Life, 1928-08-30 · page 34 of 36
Life — August 30, 1928 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page promotes Life magazine's theater coverage and solicits subscriptions. The main feature introduces **Robert Benchley**, a dramatic critic and actor, as Life's entertainment columnist. Benchley is positioned as uniquely qualified because he's both a theater professional and critic—giving him authority to review plays. The text emphasizes that readers should trust Benchley's weekly warnings about bad shows and praise for good ones. He also produces a "Confidential Guide" to theater—apparently a recurring feature helping readers decide what to see. The page lists other notable contributors to attract subscribers: Will Rogers (political commentary), Elmer Davis (editorials), Percy Crosby (cartoonist), and Walter Winchell (gossip columnist). The subscription offer at bottom-left—$5 for one year—was Life's main monetization during this era. The overall message: subscribe to Life for reliable theater guidance and entertaining commentary from well-known personalities. The specific date and Benchley's prominence suggest this is from early-to-mid 1920s, when Life was prominent and Benchley was a major entertainment figure.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Drama More or Less Serious hat Forty formance, fi shrenings ghrening ned oer cout be OF here | jogical, bot Y dhologicals WON all. Sa jashenent 62 Ay agocrian se pack Mr. Davi is wane avis backs 3 Memo to > thing. partment | When Me ris de at het crit As the 0 Te Me| che Davis pane ‘aang, MUCH | thussts F tender IV have to te wi ye ot town 2 Arive it 08 MR. BENCHLEY With the advent of the new season, Mr. Benchley prepares again to sacrifice himself that you readers of LIFE may know what’s what in the theater. Night after night. you will find him sitting through some monstrosity for your sake. eek after week, you are given the op- portunity to heed his warnings and echo his praises as they appear in the pages of LIFE. Mr. Benchley is the only dramatic critic who is an actor himself. In his reviews of new plays, and his Confidential Guide to others, he tells you what you want to know about the shows. More than that— whether you ever see the shows or not—the Benchley pages are always sure-fire entertainment in themselves. Other reasons for your sending off the eoupon right away are Robert E. Sherwood (Silent Drama), Will Rogers (Campaign Speeches with a Bite), Elmer Davis (Editorials), Percy Crosby (Creator of “Skippy”), Walter Winchell, Henry Suydam, Baird Leonard, John Kieran, Agnes Smith—we could keep this up for hours, eeeeeennnncenenseesenes, 80 turn back the pages of this issue and see for yourself—Obey that impulse! Clip and mail to LIFE, 598 Madison Ave., New York City bat r oar ens forget SEND ME LIFE FOR ONE Riser, POV ey, ft of Me Oey os h brie’ ¢ \ hat hiedle > YEAR, $5 ENCLOSED ¥ ob ation. 3 de ng 2, -aaial Guide #9 e4rTe™ on pase 24 Porton eee ne wee nennneenenee TWE DEVINNE-MALLENDECK COMPANY, INC, PRINTERS, NEW TORK comicbooks.com