Judge — June 19, 1920 — page 25: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page features a portrait of Marion Davies, a silent film actress, drawn by Harrison Fisher. The caption references her recent films "April Folly" and "The Cinema Murder," noting that she is "not alone, in these days of screen atrocities, high-priced stars and low-brow themes." The satire targets the film industry's tendency to cast expensive, well-known actors in low-quality or sensationalist pictures. The phrase "screen atrocities" and criticism of "low-brow themes" reflects early 20th-century anxieties about cinema's artistic and moral standards. Judge magazine's commentary suggests that even prominent stars like Davies were appearing in inferior productions—a commentary on commercialism over artistic merit in Hollywood's emerging studio system.