Judge, 1920-05-29 · page 8 of 36
Judge — May 29, 1920 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Page Analysis This page contains satirical commentary on early 20th-century cinema and criminal justice. The main cartoon depicts a silent film scenario where an actor named "Spooner Mush" is accused of accidentally killing a woman named "Jemima Jazz" by kissing her with "too high a voltage"—a absurdist joke mocking melodramatic movie plots and the implausibility of silent film narratives. Below are three brief humorous exchanges: one about prison reformer Thomas Mott Osborne's efforts to improve jail conditions (sardonically suggesting criminals deserve comfort); another joking about a theater electrician misunderstanding an actress's stage direction ("Out, damned spot!") as a command to turn off lights during a *Macbeth* performance. The satire targets both the overwrought artificiality of early cinema and contemporary social reform efforts, using exaggeration and wordplay typical of Judge magazine's style.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
> always immediately set free shen a belated blonde in black urst through the crowd and con- sed that it was She who had red the fatal arsenic And so, as he answered * Not Guilty—but Handsom he wa perfectly calm ebrows and all By profession, it peared hat he was a girl-eater for the Frenzied Picture Corporatio \pplause. One man fainted. But then, he had just’ finished vorking out his income tax.) No nationality to speak of Ma Jemima loved me. For that Consus Taker atter so does every woma i ept when expressly forbidd 4 competent physician lured me apart to her apartment, prom the secret—the secret of the same stemwinding eve lashes that you still see curling amongst my face. The price was a kiss—a genuine first edition kiss signed by Spooner Mush. It was a strange thing to do, Your Honor, with no one there to see—no camera, even, and no Director to tell me how—but _ Spooner Mush broke down After he had been red and inflated he proceeded in a semitone I am, as you know, used to kissing only high- frequency Movie Queens, whose lips are toughened by long exposure to the camera. In my desire to know tl truth about my eyelashes, | suppose [| must have used (Sens. to reve. rep: Drown by BD. Jowsses. PREPARING FOR THE 8 too high a volt and—it was an accident, Your Hor If femima Jazz was kissed to death, as the funeral seemed to | am as innocent of crime as a mere child—nay, as twins!” Mr. Mush was acquitted, with extenuating circumfer Ferrett. was trium But he did not mentio that he had, all along, ¢ an the hypothenuse that Miss Jazz had died of obtuse nausea, with Mush as an acces the fact The third ¥ sh . Story Will Be cf “The Danetr Don't miss it.) Looking After the Underdog Briggs—1 sce that Thomas Mott Osborne is making an fort to improve our jails. Griges—Quite right. Our criminals are be large and important class that certainly something « ming such a ght to be done to insure their comfort Anyone Would Think So The Manager—Miss Heavysides complains that you threw her in the dark in her sleep-walking scene in Macbeth The Electrician—Y see. it was like this: [ had her covered, all right, till she hollered. ‘Out. damned spot!” an’ [tho she wanted me to switeh it off <P pgennmetn Suser Season comicbooks.com