Variety (Oct 1936)

70 VARIETY JLESQME Wednesday, October 21, OB IT UARIE S FERDE SIMON . Ferde Simon, 41, vaudeville agent, ied Oct. 20 in New. York. Widow, children and a brother, Irving Simon, survive. Further details will be found. in the vaudeville section of. this issue. MABELLE BRODERICK Emma Mabelle. Broderick, 83, for- mer opera singer, died in her home in Aurora, 111., Oct. . She .was a member of the first casts of 'The Mikado' in America, and had sung with numerous opera compar ni , lastly- with the Anna Held, com- pany. , '.. This would appear to be the Ma- bella Baker of the stage, wife , of George roderick,. baritone. She sarig Katisha in 'Mikado'. and did other " ilar roles In Gilbert and SiaUivari operas as well as in other productions^ She was one of the out- standing -'operatic cbrftediennes her G. LEVY Jose G. ; Levy, 32, manager • and dramatic;-author / died 'at His .London homb, Oct. 8, following ill- ness. ',.'.'V .. Deceased had adapted many plays from the French, and for his services to French Dramatic Aft in England, j^e was awarded.the Legion of'Honor. ;by the .French, government. He. was the' proprietor of .the Strand Theatre, and "lessee' arid manage* of; the Lit- -Theatre, - where he staged the Series of Grand. GuignoV plays in 1920, and was responsible for many .othier productions , at this; house. ' HERBERT GLICKAUF Herbert Glickaut 60, veteran newspaper/ man and pibneery road agent for musical cbhiedWif Arid nur- tures, died in Chicago, Oct. II, of pulmonary cojhplicatipns. He was lor many years a police reporter, for the QldL Chic^o, Qtfonicle^he.- Gity vP^^.v, ; Btir^iU and ;the Chicago Tribune.;"^ v.-'.v Became press agent for the LaSaile theatre and later .went oh road.ahead . of several Chicago' produced, musi- cals. Later he piloted 'CamiUe* and ^irtfr of '■■. Nation* pictures, -. ^Burial in Chicago. JOHN F. REDMOND . .; F. Redmond, S4, who saw most of the United States, from the top of a pair of stilts; died Oct. 10 at Aultman hospital, Canton, .V from pleuro-pneumonia. Mr. Redmond, . . resident of Los Angeles, was returning west from a sanitarium in :New':Jersey,;.when he was stricken. Nationally known as .' i-Jack' Redmond, he had been a stilts walker for more than 30. years, much of . the tinie with the major circuses of the country. Surviving is a daughter iii Los An- geles. Burial in Canton. WILLIAM CAMPBELL William" Campbell, 45, who has beeri headquarteri in St. Stephens, N. Bv, , since early summer, taking engagements in niteries and picture theatres both sides of the Interna- tional border, ied of a heart attack at Little Ridge, N. B. . He : collapsed on the stage at the end .his turn, , dying ' a, few miritftes later; He had been making professional appearances ;for. the past 20 years. ' '"•' HARRY DANFORTH Harry Danforth, ^5, for past six years in charge of Elkjs Lodge; MiK. waukee, Vlied Oct. 20 of heart failure. He . was owner .and-, operator of Danforth circuit in.Wisconsin of over 21 houses, sold out and became . one of the' largest'theatrical: agents in West " He was lalso a. ; : newsp.iap;er:-■ manJ Survived by widow. FRANK C. PRIEST Frank C. Priest* 58, former. St. Paul showman who managed Shu- bert theatre, stock shows fox many years, died at his home there Oct. 16. Survived ' by his ^ widow and one daughter. Burial in St. Paul; JACKFRECLER Jack Freuler, 56, for the past 18 year?, in the still department at Uni- versai? killed hinTgelf^hrLos Angeled Oct. 17. " His wif e .and two sons survive.. . ;'Wifeof:BiU'''i^6ma>C of NBC'S New York press staff, 7 died, in, "childbirth 'Oct. 3 in New York. She Was 25 years, old.' > r. Wife,, 27, of Ernest Logan, manager of the Capitol theatre in St.' Paul, died Oct. 11. (CpniihUed from page 5> '■ this gre{»t^Wt >e can look to even greater pri)duct and ^eveii greater : Zujkbjr;:-;^ thoroughly optimistic aboyt busine^ and about quality of production He knows what is going v hi the studio and, in. every hook and corner pt }t.. Every day finds IHm at his desk .at an eariy'hdur. : He. never leaves the" lot before 6:30 p.m. His offtce-is-the scene of 'one confer- ; ehce afjieir a^pther. ; ..J. ■.' N6ver.u l;>day ^ passes./that Zukor doesn't 'stroll^about the lot, . Visiting every" , He -calls, grips by their first names andV his smile is as much Paramount ^institution the mountain on'. ite\,tradeiharlc. .'. ., T '' ]peijn^:ih v SthjB show'' Usihess tor 33 years: ?i, have had a bhanc;e to; know what cph^ittites 'shpwmanr stu^ and whait/'wiU floj^i Thai's why "doiti^; th# .'^''toltKe^itisf^cr ■ti^tiV ipfv biltpxhibitors. It all gets back tp'the one word: Showmanship. It ;ish y t''anything that fcan'be defined ih words'. - It' is simply something that must be understood; ,. 'tThdfer . our present scheme, of things we don't go off haifrcocked. We start at the bottom' and lay put ' ,a' picture just -as art architect would design a house. We insist.that, every phase of the production; from camir era arid props , to. the cutting: room, function in; ison and; on lines that are' dictated by JtHat ' something which constitutes, showmanship^ Showmanship Basts To getah '''...idea': of what \ I; mean, you need only to look over .our cur- rent pictures. They're made on a showmanship basis and there aren't ahy ^blushes when anybody mentions . thei narne; Just consider these, pictures, which We have made or are npw making. • is policy: Texas Rangers,' 'General Dies at Dawn,' 'Valiant Is the Word for Carrie,' 'Big Broadcast,' The Plainsman,' 'Chaov pagne„Waitz/ ; <Maid. of Salem,*/.''Col- lege Hpliday/ 'Jungle princess/ 'High, .Wide, and Handsome,' *M orti- ing, Noon and T^ight/ ISouls at Sea,* .•Walkiki TlTedding/ 'Safari' and 1 he years Ate'Sb. IibngV 'V .The elaborately furnished office which Zukor now shares with his son, Eugene. Zukor, is in strange con- trast to the little general ' store in Aisce, Hungary^ where^. he Worked as a youth and saved the paltry sum which enaued^Um. to. land in the "U.S. ih 1808,' ;a friendless immigrant v/ith pnly .JM ^ .hjs naine. '. ZuHor was successively an uphol- sterer/ amateur boxer' and .l2»seball player and thehv pne ;day he ipund himself .a partner in a fur manufac- turing concern,;. By' 1904. he could have retired on' about $150,000, but a relative, Max Goldsti , interested Zukor and his partner, Morris Kohn, i the penny arcade. - By' 1905 he was running a. .gtrihg of motion pic- ture theatres -ih partnership with William A. Brady. . Xnxer's '' Zukor saw the day. when the pic- ture' business faced extinction' be- cause the Motion ' Picture Patent"" Cp.,° vrhich had a. monopoly, pro lions.' Zukor formed Paramount Picture Corp. and tied in Lasky Fea- ture Co. product and Bosworth Pro- ductions with his own Famous Players to provide exhibitors with 104 .pictures a year—two. a week. From that time on Paramount, with its production arid releasing or- ganizations merged, grew to gigantic proportions. : The .others drifted- away, formed their own units. But Zukor remained at the helm. ; . Like every other business of the boom days, Paramount became too complex. and when the depression cracked down upon the world Par* amount took it. " the in. In every cloud there is a silver lining, 'tis ; , and not. without reason. Some wise heads saw to . it that. Adolph Zukor. was made a trustee o£ the bankrupt outfit. What he. did to pull. it through, set it on its' feet and saive it v for creditors and stock- holders, alike is now well known to the trade arid financial world. Which is the reason Why the show busi takes its hat off to one of the ingest 'little , men . has ever known. r Burlesque Revieivs , In celebrating Adolph years With Paramount, the com- pany is planning a four months' sales drive in 1937, January through April. This drive was discussed at the three-day district managers' convention held in *'. Fri- day, Saturday and Sunday (16-17- 18 ), with subsequent plans to be car- ried but between now and the first of the year. Neil F. Agnew and^ other distribution executives, to- gether with, publicity department representativeSj fl£w to . St. is', for the threerday meet. , The four, months' sales push will be known' the Silver " Jubilee drive. No prizes' will be giveri, as in 'most: drives, to the district man- ager, exchange , 'arid . film : salesirien bririg in the best results; but ex- pected that quotas may be set for the-sales 1 force to ' shoot at. . It is in J937 that Ziikor celebrates his 25th; year in the picture. indus- try; ".' _ All. Paramount theatre . operator^, arid pafthefs will 'ne contacted for cooperation, in putting over the four months' • drive. After: the push is over, - Par will tender Zukor a ban- quet, either on the Coast or in . New York. Santa Glims, Inc. (Continued from page 1) ^.v'» '«i«. W h«., ; ^othlng:*©: crah-abou^,- Pive-act-bfll. iection, would riot turn out quality^^^^ ^^comprase* pictures.. That was why he took in Daniel; ^Frohman^as-- a partner 1 in 1912. He wanted Prohman to bring to pictures the clas% that /belonged to the stage alone. Sarah ' - hardt made 'Queen Elizabeth,' a four-reeier, in 1912, and : new era of pictures was.born. • The/ Usiness emerged from the; nickelodeon, tqi the de luxer. ' .:.' ' '' Zukor has always believed; in:high; class executive talent to; supplerii'ent drawing names.. He. ired Albert A. Kaufman; B. ;.P> Schulberg and Ed- win S* Porter, the latter ParamOunt's flrst; director. .'; " Eor.talent;he engaged..such names ais Sarah Bemhatdt. James O'Neill. James K. Hackett, ' Minnie Maddern; Fiske. John Barrymbre and ; Mary Pickford. He was^making good on his slogan: 'Famous Players in Fa- mous Plays.' And the public re-, spondod. It wasn't all honeysuckle and roses.--, Zukor; plunged in every dime he- owned.. Mrs.' Zukor pawned her jewels and .Frohntah ..came through with; a life-savingioan of, $50,000.. Jesse L. iasky, . Samuel Goldwyn and CeciV Bi De Mille went into par- neVshi'p iri 1913 and moved, to Holly- wood; where a; va'cant barn became the"-; studio* . They turned'but class pictures. ;^Ttie Squaw Man' was. followed by - 'Brewster's Mil- by kids would clip coupon and send 10c,' also was spurned., Several;, .vaude' arid radio offers hanre likewise been turned down j be- cause it was believed it . wpuld be too cheapening . ; ■ Unlikely anything will be; done this season in commercializing Santa, agency preferring to wait uritii some* one ;con>es; through, with a more suit- able'; offer. Understood a food chai is .readying; a. Plan next year,' whereby Santa will be put on radio, and kids asked to send in car- ton top with, letter for which they- will get a badge.. CASINO, PITTS. Pittsburgh, Oct. 16. Looks like George Jaffe, vet bur- lesq impresario, has at last fbund the right combination. First break came late this summer, when Variety, house he operated for decade and last season turned oVer to Izzy Hirst when going got too tough, was con- signed to ash heap and torn down tp. make room for parking, lot. That left* hurley cue field to Jaffe alone again arid it's taken him five years and plenty of coin to discover that the twb^a-day at $1 top is defin- jr over. Vaude learned that some time ago. It took Jaffe longer. He's grinding 'em out now and he's iri a swell spot for that policy. Casino is the old Harris theatre, one of town's first, vaude spots, and it's located smack in the middle bf.Dia- mond street, the r village's chief rhas- culine thoroughfare, so. the set-up for this type of ; entertainmettt is per- fect. At first" Jaffe was set to give 'em 25 feature pictures with the. leg art, but he wisely decided against that. Now there's about an hour, of screen; all shorts,, cartoons and newsreels, and four burlesq. performances a day, five on. Saturday. Shows, are the regular Independent wheel attractions, but they re condensed into : slightly less than. 90 miriutcs. House operates only six days a week.' The scale is up the hurley groove, too. Volume and turnover have filially penetrated into the;: Jaffe scheme of things, and it' v s. two bits from opening until one, 35c froin-one until six and a nickel more from then to closing. Wisdom of getting burlesq within low range, film prices has been obvious. Casino has been operi now less than'a month arid it's been playing to turnaway trade day: in and day out. . .. . Gasihq ^probably ;has ttipre people passing it.\daily'than, any other spot in . town/ * due ' to recent Diamond street revival", *ah'd ' Jaffe's* going , in heavily for the' old'avenue ballyhoo. There's one novelty attraction or an- other ih > front of • the house practi- cally all . day. .long, alternating with barkers-.and. freaks, witfe-result that there's alnipst ,a nerpetual traffic tie- up in frorit of the leg, emporium.> .■ '. It's gerierany'known' that , Jaffe cleaned 'Op* a fdrtUfte'lh' burlesq at Variety-during-the'early-'20's. It's just as - generally known,- however, that he sunk -all of. it-and more. back into the-house. .through the.'depres- sion years...Last, year he anhouriced he was retiring from burlesq, gave up the Variety, took a five year lease on the Casino and went in for vaud- film. That soon flopped; he went to straight pictures' and that- was. no go either; He couldn't get any product. That five-year lease looked like another backbreaker for the veteran showman, then the Variety folded the field was. wide open again, he found the right' combination and a house that seemed a few.nxonths- ago to be a definite liability is now on its way to becoming pne. of "the town's biggest money-makers. Cohen. twists by ; Queenifr King> a ;mili ry tap by Madge Carmylej and" classical wiggle by Bonita Gerihaine are all well handled. Strippers are somewhat restrained here. Girls time their stuff arid never exceed the limit. . Comedy, however, seerhs .to be the meat of the audiences, so -there is ho disappoint- ment. Peggy Reynolds, Bonita Ger- maine^ Madge Carjmyle, Ruth Donald, Viola. Spaeth, pat'Paige and Queenj King are the' exponents. Miss Ring's style, resembles an oriental dance in" stead of the customary parading, and is novel. 1 Jack (Tiny) is the No. v comic, and wows, 'em,-.'Telephone • booth and dentist's office bits both get plenty bluing in. Tiny's hands. Assistant comics are Bert Carr and Giis Shilling. Ted Blair and Charles Cane, singers, also help hi 'falsing . the show's better than average rating* Despite pickets outside, 'house was capacity when caught. . Management announces from stat»e that theatre is strictly union and that paraders are misleading. So. what? Downtown, Detroit . (Continued froth page 58) to run spot. Win or lose; experiment should prove at least one thing: Does vaude have sufficient -punch left to carry along a - .house which shows second and third-class flickers? Audience - at opening- show had Hot-Potatos 0uriey Squawk Atlanta,. While . Sherwood L- Astin,. man of Atlanta Board of Review, local film censor board, admits the matter is. out of his jurisdiction, he has written, a letter' tp Mayor James L. Key, asking the latter to take ac- tion against the;'objectionable* shows being staged at the Atlanta theatre, local talent outlet o't Eastern Bur- lesque. Assn.. '.,/ •:. Astin .claims he has had numerous complaints, .from people who think he I has, authority to tone down the performances and, in his letter to thar Mayor, . declared ; that he had at- 'tended. a, performance at the Atlanta arid-found, the-complaints '^J&soluteJy justifiable.'. •.. . Mayor. Key passed the buck to hi police let,, who* in turn r sent policewoman over to catch the show. The.femme.minion of the law ported back tp her superipr that, i so.far as she.could see the squawks were unjustified. .' Similar agitation led to a raid and arrest of manager and principals in previous burlesque venture here two years ago.. Eastern wheel took over house several months ago and has been doing good business With rOad shows. sufficient Variety and ^ talent to get Over. No lavish settings nor i.an m'c, rbut all~arourid ' a "nice ~45-niinute show. Jue Fong, Chiriese tenor, con- stitutes the only sour note on the card. He strains hard; but barely a sound cbrries y from his pipes. Might have been/better had he stuck to some oriental number. . Monroe and Adams Sisters, in opening slot start things off swell with a round of jugglirig, plus hoof- ing.- While needing a little moire polish, stuff is plenty colorfuL Rou- tine is out of the ordinary. Follow- ing Fong, in deuce, comes Bert Nagle and Girls, who click with a 'Mid- night Serenaders' number, which in- troduces Nagle and one of his femme partners, dressed as cats. Hilja,. sec- ond -femme;, ; exhibits plenty of , ifty contortions, some of which hay.e hot been surpassed here in many moons. Next to closing finds Ted and Al . Waldman, harmonicists. who do oke with music : and patter. The Thrillers, male and femme skater's; provide, a iheat;-clbse.- -.Have plenty.of flash and know their biz. ; ' > . Settings, simple but effective, used for only . Nagle. and the Thrillers, others: working before plain drop. Ten-piece pit. ork, under baton of Adolph Hollander^ who. formerIV worked spot fpr RKO, gives a shorf overture and then pjays for ^ acts. Minus an m. c 7 automatic slides at either side of stage ahripurice . acts. Screen. 'President's Mystery' (Rep) arid "Sitting on -the Mpbn' (Rep). Biz f pretty lean ,at Mate show Fri- day (16). - ' Pete. STAR, B'KLYN : The Raymonds' contribution to the burlesque is one of the best prb>> duced shows in this town." Unfortu- nately, .it -is also the dirtiest Subtlety and double entendre have been dis- carded for frankness' in all the comedy.. \ Rest of the town's impresarios might find it advantageous to take a gander at the Star's offering. Five production numbers ' in. the two-hour show are more than the-usual stage waits between; strips. Even the ■ line girls seem to sense the fact that they have something to work with. Plenty of -good-looking costumes and scenery.' Four specialty numbers, two exotic lent ue Week ot Oct. 25 'Ballyhoo*—Gayety, Minneapolis*. . 'Wlrie, Woman and. Song"—Rlalto, Chicago. 'Hi-Flyers'—Open. 'Hindu Bellea'T-^ayiftty. Buffalo. / 'Beauty. .Parade'—I.yrlc. Allen!own, Mon. and- Tue.s.; Majestic. Harrlaburg^ Wed*: Capitol. Reading; Thurs. .and Prl.; Males tic, Wllllamaport, Sat. • 'Red Rhythm'—Trbc, Philadelphia.. 'Red Hot',—Hudson. Union City; 'Babes of B'way''—TacitUea, "Wa-terb^iryi:. STo» ! Hot, for Parla'—Howard, Bouton.- •China Dolls—Empire, Nowark. •Speed v and Sparltl**—Gayety,. /Wash- ington. •■' - '■V•i•nU«as'e^B , — Oayety. ..Baltimore. 'Scan-Dolls'—Roxy, Cleveland. 'Oarden of pirle'—Capitol; Toledo;. 'Modes and Models'-^layef.y, Detroit. 4 Ha-Cha^—MUes "Royal. Akron. -'Stejpipih' Stars'—^Garrlck.-St. Louis* 'Scan-Tees'—Empress. Kansas' City, 'Dlssssy. Dames'r^CasIno, Plttshurpth. •Dlz^'y Danies'—Pvlncess, "' Youngstbwn (3 days). 'Qayety . iris'—Worcester, Worcestei'. Advance Production Chart (Contlniie-d from page.JS) by Frank McDonald, original and screen play by Don Ryan and .Kenneth Garnet, Cast: Ann Dvorak, John JLitel, Walter Miller, John Sheehan, Stanley FieidsV William Davi Carlyle MoOre, Jr., George Opperman; Joseph Crehan, Lyle Morain. ; Story is backgrounded against night court of any large city where drama from all -.'walks'". ;of. life is paraded before spectators who; attend these sessions to' satisfy their curiosity. Story tells incidents in lives/of urifortu-' nates called before the night court. - . 'MEN IN EXILE/ produced by Bryan Foy. John; Farrow directing; ori inal story by Huston Branch arid 'Marie Bautner, screen play, Roy Chanslor. Cast: Dick PurcelJ, June Travi' Victor Varconi, Margaret Irving, Alaft Baxter, John Alexander., .' : Story Iaid .on:one of the remote islands of South America where hun led men seek refuge and Security. It becomes a veritable haven for criminals and they set : - up -their own government, later to be conquered arid, wiped out by stronger governmental powers., : \- Beirytt readied to go aire: 'MARRIAGE CLAUSE,' with Robert Montgomery and Olivia De Havilland;. Robert Lord will produce with Busby. Berkeley- directing.;- 'CALL IT A'DAY/to be directed. by. Archie Mayo;. 'THE, KlNci AND THE CHORUS GIRL/ first :of . ; the Mervyh teRoy productions, as . producer. Others to follow are: 'THE DESERT SONG/ 'MY HUSBAND'.' SECRETARY* and, 'THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER/ Three In work, 13 editing, eight preparing. In work: THREE* SMART GIRLS/ reported VaIuei-V Sept. 16; 'TOP OF THE" TOWN' and 'MURDER ON THE MISSISSIPPI/ reported. Oct. 14.' No new pictures started last week. . . Pictures being readied for eai ; ly production are: 'BLONDE DYNAMITE, 'TREVE/ 'NIGHT KEY/ 'OH, DOCTOR' and 'MUSIC IN THE PARK.*