Variety (February 1914)

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VARIETY FINDING THE ENTERTAINMOrT BEST LIK ED BY THE CHILDREN Philadelphia Public Schools Have Plan to Obtain Line on What Pupils Best Prefer, Vaudeville, Plays or Pictures. Reasons to be Asked for Preference. Philadelphia, Feb. 18. A plan to find out which the public school children of this city enjoy best —a play, vaudeville or pictures—and if the "movies" afiFect the eye-sight and morals of children was formulated at a meeting of the Social Workers' Club and will te put to practical test Officials of the club desire to learn whether the flickering pictures, if regu- larly attended, cause sore eyes and in- terfere with school work. The plan is in the form of seven questions which will be submitted to representative classes in all the boys and girls high schools of this city. If the "movies" receive an unfavorable report, officers of the club say, a rigid investigation of picture houses will be started. "How often have you attended the moving pictures in the last month?" heads the list of questions. Then fol- lows a query as to the student's choice as to a play, vaudeville or pictures, and the students are also asked to give the reasons for their preference. The boys and girls are also required to name some of the films they liked best. "Do the pictures hurt your eyes and does it depend on where you sit?" arc asked in the next question. EYE-BROW LIFTEIL An eye (not high) brow heavy- weight lifter has been engaged through the Marinelli New York office by Sam Gumpertz for Coney Island the coming summer. He is Ben Abdullah, and he holds as much as 250 pounds by his eye-brows. Max Lowe, who placed the turn for Marinelli, says he isn't quite certain how Ben gets away with this sort of stuff, but believes he has a wired attachment that Rts onto his eye-brows, with the weight placed on top of that. Anyway, claims Mr. Lowe, it's good enough if he doesn't do it like that. The eye-brow boy isn't making much money out of Mr. Gumpertz, but he expects to have a rep before leaving the Island. Another attraction Lowe has placed for a side show is a youn^ man from the other side who stands two and one- half meters high and weighs some- thing like 12 kilos. How much that amounts to in American humanity Mr. Lowe isn't prepared to swear to, but he says it's a lot of flesh and bones. Lowe says the freak market looks bearish the coming season. "They are overdoing it," asserted the agent. "Here's a fellow who walks on his nose, without any support, and another application is from a young woman from Arabia who wants to race a horse, she to run backward while the horse trots or paces in the usual way. *'I have heard there's a boy in Mu- nich who wants to exhibit at fairs, u?ina^ twQ flying roarbinc?, taking both up 3,500 feet, dropping the second 200 feet below the first, and he to leap from the upper machine to the lower, descending on the latter, pulling the top one down at the same time through a rope attached to it and his body. That guy must be light on his feet, musn't he?" remarked Lowe as he closed the Freak Department for the day. S.-C. ON ST. LOUIS. The SuUivan-Considine Circuit, through its New York office, has made a ruling that any act booked for the S-C. route playing the Empress, St. Louis, before opening on the western time, will have all of the S-C. dates canceled. The ruling was made by Chris. O. Brown through the Western Vaude- ville Managers' Association, of Chi- cago, booking the Empress, St. Louis, very close to the Princess in the same city that is on the regular S-C. travel. The latter house was lately tacked on by Mr. Brown. One or two instances have arisen where acts with future S-C. contracts, in accepting dates meanwhile from the Association, have played the Empress, in ignorance of the Circuit's stand on the subject. Satisfactory ex- planations were made in one case, and in another Mr. Brown merely cut St. Louis out of the S-C. contract, but hereafter he avers it will he cause for entire cancellation. The S-C. acts end the tour at Kan- sas City. Some have taken up the W. V. M. A. time from there, also appear- ing at the Empress, something: tliat is then beyond Brown's control, he be- ing particular only about acts appear- ing in an opposition house after sign- ing contracts with him and before opciiing. BUYS OUT OPPOSITION. Hamilton, Ont., Feb. 18. The vaudeville war in this city has ended. The Lyric, built last year by local capitalists and which has been playing Loew vaudeville, has passed to the Canadian Theatres Co., which owns the Temple here and also has houses in Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, and London. With the change of control has come a change of policy, and, instead of playing vaudeville, the Lyric will be a picture house only, for the remainder of this season at least. It is the largest theatre in the city. Hal Morgan, who has been managing the house since it was opened last August, will remain in charge. The change does not mean tfiat Hamilton has seen the last Loew vaudeville for a company has been formed to build a new tl.eatre on James street, near the Grand opera house. It will be larger than the Lyric and is expected to open next f»il. MARRIED AND PINCHED. Dallas, Feb. 18. Tillie Zick, headlining on the Inter- state Circuit, brought her engagement to a sudden close at San Antonio, when she evaded her governess and ran away and married Lew Brice (Brice and Gonne) on the same bill. Miss Zick is only 17. UponUhe re- quest of Mrs. King, her governess, the couple were arrested at Houstdn and are deposited in the Harris Oounty jail. When seen in the prison, neither seemed worried, and stated they would go north as soon as things were straightened out. Miss Gonne has returned to New York. Kansas City, Feb. 18. The secret marriage of Tillie Zick to Lew Brice was annulled in Hous- ton yesterday. Mrs. T. V. King, Miss Zick's guardian, took her back to San Antonio. Brice is still in jail. The real name of Tillie Zick is Sybil Marit Hitt. She is a granddaughter of the late Representative Hitt of Illinois, and related to "Bobby" Hitt, who mar- ried Katherine Elkins of Philadelphia some time ago. Lew Brice is a brother of Fanny Brice, also in vaudeville. WEBER ft FIELDS IN AUD. Chicago, Feb. 18. The Auditorium, having two or three weeks of open time, has found Weber and Fields for tenants during it. The/ open there Sunday with what amounts to a vaudeville show. Besides Weber and Fields and their "pool table," there will be Nora Bayes, George Beban and Co., Alexander and Scott, Dorothy Toye, with two or three other acts and about 16 dancing girls. NO BIG TIME IN WORCESTER. Worcester, Mass., Feb, 18. For the first time in ten years Wor- cester is without a first-class vaudeville house. The most modern local house, Poli's, with 2,700 seats, is running pop vaudeville at 10, 15, 25. It is reported Marcus Loew is ar- ranginp to build on Front street, just below Poli's Plaza, with a pop vaude- ville policy, and this is thought to have something to do with Poli's change. BOOKED TO JUNE 20. The Evelyn Thaw show is routed un- til June 20, takinir in the Coast. Last week at Richmond an attempt was made to stop the performance through the publicity attondmg the Thaw name. A police mapistrate heard the case against Mrs. Thaw and dis- missed It without callinig for her ap- pearance before him. PICTURE FILLS WAIT. The Palace, New York, had a wait Monday evening before the bill com- menced. It disarranged everything for the evening. The pro^^ram started off at 8:.10, through the «;how being an act shy. Tuesday a reel of pictures was used to fill out from thf usual starting time LASKVS SUIT THROWN OUT. The action brought by Jesse L. Lasky against George White and Min- erva Coverdale to recover what Lasky alleged was salary due him for man- aging the act in vaudeville, was thrown out by the Appellate Term in a recent decision, sustaining a demurrer to Lasky's complaint, filed by O'Brien, Malevinsky & Driscoll on behalf of the artists. It is the second suit brought against Mr. White and Miss Coverdale under the Lasky contract, the plaintiff hav- ing been permitted to amend his first complaint. In the final ruling it is practically held that Lasky did busi- ness with the act as an agent and not a manager, thereby evading the provi- sions of the Employment Agency Law. Since the action was started. White and Coverdale have dissolved their stage partnership. HIP ENGAGES SMITHSON. The Oceanic, leaving Wednesday, carried away from New York Frank Smithson, the producer, who has been engaged by Albert de Courville, of the London Hippodrome, to take care of the staging of the revue at that house Mr. Smithson's contract calls for f». specified period of six weeks at t^3 theatre, with an option on his services beyond. TANGO ON ONE-NIGHTERS. The tango craze is noV alone coc fined to New York and the big cities but the road of the one-nighter is now being more profitably emblazoned by the legits tacking on ia tango feature of some sort. In the past fortnight several oue- night stand shows have engaged a tango dancing outfit and the increase in the receipts has been gratifying. In the west, especially in the college towns, much interest is centered in the tango and hesitation waltz. Musical shows are finding that these dances properly played up bring in the shekels. KLEIN GOES TO WORK. Arthur Klein started to work Mon- day morning in the United Booking Offices, acting in a sort of assistant ca- pacity to Eddie Darling, who books the Keith big time vaudeville show in the greater city. Mr. Klein was especially assigned to the make-up ai the weekly bills at the Bronx (New York) and Rushwick (Brooklyn), a similar duty to that given him by Perry fJ. Williams when the latter operated the present Keith New York chain. LA BERGERE HURT. Boston. Fcl) IH. La Bergere fell last Saturday ni^^'ht here and broke the wrist of her left arm, necessitating the cancellation of the current week. Publishers Moving. The Watterson-Berlin-SnvdtT c(^ii- ccrn and F. A. Mills and F. H ffavi- land have rented oCrut-s m thr new .Stranrl theatre hnilrljn" .md \\\\\ move to that edifice as sfPMti a, tiic hiiildiii^^ is reatly for occupancy. If you don't ailvrrtlM* In \ AUIKTY