The Lost Found Films of Billy B. Van
The Plucky Hoodoo
A luckless farmhand branded a “hoodoo” stumbles from disaster to accidental heroism — ultimately saving his sweetheart and her family farm from foreclosure through pluck, strength, and one well-timed barnyard trick.
Where Are Your Husbands?
After his wife heads off to cast her ballot, a mild-mannered househusband falls asleep and dreams of a topsy-turvy world where women not only vote, but fight wars, fill jobs normally held by men, and pursue the men who have been left behind at home.
Coming Soon!
Van-ar-chy
Oscar Oops, a sweet but hapless drifter, is dragged into an anarchist scheme to blow up a tycoon’s country club, and, through misadventure and mishap, unwittingly defeats the plot and proves that even a fool can topple villains and save the day.
Phonographs
In today’s terms, Billy B. Van’s career might best be compared to a performer like Steve Martin— someone who not only moved easily between stage and film, but also recording comedy and music a century before his modern-day peers. These examples show a performer who moved fluidly across every major medium of their time— and kept reinventing themselves as new ones emerged.
Billy B. Van’s Vaudeville routines
“Mickey the Pum Pum Man” & “To My Dog”
Victor 17960 10” phonograph
January 27, 1916
Billy B. Van’s musical numbers
“Have a Heart” & “Napoleon”
Columbia A2307 10” Graphophone
June 16, 1917