Life, 1921-06-09 · page 23 of 38
Life — June 9, 1921 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical educational feature about early 1920s film industry types. The page presents two character archetypes in verse and illustration: **The Press Agent** (left): A publicist who lies constantly to promote movies, compared to P.T. Barnum (the famous huckster). The satire notes that movie fans paradoxically believe he's truthful despite knowing his job is generating publicity through deception. **The Comedian** (right): A slapstick performer who throws custard pies and throws people "for a goal," earning fame through physical comedy. The verse mocks the violence as entertainment while acknowledging its appeal to audiences. **The comic strip** (bottom) shows a child caught stealing candies—a simple joke about a child's transparent alibi. The overall point: silent film relied on exaggerated characters and manufactured hype, with the press agent manufacturing celebrity and the comedian making violence funny. Verses by Robert E. Sherwood, drawings by John Held Jr., this appears designed to gently mock film industry conventions for literate readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
June 9 Gie Cinema Primer ww ineme Verses by Robert E. Sherwood the Press Agent. Where would the Mo-tion Pic-tures be If they had no Pub-lic-i-ty ? I'll ven-ture bold-ly to De-clare ‘That they would not be An-y-where, They therefore hire this Chap, whose Stint Is just to keep their Names in Print. He earns his Pay, for he can Lie as Well as an-y An-a-ni-as,— But Mo-vie Fans, both Old and Youth-ful, Be-lieve that he is Strict-ly Truth-ful; And so he takes ’em in—gosh darn ’em— By em-u-la-ting P, T. Barnum, Drawings by John Held, Jr. the Comedian O, Chil-dren, see this fun-ny Guy Who wields a wick-ed Cus-tard Pie, And earns a hand-some Week-ly Sti-pend By throw-ing Fruit that’s o-ver Ri-pened. He's ris-en to the Hall of Fame Be-cause of his un-er-ring Aim, And when he Starts to run A-muck, It’s Time for ev’-ry-one to Duck. Al-though I mur-mur “Ain’t he Droll ?” When he Knocks some-one for a Goal, I'd Hate to be a-mong those Blokes Who act as Tar-gets br his Jokes, + MAMA! WHAT DO YA “(IIE STOLE THOSE CANDIES YOU TINK JIMA DID? HID FROM US.” “ow bo you KNow?” “ "CAUSE | HAD ‘EM IN MY POCKET AN’ NOW THEY'RE ALL GONE.” comicbooks.com