Variety (Mar 1948)

BO tteidt $ Boff Cdfosses for Loew $ Has Others Midlkg Return of St^eshows Fresh, potent attractions are capable of opening more circuit houses to stageshows than cur- rently on the books. Point illustrated recently with the Loew cfircuit's offer to Horace Heidt of eig^t full -week? throughout the country' That's more vaude than the chain has had in many years. The Heidt crew, whldi* recently played the Capitol theatre, N.Y., has taken two other Loew dates, one of which was Lioew's theatre, Richmond, and lias accepted a May date at the Midland,. Kansas City. In the mdunond date last week Heidt puUed ^,000, considfred a healthy figure for tbe iwuse. Vari- ous nme managers have beto in- quiring on tbe i^ossibiliQes of get- ting H^dt for dates in their areas. Hddt, however, was forced to turn them down since his radio conunit- ments make it necessary for him to be back on the Coast for the Phillip Morris talent finals. With mdre bands of that calibre and a sufficient number of new names, the bookers say that they could open" any number of houses to vanmu Liadk qt such attractions makes it improbable. iBoofcers de- clare nearly cveiytiifiag left with b.qf.; pull has rapeated 4drenits so frequently that their b.o. dran^t has' been drained. 3ut Hieidl;, is maUng his first theatre tour in sevetal ..years and has gained stature .via terrific publicity with his radio show* They Can Dream, Can't They? The bookers say that it would be unwise to gamble with'most packr ages maldng the rounds, as one un- wise choice would probably negate fuither receptivity for stageshows. Virtually every circuit has a large number of houses that would take a fling into stageshows, when there's an even chance of hitting a top gross. Tlie talent buyers, however, cannot find that kind of talent. In adcUtion to tbe Loew chatai, the RKO and Paramount houses are faced with the same situation. Howevpr, latter two circuits, fre- quently, take chances with- spot bookings throughout the country, with varied results. However, they'd all jump at a surefire gross- er, even thou^ there haven't been live sdiows 'in some situations for years. ' . JHDY I^GS F'mfo-Affalery ■# ' • . ;• Cari^irffy , IMuiiiiM IMii fAIAMI 1IEA(»1 RKO, Cincy, Sets Bands Cincinnati, March 30. ' Kame bands dominate tlie schedule of stageshows for the ItKO -Albee theatre, which is book- ing on a spot-basis, during- April and May. • Art Mooney-s' ovth is due the week of April 15, to be followed by I^kie Carle's combo. Com^ a vaude Interruption the week, of April 29 with the . Mills Bros, top- phig. Horace Heidt and his crew appear the week of May 6, and Vaughn Monroe's orch lray 27. E.€. HITEKT FADIOCSiSft Kansas City, March 30. . The Pilot Club, a showboat an-* chored in the Missouri river on the Kansas side here, was padlocked last week by John J. TherotI; Wy- andotte County (Kans.) sheriff when the spot was declared a nuisance. Harvey J. IBmersoA, county judge, issued the order ending tiie 10-year career of the nitery, on compliant of Harold H. tturdiag, county attorney. LAHORE aad VERNA DANCE SENSATIONS CUMENTLY eOTTILLiON ROOM WTEL PKRUE, HEW YORK ITHANn TO CHAKLIS READERl INTERNATIONML THEATMCAL CORP. CortaU O^. hm^on Bun Qlson &. Johnsoni's 'riUt at Prince's theatre, London, in "HeUzapopiHn'" will be cut short because of team's boukiitg at the Canadian 'INational Ealiibition in August. Comics went over originally to play a date at the Casino theatre, London, and subsequently decided to expand revue to legit pifg^mr- lions. , " Talent Skives Mims So Show Can Go On At Caniegie HaD, N.Y., Concert Performers came to tlie rescuer of the Saturday afternoon (27) con- cert at Carnegie Hall, N.Y., by waiving one-third of their salary to permit the ^ow to go .cm. Gross was so dismal that Victor RoccOi Araerican Guild of Variety Artists representative, demanded that pro» moter Barney Weinstein puti up $500 in addition to the . $1,500 already posted with the union to guarantee salaries. - Apparently,' there was less than $500 in-tbe boxoffice. T^ent costs came to $2,tMH)i»> : « After a 45 mindCe delay,''doors opened and* show, started about an> hour; later than schedule. ' / Schedule of acts for the layout included lisa Kirk, Morey Anistfer-' dam,-Janet Sayre and Hotshots, AL .Melvm, Jack Carter, Helen Humes, Hsher & White, liou Fidds, IhAert Q. ILetris, Bella Snuro. iteith Gil- bert and Ckss FcuUIn and M«»ica Moore. While the acts will .probably make no clrl^u for the xemaiader of their salary, AGVA expects to get amounts due out of subaequent promotions of Weinstein. . NUTTOBOI^URM 'iDimeapolis, March 30. Local cafes are going in' for name and personalis attiwetions in effort to bolster saggfaQt hnsi- ncss. For example, the Dome, one of the loop's leading such establish- ments, is }u8t finishing with the Page Cavanaugh Trio and is im- mediately foUo^^ng. them with the Joe Mooney Quartet. Latter last played Hotel Radisson Wiasae Room, one of town's two swaiddfist supper clubs. Poor Comedy Taste Mars Friars' Chevalier Lunch Following two clicko ribfests by the Friars, honoring Frank Sinatra and John Garfield at respective luncheons, with Milton Berle as "roastsoiaster," the one thrown for .Maurice Chevalier in New York last Thursday (25) missed Sre. 'Bie shindig was Just all right -when it should have been great because, even transcending the previously honored guests, there were two elements to be considered. The lesser of the two was Franco-Amer- ican, amity and the courtesy to a foreign artist; the truly domin;uit one was ttiat the show budness fraternal organization was faminr- ing one .of the greatest single-man entertainers extant, Therefore the true values should have been more judiciously ap- praised. And what emerged dom- inantly was a Johnny-one^note accent on French-postcard type of joke. Obviously the GalUc stat cued the Yank conception of rue Blondel hiunor< but it was belabored to the point of poor .taste. Despite this, however, Berle was again in fine fettle, with Bobby Clark, Garfield, Waiter Abel, Phil Silvers, Henny Youngman, Jerry Bergen, Carl Ravazza, Maxie Rosenbloom, Earl Wilson, Jack Carter, Dan Shapiro, Arthur Lesser, «t al. also on the dias, most of them doing their stuff. Rosenbloom topped Berle, who Was ribbing him for maltreating the language, when he observed, "Why do you want me to do, speak like Noel Coward and starve to death?" Clark's nifty was about the actor. who - was cremated and willed that 10% of his ashes foe thrown in liis agent's face. Thursday was a double-luncheon booking, since ttie Circus Saints & Sinners honored Bert Lytell as the "fall guy." The ex-'Equlty prez and present si. ''.erd of The Lam' ? got the usc-« going-over befor a .capaidty. turnout. . .... jibeL. > Acc^ on L'Miurc AGVA Switdies To Riraliy in Bekgation Slates Accent on th» internal affairs of the. American Guild of Variety Artists has transferred from the legal snarls resulting from the firing of Matt Shelvey* the union's former national administrator,. to the election of delegates. Voting tor delegates to the union's first constitutional convention, to be held at the Astor hotel, N. Y., May 7, is now the major issue among the membership., As a result, two major slates have been formed in N. Y., with alliances in other cities being sought. One faction has been formed by Arthur Ward, oAetime executive secretary of the AGVA San Franqisco local. This slate consists of Ward, Henry Dnnn, Hal Sherman, Jimmy Hollywood, Cbar- lehe Harriilt George Rowland, Jerry Baker, Marty Barrett, Rus- sell Swann, Joe Smith, Margie Coates and Adam DlGitano. Other slate, which was formed by the program committee;' is headed by Phil Irving, a former executive sec- retary of the N. Y. local. That lineup consists of Irving, Virginia Richmond, Jack Gttilfd^d; Ralph Shaw, Noel Hytowh, Phil Foster, Murray Lahe, Reiifee Wilde, Bob Sydney and Jon Ni<ihoIs. One slot is still to be Sited.' Y, will have • 12 delegites to tb6, convention. The progrton committee has a)r ready made an alliance with Boii< ton membership. Among the Hub's nominees,' the committee is sup- porting Charlie Brett, mil Bayon, Ralph Morgan and John Ardolino. TMs group claims' to have the- backing of the Philadelphia mem- bership as well, although the Phllly branch racently adblpted a resolu- tion not xo parttd^t^ in the con- vention.. IProgram Conuntttee Platforoi The program committee has adopted a platform calling for amendments to the unemployment compensation laws, which would tiermlt a performer credit on work done in states other than that in widch he resides. Other planks in- dude passage of legislation which would permit an act to choose whether he shall be classified as an employee or independent con- tractor in order to qualify for so- cial security benefits. Other items include establishment of an ' in- surance, welfare and death benefit fund, maintenance of strict sani- tary conditions in dressing rooms, and elimination of all benefit shows. At a meeting Monday (29), the program jcommittce adopted a resolution asking that the first con- vention adopt union working con- ditions as well as a constitution. They win jdso fight to have the voting , procedure changed so that convention delegates will be voted upon on a branch basis instead of on a national basis, as is beino done for the first confab. Tlie Associated Actors and Artistes of America is still wotk, Ing upon a suggested constitution to be presented at the convention Viml draft is expected to be made at a 4A's meeting tomorrow (Thurs,). Last week also saw the resumn. tion of conferences between attor- neys for Shelvey and the 4A*s ."us- Oce Null, of the N. Y. supreme court, IS attempting to bring both parties together on a mutually agfeeable solution on the injmic. tioft suits brought by both sides Which would establish the rightful head of the union. The suggesUon that a mediator be appointed has already been nixed. Slate BnM. Into N.Y. Cap Slate Bros, have been signed for the Capitol theatre, N. Y., startitig April 8 to repli)ce Dean Martin smd Jerry Lewis, who open that niglit at.. Copacabana, N.Y. Former will be the only change »on the bill, which also includes Tex Beneke's orch .plus "Naked City" (U). Slates have .been signed for one week and options but are expected toirfay jar least tbacee weeks. OLYMPIA THf AWl MIAMI MoMKiaMM*^ H.^RRY A, ROMM MAGIC EQWHEiT FOR SALE to iietUe «tate. Orislwl m<>t.''SS,«M. Mnke H M t—aMe offer. WUIinm >'ar- tlMinN, ailmlnlstruiar. 910 Brnefcnin ni<lK.. W. Hevnath Strrct. Imi AMwlra M, tM. {TiloHy MSB). W &TE FO R that* 12 nominMs for Haw York delc^illM to AOVA CenvcntioH—ail cxiMriMeMl '■mow your prebfonn HENRY DUNN Ji/MMY HOLLYWOOD JOE SMITH ADAM Dl 6ITANO MARGIE COATES GEO. ROWLAND ARTHUR WARD RUSSaL SWANN HAL SHERMAN JERRY BAKER CHARLENE HARRIS MARTY BARRETT Thmy want you to have ... • HOSPITAUZATION • A LEGISMTIVE COMMITTtE • TO REOPEN THEAntCS AND • DiATH BENEFITS NITE CLUBS • MEMBERSHIP PARTICIPATION • AQVA'S OWN WEIFARE FUMV IN All AGVA'AlVAIIIS Thmy don't want you to havo , . . * ONE MAN RULE * ANY FORM OF TOTALITAMAN REGIME