Variety (Sep 1942)

MISCELLANY Wednesilay, September 23, 19(2 Jolson and Morehouse Find English Morale and Show Biz at He^ht Al Jolson and Ward Morehouw, Iht N. Y. Sun's theatrical and rov- ing correspondent, Just back from Enaland and Ireland, coincide in their findings on show business. Biilish morale, etc. The sum and si!bstance is that 'those people just can't lose. With rubble still on the corners of main streets, remains of buildings blasted by Nazi air bl:tzes, everything is as smooth as ever, although the seriousness of the war Is by no means ever blighted from their consciousness." Jols<m g,.' back Saturday (19) by Clipper; Morehouse via destroyer two days earlier. •Show business is even bcller than three years a.:;o.' say.-; Morehouse. He, like Jolson, couldn't get excited about 'Flarepath,' but term Emlyn WiUiams' 'Morning Star' the best thing there. Quentin Reynolds recently expressed that the former was the 'Journey's End ol World War II.' Morehouse calls the 30-odd legit theatres currently operating 'the best London season in three years.' Jolson's emphasis is on, the i.ian- nt-r in which the EnglL<;h take the •war in stride, all the while enjoying themselves and trying to drink up all the Scotch In the British Isles every night.' Thus it keynotes Ihc hectic and turnaway nite life. Both saw John (NBC) Royal. Bill (CBS) Paley, Adele Astaire (Lady Cavndish), Hannen SwafTer, Quentin Reynolds, among ottier.s. Jolson cracks that he was glad to krss the Blarney Stone, but after awhile :;lt that a Lindy sandwich (Continued on page 41) Tattle Toddles Along Hollywood, Sept. 22. Frank Tuttle, who has spent IB years directing pictures on the Para- mount lot, continues there under e new directorial contract. Currently he Is collaborating with Waldo Salt on the screen play of 'Yi ur's Without Love,' which will b.> his next Job as director. Studio is negotiating with Helen Hayes for the star role. TO INSTALL CAGNEY AS PREZ OF SAG ON SUN. Hollywood, Sept. 22. With nominations closed and no cne named to oppose him as prexy ■ of the Screen Actors Guild, James Cagney takes office at the annual meeting of Class A members ne; t Sunday (27). Other officers to be installed include George Murphy, Paul Harvey, Walter Abel, veepees: Lucille Gleason, recording secretary; Porter Hall, treasurer. New Board members for three- year terms are Abel, Cagney, Emma Dunn, Gary Grant, Murphy, Lloyd Nolan, Walter Pidgeon, Elisabeth Risdon, Franchot Tone, Charles Trowbridge, Jane Wyman. Chief issue up for discussion at the meeting is crackdown on actors" who persist in making free appear- ances on what SAG terms commer- cial radio programs. Tiunning (J5.50) Mob Forces Studios To Grab'Em Off Streets Hollywood, Sept. 22. Almost anybody who wants to be a background screen acter can get a job these days as a member of the mob at $5.50 per day. There is a shortage of atmosphere players, so short that the Screen Actors Guild is granting waivers, permitting studios to recruit hundreds of non- professional extras from the roster of the California Department of Em- ployment. Army drafts, enlistments and high pay in the airplane plants have re- duced the number of extras, once a problem on the hands of SAG and MOW a problem because of scarcity in the lower bracket. Guild extras now draw $10.50 per day and must be notified by 7:30 on the evening be- fore they are called to work. After that time the Guild issues waivers, permitting studios to hire extras at $5.50. In a picture at Universal the studio wanted 600 circus spectators at $5.50 apiece, but had to call 124 non-Guilders, and at the last moment filled in the vacancies with $10.50 calls. tyicroror BUY UNITED STATES ViAR stsnms iONDS SXiMPS It will cost money to dejeat Germany, Japan and Italy. Our government calls on you to help now. Buy war savings bonds or stamps today. Buy them every day it you can. But iuv them on a regular basis. H'wood Goes to B'way To Find Latin Actors Hollywood, Sept. 22. Next production by Harry Goetz and Gregory Ratoff at Columbia -will be a South American musical, based on a yarn by Henry Myers and Ed- ward Eliscu. The producers are shoving off for Broadway this week to sign specialty acts and stage names. Lady Esther Buys Screen Guild Program Lady Esther (cosmetics) has taken over the sponsorship of the Screen Guild Theatre series. It will broad- cast the first of these programs in its present Monday spot (10-10:30 p.m.) on CBS either Oct. 17 or 26. The cost is reported to l>e around $8,500. Lady Esther will put motion pic- ture relief fund show on 65 stations over CBS beginning Oct. 19. Half hour dramatic show will follow Lux on Monday nights. It cancels out Freddy Martin. MCA package un- derstood costing Lady Esther around $8,500 weekly. Bill Lawrence pro- duces for Pedlar & Ryan and Walter Johnson, of MCA, will line up the weekly talent changes as he did when show was sponsored by Gulf. Contract was signed by Jean Her- sholt for relief fund; Alfred Busiel, president of Lady Esther; Jules Stein for MCA and Arthur McEl- fresh of Pedlar & Ryan. Tee Off Grid Picks MacQoarrie Sez M-G Pic Hurt Hbn 1500,000 Worth Los Angeles. Sept. 22. Metro was named defendant in $500,000 damage action filed in su- perior court by Haven MacQuarrie, NBC's 'Noah Webster,' who charged that the studio's picture, 'Married Bachelor,' humiliated and embar- rassed him and caused him great loss of income. For the latter item $250,000 is asked;- $100,000 ex- en plary, and $100,000 on the hu- miliation count. MacQuarrie alleges that sequences I'l the picture 'invaded his rights of privacy and property' and so ridiculed his former program, 'Mar- riage Club,' that NBC resultantly cancelled a sustaining contract with him. To cite his earning capacity oil radio, complaint reveals that he was paid $1,650 a week plus expenses by Wonder Bakers for his com- mercial program, terminated last season. Pres. Andrew J«hnson Given PoUyanna Switch Hollywood, Sept. 22, Lionel Barrymore goes from heavy to a sympathetic character In Metro's remake of the 'Man on America's Conscience,' which requires another four weeks shooting. Figured some picture-goers may resent the harsh treatment of the characterization given President Andrew Johnson, and almost a com- plete rewrite makes Barrymore more favorable. Pres. Johnson. The 'Variety' weekly football selections start this week. On page 55. Morehouse Doing Film Story on Winter Garden Ward Morehouse is scripting 'Winter Garden.' on assignment from Lee Shubert, who, in turn, is working out a film deal with Columbia. Morehouse's original will become the basis of the film ver- sion. Col. some time ago announced 'Winter Garden' as a film theme, but the Shuberts squawked on grounds of infringement of their property. ABBOTT and COSTELLO Returnlno to Air WavM Tuesday, Cel. 8, 7-7:30 p.m., an NBC Coast-to-Coast Network In their own ihow for Camel Cigarettes Now on National Releate In "PARDON MY SARONG" A Mayfair Prodifotion—Universal Pictures Release Under Personal Management of EDWARD SHERMAN ♦♦♦♦♦♦»♦♦♦«»♦♦»»*♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ ♦♦♦^ Lefty s Notebook By Joe Laurie, Jr. ********************* «♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦4»^»j Coolacres, Cal. Dear Joe: Well, I see some more vaudeville shows are opening in New York. More power to 'em. That Harry Richman, Bert Wheeler, Johnny Burke and Henny Youngman show should be a pip for comedy. So should Jcsscl who is still a great artist and a showman in spite of his youth. I always call Georgie Jessel a yuung fogie. All this vaudeville reminds me that just 10 years ago (Nov. 7, 1032) was the last bill at the Palace before the grind policy. Bill Demat-est was m.c. Allan Mann and Dorothy Dell assisted by Helen O'Shea did a s( -ig and dance act. Ada Brown, the sepia warbler, was deucing it. Henry Santrey and his band also had a performing parrot with the outfit, Rosetta (Topsy) Duncan did a single. William Demarest & Estelle CoUctle did a great comedy act Floyd Gibbons did some fast gab about th eSino-Jap war. Mitchell Sc Durant did knockabout comedy. Charlie Jordan & Johnny Woods did a burle radio feature. Dave Apollon, in his third week, had his Filipino orchestra, Albertina Rasch girls and Goodell & Nora Williams. Yep, that was the last bill of two-a-day and three on weekends. Mosconls' 41 Palace Dates By the way, the Mo.sconi Bros, held the record In the Palace in 1924. They played 41 weeks in nine years—with their own acts and with Bes.sie Clayton. What an act! That was the same year that the Keith Time only allowed acts two bows. Bow stealers squawked plenty but surefire acts preferred audiences that were not milked, bilked and conned into applause. (Radio took over that trick later with the applause signs in studios.) Nineteen twenty-four wasn't such a good year for some rum runners. They were .smuggling gin and alky without the labels on in cakes of ice from Ontario, Canada, It was common to ship ice from there in those days, but in July when it was real hot the ice melted and spoiled the racket. Reading about the Nora Baycs picture they are making at Warner Bros, reminds, me Jack Norworth & Bayes joined voices in 1906. Three years later, 1909, Hnmmerslein had Farmer Wilke, the guy wi^h beard 11 feet long, on the roof with Sober Sue, the cow, and he called that section of the roof 'The Mute Review.' Did you know that in 1930 the Chicago local nuisicians union ruled that ukelele players were musicians? 1 still say they were wrong. That same year E. F. Albee and A. L. Erlanger died. Bemember That Florida B«MnT Just looking at a page of 1925. Remembef the Florida boom was going big then and plenty of showfolks went for it. All they got out of it was gags for their act. Clayton. Jackson Sc Durante opened at the Dover club. Mellie Dunham (Henry Ford's fiddler) was running old fiddler contests at the Hippodrome. He asked 100 bucks for 15 minutes on the radio, with no takers. What a cinch he'd be now with aU those guest shots. In 1913, singers in vaudeville were starting to use exclusive songs, get- ting more like the English idea, because they claimed published songs traveled too fast. It's a good tip for radio singers now. In 1916 Nellie Revell was made special press agent fot the Orpheum Circuit. The gal is still o.k. in my book today—a great woman. Did you know that in 1921 bookers could give an act within Greater New York 47% weeks in 80 theatres? Now there's just about 47'..4 bookcrj with 80 acts. It was in 1924 when Bob O'Donncll started in Texas as an exec of the Interstate Circuit. He was a partner then of Charlie Fitzpatrick in the agency business; before that he was manager of Harlem Opera House; and before that he was treasurer of Orpheum, Brooklyn. He is now Big Man of the Interstate and one of the best pals the actor ever had. Little Dick Foy, Henry Bergman and Charlie Freeman are down there with him. Cireat guy. I just thought of the time in the '.small time* days when the curtain would have wires to guide it on the sides, an act would say, 'Boy, we wore out the wires!,' when they were a hit. Colorful Argot All Its Own They had a language all their own, those smalltime actois. about the- atres, towns and people. Theatres were called 'Ink Spots.' 'Break-a-ways.* 'Mouse Traps,' 'Shooting Galleries,' 'Drip Pan,' 'Slabs.' Towns were called Haystacks,' 'Droopville,' 'Tank Town,' 'A Main Streeter.' People were called 'Towners,' 'Sleeve-Gilders' (that meant people who wiped their noses with their sleeves), 'Gllpins,' 'A Look-Mom, No Hands' (that was for town idiots), 'A Nine-o'clocker,' meaning they went to bed early. Boarding houses were called 'Peck and Pad' joints (peck meaning cat and pad the matticss), 'A Square and a Splash' meant a room and bath. 'A Diaper Mansfield' meant a young legit. 'A Shelf meant a stage, or sometimes it applied to the gallery. 'Cull' and 'Bo' were old variety terms of endearment for friends. Someone once asked Alf Grant, the comedian, did he see Joe Doakes? Alf said, 'I saw him standing in Hope Island on the WaSle Iron about 10 minutes ago. He walked down Cripple Creek with a couple of turtles and then headed for the Water Hole.' Hope Island mean a spot in front of the Palace theatre. Waffle Iron the grating on the sidewalk. Cripple Creek was 46th street, where idle musicians hung out; Turtles were layoffs standing In the sun, and Water Hole was the Automat. I guco:> there's still some Turtles there waiting for vaudeville to come back. Talking about the Palace reminds me of the time Jim Thornton showed up at the Palace Theatre building in the middle of summer wearing a big fur coat. Someone asked, 'What's the Idea of the fur coat, Jim?' And he said, 'I'm going up to see Albee and I don't want to take a summer cut' Best to the gang, sez Your pal, — Lc/tv. Would Use Radio Leads h Fdm Version Too, Recast *khW and 'Rose' Anne Nichols, whose 'Abie's Irish Rose' has resumed Saturday nights on NBC for Procter & Gamble (Drene shampoo), intends taking the program to the Coast some time this fall or winter, while she makes a picture version of the yarn. With the idea of using as many as pos- sible of the radio cast in the screen edition, she has recast the two name parts with visually suitable actors. Thus, Dick Coogan and Mercedes Mc- Cambridge have replaced Sydney Smith and Betty Winkler as Abie and Rose, respectively. Although Miss Nichols has not (Continued on page 54) 'ARMV LEAVING N.Y. WITH 370G Irving Berlin's 'This Is the Army,' presented by Uncle Sam, finales its sensational eight-week date at the Broadway, N, Y., Saturday (26). Soldier show will have grossed ap- proximately $370,000 by that time. At $4.40 top, 'Army' bettered $47,500 the early weeks of the date, then, with a slight tilt In the mezzanine, the pace Increased to $48,000. That means S.R.O., as no standee are per- mitted. 'Army' leaves Sunday afternoon for Washington, opening at the Na- (Continued on page 16)