Cold Turkey

Back in the 1920s, Harry Langdon made some dandy comedies...mostly with Frank Capra directing. However, Langdon apparently wasn't very bright...and he left the studio to do films his way. His way was apparently code for 'dull', and the shorts he made post-Capra were pretty limp. Of all these, his last shorts were for Columia....and this isn't surprising as this studio made a habit out of hiring folks who were down and out. This was, believe it or not, true of the Three Stooges...who bombed in most of their shots with MGM. In addition, Columbia hired Buster Keaton and Charley Chase when they both were down-and-out....and this was true with quite a few other comedians of the era.

The story is set around Christmas and Harry wins a turkey in an office raffle. Unfortunately, it's a LIVE turkey and the animal causes all sorts of trouble when he brings it home. He also has trouble because when he and his wife are talking about preparing the bird, she tells him he needs to kill it...and a nosy neighbor thinks they're going to kill him.

Like the other Columbia shorts I've seen starring Harry Langdon, this one is not especially good. It has a few good moments here and there but overall, it just isn't funny.

When Harry Langdon wins a turkey in the office Christmas party raffle, he has to get it home to wife Ann Doran without strangling Bud Jamison. When she discovers it's a live turkey, she orders Harry to kill it with an axe; landlord Monte Collins thinks he's the one to have his head chopped off.

Del Lord may not have been the ideal director for Langdon, but he was certainly open to Langdon's style of comedy, just as he had been to Charley Chase's. There are a couple of Langdon gag sequences here, with nice little touches, like his pixilated reaction to a drink at the party or when he's trying to persuade the turkey to climb into the icebox.

"Cold Turkey" is a typical Columbia short comedy enhanced by the comic genius of Harry Langdon. Coming as late as it does in Langdon's career, it should not be this good. Harry looks great in this short. No mustache to make him look older and no glasses to give him a Harold Lloyd look! He is the baby face Langdon of old and he has more energy than in the previous Columbia entries. The plot is simple; Harry wins a live turkey for Christmas dinner at his office. Now he has to get it home. Sure, Harold Lloyd did this routine before, but Harry and director Del Lord put their own spin on it. This routine takes up most of the first reel. Harry participates in a few good gags with his old buddy Vernon Dent as his boss and with Columbia regular Bud Jamison as a policeman. The second reel deals with the misconception that Harry is going to kill his landlord, played by Columbia favorite Monte Collins, instead of the turkey.

Even though the film is loaded with standard Stooges-style Columbia slapstick, Harry does subtle little bits throughout the film to make it funnier. He was never an athletic comic like Keaton or Lloyd; he relied on quirky little body movements and facial reactions. He still portrays innocence, even though he was approaching his 60s. I only wish he didn't talk so much. Sometimes he comes off like a babbling idiot. Keaton only spoke when absolutely necessary. However, watching Langdon silents, you can see he is always talking, even though we cannot hear him.

This is a first rate comedy, only marred by Harry's babbling and a weak finish.