Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, April 1921 · page 17 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #19 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous letter from "Svens Peterson," a Swedish immigrant character speaking broken English ("Ay" for "I," phonetic Scandinavian accent). He describes his chaotic experience as an extra on a Hollywood film set. The satire mocks both early 1920s filmmaking and immigrant stereotypes. Svens portrays movie production as absurdly violent and incompetent—he's hit with a tomahawk during "rehearsal," accidentally attacks the director when the camera rolls, burns down the set, yet still gets paid and hired for the next picture. The joke suggests Hollywood filmmaking is improvised chaos where anything goes. The character's accent and broken English play on contemporary stereotypes about Scandinavian immigrants, while his naive enthusiasm about becoming a "Star" and starting his own company satirizes the era's Hollywood dreams. The "Post Chips" reader questions at the end maintain the comedic tone, treating Svens as a recurring advice-column character.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang 15 You bat Ay look lak hal! Some girls jump and squeek when Ay kom out from dressing-koop. Pretty quick after Ay hang round for 'bout two hours in hot sun with lard frying on may back a faller called Director git sober up an' tal me Ay skol stand by log house made of gunny-sack. Nother faller he soak me on head with tommy-axe for rehersal an' ay bane be knock out. After we skol have rehersal 'bout fourteen times Ay git pretty mad an' Ay yump on him's neck an' bust him's yaw an' den Director faller he yell “CAMERA” an' a faller start grinding krank lak machine-gun. Nother faller turn switch-light on me so Ay skol go blind an' den Ay gitting mad lak Devil an' Ay lick Director an' bust up camera an' kick slats out of some extra fallers hangin' 'round. Log house she fall down an' bust up switch-lights an' set fire on studyo. Faller run out from office an' slip me tray dollar quick lak lightning an' Ay lose may clothes an' watch an' Ay aint give a dam. Nother faller give me pants so Ay aint skol go to yail an' nother faller hire me for prize- fight picture next week to lick Bulls in Montana. Ay skol let you know how Ay git long just so quick as Ay am Star. Ay show them fallers how gude Swede actor put up moving picture show, Ay bat your life! Your old friend, SVENS PETERSON. Post Chips—Please can you tole me where Ay can get gude book about how to shooting craps? Post Chips agan—If you know gude steady girl that likes to git marry Ay skol start own kompany out in Hollywood.