Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, July 1922 · page 24 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #35 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains satirical gossip about early 1920s film industry figures. Henry Lehrman, a silent-film director/actor, is mocked for his financial irresponsibility—someone offers him $1 million for a film venture while he's being arrested for not paying for his wife's fur coat. The joke about "Arbuckle waiting around the corner with a brickbat" likely references Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, suggesting retaliatory violence over unpaid debts. The final item ridicules small-town credulity: a rural newspaper editor's citizen claims Mabel Normand (silent film star) is "hiding" in the hills despite Los Angeles papers reporting her European travel. The satire implies locals believe unfounded rumors while actress Mabel actually delays filming during the William Desmond Taylor murder investigation—a major 1922 Hollywood scandal—before pursuing legitimate European travel.
📄 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 23 Wanted the address of Henry Lehrman. Have $1,000,000 to start motion picture business. Cash waiting.” There followed a box address for reply. Was Arbuckle waiting around the corner with a brickbat? * * * HENRY LEHRMAN has announced that he intends to “settle down.” He has just married Jocelyn Leigh, a former Follies girl. A fur coat maker in New York recently had Henry arrested in the metropolis because he wouldn’t pay for Jocelyn’s coat which he had ordered for her. Jocelyn said a lot of nasty things about Henry’s false promises at the time. When Henry came west, Jocelyn followed him out to Hollywood. * * * A SMALL town newspaper editor, not so far from Los Angeles, quotes his most prominent citizen as saying “You can’t believe what you read these days. Los Angeles newspapers said Mabel Normand was going to Europe, but, by heck, I just took a motor trip up in the hills in my Ford and there was Mabel’s company taking scenes!” The village sleuth intimates that Mabel is “out hiding” in the hills. As a matter of fact, certain scenes in “Suzanna” were delayed during the Taylor investigation. Mabel is hurrying through these scenes, and will then go east where her mother will join her on the European trip.