Harry Langdon...The Forgotten Clown

"For a brief period, Harry Langdon was one of the most popular comedians in the silent cinema, and in 1926, his fame was as great as that of Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. However, infighting with his collaborators and the coming of sound ended Langdon's career, and by the 1930s the one-time star was all but forgotten. But this set, which collects Langdon's three finest (and best-known) features, serves as a potent reminder of the childlike comic's genuine, enduring talent. The Strong Man (1926) features Langdon as a Belgian soldier seeking out his American pen-pal after World War I, only to find himself confused with his close friend, a circus strongman. Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, also released in 1926, stars Langdon as the son of a shoemaker who, in order to publicize his father's failing business (and hopefully impress a girl he's fallen for), enters a cross-country walking race. (Harry's love interest is played by a young Joan Crawford.) And 1927's Long Pants features Langdon as a young man just entering adulthood who has learned everything he knows about love from dime novels; he drops his girlfriend for a vamp -- who turns out to be a drug smuggler -- and comic chaos ensues. A young director named Frank Capra co-directed Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, and took solo credit on The Strong Man and Long Pants; Capra wrote of the ups and downs of his career with Langdon in his autobiography The Name Above the Title."