Exhibitors Herald (1927)

44 EXHIBITORS HERALD April 23, 1927 Graft While KiU the And Abolish the Boycotts While Cheap Neither Belong in a Business of Men and Money — Botli Dangerous Graft is in — not big, but growing — and the boycott’s on — not complete, but tightening up — and who ever imagined the great and glorious picture houses would come to this? No one, of course, which no douht is the reason the situation has been permitted to come into being. Now that it’s here, why let it continue? No reason, of course, save that it may not seem important enough — on the present scale — to worry about. That’s not reason enough. Look — One production manager (one is enough for an example) tells a $450 double. “You’re in for the week.” The contract is delayed. The act works. On payday they hand over $300 with, “It’s worth a lot to have worked the house.” As getting on the bill at the house in discussion is one of the easiest jobs in show business, the line isn’t convincing. But there’s no contract (darn thing never did show up) and a $300 loaf is better than loafing. And look — • One row of theatres look at an audition, tells an act. "We can use you in about four weeks ; come back.” The act works a date for another row of theatres, booking only the four weeks, and comes back to hear, “No, we don’t use anybody that’s worked for so-and-so.” And the statement sticks. Those are close-ups of the behind-the-door stuff current. Silly, aren’t they? And shortsighted restrictive, retrogressive. Possibly even illegal, although nobody cares a lot as to that, even the injured ones, for reasons considered sufficient if not exactly good. It isn’t probable the tops of the theatre organizations mentioned (and those mentioned are merely examples) know that this sort of thing is going on, but neither is it probable that they’d do anything about if if they did. It’s pretty far DAVID GOULD LUBLINER & TRINZ BALABAN & KATZ Production Dept. Chicago from front-office to back-stage. Executives — by choice — know little about the things they don’t have to do themselves, the latter eating up plenty of minutes. Maybe the choice isn’t so well made. Certainly it will not be so considered if the bad practices now in the budding blossom into box office reverses. They’ll do that if not nipped, for they’re being promoted by individuals whose pockets go not unlined for reason of the promotion. There isn’t much justification for graft in the new show business. It isn’t the tradition-ridden thing the old show business was. There aren’t the hookups, the alliances, the teapot monarchs and the interlocking directorates. There aren’t even the box office “name” considerations. There will be. however, for the names in the making. The time to kill a thing that needs killing — be it a weed in a garden or a Bolshevik movement — is while it’s young. The job is simpler and requires less taking of life. Graft and boycott are about due for the axe. Decency Essential (^Continued from page 43) tion, the theatreowners who had carried the business to its high position by careful analysis of recorded reactions and pursuit of policies moulded thereupon. It was not considered necessary to establish written rules governing matters so elementary as the picture house policy against dirty, suggestive, even questionable stage material. Perhaps that was a mistake. Probably not. These things, however, may be stated : The surest way — and even then it might not work — to get the picture theatre down to the box office grosses of legit, vaude and burlesque is to put into the picture theatres the stuff that has put those grosses down where they are. The opposite is equally sure. That is all there is to the proposition. And just one rule might be laid down : That the theatreowner (or manager) shall view each presentation prior to its public exposure, shall see that it conforms or is made to conform to policy, shall give it his okay and shall exact heavy penalty for any and all unauthorized changes, interpolations or eliminations made thereafter by any member of the production staff or any performer employed in the show. It is reasonably certain that the nation contains no theatreowner or manager who would okay stage matter of a character such as that prompting this regrettable and final story on the subject. Join Broadway August Herman and Frank W. Hodek have joined the staff of A. H. Blank’s Council Bluffs Strand, the former as manager and the latter as solo organist. COSTUMES Rented for Orchestras and Presentations Send for Orchestra Catalog and Prices NEW YORK COSTUME CO. 137 No. Wabash Ave. Chicago, III. It’s Young Stageshows Chicago Chicago Week Ending April 16 Orchestral Productions, second time over, look better than at first blush and the first of them looked about right. “Impressions of Grand Opera” was the high sounding title of the second effort but it wasn’t the deadwood other leaders than Spitalny make of such things. As has been stated in these columns at fairly regular intervals during the past several years, this Spitalny and one other musician whose name need not be mentioned in this item are the two known in Chicago whose talents discriminate not between Berlin and Beethoven and whose way with the works of either is occasion for writing home. Charles Irwin was master of ceremonies, as during the first week and (incidentally) the third, this time doing better the job he did well enough the week preceding. Irwin’s personality is made to order for the Chicago and his tongue and ear equipment is exactly that required for knitting together with no seam left perceptible such an assortment of material as composes these productions. He opened the show, bringing on Spitalny to take the orchestra through an operatic medley made up of the more showy sections from the more familiar boiled shirt compositions, including even the sparkling anvil beaten by the tympani beater sans makeup. Spitalny does things like this differently and gets such a hand as Ash gets with “Old Accordion Man” or “Gonna Get a Girl.” That’s considerable something. The scenic side of the operatic section was an achievement. The 14 or 15 people working in these things were grouped in a full stage set mingling excerpts (as to costume and music) from four or five standard operas. Unlike previous efforts of the sort, no lines of demarcation separated the segments and the thing had unity. If that sounds simple, try it. Rudy Wiedoft, held over, again worked in front of the orchestra and did chiefly exhibition stuff, his 3-tone trick (sold with a great line) getting biggest returns. Henry B. Murtagh gave a lift with a light novelty detailed under “Organ Solos” on another page. “Stone Age Follies” was the Publix unit working ahead of the picture and it had Collins and Hart, added for the Chicago houses, as its chief asset. The idea’s pretty ancient hereabouts, every stagehand having done it at least one, and the Publix treatment of it is pretty bad. Observation: Perhaps the best indication of the merit this Orchestral Production thing possesses is to be found in the fact that your trusty reporter enjoyed it too much to make penciled notes of it as it went along and remembers it as a unit so compact that he is unable to break it up and report it piece by piece in the accustomed routine sequence. If his experience is that of the mass the house has approximately nothing to worry about from now on save the finding of seats for customers. WHISTLING LOVE BIRDS SOUTH SEA HAWAIIAN DANCE NOVELLE BROS. Pantomimist Artists Featured in Presentations Now playing Lubliner & Trinz Theatres Next week at the WISCONSIN theatre Milwaukee EDDIE HILL Returning to the ORIENTAL THEATRE CHICAGO Next Week with PAUL ASH and his GANG After a successful second tour of all B & K and L & T theatres Direction MAX TURNER and PHIL TYRRELL