Life, 1922-08-03 · page 20 of 36
Life — August 3, 1922 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a theater review page from Life magazine (circa 1922, based on references). The main content is critic Robert C. Benchley's satirical commentary on New York theater. **The central joke:** Benchley sarcastically claims that while he was away reviewing European theater, New York's dramatic output declined so badly that it's "almost back to where it was in October 1897"—a 25-year regression. He mock-blames theater managers for abandoning their posts to go to the beach during hot weather, leaving only two mediocre shows ("The Spice of 1922" and "Sue, Dear") for his return. **The satire:** Benchley uses exaggeration and deadpan humor to criticize these summer productions as stupidly vulgar, only redeemable by performances from Jimmy Hussey and Adele Rowland. He jokingly suggests the shows were so bad, a critic might jump from a window. The page also lists other theatrical offerings categorized as "More or Less Serious" and "Comedy and Things Like That," providing contemporary entertainment guidance for readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Lhude Sing Cuccu” ETURNING after one week abroad, during which time the dramatic seasons of all the leading capitals of Europe were reviewed for these columns (the Buda- pesth review will appear at a later date, as soon as it has been passed on by the State Department), we. find that the drama in New York has made tremendous strides during our absence. So tremendous have these strides been that it is now almost back to where it was in October 1897. You simply can’t take your eyes off these producers for one minute or they will go and pull something like this on you. All that it means is that we can never leave the country again, that’s all. 'T wouldn’t have been so bad if there had only been more productions during the past month. A dozen or so perfectly terrible musical shows to greet the returning reviewer would have offered something worth while digging into. But the hot weather seems to have made the managers cross and sulky and they have taken their money and their pails and gone up the beach to play. and the valiant champion in the cause of the Drama, after donning his summer-weight casque and kissing everybody good-by, canters out into the lists to be con- fronted by a couple of adversaries in black alpaca suits, named “The Spice of 1922” and “Sue, Dear.” HE SPICE OF 1922’ the type that used to prevail there before they began getting a little better. In other words, it is just about as stupidly vulgar as a show can be and still not have been written by Avery Hopwood and Wilson Collison. nmy Hussey and Adele Rowland come on every once in a while just to prove that there really is an all-seeing Providence which will not allow its charges to be tried beyond their endurance, and for these two performers due thanks are hereby given. They alone are responsible for the fact that there was not featured in the papers the next morning the following item: “Handsome Critic Leaps Twelve Floors to Death as Record Crowd Cheers.” “Sue, Dear” is a summer show in which the little girl who brings the pearl necklace from the jeweler’s is inveigled into impersonating one of the bridesmaids who failed to appear. Robert C. Benchley. Owing to the time it takes to print Lire, readers should verify from the dai'y news- papers the continuance of the attractions at the theatres mentioned. More or Less Serious The Bat. Morosco—The grandfather of all mystery plays. The Cat and the Canary. National.—Guar- anteed to cool the spine regardless of the weather, From Morn Till Midnight. Frasee.—An intense and bitter play, well worth seeing if your mind is hitting on all four cylinders. He Who Gets Slapped. Garrick.—An- dreyev’s beautiful tragedy of the circus enjoy- ing a gratifying popularity. Comedy and Things Like That Abie’s Irish Rose. Republic—Comic sup- plement stuff. Captain Applejack. Cort.—Delightful ro- mantic burlesque, with Wallace Eddinger and Mary Nash. The Dover Road. Bijou.—Charles Cherry and an excellent cast in extremely pleasant English comedy. The Goldfish. Mezxine Ellictt’s—An odd mixture of laughs, with Marjorie Rambeau to enhance their value Kempy. Belmont—The logical successor to “The First Year” among the home plays. Kiki. Belasco.—The Parisian cocotte made vivid by Lenore Ulric. Partners Again. Selwyn.—Potash_ and Perlmutter back, amid considerable hilarity. Six Cylinder Love. Sam H. Harris.— Ernest Truex and June Walker in an amusing tragedy of suburban automobiling. Eye and Ear Entertainment Chauve-Souris. Century Roof.—Russian entertainers in pleasant native vaudeville. Good Morning, Dearie. Globe.—Still doing ni¢ely, thank you. The Music Box Revue. Music Box.— regular revue. Plantation Revue. Forty-Eighth St.—To be reviewed next week. Spice of 1922. Winter Garden.—Reviewed in this issue. Strut Miss Lizzie. Ear! Carr: ll.—To be re- viewed next week. Ziegfeld Follies. New Amsterdam.—Will Rogers, a dash of beauty, and not much else. comicbooks.com h el ei be p 01 al ni tv