My experience with this Harry Langdon short demonstrates a couple of notable points about silent comedy. First, it really helps to see a good print of a film, and second, even more importantly, it helps enormously to see these movies the way they were meant to be seen: in a theater, with an appreciative audience, accompanied by live music. Of course it isn't always possible to meet either one of these criteria, but when both are met you may find that a movie which otherwise seemed to be routine or even a bit flat can suddenly come to life before your eyes.
Case in point: I first saw His Marriage Wow years ago at home on TV, in the form of a second-rate video copy. The picture quality was poor, and the print used for the transfer lacked the original Sennett title cards. The cards in that VHS version were added later and, as I would subsequently discover, did not follow the intended wording. Consequently, the plot was confusing and the gags lacked punch. Harry performed some amusing routines and Vernon Dent was strikingly weird in his character role, but in the end I concluded that this comedy was something of a quirky misfire. Recently however, I was fortunate enough to see it again, happily with an audience, as a lead-in to Buster Keaton's great feature Seven Chances, and this time the Langdon short was a revelation. The print was crisp and clear, the original titles cards were intact, and the crowd loved it. I felt like I was seeing this movie for the first time.
In the opening sequence it is Harry's wedding day, and his fiancé Agnes and the wedding party await his arrival with growing concern while he sits calmly in the front pew—at the wrong church. (The location used for this sequence is the very same one Keaton used a year later in Seven Chances, as we observed at the screening.) Once he realizes his mistake, Harry tries to race to the right place, but manages to delay himself repeatedly. This leads to a great routine where he loses the wedding ring and has to ride on the trunk of a moving car, using a pen-knife to extricate it from the car's spinning tire. Eventually Harry arrives at the church, and here's where we meet Vernon Dent, who gives an unforgettable performance as Professor McGlumm, "student of melancholia and pessimism." He looks like something out of a German Expressionist nightmare, dark-eyed and eerie. Just to be helpful (not!) McGlumm plants the idea within the bridal party that Harry has met with some sort of dreadful accident, and then, after Harry shows up, he suggests privately to the nervous groom that Agnes may be marrying him only for his insurance, which she'll collect after bumping him off. Harry's anxiety turns the ceremony into a prolonged series of fumbles, attempted escapes and miscues. Throughout, Professor McGlumm sits in the front pew and glares at the befuddled couple with laser-beam intensity. When I saw this with an audience each close-up of McGlumm got a bigger laugh as the scene rolled along.
After that great first reel the mid-section focusing on Harry and Agnes' life at home meanders somewhat, but His Marriage Wow picks up again and concludes with a rousing finale, as McGlumm treats Harry to a high speed (and beautifully filmed) auto race through town. The highlight comes when the professor abandons the front seat entirely, forcing Harry to take the wheel, at which point McGlumm literally removes the steering wheel and flings it out of the car! The chase finale isn't well motivated, nor do we ever learn exactly why the professor is hanging out with Agnes' family in the first place, but why quibble? This short comedy is a real laugh-provoker that features a number of good gags and a great performance by Vernon Dent, who practically steals the show from the nominal star.
