The Big Kick (1930) User Reviews (4)

If you're wild about Harry, you'll enjoy it

[wmorrow59 · 7/10 · 29 March 2017]

Several years ago TCM devoted an evening of programming to comedian Harry Langdon, and aired all six of the surviving sound shorts he made for the Hal Roach Studio during the 1929-30 season. (Eight were produced, but two are unavailable for viewing.) Langdon is best known for his output during the silent era, and is generally assumed to have been one of those unlucky stars who was unable to make a successful transition to sound, but in the best of these early talkies he comes off surprisingly well, and manages to capture some of the spirit that made his early work so special. In my estimation The Big Kick is one of Harry's better Roach comedies, generally bright and amusing, and it's interesting to see how smoothly he adapts his quirky technique to the demands of the new medium.

There's scarcely any plot to speak of, but that's okay. Harry runs a filling station out in the sticks, assisted by a cute young lady. (She's Nancy Dover, with whom Langdon paired well in several Roach shorts.) Bootleggers are on the loose in the area, and detectives are chasing them. Men with guns show up at the gas station—are they cops, or crooks?—and later a bus pulls up, filled with passengers who, mysteriously, appear to be mannequins. As it turns out, the crooks have hidden their liquor in the dummies, and when a gunfight breaks out, booze spouts from bullet holes in the "passengers." (A rather macabre gag.) If you're familiar with Langdon's style it should come as no surprise that Nancy turns out to be more resourceful than her boyfriend at subduing the crooks, and dealing with all this unaccustomed excitement.

One of the nice things about The Big Kick is that Harry's essentially mute comic method fits so well in this new, somewhat strange setting. He still looks very much like his eerily youthful self; after all, this film was made only four years after The Strong Man, his peak achievement of the silent days. He speaks not at all in first portion of The Big Kick, and very little thereafter, and when he does, his high, piping voice suits his appearance perfectly. He also utilizes sound cleverly, as when a driver in a dilapidated, noisy car pulls up and tries to communicate, but he and Harry are unable to hear each other over the cacophony; the idea seems to be, if you have to use sound, make it LOUD! As the tense situation with the bootleggers swirls around him, Harry goes about his business in his own methodical, eccentric way. This could easily be a Sennett short of 1925 with sound added, and it works.

It's not likely that The Big Kick will make a convert out of anyone who doesn't already appreciate Langdon, nor would it make an especially good introduction for anyone who has never seen him before. But for fans, it's pleasant to watch Harry take on the new medium and succeed.

Gasaholics

[lowbrowstudios · 19 January 2011]

By this time the Langdon unit at Roach was finding a good mixture of low comedy with room for Langdon's unique comic style. THE BIG KICK gives him ample opportunities to slow down the action for set Langdon moments without bringing the short to a stand still. Harry runs a gas station but seems more interested in sleeping the day away. His girl arrives to rouse him but even then Harry's daily ritual of nodding off standing up continues unabated. Only Langdon could get away with washing up and drying off without using water or a towel and make it look fascinating. Since his girl has been attending to all of the customers Harry finally joins her just as a rattletrap Model T with the world's loudest engine pulls up. Making jokes at the expense of sound was already a staple of the Roach lot but here Langdon takes it to it's extremes. The engine is so loud that nothing else can be heard on the soundtrack, even though Harry and the driver seem to be having a long, extended conversation. At one point Harry even turns to his girlfriend, who is standing quietly by, and he hushes her so he can hear better.

The other main set piece has Harry donning a disguise in order to apprehend some local bootleggers. Considering they don't even know who he is to begin with the disguise is unnecessary but it does give him ample time to flinch and react as a growing gas balloon inflates inside his topcoat. When a gun battle breaks out between the crooks and the cops bullets spray the getaway car and booze begins seeping out in powerful sprays that Harry tries stopping with his hands and eventually with his mouth. Our hero doesn't even get to play hero as his girl helps apprehend the bad guys while Harry deals with a group of headless mannequins in his inebriated state.

Harry's relationship with the world around him makes this a most telling metaphor in this very entertaining short.

One of his better shorts for Roach....kind of sad, isn't it?

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 23 January 2011]

If you've read any of my other reviews for Harry Langdon's films at the Hal Roach Studio, then you might think that I hate early comedies. This couldn't be farther from the truth--I adore these comedies--just not Langdon's after his career ground to an artistic halt in the late 1920s. Up until then, he'd done some fine films. But, after firing the guy who directed his best films (Frank Capra) and taking control of his career, his films significantly diminished in quality--and his audience was left baffled at the new Harry. The biggest problem is that often Harry relied on just staring and looking cute. But by now this had grown a bit thin--plus he was getting older and wasn't quite the cherubic figure he'd once been.

In "The Big Kick", Harry is running a gas station (though, oddly, he's dressed in his normal everyday clothes with that odd hat). The action is slow in coming, but eventually he has a run-in with some bootleggers. Somehow, Harry manages to outsmart the crooks and the cops capture them---and Harry has no idea he's done so well. While there are some humorous moments, this is NEVER a laugh out loud film and it manages to elicit just a few smiles...a very few. Still, compared to other shorts he made for Roach, this is among the better ones...which is kind of sad.

Langdon Meets the Bootleg Boys

[Michael_Elliott · 3 February 2011]

Big Kick, The (1930)

** (out of 4)

Harry Langdon plays a gas station worker who has a couple cops come by and tell him that there are bootleggers in the area and he needs to keep an eye out for them. Before Harry knows it there's a gunfight going on and he must try to save some dummies inside the bootlegger's car. This was my fourth short from Langdon from his stint with Hal Roach and as another reviewer pointed out it's pretty sad that this here has been the best of the bunch. I'm really not sure what could have been done to make these shorts better as they're just downright bizarre in how bad and at times creepy they are. Having now seen four I can actually see some people viewing these just for the surreal and strange nature of them. I think it would have helped not making these two-reelers and instead just trying to come up with a nine-minute film. This is actually nine minutes worth of "story" or action and then the other eleven or so minutes are just bad routines that almost seem like bad rehearsals or some sort of outtake. One such sequence happens as Harry wakes up and begins to get ready for work. In a very slow and annoying style he splashes a little water on his back, neck, ears and so on. Was this suppose to be funny? Another such sequence happens when he gets dressed up for the bootleggers and a balloon starts to fill up while inside the coat he's wearing. This simple gag just gets dragged out to the point where you roll your eyes and wish someone would yell cut. The film at least moves at a decent pace and I give the director credit for not letting things get too horribly bad but in the end you're still left with a comedy without laughs.