we can see the gags, we don't need them explained to us. The Golden Age of Comedy was the surprise hit of 1958, spawning several future Youngson compilations, including a brace of 1960s films devoted almost exclusively to Laurel and Hardy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Langdon
- 1945
Republic's Swingin' on a Rainbow utilizes a plotline that had already done service in several of the studio's previous budget musicals. Would-be songwriter Lynn Ford (Jane Frazee) comes to the Big City, demanding $1000 from bandleader Jimmy Rhodes (Richard Davies). It seems that Rhodes has scored a hit with one of Lynn's songs, which he has plagiarized. While hunting Rhodes down, Lynn meets a personable young man named Steve Ames (Brad Taylor) -- who, unbeknownst to her, is the pen-pal lyricist with whom she's been collaborating for the past year. Former comedy great Harry Langdon makes his final film appearance in a Robert Benchley-esque supporting role; Langdon died while rehearsing a song-and-dance number for the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Frazee, Brad Taylor, (more)
- 1944
Robert Lowery and the comedy team of Tim Ryan and Irene Ryan star in this pleasant musical-comedy about a jingle-writer (Lowery) attempting to turn his girlfriend (Dona Drake) into a band vocalist. Unfortunately, there is a case of mistaken identity and the bumbling recording studio owner (Tim Ryan) instead signs his dim-witted secretary (Irene Ryan). Everything works out for the best, of course, and rather than facing bankruptcy, Beacon Recording Company can launch no less than two new stars. In his penultimate feature film role, silent screen clown Harry Langdon is seen all too briefly as a perplexed recording studio manager. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dona Drake, Robert Lowery, (more)
- 1944
A lesser East Side Kids effort, Block Busters looks more like an elongated 2-reel comedy than a 6-reel feature. This time, Muggs (Leo Gorcey), Glimpy (Huntz Hall) and the rest of the Kids set about to "Americanize" affable young French refugee Jean Rogers (Frederick Pressel). But after a disastrous baseball game, Jean is chased out of the neighborhood and told not to return. Eventually, the Kids patch things up with Jean and play a championship game on behalf of their sick friend Tobby (Bill Chaney). Featured in the cast are Leo Gorcey's then-wive Kay Marvis, his father Bernard Gorcey (in a dry run for his Bowery Boys character Louie Dumbrowski), and, sadly, former comedy great Harry Langdon, wasted in a minor role as an undertaker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1943
In this musical comedy, a vaudevillian teams up with a barber and becomes a smash hit. The barber also finds himself falling in love with his talented partner. When he learns that she has a shot at becoming a famous radio singer, he decides to go solo. Eventually, the woman gets herself into a real fix. Fortunately, the barber comes to save her. The lovers are reunited and happiness ensues. Songs include "The Restless Age" (Ed Rose, Abe Olman), "Goodnight Now," "The Lilac Tree," "Tempo of the Trail," "Oh Johnny." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Gilbert, Frank Fay, (more)
- 1942
Former silent screen comic Harry Langdon earned above-title billing for the final time in his long career in this roughhewn but amusing World War II farce released by Poverty Row company PRC. Langdon and Charles "Buddy" Rogers are newspaper messengers helping reporter Ray Walker obtain an interview with journalist-hating inventor Richard Kipling. But before they know it, Harry and Buddy become unwittingly involved in plans to steal the professor's newest invention: a machine gun. A couple of munitions racketeers (John Holland and Guy Kingsford) concoct a scheme to drive down the price of the weapon but despite an ability to stumble over their own feet, the heroes manage not only to foil the plot but also reunite their reporter friend with the inventor's lovely daughter, Marian Marsh. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1941
This 48-minute Hal Roach "streamliner" represents a rare directorial assignment for veteran Hollywood choreographer LeRoy Prinz, who also produced the film. Johnny Downs stars as Bob Sheppard of Quinceton University, who is appointed by his frat brothers to get even with the snotty sorority gals at all-female Marr Brynn U. This requires Bob to dress up in drag as a "blonde bombshell" and to enter Marr Brynn's annual beauty contest. When he's not flouncing around in curls and crinolines, Bob spends his time romancing pert co-ed Virginia (Frances Langford). The supporting cast ranges from silent-comedy veteran Harry Langdon to leggy newcomer Marie Windsor. The film's four musical numbers (representing approximately 25 percent of the running time!) include the Oscar-nominated "Out of the Silence". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances Langford, Johnny Downs, (more)
When millionaire bachelor John Hubbard takes a run-out powder at his own wedding, Hubbard's vengeful fiancee Polly Ann Young has the luckless fellow committed to an insane asylum. Hubbard escapes with certified looney Adolphe Menjou; together they join a carnival run by Carole Landis. Hubbard and Menjou not only save Landis from bankruptcy, but also convince Hubbard's allegedly normal uncle Charles Butterworth (who races fire engines as a hobby) to arrange for the carnival to be set up right next to the family mansion. Directors Hal Roach, Hal Roach Jr. and Gordon M. Douglas deliberately blur the thin line between sanity and insanity throughout Road Show. Just who's crazier: the delusional Menjou, who takes photographs with an invisible camera, or lovestruck Indian George E. Stone, who spends his free time chasing after carnival employee Patsy Kelly? And are the freewheeling carney folk any goofier than the flibbertigibbet society folk? The Charioteers, a black singing group who'd previously appeared in the Broadway production of Hellzapoppin, act as a sort of Greek chorus, commenting on the action with several refrains of the Hoagy Carmichael song "Calliope Jane". The amiable wackiness of Road Show is capped by a car-chase finale. The film was based on a novel by Eric Hatch, who four years earlier had worked on Roach's Topper. Watch for several familiar comedy faces among the uncredited bit players, including Shemp Howard of Three Stooges fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adolphe Menjou, Carole Landis, (more)
Misbehaving Husbands was intended as a comeback vehicle for silent-film comedy great Harry Langdon, who after his fall from grace in the 1920s had to content himself with cheap 2-reelers, featured roles and screenwriting assignments. Langdon plays henpecked store-owner Henry Butler, who decides to save money by designing his window displays himself. When Henry's wife (Betty Blythe) spots him in an innocent but compromising situation with one of his underdressed models, she walks out on him and files for divorce. Making matters worse, poor Henry is accused of murder when he's seen carrying a store dummy into his house. It's all strictly short-subject material, but Langdon carries off his assignment with finesse, proving that he was still capable of carrying a feature film if given half a chance. Others contributing to the general merriment are statuesque Esther Muir, Langdon's longtime screen partner (and close friend) Vernon Dent, Ralph "Dick Tracy" Byrd and veteran western heavy Richard Cramer (who'd previously appeared in the Langdon-scripted Laurel&Hardy vehicle Saps at Sea). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Byrd, Harry Langdon, (more)
- 1941
In this comedy, funny Langdon and Rogers end up working at a bean factory and getting into deep trouble when they accidentally lose an irreplaceable bracelet in a can. Now, before it is too late, they must somehow find that can out of a thousand that look just like it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1940
- G
In their last film for Hal Roach, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy play employees at the Sharp and Pierce Horn Factory, where the workers tend to go beserk at a rate of one per hour. Driven crazy by the cacophonous G-minor horn, poor Ollie begins to tear the factory apart, screaming "Horns to the left of me! Horns to the right of me! Horns, horns, HORNS!" Sent home to recuperate from his nervous breakdown, Ollie is told by his doctor (James Finlayson) that he is suffering from Hornophobia: "In fact, you're on the verge of Hornomania." Advised to take a restful ocean voyage, Ollie nixes the idea, noting that he hates the high sea. Stan suggests that the two of them rent a small boat and keep it tied up on the dock, so that Ollie can get all the fresh sea air he wants without ever leaving port. Alas, the boys' tiny boat is accidentally set adrift, with Stan, Ollie and escaped killer Nick Grainger (Rychard Cramer) on board. Ordered to prepare breakfast for the ill-tempered Nick, the boys hope to subdue their captor by making him a "synthetic meal": String for spaghetti, soap for cheese, sponge for meatball, lampwick for bacon, and so on. Unfortunately, Nick catches on to their scheme and forces Stan and Ollie to eat the ersatz meal themselves. The boys are finally saved from Nick's wrath when Stan remembers that the sound of trombone will transform Ollie into a fighting demon, but don't count on a completely happy ending when Laurel & Hardy are involved. Cowritten by former comedy great Harry Langdon, Saps at Sea looks more like two or three 2-reelers strung together than a coherent feature film; still, it contains some great gags, most of them taking place in Ollie's apartment, where the plumbing and electrical appliances have been bollixed up by cross-eyed janitor Ben Turpin. Though hardly a classic, Saps at Sea earned Laurel & Hardy some of their best-ever reviews, and would turn out to be their last totally worthwhile feature film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, (more)
- 1940
Back at Hal Roach Studios for the first time since 1938's Block-Heads, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy star in the uneven but generally rewarding A Chump at Oxford. The boys are cast as street-sweepers who hope to better their lot in life by attending night school. Fate intervenes when Stan and Ollie are instrumental in the capture of a bank robber, whereupon they are rewarded by the bank's grateful president (Forbes Murray) with an all-expenses-paid education at England's Oxford University. Arriving on the venerable old campus dressed in Eton jackets, our heroes are pounced upon by a group of prankish students and subjected to all manner of practical jokes. After spending most of the night trying to escape from a maze, Stan and Ollie are installed in their "new quarters"-which turns out to be the bedroom of the Dean (Wilfred Lucas). This sort of collegiate nonsense comes to an end when it is discovered that simple-minded Stan is actually Lord Paddington, the brainiest student and finest athlete that ever attended Oxford. According to Meredith the valet (Forrester Harvey), His Lordship wandered away from the university upon being rendered an amnesiac by a blow on the head. An accidental tap on the noggin restores Stan to his aristocratic Lord Paddington status, whereupon he beats up a crowd of bullying students and deposits them one by one in a nearby ditch. Though Ollie is aghast to learn that Stan-er, His Lordship-has no recollection of their previous friendship, he decides to stay on at Oxford as Paddington's manservant. After having been humiliated once too often by his vain and condescending employer, Ollie angrily packs his bags and prepares to head for home, when yet another bop on His Lordship's skull causes him to revert to lovable, bumbling old Stan again. Originally intended as a four-reeler (running approximately 45 minutes), A Chump at Oxford was completed in the spring of 1939, whereupon Laurel and Hardy were loaned out to producer Boris Morros to star in The Flying Deuces. When shooting was finished on the latter film, the team was summoned back to Roach to film a 2-reel "prologue" for Oxford, bringing the film's running time up to 63 minutes. The new footage consisted of a reworking of the boys' 1928 comedy From Soup to Nuts, with temporary servants Stan and Ollie unintentionally wrecking a dinner party held by Mr. and Mrs. Vandevere (played by veteran L&H supporting players James Finlayson and Anita Garvin). The patchwork stucture of A Chump at Oxford works against its overall effectiveness, but the scenes in which Stan Laurel undergoes a complete change of character as the genius-level Lord Paddington more than make up for the film's earlier shortcomings. One of the students (the tall, mustachioed one) is played by Peter Cushing, in his second Hollywood film appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, (more)
In their first starring feature away from the Hal Roach studios, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy play a couple of fish peddlers from Des Moines on a Cook's Tour of Paris. While stopping over at quaint suburban inn, Ollie falls in love with innkeeper's daughter Georgette (Jean Parker). At Stan's prodding, Ollie pops the question to Georgette, who gently refuses because there is Someone Else. Disconsolately, Ollie decides to commit suicide by jumping into the Seine, insisting that Stan join him in his plunge to oblivion. The boys are halted from this drastic action by the timely arrival of Francois (Reginald Gardiner), an officer in the French Foreign Legion. Francois convinces Stan and Ollie that they'll forget all about Ollie's lost love if they join the Legion, and within a few days our heroes are in uniform at an outpost in French Morocco, where they are promptly assigned to laundry detail. Alas, try as he might, Ollie can't forget his beloved Georgette-until Stan suggests that he pretend to forget so that they can get back in their own clothes and head home. This Ollie does, but not before accidentally setting fire to a mountain of laundry. After leaving behind a rather nasty letter of resignation for their scowling commandant (Charles Middleton), Stan and Ollie pack their bags and head for the airport-where Ollie is reunited with Georgette, who turns out to be the wife of their commanding officer Francois! Sentenced to death for desertion, the boys tunnel their way out of their jail cell and hide out in an airplane, which Stan accidentally sends into flight. After a wild and noisy ride, the plane crashes, leading to the flm's hilarious-and somehow touching--"freak" ending. Officially a remake of Les Aviateurs, a French vehicle for Fernandel and Toto, The Flying Deuces also owes a lot to the earlier Laurel & Hardy Foreign Legion farce Beau Hunks. Highlights include Stan and Ollie's impromptu soft-shoe rendition of "Shine on Harvest Moon", and Stan's lunatic excursion into Harpo Marx territory as he plays a bed-spring "harp". Produced by Boris Morros and released by RKO Radio, Flying Deuces is unquestionably the best of Laurel & Hardy's non-Hal Roach vehicles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, (more)
- 1939
With comedian Stan Laurel temporarily off his payroll due to a contract dispute, Hal Roach hastily put together a solo starring vehicle for Laurel's longtime partner Oliver Hardy. Digging into his files, Roach pulled out Zenobia's Infidelity, an H.C. Bunner story originally purchased as a vehicle for Roland Young. Hardy was cast in the semi-serious role of John Tibbitt, a 19th century Mississippi doctor whose heart is bigger than his bank account. At the insistence of travelling carnival man Professor McCrackle (played by former silent comedy star Harry Langdon, then under contract to Roach as a gag writer), Tibbitt tends to the Professor's ailing elephant, Miss Zenobia. Once cured, the precious pachyderm refuses to leave Dr. Tibbitt's side-whereupon McCrackle sues the doctor for alienation of Zenobia's affections! The ensuing scandal plays right into the hands of Mrs. Carter (Alice Brady), the town's richest and snobbiest woman, who has long opposed the romance between her son John (James Ellison) and Tibbitt's daughter Mary (Jean Parker). All problems are resolved during the climactic courtroom trial, despite occasional interruptions by Miss Zenobia and the dizzy interpolations of Tibbitt's wife (Billie Burke). The film's intended highlight, the recitation of the Declaration of Independence by black child Philip Hurlic, was obviously inspired by Charles Laughton's "Gettysburg Address" scene in Ruggles of Red Gap (1935). Evidently sensing that Zenobia was doomed from the start, producer Hal Roach stirred up some publicity by encouraging the notion that he was creating a new comedy team consisting of Oliver Hardy and Harry Langdon-even though the characters never function as a team in the course of the story. A major box office disappointment, Zenobia (British title: Elephants Never Forget) is a pleasant but utterly inconsequential effort; still, it's worth seeing once, if only for the quietly subdued performance by Oliver Hardy, who is very good indeed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oliver Hardy, Harry Langdon, (more)
- 1938
- NR
Twenty years after the Armistice, doughboy Stan Laurel continues guarding a trench in France--simply because no one told him the war was over. His rescue coincides with the first wedding anniversary of his old pal Oliver Hardy. Heading to town to pick up a gift for his wife (Minna Gombell), Ollie discovers that Stan has been located and is now residing at the Veteran's Home. The two buddies share a warm reunion, whereupon Ollie invites Stan home to enjoy a "big thick juicy steak" prepared by Mrs. Hardy. As a result of Ollie's hospitality, Stan inadvertently wrecks Ollie's brand new car; the boys spend half the afternoon trudging up and down 13 flights of stairs; Ollie gets into a fight with belligerent Jimmy Finlayson; Mrs. Hardy angrily walks out on her husband; the boys manage to blow up the kitchen while preparing their own meal; and Hardy's beautiful next-door neighbor (Patricia Ellis) ends up minus her dress in Ollie's steamer trunk, with both Mrs. Hardy and the neighbor's husband, big-game hunter Billy Gilbert, converging upon our bethumped heroes. Essentially a remake of the 1929 Laurel and Hardy two-reeler Unnaccustomed as We Are, Block-Heads is a brilliant parade of virtuoso comedy turns. The best bits of business include the mountain of bean cans representing Stan's two decades in the trenches; the "white magic" gags involving Stan's pulling down the shadow of a window shade, producing a glass of water from his pocket and smoking his thumb like a pipe; and an uproarious "black" joke involving Ollie's mistaken belief than Stan has lost a leg in the war. The film sustains its high level of humor for 56 of its 57 minutes, faltering only in its disappointing closing gag (borrowed from the 1928 short We Faw Down). Among the writers of this chucklefest was former silent comedian Harry Langdon. Erroneously announced in 1938 as Laurel and Hardy's final feature, Block-Heads was indeed the last of the team's genuine classics. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, (more)
- 1938
Heiress Virginia Bruce tries to prove her worth by taking a job as a shopgirl in the store owned by her family. The pampered young lady is given a crash course in pragmatism by her worldly roommates Patsy Kelly and Nancy Carroll. Reporter Fredric March learns of Bruce's ruse and plans to tell all in his newspaper. Thrown together by circumstances, the reporter and the heiress are shipwrecked and end up on a small island. They continue to bicker with one another until the "deus ex machina" arrival of a kindly minister (played by former silent comedy star Harry Langdon) convinces March and Bruce that they truly love one another. More than a little inspired by It Happened One Night, There Goes My Heart is an uneven but pleasant romantic comedy. It was the first Hal Roach Studios production to be released by United Artists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fredric March, Virginia Bruce, (more)
- 1937
This British musical comedy boasts one of the most eclectic casts in film history. Brash Wallace Ford and smoothie Ben Lyon play Jackson and Hartley, a couple of fly-by-night producers hoping to slap together a movie project. They hire showgirl Carla (Lupe Velez) as their leading lady, enhancing her publicity value by passing her off as an Argentinian cattle heiress. When the deception is revealed and the movie's backers pull out, bumbling brewery heir Otto (Harry Langdon) comes to the rescue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lupe Velez, Wallace Ford, (more)
- 1937
This comedy was directed by the once great silent comedian Harry Langdon. It is about two hoboes who have a sudden change of fortune when they discover that they can buy their uncle's loan company if they can find money. The two head for the horse races in hopes of winning the badly needed dough. There they meet a sultry woman and her sneaky boy friend. When the two connivers hear of the young men's plans, they decide to acquire the business for themselves. The woman wins at the track and buys the company. The hoboes are left back where they started. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1935
Having fallen from grace at Paramount, musical comedy star Nancy Carroll retreated to Columbia Pictures, known in 1935 as "the Port of Missing Stars." Though Carroll does no singing in Columbia's Atlantic Adventure, she is still a charming and delightful screen presence. The actress is cast as Helen, the oft-neglected fiancee of hotshot reporter Dan Miller (Lloyd Nolan). When he tries to keep his appointments with Helen, Dan is fired by his newspaper. Hoping to get back in the good graces of his boss, Dan boards an ocean liner in pursuit of the man responsible for the murder of the District Attorney. It must needs be that Helen is also on board this ship, as is a gang of jewel thieves, leading to more than a few perilous situations for the hero and heroine. Silent film comedian Harry Langdon, who like Nancy Carroll was considered a fading star in 1935, is hilarious as Dan's photographer pal Snapper. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Carroll, Lloyd Nolan, (more)
- 1933
The charming and effervescent continental film star Lillian Harvey made her Hollywood debut in My Weakness. Borrowing a page or two from Pygmalion, the plot is hinged on a wager made between playboy Ronnie Gregory (Lew Ayres) and his crusty uncle Ellery (Henry Travers). Ronny bets that he can transform kitchen slavey Looloo Blake (our girl Harvey) into a fashionable society belle, which he does -- but he hadn't counted upon falling in love with the girl along the way. Supervising the proceedings is baby-faced comedian Harry Langdon in one of his best talkie roles as a whimsical Cupid. Clearly inspired by the Lubitsch and Clair musical semi-fantasies then in vogue, My Weakness is replete with rhyming dialogue, talking animals, and even a singing statue of Auguste Rodin's The Thinker. The Buddy G. DeSylva-Leo Robin-Richard Whiting score is largely unmemorable save for Gather Lip Rouge While You May, which deserves a gold star for the title alone. My Weakness was the first of three Lillian Harvey vehicles for Fox Studios, filmed back-to-back to accommodate her busy European movie schedule. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lilian Harvey, Lew Ayres, (more)
Al Jolson's "comeback" picture Hallelujah, I'm a Bum is an offbeat Depression-era concoction with script by Ben Hecht and S.N. Behrmann and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Jolson plays a genial hobo who wanders happily around Central Park, neither seeking nor accepting honest employment. He is imbued with a sense of responsibility when he rescues pretty Madge Evans from committing suicide. Evans, suffering from amnesia, falls in love with Jolson, completely forgetting her "regular" beau, mayor Frank Morgan. When she regains her memory she heads back to Morgan, leaving Jolson sadder but wiser, and prompting him back to his carefree existence. Much of the dialogue is spoken in rhyme, in the manner of an operetta--though there's nothing Romberg-like about such lyrical phrases as "Hoover's Cossacks." Former silent-film comedy star Harry Langdon has some choice moments as Egghead, a communist streetcleaner, while composers Rodgers and Hartshow up in unbilled cameos. Because the word "Bum" has different connotations in different lands, this film was released in England as Hallelujah, I'm a Tramp. The reissue version, titled Heart of a Tramp, has been severely re-edited, doing considerable damage to the carefully interwoven rhyming dialogue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Jolson, Madge Evans, (more)
