Variety (Mar 1934)

RADIO SCREEN STAGE PuMbdieA W^Mr at lU Wart Mtl| St, K«ir Tork, N. T., br VarietFt InC' Annual subiorlptloiu $«. Slntta coptM, IS oenta. Bhiter(»d u Mcondi-cl^ju matter December 2S; 190S, at tbe PoBt OfClce at New Tork, N. under the aot of Jfareh t. 187*. ' . COrinuOHT^. 1»84, BT VARPSTy, INC. AIX BIGHTS lUBaBBVgp^ .' Vol. 113 No. 12 NEW YORK, TUESDAY^ MARCIl 6, 1934 72 PAGEiS BURLESQUE'S LAST STAND C B. Cochran Pr^Iianiig Sk P^^ ir, Coward as Londont BCarch. 6. • Chiarles B. Cochran' is preparlite the biggest onslaui^ht on Broadway made by any native or foreign pro- ducer In years. Through the com- ing fall and .winter he Will stage M least six pl&ys there. Shows intended for . Broadway are: 'Mother of Pearl.' musical, staged at the Gaiety over a year ago. Starring Alice Delysla; 'Nymph Errant,* which just terminated a five months* aticcessful run at the Adelphi, another show in which a woman. Gertrude liawrence, is the commanding flgure; 'Conversation Piece/ with Yvonne Prlntemps and the author, Noel Cowftrd, figured a« a good bet for a quick clean-up after its run at His Majesty's the- att«: 'Magnolia Street,' by I^ouls abiding, due at the Adelphl «arly in March, «.nd expected to be good here for four to five months. In the case of 'Magnolia,' although the location is lAhcashlre, it could easily, 'and^ may, be "switched to New York's East Side, with a Uttle. free adaptation, while there has also been some talk of Max Gordon (Continued on page 67) Beery as Mc&aw D. S. C PRODUCfflG A FULL-LENGTH FEATURE Hollywood, March 6. , The ' motion picture class of the University of Southern California iff producing a feature picture as part of Its course in photoplay technique. ^ Group had' its own original Pre- pared under title of "The. Oval Por- trait,', and outlined shooting script in class. Students assigned as direc- tor. cameram&p« assistants,, props, and, other membei's' of pr6dii<6tion personnel. '. Metro h%§ furnished the class s'tahding sets and he&ei^sary light^- in^ e4UIt)tn$nt. Studio has Small standing-by isrew assigned to the amateurs to see they operate equip- ment without damage. ' No Work, Ell! So Actors Wreck Booking Agency Minneapolis, March 5. Police suspect temperamental per-: formers for the wrecking of ■> the GoldierConnell. agency here. The offenders broke into the estab- lishment and tore it apart. They smashed a plate glass window, turned oyer the flies, pulled clothes but of a closet, tore pictures and ^drapes, ftyrn^^e^ wall, rippe^- open suitcases and wrecked tbingsriirseh^^^^^ eral. But they didn't take a thing, even passing up $.250 in cash that wast in the top drawer of an open desk.. The police claim some actors da-. cUled to take it out on the agency, due to the lack of work tu-ound herd lately. Hollywood, March S. The Little .Napoleon,' baseball story by Itichard Carroll baaed on the. life of'the lafie Jbiin J. McGraW, has been boiught-. by Metro. Studio has Wallace Beery iii tnlQd for the patt,^ with Clark Gable as the college boy who inakes good. FORDNEWSRra MAY^ME NATIONAL ^Detroit, March 6. Henry Ford Is bankrolling a Ideal newsreel with an eye to expanding it nationally if it works out. This is a development which , has been rumored for'years with the national, scope talked about off and on. Eacik time it has been denied. Newsreel is strictly local in char- acter and. is the 9ame~ type as financed first by the'i>etr61t Times as ah adjunct to its nabe theatre directory. After being.dropped..for a wbile the Detroit News took it up strictly as ,an added service,. Film was . shot ' arid . prpdaced "by the .Metropolitan Fflm Co. locally. J Same bomp.ny }s now producing and 'ail Ford gets Is the title 'Ford News'. 'While ..most shots are in bound, audible comment is also made by. Al Weeks, formerly dra- matic editor of the Free Press. A. J. BALABAN BECOMES F&H THEATRE PARTNER ChicagOj March 3.. A. j. ]Salaban returns to active show biz as. a partner with Fanchph & Marco. He will be associated in the (Diperation of F. & M. theatres with Marco and Harry Arthur and presently Is making a tour of F.&M; theatres .in the middle west with i^Marco. In accepting the F.&M. assocfa- tioh, the elder Balaban nixed sev- eral offers ifrom-other firms which have been after him. ever since his return from abroad when he let it be known he would again become active, The elder Balaban sold, out his interest in Balaban & Katz to his past two years he has been living in Europe. - Prior to that he headed Paramount's talent and shorts pro- duction in the east. A. J' Balaban temporarily re- tired from' sliow business upon going on vacation, abo>ut two years a«ro. N> Y. M»Mgtr» Preparmg for Final Battfo in Irring Place Indecency Gaye— Cleaninji Up Meanwhile Mardb 4 Deadline en Dirl Ordered for 7 The- atreB by 1. H. Herk RAZING RUNWAYS Burlesque is girdin«r itself for its last stand. The Issue is the charge of indecency lodged JafiraU^st 10. per- formers and a mapacrer XoUowinff a raid on the Xrvingr Place, New York, regarded by everybody in. the bdsi- n^ess as the most serious censor- ship Issu6\ ever to confront bur- lesque. ' 'iPhe battleground wlU be Special Sessions court.' Meantlhae orders from within are to qleah/up all around in anticipa- tion of the likelihOHOd that strip stuff and t|ie dialog that goes with it Is finally on the way outi "While the general intent is to op- pose a censorship iiiow that may kill: burlesque once and for all, some of the* few important man- agers stUi connected with burlesque question thiai advisability of istaging a spirited fight. This faction feels tha.t despite the' strippin^r and dia- log limits to which some theatres have gone, business for' those houses has. been none too good any- way* All abblreviation of their con- tention, amounts to, 'If we wiii, so what?' Held up as. an example by the managers who believe there's noth- ing-to fight for is the Irving Place, itselh This house, adjoining,'14th street, has apparently been, until the raid: two weeks kso, i.mmun$ from Interferencte from' the autlior- iti^s. Strip Women ,and.6qhiiedtans were permitted t6 efo further there than at any other burley house Ih; (Continued on page B9> Play-6f-the-Monih Gljily For Chi on Stook Cue Chicagiij, >Iarch. 5; Taking a cue from th^ hook clubs the Studebaker here is planning to present a new gag: the .'play-of- the-month club.* Belying upon the slogan to sell the system to the public Idea belonging to Horace iSlstare, fs to book each play in for a full month, no more or less, no matter how strong or weak at the box-office and to plug it as the choice='Oif^leading^drama^8howmen:. and critics as'the play, of the month. Sistare now has 'Elizabeth Sleeps Out' running, but is figuring to go into the new policy with the com- ing of Easter, Is<negotiating with James Spottswood and Thomas Ross for the 6pener. Coinic^rtaKe Hal Roach's talent scout .is hawkshaWing for conilcs on radio stations, musical sliows, little the- atres and othet* likely spots.' Producer says there . Is a . decline in* crop of funsters available for pictures, and only Way. to: get new talent is to dig; CWA CONCEDES TO THEATRES' Newburgb, N. T., March 6. • The free Recreation Center In the Armory hla been Closed at night In order to prevent the local tfaeatr«» from shutting up shop agaifist coin- petitloa they could not overcome. The center was tpalntiitlned by the CWA. City Council and School Board and was conceived to pr6vide jobs for white foliar workers. Theater managers warned the Center ^vas such stronsr opposition that the theatres, would have to close, thereby depriving 97 . persons of Jobs. The ofilclals decided It would be better to protect the steady.-workers r^tber than the emergency. Jobs. riUedEdnb LiO'Adon, March '6. ■ First titled picture house proprle- 'jtor In England is the Marquis de 'Casa Maury' ' He opens the 'Curzon Cinema- in Mayfair^ toiriorrow (Tuesday). It is in the most fash- ionable district of Ijondoit, and seats, only 600. Prices wit be iilgh, but the Marquis, hopes to secure paying j patronage. Initial program will have as its feature 'Unfinished Symphony,' Continental fiim Miami, March 6. • . This Florldlan resort and Miami Beach are over-dosed with, gambl- ing. There are 3$ nli^ht clubs >of one sort or another and every place has Its game room With every conceiv* able device to liir^ those who take ' a chance. In addition to the game Joints,, gtenibling accompanies tho rape track,, Jal alal, boleta and the dog tracks. Seems that every other ! place is a handbook stand. ' Squawks that -monnt to- a roar from shop keepers and!1t>usiness men are tn the effect that tlio «amblinflr fraternity is .so greedy that visitors have littie coin left for. legttlinat« purposes. And they : are worried about how that, plus the high prices; is going to affect trade next season. Miami has also probably seen ltd last biff prise flaht. GENERAL FOODS' BIG AFTERNOON ASSAULT General Foods IS mapping out the most pretentious cieimpaign of mat- inee entertainment yet undertaken in network broadcasting. Victual packers' Idei^ is a daily different type of proffratu running; an hour on NBC's blue link (WJZ) each aft- ernoon from Monday to Friday In- clusive. One afternoon would be devoted' to all dance music, another' to a Symphonic concert, a third to a dramatic show, the fourth'a* variety melange, and the fifth to guest celei>s froni" yarlpue fields of en- deavor. Hookup in' each Instance .would be .from coasit. to coast. Garbo^O'Neill Play Garbo in an Eugene G'Neill play is a possibility for next season. . Proposal fcbmifes from Hugh Ford, close friend of the dramatist. Film S t a t>' s . .professional appearances have been jcpnfiped to the screen, but It is reported she is not en- tirely adverse .fo the stage idea. KATE Fir^ ini Foremost CIS fti^ ON T0UR-MAIIA6EMENT TED COLLINS