Variety (September 1913)

VARIETY POLICE AFTER "BLUE" SONGS; WANT RISQ UE LYR ICS CENSORED Public Conscience Aroused by Lascivious Plays Bring Complaints to New York^s New Mayor About the Indecent Lyrics of the Many Ragtime Selections Now Sung in Theatres. General Inspection This Week of Song Material in New York and Brooklyn. llie aciieknt that iJitcipilati'd the sh()(jliiig of Herman RoscMith.il in liunt of the Mctropole llotil and started tin.- Idoi diioumls of the law aitrr all llie hiiiuan tlot>aiii and jetsam ol Manhattan in any way related to tlie juincipals of that crime promises to have a double productive of as much puidic revolt if not as salutary con- sequences to the olTenders in the pub- licity mischance that brought the authorities down with such a fell swoop upon the plays, "The Lure" and ''The Fight," as indecent. The trail after the slayers of Rosen- thal incidentally exposed the warrer.s of a colony of smaller crimes and criminals, and the public clamor against "The Lure" and "The Fight" has now expanded until it demands censorship of the songs being sung on some of the n^.usical pieces along Broadway as well as the coarse ditties that make some part of practically every vaudeville bill an offense against public morals. One of the first complaints received by the new acting Mayor Kline charged the manager of a chain of New York vaudeville houses with utter ignorance of the character of his bills or an utterly unmoral point of view. A complaint from another theatregoer ran along the same lines, but named certain women ("single" acts) and cer- tain teams of parodists in vaudeville as the mediums for unloading upon good women and children in the audiences unprintable lyrical matter, sung with innuendo and gestures capable of but salacious suggestion. Another complaining vaudeville pa- tron mentions certain songs that fall under the ban of decent folk who arc forced by the carelessness of certain managers to listen to the vile matter. Among songs specified in a majority of the complaints received arc those known as "rags." Following the procedure instituted in the instances of police inspection of "The Lure" and "The Fight." the small and big time houses in \ew York and Hrooklyn are tin's \vr( k being visited by the police and notes made of the s(»ngs sung, and a general (»l)servation maintained of the ili:iracter of the en- tire bills. INJrXCTlON <)\ SONGS. The motion for a restraining order against Phillip Harthobmiae came up in the Supreme Court Wednesday and was granted. Michael F. Rourke is the ai)plicant, representrd by r)'r,rien, Malevirisky & Driscoll. Mr. T-Jonrke alleges he was the au- thor of the lyrics of four of tlu- si»n,u;s programed for the "When Dreams C(mie True" production, which Mr. iiartholomae presents. A letter writ- ten l)y the producer to him, alleges Mr. Rourke, agreed his name should be l»illed as the lyric writer. Instead, the program proclaimed Sylvio Hein wrote the music. The songs in dispute are "Dear World," "The Widow's Kiss," "Who's the Little Clirl" and "When Dreams Come True. ' The injunction restrains the show management, T. B. Harms & CO., and Francis, Day & Hunter from publishing the music without Rourke's r.ame in connection, until the action I'.as been adjudicated. KKCKIVERS APPOINTED. A Mr. Ullmicher was last week ap- pointed receiver for the York Music Company, of which Jack Von Tilzer is manager. A. Gordon Murray is temporary re- ceiver for the Monopol Film Co. under ar. application for a permanent wind- ing up of the business brought by 1-atrick A. Powers, et al. .>1KT THEIR RESCUER. Tacoma, Sept. 17 When the Melnottc Twins appeared here at the Empress, they acknowled- ged Bert C. Donncllan, manager of the Sullivan-Considine house, as their life saver at the San Francisco earthquake. The girls were at the Lyceum, Frisco, at that time. Mr. Donnellan chopped his way through to their dressing room. Besides which according to reports the Melnotle girls in addition to creating a great deal of talk by their pretty refined "sister act" have been cleanmg up on the newspapers in publicity on their way to the Coast. **101** EAST THIS WINTER. The 101 Ranch and Oklahoma Ranch wild west shows are headed east. Both are scheduled to close in the south sometime in November. The 101 show will winter in Lakewood, N. J., where the Oklahoma outfit was started from at the opening^ of the sea- son. , I j George Degnon, forinerly in charge of the 101 Ranch offices here, is in Chicago where he will remain until the closing of the road tour. Mr. Holland is in command of the New York end with Fdward Arlington on hand per- se nally to look after his interests. Circus men say that it's almost a cer- tainty 101 Ranch will play a New York engagement in Madison Square Garden next sjjring. It has been known for some time'that Edward Arlington and the Miller Breathers have wanted to start their new season with a New York showing, but felt that the time was not ripe just yet. IOWA*S WAY OF DOING IT. Chicago, Sept. 17. Sunday, Sept. 14, the Empress the- atre in Des Moines, la., was dedicated. The occasion drew people from all over the state. There was a large con- tingent of theatrical people from dif- ferent parts of the country. The house is modern in every particular and is the handsomest and most commodious in Iowa. It is owned by Elbert & Get- chell, who have every other theatre in the town of any importance, except the Orpheum. The firm placed the private car "Rainbow" at the disposal of a party of Chicagoans, who helped to make the occasion of the dedication one of interest. The Empress cost $150,000. The house seats 2,000. Under the stage is a special animal room, and there arc shower baths and other ac- commodations for the players. The special car from Chicago pulled out on train No. 5 over the Rock Island Saturday night, Sept. 13. In this car were Senator William O'Brien, N. K. Kissick, Fred Lincoln, Paul Goudron, J. J. Nash, Gaston Goudron, Ray Merwin, J. E. Young, J. L. Nor- ton, Frank Carr, Dr. Charles Hodkins, Harry Sheldon, Charles (Shorty)) Albany, Charles Nelson, Sam Duvries, Littell McClung, E. O. Blackburn and Will Reed Dunroy. The car was in charge of B. J. Neitschmann, city pas- senger agent of Chicago for the Rock Island. The car was stocked with everything, including a chef and two men to look after the party. Frank B. Randolph looked after the physical needs of the party. Upon arrival at Des Moines, Bob King, one of the best known politi- cians in the city, met the party with automobiles, and the city was traversed from end to end on a sight-seeing ex- cursion. At the first show in the after- noon the Chicago contingent occupied boxes at the Empress. In the evening the party was entertained at the Prin- cess, where Elbert & Getchell have a musical stock company, and saw a good production of "The Runaways." Afte^ the show the car was attached to train No. 5 and returned to Chicago. The dedication of the house was wholly informal. There were no speeches nor other ceremonies. The house was packed before the curtain went up, and as the signal was given for the rise of the asbestos curtain the audience broke into tremendous applause. The following comprised the opening bill: Pictures (showing scenes in Egypt); Emma Francis and Arabs; Hibbert and Kennedy; Porter J. White and Co.; Knickerbocker Male Quartet; Morris and Beasley, and the Seven Parisian Violets. The audience took very kindly to the show and prolonged it by much applause. Everett Hayes, general manager for Elbert & Getchell, is in personal charge of the new Empress. One of the smashing features of the venture is a huge electric sign on the corner, the largest in the city, showing a bal- let dancer in colors and motion and a huge hand pointing to the theatre. The policy of the house is continu- ous, running from 1.30 to 5 p. m. and from 7.30 to 11 p. m. Bills are changed Sundays and Thursdays. The house is booked by Sullivan & Considine. DOUBLING UP CX)RT SHOWS. Before the season of the John Cort road shows concludes, the two per- formances may be doubled up for some big house, like the Auditorium, Ch; cago, and the Manhattan Opera Hous,-, New York. They would then be given as a gigantic vaudeville festival, with Anna Held, Lillian Russell and the other features heavily played up. Meanwhile and before and after, if this occurs, the companies will travel as two shows, the Anna Held show opening at Richmond, \ a., Sept. 22, and the Lillian Russell troupe at .\1 bany, N. Y., .Sept. 29. The Held show will go south and then probably to the coast, coming back over tiie route tli • Russell company will follow, the latter coming back b> ll.e line of travel the Held show first gov-i over. The complete .\nna Held show, in- cluding the st:ar, her company and chorus in the musical comedietta. "Bcbe," is .\ndrcw Mack. George Be- ban and Co., Royal Pekinese Troupe, Charles Ahearn Cycling Troupe FVan- cis and Florette, Hirschel Hendler. The Russell show wdl have, in addi- tion to Lillian Russell, William Far- num and Co., Ching Ling Foo, Fields and Lewis, Ward and Curran, Rose and Arthur Boylan, Marguerite Far- rell. The Pekinese Troupe of eight peo- ple has been brought over to this side by George & Leon Mooser. The act is composed of Chinamen. During the turn the Chinks hang by their queues. Francis and Florette are a dancing team from Shanley's Cabaret, New York. They are also booked for the London Alhambra later in the season. HIP. PANTAGES BOOKED. St. Louis, Sept. 17. It's rumored the Hippodrome will be booked this season by the Pantages Circuit bookers. Chicago, Sept. 17. A recent report says the Pantages agency will also book the Kansas City Hippodrome. James C. Matthews, the Pantages booking representative here will not commit himself, but admits s<mething of the sort is in the air. Walter F. Keefe says he has a book- ing contract with Talbot of the Hips and knows nothing of any contempla- ted change. St Louis, Sept. 17. Attorneys in town arc reporting many accumulated bills against Frank L. Talbot and the Hippodrome here, which they are unable to collect. Tal- bot or his representative, according to report, inform creditors the matter of payment should be taken up with their Chicago office. This is looked upon as a "stall." MECHANICAL ORCHESTRA USED. Chicago, Sept. 17 "Running for Governor," a tabloid, has the distinction of being the first musical piece ever played with a me- chanical orchestra. At Mitchell, S. D., the piece was given with a Bartola Keyboard attachment, and the results were highly satisfactory to both the management of the house and the show.