Variety (April 1932)

Tuesday, April 26, 1932 VA O D E VI L L E VARIETY 27 Reputable Singles at $45, Trios ioweslEver for L.A.'s l)eliixe Houses Los Aneeles, April 25. \^ AlthQueh quite a number of thea- ires are using vaudeville.locally, In- cluding several full week stands,' It's doubtful If salaries ; for talent were iey.er quite so low out here. And- that's ! subterranean Indeed . In an area always notorious a,nd formerly H»o> tallend of the Aching Heart circuits, • . Reputable singles are working for J45 a week. An ace applause trio at Warners Hollywood got $90 re- cently,. ■■. There would , be jno news value Jn this sort of arithmetic if the type of act formerly getting that kind of: m9hey. was typical today. • But it is not. It's a continual surprise bow good in quality yauda bills out .liere have been of late. Warners Downtown has been grabbing off some very commendable lOract lay- outs, studded with standard turns, for $1,20.0. 1 Willingness of acts to work for the small money can be explained on-various grounds ranging from destitution to a fondness for the climate and a desire to hibernate regardless of econoniics. $60,000 Obligations Run Up by Godfrey On Promises to Acts Obligations amounting to $60,000, which must be paid in the future, have been rolled up by George God- frey since.. his return to the HKO "yaude bobks si< weeks ago. This "amount Is outstanding to actors, producers and agents irr return for concessions made in bookings and Bafarles. . During Godfrey's previous sojourn In the RKO offlcie, when he acted as ' booking head, $200,000 in debts to acts and others were. contracted The circuit was forced to foot this bill wiien unable to fulflU promises and agreements. Part of the presient $60,000 owed, by the booking offlcie Is in the form of additional time promised acts that agreed to accept salary cuts although holding contracts. In some instances 10 to 16 weeks extra were promised by Godfrey. These will have, to be provided at a future date, despite the big decrease in RKO's playing time, or paid oft. Iii order , to tepay acts and pro- ducers for concessions made it will be necessary for the .circuit to book numerous acts for quick repeat en- gagements in many of its theatres, with the theatres apparently se lected to carry the bag for the book- ing office. Only alternative is to pay the acts without playing them, which was done to the extent of $200,000 following the previous God- frey regime. POSTPONE ON AGENTS Court Action Against Allen-Ahein- gold Off Till May . Action on complaints of acts which have paid booking agents money in advance of dates, without lattfir delivered .or money returned. Is being .taken through the Xlcense Bureau, with two at preseiit on court calenders. Edgar Allen, who until recently was booking Wllmer & Vincent houses, and Sidney Rheingold^ an- other indie, are the pair. Former, whose case caihe up yesterday (Monday) in 64th Street Magls trates' Court, was postponed until Monday (2), while action against Rhelngold, before Special Sessions, is set over to May 23. Two' acts which entered com plaints against Allen, Leon's AnI nials and Frank viola Co., were in cburt yesterday (Monday), but were Tibt called to testify. Thurston's Bouncer Suit Reading, Pa., April 25. Thurston, the magician, in an ac- tion brought In court here is suihg Reading Amusement Corp, operating the Park theatre, where he played a one-week engagement some time ago, fpr' $3,029.69. He was paid by ch6ck, but later ."was unable to collect on It, the suit ^ays. Maboney for Chinese iiollywood, April 23. Will Mahoney cemes to Grau- man's Chinese, to head the stage show with -Grand Hotel' (fllrii). Arranged between Sid Grauman and Ralph I^arnum, Mahoney's agent GraUmaii's stage show includes the Calgary Brotheirs arid the Dlx- ons (bo^—and girl dance - team). Mahopey left I>ew York , for here Saturday (23). N.V:i€ROSSm LESS THAN Collections through plate passing In 1,973 variety and picture thea- tres thrbugliimf the country last week were estimated to haye: run considerably ,under,last year's re- turns. Circuit totals have not been reported as yet, but . Individual house statements ■ indicated a drop: he 1931 NVA Fund drive netted around $480,000, of which about $100,000 came frbm Chesterfield's sponsorship of a special talking short. This year there was no short, with the collections , solely depended on. All the major circuits particlpatedi in the drive which rah from April 16 to 22. The annual New York benefit performance at the Miet goes on Sunday night (1), Approximately $300,000 is needed tor maintenance of the charitable and social ends o£ the NVA for the coming year. Unless that amount Is drawn on the drive, the Fund's manager-members may have to make up the difference. (Chicago, April 25. . For the first time in years the local NVA basket collection has hit a new low. Less than $5,000 was collected all over town, with only RKO and Warners participating in the drive. B&K, in line with all other Pub- Ux houses, stayed out of the col- lection thing although running the Jessel trailer in the downtown houses a. few times during the week. Of the total amount the RKO Palace led with close to $2,000, while the sanie circuit's State-Lake and Englewood man- aged to squeeze out a couple of hundred more. Warners, with 16 local houses and all taking up daily collections, picked off another $2,000, $11,000 DiDIE^ FOR TRENCHMEN,' NEWARK With $7,000 in up to yesterday (Monday) oh the first. four days, Anatole 3FViedland and Joe DeMilt's 'oO.OOOiOOiO Frenchmen'; musical tab is !on ~the. way 4o3round $11,000 for its full week in an Indie percentage date at the Shubert, Newark, iluri was extended until Sunday (1), making a run of 12 days in all .iis the result of a mid-week opening last week. . ..' Three deals are .on for Trench- men,' among them the Shubert of- fice, which wants the tab for a legit stay at its 44th street house or :an- pther on Broadway. Publix is nego-. tlatlng for the Paramounts, New Yoi^k and Brooklyn; and Warners for the Hollywood, where the Loii Holtz run ends after this week. 'Frenchmen's' Newark date is a cold opening. It's doing four daily at 75c top and running 80 minutes per, with the house supplying a fea- ture and shorts for , a two-hour show, in addition to the' pilt. and stage crews,. The same producers' 'Follow Thru,' playing . the Paramount, Brooklyn, this week, hois been] booked for jeight niore weeks by Publix. RKO Agents See Themselves Being Eased Out by Direct Bookings; Now Talldng Los Angeles, April 25. Maurice Raymond ("The Great .Raymond') has opened i booking office, for rnaglclans ftitd will at- tempt to corner the magic.business in the club field. . He will also produce . magic acts for amateurs. 560NE^IGHTERS FOR FRIARS' ROAD TRIP HOLTZ $2^ WEEKLY In his io weeks of doubling as ac- tor and manager in partnership with Warners at the Hollywood, New York, Loii Holtz averaged around $2,500" a week for himself, or . $3,500 less than he was offered at the Palace, where he didn't have to worry about the box office.. The Holtz-WB venture ends this week at the closing of its third bill. Warners Was to have decided last night (Monday), on future policy for the Broadway house. A legit musical policy seems to - ' have p'reiEference, with chancers slight that It will return to pictures. Holtz is mappihg out a trip to Europe for a rest. Covering both back and ifrbiit, he worked pretty hard at the Hollywood. ROTHAFEL IN PERSON FOR RKO'S AIR HOUR When S. L. Rothafel returns from his trip abroad/NBC will Inaugurate a new series of RKO broadcasts un- der his supervision, featuring him (Roxy) In person. Prior to silling for Europe May 6, Roxy will do a full hour dedicated to Radio City. . ' Richardson's Band $1,500 The Florence Richardson band returns to RKO at a $100 raise. C. F. Zittel manages the orchestra. When the band previously played for iRKO its salary was $1,400. Present bookings are at $1,500. Zit- tel booked Miss Richardson direct with George Godfrey. Kalcheim with Weiner Harry KalcSieim is entering the agency business in partnership with Jack Weiner, RKO franchise holder, Kalcheim was let out recently as a booker after 1-5 years with Keith and RKO. BUTTERFIELD'S AIE ACT Detroit, April 25. Will Collins, on a su.stainlng' pro- gram over WJR for the past three years, is making a stage tour in the Butterfleld houses starting May 11. 'Quilt'at $11,000, 'Bandwagon' $12,000, Palace Possibilities iSllly Rose's 'Crazy (juilt,' at $11,- 000, and Max Gordon's 'Bandwagon,' at $12;000, are belhg considered for RKO's Palace, New York, for two weeks each in the straight vaude- ville theatre. Terms provide for both musicals to comprise complete Palace bill with no other acta added. 'Quilt' proposition includes Fannie Brlce, Phil Baker and Ted Healy as the names, along with the rest of the original cast, including chorus and scenery^ Fred Astaire is the only member of the original 'Bandwagon' cast mentioned in the deal for the Gor- don show. The prodiicer proposes to re-cast around Astaire. for the Palace. ' Vaude Revue Quits 'Dllly-Dally,' the leglt-vaudfe re- vue , Percy Oakes produced, lasted just one week. It did not go beyond Philadelphia, where it closed Sat- urday (16). Oakes Is said, to be trying to get tiie show going again. Patsy Ruth Miller and Charles Ray headed the cast. Biirns-Kissen Walk ' Burns and Klssen walked off the current New York Palace bill be- fore the first show Saturday (23) after refusing to go on No. 2. Team claimed the booking office promised a later spot. Hedda^s Clothes Line Los Angeles, April 23; Hedda Hopper, with four girls, is breaking in an act at the Stat«, Long Beach, Cat Girls are being used as models, with Miss Hoi^por talking on clothes. Leo Morrison office ts handling the act. A 56 day route of consecutive one night stands, with no layoffs, has been arranged for the Friars Frolic, road' show w:hich jrylrig TIshmah and Jimmy O'^^^al wiU pilot. Trip starts May 9 at Newbutgh, New York, and M'inds up July 3 in At- lantic City. It will be a consolida- tion 6i 'this year's annual Frolic which goes*on at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, May 9. Scale is set at $3 with the all male troupe getting an advance guar- antee in each town. Players, all members of the club, will partici- pate on a percentage basis. Th<? club shates In the net. Jbe Cunningham, Philadelphia newspaper cartoonist and the Friars' best ribber, is,turning actor to go with the otitflt He'll be the topper at every performance, pan- ning the show and kidding the local mayor in each stand. Set for the cast are Eddie Leonard , and Eddie . Leonard, Jr., Pat Rooney and Pat Roohey, 3d, Harry Hershileld, Georgle Price, Jans and Whalen, Eddie Miller, Jos. E.' Howard, Walter C. Kelly, Caltes Bros., King, King and King, Xell Golden's band, Danny Dare, Mario and Larlo, Chick Chandler, Buddy . Doyle, Sarnoff, Vincent O'Donnell, Vaughn . Comfoft and Warren Jackson. When convenient, other Friars will jump in for odd dates. Writing members of the club are cohtrlbutlhg the material. Route, with towns In the order named, running consecutively, and starting May 9, will be: Newburgh, New Haven, Hartford, Springfield, Mass.; Providence, Boston, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond, Washington, Altoona, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown, Co- lumbus, Dayton^ Indianapolis, St. Louis, CJincinnatl, Evahsvllle, Louis- ville, Nashville, Memphis, Okla- homa City, Tulsa, Kansas City, Wichita, Topeka, Salina, Colorado Springs; Denyeri Lincoln, Omaha, Des Moines, La Crosse, Minneapolis, Duluth, St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chi- cago, Grand Rapids, Detroit, Toronto, Buffalo, Rochester, Syra- cuse, Sarfinac Lake, Albany, Montreal, r'ittsncld, Yonkers, Long Branch, Ai^bury Park, Atlantic. City. Majority of the dates will be played in large capacity auditor- iums under local auspices. Spo.n- soring organizations are setting the guarantees: Calloway—Capitol . Cab Calloway has been booked Into the Capitol, New York, week, of May 13. Band will double from the Cdtton Club. Possibility of Calloway also play- ing the Paradise and Valencia, two Loew deluxe nabe houses. REBI FOR F'M ■ Los Angeles. April 23. Rerl, of 'Tabu' ind the 'Follies,' arrives here this •week to fill her Fanchon & Marco contract, L'hit will be produced around her. ETHEimD TEERt'S ACT Ethellnd Terry will play a few- dates for RKO this spring. She 13 already set for the ForJ- ham and 8Cth Street, New Yorlt, starting la*c« in May. RKO's frariclilscd vaudeyille agents, regarded as the white haired boys of thc^ agency business for the last 20 years, figure they'll be all washed up before apothel* year rolls around. Feeling that the booking office's now desire is the eliniina- tlon altogether of the agent as a medium in brying acts, RKO fran- chise holders, with few exceptions, declare they are io.oking elsewhere for future rpostinjr. Most are talk- ing radio. ' • Round about sidetracking of the RKO. agency system is being con- strued as starting through the di- rect booking, method. Acts ire be- ing called in by the. bookers and advised to book themselves. The few timid protests by regular rep- resentatives thus far have been fu- tile;- ■ Most of the booking office's diriect contacts li^^ve been 'with acts repre- sented by a. few agents, suggesting it niay be the bOckers' iJlan to. stifle certain agents only. But the-others feel that indirect booking Is sue- cessflilly consummated -with a few acts it will spread. . Last •week's most important di- rect booking was the Diike Elling- ton band for the weeks of June 4-11 in Cincinnati arid Cleveland at $5,500 net. In previous ,RKO book- ings the band had been agented by Morris & Oz. Irving Mills, owner of the band, asked the booking of- fice why his regular agent was omitted from the transaction. They reply was, 'This i3 a new deal.' Artists' Bureau Plan Agents see another bad omen in the likelihood of an RKO vaudeville artists' bureau, along the lines of the present radio booking bureau at NBC, as a result of the closer relationship between the tyro RCA subsidiaries under one 'president. Merlin Aylesworth. Although NBC's system of Individual representation of acts by . employes of its art.Jsts' bureau 1j claimed to have been en- couraged money kick backs galore, this plan for RKO is reported as favorably regarded on both sides of the fence. : It's installation at RKO would automatically bring about their extlAction, the agents think. Although Martin Beck changed his mind about breaking down the franchise barrier to open the RKO booking floor tb^ the entire agency. field, the new dh-ect booking cam- paign is regarded by the ' RKO agents as anrounting to about the same thing. Around nine acts have" been ^booked direct in the. past three weeks In addition to. those l)ropo.si- tloned along similar lines. Of those booked only one lias been without an agent In the past. The exception Is Mme. Frances Alda, from opera and never before in vaudeville. Campbell Soup Air Talent as Yaude Act Campbell Soup program -which went oft tlie NBC airwaves April 22 will go into RKO •vaudeville May .7, although the artists are no longer connected W'ltii the account. Act Is to be billed as R.obert Sim- mons arid ^Howard. Lanin's. Camp- beir Soup Orchestra.^ Simmon^ and Lanin figure that they can cash in on the Campbell air rep, with the commercial agreeing to the use of its name Jn vaudeville for the gratis publicity. BETTY COMPSON'S DJEMAKD Mlnheapolls, April- 25: Betty Compson, drawing $1,000 a week fbr pei-sonal appearance at the Minneapta in an F. &' M. unit, re- fused to go on the air during the theatre's regular radio broadcast unless paid $300 extra. ■theatre declined to meet'' her demand. ■ Raze K.C. Globe Kansas City, April 25. Wreckers have started razing the Globe, built 19 years apo and for many years, one of the leading vaudeviUe houses of the city. The liousc is owned by tlie Op- penstfin Uroiliers, wealthy Jewelers ol llil.s f-ity.