The Fighting Parson

Harry is a traveling hat salesman out west and he is mistaken for the Fighting Parson, who has been going around, punching out bandits and running revival meetings. So when he shows up in town and proceeds to charm the sinners by singing 'Frankie and Johnny' instead of 'Rock of Ages' he must fight Leo Wills for control of the town.

For some reason, Harry's Roach shorts are given short shrift in film history, just another rock on his career's pratfall. But looking at the actual work, I see an absolutely delightful short as Harry moves his naif into the sound era and begins to alter him for the new venue. A veteran of the stage, he sings, he plays the piano and he performs a fine eccentric dance. Nor are the solid comedy technicians at Roach averse to helping him come up with one of his better surrealistic gags for the final big fight scene.

For some reason, Thelma Todd appears only in a few crowd shots. This looks like it was cut down from three reels, or perhaps they simply built up the comedy boxing match and had to cut out her part.

This amusing two-reel comedy is one of several made by Harry Langdon for the Hal Roach Studio, at the dawn of the talkie era. The quirky comedian, a great favorite with audiences just a few years earlier, had fallen on hard times and was going through a rough patch in his career. Even before the talkie revolution he'd been dropped from First National's roster after one too many flops; now, during the 1929-30 season, he badly needed to establish himself as a draw in talkies.

I've seen several of the short comedies Langdon made for Roach. They're a mixed lot, but I'd say The Fighting Parson is one of the best. The Western setting works well for Harry, and the gags are pretty good, but what I really like about it—and what makes it special as a sound attraction—is that it shows off Langdon's musical abilities. In his very first scene, as a passenger on a stagecoach, Harry plays a jaunty banjo number and sings in his thin, piping voice. When he finishes, he holds out his hand for tips, but his fellow passengers are unmoved. Once he arrives at his destination, a saloon in a hardscrabble town, the musical performance continues. Through a mix-up, Harry is mistaken for the new parson. The townspeople expect him to lead them in "Rock of Ages," but instead he launches into a peppy rendition of "Frankie and Johnny," followed by an eccentric dance. Langdon spent many years in vaudeville before he entered the movies, and this pleasant sequence gives us a glimpse of what he learned in his stage days.

The plot of The Fighting Parson is both rudimentary and familiar: once we get past the mistaken identity business (reminiscent of Chaplin's The Pilgrim), Harry stumbles into a conflict with a local bully over a young lady, who was abducted and forced to work as a dance hall girl. For the finale, Harry and the bully settle their differences in an impromptu boxing match, highlighted by a surreal sight gag involving Harry's use of fake arms. Admittedly, some of the gags along the way are familiar from earlier Langdon films. For instance, when he accidentally consumes tobacco and becomes woozy, fans will be reminded of similar bits in The Luck o' the Foolish and His Marriage Wow. The ride in the stagecoach, surrounded by unfriendly people, recalls Harry's memorable bus trip in The Strong Man, and the lowdown dance hall milieu is a reminder of that film, too. But there's nothing wrong with reworking old bits in a new setting—everyone did that, including Chaplin. What's nice about The Fighting Parson is that it recaptures a little of that old Langdon magic, the unique quality that made his best silent comedies for Sennett and First National so enjoyable.

I continue to be stunned by this guy's abilities. I thought Langdon was a low-talent flash in the pan. The more I watch, the more I am amazed. After seeing this film, I can see why Chaplin felt threatened by Langdon. Burlesque, farce, sight gags, creativity, dance and song, combine in this rare gem. Why wasn't Langdon's phone ringing off the table after this short? Something is wrong with this whole scene. Did Frank Capra take his revenge to the street and get Langdon blackballed? If you combine this movie with "Three's Company", you have two unforgettable boxing scenes, before Chaplin's "City Lights". Langdon dances like he was born to dance. I have seen him sing here and in "Soldier's Plaything". This guy was a nuclear arsenal of talent. Yes, Langdon challenges us. They have a word for that. They call it "ART". He easily steals every scene with a bottomless well of pantomime, gestures and facial expressions. "The Fighting Parson" combines the best of the Sennett tradition, Hal Roach's team and Langdon's ability to pay it off. I urge the viewer to just relax and let this side-splitting short come to you.

In the 1920s, Harry Langdon made some fine comedies. However, after making some very career choices, he took charge of his career and ended up losing so much of his comic edge. He left the studio and director (Frank Capra) who made him successful and spent the next decade-plus floundering in poor films (or worse). Much of his act in these films seemed to be Langdon acting as if he's a child who is insufferably annoying--insisting that everyone should stop and pay attention to him. His trying hard to look like a slightly addled child certainly didn't help.

Here in one of Langdon's efforts for Hal Roach Studios, much of the time he follows this poor pattern. Many times (especially early in the film) he seems to just prattle aimlessly and at great length--as if that alone was somehow funny (which it wasn't). In particular, seeing and hearing him talk and talk and talk gibberish on the stage coach was pretty tough to endure. Following this, so often through the film Landgon just stared off into space--as if somehow that was funny. His comic timing was just dreadful and much of the film should have been edited to make it tighter and less long-winded.

Later, a bit more happens--though it isn't necessarily funny. There's a slow-motion boxing match where he literally walks about as if he's on downers. And seeing his enormously long fake arms was, apparently, THE joke--not just part of a longer and funnier routine. It didn't make me laugh and was just rather dumb--but perhaps kids will laugh at this.

The bottom line is like the other Hal Roach shorts I've seen Langdon make, this one is just dreadful--and even worse than his later shorts for Columbia. After a promising career start, he settled into a life of awfulness that is just inexplicable--how could a guy who was once this funny now be this unfunny?! As a HUGE fan who has reviewed hundreds (if not more) early comedies, I am dumbfounded by this and find his later films practically unwatchable. Do yourself a favor and try his earlier films--they really aren't at all like this bilge.

The marriage of styles between Harry Langdon and the Hal Roach studio would seem, on the surface of it, to be a perfect wedding but the reality was that it was a bumpy affair. However, THE FIGHTING PARSON turned out to be a memorable union.

Our first appearance of Harry is inside a stagecoach entertaining the passengers with a charming ditty while strumming a banjo. The great comedians all seemed to had been musically proficient. Groucho played guitar to keep up with his brothers and Keaton played a mean ukulele. When Harry finishes his tune he immediately holds out his hand looking for tips. Since he is wedged between two disinterested people his hand moves from side to side to side looking for a response. It's a hilarious moment. This short plays up the description that only the Gods and fate can save this clown. Through a series of accidents that Harry has no control over he soon has an entire western town believing that he is the notorious fighting Parson. There is not a more implausible sight than a town of western toughs cowering while pasty-faced Harry is busy playing by blowing foam off of his beer mug. Since he has the run of the town he decides to entertain them all by once again taking out his banjo and goes into a spirited rendition of "Frankie and Johnnie". This is followed by an impromptu tap dance and it comes off just as charming as the off-the-cuff musical moments that would appear in the shorts of Charley Chase and Stan & Ollie.

Eventually Harry must face off against the town's bad guy and since this is a western setting we naturally assume guns will be involved. And for that very reason the boys settle their differences with a boxing match. The farcical tones of this short is ratcheted up another notch as Harry acquires two long poles for arms with boxing gloves attached to the ends. This abstract image is matched with Langdon's creative use of his new arms as he pokes, jabs, throws wheel barrel punches and even skips rope with them. It all ends up with this being one of the most entertaining of the Langdon-Roach shorts.