Variety (Sep 1940)

Wednesday^ September 25v 1940 YAUDEVILLE 53 deve-Gam Islnlhunps Cleveland, Sept. 24. i)r Gallup hasn't yet iramed a noU lor this question—'What's hap- oened to the well-heeled suckers who used to eupport downtown niteries and whefe are they going ,^Q^9<-.but a possible answer was found iii ^ihe surprising, ficts re- vtialed by the Cuyahoga County grand iury's current investigation 61 garnbling jpirits. in Northern Ohip. Jury investigator^ ,W^ spent sev- eral weeks, secretly elocking at- lead^.nce at th^ 'big,, four' or^ the outskirts bfTVCIevel^ the Ghi<r Villa,; Arrow, Thomiis and Harvard clubs, reported that all of th6m pulled a total average of 40,000 chumps into their dice and keno wickets weekly. Business for this season, somie operators frankly ad- iViitted to him, lias boomed over all of the last .five years' figures, al- though legit niterics ar» not getting any of it. Gold ruish is partly attributied to th^ tempting fact that the four pa;- latial casinos, hesides offering the biggest floor shows in this section, recently svveeted; the ,cbiite..pn by uj>pihg keno prizes to a total pf nnibre than: $6,000 daily: . Hike was made to kill off the small-time : city bingo parlors and kenb cafes. None of them cart ikttempt ;to eiciual such ex- tiaWgarit giveaway prices. V Owners of the 'big fbuii^ make no bbnes about their . protected gam- bling activities, which ate burning iip the newspapers,; grand jiiry: and blue-noses who haven-1 yet fouiid .«(ny_ way of ■They openly advertise prized and namer stars in suburban sheets, besides of- : lering free bui scryice" to^ the siickr! ers ;as sugar. : 'Whether kehp results. In profit or loss is also ain indifferent point, being regarded as chickeh- feed compared to the huge tiake from table-games. ;. .Ohio, Villa, which has been book- : iiig siich names as Gertrude. .Niesen, Lou HoUz, Peter Higgins and George jessel,. latter for Oct. 2, has $1,000 in keho prizes , nightly. JHarVard Club dittoes. Bigger givesiway of $2,100 is Thomas. Cliib's form of baHyhoo, but the ArrpW Cliih paces the field by letting the chumps win $2,250 daily on the corn gamjs. Cafe Society'^ Dbwnt^^ Show into lJi>toim Bi^k^ ; Cafe Society.Ppwntbwh is chang- ing its show in totb Oct. li Albert: Ammb'ng and Pete Johnson,: 'Boogie- Wpbgie'' boys at this spot for! 22 con^^ secutive mbnihs; Hazel .Scott, .in isame place 11. rhbhths;- Golden Gate;'quar-^ tet, with a,- hine-fnonthi.record} and Teddy Wilson^s orch shift to Cafe So-; ciety Uptown, opening after si .week's rest on.Oct, 8. .7..:■ ' :NeW shpw. begihriing OctV 1 at the DoWntownTmcludtTs^^ Weston^s $4»82l Tax Lien I St> Louis,.' . An Incbme tax lien of $4,8i2l against Clyde A. Weston, ousted business representative of lATSE, Local No. 143, who was convict- ; ed on 11 counts of violating the Babketeering Act,; was , filed in the U. s; district court here last .Wbek by .the Collector of . Internal RevenuiB. The lien is based on deflciency assessments for the years of 1035, 1936 and 1937. . Weston testified during ' the ■ .trial that he Was'business agent. . for Local No. 1,43 until Nov.erh- . bisr 13j 1935, when he went tp: Los .Angeles as- ah international ; . representative of tile liiiibn arid .; returned the following February.; Tharpe, spiritual siriger^guitarist; Aft Tatum, swing pianist; Billie Holiday, blues singer; Meadje Lux Lewi?, ijobgie-woogie pianisi and Joe Su^^^ van's mixed band, Suliivah; white leader with ah: all-Negro band, was at Cafe Society forvnine months end- ing'list June 1. mm ;PittMjiirgh,: Septv 24. . Looks like. a- strictly pff agairi-pn; again presentation! policy for Stan ley, WB deluxer, this seajson. After reopening last week with Mickey Rooney, arid breaiting all-tiihe houise record at better thaii $36,000, follow- ing :.mbre^ thani three! vaudeless months, house-is hack to sttaig^^ again for at least a, month, with hesct show set being coiidensed George White 'Scandals': Oct. 18. Harry Kalmine, zone manager lor WB here, says he has enough gopc filrii product on hand to spread oijf over Stanley and Penn, which oper- ate under a Loew-Waf her, pooling agreement- and thait he'll book only the top vaude* radio, screen and band niimes. . If they're nbt avail- able, he'll settle iot fifms pnly.; he says.' ■ • Rodney's biz is still talk pX town, considering liact that he: beat Kay Kyser's-previous high.by mbr« than a grand, while at' the sainne time ptayirig to twice. as. many jUve -zAr ;missi6riis as Kyser did; Traffic jam over weekend wais worst herfe;. in years, and police officials laiid it to SettlesmASCAPAs On Saturday Afternoon V ' Milwaukee, Septi 24. When Sam Pick, veteran pperatpf bf the 6lub Madrid, swarikiest road- hoiise ih this area; refused to pay all: of a $760 judgment pbtairied by the American Society of Corriposers, Authors and ^Publishers : in behalf of Irving Berlin, Inc., for cbpyright iri- fringemeiit, Robert ■ A.: Hess, ASGAP's legal rep, obtained ari or- der of executipn; Federal Deputy United states Marshals William J; McCormick irid Joseph Blazejewski drove out to the Blue Mpiind. road niteriy, With an eight-ton hiPyirig van and began.lbading chairs, tables; bar ^ools and other \ prpperties. ; It was Saturday -afternbon.^^^^w a big Weekend business, in prospect. Pick put in a rush call for Hess. set- tlement was inade,: and noAw it's busi- ness aiS'.usual;-'.:- Akron Nitei^j^^^ ]^ A Siricide % Akroh, Sept. 24. ; ' Jack Levin, 30; manager of' the Wagon" Wheel riight club here, died, in; St. Thiomas hbspifal here after he was found ill in his car* He told deputy sheriffs that he : had swal- lowed 16- poison taijlets, adding -that rire^hjfd^b'eenworried'dv^r-proloriged- ill'health..-^^;. ■';■"■-. Levinj a native of Seattle, Wash., and ai fbriher baseball player ait Le- land; Starifbfd; university, lived; with his parents here, His uncle, .Joseph Levin; owns tiie night club.: VAUDEIN SUNDAY M IN NEW flAVEN Seattle NJte Life Up; Sieattle,' Sept/24. . With expected :. wave of . more. , •pending Tnoney. as employment Roppey a Stanl ey appearan ce gains at shipping yards and aViatibn factories, nightlife is pickiriig /yp in these parts.: Latest tp ope'n—or re- •ume bperatiohs-^with « fipor thow and band is The Rarich; for a dozen years operated by Wanda Owen- and the latie Orrin 6wehV as : leading theatre-cate. in entire! northwest. Spot reopened Thursday night (19), George Cook and Otto Wrobee bpeiating. Bob: Whit son's band and flbbr show arie current. .China Pheasant, south of town, with Abe Brashen orchj is another new dine ind dahce spot. Dance Instructors Nix Nijinsky and At Convention In Pitt CONCERT NAMES SET BY MIAMI HOTEL Oscar T; Johnson, head of the Hollywood Beach Hotel, Hollywood, Fla;, returns to Dixie this week after setting his shows with Jack Bertell of Columbia Concerts Corp.- M Douglas will again run the hostelry's Bambp Room, and the season opens Pec. 15 with Lawrence Tibbett Tbereafter; a seqUience - of speciail Sunday night concert attractiphs ji»ll ihclud<^ Heten Jepson, Jose Iturbi; Viravi, Fray and Braggiotti, and Alec Templetori, in thalt Se- quence. Templetoh;. is virtually set^ by arrarigenifent'with MCA, but not , olflcially johnhenryed. ■ Eddy Oliver's band is iset for the •eason. ■, ■ • Uaify: pelihajr'i ; ■ A Buffalo, Sept. 24. ; The Buffalo Athletic Club, in. ast fpcifition With the Buffalo Broadcast 'fig Corp, (WkBW, WGR), CBS af «'»ate, wilt sporisbr a charity revUe the Red . Cross: Nov. ^ and 9 H the Erlahger theatre, Buffalo. **?rry Delmar will prbduce and the Show will include some! original numbers by him. .Show, whicii is tb haVe an all Buffalo, ■'■ ■■'i' '.['New^^Iiaveh^/Sept,: 24, Band-vaude is doing healthy brie- day biz here at the Arena Sundays. Opening a fall series Sept 15 with Jack Teagarden and seyeri acts to nice houses at both mat arid night ^shbWs, boxpffice held up again last Sunday (22) with Ella Fitzgerald barid, plus a stage show headed by Beverly Rbberts. Harry James- is set for Sept. 2i9, v Arena is a 6,600-seat auditpriuni that hbuises hockey during the sea- son. Vaude series is >un in spring and fall. Nate Pbdolbff heads, op eratipri: of. the Arena and shows are booked by..Jin"ni* Eyans. Town will have additional Vaude starting Sat;. (28) when Bijou, down- town subsequent runner^ brings back one-day shows. Spot is slated to ex- pand to two . or three days,; when Arena eighthwieek series/foldsl ;RK0 .is. mulling the idea , of re- suming vaude in . some of its. Ne\v York riab.es, but strictly pn last halves as a. break in' the dual pix diet.;i-S-.' John J. O'ConriPr, operating head of RKO theatres, stated Monday (23) that the idea is still 'speculative' , and not concrete. ; He stated .tliat. this type of opwation/ in^^^e^^ iBos- tbih'arid Syracuse, is riot very ■ prpfit-. able but at least helps pay the rent.'-' '■ ■"•;'' '• S-' . O'CPhnbr ppirited, tp a cpuple of drawbacks. One of these, he said, is the lack oi! talent. Another is the fact that the stage equipment of many of the RKO houses .has gone ta seed because of; disuse. Dancing Masters of America, inde- pendent organization claiming a membership of 1»800 dance. iiistruc- torSi is opposirig" the proposal of other dance teachier groups to bring Nijinsky to the U. S. .Organization hj(S also taken a stand .against en- forced 'mioting?- by-dancers inJinight. clubs. Both 'riibves . were taken at the DMO'3 conventioh in Pittsburgh. bppbsitioh against ; the purported plj(n to bring Nijinsky to America is on the grburid that the daricer, for some years;a piatierit in a Swiss men- tal sariitarium, coUld not be helped by trcatihent in .this country; ; DMQ resplutibn on the subject asserts that 'dancing Will best be served by:;dis;^ CQuraging: any exploitation of his plight.' ResoiUtipri: refersr tp Nijin- sky 'the -greatest male dancer of all times.' .; ■ - '':' ": ' Resolutionagainst- 'mixing'; - dcr Clares. 'that eiifprced mixing and drinking with:, ciistoriiers threatens the health of. dancers and . .'de- grading' to tho.se who have spent years training'for ..tiieir;. profession. It condemns the .practice; and calls on' the American Federation, of Labor and the v American CJuild ^ Pf Variety Avtisfs::io take steps tp help halt. it,.': .V-; ^: ' rv"': Pitt Nixdii Wants Reyese$ To Front Rhuniba Orch Pittsburgh; Sept. 24, Rh'urriba tearii of Raui and Eva Reyes ,is ; heiM ^spught-,;b^ Cafe riiariagemerit to return shortiy for iridefin ite stay a t the head of their own rhuriiba band. Nixon: has receritiy gPrie in for alternating orchs and wants Reyes couple, who recently completed month's run,, to polish pff the. coriga rhythms and also' double in flpbrshpw.; ; Teim hasn't ye its nTiirid, but it;s said tp he corisideririg .the prbpositiori favorably. Theiy: close at the. Beachcbmber in New York this weekend and then go to Statler ho- tel iri: Detroit -for three weeks with Scavicr Cugat, after which they're free tp accept Nixon offer or turn it down. ' ..'.'-' Brighton ReVerts to Vaude On entteint . non^prp ca"st, is being su WtV«ed by Herbert Rice, Buffalo NY Jane froman, parker Jane Froman. and Frank Parker will be New York-debut cafe attrac- tions, at the Versailles this season. Miss Froman opens Nov. .14 f^ -Jwo and possibly three weeks, Parker cohies in Dec. 5.. . Jack Bartell o£. CBS a Letout of Buff. Pic Orch Stirs Cpmiiieiit Buffalo, Sept. 24. : ElimiriatiDn of the; Shea's Buffalo pit orch and guest maestros, begin- ning this week, after 14 years of the same-policy at.:the hpuse, has sti^ up comment among local theatrego- ers and in the vox' ppp columns of the newspapers;; • Vincent R. ;McFaul, general riian- ager of the Shea chain, announced that the discontinuance was. tempo- rary. He stated that the Buffalo will feature an average of two stage shows each month in the imriiediate future, and that rriariy members of the present pit group will be util- ized in conjunction .with some of the istage jlroductions. ; Brighton .Beach ■theatre,- oh the Ocean front in Bt-poklyn,. reverts to vaude for two weeks starting Sept. 30 with a bill topped by Hcnny Yourignnah arid Smith and Dale., Arr thur ■ Klein,. who booked Shubert vaude in the old days, has set the Brighton; show out of Harry .Bestry's office. House is operated by A. Ed - ward Goldberg, who is playing the vaude in between traveling legit. The vaude. show is being framed into a revue .titled 'Broadway Rev- els', and will play saris filriii • " The Brightori years ago was one of the bigtime- houses booked by the Keith office, operating pnly during the sumnier.. Of late years, however, the resort' has grown- into a. year- round residential neighborhood due to 4he coristructipn. pf many apart- Aient buildings. '•.. . - . . beyond the set twP weeks depends on the legit bookings. If not enough of the latter , are available/ it's pre- sumed Goldberg wiU continue spacing.them put with yarlety shows. "Hiere's no vaude in the Brighton vicinity. PROSER GROUP BUYS MIAMI Miami, Sept. 24. - Negotiatioris were' completed last \ycek for purcha.se of Rpaclside Rest from Leph Shore by pombirie inchid ing'Gaines Bros., operators of Demp sey-Vanderbilt, Monte Proser, Wal ter Batchelor and Carl Erbe; Sppt, .Which' did fadeout- last ,s son;; was ' patterned after Shore's Long Island establishment of the same name. Under new pwners it will be tagged Beachcomber and vir- tually rebuilt..; Plans call for' huge patio seating 700 arid indoor cocktail lounge accbmmpdating 300, making it Miami's largest' nitery. ;' : Rotating name band policy will be followed .iri■patip, with rhumba Orew holding forth in lounge.- / Hildegarde Ralliday, monologist recently at the Rainbow Room, N. Y.,- goes to Spivy'i Roof, N. Y., tonight (Wednesday).,'-^**'-'':' ; Tom Kelly^ executive secretary of the Philadelphia local of the Anierir can Guild of Variety Artists, who was ousted Aug.. 20 by Hoyt Had- dock, national executive s.ecretary, was reinstated Monday.. (23) for a >^ 'probationary period' by AGVA's na- tional board rneetirig in ' New, York.. The .vote was unanirrious after it was . niade clear that the essence of the' board's decision was: Kelly should have been fired, but that Haddock's '■: methpd was wrong. This- puts a quietus on what threat- ened' to become another ciause ce- il ebre within ; AGVA, . especially in ' consideration of;the stormy Philly local membership meeting last Tues- • day (17) which endorsed Kelly and insisted upon, his reinstatement. . Threats werei; made that the Philly - local would secede froril AGVA if Kelly was not reinstated. .; As a sop to' Haddock, the national board, after reinstating Kelly, gave a vote of confidence to the natipnal executive secretary. Kelly then; made . a speech to the board; claiming that. the Philly local would be a credit to;; AGVA henceforth;; There's-no time limit on his prbbationary: period/but .;- it's presumed he riiiist prove hiriiself satisfactbry within three or four ;' months. With Kelly :back at the helm in Philadelphia, Lee Travers, whom. Haddock appbirited. both national . representaitive. and -executive - secre- ■[■ tary iri'Kellyls place, will be sent out pf: tpwn 'as national: representative. He'll either go to- New England or- else into the Southwest. Kelly 'was fired by Haddock despite the fact, that the Philly local board had voted tp retain hini; The bppo-;' sition tp: ■ this,; as well as tp Travers, \yias imniediateJ and, in a couple of instances, violent. ' ■ N;"Y. Local Bars Cominnnlsts Another iriiportant mpve within AGVA \Vas made late, Monday night at: the menxbership meeting of the N- Y. local at the Edison hotel. . Os- tensibly called to nominate ne'w offl- cers for the N. Y. branch,. the meet- ing Was jolted by Ben Haskell, iri.c, who asked for a ; su.speris:ph of the rules so that he could introduce a rosolution , which would bar those ;. members pf: subversive groups frPm being or becoming , rnembers of AGVA holding official: pr paid positions with the union. \ , The resolution was aimed chiefly at. some alleged cpmnjunist members and officers of AGVA. Phil Irving, N. Y. local executive secretary, and Michael Lewis, member of the N. Y. local board, both of whom have been accused of being Reds, opposed the resolution, but only on the grounds that it was oUt of order. They were vptcd down, however, and the reso- lution was passed by a wide majority of the 100-odd who were at the meet- ing; . While the resolution right how re- fers strictly-to-the N. Y. local, it Is- expected that the natipnal board wilt adopt: a similar one for the national organization at its next meeting next Monday (30).. Board of 21 Vpped to 31 ;0; At. the N. Y. local meeting to nominate pfficers and board for the ensuing year it was decided to in-, crease the board, now numbering 21, tp 31, including the officers. Added nominations may, be made by peti- tion. • ;■' -.: : Those proposed for pfficers are Jimmy Hollywood (Radio RPgues) arid Peter Wells for president; Elton Rich, Dave; Fo3c and Consuelo FlpW- ertori, first vice-president; Henry Youngman and Romo Vincent, sec- ond v.p.; Hazel Scott arid Janet Rey- nolds, third v.pi; Syd' Chattori, fourth v.p.; Eddie Bartell and Jack Gilford, fifth v.p.; Charles Arho and Sid Mariori,. recording^ secretary, and Sam Kramer and Hal Sherman, treasurer. ' Nominees fpr this board are Helen Sanford,' Alvin Padgett, Ben Haskell, Nate; Ward, Billy Revel, ppn. de Leo, Hattie Reavis, ; Edith Delariey, Jay Seiler, Moya Gifford, Constantin Tarrant, Carpi Murphy, Billy /Mc- Gpwan,. Elizabeth . Savage, Ruth RocCb, Charles Ali, Nicko (Grace and), : David Serin, John Nathan; Victor Rocco, Charles King, Thelnia Flowers, "Tyler Carpenter,, Mae Ju- deis, Lorraine King, Diane del Rio, Winnie; Gfay», ,H|If»<;k^^farson and Jean Itbchelle.