March 27, 2022
Harry Langdon, who was nicknamed the Little Elf, was a comedian in the silent film era. Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on June 15, 1884, he loved the stage, so as a young boy, he sold newspapers to earn money to go to the theater. In his early teens, he began performing with Dr. Belcher’s Kickapoo Indian Medicine Show. He then joined the Gus Sun Minstrels as well as other medicine shows and circuses. During his early career, he was a musician, a blackface minstrel, a tumbler, a gymnast, and a trapeze artist.
He came to be regarded as one of the four best silent film comics and created a screen character who was unlike others of the time. On the screen, he played a child-like man; his adult character had a naïve understanding of the world and of people. The fact that he was so different from the slapstick of the time helped to boost his popularity.
From Vaudeville To Broadway
In 1903, he married Rose Musolff, and the pair created the “Johnny’s New Car” act, finding fame on the vaudeville circuit. They expanded their act into “A Night on the Boulevard,” a full-stage production in 1906, which later led to their three-part act “After the Ball” which played in vaudeville houses in the 1920s. He appeared in Jim Jam Jems, a musical on Broadway from October 4, 1920, to January 1, 1921, although this was not his first time on Broadway as he had appeared in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale in 1899.
Getting His Start In The Shorts
In 1923, his film career started when he signed a contract with Sol Lesser and Principal Pictures, appearing in two-reel comedies. The contract did not last, as he was released in October 1923. However, a month later, he signed with Mack Sennett and Keystone Studio. Langdon had his own production team, and the first short he released was Smile Please (1924). He started to find his way with The First 100 Years (1924). Harry Edwards took over as the director of Luck O’ The Foolish (1924) and the rhythm of the shorts slowed down so the focus moved to Langdon’s character, a naïve, hesitant individual.
Working On Feature Films
In early 1925, Frank Capra joined Langdon’s team as a gag writer, with his first credit on Plain Clothes (1925). As Langdon became more successful, he started making three-reel films. When Langdon signed a three-year contract with Sol Lesser’s First National Pictures he brought his production team with him. In his first film with First National, Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, Langdon played himself as his own baby. The film did well, and many consider it to be one of his best films. However, it went over budget and Langdon fired his director. He then hired Capra to direct his next film, The Strong Man (1926), which was Capra’s first full-length film. Capra would then direct Langdon in Long Pants (1927).
He fired Frank Capra and started to direct his own films, including Three’s a Crowd, The Chaser, and Heart Trouble. Audiences were not impressed by these idiosyncratic films. He had written all of his material to that point, so it is likely that his popularity dropped off when he directed his own movies because he had little experience with directing.
His Later Career
The advent of the talkies did not help Langdon’s career, as the character he had created for the screen did not work well in sound films. Because Langdon was a celebrity, although his career went into decline, he continued to find work, being cast in short films for Educational Pictures and Columbia Pictures. In 1938, he adopted a new character, the wimpy, hen-pecked husband. In the 1940s, he played mild-mannered goofy characters in low-budget features and shorts. He also found work as a writer, contributing to comedy scripts, including work for Laurel and Hardy. In 1939, when Stan Laurel was in the midst of a contract dispute, Langdon ended up being paired with Oliver Hardy in Zenobia. He continued to work until his death. He was working on Swingin’ on a Rainbow when he died of a cerebral hemorrhage on December 22, 1944.