Variety (Apr 1944)

Wednesday, April 26, 1944 VAUDEVILLE 3S N. Y. Class Cafes Bounce Back Over Weekend Despite 30% Tax The manner in which New York jiitery business bounced back this past weekend indicates that the spots with big attractions will survive, 30<%'or ntti and that the moods oJ the times will have great efiect on the general nitery b.o. This does not mean that the stiff tax rap is to be dismissed lightly. It i» hurting plenty, especially in the lesser bis- ■tros.; , ■ ,■ ■ ■ . f,^- But, paradoxically, it was like New Year's eve this weekend, with 400 turnaways at the Waldorf; tables m the lobby of the Hotel Plaza's Per- sian Room; turnaways at the Copa- cabana, Stork, Morocco, etc. . On'the other hand,.Broadway con- tinues to be hard hit The Hurri- cane, Latin 'Quarter, Diamond Horse- shoe type of cabaret-restaurant, heretofore turnaway at dinner, is the reverse, with the grosses averag-; Ing $1,000 down some days, but with the supper, after-theatre takings on the upbeat. ' ■ That may continue to be the case, since 30<-i tax on a $2.50 mmimum for supper is to be preferred by the cautious spenders rather than a sim-; jlar bite on a $5 or $6 dinner tab per, person. rr'Hpsiilt s have'Bee n-bizarre. - One class nitery found itiself with more personnel in the kitchen than diners is'-'the'inaiii room, but for supper GAPPELLA AND PATRiCIA Thanks *Tariety For giving us the best notice in the review of the picture, "Moon Over La» Vegas." Just Closed El Cortez Hotel, Reno, Nevada This Week, April 26 RKO Golden Gate The- atre, Sati Francisco ' Fertati'Iily I'n R/tylhm KEN KENNEDY On Tour for USO Overseas STAGE CAREER For Young Men , Acrobatic-Adagio Must bn «tHiiiir, rood Inohliigr, K feet, pu IlkvlWH or ititller. ISxikerieatw Ln- 8en4 plintOR iii«a ({esririptian, 4«taJIe. they sat almost on the bandstand. The pros and cons on the seveie 30% tax bite, labeled ''discrimina- tory" by many, sums up into two broad findings; (1) the Cafe Owners Guild- found; itself caught short in Washington, and is now too late and perhaps abortively trying to correct a situation vwhich should never have been permitte'd to happen; <2) may^ be the D. C. solons don't care about -'■more revenue',' via the 30%;.maybe, the wise boys now wonder, the mam idea is to curb that loose drinking and spending, so that they'll be able t<i' pay taxes. But, if that's the case, why pick on the niteries? What about the racetracks and that record over- $3,000,000 handle at the Jamaica (N. !Y.) racetrack, last Saturday? Nightclub Tax ; Continued from page 1 s and variety performers rising daily. Report submitted to the House Com- mittee shows more than 5,000 per- formers have already been thrown out of work with the number ex- iiected .to go to 20,000 by May 1. About 30,000 performers, are engaged in the-nitery-field. Situation is^especiallyTacute on-the Coast, according to the AGVA sur vey,, with Los Angeles cited as hav' ing 35 niteries shuttered as of April 1, with 20 more due to dose by May 1. Situation in the east and midwest finds Boston reporting .40 ■ clubs to have closed as of last week and ma- jority of the remaining niteries have notified bookers, to discontinue lining up performers since entertainment policy is being eliminated. Three hundred are already out of worlc and 2,000 others face a similar situation. In Pittsburgh, 65% of the niteries and theatres have dropped their en- tertainment plans. . ; New York City has been , equally, hard hit . as has the ..south. Niteries below the Mason-Dixie line are, for the most part, either switching their policies . or cutting down on their acts. :■. Also due for a knockout blow by the surtax are hotel resort operators, who depend for their revenue on a short summer season. > . Majority of spots cannot 'Operate minus enter, tainment and will find It tough going unless the tax is curbed. Estimated that the : Catskill Mountain circuit offers employment to 2,500. Knutson Charges D. C. Using Power *to Destroy' ':. Washington, April 25..: The 30% nitery tax may become a red-hot issue on Capitol Hill. Knutson issued a statement Mon- day night (24), relevant to the nitery tax. In which he charged Congress was using: its taxing, power ''to de- stroy." Same day Rep. Charles E. McKen- zie, Louisiana Democrat, made a speech in the House, stating that the 15,000 entertainers (AGVA cites a 20,000.figure) threatehed with loss'oiE employment could, and should, find, work in the armed fprces, war indus- try or on farms. ; In his statement, Knutson declared "When" Congress inoreased the tax on cabarets from 5% to 30%, which is 600%, it did not realize that it was using the taxing power to destroy, but that is precisely what is happen- ing. Already many, have been put out of busiTiess and others will' fol low it relief Is hot: given. "It is not a question of whether 'we need cabarets in time of war, nor does the question of revenue enter into it. As I see it, the question is, shall we depart from the old-time Amerieon principle of raising taxes for revenue with which to operate the gpveri"n;ent, or shall we adopt a new principle of using the taxing power to destroy? If cabarets are wrong, abohsh- them : by law, ,. We should have the courage to do it by legal and constitutional methods, and not by subterfuge. "When John Marshall laid down the dictum in the MeCuHoch Case that the power to tax is the power to destroy, it was generally thought that he had charted our future course in taxation. For my part, I propose to follow that course and will not be a party to putting Ameri- catieitizelis.butqf ^^b .until they, have had their day in couit. Even though the country be at war, the Constitution is sUU m effect 100%, Being Wary Detroit, April 25. ■. '. With' niteries here ■ having moved back the starting; time of floor shows to take the 30% tax off the early diners, entertainers have grown more wary than . ever of anything which might be: constructed as enterta'ihrnerit,.. With the ;idea. that if an enter- tainer- as- much as opens his mouth< the place is liable to the tax, Sammy Dobert, orch leader ' at the Show Bar here, said,' "So help me, I won't even call a cus- tomer to the telephone before 10 p.m." , House, Shortage Will Keep 'Slap Happy' On Tour at Least 4 Wks. Lou Walters' inability to pact a Broadway house for his vaude revue, "Slap-Happy," headlining Jay C. Flippen, will keep the show on tour at least four weeks, or until current legit house jam eases up. . Same con-- dition delayed rehearsals- until-last week. ■ Show bows in at .Ford's, Baltimore,. May 8, with Pittiburgh set for the foil owing \\re.6k; and; then two ■weeks- in Philadelphia. . -In: addition to Flippen, show will include Chico Marx, Renee De Marco, Cross and-Dunn, Gene Shel- don, Pat Rooney,_Eddie Hanley, Whetion Bros., Terry Lawlor and -others. Ray Kavanaugh will be mu- sical director. ■::•■■.;■■';,:,'. MARION HARRIS DIES IN N. Y. HOTEL FIRE Marion Harris, vaude; nitery, mu- sicomedy singer and one .of the pioneer artistes in recording gongs, died Sunday night (23) as result ,of fire in her room at the Hotel Le Marquise, New York. According to police, the singer: had gone to bed with a lighted' cigaret that ignited the mattress. Not disclosed whether she died of burns or. suffocation. She had. registered at the hotel under her marriage name. Mrs. Mary Ellen Urry. Identification- was made by Feggy Hopkins Joyce, a friend. An- other ' /Official identification; was made 'Tuesday (25) at the City morgue by Rose Perfect, also a long time friend. Body was removed to Universal Chapel, N. Y., to await further instructions rfi-. burial from deceased's husband'. ^ Miss Harris, wife of Leonard Urry, London theatrical agent, came to New York about two months ago for treatment after being bombed out of her home in London. She had been a patient at the Neurological Insti- tute for several weeks prior to regis- tering at the hotel. Miss Harris began her .theatrical career by singing with colored slides that motion picture houses used to use, and it was in an obscure theatre that the late Vernon Castle dis- covered her. She was brought to New York by Charles. Dillingham and opened In latter'* star-studded production ol "Stop, Look and Listen," which preemed at the Globe theatre,- now a film house. She later at>peared in "Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolic," - "Yours . Truly" and other successful musical shows. She later diverted , to vaudeville,;. ..where, she was highly popular for years, and toured the '.bigtiroe circuits, playing^ many-repeats at the Palace, N. Y. Blonde and slender. Miss Harris's soft-voiced rendition of blues songs gained her natiwi-wide popularity. In the early 1930's she sang over a coast-to-coast radio network regular- ly and became known as "The Little Girl With the Big Voice." She also made many recordings, probably her best known being 'The Man I Love" and "I Ain't Got Nobody." which sold oVer se.yeral millions of Tecords. ^liss Hiarris: was married in 1924 to Rush Hughes, son of Rupert Hughes, novelist. ;and playwright.. They had ■two !.-ehi}dJFen, Rush,;, ;Jr;,'and :.MsSry Ellen, They were divorced in 1928, Miss Harris went to LoncJon about 10 years ago to aippear in a show and several years ago she was married to Urry. Can. 15% Withholding Tax Invoked Because of U. S. Acts Chisefing Lee Mortimer Collects On"Chinese Nitery Revue An ad lib idea about an all-Chinese nitery revue is. now realizing Lee Mortimer, N. Y. Mirror film and cafe critic, $100 a week royalty from Caprice Chmois" and $1.50" when it' goes into vaudeville:- . ... He gave Frank Law of the Hotel Belmont> Plaza's Glass Hat room (N.Y.) the idea, and when Milton Krasny (General Amusement Corp.) put the all-Oriental ca-st tpgethBr. the newspaperman was given a royalty contract; :■. . " Revue, current at the Glass Hat, has been booked into Loew's -State on Broadway for week; of May 18, after closing at the Glass Hat. £. M. Loew Settles With AGVA on Mass. House : Opening, show Friday (21) at the Court Square theatre, Springfield, Mass., -was delayed when Ed Nerrett, Boston regional, representative of the American: Guild of Variety . Artists, instructed performers not to go on followiTig~receipts~of -telcgraMi' tcr -■f Recently instituted 15% Canadian withholding tax on U. S. performers^ , salaries apparently is not being de*A ducted by all clubs and theatres, and-^ some seem to have no knowledge of ; it. Order, made effective several ; weeks ago by Canadian income tax heads,'was due to the practice of U.S.;. performers circulating from one jott; to another, telling employers in each- .spot they had just come from the ■ States and had not worked in. Canada" previously. Tax is due on all salaries.over $660 for single persons and' $1,200, mar- ried. At the end of the tax years: performers can file regular returns on Canadian-earned cash and receiva a rebate if they've paid too mucli;.'. Sums paid Canada can, it'.s claimed,'! be deducted on U. S. returns, too, by; agreement between the countries. : ' Some ;spots apparently are absorb-- ing the tax without■ informing artistSi' Others claim they-know nothing oX iti such as Al & Belle Dow, who sup- ply the Gayety theatre, MontreaU; Dows assert they will absorb the tax after establishing its existence. that effect from"i>ave tox, director" of AGVA Local No. 5, New York. Ban was lifted in time for show to get under way after E. M. Loew, op- erator of the theatre chain that runs the Court Square, . sent $90 to the N. Y;. local covering three days' back salary for Josie Thorpe. Controversy over performer's salary had paused AGVA to put the Court Square on its "unfair" list as of April 7, but matter was slated to be. settled Ia.st week: foUowmg promise -of Loew to meet with Fox Thursday (20) and thrash out: the. matter. ■ When: Loew failed to keep his appointment, AGVA clamped down again, although pre- viously It -had interposed no: objec- tions to performers playing the Court Sqtiare.,.'v;.. ■..;■■■■.■■:.:.;■.;-'; ■ ■'^■■'i-',- Miss Thorpe claimed she was forced, to quit the Springfield bill after not being given sufficient time to get equipment for her novelty act in order. Saranac Lake By Happy Benway Saranac Lake, N. Y,, April. 25. Benny Ressler back from New ■York. Will produce "Our Town" here for the next War Bond drive, under auspices of Rotary Club. Admission by bond purchase. Eddie Vogt will assist in producing. After curing here, Albert C. Bag- dasarian has been added to staff of annouiicers at local station WNBZ. Jerry Sager here for a weekend o.o. Okay and back to work. : Thanks to Joe Laurie, Jr., Milton Berle, Jackie Heller, Frank Cannon, Cross & Dunn, Senator Ed Ford and :Juanita Elliott for books and other reading matter to patients of the col- ony. Winnie Heagney, Jack Clancy, A. . B. (Tony) Anderson: and ;'Dr. Henry Leetch made honorary mem- bers iOf "Good Samaritan Club- for their efforts 'in 'promulgating cheer up campaign where most needed. Study and Craft Guild staging "Gay Nineties" revue and dance. Ro- sita Rios, rorraer thrush of ttie-El Chico, Greenwich Village, N. Y., is featured. Proceeds to Red Gross. Ronald Alexander visited Jordy McClean ia.st week and was pleased with latter's improvement. . Kay (RKO) Laus : upped lot lunches and taking, shorthand and bookkeeping lessons via the local Craft Guild. Howard Levy has been upped for breakfasts, while Dick Puff has been okayed for mild exercise. Kitty : Daugherty and Stella Mae Pebler received summer O.Kv con- tracts, both adding weight and good health. . , Jeanne Dunn left for New York after a two-^week vacation mostly spent with Mathea Merryfield at the Will Rogers. Write to those who are : ill. Freddie : Fischer's: bandmen are held over irtdeiihitely at the Radio ■ Room, Hollywood. ;; AL BDRDE PRKSKN r.S BENNY MEROFF. IN Ills "FUNZAFIRE" COlCPANV CFIFTH YEAR) • Fifth Week Jack Lynches WALTON ROOF PHILADKLPni.\, PA. A JrUW SINtilNG STAB JEAN TIGHE Dir.:—KENNETH LATER ' NOW ISNTKRTAININO . THR HOYS IN 8COTI.A1ID WILLIE SHORE AL BORDE Convenient Switch '■ 'Billy- Ecistihe.;''Negro. voeaB was moved from the Yacht CI'j.'o. 52d street. N. Y.. spot to the Onyx C'ub tight ■,aci"6ss'.:,th'e, way ;l'ast.,w&ek' .■after ,the former,, injured.:l3y. the SOU t&is,^ ,spiigbf,;,t();',^ut^ his ^salary. ,,He. claims ANNJI1DS0N,JR. FEATURED VOCALIST Eddie Oliver't Orchestra NOW EDCEWATER BEACH HOTEL CHICAGO