The Hitch Hiker (1933) User Reviews

Harry Langdon Talks! And He's Funny!

[alonzoiii-1 · 7/10 · 15 November 2008]

Harry Langdon messes up a movie shoot, hitches a ride on an airplane, and ruins everyone's trip. What will the passengers on the unlucky airplane do, when they learn they are stuck flying with "THE HITCHHIKER"?

Langdon made a lot of talking pictures, some of which are are available (Hallelujah, I'm A Bum, Zenobia.) But he's not particularly funny in most of those, even when he appears to be trying. This short subject, on the other hand, is very much in the spirit of Langdon's silent shorts, and is quite good as a result. The main sequence is Harry treating his extremely annoying cold on the airplane with all sorts of devices well designed to annoy and offend his neighbors. The classic moment here is when he mistakenly uses Limburger cheese instead of his vapo rub. Just when it looks like he's stretched the gag out way too long, he comes up with the perfect highlight. Also classic is Langdon's conflict with Vernon Dent. Let's just say Langdon has a most fey approach to violence which works for his character (and in differentiating his character from talkie rival Stan Laurel.) Not the funniest short ever, but well worth hunting down on YouTube.

Terribly unfunny...

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 23 August 2009]

Wow, is this film a far cry from the wonderful early shorts by Harry Langdon! While his silent shorts manage to be original and have excellent timing, this one takes a single joke and beats it like a dead horse.

The film begins well enough. Harry happens upon a movie shoot and has no idea what is happening isn't real. And so, when a baby carriage with a baby doll rolls into the lake, Harry thinks there's a baby inside and jumps in to save it. Not exactly side-splitting, but clever enough.

This is all in the first three minutes. What follows is Harry soon sneaking aboard a passenger plane and spending the entire time coughing and behaving as if he's practically dying of consumption (TB). He coughs in people's faces, he sneezes and seems to have no regard for those stuck in the cabin with him. And this goes on and on and on. Later, in a "kooky" mix-up, he ends up smearing Limburger cheese all over his chest, as he thinks it's something like Vapo-Rub. This is an old bit and I've seen it in other films, so what is the funniest bit on the plane is a recycled one. Finally, one of the passengers (Vernon Dent) gets so mad that he straps a parachute on Langdon and tosses him out of the plane. Too bad he used a parachute! The bottom line is that the film took an idea that wasn't particularly comedy gold in the first place and mined it to death. Seeing 10-15 minutes of Langdon overacting to show that he's very sick just isn't funny. Overall, it's a rather tedious short film and one that I certainly wouldn't advise you watching.