Variety (Dec 1934)

Tues^Iay, Deeember 18, 1934 OUT P » O ii $ -BUM-OIIUC VARIETY 60 :V:, ' ;^lbahy,'Diec^ 17.. ^hie first pQllce Tfjd; on a theatre in ^'tbony resulted In a police court jviry*6 dlsagreeihent at 1 a.m. Satur- iay (iB) In the case of IiHllan Dlxbn, It, ot New York, on a charee of, par- tloipatihg In 'an obscene show, Miss blxon. was' Qiie of 26 girls seized vbsn police swopp'ed down oh the gVipreme Wheel . bui'lesQue ; show, 'Honte Carlo Nights,' at tfie Capitol Iiall hour after the matinee began 1(J%anesdajr (12). ■ iBdwIh W. Rowland, co-lessee and lAanager; and Georg6 p. Reynolds; |rti»ge manager, also were^ arrested. CJilef David Smurl led 25 uniformed and .plaliiclotheSj: men to the. stage and announced 'the pinch. They grabbed th«> girls, - deniylng . many the , oppprtunity tp: get /coats to cover their stage attire, aifid hauled them/to police headquarters In . the patrol wagon. ;Of the. 26 girls talten, four were released, including the member of ah adagio t6am. The dthere, were held in $100 ball .each, supplied by the truckman who hauls the vshows from Boston to Albany. , Mies Dlxbn was the fltst to lie tried.. Disposition of the .other cases remains - to. be determined, ^Kbw- luid and Harris are schediiied to face trlar today; (Monday).; ; . : Church/Campaign ; The surprise ralfj climaxed ; a Vigorous . , campaign , against ; bur- lesque by the:: EVangeHst, : -weekly^ jiubllcatlon Pf th,e Albany. Cathpllc diocese, and a tew priests, inclucl- Ingi the clialrmiari of the Legion, of Decency, anti-Improper film, church organization.' The^ cahipalgn ;began When " thV legion's chairman, thP Bev,; James. E. Kelly,. preached a sermon denPunclng the city admlnr ietratlpn for permitting stage shows bh Sunday In .yibiatfbn'of the 'clty brainance, , which/ only peinnits £lms. ■ Uhtli twb Weeks ajgo the State had a stock biirjesque troupe for five weeks. But the: attacks; were iairected solely aigainst the \Capltol. . The Wltriesisea.Mrfl'.lnst Miss jpixbn were two police detectives who re- viewed the show and then recpmr mended that It be raided. The trial toPk plcLce in police court before a' Jury of six men. Their delibera- tions resulted in a split of five to one in favor oif acqulttali After tho Jiiry'a annbtincement the case <rf"~MlsB—Dlxon^'-TvaH -continued—tp>- today (17). ; '; ■ / How Many. Irtehet One bf the detectives: testified Miss Dixon had -exposed " three Inches of iBesh Of her frontage and the other cop testified it waa 14 Inches. Defense witnesses,, theatre emplbyees and. perspns had "vtrit- nessed the show ph the night the detectives reviewed it. The cops also testified tp allegedly Improper lines spoken by the girl and comedians. Ca pitol la own ed b y W. W. Farley. Albany lawyer, fbrrner state ex else commissioner In. the. days be fore prohibition,: and former state . democratic Ghalrnian. It is operated by Rowland and Max iRudnlck of . New York. Girls arrested, in addition to Miss Dlxoh, are Mabei Sloan, Mary Sails, Teddy .Sobel; Dorothy Dale; Nan Goodson, ■ ;Ma .Berryj .Jean Currier,; arid Gerry Mitchell, all . pif ~.Niew York city;-Edna.Davis,:; Bronx; .Pay Tobie,. Eastoti, I»a.; Gertrude ;ftart, Jamaica, L. j;; Margie Bartei, Chicago; Mary Rueti Staten- is- land; Mildred Coriway, <>lyphant, iPa.j. MaiT Wrykowif, Carrie Larsen, t Anne Lawrence, Lo^etta - Carney ; Catherine and .Helen (phuze, sisters^ and Joan Taylor. - BANDIT REPEATS HbldG ifp Minne. Ciayety Twice in Minneapolis, Dec. 17. , Twice witiiln lwp weeks the same inan. held tip Mabel Itearyi gallery cashier at the Gayety, ibcal stock : Durlesque house'. Bandit obtained .120 the first time and $14 the second. ;,, - . ■ ;■ On both occasions he waited un- : til the performance got under way .and then, Jevellnfe a giin at Miss Keary, who was behind a window, JlomandocV her receipts.-After scrap- /"ff Jip the hills and change; he walked through the door and dls- •Ppeared,' Bl0ck Booking (Cohtlnued from, page' 5) . according to tiie reasoning of one of the sales leadbrs, but Just how the maJbrS can protect the Innocent ac- count la in itself a. problem, .Through the years exhibitors Who fiavor blbCk bobklncr. and are Batisfled to continue buying bh that basis, have never taken the trouble to put up a defense or join the dlstributprs on common grounds, vwiiether, or riot the sales Chiefs; who are how discusairis the questiori from the ex hibitor: point of view, -will make an effort to llrie up these exhlbs with: :theriiselves against the anti-blpck accounts is not Indicated; .Would Cost Exiiibs More; Should bibck .Bpoklrig; ever be ellmlriateed, .it would ^place atldCd work ori the: sales organizatiohs of the; majbrs, : causing rjeed fbr extra sales staffs, iaccouritln^ and corisid errtbie screerilng, , Danger of being left With half their prpgraniis. on tiielr hands, because; iexhlbs would have ' the right to pick wliat they chose, is the least of their worries, say aome of the dlstribs. This is explained by the fact that exhibitors today,:in all but a f.bw uniriiportant situatlonsV are ; actually forced' to play a lot of pictures they, don't want because 'there isn't;. enough product tp .go aroUnd, .The distributors aajr^ they^wpuld still sell the weak films, even If on the auction: block these pictures iroUght less than an advance cbn-^ tract would have gotteji under sales ori bloc. . 6n ,the: other hand,' the features of ; established boxoflBice worth might bring Julcleiv prices than now beco;use exhlbs in the av- erage sitriatlori ..would, .be .;f breed . to bid on them. Except fbr the trouble: it would cause in rea.djusting saies systems, the distrlbs claini they areri't . par- ticularly afraid bf selUhg their pic- tures Individually^ They, krioW that ,mbst of their accounts wbuld be the first to squa\yk, accounts which they claini are not in sympathy with the continued agitation :. against .the present methods of mercliandlslng. 'Besides which,: it is pointed put, every sales manager in the buslneiss would have jip trouble; .figuring out several other systems pf selling pip- ■tur.es._In_othe r wordg. according to some of the :distrlb^,,.blbck bobklrig, If ; biitlawed, would , be^ back within six months. An bpeii niarket in which pictures were auctioned off to the highest bidder wouldn't last any .Ibriger than that Iri/their bpln- : ibn. They give as their' principal reason the fact that the. exhlbitoris couldn't stand ;it. NolSMional Z-C L6em in Chi (Continued from.^;page 6) <;lause which states that Lbew*^s will not build in the city of Chicago. But there is npihlng :which states that iioew's canriot purchase hold-; ;ingS.' ■■; To Metrb the local .territory means easily $500,000 in annual revenue. ' Jones Head Man , : It appears genersilly set that if and-wJien-Jjdew's secures- .its. ,tlieai_ tre hpldlngis in this town, these houses will be . bperated by- Aiarbn Jones, who ,ripw has a group of loop theatres, arid Who has been looking for a. number pf neighborhood hous es since his ~ recent comeback into active tlleatra uijei i ali ia u-in CliI - cago. ■;:■.:-. ' - Selection of Jbnes as operator of these theatres woulid foilbw a long standing friendship between Jonea arid toew'iS Which dates back to the personal, frieridship^ of Aaron Jbnes, Sr., and MarCys Lbew, In fact, it wtis beCausp of thia frieridship that Loew'a never invaded Ghlcagoj; be- cause at the' time that LoeW's was planning auch an Invasion Johes was the key man of the loop sltua- tipn arid Marcus' Lbew. refiised tb enter into competlllph with hlni. Sandra Swenska' back into Poppy's Ciiapeau Rouge, N., Y., suc- ceeding Irene Bordonl, who. was in for only thrCe : weeks, Galii-Galil leaves to go. to the Miariii Biltriiore; Florida, for the; winter. Miss Swenska "la set on WOR /sustaining on direct bpoking by Peppy with ^. J, McCbsker, h«ad of the atatioo. (Continued from page 7) ' ■ in this code shall, 'When directed so to do by the Code Authbrity, receive any arid ail. proteats from Motion Picture Exhi.bitora against any ex- Istirig clearance .and^ zoning- ia to their • respective v theatres alleging that such clearance and zbnlng is unreasbriable In length or area. The issue raised by such protests. shall be decided by the Local Clearance and Zoning Boards .after, ribtlce arid hearing to the parties aftectedi and pursuant to the procedure "arid sub- ject tb such rights, of aLppieal as arc lirpylded in this article. .The Code A.uthorIty rifiay .direct that the^uties of the Local Clearance and Zbniri Boards shall be . performed arid dis^ charged by the hearing and deciding bt jprbtests aa. prpvlded in this sub- scotlori, instead of formulating schedules as provided iri Article VI, Part !l, Sections. 1 and 3.'. . That laat sentence gives this gist bf whit has been flnally done about zoning and clearance schedules. : ; That schedule thing is ariothei; one of those . early NRA riioyes which has conie home to rbOst;- • Wheri It was. wriftferi In the code the clause may havp sbUrid<Bd lnnbCerit enough. It even passed tiie cerebral barriei"S of . .the. administratbr hlriisblfi However, > exhlbs ■were quick to sense . the. value pf the; provisibri, to theriiselves. Indlvldrially; They lit eraliy hurled the '(luestion at ..the C.A. Then; bnly did. the: wisdom pf the; businesB .awaken arid with: a Joltl They/smelied danger. Sb they firial- ly pvercariie It by the aforemen- tioned amendment. .; Back bf the attempts: of .: exhiba to put up a price ischedule : in bp- position, to; the affiliated, theatre meri and distr|ba la the naturally in- hererit feud between these: opposr ing groups. ' The' exhlbs see per- manent .protectiori of their business thrbugh a zoning schedule written in the code and baaed ori price and additionally i)reaumably have the law's protection linger the code. . The C.A. tried to peep through the thing but couldn't see a streak bf light after many attempts, A comr mittee was appointed, to adjudicate the matter after arbiindr a dozen or more, zoning and clearance schedr ules were set up and appealed fronl and hearirigs on appeal .held' -in New York. ;■.■'>■■.:■-■■■;■:•'; .; Finally It 'was decided that the model, schedule- must come, from Kansa,s City. That'Missouri: towri was to provide the beautliful; prece- dent .of a, zpning and :: clearance schedule for the rest. of the indus- tfy to follow. Tbat, this werit flop is history Iri the trade. There was ajjTlce w ar which bust in K.C.' right Beatty^ Adkins, King^ DIVING BELLE SUES Atks Dainafles of Canadiah-; Fair : : And Mod*l . Show bh top . bf .the. lzpWng_arid c leararice squabble. Wliethei^ by deisigri pr ac- cident doesn't matter preaentiy. Whether the conimitteemen whb travelled Into K.C. were aware of the ultimate futility of their efCbirta when departing from -^ISTew York is not known. . Certainly they; knew aborit ,thitt_ •when they returned, namely that no achCdule would emerge from their k.C. journey..: tThe: much isbught for jprecedent never materialized. It lboka like it never" will;- : Nemo Roth, lisrmerly with. Harry Erigei, la npw contactlnig the pro- fesh for the Joe Mbrris Music; Co. Toronto, Dec. 17. :/ Sbquer ^to „ei: diving accident .in which she broke hbr baclcOat the Cariadlan National /Exhibition, Bella; LIchman; 20, was, wheeled , ; Intb' court on her cot to testify betbrp a jury^ in her.; $20,000- ac agairist, thb' C.N.E.;, the .Model;; Shows- of America, Cleb and. Louis Hoffman. Lowering his ybice sb that ; the girl on the cot could not; hear. Dr. Ghaa. A. Markson testified: that she wouli suffer :parialysls for life, a spine fracture in the rbgibri of the neck having paralyzed her body so that only a bare riiovement .of the shoulders was pbsslble. r Three eyeTXyitnesses ■were called but; two would ript comriilt them'^: selves. C.NiE; officials denied any responsibility in the acts of the co- defendants ;and; clalriied that the girl Itnew .bf the hizardous nature of the work. ' Counsel for Rubin Ginieberg; Model ; Shows : prez., pblnted to the terms of the Hoff- mlans' agreeriiient with Model Shows under which they undertobk ;to.:€le fend all action; arising: from -tiieir: pperaiting of the water; carnival titr traction., The Hoffniaris ha'vie yet to be wailed. Ceise has ;been ipoatponed until the. arrWal ;of -eye-wltneeses Who are coming firbm the South. SAYS RACES AT FAR BOOST THE INTAKE pes Moines, la., Dec. 17. . 'A county ifair without a good racing program and", pari-rijutuel betting is like sitting up ■with a dead man',- was the way that N. J Bonin, secretary of the Nebraska state racing commisslori, injected an age-old dispute into the Iowa fair managers convention. Betting, he tbld the lowans, has Increased attendance from 26 tp, 60%; at fairs where it has been' sanctloried and legalized. 'In Cook ocianty, 111., the amount collected from sanctions and admls sions in 1933 was $670,000. Of this amburit $397;60Q wals-paid-to county fairs for premiums.' He also con-, trsat'ed-coiidltionstin-Nebraska^: be-, fore and after, pari-mutuel betting was legalized and declared that • it had given all the fairs new life blood. ■ Herk to Wash. I. H. Herk, executive secretary of the Burlesque Code" ' Authority," If and wheri hurley ever gets set on a code, goes tP Wasiil iiBtuu llils -weefe Herk aims to confer with NRA heads on the code proposition, and find out what's -what. Mix m jFrench Imp6^ (Continued from page 17) Japan, Belglufn and Sweden, which appeared In French import statis- tics last season, are goose-eggs this time. TPtal irinportatlons ishow a heavy drop, since 86 Alms In four moriths corresponds to 268 a year, whereas during the 1933-34 season the ceri- sor looked over 316 foreigri flickers. In number of dubbed foreign films submitted to the censor from July 1 to Oct. 31, United States leads by an overwhelming margin with 93 out of a total of 124. Germany is next with 12, .then Great Britain with nine, Italy, with six, Austria with two, and Czechoslovakia and Denmark each with. one. Total of 1240 submitted In four montlis is 30 more than the total allowed to be authorized, by quota la^ la alz montlui. Hollywood, Dec. 17. With Tom Mix now the sole ownei' of the Mix Dill CirciiH, n^'ghr tiations for the proposed tour of Russia of the show are being worked out by Mix and AmsQV • bfilcialis, agenCy; for the' SpvJet .go'vernment in this country. Mix will go cast next week for more details on the proposed, trip, j; Hitch is that Mix wants tp re- main iri this country for the coming outdoor season. Russian season; due to weather, is very short and roads are not so hot for a truck outfit.. ^' ■.■, :;■;■';•■ : ■■ ?^ Mix. is presently rebuilding the show arid on his eastern trip will stop off at Detroit to buy additional truck and trailer- equipment. Per- sonnel and equipment, for the new season will be considerably - in- creased over last year; Plans are to' buy a herd of elephants, the trick struggling through the past seaisbn with a lprie bull. ■Chlcagp, Dec. 17. ; Clyde Beatty, animal trainer and box-office name, who haa been with the Ringling fprcea - for aeveral years, la leaving the outfit and ■will. be with the new Cole Brothers clr- cua: when it opens next spring. Beatty today rates, as top among circus attractions due to his work with the cats. In addition to big buiid-up with the Rlnglirig-Barnum & Bailey show In the Madison Squaire Garden In New York, Beatty is kno'wn nationally through his tours with the Hagenbeck-Wallaco; show, and two pictures for Uni- versal. ■'..; ' ; This switch of Beatty away from Ringling Is only one of tlie indi- cations of a complete upheaval in the circus world; and the first brook , in the rule of the Rlriglirig outfit as the controllers of the circus field. To many ori the inside the crack- ing in the RlriglIng ranks Is due -to the iron fist tactics of; the Sarix • Gumpertz rule, the key riian t.;t pres- ent and in' control of all Ringling holdings. At the same time with the loss of Beatty comes the desertion bf Jess< Adklns, a Ibng-standing circus exeo and laat year's ; manag er _oi_the Hagenbeck-Wallace shoW.' And stiir another well-kriowner tb fly the Rlngling-Gumpertz fold Is Floy d .Klrig who. wJU -press agent for the; ne'w Cole outfit. ; CoIe circus, which has its quar- ters at Rochester, Ind., is being op- erated by Zack Terrell, who with the backing of Wg coiri, will hit the trail next spring with the first se^ ripua railroad opposition that the Ringling group has encountered since:buying out the Ballard-Mugl'i van-Bowers combine in 1930; JACK GRIMES HEAD PA FOR BARNES CIRCUS . ; Hollywood, Dec. 17. Buster Crpniri ;haa;:appolnted Jack Grirines as number one press agent fpr the Barnes Circus to replace Flbyd King,, who has been trans- ferred to the' Hagenbeck-Wallace outfit •In-ari-executive capacity. • .Other p.ii.•^9 bn■ the shWafe'Cllfe" McDougall- and-Bernie "Head. " -Ben"" Atastln; gerierar ageritr Teft" hereTast week for a three-week .Vlsk to hia home in Houaton before starting on hia country-wide swing ahead of the show Ja.n. 6. f- Thia season, the three p.a.'s: will all ■work ahCad a;nd bacic: ■with tifie' show,' Working their towns up to the day the show plays the spot. Three-Week Layoff Worcester, Dec. 17. ; Burlesque ; : suspended here at Worcester theatre for three weoka by Ben Levine. Stock company expected In February after another few weeks of strippers. Resort Burned Down ..:„Bu.rlingloji.Jlz:t.,JD£:c. J.7... The four main buildlrigs at.'.Ij.akb. Shaftsbiiry, "Vermont, sgmrnei,'., i cr sort, were destroyed ^by fire. • Stviic-. tur.es Included: ia. ^arge , d.irico pa- ; vllion, dining hall,' kitCheri .and Htore,, owned by John James. Los.q. estimated at " tl4.000; waa partially covered by Insurance. : Elects Bosses Dos Moines, Dec. 17. J. P.• Mullen, Fonda, named presi- dent of- the Iowa State Fair assooia- tlori, and F. E. Sheldon, Mount Ayr, v.-p. Board of directors Includes E, T. Davis, Iowa City; Paul P. Stewart. C, Ed. Bemeri,; Carl Hoff- man and Sears McHenr.v, COREY RE-ELECTED pe.s Moines, In., Deo. 17. : ' A. R.^ Cpi-ey, Do.s Moinos, has; been named secretary again for the 1935 Iowa state fair. : ' .. , Board of directors also ' najned P. ii. McBroath pf Whiting treas- urer.