Life, 1921-08-11 · page 22 of 40
Life — August 11, 1921 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes early cinema and film censorship through humorous verses by Robert E. Sherwood with illustrations by John Held, Jr. **"The Censors"** mocks film boards that regulated movie content, portraying them as self-righteous "fossils" who protect youth from corrupting imagery (poker chips, baby shoes). The poem itself gets "deleted by the Censors"—a joke about censorship's absurdity. **"The Dummy"** celebrates stunt doubles in silent films who perform dangerous stunts for low pay and no recognition, yet remain humble and uncomplaining. The irony: they deserve fame more than celebrities. **Bottom comics** show slapstick action typical of silent comedy—two men fighting over their pets damaging gardens, likely illustrating physical comedy's appeal. The page critiques film industry hypocrisy: censors claim moral protection while exploiting vulnerable workers, and celebrates the anonymous craftspeople enabling cinema's thrills.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
the Censors Ob-serve this Group of right-eous Fos-sils, The Self-Anoin-ted Twelve A-pos-tles, Who tell the Com-mon Peo-ple what Is good for them, and what is Not. They care-ful-ly pro-hib-it Views Of Po-ker Chips and Ba-by Shoes— Be-cause these Sights cor-rupt, for-sooth, The Mo-rals of our ten-der Youth. I am not one to Preach or Prate, But should I ven-ture to re-late How I re-gard these Gloom Dis-pen-sers, I’dbe . . . (De-le-ted by the Censors). fhe Cinema Primer Verses by Robert E. Sherwood Drawings by John Held, Jr. Pr< LE the Dummy The Dum-my’s Life is Brief and Brisk, He is a bad In-sur-ance Risk, As he must dou-ble in the Réles Of some-what less In-trep-id Souls Who earn Tre-men-dous sal-’ry Checks For risk-ing their E-nam-eled Necks; And though he’s mang-led al-most Dai-ly, He goes to meet his Ma-ker gai-ly, And no one e-ver hears him Grum-ble Be-cause—since he’s di-vine-ly Hum-ble— He strives for nei-ther Wealthnor Fame. . . . Who else on Earth can make that Claim? T | |! Brown: Confound it, Smith! Your dog is digging up my garden! Smith: And your infernal chick- ens are digging up mine! comicbooks.com