Silent Film of the Month: The Hobo (1917)

 

Run Time: 15 minutes. Studio: King Bee Studios. Director: Arvid E. Gillstrom.  Producer: Louis Burstein.  Main Cast: Billy West, Oliver Hardy, Leo White, Bud Ross.

It has been said that imitation is the highest form of flattery, if we are to take this as fact than the most flattered comedian of the silent era was certainly Charlie Chaplin. Not only where those who inserted Chaplin-isms into their comedy, but there were actors who made their career simply out of imitating Chaplin in their films. The most famous of these was Billy West. If you took out the titles and told someone these were early Chaplin films, many people (even those who have seen quite a bit of Charlie Chaplin) would be completely fooled. Billy West not only looked like Chaplin, but he is able to copy Chaplin's mannerisms in a way that is indistinguishable from that of the real Chaplin. While viewing these movies with modern eyes, it is very easy for us dismiss them as simple imitations or worse rip-offs. Yet that is not the way they were viewed in their day. They were immensely popular with audiences and believe or not there were those that even preferred these imitations to the real thing. For instance here is an exhibitor's review (from Motography) of Billy West's short Cupid's Rival (1917), "Cupid's Rival with Billy West (King-Bee) - 'Roars of laugh, big crowds, great business. A very lavish production. West is better than Chaplin in my opinion. He is a bigger favorite every week.' - A.E. Elliott, Sapphire Theater, Kansas City, Mo." The same exhibitor wrote in his review of another Billy West comedy, The Hero (1917), "Raised my price from five to ten cents on this production. In my opinion these are the best comedies ever made." To prove this was not the only exhibitor who felt this way here is another exhibitor's review (also from Motography) on Cupid's Rival, "Cupid's Rival, with Billy West (King-Bee) - 'Very fine. S.R.O. Billy is backing Chaplin off the map.' W.H. Nelson, American Theater, Kansas City, Mo." 



Moving Picture World, 1917

Motion Picture News, 1917

The basic story of this film involves Billy following a pretty girl into a train station and then creating slapstick chaos there. This is a very loose story that simply allows for a lot of slapstick humor.

By 1917 the real Chaplin was moving away from this type of film. At Keystone and Essanay Chaplin's movies were similarly, little but excuses for this kind mayhem with little emphasis on story or character. Yet in 1917 Chaplin had refined his craft making both the story and character more important as well as slowing down the pace. This is when Charlie made his most popular short films like Easy Street and The Immigrant. Yet Billy West's The Hobo harkened back to the old days of Charlie Chaplin. While today Chaplin's Keystone and Essanay shorts are looked down upon by silent movie fans as simply primitive, it is important to note just how popular they were with audiences of their day, these shorts were more popular with movie goers than many of the feature films they played with. In other words The Hobo gave movie fans just what they wanted. With that in mind it is no wonder audiences couldn't get enough of Billy West.       

If we are to compare this movie to Charlie Chaplin’s earlier work, it holds up pretty darn well. There are quite a few real laughs to be found here and the film moves at a fast energetic pace. Billy West may not have been the most original silent film comedian but he was certainly a gifted one and he knew how to get laughs from his audiences. 

If there is anything this short is remembered for today it is that one of the supporting players is Oliver Hardy, credited as Babe Hardy (Babe was what everybody called Hardy offscreen). Babe was a common presence in Billy West's films, often imitating frequent Chaplin co-star Eric Campbell.  Also appearing in this movie is Leo White, who appeared in quite a few actual Chaplin films.  

This film can be watched on YouTube for anyone interested. 

     

-Michael J. Ruhland