Variety (Jul 1939)

■Vednc^Jay, July 19. 1939 VAUDE—NIGHT CLUBS VARIETY 37 Pepping Up New Pix (Continued from page 1) a losing batUe from the start Why stir up censorship boards when you cent into turpentine camps in South know you're licked before you sUrt, to work out sentencfcJ, but a relaxa- I was his atUtude, anu there was Son-seeking customer army looked. nothing left for Par to do but snip uBon it only as an all-too-drab yarn, what It believed to be highlight of turners set out to warn America I picture, and substitute wishy-washy oeainst perils of Nazi spies, but those imitation of the real thing, ^ho buy tickets fall-d to display mort than passing interest Still FleasDre-Seekcrs Fnttlac Ont the Fire In production of RKO's 'Bachelor Mother,' Pandro Berman had two Burbank sti die revealed, fades made. When picture was sub- Karyl Nonnan, Wbo Once Meant Big B.O. m Cleye^ Broogltf Back by Jabm Cleveland, July 18. Karyl Norman, who put Stan Jabin's Torch Club in the big-money class five years .ago, was brought back by Jabin to preem his new | Club Stanley Tuesday (18) in site of I old Irish Village. Former femme impersonator, who hss discarded wigs for Tux and straight baritone singing, is toplining intimate revues consisting of three acts and femme orchestra lead by Sonny Biooks, formerly of vocalizing Gaylord Trio. Spot is the only new one to bloom in this parched section at a time when other niteries are cutting tal- ent bills in half. Statler's Terrace Optimistic Bookers (Continued from page 34) what even their rivals considered mitted to Breen, latter quickly ap glgnS of daring by sending 'Confes- plied his blue pencil to the saucier gions of a Nazi Spy' to thi cameras, finale. Berman retained the objec- Metro and other majors began dust-, tionable fade for the press preview, ing off political yarns long cluttering and he had even the most hardened the shelves, then suddenly changed of critics talking in the lobbyrhuddle their course when lukewarm atti- that ensued. It was a courageous tude of customers toward 'Nazi' be- but futile try to sex-up the vehicle, came apparent- Audienc-s, they've they agreed. Berman was overruled , -- decided, may have grown up in last by RKO. prexy George J. Schaefer, Room, which eliminated floor revues few years but they still' go to thea- who sided with Breen that Ginger 'n spring, also discontinued dance tres in search of something to make Rogers' final Une and knowing wink wusic last week, when Claude Hoag- 'em forget for an hour or so their went too far. j land's crew left for Akron's May- own and the world's ills. Tag troubles seem to be haunting "ower hotel.. • . RevitalizaUon of screen enterUln- ; Miss Rogers because of RKO's for- : mentasmeansofputtlngbizbackon ays into the more novel fields ot! Q*a„:„„ IWoiiiAMal Hftn^fi* tts financial feet is current objective, dramatization. Her latest picture,'My Otaging MemOnal-lSenent Providence, July 18. Plans are being made for a memorial benefit show in honor of the late Eddie Healy (and Cross), foriner vaudeville headliner, who was killed last month when fire razed the apartment house In which he lived. Show will be staged in Elks Audi- torium, July 31., Booking commit- tee includes 'Doc' Breed, of the Bos- ton Keith booking offices; Alan Cross, Healy's one-time vaudeville partner; Martin Toohey, assistant manager of Providence Majestic the- atre, and Edward M. Fay, . Provi- dence theatre-owner. of every producer, but how it is to | ^''^th Avenue Girl,' which Gregory be brought about is a problem for a LaCava produced and directed, has roomful of brain trusters. 1 been put in storage untU she re- Now they're off on another track, t""^ ^"j" / ""'''If"^' and this time it's wl.h a united I ^'^e" Pajt of cas wiU be recalled for re-takes on closmg footage. Given tragic ending, attraction drew unani- mous adverse comment at several front Because they have almost overroight awakened to conclusion more robust features may partially v • - . , end revenue worries, they've Issued showmgs, further ijnprwsmg nevy orders to the writing staff. Cry | fP«» T'^J'^* •'"it"*^* °J todiy is for more dramatic dramai, J^- f- constitutes hit Wr moving action teles and ]'•^"t""" may have undergone re- heavier-on-the-love-angle. romanUc ^'J^^'* stories. With revised instructions, sweeping alter alt .scribblers Joe Breen is still cus' todian of the purity seat however, they also are reminding' ^Condition, ho^^^^^^^ European countries, In Asia, the . Orient and even .in staid old Eng- Nor are thinking producers seek- jand, fans are demanding that a tog ways and means of surmounting. spajg be called just that on the sil- Breen's authority in their intensive' versheet More and more studios are efforts to 'heat up' the celluloid, now shooUng two versions of some While they are determined to Inject; scenes, one for American consump- more spcko into product it must be tion and other for use iii lands where done, they pilnt out without eva>- .slon of the code. They admit they are too well aware of speed with which censorial forces can br .called .toto play to nip any attempt, to over- step bounds laid do\vn by Breen. < Paramount '.ceased to question Breen)s iron-fist rule over moral measurements when he ordered re- shooting of a can-can sequence in 'that company's 'Zaza.' Certain of studio's execs were for fighting it out with code czar, but their's was HILDEGARDE Fox Theatre, Philadelphia: "Hildagarde; from the air lanes, won a big hand with her ■ong and piano, number* and dicplayed. a charmingly sub- dued variety of stage oomph."— PHILADELPHrA PUBLIC . LEDGER Opening Savoy-Pltua Hotel July 28 Per. Mgr.—ANNA S08ENK0 Ex. Rep.—;JACK BERTELL .Recognized by all as the Leading Tailors to Americans SIDNEY FISHER 75/77 Shaftesbury Avenue PICCADILLY, LONDON, W. 1. Beat Coffee in England QUAUTYINN Leicester Square LONDON, WEST-END For Rent or Sale Modern Boiler Skating Bink TVf.VS EQOIPPED Call or Write wnshloKton Realty Companr nrcmcn'a RMir. Newark, K. i. Market S-60S0 citizens prefer their enterteinment with a little red meat For instance, In domestic version of 'The Real Glory,' Gary Cooper starrer, Samuel Goldwyn wUI show wounding of soldiers by Filipino na- tives and cut after merely imrlant- ing impression that victims died hor- rible death. ..For foreign traffic .he will cameraize the whole happening —not only wounding of infantrymen but showing their torturous demise as masses of gnawing ants attack their unconscious forms. Studio story heads are being pressed by bosses for stronger ma- terial. That is the main plank in the new deal being readied for patrons. Redder Typewriter Blbbotis Pictures, Industry's heads will tell you, can be made far more punchy than they have been through appli- cation of better writing craftsman- ship. Stronger sex stuff, inoffensive and within keeping of the purity Codists' tenets, can be had with greater authoring skill, improved di- rection and more'appropriate back- ground music, they contend. New mark in action is possible with ex- penditure of more money for larger mob scenes and via wider applica- tion of uses of miniature ana proc- ess shots. Hurricane, earthquake or fire sequences, which were colossal yesterday, must'become super-super- <:olossal in tomorrow's pictures. Pre- paring for the new day, Darryl Zan- uck has just completed expenditure of around $100,000 in augmenting 20th-Fox's rain-making and wind equipment Paramount has expend- ed $40,000 for hydraulic machinery for ship and building-rocking pur- poses capable of sending the aver- age man's domicile into a double somersault Other lots are follow- ing suit Second 50 years of motion pictures promise to give them strength they've never before possessed. Big- gies have ' finally been; aroused by b.o. slumps, and they're digging in for another offensive such as lifted industry out of its infancy. They're as positive in their statements that sict-buying will be revived through their present drive to improve films, a;> they are that the ponies will run again at Santa Anita come next Yulfetide. Hoofing Down Under Chuck and Chuckles, colored dance team, are en route for their first vaude tour of Australia. They open at the Tivoli, Melbourne, August 14. Nat Nazarro set the 12-week deal through the William Morris office. other basis usually find the front row populated with gold-tooth dollies. Pattern bill Is a iive-acter, with a line of as many as 10 girls, who are not required to dance so well. The acts are ones and twos, with only rarely a five or six-people flash act in the bigger show^. Hillbillies Popular Chicago occasionally musters out a 40-pebple show, which can com- mand six weeks or so time, but not on a week-to-week basis. After that short run, they fold like Chamberlain's umbrella. Vaude's most common act in 1939, which nearly always operates as a unit and plays the 3d rate spots, is the hillbilly band. Usual makeup is six to eight men, plays towns ad lib and never hears of such a thing as a flat buy. There are fully 20 of th^se operating and everytime one. breaks up four or five new aggregations are formed. They are flexible enough to operate in beer stubes, danceries and for a coin shower between groan-and-grunt spasms In the wrestle-stadia. Bookers all comment on the change of types and outlook of the present vaude crop, as compared to the old school. An act, once an ob- ject of worship by' the performer, looked upon as something he'd built from ground up, is now just so much stuff to the johnny-come-lately. Show biz to him, schooled as he is in the clubs and radio, is mostly a lark at soda-squirt- salary, entered into as a fling before getting a. regii- lar job. Result Is a low. ebb show- manship in attitude or presentation. Characteristicall> optimists, book- ers look forward lo bettering the situash In 1939-40. They admit the vaude biz is in a state of paralysis, with each ;>ercenter taking turns do- ing an apt impersonation of an iron lung. ^ The WIIby-Kincey time makes up four and one-half weeks of the southern layout the rest being In- dle-owned stands. Through the T. D. Kemp office, 41 units passed through, starting September, 1938, and 'finishing mid-June. Small ones drew $130 flat per day, or 40%. Stands were from one to tour days, averaging two per. Bigger units, 28-32 people, were $250-$300 daily, or 50-50. Larger shows were found to average better tjian the small ones. Average mileage in this area is about 580 weekly, but some had to jump 1,000 miles, more or less. Sherman's Bonte Minneapolis, July 18. As a result of a promotional effort by Harry Sherman of New York, re- vealed by him here, 210 towns will play cheap units next season. Shows will comprise flve acts and will play mostly one to two-night stands, for a total of 10 weeks fOP each unit Under the Sherman plan, flesh en- tertainment will be brought to the smallest town as well as to the larger ones. For example, the units will be booked into Scranton, Pa., and into Redwood Falls, Minn., the latter hav- ing a population of 3.000. Sherman say^. he's selling the shows for from $65 to $100 a night, depending on the evenings they're booked, or $600 for the week. The flve 'suit case' acts will consist of 10 people, all told, including a pianist who will provide the musical ac- companiment. They can get by with- out orchestra or stage crew. Shows have been booked In this territory by the Minnesota Amuse. Co. (Paramount Northwest circuit). They'll also play some Independent houses. Only one house to a!town will be booked. Sherman says. Tom Diamond Broke Thomas Diamond Prest .also known as Tom Diamond, theatrical performer, unemployed, filed a vol- untary petition of bankruptey In N. Y. federal court Thursday (13) list- ing no assets and liabilities ot $5,379. Among his creditors: Swinburne & Dwyer, attorneys, 36 West 44tb street $2,500 for professional ser- vices, and' the bankrupt's wife, Frances Diamond Prest $2,250 on • separation agreement