Variety (Mar 1935)

R AD IO SCREEN Publlahed Weekly at Itl We»t 46th St., New York, N. T.. by Vartity, Ino. Annual •ubacrlptlon, 16. ajngle copies, It cents. Entered m aeconil-cIaM nutter December 22, .1906, at the Poat Office at New fork. N. T., under tbe act of March I, 187t. . COPTRIOHT, M35, TARtETT. INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Vol. 117 No. 13 NEW YORK. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1935 64 PAGES OFF-TO-H'WOOD in Prince Edward First Mangan Show London, March 12. Looks like the' new mode of en- tertainment on the style of the Ca- sino de Paree of New York will shortly hit the West-End of Lon- don. Several have been promised In ' the ■ last few years, l)ut a real attempt Is being made, by A. E. Btone and A. Segal at the Prince iSdward theatre, which coat them ll.OOO.OOO some three years ago and has, not housed a hit since. J^Ianagemeiit has applied tp the liohdon County Council for permit to ■ turn house into an 'eatery-the- atre,' with the license expected to he-granted In April wheh the L.C.C. Entertainment Committee meets. House can be converted in four •wteeks at a cost of ?50,000, and it Is^ figured that Francis Mangan, ■whose company is connected with Begal, will stage the shows, which arc to be comprised of a troupe of girls and some international stars. Sliow- to ;be. dovetAiJed_in.to_. revue -form- of entertainment. ■The nut- •will be $5,000 per week. House will be able to do $25,000 per week. Lew Leslie is also after a ven- ture here to be operated similarly. Tlie Alhambra mny be his spot. Air Salesman Wins Own Talent Contest, Sponsor and a Trip Lanca.stcr, Pa., March 12. Jack Byerly, singing radio sales- man, was voted winner In WGAL's professional entertainer contest and' draws a sponsor, a trip to see bright lights and several other opportuni- ties arranged for the No. 1 voice. Byerly sold sponsor the contest idea, so wins all around. He also collected commlsh on sale, prize dough, a vacation ttnd to top it oft the new sponsor, a clothing store, slipped him a suit. ASK STATE SUBSIDIZED MINNESOTA SYMPHONY St.tPaul. March 12. Bill has been introduced In the hou.se asking., .an appropriation, of $150,000 annually for the next blen- nlum for 'estabHsiiment arid main- tenance of a Minnesota State Sym- phony Orchestra.' Ork would comprise some 100 to 125 muslckers, at $1,200 to . $1,500 annual stipends, a conducter at $7,- 500 a year, and a deputy commls- flioner of music at $3,500. Latter would be appointed by the state commi.sloner of education. Winter concerts would be held throughout the state, and admission 'would be such as to permit the pub- lic generally, to attend.' Fi'ee con- certs in paries during the summer aro iiroposrd. Who's to Blame? Maria Rasputin, daughter of Russia's Mad Monk, atid a wild animal trainer, com© over to join an American circus, told ship news reporter^: 'I like tigers better than men. Tigers attack from the front, men_ strike from behind.* Holtz again? THE GIRLS SUP AS TOP SONG PLUGGERS For the first time In years no femme Is Included by the music publishing trade as rating among the top air pluggers. Consensus of opinion in publisher and: writer i-anks accords the foremost ability to get a song started over the sheet counter to Eddie Cantor, Guy Lom- bardo, Fred Waring, Rudy Vallee, Frank Parker, Ozzle Nelson, Ted Flo Rlto and Jack Denny. Paul Wlilteman, in the publishers* opinion, continues to hold his status as ace bellwether for the aspiring combos In small towns. COME AND GET IT Government, Publicity Seeks Home Owning Borrow^ors Baltimore, March. 12. Administration's Better Housing Commission that has loaned in ex- cess of $5,000,000 to Marylanders with which they are^ refurbishing their realty properties has a press agent, Doug. Sargent, will use all angles of show biz to tell the public how to borrow from Uncle Sam. New . series links WCAO and Loew's (vaudfllm) Century. Each week acts from the theatre will go on half-hour period^ on station, at end of which programs, an authority on Better Housing will explain t'o public how money ma.v be borrowed from government. Travel Deluxe Yiddish ijtoo:. company playing split weeks betv.-een Cleveland and Pittsburgh has been worrying about the tough railroad fare between the two towns, but finally has It-flgurcd out. Made a deal with an undertaker who works In both spots and he moves the entire company back and forth In a^earsft. SEE SCREEN BOOM OOE TO ISTIIIBE Dancers Being:^ Lined Up for Parts if They Can Talk— Af Light Comedy Types — Several Signed, Testing More STUDIOS HEARKEN The prancing boys on Broadway are busy dusting oflE their cleats and seeing their agents about screen tests. It's all in anticipation of a boom for hoofers In pictures. And traces to the; click by Fred Astaire through his screen .dancing. Also that studio talent scouts In the east have lately shown a willingness to listen when any dancer's name is submitted. in addition to Astaire,- Bill Rob- inson is already~at~worl£ at" Fox arid Metro has both Eleanor Powell, who goes to Hollywood this week, and Ray Bolgcr, who starts In July. That Metro hasn't stopped '. at two is indicated by a scheduled. New York screen test for Nick Long, Jr., this week^ What has the Broadway bunch steamed up. however, is that danc- ers are now being considered for parts, in addition to dancing, whereas in the past a dancer's only chance was in. a production num- ber, or as a double for a star in hoofing sequences; Ginger Rogers and George Raft were stage danc- (Contlnued on page 59) EDDIE CANTOR AS PROGRAM COUNSEL Eddie Cantor and his business manager. Ben Holtzman, are open- ing the Eddie Cantor, Radio Con- sultant offices. The comedian starts off with Lehn &^ Fink's product, Lysol, from the same organization which sponsors Pebeco with Cantor on CBS Sunday night."?. As 'radio Consultant,' the com- edian-Impresario, describes himself as a program advisor rather than (Continued on page 62) Eth and Band It'll -be 'ICthcl Barrymore and band." and no kiddln', on the Palj.st- Bcrnle air program March 1!). M1.V3 Barrymore, guest-starring, will sing a pop with aecompauinieiit by the Bernle orchestra. Blue Black and Blue from 2 Fla. Tries-No Hits, No Runs, 2 Errors Show Business Harry Carlln, indie booker, Is pfCerlng acts «. seven- show weekend In Troy, N. Y., to be played In seven different theatres. One team wAa offered $27.60 for the date If they'd' drive the other four acts up from New York in their car. BEAUCOUP B R. FOR FILMS TO BE HAD Hollywood, March 12. More eastern money is now avail- able for picture production than In the past 16 years. .Bankers and in- dustrialists are known to be Inter- ested in Universal'J reported sale and are making financial overtures to independents. As one Indie producer put It, 'Money is the easiest thing to get these days. All you need is a re- leasing tieup to assure an even break.' STEP ON 'ER, NEWT No Speed Limit on Cal. Highways; Court Freea Lederer, Who Did 68 Visarlla, Cal., March 12. State's 45 mile speed limit on the oi)en highway was knocked into a cocked hat by a ruling on the ap- peal of Francis Lederer, film actor, who was sentenced to five days in jail for hitting 'er up at 08. Con- viction was reversed and actor went free. Court upheld contention of Led- erer's counsel that there can be no violation of the motor vehicle act where life ari'd 'pr6"pertj'' ls ribt"~eri- dangered. Speed boys are now: taking their buggies out in the country to see if that factory boast of 100 miles an hour is really true. Reversing the customary proced- ure, Ben Blue.returned to Broadway last week to recuperate from his trip to Florida. Blue could have done better spending the winter un- der ether. It all happened when the vaudevllllan • turned impresario twice. ' Blue's initial promotional effort was a sixrday bike race that be- came a no-day bike race. His flrdt move was to lease the Cinderella ballroom in Miami. Then he sent for a Newark bike track expert, who took the measurements - and then notified Blue that, after installation oif a track, the arena would hold ^00 customers. After-Blue put more pressure on, the track expert figured It out to Where the place could stand 600 cus- tomers, oilly there'd have to be 20 laps instead of the usual 10 to a mile, and the track would have to slant at 80 degrees. Which would mean all the riders probably would be. killed at one time or anothor dur- (Contlnued on page 59) With No Legits on Tap, Local Little Group Doing Okay Easton, Pa., March 12. What the Little Theatre groups can do to legit was evidenced dur- ing the past week. It's posslbly'be- cause no' road shows are around. Little Theatre company of Allen- town presented 'The Return of Peter Grimm, for one week to ca- pacity audiences, the' S.R.O. sign being put out nightly. The Little Theatre company at Lafayette College gave 'Journey's End' for three nights to packed houses. Take at. AUentown for the week, was estimated at $5,000 and at Lafayette $2,000 for the three performances. This is money that could well go to legit productions, If there were any. P.D.Q.—New Meaning . Baltimore, March 12. WI-'BPw, which holds the local ex- clusive on Trans-Radio Press Serv- ice, has bagged a sponsor for one of the daily' four periods (early morning) rlovotcrt to the news. Phillips Packing Co., a Maryland firm, has taken the period, which is now listed as 'P.D.Q. News Re- porter.' The P.D.Q,, of cour.sc, to bo Intcrpreto'l as Phlllip.s De- lirious QualitioH. SOUND FILMS HELP CURE STUTTERERS St. Paul, March 12. University of Minnesota speech clinic, under Dr. Bryng Bryngel- son, Is now using sound motion plc- ture.i as an aid in the cure of stut- tering students. 'When atuttcrer." conio Into the clinic,' says Dr. Bryngclson, 'they are unwilling to face the fact of tlioii- .stuttering. A film Is taken of lliC patient In order that ho may -see and h'-ar lilni.self as others do. Onco J,hoy sce'aiul hear thcmsblve.s, tlie lli-st Btcp towards the cure id i-cttiovod.'