Variety (Aug 1938)

RADIO SCREEN STAGE PRICE En!'ir«d''l."«?SjM ?f"' ^''■"';,'^?S'nJ'"''^ k"-^" '"<=• Annual subscription. IS SIncl. copies. Ts cent,, tnlered aa aecoDd-clasa nalter December 22. 1906. ai the Post Office at New Vork. N. v., unrter the act ot Maich i, llt79. • COI'Y«l«illT: IttM. B¥ VAKIEYY. INC. ALL RltilltS KF.SIiKVKD. Vy. 131 No. 12 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1938 64 PAGES niM BIZ W ILL B ATTLE U. S. " - —— — ■■ ^ ■— 4— ■ —-—:— : ' — ■ • ■ .. World s Jitters and Jitterbug Music Have Some Significance to Showmeu lore Strawhats but Fewer Winter Lids; (hdy 12 of 1^ • Precedeht-setting year among the puture impresarios augurs little lor Broadvray and meant almost nothing financially to barns themselves. Number of houses hit . an all time bigh (180) as did number of actors employed .(Equity count of 1,000) and niimber of stan^.. under Equity supervision. Amount of plays trleu out was an- other - bairometer-buster, but com- paratively, those talcen or rating In- terest for commercial production hit MW low ebb. Of the 140rodd tried from coast to coast, only 12 are set or have a nod. The Theatre Guild is plunging deepest with three. Last year IB were favored out of 75 bu- colic productions. Similarly, talent (couts found little of promise. Business was generally off and in many cases downright bad. Few ex- pect, to make any money, of course. However, wtiat looked like a promis- ing season flascoed' for most into brief runs in the red and deeper hues for those which stuck it put Actual employment of actors, semi- pro and otherwise,' was nearer MOO, since. Equity records only 17 spots as compared to its 55 ol.last season. Cold'w^ather at first, tlieii.rain and finally excessive heat left Its mark all over the .ledgers from unusual early opening of sea- wn to April. Looks to run late •I50, possibly into September or Oc- tober in some spo ts. : Unusual lunr.ber of tryouts made Wslble by fact that producers were *liuy last season, and held up pro- isrflon, not wanting to. splurge un- W.^Mlng shows on tioards ot some •™{- Evidence is that many plays ; ." .(Continued on page 58) nooGiE' VS. tisket; AND SKY-PILOT LOSES Greenville, S. C., Aug. 30. ^Happy Goodman's 'Pines,' local JMahouse, employs all-gal swing ."MO, which plays in open bandstand rj" night to the delight of local J,',"*™ues- But last week they had Plenty competish. 'A roaming evangelist set up a ; wund-truck near the 'sin den' and •4 rent the air with A-TIsliet A-Tasket,' brimstone and ^nation. Goodman turned his "und on to the hilt and the battle good and evil was on. mi u held out until Good- Rto . '^'^ ''^"'^ ^^^^^ '^'^^ Bi,j .^' then turned off his sound slipped away. Theme Song Fort Worth, Aug. 30. Bill .McCumber, inmate and singing announcer of '30 Minutes Behind the Walls,' which WBAP, produces weekly at Texas State Prison, was told he sounded like Vallee. 'Well, if I sound like Rudy Vallee, I'm going to open the next broadcast with 'My Time Is Your Time' and dedicate it to the State of Texas.' AR PLEDGE TO KEEP CIRCUS ALIVE IN U S. Atlantic City, Aug. 30. William Greeii, president of the American Federation of Labor, last week pledged his support to a com- mittee representing the Circus Fans Assn. of America, in the. latter's drive to maintain the circus. j; A. Wagner, general manager of the Des Moines Union Railway, .and Karl Kae Knecht, cartoonist and di- rector of the Evansville, Ind., Coiirier, were the CFA conimittee. Knecht is also Variety mugg in Evansville. The CFA's . national chairman, Melvin Hildrethi was linr able to be present, having sailed for Europe. Green expressed a desire to main- tain the circus after the reps had told him ot the stumbling blocks the circus had been forced to hurdle during the past year, namely, labor trouble and inclement weather, which had forced many circuses to close. Committee was a result of the 13th annual convention of the CFA in Madison, Wis.; earlier in the month. Green suggested to the committee, too, that it meet with Ralph White- head, executive secretary of the American Federation of Actors, who is organizing the circus folk, except- ing musicians and billposters, into the As.<!ociatcd Federation of Actors, including also the tr.Tiisicnt woikcis who, the CFA feels, should not be included with peiformers. Joe Weber, president of the Amer- ican Fcdciatioii of Musicians, was also present at the CFA's com ittce meeting, with Green. Picture Companio Not To Capitulate-—'Consent De cree' Invitation F r o m Washington Given the BrushofF-:-Trade Argues That Would Be Con- ' strued a Confession of Guilt BANKERS BACK IT UP Proffers for settlement, by consent decree, of the Government's anti- trust suit against major film com- panies and numeroiis individual ex- ecutives and directors are getting the icy shoulder. There is, crystallizing within the trade a deterniined re- sistance to capitulation. Top execu- tives and eounsel are pushing aside all suggestions for compromise and are bending every effort towards a finish scrap with the Department of Justice. Divorcement of ,theatre chains from producer-distributor owner- ship and the Government's avowed interference with the processes of production, by restricting free inter- change of film personalities bet^veen studios, are points of such major importance to the further progress of the industry as to preclude any pos- sibility of voluntary limitations. Film banking interests have been consulted as to the stand which com- (Continued on page 2) Politico Jive Seattle, Aug. 30. , Eating , comes first with Vic Myers, musical Lieut.-Governor Of Washington State. Maestro- politician is back with his 12-piece band at the Trianon ballroom. Official salary of $1,200 is not enough to fill the feedbag. HINES INSIDE' HASN.Y. RADIO GROGGY Radio stations in New York are knocking themselves out with Sher- l.ocking on Jimmy Hines, trying to uncover special dii t or inside for air news scoops. Stations WOR and WMCA are hitting it the holiest with announc- ing and .special events staffs follow- ing up cvei'y cr.mk letter and sotto voce phone calls. liguie one of the leads' may work into a big ex- clusive NO VAUDEVILLE 'REVIVAL' IF PIXHOLDUP Rumblings of a vaudeville revival have been heard all summer. In actuality, sonie of these rumblings will materialize. In certain keys this season, but the same thing applies n V as in recent seasons—if the film product holds up, the operators will be disinclined to add or. to the over- head. The bandshow and vaudeband idea seems "to be favored, working the acts on a rising pit, and thus dodging union commitments for stagehands, etc. These policies have come into existence in certain specific situa- tions, depending principally on availability of product or the c6m- petition. America's dance maestros. who are hot given to seeing whys or whiere- fores in mass psychology so long as they turn out en- masse, especially at the b. o., are being forced into a' new trend of thought these day.-j, particularly as they come back to Broadway from the one-night and hinterland tours. To begin with, the jitterbug thing is at the bottom of all this wonderment.' There are certain locales—paradox- ically, the proverbial Quaker city, Philadelphia, Is the No. 1 spot— where the youngsters manifest • frank 'reefers' addiction. This -efers to the marijuana cigaret habit. Since present-day swingology and the reefer habit among the adolescents seem so intertwined, the veteran maestros, who have gone through several cycles of dansapation—from the Hickman-Whitiemanesque sym- phonic syncopation to the ultra-ad- vanced 52d street git-olT style of jambo—are beginning to hook up the two with a very grave perspective. Most vividly is it brought to the (Continued on page 34) Florodora Belles Dae To Ha?e Romances Staged Hollywood, Aug. 30. New play, based on the romances of the six original Florodora girls, is due to hit the Broadway stage this fall. Leyla Georgie, who has written the piece, leaves. for New York this week to huddle with Jack Kirkland, producer. Held Over £or Third Week Paramount New York Phil Spitalny's All Girl Singing Orchestra 'The Hour o£ Charm' United Artists PROVES that Motion Pictures are your best Entertainment with . . . ALL BIG ONES "Algiers" "Drums" "There Goes My Heart" - — "The Cowboy and the Udy" 'The Young in Heart" See Pages 36-37 Oct. 14th Oct. 25th Oct. 7th