Variety (Jan 1939)

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200 BURLIBSOUE Third of. a Century • ViURIEXlT ^ Anniversary Issue Wedhesday, January 4, 1939 Burlesk by Any Other Name Ain % huV38 Saw Some Spurt By Bemie Woods After passing througn a period during which it nearly became just a ■jnemory, burlesque looks to be doing a fabulous invalid act. The past few months saw the clearing away of many obstacles to rehabilitation, frbni an organizational standpoint.. However, one stumbling" block re- iiiaihs: the absence of official recog- nition of New York city officials.' In the! big town burlesque, by name, is still outlawed. Latter part of the past month saw the first concrete indication "of har- inony batwesn city and burlesque officials, something which has baen entirely lacking since the gong (which nearly turned out to be a death knell) was sounded in May, 1D37. At that time John Masterson, head of" the Mayor's censorship com- Imittee, was named as labor negotia- tor f6r the hurley operators and it resulted in the first step toward re- organization. At the same time the name of the BuiMesque Artists Association was chanjad to the Brother Artists As- sociation, bscau^ the- title was deemed inc;on',ruous in view of the city's ban on the word. No particu- lar sir^nificance is attached to the' substitulion of the word Brother for .Burlesriue, other than it conforms with the previous initials. First thing I'c.sterson did after accepting the post of go-between was to elim- inate contract diffculties between the * operators and the BAA. All signed •with t'le lattar after previous over- tures by the BAA, sans Masterson. had dallied along due to ops' objec- tions to minor clause in the contracts. Organizational snags, other than thoce of the operators, repeatedly have plagued the attempts to restore burlesque to a plane approaching Vrhat it had.been prior to its troubles. The decision handed down by the Associated Actors and Artistes of America, returning jurisdiction to the BAA didn't abruptly clear the horizon of trouble for the BAAI The Four A's .decision was rendered in December, 1937, when inroads of the American Federation <?f Actors, fol- lowing the revocation of the hurley tag and. its classification as vaude- ville, threatened to usurp BAA dom- ination of the field. f This inter-union squabble Wcis fol- lowed by one of intra-union nature. Charges were preferred against BAA officials by two members, of the org, claiming incomplete organization and mishandling of 'finances. When that was dropped another tangle With the AFA'reared its head. This was over the monies collected from BAA inembers by the AFA during the aforementioned AFA imionizing drive. All this deferred concen- trated attempts at rehabilitation un- til " this fall, a& by the time every- thing was cleared up, the summer «nd folding houses were at hand. Never Will Sanction There was, however, an attempt made during the hot spell to secure restoration of the burlesque title by Tom Phillips, prez of the BAA. He ..gathered data pxirporting to prove to city oiEEicials the inadvisability of forcing the theatres to operate' skns the burley label. This "was filed with the Censorship Committee set up ,.last yekr by Mayor' LaGuardia and' License' Commissioner Paul Mobs to keep, burley- under control. Afler several delays, word was forth- coming from the commissioner de- nying the application with an added Statement that the label would never be returned and under no circum- stances would any further pleks be entertained. Operators of the El- tinrs and Republic theatres in New York are supposed to have thrown their wei-jht against its return, rea- soning that removal of the ban would reopen dark theatres and cut in on their biz. They were the only two houses open in N. Y. at the time. Tl^.js naturally puts a crimp in the efforts of interest! who strive to place burley back where it once was in N. Y., and secure a measure of livelihood for those performers thrown out on their own with the folding of so many houses. Of- course the ban doesn't stop theatres froivi doing biz; there still are oppor- tunities for work, but these are lim- ited. Burlesque by ahy qther name Just ain't. ^ Tbree Moiltlu^ Meepise Though the contract dififftrtes with «ie BAA are out o£ the way, and everything looks to be smooth from here on bn that point, there are other things bothering the operators. One of them is the method of licensing the > houses -which was materially chaiiged with the reopening in Sep- tember, 1937. Instead of the yearly permits which set operators back $500', the current arrangement calls for three-month permits, which carry the same weight, that is they can't be revoked without going to court on an obscenity charge. It's the same setup except for two colored gentlemen in the woodpile. One of them is that those three-month per- mits cost $250 which brings the year- ly tap to $1,000—twice the former figure. Other is that which tei^ds toward keeping ops in line, it's a shorter wait for city officials who want to punish an operator with a permit refusal. In view of the fact' that burley was for a long time a lucrative biz for those operators, one would thinl: that they would cooperate with the censors and officials in trying 1;o keep in line and eliminate the chance of a recurrence of their past troubles. But that is not the case. It's admitted that numerous com- plaints have been lodged against the shows, and burley has been in a pre- carious position with N. Y. City of- ficials the phst couple of months due to that, and the many uhion battles. It's not always the fault of the man- agers, performers are liable to their share of the blame. Soon after the Gaiety, N. Y., reopened as a burley stand Aug. 26 last, Margie Hart, a strong b.o. peeler, was yanked from the show by the censor committee and put under ban in N. Y. Until she promised to behave. The* ban didn't last long in ner case, how- ever. She promised. The Feel This section of burley is, of course, the subject of the strongest objec- tions to it. Despite the fact that the peel was the section which de- manded the closest scrutiny and censorship, it remains still the strongest draw at the b.o.. "Without the peel contingent, burley houses, with the 'comedy* in the state it is, couldn't survive. Peelers are still under wraps in N. Y. to an extent,- but" not so much as they were a year ago after the houses reopened. There still are some things to which they adhere. The ban against cur- tain encores is still observed, as is doffing a little more than necessary. Argument that the shuckers can still serve their purpose 'without go- ing oveirboard is illustrated by Gypsy Rose Lee. She's given credit for being one of the best burley ever turned out along those lines. And she got away with showing,far less than some of the supposedly experienced gals working at it today. Gypsy Rose left the biz to go into pictures, but is currently on a vaude tour with a unit booked by the Wm. Morris agency. Whether or not she will return to burley is problemati- cal, but the stint she's doing in vaude is essentially the same. Ann Corio rettuned' to the biz this year after sojourning in Europe during the summer with her husband, Emmett Callahan. She's currently circulat- 'ing through the Izzy Hirst time. Though, as mentioned before, strip- ping got a - bad scare at being the main- source of irritation about bur- lesque, it never actually went out. Less said about buirley comedy the better. There hasn't been an out- standing piece of new comedy -written in years. Or so it seems anyway. Weekly attendants at houses have .often been heard spill- ing, punch lines" to skits before they .were reached by the actors. That's an .indictment that's inexcusable. Laugh-getters were once burley it- self; currently they have degenerated to little more than a stage wait lor the girls. What the current version of burlesque needs more than any- thing else is not new styles of re- moving a brassiere, but ace book producers. Performers Graduating Burley this year has managed to reassert Itself tentatively as a springboard to - higher things 'for performers within its ranks. Many burley- entertainers have gone on this year to radio, legit musicals, nite- clubs, pictures, and there was one shipped to England. Numbered among these is peanuts Bohn, who's with Charles Cochrane; ^Abbott ahd CosteUo with Kate Smith, and doub- ling into* niteries and vaude; Joey Faye; currently, in • 'Sing Out the News' on Broadway; Sid Stone who was In 'Fabulous Invalid'; Howard Kent in 'Pins and Needles'; Rags Rag- latid, who did a stint on the rRudy Vallee hour,-and with Phil ..Silvers-, another burley comedian, will soon I do a comedy skit on WOR-Mutual radio net; Sydney* Kent, ^ who's • on writing staff of Eddie Cantor. Joe Uhle is set with Metro, which stars his son, Mickey Rooney. There's Gordon Clark, in a road- show of 'I'd Rather Be Right*; Joe Devlin, also in pictures; Bobby Mor- ris and Sam Briscoe, in va-ude> in Australia; Ed Kaplan, in vaude; Shorty McAllister, of the team of McAllister and Fields who went to .the Coast last summer for pictures, but is now back on Broadway; and several others such as Al Golden, Jr.-, Connie Fauslau, and Jimmy Coughlin. Playins Time All these performers sprang from burley when it was at its lowest ebb. From a total, early in 1938, of about 40 weeks in New York and on the road, available time dropped to 12 weeks during summer.^ Those 12 stanzas represented.only two,weeks inN.Y. and 10 stocks spread through the east, midwest and Coast. The new season, underway only three months or so, already offers approxi- mately 32 and a half weeks, seven ■in New York, including two Izzy Hirst wheel houses 'which will soon go stock, eight and a half more of the latter's time on the road, and 15 weeks of stock. As far as houses in operation are concerned, the New York picture didn't change much. Prior to the summer months there were six spots doing biz. The Eltinge, Re- public, Irving Place, People's, Star, and the Triboro, th? latter being the old Gotham where all of bur- ley's troubles with the current ad- mi istration started. Of those, the Irving Place folded suddenly after a fire which ruined dressing - rooms and orchestra pews, and stayed shuttered; the People's was forced to close because of salary troubles which had Tony Miccio, who op- erated that spot and the Irving Place, up before Commissioner Moss repeatedly; and .the Triboro and Star in Brooklyn closed as a mat- ter of sunimer policy. Currently there are seven in op- eration. The Eltinge and Republic, both of which managed to survive the summer without the burlesque tag, were joined Aug. 26 by the Gaiety, a former burley stand, but grinding films as part of the Brandt theatre chain since the crackdown of May, 1937. The People^s re- opened under Miccio's son. And the Star unshuttered still later and drew another Brooklyn house, Werba's, an old burley stand, as op- position. Werba's had been lighted sporadically past few years as a stopover for -traveling legits, but was taken this year as a spoke in the Izzy Hirst wheel. The Triboro in Harlem also resumed playing Izzy Hirst shows. Both houses are operated by Harry Palmer, under arrangement with Hirst. Both went stock last month, due to the censor- ship committee's aversion to Hirst shows in New York. Mention of Miccio as past op- erator of the Irving Place and Peo- ple's brings to mind a venture tried by him this past summer. How he tried running an offshore bur- lesquery with the S.. S.. Yankee, a Hudson River showboat which re- placed the S. S. Mandalay which was sunk in New York Harbor after a collision. , Miccio's idea- didn't get far—didn't get away from the dock in-fact,- when cops squashed his ven- ture at the start. It was the first actual try at steamboat stripping after many rumors summer-, after summer. Cops killed it on a tech- nicality of .docking. Pin PEaERY B. 0.35% UP Pittsburgh, Jan. 1. Although legit and film biz are both under last year's figures, bur- lesque here this season is showing a decided boom, with takings at Ca- sino, the local peel wheel stand, up around 35%. Generally attributed to drop in price, with. 40c top at night, for which customer gets hour of screen shorts as well as a 90-minute flesh presentations, bringin 'em in. Trade, in fact, so good George Jaffe, Casino's operator, :already fig- uring on installing stock burley when wheel attractions run out. In past,. house .'has' closed for several months each season, but may decide to stick it out all year around in. Bills Next Week (Continued from page-186) Raul & Kva Rey'es CbUton & Thomas Ann Kirwln Helene Heath Cha-g Smith Jlniiny Blak* J Lynch GIs (17) l^atimer CJqb (Blue Room) Ann Rush Vlrelnla Howard Barbara Bradley Jerl Foster Rhumba Oro UttU RslhNkrllct Jack Grlflln Oro Zorlta Bob Carney Johnny & Gnor(;e Burnett & Barclay Cleo Barr JuUa Gerrlty Op«n Door Burton 2 Mellard & Millard Bob Ridley Viola Klalas Ore Parrlnh C«f« Flo Gross Marlon Aiken Johnny. Holmes Ore Vernon G\iy ' Ann Fisher ICltty Murray Bebe Fltzgeriild Janet '>V«tera Janet Waters RendezToui Adoraliles (6) George Scottl Chet Fennis' Ore Stamp'* Cat* AI Rlckard Ethel Grey Vic Earlaon Jack Hutchinson Nanette Patsy Shaw Irving Uraalow Orr Silver l,ak(> Inn (Olcmrnton) Mickey- Famllant Or Alice Lucey Burns & Swnnson George Reed Sky Top Club Murray Parker Norma Mitchell Paul Rlcti Margie Smith J & Adelo Martin Doc Dougherty Ore lotkln'v lbitb«lt#ll«t MayoB Croft Sis Jioulse Keller Casper & Roth Frances - Carroll .Tay Jerome Oro Frank Fontl 20th CeDtury . Martllnl, R & Lee Frances Diva Marjorle Valez B<c|dle Dpnn Rhythm Brown Tommy CuUen Ore Vlklnr Cafe Cllft' Conrad Watson Sis Barbara Brent Gl-ace CHara Jeri'y Detmar Oro VIllBKo Kara Dolores O'Neill C & C Joy i Kdna Thompson Kadle Lang Marty Bohn Nancy Leo Toddy Oliver Oro Weber'M Hof Kraa (Camden) Karl & Gretchen Bavarians Use Hart Rudy Bruder Ray Miller Jules Flacco Oro Herbert Dexter Irene St Clair Hicks from Sticks 3 Prince & P's Co Rose Graham Su-Foo Golden Co .Tackle Moss J & T Shellenh'mer Yacht Club kitty Helmllng Ore Jimmy Bailey Dottle Sacco Bin Bauersfleld Judy Ci^mmlngs Ruth ICaye Patricia Robinson Roberta Ramsey FITTSBUBOH Anchoraire Hughle Morton Ore Arlington Lodge Joe Ravell Ore Laverne KIdd Jack Keller Balconntlen Tommy Carlyn Ore Bill (jreen's Ray Herbeelc Oro KIrby Brooks Top-Hatters Johnny Dufty Clab Fetite ♦ Comlques Ted Blake Donna Glelser 2 Johnsons Pete JBvans Cork and Bottle Jack Davis £ddle Peyton'* Jimmy Gamble Ore Kddle Peyton Mike Peyton Louise Carroll Harlem Canlno Sherdlna Walker Or George GouWl Rose Morgnn Rhythm Pals Gladdess Pedro & Dolores Dorlce Bradley Harlemettes (8) Larry Steele Ozzle Dial Hotel Henry NIta Normen Townsmen Hotel Roosevelt Lowe & Kissinger Hotel Schenley Jack Walton Oro Art Giles Jack Rogers Hotel William Penn (Chatterbox) Jackie Heller Oro Louanne Hogan (Continental Bar) Larry Murphy i (Grill) Bavarians Italian Gardens Etzl Covato Ore Debold 2 Ted Meredith N,ew Penn Ken Francis Oro Michael Strange Weston Sis Mlxon Cafe Fran Elchler Oro Bob Carter Angelo Dl Palma Mayfair GIs (6) Melford 3 HI Montgomery Mahon & Rucker Nut House Joe Klein Boogy-Woogy Harry NosokofC Cher Clark Al 'Mcrcur Jim Buchanan Plaza Cafe Jimmy Peyton Ore Adele Curtis Lenore Rika Burt Layton 4 Flirts Billy Cover Riviera Joe Lee Oro Show Boat Al Marsico Oro Jackie Jenkins Hvelyn Lee Gla Kay Marie Baird Webster Hall Buzzy Kountz Oro Willows Eddie Weltz Oro Gerry Richards MILWAUKEE Bert Phillip's Pep Babler Oro Ethel Seldel Billy knack's Miriam Stuart Oro Loiils Streeter Marty Hoff Jean Renard Blatz Palm Garden Edtile South Ore Louis Mason Blue Moon D Davidson Oro Virginia Rosen Jay Jaysoh Gale Parker Cardinal Club Bud Vlonl Ore Chateau Club Joe Cumin Ore Buddy Lake Harriet Cross Jack Terry Lord & King Lorraine DeWood Rena Sadler Cleone Hays Johnny Pont Little Laverne Clover Club Weber Ore Ruth Phillips Eva Thornton Marge Young Eleanor Gall Jean Hurley Club Madrid Stan Jacobsen Ore Klta & Annis Juno Lang Bernle & Tovanna Roberta Roberts Betty Adinr Marie Ararsh Rose Steffen Edith Rae Shutia & Kent Jimmy Rotas Ore Cinb Terrls Jack Teeter Oro Ethel Warren Phil KeallA Conro Club Bob Freeman Mary Reed JefT Thomas Leonard Gay Oro Cornles Ship Red Billings Ore Ray Block Oro Ben Boe Ore Gene Emerald Ralph 'Lewis Bailey & Lamarr Devlnes Eagles Rod Nichols Oro Bob Garrlty Ore Stephen Swedish Or Red Roberts Ore Wally Miller Oro Gloria Gale Jimmy De Palma Howard Geiger Hotel Schrorder (Empire Room) Bill Bardo Oro Varieties Karl Ratsch's Sepple Boch Ore He lone Sturn Larsen's Ray Meadows Ore Llndy's Victor Daffy 3 liOg Cabin Cfl Bergman Ore Miami Club Janet Reed noris Dane' Nikkl Nlckall Rny Wencll Jane Ruhey Peggy Geary Johnny Davis Ore Mllwnnkeun Bobby Maynard Helen Kaye Oasis Marty Gray Ore Snooks Hartman Old Heldelberic Herman Rnhfedt Or Donna LuPa^. Billy Meaffher Dotty Norman Kathleen Kays ClaMdia Ferris Open Door Tinney LIveng'd Or Larry Powell Packard Ballroom Al' CavalHr Ore Paradl.se Vnrdens Anthony Dprla Ore Paris Gordon Bogie Oro Norman Ebron Rendezvous Katherlne Kaye Ruth Gary Eleanor Sutherland HClen Jnmea- Vera Robsel Reno Rudy Sager Oro Harry Rayburn Betty Nae Peg Manning Jean Alyn Scaler's Tony Bauer Oro Marie Kecky Jessie & Viola Dorothy Hamilton Bing Burdlck Roma Costello Schwartz Bob Eherle Ore Lee Leigh ton Oro Johnny Gerg Ore Claude Parmlnter State (Sardens Mildred Seeley Lady Delilah Ann Helene Dale & Dale Evon Allen* Irene Schrank Flo Smith Tlo Top Tap Joey Feldutein Oro Bert Nolan Bobble Cook Carlos & Dolores Town and Country Club Luclene Virginia Davis Rick & Snyder Betty Harger Wlrth's Fnturlstlo Bin Schweitzer Oro Jack Fexer Vallie Jay Oro Ford & Barnes Maureen Rosay Rogan & Mann Wisconsin Root Steve Swedish Ore M Merrymaker Oro N*c Harper Ore Ellen Kaye BOSTON Blue Train Bort Lowd Ore Brown Derby Al Waite Ore Fay & Wellington Pat Lynch Tom Hardy Day Sis (2) Les Steele GIs (6) Casa. Manann Morry Sacks Ore Pat Kelly The Shadow Pat Rellly Bob Russell Chllds' Old France Marshall Morrill Or Theresa Club Mayfair Ranny Weeks Oro Lita & J Marsh Moore & Revel Myra Nash Geo Llbby GIs (8) Cocoanut Grove Jacques Renard Or Gomez & Winona Congo B Calloway Ore Crawford House Ray Phillips Ore Alice O'Loary Adrian O'Brien Flamlnsro Room Bob Hardy Ore Hamllburir s Don Humbert Oro Ginger Gordon Hofbraa (Lawrence) 6 Lcyands Hotel Copley Plaza (Sheraton Room) Nye Mayhew Ore (Merry-Go-Bound) Jimmy Avalone Ore Hotel Bradford (Penthoude) Lelghton Gray Oro Terrls & Maak Johnny DeVante Johnny Brooks Hotel Copley-Square (Keyhole) Harry DeAngelis Or Hotel Essex Jack Mannmg Ore Mary Burton Patsy Duncan Diane Dubrille Barbara Lane Duane Marshall Or Billy Kelly Hotel Imperial Cliff Jarvls Ore Hotel Somerset Harry Marshard Or Hotel Statler (Terrace Room) Lelghton Noble Ore Edith CaldweU Chick Floyd Johnny MacAfee Noble 3 V & M Horst (Cafe Rouge) Salvy Cavicchio Or (Lounge Bar) Alfredo Seville Musical Rogues Hotel Westminster (Blue Room) Karl Rohde Ore Vic Jerome Sylvia, Frank© & A Rose Roland Vivian Von Knotty Pine Room (Hotel Woud<:ock) Freddy Gr^en Oro Keyhole Harry DeAngelis Or Gertrude Woodsum Vic Jerome Old Fashloped Cafe 3 Cyclones New Amer. Hotel (I>owell) I-ou Clarke Ore Don & Betty Lane Ort's Don Humbert Oro Paradise Restaurant (Lawrence) Freddie Coombs Or .Serranos (2) Dick Stutz Les Steele Royal Palms Margie Dorello Bessie Profltt .Ilmmy Kenny Johnny Dixon Seville Don Rico Oro Southland Hardy Bros Oro Cook & Brown Big Time Crip Rogers Sis Chappell & Reed Beachcombers (2) Babe Wallace Dean Earl Singe Door Don Humbert Oro Steuben's (Vienna Room) Jack Fisher Ore Towne Club George Harris Oro Maurice- Charlie Ross Mimi Chevalier La Verne's (4) Lucille Rich Bergere Sis (2) Honey Fam (6) Troradero Frank Paul Oro Republic's Fire Republic theatre, ITew York, one of two burley stands on 42d street, was temporarily shuttered Friday afternoon (29) when a fire which started in the oil burners ruined the heating system. Leaky burners were responsible for the blaze, which was more oil smoke than fiames, but which emptied the house during the 1 p.m. show. Audience filed out in orderly fashion. House was still closed Friday night while firemen investigated for fur- ther fire hazards. It reOpened Satur- day (30) noon, in time for the 1 p.m- show. Reopen Burley House Youngstown, Jan. 1. Henry Prather, who managed the Princess here several years ago .under the late Ralph Pitzer, has re- opened the house with grind bur- lesque. He plans to add vaude each week. He'll maintain a small stock burley cast, changing principals every two weeks. House operated with stock burley the- fall until a month ago when it folded. ROLL DANGEBS' BREAE-INS The Covina Roll Dancers (8), in an act built around the Harold Teen comic strip, started break-ins during the past week by playing three one- nighters for RKO in the metropoli- tan area. Act booked by Bob Rosen, former Loew ahd 2^0 manager.