Variety (Dec 1937)

RADIO Published Weekly at 151 West 4Cth Street, New York. N. T;, by Variety! Inc. Annual subscription, JC. SlnRlo cobles, 15 cents, Kiitered aa Bec6i»<l-cla»3 mailer December 22. 1905. at the Post OITIcb at New York, N V., under lha act of Marcb 3, .187!i. COrVKKiHT. 1937. BTf VAKIKTTf, INC. Al.l- RIGHTS RKSKKVkit Vol. 129 No. 3 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1937 56 PAGES $80,000,000 An idea of how much coatroom concessi.on.s, including the cigaret ■pviviiege, are worth is gathered from the $iO,000 advance payment •for a year by Abe Ellis and Oscar Markowich to Billy Rose for the 'French Crsino (N. Y.) privilege. It's approximately 2% of the gross.. A $40,000 coat and clgaret privilege means that the annual gross of the restaurant or cabaret niust; be around $2,000,000.' SHOW BIZ NOW EYEING THAT D.CCOIN Washington, Dec. 28, With ah eye to b.o., theatrical and Sports promoters have begun the scranf\ble to estabiish ai foothold in tl\e nation's capital and put out ve- hicles that will pry the dough out of the pockets of more than 120,000 em- ployees here on the Government pay rolls,. Owner George Marshall of the champion Redskins demonstrated what could be done in the capital when he packed up. his grid troupe and moved in from Boston. Six years in Beantown was no sporting propo- sition, and from a gross deficit of $85,000, Slingin' Sammy Baugh's passing artistry and Cliff Battles' fleet half backing helped to a reported profit of $135,000 on the single season to Marshall;. The National Hockey League is angling to plant one of its weaker franchises in the capital to allow the (Continued on page 23) BURNSIDE PAGEANT FOR N..Y.'S 1939 FAIR R. H. feiirnside will present a pag- eant entitled ^Through the Ages' at the New York World's Fair, in 1939, with 2,500 players and several hun- dred musicians engaged. Feature will be a visual history of the theatre, opera and dance, Burnside staged the spectacle 'FreadOm'at the Philly sasqtiicentenniar in 192G, and . will follow the same general line of pre- sentation in New York., Invitation came from . Grover Whalbn, fair prez, and John Golden. clvaii;inah of. the entertainment: coin- nuttoe.- World's Champ Cowboy Salt Lake City, Dec. 28. . EvLM-ett Bowman, of Hillville, A.i-iz.,. will receive a cash prize and numerou.s trophies, as the 1937 worldV cliampion cowboy when the Kodeo Associatien of America hold-^; m .^"'""^"^ convention in Ogdcn, ii , it was reported by ^ocal R.A.A. ofOcials today (28). , ^uvi Mulkoy .of Boise. Idaho, fin- saed second in the national ratinsjs hr.i.i Bowman scored 7021 points and Mulkey 5395. DOUBLE WEDDING Showman Pete Kalaris* Family and Screen Ticup , Chicago, Dec. 28. . Pete Kalarls has a brother George, and-^-sister^enia—"Both tlie-biTJther and sister wish to be married in March to others, but Pete Kalaris made them change the date to Jan. 7, because he is playing 'Double Wed- ding' on that date, and a real double wedding, will tie in nicely^ and help fill up his. cash drawer. But aEter~tTrey naa agreea~5oth" brides got very mad, because every- body is calling Pete Kalaris a show-* man-at-haart and that they aren't even noticed. Danger of Using R A. System When Stewed Niteowls Get Near It Instance of how dangerous it can be to recruit frbin ah audience, for gags or otheir purposes was embar- rassingly demonstrated Saturday night (25> at the Hollywood restau- rant, N. Y., when a stewed visiting fireman, in a Big Apple number, spoke plenty out of turn. Jack Waldron, m.c, working at the mike; after efforts to get the peasant off the floor, thus assisted in loudly broadcasting the stew's remark. . Restaurant didn't ask him to leave the place, howeyer, taking it good- naturedly, as did most of the cus- tomers. Patron finally .left the floor and returned to his. table' for more', of what bit him.-. Having . pulled him into the B. A, :number, the Holly- \vopd management had .only itself to blame ;and couldn't very well ask him to.: BROTHER JUGGLERS IN COMEBACK AT 70 P.ai-i.s, Dec. 19. Airierica has had a cycle of 'come- HncU-iV hut at 03 and. 70, the brothers Isola, Einile an^ Vincent, are doin,^ (M.c ()£ their own, as ,Lu-^ipjcrs and in their own ■ intime variety, house, where'in Cornier, ycai'.s thc,y were akin to the Shubcvts a;; French Tmpres'rios of opo'roltas.' Came the' crash, chiefly via, bad stock market inve.simenl.'^, and the. Isolas rccoursed to their ori.t^inal troupin(; as .iongieur.^ (comcd.y jug- ','lers). tourin.i* France. Belgium, etc.. and proving that .Ihcy were still good poi'fornier.- if unlucky on the bourse. Statistics . Not Easy to Get, but T >* a d e. T h i h k s 400,030 (Union and Non- Union) ^ Obtain Full or Part-Time Employment as Dispensers of Dance and Cocktail Music 18,000 TRAVEL By JOHN HUHLET Dance-c onscious Arnprira i»; nnW laying an estimated $30,000,000 on the line annually, for its dance mu- sic, . Statistics, often mere approxi- mations, mention part or full time employment to 400,000 musicians (union and non-union) in differ- .ent ty pes o f places. Even the De- partment of Commerce cannot keep up with this uncertain industry; Radio, recordings and repeal o£ pro- hibition all have encouraged, in- fluenced and educated the public to its present aptitude and."altitude as concerns dansapation!. Estimated $60,000,000 gross of 1,400. licensed brokers and an idded (Continued on oime A*)) A STEAK-HOUSE GOES VOODOO; JAM SESSION it, proadway s Campaign to Further the Stage Tempus Dentus Kitty Doner tells this oiie on herself when cornered by a fan outside a Jersey vaude house. Fan: 'Didn't I see you in a show, at the old Winter Gar- den?' D.: 'Yes. that's right.' Fan: 'My GaWd, it's wonder- ful how your tiieth have held out.' ■ By iWARIAN SQUIRE New,.York's Hickory House, quic't- ly devoting itself to good sleoU.s. etc., six days a week. goe.s deCmilel.y .in- sane every Sunday afternoon wiili its, jam sessions. PeoiJile stand on the street arid in the .do.orw;i.y. to hear the rnad moanin,(»,'i. of ,J )i; Mai-- sala's band (white) and tlio Tlii-oe ^ Peppers (colored )-^;uid .Uki ifickorv .i management mainlain.> tli;it the side- ■ walk crowd, i.s just about, aprofit- | able to the house as the avidiL'nce i inside... .For the. 'so-isi'on.;', liiro .a.i young crowd with ninre oiitiiiKi?i'^(n ' than speri.din.g inoiu;v: IM;Ih)v)i)ii,ic- ally, the . maiKUsCment l.i>lls of three proni,'»ate collo'^ian.-; wlv) ordered one scotoh and s()d;i; and .,;?nl. the entire afternrion t?'iaking..'it lin-intj cup of the solo di'ink. ■ 'Jam. se.'5.si;)n.' in cose ifn;vH-: .Tn oxplanation, is swin;t with opilep.s.v, .As'explained ijy .-^win'^ pl.)n.'r?r Joe Mar.sala, jam is music witii no holds and no I'lotcs barred. One ihsli-u- rhent takes a load of .sorts, and the rest of the outfit IIS".' llicir musical imagination on their respecti<.e hi- (Continucd on page 27/ Apt. House Bingo And Off-the -Arm Dances—New Gag Local show biz ■ is in for more headaches due to the recent develop- ment of three new wrinkles designed to beat commercial show biz tariffs "Two of the tricks, apartment lobby parties and hiring of baUrbom!; for self-promoted bingo garties.'were de- veloped by the public themselves. The other, cuffo dances at local mu- nicipal pools, is a conibo city-WPA project. All three cut. into the, take somewhere, along, the line and can spread. More and nibre is the bingo craze spreading from church, school and strictly commereial enterprises (long a bane to theatres) to a more per-■ sonalized thing. Couple hires an idle nabe hall, etc., and promote, their friends, relatives, et al, to attend for the usual prize payofT, Investment is small and with proper timing and buildup, is almo.st ■ surefire money makor-for- local promoters. Write-off oh. the. house parties tiling is hardly a drop in the bucket for tenants in the average, modern equipped apartmciit.s. Such u.sually have big lobbies and in other in- ■ilance.s, extra rooms for parties, for (Continued on, page 2!5) A new and novel form of legit ■ activity is flourishing right now on Broadway. It's not a commercial venture. It's nothing which cati bring tangible results immediatel.y. It's not even anything which its sponsors, the American Theatre Council, are sure will prove any- thing. But serious' voluntary work is being done, and plenty of it. It's along linbs of long-range plahnihg which is' intended to give both the experienced and youiijj hopefuls a chance. Perhaps ^ne simplest name to cover t ;s ATC activity, leading spirit v lich is Antoinette Periy, is 'hat- rack legit.' "The boys and. girls just ha -1 t'.iei/ hats and coati (mrtrt* than likely there; isn't even a hat# rrck) and go to work, either at rc- LearsaLs, or if , completely unknown, audition before a group of manageva '..hese are the two general divisions —auditiShs and rc-hearsals. Praser.t- l;- ther 's a great deal of hush-hu.sh a'^ jUt pirsonalities involved, to avoid any possibility of jealousy croppin.g up. but later on it'.s po.ssible that all names may be mad i public.: Alto.gether .:{,600 applicaMons were received by the American Theatre (Continued on page 55) SAFETY BROADCASTS FROM SEATTLE MORGUE Seattle. Dec. 28. Now radio is broadcasting from the morgue. It's a safety program over KRSC. Announcer Ted Bell and University of Washin'.;tb.n Campus radio players launched pro-., gram from the coroner's cha?nbor containing the victims of traffic ac- cidents. ' Grucso.nrie reality of program wa.i enhancisd when the amateur actors were afTected by their .surrounding and their .quivery voices made it plenty authentic to. listeners. HOUR OF CHARM MUSIC tHAT LINGERS ON PHIL SPJTALNY park central hotel, new YORK