Life, 1927-07-21 · page 28 of 38
Life — July 21, 1927 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page describes a silent film comedy scenario (not a political cartoon). The narrative follows Rob and Mary, young lovers who are accidentally marooned on a desert island when a mischievous first mate named "Snail-Bite" Pete casts off their boat. The humor relies on physical comedy and sight gags typical of 1920s silent film: Mary grabs a crab thinking it's Rob's hand; they discover a large footprint and joke it might belong to Lon Chaney (a famous horror actor); they flee from Revenue Agents (Prohibition enforcement officers) in a chase sequence. The twist ending reveals Rob's father has been working undercover for the government all along and commands the revenue cutter that captures them. The final gag shows a Union Jack flag raised upside-down—a distress signal—apparently because the ship's goat, drunk from Rob's hidden flask, causes chaos. The satire targets Prohibition enforcement and bootlegging culture of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
DATE WHICH ES THRER DAYS BEFORE OPENING O1 SEASON, (CLOSE UP. Rob puts gun back on wall sadly and goes over and pats his father on head, leaving an ugly welt. (FADE OUT.) Scene + FISHING WHARE AT DOVER BACKGROUND OF MASTS AND UNPLEASANT FISH ODORS BASKET CONTAINING FIVE PUPPIES. (CLOSE UP.) 7 SPOKEN TEPLE FISH! Rob a “DOG 1 ber down on the deck to play with An evil face Mary laugh and clam- the puppies. Appears over a hatehway. (FADE IN.) & SUBTITLE: “SNAII BITE” PETE, FIRST MATE, WHO WAS SO ‘TOUGHT HE KEPT HIS COLLAR ON WITH A NAIL IN HIS NECK Pete sneaks up behind the pair of young lovers, who have by now handled the yomuch that three of them are k, and very f¥ the dock and casts off. By the time the voung puppies quietly slips the hawser couple look up, they are on a desert island. Scexr 5. SANDY BEACILON A DESERT ISLAND. (LONG SHOT. 9 SUBTITLE ROB AND MARY HAD ABOUT AS MUCH CHANCE OF GETTING OFF THIS ISLAND AS A PROHTBI- PIONIST TEAS OF GIEPTING OFF A GOOD JOKE Rob and Mary walking hand in hand along the beach, Rob stops to pick up a bit of seaweed and Mary, Life “Island Irish” (Continued from page V9) looking — the reaches for his hand again whois other way, Instead she takes hold of a erab which has been walking along the beach in the and thinking that one s hand, walks along oblivious of the other direetion, of its claws is I substitution, talking and chatting, She finally looks down and sees what she has been walking with and indicates horror, Rob in the meantime has diseov ered something in the sand and ealls Mary back to see it. LARGE FOOTPRINT IN SAND. (CLOSE UP.) Rob and Mary examine the foot- print closely and Mary starts to dig at it. 10, SPOKEN TITLE: “LOOK OUT! DON'T TOUCH IT! PER HAPS IT’S WHERE SOME ONE STEPPED ON LON CHANEY!" Mary jumps back in horror while Rob shades his eves and scans. the In the distance a speck is He grabs Mary by the hand they start running after the horizon Scexe 6 CHASE SEQUENCE, Rob and Mary tear along. the beach, swingi left into the loi to the right into the ocean, Once they nearly x sometimes to the f grass, sometimes upset and once they come within an inch of colliding with a large fish which is coming up the beach in the opposite direction As Rob and Mary approach the speck in the distance, the speck ap- proaches them at the same rate, until it turns out to be two Revenue Agents who are running toward Rob and Mary to arrest them for being hootle lide. HW. SPOKEN TIL Od WON'T BE LONG NOW!" Rob and Mary revenue-cutter rs. ‘The four runners col The agents seize and signal for the which appears around the point Scene ON BOARD REVENUE CUT- TER DELIGII (SEMI CLOSE UP.) BACKGROUND OF KNOTS AND WHISTL The Revenue Officer ind Mary across the deck While they are pocket chind him into a pail of water. for the commander. waiti Rob empties his flask The ship's goat comes up, drinks the water and becomes intoxicated, rush- ing madly toward the hatchway j as the commander is coming up, causing a nasty spill, Rob and Mary wait with terror stricken countenances, Commander turns and faces them and is discovered to be Thurlow Cra Rob's father, who has been an un- der-cover man for the Goverr ll the time. Ee to see the young people and Rob and Mary embrace and one of the sailors runs 1 tlag up at the masthead. UNION JACK UPSIDE DOWN, SIGNI- FYING “WE NEED. ASSIST- ANCE!" (FADE OUT.) seems deli them his blessi ote Mr. Benchley’s dramatic and Mr, Sherwood's motion picture reviews reviews are omitted this week be- cause of vacations, comicbooks.com