Variety (Dec 1937)

Publlahed Weekly >t is4 West 46th .Str^iat. New, Tork, N. T.. by Yarlefy. Inc;. Annual suijscriptloni IsV SliisTs crthles. cents. Einlefed as necondTcUsa matter :D(aceinber.. 22,', 1906. at the Post .'<)(tlce at ! New. York, Jfi, under lh« .act of Miiircb 3. lS7,!». H: 129 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1937 64 PAGES J« than $300,000, represented ia Iproductroiis oix Brbadway dur- last month, has be^n written red. That approximation is ' oti 12 deianite iailureis. alt of have: closed or .Will hiave 1 by the end of the Week. Ur shows Which came in during^ Idiir-week period are rated ..the successes, but .sbnie were- ktly ' there is no assurance of re- Viiig ■ the investments. Esti- tdtal invested in both failures Ir '-esses during thie month is n!3!iO,000. . ^une tossed awiay on worthless wa'3 partly, outside money; Re most costly of the ill-fated btations were by ,pi:pducer< .pf lijzed standing. ., Revival of ny and Cleopatra* cost close to PO-aJid^Mierelyr-MTirdei'i^-Tpre^ by: the same office, represented fcr $40,000. I week's *Siege' cost'$30,000 and Jevious week 'Love in My Fash- bpresented a surprising $25,000 I 'Brpwri Sugar,' one of the jfolding dramasy is said to have lore than tbie; average straight jlCpnliiiued On page 62) ' BeiieAth Dignity Seattle. Dec. 14. Uiii.versit^^ iSchpoJ} of Drama, arid , Radio, asked stude.nts .to interpret, in: .striiight Engriish, running stories : clipped from Variety, ■ submit- ting them to.teachfer for credits. . One student said, this was 'beneath the. dignity of' the drama.' 1x1 ^1 je In 8u of Prize Moneyj Aniixposef Theatre ph Potla, sound imitator, who f 'amateur cpritest' at a Jersey rude house recently tore open he envelope onstage revealing uudience it .was phoney, caiis- hUgh the: management didn't ■ Squawked so hard that.he was i. with the five spot which was to be inside,, but states he P a letter .from his 'aikeht* Tig all his iutiire dates..i»otla |s was also threatened with a up by the; m;C., ■ and stager . His prbfiessional ; ridme is lawkins. ■■■■■ \ liavers that in one Brooklyn \fl" bottle of ScPt h -ontinued on page 62) '. If- '^.r'S ""^""^^ °f 'IVl'adame the Broadhurst. N" Y t weelc,^;the,stagehaKds. had ,ni Performance was played nt for students-pfvihe stage .nteresled iri.-what gc^s curiam is droijped. Cur- not lowered and the special ■ viewed speriic. And'cos^Ume Bruited about is the fact that cer- tain Goyernmeiit bodies are seriously interested, in learning about the activities of certain downtown, direc- tors and officials of Aim companies, who, allegedly, have been manipu- lating film coriipany stocks via private holding companies and in- dividuals. It is held that certain of these gentry haive established Swiss companies and other, foreign firms through which their- stock manipula- tions are handled; The (ioverrinnierit bodies are uhder- stpod interested for the twofold ,rea-. son of taxes; additiprial to protecting stockholders. One of the men un- 'der . scrutiriy " pne who has been criticized by c'oinpariy stPckholder.^ for. tVkd;it.ig;;in his .firm's securities. A^^'.'i^ P^o.t^le familiar :with :^'a^d that it .took the crew «V-Change scenes than br- : .i/^ men obviously being eq. Deckhands however :x"«^ 5aw np\ difference in TK. Bovary- closes this \\oelv. Rome CanY See U. S. fix Glorifying British Army; but Bankers OK Konio, Dec.: 14. .. 'BtMigal Lancer,'' announced some time OK'd for Italian release, had..only ; very short run in Italy. and 'theii' was agaiiV WMtlvdm is the result of Arislo-Italiah'frie.nd- ship, being an on-agairi-ipff-again af- fair,' and of the .■ Italiah authprilies' conseqiii-Vit doubt, about . the wisdom' of. -showhig the Italian public films that glorify the British '. .... At the n.io'men.t Par •is'"try."''n^ Itf/get per-. missi.6iV .trt .'• >reiease^ fi1ni. . ' : : ' Wa rher B rp's:'-, 'C h a i'ge of, thp Li«li t .Brigade'; suffered; tl|e. same fate}f .the,;same reason;'.Ittbanwl^^^ of London'. is being.vfelcitsCd hero; apparently the Italians ..see no harm ih glorify I'n.t? ■ .Brlli.sh ..bahkcr's,. even if thoy do;,(iot .cai'p. to give.-the British .army-a break'.' ■■ ■ Public: Stayiiig : Away frbm Theatires' for Barg^ tertaininents in Name: of Charity—^Cbst . Only Few Cents Mor0. Than Four or Five - Act' Vaudfilniv .Lay- : outs/PJus Cbinfctrt of . Re- served Sekts and Head- liners COFFEE-CAKE PAYOFFS By ABEL GREEN In the. ftame of charity, vaudeville actor.s'..last gasp isjfast_beirig_gasped.. Their benefit -. show appearances, strictly ciiffo' just, about kayo the variety talent's chances,; for any paid dates. .'. " ' , On all sides you hear laymen say, 'Why go . to ' ordinary, . vaiideville theatre any more and see j ust four or five acts? For a few cents more, once ai week, - we go in style to some Saturday or Sunday night big char- ity show, see the cream of the crop of acts from all: branches of. show business, arid tha t takes care of . our desire for that good. old. Palace feel- ing. ; It even beats the oid two-a- day.' ■■.;^'■■. :• .-^v V ' There's plenty of grim truth In this. the acts. and ;'agents have., sud- den ly.discoveiTeol.;::V The seats are reserved; being .staged usually in a'b'g auditorium or ibgit thieatre. Whetj held tbe grand ballrooms of the majpr hotels, as many of them are, the same, thing is true, as. there's no scramble for seats and ;the", enyironment .is. ultra, somewhat .exclusive:and. alwiys with an air of bigtime charity. . .. The Theatre Authority may think it^S -benefiting the:'a and' their VaHpus''. c.haritabie .v-orgari'zations— after:.the T;Ai gels'its. admirii.strat've sliccr-but,' the :15%'pf-tliieTg.rPs.s'that the- Authority .'collects';is only: con- "y ;. (Contlnuect on- page 59.}' ; Saiita't Ag^ht - . . ■ Holly wopd. Dee. 14. : . In this town is safe from the clutches of an agent. Bert Medford last week climbed ': on the Christmas float that makes; the- boulevard . , every night and signed William Mac- .' Ginnis,' Hollywood's S a n t a tflaUs •for., the past . 17 years, to- - a contract. ■ ;' . Next day he landed him on ' the Chase (8c Sanborn shpWi ■ Hamilton, Ontl, Dec. 14. There being Sunday blue-law effective in Ont'ari which prohibits admish charge to theatres, CHML each Sabbath afternoon puts on a visual free shpw, sponsored over the ozone "by Winghani jewelry firm. Entertairiment: i^ the only thitig of its sort, in Winghairh on Sundays and it is cortsequently tough, to get tickets. Which sponsor distributes only to those calling at his store. BankroUer hires the Delta theatre for the broad- casts, Wl^ich are comhiuriity .songfests in character. , . • :.. ■' Indidchtally,. same sponsor weekdays,, over CHML with a. pro- iiram titled 'Credit,' which the CBC slightly frowns on but has not as yet interfered with. '..' Chicago.-Dec. 14. . Policy of several.. interviewr-the- public-sessions to dish dirt via the double entendre stuff has grown to •such ■ proportions that radio execu- tives are frankly worried 'as to how such prpgrams can be kept under control. , ■■ ■'/.■ ■,.■■; ■ ■: ■■■:■■:■. They realize that slips, are bound to be. made, and are cutting them down as much as possible by select-- ing questiori's more' care^f.u^ For example, there woii't-lie any queries such as the one on WMAQ-Salerno- MegowenV Question-Air, vwhat is a feriiale fox called?' The intervewed spoice iip, 'It wouldn't be ai bitch, would it?' And Donald McGibeny, the narrator, assured him it wasn't, that a female fox was a vixeq. Then, to ever ybody's embarras-sment. some 2,200 letters came in, saying that Mc- Gibeny was wrong, and that ai fe- male fox is a bitch. "There've been a number of errors on this order during the past week —the kind about Which little worry, is expressed other than ysing a more (Continued on page'62) Radio Comics Iq Action, hrl of lllarch of Time' Screen Essay on 'Haiiior' ■ 'March of Time- monthly newsreel is shooting big comriiercial-program ■ comics for a forthcoming clip to be titled 'American Humor.' Item, will likely be releasM in ^Tim^'s' Feb-, ruary release ana will deal yvitlt humor figured to be native to the U. S. -y-:-'-■:■/::-■-■': Jack Benny, Fred Allen. Eddi • Can tor, Burns arid AIlen and other. funnymen on the ozone will be shot m actiPn on their programs in'^ in-r stances where t^e jad -agencies; and' s'pbns.prs.''Wilir^ formers Oik, the lerisings.. ' •■ ■ -'New' Yrtrk- ;Vy^)r1d^^ Fiu'r' in' '19i39- looms ,as iitt . iiU-night expositiph. Tho.iigh :np cfefinite- decisioK has been miid'e .^;p 'far,. pemn.s. liHlP .question b'u t tjiat. th e.>' f :i i r. gat w i 11; be' ..Operi. 24 hours a d.ny..: . . ': '■■ ■ U.i\qu'cs;tlpnably /tiio'-. world's ■-big-. gcai ..tiigrit-lifc: cily,;'-ihi?. N. Y. expo will be but to gr;jb. lli-'it..extra poiri that comes in after 2 6r ;j a.ni. Mcr-. charitS' Icec'plng ; ' ^ (I'ior.i • after rri icinight: are - couni ed on t;i U i rig ad - ■ (Continued ()t( iv <il) MUSIC .THAT LINGERS ON ln^' Si^s-.,. **ii-:-;-:-;-:-xjSSi: PARK CENTRAL HOTEL, NEW YORK