Variety (May 1939)

Wednesdaj, May 3, 1939 LEGITIMATE VARIETY 49 'HELLZ' TOPS $1000,000 Brady's New Agitation f«r Sunday Leint But It sat Least a Year M Sundays will ultimately come for legits on Broadway and also the 8cven-day week, in the opinion of those who observed the pro and con tactics that called an abrupt halt on the movement. Regardless ot the interference which cropped up im- expectedly, the feeling is that legit should have the same chance at Sun- day coin as all other amusement forms and sports. It may be a year or more before the situation is clari- fied, but indications are that present handicaps will be eliminated. Sundays during the World's Fair are definitely out and there is now some doubt whether that will make any material difference to Broadway. William A. Brady appeared before Equity's council last week and at- tempted to secure fresh support of the actors for Sabbath shows, despite tlie defeatist attitude of the stage- bands. He said that If the weather Is favorable there probably would be no benefit to theatres, but in the event of rainy Sundays, dtows would doubtless reap a harvest from visit- ors cooped VP in hotels. Brady believes the actors should take the lead for Sundays, for their own welfare, but Equity declined to change Its position of having the other stage unions first agree to work without extra pay before it adopts the same rule. Stated there Is little chance of the stagehands .coming to scratch under the present adminis- tration, objections of which have not been mside dear. Known that in the iATSE the Sunday Idea Is definitely favored, yet lA will probably not at- tempt to influence the New York local (No. i). Average deckhand put the okay on Sundays before the recent general meeting, then ap- peared to have been swayed to vote the other way. Showmen pointed out that last ■ummer inclement weather forced abandonment of two outdoor stage attractions around New York. J!qui1y was prepared to change its outdoor rules to make it possible to operate In the event of abnormal weather conditions. There are no outdoor legit plans, however, and the fair Itself may be one reason, it being the greatest attraction of the me- tropolis. Equity's willingness to swing to Sundays knocks out the old alibi of the other stage unions that it was tho actors* fault Sundays didn't go tiirough. As for amending the state law for a seven-day week, such a move wiU be forced over imtll next winter, a? the legislative session Is drawing to a close, and even if -.uch a jueasure was put through It would be ineffective until the unions come to an agreement over Sundays. LIMS CLOSE 4KrrY TOUR; SUMMER LAYOFF Pittsburgh, May 2. The long tour of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, which began last October in Boston, closed here at the Nixon theatrb Saturday night (29). Team left Immediately for their summer home in Genesse Depot, Wis., but Lunt will stop off in Mil- waukee to have a couple of teeth removed. Believes now they're at the root of his arthritic condition, which forced Lunts to cancel pro- posed Festival of Comedy on Broad- way during the World's Fair. Tour covered 43 cities and ranged from one-nighters to two-week stands, with 'Idiot's Delight' most frequently played, followed by 'Amphitryon 36' and 'Sea Gull.' Lat ter,. following CHiicago engagement In January, was performed in only eight towns. As things stand now, and depend- ing, of course, on Lunt's health, team Will open their postponed Festival in New York In October, with prac- tically same acting company they've had for last five years. 'Taming of Shrew* and "Reunion in Vienna* will also be added there. They're also readying several new scripts and hope to do one of them next spring, Run-of-Play Lease 'Hellzapoppln's' Ole Olsen lives on Long Island and Chic Johnson, took a place in Con- necticut, motoring there nightly. Iiatter also Jbas a swanky apart- ment on Central Park West, which he rarely uses. Though the show was playing capacity when he took, the spot, Johnson figured four inontl^ would be tops for the engagement and signed a lease for the apartment- for the run of the play. Prediction now is that It will stay two years and Johnson would welcome a sub-let. Same goes for his home on the Coast. Ditto Olsen, but neither is worrying. WIIDER-HARRIS FEDDONTOM FICSALE Los Angeles, May 2; Thornton Wilder and Jed Harris, resi>ective author and producer of 'Our Town,' are understood feuding over a film offer for the last season Pulitzer Prize winner. Scrap arose when Columbia of- fered $30,000 for the screen rights to Town.' Although both WUder .and Harris approved the price, the for- mer demanded the right to approve the shooting script, or have an okay on the director, with the idea of see- ing that the spirit of the play was carried out in the picture. Colum- bia is understood to have refused Wilder's stipulations, so tiie deal is in abeyance. As producer, Harris would get $12,000 of the $30,000 purchase price, and he has demanded that Wilder at least agre« to arbitratlo-i of the mat- ter. However, Wilder la reported as standhig on his author's rights of negotiating the sale. With Harris here, Wilder Is said to be taking it easy at his home in Connecticut, apparently unconcerned as to whether the film deal goes through, or not Meanwhile, the local production of the play is slated to close this Saturday night (6) in San Francisco, while another road company is playing in Boston. No confirmation of the reported Wilder-Harris tiff is obtained in New York. Wilder is said to be at his home in New Haven and is unavail- able for comment Sidney Fleischer, Dramatists Guild attorney and nego- tiator of film sales, is out of town convalescing from an operation, and his office would not verl'. the re- port Officials at the Dramatists Guild headquarters declined to con- firm it However, WUder and Harris are known to have had several disagree- ments during the production of the play In New York. Although Harris at one time announced another play b;- Wilder, no such work was forth- coming and nothing has been heard of it for many months. Meanwhile, a subsequent Wilder piece, 'The Mer- chant of Yonkers,' was produced by Herman Shumlin. And at the time Wilder temporarily subbed for Frank Craven during the Broadway run, it was reliably stated that he had stipulated that Harris could not en- ter the theatre. Bolger's Four Deals Hollywood, May 2. Ray Bolger is en route to New York to talk over stage deals with Max Gordon, George Abbott and other producers. Among the propositions are a Rodgers and Hart musical and two legit plays on Broadway and one in London, 1ST'39 SHOW TO HITTHflTFIGyOE Coat Less to Produce Than Any Hit Mnsical in the History of Show Business —Equity Takes Credit for Its Suctess by Forcing Legit Classification Upon It, Rather Than Vaude LUNTS TOP ROAD 'Hellzapoppin,' rated passing the $1,000,000 mark, is the first attrac- tion to gross the seven-figure total this season. One or tvyo other at- tractions on the list may reach the dream total during their Broadway engagements, but none will measure up to the profit level of 'Hellz,* which cost less to produce than any successful musical' in the history of show business. Equity takes a bow in the cUck of the Olsen and Johnson show. When it opened there was a controversy over what type of attraction It was. The management — Lee Shubert Harry Kaufman and O. & J.—sought to establish it as a vaudeville-revue, intending to put it on twice daily. Had that' schedule been adopted when 'Hellz* opened at the 46th Street, the show, may have had a flurry of business and, even though it probably would have made a run, the vaude rating would have affected attendance and the strength of per- formance could not have been main- tained. In classifying! it as a legit. Equity therefore perfohned a service that at first was not recognized. For months there was a squabble over coin due the playersL As vaude there (Continued on page 61) PARIS' WILL TEE OFF SUMMER MUSICALS 'Streets ot Paris' will be the first of the summer musicals for Broad- way this summer, having gone into rehearsal and due to debut In Bos- ton May 29. Lee Shubert, Harry Kaufman and Olsen and Johnson are Interested in the production. Other musicals now lined up for June or July entry are 'Buggy Ride' (starring Joe Cook), 'Scandals' and 'Yokel Boy.' Musical bill, which is a possibility for summer holdover, is dated to open at the Martin' Beck May 18, sponsored 'by a socialite group known as the American Lyric Thea- tre. Being readied are The Devil and Daniel. Webster* and 'Susanna Don't You Cry,' which are slated to alternate with two ballets, 'Po- cahontas* and 'Billy the Kid,' pre- sented by the name group. FRANK HARRIS' WIDOW SUING OYER mOE' Nellie Harris, widow of Frank Harris, filed a Federal court action in New York 'yeisterday (Tues) against Gilbert MUler, Norman Mar- sha.U, Leslie Stokes, Sewell Stokes, Robert .Morley, Harold Young and Random House, Inc., for an injunc- tion and damages against the play and book entitled 'Oscar Wilde.' She claims this to be an infringe- ment of Frank Harris' book written in 1916, entitled 'Oscar Wilde, His Life and Confessions,' which was as- signed to her in 1028. Defendants are producer, authors, star, stagers and book publisher con- nected with the play. . League Indicates Ticket Code Not 1{K)% Effective; BacldngNeY. M Limiting Premiinns to 75c Did They l^it? Change in the management of one summer theatre in a small New York state spot drew an unusual explanation. Hall used is close to the local parsonage, and It was alleged that an actor appropriated clothes belonging to the minister. Managers were held respon- sible, hut they did not agree to recompense "the dominie. PULITZER PRIZE FOR imm SPURTS B.O. The Playwrights Co., a quintet of name dramatists, won the Pulitzer prize play award with Robert. E, Sherwood's 'Abe Lincoln in Illinois,' their first presentation, this being their initial season as author-man. agers. 'Lincoln,' in its 29th week at the Plymouth, N. Y., led the straight plays in attendance through fall and winter and is still up among the leading gross getters, last week's tak. Ings topping'$18,000. Four of the five Playwrights have been wiUiin the Pulitzer circle. It is the second win for Sherwood, who copped previously with 'Idiot's De. light' Maxwell Anderson won with 'Both Your Houses,' Elmer Rice with 'Street Scene,' and Sidney Howard with 'They Knew What They Want- ed.' S^ N. Behrman of the quintet Has, not gotten the Pulitzer nod, but his''No ^me For Comedy' was close to $21,000 at the Barrymore last week. Plymouth boyofflce reported a Spurt In orchestra ticket demand 'Tuesday (2), the morning after the award was annotmced. In show cir- cles it Is known that the Pulitzer prize is more valuable than other awards, with the -critics' selections a distinct second. Some critics con- sidered 'Lincoln,* but not enough could make up their minds. The play has been accorded a number of hon- ors from various groups. MAE WEST TO PLAY IN OWN lADDER' Mae West, who Is making personal appearances in the Texas territory, is due back shortly and plans a summer appearance in 'Up the Lad- der,' described as a comedy drama, adapted by her from the French. Lee Shubert will be interested In the attraction. Miss West Intends to remain east Indefinitely arid plans call for appearances in films to be made in Astoria. ShMbert is also concerned with 'Clean Beds,' which Mi.ss West's business representative, James Ti- mony, is producing. Show, which is due at the Golden in about two weeks, will use several old timers in the cast. Play was originally tried out on the Coast. Lipton, Murphy Dicker N. Y. Staging for lambs' Hollywood, May 2. Negotiations are under w^y for a Broadway production of 'Lambs Will Gamble,' comedy-drama by Le.w Lipton and Ralph Murphy, Murphy was Identified with N. Y. legit before he came here to direct pictures. Lipton Is a screenwriter. League of New York Theatres J« expected to attempt stricter enforce- ment of its ticket code, what with the Acme case disposed of in the referee's report, but there are Indi- cations that its' progenitors realize th^ control system has not'worked as effectively as claimed. This was shown when '• delegation went to City Hall, Friday (28), and advocated the adoption of the Spellman Bill, which would make charging more than 75c. premium a misdemeanor. Esplained that such a law would tend to support the code, which has the same 'celling,' or maximum pre- mium limit, and that it would dele- gate enforcement to the authorities, thereby relieving the league's com- pliance conmilttee of that headache. Session before the council took up several hours, those favoring the bill believing that theh: arguments were favorably received. Chief of those opposed was John McBride, who, while his agency does not exact more that the prescribed limit, said he never discovered why some patrons pay fancy prices to sit down ftont, when .plays are better viewed from further back. Broker stated he ob- jected to the idea of being told what to charge for service. The general theory is that such • measure would be price fixing, sim- ilar statutes having been declar^ unconstitutional. However, no such law has been tested before the U. S. Supreme Court for 13 years and it's pointed out tliat,- as the complement of the tribunal has changed con- siderably since then, a different de- cision might be obtained. ■Nother Bill Fending in the assembly is a com- bination bill also designed to regu- late the ticket business. Measure is known as the Coudert-Mltchell bill, originally calling for a change In the licensing system for agencies, switch- ing . control and supervision from the state to the city. Whether the bill will get action before the legis- lature adjourns Is not certain. Some changes in the collaborated proposal include the 75c. provision. In show circles the advisability of such a regulation la questioned, because It might give too much power to an in- dividual—the license commissioner— and ultimately could be used for political purposes. It's reported a number of brokers would not favor scrapping the code. Reputed reason Is that they are gyp- Ing and not kicking back any coin, although they are among those who bitterly protested being limited in eharghig as much as they could get Boxofflce participation in excess prices is believed to be very limited. It Is quite clear that under the code most agencies have not been as af- fected as much as contended. Pointed out that in doing away with buys, the code performed a real service for the ticket men, because most would have gone broke had they taken al- lotments for highly touted shows which fiopped. Most of them admit this, but still object to many features of the rules, which, they claim have clipped their sales. Intimated that the 3'Ac. per ticket levied on the brokers by the League may be dropped, or at least reduced. That requirement has been one most generaUy objected to. Whether any agency is anywhere near up to date in making payments is not stated, but It Is understood that most brok- ers have not remitted for the past Ave months or more. Including the larger offices; League did not press for remittances pending the Adne action and recently some of the man> agers have favored moderation of th* levy. Likely, however, that Equity would hav'e to okay any changes in the rules, under its arrangement with the League.