Billy Blazes, Esq. (1919)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Just watched this Harold Lloyd short on a DVD that featured some of his shorts and features. In this one, he's the title character who saves the town and is fearless in doing so. Whatever laughs this short has is due to him and not the supporting cast so to tell the truth, I was partly underwhelmed watching this. And part of me also felt a little uncomfortable watching the Asian servant character on screen but since this is a silent, at least there wasn't any Pidgin English to make things even more embarrassing. The score conducted by Robert Israel for this edition was good so that was a plus. So on that note, Billy Blazes, Esq. is worth a look for any fan of Harold Lloyd.

I thought this film might have been made at the same time as Lloyd's The Eastern Westerner, but apparently the films were made a few years apart. This film is ultra-short, lasting a little over twelve minutes (although perhaps a section is missing). The sets for both films certainly look very similar. Lloyd also performs the same cigarette-rolling trick here (twice) that he used in the later film.This is pretty frantic stuff. Bebe Daniels plays the daughter of an old boy threatened with eviction by his bullying landlord (although an intertitle suggests he owes eleven years in back rent which suggests he's actually one of the most patient landlords you're ever likely to meet). Daniels is a pretty girl with a saucy smile and sturdy knees, and it's no wonder Lloyd goes out of his way to rescue her. Compared to Lloyd's later output this is pretty primitive stuff, but it still manages to pack a good number of laughs into its brief running time.

Harold Lloyd parodies the William S. Hart stoic Western hero prototype, resulting in an interesting one-reeler rather than an uproarious one; the later and somewhat similar AN EASTERN WESTERNER (1920) is, however, a superior effort because it was fitted to the star's typical formula. Bebe Daniels is once again the heroine/damsel in distress (she made a staggering 146 shorts with Lloyd according to the IMDb - apparently, only a handful of these have survived to make it into New Line's DVD collection devoted to the comic genius!).Incidentally, I had first come across BILLY BLAZES, ESQ. while in Hollywood late last year on TCM, as part of an all-night Harold Lloyd marathon shown in conjunction with the release of the 7-Disc Set (compiling 28 of his films made between 1919 and 1936). In the end, it easily emerges as the least among 7 of the star's Silent comedy shorts that I've watched up to this point.

This one reel comedy is a pretty good parody of the westerns of its time. It's nothing fancy, but it takes a light, upbeat approach and has some funny gag ideas. Harold Lloyd and Bebe Daniels always seem to work together well, and Snub Pollard is also here, in a smaller role.Lloyd plays the title character, who is a parody of the kinds of western heroes common both at the time and in many other eras. The character is probably based more than anything on the kinds of characters played by William S. Hart, but you wouldn't have to be familiar with Hart's movies to be able to enjoy most of "Billy Blazes".The story squeezes quite an assortment of familiar western elements and themes into 13 minutes or so of film, and it does a good job with most of them. The big showdown between Billy and the villain is played strictly for laughs, and it features some clever turns.