Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, June 1922 · page 25 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #34 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a celebrity gossip column from an early 20th-century satirical magazine. It contains three Hollywood scandal items: **Pauline Frederick's contract dispute**: Actress Pauline Frederick's lucrative $36,000/month contract with Universal was terminated when executive "Pat" Powers took over, claiming she wasn't worth the salary. Though she fought legally, the contract was dissolved via "mutual consent"—a transparent legal fiction. Sessue Hayakawa faced similar contract cancellation. **Mary Thurman and May Collins's downfall**: Two picture stars lost their wealth and automobiles to a landlord's legal attachment after they allegedly damaged his rental flat's furnishings worth hundreds of dollars within three months. **Marshall Neilan's romantic entanglements**: Director Marshall Neilan denied intending to marry actress Blanche Sweet, who's traveling to the Orient. Hollywood gossip speculates whether he'll pursue Gloria Swanson while Sweet is overseas. The tone is mocking—these items expose Hollywood's instability, financial recklessness, and romantic drama among silent-era celebrities.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang 23 would last five years anyhow, so she has been buying all the “pretties” she saw. However, the dream was rudely shattered of late when “Pat” Powers, former Universal executive bought out the interest of Cole and ruthlessly told Pauline that she wasn’t worth $36,000 a month to the new management. Paul- ine put up a legal fight for her contract, it is said, but Powers’ lawyers were able to see that the contract was broken “by mutual consent.” It is said that Sessue Hayakawa’s high pow- ered contract at about $30,000 a month is to be passed up, too. ⁂ ⁂ ⁂ MARY THURMAN and May Collins, pic- ture stars, are walking these days and frying the lowly egg over a gas jet. Their autos and bank accounts have been at- tached by an irate landlord who says that within a period of three months they have dam- aged the furnishings of his flat to the extent of many hundreds of dollars! * * * MARSHALL NEILAN, when recently in- terviewed, announced that he did not intend to marry Blanche Sweet but that the former star intended to take a trip to the Orient very shortly. Hollywood is wondering if Neilan will pursue his interest in Gloria Swanson to a successful finish while Blanche is overseas.