Because Charlie Chaplin was such a huge star in the 1914-1920 time period, there were many shameless imitators that simply stole his "Little Tramp" character and tried to fool audiences. Some of them were obviously not the original--they looked only superficially like him and the films just weren't all that funny. However, Billy West was probably the best of the lot, as unless you know what you are watching, it's probable that you'd think this IS a Chaplin film. Plus, compared to Chaplin films of 1916-1917, this one compares rather favorably and is much funnier than most of the earliest Little Tramp films from Chaplin.<br /><br />In this film, like in Chaplin's, Billy is out of work and prone to slapping around the bad guys (in this case, Oliver Hardy) but deep down is a nice guy. He also agrees to help out a guy who works the lunch counter and this provides a few laughs. Plus, in these scenes it's amazing to watch Oliver Hardy eat--he is a total pig and you just have to see it to believe it.