The Billboard 1923-09-29: Vol 35 Iss 5 (1923-09-29)

fe a aga j y } : SEPTEMBER 29, 1923 LOS AN GELES 6412 Hollywood Boulvd. ACTORS GQUICY ASSOCIACION John Emerson, President. +++ Ethel Barr Paul Curner Counsel. Frank Gillmore, Executive SecCreas. Grant Stewart ,RecSec 11S W. 47th St. NEW YORK TeL Bryant 214t2 KANSAS CITY CHICAGO OFFICE*CAPITOL Bidg. ymoreVicePresident. OFFICE Gayety Theatre Bldg. Our Heirs and Assigns N response to several requests we are going | to publish in *‘Equity’’ a form of bequest to be used by those members who desire to remember their association in their wills. Our President Emeritus, Francis Wilson, has always believed in this idea. He told us the other day that he thought all members should leave something, no matter how small-—say $50, or even $20. One enthusiastic member has gone so far as to make the A. E. A. his sole heir. Dugouts There is little doubt that in most theaters the dressing room accommodation of the chorus is inadequate and illventilated. The builders and owners of theaters which may be used for musical productions should give some consideration to this matter. It is unfair to make girls dress in over-crowded quarters situated in cellars. All the News Unfit To Print After some years of experience we should have learned what news the press considers worthy of publishing, but we are often mistaken. An article which we think of general interest may be refused or cut to pieces, while another which we perhaps hesitated to release will be given a place on the front page and copied all over the country. , Equity ig somewhat handicapped in distributing information to the press, since it often involves the personal tribulations of our members —many of them prominent stars of whom the public is always greedy to hear. We want our members to give us their entire confidence and 80 must respect that confidence. Then again, we could refer to managers with whom we have cases every day of the week. keep old sores open, and altho it is a human weakness to want to speak of the successful termination of a hard-fought case, it would be foolish to hurt anyone and thereby retard general improvement. individual arguments and 3ut such accounts Equity Shop Atrocities The objections which are put forward by those opposed to Equity Shop are curious. Recently we had the pleasure of meeting two very prominent authors, and in the course of the conversation we pressed them for concrete ‘‘horrible’’ examples. They didn’t want to be pinned down, but finally the first gentleman said: ‘“‘Suppose that in one of my actor declined to speak a certain line, that I would willingly change it to make the actor happy if such were possible, but that the line absolutely essential to the plot. Well, under the Equity Shop the actor, supported by his association, would have his way.” The other gentleman's citation was just as amusing: “It is quite possible A. E. A. might decide want farces for decline to let see how that plays an was the future the public does not therefore would produced. Don’t you cramp me?’ The Red Cross Speaks Equity was that in that the example, and farces be would happy to receive the following note of appreciation from James G. Blaine, Jr., of the American Red Cross Japanese Relief Committee “I have just received a eopy of the resolution passed today hy the Actors’ Equity Association wherein they will give their services on Sunday, September 23, at the various theaters which will have henefit performances that night for the Japan Relief Committee of the Ameria@an Red Cross. “The committee deeply appreciates this wholehearted response by your association to the needs of Japan and we hope that you can express this in some way to every member of your association We hope still further that the ins of your resolution will receive the publicity in the press that they so richly deserve.”’ spiring word Our 1920 “Quota” It will interest meny of our members to read what the census of 1920 has to say about the number of people claiming to be actors and showmen, and to compare these figures with those of 1910. The tables follow: —novee 9) Total Mate Female Actors and Showmen 18.172 33,818 14.354 Actors eoeeee 28,061 15,124 13,2 ee eee 19,811 18,694 1,117 1910 Total —_ Female Actors and Showmen.. ‘ 13,100 es eee néan nee 11,992 FINO . xc caakesauces 20, 096 18, 988 1,108 (Aeronauts included with showmen in 1910.) Equity Ball on November 17 The date of the New York Annual Equity Ball is definitely set for Saturday night, November 17, in the grand ballroom of the Hotel Astor. Plans for the annual ball in Chicago are also under way. Immoral Plays and Moral Blames The law is the law, and, of course, we can only bow even when it inflicts hardship upon us. As we explained last week, it does not seem fair that the actor shou'd be held responsible, fined or otherwise punished, because certain lines in his part, which he did not write, or certain situations in the play, which he did not invent, are held by the courts to be indecent or contra bonos mores, More particularly does it impress us as being unfair in such a case as “‘Getting Gertie’s Garter’? in Los Angeles, when the play had previously presented in every city of importance in the United States. The sentence imposed on each actor, we understand, was $50 or an alternative of twenty-five days in jail. News From Mr. Hackett We learn that Mr. James K. Hackett’s accident in France, which resulted in a badly broken arm, might easily have been fatal. He was descending a very steep hill and caught his foot in a hidden root. He was pitched down headforemost some ten feet. Meetings in Stock So that our members playing in stock may keep in closer touch with the doings of the association and that the members of the Council may be informed at first hand on stock conditions, we have been authorized to address a letter to each Councilor suggesting that he or she while on tour get in touch with the deputy of any stock company playing in the same city and endeavor to arrange for a meeting, at which questions pertaining to Equity could be asked and answered. In this way, we believe, we can bring our members closer to the governing board of the association and at the same time receive suggestions helpful to-Equity’s future policies. . Congratulating Keenan Frank Keenan had the best wishes of the Council, and, we feel sure, of the association as a whole, on his opening in ‘‘Peter Weston’’ at the Sam H. Harris Theater. None of us can forget how at a now famous meeting held in Los Angeles during the strike in New York, after many good wishes had been expressed for the success of their Eastern brothers in their fight, Mr. Keenan sprang to his feet and in a thrilling speech started subscriptions rolling in with a $1,000 check. Mr. Keenan’s return to New York City was something of the nature of an event, for he hasn't played in the metropolis since his advent in pictures. The Show Census Our Statistical Department reports as follows: Companies engaged in and thru New York for the season 1923-24 total 147: Companies still running ........+Companies closed ...c-ee-e0. eee 147 Of this number 92 were P. M. A., still rune ning. Of this number 41 were Independent, still running. Companies closed, 9 were P. M. A. Companies closed, 5 were Independent, This season shows up strong for musical attractions. There are 50 of that class at present running. . Benefit Grafters A permanent committee to protect actors from fake benefits and grafting organizers of alleged philanthropic causes has been suggested by George Arliss. Actors are constantly called on to volunteer their services without charge for all manner of performances for the benefit of various charities. Seldom does the performer have any definite information as to receipts, expenses and the percentage devoted to charity. The generosity of the profe:sion has made it a prey to many promoters who frequently use charity as a cloak to their own selfish ends. A benefit in which most of the profits go to the ore ganizers as commissions is not a benefit for anyone except the promoters. A well-known newspaper comments as follows: “There should be some system of finding out where the money is going before actors give their services and the public buys tickets. If the performance is to be for the ‘benefit’ of some institution, those who take part in it and patronize it should have assurance that the receipts, aside from absolutely essential expenses, are going to the supposed beneficiary. If, however, more than half the money is to be gobbled up by the promoters of the affair, all interested should know that, too, and then, if they still JOHN EMERSON, President. Chorus Equity Association of America DOROTHY BRYANT, Emecutive Secretary. Chorus Equity in the past week. We are holding checks in settlement of claims for Ann Smith and Charles Murray Blackwood, Any member knowing the Suearez will please notify this office as we are holding important mail for him. Some weeks ago notices Chorus Equity members “Three Musketeers’’ Company to get in touch with Edwin G. acre Building, New York these letters were Be cocces, Beets new members joined the address of Vincent were who were sent to all with the instructing them Marks, LongCity. A number of returned to the office. Members of that company have not already done so should write to Mr. Marks or call on him at once. We have had indirect reports members of two companies extra eighth for the is the duty of every member of the to report immediately any contract, The who that Equity were not paid an Labor Day matinee. It association infringement ef the Equity contract is not one which concerns the individual member and the management alone. The association is a party to the contract. Thousands of your fellow workers went on strike to obtain that contract; many of them lost several weeks’ salary as a result. To them each provision of that contract was important enough to justify such a loss. Many of the present members of the association were not called upon to make such a sacrifice. But it is your duty to preserve those things which were won for you. When you allow the management to break the provision of your contract, which entitled you to extra pay for all over eight performances, you establish a dangerous precedent. Members who are registered in the Engagement Department should notify that department when they obtain work. A great deal of unnecessary work is done in the department in sending notices to persons who are already employed. Do you 19237 DOROTHY BRYANT, Executive Secretary. hold a card paid to November 1, wish to volunteer to buy, it is their own lookout. “For instance, if a series of benefits should by any chance be projected to raise $1,000,000 to build an institution supposedly to be devoted to the welfare of actors, it would be well to know in advance just how much of that million would really go into the institution, and much into the bank accounts of pushing the scheme as salaries, commissions, ‘incidentals’, ete. If half of the million would eventually go into the building, those who contribute should be aware of it in the beginning. “If actors are asked to give their services, so should those who are promoting benefits serve without pay. Why one side get remuneration and n&t the other? If the ‘benefits’ are real, every cent received except what has to be paid for rent, advertising, postage, etc., should go to the beneficiary. Otherwise, the ‘benefits’ are mediums either for graft or personal profit. “Mr, George Arliss suggests that a permanent committee composed of members of the Equity, the N. V. A., The Actors’ Fund and the P. M. A, investigate all proposed benefits and that no actor volunteer to appear in them unless they are okehed by the committee. A splendid idea. It should be adopted. It would quickly put an end to the exploitation of charitably inclined people by hypocritical self-seekers.”’ Equity’s Art Collection Equity has received five handsome engravings, published in 1775 by J. Mortimer, Norfolk Street, Strand, of “Caliban"’, “‘Bardolph"’, “‘Shylock”’, “Falstaff” and ‘Ophelia’ We have to thank our good member Mr. Leslie Palmer for these gifts. After being framed they will adorn the walls of the Counct| room. FRANK GILLMORE, Exeoutive Secretary. Executive secretary's weekly report for council meeting September 18, 1923: New Candidates Regular Members—Shep Camp, Jose Delaqnerriere, Joseph Lyons, William Hanley, Johnnie J. McGee, Kenneth MacKenna, James Francis Robertson. Members Without Vote (Junior Members)— Barbara Bronson, Patricio Calvert, Henry Kirby Davies, Wilfrid J. Donovan, Eleanor Ewing, Eustace Fletcher, Russell B. Fontaine, Virginia Jeanne Hickman, Ruth Miller, Walker Moore, Kathryn Mutholland, George E. Patten, Billy Pearce, Marjorie V. Rennick, Winfield Harding Roope, Sallie Sanford, Jack Tolson, Bud Wells. 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