Lost and Found: The Harry Langdon Collection

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Starring: Harry Langdon
Rated: Unrated
Type: DVD
Directed By: Harry Edwards
Studio: FACETS
Release Date: 2007-12-26
Running Time: 600 minutes
Number of Items: 4
Discovered in 1923 by slapstick pioneer Mack Sennett, Harry Langdon quickly rose to the ranks of the other silent comedians, rivaling Chaplin, Lloyd, and Keaton in popularity. Langdon s comic persona of the wide-eyed innocent bewildered by the world around him was developed in such classic shorts as Picking Peaches and His New Mamma, which have been restored and included in this four-disc set.
LOST AND FOUND contains most of Langdon s seminal work for Sennett s studio, including Smile Please, The First 100 Years, and The Hansom Cabman. Digitally re-mastered from original negatives and archival preservation material, this essential collection also features restorations of several lost films. Each film is accompanied by an original musical score. The set includes audio commentaries by silent-film historians, rare clips, and Lost and Found, a documentary covering Langdon's career. Sennett considered Harry Langdon the best comedian he'd ever seen, and this remarkable four-disc set shows us why.
Disc One: Picking Peaches, Smile Please, His New Mamma, The First 100 Years, The Luck o' the Foolish, The Hansom Cabman, and All Night Long
Disc Two: Feet of Mud, The Sea Squawk, Boobs in the Wood, His Marriage Wow, Plain Clothes, Remember When, Lucky Stars, and There He Goes surviving extract.
Disc Three: Saturday Afternoon, Fiddlesticks, Soldier Man, and His First Flame. Plus Bonus extra: Catalina Here I Come, a sample of faux-Langdon starring Eddie Quillan and Madeline Hurlock.

Disc Four: Knight Duty, Hooks and Jabs, and Love, Honor and Obey (the Law). Plus bonus extra: Lost and Found, an original feature-length documentary on the life and films of Harry Langdon.
Special Features: Lost and Found, a feature-length documentary, Audio Commentaries by Film Historians, Home Movies, and Facets Cine-Notes collectible booklet, Home Movies, Beautiful Clothes Make Beautiful Girls talkie from 1942, HEART TROUBLE press book

A must for silent film buffs. A cornucopia of rare, valuable and educational films by an underrated icon of the silent cinema
Harry langdon, to say the least, an underrated silent film star like Harold Lloyd had been, is thrown into present-day classic film afficionados through a number of films long lost and just revived.

Prior to this product's availability, I had understood only by the book that Langdon was a contemporary of Chaplin and Keaton who neared these legendary stars in popularity and I could see myself what I had heard of him was absolutely true after enjoying this DVD set.

Langdon, in every movie included, plays an adorable childish and naive persona.

Each disc is filled with valuable shots and some interesting audio content that in my opinion perfectly serve as an educational materials for classic movie buffs.

On the other hand,I must confess that audio commentaries provided by film experts have poor audio quality resulting in my failure to learn facts and tips(This is principally why I only give 4 stars to evaluate.)

This box also includes some talkies as well and they themselves demonstrate Langdon's competence as a talking actor.

GREAT SILENT COMEDY PACKAGE!
For anyone who loves silent films & comedy, sound or silent, must see this package. It is so sad how a star of this magnitude is overlooked & cut very short. Langdon is this example. Even Harold Lloyd tried helping his career, so he had some great pals helping him.In the DVD it is said that Chaplin had one star that intimidated him;it was Langdon. That's how strong a star he was.
For Langdson afficionados, I was impressed of films I've tried to see for 40 years but was never recovered, here in this package INCLUDING an 'infomercial' for GOODRICH tires that was never put in his filmography till now. The commentaries were excellent,except for one who got so technical about film stock that it was boring(HIS FIRST FLAME).
At least his son, Harry Langdon, the famous LA photographer is doing well. Too bad that they didn't interview for this package BUT highly recommended for ANY comedy fans to check the evolution of great comedians. Thanks Harry!!!

Give Harry another try here
Like many other silent comedy-fans, I was introduced to Harry Langdon through the compilations of Robert Youngson. Of the numerous gifted clowns presented there, Harry was the one that captivated me the most (yes, more than Buster Keaton, and I knew Chaplin from before). I adored his character for all its odd traits.

Although my admiration for Keaton grew fast and I quickly regarded him as Chaplin's one true rival, I did not forget Harry and the passion he had evoked in me. However, when I finally got to see his features, I had to pardon myself for being slightly disappointed. The gags felt far and between and were, I thought, usually performed without the sparkle of other talents. Rather, the insecurity which I had sensed in Harry's character and loved him for, I did now suspect to be largely the result of a lasting insecurity in Langdon the performer. While I still enjoyed him in excerpts, he became hard to watch for longer periods.

Do you recognize yourself a bit here? If yes, I guess you belong to the category of people who have more or less given Harry up by now and consider him to be completely overrated. Then, my friend, I am afraid that you have, as I did, missed the whole point. Not unlike when I watched W.C. Fields for the first time, what Harry did not give me was, in fact, what I failed to recognize. Fields was ahead of his time; Langdon did not even belong to any, and is timeless because of it.

IMPORTANT: watch each film in this set chronologically (excluding the extras). I guarantee you; you'll quickly realize that the insecurity of Harry has its outspring from an overwhelming personal SECURITY in Langdon. Take his first film, PICKING PEACHES (1924): here, he appears like any other clown, milking gags in traditional manner. A few films later, however, he has developed his character, with all its strange, childlike habits, such as walking one way just to change direction, and then change direction AGAIN. Only a really secure performer could ever achieve such insecurity so spontainely. Oh yes, he could do otherwise, as early appearances confirm, but this is how he chose to do it. His character is not so often funny for what he does as for the very fact that it is HE who does it; a gag which would seem incredibly weak and stupid in the hands of Chaplin gets hysterical with Harry.

Because I was fortunate enough to realize all this quickly, not ONCE throughout the viewing did I get back the uneasy feeling of the old days. My top favorites in the set got to be THE FIRST 100 YEARS, THE HANSOM CABMAN, ALL NIGHT LONG, [...] IN THE WOOD, SATURDAY AFTERNOON, SOLDIER MAN and the feature HIS FIRST FLAME (which I previously didn't like), but all are enjoyable and the documentary is a treat. Harry Langdon was, plain and simple, a unique comic genius in his very unique way. Long live his work.

Content details for Langdon Lost & Found
The most likely explanation for the meteoric rise and fall of Harry Langdon's film career are his late start in movies (age 40) and portrayal of a child/man innocent-- a character that didn't translate well in the early talkie era-- Langdon's attempts at falsetto would occasionally lapse into his natural baritone.

LOST AND FOUND: THE HARRY LANGDON COLLECTION consists primarily of shorts made during the height of Langdon's popularity. Bonus features on these four DVDs include alternate versions, never before seen clips, audio commentaries and interviews, Harry's home movies, a 1942 music video and a Langdon documentary. Video quality throughout is remarkably good.


Also recommended for silent comedy fans is SMILES & SPECTACLES - The Harold Lloyd Treasury.


CONTENTS (includes 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website):
DISC ONE--
(6.9) Picking Peaches (silent-1924) - HL/Alberta Vaughn/Ethel Teare/Vernon Dent/Andy Clyde
(5.6) Smile, Please (silent-1924) - HL/Alberta Vaughn/Jack Cooper/Madeline Hurlock/Tiny Ward/Andy Clyde
(???) His New Mamma (silent-1924) - HL/Andy Clyde/Madeline Hurlock/Tiny Ward/Alice Day/Jack Cooper
(6.5) The First 100 Years (silent-1924) - HL/Alice Day/Frank J. Coleman/Louise Carver/Madeline Hurlock
(6.8) The Luck o' the Foolish (silent-1924) - HL/Marceline Day/Frank J. Coleman/Madeline Hurlock/Kalla Pasha
(7.6) The Hansom Cabman (silent-1924) - HL/Marceline Day/Charlotte Mineau/Andy Clyde/Madeline Hurlock
BONUS:
Horace Greeley, Jr.
Funny Manns #4
Funny Manns #68
Catalina, Here I Come

DISC TWO--
(6.4) All Night Long (silent-1924) - HL/Natalie Kingston/Fanny Kelly/Vernon Dent (uncredited: Andy Clyde/Billy Gilbert)
(7.0) Feet Of Mud (silent-1924) - HL/Natalie Kingston/Yorke Sherwood/Florence Lee/Vernon Dent
(???) The Sea Squawk (silent-1925) - HL/Eugenia Gilbert/Charlotte Mineau/Leo Sulky/Alice Day/Vernon Dent
(6.5) Boobs In the Wood (silent-1925) - HL/Marie Astaire/Vernon Dent/Natalie Kingston/Leo Willis
(7.2) His Marriage Wow (silent-1925) - HL/Natalie Kingston/William McCall/Vernon Dent
(6.1) Plain Clothes (silent-1925) - HL/Clair Cushman/Jean Hathaway/Vernon Dent/William McCall
(7.1) Remember When? (silent-1925) - HL/Natalie Kingston/Vernon Dent/Austin Jewell/Sam Lufkin
BONUS:
Comedy Capers
Photo Gallery

DISC THREE--
(6.8) Lucky Stars (silent-1925) - HL/Vernon Dent/Natalie Kingston/Andy Clyde/Tiny Ward/Ruth Taylor
(6.8) Saturday Afternoon (silent-1926) - HL/Alice Ward/Vernon Dent/Ruth Hiatt/Peggy Montgomery
(6.1) Fiddlesticks (silent-1927) - HL/Vernon Dent (uncredited: Anna Dodge/Leo Sulky)
(7.6) Soldier Man (silent-1926) - HL/Natalie Kingston/Vernon Dent/Andy Clyde/Frank Whitson
(6.2) His First Flame (silent-1927) - HL/Natalie Kingston/Ruth Hiatt/Vernon Dent/Bud Jamison/Dot Farley
BONUS:
Short Afternoon
Heart Trouble Presskit

DISC FOUR--
(5.1) Knight Duty (1933) - HL/Vernon Dent/Nell O'Day/Matthew Betz/Lita Chevret/Eddie Baker
(???) Hooks and Jabs (1933) - HL/Vernon Dent/Frank Moran/Nell O'Day/William Irving
Love, Honor and Obey (The Law) (1935) - HL/Monte Collins (A promo for BF Goodrich)
BONUS:
Lost and Found (documentary)
Hal Roach Announcement
Voice of Hollywood
Hollywood on Parade
Beautiful Clothes
Home Movie

It's Obvious
It plainly obvious that everyone here that has reviewed this set is a fan of Langdon's, look at all those stars! I too am going to add 5 stars to the rest. This set is worth every cent. My introduction to Harry was through Buster Keaton, I wanted to know who else was out there at the time of Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd and saw Harry's face staring at me through time, and I just had to know more. I purchased The Forgotton Clown and after having watched them time after time I had to know more. I was so excited to see this set. 6 hours of stuff to watch. There is a brilliant documentary that discusses his rise and fall and the many reasons for it. You get to see Harry's Roach talkies which help demostrate why Harry didnt succeed and so many extras. The home movies are both profound and funny. I would not be without this now, I cant wait for the Threes and Crowd and The Chaser set coming out later this year. Yeah Harry is not for all, but if he's for you then so is this set.