Variety (August 1919)

... •; ■ ..V,>-/;,_,..., ..c.-- VARIETY DAILY BULLETIN MASS MEETING OF PLAYERS HELD MON DAY IN L OS ANGELES $7,316 Subscribed For Equity Cause. 250 Speakers Comment on Strike. Bert Lytell's Suggestion Cheered. Many Prominent Screen Stars Contribute. Picture Players Will Back Up Legit Brethren, Prevailing Opinion. .. mgmmtm Los Angeles, Aug. 19. se-venty-three hundred dollars ($7,- W) was voluntarily subscribed to the stars' Equity fund at the mass meet- r of legitimate and screen players la Monday night Two hundred and ty different speakers spoke and ridic- titd Cohan, Belasco and Sothern. , irge Fawcett presided William ourtleigh, who is leading the cam- irgn in the studios, announced $5,000 H already been telegraphed East jlert Lytell suggested that every ac- |r pledge a percentage of his weekly alary to the Equity cause. This sug- gestion was cheered, but Milton Sills and Courtleigh predicted that the strike wo old be over in a week. The Equity's affiliation with union labor was unan- »usly approved. (Frank Keenan and Fred Niblo fought down the house with jibes at Wage, the Shuberts and other man* Jrers. Keenan himself headed the donors with a subscription of $1,000. Allan Dwan gave $1,000, Bert Lytell $500, Nazimova, Milton Sills, and Clara Kimball Young the same, and Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and "jarlie Chaplin sent messages pledg- '; their support with substantial sums. pis S. Stone, of the Majestic Stock is also campaigning. ie studios are swept by tremendous excitement There is a wave of sen- timent everywhere increasing in favor of the striking actors. Speakers pre- dict a sympathetic strike in the picture world if it becomes necessary to help the striking brethren on Broadway. Everyone is of the opinion that the picture people will back the legitimate {flayers to the limit. .•sChorus girls are circulating subscrip- tion blanks with which to aid their striking sisters. A benefit ball is also STanned by the 1,100 members of the fation Picture Players' Union! In an interview with Hary D. .Kline, !:eneral manager for Universal, and ormerly with Charles Dillingham, he said that for every part on Broadway there are fifty applicants. This,- he seemed to think, accounted for the obstinacy of the managers. HOPE FELT FOR SETTLEMENT (Continued from page 1.) He interpreted that as the strike by weeks, growing more tense each week as in each act, and with the third week or act to have a happy ending. He would not disclose how the happy end- ing would be worked,out in his opin- ion, stating he did not know. Picketing around the Broadway the- atres last night was very light Dur- ing yesterday a picket was discharged in the West 45 th Street Court, on the charge of interfering with the Win- ter Garden.' This was looked upon by the actors as a signal victory for picketing. Last night, the twelfth of the strike, laeked the spectacular features of Monday evening along Broadway. The stage hands walkout at the Henry Miller Theatre was a foregone con- clusion after Alfred E, Aarons posted a notice on the call board Saturday he owned the show and was a member of the P. M. A At the Booth, where M »e Better 'Ole" is playing, no pickets were in evidence, and it was thought by the management the stage crew would walk. "La La Lucille," prior to yesterday, had been.clossed as an "ex- empt" show. The absence of pickets in Times Square was marked. Instead, street corner addresses by A. E. A. orators drew crowds in many sections, no less than three talkers working at one time on 42d street between Broadway and Eighth avenue. At Seventh ave- nue and 42d street seven managers were talking when an, A. E. A. taxi drove up and the speaker's audience surrounded the managers. No one recognized the managers, who included Morris Gest, A. H. Woods, Archie Sel- wyn, F. Ray Comstock and Walter Wanger. The managers listened, but declared they didn't know what it was all about. From the attitude last night both factions are looking forward to the arrival from abroad of Samuel Gom- pers, the A. F. of L. president The A E. A. feel that the labor leader will give full support to their strike. On the managers' side, however, the feel- ing is that Mr. Gompers may issue or- ders on a change of procedure. They base this expectation on the fact that Gompers is noted for his firmness in carrying out contracts, the alleged vio- lation of which constitutes the P. M. A's united stand against the A. E. A. No attempt has been made to open any of the strike closed shows, now that the stage hands have entered into the situation. It was that phase which caused Flo Ziegfeld to abandon any plan to reopen the 'Tollies" or continue with the roof shows. MANAGERS TOGETHER. Aside from the issues at stake ion! either side of the P. M. A-A, E. A., the fire of the fight has welded the biggest managers with the smallest into a union that probably could not have been accomplished in many years. Heretofore there have been two major factions regardless of the booking truce that extended up until last sea- son. But all managers, with a very few exceptions, have been brought to- gether as never before, have seen more of each other and gotten better ac- quainted. The keynote of the new unison among producing managers came yes- terday when A. L, Erlanger, in a fiery address at the regular afternoon meet- ing, brought/forth more applause than has yet attended these meetings. There was full attendance at the meeting in the Cohan and Harris' offices. ' Prediction yesterday was made by one of the managers that the growing spirit of the P. M. A. portended an end of factional fights among managers., CHORUS MEETING. The Chorus Auxiliary of the A. E A. held a meeting at the 45th street strike headquarters yesterday after- noon. About 300 members attended. - Among the speakers were Marie' Dressier, Eddie Cantor, Frank Sheri- dan, Grant Stewart, Mona Kingsley, Frank Merlin, and Fay Tunis. Miss Dressier stated that the Chorus £u»liary now has a membership of 3 »5O0; The initiation fee has been fixed at $1.00 and dues at $4 per annum. During the course of her speech Mane Dressier declared that if the managers closed the theatres, she would personally equip companies to play musical shows and send them on the road, even if the shows had to play in a hall, a tent or at the last resort, a vacant lot. OFFICIAL STATEMENTS ■ <:%! ■■,'4&l LETTER TO A. E. A. The letter appended below, ad- dressed to the A. E. A. by Congress- man Frank L. Greene, Representative from Vermont, was given out last night. | If the theatrical managers art, as they tar they are, now ready to give the striking actors a mora liberal contract than they have ever bad before, that It In and of itself a flat ad- mission that the contract hitherto baa not bees as fair and liberal as It might profitably be, and should be. It la also a concession that the Equity has all aloag been right In Its demand for a more liberal contract It l» equally apparent that, but for the de- mand of the Equity and the strike that ensued, this concession on the part of the managers would not have been made. Hence the Equity la the cause of the concession ot the managers. But, say the managers, we will guarantee this more liberal contract only on condition that we do not recognise the Equity In It And there they stick. It is thus a contract /(that an Equity actor obviously cannot sign, and, therefore, a paplable and undisguised at- tempt to wjn the actors from the Equity In order that they may advantage by an even more liberal contract than was asked for by the Equity. Hence the next conclusion Is that the mana- gers, In their present frame of mind, are more anxious to destroy the Equity than they are to.do Justice to the players. So, If the managers do not now trust the Equity and thus seek to destroy It, what will beeome of the players who leave the Equity to take ad- vantage of this tempting contract after they have burned behind them the Equity bridge that got the contract for them? Can they In turn, trust the managers who do not propose to abondon their own organization at all f And yet these same managers have many a time and oft paid liberal salaries tor actor to hold up snob dealing to fine dramaUo scorn and say as Macbeth: "And be these Juggling fiends no more be- lieved That palter with na In a double sense; That keep the word of promise to our ear, : And break It to our hope." How do the theatrical managers expect to' win public approval and support on any such golloy as that? The great Industrial and uslness world long ago learned to recognise the Injustice, yes, the moral necessity to a largo degree, of the principle ot collective bar- gaining and to meet the accredited representa- tives of its employes In open and harmonious negotiation to that end with mutual good will. It Is Inherent In the spirit ot the times in the ■ real world. The mimic world cannot deny It If It would) continue to hold the mirror up to Nature and make a business and a business profit by It. Managers have before now paid actors to give the publto the following good counsel which they might at this time wisely heed themselves: . > "Good my lord, will you see the players well bestowed? Do you hear, let them be well used; for they are the abstracts, and brief chronicles of the times: after your death you were better have a bad epitaph, than their ill report while you live. "My lord, I will use them according to their desert, "God's bodkin, man, much better: use every man after his desert and who should 'scape whipping? Use them after your own honor and dignity.'' , (Signed) PRANK L. GREENE Congressman from Vermont UNTERMYER'S OFFER OF AID. Samuel Untermyer, in addition to promising to represent the A. E. A. in legal matters without financial re- muneration, according to Francis Wil- son, has promised to raise $250,000 for the Equity if requested to. • Mr. Wilson stated that the A. E. A. 'would take Mr. Untermyer's offer of financial aid under consideration. LEXINGTON SELLOUT. The Lexington Theatre had another sell-out last night, the second gala per- formance given for the benefit of the A. E. A. strike fund. It was said around the theatric the house is practically sold out for the week. The scale runs to $2. The first performance last night was highly praised in all of the New York dailies yesterday. The notices would have been enough to fill the theatre, without the especial .merit of the per- formance and the strength of the "names" on the bill. With the sale of the programs and candy, the A. E. A., giving eight per- formances on the week, will prabably do around $40,000 gross. Danny Morgan la te give a huge hexing carnival at Madlsoa Square Garten the Irs! Monday night In September tor She benefit of the A. 8. A- 37 MANAGERS' ASStt. The following statements were is- sued yesterday by the Producing Man- agers' Association: In an effort to obtain Information regard- - Ing the exact operation of theatres nader the control of an actors organisation such as the Actors' Equity Association, a special investlga- - tion baa lust been made by the agents of the Producing Managers' Association. A; report on the conditions found to exist In tie Hebrew theatres ot New Tork and Brooklyn, where everything Is strictly controlled by the actor, was read yesterday at the meetiag of the Pro- ducing Managers' Association. The salient points brought out were as follows: The Hebrew Actors' Union and the Hebrew Chorus Union are conducted on the "closed shop" principle, and no new members are elected or admitted until death makes a vacancy In the ranks. The Hebrew Actors' Union has a walking delegate who passes upon the casts of every play prepared for produc- tion In a Hebrew theatre. The manager play* lag a production is required to submit the proposed cast, and unless It meets with the approval of the walking delegate he Is not per- mitted to produce the play. A walking dele- 8 ate thus exercises enormous power. The most agrant abuse of It in the past five years Is Sell known to every patron of the Hebrew leatres. A walking delegate Insisted for tour successive years upon the engagement in prom- inent roles of a woman, not even young and pretty, who was the object of his affections. Finally,, matters in the Hebrew Actors' Union came to such a pass that this walking delegate was expelled. Any manager who desires to employ an ac- tress not a member of the union Is con- ' fronted with threats of a strike, although most of the members are far too old to Impersonate Ingenue or Juvenile characters. A ease in point occurred only last spring, when the manager ot a production unable to secure an Ingenue to play a country girl ot 18 had to give the part to an actress who was actually u years of age. Even more flagrant abuses of authority pre- vail In the Hebrew Chorus Union. There are by actual count In this union 11 chorus girls who are over the age of 40, and there Is one veteran chorus girl who baa been on the stage since the union was first formed, nearly 80 years ago, and who Is now 67 years ot age and a grandmother. She! Is large and fat Yet the managers have to employ her as chorus girl. v If condition sof this kind ever prevail la the theatres of Broadway tho managers might Just . as well shut up their theatres for good, be- cause it will mean absolute stagnation, death to artistic endeavors and tbo loss of control of his own property by tho theatrical managers and producers. No one can realize the terrible effects of having an artistio enterprise Ilka the theatre conducted under "closed shop" rules until he has made a close study of actual work- ing conditions that exist today In the Hebrew theatres of New Tork and Brooklyn, If the Actors' Equity Association obtains the au- thority It is now trying to force upon the man- agers, it will he Just as great a dictator, and will prevent the development of any now talent— and work Irreparable Injury to the theatres. Influenced by the.strike of the actors, other employes of the principal theatres of New Tork are already taking steps to ally them- selves with the striking organisation of actors. , < It became known yesterday that influences are f at work to organise into different unions the scrub-women of the theatres, the ushers and door tenders of the same theatres and the bouse , superintendents, all these branches of labor : desiring to form separate unions and affiliate themselves with the Actors' Equity Association under the Joint charter granted the A. A. A. A. by the American Federation of Labor. If these branches of labor connected with the. "■'£_ theatre affiliate themselves with the Actors' f Equity, the only branches connected with the \ ( theatre not unionised will be the ticket sellers | . and the press agents. • yy Y^ georgeITcohan. George M. Cohan issued the follow- ing statement yesterday, denying tho. report he contemplated reopening *A. Royal Vagabond" at the Cohan and Hariris with a piano and non-union :■:■ stage hands: George M. Cohan yesterday authorised a %l positive denial ot a rumor that he contem- plated reopening the Cohan * Harris Theatre -' and presenting "A Royal Vagabond" with only a piano and with non-union stage hands. Mr. Cohan states positively that be never con- sidered any such aetlon, preferring to keep bis theatre closed until such time as conditions may he more appropriate for the resumption of tht engagement of "A Royal Vagabond," THREE NEW PRODUCTIONS EXEMP The productions of three managers not members of the P. M. A. are pro- ceeding, all having been given written assurances by the A. E. A. that no strike will affect the predictions. The shows sre J. D. Williams' "Up From Nowhere,"'a comedy which has Norman Trevor, Cecil Yapp and Flor- ence Gillmore (a daughter of Frank Gillmere) in the cast; Anton Schillia's "Fifty Fifty, Ltd.," taken from William Gillette's "All the Comforts of Home": aid Joe Weber's "Little Bluo levft" 11 % - i x 891 '. K m