Variety (Jul 1932)

S8 VARtETr L EC IT I MAT E TQiesday, Juljr 1932 lew Cantors For Inducing Fihn Buys on the Spot New method for displaying: to flliti Executives shows which for one rea- son or another have not beeh bought for pictures, hia been worked out by Lew Cantor, who will be established, In a Hollywood theatre with a stock company un- der the guest star system. ;Rlghts to present about iOO plays for pic- ture rights purposes have been ar- ranged for, the coast spot to be known as the 'Hoily\\r66d Show- case.' First 10 shows have been selected. Nearly every play In the group had received a picture offer but the pro- ducers held put for higher bids, pic- ture people In the meantime grow- ing cold or slashing the original bid. Managers -now would be wUHng to accept moderate money for, thfe rights. i. Cantor will .act in the guise of an agient, \ producers and authors, retaining the. full Wghts less the sales percentage; Ma,nagers whom he will represent . are John • Golden, Arthur Hopkins, Theatre Guild", .Bhiibertd, Li. Lawrence Weber, A. H. Woods, George Tyler, Chairles Hop* idns, Lawreilce Riversi W. A. Brady. Savins Time, Expectation is that by putting oh shows in thei heart of the, studio field, there will be a saving bf. time reconsidering the picture! possi- bilities; because executives and di-r r^ctdrs would be able to. observe ntrlthput the/ matter going through ihtermediaries. There also will be the opportunity 0£ fleeing ,|ie\v tal- jeiit perform/ • List of plays first to be igiven are: •Topaze,' 'On the Spot,' 'Bird in Hiand,' 'Camel Through the Needle's By6,' ■ : 'Experience Unnecessary,' Philip Goes Forth,' /Behold This Dreainer/ 'Maggie the Magnlflcent,' 'Bitizy;' and: 'That's GiJatitude.' At least' ttvo 'in' th<^ '^otiip^ played- a year on Broadway. \\- Cantor Is a yiaudeville and legit producer.: His most;successful, try in the latteili'i^ld;-^jvaji /Courage.' brlEinal : picture bid 't^as claimed to haye; iieett^UiM|Q06;" which i!ie ret jecled, only lat'eif to' self Ihe rights •*or:^$4l>;ooo.i :.-K;t-' -4 ' ■ ' ■ . The 'Shoiiircf^e'^ wlil''change the bill weekly* " Admission will, b^ J|1.50 .top.J , ■ .. 64-Year-Old Opera Star $800 Behind in Alimony Chicago, July 4. Summoned for being $800 in ar- rears bn alimony payments; Vittorio Trevasan, 64-year-old former star of the Chicago Civic Opera, painted, a picture of poverty before Ju«lge Sabbath in the Superior court. Bari- tone described the parade of trades- men and other creditors that were beleaguring him. and pleaded that because of his age and the present state of opera he was unable to get any engagements. '■ Quizzed about his assets by the Attorney for his wife; Cecilia, who divorced him in March, 1931, on cruelty grounds, Trevasan said he, owned two lots.in California, valued at ?3,B00. It was the judge's sug- gestion that he deed one of' these pieces of property to his wife and he was allow:ed a week to think it over. PLAYS ABROAD Maedchen in Uniform '■ CGirlt in Uniform') . Paris, June 24. • A plar adapted and -otaged by' Hinrl Vama in'12 tableaux from .Chifata Win- Bioe'a 'Qestera und Heute.'. Starring Ar- lotte MarcbaL Featarlns Jeanne Li&n, ReynarOapello. Harcelle Barry and others. Studio de Paris, Parts, June 22. SHUBERT RECEIVERSHIP FIRST SHOW DATE SET .No developinentis in' the Shubert receivership situation are expected until late in the summer. At that time hearings iare due on the pro- posed proho of the corporation since Its inception In 1924. . Charles B.. Hughes, .Jr., special counsel who w.ill pABB on the petition to In- vestigate, is reported having sailed for Europe last treek. With Judge Francis Caffey also abroad, no oourt proceeding is possible. All necessary orders from the court have been issued and the re- ceivers ■ iiiiay proceed without Inr stniction to produce shows: Work on 'the riBceivers'. first-new produc- tion 'Americana' Li progressing and the revue will open in Atlantic City next Wbnth.' First attraction to go but : is ^Cynaiii' slated for the coast about; tlife 'ltoi'idle of the trioh'th. No p^oduijtlio« schedule appears to have been fixed ;as yet; 1 BUND GIVE OPERETTA, DANCE ENSEMBLE^ TOO ^ "-i .. .Toronto, July 4. .Be m,a r k a b 1 e perfoiinance ^ by Brantford Institute for the; Blind of *Prlhces9 Jui Ju,' japaiiese operetta, attracting Interest. Cast and chorus entirely coihppsed of sightless ac- tors and success of experiment In Jtrhat was tliought to be a closed realm for the blind will undoubted- iy excite widespread discussion among those Interested in their edui- ctiitlon aiid recreatlom - Delivery of lines and singing of principals were splendid, but 'what filled spectators with ; amazement was the ease and grace with which Intticatfe' dance etis^mbles 'were pre ^sented, 'second stg^it* as. It ' 'were, Vontrbillij^ thb movements of the 'jiirlnclpals.;' ' " ' Pittsbgh. Stotk Prospecl; Pittsburgh, July 4. Ed Vail, former director for the George Sharp stock company at the Pitt, reported to be seeking local backing to auppiprt' a stock troupe of his own at the Pitt- next sea.son Pittsburgh/ always a good stock town, considered a natural setup for a repertory troupe in the fall "since there's a strong likelihbod that only one legit site, the Nixon, will be in operation. Other hoiise the Alvln, which the Shuberts had under lease from Warner Brothers, understood to be closing perma- nently. Altoona Park Stock Altoona, July 4 The Lakemont Park theatre, dark since the opening of the park Me -morial Day, opened Saturday (27) with the University Players. Troupe Includes Florence and Catherine ,Hastings, locals who have been ac tlve in New Tork Little Theatre and otherwise; Carlton Ayers, local dramatlfls' director;. Llbby. Lewis, .formerly ... Provlncetowri '■ Players iLMary Lawrence and Buss Boetti^er. :ers One of . those, Greenwich. Village group pulled a faist one in. placing critics' tickets , outside the limit of the new admissions tiuc . at the pre- miere of fTha Lingering Past' at the Provlricetown. playhouse last week. The groups are geridraliy on a subscription basis, with 'various classes of membership. Critics were established as being in 'membership class B,' tickets for such members being 40 cents top. Tickets with that printed price were sent to re- Vlevyers and the membership classi- fication was sfaiitped on the back, by the Seven Arts Guild Players who presented'Past.' While the new law stipulates that reduced price tickets call for the same tax as. applies to higher priced admissions of-'similat' accommoda- tions,! the Village people claim that does not.: apply to membership groups. Top price at the Prpvince- tpwn .is^ |1 plus 10 dents tax. Broadway' has no plan to take carO: of reviewers', tickets and fOr tihe,present the theatres and phow are assuming the tax burden. Production was especially difficult due to stage being only about 10, feet, deep, and difficulty of shifting props, yrlth no possibilities of flying anything except backdrops on rollers. Henri Varna solved -. the problem by using trick props. Also,' in staging the production, he con- siderately forgot his 1 Casino de Paris slant, aiid. refrained Irom In- JectingV dirt In a show of Le$blah possibilities. ;. Arrangement is' In 12 t^bleauxj ihcludlhg several in front of the cur.tain, giving time to change ba<!l(grounds, with only one Inter- niission. Play, . which < shows the extreme fondness of a girl for one of her school mistresses in a Prusslian girls' academy, has been left .with the original conclusion of the girl committing suicide, contrary to the film version, where a happy ending Wis found indispensable.. ^ . Arlette Marchal does the be- witching schoolmistress In a. way, which for pulchritude, poise, and command. Is oh a^par with that of the film actress, doing the same part.. Her performance—her first on the legit .stage—has drawn more favorable comments than any act- ing in Paris for some time, land may mean her going to talkers. ■ She had' only played in sllents. She is. nicely - supported by, Jeanne Lion' as the Prussian-minded head, mistress: The difficult role, of the ill-fated girl is. satisfactorily; done by Reyna Qapetlo. • Marcelle iSarry as the favorite, assistant of the head mistress, does a very amusing im- personation. Production Is naturally handi- capped as. compared to the fllni by the limited number of girls, and the necessity- of using real actresses, whilst screen product was done by real schoolgirls.. . A dozen young actresses take their ' place, with Wanda^well khown lOr youthful ImpersohatlOns—giving -a good per-; formanPe, and Neni^ de Vedo, an- other one of the girls—^a screen posr sibility.. ..Due to publicity derived from, the flim, . and Arlette Marchal's sen- sational appeal, show.is likely, to have a fair run. Despite the sinall size of . the. theatre,: precluding 'grosses over $700; show is leaving a coihparatlveiy handsome profit, with'a small nut. Maxi. Little Girl Grows Up ; < Budapest. .'June,'19.' A musical, comedy In tbres acts by Istvan Bskeffl. -music - by - liSjos' Liajt'bl. First presented by. tbe City Summer The- atre ' In Budapest, June I'l.. In' the cast: FrancI Gaal, .Bnuny Kosail. Nusl Sbmogyl, -DSzsO Kertesz,'Panl Javor,. Oyula Csortos, Ida .Tural, Martin' Ratkay, etc. SYEACTJSE'S 2D DIVA Syracuse, N. T., July 4. Syracuse 'Will be represented by a second operatic diva in the Opera CoinlqUe, Paris, next. fall. Claire Alcee, soprano, in private life Mrs. Andrew S. White, has been engaged for the season starting in October. Her predecessor there is Hallie Stile, socially Mrs. Grant D. Green of Syracuse. Dixon's Co. In Dubuque Dubuque, la., July 4. Don and Mazle Dixon stock re- turned to Spensley for a summer run. Here .annually for nearly 10 years. To play 25 and 35. The Buda Suimmer Theatre has a great advantage over Its winter colleagues, the more pretentious theatres, this one being ah old and rather ramshackle timber edifice, available in the wanh .iseason only. . This time the authors, of the new Slimmer' operetta seem to have re- lied a little too much on their blg- nam.e cast. There Is fun and humor inihfiny details of the. plot, but too much.'.sentimental, stuff and the music too' 'popular* to avoid being commonplace. Plot concerns savage little 17- year-old girl, growing up in the backwoods with' four boy cousins as companions. Tbe 'Cowboy Re- public,' asf they call themselves, has tbe.glrV Cen.ny,.for queen, and the unruly children are the. terror of the countryside. Whin pretty widowed mother tries to sell the estato to a rlch>: old Italian, to get out of' debt and marry her old suitor, the'Italian falls in love with Cenny and mother, tries to marry her off. Cenhy is ready to sacrifice herself to save the estate, < The faithful Cowboy subjects drop a hint to mother that Cenny is unhappy because she '■' loves George, young engineer. Mother finds Out she has just'been trying^ to make her daughte.- unhappy Just a^ she has been made unhappy her- self, by refusing the man she loved and marrying a rich old man- whereupon she sends a'way her -own old lover and decides to sacrifice herself. Frand Gaal, as the little savage girl, is £Ood as usual, but rather palls in the same type: of role seen many times. The most spirited co- medians are two old-timers,. ;Bat- kay and Nusl Somogyi, as the tutor and the housekeeper. The play will probably run throughout the sum- mer. " Jacobi; Jitney Players Touring New Haven, July 4, Jitney Players, who ran summer stock at their Madison headquarters past .several- summers,- will tpur this iseasbn and. play • Madison: only one week, July 11. THE WfeB B^elodrama in two acts presented at the Uoroaco June 27 by Charles H, Abramson and Jess Smith: -written by Fre{l«rlck Herendeen;. staged by Frank McCormpck. Warden eulllvan ,.'.Frank. Shannon Kelly .John Bohn Professor Warren. ..William' In^ersoll Moto Ishada Harold DeBecKer Marian Warren.............dlzabeth Day L«tt Holllns...,.'...v...ShorllnK R. .Oliver Robert Clark..Edmund 'MclSonald Rocky Flint.... ........Curtis- Karpe Red Slade,.... ....Melville Anderson A new team' of producers present a thriller with an inhuman killer, as wierd an idea ^as any of the past season. For a: change it ia In two acts. First grisly, the balance un- even, with improbabilities and im- ppsslbilitles. piling up thickly^ Little chance for this type'plece,' anyway in the torrid season. , . ^ Frederick Herendeen who . wroto 'The Web,' Urst called 'Dread,' may have had Poe in the back of his head, as for instance the 'Murders of the Rue. Morgue' with Its homi- cides committed by a simian.', .In this play a glant-^pider does . the dirty'-work.:..'-; " Scene In a cottage in the iqldst of Florida's Vast Everglades. ; It Is- the laboratory of Professor Warren whose theory that he could develop mail-size spiders had resulted In his being hooted out bC a, scientist's (ilrcle when a younger man, The locale is infested with'bugs of all kinds, lethal snakes, quagmires-^ quite a place: for a n^iirder a:hd yet the professor's attractive ' niece Marian has been there'with him for two years. Warren's .assistant is Moto Isbada a Japanese physician. Nearest neighbor Is Lett Holllns and • his pappy who runs a snake farm,: Just Florida crackers.. The professor sCnd his aiidb have succeeded in growing the giant spider, which is locked In a safe-like vault and Is fed raw meat^ Theory back of the experl- ihent is that by the development of: certain' glands , the . world would eventually be rid of cripples. The 4'ap's angle is the expectation Of his race becbming taller people—the Russians and the Chinese look down upon the Japs,, claims Moto. Two murderers awaiting execution escape from prison tind - are - being sought in the swamp by .Warden Sullivan. ; The blbodr-houndS - in- dicate the felons .have, come toward the Profepsor's cbttage. A search of the attic results In the ghastly discovery of one prisoner's bddy, suspended from a rafter with ! a peculiar silken cord around the neck. Subsequently ■ the other con- vict Is found done to. death in a similar manner. . . . . . The professor aiid the Jap know the secret. Somehow their spider had esca.ped by bending .the bars of a small window in.his vault. Any- how it is a smart spider, doing away with two bad nrien, lettlng-the others alone. Once the thing is shown dimly grabbing a victim and hoist- ing him up to the.attic .At the finale/, th^ boy friend Invades the living room and is done aWay with by a gas bomb. All the while It is raining torrents butside, but none pf the other bugs are in evidence. Added to the characters is an As* soclated Press reporter from Miami He immediately goes for Marian and a dash of romance Is supplied. More -personable than young Hbllihs he would seemi the logical suitor for the.girl. But when the smoke of .the bomb clearsi Lett and Marian are eihbraclng. TNIce girl must spend her days oh a snake farm. As for Clark, the reporter, he Is too technical about his job to be In- terestlng. . Three dialects, Jap, cracker , and Irish, .the la.tter by Frank Shannon as. the warden. ShevHng Oliver is the snake boy and Harold de Becker is Moto. Elizabeth Day is Marian, the Only feminine char- acter, William Ingersoll plays the professor, a belleve-it-or-not role. .. 'The Web' Is a; picture posstblUty That lets it out. - /bee. TflE Lli^GERING PAST _PIay In ..three. acU .presented at the Provlncetown Playhouse-'June 29 by Seven Arte faulliTjirrltten by Leonard J. T?nan; .staged by S:dy»ln Hopkins, pen Morlpnd...;....Frank J. Marshall. Jr. .........Elizabeth Kins Irene"'W(9rier..i.. Kat9 .Qardiier.... Mrs. Laura' Pond Simon 'Welleir.. .. Miss White. Ira Powell....... John Gardner.... Nancy." aaij'dner.. Sani Belden. Bobby Watt...;. CUra Smith.,... Janice.... Q'eorge Wllllama. summer restaurant, Budapest's equivalent for a roadhouse, with the auditorium arranged to represent the inn garden, guests sitting at tables. . A thoroughly, gobd, gay show and It cannot fall to attract audiences even in these days. There is slightly mpre sense In the plot than Is usnat in revue. On the opening night of the new roadhouse, at which. Uncle Brun- huber Is mine host, Elsie, prima donna at the neighboring summer theatre, is hostess., .Here she-meets her partner of last, year,, the actor Tlbori who Jilted, her'. ' She wants to punish him, so at Uncle Brunhuber's suggestion a couple of actors are-dressed up as Hussar officers "Who pay Elsie un- mistakable atteiition. Tibor g6ts Jealous, there Is a row, ^wlth . a .thunderstorm to add' to the con- fusion (hall falling from the roof among the audience, In the form of candy drops) and the situation is cleared up. when the prop man from the theatre comes ' j fetch the Hus- sar officers' uniforms which they borrowed for the.. occasion—Tibor explaining that the woman he went away with last year was his sister, Chief among, the attractions ap- pearing at the roadhouse is Marika Rokk, in the part of mine host's daughter, a ballet dancer/ Miss Rokk, who danced In vaudeville 1,000 GOOD THINGS (Ezerjo) Budapest. June 17. Two-act musical," boOk by-~:lmre Har- math, music by Mlklos Brbdszky. . Pre- .lentcd by Royal .Orpheum. Budapest, on June 10. In-the cast: Marika'ROkk, Oily Szokolay, Aladar Sarkady. Istvan Gyer- eyat, Komel D'Arrlgo,. Arpad Latabar, e^o. "The show Is sonidWhat .along 'Wondisr Bar' lin6s, being about a ^ Mara ICeval >....'..'.Esther SolveiR Charles Anitelo >......'..,. .Anna Bay • .}ohn B. Riley ....'Howard McCiilley , .v .'Frances Tannehlll .Oeorgo A. LawTcnce ,.'...'.. .'Robert Emory ...Henrietta Apiplebv. Dona Falrohird .........Edmund Hale theatres abroad, made her appear arice for tfie first time in musical comedy this year. Young, beautiful, a capital danc.er and learning how to act with grace and charm, she Is a great asset. Sarkadl, in the part of the innkeeper, gave a fine com edy performance. The whole production Is very spirited and amusing, and in spite of much local allusion and Jokes, might make its way elsewhere, as' did 'Wonder Bar.' Brodszky com- posed quite a number of catchy, at- tractive tunes, porfonned by three orchestras , oh the stage, with tho composer at the piano. Ja\;obi. ' Dbwn In Greenwich Village the drama'takes it on .the chin plenty, but they do try anyhow. Latbst at th^ Provlncetown Playhouse Is a rather agonizing: effort by the play- ers and for the audience. , At a country boarding house-con« . ducted by Kate and John Gardner, who, by the way, always goes fish-, ing wlth a rod minus hook and line, comes Mrs. Laura Pond, aii ad- yehturesa. It turns ;out that she is Gardner's divorced wife and had married ti supposedly rich mait,'whb died.. Recently she was mixed Up In a phoney card game, the . Victim of which was given kayo drops: La.ura's ■ trouble ' how concbrhs Nancy, her daughter, 'Who Is being brought up by the Gardners. She (Bmotes over the kid in a su4clen fit of maternal anxiety and argues tji'at the child would be the Influence to straighten out her life. Oh the side^ iiaura suggests that John elope with her. and. they take Nancy,^ whose skipping - entrances and exits aroused giggles out front. . In the end It,.seems the mug nicked in tho card game passes out and Laura is pinched as an accesisory to the killing. There is one mild laugh. An old maid *boarder compla.Ins about At T.. & T. going away down under the price she bought it at. Turns Out she has.one share. This conversa- tion Is with a stock gypper, a fellow who -looks like anything else but, arid who Beems to be an exponent of the hidden ball trick, ' Esther Solveig Is the unhappy Laura,:and she looks it; but the best appearance is made by .Mara Keval as Mrs. Gardner, Cast made uIp of unknowns who do not appear to be professionals. Admission Is a buck top" plus tax. il>ec.' ' r ■' ' ' ■ !■ Fiihire Phys ' 'Squarehead/ by ElUott Lester for Shepard Traube next fail." Les- ter wrote; "Two Seconds.' 'Gay p.iplomat,' by Gotwald: and LiOth'ar, for Walter Brooks next sea- son. Also has 'Devotion,' by Elliott Lester. 'Exit/.which was glvon a try out last season as 'Lily,' will be done in the fall by George Abbott and Philip Dunning; who authored It in collaboration with his wife Frances. George Abbott wiU direct, ; with Dorothy Hall featured and James Bell and Douglas Dumbrille In sup- port. ' ■ 'Vanderbilt Ppt-Pourri,' musical, being planned by Lyle D. Atldrews Xpr his Vanderbilt theatre. Will in- ciude sonie bf the skits from 'Nine 6'Ciock Revue.' in rehearsal July 11, and to include Gluck-Sandpr, Felicia Sorel, Rita Burgess Gouls and Eugene Lockhart. 'F'olies Bergere' will be the title of the revue Max Rudnlck hopes to bring Into the Liberty theatre early in August. Rehearsals will begin this week.-.Harold Atterrldge will do the book aihd lyrics, with IIa.rry Carroll' bn the music. Allan K. Foster will stage.