The First 100 Years (1924) User Reviews

At long last this comedy—most of it, anyway—can be enjoyed again

[wmorrow59 · 7/10 · 22 October 2016]

Thanks to the efforts of dedicated film restoration experts several of Harry Langdon's early short comedies have been recovered, painstakingly cleaned up, and pieced back together again for home viewing. Until fairly recently, Langdon's two-reel short The First 100 Years could be seen only in the form of brief, tantalizing excerpts in Robert Youngson's 1960 compilation When Comedy Was King. Now, a Langdon DVD set offers a 13-minute version of this film. Some footage is still missing, but on the bright side this reconstruction represents about two-thirds of the original short, more than has been available for a long time. Happily, the surviving material gives a full sense of the story-line, and includes a lot of amusing moments for Harry and his supporting players. In its restored version the film ranks with the best of Langdon's early work for the Mack Sennett Studio.

The opening sequence is set high on a cliff overlooking crashing sea waves, and what transpires is so histrionic and deliberately overplayed we assume it will turn out to be a daydream or hallucination on somebody's part: Harry plays the stalwart hero of a melodrama, bravely defending the leading lady from "Black Mike," a top-hatted villain. There's a fight and Harry lands a hay-maker on Mike's jaw, causing the villain to sail off the cliff and fall to a distant ledge—though he immediately jumps up and shouts threats at Harry, shaking his fist as he hops up and down! "And then came wedded bliss," the title card informs us, and we realize that this prologue was intended as some kind of shorthand metaphor to explain how Harry won his girl from a rival. (Or perhaps it was just meant to be funny?)

The newlyweds must wash their own dishes until the arrival of their new cook, a fearsome gorgon played by Louise Carver, whose appearance suggests her previous job may have been as a guard at a women's prison. She quickly takes over the joint and bosses her employers. Harry's problems mount when an "old friend" of his arrives and immediately starts flirting with his wife. Unfortunately, at this juncture the footage gets a little choppy. However, there's a great bit where Harry tries to intimidate Louise with a newly-acquired bulldog, who takes one look at her and heads for the hills, dragging Harry behind him. Indignant, Louise quits the household, only to be replaced by slinky Madeline Hurlock, a dark-eyed beauty who wastes no time vamping the master of the house. When she kneels before him and massages his feet Harry's wife is taken aback, but Harry looks quite pleased with the new help.

The second half of the film turns into a haunted house comedy, as a storm blows in and the newlyweds find their home invaded by tall, mysterious bearded men in black who pop out of unexpected places. (Silent comedy buffs may be reminded of the later Charley Bowers short There It Is, which takes this sort of craziness and multiplies it to the 10th power.) There's a great moment when one of these guys leans over Harry, draping his long beard over Harry's face. Eventually, we learn the true identity of Harry's "old friend," the new cook, and all those bearded guys. Apparently the original finale is missing, but the surviving footage ends with a revelation which serves to wrap up the plot on an amusing note, so at least this version doesn't cut off in mid-scene. Even in abbreviated form, The First 100 Years is an enjoyable viewing experience and a nice addition to the Harry Langdon canon.

P.S. There is some controversy about whether Harry's wife in this film is played by Alice Day, who is billed in the credits, or her lookalike sister Marceline, best known as Buster Keaton's leading lady in The Cameraman. According to one source, Marceline substituted for her sister at the last minute, but Alice was nonetheless erroneously credited in the film and its publicity material. Personally, having watched the film carefully I believe the credits are correct, and this is indeed Alice Day.

Finally seeing Harry Langdon in a decent comedy

[theowinthrop · 8/10 · 11 August 2007]

Although one of the excerpts for Robert Youngson's WHEN COMEDY WAS KING, this short with Harry Langdon is very funny - and shows the comedian as he was advancing to that peak he shared for about a year in the 1920s with Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd.

Harry and his wife (Alice Day) have just moved to a new home, and they are awaiting the cook Harry hired. This cook is a tall, powerful woman who smokes cigars when not cooking or cleaning (we see her effortlessly toss the washed plates into a cabinet without smashing any). The actress who played her is one Louise Carver, but the type would be repeated with endless variations fifteen years later by Marjorie Main. To add to Harry's problems an old acquaintance played by Frank Coleman shows up - and soon is making advances on Harry's wife.

The film follows the following plots:

1) getting rid of Carver as the house maid. 2) watching the activities of Coleman. 3) replacing Carver - and trying a new maid who is very French and very taxing on Day (Madeline Hurlock plays the maid). 4)operating under all this tension while a power failure and thunderstorm occur - and news comes on about an escaped maniac.

For the second half of the short we see a panicking Langdon trying to keep tabs on everyone on the house - including a mysterious bearded man who keeps popping up. What it all adds up to is a great deal of amusing situations particularly with the French maid and the bearded man (at one point Langdon is aware the man is standing over him while he is reading a mysterious message, and the man covers Langdon's head with his forked beard, and then plucks the message card out of Langdon's head - and then vanishes out the window, while Langdon struggles to look like nothing odd has just happened!).

Having seen Langdon a couple of weeks back in one of his lesser, weaker, and final shorts, it is immensely pleasing to see him at his prime. For a good view of what a fine comic he really was see THE FIRST 100 YEARS.

Among Harry Langdon's very best

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 10 August 2008]

This is one of many shorts that are included in "Harry Langdon: Lost and Found Disk 1". This is a three disk set and it's odd that it's been so hard to find Langdon shorts up until this set was released in 2007. Of all the shorts on this disk, THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS is probably the funniest. Also, because of the similarity of the titles, do not confuse this with the later Laurel and Hardy film, THE SECOND HUNDRED YEARS (1927).

Years ago, I saw this short in the Robert Yougson compilation film THE GOLDEN AGE OF COMEDY. The narrator indicated that what was shown was only the surviving second portion of the film--as the rest was lost due to disintegration of old nitrate stock. While no mention of this is made on the box for "Harry Langdon: Lost and Found" DVD, the audio commentary acknowledges that a portion is missing. What is shown is essentially the same portion shown in THE GOLDEN AGE OF COMEDY. You can tell part is missing when the film begins with the inter-title card which reads "Later". This would indicate that some event preceded this but was somehow lost. Despite missing the first portion (and subsequently being only about 13 minutes long and not 20 like it should be), the film doesn't seem to suffer as what's left is extremely funny and well-paced.

Harry and his young wife have a maid who is probably the scariest looking maid in history. The couple don't want to keep her as she's also a terrible cook, but Harry is too afraid of her to tell her to leave. So in a cute scene, he brings home a mean dog--who sees the maid and runs away in fear! However, their prayers are finally answered when the lady quits--and Harry goes to fetch another maid. However, this one looks like a vamp and the wife is not pleased! So, when an old flame of the wife arrives, she is sure to heap lots of attention on the guy to make Harry jealous.

Now here is when the film starts to get very weird. It goes from a domestic comedy to a horror film, as what looks like a group of bearded maniacs sneak into the house! Harry is naturally scared and with his innocent little boy looks, this film makes the most of it. In the end, however, there's an interesting twist and the couple are left to live happily ever after.

Highly inventive, well executed and funny--this is a good Langdon film for the beginner, as you can see his charm and just how funny his films can be.

Fair Langdon

[Michael_Elliott · 25 February 2008]

First 100 Years, The (1924)

** (out of 4)

Harry Langdon and his new wife are shocked when their new cook arrives and she's a large, cigar smoking woman who is also quite ugly. This arrangement doesn't work out so they hire another cook but this one here is beautiful. The first half of the film dealing with the ugly cook contains some pretty good laughs including a great sequence where she scares Harry's bulldog who takes off running down the street dragging Harry with him. After this the film slows down without many laughs.

The First 100 Years are certainly not the worst

[hte-trasme · 9/10 · 24 September 2009]

I watched the thirteen-minute partial reconstruction of this short, available on the "Harry Langdon Collection: Lost and Found" DVD set. If you have access to the full twenty-minute-or-so version, contact a film archive as soon as you can.

I don't like to use the word "tragedy" to describe seven minutes of film being misplaced, but I really wish this film existed in a complete version. It's a hilarious comedy of Harry Langdon's total inability to deal with a tough cook he and his wife have hired, her suspicions of the seductive replacement they take on, and a malicious intruder in his house. Placing the wide-eyed innocent Harry among such sordid elements is inspired and places him in his best element. Relatively early in his career he is already playing the entire film like a master, and the direction allows him time to relax and react at a methodical pace. It's his comedy genius that turns what could have been another iteration of a common gag (that catsup looks like blood!) into something hilarious and unforgettable with just a few seconds' worth of facial expressions.

Alice Day seems to have picked up a little of the technique, in fact, and she is great as she reacts Louise Carver's burly cigar-smoking cook, and her suspiciously beautiful replacement. Carver is so over-the-top in her characterization that it's perfect.

This is a great thirteen minutes of comedy in its present form -- my thanks to those who have preserved it, and my hopes for the recovery of the rest!