Judge, 1921-03-05 · page 5 of 32
Judge — March 5, 1921 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Satire on Theater Critics This cartoon satirizes theatrical critics, specifically responding to Sharpley Harpoon's review of "Sheets and Pillow-cases" in that morning's paper. The three-panel comic shows the same critic at his desk in progressive states of exhaustion and disinterest—first eating a hot dog while reviewing, then weakening as he prepares to "roast" the play, finally falling asleep mid-criticism. The accompanying article by Dos Harpoon defends critics against this mockery, arguing that critics serve a legitimate professional function. The satire targets the critic's apparent lack of engagement with the theatrical work itself, suggesting reviewers may be too tired, jaded, or inattentive to fairly judge performances. It's a commentary on critical credibility and professional standards in theater reviewing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“CRITIC OF CRITIC OF ce IN Must Waren Ockseny A Criticism of the Theatrical Criticism in this I Morning’s Paper | By Dox Heroin ving’s On the whole, the critici Ww all crit ms today. Wher shall we have drar harpley Harpoon riormance of “ She For two 1 at last come into its own in ¢ and P ragraphs it will condemn ninety-five plays out which ninety-five. ‘They all need i wt for a while, until the 4 f 1007 lly, you felt, was a dramati n to get to bed. Rare k every on even the be permitted to apprec We should have « seen the out « that.) evidence that the As for the last eigh . th i that ible. sleepiness. all the while. He must hali w % paragraphs te them standing up began to 1s too much for frank yawn s perfectly obvious that he had It at Mr phs were Harpoon’s rities of ior the he next sixteen px of the plot. Nobody I care to see the show; they robbed ight possibly have. But. i um total of nightly will be in 10 read 1 perse criticism we have Con Descending Perhaps that the Smythes mortgaged their home to buy an ‘Girls don’t wear petticoats any more.” | ‘They must wear something under those short i? i gh, but that isn’t all; yesterday ‘Well, if skirts keep getting shorter, we'll soon fir | vile to buy gasoline.” itis? | comicbooks.com