The Hitch Hiker

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.