the downfall of Langdon and Hancock

[stuart.uk]

i know many in America don't know of the name Tony Hancock, but at his height he made his first and most successful starring feature film The Rebel top billed over his co-star George Sanders. he also played an Inspector in The Wrong Box and was a mad aircraft inventor in the comedy Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines.

i think they're similairites between Hancock and silent movie star Harry Langdon, though Tony seems to have been the more talented of the two. the reason i say that is because anyone who saw Tony at his height usually admits to his greatness, but in Paul Merton's book Silent Comedy the suggestion is Harry wasn't that talented to begin with and no less as person than Frank Capra went along with that.

however, both were hugh at the pk of their success. Langdon made Tramp Tramp Tramp with a young Joan Crawford and was directed by Capra in The Strong Man. afterwards he sacked people like Capra and tried to go down the Chaplin and Keaton road and direct his own films. the result was a disaster and when talkies arrived he ended up making cheap little shorts.

Hancock supported Sid James in the movie Orders Are Orders in the early 50s, but the roles were reversed on the radio show Hancock's Half Hour where James played his side kick along with Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jaquies. so popular was the Galton And Simpson written show that it was shifted to tv, only Kenneth and Hattie were dropped, leaving Sid as Tony's flat mate in the show. eventually Tony let Sid go and the sidekick along with Kenneth and Hattie went on to make The Carry On Movies. however, Galton and Simpson remained and his greatest show The Blood Doner was aired (i'll try and find it on You Tube. sadly it's no longer available due to a copyright claim)). it was after the writers made The Rebel with him that they were fired. like Langdon before him he thought he could go it alone. The Punch And Judy Man with Sylvia Syms was a flop and after trying to get his career going in Austraila he ended up committing suicide

Galton And Simpson went on greater success with sit-com Steptoe And Son with William Bramble (Paul's granddad in A Hard Day's Night) and Harry H Corbett as a father and son rag and bone firm. an American network liked it and created their own version Stanford And Son

[movieman1957]

Langdon is essentially forgotten here. People may know the name because of his association with Laurel and Hardy and Hal Roach but he is hardly ever on.

I've never heard of Mr. Hancock.

[stuart.uk]

Chris

Harry Langdon in this country was known as one of the big four of the silent comedy era. admittedly he was a poor 4th as Chaplin, Keaton and Llyod were head and shoulders above him as a performer.

here's a link about Tony Hancock. he wasn't really known in America, but the fact he could star in his first starring film, The Rebel, with George Sanders in a supporting role shows what a big tv performer he was, looking to establish himself on the American market. yet in a few short yrs he was dead.

Biography
Comedian, Actor ... Comedian, Actor. At the height of his comedic powers in the late 1950s/early 1960s, Tony Hancock (aided by the brilliant writing of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson ...

www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/482568/index.html · Cached page

[movieman1957]

Thanks so much for the info.