Variety (Aug 1932)

Tueedfiy, August 30, 1932 E V I i L E VARIETY 33 F.&MJULLISH ON TAB PRODS, Fanchon & Marco and the thea- tres playlne; their etage ehows are satisfied a sufficient demand exists tor musical comedy and operetta . tabs to warrant-extensive plans in ■ tWtt dirftctiAir—i&bout-lJ-bijg ;^towa are on the tapis .this cpmlns~y.ear. Possibly half. of the 16 will be tabloldized musical or operettas, the balance belns specially 1t>ullt units around draw personalities, such as tbe Ted Liewis stage prodiictlbh re- cently sent out by. F&M. F&M'6 experiment with 'Desert fiong,' iiow on tour, had much to do with deciding F&M and Its accounts on the : musical tab proposition. •Follow Thru' was Immediately :grabbed by F&M and reproduced as their own property: The same show was previously done as a tab independently. 'Sally' and "Whoopee' are two coming F&M tabloldized musicals, former with Mary Katon heading the cast, and liCRoy Prlnz staging, amd opens Friday (2) on the Coast for a break in. 'Whoopee' is : being_ supervised in its. staging by Eddie' Cantor, with Buddy Doyle doing the Cantor part of the original. This one opens Sept. 16 on the Coast. The'next, musical Just going out Is 'Irene.' Among operettas 'Rose Marie' was considered but, from ac- count, the rights were so Involved thought of doing thiq show was dropped.' A Gus Edwards' 'School Days' production, along the lines of his Xamous oldtlme act, will open for F&M In New Haven Septv;.9. It la being staged by Edwards and Harry Gourfaln. BOSTON BOOKING PACT OKAYED BY RKO AGENTS At Thursday's (25) meeting-of the RKO agents association it was de- cided that the matter of a work Ing agreement with C. S. Breed, of the Boston RKO offices, be taken up along lines similar tq those in force with Chicago, .protecting New York agents In the booking of any of their acts In that territory. Un der the agreement. Breed Is to notify: the Newi York agents of bookings even If acts are booked dl rect by him, at the same time re- questing Jurisdiction over Issuance of future booking franchises In his office. Cases before arbitration concerned releases of acts and commission <!la;lms. Request of Annie, Judy and Zeke for release from Morris & Oz was granted. Other releases granted were Hlckey Bros, from Max Gordon and Mary Hay from Curtis & Allen, with voluntary release on latter by Charlie Allen. Those denied were 'Tanology' from M. S. Bentham office; Leary and Craven from Richards & Lenet- eka and Carr Bros, and Betty from Billy Jackson. Claim of Harry, Romm for com- mission on Lucky'Mlllinder Orches- tra dates In Prospect, Brooklyn, and Trenton, N. J., were .disallowed, while claim for commission on Bos ton booking of Armlda, put in by Charles Morrison, was allowed with consent of Gus Edwards. Special Haulage for Ted Lewis Unit in RKO Jump St. Louis, Aug. 29i Fafichon & Marco's Ted Lewis ttnit has been shifted from the Mis- souri by RKO and booked Into the Orpheum, Omaha, as a result of re- cent RKQ-F, & M. negotiations for the Omaha date. Sam Thall, RKO transportatibh head In Chicago, has arranged a special train to carry the unit from Omaha to Chi, night of Sept. 8, In order to make the unit's date at the TIvoll, Chi.^ the following (lay. Missouri, formei- Tar house, opened under the RKO banner ITrl- day (26). House Is being taken on a one-year lease by RKO. Herschel Stuart, RKO theatre chief, In New Yoi'k, spent the week-end In St. Louis supervising the opening. NO VIS' 10 WEEKS . Donald Novis is how apotted at the Paramount, New York, for 10 weeks. He opertcd there last week. NBC Is handling Novl.s, Who Is a tenor from the coa.st. Canada Dry Act's $8^000 Too Much for RKO Yaude Although, suggested by M. H. Aylesworth as a fitting follow-up radio act to Kate Smith, the Can- ada Dry radio group comprising George Olsen ° and band, Ethel Shiitta aiid Jack Benny may not make the RKO yaude books. Price of (8.000 put on the combo is too steiep for RKO to venture In its oat-ttf-'towii—syots or 'even the Al- bec, Bropklyn, according to book- ing office comment. Rub comes in that the trio are hot under NBC contract and price negotiations must be made with commercial sponsoring thie pro- gram."' ■■■ ■ . . Acts, Agents Can't (ii?e the Slip irith^^ New'Slip' System The Artists' Representatives' As- sociation iias supplied all RKO agents with. a pad of slips which they must have all their acts sign, showing that the agencies are duly authorized to submit them on the; RKO ijooklng floor. Slips are to be turned over to the A. R. A. or kept oh file by the agencies. The authorization .data for the A. R. A. is to serve two purposes. First, the signing of the slip by an artist is tantamount to agreement by that artist or act that It will submit to arblttatlon by the 'A. R.-A.- Secondly, the signed authorization becomes data to which the A. R. A. can refer in the event two or more a^rents claim the same act. Many agents have worked on brtil okays from acts who have more than one agent working on them with resultant difficulties If a book- ing Js landed by one. ' The authorization slips furnished the agents up to now have similar forms, but without the line 'who Is a member in good standing in the Artists' Representatives' Associa- tion' and the line 'subject to the rules and regulations of the Artists' Representatives' Association.' Should any agent not be In good Standing In the A. R. A., the Infer- ence Is that he Will riot be regarded as duly authorized to represent acts on the floor. Agents In the A. R. A. have paid $26 on entrance, but as yet have not been notified what regular dues would be. RKO booking office is of the opinion the authorization slip method Is a constructive move to automatically avoid disputes over acts as to agency representation. BALTO HIPP REJECTS MUSIC SCALE BOOST Baltimore, Aug. 29. Possibility of a rift between the musicians' union here and the vaud- film Hippodrome arose last week when izzy Rappaport, owner of the vaude spot, walked out of the labor conference. Musicians are asking an Increase at this house from $75 to $82.60, and also a minimum of 10 meri^ Rappaport had expressed- his willingness to jump his present pit roster of seven to 14, but not on contract, desiring to be In a posi- tion to'retrench If necessary. ■ Owner is also burrilng over the ihought of increase In scale, just when the other crafts, such as the operators and stagehands, have al- ready made overtures for relief. 'ROUND Cn, TOO, VODE DEPENDS ON UNIONS . Chicago, Aug. 29. While vaudeville's chances In the environs of Chicago adriiittedly de- pends upon the successful abolish- ment, as promised, of double fea- tures the situation through Illinois, Indiana, and adjacent states where there is no double feature problerii Is contingent upon the inevitable September deadlock with the unions. If the managers get what they consider a break from the unions vaudeville will have its be^t come- back chance in five years, showmen believe.. Aurora, Jollet, and Peoria are towns where. union adjustment would make vaudeville almost cer- tain. Peoria is even mentioned as a full week. Pjuctically all of the houses of Pullllx-Great. States very carefully advertised at th*> start of the sum- mer that their price reductions were for the warm weather only. In re- storing the original admissions it is felt that soriie equivalent enter- tainment value ought to be addeid, especially during a bargain-edu- cated depression epoch. Hence, ob- servers believe that there Is, or win be, a favorable attitude toward vaudeville. If not a regular vaudeville policy at least special stage attractions with some sort of regularity and frequency Is In prospect. AIL LOEW N. Y. SPOTS TO FRIDAY Openings By the end of September all tlie full and split week theatres of the Lbew circuit In the Grea'ter New York area will, be turned Into Frl day openings.. All currently open Saturday. Thlis will facilitate uni formlty oi acts' openings and pre vent acts losing a week through shifting froni Vaude to picture houses arid .vice versa. Those going to Fridays include the vaude bouses, which as a result will change bills on Fridays and Tuesdays. This will place Loew vaude shows a day ahead of all othr ers in New York, Including RKO and the Independents which st^irt new bills on Saturdayi? and Wednes- days. On Sept. 9 the State, Metropolitan, 175th Street, 72rid Street, Lexington, 83rd Street. Kings, Sheridan, 116th Street, Lincoln Sq. and Victoria make the switch. The following week (16) these follow suit: Burland, 167th Street, Cameo, Seventh Ave., WlUard (Woodhaveh, L. I.), Fairmourit, Gra.nd, National, Trl-Boro (Astoria), Orpheum, Coney Island and Bedford. Third group, including New Rochelle, Mt. Vernori, Hillside (Ja- maica), Plaza,- Spooner, Boulevard and Glates, move back a day on Sept. 23, while the Prospect in Flushing makes the change Sept. 30. Paradise, Bronx, and Loew's State, Jersey City, in the de luxe picture group have been Friday openings right along, while .the Capitol, Friday for a long time, re- cently moved ahead to Thursdays. AWAITING BECK N. Y. Houses to Resume Vaude Mark Time Until His Return Ex-Champ's RKO Wks. Jack Dempsey's opening date for RKO on a brief tour has been set as Denver Sept. 26. He will do the same act as before, 'Roadside Razz.' ; The former champ plays. Palace, Chicago, and Palace, Cleveland, fol- lowing the Denver week.' JOBDAN-WARD JOIN Jack Jordan and Harold Ward have combined as an independent agency. For year.-,' with Irving Yates, Jor- dan went on his own about six months ago. Ward leaves William Shilling after an a.s.sociatlon of yeara. Until Martin Beck returns from the Coast, in 10 days or so, no dates will be set for the resumption of vaude in the Greater New York area, where It yiras ditched for the summer. This includes such houses as Coliseum, Fbrdham, Madison, Kenriiore, 86th St.' and possibly others, such as Chester, Royal and Franklin. ' '' Under the RKp-Skouras deal, vaude went into the Academy Sat- urday (27) and Is to go Into the Coliseum uptown, with the Audubon in that section reriialning straight film, but date is being held up tem- porarily. Mur-Poii 4 Wka. Makes 35 for F&M: Par. RKO Additions Will Total 45: RKO-FM Lupe Velez Snooty at Capitol's $6,500 Bid Hollywood, Aug. 29. Lupe Velez turned down |6,500 for one week, at the Ciapitol, New York. Said she .wasn't Interested in leaving Hollywood. Olter was made direct. Spot Bookings for F-M Units Silenced by Dark Honses, Union Troubles Hollywood, Aug. 29. With 26 Fanchon & Marco unit stands dark, or in straight sound due to union difflculties, M. D. (Doc) Howe is lining up spot bookings for Ideas in eridea.vor to reduce layoff periods. Due to temporary discontlriuance of units at Meniphls, the Betty Compton Idea, 'Star^Night,* opened at the Arkansas, Little Rock; for three days, Aug. 28, • In Detroit, where failure to reach terms with musicians necessitated pulling F&M shows from the Fox, deal has been made with' Milton Feld Of Publix, whereby some' units are being booked into the Fisher, First to go in was 'Night Cliib,' Aug, 26. Another jp&M shift is at Des Moines, where the Paramount, which has been playing units four days and RKO vaude throe, is now using coast shows, full week. New policy -inaugurated Aug.. 26 with. 'Movie Circus,' featuring Monte Blue. NO PALACE H.O.'S, BUT QUICK RETURNS OX . The Palace, iNew York, will not hold over any of its shows, but in lieu RKO will bring back for eariy repeats certain attractions which would ordinarily rate a consecutive second week. This will be done With Olsen and Johnson and with Kate Snilth, un- der plans. Latter was the last to play two straight weeks at the house with her 'Swanee' show, but at that time the picture was changed. Films also will get only one week Whethier on first or second run. FOWLER'S TAXI SMASH Addison (Jack) .Fowler;'(Fowler and Tamara) is laid up jivith face, head and body lacerations as the result of being hit by a taxi at Broadway arid 53d street? Emer- gency, hospital treatment, which re- sulted in eight stitches in the face, will probably isave him from pfirnia- ncnt disfiguration. Team was at the Brooklyn Para- mount' laist week and was .slated for a Spanish program at the Roxy wlien tlie accident jammed this arid other bookings up. CBS Acts Cany Own P. A.'s for Theatre Dates Practically all the acts booked out of the CBS Artists Service now have attached to them their own advance exploitation men. Carry- ing a trail blazer for theatre en- gagements is made obligatory upon the artists and a part of the con- tract handed out by the network's booking ofllce. Clause in the stage date docu- ment makes It mandatory for the act to have Its explolteer on the spot a week ahead. Idea of the In- dividual advance riian, says the art- ists' service, appeals to the theatfe operator and aids as, a selling point in getting bigger coin for the act. Numbered among this 'advance guard are James Doan for Morton Downey; Joe Hoffmajti, the Funny- boners; Bob Stevens, Mills Broth- ers; Arthur Ashley, Little Jack Lit- , tie; Nathan Zatkin,' Vaugh. De Leath; Harry Leedy, Boswell Sis- ters, and Herbert Reis for Les Reis and Artio Dunn, Schumann-Heink Switch Los Angeles, Aug, 29, Althpiigli booked to open in .Den- ver, Sept. 1, Mme. Schumarin-Heink probably will switch to play Loew's State here, in addition to the teg- ular F&M unit, opening Sept; 2. State booking is contingent whether Denver date can changed. Following Denver, singer Is booked for Chicago, Cincinnati, Bcston and Buffala on be Wealth' of vaude talent now lying idle around New York will iaoon be absorbed, in part anyway, by Fan- chon & Marco, under Immediate, plans calling for that outfit to build at least three stage :.show units lii the east, and may uitlmdtcly result in F. & M. establishing a permanent production base lii New York, v Fanchon & Marco, now routlnff^ around 30 weeks, will have in- creased its book to 35 by Sept.. 9, when the Arthur-Poll chain in New England opens four one-week stands for F. & M. shows. The new unite to be built are primarily Intended to fill this tlRie and then be. routed over the entire F. & M.. circuit. Extra F'or tlririe now being planned and present deals for RKO wiU boost the F. & M. book to nearly 45 Aveeks by Oct. 1. ' Par's plans look to increase the F. & M, time nOw coverlhg 14 weeks for Publlx to maybe 20, by. opening the Par soutH^n houses to vaude and stage shows and three middle west spots, Includlnig the Par, Dea Moines. AddltloncUly, RKO Is conslderirig shovlrig F. & M. Into Akron, Co- lumbus and Salt Lake before the middle of September, and already*, has closed: for the OrpheUm, Omaha, and the Malnstreet, Kansas City, with F. & M. No dates yet. Altogether, this will give F; & M. seven weeks on current RKO books. With other RKO plans for the fall, F. & M. will have had 10^ weeks on the RKO books but qt a possible 23 weeks after . Labor Day. Warners'Two 'F. & M.'s 4B-weok book will In- clude two Warner Jiousea which open for stagie sTiows as soon as union deals can be completed at the Stanley, Pittsburgh, and the Stan- ley, Jersey City. Of that number, F. & M. will have around 12 weeks in the east, the re- mainder In the south, midwest and the Coast. The present F. & M. dieals with RKO are separate and ia,part from any talk which RKO la having with Marco relative to cbmblrilng the two outfits. That is still holding fire pending- Fox's attitude _ln the matter,; with the likelihood that a three-cornered arrangement may be riaade that will include Fox, F. & M. and RKO Into a booking partnership , on vaude. The Fox Interest In F. & M. Is through Fox-West Coast's half In- terest In, F. & M., and now con- trolled by Spyros Skouras as ope- rator of that circuit. One Iridle house may be Included In the F.. & M. route. In the south, when Oscar Oldknow takes, over the Universal house In Atlanta. RKO-F. A M. Up Sept. 7 The RKO-F.' & M. partnership thing may go to the RKO board at that body's next meeting scheduled for Sept. 7. Present F. & M. routing has six split weeks, namely, Manchester, L. A.; Fox, San Diego; Senator, Sacramerito; Fox, Stockton; Fox; Spokane; Orpheum, Madison. All other tinie Is full-week. Including .the Arthur houses these are In order of routing: West Coast, Long Beach; Loew's State, L. A.; Pantages, Hollywood; Fox, Frisco; Fox, Oakland; Paramount, Port- land; Fifth Avenue, Seattle; Or- pheum, Vancouver; RKO Main- street, K. C.; RKO OrpheuEfi, Omaha; Wisconsin, Milwaukee; Chicago or Oriental, Ciil; Uptown, Chi; TIvoll; Chi; Fox, St. Louie; Fox, Detroit; Imperial, Toronto; Buffalo, Buffalo; Arthur-Palace, Springfield; Metropolitan, Boston; Arthur-Palace, Worcester; Arthur- Capitol, Hartford; Paramount, New Haven; Arthur-Pala.ce, Bridgeport; Fox, Brooklyn; Stanley, Jersey City; Fox, Philadelphia; Stanley, Phila- delphia; Stariley, Pittsburgh; lOCtii St., Cleveland; Albee, Cinclrinati, and the Loew's State, New Orleans. Harold B. Frankllsi Of RKO, who .. is ascribed as leaning strongly to F. & M., and Martin Beck, are pres- ently on the Coast, where they will probably remain a week or 10 days longer. Mike Marco, in the east, expects to leave some time this week for Hollywood, but says he has no plans to reach there specifl- (•ally in time to discuss anything with these RKO olllclals.