BTW, you probably know this already, but the silent comedian Naisbitt was talking about is Harry Langdon. Here's a picture of him...
I wish I could find a better image, but I think you can see the similarities. Langdon's character usually was shy and child-like. A lot of elements of Tack saving the city mirror the ending of The Strong Man (Langdon's best film).
While it's only speculation... if Williams was quite savvy about silents, I wonder if Mighty One-Eye was inspired by Eric Cambell (the villian in most of the twelve 2-reel comedies Charlie Chaplin made for Mutual Films in 1916):
