Variety (May 1945)

WrtWstluy* May 30, 19IS VfiRI&ft LEGITIMATE 51 Tension High on Eve of Election At Equity ; No TaHy Until July 11 Tension is high in Equity circles the eve ol the election for coun- cil members to be held Friday. U) a the Astor hotel. N. Y. « >« conceded that Philip Although i7 is conceded that Philip Loeb, over whom all the shouting is about, will win a seat, the result will not be known until on or about July 11, the deadline for receipt of soldier votes. All other mail votes must be re- ceived bv Friday, the ballots to be , impounded until the final GI ac- j ceptance date. ■ .[ Current Equity monthly mag is nearly all devoted to pro and con arguments on Loeb, mostly favor- able to him. the magazine never be- fore having been so devoted to such an extent, nor has the wordage been more blunt in respect to election •campaigning. There'is only one ar- ticle opposed to Loeb. it coming from part of the nominating committee. There's no doubt that his supporters are well organized. The situation of a regular and in- dependent ticket, could have been avoided had the nominators included Loeb. who, judged by Equity stand- aids and his record on the council, j is fully qualified. Seven of the com- mittee of nine sent in a statement saying that a majority "do not_ be- lieve that Philip Loeb is best suited lor the council . . . neither Loeb'S religion, nor race were introduced into the committee's discussions . . . last year he was defeated for. re- flection." Aline MacMahon sent a "strongly worded'' protest on the committee's statement, neither she nor Raymond Massey, the chairman, having signatured the latter. Those who did: Staats Cotsworth. Robert Shafer, Averill Harris. Walter Davis, Calvin Thomas, Margaret Douglass end Jack Whiting. Members are warned editorially that "there must be no split in Equity . . . there is a good deal of feeling involved in the election . ; . (which) . . . may be a sign of good health in an organization . , . and may arouse an . interest in persons and policies among members who might be otherwise apathetic . . . but feeling carried over into a post-elec- tion period and working beneath the surface is a dangerous thing, and Equity members should have no part in it. Cleavage 19 Years Afo "Ten years ago Equity had such » cleavage . . . and had it not been healed in time the association could not have met the challenge of the stagehands in 1939 with any hope of success.'' It was an indirect reference to a group within Equity known as the Actors Forum, supposed to have been dissolved some years ago. Credit for pacifying the factions was credited to Arthur Byron, Bert Ly- tell tcurrent president) and Paul Dullzell. "The actor who would endanger the welfare of the association for .personal or political reasons assumes a responsibility for which he should be required to answer to his fel- low members," the editorial con- tinues. In an article by Ilka Chase ref- erence is made to the special meet- ing May 7, when candidates were discussed, and although there was a "rather orderly riot," common sense prevailed. She listed the reforms within Equity during 10 years of Loco's presence on the council, say- ing that while he did not bring them about singlehandedly . . . "his was the guiding spirit and many of. the .most intelligent and constructive suggestions came from him." Listed were 16 reforms, which included re- hearsal pay, raising of minimum pay twice, replacements in casts to -get same salary as o predecessors, elimi- nation of junior minimum, soldier votes and latters' good standing without further dues. >■ - ~ Loeb's Race Question Last year, when Loeb was not , nominated but was appointed for a year to the council anyhow, Loeb stated that opponents had not-named bun because lie is a Jew. Bruce Evans, in an article otherwise strongly supporting' Loeb, said that such a charge has no place in Equity ~*-or even in this world—now or 5*Ver more.'' As for the charge that other independent candidates (there ] are six) indicated that Loeb was not waging a lone fight for election, and that it was not a clique against the i regular ticket nor criticism of it. i Indie candidates' petitions carried I the signatures of 654 members.. At I the meeting Dullzell said that Loeb deserved renomination, but it was ; up to the membership whether it wanted him to continue on the coun- cil. He concluded with: "Equity must not be subject to dissension or strife again. If the association is divided it will not stand long. Loeb will, I am sure, accept the decision of the membership, but there must be no split again.'! • ..« Edson-Kane Buy Another Los Angeles, May 29. Stage rights to "Two on a Pen," authored by Sascha Geneen, have been bought by Edson-Kane Produc- tions for showing on the West Coast. Same company recently acquired Geneen's "The Unfinished Portrait," which opens next month at the Geary theatre, San Francisco. 'Memphis'Settles king Snag By Shift to Belasco City Investing Co. Acts to Dispossess 'Dark of Moon From 46th Theatre ATAM Explains Violations, Fines Assn. of Theatrical Agents and Managers has adopted a code so that the "membership shall have clear picture" of what constitutes viola- tions of its rules. Penalties for each of .them are outlined. The board's action "will be tempered w ith inercy. for all sums."of money (fines) de- rived will be turned over to the union's welfare fund," ATAM stresses. A list of 15 possible violations is set forth along with fines. Member may be fined "at least $100." which would apply for "wilfully wronging (another) member" or for using a non-member, local-area press a.*ent outside of New York, but it will be $200 minimum for using a non- union p.a. within union jurisdiction or for failure to report employer's use of same. For signing applica- I tions for people without personal knowledge of them, or for failure to report to ATAM unpaid salaries or authorized expense accounts within 72 hours, th» erring one must pay $50. at least. There are a couple of violations for which members are subject to lines of $25. For a second offense of any kind, double the penalty goes, at least, and for a third the same as the latter nick applies, plus suspension for three months, at least. . When "Memphis Bound" was fa- vorably received at the Broadway, N. Y., last week, John Wildberg; who produced the colored-cast swing version of "Pinafore," huddled with Vinton Freedley, his associate, on where to move the musical, which had a booking Of two and a half weeks. Jam was occasioned because "Up in Central Park" is booked into the Broadway, where it will move June 18 from the Century, which has no cooling System. It vvas pro- posed to move "Memphis" to the Adelphi, Shuberts promising to in : stall a cooling system there by July 1, that house being vacated by "On the Town," which goes to the ' 44th Street, absence of a cooling | system also being the reason. ' Saturday (26), two days after I "Memphis" opened, Wildberg de- j cided to-move it td the Belasco, that | spot being made available by the., abrupt closing of "Blue Holiday," a J colored vaude-revue. The Belasco i is ♦ Action to dispossess "Dark of The Moon" from the 46th Street, N. Y„ was started Monday (28) by at- torneys Socolow and Pepper, on be- . half of the City Investing Co., which recently purchased the the- atre from Maurice Stone. : House had been operated by Select The- atres, a Shubert corporation. Lee Shubert produced "Moon," which ' has a sharing contract stipulating . a stop-limit of $17,500 weekly. It's alleged that while the show is doing I well enough, tickets were purchased ' in recent weeks to ensure the gross | topping the stop, technically pre- McCoy, Payne-Jennings To Encore Tour 'Rebecca' Frank McCoy is teaming with Vic- tor Payne-Jennings to lour Daphne Du Maurier's "Rebecca" for a.second season. Drama based on the literary hit had a long, successful road tour this year before it came into New- York for a brief, unsuccessful run. and belief is it will do wall, again on the road next season. Payne-Jennings produced show himself, with Diana Barrymore. Bramwell Fletcher and Florence Reed in the leads. Co-producers are now lining up a new cast for the ; venting the new owners from serv. second edition. ■- . West Nets 100G From'Catherine' | Mae.West reputedly got over.$100.- [ 000 from "Catherine Was Great," [which recently closed out of town, j but Mike Todd, who produced it. was I lucky to nearly break even after the show ran a full season on Broadway j and on tour. Production cost $135.- [000, which was an overboard outlay ' for a straight play because, in addi- i tion to the setting-and expensive I period costume's, antiques, which cost ; $35,000, were used. Antiques are back in the shop where they were ■ bought, and an anticipated refund of a much smaller house than the j around . $]5 , 000 , wotlld indicate a Broadway, but the fact that Wild- sma]1 fit on lne Xotid books berg is part owner of the first- ; "Catherine" was one of the most named theatre, along -with S. .S. j unuaual ventures on record. Miss Krellberg, Donald Flamm and others. . West wno wrote it aild Todd differed was the deciding factor in the change as soon as , he show opened :i trvout of plans: Top for "Memphis" at the Broad- way is $4.80 but when it moves the scale will be $5.40 top ($4.50 plus tax). Show can gross $26,700 weekly at the latter price and, according to the demand for tickets Over the weekend, the new musical should be a turnaway at the Belasco. Broad- way has around 1,900 seats and the ing notice to leave wie house. J Move by the City Investing to gain | possession of the 46th s Strcet conn- i ters the Shubert action to hold the | property as long as possible. When j the theatre was sold, City was aware ! that possession was contingent on the length of time "Moon" re- I rnained in the spot, Recently re'-'' | ported Shubert attempt to repur- I chase the house was indicated 10 ■ have failed when City filed suit: By keeping "Moon" in the 46th there was a booking jam for musi- cals, the large-capacity house usu- ally being used for that type ol : attraction. Because of the situa-' ; tion at least two musicals were lin- kable to book the house and another I brace had to seek other quarters. : Recent court decision was to the ; effect that the purchase of tickets to prevent the gross from falling tinder the stop-limit is improper, a i fictitious gross thereby being regis-' i tered. Shubert contracts provide ; against that practice but as the firm i operated the show and the house, there appeared to be no way to stop ' the ticket-buying stunt. City, through the purchase " of Broadway theatres, has become a contender to'the Shuberts. - With the p.cquistion of the 46th, City how has four legiters, the others being the ! Morosco ("Voice of The Turtle"), date. It came into the Shubert. N. Y last summer and after one peek at the notices the manager ordered a closing notice to be posted. However, an intermediary entered into strange arrangement on behalf of , „ Todd with the actress. New contract ■ B "° u » nd Jell > and Fu ton <w Mic. w„„t t„ a ,,.»„i Sinn' 1 Kiss Them For Me'). In additjon called for Miss West to accept $100 salary, but that wasTnerely a token, because she was paid 50'i. of the possible gross is around $40,000 but weekly operating profit, it is claimed that if "Memphis" sells j Whether .royalties were given her N. Y. GRIPS CO-OP ON BOND LEGITERS New York stagehands' union has okayed participation in special 7th War Loan matinees, deckhands to work gratis along with actors and other stage unionists, so the deck has- been cleared for the widest coopera- tion for legit shows with the Treas- ury Department since the inception of the loan drives. Expected that 35 bond performances will be given, more than 20 on Broadway, admis- sion being only to purchasers of bonds. Only verification of the dates from managers out of town awaits the start of the legit campaign. There is : only one disaffection among the stage unions, the Phila- delphia musicians' local having de- clined to participate despite the fact that the New York musicians imme- diately agreed to play the matinees when the request was made. Quaker City therefore will probably be out of the drive entirely, although it could'have -figured importantly be- cause the sock "Oklahoma!" is there. It is the only show lighted in Pliilly, and unless there is a sudden booking the stand must be skipped by the League of New York Theatres, which is directing the bond schedule. out at the 1,077-seat Belasco it can net a profit of $6,000 weekly. New show cost around $125,000 to pro- duce. The Belasco has had" musicals before, having housed Hit the Deck" in 1927. Bookings for musicals have not entirely been clarified, no house yet having been provided for "Marinka," which opens out of town this week. City owns the block between 45th and 46th streets, on the west side o£ Broadway, including the Victoria (formerly the Gaiety) and Astor, both being devoted to pictures. Plans call for a large rebuilding project on the block, new theatres replacing those now operating, but that improvement cannot be started until after V-J .Day. also is not clear, but the new deal explains how Miss West collected the gravy while Todd tried to win his investment back. Excellent grosses were registered at the Shubert and the Royale.' to which the play- was moved, . but ■ with the ac- tress getting so heavy a slice it was- evident that it would take a long time for "Catherine" to climb out of the red. Todd lost personal inter- est in the show and went on with J "Up -In Central -Park" JCentury), a ] smash that almost made him forget j about "Catherine." Lee Shubert was said to have 25",. of the attraction, with Todd being in on "Ten Little Indians." i Plymouth), a Shubert - Albert de Courville drama which has been a consistent money-maker since early in the season. Miss West jumped to the Coast up- on the closing of 'Catherine," but van's "H.M.S. Pinafore." Next sea- may return to Broadway in the fall, [son is likely to have a similar con- it being planned to revive "Diamond j diet, two planned operettas being have the melodies of Tschaikowsky. On the .Coast, Theo- he is a communist, which Loeb ha:- repeatedly denied. Evans said that he had heard Loeb make numerous speeches but "I do not remember anything that could be construed as communistic or political in any sense Stte word." ... 't's recounted from the" May meel- 'hg that Mariy Christians stated Robeson-Ferrer-Hagen's 'Othello' Due for GI Tour Paul Robeson, Jose Ferrer, Uta Hagen and a company of 25 are going to Europe very shortly for a 14-week tour of GI .camps, playing "Othello," provided the Army can bring them back promptly after the to.au ■'. '• ■' "'■ ; '.. Troupe will alternate with "Charley's Aunt." Broadway comedy hit of a few seasons ago in which Ferrer starred. ' When "Charley's Aunt'' is the bill, Robeson and an accompanist will tour hospitals in a song program. Company will be part of USO- ' Ci.mp Shows',V-E'legit program. Pay Cuts Continue Some N. Y. Shows Some shows on Broadway are continuing by virtue of casts accept- ing salary cuts, a procedure more or less normal at this time of the season. However, there are instances of unusual stipulations which may | Lil/' ln which she'll be 7iaiTid|"alTo-sUted to favor actors taking the slices, at tne Royale. That plav was pro- namely, participation . in picture du eed in 1928. with la West as-the rights money, but such arrangements i sta r, after which she went to Holly- do not always apply. wood. "The Overlons,'' Forrest, is one -— | attraction with that arrangement be- teL^/'app^S 1 ^,2 1 VeS! PROBE INTO CHI DRAMA land the players are willing to con-/ ! tinue on that ' basis because the chances of the film rights being sold are enhanced the longer the' ^how is oh the boards, it being in the 17th. week; Amounts payable to the leads, contingent on the sale of the rights, are upward of $1,200 each and are increasing. "Overtons" was produced by Paul Czlnner. it having been written by Vincent Lawrence, who has been writing for the studios. Soon after: "Common Ground," Golden, opened the cast accepted a cut, except those players' getting $100 or less per week. The slice was considerable but business picked Up. and the cut was reduced. Conflict on Two Tschaiky Shows When "Hollywood Pinafore" open» at the Alviri, N. Y., tomorrow '3D, the town will have two musicals us- ing the same background score, "Memphis Bound," Broadway, also being based on Gilbert and Sulli- dore Bachenheimer heads a group preparing one, tentatively called "Song Without Words," while in New York "The Lonely Heart" is an- nounced by Lee Shubert and George W. Brandt, Latter show is described as being RAPKFT FNFIS IIINF R »»sed <>" t" e life ° £ Tschaikowsky. nnVIVCi £111/0 JU'lli O Isaac Don Lev ine has written th« Chicago... May 29. ■.:;• Investigation, into voiee-and-dra- ma-school racket in Chicago will wind up June 8. assistant State's At-I torney Ota P. Lightfoot announced Thursday (241, following hearing in. his office attended by .girl students who had filed affidavits claiming they'd been defrauded. Also present were several school operators. Lightfoot reported ops insisted they had been on the up and up in their dealings with, students, al- though they admitted their methods of advertising and teaching might be altered so as to eliminate alleged abuses. Among legitimate methods YAG, XING' IN TORONTO of doing business that the Stale's At- Toronto, May 29. io'mcy'.s 'office is aiming for, Light- Following success of his "Merry foot said,, are those by which stu- Widow" revival, which ran three dents may pay for lessons as they weeks at the Royal Alexandra here ! take them, in>tead of j.'ettin" hooked at $2.50 top, Ernest Rawley will pro-; on an installment payment plan duce "The Vagabond King" after his ' from which there'd be no backing the book, music from the composer's al- bum being selected by Frederick Vajda. Coast bunch produced "The Waltz King" last fall, and after be- ing reported as faring very well, t he operetta suddenly folded in Chicago. Romeo and Juliet." reurrent). Edv.i.rd ' Hot<-ker. ol'fj'. Loui. Opera, \» ill «.ing the 1itle role. Civic out. Students should yl.-o'lis per- mitted to drop out of ciasres when- er they vvan'cd to,. Li"htl'<Hii ,s: id. Shafer, Shubert Dicker For Coast Operettas Los Angeles, May 29. George Shafer is negotiating with the Shuberts for a series of operettas to be produced on the West Coast. His emissary, Paul Trebitsch, has gone to Chicago to confer with J. J. Shubert, currently presenting "Du- ! Barry Was a Lady" there. •.'.;.' i Idea is to ship "Du Barry" "Countess Maritza," "My Mary- i land" and two or three others to • the Philharmonic Auditorium here. ) Shafer has an option on Phii- ' harmonic time recently released by i Sol Hurok.