Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, June 1922 · page 26 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #34 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks **Will Hays**, newly appointed head of the motion picture industry's self-censorship board (the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America). The author dismisses Hays's impact as minimal—he's only made pleasant speeches so far. The text ridicules rumors about Hays centralizing the film industry in Long Island with a church at its center (presenting this as absurdly unrealistic). Most significantly, it contains veiled gossip about an unnamed male film star allegedly addicted to cocaine ("snow"), now requiring an on-set bodyguard. The author predicts studios will quietly drop him to avoid scandal damaging the industry's reputation—despite his current popularity with millions. The satire critiques both Hays's ineffectual authority and the film industry's fear-driven, protective response to star scandals. The "lightning" metaphor suggests imminent public exposure. This reflects 1920s anxieties about drug abuse among celebrities and industry hypocrisy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
24 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang THE effect of Will Hays upon the motion picture industry is still to be observed. Thus far, Mr. Hays has said several pleasant things about the Cinema Art (capitals, please), and that's all. The appointment of Hays as film dictator brought out a lot of wild and amusing newspaper yarns. One of them declared that Hays was about to center the movie industry in Long Island, building a church as a center and having the studios radiate about the place. You can guess the shudders that ran through our silversheet flappers the day that was published. Of course, these tales are all bosh. Between you and my typewriter, the film industry will largely operate in California. It's the only place for economical production and economy is the word these days. Did we say Hays had done nothing? There's one exception. The lightning is said to be about to strike in one place, i. e., the California bun-galow of a certain male cinema idol. This film star has long been reported to be the victim of "snow," so much its victim that his em-ployers now have a guard living with him. Of course, another juicy scandal would be a ter-rible blow to the film business, so you will shortly see the eclipse of this star, when his present producing company drops him. And even yet he is the adored of millions. Such is the fear of the fil-em producer these unhappy days. In the old days a player of this popu-