was "as incredibly fat behind as before", while noting that he contributed to the play's "bewildering" conclusion when his character requested "a steak so big you can milk it". By 1936, Time had essentially reduced House's contribution to White Horse Inn to theatrical trope, saying only that House was "a comic with a big belly". Still, the New York press was considerably kinder to White Horse Inn than Time. The New York Times said it was possessed of "lavish showmanship"; the New York Herald-Tribune said it was "a beautiful colorful and sufficiently lively show"; while the New York American raved, "Here, believe me, is a very magnum of delights." Because White Horse Inn was embraced by the New York press, Billy House received what one scholar of the play called "a big career boost". Film legacy House began his film career as the star of two-reelers in about 1930. His most frequent collaborator in these short films was the prolific two-reel director Aubrey Scotto. Together they made The Dunker, Retire Inn, Bullmania and Out of Bounds. All of these were also written by House, and at least some were adaptations of theatrical routines he had previously copyrighted. Between 1930 and 1931, he made at least four more two-reelers, and his first feature film, Smart Money. Money would see him work for the first time alongside Edward G. Robinson and Boris Karloff, both of whom would figure prominently in his later films. After the short subject format fell out of fashion, House evolved into a character actor in feature-length films. House's significant girth made him a natural for the memorable role of Friar Tuck, opposite Alan Hale's Little John in the 1950 film, Rogues of Sherwood Forest. He is also remembered by scholars of horror films for his "superb" performance as the obese, ambiguously evil Lord Mortimer in Boris Karloff's Bedlam (1946). Later, he had significant role in the first Ma and Pa Kettle film, The Egg and I (1947) and appeared in Inner Sanctum (1948) and Naked Gun (1956). House was a particular favorite of actor/director Orson Welles, who employed him on three occasions: The Stranger (1946), The Fountain of Youth (1956) and Touch of Evil (1958). Indeed, Welles had long watched House's burlesque career before initially casting him in The Stranger. While working with him on that first film, Welles came to know House as a "very funny man"