Classic Wodehouse Illustrations, Part 10: The Great Sermon Handicap

[wotwotleigh]

Today I have another story illustrated by Mills and Skidmore! "The Great Sermon Handicap" is not one of my favorite stories, but it does feature some of my favorite illustrations (by Mills, anyway).

Comments

[hazeltea]

I love these so much. Thank you for continuing to spoil us with vintage goodness! (and is Bertie wearing a monocle in bed? What was he doing with Jeeves the night before, sexy roleplay as Mr. Monopoly raiding the Community Chest?)

[ladymoondancer]

OH BABY! *waggles eyebrows*

This led me to contemplate which Monopoly pieces each would choose. Jeeves would be the iron, obviously. I think Bertie would choose the motor car.

Aunt Agatha and Stiffy are left to fight over the Scotty dog.

Gussie is the weird shoe.

[hazeltea]

lol I was always the race car, but now I have a new-found respect for the iron XD

[wotwotleigh]

Hahaha, yes! The game would quickly deteriorate, as Bertie would be too distracted "driving" the little car around and making motor noises. Gussie wouldn't understand why anyone would want to buy all this real estate and utilities anyway and would embark on an elaborate fantasy about investing all his money in building the world's biggest newt tank. Stiffy would try to bribe and blackmail her way to a win, but Jeeves would ultimately outsmart her.

[wotwotleigh]

He really does! I never realized just how much time Bertie spends hanging out with his friends in bed until I started looking at these illustrations. :D

[cosmosmariner]

I...actually rather like Skidmore's Bingo. He's charmingly cute.

Of course, his Bertie is pure rubbish, but we all know that. Can he look any more like a prune with facial hair? Ick.

[ladymoondancer]

Bingo is too single-minded to notice his friend has gained 20 years on him.

[cosmosmariner]

blah blah blah tender goddess blah blah I'm so in love! blah blah tiny horseshoe tie.

That's probably what Bertie hears when Bingo is speaking.

[wotwotleigh]

Yeah, Skidmore's Bingo isn't half bad. He does get it right from time to time!

[ironicbees]

I think that blond servant chappie is the real Bertie, and the one next to Cynthia is an impostor.

Why is Bertie wearing a monocle in bed? Is it permanently welded to his face? (I do love the Monopoly roleplay idea, though. ;D )

Skidmore's Bertie looks a glum bore. He's just so completely wrong. Even Leete's fugly Bertie at least has some life in him.

Oh, Jeeves. Angry as even in that last Mills one. I hope someday we'll find out what's bothering him so much.

[wotwotleigh]

Haha, I love how you and Kurage_no_hone have both come up with alternative explanations for who our mysterious blond is.

That monocle is dashed persistent, isn't it?

Even Leete's fugly Bertie at least has some life in him.

Exactly! He may look like a mutant, but at least he has a personality. XD

My theory is that Angry!Jeeves still hasn't gotten over that cummerbund. He's permanently scarred.

[dogwoodblossom]

I love that first one with Bertie in bed. He does look super put out. Also like he is sleeping with his monocle.

[dogwoodblossom]

I was going to protest that I quite like The Great Sermon Handicap, but then I realized I had it mixed up with The Purity of the Turf and that I don't actually remember much about this story after all. That's the trouble with Wodehouse. We got a beautiful new collection in at the bookstore where I work that had two novels and a bunch of short stories and while I was pretty sure I owned and/or had read all of them, it didn't have an index or summaries or anything so I had to flip through the chapters to be sure. And it got shelved in "literature" instead of "classics" which is annoying. Blah blah blah.

[wotwotleigh]

I don't dislike "The Great Sermon Handicap" . . . I just didn't find it all that interesting. "The Purity of the Turf" is definitely more fun, especially the original version. I was sad that the TV version cut out the subplot about Bertie's friendship with the little girl.