A beautiful young woman in need of saving. A dashing young man to save the fair maiden. A slimy man with a top hat, mustache and tuxedo. The three characters I just mentioned could be from any of the highly popular melodramas from the late-19th Century into the early-20th. It could, also, be from any number of comical spoofs of such media.
Though, perhaps, the most famous cartoon melodrama parody would be Dudley Do-Right; the first known cartoon spoof of those dramas was Hairbreadth Harry. This comic strip, produced for the Philadelphia Press, followed the adventures of a young boy named Harry. Unlike many toon kids, Harry ultimately did begin to grow up after meeting Belinda, who was already an adult but staved off aging further, later in 1907. The cast was rounded out with Relentless Rudolph, the main villain, whose evil plans were thwarted time and time again by Harry.
The strip was created and drawn by Charles W. Kahles (b. 1878 - d. 1931) who would continue working on the strip until his death. Though popular at its inception, by the late-1930s, the melodramas that the strip was based on were a thing of the past and in 1940, the strip ultimately folded.
Though the strip has been gone for over 70 years, its legacy still continues. It helped prove that the melodrama parody was a popular and potentially lasting source of laughs and that same well would be tapped in to time and time again anytime a fair maiden is in distress and a hero comes by to save her from the clutches of a ruthless villain (all done in an over-the-top acting way... sort of like modern day soap operas), you can thank Hairbreadth Harry for that. Also, as with many other comic strips, Hairbreadth Harry has entered our lexicon and, while seldom used, can still be heard today.
Then again, considering the popularity of Dudley Do-Right, it's far more likely he's the inspiration for that now. All I know is this: If I have to be a villain to get a wicked handlebar/curled mustache... I'd do it. Especially if it comes with a top hat.
