Variety (Jan 1937)

Wednesday, January 27,J93T T A tl OR S VARIETY 6S , jah. 26, jibsi' j^r'osperpus convention of fair ianWers in five years was hiBld here lis year, accordirtg to the attraction letf attending. Mpre contracts were gned andihp bi? predicted, tate Fair had the pitty-pats of hei^t rith announcement that the. leglsla- ire is likely to pull'ln^he $260,0 onded JndebtediKBSs bti ^e grand- taiid, cut the inteiriest rate from 5% , 3% <a saViiiift pf $5,000 arihualiy) lid havt^-^he state educational and ind f>^dis .Ijiiy up th«i is$ue^ instead present private bondholders. Pi^irry Reed,' exifecutive officer: and ebreta^^' was elected for liie fifth ' pie'iff piresident of the. stlate aic grpUp is W. B. Banning; 1st vice, , j. Shjibert; 2hd vice, , A, BpydJ [i^asurer, E. R. iPurcelL On the board f manors are Jr..,S; Golder, Gates M^i^A A/Russell, and E. j^. Miille. jlead'of ihe county tair managers i Stariley Jii Matzke, who succeeded t,. G^^tTplinjspn., Vice pfesideht, is Jpe t^i«: itnd secretairy-, Chet. G< Mar aail. ReclaiQing^ll^^ CUii^rlotte, .N, ; C^' Jan. 26. Governor Clyde Hoey hais asked is..hpuse<and senate apiprbpriations ommittiep to stuc^ ii proposal bit thfe tate-1)pard pf agriculture for rCr Liniiptlon of .' state operation of the nnual itate fair. West Canada Dates Winnipeg, Jan. 26; . Ggnging ufi oil the; Fort. Garry foter hete the Western Canada As- oci$ti6n of Exhibition and Western ^iap^da fairs Asisociation held its bn- l^jl^ihl:ie-day meet starting.,Jan. 18, J^'lv.' RicBiBrdson, Calgary, was ^Qj^^e^Dl : president, replacing J; E. le^t; Sraiidbn;,. with Fred W. Kemp, l:iS«|)tdtttWi?»s vice-president and Sid v.. JohiJ^ reelected secretary-treas ji*^ ioi? the tenth year. S. C. Heck <(5ri;<'«*ermilioh^ Alta., was elected >resl<i'etit of the Fairs grpup. Jo leph tTrimble, Portage la Prairie, in is Dtst vice-president Btite^ were set for the *A' class 'aire as follows: Brandon, June 28- rAily:2j Calgary, 5-10; Ednionton, July i2-l7; Saskatoon, July 19-24, and Re fin^, July 26-31. "Royai American Shows came out pp in the field Of seven for the shovi^, 1,des and concessions With the Ernie IToYuig Agency of Chicago, taking the wntract for the attractions in the 'A' ilaat group. Carl J. Sedlmayr repre lented the Royal American group with Ernie Young in for himself. Dates, for the *B' class fairs were previously all set but later develop- nents made a change necessary. The tollowing are the revised dates. Estevah, June 21-22; Moose Jaw, rune 23-26; Weybum, Jiine 28-29; -arihan, June 30-July 3; Portage la Prairie, >ruly 5-7V Dauphin, July 8-10; Ifftrkton, July 12-14; Melfort, July 15-17; Lethbridge, July 19-21; Red IJeer and Vegreville, July 22-24; Ver nilion, July 26-28; Lloydminstef, July 29-31; North Battleford, Aug. Irii Prince Albert, Aug. Contracts for the attractions in this Sroup went to the Williams and Lee attractions, of St. Paul, Minn., with Cphklin's AU-Canidiah Shows, of Hamilton, Ontario, taking the mid |vay-attractions contract. Mrs. B. wUliams represented the WUliams snd i;^e agency while Patty ConWin was in. for his own group., BET. LOOKS PSQHISma .0 Detroit,; .26. With more than 26,000 square fee « exhibit space already contfactec or, officials of Detroit's ittle world's Fair,' April 2-11, foresee the biggest exposition in event's four y^ar history. The exposir.t..; sponsored by the Petroit Co!; vent ion and .Tourist Bil teau to bal^: .rh>o lvrichigan's products •nd tourist nltracllohs, uses at least Je topflifiht radip stage artist Plus rtj pX local etiiier eritertiiriers l*hny RosH appeared both last year jnd: in m ,Xo attraction has thus »r bci .v d for this year's fair •a Co.. ion HalL Bhm^ PoStics Detroit, ian. 26, randing ppiitics the chief draw- back of fairs, the Michigan Associa- tion of Fairs last week re-elected its major officers and mapped action to, put fairi^ throughout the state on a non-political basisi Officers renamed include Tred A. Chapman, the ilth time; Howell, of Cliesaning, for his 15th term; and Franlc A. Bradish, B: R Buckley, Arnell' Engstrdm, Ray Rushney, and Mrs; Harvey A. Wolcott, vice presidehts; Cteveland. Jan.' Billy Rose \vSll have to; buy an aiirplane - commute this sutnmer between Fort Worth's and Cleveland's Great Lakes Exposition, in which he wiU definitely produce and direct a gigantic marin^ show when centennial fair reopens May 20. DrPpiping in tewn last week, Roise spent a day conferring with Lincoln G, Dickey, g.m., in plottlhg his latest super-super. "While doing his usual secrecy-act, promoter said his new brain-child would be a com biiiation water show, cabaret with cpupla hundred performers in it and a pageant thrown in for good inea' sure. ^ Scene-shifting on Expo'^s lakefront grounds also began last week when carpenters moved 75-ton symphony Orchestra shell froiii upper level down to the waterfront. Shell is to be used also for 'Ra:dioland- featuries lined up by Ralph B. Humphrey. Radio acts already penciled include Fibber McGeie.^jid Molly with Ted Weenxs, Gene and; Glennj ; Singing Sam, 'Girl Alone' and 'Singing ^dy,' Open-aii> auditorium^ in front . of steiid is being ehliarged for 4.000 seats, Ui. addition to a bigger public address system. A central^ control is planned for announcing of 'Radio land', progranis and. broadcasting of expo events.' HOLDS FOR THE MIDWAY Fair See. esieiiis Efforts to Force Carneys Off 'Pcima Fair. Eastpn, Pa., Jan. 26. The attempt by directors of Penn sylyania fairs to 'streamline' coimty fairs next season .by repla<;tng the old side shows with modem attrac- tions will have opiposition ^heh the State Asociation of Gounty Fairs meets at Harrisburg tomorrow (27). Among the leading opponents of plsin is Herbert M. Beary, secretary of AUentown Fair, one of largest in state. Beary believes that to change the atmosphere of traditional fair will result in loss of public Interest. The midway ^nd side shows tire popular at fairs,' he said, ^t Is the only way In .which such ehtertiin- ment can be Enjoyed throughout the entire year, because it is presented oilly at fairs. To teke it away would be to destroy somethinf that lias been enjoyed by generations. 'As for attractions of ^ niore rnod- 6rn type they, too, are given ih ,pro- fusion in tile, vaudeville, pirogtams before the grandstand and night re- vues. But the midway t^d side shOws Will be with fairs for a. long tiiho/ Inaugural (Continued trpm page 61) since make-shift tarpaulins and oil- cloth covers proved inadequate, to Withstend the deluge which lasted nearly all day. Still iand reel com- panies which had; made elaborate provisions; for: air . iservice to diS-- tribute prints'fpund planes grounded, Interhatioiiallfews, f or instance, was unable tp get its .mioney's worth Put of a $1,500 dark room installed ■ at the aiipprt to facilitate speedy han- dling, and' othei's were similat'iy in- jcpnv.eniehced, Bhenmatlc Beporters Newspapers miade irly well ias far as printed coverage, was conr cemed, but legmen had plenty of cause for cPniplaint. .With press stands unroofed, scribes -dping run- ning stories Were forced to dictate to telegraph, operators,, while : tele- grapi) companies had tpuglv work keeping lines . Out of 700 re- porteris -and rewrite men on hand, 'at least, half were drenched and in bad spirit^ by the day's end. Otheirs found a. cPzy bar and waited for the afternoon local papers else cud' died up to the radio. Genertil dpi ion was that -lame duck' amendment to the Constitution is; a swell , idea theoretically but not so hot in practice. jD^itetipn already has . sterted for a. huge auditorium which will provide^, space/for indoOr c^reihbhies in 1941, while.: abandon ment of traditiohat pariade has been suggested in many quarters. January weather didn't impress anybody , iii the first test of Senator Ndrris' idea that the coronation should be' held as sooii att^ election as possible,. Toronto, Jan.'26. . In spite of greater expense and less income Canadian National Exhibitioh reported a surplus Pf $93,854 for 1036, highest since 1930, because of less interest on debt.. Biggest individual; attraction was Rudy Vallee and bisindi not run by Ex but by* Bill Beasley. Seeress Hiirt iuieigh, N. C ; Jan. Mrs. Marina Karl, 46, fortune teller atnd former animal tr.iainer from hear Raieighi, N. G., was injured sieriously Jan. 12 when she was struck by an autom6t>ile while walking ph a high- way seven miles south x>f Raleigh. . A native of England; Mrs. Karl formerly, was connected,' with ' the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus, and the johhriy j*;:Jones shpws.' Wedding a Fhfi (Continued froni page 1) nick Of $4 to 20c. is netted about one-tenth of capacity. To save their face, about 15 minutes befor^ the pa< rade started owners permitted the crowds to fiU. the ; stands on the house.-^ Approximately $5,O0O in cash was all they grossed. Stringent: policie regulations, flU epidemic and inclement weather the previous day are blamed for the flioppola. Police prdprefl seat. lv>Id<- ers to be in the stends, at 9 a.m. and wait fpr four ''hours. imtil 1 p.m., when the - procession was .bedded to start, which was another deter- rent. Filmers fared much better, work- ing overtime to get results in print. In addition tP the local reelers JEhg- land sent over 12 plane loads of re- porters, press phptograijphdrs. .and camerainenv Germany at first su^preissed , all news and: photos of the event be- cause of anti-Nazi demonstrations that tobk place in Holland before the marriage. Swastika emblem was torn from a schpplhPuse and another was struck at a football game be-r tween German and Dutch teaiils. Embargo wais later lifted when the: respective gPvemnients got to- gether and talked it over. News From DaiKes (C^ontinued from page 61) ment ~ of $35,256 front Universal. Judgment was assigned to the plain- tiffs by the Union Bank and Trust Co. of L. A., to which it had pre- viously been assigned, by the May Film Co. of Germany. German comr pany .had obtia:ined judgment Marcli 4, 1930, against Universal in Ger- pany. Phillippe Heriot, French author of four best sellers, is in Holly wood fpi* picture wPrk. .. Betty Compsoh, iactress,^ declared ih . Holly w.pod that she would file suit fpr divorce from Irving Weinberg, agent. Sentence of 25 yeairs imposied oh David Harris, 47-year-old news Ven-: dor, for sending, extortion notes to Freddie Bartholomew and Jane Withers, — Audrey Millei:, film player, granted divPrce in L. A. from Robert Carl- son, boat builder. ,. Widower of Mrs. Pearl Wilk in ;Virginia :Gity, Mirihij and two. sons in New York heard s^rviceis in L. A. Pn ; telephone, hookup. Deceased was mother • of. Jacob Wi Ik; Warners :story editor, and Ralph Wilk, Coast rep pf Film: Daily. Lee Wiley, radio singer, injured in Hollywood traifflc accident.: . Gilda Gray filed suit foi: divorce in Los Angeles from Hector de Bri- ceno de Saa; reputed to be nephew Of a Spanish grandee. They were married in 1933. Complahit charges cruplty. Temporary alimony of; $2,525 a month Was asked' by Elaine Barrie Barrympre from John Barry.more in her Los Angele^ divorcei action. Riverside, Calif.,. Janr . Irvin S. Cobb Ives me mention as owner of the -water show -ih his story 'Judge Priest Turns PetectiV^,' but he hangs .a new moniker oh me— 'Long' Bill Rice. .He; should, see: me now with ;niy '200; pounds, abput .all on my 'bayTvindow; . Beniiy Krouse, whp psissed iaway last .week, was;.6he of my. oldest and best friends. First miet him at Pa- ducah, Ky., when 1 was: promoting a street fair: fpr ttie Elks in 1901. He had just from Russiiia:. and could hardly ; speak any English,^ but he had novelties that did npt gp over so good, he turned out to be my ster salesman for confetti. At tiiis sam^ doings J;: Frank Hatch, the 'Silver King,' had a gal shOw and introduced me to Jimmy English, who built the English theatre in that :;City. I cainie : back: fpr the opening when Murray &• Mack presented^ I think, 'At Atlantic City'; anyway, the tip was ten buclis a head. Irviii Cobb was a reporter «n Uie Paducah Sun at the time, drawing down 15 sliigs every ^seven dayis. ' Charles Cook, the patch with'the Rihgling:Brois. & Bamum land Bailey, also passed away last week. First met Cookie at Houston, Texas, in 1918, wheii he id heroic work keeping the Barniim ishOw open, during the infantile paralysis epidemic for 10 stands, after the state had b^en quarantined. They blosed the season at Houston and shipped to Bridgeport^ Conn. At that time many performers let tiieir isalaiy ride and everyone had two weeks holdback. Most of tlie show's money was in N, Y. drafts and Hutch needed at. least $50,000 in cash. I was general agent of the Wortham & Rice carnivaV at the tinite and the presidifiint of . my' COminittee happened to bertli^:j>re2^ fpr, ai^bankv So x:p<^ caUed ihe ttp early in the morning to see if I coVil^ lay the. drafts. I did thii, and lafe^ in theday he had $25,000^ more turned into dough. 'Cook's fixing for ilie pa^ 30 years with the world's largest shows would ihidce a most iinteresting book. United tent Sc Awning Go. have ptirchased all the wagons and the steam calliope of the Ken Maynard Wild West and they were all on lo- cation for a French Carnival set Up at RKO studio the next day. J. H. Smile of the L. -A. C. of C^ gave a talk at the Pacific Coast Showmeh's Assn. on the Social Se curity Act that explained in detail just how it would operate in cohnee tion with travelling shows, perform- ers and employees, First time I ever got it through my noodle. 'Bring Them Back Alive' Buck was the guest of bonor at thie L. A. Zoological Assn. luncheon and told of the setup in all other cities. The. Japanese are veiy" touchy about the shape of their femmes* legs, When I played my water cir^ cus there in 1923 I opened in Tolqro and had great trouble in seciuring 10 native girls with good shapes for the bathing girl revue and disap-: piparance numbers. Inimediately after my first performance I had an order, from the .Chief of Police say-r. ihg, 'Jiapanese girls will not be al- lowed to appear in your entertein- ment' Got my interpreter and taxied to the stotibn, and was told by the Ciiief that 'it was humiliating to the Japanese to have them in my show/ 1 asked why, when they allowed mixed battling at their beaches with nothing but their bare skins,, and I' dressed them in' the latest style suits. After mucli converstltion, hc said; 'the American girls bavp beautifiji legs and our girls have not. There- fore/it makes us look inferioh' liad to get Russians, Chinese, etc., to take their places, tlie reason for the-biim ganis is thiat for centuries tlley have, sat on their heels and worn wooden dogs^ At the time I was there no springboard diving or speed iswim- ming was practiced, biit since then they have brpken many; recprds, as the (Jlympics halve shown. . Thie al- most universal use pf : pur shoes and dress, hias already made great im-. prpvement in the sport lovers' forms. Lots of piffle in the mags about the origination '.of the. ;Word 'Ballyv hoo,' which to the outdbpr wprld means put sometliihg in frpnt of ypur attraction to draw crOwd, This word wfis at least new to the English as ifar back as 1898. that season Frank Bpstock, Francis and Joe Ferari came ;to Coney Island with, their Wild Animal Show and engaged the liie Harry Potter ."^s telker. At the first opening iPotter, : rom the, front, looked: in and saw ihat all was rieady, so he called, 'Ballyhoo.' No one ^ camei so he ytiled 'Ballyhoo' 'again and kgain/ >ut got no actipn. Seeing Bpstock, he fisked, 'what thp: hell's tiie .matter with tiipse stiffs? I've yielled bally? 100 till rni black iii the face and they dbn't riiove.' Bpstock was as . mystified a$: his perfoirmers and had to: have it explainedv: He then Went to the .d.bor and :j^elled ''commence,' conmience,\ (uon then the shoW got ih action. . Outdoor ishown^eii better get busy and have some :repriE|sentatibn George L. Berry's Ccnuiniitefb for lii- diistrial Cboperatioh, . Already the pictures, bow^iiff land jSppi;^ a^ie repr resented, b^t I. know: th^y iwiU jiiay no attention to Honest BlU: iNeWtoh's appeat I had my draw with the tent showmen when We fought the RR rates,, About 14 bWiUHr<r paid the freight. I got a refund for the Camp- bell Shows o^ $700 and he sedt me a pheck f or $100. ; i(t l^cikuiced. Itikhkee Robinson ; Circus took 20 moves at 6 saving, of $700 «,nibve»hdW^ , are sending you, Check fpr 1^ waiting for that'onei The day the bill Mssed Wired th^RMg^^ that : we beai ihie: ]rat<^:iuad :<i5aved: them $l,8(M.0tt:^e Tujl$^bm Tulsa to Oklahomi City:, They . never bothered to answer. Ambi?icah, Circus Corp., that savj^ inbre thiiii anyone- ielse, never: piit up a nickeL sdls- Floto, Andrew Dowfiiiii Chlis. . Sparks and AxigiuK^us Jbnes wbriqr 't^^^ bply circus men that gave a dime, The Otlter .10 .Were carhlviiUk ^ Oi^ SMI BKE ■■ ^-^•S«tEake-;t;ity^ Sir Malcoliii ,Ccuot4>1wllf Biii^ish auto racer .W'ho . jK^ MSftni new iWPrld!s;::\Icmd $ft»^''''^tkca^'':' Bonneville salt flats, :,1(^: liiillte West from bere^adviiied chamber merc6 Pliriciids Mbhday ,(25) that he will: att^pt to beat .Gar' Wood's speedboait record bn Grtat lSaljt,|j|ike. The Briton las( atuniner' cisfiab- lishpd a -wbrld's land :itipeed xecofd for the measured mile; o£.:d0I1337 miles pier hour on the ITtab «aU course.:. His letter stati^ he Will cphWrt the motors; fironi.-hfa ianious 'Blue Bird,' in which he set the record last year, into'a racing boat and. go after Wood'^ water records,. ' Wood, }ong<rtinne» iUnerican record hblder, recently drove his own- designed boat at 124 j(l Miles hour.. Recent testii on Great :Salt Lake, indicate that: speed, bbati can atr tain higher tiiteed»: oii Its buoyant surface than :ar^ pbsslblb of. attai ment oh, fi:esh Water lakes. Jones Niies Bids ; Hollywood^;Jan. 2:6. Buck Jones is piassihg up all circus bids due to picture Work and radio program, which gets uhdeir way sPon. He Is committed to Universal for four pictures Whibh will keep him on his horse:thrpugh July, Barn^tt jSuys W; Q. jdfi'eenviller is. C,,:^h. 26^ Bariiett Brothers' Circus haa holed- Up at York, S, C., fpr ttearly ten; years. ; y : R. W. Rogers, general manager and . principal owner, anhouhced last week the acquisitibn' of , a large, piece of property there and (cbhstruction has begun on two largle )i)uildiiigs. One building is understbod to be for the paint, carpenter and truck repair shops ahd the other for the housing of canvas and wardrobes. VA. EZKi'd AtJIHOBESS Lynchburg, Jan. 26. Script for Richmond's Bi-Cehten- nial Exposition pjageaht will be authored by Mrs. Jan isabellsi For-; tune of Dallas^ who wrote Cavalcade of Texas for lier home town's cen- tennial celebration 'last year, Fred W. McWapfe of Lynchburg, general niahager . of; Richmond's show, has fixed Aug. 25 to Sept. 8 as pageant dates, but dates will be Ex- tended ten days if thiere's a demand.