Harry Langdon Describes Trials and Hardships of Being a Movie Star--Is Now Training His Voice to Enter Talkies

The trials and tribulations of a movie comedian and the rise of the talkies in the motion picture industry were the topics which Harry Langdon, famous movie comedian, now appearing at the Keith Albee Theatre discussed with a CRIMSON reporter yesterday. "Anybody who thinks the life of a movie actor an easy one is all wrong," said Harry. "It takes me about 14 weeks to make a picture and in that time I have to work hard all day. Then, because of tremendous overhead, which sometimes amounts to $10,000 a day, we have to do night sequences in which we work some four hours extra.

"I was just telling Eddie Shubert about one night not long ago when, after acting before the camera all day I came back to take off my make-up, and was so wrapped up in my work, that before I knew what I was doing I had put my makeup back on and was walking across the set again."

Soon Harry was talking of Hollywood and when he heard that Joan Crawford was a favorite at Harvard he said, "Joan is a wonderful girl, and she's never caused me any trouble. In fact, the only mischief she ever does is when I'm acting. Then she stands arounds and laughs so hard that the whole work is broken up and we have to take the scene over."

Mr. Langdon said he was on his present vaudeville tour mainly for the purpose of getting his voice in shape for the talkies. He is to make his first talking picture in the Spring. "The talking pictures are a howling success," he said. "In the end, the success or failure of a movie is judged by the box office returns it brings, and in this respect the talkies have surely made good. The talkies are now just in their infancy. If one compares the automobile of 20 years ago to the present model and then judges the talkies by the same rate of development one can imagine what they will soon amount too."