The Bootleg Files: The Hero

Posted on December 30, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 823: “The Hero” (1917 short starring Billy West and Oliver Hardy).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On public domain labels.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A blatant (if effective) rip-off of Charlie Chaplin’s act.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: There is no great call for a Billy West revival.

When Charlie Chaplin’s popularity exploded into superstardom status during the mid-1910s, the demand of his films became greater than his ability to create original new works. To fill the void, a number of comic actors began to dress up in Chaplin’s distinctive Little Tramp costume and make-up and churn out short films of a Chaplinesque nature. Most of these imitators were not that special and their work has been lost to oblivion. But one copycat created a near-perfect facsimile of Chaplin’s act, to the point that his films were occasionally marketed as being genuine Chaplin films.
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Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (2022)

Posted on December 18, 2022 by Phil Hall

The Walt Disney Co. hasn’t done very much since it acquired the trademark to the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit character in 2006 – for those unfamiliar with the back story, Walt Disney created Oswald for Universal Pictures in 1927 and made 27 silent black-and-white shorts. But Disney lost the rights to the character, at which point he created a new character called Mickey Mouse.
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Stonks Goes the Distance! (2022)

Posted on December 16, 2022 by Phil Hall

Stock trading and investing might not sound like the most obvious choice a children’s book, but the 2021 “Stonks on the Moon!” by the pseudonymous Professor Clark offered a playful mix of child-friendly fiction (complete with anthropomorphic animals and a story about believing in one’s purpose) with sly tributes to investing world’s machinations – including the “to the moon” focus of “apes” and characters that bore more than a coincidental resemblance to Tesla chieftain Elon Musk and financial analyst Keith Gill.
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The Bootleg Files: Windy Riley Goes Hollywood

Posted on November 25, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 820: “Windy Riley Goes Hollywood” (1931 short starring Louise Brooks and directed by Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle under a pseudonym).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On public domain labels and as a special feature on a Kino Lorber Blu-ray offering.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A lapsed copyright enables endless dupes.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: It was already on a commercial label, but the public domain dupes never stopped.

The 1931 Educational Pictures short “Windy Riley Goes Hollywood” is not remembered today for its content – which, quite frankly, is terrible – but as a low point in the creative lives of two iconic talents of the silent screen who came into the talkie era with their respective careers in shambles.
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The Bootleg Files: Easy to Get

Posted on November 18, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 819: “Easy to Get” (1947 U.S. Army educational short).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: The film has some serious issues.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Perhaps in an anthology of military-produced films.

You may have noticed that there are relatively few films beyond the pornographic genre where men freely and fully exposed their penis on camera. One of the first – if not the first – non-pornographic films where the penis gets front-and-center exposure is a strange short educational film called “Easy to Get,” which was produced by the U.S. Army in 1947 for exclusive screening for its Black soldiers.
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The Bootleg Files: In the Devildog House

Posted on November 4, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 818: “In the Devildog House” (1934 short starring Clark and McCullough).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

Yes, the spotlight is back on the comedy team of Bobby Clark and Paul McCullough – and why not? For too long, their films have been overlooked – to the point that many of them are either lost or are in archives and cannot be easily accessed.
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The Bootleg Files: Hey, Nanny Nanny

Posted on October 21, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 817: “Hey, Nanny Nanny” (1933 short starring Clark and McCullough).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

Question: What is the funniest movie that you never saw? The answer could be “Hey, Nanny Nanny,” a 1933 short starring the comedy team of Bobby Clark and McCullough.
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