Variety (Jul 1944)

MISCELLANY Wednesday, July 19, 1914 Ringling Circus Posts $1,000,000 Bond; May Resume in Stadiums, Ball Parks Late last week the situation of the ♦ burned-out Ringling, Barnum & Bai- ley circus, changed at Hartford, and although a number of circus officials remain there while the court de- cides whether there was contribu- tor j negligence on their part for the fire that caused the death of 162 per- sons at last count; rolling stock,, ani- mals and equipment is on the way to Sarasota. Rehearsals will bei held there in anticipation of resumption of the tour, which may start about the middle of August; Equipment was released after bonds were posted amounting to $1,- 000.000, although the claims for death and injury are reported in excess of that figure. Authorities were con-. Vinced that the value of the equip- ment did hot exceed $300,000, and under the hammer:/would- not fetch that much. Understood that several outdoor showmen had figured* on bidding in the RBB show if ordered soul by the court. Ringlings ar- ranged for bond of $500,000, which, plus an equal sum in liability in- demnity, accounted for the $1,000,000 available to claimants.. .: Ringlings have guaranteed that the show will pay no dividends un- til all claims are paid from insur- ance or earnings and that it will not oppose payment once the amount of damage is determined. Lloyd's of London issued the half million in- demnity policy, and confirmed the insurance company's liability, wheth- er contributory negligence is proven or not. Figured that some claims may pend for two or three years. Before Robert Ringling left New York over the weekend for winter quarters, he expected that a fire- proofed tent would be secured, with Washington okaying the process. However, it is said that destroyed tent took six months ifl the making, while last year's canvas top is re- ported hardly serviceable. : It is possible that the "big top" ■will not be just that if the RBB goes out again this season. Plans are be- ing considered to play dates in ball parks and larjge arenas patterned after New York's Madison Square Garden. If ball parks are decided on it will still be a six-pole show, but sans canvas, skeleton rigging be- ing set up in the infield. Da Sylva's N. Y. Leave Hollywood, July 18. Howard da Sylva leaves for New York Friday (21) on 90-day leave from Paramount in. order to wind up business affairs in east. ' . Actor will return here to start seven-year pact with studio after completing chores and several broadcasts in New, York. . PETER L0RRE SET FOR VAUDE TOUR Film actor Peter Lorre is being set for a brief tour of vaude houses by the William Morris agency. After likely Coast break-in, he opens Aug. 18 at the Earle, Philadelphia, and then moves on to Cleveland and Boston for windup. './'-'. Jaunt will be Lorre's first theatre work in this country since he crashed Hollywood about a decade ago. He'll be on straight salary. Leon Volterra Reported 'Biggest' Paris Showman; Lucienne Boyer Alive? '-'{' London. July 1. Via the French underground comes news that Leon Volterra is the biggest showman today in Paris. He operates the Lido, long a showplace on the Champs Elysees, with its cab- aret built 'around a swimming pool and a membership gambling .casino in the back. He also runs the The- atre de Paris and Luna Park. .Lucienne Boyer, owner of Chez Elle, smart boite near the Ritz. is satirically known among the Free French, as Chez Eux (meaning '•them," as against. "elle," meaning hers). (This contradicts a previous report of her death at the hands of the Nazis, along with Jean Delettre, her songsmith-husband ("Hands Across ; the" Table," "Parlez-Moi d'Amoui - ," etc.) for refusing to col- laborate, The dope now appears to be to the contrary). Pierre Sandrini and his partner, Pierre Dubout, are running the famed Bal Tabarin, a No. 1 tourist spot, but Robert, perhaps better known to Yank and British tourists because he was the greeter or, host, is in a concentration camp. . E. Clayton, who came from Ger- many and established himself as an agent in Parish 12 months before the war, is said to have donned a German captain's uniform as soon as the Nazis' came to Paris. He was obviously a Nazi spy. He is now perhaps the No. 1 booking agent in France, with Victor Masi, foriffer Italian agent, his stooge. Nazi oc- cupation authorities have fixed him up with elaborate offices at 118 Champs-Elysees opposite Fouquet's, famed restaurant, $50,000, First Check To Navy, From 'Dr. WasselF . In accordance with agreement to present 5% of the gross on ' Story of Dr. Wassell" to the U. V S. Navy Relief Society for naval cooperation in filming of the picture, Barney Balaban, president of Par, today (Wednesday) will present a check for $50,000 as first payment to Rear Admiral James O. Richardson. It has been estimated by Cecil B. De Mille, producer of "Wassell," that ultimately around $250,000 may go to Navy Relief. Balaban makes the presentation to Hear .AdmirarRichardson in his Par offices following a lunch given to the naval officer. Richardson, re- tired, is executive secretary of the Naval Relief Society. ' Fred Allen in Hollywood Hollywood, July 18, Fred Allen arrived from New York and went into .a huddle with Morrie Ryskind on the screenplay of his forthcoming starrer, "Fickle For- tune." }; ; ^:,. ;< ;;: Filming starts.late in,August, with Jack Skirball producing for United Artists release. • '-.'.'. - : ';'.;; V. S. Stance on Others In the U. S. reports persist anent Henry Lartigue, ex-Clifford C. Fis- cher partner, and William Morris and Foster agency rep in Paris. Lartigue owns Les Ambassadeurs, Maxim's and Ciro's and has long been known to be anti-communist and pro-Franco, having been born in the Basque Pyranees. His anti- redism is explained as perhaps hav- ing veered him into pro-fascism. Americans who recall that Maurice Chevalier was himself a German war prisoner in 1917 oajfH believe reports of his "collaboration," and that goes also for Georges Carpentier, although widely published photos of the French pugilist (later bistro opera- tor) with Max Schmeling put the weight of the evidence against him. It shouldn't be forgotten that actor Harry Bauer was called "collabora- tionist" until discovered to be a spy for the French underground and as- sassinated by the Nazis. 109th WEEK ! KEN MURRAY'S "BLACKOUTS OF 1944" i. El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood, Cal. V "it'fi terrific! It's colossal! It's gir gamlo! Boy, what a show!" ' /: JIMMY "Schnozzle" DURANTE Ellington's Close Call In Backstage Crash As < Roxy Lift Doesn't Falling o£ the backstage elevator at the Roxy theatre, - N. Y-, came close to completely upsetting the new stage show there headed by Duke Ellington's orchestra. On opening day (12) Ellington was in the lift when it dropped a short dis- tance into the cellar and the light globe in the car fell and sliced the leader's hand. It required several stitches. ' Since the stage show is routined around Ellington much of the way it would have been a serious acci- dent had he been forced to with- draw. He was out a couple shows, but is now playing an elaborate opening based on his keyboardirfg wirh one hand bandaged. J. M Anderson Has Relapse John Murray Anderson, the legit and nitery stager, has suffered a re- lapse in Atlantic City and has been ordered back to a hospital in N. Y. by his medicos. '-",' Anderson had been hospitalized for several weeks but was dis- charged a week ago. He had gone to the resort to recuperate for sev- eral weeks prior to pitching in on easting and staging of the hew Olsen and' 'Johnson, starrer, "Keep 'Em Laughing."' for the Shuberts. PINZA'S PIC PITCH Ezio Pinza, Metropolitan Opera fcas,so, is on his way from New York' to the Coast to talk a picture deal. He is set for a concert appearance at the Hollywood Bowl Aug. 1. Abe Lastfogel East ■ Hollywood, July 18. Abe Lastfogel, g^m. of William Alorris agency, heads for New York tomorrow (19), most of. his time there; being taken up with matters of USO-Camp Shows. Lastfogel has gotten hospital en- tertainment working in great.shape and plans organizing several troupes immediately after, his arrival to cover areas that, to date, have not had shows. He returns here in about a month. .% '.•■'..."■ "■; Betty Compton's Death — Recalls a Riviera Idyll By FRANK SCULLY Those Compton elbows! • They're stilled now, but they kept her in the front line when her dancing, sing- ing and political enemies would have relegated her to the waitress ranks of Child's. Everytime anybody started pushing her around, out came those elbows, .,' They were a running gag—those elbows—between her and Jimmy Walker. She needed them for other reasons than holding her spot in a Shubert revue. She wasn't keyed for Technicolor. Life for her was black and white. People were lovely or they were heels. No nuances. No shadings. She used to laugh, too. about that Violet Hailing part of the Compton billing. Having married four times, the name and the gag got lost early in the shuffle, but tying a blushing violet to the ebullient Betty was something too laughable even for Broadway. A femme fatale, she either stopped Walker from becoming President of the United States or she prolonged his life to the point where he could outlive her. It all depends on how you view these things. But certainly that long layoff abroad, after Frank- lin D. Roosevelt eased him out of the City Hall, gave Jimmy the chance to get on top of his ulcers instead of being buried under them. I first met her when she was in exile, and Walker not far from it. She used to stop ! off at Villa Variety on the Way from Monte Carlo to Cannes. The first time she had Michel Detroyat, the ace French stunt flier, in tow.. It was around 1932. Though America was falling apart at the time, her transatlantic phone calls used to pile up' to some- thing like $25,000 a year. Billed as Madame X, the unknown woman, she was the; girl everybody knew. She was all for knocking the X. out of the Madame X, And she • would have done it, too, with 'those elbows, if. the diplomatic 'Walker hadn't constantly restrained her. ,-, A girl of strong, character" she" never did like anonymity, as a bill- ing. TO show you. how strong her will was, we had offers up to $65,000 for Walker's story. After I had been working on it with him for weeks, he said one day, "You know, I think Betty's story is much more interesting than mine. Why don't We do that first?'' ' ; ■ - .;;'. ;'•;",' ,v'\', -'- Normally, you can give such a beau geste a polite runaround, and .get | away with it. But gallantry never i would get you to first base with I SCULLY'S SCRAPBOOK ! By Frank Scully ♦ ♦♦ ♦ ♦ ♦» »+++>+>+J, , Chicago, July 19. ■:•-.',- ? ; (Passed by the Ouija Board of Censors) , . "/"v-^ Clipping the cutest reel out of "It Happened Tomorrow," the Democrats nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt for the fourth time oh the first ballot late this week, thereby reversing an earlier routine when they, nominated him for the first time on the fourth ballot in 1932. This is not strictly according to the record, but neither is Cecil DeMille and he's a Republican who made millions being historically cockeyed, even under a Democratic administration. To get the" nomination F. D. R. did not have to do more than lift a little finger. There were some ashes on his' cigaret (which tastes .differently lately) and he had to lift a little finger to flip them into ah ash trav. The tray was a miniature elephant presented by Willkie's sole friend in Wis- consin—Francois de .Sole of the- Filet de Soles, the guy. who voted for MacArthur at the Republican convention last month. .'.".' The renomination was as small a surprise as the nomination in this same hall three weeks ago. All delegates agreed■' that the job of both conventions could have been done through the use of a postage stamp, but that , way the delegates would have been obeying the pleas of the Office of Transportation, and who wants to give lip the Four Freedoms when there's a war on to salvage them? 1 Not even old-time feature writers who have seen dozens of national conventions have had the independence to stay away from this one. They have been milling around here asking each other, "What's n$w'.'", and not even waiting for 'Grade' Allen's answer. The best laugh of the con- vention didn't come from a delegate or a candidate, but from a writer who had been permitted to use a post-war model electric typewriter. The thing was wired for, sound and just as Alabama was being polled the gadget wrote: "24 Volts for Underwood." ; f.'s/j". ,. VV . The line got caught up in the public address system and all hut elec- trocuted the audience, many of whom had survived the 102 ballots in the old Garden in '24 when McAdoo and Smith ground Underwood (a senator, not a typewriter) between them, - The effort of the Demos to offset Clare Luce by giving Helen Gahagan Douglas a place on the bill came off fairly successfully; Though Hon. Luce is a playwright of sockeroos, Hon. Douglas is an actress and singer. .Spot- lights bounded off each familiarly. :■'..'''. A. radio technician pointed out that radio has increased its time devoted to the quadrennial debate 100% since .1940, and has been trying to get the Dewey boys to work on that sibilant "S" which crops up in the Reptib crooner's delivery. He pointed out that F. D. R. has had 80% of the press against him; It's probably 90% this time, but if radio can live out some of the summer programs it may be a factor.. Traveling With the California delegation is Lucien A. Sauvage of: Reuters. Sauvage hopes to file a story for "Variety." It probably will arrive in time for the anniversary number. ' ..v'. • ..■.;. ' .' - A'Scampering Scully ; '-.'--.- '- "' Help is needed to find my son Skip's report on a trip he made to the Hollywood Bowl where 20,000 trekked to see a show after they'd bought war bonds. He was itching to do something, so I. assigned. him to cover the Bowl. Dressed in a sailor's peajacket and blue jeans he got about a mile from the Bowl. Cops were everywhere. Skip told them he was covering it for the Junior Issue of "Variety." They threw him into the street. Th en he worked his way around to the parking lot of the talent and by weaving his way in and out of cars, polishing 6ne _ here and there when a cop looked his way, he landed backstage. Prom there he' worked to the boxes. A colonel was sitting alone in one. He invited Skip in. They talked. "You know how much it costs to sit here?" the colonel asked. Skip said "No." and didn't ask. The colonel was stuck and didn't pursue it. They talked war, peace and'the talent on the stage, but in the inter- mission the cop, the first cop who had aired him, saw Skip and couldn't believe his eyes. But he said nothing. ' ,„._, ri J- -„ «V- : After the show Skip slipped back on to the stage, but that cop saw him again and Skip disappeared in the wings. He wanted to study the ma- chinery of the stage and how it was wheeled back and forth on tracks. But thaf cop! "If I see you around here again," he cried, "I'll clink you sure as hell." So Skip came home. "'•.'.' The box he sat in required a $1,000 bond. The colonel apparently had covered the nut. Or do you think he did a Skip? Betty. She knew what she wanted. She wanted that X knocked out of Madame X. So Walker's story was pushed over to the side of the road while the Compton special was given the-right of way. Sought to Sell Life Story We finally got an offer of $10,000 for her story. Then the banks col- lapsed. Even so, we got it raised to 12G. Liberty took it. They wanted to run it in True Confes- sions. Betty blew up at that one, By now she had become married to Walker, which satisfied her, so she wasn't being sold down the river to True Confessions. It was Liberty without a comma changed, or noth- ing. I think they settled for nothing. The intrigues that wen/ around her during .the days she played in "Oh Kay," "Hold Everything,". "Funny Face" and "50 Million Frenchmen" seem out of the court of Louis XIV: Her explanation of one gunshot wed- ding and its dissolution in 28 days was a pip. And the way she told it- very -plausible;'. ."'• .'- Her being run out of New York to Cuba on one occasion by the Tam- many bunch whose livelihood hung on the thin thread of Walker's popu- larity, and her return via Miami was strictly a Bryan E. Foy produc- tion. It seems she met Walter Wih- chell, on the train coming north, told all, and swore him to secrecy! So he didn't print it'in his column, but he must have talked in his sleep within hearing distance of the city desk, be- cause the N. Y. Mirror had some kind of a story on it. ' . Whether she was a top showgirl, or just a gal with elbows, is some- thing to be told by those who saw her often. I caught her only between shows. . There she was,, a beautiful gir). with a strong personality and no desire to be cast permanently In the role of a femme fatale. She really wanted marriage and children, but the price was out of this world. She got .them, but she had to die to win. Gl Radio Continued from page half-hour _with additional mti.sic. Seldom does a commercial plug creep into these radio transcriptions. For example the transcribed ver- sion of "Duffy's Tavern" takes about 21 minutes actual airing time. Signa- ture, of program is played, and theoretically, the show Is over. Then the announcer (on the transcribed version) comes to the rescue, saying, "Let's drop a few nickels in Duffy's juke box." Then a recording by some good band is heard, then another and so on until time for the station break when the theme signature is repeated. With Bob Hope's show, the announcer breaks in with "And now, let's hear some tunes by Bob Hope's new orchestra." Group of numbers then are played with no connection with the Bob Hope show just, finished. And the repeat signature when program actually closes. ; ; Soldiers back in U. S. on furlough, who tune in on their favorite radio show, are. amazed at the amount of commercial verbiage included in the broadcast. Some frankly admit "they knew the names of sponsors of many air programs, but they didn't realize that listeners now are being urged to org claims to have already pacted tween many gags nor'have to hear the variegated "jingles" or what the boys call "juvenile sound effects Some of the servicemen admit they have promptly turned off their radio, in disgust at having their favorite program ruined, as he put it, by this blatancy.. — .• Former radio editors and actors, how: serving the colors, believe Americans back home do not realize how much time is taken up with this radio' bally, figuring they either turn a deaf ear to the set or deliberately .turn, down the radio volume when the commercial goes on.