Life, 1927-06-16 · page 12 of 34
Life — June 16, 1927 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks the absurd demands of a famous German film director working in America. The joke pivots on a language/cultural misunderstanding: the director wants "a hundred feet" of film footage, but his American assistant interprets "feet" literally—as human feet to photograph. What follows is escalating confusion as the director tries to clarify he means film length (measured in feet), while the assistant keeps proposing ridiculous literal interpretations: mixed footage of men, women, and children's actual feet; feet in carpet slippers and riding boots. The satire targets both the imperious European director stereotype and American literalism. The cartoon's humor relies on early cinema terminology being unfamiliar enough to permit this wordplay joke about transatlantic miscommunication.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Famous Movie Director (proposing) : paRLING, 1 LOVE you. WILL you BE MY YES-WOMAN? “NT OW,’ of feet...” “You American assistant. ,” said the German director, “for this effect, I want a lot mean footage,” 7 said his “What does that mean, footage?” “I said the German di- rector. “It means feet.” “All right. So—I want about a hun- dred footage.” “Or do you mean feet?” “Himmel! 1 say feet and you say footage—I say foot- age and you say feet. So—I want a hun- dred feet of footage —bare footage, foot- age in carpet. slip- pers, in riding boots, men’s footage, ladics’ footage, chil- dren's footage...” “Wait—let me get this right. You mean you want one of those cockeyed effects with a hundred feet all mixed up?” “Ja! Jal” “Oak. Now how much of it do you want?” “I want a hun- dred feet.” “A hundred feet of a hundred feet?” “Listen, my friend. I did not come to Absolutely Footless this country to be insulted. speak to me like a gentleman and I answer you like a gentleman and we get somewhere—not?” “That would be a feat in itself.” You do not want a feet by itself. Herr. Long-Suffering Patron: say! 1 PAID GOOD MONEY TO SEE THE FEATURE PICTURE, CONSOLE SOLOS, SYMPHONIC OVERTURES, NOT TO STAND FOR HOURS THROUGH ORGAN ALLEGORICAL BALLETS, BLACK BOTTOM CONTESTS, ORCHESTRAL TONE POEMS AND ATMOS- PHERIC PROLOGUES. Attendant: Movie, sv? 1 DIDN’T KNOW WE HAD ONE. WHEN DOES THE movie START? Understand me—I want a hundred foots—all together.” “How long?” “AIL lengths—all kinds.” “I don’t think you understand, Now I take it you want to photograph a hun- dred feet. But how much?” “I told you —a hundred feet.” “You mean a hun- dred feet of a hun- dred feet...is that right?” “Is what right?” “Is that the right footage?” “Himmel! — Right footage—left footage —both footage — all manner of footage!” “Listen — let me get this straight. You want a hundred- foot shot of a hun- dred feet?” “It’s you I should want shot. I should want you to shoot yourself. Now—am I making this picture or who is?” “You are, so they tell me.” ‘ALL right. To hell with those feet. We will do it with hands!” H. W. Hanemann. comicbooks.com