Life, 1925-03-19 · page 11 of 36
Life — March 19, 1925 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a comedic domestic sketch by Bertram Bloch about a married couple, John and Anna, during a cold night. John has been sleeping and fails to recognize their baby's cries, while Anna grows anxious about his indifference. The humor derives from their contrasting perspectives: Anna interprets every sound as significant trouble, while John remains oblivious and self-absorbed (complaining about his slippers, his golf game). The satire targets both spouses: husbands who ignore household responsibilities and wives prone to exaggeration and anxiety. The lower cartoon with its technical diagram appears to be a separate Hollywood patent notice. This reflects early 20th-century domestic humor conventions mocking marriage dynamics and gender roles.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Domestic Felicity Was That the Baby? (it is a cold night and, having shivered for ten minutes between cold sheets, John Imrose, white, married and a futher, has finally gone to sleep. He is dreaming of a green course under a Southern sun and a ball that rolls into the cup no matter how you hit it, when his wife's agonizing chisper startles him into wakefulness.) NNA:: John, I heard the baby. Joun (reluctantly letting the perfect golf ball slip way): Musta beena cat. wa: Don't you think I know the difference between my child's voice and a cat's? Joun (apologetically) : Hard to tell when you're asleep— Axwxa (scornfully) : Not when you're a mother, John! Dear, I wonder what's the matter with him? Joun: I don't hear him. A No, that’s what makes me so anxious—he stopped way....There must be something wrong with him. Joun: Bilh, bllh, bril, brg (or words to that effect, which means that he is three-quarters asleep again). Anna: John! (He misses the golf ball.) John, T suppose I'll have to get up, though the doctor says that if I catch another cold this winter I'm as good as lost. (With a despairing sigh John slides out of the covers into the chilly world.) ANNA: That's sweet of you, dear. him, open it and—— Joux: Where the hell are my slippers? Axxa: John! What a tone! If it's a pin sticking HOLLYWOOD, ATTENTION! ANY PRODUCER MAY HAVE THE PATENT RIGHTS TO THIS TIME-SAVING SCENE SHIFTER JUST FOR THE ASKING Engineer’s Sweetie: AND DO YOU OFTEN THINK OF ME DURING YOUR LONG NIGHT TRIPS? “pO 1? SAY, I'VE WRECKED TWO TRAINS THAT WAY.” “OU, YOU DARLIN: Joun: Well, if you had to stand here in this cold—— Anna: If you had put your slippers where— (She stops suddenly ; tly and softly—) John, dear— Joun (under the bed): Yes Axna: I think you'll find your slippers in the library— or the kitchen. I gave them to Junior to play Indian with... . Oh, John, nothing's any excuse for such profanity! I know the floor is cold, but if you run on your toes ! CH. He returns.) (savagely) : It was the cat! Isn't that fine? It’s such a relief to know the baby’s all right. What's the noise, dear? Jounx: Only my teeth chattering. Aywa: If you'd buy yourself a warmer bathrobe as I've suggested (For answer, John leaps into bed with such he knocks over the reading lamp....There is a terrific crash.. nce for a moment, and then—there rises to destroy the stillness of the night the loud, loud wail of a baby roused suddenly from its sleep!t!!) Curtain, Bertram Bloch. Definitions REVOLUTIONIST is a conservative who has sur- vived a successful revolution...Or, a radical who hasn't...A lately-wed male who doesn’t give a hang whether he ever owns his own little home in the country newly-wed female who buys a broom without asking her husband's advice....A taxicab driver who has change for a five-dollar bill....Or, one who proffers it if he has...A man of few words...Or, of any. J. KM. IFE—the fifty reels that the great producer ground out in filming a single picture. Drama—the six reels that survived the cutting-room comicbooks.com