Judge, 1924-09-06 · page 22 of 37
Judge — September 6, 1924 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1924-25 page contains theatrical criticism and comic strips. **Theater Review Section:** George Jean Nathan satirizes playwright Ralph Thomas Kettering's new play "Easy Street"—which Kettering both wrote and directed. Nathan's tone is heavily sarcastic, mockingly praising the work as a masterpiece while describing it as crude (comparing it to "burlesque shows" and "Coney Island sideshows"). The play's premise—a wife secretly earning money faces marital trouble—permits Nathan to ridicule both the play's moral messaging and Kettering's theatrical pretensions. This is insider theater criticism lampooning a self-important amateur dramatist. **Comic Strips:** Two strips appear: Gluyas Williams' "The Minute That Seems a Year" depicts the relatable annoyance of encountering a talkative neighbor while rushing to get melting ice cream home. Fontaine Fox's "Mickey (Himself) McGuire" shows children rescuing money from their lemonade stand when a gang raids it after crossing railroad tracks. Both feature ordinary neighborhood life and juvenile adventure—typical Judge humor of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
They're Off! by George Jean Nathan They must be if George is right! I HE First great treat of the new season I is “Easy Street,” by one Ralph Thomas Kettering, presented by the Kettering Productions, Inc., and staged by Ralph Thomas Kettering. Not since the memorable night that witnessed the birth of the opus called, “Survival of the Fittest,” down in Greenwich Village, has our vision been gladdened with so rich and juicy a slice of the art dramatic. Coming to New York from a long and triumphant engagement in Chicago, rele- vantly famous for its relish for hams and predilection for wind, the masterpiece squatted down in Thirty-ninth street and gave the local connoisseurs of walla-walla such a night as they had not enjoyed in years. Indeed, although the season has just started, the 1924-25 piece of Danish pastry may immediately be awarded to the ruby in question with small fear that another serious contender for the prize will " show up. In writing, acting and ing, “Easy Street” must surely win by a erable margin. te theme of Dr. Kettering’s composi- tion, in so far as one could make it out above the roars of vulgar mirth that per- vaded the auditorium on the bridal night, is that a wife who works honestly to make a little spending money unbeknownst to her spouse will have a bad time of it in this suspicious and flinty world of ours. This profoundly philosophic rumination Dr. Kettering has expounded with all the considerable art of a big dose of cachoo powder. Written the way a bass drum croons to its young and acted somewhat in the spirit and tempo of the battle of Chickamauga, the play, as we are some- times in the habit of alluding to certain things we see on the stage of a theater, is a genuine, non-refillable nonesuch. If you are tired of burlesque shows as being too refined for your low taste, are surfeited with Coney Island sideshows, regarding them as too highly spiritual, I recommend to you an evening with the estimable M. Kettering’s brain-child. It will give you such a laugh, albeit to the estimable M. Kettering’s disconcertment, as you haven't enjoyed since the second Punic War. Il “Dexcrs Mortuers,” by the Messrs. Selwyn and Goulding, will un- doubtedly find its way into the movies and make the impression there that it doesn’t make in the theater. It has all the qualifications for a popular movie, save perhaps alone the scene in which one (Continued on page 26) WITH THE NEWSPAPER COMIKERS The Minute That Seems a Year By Gluyas Williams r ) © McClure Newspaper Syndicate’ ON THE HOTTEST DAY OF THE SUMMER. WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO GET A BRICK OF ICE CREAM HOME BERORE IT MELTS YOU MEET THE NEIGHBORHOOD'S CHAMPION - LONG DISTANCE TALKER_ elvyas 8-13 WILLIAMS | Mickey (Himself) McGuire By Fontaine Fox MCGUIRE _HIMSEL ‘4 Yy La THE MONEY is IN THIS Fist, Quick THINKING BY SPUNKY ZF EOWARDS SAVED THE 15 # RECEIPTS WHEN MICKEY MCGuIRE AND HIS GANG CAME ACROSS THE R.R RACKS AND RAIDEO THE LEMONADF STAND. < comicbooks:com