Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, May 1922 · page 59 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #33 — page 59: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two gossip column items from a 1920s satirical magazine, with **no visible cartoon**. The first item mocks the Broadway revue "Pins and Needles," claiming the Shubert brothers blamed delayed costumes from Europe, but the writer suspects they're simply using inadequate makeshift costumes. The criticism extends to performers Harry Pilcer and Edith Kelly Gould, whose skimpy stage attire is compared unfavorably to burlesque—implying the show is cheap and poorly produced. The second item ridicules actress Mae Murray for her self-aggrandizing behavior. She claims to design her own minimal costumes and guards her "ideas" jealously, but the writer dismisses her outfit choices sarcastically. The satire targets her vanity and calculated publicity-seeking: her signature white cloak and perfectly-timed "just-before-proceedings-start" arrivals with her husband (director Robert Leonard) are portrayed as transparent attention-grabbing theatrics. The humor relies on readers' familiarity with these entertainment figures and Broadway scandals.
📄 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 57 day, after the premiere, the Messrs. Shubert, who helped bring over the production, an- nounced that the revue has been presented with make-shift costumes and costumes, the “produc- tion having been delayed en-route across the Atlantic.” But the costumes and scenery have never come on the mythically delayed ship and Broadway suspects that “Pins and Needles” is as is. Which is terrible. In the revue appear Harry Pilcer, once lifted to undue fame by the late Gaby Deslys, and Edith Kelly Gould, who seems to be able to merely wander listlessly about the stage. And we haven’t viewed such tights since we used to sneak down to the town burlesque house back in 1900. * * * THEY tell me that Mae Murray is very exclusive these days in her studio. You see, she says that she designs her own costumes—although the word costume strikes us as rather a strong word for the bits of something or other she affects on the screen— and she isn’t going to let anyone steal her ideas. Be that as it may (no pun intended), Mae is a great little publicity seeker. You never see a fil-em first night or hardly a speakie premiere without noticing her enveloped in a tremendous white cloak and accompanied by her tremendous hubby, Robert Leonard. And al- ways arriving just before the proceedings start.