Variety (December 1922)

!ji. ■ < UttAI'^. VAUDEVILLE Friday, December 1, 1022 INJUNCTION AND CONTEMPT I ACnONS AGAINST 'COPY ACTS' Tom Brown Legally After C. L. Brown, Billy Mark- with and Others—P&ntages Playing One Act— V. M. P. A, Interested Chicago, Nov. 29. The hearing of the injunction case of Tom Brown against C. L. Brown, who has three acts touring picture and vaudeville houses, often billed as "The Original Brown Sax- ophone Six," is set for this week, and Judge Carpenter is expected to hear it. It is declared by attorneys for Tom Brown that the . management of the Rivoll, Toledo, was notified Nov. 19, warning him not to play an act wearing clown costumes or using a name confusing to the theatregoing public to the extent that it would be misled into believ- ing the Six Brown Brothers were billed. It is further declared that the VaudeviHe Managers' Protective As- sociation has also issued an order on the request of Charles Dilling- ham which complains of the C. L. Brown act advertising that the sax- ophone six in question has made records, claiming such Is not the case. The complainants allege Billy Markwlth was in the Saxophone Sextet, which made four or five records for the Columbia Phono- graph; Billy Markwith is with one of the acts advertised as the "Orig- inal Brown Saxophone Six." Ton* Brown filed a petition In the United States District Court asking ■why C. L. Brown and Billy Markwith should not be fined for contempt of court under the injunction issued Nov. 19. 1921. It is said by Harry Munns, the Chicago attorney, that <nanagers of picture houses may find themselves in contempt of court through having p'ayed the act. Three acts are booked under the same management. One was at the Rex, Oshkosh, Wis., recently and it has Billy Markwith In it. Another was at Louisville last week. The third, which has C. L. Brown in it, is playing the Pantages eastern time, and was at Toledo last week. ?.'he acts f t^e b'l'ed with a one-sheet which reads "Original Brown Saxo- phone Six" and there is special effort made in newspaper ads to an- nounce the coming of a "Brown" act. The attorneys have a copy of the Minneapolis "News" of Aug. 26, In which one of these acta was billed at the State, a Finkclsteln & Hubin house, and a cut in another part of the paper had a line under it. "Tom Brown and his brothers." C. E. Hodkins, personal represent- ative of Alexander Pantages, says that he had heard nothing of the V. M. P. A. attempt to stop the act at Toledo and emphasizes that the act is bi'led on that circuit as the "Brown Saxophone Six." The Six Jolly Jesters, another six- man brass and saxophone sextet, has been playing the Blank picture theatres In Iowa. It has as come- dian Lew Gould, who was formerly with the Six Brown Brothers act, but who is careful, so it Is said, to avoid conveying the impression hiM act is in any way similar to the Brown brother's. '^MOVIES" COMPLAINT Five Acts with Same Title—Befoi V. M. P. A. Joe Ward and Tom Madden, pro- ducers of a "Making Movies" act, have filed complaint against Will V. Hart and his "Movie Tests" turn. Tom Britt wrote the complainant's act and Harry Crull originated Hurt's routine. Crull Is now New Fngland manager of seven Keith houses with headquarters in the E. P. Albee theatre. Providence, R. I. Britt, who wrote the Ward-Mad- den act, appeared before Pat Casey in the V. M. P. A. as Hart's wlt- nes.s, stating the act is still his property because of royalty arrears. Britt testified that the Hart act is entirely different from the one he wrote. Hart's contention is that four others besides Ward and Madden have acts of the same title, "Making Movies." They are Joe Siden. J'red Ferguson, Palmer Rider anJ George Solomon. MARIK— ' —PAUL. KAVANAUGH and EVERETT TRENTON BVBNINO TIMES, Nov. 17, 1922 "Marie Kavanaugh and Paul Everett give a classy touch to the bill with a song and dance revue, in which ap- pear also the Caprice Sisters and Jack Humphrey. The act is styled "Danceology." Direction; MARTY FORKINS MISS BURKHART'S RETURN Persuaded by Alex. Pantages to Reappear TWO UNITS STOP Two Shubert vaudeville units closed Sunday. They were Arthur Pearson's "Zig Zag," following the engagement at the Harlem opera house, and George Gallagher's "Broadway Follies,'' also off the cir- cuit, following Detroit. The "Broadway Foil es" is said to have lost about $30,000 outside of the production cost. De Haven and Nice, and Joe Fowel, vaudeville artists with the production, were in- terested in the unit with Gallagher. UNIT ACT AT LOEWS "Max and Moritz," the monkeys that played two weeks at the Cen- tral, New York, as added attraction with the Shubert vaudeville units, have been booked by the Locw cir- cuit, opening Nov. 30 jp.t the State, New York, for a fell week engage- ment. J. H. Lubln signed the monks, | wanting a "name" for the State, i The State's policy is to add a 1 "name" to tho regular bill from time j to time. Eva Tanguay, the most re- cent big turn to play the house, proved the efficacy of this by break- ing the house record. Lillian Burkhart, after 12 years' absence from the stage, has returned to vaudeville in a sketch, "Mother Is Here," after opening for a flte- week engagement. Miss Burkhart was signed by Alexander Pantages for five months. Miss Burkhart visited New York for a day last week, prior to her opening on the Pan time. It was while appearing at a chari- table affair in the went that Miss Burkhart, who had retired from the stage, met Pantages. His sugges- tion she return was not taken seri- ously at first, but Mr. Pantages became Insistent and Miss Burk- hart finally agreed to stage a new act. Its success- prompted her to continue and now she has decided to remain In her former field of activi- ties. TURNS DOWN PALACE Ben Bernie Saya New Act Weekly Too Hard MISS KAY FINDS "BLONDE" Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Faber last week signed a divorce decree in favor of Marjoiie Kay in her suit against Holbcook Bonncy. Miss Kay in private was Mrs. Mar- jorie Griflfln Kay Boimoy. The Rialto Apartments, New York, and a blonde figured in the proceed- ings. Ben Bernie and Band turned down a third week at the Palace, New York. Bernie is booked into the Alhambra and refused to double, ciuiming the strain of producing an entirely new act for the Palace au- dience each week was too much for him. Bernie produced his present act in the face of severe discourage- ments. He was advised by keen showmen and booking oflftce officials not to undertake the band venture as the field was fast being over- crowded. He persisted, however, and got an aggregation together, headed by himself, that created as much of a furore as "Gallagher and Shcan." •SING SING'S "HONEY GIRL" Prieonere Playing Show Dec. 5-8— Admission %\ Osslning, N. Y., Nov. 29. Prlsoncis of Sing Sing will present "The Honey Girl" Deo. 5-8, In the evenings, at the prison, with the public admitted at $1, top scale. Tickets may be secured from the Show Committee, 351 Hunter street, Ossining, N. Y., by mail, or pur- chased at the door. It's the annual entertainment of the institution with the former Sam H. Harris' success reproduced, In- stead of the usual vaudeville enter- tainment, with the Mutual Welfare League in charge of the perform- ance. The proceeds go to the funds -of the league, Auburn, Nov. 29. The Ooorge M. Cohan Revue will be reproduced by the Mutual Wcl- faro League of Auburn prison on l^erember 4-6. The show is being c.-.tensively advertised. The first tv.o nights will be set aside for Au- l/M.niuns and the last night for fc • '.urana ard other outside pa- eons of the prison plays. $3,000 DANCE HALL BAND (Continued from page 1) negotiated and arranged this en- gagement. The Trianon management has appropriated |150,000 for an adver- tising campaign, which will intro- duce the new dancing palace to Chicago, For six days at the open- ing an extra feature, in addition to Roy Bargy's 15-piece orchestra, will be Paul Whiteman's band of ten piecf's. (Bargy and I.«hnm Jttnes are the big favorites of the Chicago dancers as Whiteman is of the New York crowd.) Paul Sternl)erg, who has "Ampli- fied Syncopation," with 27 men at the I*alacc Inst week, -organized the orchestra with a view of play- ing the Trianon, but he goes Into Woodlawn theatre Instead, which is under tiie same managt ment. It Is reported that Rargy took seven men from the Sternberg organiza- tion. The Trianon will open with a "charity ball" under the auspices of the real society set of Chicago (Mrs. 'Potter Palmer et al.), and It will be the first time that such an affair as this ha.«i ever been held on tho South Side. Pat Campbell, formerly press agent for (Jeorge C. Tyler, is en- gaged as exploitation manager for tho new venture. MOORE'S CONDITION SERIOUS Menlo Moore was again removed from his home last week to the Lenox Hill -Hospital. He recently was discharged from the institution and was convalescing at his home when a recurrence of stomach trouble perturbed his physicians. Early this week it was reported Moore was in serious condition. FLORENCE JOHNS DIVORCING Florence Jackson, profes.sionally Florence Johns. Is suing Myron L. Jackson in New York for absolute divorce^ The action Is undefended. Jackson is a U. S, army aviator. They were married a little over a year ago. The action is based on the usual statutory grounds, with the ro-respondent an unknown woman. STOCK SELLING SCHEME 1 { FOR SHUBERT VAUDEVILLi Stock to Be fiffcrcJ Patrons—^trying It After HoH- days—Similar to Loew's—First Choice Given to Stockholders -'^ ^ ■■' J "■ V , BOBBY HIGGINS SIGNED Bobby Higglns, who recently closed with the Shubert vaudeville unit, "Hello New York' (Singer's), has been signed by the Shuberts for their now legitimate attraction, •Virginia." "Bluthing Bride" Unit Among the new unit shows pro- posed for the Shubert vaudeville time Is a con<tensed version of 'The Blushing Bride," In which Lean and Mayfield will be starred. They were with the original production. LEBLANG TICKET FLAK (Continued from page 1) a solution of the managerial difli- culty so often reported in connec- tion with ticket speculating, his plan is it. He is reported to have offered to guarantee the managers the experiment will be made by him in conjunction with them or the P. M. A. aa a body, without any one sharing any portion of the initial expense other than himself, as evi- dence of his faith in the proposal. Leblang has worked out the plan in detail, according to the story. The Le Blang ticket selling scheme is reported to encompass all of the sale of theatre tickets of the Broad- way houses, outside of the' box of- fices of the theatres, but it leaves the treasurers of the theatres in their present positions and capaci- ties without disturbing any of tliem, the Leblang idea being that the centpal office and the theatre shall work in perfect harmony. According to the report, the prac- tical side of the Leblang proposi- tion is that all tickets in the central ofllce shall be sold at the box office sale only, with "First Come, First Served" to be the trade mark of tlte business. It is claimed Le Blang's plar> will take up a card system for which a nominal charge of |1 yearly will be made. Leblang is said to have pro- posed to the P. M. A. that its mem- bers become stockholders in the cor- poration forming and operating the centralized ticket ofllce. that ia to have branches in all sections of the city, besides others in the suburban towns. The stockholders are to share in any profits, including those of the cut-rate adjunct, while being absolved from any expense attend- ing the successful or unsuccessful organizatk}n. To those who have some under* standing of the Leblang proposal, which, According to report, was sub- mitted to the P. M. A. in detail, it appears to place the Broadway managers in a position where they would be obliged to go on record as to their attitude in seeking a solution of the speculating evil. . Leblang, beat known in New York for his cut-rate ticket agency, has been familiar with theatres for 30 years. His reputation relieves any base for belief he Is not thor- oughly in earnest and his financial standing is'such that any guarantee he makes is substantial. It is said Leblang has Informally stated he would not object to the introduction of tho recognixed ticket agencies as arms of the central of- fice, to be included aa parts of it and under Ita direct control. The Leblang cut-rate ayatem, so much discussed by managers, would be eliminated as an independent business through its connection with the central office corporation, with the combination virtually irlving managers the complete control of every ticket for their theatre, either through the central office, the box- office or cut rates. If they should decide upon cut ratea for any of their houses. On^ Idea of Leblang's is reported to be that he thinks through such a central office as he proposes, that the balcony trade for Broadway the- atres may be re-established, mak- ing his prediction on that point from experience gained by him In the pa.st, with the balcony trade to be restored at the regular scale rates for upstairs. Leblang's offer to cast In his cut- rate business Into a ticket selling pool speaks with what confidence Leblang has submitted his t'jket .•jelling plan. The Leblang agency in cut rates at the present time thinks nothing'-t>f selling 10.000 tickets for Broadway theatres in a single day. It is estimated the seating capacity of tho 60 or so mid-section legit theatres in New York reaches about 80,000 per performance. No one was located In tho early prirt of the week who could speak for the P. M. A. on the matter, nor had any member of that association who was asked up to Tuesday, heard of Leblang's proposition having been read before a regular meeting. It was expected to come up befo«i a P. M. A. meeting later this week. The Shuberts have been quietly working on plan to syndicate their vaudeville houses on a stock sellinir basis. The general outline of the plan calls for stock to be sold to i patrons, with an arrangement giv- ing the holder of stock first Choice on seats weekly. The stock selling idea was to ihave been promulgated this week,, but will be held for the present until after the holidays. The plan had not progressed to the point where a capitalization had been agreed upon up to the current week, every- j thing pertaining to it being specu- lative and formulatlve. t It is understood a campaign sim-i ilar to the Loew stock selling plan is to be followed, the stock to be of- fered by salesmen in the Shvibert^ vaudeville houses in the same man- ner as the Loew stock was sold* The Shubert stock selling report as applied to the Shubert vaudeville houses does not call for participa- tion by the Affiliated Theatres Cor- poration, the latter being the book- J Ing 'corporation, which books 'an<lj routes the Shubert unit shows. The Shubert vaudeville exchange routes the vaudeville bills. , ^ TEMPESTUOUS UNIT Marx Bros' Show Reported Chanfl* ing Once More Chicago, Nov. 29. '\ It is reported the Marx BrotherC and Kranz and White are to tak» over the Shubert unit often designated as the Finkelatein A Rubin show, though put our by Jimmy O'Neal and W. R. Mo^an- stern. Eugene Cox, who provided ■ the scenery, left Chicago last week for the eastxwith the announced determination of bringing matters to * a head. Jimmy O'Neal is now managing j "Plantation Days," a colored show, and Norman Friedenwald, who left Chicago In advance of the Marx Brothers unit. Is In advance of that show. W. R. MorgaVistern, who left Chicago recently to succeed Frieden- wald in advance of the unit show, is no longer connected with it. The career of this unit has been tempestuous from the start. It had Joe Whitehead as principal comedian when first organized. He is now back in vaudeville. Kranz find White, who were with the original company, have stuck. The-Marx Brothers came into the show when It was reorganized. Olga-Mishka company were with the show from the start until after it left Chicago, after playing the Engelwood. UNIT GROSSES $7,800 at Central, New York; $2,000 at State, Cleveland The State. Cleveland, continues to lead the Shubert unit stands, gross- ing fl2.000 with. Arthur Klein's "Hello Everybody" (Gertrude Hoff- man) last week. Next In line came the Chestnut Street opera house, Philadelphia, getting $10,600 with Barney Gerard's "Town Talk* (Nora Bayes added). Tho next largest gross was obtained by Jack Singer's "Hello, New York" at the Shubert, Cincinnati, $10,200, with Wesley Barry as an added attrac- tion. •Troub'es of 1922," the Davidow & Le Maire unit, got $9,500 on the Ask)ria, L. I.-Boro Park split. Other grosces were "Reunited," Aldine. Pittsburgh, $8,500; Gallagher**! 'Broadway Follies,' $7,900, at De- troit; I. H. Herk's "Stolen Sweets" (Watson Sisters), $7,800 at the Cen- tral, New York; "Spice of Xife.' $7,500, at the Crescent, Brooklyn; Arthur Pearson's "Zig Zag," $7,100. at the TTarlem opera house, Ntnv York; "Stepping Around, $7,400, at. Keeney's, Newark; Jack Rcid'i "Carnival of Fun," $7,500, at the Englewood, Chicago. The lowest grosses were the "^Oth Century Revue' at the Majestic, Boston, $5,500; "Midnight Round- ers," Belasco, WashlngtQii, $5,000; and "Echos of Broadway," Criterionj Buffalo, $5,000.