Life, 1921-01-27 · page 25 of 36
Life — January 27, 1921 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"Too Many Chefs"** satirizes a reported French theatrical experiment where fifty rejected screenwriters collaborated on a single play. The piece mocks this by imagining if classic literature resulted from such committee writing. The parody of "Mother Hubbard" absurdly layers in incompatible theatrical styles—dramatic monologues, vaudeville dog acts, Sarah Bernhardt-style melodrama, comic relief, and topical references (League of Nations). The joke: too many writers with different sensibilities produce incoherent, overwrought chaos rather than compelling drama. **"His Quota"** and the bottom cartoon are brief gag items unrelated to the main piece. The first puns on golf etiquette; the second jokes about urban ignorance—a city nephew doesn't understand that leaving milk in a cow keeps it fresh longer than storing separated milk. The page demonstrates Life's characteristic style: witty social commentary through exaggeration and parody, targeting both European theatrical pretension and contemporary American absurdities.
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-LIFE. 141 Too Many Chefs For the first time in the history of the French drama, col- lective play-writing is to be experimented in on a large scale in Paris. Fifty young writers, all of whom have suffered chagrin at having their manuscripts returned to them by producers, will write a play which, they declare, will astonish the world. Tragedians, humorists, narrative writers—they will ill be there—New York Herald. ERY interesting—and commendable, withal. But what if all our literary classics had resulted from a collaboration such as this new French drama promises to be? For example, Mother Hubbard: ACT I Enter Madame Hubbard, with dog, Left Right Left. She executes a dog dance, then recites “The Spell of The on” to a “Hearts and Flowers” accompaniment. There is a sound of thunder, followed by lightning. Green spot-light. She tears her hair and docs a Bernhardt about the stage, yodeling vehemently the while, then throws open the cup- loard door and swoons as a corpse falls out. ACT II Old Mme. Hubbard is on trial before M. Le Prefet. “What d’ye mean ye lost yer dog?” he asks. GD Low She quails. M. Le Prefet then tells the story about the traveling sales- man, and the jury joins in a close harmony rendition of “I Left My Love in Avalon.” The dog and several friends enter and contribute an animal act, leaping through hoops, turning handsprings and so forth. Enter a figure symbolic of the League of Nations. She shoots all the other characters, including the audience. Finale: “I've Got a Bimbo Down on the Bamboo Isles.” Curtain His Quota ADDIE MASTER: Excuse me, sir, but you mustn't come into the clubhouse with those spiked shoes. Nooo: I've seen others do it. Capvie Master: Yes, sir; but you've done enough damage on the links already, 'ORTY Englishmen, including a proportional representa- tion of doctors, lawyers, engineers and clergymen, with their families, have sailed for the South Seas, to requisition an island where, as they say, they can be free from politics, taxes and other attributes of modern civilization. If that is the case, why did they take along the lawyers? SLI Nephew (from the city): WE'LL NEVER USE ALL THAT MILK, UNCLE JOHN, WOULDN'T IT KEEP BETTER IF YOU LEFT IT IN THE COW? comicbooks.com