Harry Langdon (1884-1994), with the assistance of the directors Harry Edwards and Frank Capra, produced films that now rank as masterpieces. 1926's The Strong Man and the subsequent Long Pants (1927), directed by Capra, have since received the strongest critical acclaim. In addition, Langdon's first feature Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1926) with Edwards at the helm, has enduring qualities. The baby-faced Langdon does his college best to win a walking marathon in order to gain the affections of a girl (Joan Crawford in one of her earliest roles). This material was inspired by the method of Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton in combining varied elements; a story-line similar to those used by the more genteel comedians and was generously sprinkled with visual gags of a high order.
And it very well may have been that Langdon employed many subtle pantomime gestures as to why the actor was perpetually compared to Charlie Chaplin. But Langdon has his own signature which incorporated the essence of innocence - surpassing the childlike character developed by Stan Laurel or the manic man-child of Larry Semon. Langdon's strange little fellow was more a creature of reaction, one who seldom took action to solve his own problems. Rarely, was there a scene approaching the dizzily moving sequences of Lloyd and Keaton's respective works. Detailed pantomime routines were his calling card, although Chaplin could execute such comic bits more effectively. Nevertheless, Langdon must be considered one of the kings of the golden age of silent screen comedy.