Judge, 1920-03-27 · page 25 of 36
Judge — March 27, 1920 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a theatrical review of actress Bessie McCoy (Mrs. Richard Harding Davis) in the Broadway play "The Midnight Whirl" at the Century Grove. The piece satirizes early 20th-century American fascination with "Oriental" exoticism—how New York audiences from outer boroughs like Staten Island and the Bronx eagerly consume romanticized depictions of the Far East on stage. The satire mocks both the play's appeal and McCoy's performance: her "exotic" portrayal of India despite claiming Jersey City origins, and the absurdity of how these theatrical productions present the East as mysteriously sensual spectacle. The reference to "Broken Blossoms" (a contemporary film) and jokes about "polygamy," "scented seragios," and "Peking pups" highlight how American entertainment packaged the Orient as decadent luxury for mass consumption. The tone is dismissive of both the artificial exoticism and audience gullibility.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Bessie More McCoy Tuan Ever HAT a fascination the subtlety and color of the somnolent Orient (as presented New York stage) possesses for the Occidental play-goer from Staten Island and the muting patron of the drama is, of course, an informed stude life—that East which lies mysteriow an interpreter of romantic India, Bessie Met in the spotlight of “The Midnight Whirl” at the Century Grove. s arrival, “From Old Bombay,” though she admits her birthplace as anel (lugged in just because it’s a bit of artistic photography) I"c ting the Chinese lover in David Movie Griffith's version of ‘I homas nas “Broken Blossoms.” io scenes, its horde of diaphanous whirling its exotic way through the thirtyites in the high cost of polygamy rons! of the Far East and its to the right of | roadway, going North. As (Mrs, Richard Harding Davis) sta Sonefully, she decla Jersey City. nterpr house Nights,” better known to the intelliventia of th you read this “The Midnight Whirl,” with its scented sera damsels with their limousines and Peking bie towns of our land, educating the benighted eigh and the low visibility Of the mosquito net silhouette. 2s comicbooks.com