Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, March 1921 · page 14 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #18 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page introduces a satirical story warning young women about the movie industry's predatory culture. The editor notes that telling women "she ought to be in pictures" is a common seduction line used by unscrupulous men in Los Angeles—apparently so effective that it causes "serious final result" (likely meaning financial or sexual exploitation). The story by "Richmond" describes Hollywood as infested with manipulative men who use romantic flattery to exploit aspiring actresses. It portrays the film industry as uniquely corrupt, characterized by jealousy, deception, and power games where men manipulate women competitively. The piece presents a first-person account from a French woman seeking entry into "Filmdom," positioning her experience as typical of women navigating this exploitative landscape. The satire critiques both the predatory industry and women's vulnerability to its false promises.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
12 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang Picture Land Flattery Editor's Note: Here is a story for young girls with movie ambitions. In fact its a crackerjack of a story for women in general. I do not believe the public, outside of Los Angeles, realizes that the fa- vorite form for gaining a lady's favor is to tell her she ought to be in pictures. Girls strange to Los Angeles fall hard for this style of flattery, very often with serious final result. De- signing men quite frequently bunco the fair and trust- ing creatures and "those who know" declare it is sur- prising how the ladies like the movie flattery. But here is the story, true to nature and only in- tended for the eyes of the fair sex. BY RICHMOND. YOUNG women who desire to break into the movies should be prepared to take a little "breaking-in" themselves unless they indeed are fortunate and bump into a man instead of some of the rat horde that infests movieland. No line of business in the world combines more petty jealousies than creep through the Picture World. Men play the women against one another; women play men and the whole bunch forever conjure to hold the upper hand. The following recital, by a clever French woman who sought a place in Filmdom, is typical. This