Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Billy Bevan Silent Comedian (1917-1931)

Contents: Bombs and Bandits (1917), Somebody’s Widow (1918), The Quack Doctor (1920), Love and Doughnuts (1921), She Sighed by the Seaside (1921), On Patrol (1922) [fragments], When Summer Comes (1922), Nip and Tuck (1923), One Cylinder Love (1923) [fragments], Lizzies of the Field (1924), Wall Street Blues (1924), Wandering Waistlines (1924), From Rags to Britches (1925), The Lion’s Whiskers (1925), Hubby’s Quiet Little Game (1926), Muscle Bound Music (1926), Calling Hubby’s Bluff (1929), Pink Pajamas (1929) and Who’s Who in the Zoo (1931).

Several Billy Bevan films have released on DVD over the years but this collection represents some of the best-looking versions of his short comedies available on home video. While several of these films have been sourced from 16mm reduction prints they still represent some of the best-looking home video editions of the films collected, with disc two comprising the newer films faring better than the first.

Do not miss the expanded and visually improved presentation of Lizzies of the Field!

— Carl Bennett

Bombs and Bandits (1917) has been scanned from an incomplete 35mm print held by the Library of Congress, accompanied by a compilation of preexisting library music. Digital clean-up has been performed on the very-good print with some active decomposition. Less than perfect but watchable.

Somebody’s Widow (1918) is presented from a standard-definition scan of a Dutch 35mm release print held by the Eye Film Instituut Nederland, with an insert from a fair VHS videotape copy of a British print. Some print flaws have been allowed to remain but results are very-good. Fine piano accompaniment by Jon Mirsalis.

The Quack Doctor (1920) has been scanned from a good to very-good but worn 16mm reduction print held by FPA France (Lobster Films collection), with some footage lost to print breaks. Digital restoration softens much of the filmbase wear resulting in a much-improved picture. Entertaining synthesizer and digital piano accompaniment by Jon Mirsalis.

Love and Doughnuts (1921) has been reassembled from a small number of good to very-good 16mm reduction prints held in private film collections, with fair standard-resolution video inserts, conflated to nearly half the original film’s length. Accompaniment has been compiled from preexisting library music.

She Sighed by the Seaside (1921) appears here from an excellent but incomplete 35mm print held by Eye Film Instituut Nederland and a good 16mm reduction print, with fair standard-resolution video inserts, conflated to about half the original film’s length. The film pops when the 35mm footage appears. Pleasing musical accompaniment performed on virtual theatre pipe organ by Donald MacKenzie.

On Patrol (1922) has been conflated from eleven(!) sources including 16mm reduction prints to render a fair to good presentation amounting to approximately half the film’s original length. Music score arranged and performed on piano by Ethan Uslan.

When Summer Comes (1922) has been assembled from fair to very-good 16mm reduction prints, with contrasty standard-resolution video inserts, conflated to nearly half the original film’s length. Lions! And tigers (kitties)! And bears! Lively musical accompaniment performed on virtual theatre pipe organ by Donald MacKenzie.

Nip and Tuck (1923) has been scanned and digitally restored by FPA France from a good to very-good 35mm fine-grain safety print held by the Academy Film Archive in the Blackhawk Films collection, which is visually similar to a very-good to excellent 16mm print. Piano music by Ethan Uslan.

One Cylinder Love (1923) is presented from a very-good to excellent 35mm fragment held by FPA France (Lobster Films collection) with an insert from a fair 16mm reduction print. Accompaniment has been compiled from music library files. The Lobster footage bears an unnecessary and distracting digital watermark in the lower left-hand corner.

For our comparative reviews of some of these films, see our Lizzies of the Field on home video and Wall Street Blues on home video pages.

Wandering Waistlines (1924) has been mastered from an excellent 16mm reduction print held by the Library of Congress, with a broad tonal range and well-defined image detail. In a perfect world, all 16mm prints would look like this. The film is accompanied by a music score composed, arranged and performed on piano by Meg Morley.

From Rags to Britches (1925) has been mastered from two very-good to excellent 16mm reduction prints held by Jon Mirsalis and FPA France (Lobster Films collection), digitally cleaned, with few flaws left in this conflated presentation. Digital piano and synthesizer music by Jon Mirsalis.

The Lion’s Whiskers (1925) has been conflated from a very-good 35mm nitrate print held by Gosfilmofond, with inserts from two fair to good 16mm reduction prints and standard-definition video footage. OK results. The jump rope gag is a hoot! Piano music by Ethan Uslan.

Hubby’s Quiet Little Game (1926) has been mastered from a good to very-good 16mm reduction print in the film holdings of Rick Schenckman’s Film Archives, Inc. Highlights are a little featureless from time to time, otherwise a pleasant viewing experience. Jazzy piano music by Meg Morley.

Muscle Bound Music (1926) has been conflated from an excellent 35mm print held by FPA France (Lobster Films collection) with inserts from a fair to good 16mm reduction print. Cleaned with just a few vertical scratches and some sprocket damage left. Music performed on virtual theatre pipe organ by Donald MacKenzie.

Calling Hubby’s Bluff (1929) has been mastered from a very-good color-toned 35mm print held by Eye Film Instituut Nederland. Some highlights are blasted-out to a solid white, otherwise pretty darn good viewing. Piano music by Ethan Uslan.

Pink Pajamas (1929) has been mastered from a very-good to excellent 35mm print from Eye Film Instituut Nederland, with some residual dust, speckling and emulsion scuffing, and inserts from a good 16mm reduction print and a fair 8mm reduction print. Music performed on virtual theatre pipe organ by Donald MacKenzie.

Foreign language intertitles present in the source films have been replaced with reconstructed English intertitles.

Supplemental material includes the featurette “Renovating Billy,” detailing the restoration work performed on the films (6 minutes); and the featurette “Jane & Bob: Memories of Grandpa” (13 minutes). A 12-page insert booklet was provided to Kickstarter supporters exclusively, containing a Bevan biography by Brent Walker and notes on the films by Dave Wyatt.

The original Kickstarter discs included a 12-page insert booklet, which is not included in retail copies of the collection. The publisher has kindly provided a PDF copy of the booklet for collectors’ reference.

A valiant effort has been made to present these films in their best possible form. While many of the films are presented from 16mm reduction prints which might be disappointing to some collectors, the expansion and visual improvement of Lizzies of the Field is worth the price of admission alone. If we were prone to issuing awards, this labor-of-love collection would be a sure-fire nominee. This is our recommended home video edition of these films.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc (BD-R) edition from Amazon.com. Purchase supports Silent Era.

Other silent era BEN TURPIN films available on home video.