• List Price: $24.95  New Price!
• Your Price: $24.95
• In Stock: 52

You must login to place orders.




Not purchasing for a business? See our consumer site.

After falling from Hollywood stardom at the end of the Silent Era, quirky silent film comedian Harry Langdon made not only his first talking films, but also his first screen comeback with a series of eight two-reelers for comedy producer Hal Roach. This pre-code series offers an interesting and entertaining look at what critic James Agee referred to as Langdon's "baby dope fiend" characterization, presented for the only time in sound as the undiluted comic creation he made famous in silent films. Langdon had developed a strange, stream-of-consciousness vocal patter in vaudeville, as showcased here. With another fifteen years to go in talkies after he made these shorts, Harry Langdon would never again deliver to films full-force his truly bizarre humor. Along for the ride is the beautiful comedienne Thelma Todd in some of her earliest film appearances at the Lot of Fun, as well as others from the Hal Roach Stock Company like Edgar Kennedy and Max Davidson. This is Harry Langdon at his most surreal. 1929: "Hotter Than Hot," "Sky Boy," "Skirt Shy"; 1930: "The Head Guy", "The Fighting Parson," "The Big Kick," "The Shrimp," "The King" Bonus: "La estación de gasolina" (Spanish language version of "The Big Kick"); "Hal Roach Presents Harry Langdon" (1929); "Hal Roach Studio Auction" (1963); Commentary by Richard M. Roberts; Photo Gallery; Supplemental music composed and performed by Andrew Earle Simpson

Bonus Materials

• 'La estación de gasolina' (Spanish language version of 'The Big Kick')
• 'Hal Roach Presents Harry Langdon' (1929)
• 'Hal Roach Studio Auction' (1963)
• Commentary by Richard M Roberts
• Photo Gallery
• Supplemental music composed and performed by Andrew Earle Simpson

Sales Points

• For fans of classic comedy
• From the producer of Laurel & Hardy, Our Gang (Little Rascals), Charley Chase, and more

Press Quotes

'--the commentary by Richard M. Roberts is a big selling point for the set, as he knows and shares everything anybody could possibly want to know about these comedies.'

     —Clifford Weimer, In the Balcony

'Harry Langdon at Hal Roach: The Talkies 1929-1930 is a DVD set no collector of comedy should be without, and you might even develop a new appreciation for the celebrated clown (I know I'm richer from the viewing experience).'

     —Ivan Shreeve Jr., Thrilling Days of Yesteryear

'Bravo to Richard Roberts and Kit Parker for making this, the most improbable of all DVDs, available for us to enjoy'

     —Michael Coniam , The Lost Laugh

'I can honestly say that I had a ball watching Harry Langdon At Hal Roach: The Talkies 1929-1930.'

     —William T. Garver , It Came from the Bottom Shelf