Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, February 1922 · page 32 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #30 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from the satirical magazine contains three Hollywood gossip items from the early 1920s: 1. **Erich von Stroheim**: The text criticizes the director's temperamental behavior at Universal Studios during filming of "Foolish Wives," suggesting he's being fired despite his talent. 2. **Morality Clauses**: The piece mocks studios' attempts to enforce moral behavior clauses in actor contracts. Will Rogers's quip—that he'd demand the producer sign first—satirizes the hypocrisy of studios imposing strict moral standards on performers while allowing questionable behavior behind closed doors. 3. **The Arbuckle Scandal Fallout**: The item describes Vitagraph's decision to drop Maclyn Arbuckle (unrelated to the notorious Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle) from "The Prodigal Judge" due to association with a San Francisco scandal—illustrating studios' panic-driven overreactions to moral controversy. The satire targets studio hypocrisy and the chilling effect of moral policing on the film industry.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
30 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang gas on the officials and made the studio into an armed camp. It sounds fishy, of course, but have you ever met the tense Mr. Von Stroheim? At that we feel awfully sorry for him. He has unusual directorial ability and he is—or was—the one able person at Universal. And now, after making “Foolish Wives,” which, if it doesn’t get barred by the censors, ought to be a whirlwind, he seems to be getting the gate. * * * AREN’T those morality clauses the high minded movie producers are inserting into their actor contracts the bunk? Imagine the nerve. Will Rogers gave the best summary when he declared, “Say, if any one hands me a contract with one of them clauses, I’ll say, you sign it first.” He is in New York doing a turn on the Ziegfeld roof. The best line of his act is: “I’m the only guy who ever went to California and came back with the same wife.” * * * ONE of the funniest kick backs from the Arbuckle case occurred at Vitagraph, where they had Maclyn Arbuckle (no relation to Fatty), under contract to be co-starred in “The Prodigal Judge,” which he had played for years on the stage. Just as the picture was completed, a little San Francisco scandal broke. Vitagraph decided that it couldn’t afford to feature Mr. Maclyn Arbuckle at this time. This despite the fact that Mr.