Harry Langdon, the Dreyer Of The Silent Clowns?

Harry Langdon has long proven a fascinating subject to Hope Lies at 24 Frames Per Second. Lacking the kind of exposure afforded many of his contemporaries, and coupled with an exterior that seemed at times to be an amalgamation of Keaton, Chaplin and Lloyd, Langdon never truly fit in alongside his peers, making him something of one of the early cinema’s great outsiders. Time hasn’t been keen to his reputation either, in some quarters at least, but that ought not reflect upon the fascinating figure at hand.

Seeing as we’re using Michael as our jumping off point for dialogue this month, now seemed like as good an opportunity to pull out this quote from William Everson on Langdon.

Further viewing — Lost & Found: The Harry Langdon collection.Further reading — Harry Langdon: His Life & Films.