LANGDON, Harry (1884-1944). The Langdons. A Night on The Boulevard. Collection of Lobby Cards and Ephemera. New York, ca. 1914. Lot includes: three original photograph lobby cards (sight 9 ½ x 11 ½”), a silver gelatin publicity photograph (8 x 6”), an Orpheum Theatre program (Los Angeles), and an issue of the New York Star (Feb. 1914) for Harry Langdon’s automobile-themed vaudeville production “A Night on the Boulevard,” performed with Rose Musolff. Rose and Harry met and eloped in 1903 and rose to popularity on vaudeville with their act “Johnny’s New Car,” which they performed together for some 20 years. The lobby card artwork was drawn by Langdon; two of the pieces in this lot are illustrated in Langdon biographer William Schelly’s Harry Langdon: His Life and Films (Jefferson and London: McFarland, 2014), pp. 15-6, in the chapter chronicling the comedian’s career in vaudeville. Lobby cards and publicity photo archivally framed and triple matted.

This is the first lot in the Wayne Powers Collection of Harry Langdon movie posters, lobby cards, stills, ephemera, and silent comedy memorabilia (Lots 156 - 211). The Powers Collection spans Langdon’s filmography in addition to representing the actor’s pre-cinema vaudeville career. Portions of the collection were depicted in Langdon biographer William Schelly’s Harry Langdon (Scarecrow Press, 1982; and McFarland, 2014).

After several decades performing on vaudeville, Langdon embarked on a Hollywood career in the early 1920s, rising to stardom with silent comedy producer Mack Sennett. Collaborating with Frank Capra, Langdon starred in silent classics such as “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp,” “The Strong Man,” and “Long Pants” that established his persona of the babylike Little Elf. He formed his own film company but could not capitalize on his earlier successes, although he continued to appear in films into the sound era. Writing later in Life magazine, critic James Agee discussed the four comics he considered the greats of silent comedy - Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, and Langdon. In a often-quoted line on Langdon, he wrote that the comic had “one queerly toned, unique little reed. But out of it he could get incredible melodies."