THE BIG FLASH, a Harry Langdon snappy short, not the best thing he has ever done, tells about the race for a scoop in the newspapers' world; I like Langdon a bit less than Keaton and Lloyd, but much enough to know that he has seen been better scripts than what he's been offered here. The girls in this movie are pretty, even pretty to hot—but the teasing scene, when the devourer of men seduces poor Langdon, is crude; but in better hand, better directed and filmed and paced, this would have made a nice comedy. Yet—some gags are good and lively if standard, the movie looks endearing, and is a must for all of us Langdon fans.
Two humble workers in a newspapers redaction are assigned to get a scoop; one of them is an electrician, a brute, who usurped Langdon's merited advancement for his photographic skills and is his rival in love. The second is Langdon himself, the usurped, the shy, the merry, the rivaled. Lacking the supreme refinement and subtlety of Keaton, and the vigor of Chaplin or the manic energy of Lloyd, Langdon resembles more Laurel (and Hardy) in his less sophisticated approach. (--In addition to the slapstick hexagon—Linder, Lloyd, Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Keaton and Langdon—I like very much Fatty as well, and maybe even Bevan . The silent slapstick is very much worth exploring.--) So—the script is good, Langdon is good, the babes are hot, but the directing and pace stink. Perhaps the slapstick is best when served silent, what do you think? The slapstick is possible only as silent cinema, I guess. Movies like this make me think that the slapstick was designed solely for the silent cinema and attempts to update it end in relative misery. Do you agree?
Two humble workers in a newspapers redaction are assigned to get a scoop; one of them is an electrician, a brute, who usurped Langdon's merited advancement for his photographic skills and is his rival in love. The second is Langdon himself, the usurped, the shy, the merry, the rivaled. Lacking the supreme refinement and subtlety of Keaton, and the vigor of Chaplin or the manic energy of Lloyd, Langdon resembles more Laurel (and Hardy) in his less sophisticated approach. (--In addition to the slapstick hexagon—Linder, Lloyd, Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Keaton and Langdon—I like very much Fatty as well, and maybe even Bevan . The silent slapstick is very much worth exploring.--) So—the script is good, Langdon is good, the babes are hot, but the directing and pace stink. Perhaps the slapstick is best when served silent, what do you think? The slapstick is possible only as silent cinema, I guess. Movies like this make me think that the slapstick was designed solely for the silent cinema and attempts to update it end in relative misery. Do you agree?