In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #972 from the issue of December 15, 2025, two Godzillas are seated in a theater watching a Godzilla movie. The one on the right speaks. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Lonnie Millsap.
"How dare they call Tokyo the victim?"
These captions were poorly reviewed:
"I thought it was going to be a rom-com." "It's a Spike-y joint." "This is too intense. I'm going for popcorn." "The camera adds ten tons."
January 10, 2026 Update: The Finalists
January 17, 2026 Update: I voted for the caption from Mineral Point.
Peter Arno is one of six illustrators who appear together in a scene in the 1937 comedy "Artists and Models." The artists appear at a ball and draw Sandra Storme, "England's most famous model," supposedly to benefit a charity.
A publicity still from the movie is currently listed on eBay. It shows Arno pretending to draw Storme; his pencil point doesn't actually make contact with his sketch pad. The photo is signed by Arno and includes a small doodle of a woman's face.
Peter Arno and Sandra Storme
The photograph is priced at $4,000, although best offers will be entertained by the seller.
In the movie, the scene with the illustrators sketching Storme on stage at the ball begins at 1:18:37 and runs for five or six minutes through 1:23:50.
"Artists and Models" (1937)
"America's Leading Artists and Illustrators"
Peter Arno's drawing of Sandra Storme surrounded by artists
Peter Arno and Jack Benny
Later on during the day I posted this, the eBay seller made me an offer but—alas—it didn't move the needle.
February 23, 2026 Update:The price has climbed a bit higher, an unfortunate sign of the times.
Tom Bloom writes, sharing a scarce foreign entry in the Al Hirschfeld canon. He describes Danmarks Films-Serie as a movie industry book, published circa 1948. The heart of the book is twenty-five pages containing approximately one-hundred fifty color-tinted photo portraits (1.75 x 2.5") of movie stars of the day. The actors are named and their studio affiliations provided. There is a half page introduction in Danish as well as an index. The front cover features Hirschefeld's caricature of Clark Gable and the back cover has Robert Taylor and Van Johnson, all leading men with MGM. Three more Hirschfeld drawings are inside: Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon on the front paste-down and Esther Williams on the introductory page.
Note: My thanks to Tom Bloom for treating us to his nineteenth contribution here.
For those who may have never seen a signed copy of her work, here is favorite film critic Pauline Kael'sReeling (1976) autographed by the author. Kael's influential work appeared in The New Yorker from 1967 to 1991 and was invariably collected in book form. These photos are fresh from a recently-completed listing on eBay.
In 1931, Constantin Alajálov illustrated this print advertisement for Paramount Pictures Short Subjects. His smartly-dressed upscale couple is rendered as slightly angular and impossibly chic. Alajálov's advertising art necessarily lacks the incisive social commentary of his magazine covers, but it remains accomplished and appealing.
Constantin Alajálov, Advertisement, Paramount Pictures Short Subjects, 1931
One doesn't usually think of cartoonist George Price as someone with a gift for caricature, yet somehow he was able to imbue a horse with features reminiscent of the actress Katharine Hepburn. When Miss Hepburn saw this cartoon in the New Yorker, she decided to acquire the original and it remained in her possession when she passed away at the age of 96 in June of 2003. The following year it was sold by Sotheby's at her estate sale.
The market, as we have had occasion to observe, does not always place sufficient value on cartoon art, and even published examples of Mr. Price's artwork do not necessarily fetch a high price at auction, although they certainly can. What the market does appreciate is celebrity, and Katharine Hepburn was a movie star of the first order. When people go to the estate sale of a Hollywood star, they are not merely looking for fine collectibles; they are also seeking a memento representing the life and glamor of an admired personality. An original cartoon such as this one, making specific reference to the great actress and remaining among her possessions for almost seven decades has itself acquired some of her star quality. With a deliberately low estimate of $300 to $400, it sold for $7,500. Bravo! Or Brava!
George Price,"Oh, she's been acting that way all day. Someone told her she looked like Katharine Hepburn." Original artwork for the New Yorker, February 3, 1934, page 18 Provenance: Estate of Katharine Hepburn
George Price,"Oh, she's been acting that way all day. Someone told her she looked like Katharine Hepburn." The New Yorker, February 3, 1934, page 18
George Price,"Oh, she's been acting that way all day. Someone told her she looked like Katharine Hepburn." The New Yorker, February 3, 1934, page 18
Sotheby's Preview: Katharine Hepburn, Part 1
Note:George Price's artwork doesn't always sell for stratospheric amounts, but it's always worth a second look. See more examples of his art here.
In a similar vein, J. C. Duffy'sNew Yorker cartoon about cabaret singer Bobby Short was acquired by Mr. Short himself, and he didn't even appear in it. Read all about it here.
Feeling romantic? Why not show your Valentine a few posts from the archives here?
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