{"id":38334,"date":"2022-12-30T18:31:32","date_gmt":"2022-12-30T23:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=38334"},"modified":"2023-01-08T16:42:01","modified_gmt":"2023-01-08T21:42:01","slug":"the-bootleg-files-the-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2022\/12\/30\/the-bootleg-files-the-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: The Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 823:<\/strong> \u201cThe Hero\u201d (1917 short starring Billy West and Oliver Hardy). <\/p>\n

LAST SEEN:<\/strong> On YouTube.<\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:<\/strong> On public domain labels.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS:<\/strong> A blatant (if effective) rip-off of Charlie Chaplin\u2019s act.<\/p>\n

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE:<\/strong> There is no great call for a Billy West revival.<\/p>\n

When Charlie Chaplin\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019s act, to the point that his films were occasionally marketed as being genuine Chaplin films.
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He was born Roy Weisberg in Russia in 1892, but by the time he appeared as a faux-Chaplin on screen in 1916 he was known as Billy West. In his films, West captured Chaplin\u2019s physical mannerisms with uncanny precision, duplicating his shoulder shrugs, flatfooted walk and incredulous stares in a brilliant facsimile.<\/p>\n

But unlike Chaplin, West was not his own director \u2013 and while many of his films lacked screenplay credit, one might assume that West\u2019s responsibility for the content might have been shared with others. As film historian Will Sloan pointed out, the comparison with West and Chaplin was the difference between talent and genius \u2013 West\u2019s talent in capturing Chaplin\u2019s magic was considerable, but Chaplin\u2019s genius in creating a long string of instant classic comedy shorts was without peer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hero\u201d is typical of West\u2019s output \u2013 he is very funny and it is easy to see how audiences back in his day could have mistaken his imitation for the genuine Chaplin work. But it lacks the sharpness and subtlety of Chaplin\u2019s output, resulting in an amusing work that is a few notches below perfection.<\/p>\n

West plays a waiter in a seedy restaurant and dance hall. He engages in some Chaplin-style mischief, such as cleaning his fingernails with the end of a celery stalk and pocketing handfuls of food when the head cook isn\u2019t looking. One of his acts of culinary larceny is to pilfer and sandwich and hide it in his derby, which he places on his head \u2013 but he forgets about his stolen prize when he is outside and tips his hat to a pretty lady who bursts out laughing at the stranger with a sandwich on his head.<\/p>\n

Billy wanders into a park where he spies an aristocrat wooing a matronly woman. He is comically delighted by the wealthy man\u2019s melodramatic gestures and joins in the wooing of the lad. This infuriates the aristocrat, who presents his business card \u2013 he is identified as \u201cCount Bon Ami\u201d \u2013 as a prelude to a duel of honor. Billy responds by taking out a deck of playing cards, shuffling them and handing one to the count, who storms off in anger.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the park, a young woman (Ethel Burton) is enjoying a day out with her beau (a young Oliver Hardy). When two thugs try to assault and rob them, Hardy runs off and Billy jumps in to vigorously dispose of the ruffians. The enchanted Burton takes her new hero home to meet her society doyenne mother \u2013 he presents the card for Count Bon Ami and is promptly invited to an evening\u2019s gala at their home.<\/p>\n

Billy returns to his job and saves the day when he subdues an oversized hoodlum who is terrorizing the establishment. He pockets a half-dozen eggs before heading off to the gala, where he becomes the life of the party. Burton takes him to a garden to know him better, but while seated on a bench Billy remembers the eggs in his pants pockets \u2013 which hatch due to the warmth of his being seated and result in the release of baby chicks down his pants.<\/p>\n

After Billy enjoys too much spiked punch at the gala, he returns to his job \u2013 unaware that Hardy has followed him and discovers he is not a nobleman. Hardy returns to the gala and suggests to Burton and their friends that they should go \u201cslumming\u201d \u2013 and that gang arrives at Billy\u2019s place of work. Mayhem ensues when Billy\u2019s true identity is revealed and after a brief scuffle Hardy dumps an ice keg on Billy\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

Billy\u2019s character in \u201cThe Hero\u201d is devoid of the pathos and irony that Chaplin brought to his films. Instead, he comes across as a silly but aggressive creation who seems more comfortable with visceral slapstick (such as an egg-throwing fight in the restaurant) and unapologetic anti-social behavior (particularly his drunken behavior at the gala). And Burton’s bland presence lacks the warmth and effervescence that Chaplin was able to extract from Edna Purviance when she was his leading lady. Some of the blame for the crass edges of the work goes to director Arvid E. Gillstrom, although in fairness he was tasked with turning out films with speed rather than laboring with the artist\u2019s touch that Chaplin brought to his work.<\/p>\n

Despite its shortcomings, \u201cThe Hero\u201d and the bulk of West\u2019s mid-to-late-1910s films were popular. Even Chaplin \u2013 who didn\u2019t hesitate to sue those who sought to improperly profit on his character and films \u2013 admired West\u2019s work. The two met briefly in 1917 when Chaplin passed an on-location shoot for a West comedy and told the actor \u201cYou\u2019re a damned good imitator.\u201d <\/p>\n

West eventually tired of imitating Chaplin and began creating a new series of films in the 1920s where he played a non-Chaplinesque character. By the coming of the sound era, West was mostly working behind the camera and only appeared on screen in bit parts. He left the film world in 1935 to run a successful restaurant. When he died in 1975, he had been out of the spotlight for so many years that his passing was barely noticed by the movie industry. <\/p>\n

However, many of West\u2019s comedies survive \u2013 which is no mean feat, given the survival rate of the silent era cinema. \u201cThe Hero\u201d fell into the public domain years ago and has been duped over the decades \u2013 a decent print with a somewhat noisy musical soundtrack can be found on YouTube.<\/p>\n