Variety (May 1934)

RADIO SCREEN STAGE Vol. 114 No. 11 Pabilahad Weeklr at IS* West ««th St, N»w Tork. N. T,. br V»rl«ty. Inc. Annual sulMcrlptloa. ••. Single cople*,^ IS cynU, Entered m ■econd-claM matter December tS. 1»»S, at th e Poit Office at New Tork. N. Y., ander the act of March S. lilt. COrnil OHT, 19U, BT VAMBCT, inc. AIX BfPOTS BBamVBP. ~~~ NEW YORK, TUESDAY, MAY ^29, 1934 56 PAGES CHARITIES GO FOR NTHRIES Pitdmien Steal Ou h^b Openmg As Rig-W^s Muzzle Concessions Chlcaero, May 28. Pitchmen swiped the entire pubr-1 iicity and business wallop of the opening of the second edition of the Chicago World's Fait on Saturday ' <26). Due' toi a mix-up in the ad- •• mihl^tratipn'offlces of the Fair per-; mits allowing the concessions to '4>pen were withheld. Concessions were largely ready to ■go when the gates swung, open at - 9 a„ m. but the Pair wouldn't give .them the oRay to get started. -Of- cflpiais held up the entire proceeding by refusing to send in the cash reg^ ' tsters and cashiers. COhcesston- naires went around the ground$ J tearing their hair and howling but J the Fair offtcials Just shrugged tlieir : shoulders and said they were very ■ sorry. But they weren't half as • sorry as those dining room conces- sionaires who had stacked iip with chickens, meats and other perish- .able viands. They ha.d to let the stuff rot In their iceboxes until the .Fair heads made up th6ir milnds to .Telease the permits.. False Start Some concessions forgot about the whole thing and Just. locked their •doors for the day and chalked the 'loss iip, as another gay experience ;of life. Others threw open'their -doors and let< the customers roam .'around, the concessions on sight '.seeing tours, and chalking that up lo advertising:. They made no coin .since .they couldn't charge the en- tre^nce fee wltliout having permits (Continued on page 50) Chinese Phone Exchange In Frisco to Broadcast San Francisco, . May 28. KPRC win emanate a specia:i transcontinental for the CBS net- work on June IB (6:45 p.m. PS'T) when lines will be run Into the Frisco Chinese telephone exchange, only such phone center in the world. The Chinese bilingual operators who are selected for their knowl- edge of the numerous dialects^ .will be heard putting through- actual bialls, and Loo Kern,, manager, and son of the man who started the ex- change some 35 yiars ago, will be interviewed, with Ed Fitzgerald of the KFRC staif probably doing the spieling and .quizzing. Ijocal Chinese presidents are called by name, not by phone number, and operators must know the names as well as . numbers, and be able to speak each of the 20-odd dialects. N. Y. THEATRE OAEEYS FOR GOBS WHERE ACTORS ONCE TROD BUSES WIU ROLL Elimination of two Broadway th^*- atres by razing rather than by di- lapidation or third run picture grinds, would take out the. Bijou and Fulton.. Ilouses back tip to each other on 45th and 46th streets and It is proposed, to spot a bus sta- tion on the-K:omblned sites. ] Deal ls on with the Shuberts and Walter Reade. who contvpl the Bi- jou and the Eriahger estate, which has the Fulton, virtually in accord with bus proffer. Some question about the Fulton end of the prop- osition, however, because the Er- langer '.ate is in litigation. Re- cently the court ruled that owner- ship stock of tiie Fulton and ad- joining Gaiety theatre, along ith other realty, belongs to the estate and not rightfully a. gift to Er- langer's kin. Latter are expected -to appe,al^the--decisionr^i'et.=J.t-Ja possible the court may permit' tiie. sale of the Fulton, -with the con- testant.'? flghtinff it out over the proceeds. Bljbu was recently offered for commercial use ' which led to the bus terminal plan.- Report that the owners were con.'fidering renting It for dime museum purpf'^f'"'' w^.s set down a.3 unfounded. When the fleet gets In Thursday (31), the New York film theatre cir- cuits are going to play Santa Claus and hand out passes to the 50,060 sal ties. -Working out plans with the Mayor's Committee, RKQ, Loew and Paramount have agreed to allot a set number of free tickets to the Navy. Warners ha,3 decided to give passes as prizes for athletic and other events in which naval men will figure •while here. WB dealt (Gontinued on page i9y FOR Bie MMEY Orgranizations Ducking The- atres, Prizefights^ Operas, Etc.—Clubs Find Extra Revenue from Charity Events Weak Nights Now Quite Profitable PREVIEWS INVITATION TO A SLAM WJSV Speaker Wants to Punch Profane Moron Washington, May 28. Record for strongest, language ever put into local mike Is how held by Arch MacDonald, sports spieler for WJSV, Columbia outlet Fan called up .statioo earlier in day and poured stream of profanity at telephone operator because Wa.sh- ington was lo.siiig ball game with S fc-—Lou is=-and=----used-T-re.st--^ of=.-hi 3. vocabulary to berate station. MacDohald, burned at way .'fwitchbqard femme had been talked to, took five minutes of hi,s air time to invite the guy to come up and get punched on the nose. Called him 'low-down .skunk,* •'de.splcabK- rat' and 'dirty louse.' Papers all carried yarn, .but no response has come from culprit. Chicago, ISCay 28. Promotional charities here have deserted the theatres, opera, prixer fights and .dog shows and have gone into the dine-and-dance field for their moheyrraising stunts. So- cieties and . charity enterprise^ are finding that the best way to raise the do-ra-me 1» to charter a nitery for a' special showing. With theatres, the opera and' prize-fights In. the alley, there are ho avenues of money-raising left In these fields. In the entire Chicago area at present there are only three leglt shows runhlng, and two of these at cut-rates. That gives the charities no excuse to charge any big coin for ducats, and therefore no rake-bflt for their end. Nite clubs, however, are not only on the likely charity promotion spots because of-general public ac- ceptance of this form of entertain- ment, but because of the easy coin split for the charities. Theatre ducatB have a natural limit to the amount that can be charged, but there's no top to the nite club rate; Usual tariff for a nitery charity af- fair is five bucks a person, but sev- eral parties recently thrown jumped as high as per attendee. And' if things in general continue to get better. It's likely even this top price win be lifted. On a regular flve-i>uck ticket the charity association is able to gobble the. bulk of . the take, receiving three Of every five fins for its share. The nite club, however, is plenty happy with the two greehs for Its share, and for those two skins shOves in a full dinner plus the show and dancing. Clubs are practically guaranteed a sellout, ^nd capacity means plenty of profit for the .joints. ress Rehearsals Nearly all nite clubs sell out to charity groups for their opening (Continued on page 21) Too Much =--=-ErierPa.i-May-28v™ Ai Vees, stage director and playwright, took a flyer in radio at WLBW. Erie, .He quit when the station handed him a book of rules and demanded a depcsit to guarantee the return of the book. liquor Companies Newest Angels; Looking (or Tieups on Broadway 'Chain Gang* Libel Suits Settled, Then Dismissed Atlanta, May 28. Two $100,000 libel suits brought against Warner .Brothers Pictures^ Inc., by^Judge E. t». Ralney and G.' A. Johns, of the Georgia Prison Commission, bascTd on the motion picture, 'I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang,' have been settled out of court 'for substantial amounts,' It was learned heri^' when the suits were dismissed In superior court. The prison officials claim they were libeled through certain brutal scenes in th^ film which was made from the book, 'I Am-a Fugitive,'^ by Robert Elliott Burns, ah escaped convict. John I. Kelley and Edith Camp- bell, attorneys for the plaintiffs, announced that the suits had been settled but would not divulge the amount. Under a judgment of re- traxit, any grounds for action were forever barred^ Four similar suits, resulting from the film already have been settled out of court. Several others are pending. DROUGHT CUTS MIDWEST FAN MAIL 75% Chicago, May 28. Most unusual radio phenomenon of the drought that has pestered the midwest during the past three weeks has been its effect on the mail count.. It.has practically eliminated all mail, the count having dropped more than 15% in some 20 days. It has been the sharpest and deepest drop In mail response since the ad- vent of radio.' Mall from the rural sections was practically annihilated. Only the metropolitan areas retained any semblance of ..letter-w:rlting habits. The farming clcnieht was too brisy, too hot and too worried to take the trouble to pen a note for a sample of sOme freckle lotion. Slump In the letter replies has eau.sed many advertisers to rein in their expenditures, and-many adver--. tisers who started out with the best Intentions of continuing on in full blast through the summer have sent in counterma^nd orders. This takes in such big radio usfers as United Remedies, which In the past two week.i has sllcod deeply Into its ra- dio expenditures throughout the midwest territory. Fresh bankrolling £6r Broadway ts in sight, coin coming from distillers, wine makers and brewers, Judginf; from the Interest shown by the wet goods people,' who are. looking to^ the stage for exploitation. Npyelty of post-prohibltlpn Is over and the myriad brands of booze, beer and wines Is resulting in Intense com- petition. Recent advances are reported to showmeti from sponsors of bottled goods,' .who sought to have brands displayed or mentioned during >per7 forn\ances, or progra.m:j[!r'^ited,-ib- dicatlngr. that Br^ftdtway .endorse- ment is highly desirable. Of^et^ from the booze and Wine interests - aire claimed to include cash bpiiusesi Several distilleries are said to be considering the angeling of shows for the specific purpose of plugging the product. Importers of chaixiV pagne are considering a tie-up with ap incoming musical, and another In the making has had nibbles from whiskey people because of booze scenes In the show. Many of''the brands which were popular before ' in*ohlbition have been virtually forgotten* and there Is a scramble to establish, the new names. Even the imported liquors that became best known during pro- hibition are competing for,attention, but mostly through newspaper and magazine ads. American liquor is being criticized as to quality, and the better brands are in a stiff fight to win recognition as being on the level. At least one park in the metropoli- tan district Is angling for brewery backing. In New York State brew- ers are not allowed to finance wet spots, as was formerly the custom, and'are using other methods of ex- ploitation. Booze money is not new In show business.. , Fr.o.hihitlQO.saw a number of productions on Broadway having bootleg * backing.' 'Kiit there is a marked-differencfe'trt procedure. The bootleggers • >put--coin • Into, shows under coyer,,. ^Uher for purposes profit or dlyerslpn, whereas the dis- tilleries,, wineries knd breweries to- day are seeking to popularize brands through .and. on the stage; Social Reeioigiiition At -Capitol for Weh .Aimonncers Washington, May 28. Raicllo won another unofficial step In" it.s""battl6"ttr^ln-^quajlty-with- press In official .precincts of Capital when Invitation list to Mrs. Roose- velt's dance for 'Washington news- paper fraternity last Thursday (26) came ,'out. Bob Trout.. CBS presidential an- nouncer, and Carlton Smith, NBC White Hou-qe man, got bids along with one engineer per net.