Judge, 1928-01-07 · page 20 of 36
Judge — January 7, 1928 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes film criticism and the cultural pretensions of intellectuals. The author, Pare Lorentz, writes a column called "Judging the Movies" reviewing recent films. The main joke appears in the cartoon at bottom: a critic dismissively tells a guest "You seem to have no love for the masses," to which the guest replies "Heck, no! I live with one"—implying the critic's own wife or companion represents "the masses," mocking the critic's elitist disdain for popular entertainment. The article text reinforces this: Lorentz exhausted his "sneering capacity" reviewing mediocre films, yet struggled to identify twelve films worth recommending. The satire targets film critics who adopt an air of superiority while reviewing shallow Hollywood productions, suggesting their intellectual posturing is ridiculous given the poor quality of material they evaluate. The piece mocks both pretentious criticism and the mass-market entertainment it judges.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE e) Up GANG THe MOV fe @ | BY VARE LORENIZ > 2 9 The Movie Guide € (Teo Performances Only) | CG Chicago” (C —To be reviewed next week. | The Gaucho’ (Liberty)—Douglas Fairbanks geta religion. excellent. went to sce three pictures a Helen of Ti +) True confewion stuff | reviewing such inane productions over the week-end which | “Sp, 7STsue"itascen At kon prone | so exhausted my sneering | | were written or produced by — | atthe Vitashoe wenly seuronty. Teepe | capacity that the few 1 managed ] artists who are well known in |” =riy Student to fasten down weren't worthy of other crafts that exact hard, — | testy st wperite story, OT |g -year-old sneerer, “The ient work from its artisans, igs tr Maa al were simply well di- “se three pictures were so tales that were no thin, so devoid of real emotional Wings (Criterion) more dramatic than bedtime 5 content, that it was sickening. ‘To | 1° te sit. Brauufal photography stories emitted from a million | sce these men smoothing out such dollar radio. i I was desperate for copy, so I decided to ma a list of the twelve best movies of the y ie coeente ol ee and then analyze them unti When I came over to the office “Man, Woman and Sin" (Loew's Houses, Bronx) filled up the column. However, this morning I tricd to write when I looked over the files something about the three pic- found that it was a job to select tures: “Serenade,” “Man Crazy,” twelve movies even worth recom- flimsy material was as hollow en- | tertainment as hi Ps Stradivarius. and “The Devil Dar ” First, Inderworld’* (Chaloner, Belmont)—Awarde! mending to a friend as satisfac- I tried to write a sneering essay second prise by Lorents, tory entertainment, I then tried about them, but after weeks of | J (Continued on page 31) Gurst—You seem to have no-love for the masses. “Heck, no! I live with one.” comicbooks.com