And the conversation slipped to humorous matters on February 6:
OK, we got to talking about classic comedians last night at the
ASIFA coffee, after musing about "just what isn't funny," and the names
Harry Langdon and Pierre Etaix percolated up (and I'm afraid, I was the
main instigator). Langdon has gotten a bum rap in the opinion of yr hmbl typst, perpetuated by
Walter Kerr in his otherwise amazing 1970s book, The Silent Clowns. The lack of
access to his films has seemed to support the allegation over the years, but his complete silent output has been made available on DVD, and online. It proves otherwise. In fact, I contend he
was the silent era's equivalent to Andy Kaufman, because, when left to
his own devices, he could be utterly surreal. It didn't hurt that he was also an accomplished cartoonist.
Pierre Etaix was a
writer for the French auteur Jacques Tati (Mon Oncle, Les Vacances de
Mssr Hulot, Playtime, Trafic) who was a fierce fan of Keaton and later,
of Jerry Lewis (The unfinished Lewis "worst film" of The Day the Clown Cried is
floating around in truncated form, but it may have
benefited by the addition of Pierre Etaix, if such was a possibility). Anyway - Etaix's
films were self-funded, suffering the fate of those of Tati's - when one
of them didn't cover costs, the creditors swept in and took possession
of the assets - the films - put up as collateral. As a result, the
Etaix gems, and they truly are gems, were unseen in the US until the last decade. My widdle head went kerBOOM when I came upon them on Turner
Classics, and I immediately ordered the whole set, and then sent Etaix a gushing fan
letter - only to have it returned a month later because...he had DIED.
It gave me flashbacks to trying to contact Harold Lloyd as a tween in
the early 1970s or Tati as a semi-adult in the 1980s. Anyway, here are
some links to the films associated with this rambling note (thank the
coffee, the 20 degrees with 30mph winds outdoors, and a dog not letting
me out of her sight until she gets fed for contributing to this extensive bit of
typing). SO - if you're interested, here's a way to kill some time!
Harry Langdon:
Three's a Crowd
- 15 minutes in inspired a similar scene in "Seule Tod" by yr hmbl typst -
this film has him trying for "pathos" in between moments of nitrate
decomposition:
(warning - there is an unfortunate moment of "blackface" amid the
ruins of this movie)
The Chaser -
56 minutes into it is the most bizarre "seduction" ever put to film.
This was his final feature for Warner's to be released - they never
released his completed feature after this one, and it is now considered
among the "lost films."
If you want to see how a career can be demolished by alcohol, check out the 1935 feature from Columbia, Atlantic Adventure. He plays a reporter's sidekick, "Snappy," and he is impaired on-screen to a greater degree than Barrymore managed in Grand Hotel.
And now, for Pierre Etaix:
Rupture -
1961 - the consequences of writing to a girlfriend who is no longer
friendly - the sounds were recorded in post-production, often provided
by Etaix himself because the studio foley man wanted to stick to stock
noises. It's an otherwise silent one-reeler, deliciously fatalistic.
Happy Anniversary - 1962
Reminiscent of One Week, a young married couple is thwarted in their celebration by the lack of parking.
Yoyo - excerpt - 1965
And the infamous The Day the Clown Cried - a 30 minute assembly of clips, uncovered by David Thrasher during the evening's discussions:
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A still from "Three's Company" - the creative sequence using the doll as surrogate for Langdon is hampered by severe nitrate decomposition, but you get the idea...
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