In Manhattan in the 1980s, Herb Graff (a New York City real estate agent who was also a silent-film historian) very kindly screened for me a one-reel Billy Franey comedy from his personal collection: 'The Cameraman' (not to be confused with Buster Keaton's later feature film of the same title). I had never heard of Billy Franey before, and this film astonished me. Franey's performance in this film was nothing special, but the movie itself was extremely inventive ... with interesting camera angles, clever cross-cutting, a dementedly funny storyline with a surrealistic running gag involving a bystander who sits on a soapbox and whittles all through the movie, plus a truly hilarious pay-off for this running gag. Franey's 'The Cameraman' impressed me so much that I decided to seek out more films by this obscure comedian.

Fade in a few years later, and now I understand why Franey is obscure. He is, at best, in the fourth rank among silent-film comedians ... well below Larry Semon and Billy Bevan. Most silent-film comics were physical grotesques (or made themselves look grotesque with weird costumes and moustaches), but Franey was an ordinary-looking man who usually looked quite ordinary on screen. This would be acceptable if Franey's on-screen character was funny. But he shows no particular comic talent nor comedic timing.

"The Janitor" is probably typical of Franey's output ... which means it isn't very funny. Franey plays a janitor, so I expected lots of slapstick gags with mops and wallpaper, to the tune of 'When Father Papered the Parlour'. In the event, Franey's janitorial job is almost totally irrelevant to the movie. The janitor is a bootlegger on the side, and that's what this movie is about. In the cellar of the building which he supervises, Franey is keeping a moonshine still, and he's churning out some bathtub hooch.

The very few gags are mostly poor, and they depend primarily on the title cards rather than any comic talent on Franey's part. For instance, he tells us (in a title card) that he's going to add some "punch" to the hooch ... and then he drops in a pair of boxing gloves, and stirs them about. Then he wants to give the hooch some "kick" ... so he drops in some old boots. Ha ha ha.

"The Janitor" was made during Prohibition, when ANY gags about alcohol (especially the home-brewed variety) would get loud laughs from American cinema audiences ... the same way that movies made in the 1970s got a lot of cheap laughs from unfunny jokes about marijuana.

After Billy Franey's career as a star comedian (in low-budget shorts) petered out, he continued to work in supporting roles, usually providing comedy relief in dramatic or semi-dramatic films. I recall his performance in "Quincy Adams Sawyer", as one of several comic actors who played small-town rubes in this seriocomic film. Gale Henry, Hank Mann and Victor Potel were all quite funny in "Quincy Adams Sawyer", but Billy Franey was stiff and awkward. He has very little to offer. 'The Cameraman' is funny because of a running gag in the background, not because of Franey's unfunny performance in the foreground.

The comedy genre refers to a category of entertainment that aims to amuse and entertain audiences by using humor, wit, and comedic situations. Comedies are created with the primary intention of eliciting laughter and providing lighthearted enjoyment. They encompass a wide range of styles, tones, and themes, appealing to various tastes and audiences.

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The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

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