Judge, 1920-12-18 · page 23 of 32
Judge — December 18, 1920 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features a posed photograph of actress **Madge Bellamy**, a silent film star under contract with producer **Thomas H. Ince**. The accompanying text is not satirical but rather a lighthearted promotional profile. The piece celebrates Bellamy's early career success, noting that Ince signed her to a lucrative "five-figure contract" after recognizing her potential as a movie star. It references her roles in films including *Peg o' My Heart*, *Pollyanna*, and *Dear Brutus* (notably opposite established actor William Gillette). The "joke" is gentle: the author rhetorically asks whether a crystal-gazer is needed to predict her brilliant future—the answer being no, because her success is already evident. This is essentially entertainment journalism disguised as humor, promoting both Bellamy and the film industry to Judge's readers. The piece reflects the 1920s fascination with Hollywood celebrities.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Posed exclusizely for Juoce Well, well! So this is Madge Bellamy! Thom: reacience, saw her first asa potential mor lost little time in signing her on the dotted line on one of his famous five-figure contracts, Madge is ‘one of those ingenuous, curly girlies that snuggle right into your heart. Ince. with his usual Photo by J. Ellis, Wash, D.C. In fact that is just what she did when she played her roles in “Peg o° My Heart,” *Polyanna” and “Dear Brutus," the last named with William Gillette. As Miss Bellamy is now only eighteen is it_necessary to em- ploy a crystal-gazer to foretell her brilliant future? Decidedly, it is not