Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, April 1922 · page 52 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #32 — page 52: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from the satirical magazine contains several disconnected humor items rather than unified cartoons. The opening discusses censored film content—producers allegedly offered $50,000 for "cut out portions" to show in Europe and South America, implying these regions had looser censorship standards. This satirizes both film censorship and stereotypes about foreign moral standards. The theatrical commentary mocks the theatrical season's initial scandal (police intervention expected) that fizzled harmlessly, disappointing reformers. The Lillian Lorraine item is pointed satire: press had extensively covered her alleged spinal injury/paralysis, yet in "The Blue Kitten" she visibly performs in costumes revealing her spine in perfect condition—exposing the publicity as exaggerated or fabricated. The remaining items are brief jokes: the "naughty/naught" wordplay; a bartender joke about workplace hierarchy; and a "dizzy blonde" joke playing on female stereotypes (she misunderstands the dream proposal as literal). The page reflects 1920s humor: concern over film censorship, theatrical scandal-mongering, and period-typical gender stereotypes.
📄 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 51 get the story down to these ornate essentials. It is said that someone has offered the producers $50,000 for the cut out portions, with a view towards showing them in sections of Europe and South America where the cinema flickers can't be too strong for 'em. * * * THE theatrical events have not been at all intriguing. The stage year, which started with such a sprightly trend that police intervention not only seemed likely but actually occurred, has petered out to a mild termination. Even a reformer wouldn't be horrified at anything among the late events—at least not much. Of course, there was Lillian Lorraine's return, after we had read columns and columns about her paralysis from an injured or broken spine. In “The Blue Kitten” Lillian wears costumes that reveal her spinal column to be in fine form to the last vertibrae. * * * A Problem in Figures Some girls are naughty; Others are naught. * * * I'm not the soda jerker in this drug store, madam, I'm the head bartender. * * * He—I dreamed I proposed to a beautiful girl. Dizzy Blonde—What did I say.