Variety (Dec 1939)

We«ln<"8J"yi December 13, 1939 OUTDOORS VARIETY 8S Lecturers^ Bull Market .Continued from pace onces than any other single figure In the countiy, the syndicate writer re- liisea to accept any dates, although the's been offered almost an unlim- ited niimber, some at fees up to t3 000, heretofore unheard of. They're jli turned down, however, Miss Thompson maintaining that writing takes up all her time. Another heart- breaher is Jan Masaryk, son of the lounder and first prez of Czecho- slovakia, for whom a tremendous tour had been booked at an average of $500 an appearance. It was re- cently cancelled when Masaryk cabled fi'Oin London he was unable to come. On the othev hand, causing impres- arios 1o, rub their hands and burn up wires to Mexico City is the apparent certainty that Leon Trotzky, exiled HUs.sian biggie, now isbuth of the border, will be permitted to enter this country to testify before the Dies committee. It is'understood that his movements won't be restricted and every sort of offer is being made ^im for lecture dates. New York managers are thinking of no measly Town Hall; it would be Madison Square Garden if available. ; . Other important newcomers to the big demand category for platform work 'include Eve Curie, author Vin- cent Sheean, . former , G-man Leon Turrou, Ambassador Hugh Gibson, correspondent and author Pierre van Paassen and Mrs. Franklin. D, Roose- velt. Oldtimers who continue as major attractions are H. V. Kalten- born, Edna Ferber, Alexander Wooll- colt, Elsa Maxwell, William Lyon 1 Phelps, Raymond Moley, Elissa Landi, Dale Carnegie and John Ma- ton Brown. It will be noted that the majority of these vets are in the amusement field, as distinguished from the newcomers of the past few years, all serious thinkers and talk- .etf,, . ; Decline of Adventure Further marking the trend toward more meat and less entertainment is the slide taken by. the explorers and advent(,irer.s. While once nine out of every 10 lecturers were men who had crowed the Andes, explored the Amazon lor ventured to Pago Pago— and had slide pictures to prove it— majority of those, who collect the heavy .sugar now are the ones who know public affairs and can inter- pret them. Not that explorers and adventurers (mo.st of them have ashcanned their projection machines) aren't to be. found on the programs of virtually every, group—many managers still con.sider them the backbone of the business—but a new genus is taking lop coin and top billing, while the glamor boy Daniel Boones are booked as stage waits. Principally responsible for the lec- tuVe upturn and the changed trend, all 'managers acknowledge, is the radio. News reporting on the air ha.s made the public conscious of world events, and commentators have de- veloped in Joe Jukes of Oklahoma City a Ihir.st for interpretation of these events. The silver-tongued boys and gals who can help to quench the parchness are cashing in on personal appearances. Radio, paradoxically, is not only held responsible for the lecture busi- ness high state, but also for its bad limilation.<! being one of the reasons why BO few ether names are big as lecturers. No. 1 Glamor Boy Oddly enough, the man who is do- ing more chinning this season than anyone else, and drawing one of the heftiest grosses, has never been heard of by' the greater part of the public. He. is Sydney R. Mon- tague, former member of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, and con- ceded to be the top showman of the biLsiness. Barnstorming from small town to small town' in an automobile, while other speakers stick exclusively to Pullmans, he'll give between 200 and 250 talks this season at an average fee of about $200. He does as many as three a day, 10 a week. He has two subjects, 'Tales of the Mounties' and 'Re-Enforcing the Law.'.'Good- looking and appearing in his scarlet uniforrn, he's a pushover for the femme trade. He carries a display of furs and trophies. with him and is colorful in every respect. A few top money speakers now run al}but' $1,000 an engagement, sometimes more, depending on the size of the hall and type of date. There are about 40 institutions like universities and large town halls that can afford to pay these prices. Some are endowed. AdmLsh generally runs from S5c to $2.20, although majority of lectures are on a series basis, with the average fee around 85c. Included in the big-money class are Mrs. Roosevelt and her distant cousin, Mrs. Alice Roosevelt Long- worth, daughter of Theodore Roose- velt. Mrs. Longworth regularly gets the highest fee of anyone on a plat- form, usually around $1,200, but an insignificant number of dales, only about six a season. — Real-topper-lor-coin ii.Eve Curie, daughter of the discoverer of radium, who proved quite the Brenda Frazier of the lecture platforms last season. She'll be over from France again in January, February and March with a full schedule of dates, most of them at about $1,000. Another newcomer to'*the high money hills is correspondent Knick- erbocker. His fee is only half that of Mme. Curie, but he more th n com- pensates on volume of talks. He'll give about 100 this season, which Is generally considered a number for only a highly succe.s.sful speaker. Duff Cooper, former First Lord of the British Admiralty, is also raking in heavy .sugar—best of the foreign- ers—at $750 each, for a long string of dates. Dr. Thomas Mann, self-exiled German writer, gets the same figure and is in brisk demand, but is un- able to fill more than a limited num- ber of requests because of his health and writing chores. Archduke Felix and Pat Hitler Another foreigner going strong Is Archduke Felix of Au.slria, getting about $500 a date. William Patrick Hitler, son of Adolf's half-brother, is al.so doing well, but fees are smaller, about $350. He will have had 40 bookings between Oct. 15 and Christnia.s.. 'Violently anti-Nazi, in Boston he drew the largest crowd in four years to Ford Hall Forum. Returning lo natives, Raymond i Moley is particularly strong for the Sez Lord Marley Detroit, Dec. 12. British lecturer (Lord Mar- ley) came here in Town Hall lecture series to pull a honey of a boner. He first stepped hard on audi- ence's toes by implying that they were dim-wits on history. Said the peer-lecturer, 'Perhaps you don't know what I mean by the Balkans. If your knowledge of European geography is as weak as your knowledge of European history, you probably don't. By the Balk.ins I mean Yugoslavia; etc'. Then a moment later, the same authority set the audience to roaring. He said George Washington was 'born in Eng- land and hence he 'couldn't be President.' & a all bl2','''°"' !r '""7 Chnmber of Commerce typ"* lunch- 3ol It undJr JnJ°n^ T'', "''y eon. Former brain-lrusler and edi- giving neoDlf 'I tor of News-Week drags down about VriLrit:'''%''„ot- dge^'ttr d":! r r^r^^^'r^' PresenSresI ^"^ I knowledge to the extent of a tour which is. ab.solulely full, no more book all the other important names, Woollcott goes it alone, taking care of all his own busines.'-—and very handily, too, at $600 a shot with plenty of shots. Dale Carnegie, the 'how to win friends' influencer, lost one. when he had a battle with his agent a while back and also does his own dating. He's not the figure he once was as far as fees go. Prices on the self-booked variety of speaker fluctuate widely from date to date, but.Carnegie is believed to be aver- aging about $350. The Literati On the literary and dramatic end, Edna Ferber is the real hot stuff. Equally known in New ■ York or Squeegee, la., she hits a nice average of about $750. Dr. William Lyon Phelps. Yale's perennial, hasn't been able to fake as many engagementis as when he was younger and haler, but also does neatly at $450. Elissa Landi, with her talk of the theatre, grabs plenty of dates at $400, while on the critical side no one even ap- proaches John Mason Brown, legit reviewer for. the New York Post, who gets everything he can handle at_$350.. per._.Vicki. Baum does only moderately well and gets about $300.' while Carl Sandburg, poet whose au- dience is limited in scope, takes $250, mostly from colleges. Attempt is being made to build John Anderson, crick of the New York Journal- American, as opposition to Brown, but the going is slow. He may de- velop after his build-up with the Phil Spitalny (General Electric) air show; Among the big names.on the ad- venture lists are Osa Johnson, at $350; Burton Holmes, $300; John Craig, $300; Father Bernard Hubb- ard, $250; Capt. Bob Bartlett, $200; Otis Bairton, $200; Capt. C. W. R. Knight, $200; Harrison Forman, $200; Carveth Wells, $200 and Theo.-i Bern- ard, $200. Admiral Byrd's Record All records on recent take, inci- dentally are held by the platform's greatest adventurer of them all— Admiral Byrd. In tours for two years prior to his Antarctic trip and one year after it, he is said to have gro.ssed well over $500,000. In one day in Los Angeles alone, with two talks, the gate was $15,000. The only im- portant lecturer to work on a per- centage, he always got 60';i of the b.o. Shortest and most profitable tour ever was by H. G. Wells in 1937. He gave 12 lectures at $3,000 a piece. But none of these compares with the man whom the gab agents regard as the king of all-lime—Rus.sell Con- well. The Philadelphia pastor, who founded and .supported Temple Uni- versity with his lecture income, gave his famed talk 'Acres of Diamonds,' more than ^6,000 times, It grossed a fortune. Demonstrating the growth of in- terest in forum speakers is the fact that between 15 and 20 new town halls have sprung up in the past two years. 'Sprung up' is hardly accu- rate, because behind almost every one can be found the deft hand of the lecture booking bureaus, ever out for new potentialities. New York's Town Hall, with its radio plugging, helped plenty, of couicse. The Agents Ranking agents are W. Colston Leigh and Harold R. Peat. Only other important ones are William B.- Feakins, Clark Getts, Lee Keedick and Alber & Wickes. Latter is in Boston, the others in New York. Columbia Broadcasting has entered the field within the past two weeks, with Isabel Scott, who formerly ran her o\yn bureau, in charge. She's jult starting to line up'a cast, whibh at present includes such CBS names as Kaltcnborn, Orson Wclle.s, Linton Wells, Elmer Davis and Ted Husing. With Welles available for only a few lectures. Miss Scott is booking a group of other Mercury Theatre players. " NBC forhncrly ran an agency, of which Peat's is now the outgrowth. He managed NBC's bureau until the company decided to give it up in 1932 after a year's trial. They found it wasn't succes.sful because there were frequent conflicts of dates between broadcasting and platform and, with radio's high fees, the ether always won.. ■ It engendered ill will from program committees. Peat, incident- •ally, was a famed spieler himself. He was billed as 'Private Peat' on tours following the world war. Most of the agencies charge lec- turers 25 W, commish. Some offer either the 25% contracts or 50% con- tracts in which .the agency assumes all expenses of advertising and trav- eling. A. good number of talkers pre- fer the latter type. Lecture booking is closely compe- titive and the agents don't skip many _chances. (3ood__exarnple is James B. Poiid, editor of the field's triade paper and an agent for some 30 years. He's now stepping to the rostrum himself, talking on the celebs he's booked. COINRAISEDFOR 1 FRISCO FAIR San Francisco, Dec. 12. Looks as though the off-again, on- again 1940 Frisco fair la more on than off this week with an announce- ment that the promoters of the 1940 exposition on Treasure Island have enough money to reopeii the fair and definitely expect to do so; George Smith, manager of the Mark Hopkins hotel, and spokesman for the group of promoters seeking the necessary funds, has said that a plan has been found in the maze of tangled finances, which will make possible a second fair to run four and a half months,- beginning May 18. The plan will be made public to- morrow (Wednesday) and at the same time will be presented to creditors for approval. More than the $1,600,000 agreed upon as ijecesisary for rehabilitation ! has been raised. 12 OUTDOOR SHOWS SIGNED UP BY AGVA New RKO Plan .Condniicd from pace 5_ cision .on these appeals is due next Monday (18), it may mean that this agreement may prove worthless. Atlas declares in its agreement, which is in the form of a letter from Floyd B. Odium to RKO, that the war in Europe has injured the sale of films abroad, e.specially in Eng- land and France. .The price for film stocks has dropped since August, but notwithstanding these conditions, the investment house is prepared to go through with its offer. The proposal was submitted toN.Y. federal judge William Bondy, who set a Friday hearing to hear argu- ments pro and <:on, Marland Gale, representing the SEC, promised to have an early opinion on the fairness of the agreement for the judge. The court was told'that Odium considers the agreement, in light of world con- ditions, an extreme sacrifice, and it constitutes the highest offer Atlas will make. No one will make a higher or a better offer, the court was informed. Judge Bondy re- served decision and declared that he will deride the issues him.self, with- out reference to a ma.slcr, a.s w.i.« done la.'.'t August. Chicago, Dec. 12. Outdoors division of the American Guild of 'Variety Artists signatured a number of shows to ACVA agree- ments during the outdoors conven- tion here last week, and more are understood on their way. Among those lined up on closed- shop deals are Rubin & Cherry, Royal Amei-ican, Hennies Bros., Sheesley, Oscar Bloom, John Francis, Beckmann & Gerety, Max Linder- -mann, -Thaviu, Ernie Young, Eollack Bros, and Shrine circus. Plenty of fur flying in the Loop at the convention of the International Fair Association and the carnival get-together, with E. Lawrence Phil- lips, manager-owner of the Johnny J. Jones shows, accusing the Ameri- can Guild of 'Variety Artists of un- fair tactics. On the other hand, AGVA claims evidence that the Jones shows signatured a closed-shop agreement and had advanced money for membership fees and dues. Meanwhile, AGVA, it's reoorted, intends to fight Phillips by ordering all AGVA grandstand acts not to play dates with the Jones shows. Few Directly of Radio Curiously enough, however, radio nas contributed few names of its own w important lecture lists. Aside «nn ^^^^ C^'"^""' tl^e o"ly cur- rently big shot gabber from broad- wsimg ,s Clifton Fadiman, interlocu- 8»m HVu^d'T'°.at^i2sf wCn'lEuKene Lyons. Louis Adamic dales co,!!^ bel-tuUlor*him prior ^"' '^ »'-'«^' ^'"^ '""^ all .h' .^i.' '■''''"'' he can. have him . - ' ""^'^^ commitment allows "im to fill at $750 each. Kallenborn, who has been built to leclnr^'l"', "dio, was a I but ^ «ver faced a mike, out wasnt getting the current $750 went « "Pwards. Carter last year 60 dale" M*" '■°^''' "P is rath!. ' '^^^ each, which I1.» . • D<»nand for him has I practically nothing, however, to the ■ $5,000 or more per night she is get- ting at big conventions to show the boys and gals how lo have fun, Alexander Woollcott is another heavy coin grabber who is con- sidered .somolhing of a freak by the men in the bu.sliics.s. While agencies dates being accepted, at $350-$500 a talk. G-man Turrou, who tracked down a Nazi spy ring, gets $200-$400. Aulhor Vincent Sheean. Ambassa- dor to Germany Hugh Gibson, his- torian Philip Guedalla. economist Isaac Mareosson, writer and foreign I correspondent van Paassen, editor ous group, taking about $200 to $400 each on their efforts. Lire-of-lhe-rarty Gal Big B.O. On the enlerlainment side, top money woman is Elsa Maxwell. She has flock of bookings at $500 and is gelling plenty of repeals with her novel presenlation—games with the audience ishe supplies prizes') at the conclusion of her gab sesh. That is (all he Ih.*" °t'. *l°";*ver, since he is off scrlnllL^''*^? •'ack'now with tran- -^uch v"e;.''"^'*'?y haven't meant a te and he Is fining only Both v,f,"^t8?"*e"*« this season iimiiert t *?^'""" ""^ Carter 'Are by their radio work, these' Top Lecture Fee-Getters Sunday Fairs Seen In 111., Upsetting Precedent Evanston, III., Dec. 12. RelaNing of the Simday no-show rule Is iii evidence throughout the state and county fair field, where no shows on Sunday have been tradi- tion. With picture, vaude and legit theatres and e.specially radio, offer- ing amu.sement on the Sabbath, the fairs no longer see any rojison why they should keep .shuttered, arid are now generally .set to operate on a seven-day, in.stead of a .six-day, week ba.sis, . At the. outdoors convention here last week, the carnics, in rnaking Iheir deals with the fairs, were un- der con.stant demand for Sunday openings- by the fair secretaries, who are convinced that Sunday shows are (he answer to bigger gro.sses. Alice Roo.sevelt Longworth.. $1,200 Eve Curie 1.000 'Mrs. Franklin D. Roo.sevelt.Flexible H. V. Kaltenborn $750-$1,000 Thomas Mann 700 Edna Ferber.: 7.'50 Alfred Duff (jooper 750 Alexander Woollcott...: 000 H. R. Knickerbocker.......... 500 Elsa Maxwell 500 Archduke Felix of Au.slria 500 Major George Fielding Eliol. 3.10 .'jOO William Lyon Phelps 4,50 Raymond Moley ;... 450 Vincent Sheean 400 Eli.t.sa Landi 400 Leon Turrou :!f)n-400 Osa John.son ' 350 Dale Carnegie 350 Hugh Gibson 350 John Mason Brown 350 Boake Carter 350 William Patrick Hitler 350 Vicki Baum 300 Philip Guedalla 300 I.saac Marcos.son 300 Julien Bryan ;. 300 Burton Holmes 300 John Craig 300 Pierre van Paa.ssen 300 Eugene Lyon.s. 250 Falhcr Bernard Hulibard , 250 Carl Sandburg 250 Lord Marley 250 Ruth Alexander 2.50 Capl. Bob Bartlett 200 Capl. C. W. R. KniKlii: 200 Otis Barton. '..... 200 Harrison Forman 200 Carveth Wells.... 200 Thcos Bernard 200 Sydney R. Montague 200 Louis Adamic 200 Nicol Smith 150 Branson de Cou 150 • Mr.". Uo(,«f:\'f[t In In Ki^"t ileiiKind atitl )ft ()i-cu:«lunH]]y offerrd fitbuloilH Mumfl for crrtaln <Iat«» the won^l iirr«pt, while Ink- IriK nihers Rt nnialler tttt Ihnn rhe miirket would ordinarily iMctRfe. .Any romparl.Hon o( hpr riKUrcii wIlW othrrn on the Hit is unfair, nllhf.uch h^T liv*-l:igr I..'-iiiirifiHt'inil If (>< IMfUllll }l,'l'Ki. Mull Outdoor Circuit Dallas, Dec. 12. Summer circuit of cities with fair- grounds and other outdoor show fa- cilities has been piroposed to direc- tors of the State Fair here by Harry L. Seay, president, after conferences with J. J. Shubert. Chain would extend from Omaha through Shreveport and would pro- vide open-air acts to supplement usual fair entertainment. Child Slapped, Claim Upheld Atlanta, Dec. 12. Georgia court of appeals last week upheld $675 damage claim against Rubin & Cherry Expositions, Inc, brought by Harry Bray, of Colum- bus, Ga., father of 12-year-old Lily Bray. Child was allegedly slapped by employe of the carney.