Judge, 1922-02-18 · page 7 of 36
Judge — February 18, 1922 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine: "The End" - A Silent Film Parody This page satirizes melodramatic silent films, particularly "Little Red Riding Hood" adaptations popular in the early 1900s. The text describes a film scenario where a wolf devours Granny, then attacks the young heroine Ysobel at her grandmother's home. The satire mocks the genre's absurd plot mechanics: improbable rescues, exaggerated peril, and convenient resolutions. The lover Ward Fleischmann's journey—his car running out of gas, stealing a horse from a laundry wagon, knocking over a postman—parodies the increasingly ridiculous obstacles silent films used to extend chase scenes and tension. The illustration shows the climactic moment: Fleischmann yanking Ysobel to safety while the wolf dies conveniently "on his own recognizance" (by its own choice). The phrase "Yanks her to safety, and the wolf dies" satirizes how these films resolved their melodrama through providence rather than logic. This was Judge's commentary on overwrought cinema conventions of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
home! Granny is Ysobel’s father’s mother. Granny is eating a piece of soap off the washstand. She thinks she hears some one at the door and tot- ters to open it. A huge wolf enters and in spite of the old lady's indgestible appearance the wolf eats her entirely. This is of necessity not shown on the screen. It is suggested by the wolf's starting to bite off her right leg. Then we flash back to the home of Ysobel and find Ward Fleischmann, the young lover, driving up in his racer and being urged to come in and wait for Ysobel’s return. Then we are again shown Granny's home. Granny is no longer there. At least not visible to the naked eye. The wolf is there. He is smacking his lips and get- ting into Granny's pajamas and night cap and crawling into the bed. Of course we now see Ysobel, gay as a dinner without cocktails isn’t. She arrives at Granny's hovel and opens the door and sets down her basket of food and goes to the bed. Subtitle: “Granny, you do look rotten! Why don’t you try facial massage?” The wolf tells her to come nearer. She does, and the wolf leaps at her. Then they tear arouna the room, the wolf gaining on the beautiful young gel by inches. Ysobel gets to the phone and just as she sobs, ‘‘Mother—”’ the wolf snaps at her and the marathon starts again. Consternation at home! Young Fleischmann is sent lickety split to the rescue in his racer. Flash to marathon. Flash to lover as tire pops. Flash to marathon. Flash to lover—no extra tire. Starts again anyhow. Carstops. Examines tank. No gas. Flash to marathon. Flash to lover. He buys a horse from a steam laundry wagon, hitches it to racer and starts again. Flash to Ysobel, who is throwing crockery at the wolf. Baffled for a moment only, the wolf is at her again. Catches her with his teeth. Flash to Fleischmann. The horse is sitting down. Fleischmann tries kindness. Nothing doing. He knocks an old postman off his bicycle and rides feverishly forward. Just as Ysobel, a much better meal than Granny, is going down for the third and last time, the lover enters and yanks her to safety, and the wolf dies on his own recognizance! Subtitle, “The End.” comicbooks.com