Life — July 30, 1925 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Catastrophe in Hollywood" This cartoon satirizes the real-estate speculation boom of the 1920s. The chaotic scene depicts a movie studio lot collapsing into disaster—buildings toppling, crowds fleeing—while executives remain oblivious to the chaos around them. The caption attributes the disaster to Cecil B. DeMille's "Yes-Men," suggesting studios were run by yes-men who enabled poor decisions. The accompanying "Big Business" text mocks suburban golf-club developers planning endless real-estate schemes for profit rather than genuine need, saying "we no longer live in the suburbs to play golf; we live here to make money in real-estate deals." The satire targets both Hollywood's excess and the broader speculative mania that preceded the 1929 stock market crash, ridiculing both film industry hubris and real-estate profiteering culture.