Variety (Jan 1937)

194 VARIETY Wednesday, Januaiy 6/1937 Americans in Paris Paris, !Dec, , . VaudevQIe, which gpt a foothpld here in li935, continued tp groW dur^ ing 1936, but it had « '"" downs as well as ups. The flourish last ear lasted until early sunimer whien the largest house in town riinhih ight music halt biil closed; iving labor tifpubles as. a , reason .'and then vaudeville lapsed into at natural period of in-; activity .during; they summer;; But the coming of last fall, almost everyone whb. could find the money sind .house: bpened a music hall, with all butjbne of the eight which pf- ieired straight/yariiet^^^ .oic ac% to supplement films suryivinff.r LilMi the night cltibS,- the rea$6n for aSP^^this activity was doubtliess the wish to get established and rejrkiain open .until tKe i|xpp next year to reap, th^ • hai*y(est. froih yisiting rub- bernecks. ; I!rpm.,^ . business point; of ; vieW< howieyer,.; there have been .plenty of handicaps to any; operator of a musjc hall ,in this, tpwrt;' Some,, of these worked directly agamst foreign att^ and; especialiy ,the Aniericans as they lj5a(iittie.p^er^^ pearing^iere^ ■,, v;^ "i- . 'VViar. s^arep/tame/. topjfc. their toilv'befp^e: th^ dispers^;' "the piylnSpic. ;^~aim^ WhO;i'^6i4<i.. h sgeiiit'. their ,inpi>i^y .■v^lsiting .Paris .squifrying. .to ; B^^iin;. ^d/the ^^deVidu^ franc ..j^- aBu^^^^^^ facts^and despite thft Frenchmen's. 'stay at hoi^e' pbl- - icy V when; fiit!^^ \ fit ,ip , up another/ clau^ the yersailles treaty, the. Amieritiani^ .caine in dnd got their .part : ot^^ ■ was to be 'i|ad.' They hiye; been, starred, featare(;tv>nd; i^4$d to^^^ fill the bill in practicatriy; ?; raus»c hall sbpyir ;• aiid i:eyuei;tha,t;'ha^ .presented '^^durjing; the;, " / 'v;]Piilkier.. Makes ...Gpod. ,; Pir§t : ;t6 ;^t^^^ ^rab; a Ijiigf li'aine .Was^Joan^^^^, i j^*'^^ * cor^tar place with the ■?^rench jfem ;; in tlie>i:eVue; P^ de Paris^; which . HenxlivVarha pr^^ vd^ lParis'in April. ^ O'Dett; left the • reyuib in; Miss Warner : %' ybnly ;;star lintii , it! closed in . Sisntemherf.-.^ Clair and Pay, I^endh-Americ^n; dance teaih, had a prominent place in the production; a^ did tfie three Samuels Brothers. Yaiika ,w^re allsb prominent In ; music haU. bills durip^ thrt AAmong .thoge yirhov appeared^^ the • stages of 'ejitjiCT the 'Ab.C; or the A.lhambra w;ere Molly piqon, Harriet HutchihsV I^rry " Adler, Batr and Estjiey, ;De;. Wolf, Metcalf and Ford^ Walter i)are W^hir^iEmett OldfieH Gracie Schehk -and Brothers, Renfee r,aMar>; llire? American ."Babies, and the Threi^ Giants ,of ^ . Atnar^, rps. reopened the Empire during: tjiiat perlpd, offering a straight ltausic..ha^ liiU, hut it folded soPn Afterwards. lipusie evidently iveh short, run: just to - keep piublic minded that it still existed. ChanteUor Hitler: then handed the amusenient wbrld in General a bad set-back by scrajpping another elause of VersaUles and • reroccupying the . demilitarized .Rhinelaiid :. zone. The "^'press ran .bold headlines arid i>olitir cians and diplomats fumed Whil6 Frenchmen stayed at hprne, discussed what they would like to do in case of war, and. saved their pioney. All types of places offering amusement suffered alike until the sdare prpvfed unfounded arid the threat pf war Ik 'tomorrow' dissolved. ■ With May came. deyelopriierits in f/ the variety world that deprived the tp\vn pf its biggest house of that typie. At; the same firiie the. closirig undoubtedly ydepriyed mSny Amer- icaris of bookings in Paris, for it was the Alhambra that rah niore foreign acts than any other thieatr^ iri town* • The Alhambra VBlot In shuttering, feurt Robitchek, manager, gaVe Frerich hostility to foreign acts.as the reaspn. Atidfrom outward appearances he had good reason for dioihg so, for the Week the annpiinpetnent was made witnessed ; > a near riot inside .the housei ostensi- "'^Ijr staged by unemployed Frferibh artists. in. prptest against ioreign acts working; in the house at th,e tirilei The Jiight Pf the, demonstration; dne.,wpjnan ,wias. irijured and eight arrests' were the show could continue. Unemployed French . .{Eirtists, sitting in the balcony, threw Jieafletsjstating; that only ^^^b^ att Was on the .bill,, 12 being jEbreigri, Of Whicl]! ,flve ;,w'eye Americans. They £laiiri&3' this, Was ,:in" fluec.t'yiplatiori of the Freriibh laW Which requires ■that at least 60%" of . a^^ -. sented pii aiiy .bill Should be French. , The" A »nerf*y»rt^ were. The Gollearips, Louise and * Jeanne -Sterner, Edna Covey^ \Bpbby May nd Geraldine arid JpeJ In the statement, issued to the press at the time of cibsi ' Robitchiek blamed the disturbances insi -the. house, saying after each demonstra- tion receipts hiacl failert. off arid' tha,t he , could ' riot;: keep, operi' .with, the contiriual threat pf trPuble hanging over his head.' He warned; that such actiPns on the pairt of French artis.ts could very easily prove a bopirierang for French-acts appearing in fpreign cpuntries . and ' chided' Pther music,; .hall managers :ahd the press fPr 'nbt joining, in' a xanipaign inst the 50%'law. >■;, , Other theatres did no.thirig, but th[e. ^ress waged a private War.pf its own pyer the.pros and cpris pf Robitchek's reaspnirig lpr a few, Weeks, biit with no thing being settled in the end. ; The lew,,A'rierican Negroes who .were in tpwri ^at that .time, dbirig the rounds ibbking.'. fpr bookirigs, got a breaksWith Lbuis. pbuglas,*^)vho .prp- dqced ,a cplored shbw at the Alcazar for Henri. Varna.. V Called 'Harlem Black Birds 1936,' the: Would ript, stand comparisoil with-the: origi- nal / lack -Birds'' .piroduced he^^ nearly iO years- agoj but it dici prove l3ougla%'. ability to make the riiost of ^material' at hand.: ' is Hardcastlei . EriglisH stepper, gave' ai gopd accbunt of hirniselfi as tlid Joe" Alex, 'Ameri- can, and one of the ori irial crew Of the decade befprei. Qtlier Americans, featured- were .Lulvi and Charles^ Edith M^theWs, Hialey, Hill, Norma Miller, Lebri James ^nd' Ola Bishop. -Mbgadpr^ understood ,tb haye been backed - by Frank. J. _^Gpuld, took; a short- flyer as a' fllrii. libiiise :witli .five actSj but. • had tb giye up. after ./less than a mpnth's run. -Nl) Anierican acts were giyen a Chance there. ' Delia, and Billy IViack, .dance teain, were booked by Henri Varna to istep In his revue, 'Viva la I*emme/ starrinig .Cecile Sorel,' .produced at the Alcazar When Douglas*' cplored show iclosed^ * iye la Ferimie'vis now tpuiririg with the origiria 'Xabbr iSoare, French Cpnfederatiori of Labor; after the stiir lit caused in. Jime with its striilcies, gave ^yery t jpe Of amiise- .ment. ; scare , in : July'. with ah •• riounCed i)lanVt6 unionize and, ' ^ gani:;e' everything from cinemas to closed : and abandoned theatres throughout the . cpuhtry... 'Hpweyef, these; complicated plans^ haye not yet bprne. fruit. If: they :iiad, Ameriisaris in every , category of.-the ' Paris amusement rWbrld. wpuldrhave suf-; fered. ;; That .the music hall cbuld expect, tb" look up when the fall season opened came in August-with Mitty Goldin's annPuncemerit that besides his A. B. C. he Wpuld reopen the old Trianpn-Lyriqub: as a, music- hall. That this same. type of amusement wias going tp look up a igreat deal with the \ accompanying hbip'es that more American acts would find work here Was mdicated in Septem- beir, when it became known «that no less than' eight .houses were ,j?oing to offer straight variety :bil acts with a film. Three circuses .-also came to pffer'their share.., : Alhambra. ■ reopened \ under' the mariagement . of . jlenty . Carson, brought back by Kurt Robit-^ chek; A. B, C!; 'and the Triaribn di- rected by Goldi , the Empirci the BobinP,. the Europeari^ the Gaiete- Mbntparhasse with the Rex, Gaur riiprit Palace, and Paramount, offering- acts to supplenient , films, Shbrtly after this splurge, the Mpgadpr an- nounced it: was going tb:rbppen early the. following month under the di- irectiori of Teddy FJhrenthal as a straight yariety housCi Americans have been featured and. starred pn, programs ;Viri practically all of these; . houses' since .they rer opened; . Alhambra- saw the Mills ■ Brothers, Birdie ..Dean," Cass, Mack, Owen arid TPpsy> 3ryarit,; Rains and : Young, Bradlej^ ^Martin, June Hart and j;ack Hpllahd, Gypsy Nina and others. WilbUt; Hall, Hal Menken, Calgari; Brothers/ Mplly Picon the Three Swifts were ariipng :the many who have appeared at the. Ai C,. while liucile Page held the high spot at . the Mogadpr during; the first month, aided by Joe Jacksbh.: Early/November saw ;Bri ie Dean starred in a new revueL pro- duced by Henri/ Varna at :the Al- cazar, which, is still going stirorig at this. Writing. And with, these reopenirigs came new life in.; the reyue. balls . arid; the . highteries. -Varna, produced • a; new, show at' "the Casino ide < Paris stiarring Tinp Rossi; Wherein Louis l])ougla^ an the Dormpnde .^rps. were given: prpniinent places. While Paul Def val's: revue .at the 'Frti- Good Will Adr, Baltimpre,, Jfan^vS; Sppt. put on 'the Westside that features . iitney beers and' no minimuhi pr cpiivert for daric* ing,;;last'Week advertised in i^^^ papers that the New Year's Evia admi'sh ■ wbiild bel.but .SOC,. and every patron would be given a 'bpttie of whiskey.' In the ads a Cut . of a bpttle pf a standard brand of booze wais used. Spbt; was almbst, stprmed ;by mobs, arid .thbse that got::in, hbweyer,; discovered that:' th* free: 'bPltle bf whiskey' was one, of those gill: samples. Unit jWan^er^ Itt Providence for Not Filfing Contract i - Jari, 8.. Newman, manager pf •Swing - riarlerii; ^ Express,' ; Cblpred unit, is in jail In $5,000, bail pn; a Chariie'; of., misrepreseritation • iriade by Charles Krbnsbn and- John Gbld- stein, Whp backed the show's local thi:ee-diay engagemerit at the /Metro- pplitan;..' ' -: Newman charged with bring- ing in a/ smail troupe instead of ".the '60; .peOplb . / Contract ' allegedly ■called, fbiv.. .. Krbnsbn .and Go?dstein . claim.-, - caUs:irbm?l audience;, marids .for . re^urids^ prompted ;■, ing thb ;shoW after thi:ee' perform- ances. ' 430;4b. iiijiinc^ .., :Petrbit,; permanent, virtjunctipn restrainirig; the 'Two Tiny Tots,' beef trust team, frpm,appearing other: than, under di- rection pf .;Harry , iEius,sell,. ..Ibcal bb6k,er,;Was signed this: Week by. CIr-. cuit Ju^ge Vincent M; :Breririan. The -Tots,' Ruth Marie Des Roches arid . Eileen Berry, whb aggregate around . 430 ploundsy were; uhder cbn^ tract, to; Russell when they walked out of ■ a' local nltery Where hp had bbbkbd therii arid started aplpearing independently. Ben Marden Building Fabti Springs Rcisort ; iPahn Springs, . . Beh'.Marderi, "who bperates . the Ri- viera, Cafe in New Jersey,, is build- ing a; $250,000 hotel arid casino here next. sUm,mer.. Place. ,v.wiii; acres, with eastern coi Radio! ;Roeue8 gb into the lack- stbrie,, Ghl, .J an: .9. ies Bergere* had Josephine Baker at the top; backed by Cass, Mack, Owen and Topsy; Paul "SiRAexi arid. Meade, Eddie Vitch and Jigsaw jackson, be- sides a string of; American girls im-' ported for the presentation. Vaude and the Franc: t)evalutiPn pf the fraric marched in bn goyernriient orders, early in Octpbbr tp furnish; a real threat .tb. Ariiericans^and tp the qUiality bf mu- .sic hall programs iri general. As It^ Was pointed , out by. hpuse managers .here,'the loweririg pf the gpld con- .^tertt pf ;Frehch currericy irieant they Cbuld; not Coritlnue ip ' pay the same prices,; for forei .acts. Either: the acts have bepri wbrkirig for less since br. some^rbund in. between, the dif-" ference fias been found by'managers and artists,..as oniy a yery siriai^^ ference in the number.- bf.- American acts appcari here • has: been; np- ticed .since the cut iri; the -vaiue bf ihe currency^ " ^! ,. Despite the pickup . in business, trie early Winter ; mpriths . usually,; bring the fact that therb; are too. rhiany mu- sic halls - in town. This:'was shown .with the, siiuttering pf the .Mogador. Ehrerithal -clai'med he dtppiped ■$25>- OOO'onthi^. venture. ■This clbsing; prbves something that has long been evident in this'tpWn; -the public will not sui)pprt. sb.-'many rnusic. halls as Ibri'^ as the sarrie acts circulate from one to. another. There are riot eribugh;' ig name: French acts, arid because of the stiff coriipe- titiori .operators,cannot affbird to im-; pbrt good, foreign acts which, in any case, the laW wbuld nbt allow oyer 50% fpr .each program;. •But,; eyierythirig ^considered,. 1936 has not been: top- bad . a- vayieyilie year Jor the Americans, in Paris. Arid, .with the expb coming hext year, they have as good a chatvce as any of cash: fn> la. liOndoh, DeCr This year iirids British ..yau;deville -^that decadent industry,,whose de mise has been predicted for llifli past 10., years—healthier ' tiatest hobk-iip' bjetween Uriiog^ Ciriemas ' andParariibunt-Astorias means -' ?Q; wrecks soUd ^ Vwork, to vavideyilie,' arid ' put of these;, 30 Weeks are big" timSe date, paying' up to $2,500 per Week; These tWb qireuits jbiritly fank as the biggest vaudeville cbrisumers in Europe, and even the Worlds with conipariy (ietermihed tO' miake ,bn-: slaught on, the Ariierican market for talent eariy he jet year. ^:it is antici^i. pated, that; with :trhibn and Parar mbuht gi'adiialiy acquiring and erect- ing more icture houses, they Will/ about the riiiddle bf 1937, 'be in a pb- sitiPn tb jointly offer acte. 100 weeks" contracts. - Siich a situaiiori, hereto- fbre Unheardi of, .seeriiirig^y eptab-: lishes England as the last hb^e of vaudeville. Siiice the,- advent of Unipn; ■ and, Paramoyrit's hook-up,; General tl^ea-^ tres,, brice bccripyirig jiremier rarik in thie 'vaudeville demand,:; has nbw Been relegated to s.econd. positipn. This despite G. T^ G. bpoks, also' tiie. Mpss ^^riiplres circUit. ■ jpiiitly,: -these two circuits can: offfer 30 weeks'. Wprk' to acts, With prices fariging from $300 to" $3,000 >er week. 0aumont-Bt:itish, ■;' althongh ' the parent company, of Gr. T. C.,. arid MosS, has its own booking orgariization,; and, can . offer :: arbund 40. ' Weeks, Which includes ilyams Brothers'and Bernstein ' circmts, and as. these- houses, often riepeat' .acts,.' they cari jointly, offer, a year's work'to; suit- able talent!, Associated,. British. - inemas,.. con- trbllcd by .'jbhri Maxwell,- also plays vaudeville in sbirie of its 300 houses, althbugh these only number . arbund; 30 weeks, riiostly small, time. ■ All But MaxWelt With Maxwell npW.xine pf G-B's directbrif, it is quite likely-the vaude- ville departnients.. of. G;,, T... Gj and Mbss; wilV' uridergb. changes,, as Maxwell is apparently hot a. IpYer vaudeville, playing it Pnly on suffer-r arice, because G-B was competing with him in certain spbts. ' Maxwell and jG-B: may establish bpplcing:' aliiancb and cut dbwri^ ^h?t: form of: entertainment Ito ia: minimum'.., :HbWr everi it Ibbks' almpst certain :Max- Weli will insist the yarious vaude- ville booking departriients. he- coor- dinated, and thereby , make use bf his; economy axe. pscar Deutsch. circuit, how num- bering around 175, and still building, and expected to ;reacii the. 250 mark soirie- 'time next. year, has also. be-, conie vaudeville: cpriscibus, ; arid: in- tends to have 30 weeks Vof' variety early, next. yearV. ,11^^ .is hot going abptit,it in .a half-hearted way is eyidenccd by his haying ap- pointed Jack Payne, 'the English band, maestro, to, dp his vandeyille bopkings and arrange his programs.. It is uriderstopd acts'will be booked at prices ranging from $150 lb $4,- 000. This by no means exhausts the vaudeville field here, wih trip big- gest surprise being the Stoll circuit,: bhce orie of the foremost but now ranking among the . most unobtrusive with its four weeks' playing time. The rriost inipbrtant among the smaller indies which book American acts are: Gerard Heath,, controlling .si weeks ■ and playing practically every ilable American importa- tion Avithin reason; Horace Collins With four weeks, at prices ranging up to $750, and if higher, oh. per- centage; Charlie Tuckerj who has one week bf vaudeville, but can pffer 10 weeks on top of that at the Troc- aderp restaurant and grillroom; Gen- eral Theatrical' & Variety Agency having fPtir weeks, With tpp $1,000, arid: if: higher, it is percentage; Syh- dicate Halls, in arid arbund London, have^ three Weeks, mostly percentage. Then there is the Palace, Blackpool^ and the T^atre Royal; Diibliboth playing big time stuff, latter booked by Foster's Agency. • The Scaircity of. neW attractibris and general competition among the smaller. theatre bookers ■.. has ■ now reached a ;danger point, and these have been in clpsC touch for.; the .pur- poise of forming a big, booking; unit, instead bf .outbiddini .each, other,.. It is figured when the smaller ones combine' their booking arrangements .they will be iri a shape to; offer 30 Weeks, and thus be able to compete \yith the bigger circuits.: But No New Talent With all is scope 'for vaudeville bver" here, it seems amazing, this year .has revealed nothing in' the way of local discpveries. ,Nor has the British Broadcasting CPrp. been responst any newcomers, with the exception of Carr«U-tevls and his amateurs; Which bears a .resem- blance ,to' Major .BbW^s' amateur hour^i the liw S.- AlJi one has seen vis a "stririg; oi; .-coiplyists^and very bad ..ones at that—fof American impbrta- 'tipirisi '. There* are' seyeral atteriipts to duplicate ' the iDiamond -Brothers' Four^ - Franks,'^Thr^ i Sailors. Fred Sanborn; i; WaUer v Pare- Wahl, and Will Mahoney; ; While - most of \ha crooners seem.tp have bepn;ui) nights getting their style by; m^^ pf disca of their. American confreres. Big bands the tyjpe of Jack Hylton, Roy Fox, Henry Hall, Harry Rby,. Debroy Somers, Billy Cottpn, Geraldp, Alfredb and Joe Loss are still the bbx office attractions they have been for years, with no sign of diminutibri. Singles, such as Gracio Fields, Elsi Carlisle,- Doris arid Elsi Waters, Max Miller and Lea Allen are still local draws. The unit idea still remains a dom- inant feature in Vaudeville; Biggest are Will: Mahoney and Cbiv . Larry Adler; Douglas Wakefield, Stanelli- Long-Ruslsell-Marconi (latter is fully. booked for the next 18 months) and Burton Brown, who , plays: smaller spots, Mrs. Jack Hylton and Lou Preager and his band,. ' Revues are aribther feature that mean somiethirig- tb. vaudeville. The most important revue i^rbducers ara TonvJ Arribld, Jack Taylor, ' Bert ■ MPntagvie; and HofeC iSc': palmer. These generally, feature • big. nanies^ surrounded' . by ; mas§iye. settings. While on the subject of Copyists and conistant repetitions, it iriight be an ideia for Ariiericans Who have been here any length of; time to chang* pr at. least vary their vehicles, when making cPnstant repeats. therwise there is. every possibility; they Will fall, iritbvthe sriare of: the locals arid becpme stale. ' ^ ' roadcast Angle A situatipn to -cbrisider has arisen with ; regard.; to big attractipria, whq have, attained, that pbsitipri through their, many, broadcasts; They Wstk gradually ibsing that box bfflca value through the G. T. C. not per- mitting most of them to broadcast. Which ; means 'that iri time thesa. 'cease to maintain their l value, and are gradually being fprgotteri, which is ipure shortsightedness. Only cir- cuit recognizing 'the value bf ethe.c appeararices is Uniori Cinenias-Para- moUnt. This has .been proven by tha-' recent "opening of the new Uniorii ciriema house, the Ritz,:- BeKast, where - the attractions . .Wpre Giaci. Fields and" Jack.'Hylton, and both brpadcast frpm the theatre. iggest blow to thif •year was the disposal. of the Al- hambra by Sir Oswald Stbll to tha Deutsch interests. . Although the house has not played variety i number bf years, it. Was always thought that eventually, it, riiight- come back to its old policy. But the conversion of the Alhambra into a super picture house riiight prove a blessing in disguise. It is quit's likely it Will play pictures jplus stage entertainment, and will thus. be tha first house in the. West Ejnd to suc;-, cumb to that form of'amusement catering, which' may: rbsuU, in .its eventual revival, as other - houses will have to follow this Deutsch lead. Vaudeville has secured a new stronghold at : the ViCtori Palace, ' and it has taken a foreigner, Kurt Robitchek, tb once again plaice •thla house on map. Robitchek's iofirt' of, entertairirrient is just a modern Ver'sibn pf yaudeyille. , iggest* laugh of the year was the attempt of -the .Variety Artistes Fed- eratipn, which claims tp ,;be the vaudeviliiaris' friend, which. ap- proached, the Mi isti-y of Labor, in all seriousriess,.:and asked that, dur- i the: Coronation , no assist?-: ance be given tb .the importation of foreign talent, but recruit its talent from the local field. Needless to say the idea Was tabooed 'by >the Mi is-, try, whi.ch seemirigly .kripws nior about the IbCal vaudeville requir.e- ments than thiS; bodyV " "Biggest worry, .is new talent, it. is pbvipus that'it-cannot tained The question ob- viously hoW long-Will Jt be before American talent is exhausted? Pincus Quits Bemises Hollywood; Charies. M incus, agcr for Billy has ■ resigried -tp: accept fiositib.'i with Paraniiount theatres, in gin exec, capacity, being assigned to the Suit Lake City territory. Piriciis handled the Bemi.ses Ivony the beginning Of theii- roLe.ssi<ii"t career as dancers.