Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, August 1922 · page 58 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #36 — page 58: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical gossip column mocks 1920s Hollywood trends and personalities. The main targets are: **The Prince Mohammed Ali rumor**: The piece ridicules the tabloid excitement around an Egyptian prince allegedly courting Broadway star Mabel Withee, then switching attention to actress Mabel Normand. The humor lies in suggesting Normand is purely mercenary—she can "smell diamonds from afar"—satirizing both celebrity gold-digging and the era's fascination with foreign royalty. **The "swarthy hero" trend**: The column criticizes a shift in Hollywood leading men from wholesome American types to "dark, foreign" actors. Valentino's success in *The Four Horsemen* sparked this preference. The satire mocks both the industry's fickleness and audience taste for exotic, morally ambiguous foreigners over "clean minded young American engineers." The underlying commentary reflects 1920s anxieties about changing cultural values and American identity during an era of significant European immigration.
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56 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang were voted the two favorite leading men in pic- tures. We know several greasy haired leading men of today who ought to make way for an actor like Tearle. * * * IT WAS rumored that Prince Mohammed All Abraham,, who recently came from Egypt to visit New York, was soon to wed Mabel Withee, Broadway musical star, the Prince hav- ing bestowed on Mabel a diamond platinum plaque valued at many thousands of dollars. However, it seems the King of the Pharaohs broke a date with Mabel recently and has been bestowing admiring glances elsewhere. It is said that the Prince is “sweet” on Mabel Nor- mand, too, and that Mabel recently wired the Prince that she was soon coming east and “not to fall in love with anybody else before she arrived.” Mabel Normand always could smell dia- monds from afar! * * * THE vogue for the swarthy hero is upon us. The clean minded young American engi- neer has been eclipsed. The two-fisted he-man, so quick with the trigger, is down and out. Heroes must be dark, foreign and not too good. Rodolph Valentino started it all in “The Four Horsemen.” Now Theodore Kosloff is growing in favor. Antonia Moreno, John David- son (who is part Russian), Eric Von Stroheim