Variety (Oct 1948)

w ^netOay^ OeUthtiv 13, 1948 Qg$iiig of 'After-Hours' Clubs May Resolve Talent Problem for Pitt Cafes Pittsburgh, Oct. 12. Liish bookings for nitery acts ap- noars to be over here despite the ind of Grand Jury Investigation ♦hat nut the linger on three swank running up salaries in last year and itailf trying to outbid each other. Although no padlock proceedings iire asked for Bachelor's Club, American Hunting and Fishing Club and Lepus Club, despite charges of gambling, something Just as bad has come up. , In the case of each place, after- math of the probe has been a recommendation that liquor license be revoked, ^ind that would prove fatal on all counts. Without booze, chances of trio of clubs reopening geenvs improbable.- It was a real boom for perform- ers while it lasted, with entertain- ers in some cases getting consider- ably more than regular week's lalary for only five-day engage- ments, frequently .with just one ihow a night. Downtown cafes, open to public (Bachelor's, Hunt- ing aild Fishing were private-mem- bership clubs) found it impossible to compete and as - a result great deal of patronage was diverted from legitimate channels. Now, however, spots. in Golden Triangle are able to capture top- flight talent again and flock of act» which previously used to go to the piiviite clubs' have already played such places as Carousel and Nixon Cafe, and pthers are on the way. Number of after-hour cases gen? erally patronized by show people are also on the preferred lists for the revocation of booze licenses. In fact, one of them, Chelsea Club to heart of downtown, has already folded because of such a loss, a ' recommendation : of - the . Grand Jury. , Fined on Lewd Show Rap ,' Monroe,. Mich., Oct. 12. May E. Smith, owner of the' Rustic Lodge, was found guilty last week (5) by the Michigan Liquor Control Board of permitr ting obscene and improper . floor shows. Nitery had featured a strip- teaser and a vocalist, who allegedly ■a'ng ribald ditties. iSpot's license was suspended for seven days and owner fined $300 and costs by the board. VAVDBVILLB 45 Belgian-Dutch Show For Allies in Germany Pfungstadt, Germany, Oct. 4. Latest addition to the Allied civilian show circuit is a Belgian- Dutch combination titled "Travesty and Frolics" and featuring a Rus- sian Edgar Bergen whose dolls play music instead of talking, plus an | Antwerp hillbilly. The show gave its preview after a long trip from Brussels, but even so it.demonstrat- ed plenty of snap. The orchestra, directed by Gust Brox, is from Hol- land. The m,c. ' is Bob Schoeppen, a Flemish "cowboy" guitarist. Turek Walks Out OfFdieri^enc]r Sol Turek last week', resigned as: booker with the Ajrthur Fisher agency after a tiff with Al Rick- ard, agency head. Argument re- volved around the. repayment of. an act's salary to the Fisher estate. Act,. Carolyn Marsh, was set into the Carman theatre, Philadelphia, at ^ISS'Vireekly, but was: cancelled out after two days. She was re- placed, by Jimmy Jemai. - Rickard felt that inasmuch as reports ,on the act had not been so forte, Turek should not hold the theatre nor the Fisher estate ac- countable for Miss Marsh's salary on the unplayed portion of her. date. Rickard wanted Turek . to make up the difference. Turek, however, declared that Rickard okayed the act despite the reports. At one time, Turek said he would make up the difference, 'bTJt~apparently changed his mind and quit the agency. Turek was replaced by Geort^e Deber, formerly with the William Morris agency in Chicago and ;be- fore that with USO Camp Shows. ' Florentine, H'wood To Reopen With New Setup BbUywood, Oct. 12. Florentine Gardens, shuttered for several months, will reopen Nov; 14 under new management on a popular price basis, with no minimum or cover charges. New operator is Flotine, Inc., a syndicate headed by Sidney E. Baskin, an attorney from Chicago; Nitery will be run on a long-term lease from Flogar, Inc., owner of the property. Mianu Hotels, Bistros, Make Ready For Iqlhix of L^on Conventioiieers EDDY M A N ORPHEUM • J THEATRE J OMAHA,14EB.: U Margery Welles at the Piarto M Mgr.: Ban Lipiet IV Wally BOAG Currently VAL PARNELUS "STARLIGHT ROOF" Lpndon Hippodrome SUNDAY EXPRESS . . . "Bringi houte «jpwn , . . on •nchanling act that de- net deicriplion." , AMEUICA! Mnrk 3. leddy Charli-H Tucker SHAY'S QUICK REPEAT ATLA.C0COANUTGR0VE Hollywood, Oct. 12. Dorothy Shay will make a quick repeat back into Gocoanut Grove, Where she set a cover-draw rec- ord during August, under a new deal which calls for a Hat guaran-. lee of $3,500 weekly, plus 50-50 cut of covers alter Freddy Mar- tin's ork gets its $3,500 weekly salary. On her ■summer stand at spot, Miss Shay got a $3,000 guarantee and a cut, but during her rccord- I breaking engagement, she pock- ,etcd personally $16,200 in four I weeks, as she soared high mto ] porcenlage. The Grove has lined up Carl Brisson, Florence Desmond and^ now Mibs Shay, to topline during three-month stand Martin band essays, starting Nov. 9. All thesO; attractions are MCA-bookedi and agency will work out just which singer will play which month after Miss Shay makes her choice of either Deeember-jof January. New Norfolk Nitery - Norfolk, Oct. 12. A new nitery, Windsor House, opened here Saturday night (9). Initial sliow has Kitty Crawford, Garron and Bennett and Gordon Ayres. Jimmy Fox manages. Rosen to Appeal ARA's Commisdon Split to Leddy Matty Rosen has filed notice of intention to appeal last week's arbitration decision' by an Artists Representatives Assn. panel award- ing Mark Leddy agency $300 rep- resenting five percent of the salary earn,ed by Helene and Howard at ' their recent Radio City Music Hall, N.*Y;,"date. Rosen will appeal the award before the full board of gov-? ernors of the ARA. ; Rosen, who handles Helene. atid Howard^, was claimed to have au- thorized Mark. Leddy and .Leon Newman, Leddy's associate, to sub- mit team for work in the Music Hall. • It was claimed that Leddy and Newman originally brought the duo to Music Hall producer Leon Leonidoff's attention, by inducing him to book the. pair: for a recent fashion show at Madison Square' Garden. As a result of their show- ing there, they were booked into the Music Hall. Rosen, however, claims that he never authorized Leddy and New' man to submit them. : ■.' At the ARA hearings Newman' produced an affidavit from the Music Hall producer attesting that the team was booked as a result of the Leddy-Newman efforts. Rosen declared that ARA in granting this decision, went counter to its own regulations which make it necessary for any split-commission agreement to be in writing. It was admitted by Leddy that there was no such writ- ten agreement, but board felt an oral agreement must have been entered into. Helene and Howard have been tiffing with? Rosen and have gone into court in an effort to break their managerial contract.; Rosen has signed the team to a booking contract at the usual 10% commis- sion, and Lorrame Rognan, Rosen's wife holds a personal management contract for 25% of the team's earnings over $300 w e e k 1 y . Dancsrs are using some of the routines originally de'vised by Miss Rognan when she was partnered with her former husband, Roy Rogr nan, who was killed in the Lisbon Clipper crash in 1943i- ' Wynnes *Laugh Camival* Set for Curran, S.F., Nov. 7 Paul Small will preem his pro- duction of "Ed Wynn's Laugh Carnival," a two-day legit type vaude unit, at the Curran theatre, San Francisco, Nov. 7. Lineup will comprise Wynn, Phil Baker, Allan Jones, Pat Rooney, Betty Reilly, Sid Silvers, Dick and Dot Remy, Hermanns Williams Trio, and a line. Following its run in San Fran- cisco, unit will play the Interstate circuit around Christmas. Play-: dates at El Paso, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Houston are included. Small left for the Coast Sunday (10) to supervise the opening. Mex Vaude Back After Five Years Mexico City, Oct. 6. Ending of the five-year ban on vaude and other stageshows in all, cinemas of country by the power- ful Confederatioh of Mexican Workers (CTM) is a big break for Mexican performefB and possibly for U.S. and other foreign acts. However, the weak peso and de^ mand by most alien troupers to be paid in dollars is seen, at present, as an obstacle to Mexican cinemas being fruitful fields for outsiders. CTM's action was in behalf of Its important member, the National Cinematographic Industry Workers Union (STIC) which back in 1943 engineered the ban on all live talent in cinemas to spike Its bitter foerthe Picture Production Work^ ers Union (STPC), organized by six locals, bolting STIC. CTM explained that allowing actors to work again on film house stages in no way means thrusting stage shows down the exhibitors' throats, that it's optional with ex- hibitors whether or not they use performers. Frontline o i n e m a s here quit stage shows some time before the CTM ban« contending that' they found they were better off with a straight film policy. Miami, Oct. 12. The slight damage by hurricane winds Wednesday (6) removed and repaired, Miami and Miami Beach are readying things for the ex- pected 100,000 persons here this weekend for the American Legion's convention. :< Cafes, which normally, book in top names to draw business from so large a conclave, this time are hewing to their normal "lull" sea- son bookings. The operators feel "draw" bookings aren't necessary, what withg,so few spots running in the downtown and Beach areas. None:'of the big cafes have. opened for session. The stripperies, : on the neon- belt fringe however, have added to their shows. Local entertainment committee for the Legion, headed by Copa's Murray IVlenger, are attempting a pattern to avoid tha usual'beefs on "clipping'' that ac- company these meets. Three ispots, the Clover Club, Five ' O'clock Club and Mother Kelly's were selected and will be In- cluded in the Legionnaires book of discount amusements. Stut^ calls for 10% off on each' tab. ' Hotel patio setups are cooperating also, with no Increase in prices from the norm; restaurant associa- tion also going alongt as well as :; other business groupsr Idea is: to keep the conven- tioneers and their wives happy and content with the Miamis, Some 70% of the Legion will bo quartered in swank Beach hotels, with the top brass in the ocean- front skyscrapers. Miami Beach Hotel Assn. set nominal rates and are including added service to keep them happy and content, fig- uring good-will gesture will pay off in spades. There's no feeding problem, what with some 1,600 places for dining open now, Entertainment sked includes two huge Orange Bowl shows; Coca Cola good will bracket duo Morton Downey and Dean Murphy in special show. Plus these, over 150 tickets in the convention book for trips and al- lied amusements, all on the dis- count plan. SPIKE JONES LAUNCHES AGENCY WITH 2 CLIENTS Hollywood, Oct. 12. Spike Jones is going into the ageney biz. He has applied for franchises from AFM and AGVA and has signed as first two clients Dave Rose and Renee De Marco. About two years ago Jones formed an outfit. Arena Stars, Inc., to handle his troupe; Ralph Won- ders quit a top-spot , with GAC to become prez, of this corporation. .'Vs the operation enlarges to full agency scope, Dick Webster, who formerly was a GAC v-p in charge of Coast ork bookings, will join Jones' setup. Miss De Marco is rehearsing a new turn, with three boys. BETTY HUnON SET FOR RETURN AT PALLADIUM Hollywood, Oct. 12. Betty Hutton; Paramount star who recently played three weeks at the London Palladium and passed up a fourth week because of a prior commitmenti Is going back there next year if she can arrange her motion picture sched- ule to that effect. "V:audevllle Is in heavy demand in London," Miss button said, and is wide open for American entertainers, provided they give the audience a. good show.'' Walter: Newman Orch replaced the Buddy Clark crew at El Moroc- co, Montreal. Clark is set to return to the Normandy Roof. M AXI1\E SULLIVAN BACK AT THE PENTHOUSE CLUB NEW YORK Indefinitely Latin Casino, Philly, Sets Advance Bookings The Latin Casino, Philadelphia, lias lined up a list of top attrac lions -sufficient to last until the Christmas-New Years show. Fol lowing current run of Dean Martin and Jeri-y Lewis, spot gets Ger- trude \iesen, starting Oct. 18; Barton Bros,, Nov. 1; Lena Home, Nov. 8; ■ Ritz Bros., Nov. 22 and Mitzi Green, starting Dec. 5. Latin _Ilasino is attempting to line up deals with Joe E. Lewis, and Sophie Tucker, but both are unlikely because of Florida com- mitmeqtSi JAGK PARKER "THB JACK OP CLUIS" THE ANKARA PITTSBURGH Available Oct. 2S Managemmtt - : TOM FITZPATRICK