Variety (May 1934)

RADIO STAGE Published Weekly at }E4 West 46th St.. New York, N. Y., by Variety, Inc. Annual subacriptlon, |6. Stnsle copiea, li cents. Entered m second-class matter December 22, 1906, at the Post Office at New Tork, M. T.,- under the act OC Mftrch S. IVtt. COPTRIOHT, 1034, BT TARIETT, INC. ALI. klGHTS BEgEBTED. Vol. 114 No. 7 NEW YORK, TUESDAY, MAY 1, 1934 56 PAGE^ JIMMY WALKER-ACTOR ize Price-Cutting War Is Mpk' Best Free Show, Killiiig Amus. Minneapolis, April 30. .- Theatres bere have been suffering from opposition created by the l^ottest liquor price war in the city's hJkstory. With' all the loop booze establishments trylnir to undersell one another and with many brands lM|Iner sold at considerably less than «wt, the populace has been on a ^vblskey and wine spending spree, mp& much money that otherwise 'mlffht be going for entertainment liBS been used to stock up on booze. iSloreover, huge crowds have lined the pavements in front of the liquor stores to watch- the fun, getting this free show instead of patronizing the theatres. ; Sidewalks in front of the stores took on the atmosphere of stock brokers' ^ticker rooms, with prices In and on windows dropping as they do on the ticker tape during a stock market crash. The war has spread throughout the entire loop as rival establishments try to meet the com- petition. David Arundell, state liquor com- ttissiOner, is. prohibiting the stores from displaying prices on or In win- dows or mentioning prices ih any way. on the outside. This follows a ban on newspaper, price advertising. He- states that the dealers' 'dis- e^cefur activities have stimulated liquor buying unduly and helping to create drunkenness. MRS. FJ)Jl TO OPPOSE SOBBIES IN SPELUNG Washington, April 30. ■Mrs. Roosevelt will head Imposing list of unannounced celebrities in spelling bee scheduled on CBS at i:80 toniorrow night (Tuesday). Team, which will oppose local news- paper galis, also Includes Rep: Flor- eilce kahn and Rep, Virginia J^ncks. Alice Longrworthf Mrs. Eugene Myer and Mrs. HOm'er Cum- idlngs set as judges, with Sen. Ben- utet Clark as chief pronouhcer^ "Stunt expected to run full hour f^om. National Press Club for bene- fit of milk fund and femme-reporter fellowship foundation. Beer Garden with Films Portland, Ore., April 30. • Combination, of films with lunch and beer is so?m= t6 becTjme=a real- ity In Portland, at the Columbia Gardens. .Through the facilities of the 'day- Hght screen', now being installed. It win be, possible to show the flick- ers while the. auditorium is fully lighted, thus making It possible to serve beer and food while films are projected. .Stage show', a nine piece orches- tra, direction of Harry Linden, to round out the scheduled aU-shorts ProgranfL Horse Witli Memory London, April 30. White horse used in 'Three Sisters,' current Hammersteln- Keri^ Drury Lane musical, seemed familiar to Jerry Kern. On investlE^ting he found it -v^as same horse used in 'Sunny/ produced at the^ .jHl podroihe in 1926. To test the animal Kern had . some) one hum a few bars from 'Who.' Horse immediately pricked up its ears and almost Stood on its hind legs. RED' lA. TOWN SHUNS H LMS, OKES RADIO Ainana, la., April 30. A year ago a radio was unknown in the Amana coloiites, a Commu- nistic old world society whose mem- bers worked for a common purpose and a single society treasury. Town itself has a population of 600. Turning^ to a sen.i-capltallstic form of government with a corpora- tion,, the .thousands Of .Aie.nibers who now receive wages have goiie mod- ern. Autos, the home unit, rather thaa the community kitchen, and 24 radios within tho confines of the five villages are now revealed. Corporation and membership is one of the wealthiest In these parts. None of the woolen mills having been shut down during the. depres- sion, most -working oh an Overtime schedule, with work for all. Motion pictures have yet; to in- vade the confines of the villages. Sam H. Dncks to Bermnda To Dodge Those Touches Although having spent all winter on the Coast, Sam H. Harris went to Bermuda a few diays after the Jew- isir"'rhearrrcar'GuT[3'"^ and <3eorge M. Cohan's honor, at which function it was declared fromi the dais that neither could say 'No.' Bermuda fadeout was to duck the rain of touches that followed pub- lication of the event But Cohan had to stick on the boaurds for 'Ah Wilderneiss,' and his touch mail ma- terially picked up. So did Harris', and he'll find, that out when he re- turns. EH.y T 'S HBEE-WAYBID Is Considering American Acting Propositions— Peal for Filmi, Stage and Radio Commercial GOOD WILL ANGLE James J. Walker, New Tork's former mayor, now residing in a London suburb, Dorking, may re- turn to the United States next fall for professional personal appear- ances. Should current negotiations ma-^ terialize and tho terms prove ac- ceptable to both sides. Walker may be involved in a threo'-way book- ing embracing pictures, radio and the stage. The total money men- tioned in the negotiations is in the neighborhood of $500,000. At present Walker is concerned with a 'corporate matter, represent- ing an American industrial com- pany in a European legal case. He expects it will occupy, him for the summer, at the end 'of which time he would be free to talk show busi<> nessi. Charlie Morrison, agent, went to London last month with several New York theatrical propositions for the former mayor, ifor the pur- pose of determining Walker's atti- tude toward possible stage and screen appearances! Walker was reported as amenable. Since his return a little over a week ago Morrison has been nego- tiating by 'cable With Walker on (Continued on page S4) Pulitzer Winners Several dark hori.F>: will be an- nounced as winners of the Pulitzer prizes, when the awards are made this week. Biesest surprises, will be in. the awards for thei best play and best hovel, in both cases being works that were not, at first, con- sidered, favoriteii, '>ut which won out after detailed discussion by the award committee. Prizes will be;' Best play—'Men in White' by Sid- ney Kingslvsy, pubil^hed by Covici- Friede and produced by Harmon & Ullman In association with the Group Theatre; . Best nQvel—'Th^g jLan^b His Bosom' by Carolyn Miller (Har- per). Best history — 'The People's Choice' by Herbert Agar (Hough- ton-Mifflin). '; Best biography—John Hay' by Tyler Dennett (Dodd, Mead). Best book Of verse—'Collected Poems of Robert Hlllyer' (Knopf). Best ...orelgn correspondent of AniericEtn newspaper—Frederick T. Birchall, New York Times, for his stories on Nazi Germany, FiYe-Day IQtA Week Gres UnpreceM Spriv FiL-Sat Kz Fans to B.V.D.*s Chicago, April tO. With the Worid's iPalr man- agement still' set against femme stripping this year, the Streets of Paris bunch had to think fast to get some sJt. Into . Its show. concession has jnade ar- ra-ngements for a dally style show. The lookers will not only model dresses, but also iatrut their stuff in negligee. CAMOUFLAGING GERMAN PiX FORUS. In order to avoid the sales stigma against German film product, Ufa Is hiding. Its Identity on a . number of films and shipping them around as though manufactured by sonlebne else. Several French language films have been brought Into the country by Ufa. These are, for the most part, French versions of German talkers, made by Ufa with part French and German casta. First of them is 'Adieux' t^es Beaux Joiirs,' current at the 55th St. Playhouse, N. Y. No mention of Ufa anywhere, however, and- the producer Is screen-credited as being Alliance (jlhematographlque Europene. That's the name of the French office of Ufa. Also ih the credit sheet Ger- man names have been dropped and French names play6d up. Query about who is distributing the film brings the. answer that 'distributor is not yet set' and that the film is on view merely on consignment from the 'French producing: company* while deals for distribution are pending. It's handled by the Ufa office ih New York, Ufa's regular German product is being played in only half a dozen or so German nabe houses through the country, although even at the 79th St., New York, In the heart of York- vllle (German nabe); thia Ufa trade- mark is covered over on poster dis- plays and advertising matter or avoia?d"ttitoffcthw;"^-- = ^=^"^^^^^^^^^^^^--^ Hoters Bronc Bally Hollywood, April 30. M. ttlrsch, owner of the Mineral Springs hotel at Beaumont, Calif., is backing a series of western pic- tures as a means to get publicity for his hostelry. Bob Hoyt is proclucinff the pic- tures at. a cost of around- $fj,UOO, Ed Cobb Is starred. Week-end strength of Broadway legits Is a SttrprlslnflT feature this spring*. Heretofore, there was a- dlsUnct tapering off In attendance, while, as summer .approached With the out-of-dOors season, Mondays were better than Saturdays. Re- Verse Is true now. Reason lies In the Increase in leisure time provided by the five- day week under the Impetus of the NRA. Improvement has been no- ticed, on Friday and Saturday. Two shows listed as p>rlze win- ners figure to gather fresh trade frpm the attendant publicity, ^Men in White' apparently walking pff with the Pulitzer prize, while 'She Loves Me Not' copped the ycomedy award of the Dramatists Guild last we^. Both shows are aimed for summer contlnuaqice. Added to the summer holdover list as lined up at-iUls time Is the 'Follies,' first reported aa due to fold. ' Revue, under reduced oper- ating costs, should make the sum- mer grade, especially with few new musicals In sight and the metropolis due for an unusual visitor Influx. Two run shows are due off next week—'The Pursuit of Happiness,' Avon, and 'Big Hearted Herbert,' BUtmore. Latter entered into a cut-rate deal that may keep It going a while longen Former Is slated for London. .That goes, too, for 'The Shining Hour,' Booth, with its British cast Intact. Final weeks are announced, but no definite de- parture dates set. Three musical revivals are on the spring list. 'Bitter Sweet' starts at the 44th Street next week. "The Chocolate Soldier' Is the ilrst of a series which starts at the St. James this week. Gilbert and Sul- (Continued on page 48) MPLS. CALS GET EVEN WITH EVA LE GALLIENNE Minneapolis^ April 30. By maklilg her the target of its spring frolic burlesque, the Woman's Club, town's leading feminine or- ganization,, got back at Eva Le Gal- llenne for her recent bawling out of local residents. Mrs. Arthur Jewett, qtie of the city's '400,'. .impersonated Eva, and did not spare the^ actress in words or gestures. 'The iPresldenf's Bawl Out' stood out in Targe lettering on a,many-?tiered-c ake: wh lch .Mrs. Jgw^^ ett auctioned off in Imitation of the'"" occurrence which c^'Used Miss Le. Galiienne''s" trouble. 'Louder, louder,' came the voice of Mrs. Robert Welskopf, another member, from the balcony.. 'My voire has been hcjard on bet- ter stnpe.s than this, but never In a more lou.sy auditorium,' was the an- swer from the stage In 'imitation' of Miss Le Oallienne. 'Good taste flrjcs not pei'Mift me to u.se the word* 1 sliMiiltl—foul.s. Idiots, morons.'