Variety (Feb 1937)

Wednesday* February 10, 193? LEil TIM A YE VARIETY 53 42D C01NG BACK? Equity Passes No Rule to te of Ass n Can Sue It Equity has taken V cautionary measure, time to protect itself from suits by members. It is partly the result of criticism of the administration because, of heavy legal and court costs. From now on no member will be permitted to sue Equity unless all other measures of. adjustment shall have been hausted.% Step was taken principally as the result of several actions to recover damages. by Robert Du Roy, who blamed Equity for the .flop of 'Right to Happiness/ which he co-produced in 1931, winning a verdict of $40,000. Award was subsequently, reduced and finally the verdict Was reversed in favor of Equity, but it cost about $8,000 to defend the actions. One of Du Roy's suits still pends, through which he seeks. $100,000 oh the grounds that Equity's monthly house organ allegedly libelled him in stories about the 'Happiness' actions. Several years, ago Edith Ransome, a. Coast actress, sued for $150,000, alleging she had been mistreated by Equity representatives. Actress, com- mitted, suicide before the case Was tried. That; incident ; also prompted the council to adopt the new set of rules. ' V ' Two methods of disposing of any similar complaints are outlined. Actors may appear before Council, and, if the claim be rejected, Would have the right of appearing before the membership, at a general meet- ing, if the other members favorably . consider the claim, a committee shall be named with its decision to be final. ; Other method is by arbitration and the decision shall also be final. In other words, Equity does not pro- •pose to be forced into/ the Courts again by its. members. Any member who refuses to com- ply with the new rules will be sub- ject to suspension. In addition, he could also be fined the fulb amount of the .claim. Clause is considered one of the most severe in Equity's history. SHOWS Samuel Shipman, who passed away in his apartment in New York Tuesday (9) afternoon, was one of the most prolific playwrights of his time. Although death was sudden, he had been under a physician's eye: recently and intimates were aware that |Shippy/ as he was best known, was in precarious condition because of a weakened h^art. Author, like some the other leading dramatists, preferred to col- laborate rather than write -alone, al-. though he wrote a dozen. plays- singly. ■ With. John B. Hymer he wrote 'East Is West,* probably their outstanding success. With the late Aaron Hoffman fashioned 'Friendly Enemies,' i which Sam Bernard, and Louis Mann, both de- ceased, starred. With Max Marcin •there were' a number of collabora- tions, including 'Cheating Cheaters,' 'The Woman in Room 13' and 'The Crooked . Square.' With Clara Lip- man he wrote 'Elevating a Husband' and the 'Kreutzer Sonata.' Other Collaborations include 'Children of Today,' 'The Good For Nothing,' 'First Is Last- and • 'Crime.' His last play, done with Beth Brown; was 'Behind Red Lights,' current at the Mansfield, N. Y. Shipman .either wrote or figured, in the playwrighting of 30 dramas. A. H. WOods produced most Of those plays. He was in his 54th year and died at the Alarriac hotel, where he resided almost from the time it was erected. Just a Little Late Reuben/ restaurateur, likes to send greeting cards to people of. the theatre. One such was re- ceived at the Miller theatre, Ni Y., addressed to the author of 'The Country Wife.' William Wycherly died Jan. , 1716. Won't Let Burlesque Into New . Amsterdam,' Selwyn Nationals-Sure of an Upturn in the Near Future LEASE OFFERS NIXED Richard Aldrich and Richard Myers, producers of Herman J. Mankiewicz's play, "The Meal Ticket,' are confronted With the problem of teaching legit actors to perform vaudeville hokum.' Players must im- press as a broken-down vaudeville family of yesteryear. Thus; Charles King is learning juggli ; Ruth Holden, as his stage- Wife, is studying Indian club toss- ing; Leona Powers, is a grandmother who does cartwheels; Joseph Green- waldj. as ah ex-magician who con- tinues to do parlor tricks are other novices. Cast also includes several other, minor roles of magicos, dan- gers, etc.:. Play opens Feb. 15 at the Erlanger, Philadelphia, before Broadway. Harry Wagstaff Gribble stages. Mank.iewicz arrived from Hollywood this week. 2 CHORUS EQUITY CLAIMS Two Days Pay Asked for 'Co-ed,' Half a Week for 'Eternal' Chorus Equity has claims against two, managements, which will be settled by arbitration shortly. 'One claim has to do with rehearsal pay for . choristers who appeared in 'Co-Ed,' musical which put on by J. J, Leyinthal and. Jack Linder at Brighton Beach recently, but which never reached Broadway. Equity contends that two days rehearsal coin is due to 30 girls, with each claim $5. Second claim has to do with 'The. Eternal Road' ensemble, which was cameraed for a newsreel during re- hearsal! Chorus Equity claims one half a week's salary for that. Jones on Way Back L. formerly associated with. Morris reen in producing miisicals (.'Greenwich Village Fol- lies')-and straight shows, will essay a comeback, haying announced 'Orchids Preferred,' a comedy with mu'sicV Score is by Dave Stamper, bookby. Freideric 'Herendeeh; ' Saul Abraham, is slated to rejoin Jones as general manager, with Bill Fields resuming as p,a. Clearly establishing. its . conviction that 42nd street will eventually re- turn to legit faydr, the Dry Dock Sav- ings Bank; which owns the New Am- sterdam and Selwyn theatres on that thoroughfare, as well the Na- tional around the '* corner; on 41st street, has taken a firm stand to protect all three houses against un- wanted tenants. Bank is especially adamant on burlesque and refused to let it creep into the theatres. , New Amsterdam,, ace theatre on Broadway in the halcyon . days of Klaw & Erlanger, has been the. tar- get for burley people for several years. They offered a rental of $85,000 yearly and there was one attempt to purchase the property for $1,- 500,000, all such feelers being promptly. rejected; Persistence of the burlesque showmen appears to haye made the bank all the more determined to keep them out. Bank people have set up a unique defense.. In the event that burley managers." obtained possession through an intermediary, they, claim it would be regarded as false pre- tence. Any sale or lease of the prop- erty /will stipulate that, in such event, the- mortgage would be due immediately and the tenants ousted. Same conditions apply to the Sel- wyn and-National. New- Amsterdam was foreclosed for about $1,650,000 and its actual value is believed to be about $1,- 000,000 over that figure. In the event of a ,- the mortgage would easily amount to the $1,000,000 mark, but the bank is not anxious to sell at this time, because realty is steadily on the. way up" and properties which were tossed back to the banks at the price of the mortgages/are expected to net big. profits. It would seem, therefore, that the Dry Dock's, protection policy is not altruistic but a matter of business sense.. New Amsterdam has had mostly a~ dark, season so far and is at present untenanted, but the bank is willing to handle the carrying charges, confident that all that coin and more; will be recaptured even- -tually. Bank still figures that 42nd street will see at least several legit shows along the block before another season expires. Bank's policy in the matter of the Selwyn was shown when it leased the house for "grind pictures at $650 weekly. Burlesque people ; had of- fered $1,500 weekly and expressed willingness to put up a year's rent in advance: WOODS BUYS 'MONEY* 'Money,' play by Aurania Rouverol, has been purchased by Al H Woods. Play made i debut recently in a two-week run at Pasadena Community Playhouse. er Toes' Contract Will Be Arbitrated , touring with 'Oh Your Toes,' has served notice on Dwight Deere ,Wiman that he will leave the show on March 20, going to Holly- wood immediately afterwards, under contract to Metro. Producer con- tests'the actor's right to leave the show, which is booked well , into the spring;, and the matter will go to arbitfi)ti . Bolger. has a full season contract but there are two riders attached. One sets March 20 as the terminal tion date, but another makes that clause ambiguous. Actors' contracts are made out in triplicate, one being filed with Equity under, the rules of that association. Copy so filed, however, does not contain the riders. Had Equity been informed of the added conditions the contract would have been clari- fied and the present difference avoided, it is claimed. Well, That's Something Meyer Weisgal, who prompted 'The Eternal Road/ Manhattan H., N. Y., . returned from Florida with a fine sunburn,', but no coi He went south for the purpose of arranging a sink- ing fund for the spectacle from among the show's backers,'who are Wintering there. Further financial support for 'Road' is expected to be ranged: for this Week. ONE FLOOD IS PLENTY FOR ittsbufgh, Feb." 9. The Lunts aren't going to get them- selves in the middle of another flood if they can help it. Guild stars can- celled the week of March 24 in Ci - cinriati for. 'Idiot's; DeHght' and were, pencilled into the Nixon here in- stead, until they remembered that it was' just at this time a year ago that the Pittsburgh deluge left them high and dry. So the local date was .dropped, too;; Excuse was that it would be a re- turn engagement, but it could hardly be called that - 'Delight' opened in Pittsburgh on March 16, 1936, be- fore going to Broadway, but. played only four performances. Rivers broke loose two days-later and the Lunts continued for two additional per- formances during the height of the flood because the Nixon had its own power plant and kept going. How- ever, things became too tough after that and they pulled out, with half the week unplayed. It would have been an extra-cur- ricular oa'ering for the Guild here, since the Nixon's six-play ATS sub- scription, series has been played out this season. . SCALPERS BURN D. C. S0L0NS; LEGISLATION Washington; Feb. radication of ticket-scalpers from the National Capital was.proposed in Congress Wednesday (3) as after- math of legislators' .difficulties in buying 'pasteboards at established prices. • Fired by premium charged at newsstands and hotels for ducats to amusements and sporting events, Representative John M. Coffee of Washington (state) sponsored a bill which would limit service charge on tickets for any .sort of affair to 5% o' the printed tariff. Violators would be. subject to fines of $100 to $500 for. each offense and imprison- ment for 10 to 30 days. ED RICE ILL Edward J. Rice, oldest living member of the Treasurers' Club, is seriously ill at his , home on. Long Island. : He was a box. office man about 25 yean ago, then went with the Interborough Rapid Transit company;'in charge of tickets. When turnstiles introduced he switched to the auditing department. CHAPEL HILL MEET Charlotte, N. C, Feb. Fourteenth annual festival and state tournament of the Carolina Dramatic Assn. will be held at Cha- pel Hill March 25-27. Contests will be held for original play productions, makeup; costumes, stage models, posters, playbills and tournaments. Operating expense of The Eternal Road,' Manhattan O. H., N. must be revised downward if the. religious spectacle is to continue. . Business is . slowly developing, but not. fast enough for the! finances in Sight. Last week was the best at the box-office- it is not an agency show—except one, •. gross going off, however, the pre-, vious week. Weekly operating nut is approxi- mately $30,000 and the. show missed that mark by several thousand. Man- agement now figures that: the spec's pace will hardly exceed an . average of $30,000 per week and, if that mark, is secured, there will, ndt be enough , money to pay off.. Only week* did th^, .show approximate vn. even break/but it bailed to sliow operating ; profit even then;:'when 1 'the^ final:' count was made. . First move to reduce expenses was to attempt a cut-in salaries, which* are considered somewhat too: higly although at $9,500 weekly the! actors* pay is but bnerthird of the total weekly outlay: Twice, the manage-:' menf conferred with the Cuts Board* at Equity* without coming, to ait agreement.. Understood that Equity execs regarded reducing salaries as a necessary 'move, but the "actors had. their side of it, too. 14 Notices Meyer W. Weisgal- who heads the management* appears to have jum- bled the salary situation by handing out notices <two weeks) of dismissal to 14 in the cast last-Friday (5). Re- sult was unpleasant feeling back-' stage, , With?-, dimmed chances of agreeing on a cut. Number of stage- hands in the enormous .. crew were also let but. He and Crosby Gai are the presenters. There are 29 players with speaking parts or whose salaries are above the riinimum and therefore, pbssibly af- fected by. a salary reduction. Most of them attended the Equity sessions. They pointed out that there were other expenditures' Which could be lowered, such as a $6,000 advertising weekly outlay. Actors also contend* ed that most of the show's red was piled up before opening, the, show owing about $46,0007: despite the $500,000 total expenditure. Management, instead of asking, for a specific percentage cut, made the error of putting this up to the actors. Weisgal sought a one-third cut and later made it 25%, with the actors saying they might Consider 12%%. Weisgal's answer was to hand out dismissal notices, with the idea of engaging other actors at lower sala-: ries. It is believed, however, that if the management again puts it up to the players to agree to a reasonable re- duction Over a period of.about six weeks they will agree, provided full salaries are paid m the. event of the show climbing, to profitable figures. Among the items reported not paid in any measure are royalties, which are 14%. Understood, the players also suggested there be a cut in that direction* too. There are 382 persons on the 'Road' payroll. Equity Nixes Irene Browne For Irving Cooper Play Equity refused to exempt Irene Browne, English ictress, from the six months lapse rule, between en- gagements when Irving Cooper ap- plied, to the counsel, last week, bat- ing that he wished to engage her for a play called 'Casa Carroll.' (Council ixed the idea after the- young manager stated it was. American play, located in. a New York brothel. Miss Browne came from London to appear ' 'The Country Wife.* Equity assented when she switched to 'Promise,' because of its prin- cipally British cast. Latter show was withdrawn after a short engage- ment at the • Little, N. Y.