Judge, 1922-10-28 · page 10 of 36
Judge — October 28, 1922 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Spite Corner" - Frank Craven Comedy Review This page reviews a theatrical production called "Spite Corner," presented as the successor to Frank Craven's earlier hit "The First Year." The piece celebrates actress Madge Kennedy's performance as a sympathetic dressmaker character in a small town. The plot involves Kennedy's character using her sewing skills to support herself while resisting the town's "improvement complex"—suggesting resistance to modernization or unwanted social reforms. The accompanying photographs show scenes from the play, including one labeled "Little Elizabeth Dean" keeping poverty at bay "at the point of her needle." The satire appears gentle: it praises Kennedy's ability to win over audiences and make them emotionally invested in her character's struggles against small-town resistance and economic hardship. This reflects early 1920s theater criticism, where earnest, sympathetic working-class female characters were popular dramatic vehicles.
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The new Frank Craven comedy, successor to his “The First Year,” enlists the tal- ents of the very capable and lov- able Madge Ken- nedy Miss Kennedy has come back to us in the sympathetic char- acter of a little dressmaker With this same for- midable weapon she fights off the im- provement complex that invades her small town, and quite nacherly the town gets all het up over her Little Elizabeth Dean keeps the wolf from the door of her ancestral home at the point of her needle Madge Kennedy not only brings the community round to believe her an ador- able little thing, but sends her audience away anxious to fight her battles for the rest of her life comichoo)