Variety (May 1941)

54 Wednesday, May 21, 1941 OBITUARIES GEOBGE LLOTD George S. Skipper, 63, who as George Lloyd appeared in vaude- ville for some 14 years and later acted in radio sketches with his wile on NBC, died May 9 after a six-week iUness at his home in Cincinnati Teaming with his wife, Myrtle, whose stage name was Myrtle Fiske, Lloyd did a comedy and singing rou- tine on the leading circuits. Antici- pating the decline ol vaude, the pair entered radio as originators of a sketch known as 'Skip, Step and Happiana.' It was long a morning feature of such stations as WLW, Cincinnati; WGY, Schenectady; KDKA, Pittsburgh, and other large NBC stctions. In recent years, Lloyd had served briefly as a cruise director for the Grace Line before retiring. How- ever, he still made occasional night club appearances. Surviving, besides his widow, are three sons, a daughter and his mother. Funeral services were held In Cincinnati^ and cremation fol- lowed. Paul Gutmann, noted German writer, she sought refuge in Mexico in 1935 when Nazism was beginiling to be- come acute in Vienna. Burial was in Mexico City. Her husband survives. DOLOBES FIELDING Dolores Fielding Heater, 48, for- mer legit, vaudeville and musical comedy actress, died May 6 in San Diego 'of pneumonia. Mrs. Heater was known professionally as Dolores Fielding. ELDKIDGE TADLOCK Eldridge Tadlock, 30, 8f Norfolk, Va., racing driver on Dixie fair and other circuits, was killed recently in crash on High Point, N. • C, speed- way. LOUIS H. CLABET Louis H. Clarey, 47, advertising executive and assistant director of the Eastman Theatre project in Rochester, N. Y., died May 15 after a long illness at his home in Clifton Springs, N. Y. A native of Des Moines, Clarey was long in advertising as a inem- ber of the staffs of the J. Walter Thompson and Street & Finney agencies, later being connected with the advertising department of th** American Magazine. Failing health forced his retirement several years ago. Surviving are his widow, Rachel; two sisters, and two brothers, John E. Clarey, publisher of the Madison (N. J.) Eagle, and Northrop Clarey, assistant to the "president of the Standard Oil Co. BOTH ST0NEH01TSE - Ruth Stonehouse, 48, star of silent pictures, died May 12 in Hollywood. Starting her stage career as a .dancer at the age of eight, she en- tered pictures while atUl a chUd. In time she became part owner, with Billy Anderson, of the Essanay stu- dios, Chicago, and starred In west- erns with Tom Santschl, Bessie Love and other names of early screen days., Off the screen she was the wife of Felix Hughes, brother of Rupert Hughes. Surviving are her husband and her parents. .N j^jjgg GOBDON James Gordon, 60, stage and screen actor and one of the founders of The ^oupers on the Coast, died May .12 in Holly wopd after an emergency operation. He played character roles In New York and with repertory companies on the road before mov- ing to Hollywood where he served as president of The Troupers In ] 1927-28 and again in 1940. I Surviving, is his widow, Mabel ^V'an Buren Gordon, former screen ^klayer. GEOBGE B. FITCHETT George H. Fitchett, about 63, vetr ■j eran theatrical manager who had ' served in a managerial capacity with many Broadway productions, died May 15 at his home In' New York. Fitchett, company manager, for the road company of "The Man .Who Came to Dinner* with Taylor Holmes the past season. For several years was general manager of Anne Nichols' 'Abie's Irish Rose.' During •Abie's' popularity, he handled the road bookings and in many smaller stands he spotted the show for longer periods than tiiey were able to play any other attraction. In other communities theatres were leased and record road runs scored. He leaves his widow, Margaret. FBANCISCO BENITEZ HABTINiSZ Francisco Benitez Martinez, 49, board member of radio stations XEW and XEQ and of the Cine Teatro Alameda, - first-run cinema, Mexico City, died May 12 In Tampico after a short illness. He was a widely known electrical engineer and one of Mexico's leading radio experts. Burial was in Ciudad Victoria, capital of Tamaiilipas state. Surviv- ing are a widow, mother and two children. FBIEDEBIKE ITMLAOFT FriederUce Umlauft, 69, former Austrian dramatli acti'ess, died . May la at her dome in'Mexico City tfUtt ,hort illA^,'' Wittf-%'ef 'hiUb6nar,'' B. E. Wllhiie, 61, non-pro step- father of Jerry Ross, emcee at Palo- mar theatre, Seattle, died in Ta- coma May. 2. His wife, Margaret Ross, oldtime legit actress, died six months ago. pair. Tangle Is eventually , unfurled when the marriage of convenience is ruled illegal. Pace of play is lively and main- tained by a generally well-cast troupe. Standouts are Miss' John- son, as the wise-cracking Daisy who handles nicely a lion's share of the wit; Dobkln, getting authenticity out of the Russian role; Holland and Gaunt. Charles Suggs, a feUow scribbler; Eldon Winkler, host at the farmhouse, and Mortimer Lichten- stein, his Cornell undergrad son. Miss Evans tackles the difficult Tamara role with fairly competent results. Scenically, the production Is an eye treat, two sets being used, one, a New York apartment, which in- troduces glass brickwork effectively, and second, a farmhouse living room. Production is this yfear's top- per on the school's schedule. Bone. Par-Sparks jContlnned from page is WUe, 34, of Dick .Fortune, assist- ant drama critic o( Pittsburgh Press, ended her life last week. Despond- ency on account of illness was given as the reason. Mother of Joe O. Maland, general manager of WHO, Des Moines, died at her home in Elmore, Minn., May 12. Father, 56, of Ronald Reagan, film actor, died May 18 in Los Angeles. Another son, Nell, a radio announcer, survives. Mother, 55, of songwriter Jack Lawrence, died in N. Y., last week. Her husband and three other sons also survive. Mother of Louis Sami^elson, stage- doorman at Loew's State theatre. New .York, died in Brooklyn, May 15. Father of Nat, Hairry, Jack, Max, Elliott and Henry Kalcheim,' died in Chicago, May 15. Fattier of Nat Kahn (Variety) died in New York May 19-, College Play SSContlBDed from page SO^^s BUT NOT FOR LOVE ments. Tossed',.ls probably..lhe.cot>, feet descriptive word as the play falls In the category of nutty pres- entations ^evolving along lines of 'You Can't Take It With You' and "The Man Who Came to Dinner.' As a matter of fact, the cast contains a typical Kaufman-Hart writing team, including the one whose 'marital complacency is upset by - the en- tr^ce of an actress into ue picture. That the play contains commercial possibilities Is beyond question, and If it doesn't eventually emerge as click entertainment on' stage and screen, it will be :!be!cause somebody has bungled aloqg the way. A num- ber of Bfoadwayites caught the' show with an eye to possible New York production: .Play has laughs, an abundance of the belly variety, and represents smart scripting. Au- thor has been around in scrivenlng aircles ranging from radio to pub- licity and has picked up a neat tech- nique for putting his Ideas across. There's a lot of .action of the wacky nature and a running gag that even- tually closes the' ihow is good for numerous chuckles. 'Love' Is well constructed, follow- ing through on a definite track all the way and, although plot is fairly obvious, it c&r'ries a few variations that give it novelty. Story concerns two. playwrights feeling a financial pinch because foreign royalties are tied up. One of them (Frank Gaimt) has met (and fallen for) a French refugee actress while in Switzer- land. Tn the hope of rebuilding their bankroll, he has her come to Amer- ica for their new play and, inci- dentally, airs his wife (Virginia Dorris) via divorce in order to marry the 'French wench' (a dialog quote from Variety), played by. Betty-Lou Evians. It develops ° that- the French ac- tress plays only tragedy, so the com- edy the boys have written for her is. ashcarined and a new start is made by retiring the group to a friend's farm for Inspiration and creation. The actress rings In a Russian direc- tor (Lawrence Dobkin), makes a play for Gaunt's partner (Norman Holland), and when a passport com- plication crops up, she marries lat- ter as an emergency measure. This procedure monkey-wrenches the ro- mance . of Holland and Kathleen Johnson, playing the sister of qauqt's, wile who. ia .trying to ar- rahjEc'a reconciliation between the circut on percentage, others on a flat basis,. After trying to get together' with Sparks for a year-and-a-half WB last summer made an open brea)c and began selling independents away from Sparks, at the same time start- ing td build in Florida' through Harry Siegal, nephew of Major Albert Warner who himself was formerly in Independent theatre t)peration in Ne\i# York and New Jersey. One house has already opened In Daytona, while another in Jackson- ville is slated to premiere Wednesday (28). Others were buUt for War- ners by independents in Fort Lauder^ dale and Tampa. Except for the Par string in the Miami vicinity which Warners sell, the Sparks cir- cuit is in virtual control of the state. Among independents is the Roy Martin circuit, which through having over 100 theatres has terrific buying power, butonly a dozen of the Martin houses are In Florida, the balance l;i' other parts of the south. [Saenger (E. V. Richards) circuit has three In Pensacola.] Sparks circuit t'ecenUy built two drive-ins and is planning others ' (these plans may be dropped) and also is building a house in Ft. Meyers. Par and Sparks entered into a permanent partnership about three years ago following lengthy nego- tiations started by Y. Frank Free- man who was then in charge of all theatre operations and worked out partnerships with various others in the Par exhibition empire. N. Y. Bunds Hypo Nazi Film -Continued from pace if New Daytona, Fla.. Honse Daytona Beach, Fla., May 20. The Daytona theatre, owned by Drew Eberson, N. Y. theatre archl- tectj .wiU open tomorrow (Thursday)' to biggest local fanfare which even this promotion-minded resort town has ever seen. All local bigwigs, in- cluding mayor, commissioners, so- ciety, etc., are tied in, with Invita- tion opening in the evening set to bring out every boiled shirt in town. Main street is decorated with 'Day- tona Theatre Day' banners and oc- casion has been plugged by local papers for two weeks with contests in each, News-Joufnal and Sun- Record. Theatre Is last word' In design, architect Eberson sparing no' effort to make his own theatre most beau- tiful he's ever attempted. The 1,000 seats includes 200-seat loge in which smoking will be permitted for first time in town, . Roland Waller, manages the house which wUl feature Warner Bros, pictures. BIRTHS Mr. and Mrs. Albert Ashworth, son. May. 13 in. Los Angeles. Father is in Metro's camera process depart- ment. Mr. and Mrs. Maurie Webster, son. May. 14 in Los Angeles. Father Is announcer at KNX. Mr. and Mrs. Lester Hammil, daughter, May 17, in New York. Father is agent with William Mor- ris office in N.Y.; mother is former Ruth Timmons, in vaudeville. Mr. and Mrs. Willard' Espy, twin daught^s. In New York, May 15. Mother is former Hilda Cole, former publicity director for Fred .Warlng's orch; father Is on Readers Digest staff. ■ Mr. and. Mrs. Mickey Goldsen, daughter. In New York, May- 16. Father is general manager of Leeds Music Co. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Gladstone,' son, In New York, May 16. Father is announcer et 'WHN, N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Perry Martin, son. In New York, May 15. Father is a singer; mother Is Polly Martin, who unW sieveral weeks ago conducted a women's progrd^iU 6&yrtai, N. Y. persons outside the 500'seat house during the two' weeks ending last night (Tuesday) that the flbn has been playing, is far from sponr taneous. In addition to the 'for- free' angle, Nazi and Italian or- fe ani'zatl ons in' the metropolitan aretf. are un'der's'tood to be putting the slug -OH their members to attend— or else. From the dnthuslcsm of the wait- ers-at-the-b.o., however, and the cheering of Hitler and the swastika inside, there is no reason to believe that the Germans here need much urging. Only objective of herding as many of them in at once as pos- sible is fear of a clampdown by Federal or municipal authorities on the showing of the film. The Nazi propaganda machine wants to have as many people as possible see it be- fore then. Spotters In^ front of the house maintain that' many of those who come up to the boxoffice hold mem- bership cards in the Nazi organiza- tions and the cashier copies the number off of them. Whether this is a check to insure their attendance or E means for paying off the thea- tre couldn't- be learned. Cops Vnoooperative? Meantime, German-American Con- gress for Democracy called off its pickets because of lack of coopera- tion by the police and other Ameri- can organizations.' Cops were "fre- quently openly sympathetic to the. Nazis and antagonistic to the pickets, Conrad Woelfel, exec, secretary of the Congress, charged. This attitude of the police, plus their stipulation that there could be no more than three pickets at one time, despite the large mob of Nazis on hand, Woefel said, had such a straining moral ef- fect on the pickets it was impossible to keep them there. Woefel declared that he com- plained to the N. Y. Police Dept a number of times about the conduct of the cops and each time thfe crew was switched. But frequently, he said, the newcomers were just as bad as the ones who had been re- moved. One case he cited was that of Ray- mond Foster, a 17-year-old British refugee who was doing his bit for his country by carrying a picket sien. Suddenly a car drove up in front of the theatre, a stranger got out and demanded that the lad re- move a Brit Vi War ReUef insignia from his lapel. The boy refused and a scuffle ensued in which his coat sleeve was torn. Foster, with that, struck the man on the shoulder 'with -his picket-sign. Cops, Wbelfel iha'In- tains, paid no attention uintll that point, when they came rushing over to ask the man whether he.wanted to prefer assault and battery charges against Foster. He said no and drove iway, the boy continuing, to wear his British insignia. Bmshoff Woelfel declared he appealed to numerous other organizations to as- sist the German-American Congress with the picketing, but was given a brushoff. However, after the Con- gress called off. its pavement-pound- ers last Wednesday (14), American Legionnaires in uniform took up the vigil for two days, at the behest of the Citizens Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League. Legion men were pulled from thie job, however, it was said, because the decision to picket had not come 'officially' from the County Com- mander's office. Possibility that the official action will be taken and the pickets return.exists. Woellel said that despite the lack of cooperation, he thought picketing of his group had served a purpose. 'It showed that all German-Ameri- cans are not Nazis,' he declared. Proximity of cops and plaln- clothesmen has prevented any real scrimmages developing despite pres- ence of more dissenters to the Nazi film than at any time during the showings of two previous Berlin propaganda pix at the house. Evidence of the nutnber of objec- tors Is hissing m the' house when Hitler or the swastika Is shown on the screen. 'Razzberries are far out- weighed, of course, by the applause for Der Fuehrer and his flag, but at the two earlier pix there was no dis- senting note at all to the cheers- and palm-pounding. The. .anti-Nazi German-language Weekly, 'Der Aufbau' ('Reconstruc- tion'), renewed the charige last week that the 9eth St. theatre is at least partially .Jewish-owned. The joint owner of the theatre,' Aufbau de- clared, 'Is the 'half-Jew; 'Wljly Mkonsbacher, .who has been named by the Nazis an 'Honorary Aryan' CEdelarler'). He emigrated to the U. S. In 1036.' Manpsbacher denies he Is Jewish, although the story Is widely bruited about Yorkvllle that he is 'part Jew- ish'', but has'-been okayed by Hitler . because of his service to the Nazi regime. 'Sieg' opened at the Little theatre in Chicago Saturday (17). Pemuy WUl Be Tongh Philadelphia, May 20. 'Sieg Im Westen,' UFA's propa- ganda pic on the Nazi conquest of the Low Countries, will probably get a cool Teception when—and if—it's submitted to the Pennsylvania Board of Motion Picture Censors for re- view. There will be no escaping the pic- ganderers on the grounds of being, a 'newsreel,' as happened in New York. Under the board's rules, only bona fide newsreels are those made of current happenings by one of the recognized reel companies. 'Whether 'Sieg' Is shown for public consump- tion or only for showing by private clubs or organizations, it will still have to have a state seal, a'ccording to Mrs. Edna R. Carroll, board chair- m'an. Recently two officials of a pro- Nazi organization were haled on the carpet when they showed a so-called 'travelog' before a meeting of the Kyffheusser Bund, Carollnas Cool t« Naal Tlx Charlotte, N. C, May 20. Charles H. Arrlngton, Rocky Mount theatre owner and president of ^the Theatre Owners of North and South Carolina, has assured Gov- ernor Broughton in a letter that theatre men in the state could-be counted upon 'not to show any film carrying Nazi or any other' anti- American propaganda.' The theatre odlclal replied to a statement issued by the (governor in which Mr. Broughton assured the German- American Congress for Democracy he would 'imalterably oppose' show- ing of any Nazi propaganda films In this state. The protest had arisen over the picture, 'Victory in the West.' 'I have not heard of this picture before,' Mr. Arrlngton told the Gov- ernor, "but I am sure the Theatre Owners of North and South Carolhia would be opposed to any showing of this film.' The theatre executive added that he .dlist not believe..that any dlstrib- - utlng agent in Charlotte would handle any film 'tinged with Nazi propaganda,' but pointed out that 'there is a possibility of some agency outside our state bringing in such a film.' President Arrington said that he was sending out a bulletin to all members of his association 'calling their attention to such a possibility and warning them of it." 'I assure you 100% loyalty arid patriotism from the theatre owners and ' promise you our utmost 'co- operatun,' Mr. Arrlngton concluded. MARRIAGES Mary Martha Br'lney to Robert A. Martin, in Pittsburgh, May 10. She's a staff singer at KDKA, Pittsburgh. Mltzl Cummlngs to Sol Flngerman, in Beverly Hills, Cal, May 14. She is a' writer and niece of Louis' B. Mayer; he is an ad agency art di- rector. Lona Woolsey to Lester Salkow, in Coronado, Cil., May 18." He'j an agent' .Jacqueline Wolf to Robert M. Bernstein, in Indianapolis, Ind., May 18. He's the son of David Bernstein, v.p. and. treasurer of Loew's, Inc., and i$ in Metro's sales dept. Lynn Sherman, singer, to Milton Ebblns, manager , of Coimt Basle's orchestra, in Worcester, Mass., May 14. . Mildred Hamilton to Rome Vin- cent, in Boston, May 17. Bride 1^ a radio actress; he's vaude and nltery comedian. Olympe Bradna to. Douglas Wil- hoit, in Beverly Hills, ea., ''May 14. She Is a screen actress; he's a singer. Ann Gillls to Bill Slocurh,' Jr., in Montclalr, N. J., May 19. Bride is director of special events for CBS in Washington; he's In same ca- pacity for the network in New (YpOc. Florence Home to Don Brown, In Bogota, N. J., May. 18. He's vocalist with Tqmmy Tucker's band.