Life, 1916-04-20 · page 25 of 52
Life — April 20, 1916 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the decline of theatrical arts in favor of silent cinema. The author mocks how movies have replaced Shakespeare's language-driven drama with visual spectacle and physical comedy. The sonnets argue that silent film stars like Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin accomplish through pantomime and sight gags what Shakespeare achieved through verse. The satire suggests modern audiences prefer slapstick (Chaplin falling downstairs) to Shakespeare's linguistic richness—"The world's gone stale on language. Cut it out." Section II ridicules adapting *Hamlet* as a five-reel movie with captions like "Golly, How It Blows!" and "That's the Old Man's Spook, I S'pose"—reducing profound drama to cheap melodrama. The cartoon of Shakespeare's ghost at the theater marquee comments on how cinema now dominates entertainment. Section III concedes cinema has merit for visual storytelling but laments the loss of verbal artistry, urging Shakespeare to "come, Poet, to the movies"—a resigned acceptance that physical expression now trumps literary language.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘LLP E* Motion Picture Sonnets OW was thine English wasted, O my Bard! What thou expressed in pentametric airs, Chanting in verse life's comedies and cares, Lo! Mary Pickford, in the world’s regard, By looking like a picture postal-card, Can quite accomplish. Hear how laughter blares When Charley Chaplin, falling down the stairs, Kills Falstaff’s jokes—and kills them very hard! Ah, were it not far better had thy plays Been written not by scroll, but by the reel, A bright electric bulb to crown thy bays, Some movie star to spur poetic zeal, Muting Othello’s rage or Lear’s spout? The world’s gone stale on language. Cut it out. II Ah, Shakespeare, hadst thou writ scenarios! “Great Five Reel Heart-Throb—HAMLET.” ness here: Scene: Castle—j.k. bromide—guards appear— Flash off—then Caption: “Golly, How It Blows!” Flash Ghost in r-B wardrobe warrior clothes— Register superstition, cold feet, fear. . . . Flash off—flash on trick dawn—the guards draw near And Caption: “ That’s the Old Man's Spook, I S'pose.” Wit- Thou needst not know the art that summons ghosts, Shaken from Hell by mastery of sound, The gift of words that conjures all the hosts Of restless Acheron from out the ground— hire some actors, choose a spot out West And let the camera do all the rest. LOVE IS BLIND HAMMERSTEINS by, Kee ’ | yrroe Shade of Shakespeare: 1 WONDER HOW GREAT A FELLOW MUST BE BEFORE THEY NAME A THEATRE AFTER HIM? Ill Thy plays, O Will, were acted on the boards Of that old Globe whose stage was bleak and bare: Belasco’s self could not improve thee there— Thy words made pictures. And those noble Lords Who heard brave Mare address the Roman hordes Saw Czxsar’s City, pile on pile, upbear Arrogant domes and pinnacles in air Which thou madest living by the gift of words! To-day there’s too much noise, too little said. Accents grow thinner, dialogues more terse. “Step lively, please!” oft fuddles Thespis’ head If she but dote a moment on her verse. Come, Poet, to the movies! Here's a seat. Now let's see life expressed—by hands and feet! Wallace Irwin, comicbooks.com