Variety (Apr 1941)

Wednesday, AprU 1941 Vaudeville '45 Cla\ide X'Tinfc) Humfihrey, one ct the most colbrful of vatideville, ; showmen whien booking the Butter- field (Michigan) and b;. F. iCeith western time, died Saturdiay night : hz) in Van Nuysi Galiif:, loliowihg a .heart .attack. He was 64 aiid had ■ beeit in virtuat retirement. for the^ - past five years because of a cardiac ■;. ailment. 'Hdmphrey's last connection was ' with .Harry;'. Sherman, whbm he, ; backed in ■ the 'production of film westerns, chiefly the, first 'Hopalong, Cassidy' series. Humphrey, acted as production aide to Shermiari, npw re- leasing through Paramount but then operating Indeperidently, filially be- ing forced to quit because of ill . health. . }:■. Chicago knew HumpHrex b.est, as It was there , that he 'gtew .tip' with . Golpnel ■ W.. Si .Butterfield's theatres. . Humphrey, started iriM9b5 as a singer of illustrated songs.i.n Lansing, Mich,, ; his home town,'and was engage^d by Col. Butterfleld io manage his tiiea- tre there, the. first in .thiei Buttferfield 'chain. When ; thiB; latter grew to ■ around five theatre.s, Humphrey . was moved to Chicago to opeh a booking voifice, which at its peak was'bobking four and a half weeks of splitwe^ . .Butterfield time entirely in the State. * of Michigan, .. , . v v . ' - .Booking Offices Combined "When Jr J. Murdock, then, operat- ing the Masonic Temple: Roof in Chicago; Herman Fehr, Maftiii Beck, Ghjai-les Kdhl arid ..Mort H. Singer, formed the Western Vaudeville Managers Assn., the major vaude cir- cuits combined their booking offices. Singer headed the Western Vaude- vill and Junior Orpheum time west . of Chicago; while Humphrey was Toade head booker of the. corhbined Butterfleld and B. F. Keith Western .Tinie, all of it east- of Chicago. At this time he came into conflict with Sam OCut') Kahl, head booker,, of the western eiid of.the contibine, be- cause of Kahl|s tactics -in ilicing acts' salaries 25-35% after they; came , out of Humphrey's houses. One of the major burnups in the trade arid for Humphrey was Kahl's eight-day; week, Sunday to Sunday, at seven- day salaries,. plus Kahl's insistence that they play 'showing' houses in Chi at a fraction of their regular salaries,. The" Humphrey-Kahl ifeiid lasted for years and up until Hunipb,rey was moved into Ne\y York, as waa virtually all the western: vaude time when Joseph P. Kennedy tbok over Keith-Albee-Orpheum .and merged the FBQ and Pathe film companies. Humphrey, was madie riianager ,of the Fifth Floor (family time), sue-, c6eding Mae Woods,'who was close to E. F. Albee, while Kahl was dis- missed by Ben Piazza, who,: with George Godfrey, then headied tiie en- tiire KrA-O vaude booking office in the Palace theatre building. Hum- phrey lasted in N, Y. for only a few /months, ,when Godfrey arid Charles Bierbatier, also a booking office exec, dismissed Him, Not long after that Godfrey and Piazza also Went putj.as RCA moved in and the circuit be-; came RKO, with Hiram ^S. Brown as ; president and Charles J; Freeriian as booking manager.■ ' . • Humphrey Broke : ■ '. When let out, Hiimphrey was vir- . t'ualiy broke,rdespite the fact that he got a; $125,000 bohus: in the K-ArO reorganization. Of that 126G, Hum- ■ phtey ■lost. $.iOO;0()p when he bought the ."Twin City. Cloif Course between Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, Mich- ..' igan, on the promise from Scarface ■ .Al Gaborie that the latter would be a . 50% partner, the^gplf doufse was : a twin-city municipal white elephant,_ but iieavily patirqhized by the Chi-' pa^o mobsters, with riiost of whom Humphrey wa.is faniiliar. Caporie /. wasii't iiiddirtg about putting up.$50,- • 000 for the golf .coui'se. but' he be- came embroiled with the Goy.errtr misnt on an incdriie tax rap and i. prison sentence took him Out of clrr culation lor a long tinier Humphrey, . stuck with an expensive golf course at the height of the depression, finally had to Jet it gp and kissed , the $100,- 000 gppdbye. Humphrey, When booking the But- terfleld housefly was the first to play tabloid shows, hOw callied unitsy William B. F^iedlander and Joe SUl- iivan produced "for him 'Naughty Princess/ which ,was the first vaude house tab,, and foilowed >yith 'The Suffragette: Beyuie,' 'Devil's Ball' arid 'Fbur - Husbands.' Humphrey^ ex- treiiieiy 'well-liked and :perspnabie, was also responsible for. bringing, into vaiude several men Who becdme top-; hotbhers in the trade, amonc; them the late Harry Weber, Marty For- kins and Billy japkson. ,,; ,'.' : , The booker was \ the type of per- son who couldn't say 'rio' and, in re^ ferring to Humphrey's gpod nature, it; was often said, 'they threw the mould, awdy iafterhe yijiz maid^.' He was aiwdys a spft touch... : Humphrey's wife. Mattie,' died two years ago. He is survived by two daughters, Claudia:and Audrey,, both married :and living On the Coast. Funeral services were held yester- day (Tuesday) iin Van Nuys, fol- Ipwed : by .burial, in- Forest Lawn CCriietery. . ■ RAISE CAFE / Chicago, April 15, Jintirely nev> setup for minimum price levels for chorus .girls .arid perforriiers .in the Chicago cafes is being readied by the locar board of the American. Guild of Variety Ar- tists. .; Board held a special meeting last week, with nine of the 13 members irii attiendance, and it was resolved that the local AGVA would make no move .to obtain: new or extensions on current eontracts with, the niter- ies.. instead, it will wait until all current contracts, setting minimuin wiages, expire and then make deals for new agreements, calling for an upped set of minimunl wages,; Cafes are to be ranked in classifi- cations from A to D, and the wage minimum requireifnents will prob- ably be as follows: Glass A: chorus, $37.50; principals, $75... .. ■ Class B: chorus, $32.50; principals, $60. (jlass G: chorus, $30; principals, $50. Class D: chorus, $25;. principals, $35. DANCER RECOVERING jtfTER SlflClDE Many Spiots That Ordinarily Shutter»^ or Curtail Book- ings, for Summer Will Maintain Schedules —> Dc^ . troit/ CleveiatncI On .Up ■./;■sw^n^,■■■^.• BEST IN MIDWEST The American defense prpgrani, which has bpomed amusement busi« ness .- thrbugiiQut the- country, L sug- gests greater vaudeville possibilities this year than at kny time during the past decade. As a result many; spots 'throughout. the country tliat ordinarily shutter, or • curtail their bookings, during; tHe summer, will riiaintain their full-season .schedules, particulai'ly in those, Ibcales: where defense .projects .arie ih: full swings; The midwest seems/ to .be. ex- periencing most of this vaiidieville boom, piarticularly since .most .of the defense work- is going on ih ti^at sector. .Detroit and Cleveland are notable cities where stage shows are being: kept on, arid In many cases added in situations where there had beeri none or little vaudeville here- tofore: . .Clevc. Show Bli Booins - . Cleveland. April 15. ' Between rising . Industrial payrolls and tremendous expansion pirograms of this burg's key defense tool-mak- ing plants, theatre biz in general is climbing so encouragingly that the Palace intends contlriuirig its vaude policy through the dog-days, instead of going jnto a straight film' policy around June -1 as it has done in previous seasons, .. Decision is riot, yet official, but survey report -of local conditions made by Nat. Holt.. RKQ division manager, here, Inqicated ' such . a definite theatrical booin is ; on the way that there's little doubt of this experiment getting a ireen light from, NiBw Yprk. Unemployment. figures are being wiped out irapidly by building of new Thompson airplsne-parts factory; a new-aeronautical laboratory, and the Ravenna Powder Plant, ■ which are brihgihig a wave of heavy coin into nearby bistros such as they haven't seen since prohibition days. Even the smallest cafes are copping a good piece of it, with operators raiding each othei: for talent due to Ipcal scarcity of nitery acts. Detrpit, April 15; •. After, two attertipts, Toby Lee; 2ff, dancer, is recpvering irornVher latest siiiicide attempt in Receiving hospital here. Her latest ittenipt—induced :>because I'm - terribly sick of shPw business but don't ■■know any otlier way, to miake; Miving'—prbyoked an extensiyfe, police search when: she registered;, at a hotel after gettinj^ firofessicinal retes and • then .'slashed hei wrists :and/took heavily of sleep- ■ ■ing: ppw.ders.-.'•, , • Police had .oheckied on her profes- sional riariie, figuring it an alias, to ieafn she was bom Qlive Cochran in Philadelphia; .' Later, she recovered sufficiently to iexplaln Toby. Lee.was .her working tag. She said she. wcs t*Jice married 'and . divorced; 'but didri'f place the blame-for her act.on marital, diffieullies. saying she was ju.st'di.sgusted with show, business.. Only, lucky break she got in -danc- ing, shie said/ was.;a full season in Kelly's'Ritz, PanEma. : ' Detroit Vaude Vpswinr Detroit, April 15. While downtown .Detrpit still cpri- tinues weak on: vaudeville—stage shows coriie along on the average of about one every three weeksr-this : town's: nabes are showirig-increased evidence of riding into the growing war boom with variety eritertain-; merit. .. •.■■./. :. Michigan and Foy, two big dpwn- ■tbwn houiies, after two years Pf ber ing' dafk tb. stage shows, "used them infrequently last fall. While business has .Tun strong with Vaudeville,'the two big houses—4;OO0 arid 5,000 seats •^are- taking . no Chance on. weaken- .ing .their draw: by making Ihem reg- ular affairs, idea: being tb. take the strong pull pri double-fea'tlires witli: the occa/siorial hypo/pf a ^ig stage attraction. . '/ •' ■;- ■':./,,;•/■: •.■/'■■ • . Meariwhlie, j:u.st off the .d.owritowri fringie; the Colonial- has cpntinued tp roll along, with, acts/ Further up .the main street and; out of the heavy center, the Town theatre, ex-C)rclies- tra Hall, has edged in with stage mateirial. Most signifiijant here is the fact that the Harper, big nabe pper- ated by Wisper .: & • Wetsriian, has grown, from infrequent vaudeville to.- a rfigul.at diet of it since last fail, Other ^Vaodei-''-. Buslries.s has been .so gbp'd at the house that recently United Detroit, whitih also operates the downtown (Continued on page 52) : •/ Of 40% Gross Income, Face If.-'' s fowes^DniWitlrM/ /flits AmS^ k Major ,. Bowes , 'amateurs': become -union-caird holders, :fbll6wing signa- turing of contract between Americjari Guild of Variety Artists' and BpWes. some time this week. • ; . : Minimum wage scale of $50 for singles or two-acts, and $45 per: per- son for groups of four dr. oyer. Goes into effect -bh . all. BoWes* . .units/ Whiether the $45 or $50 rale wiU apr ply tb three-acts has npt . yet / been agreed upon,/ AGVA agreement allows ^fbr maxj- riitim of 30 ihpws weekly.; ;FronT $0 to 7.0 'amateurs' will be affected; ; HOm BOWS TO ARMYlRROi ON SERVICE . - .Washington, April 19. Tiifeiatencd military boycott of lo-. bal. hotels . apparently . has been averted with apology pf Hotel 2400— swanky Emb.aissy Row institution— for refusal of one of its waiters to serve a man In khaki. Incident rer ceived much attention from the daily presSi with service people—who de- scend on the city ;in droves for the weekiBrid — declaring they would withhold patronage unless: more ap- preciation was .shown. ^ Note of regret was sent^Maj.. Gen. Milton A, Reckord, commanding tbe 29th Division at nearby Fort Meade, after huri:iiliating page-one fuss that was provoked by- denial of service to a staff sergeant and Woman com- panion a couple of Saturday nights ago. Writteh squawk from the npri- cpm to; his commanding officer, brought 'representations' about dis- crimination against the cbuntry's de-.. fenders,:;with the brass hats serving notice their men would be fprb-ddert to spend theit' leave in. the National Capital if hostelrles had policy T>f 'insulting men in unifbrrti. by .refus- ing them service.' The local hotel men's association winced at the ultimatunl, although with booriitown patronage there are few empty tables at this geasbn. of the year in the sllff-shirt dine and dance . places. Richard S. Butler, manager of Hotel: 2400, saw fit to, make amends, explaining that, the reason the sergeant and his friend were ousted, was lack of tables,, npt bias against the military, / fSuCh a PPllcy on; pur part does not exist,' Biitier wrote Gen. Reckord in repudiating the: explanation of the waiter thiat there was a houSe rule against admittirig .uniformed riien tp: the cpcktaU Ibuhge. 'Our policy is to treat everyone alike, . whether cpriimissioned. or rion-cpjririiissipned officers, privates pri clyilians. Our only rule is that pur patrons conduct themselves as ladies and gentlermen.' Bonifaces: sighed gratefully at virord from Fort Meade, that 'the jn-i cident is closed/ Rogers-fine ft'oduqe^ 'Army' Vaude Unit ;/ Chicago, ^April 15. - ,'You'i"e /in -the Army. Npw,' new unit ■ prbdyced-'jointly by Harry Rogers arid," Jack Fine, ha.s; been set ;intp the .Palaban & Katz Stcte-Lake for week of April:'25. • -Breaks in;,on the lllinoi.«-ioWa time, playing Dec'atur^„ iPeoria a,nd Cedar Rapldis first. : . \ . Johnny Burke arid Joe Besser have the topi«spots. . The Associa^ arid: ■ Ar- tistes of America's executive: coih- mittee supervising the affairis pf th« American Guild of Variety Artists has served notice on .all AGVA locals., that .those who; cdritinue dev linquent "in Spaying , the national' offic,e.40% of theiir gross incdnie face reypcatipn of :ciharters, :Gerald Grif- ..fin, administrative . chairman pro tem of AGVA, has sent a warning to the locals that they must comply with the rules. . Griffin stated that the -locajs fre- quently criticise -the national offici/ ofteri without cause,, but. that: the latter irtbre. rightly can critibise the locals, especially / regards to hbw they . handle their .financial - obllga V tlbns. The rules/ require that be- sides seriding the. national office 40%; the/locals: must also; account for the 60% of .the gross income tHey retain iOT local; administrative expenses, it has also, been/ pointed put by Griffin, that those locals which are not paid up by July 1 will not.be iable to . participate Iri ;the coming elec-; tibh, or have any Representation on the national board/ Failure to pay mi would take the entire mernber- ship of locals out, of /'good standing*; status with the national organiza- :tipn,/' ■/■ ■/ ■■:. ■ -■■':•.": Griffin, as tet tiie ekec.iitive com-' mittee's order, also tpld the locals that both, the Fc ur A's and. national AGVA office : reserve. the right at any time to examine the. books pf ;. any local, It was pointed <>ut . that any local member or official found responsible for any deviaition from the financial ; rules faces, discipline ary actibn . and possible, expul- sion from AGVA and every other branch of the Fbiir A's. All the local treasuries have been warned that ihcbme was to be used orily for administrative: expenses and that loans to individuals, lor .monies earinarked foi: any otheir purpbse,: would. be / considered , '' Violation oiC the rules. . ; FAAC Drive bbenR Los Angeles, April 15,' . The . Federated AmUsenieht arid Allied Crafts; has started a drive to. f brciB all th'eatt-ical agents in South - ern California to line up under the' Ariierican Guild of Variety Artists franchise code. The Federation has anriounced/ appointment of; a policy committee com|C)bsed of .Federatibn Secretary C.- J. Hyans, of the AGVA; Thomas Meehan, of the Los Angeles. Bartenders; Eddie Pratt, of Mu- sicians Local 47, and Carl Cooper, of the Stage Employes Local 33, to work in cboiierStlon/vu'ith Federa-, tion crafts with whom'agents have . fi-anchises and to prosecute. bookers Who are ori the unfair list b/f . the Central Labor Council. . Hyaris is .sending a letter to all agents advisirig them that under the AGVA. code they must: . ; 'Secure ertiployri[)ent . for arid book bnly AGVA; members in good stand- ing, and must see . that the per- formers/ remain ; in good standing during the term of their- employ-. minii That they must file written riepprts daily tb AGVA headquarters, listing all bookings or eriiplpyment deals, giving the names of the artists, the places bf enlployment, and a' copy bf the contract. The agent also will be advised, that he will be held/ personally responsible for the con- tract, and, payriient of the actor for his: services;' George Harirtid's Milliori pbilar Pier; Atlantic. City, is getting at least $50,000 worth of renovatipns this seaBori, ' Philiii.., : Morris . Cigarets spending that: much on: building a new front for the/spot to house its' cbncesslbn. . / . Giggle cpmpariy will, show th» public how the smbkes. are; made.