Variety (Apr 1935)

RADIO STAGE Vol. 118 No. 3 Publlah*d W««U7 at 114 Weat tilix St., New Tork, N. Z., b7 Variety. Inc. Aanual aubscrtptlon, 16. SlngU coplai, 1( centa. Bntarad aa aacona-clasa matter December 22, 1906. at tha Poat Oftlca at New York, N. T., under the act of March I, 1871. COFIBIOHT. 198B, BX T/UUETi. IMO. AIX BIOHTB BUBEBVGU NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1935 64 PAGES DIME NOm AIR STUFF OUT Prod. Budget and 52-Week Actor Payroll Group Theatre's Oddities What Is probably a new low In production cost la the current double bill of the Group Theatre at the Longacre, N. T. Plays cost less than $350 to produce, Is in the theatre on a sharihgr arrangement, and everything outside of the the- atre's en^, apart from tha $350 in- vestment. Is co nsid ered v elvet- since salary to actors or staff doesn't enter into the calculations. One actera are "Waiting for Lefty' and 'Till the Day 1 Die.' -T-hat_CDmea_Abi)iit_.througli._±he. fact that the Group Theatre's ar rangement calls for full salaries to its entire membership, whether working or not. With more than half the cast out of work because of the few employed in 'Awake and Sing* at the Belasco, Group ilgured It better to stick on another play or two to occupy the others, with salaries in those instances consid- ered gravy. Fact that the two pne-acters drew close to $6,000 on the first week, while 'Sing,' is clicking along at a profitably steady $9,000 pace, makes things that much better. Group Theatre Is oi^anlzed along unique lines. There are 33 mem- bers and all of them have consist- ent, thougli varying, salaries. No- body gets less than the code mini- mum of $40, but only two of the 33 are in that category, all the rest getting more. Top salaries are' ac- (Continued on page 14) Canada Bans Sunday Air Selling; Socks U. S. Network Commercials Shutting out sales talks on Sun- days over Canadian outlets of NBC and CBS, Canadian Radio Commis- sion has banned even spot an- nouncements on all Canadian sta- tions on the Sabbath. Date of the new order will not be set until a study Is made x>t existing contracts. CRO will also have to confer with national advertisers who had con- tracted for Sunday time. When date is fixed, Cofnmlsh has decreed that 'advertising on Sundays shall be confined to good-will programs of a high standard only.' Explained that announcement of 'spon.sorship will not be prevented but no sales spiel. No Customers Paris, April 2. Balmy is no word for these early Spring days in Paris, and matinee bla la nosediving while crowds sun themselves at sidewalk tables.. Result la that Club d'Artols, neighborhood showcase showing Amerloan fllma, had to call ,ofI the ahow one afternoon because the ftrosa was exactly zero. Kids Breaking In Los Angelea, April 2. Walter Hampden .goea Into the Pasadena Playhouse In 'Achilles Had a Heel,' new play by Martin Flavin. House la strictly showcase and pays Its actors nothing. If " play clicks, Hampden will take it on ths road. J. C. Nugent follows 'Achillea' with 'T he World la My On lon,!_ In which he topa the cast and directs. THERE'S GOLD IN THAT DUST Salina, Kan,, April t. Dust storms which have covered the midwest for the past two weeks have caused a lot of havoc, but they have also been responsible for a zoom of local advertising busi- ness on every radio station in the smitten territory. All midwest transmitters have found It a simple matter In the last two weeks to sell special announce-. ments for laundries, rug cleaners, suit cleaners, paint and varnish stores, wall-paperers, eye lotion manufacturers, etc. In most instances it meia.nt a Jump of 60-75% In local announcements, especially for the stations in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri. Music as Opiate Mexico City, April 2. . Health department is using radio to Jazz up free vaccinations it Is administering- against smallpox and other diseases in poor neigh- borhods here. Open air vaccina- tions are accompanied by radio Jazz concert3--which make- inoculations a pleasure, department avers, Car.s conveying doctors and nurses on these missions are equipped with radio loud speaker sets. Sprightly tunes attract patients. People of poor neighborhods used to balk at vaccination, "but ra- dio Jazz makes them receptive to treatment, says tlie department. A Future , Detroit, Aprl) 2. Hotels hereabouts are malting re- placements in thoir doormen and bellboy staffs from ushers and door- men recruited from theatres, Book-Cadillac's dfjorman was formerly at the Michigan theatre, while the Statler has. on its bellhop staff oeveral ex-theatre usher*, PRESTS CHAFE FCC INTO ICTl Lacking Censorial Powers Commission Must Fall Back on 'Public Service' Leverage—HopM Industry WiU Housedean Goose- pimpliei Kid' Shows and Patent Medicine Annoy- ers MAY CURB COPY Washington, April I, Drastic government cleanup of broadcast programs la now being plotted, a consequence of recent shake-upa In the Federal Com- municatlona Commiaslon. Forced to use roundabout meth- ods Commlsh la planning string- ent application ot the public serv- ice clausea of the Communica- tiona Act in conjunction with rigid enforcement of all technical regu- latlona in far-reaching attempts to throw off the air lanea stations whose conduct haa brought voluml- noua complaints and whose actlvi- (Continued on page 68) Dougs Pic Finale, Miss Pickford to Prod.; No. 2 Mary? Though retired from the screen, Mary Pickford. wants to produce and direct a picture herself, under her own financing. Among other things she has' in mind a femme personality - who will, carry on- the. Mary Pickford tradition and whose professional surname may also be Pickford. ■ Doug FafrbariRs is also through with pictures, according to reliable sources. 'Private Life of Don Juan' marks his final appearance -on the screen, although he may occasion- ally, take a flyer in travelog produc- tion. He also retains his financial interest In United Artists Corp. At present he's on a yachting crul.se. Local Color. Hollywood, April 2, Liberty will , make 'Holly- wood Hotel,' an original by S'cott Darling. Characters are film actors, writers, directors and agents. The heavy a mugg from VAUiarrT. Mussolini Organizing an Opera Troupe as Opposition to the Met Double (Czech) TaUc Prague, April 2. •Man With Courage' (Fox), based on the life of Mayor An- ton Cermak, of Chicago, la ready to bo shown here. Con- sidered Important hera be- cause Cermak waa born In Czechoslovakia. Film was held up becausa Fox, In Hollywood, added some _Czfich_dialog... When-print-got— Here no one could under- stand the Hollywood brand of Czech and It had to bo re-re- corded Into the kind of Czech that Czechs understand. HOLLYWOOD OFF STAR ATHLETES Hollywood, April 2. Athletic stars, signed for pictures primarily because producers want to capitalize on the publicity build- up, are on the wane. New attitude of producers is that It's seldom worth It unless they can make the grada as thespians. Major pro- ducera have experimented with athletes from virtually every field of sport, and the more prominent survivors In Hollywood today are .Johnny WelsmuUer, Johnny Mack Brown and Buster Crabbe, Latest to go is Max Baer. Para- mount has dropped all plans to star him In a second feature. Bridge After Dark London, April 2. Bridge Icsspnl for cabaret audi- ences have been introduced here, Richard Lederer, Britain's No. 1 ex- ponent, has-becn-€ngaged-tt5-discuss the game with patrons at the Troc- adero restaurant. It is the first time bridge lessons have l)cen given In a restaurant, oltiifr hcTC or In America. Lederer appL'ars ut.the 'Tj'xjcabarct' and af- terwards mingles with guests to dlsfu.ss Individual bridge problems. Agua, N; J7 ' : Agua Calicnte" moves to Jc-rsoy under a hookup which Mare Lach- mann Is promoting. It will bo a re- plica ot the Mexican resort, and so labeled, although privately., engi- neered with N. J, politicos .okaying the idea. It's planned for Bergen county and to Include a dog track, roadlioiisc, swimming pool, eto. Broadway will have Italian grand opera next season, presented along the lines of the Metropolitan, but In opposition to the Met's revamped schedule. Plana for the new oper- atic organization are well under way, backing coming from the Ital- ian government. It Is reliably re- ported.- - - Italy alms to maintain its prestige In the American operatic field and flgurea ita famed operas may bo more or less submerged with Gattl- ■eaBsaza~outn»rtTi«~Menind HerberT" Wltherspoon In charge. Latter, as representative of the Juilllard Foundation, which came to the Met's rescue flnancially. Is working on a schedule which will lighten the bills next season, terms .of the agreement whereby the Foundation coin became available stipulating that lighter and newer musical forms be mixed with presentations of the grand opera type. Orders to set up an organization for the presentation of Italian Works only are reported -to have emanated from Premier Mussolini, That is In line with other activities staged here within the. past year or so un- der the patronage of II Duce—the Black Shirt Band and the ylsit of Italian prize winning students. Italian consulate in New York in directing the operation of the now operatic project, although the Ital- ian Steamship Line is the actual (Continued on page .I?) Newsreels Bidding on New Deal for Quints; Parents to Tour Again Chicago, April 2. Newsrcci companies are all bid- ding for the rights to the Dionne (luintuplets pictures now that the Patho contract with the Can- adian government cxpli-cd yester- day (April 1). . New pTctu're on tlfio qulniH, to b» made shortly, will be a two-reclcr, much In the nature of the first two- rctlcr_an-the-babIes-mado-by-Pat-her IJndcratood that Norman Alley, in conjuDcLlon with Metrotone, Is th« high bidder at present. Another plan that will likely go through will be the booking of tha (Continued on page 14) AGNES AYRES IN CAFE WITH QRL ORCHESTM .Schenectady, N, Y., April 2. A^nds Ayres, former picture star. Is now the fo.icure attnaefIon, with. her Hollywood Debs dance orchcs- Ini, fit the I'uraill.se, Troy, / Oilier aets In the floor ,slio\v dro Kalnliow 'J'rlo, Doryce and Fi/ed \)vcw, Ilnyt Meredith, Donnle Lyona ' and Krcd Cote.