Billy West has often become a footnote in film history. His films are often only talked about to either prove the popularity of Charlie Chaplin, by showing how other comedians made careers out of imitating him, or to provide examples of films Oliver Hardy was in before teaming with Stan Laurel. However this is not fair as while Billy West was far from the most original movie comedian, his films are often quite funny in their own right.
Billy West's Charlie Chaplin imitation dated before the comedian entered the movies. In Vaudeville he would often do this imitation on stage. Seeing this act, the Joy Film Company (also known as Smile and Laff) would make a short comedy staring Billy West doing his Chaplin impression. When the Joy Film Company was acquired by Unicorn, West would make three films for that studio. When Unicorn went out of business, West's contract was picked up by Louis Burstein for King Bee Studios. Here is where he made some of his finest and most well known films. For 1917 and 1918 he would turn out quite a few comedies for the studio using his Charlie Chaplin-like character. The similarities between him and Chaplin did not end with simply the character. His films were often remakes of earlier Chaplin films, and Oliver Hardy played a character that was incredibly similar to Chaplin supporting actor, Eric Campbell. Leo White, who had acted in quite a few Chaplin shorts including His New Job (1915), A Night Out (1915), Police (1916), The Vagabond (1916), The Bank (1915) and A Night in the Show (1915) (he would later have a brief role as one of Hynkel's barbers in The Great Dictator (1940)), would be a regular in West's films of this time.
Billy West's Charlie Chaplin imitation dated before the comedian entered the movies. In Vaudeville he would often do this imitation on stage. Seeing this act, the Joy Film Company (also known as Smile and Laff) would make a short comedy staring Billy West doing his Chaplin impression. When the Joy Film Company was acquired by Unicorn, West would make three films for that studio. When Unicorn went out of business, West's contract was picked up by Louis Burstein for King Bee Studios. Here is where he made some of his finest and most well known films. For 1917 and 1918 he would turn out quite a few comedies for the studio using his Charlie Chaplin-like character. The similarities between him and Chaplin did not end with simply the character. His films were often remakes of earlier Chaplin films, and Oliver Hardy played a character that was incredibly similar to Chaplin supporting actor, Eric Campbell. Leo White, who had acted in quite a few Chaplin shorts including His New Job (1915), A Night Out (1915), Police (1916), The Vagabond (1916), The Bank (1915) and A Night in the Show (1915) (he would later have a brief role as one of Hynkel's barbers in The Great Dictator (1940)), would be a regular in West's films of this time.
Motion Picture News, 1917
Arvid E. Gillstrom was hired by King Bee to direct Billy West's comedies. He was a perfect choice for this as he had previously worked for the Keystone Studio (where Charlie Chaplin got his start). During his stint at Keystone he had worked with such comics as Slim Summerville, Polly Moran, Ford Streling and Fritz Schade.
In this film Billy is a janitor, a role played by Chaplin in The New Janitor (1914). However this is not a remake of the Chaplin short. His character here is much like the early Chaplin, an unrefined character who simply causes slapstick chaos wherever he goes. By this time Chaplin had moved away from this type of slapstick. This short was made when Chaplin was at Mutual. There he was making shorts that were redefining the Tramp into a character who could feel equally at home in dramatic scenes and slapstick ones, such as The Vagabond (1916), Easy Street (1917) and The Immigrant (1917). This was something Billy never did with his Tramp keeping the focus entirely on comedy. Billy was very good at this type of comedy though and there are some truly funny moments throughout Cupid's Rival.
Oliver Hardy (billed here by his nickname "Babe" Hardy) is truly fantastic in this movie. In fact even though this is a Billy West short, Oliver Hardy is the character who the film's story revolves around. For once in a Billy West short, he does not play a Eric Campbell type of role. Here he plays a poor artist who believes his girlfriend (Ethel Burton) might be cheating on him with a rich artist (Leo White). To investigate he dresses up as a woman. Cross-dressing comedy is not the type of comedy we associate Oliver Hardy with. In fact when this type of comedy was used in The Laurel and Hardy films (That's My Wife (1929), Jitterbugs (1943), Another Fine Mess (1930) and The Dancing Masters (1943) for a few examples), it would be Stan Laurel dressing up in drag while Ollie stayed in men's clothes (Though Ollie did perform in drag in the Laurel and Hardy short Twice Two (1933)). It is a shame he did not do this type of comedy more often. He plays the part perfectly. He clowns and goes over the top quite a bit, but never so much so as to be unbelievable in the part of a woman. When he moves as the woman, he does not simply walk the way he does as a man. Instead he swings his hips with great force. The girlish glee in which he responds to Leo White's flirting reminds me of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's drag comedy, and considering how Roscoe is still considered one of the best at this type of comedy, that it is a high compliment indeed. Too often both Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel's solo work (before they teamed) is completely overlooked but shorts like this remind you that they were both really good comedians solo or together.
Moving Picture World, 1920
As a whole the film moves fast and keeps a steady and fun energy throughout. There are quite a few really fun moments here as well. I always crack up with the scene towards the end where a couple of characters hide inside of paintings. The actors are all at the top of their games here and give their all to each comedic moment.
To give you an idea of how popular Billy West's shorts were in 1917 when this short was released, the following is an article from Motography from 1917.
"Manager H.M. Davis of the New York Branch of the Unicorn Film Service Corporation reports rush of business with the 'Billy West Comedies' which are being produced by the Unicorn concern.
"'These two reelers,' states Mr. Davis, 'have been booked by every exhibitor in the New York territory, and the same holds true of the volume of business done by the Unicorn exchanges of which there were twenty-eight throughout the country. This proves that there is a distinct demand for brisk and smart modern comedies, which, while they are clever and brilliant in theme, are still not of the slapstick variety.'
"The 'Billy West Comedies' already released are 'His Married Life,' 'Boarders and Bombs,' and 'His Waiting Career.' Director Fritz Wintermeier is busily engaged on the production of a series of succeeding 'Billy West Series,' the titles of which will be announced shortly."
For anyone interested this film is available on YouTube, it is not high quality but you can watch it.
Resources Used
A-Z of Silent Film Comedy by Glen Mitchell
The Chaplin Encyclopedia by Glen Mitchell
The Great Movie Comedians by Leonard Maltin
