Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, March 1924 · page 26 of 71
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #57 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This gossip column contains three entertainment-focused items satirizing early 1920s Hollywood: 1. **Mahlon Hamilton**: A local produce merchant has disappeared, supposedly gone to Egypt "with the movies," likely referencing the widespread King Tutankhamun craze following the tomb's 1922 discovery. The joke: he'll raid the tomb to improve his Welsh rarebit recipes. 2. **The crane bird**: An obscure reference to an unnamed actor (likely a silent film star) frequenting actor Earle Williams's home. The "crane" metaphor is unclear but appears to mock the person's appearance or behavior. 3. **Marilyn Miller and Flo Ziegfeld Jr.**: The major item concerns Broadway star Marilyn Miller leaving theatrical impresario Ziegfeld's management after marrying actor Jack Pickford. The satire suggests Ziegfeld was overly controlling of his performers' personal lives, including his interest in Mary Eaton's marriage, whom he's featuring in the revue *Kid Boots*. Miller's departure with her husband represents independence from Ziegfeld's authority.
📄 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 ONE of the familiar figures of the local commission district (green vegetables, not brokers) has been that of Mahlon Hamilton, who used to swing the market basket on his forearm and go blithely about buying the homely ingredients for the family welch rarebits. Now the district sees him no more. He has gone to Egypt with the movies. Perhaps he will frisk King Tut's tomb for a few relics to toss into the next rarebit he makes—they ought to improve the flavor. * * * A tall, long-legged bird that looks somewhat like a crane and is said to maintain an unexcelled R. F. D. as well as an urban service, is declared to be hanging around the Earle Williams home. * * * HOLLYWOOD may get Marilyn Miller after all. The theatre world has been rather disturbed by her final break with Flo Ziegfeld, Jr. Marilyn and Flo have been at odds more or less ever since Miss Miller married Jack Pickford. Wonder why. Looks like Flo is extremely solicitious over the matrimonial unions of some of his proteges. Still, later developments show that he had reasons to hunt for a cause for a break with Mary Eaton, whom he is featuring in his new revue, *Kid Boots*. At any rate, Marilyn, after a number of huffs and snuffs, walked out definitely from under Flo's wing on the arm of hubby Pickford.