Crime and other "action drama" stories is where Austin Briggs really showed his chops. Unfortunately, between his many advertising jobs and his many editorial assignments featuring regular folks doing regular thing, Briggs' action pieces are not as plentiful as one would wish for.
That's why this story from Good Housekeeping both pleases and disappoints: The opener has that wonderful over-the-top dramatic quality, worthy of a hard boiled detective novel. But the large follow up seems almost pedestrian by comparison. Considering the subject matter, a police take down, the middle horizon composition with all subjects pretty much full figure, middle distance, on the same plain, could have been so much more exciting. Instead it comes off rather like a newpaper photo of a police arrest, lacking in dramatic staging.
* A reminder to new readers that these images and many others by Briggs can be seen at larger sizes in my Austin Briggs Flickr set.
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