Variety (Feb 1936)

RAD 10 SCREEN STAGE e Gals, Debs Cornering Adv« Modelling; Look More Intelligenf What was once easy pickings for the Broadway chorus and showgirls;; I.e., the modelling field, is ho\<r al- most entirely-closed to them. Col- lege and Junior Xjea^ue girls, with a lair sprinkling p£ older society jnatrons after ispme plnmoney, start- ed to invade the field a few years jftgo and now control the market. . Not that the nitery and musical theel 'n' toers don't measure, up to ithe standards necessary to display £flrdles, step-ins and 'brazzes' to -their fullest appeal—and they can .handle a cigaret. with all the In- .eouciknce. of a Park avenue deb—- ;but they just, seem to lack 'that in> ■telllgent look,' which/ along with rsrdneral; poise, is seemingly more der -Blrable to advertisers right now .than strictly pulchritude. Debs and college grad models, most of whom -tiould^ also give the pros a run for showgirl jobs^ and give the adver- .tisementsy according to the model "^agents and photographers, a tduch .of class. Besides their poise and intelligent phizzes, taste in dressing is second nature to them. .The pros, however, were as foreign to an ermine wrap as 'dese, dose and. dems' to a Harvard prof. Chief Job of a model is posing for *ftd cameramen. Scale ranges from $5 per hour to $26, though some of (Continued on page 22) Postpone Bookings for S.S. Queen Mary's Show Negotiations for setting talent jpn board the Queen Mary on Its maiden voyage slated for this spring, have been called of£ for the time being. Recent death of ICIng George Is the reason. WOR's artists bureau was to set the talent. Sailing date Is May 27. CBS will broadcast the Crossing. A Shortage of 'BiUies? This WiU Fix It All Up Spartanburg; S.Cv Feb> 4. They're tuning up fiddles, banjos 'arid guitars in them thar hills npWj a-gittin' a-ready fer the big doln's and mebbe a trip to the Lone Star state later on. Event is the ninth annual Moun- tain Musld, Folk Song and Dance Festival to be held In Asheyille, a- comin* warm weather. Winners will participate In national meet at Dal- las, l^st year's 135 winners went to the national and a year previous 71 Journeyed to St. Louis for the first national. Some got radio jobs. Can't Take It tt took January's, ice, snow and zero weather to ptove how many can't take it. Rail and plane lines to winter vacation points tell the story. Trains to . Florida put of New Tork ran . In four, sections. Tjafiic to the west coast was also the heaviest in years and ° It was a problem to secure sleeping accommodations out of Chicago. owes listeners Than Pres. Roosevelt In line with Its recent policy of rating etherizations ot important political and social events, the Co- operative Analysis of Broadcasting's current listing shows figures for Al Smith, Sen. Joseph Robinson, Presi- dent Roosevelt, and the burial of George V. Tabulation allots Smith's Ameri- can Liberty League blast (Jan. 25, CBS 10-11 p.m.) a percentage of 23. Robinson's reply (Ja,n. 28, CBS 10- 11 p.mO garnered 19.4. Roosevelt's Jackson Da,y address (all three webs) hit 32.6. And the burial of George V (Jan. 28, CBS 8-9 a.m.) rated 15.7 in the east, south and midwest. Smith's percentage is surpassed only by Major Bowes, Jack Benny and Riidy Vallee; the President's only by Bowes. Smith had moist listeners in the east and far west, with the midwest third and the south a poor fourth. Robinson rated highest in the midwest, next best In the east, third on the Coast, and a strong fourth in the south. Bridgeport-BVay Train With Cocktail Lounge rldgeport, Feb. 4. ' Broadway, to and fro, plus cock- tails and sandwiches, is the latest excursion wrinkle of New Haven railroad. Saturday night theatre train leaves Bridgeport in time to make New York legits and starts back shortly after midnight. Cocktail lounge car included: B. 0. UP .OEIIL IRKS A. K;S Old Guard Patronage P'ro- ' tests Johnson's Changes^ New Faces Replace Old Time Met Celebs, but Tiara Crowd Wants Na mes-— Cool to Show- (3 Top Tunesmitk Go Pictures as Tm Pan AOey Moves to Hollywood manship BIZ 47% BETTER Although the coin is rolling In as it'Irseldom has befdte," It's! by no means smooth sailing dawn at the Metropolitan Opera House this sea- sonv The biff music armory Is hav- ing its best h.o. season in some years. ■ Also it's setting more pub- licity (measured by the ream) than it has in years. But back of the doors of the private offlcies and around the conference tables there is some furious puffing and fuming over the Met's 'new deal* and par- tlculs^rly the s.a, stuff. Seems the Met still has an Old (Continued ott page 57) RU» ALIEN ACTORS'BILL Ju$t Close Your Eyes BufiEalo, Feb. 4, Radio artists take some pret-* ty romantic tags such as 'The Poet Prince,' 'The Dream Sing- er,' 'The Voice of Romance,' but the prize to date is that used by Raymond t>. Foley, WBBN commentator. He's 'The Voicie of the Stock- yards.' Washington, Feb. 4. Surprise move to expedite alien actor legislation was made today when Chairman Dlcksteln called a heaving for tomorrow (Wednesday) on a hew bill putting foreign actors and musicians oh quota basis. New measure comtainf g essential fea- tures of different proposals Ihtror duced last year slated for speedy committee approval although op- ponents expect additional time to ca;il witnesses and submit objec- tions. Little advance warning was given on hearing precluding possibility of witnesses from the west coast at- tending. Critics' Box Scores Mid-season Box Score on the New York and Chicago film critics will be found on Page 2. Dramatic orltics*' scorrf on Page 53. See Tank Towns Hungenng for B way Legiters Esiston, Pa.,,Feb.. 4i Are the so-called tank towns ready for legit shows? A recent rail ride to New Tbrk City revealed that they are. There were dozens of people on that train on the way to see a show in the big town. Such trips are being made quite often, now that the railroad com- panies have put a . new round trip rate in effect. It. costs only $2.92 from Easton to New York and return, ticket good for three days, and only a few cents more froni Allentown and Bethlehem. These three cities, within an 18- mile radius and a total population of nearly 300,000, appear to be hun- gry for good shows, such as ap- peared in those towns not so many years ago. Hollywood, Feb. Not since the first music ruiBh to Hollywood during advent of talk- ers have there- been so ihahy top line songwriters in Hollywood as today; Business direction of the nduslc biz, like Alms, retnains head- quartered in N.. Y. Latest check-up oi! active com- posers now settled here shows a total of 63 leading names and an equal number of more or less un- known composers yrho sell melodies now-^and then to .tbe studios. Of the b3 active tunesmiths, 33 are either ^steadily - employed or under contra^ct to fitodios. Balance of , 30 are oh the freelance list workihg from picture to picture. During the first Influx of com- posers in 1927-23 songwritiers mi" grated here In droves with War- ners ahd Fox topping, the list' with contracts. Paramount was a, Olose third and between' the three .the total contra,cf list exceeded 75 as agaii^st 33 lender contract to all of the studios'toaay. t Today Metro tops the list tor (Continued on page <G2) 1st Straw Hat Wave of sub-zero .temperature hasn't dampened the spirits of sum- mer theatre imprejaarlps, who are already laying plans for the forth- coming blossom time. Dated Feb. 1, Day Tuttle and Richard Skinner, who operate the Westchester Playhouse.at Mt. Kleco, N, Y., sent, out announcements of opening their barn June IS for a 12 week period. Will also operate the Rldgeway, White Plains. Slight Switch Rome, Feb, 4. In America it's 'Red Sails in the Sun.set.' Here a pop hit is titled 'Black Shirts in Abyssinia,' Is Costarred Instead Of Soloed, Pic Actor Sues; Wins $3,300 Paris, Jan. 26. Local court has ordered Milo Films, producer of 'Black Eyes' to pay ?3,330 damages and costs for having billed Simone Simon as Joint star with Harry Baurin the picture. Both Rauer and Miss Simon had contracts with the producer stipu- lating that they were to be 'flrst stars,' and Milo Films thought It was getting but of the difficulty when it put both their names on the same ilrie, Baur thought different- however, and awed. .„for $10,000 danlages. Court decided that Baur's contract was prior and his naipe should have been on a line all by itself, but ex- onerated the distfibs, soaking only tlVe producer. ' Changing Drink Habits St. Louis, Feb. 4. Americans are becoming,'civilized drinkers' again and there is less drunkenness than during prohibi- tion, Graham Hall, international prez of Hotel 'Greeters of Americai, told members of the St. Louis Chap- ter of Greeters last week. Americans once partial to whis- key, how also favor Vintage wines. Hall said.