Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, June 1922 · page 27 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #34 — page 27: what you’re looking at
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This satirical piece attacks Hollywood's hypocrisy regarding moral standards. The author sarcastically praises Hollywood's claimed "100 per cent purity" while documenting actual scandals that contradict this image. The specific example involves actress **Seena Owen**, who sued her ex-husband **George Walsh** for divorce, naming **Estelle Taylor** (a Fox film star) as correspondent—meaning Taylor and Walsh were living together unmarried. The satire's point: Hollywood publicly projects moral virtue while its stars openly cohabitate without marriage, something that would have scandalized ordinary Americans in that era. The piece mocks the double standard—criticizing how the industry polices its public image while ignoring actual immoral behavior by its stars. It's commentary on institutional hypocrisy and the gap between Hollywood's manufactured respectability and its actual conduct. The tone is biting mockery of an industry that controls appearances while enabling private misconduct.
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Captain Billy's Whiz Bang 25 larity would never go into the discard, not while he could be dragged into a studio. The next year will see the elimination of a lot of other boys and girls who might cause trouble. We hear that the reason why a cer- tain foreign film star has not visited these shores is a reported uncontrollable—well—tem- perament. The lady in question might do something awkward, so she isn't going to be permitted to come over. At least so the tale goes. * * * HOLLYWOOD is 100 per cent pure! Who says anything to the contrary? Why in the old days when an unmarried or get- ting-a-divorce man lived in the same house with an unmarried woman, people accused them of wrongdoing whether they KNEW or not. However, now, a couple can live right in the same house together and not have a thing in the world wrong! When an ideally pure state of things of this sort can exist, the Amer- ican home, whether blessed with a framed mar- riage license or not, is certainly NOT a dis- grace to any community! For instance. Seena Owen just came west and started fireworks by sueing her former husband, George Walsh, for a divorce and nam- ing Estelle Taylor, Fox star, as corespondent. Miss Owen told the court that Miss Taylor and Mr. Walsh were both living in a house at 2023