Variety (Jan 1933)

TO VARIETY VAUDEVILLE Tuesday, January 3, 1933 End of 'Poor Vaudeville^ I Vaude Bookers (Continued from page 69) ttie RKO theatres In the black and out of the rod In the west. The vaudeville he referred to was the RKO Intact traveling bill of four acts which had standardized the Bronx went on a name and salary bender, recklessly offering a $16,000 stage show to a strictly nelghb audience. Desperation Acta and $ It was a battle of names and RKO Martin Beck George Godfrey Bill Howard Arthur Willi stage entertainment in the theatres salaries all around, with all circuits It played" and for the first time as- agreeing it had to stop somewhere eured the patrons of RKO theatres but none willing to lead off. They ot real entertelnment, whether or were afraid of each other. The not the picture that week was a bad limited supply of genuine names picture. This vaudeville was the goon was exhausted, but the the- basls for the 'Always a Good Show' atres still, thought they saw a name motto. It stood for Insurance necessity. So they commenced to against bum films and assurance create their own. Acts that had that the RKO combination programs been Just acts sudde15ly sky- would not be complete flops when rocketed into the name class simply LOEW J. H. Lubin Marvin Schenck Sidney Piernriont WARNERS Steve Trilling Harry Mayer the film brodled. When a good pic- ture did come along (don't ask when) It had its place as good sup- port for a good picture and the only dependable sales point for the the- atres until another good picture ar- rived. through boosts in salary. Desperation fooled the bookers into anything. Radio acts that had not yet proved themselves even on the air were snapped up for vaude- vile and paid fabulous amounts , while the bookers and theatres Those 70 weeks of vaudeville on prayed. Acta whose the RKO book at the start of '32 I limitations should have been well FANCHON & MARCO Doc Howe Jesse Kaye Benny Kuchuk PUBLIX Harry Kalcheim The Desperate Acrobat By Joe Bigelow Cast of Cliaracters | six kids to teed and they're Btarf^ otto I^ldierkrani—An acrobat with an Ing to deaths He's got a $10,000 openine net and a «}««t-to-ciosing heart, double Indemnity Insurance poUoJ Hasn t oaten In so long a bowl of soup I .j. __,,„ i.„f^ *_ trt^ lTi would make htm Beieick. His once that pays Off two to one If he dleq bulelns muscles are taklns up decen- accidental like. I ain t saying you trallzation. Promised a wife, six kids can bump him Off for your own and three agents he'd support them and amusement, Nutsy, but I guarantee they're all suing for breach of promise. «.# 4.,af a j Snake SnatoUberg — Booking agent, you plenty of fun Just raisslng. And Just a nice guy who would take any- you can do all the ShOOtln you thing but burning timbers. Knows from want. nothing but commlsta, but knows com- Nutav: That'll okA wlt-h ma T mlsh for all angles. Charged his own „,r^x"„"f ** kids 10% for ai Introduction to flanta a'nt SO stuck on acrobats anyway. Glaus at Macy'B. Snake: Here's the layout. It'^ Dolly Dally—Snake's stenog. Takes gonna be a sort of a William Tell dictation with a stuttering pencil and ^ct. Nutsy, you play William and operates a typewriter and her ooy ^jx^ v./»»« iri.» friends by the touch system. Otto here will be his kid. Otto may Mntsy Flanagaii—Bs-hoofer who went be kinda big, but we can fix him screwy trying to figure out how to do up with a pair Of rompers. The Idea a time step with >»lo shoulder biade^ ig ^jjat you have been caught de- Had to stop because they don t 4"*^ llverine a barrel of nuds and an n dancing at Matteawan. Now a sort of "v«"ng a oarrei oi suas ana as a Jekyii-Hyde, delivering Grade A milk to penalty they put an apple on your babies In the daytime and booze to kid's head and make you throw a speakeasies at nisht. ACT I (Snake Snatchberg's office on 46th street) . Snatchbergj Take a letter, Miss the routine, slug at It. Tho big thing Is the suspense, see. You're liable to mutC the fruit and hit the kid. Nutsy: Why, the dirty bums. Snake: Never mind.that. Here's I can fix up a swell full stage set and doll things up 1b Necessary too, and vaudeville was that entertainment in the RKO the atres 45 weeks a year, ferred to Radio Pictures. Beck boxofRces I brought Godfrey back to the book- A%A r««^a mirrnr thA I '"^ Godfrey, In turn, sold I Daliy.'Mr7'Montgomery Slink. Con _ «i^L.?}?.; «lf^« oinfati.!^^^ enough known to these experienced Phil Bloom on quitting a good Job giomerated Booking Office. 1560 pristty. Nutsy. you'll have to look circuits picture Biiuauon. rsemg pjQokers, were suddenly mistaken with Panchon & Marco and coming Broadway. Dear Moe. Just tell clean for a change. We'll figure out weak in pictures, RKO out of nepes- f^j, ^^^^^ e\iyB. The money over to RKO with a year's personal him about that new flash act and some business for up ahead. You Btty was strong in vaudeyllle. Audi- ^^^g g^g^t, but when they flopped contract from Martin Beck. Bloom that I saw it last night and It was can knock off a few clay pigeons ences dont come into theatres to ^.^^^y inevitably must, the reac- lasted seven months, settling the &reat. You know. Miss Dfjlly, the Und Otto can turn some hand- look at the ushers. Entertainment 1 ^j^^ dissolved most of the sweet- balance of his contract for about h?^.*'" f?n^K^° *^«.*^«rf«lA'*k^^^^ ®u* "L© match'll Kft«r night. Tell him he can take my be the punch. Nutsy, you get three ™^^' ""/o. word for It Then just say'give my practice shots every show and BvivD III nccivo B. until countless syn- Godfrey meanwhile, as booker- regards to the wife and kids'and'as you're supposed to miss three times, • 8o vaudeville had pictures or thetlc names had proved their true in-chief, with the largest book in ever, truthfully yours.' And sign gee, to build up the blowoff. Thea the lack of them for Its 70 weeks value and the theatres had shown the office at the start, gradually my name. That's all. Miss Dally, on the fourth shot you clip the ap- AB RKO But those 70 have since that they could not support such had the theatres taken away from Anybody outside? ^ * t 5}5j Now when you miss, don't hit on KKU. Jjut tnose <u nave , , ^ tho cirGiiitH noberAd him and eivAn to nthnr hnnk/rn w« M •» Dftlly: Yea, that acrobat Is otto. That would ruin the act. dwindled to 10, and yet there l^as f^^'^*®?^' t*^" i„t i^I^! rll^„^I!f/^^ i^! out there again. He's been sitting otto here Is wlliln' to take the been little Improvement In the pic- "P- That lengthy salary Jag made remained booker-in-chlef, but not I ^ ^ he matches the furniture tare department Vaudeville lost 1 the warring factions brothers under booking. In less than a year God- jj^.g ^jje ,^ith the cheesy name. Its ace In the hole. Its one good the gin, and they got together, frey had obligated the booking of- Snake: You mean Lelderkranz, I him, Nutsy. And don't get ner reason for existing—its consistency. They talked of an amalgamated flee to acts, agents and producers All right, send him In. I'll shake vous, II; was no longer 'always a good booking office for economy and eX' show.' Why? Aftermath—In '32 tV'ttli the change In RKO's vaude- pedlency. Then they decided for $300,000. Two years previously I him for gob'd this time, a similar list of obligations that Otto.) (Enter J Nutsy: Okay, Snake. I'll go home Heht now and practice up a little. grille booking administration and „g gj^ together, but the consensus Otto: Listen, Snake. 1 always If 1 can't hit one apple In four tries, moatlv in calh 'waV rpnnonBlWA fjM^ I pald n>y commlisslon on time. Can't nobody can. all salaries. As this Is written they | his dfsm^ssS ' '^^^P'*"^'"* l?ou get^ ™e A>i:!!:t«'l.rS"*S.°L.d °«>"y' ^r. Snatchberg,. may I against a physical merge, but | cost the circuit $200,000 to settle, agreed to stick together to control nice last half somewheres? There's make a suggestion? Willlafn Tell ^ethbda there came a change In the 1 T*: —V ^ . other RKO bookers besides Fjee, 366 days a year and I've laid off 350 didn't use a gun. He shot the apple Xiwa Thet w^re seldom con- °' oPlnlon. founded on precedent, Is man and Bloom who went out In straight already. with a bow and arrow, vnows. iney were seiaom con \^^^^_ it last until one circuit' 1 - ». ?!!?!r"r_.f.?'»v^:. '^''^I.T:^. ^^IZ needs a name badly enough to lor Donslstently bad. When the book ing department asked the theatre get about agreements. That's al- department the reason for the | ,T5^,°. ?!£^'1',_.^^^^^ latest switch to straight pictures, the latter answered, 'Look at the shows:' Later the answer became Tiook at the grosses.' RKO's vaude- liable to happen any minute now. Jolson, 1SG; Chev, $12,000 Thirty-three acts and attractions | ^^""^ *° booking, with rated salaries of $6,000 or more in '32 were Willie Berger. Harry I Snake: Otto, you're a nice guy I Snake: That's right Well, we can Kalcheim and Jack Connally. and I like you but there's no routes fix that up. Nutsy. get yourself a Berger later lost his life attempUng around and if I knew of a nice last bow and arrow and practice up on to save his 12-vear.old daughter half I'd play it myself. As long as that Instead. You can use one ot fr«,r^ n!L^ri ^^t^^^Mi^ tV^^l you've laid off 350 days already you them things Just as well as a gat. from a^ flaming automoblW in an ^ ^^ ^ o^e^ New It's Just a matter of timing, accident Kalcheim turned agent year's. ^ ' Nutsy: Aw, Snake. I never used and then went back to booking, with otto: But Snake, Vve got to work, no bow and arrow. Them things ia Publix. Snake: Otto, I didn't want to tell strictly for Indians. >»«le which previously, had drawn I vaudeville and picture theatres at | Walter Meyers was succeeded by you this but I b€« I have to ^our Snake: ^'^i®"'N^tsv-^'m nj^^^^ ^Blness to bad pictures, had be- one time or another during the Harold Kemp as the Warner book- act's passe, a^^^^^ n to keep business away from year. Al Jolson topped them all at ng head and Kemp later resigned ^ ^^^^^^ but I «n the good ones. When cutting $16,000, straight. to go with NBC In the radio talent otto- Veil Snake this is the fln- ain't promising that I'll be as good «toe arrived vaudeville had no ,5 000 class were Phil I^"/®*"- "P ish. I tried to get a Job but couldn't with arrows as with slugs. slble argument to offer, so Baker Cab Calloway's band Prime ^^'^P ^ ^^'^ ^ ^^'^'"^ Now there's only on« thing left Td Snake: Does the setup suit you, -iraudeville topped the list of cuts. camera Duke Klllneton ' hand h**" ^'^^ *° commit suicide this minute If I knew Otto? ftconomlcs wa* the major issue ^nd rilnn rTm T^ndo, Pola throughout the year. the insurance company would pay Otto: Anything's Jake with me so »ost Of the year and especially dur- rg^L^^HaTr' RL^hm'^nT Lifyan No Longer a Star Maker my f-Uy^double. (Starts to walk long - I^^et^-me work and some ^ ^ t ^1 ®u ^'.^u Salaries Tashman, Weaver Bros.; Joe Cook, In borrowing from other flelds 'or ""i'^^^.^'^ajt a second Otto. Did Snake: Now that's that, boys. We touched both the high and low ex- E^^ard G. Robinson and -Hot Its headliners and forgetting about j hear you say something about start rehearsing tomorrow after- tremes and both at the same time, ^^^^ Harlem' (Bill Robinson) drew the lesser acts, vaudeviUe developed harl-karl? "oo"- ^n the meantime I'll grab a With acts receiving unprecedented jg 500- Guy Lombardo band, Olsen a negligible amount of meritorious Otto: Yes, I said Fd bump myself break-in date. We'll use rubber ar- low money playing on the same l Johnson, Thurston, $6,000; Joe talent The former smaU time fac- off If the wife and kids could col- rows at rehearsal^ so Otto 11 live ehows with acts getting unheard of ^ ^ ' ^ ^ ' \ tory was gone and the remaining 1 lect on It „ | to play the big ti me. sums. The $20 000 specialty show ^ .became a reality. Those Salaries An actor can't be condemned for $6,500; Lou Holtz, $6,600; Ted Lewis, Kate Smith, $7,600; Camel V4, Hour, Frank Fay and Barbara tory was gone and the remaining twr [ theatres offered little encourage- Snake: Otto, I've got an Idea. We ] ment to new acts or new act pro- I could clean up. ducers. With no bookings assured no ACT 111 (At the Majestic theatre, Tooth- Your kids would be taken care of swell. Miss Dally, Chances were taken. Standard ^^tay Flanagan on the phone ache, N. J., two weeks later. Tho . - - . cnances were laKen. otanaara j.j away. Otto, If you're on the »„* in hrMkin? in and Qnnke otto accepting $10,000 or $12,000 a week Stanwyck. Paul Whiteman orches- acts cautiously limped along with Ugyg, ^^^^^ that suicide crack, all we and nS are talking b^^ 11 he can get It But the effects of tra, 'Girl Crazy* unit, $8,600; Eddie standard material and new faces need is me, you and Nutsy and It'll before the first show.) such salaries on vaudeville In gen- Cantor, Marx Bros., $10,000; Jes ' —-^ xt..*„...ii «—fui.,». 1 - . _. _ "eral were not happy. The results aei and Talmadge, $11,000; Maurice had always been the same when all Chevalier, $12,000, Snake: The new finish, with you the money on a bill all went Into one spot It started at the Palace. This venerable playhouse, minus pic tures and with little more than a reputation to sell, found itself in a were not attracted. be a cinch. Nutsy'll do anything for While a few good new acts such dough except take a bath. Be here! hirting'the aWie afiT oTto comes"'up as Mills. Kirk and Martin and a at 10 in the morning Otto and If out of a nipup, Is swell, boys. The couple of first rate specialty people | ^""^ ^° through | act's going to be a riot We^ll have ,0 ... ui 1- 1- J t- I like Hal LeRoy and Mitzl Mayfalr, Presentations, which had been on both dancers, emerged, little In the Presentations with it. the downgrade for two years, Con- tinued to slide during '32. Loew, with 11 weeks of de luxe theatres way of star material showed up. Burns and Allen reached the top. but they had been established In berg's office) ACT II (Same Joint at 10 the next morn- ing. Otto and Nutsy in Snatch- Snake: Boys, If you follow In- a route by tomorrow and for big dough. But Nulsy., you got to be more careful., You hit Otto twice out of four shots with that rubber arrow in the rehearsal hall yester- day. Now take a good aim before you let go, and don't hit anything precarious spot Vaudeville was no to supply with productions shows, yaudevlile before 1932 and their, „ longer the spawning grounds for dispensed with Its own costly pro- highest status was attained through structions we'll clean up. Otto here but that apple on the last shot. I've talent and a newjahQW everx. week **"<'tion_ department in the spring U-^^,^ hr"ad^aqt«"C mi Unp Rprit. is desperate. He s got a wife and 1 got a board rigged up in back of at the Palace, with two and three and took on outside units. Finally Tgtood out as the single personality ___1-OWTd cafeh^thepttcttce-wl^^ new names a necessity, was a de- Loew saw a chance to improve to rise from the vaudeville morass , ™^'"*^^;„!l!fi^^' ^w®ivm?c.™Vfn mand that exceeded the supply, shows by appropriating the to vaudeville heights within a year, managers content to string along m> rod Instea^ The Palace was forced to draw production, girls and trim- and then on to success elsewhere, with more economical straight pic- ^^^ars ago Ind the chumps doS't more on other show flelds—radio, n»fnes extra specialty talent, but Berle thus far is big on Broad- tures. , , remember all the details, musicals, pictures—for its head- Warners, which also had 11 pres- way only. Wle standard acts, desperate for snake: You got to use the bow Uners. But It had to offer these e"*^"°" weeks, mostly locally pro- vaudeville which had supplied r*'®'''^' wildcatting in the Und arrow. A gun would look names more than a single week's dropped out but grad- rest of show business with its sticks on percentage and most of phoney. Realism is what we want, work to entice them. The former these theatres closed or went {afent for 25 years, now must bor- them wound up owing themselves That's what's goin' to make the act policy of placing the burden on the straight pictures circuit's lesser theatres by carrying the Palace acts for additional weeks became less possible with so many theatres folding up. The Palace hit upon the Idea of long run bills and ventured to hold them as long as 10 weeks if neces- sary. That solved the time problem, but the matter of salaries remained. So the Palace, in order to play 'em, had to pay 'em. It started some- thing. Other Broadway theatres with pictures to back them and large seating capacities to carry the salaries, went into the name field against the Palace. Latter had reached its limit with a $16,000 show. The Paramount hit $17,000 one week, the Roxy went to $18,000 and the Capitol sought to cover up a summer of weak pictures with a flock of- $l&.000-and-over shows, hitting the all time peak one week ' with a $20,000 layout. Even Loew's neighborhood Paradise In the Publlx still has its six big pres- entation weeks—New York. Brook- lyn, Boston. Chicago. Detroit. St Louis—but the trend on that circuit lately has also been to the spe- cialty or vaudeville type bill and I try i^ partnership with Lou Holtz away from heavy production, al- at Its dark Hollywood on Broadway, though production is still carried on but it didn't go. in a minor way. Fanchon & Marco was left as the only major presentation producer in the field. Beck, Godfrey, Bookers Changes in booking office per- sonnel, particularly at RKO, were frequent and numerous. Martin Beck returned to the 'sixth floor' after about 10 years' absence. At first his was an advisory ca- pacity with his chief concern the protection of his large Interest In the Palace and the Orpheum cir- cuit. In a very short time Beck became tho booliing hoad, di.splac- ing Charlie Freeman, who trans- „ . „„,, „„^^ I carfare back home. la smash. Why. by the time you lot row back to keep alive. tragedy of vaudeville in 1932 go with that fourth arrow they'll In the way of progress for vaude- ^be death of William Morris. be hanging out of their seats, vine, very little was done during the Another tragic note was sounded ,^t°*^?„Vi^hav2''hf; wav'' He's 2 year. Money was tight and few l the passing of the Palace, ^^^ch bltte? shot with I pls^ran* would take a chance Warners L,,^^ two-a-day It went to grind y^^aln't^'lo'crSy^biu'l a bow gambled on a^straight vaudeville | straight vaudeville in the spring, arrow myself. vaudfilms in the fall and then to Snake: Oh. so you're gettln* yel- straight pictures in November, low already, hey? Here's a guy Vaudeville never knew what the who was starvin' to death, heee'" Palace theatre meant to vaudeville bread and butter^and^willln ^to in the way of prestige until theK,^g ^^^^f g^^,, ^^p^t Cooper & Carroll, 10c picture house operators of the middle west opened up the Hippodrome. New York, which RKO had given up, and headlined the 15c and 26c ad- mission scale over the show. They were selling, the price first and the show last, and it worked at the start. Entertainment comprised a stage bill costing $150 a day and anything in the line of pictures with no holds barred. Indies, Ditto The indie bookers were still in- die bookers without changing methods or habits. They found theatres scarce, with most Indie Palace closed. Its passing was ^^ bedge. All right widely commented upon in the press you (,umb dodo, if that's the way throughout the country. But to the feel about It you can quit right now. vaudeville actor it had long since Otto: Aw, Snake. I don't want to ceased to be 'The Palace' and had quit My kids is still starvin' and degenerated into Just another week. I've got to make some money. Ill Vaudeville had 70 weeks at the eo through with it. But Nutsy » ctnrl- nt '12 and flnlqhpd with in got tO promise tO be careiul. Start of 32 and finished witn lo Nutsy: Don't worry about me. and a headache. The boys who said q^^^ 'j, q^^^^^ ^ants arrows m- things were tough when there were stead of slugs, he'll get arrows. An still 70 weeks are now taking that i won't miss. back. Meanwhile vaudeville—Poor Snake : Okay, boys, get readyi Vaudeville—is still looking for the YoiTre-bn • next. " Ntjt^t rememben guy who on Jan. 1, 1932, wished it Follow instructions and we're in tne a Happy New Year. (Continued on page 71)