Variety (Apr 1941)

STABE Published 'Weekly at 164 West 46th BtrMt^ New York, N. T.. by Variety, Inc. Annual BUbacrlpttoh, $10, Single ooptea tft oenla EnUred aa Second-claaa matter December 2^ IBOS, at the Poat Office .at New Tork, N. T., under the act p( K|a;rch 1. COPTBIGHt, mt, BT VABDSTY, INC. AIX BIGHTS BBBERTED VOL. 142 NO. 4 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1941 PRICE 25 CENTS eon in Toronto, April With the court hearings getting underway here yesterday CMonday) •before Justice MacKay, the 'Babes' are In town with their scrap-books and photos to collect that $12,521 vwKich William. John Wright, Tor- ofito. plumber, willed to a girl he saw when she was five in a burlesque show in Indiana at the erid of World War I. -. From ' California to New York to Tennessee, the girls are an- swering that 'Where Is Miss Babe?' query first propounded in the 'Court of Missing Heirs' program and , in a VARiETr advertisement. Some of the gals are glamorous and some are not, but all have that anticipatory glieam In their eyes which accompanies the prospective spending of $12i521. The good-look- ers are getting plenty of art spreads, but only one—^and perhaps not she —will win this-particiitar pot o* gold, for Charles Barkworth of Toronto, (Continued on page 18) Some Moire Escapidlogy? Paramount Is ;mulling a life stoiy of Hoiidini. It has registered; the name of the famed magician. as a potential title for the film. Put Em In Red Big Top Due at Madison Squiare Garden Niiext Mon- day (7)—AGVA Ties in With Combined Theatrical Crafts, Embracing 33 Show Biz Union* PATRIOTIC SAWDUST U. S. Wants a t v/o SKce From All Benefit Shows From Now On A ruling by the U. S. . Internal Revenue Bureau last week (26) and taking immediate .effect placies. vir- tually all benefit shows in the posi- tion of paying, the 10% amusement tax. Heretofore charity shows have been tax-free, but the department ruled that all beneflts, that pay any part of the gross fok" anything or to anybody in connection with the show must pay the tax either by adding 10% to the face value of the tickets, or. absorb it and pay the Government the percentage on the total take. This is the outcome of the Treas- ury Department's probe into the great rash of benefits, of late,, most, of them for sundry war relief agen- ciK, and into the Theatre Authority's ana talent unions' disbursement of .charity funds. At a meeting last weefc.immediately after the Govern- (C oritihui sd on page 47) GENE AUTRY YENS TO HEAD HIS OWN RODEO . ' Dallas, April 1. : Gene Autry, Republic's singing cowboy, recently made a flying trip to Pallas to. confer with' Lloyd Rust, aistnct manager of Republic Pic- tures, in regard to staging a rodeo here during^ the Texas, State Fair next fall.. Rust would business man- age the venture. . A native, of Tioga, Texas, Aiitry has for some time wanted to boss a big rodeo in his home state. Dallas has never been a good rodeo town but others point out that it has never had a real rodeo with a real attrac- tion.. Advance preparations for summer stock and tryout theatres are ex- pected to start this month, first step being to register with Equity where such ventures ' /ill be classified. Understood that there will be fewer stocks in the,: sticks this year be- cause operating expenses have risen to such a level that a majority of the rural show shops went into the red last summer. Spread, of the star system and fairly large salaries of (Toast names used in a number of the hideaways explains why the opera- tors went overboard. ■ One of the sumrner stands unlisted this year is the Westchester' Play- .house, Mt. Kisco, N, Y. Tuttle & Skinner, who operated the house for nine seasons, say they are out of the running thett or elsewhere this summer. • They are presenting the revival of 'Charley's Aunt,' Cort, N. Y., which was a 'find' last sum- mer. Mt. Kisco house will possibly relight under another management. Wetles' Disks of His 'Native Son'Cast Not OK For Sound With Equity . .Equity has.'nixed a plan by .which Orson.- Welles intended to, record performances of his production of 'Native Son,' at the St. James, N, Y., so he could keep tabs on the sliow wljile he's on the Coast. Producer- director figured having micro- phones jrt the, footlights arid making records - of occasional performaric.es, say every week or so, without the actors being aware, of just .when the waxings were being, done. Producer-director put the. matter up to the. Equity council .arid," ai- .thoiigh the records were not to be played publicly, the regular- rule of a full week's- extra pcy for .each recprded perfoVmaflce was insisted upon. Welles consequently dropped the idea. A general strike against the Ring- ling-Barnum & Bailey Circus prior to its opening at Madison Square Garden,. New York, Monday (7) looms .as a strong possibilit}^ unless the big-top show signs a new agree^ meht with the American Guild of Variety Artists. AGVA last week fortified itself by joining the recently, formed Combined Theatrical 8t Amusement Crafts Council, encom- passing'all the 33 crafts unions in the shotv business in N.:Y. Via joining the ClOuncil, AGVA gets the support of the stagehands, (Continued on page 18) our Mary Astor, Emcee Hollywood, April 1. A mistress bf ceremonies on a va- riety show, new to Coast commer- cials, will be tried out on Hudnut's 'Hollywood Showcase' over Colum- bia's Pacific network. Running the half hour program will be the cine- ma's Mary Astor. . Russ Johnston, KNX program di- rector, handles the production for Benton & Bowles. . U. S. Has New Weapon, Grabs Booze for Taxes Jan Valtm Mystery Radio Appearance in WOL Has Newspapermen Hopping Washington, April 1» Wild-goose chase after 'iJari VaUin' —author of the spine chilling, best- seller, 'Out of the Night'—took place in Washington last Wednesday (26) when the: former Communist put on a broadcast from an 'unnamed spot somewhere in America' over WOL. -Reporters, tipped oft by reports pub- lished in the New York hewspaperS, and employees of the station itself, were kept in the dark as Valtin— recently identified as Harry Krebs— fiew into Washington and out again, pausing only for the broadcast in which he told, of his experiences at the hands of the German Gestapo. No one knew, until it was all over, that the : program had been .aired, from the apartrnent of William B. Dolph, president of WOL, where Valtiri arrived with three mysterious men, identified as either bodyguards or, press agents. - : Station was flpoded -With phone calls as the author of 'Out of the Night' warned that 'any one who works for Nazi Gprmariy. is digging^ his own grave' and apo.logized to the annouriter .for his poor hearing by explaining, -that his .eardrum had been 'cracked by a Nazi whip;' As the former Cpmmuriist organizer-^ arrested in New York a couple of days later, but released on bond- expressed fears for his life because of his expose of the.terrorist methods of the Russian OCPU and the Ger- man Ciestapp, local newsm.en sought .'vainly to track him \o the scene of I the broadcast. Philadelphia, April 1. Mr. Whiskers has conceived a new little twist to make It tough, on the nitery ops who fail to cough up Fed- eral taxes. He now seizes the liquor stock. ■ First to have his booze confiscated was Benjamin (Benny-the-Bum) Fo- gelman, operator of an intimate Lo- cust street bistro. Internal revenue agents cracked down on him Satur- day (29) for the non-payment of taxes totaling $1,064.22. The spot was closed. Owner of the place is listed as the 1321 Locust Street Corp. Fogelman is not one of the official proprietors, but has been fronting the spot since Octbber 4, 1940. Previously it was known as the El Chico and the 21 Club. Latter handle was changed ((Continued on page 47) Joe Cook, In Person, Vs. J.C. Impersonated; In It C. on April 25 . Joe Cook in person will play against Joe Cook impersonated in Washirigtpn, D.C, the week of April 25, Catholic University," which last year based its annual musical on the life of George M- Cohan, this year will mould it around Cook. And the juggling cpmedian; himself will at the same time be in ,vaude at the ■ (Continued on page 30) Auburndale, Mass., April 1. 'Where doe$ your daughter g6 t» darice?' This ahnotiticement coming through the . radio ispeaker has set many a parent to thinking, and that is just what manager Roy Gill, of Totem Pole, Ballroom, aimed to do. The radio announcer continued ia a 'confldential' tone to explairi that liquor and stags are taboo at this spot, and pointed out that the placa . is conducted on the standards of • 'faniily ballroom.' . And he will go this one. better when he begins a full week sched- ule about mid-May, He is going to advertise. 'Bring your mother and father free on Monday nights.' Parents are informed that the dance ends at midnight, and so this enables couples to return home at a reasonable time, just; before in- termission each nighty Gill, instructa his assistant manager. Bill Johnson, to caution the dancers not to driva too fast on leaving the ballroom be- cause of several speed traps in the vicinity. "This also makes a hit with people, as well as his stopping ticket sales when 3,000 enter the ballroom,. to allow room for dancing. Mrs. H.B. (Renee) Harris Once Nixed $1,300,000 For Theatre, Now Broke Mrs. Henry B. (Renee) Harria filed voluntary petition in bank- ruptcy in the federal court,, N.Y.,, last Thursday (27), listing liabilitiies of $546,378 and assets of $16, One creditor is William. Harris, Jr., whom she owes $17,000 oh a judgment filed in 1931. . He was a brother of her husband, once prominent legit pro- ducer who went down on the Lusi- tania. [Charles Frohman was among, other notables lost In that disa.ster.] Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank is the largest creditor, to the amount of $526,354, judgment dated in 1932.. It represents the first mortgage on the Hudson theatre, N.Y„ which H. b; Harrisoperatei Widow lost con-, trol of the house several years later. At one time she is said to have re- jected an offer of $1,300,000 for tha properly. She remarried three times but is known by her first marriage name. ^ Mrs. Harris was on the payroll of the. WPA theatre project,: earning $22,75 per week" for- a time up to September, 1939j . but has had no other irtcpiine , since then, Earl Carroll Vanities ^1 Mll(IN(, Bert Wheeler w&th Hank Ladd The Unit of Perfection! Pittsburgh Now — Buffalo Next