Harry Langdon is damn creepy. A Michael Jackson-like child in a man's body, Langdon's character was wildly popular with 20's audinces, for reasons that I can't fathom today. The Strong Man is an occasionally funny film, but the laughs come in spite of Langdon, rather than because of the comedian.
Unlike the tightly structured films of Langdon's vastly superior rival Buster Keaton, The Strong Man is a collection of mostly unrelated scenes instead of an actual story. We see Langdon as a soldier in World War One, as an immigrant in Ellis Island, as an unwiting accomplice to a pickpocket, as a substitue for a strong man (hence the title), and in a inexplicable romantic rendezvous with a blind woman (Priscilla Bonner).
There are gags that work and gags that fail, but Langdon is not essential to any of them- as noted by Tiffany Compton, any silent era comedian could have performed them. Because the comedian is creepy, we never root for him, so I didn't have much invested in the dramatic scenes with the blind woman.
Of course, a character does not have to be a inanatley loveable as Chaplin's Tramp or Lloyd's Glasses. W.C. Fields was one of the funniest of all screen comedians, but you wouldn't want have dinner with his character. The crucual difference is that the best Fields films placed him in a world so cynical that we had no choice but to root for him- everyone else was so boring and straightforward we had no choice but root for the only person in the film with any ambition, dubias though it may be. Langdon's character might have worked in a very, very surreal film, but in a relativley straightforward project like this he gets in the way of his own story.
Many film fans may be tempted to check out the movie because it was directed by Frank Capra, but there is little of the typical qualities normally associated with the director's work. Capra is however, probably the film's best asset, as he keeps the story moving along quickly, only slowing down for a boring dramatic scene where Landgon tries to woo the blind chick. The movie is also well done technically with a great photography and a big climax involving a canon that is very effective indeed.
These positive qualities are not enough to merit a reccamendation, however. There are some laughs but not enough. Most cineastses will want to check out at least one Langdon film for curosity's sake alone, but for anyone else the film lacks the requisite entertainment value.
The Strong Man (1926)