Radio Digest (June 1932-Mar 1933)

10 V^(ellie cRevell Interviews ROXY HOWDY, foks, you remember me, don't you? Well, I sure am thrilled tonight. I have an old friend of mine, and yours, too, who is here with us tonight. While it has been my privilege to present on this program celebrities of various types, this is the first time I have ever presented a gangster . . . that is, a convicted gangster. Maybe I may have had some potential gangsters, but tonight I have a famous gang organizer and law-breaker. He's the type of gangster that steals into our hearts, kills dull care and breaks every law of precedent. And, like Robin Hood, of legend, he is famed for his courage, courtesy and generosity . . . doing it all in the name of humanity. It was he who made gangs famous. I refer to Roxy, the greatest gang leader of all time. Roxy, you will recall, is the man who developed the motion picture theatre from the peep show to a presentation in a palace. He is the originator of the luxurious type of music and stage presentation in moving picture theatres. He is the High Priest in the Cathedral of Entertainment. And Roxy is also a pioneer in radio. He was the first theatre director to interest himself in air entertainment . . . and the first to broadcast programs from the stage of a theatre. Roxy put his theatres on the air and thus on the map. And that's better than putting them on the market. Roxy's first venture with the movies was in the Pennsylvania coal fields. The customers sat on funeral chairs borrowed from a friendly undertaker. (When there was a funeral, there was no show . . . and Roxy was the chief mourner.) Six years later, Roxy first came to New York to manage the Regent theatre and introduced innovations which revolutionized show business. In succession, he went to the Strand, Rialto, Rivoli, Capitol, and Roxy's theatres . . . winning great glories and establishing world fame for himself. Roxy's present position is the biggest of his brilliant career. He is the absolute czar in charge of the entertainment that is to be presented in the two theatres in the gigantic Radio City development. A son of the soil of America, TTERE is a stenographic report of ■*■ -*■ Nellie Revell's interview with S. F. "Roxy" Rothafel during the Radio Digest period over NBC-WEAF. Without overdoing the Question and Answer detail Miss Revell presents an excellent word sketch of the man who had most to do with shaping radio broadcasting into the show presentation it is today. Roxy is a simple soul. He hates ostentation and loves to cut through to the fundamentals, the root of things. Coming from way out West where men are men and women are for them, he didn't select a high falutin' term to describe his group of artists and entertainers. Not Roxy. He fixed on a word that all Americans know and understand . . . Gang. And what a gang ! Mr. Rothafel has discovered and developed, possibly, more talent than any other movie impresario. Every orchestra leader who ever conducted in a Roxy theatre has become internationally known . . . and the members of Roxy's gangs have become stars. And, please, may I present S. L. Rothafel . . . who in my humble opinion is the greatest showman in America ! ROXY "Now, now, Nellie. Good evening, friends, I hope you haven't taken too seriously that effulgent intropress agents are never hampered by duction of Miss Revell's. You know, Nellie is a press agent and you know facts. But that opening part of the introduction kind of had me scared. I expected every minute to see a sheriff come in with a pair of handcuffs." NELLIE Well, the evening's still young ROXY "But really, friends, you haven't any idea how glad I am to be back on the air. The late Professor Hugo Munsterberg, of Harvard, eminent psychologist, once did me the honor of calling me a natural psychologist. It was back in 1914. I was then directing the Strand theatre on Broadway. One afternoon about 6:30, Prof. Munsterberg, a stranger to me, came into my back-stage office. lie had come to the theatre for the same reason that all people come — -for amusement, rest and relaxation. He got what he came for and wanted to know how the wheels back stage, mental and emotional, went around. He talked for a long time, forgetting food, hours and appointments. He was interested in me, he explained, because he was studying in theory, the mass mind and mass emotions, the same problems I was working out unconsciously in the laboratory of the stage. People go to the theatre with nothing more definite in mind than that they want to be amused. They want to be entertained and emotionally awakened without being emotionally exhausted. They do not go to be uplifted, reformed or converted. That is the province of the lecture hall and the church, and not the theatre. American theatregoers will not support mediocrity. They will not accept shoddiness. They will not be talked down to, they will not be uplifted. They are very much aware of themselves and their time and they demand entertainment as splendid as their time." NELLIE How did you get the nickname, Roxy? ROXY "I got that years ago while playing baseball. Rothafel was too long for my baseball pals, especially in the excitement of a game. One day I was rounding third base and started home. * * 'Slide Roxy, slide!' shouted the coach, and I've been Roxy ever since." NELLIE And sliding home ever since too. * * Are you superstitious ? ROXY "Well, not exactly, but I like to begin my ventures on a Friday." NELLIE How about food? Any favorite dishes ? ROXY "Hot dogs and hambergers are my favorites." NELLIE How about sports? Do you get any time to play? ROXY "Yes, indeed. I play golf and hand ball whenever I can." NELLIE Married, of course. ROXY "Very happily married, thank you. And have been since 1909 when Rosa Freedman honored me by becoming Mrs. Roxy." NELLIE Any children ? ROXY "Yes, a son, Arthur, aged