The Strong Man

1926 film by Frank Capra

For other uses, see Strongman (disambiguation).

The Strong Man

Jumbo lobby card

Directed by| Frank Capra
Written by| Arthur Ripley (story)
Hal Conklin (adaptation)
Robert Eddy (adaptation)
Reed Heustis (titles)
Produced by| Harry Langdon
Starring| Harry Langdon
Priscilla Bonner
Cinematography| Glenn Kershner
Elgin Lessley
Edited by| Harold Young
Arthur Ripley
Music by| Carl Davis (1985)
(orchestration: Kevin Townend)

Production
company

Harry Langdon Corporation

Distributed by| First National Pictures

Release date

* September 19, 1926 (1926-09-19) (United States)

Running time

| 75 minutes
Country| United States
Languages| Silent film
English intertitles

The Strong Man is a 1926 American silent comedy film starring Harry Langdon, who produced the film. It was directed by Frank Capra in his feature debut.

Along with Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, The Strong Man is Langdon's best-known feature film. Capra would also direct Langdon's next feature, Long Pants (1927), which would be their final collaboration.

## Plot

[edit]

Full film

Paul Bergot is a Belgian emigrant to the United States who has fallen in love with Mary Brown, a blind woman. They met as pen-pals when he was fighting in Europe during World War I. Mary even sent Paul a photo of herself.

Paul searches for Mary Brown by asking every woman he meets if she is Mary Brown. By accident he rescues her town from crooks and bootleggers.

## Cast

[edit]

* Harry Langdon as Paul Bergot
* Priscilla Bonner as Mary Brown
* Gertrude Astor as Lily of Broadway
* William V. Mong as Holy Joe
* Robert McKim as Mike McDevitt
* Arthur Thalasso as Zandow the Great

## Reception

[edit]

Lobby cards

### Critical response

[edit]

The staff at Variety magazine liked the film and wrote, "A whale of a comedy production that has a wealth of slapstick, a rough-and-tumble finish and in the earlier passages bits of pantomimic comedy that are notable. Harry Langdon has a comic method distinct from other film fun makers. The quality of pathos enters into it more fully than the style of any other comedian with the possible exception of Chaplin. His gift of legitimate comedy here has a splendid vehicle."[1]

More recently, critic Maria Schneider reviewed Langdon's work and wrote, "Not surprisingly, Langdon was most often cast as an oblivious innocent adrift in a corrupt world, a formula that made him terrifically popular in the mid-1920s. Of the three features Kino has released, The Strong Man (1926) is the best...Crisply timed and almost perfectly paced, it is also notable as Frank Capra's directorial debut."[2]

Critic Richard von Busack wrote, "A little tragedy and a lot of laughs can be seen in 1926's The Strong Man... Later, on the crowded bus out west, Langdon demonstrates a sterling silent comedy bit: the one about the goof who mistakes a jar of stenchy Limburger cheese for Vicks' VapoRub. With exquisite deadpan, Langdon keeps the incident from being too sad; he deftly, repeatedly, sucker-punches a bully who protests against the smell. Director Frank Capra's energy and sturdy plot sense counterpoint Langdon's wonderful strangeness."[3]

Reviewing Langdon's career and movies, silent film critic and author Dan Navarro wrote, "When Harry Langdon's Tramp, Tramp, Tramp premiered in March 1926, it was greeted by moviegoers as a worthy challenger to the great films of Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. Langdon was hailed as 'the fourth comedy genius.' That heady feeling was reinforced when, in September 1926, Langdon appeared in an even better picture, Frank Capra's The Strong Man...[the film] was Frank Capra's first directorial effort, and his genius shines through."[4]

### Awards

[edit]

In 2007, The Strong Man was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[5][6]

## See also

[edit]

* List of United States comedy films

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The Strong Man". Variety. 1926. Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. Retrieved February 18, 2008.
2. ^ Schneider, Maria (March 29, 2002). "Long Pants". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
3. ^ von Busack, Richard (November 28, 2007). "Silence Is Golden". MetroActive. Retrieved February 18, 2008.
4. ^ Navarro, Dan (2006). "The Strong Man (1926)". Dan Navarro's Silent Film Guides. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved February 18, 2008.
5. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
6. ^ "Librarian of Congress Announces National Film Registry Selections for 2007". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 12, 2020.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Strong Man.

English Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Strong Man

* The Strong Man (1926) on YouTube
* The Strong Man essay by Bill Schelly at National Film Registry
* The Strong Man at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
* The Strong Man at IMDb
* The Strong Man at the TCM Movie Database
* Harry Langdon article at Images Journal by Gary Johnson
* The Strong Man essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 ISBN 0826429777, pages 119-120

* v
* t
* e

Frank Capra

* Filmography

Films directed|

* Fultah Fisher's Boarding House (1922)
* The Strong Man (1926)
* Long Pants (1927)
* For the Love of Mike (1927)
* That Certain Thing (1928)
* So This Is Love? (1928)
* The Matinee Idol (1928)
* The Way of the Strong (1928)
* Say It with Sables (1928)
* The Power of the Press (1928)
* Submarine (1928)
* The Younger Generation (1929)
* The Donovan Affair (1929)
* Flight (1929)
* Ladies of Leisure (1930)
* Rain or Shine (1930)
* Dirigible (1931)
* The Miracle Woman (1931)
* Platinum Blonde (1931)
* Forbidden (1932)
* American Madness (1932)
* The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)
* Lady for a Day (1933)
* It Happened One Night (1934)
* Broadway Bill (1934)
* Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
* Lost Horizon (1937)
* You Can't Take It with You (1938)
* Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
* Meet John Doe (1941)
* Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
* It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
* State of the Union (1948)
* Riding High (1950)
* Here Comes the Groom (1951)
* A Hole in the Head (1959)
* Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

Why We Fight series|

* Prelude to War (1942)
* The Nazis Strike (1943)
* Divide and Conquer (1943)
* The Battle of Britain (1943)
* The Battle of Russia (1943)
* The Battle of China (1944)
* War Comes to America (1945)

Other works|

* Know Your Enemy: Japan
* Here Is Germany
* Tunisian Victory
* Your Job in Germany
* Two Down and One to Go
* The Negro Soldier
* Army–Navy Screen Magazine
* The Fallbrook Story
* The Bell System Science Series
* Our Mr. Sun
* Hemo the Magnificent
* Rendezvous in Space

Related|

* Bibliography
* Liberty Films
* Frank Capra Jr. (son)
* Five Came Back (2017 documentary)
* Frank Capra: Mr. America (2023 documentary)
* Robert Riskin

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