''The Slave'' is a 1917 American
silent comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
starring
Billy West
William Richard Werstine (born April 16, 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'' and several subsequent projects, the title characters of '' Doug'' ...
and featuring
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his c ...
. It was unusual for a silent film in that, because it told its story so plainly,
subtitle
Subtitles and captions are lines of dialogue or other text displayed at the bottom of the screen in films, television programs, video games or other visual media. They can be transcriptions of the screenplay, translations of it, or informati ...
s or
intertitle
In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialo ...
s were not considered necessary.
It is not known whether the film currently
survives.
Plot summary
Cast
*
Billy West
William Richard Werstine (born April 16, 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'' and several subsequent projects, the title characters of '' Doug'' ...
as Billy, the slave
*
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his c ...
as The Sultan of Bacteria
*
Leo White
Leo White (November 10, 1882 – September 20, 1948), Leo Weiss, was a German-born British-American film and stage actor who appeared as a character actor in many Charlie Chaplin films.
Biography
Born in Germany, White grew up in England where ...
as The Vizier
*
Bud Ross
Aaron Crawford "Bud" Ross (November 8, 1868 – March 19, 1932) was an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter.
Career
Ross began his career in the 1880s, performing in musical comedies and vaudeville. He made his screen debut in the silent ...
as Haratius Crabbe, the collector (credited as Budd Ross)
*
Leatrice Joy
Leatrice Joy (born Leatrice Johanna Zeidler; November 7, 1893 – May 13, 1985) was an American actress most prolific during the silent film era.
Early life
Joy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to dentist Edward Joseph Zeidler, who was o ...
as Susie, his daughter
* Gladys Varden as The Sultan's favorite
* Ethel Cassity
* Ellen Burford
* Martha Dean
* Ethelyn Gibson
*
Joe Bordeaux
Joe Bordeaux (March 9, 1886 – September 10, 1950) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1914 and 1940. He was born in Colorado, and died in Los Angeles, California.
Selected filmography
* ''Mabel at the ...
Reception
Like many American films of the time, ''The Slave'' was subject to cuts by
city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors required, in Reel 1, cuts of the entire incident of man throwing a lobster on a woman's back and all scenes of it on her back, the sultan poking man in back with dagger, and in Reel 2 the last two scenes of pulling the man through window where his trousers come off.
See also
*
List of American films of 1917
This list of American films of 1917 is a compilation of American films released in 1917.
A–B
C–D
E–F
G–H
I–J
K–L
M–N
O–P
Q–R
S
T
U–V
W–Z
Short films
See also
* 1917 in the United S ...
*
Oliver Hardy filmography
__NOTOC__
These are the films of Oliver Hardy as an actor. For the filmography of Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of Am ...
References
External links
*
*
1917 films
1917 comedy films
1917 short films
Silent American comedy films
American silent short films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by Arvid E. Gillstrom
American comedy short films
1910s American films
{{1910s-short-comedy-film-stub