Judge, 1922-02-18 · page 6 of 36
Judge — February 18, 1922 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This page satirizes how Hollywood would adapt the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood" for film. The cartoon shows an elderly woman (labeled "Granny") in a run-down state, with the caption joking she needs a facial massage—mocking how movies glamorize poverty. The article by James Montgomery Flagg criticizes Hollywood's sanitization of classic stories. Key points: - Movies would rename the tale and recast it with wealthy characters - Red Riding Hood becomes "Ysobel," daughter of a rich family - The grandmother's cottage transforms into an opulent tea-wagon setting with Charley Schwab's dump visible - The simple lunch basket becomes an elaborate affair with thermoses and gourmet biscuits The satire targets Hollywood's inability to authentically depict working-class life, instead glamorizing or sentimentalizing poverty for entertainment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WANE MONTEOMERY FACE “Granny, you do look rotten! Why don't you try a facial massage?” What the Movies Would Do to “Little Red Riding Hood” By James MontTGOMERY FLaGG Mustrations by the Author IRST of all, they wouldn't call it Red Riding Hood. That would sound like some old story, and it has no pep. It would be billed as “Why Girls Leave—"' No, that’s been used! Let's see. How would “The Grasping Jaws” do? As no one cares to see poor people on the screen, Red Riding Hood, or Ysobel as she will be called in the subtitles, is the flapper of a wealthy or rich American family of means. A family that is very well off, in other words. One that has lots of money. In the opening shots of the home this opulence will be put over by featuring a tea-wagon and a long shot of Charley Schwab's dump on the Drive. Ysobel in sport clothes is waiting while her mother superintends the packing of a lunch basket by Winterbottom, the butler. Ysobel’s mother seems to be an old lady of about ninety-six. Moth- ers in the movies are not old enough to have chil- dren till they are at least eighty. A close up of the contents of the basket shows: 2 Thermos bottles. 1 package of Uneeda Biscuits. 2 grapefruit. 1 gross paper napkins. Ysobel kisses her mother and the butler good- bye, and taking the basket steps into her racing car. Subtitle, ‘‘Yes, mother, I shall give yours and Winterbottom’s love to Granny!"’ She starts off. Then we see Granny at home. Oh, a norful poor