Variety (Jan 1941)

1^4 LEGITIMATE thirty-fifth JETT Anniveradry W^esday, Jaiiiiaiy 8,1941' Talent Complains 'Exclusive • Castier* Hampier 'Em Plus Being •'Unfair*—Produ^^ ' .Y''-M6re'-Efficifent:. re the actors, it. lis an. agent's.; function to flght for a higher salary for the actor. VThe PlaywrigbtsVpbj that is merely an employisr'* natucisil seir-inter^^st. : . Acicording to aictdrs, it is- unjust' for a producer .to use a(riy agent ejc^ clusively rtierely to,save himself the time, trouble and expense of doing his own- casting; ./If. a producer is too busyhasn't; the. energy; or can-. not:afford to dd his; owii casting, hei should hire/ someone qualified to. do Rv Hhk^ Mrtrri^bn ^ ^ | :ptodiicer, A^^ho^nu^ht not: share the j^r him/'And should pay thai Dy. riQDe mOrriSUn., c. ^ a-gnt's prejudices. ^ : : , / r;<«r»«« him««lf «t»i<.r than roauire I first agent's prejudices •No 'casting :agent js used 'exclu-., . Therfe; is. alst> 3 ifilm angle, in the sively. by this organizaUon;'nbr; is it Elegit ■agent.situalioii, ; Because there »^ *J .is comparatively little .money to.be necessary; for,any ^actdr .to. use^an |^<J''fr^m: -legit casting^ alone, roost agent .to., p:' part. That disclaimer ■wa? . recetUly agents' de^ivV^a of their income, from selling actors, to- posted in the outer feiCeption robhn . Ha^^^ the best , wjay to. ^ .L ni \^-^ui f- h^ kiri«i ri sell an actov to the,pictiuc-.compan^ of the Plcvyvvnghts . Co.. office. It-^ .^^^^n^^.^^^.^^^.^.^ .advantage createdra . minor sensation- m . actpry ^ . 3 ju,icy- jiavt Orv: BroadwayV.'aiii: circles and served to call .altentipn.; exclusiVe'ageiit for a show natui-ally once • more to the talent agcitey .sit-1 favors actoi's he has under coiiiract uatidri as a vhblfe. that slYuation \s\^^:: ,'^^^'^i ':'^^^fK^4^^t . , • . , , ion the stage, but unsuitable tor Rims, a source of. perennial, dissatisfaction, or/who nier&Jy p.^eters iBroadway to. ,H<3llyiivdod, • is; vcliscrimihated' against' becaiis^ of his loyaity ;t6 Ihe^.theatre. themselves. ' Yet Khpwing; thisrji: feW.;shr^wd; actors^ I who have no desire or intention of "1 going to Hollywood, hide that fact, ' permittiiig : the agents to .think of. to nearly everyone cohcerriedT^pro ducers, directors^ authors., actors: smd even. the= agents virtually nothing has ever been done to remedy riiatlers. T The abo ve hotice vsras posted by J them as . rilm prospects and thus get the Playwrights' Co.. only; after a | ting'; the^m^ a.ttractive pai:ts fpr. Hol- member bt th* orgahizatioiri learned ^ lywood.^ a^^ - ./ that common; belief airound' firoad-i. I - As far. as ;knpwn, there has t>ot re- way was . that: the Playwrights cently been any.poncrete eyidence of hired, actors only through .Jane'agents kicking back co'mmissiQns to Broder.. . Outfit has shown a pref-= {prbdueers.'in return idr .exclusive erente for her and has given .'her'.casting deaU. Nor are there, any program credit as.'casting' director.'. Stating that the Playwrights- Co- 'has: fad casting director' . and that 'each pro&.uctiQn is consider<>d ^ a unit and; handled the director, aiid ■ authoi* think best,' the notice further explained tli^t.^the majority of actbrs used in ' bur; productions 'have not been, obtained thto'iigh ainy agent.' It aisd hoteol .that 'it is the policy of this -organization to use new talent When . possible. Some new. actbrs have been used in all our produc- tions.' \ Notice concluded with the bbservatioii that it is ;physically im- possible lb interview all actors who apply, however. While the .agency situation has long been, the subject of annoyance. ' to the varipiis. groups in the. theatre. It has. been :particularly irritating to actors.. And it is the matter of ex- clusive Agents, referred to in .the Playwrights' notice, that has. caused the most. - criticism . among Motors. Although the Playwrights' Col has ■ officially denieid having an exclusive^ agent.^ ahd while .no other producer admits doing fo. it is common knowl- edge that certain . producers cast through certairi agents. In fact, in some cases, actors who. obtain Jobs .• direct are sent to ia specified agent to sign, their contracts and inust pay a regular cbmmission on the deal However, that has. never applied at the PUyWrights'Co. 'Unfair to Actors' Froni the actor's viewpoint, it is not only .unjust to require him to pay a commission to an agent who has performed no service for him, but the whole setup of ^exclusive agents is \infair to the actors. It is also felt that, in the long run, the '. practice is harmful to the theatre in general. Yet there is nothing in Equity's agency regulations, or in its agreement wiin the producers, which forbids the practice or even Cbn- . demns it. According to. the .actors, when a ' producer uses any agent exclusively; that agent, thereby becomes an, em- ployee of the producer, . dependent on the prbducer: for . his deals and livelihood, and therefore: subject to -the producer's wishes. Yet the agent Is theoretically, the employee of the .actor,; since the actor pays him a ; comrnissiOn}^ In rpany cases; the;ex-, elusive agent is., given a specifiic budget, with a, free hand to cast a production any way he : wants.; so. long as. he. stays within thie budget. That cbinpletely; ties the agent's hands, for e.ven if- lve wants to *prk for the; actors whose bbmmissions h.e takes, he cannot pay orie .actor mbre rnoney without taking it aw^y froth another.' lii' that casie an actor has litiile chance, of getting a clesifed salary ,e;yeh. if >e tries to Barigarn with the agent, :the'oretically-his em- plpye^.;;y.: ' Ahbther .unideslrabl'e: phja^e of the exclusive agent situatibri; for the actpr. is that most agiehls have favbr- i tes; , they . naturally like. the; work of certain actbrs better -than bthers; or . get albhg with theni lietter jjier- sonally. - Actors, concede that it's In- evitable. But they argue, that an ■afctbr should hot be''barred ; from working fbi" a producer merely be- cause, a certain agent .disicrimihates against him. . In that case, they be- lieve, the actor should be able t6 Qsfgr dhothief 'afieiit t6 'deal y^-lth 'the person himself, rather than require the actors to do so via cptftmissiPhs; -on-'-their salaries:' -'. '. •■'. It has been generally: understood.; that; various • other producers have had . exclusive, casting 'agehts": ancl some -are. coiiimonly. beliBve^^ to do sP at the present .tiine,- but only, thfe Playwrights' : Co.:; .has'ever .. been knowii to' takie ahy : actual steps' to. refute such a ,reE)oi't; Although there'. . is ■ ho aCtuail.; eviderice ; that.; arty Brpadway t)rbducer' has. (or had) a f qr mal excl us lye. agreemei jt -.w i th an. agent, certairi Tftanaftertients .-are •.cbmmbrily ; reputed to :have at least .unofficial -understandings , pf. ihat kind •with,agents;; /./; '. . ,:- -^i ' Some -Of the . producers; the agents: who normally cast : their shows are as follows: John . polden (Richard Pitrriein or Briscpe &; Gbld-; smith), ?ed "Harris (Jane .Broder),. Hei-man .Shuinlin ; .(generially.. Jane: Bi'bder);: .Brock Penlbertbn .;(Sara Enritjht),; Sam H. Harris'; (fprrrterly William' Liebling),'. 'the ' Shuberts (Harry Bestry), ;;' .. . Geprge Abbott gencraily; 'deals with actbrs directly, preferririi! hot By Rajr Josephs . ' Buenos Aires, .bee, 15. : r South American; brchestral, - oiEsrt and bj)eriatic.. fleldsj4in all of Which. United .States .talent inade ter-., rifle progress in •4(>--<>tter the great- est/foreign possibilities, of . any . ter- ritory In thie world during, the ippm-; ing year.: . This ehtertainmeht-hun|-; gry corititieht, which lives' .on for- eign tr&de,. likeiS :thfe imported prod^ uot attd wUl pay'.for; ijk. " • .; V Because seasons -here ai-e the : - ^erse; of thPSe In-the tJ. S;, this 1? the slack- period when - plahs are being :made, and from all iridieatiou.s' 1941, While perhaps not as imusiial,' will.be: far Steadier and.a biggei' W^^^ terlairimeiiil.^^vpl.ume; .Oro^ucer,. r. Such . .tours as' Toscianini/s; arid StbkbWski's Tvhich .: higWlighted the past season: aren't likely tf^ ,be re- knowh cases, of producers owning:.a j ^,55. ^rt .;rgent.- Guthrie MbClintic percentage of-stock m an agency-^. Ai^\i:^Vi^ ,^^ro^f . Vhrm.aH anv percentage of • stock in an agency .TVhich would amount tpvaiv indirect kickfaiack. Howevler,; it liis alwaiys seemed strange to. actors: that soine producers so frequently use the same agent. ■.■ PlayilV'rigbts'Angle In the cdsiE, of ; the Playwright.s', Co., it has been explained by. a miem~ ber. of the firnt that, while the: or- ganization has n.0 exclusive agroe- meiit Vwith any agent, it has fre- quently preferred to deal with actors through Jane Broder. it is .further noted that itiPst Pf the drganizatloh's prbductibns. have been staged by Elmei". Rice, who has said Miss Bro-, der is .the most dependable aihd sat- isfactory agent In the business and that he prefers to work with; ner: She has occasionally beeii listed in the : prograrrt as 'casting director' simp]^ as tecoighitipn of her :seirvices, it is added. : According tb: this member of .the fii-m, the Playwriglits'. Co. lias fbuiid that in many cases, it saves time and effort to .itse an ugent; in dealing \yilh actors. An efficient agent is a .specialist who knows; the actor field more thoroughly than the average director. Arid although the com- pany has no • excllisiVe deal with Miss Broder, the. members • .(partic- ularly Rice) ar^ reported to regard .most other agents as inefficient. It is claimed by the above member of the organization that on . several occasions ttie Playwrights' Co. has completed satisfaotpry preliminary negotiations ' with an actor only to have an agent step in and demand such a high salary for the. actor that the whole deal has fallen through. Furthermore, it is claimed .that most agents show little discrimination in submitting actbrs for a. part, ire queritiy sending so many people to the producer that it involvies a s.fer ioUs Waste- of time. For those.'rea- sons, the Playwrights' member ar- gues, the brgahizaliori "prefers, to Work with only one agent if any agent is used at. alU : :But. - he. .re-; peats*- the. company , usually . deals with the actor direct, and their^.is ho hec'essity. for- any. actor to use an agent in dealing with the i»lay- 'wrights,. Actor's'Rebnttal In answer to that attitude, actors readily.. agree that the Play Wrights'- do., oc My. pother . producer.- h^ right to deal^.thrbugh any'agent he chooses. . But they :feel that/ regard- less of the Playwrights*, claim. of not h.aying an exclusive agent,-the.Arm's ; pplicie^ haVe amo.iinted to';virtuaily the: same th ihg; : Actors • also claim that if the Playwrights or other' ptp- ucers isend; scrlpits ;of fiiture plays: tb Mis's Broder alone,:' it : viriually makeis;. her the exclusive agent, as; no .pther agent: can fell What casting ;typeS. are wanted. , Civing Miss Brodfer program ctedit as. -casting ;divectbr'. has, tended to ;enPouraige the . general belief that she .was -the; '.'exclusive- aigent. ^>t is asserted. It is also • a ; known fact :thi)t; in some cases actbrs virhbm Miss Brpier refused Vto submit tor parts in:^; Plaifwrighls' productions have irtade no further effort to contact the orgarti2atlon direct, ' or to ,Wprk. through any other dgerit because they .believed Miss Broder was cast' ihg 'the show invoiyeii.' . And," saj deals either direct through, any of a number of -aigerits, as do Max Gordon, DWight Deere Wirrian, Vih-' ton Freedley. jack: Kirkland, Wil- liam -.A. . Brady■' ,the Theatre Guild: ind: the Group / Theatre. . There, is. rarely an exclusiye casting agent tpi^ musicals, as most musical comedy players are Under personal manage- ment contracts to their own agen,ts.. Special Cquifly Study ' , Because 'of widespread agit|ition: about, the agency question from ac- tors, producers and. agents .them- selyes. Equity apipointed a . special agency caimmittee more, than a year ago to study the: problem and re- port back with recommendations for correcting it Nothing has .ever been heard from the- committee,. however, anid, according. to one memlwr,' it has never-eYen held a ineeting. Meanwhile, there are ia.: number of agents ;who have 'at>plications pendr ihg for Equity tra.nchises,. some of which have been ph file for some time. At; the same time, there arei reputed , to be a number of agents operating without franchises; but working through licensed . agents, with whom they split commissions. There is a fairly widespread belief that a few trahchised .agents, make no - real effort to operate., ah active; agency business, but merely .make their income by serving as a clear- ing house for unlicensed but actiye agents, qih a .split-cbmiiiission basis. Eqiuty Celebrates New Year's Eve Paying Off Cast of'AH Iii Fiitf New Year's Eve was unusual around Equity offices because..of the payoff to players of 'All Ini Fun,' which suddenly expired (1) at the Majestic, N. Y./after two days there and a . hectic out-pf-town tryout. Mbre : than $12,000 . wjas ; given the company, Whith prpbahly raised the. red of the . Leonard SjUman revue to rnbre than the estimated .$130,006., . ■ It was arpuiid eigist. O'clpck when disbursements' "w e r.e .cpmt)leted. While two; weeks salary fPr the .cast and. chorus, w.ere^ oh deppsit,; it der. veloped that • ;ad.dltipnal mortey'; was due for a preview; performance, plus rehearsals, siipirtage was. arbund $51)0, which was rerriltted. by'>Max jChophick,:; reputedly- acting for Bid- ward J. Barber, jshippirig man,: who is said to have been-'Fun's' principal backe^^ Several Who had: been let out. in. ,Boston were: told:, to. stick arbund and they, also receiy'ed twP weeks pay. though the show. lasted but three .perfpi'mahces. on. Broad- -;Way. . • •;'■'■■>'.'■; Bill'Robirtsbn, bblpred .slat. of the .white .reiyue; is repoi^ted: tb have .of^. fered.fo take-the shovv;Ovfe'r if ;Siil- man withdrew, latter refusing.: Plan was proposed jat .a meeting of'flayers, and others iriterested; :Rbbinson's sal' ary; was; $1,500 weekly; i- ■ - Cutipus-Equity angle was that: Siil- inan made violent protests, because he .was hot exenripted frpm deposit- ing money to guarantee salaries. Exr. emptioris ohly APPly to producers of recognized standing.' ' ".■ '■ BjT Lloyd Lewis V (Drama ond Sports Editor, Qhxtago ■ \ . / Daily.-Newsy r > :\.-; .■ ■: - Ghicago,--Jan.; 5.. ■■ The businesi" of .editing.-news iabout: drama, films,' cafeis . and sports <all from one desk is all right for any^ body who can keep himself posted on ail amusemehts. Otherwise, he-is apt to collapsei .soihe morhiijg when he picks up the - paper tb. find that: he : has- Ethel Barrymore playing third-base.-'; " ' "There, are certain advantages to' shooting across one desk hievys about, alrriost eye.rything that people pay money to see^, For one thing it al- lows -a paper to review vi^restling shows on the draima page. Certainly wrestling isn't sport. . It Is where burlesque has gone. The merger also allows a paper to send' its sport writers .at baseball stars with the same Viiewpoiht as its Hollywood correspondents go after the-film stars. " ;,;:•' Nobody pretends, for example, that it has been the artistry of ..films, or the stpries, or:,the' direction that have ' made films .tTie' tremendous industiry. it is. It was star publicity that did that-:^feature stories and color-stories ajjout the: players. .: And this same method: applied to • baseball and hockey, where the players remaih Jn the' big-time skboiit as Ipng as do stars in pictures, gets % newspaper circulation. . In fact, it is about: the only way a newspaper cari;get cir- culation out of sports nowadays, what with radio giving away results all day andVmbst pf the night. A' ^.New. Era The time when ah evening news- paper could sell sport results is gone. By the time it now reaches the street > with scores, a good 75% of the pros- pective, buyers, have heard wlio won, and a lot pf them have heard a play-, by-play description over one radio or another. What is left to the newspapier are feature^, interviews, humor, word- portraiture of: individualities and characters, which, of course, brings sport liewS right back: to the tradi- tional method of treating playeris of stage and screen. . And what dra^^ critic cOuld find, anything. mpre c.hal- lenging; than Dizzy Dean, with noth; ing; but a dead arm, and;.a strong heart" holding back, the . fe&rsome Yankees inning after inning; or thej golden helmet of .Nile kinnick; still shining and Aoating 'up. .and down a; darkening field in an Incredible re; pulse of Nptre- Dame? Not all. sport events are 'Hamlet,* to be sure, but there are few of. them that cari;*t b!^ 'The Time .bf YourXife.' Dramatic suspense is-otten gohe frbm themv but iri the -bast ;siir,e pilkyers whose personalities can be made,; by crack feature writers, almbist as in- teresting 'as the .people of Saroyah's play.: . .Frank ' Graham,' Jolin . Car- michj^el, . Bob Cbhsidiije'; : Stanley Frank, fbr .instancei can etch sport portraits with .practically any pl.ay- Wright,. and iJp it;, tifiree arid four tiriies ■ a week'-—maybe every . .day sprrie weeks 'handrunhing^' ' ;. Football - is . the one major sport that :idefles the feature writers .A sport writer can make a. baseball.. a hockey or a golf star;as vivid as ariy Hollywood correspondent can make Marlene Dietrich, but lie is stumped by ' cbliege football, because' these persohalitife^ ate^^carc^ imd fleeting. peated . :spPh.' maestros, -'air thpugh: ahribuiicihg tbeiif .desire; to eornie back, didn't say When. The; M<snte ' Carlo; Balleti: which , came . (lb wn oh a - gobdwill buil'd-up, did so ! Wi^l/that iKgbt. out of the red and is not bnly :set>to return, but is;hav.- irig the stagei of the Politiem'a; oni : .of B. A.*s biggest houses, enlarged. Ballet wili, also piaiy' Rio's Miaiiici-:; pal. Sab Paiilo and Santos , iri lirazil,; and Sol Hurbk, who. runs .the, outfit, ■is expected, to. sendla flock ot at- .trafetibns frblI^ his'RockcfcU.cfr: Cen- ter headquarters ill conj unction .with Ernest ' De Quesada, No, 1 South Amevicah .showman.:: Meritioncd arie 'Maribri Andersori, . ,Mischa Elman,; dancer .'ArgCntihita., H\(rpk got. hirrt- " self: fated: jj piprieerVhere /by-^b^ing the .first big-tiTnfe lj'. ' S. impresario to come, down in p.erspn. . Definitely skedded for the fbvth^ coming season are .violmist Yehudl; Menuhin, pianists Vladmlr Horowitz and Aiexaniiet' firailOwski, conducr:- tor-piahist jose ltui-bi and mbnologist Ruth ;pt;aper., lijitter Was:a .parlicu-i, lariy. s>mazing. .draw last SPasoh;- working ' in English she : S.'R.O.'d Spanish speakinig audiences through- out the. continent. , Rubinsteiri and He ifetzv both smash in .'4b, . will likely riot be baick becalise of-their every- ;bther year ^policy . pri S. AV . . • ' NBC;WHI':B«;AcUye : /:.; ■..-■ • .NBC Artists'Bureau is expected;tp. ship;dbwn.a.flock of atfi'actionis. The : NBC initials Were constantly plugged.. during the, Toscariini good-wilier, ' which was. the biggest musical event in S..^ A., history : and ; the ^prestige gai'ned isn't .;Jikely:: to'be., wasted.. Prestige is highly, impprtarit here -and airlists yi^ho .cbme under' a well- known banner stand; a far better chance :thah the. ffidies; Gblumbia Concerts ha^ also indicated . an in- creasing .interest in the ' continenL. With both outfits, a rise in "phono- graph record sales, which ; fbllo\^ personal appearances^ is important. RCA-"Vlctof found Tosci and Stoky . platters both hit hew: highs aifter the touris,' ':■ [ . - operatic stars who can double have.: the greatest chance'.to' cash iii hi^re. .althpiigh it must; always 'be remerribered that pesos aren-'t dollars, and that what looks like a lot often' fades-when it's cashed ;k» for Uncle' Sam?s greenbaclcs. -Niimber of stars like Tito .Schipa, Rise istevens, Bruria Castagna, . Marto; Eggert and Jan' kiepura iiaridled opera and either. stage or radio. All .this requires plenty : of ,advance arranging, how- ever. : Quesada and Florio M. .tlgarte, Directoi--Geheral. of the Teatrp Co- Ipn,' B. A.^s municipaliy-Owned opera house (which smilingly loses alinost. a million U. Si dollars- annually put- ting on shPws for this Federal Capi^ tail District), both will visit New York during the curreht Manhattan season to line Up prospects. . Few Restrictions ' Sp far there's been no indication that.any S./A. governments intend lb clamp doWn on visiting talent or Up the official nick; Big-time di-aws with interhatiPnal reps are riot con- sidered subject to the kind of ;re- trictibns placed on foreign exchange. Argen tina . currently gets 3 %. on amoUrits'up to $5,000 and up tb 15%. pn; anything over. Chile starts ait 3%- and has the same high.v Brazil takes only:a straight. 4%.r ■ ;~ Argentina Is the .ohly S. A-. country to have any Sizeable legit theatre, .and ;practi.cally all of the25. or; 30 houses which' rah during ; the past season , have ariribuhced .they'll re- Open: bigger and better, next .seaspri.. Only :thjng missing; are the old. out-- fits that, tised r tqi come over / from Madrid. Artists & Authors Assbciav- tiohs has declared, it Wants to have the .theatres put, on: rhore. moderh- stuff and:, iget away irbni the.;, emii; phasis- on political -satire, musicals spiced yirith .double- .entendre .and scerieryrchewlrig :riielodramas; ; .- The Junta-- Argentina de: Deffensa del , Teatro (Board : Of .Deilense of the Argentiiie Theatre)' has .also done: Some talking along the .jgame. line; ^bing' furtheir and hinting that the gbverhmeht might db soriiethihg tp■ inipirbve, standards. Qeneral :putr line of Junta's .plans .lias; been . re- garded in some; .quarters as. a; poS;^ sible -: mbye, . jagainst the -increasing hiimber .of ifOreign .. (mainly .U.S.): airtists cbriiiriig h^rp. It Is significant that at brie time visiting -architectis,;. doctors and lawyers were as welcome as a faVe notice, but now they find it altriost Impossible to meet national requirieimenta,*.''' • -