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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.
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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.
(Getty Images)
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