Variety (April 1920)

Vol LVIII, No. § leib' BtnM. N«» TodL N. T,. br TailMT. laa iliuiul.fiitMsrtp- UOB, im - ■ mnd*egi«« M ontft NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 2,1920 Statand M HeoBd eUa mttur DMMlbv 11 itos, M tbs Fott Offlal at H«r Taik. N. X, oadar On let oT MlRk & um. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION DISMISSES VAUDEVILLE CHARGE Complete Vindication for All Respondents Concerned When Findings Are Turned Over to Department of Justice, March 31, Without Comment Sherman Law Pros* /ecution Improbable. Decision Reached Mforh ;■• 26 Unanimously. ' '. Washington, March ,31. ¥ The Federal Trade Commission today. r dismissed the complaint against the > Keith ^change, the Vauderille Mana- gers' Protective Association, the Na- i tional Vaudeville Artists^ Inc., and other respondents, incliidmg Vambtt, charging yaudeville was conducted in '■ , restraint of trade. . The decision was arrived at March 26 uid given out this morning, the Commission being, unanimous. Without comment the evidence con- sisting of 3,000 pages of testimony was turned over to the Department of Jus- tice which is the usual procedure in all examinations conducted by the Commission. It is permissible for the Department of Justice to start dis- '■'. solution proceedings, but in every case, yet dismissed by the Commission there has been no such action. Such action therefore is 9 remote possibility. The dismissal is a complete vindica- tion for the respondents. ^-Governor Joseph W. Folk gave out the following statement to a special representative of Yabhitt this morning: /^he result is a complete vindication, as far as the Federal Trade Commis- sion is concerned and the methods of ''the practices of the V. M. P. A., the N. V. A., the United Booking Offices (Keith Exchange), the Vaudeville Col- lection Agency and the individual re- spondents named. The Commission holds that the evi- dence before it established neither an unfair method of competition within the meanings of the Federal Trade Commission act nor a violation of the Clayton act. The reference of the rec- ord to the Department of Justice Is in accordance with the proceedings usual- ly followed where the Commission finds no fault under the Federal Trade act or the Clayton act though the sub- ject matter might fall within the scope of the Sherman act as in this case. The same reasoning that led the com- mission to hdld that there was no viblatloh of the Claytbii W£t would like- wise meuj bpvtTfr,'^t .t^« bad been no violation of the Sherman act" Victor Murdock for the Commission save out the Commission's statement fthe other Commissioners are William B. Cblver and John Franklin Fort): 'xThe Federal Trade Comlhission has referred to the Department of Justice the evidence produced before the com- mission on the complaint issued against the Vaudeville Managers' Protective Association, the National Vaudeville Artists, Inc., the United Booking Of- fices, the Vaudeville Collection Agency, E. F. Albee, Sam H. Scribner, Martin Beck, B. S. Moss and Sime Silverman. 'The action follows dismissal'of the complaint which has been in considera- - tion, upon the conclusion reached that _ the evidence before it did not establish either an unfair method of competition within the meaning of the Federal Trade Commission act or a violation of the Clzjrton act 'The subject matter of the complamt seemed to Involve the treatment of features of combination of restraint of trade, and Individual methods of competition for contracts, and there- fore j>ossibly lies within the scope of the Sherman act, the enforcement of which lies with the Attorney General." John M. Walsh, counsel for Examiner Moore, said he had no comment to make. It was shown during the proceedings that there are 25 Independent booking offices in the United States, the leading agencies being the U. B. O. (Keith Ex- change), Marcus Loew. Amalgamated Agency,.W>lliam Fox» Alexander Pan- tages aiid so on. Counsel for Exam- iner Charles S. Moore sought to show that the system of agencies and ar- t.'sts' representatives was wrong. The respondents showed that the vatldeville booking agencies operated under the N^w York state employment agency law. The proceedings developed that there are 907 vaudeville theatres in the United States and that owners of 422 owners of that number belonged to the Vaudeville Managers' Protective "iContinued on page 83) FLEECING THE THIRSTY. The fleecing which the old-time "Green-(»oods" man gave to the unsus- pectinjf "rube" in the old days is no- thing in comparison with that which is accorded the actor today, who wants a wee bit of Scotch. Men representing themselves as longshore workers, clad in over-alls, hive been haunting the stage doors of the local theatres and- approaching the performers as they en- tered, inquiring if they would like a bit of booze smuggled in from the other side. The story generally told by the "con" men is that they are wbrking on the ships and just managed to "cop" a couple of bottles, which they will dispose of at a nominal sum. The price generally aske^ is from $10 to $15 a quart. The performer buys and the "con" man tells him that he will be back in a few hours with a little more stuff, which his pal will get. A head-line act playing, at one of the vaudeville hauses was approached and purchased two bottles and agreed to take the b&lance later in the day. The stuff was taken to the dressing room and when opened there did not possess the smoky smell of the Scotch or the taste either. Upon tasting it the stuff seemed to be a combination of bay rum, ether and prune juice. The bottles^ when examined closely, showed that the labels had been re- pasted, and the corks proved to be of the' ordinary variety. There was no seal or cap on the bottle, either. This same hoax was perpetrated on Monday at one of the downtown nouses, where five bottles of so-called "Black & White" brought $50. HOTEL ROOM SPECS. . •..»*■' ' . Chicago, March 31. Perhaps the most unique idea ever known in the histonr of hostelries was uncovered here last week in • new method of alloting hotel rooms. The scheme is actually an application of ?the theatre ticket scalping system. An advance agent blew into town and after complaining that he couldn't even get "even a pitcher and bowl for iive a day," he got. a tip that one of the Loop hotels was working with a ticket "spec" and the latter would deliver a room at an advance over the regular hotel rates. He went to < the "spec" and for $6i0 was handed a key to one of the hotel's rooms but had to stand in line as the man was doing a rushing, business in rooms. It is possible that the hotel man«'''. agement was not in on the game.and that'the "spec" angle Was private graft of the room clerk. The possibiltties, however, are unlimited in the big cities where hotel reservations are getting more difficult daily. New York isn't wise to the new g^me as yet, but it is liable to be a fat field. GETS $25,000.. Los Angeles, March 31. Damages in full were awarded to Grace J. Smith, known professionally as Grace Levarre, by Judge Wellborn, in her .$25,000 suit against P. J. Mac- Corry and Lucille Brown, claiming that she was forever barred from playing the violin, thereby ruining her career as a musician. , , She testified that pn September 20 when the accident took place, her sal- ary was $50 per week; MacCorry is said to be a vice-president in the Sons of Irish Freedom, and at the time of the trial was in Chicago, but was rep- resented by council; X-rays were placed in evidence, showing that the bones in the arm and shoulder had been shattered, when the auto driven by MacCorry, knocked Miss Smith dow8, UNITE TO DEAL WITH UNIONS. A plan is under consideration where-' by the United Managers' Protective Association, Producing Managers' As- sociation, Central Managers' Associa- tion and Traveling Managers will be- come affiliated. At the present time each of the managerial organizations operates independently. Several.meet- ings have been held by representatives of the four managerial bodies,for the purpose of arranging the. details of the proposed affiliation. The U. M. P. A. represents a mem- bership of 800 theatres In the U. S. and Canada. The Producing .Man- agers' Association embraces all of the big Broadway legitimate producers, the Central Managers' Association con- sists of producers and theatre owners operating popular priced attractions and theatres in the middle west. The Traveling Managers Association is a recently formed organization em- bracing popular priced producers op- erating, from New York City, The advocates of the affiliation plan point out a working agreement to- deal with the stage unions will be to the mutual advantage of all concerned. PERJURY CHARGED IN DIVORCE. Los Angeles, March 31. .. Leo Youngworth, attorney for Al. G. Barnes, filed bonds of $3,000 pending the hearing on a perjury charge in the latter's divorce action when he denied living with Jane Hartigan and Vimn Bordeaux, No date has been set for the ftrrftignmen t of Barnes, m 'M :'.^4? ■V>r-,. r 1. .;■-)■: