Variety (December 1920)

36 VARIETY Friday, December 31. 1920 \ THEATRICAL REP0RTI5G It vr/ . \ • riff It' add* • tipster by way c f a ; | war.. as he s'. el re the r.- a & digger c. I his .r.formant that the divorce la quest! n has I started, w.-.- ;: .n his own pa- per two weeks ago ia beeu in a'.l of the c : • . . since. Another ch-.p who tells a rtfjllj important story that bears all the ear-rr. ' aut ■ _•. : it closes his recital witl i;^t j .u mustn't print a word of what 1 ve just told you—if you do you'll involve me in » JNKft; of. tr«>v v >j;c—pf.M.Vlv a- >.«w- suit and loss of con<uderaL.e money. I wasn't talking for publication, I thought you understood that," is the tag line, despite the news man had prefaced the conversation with a request for news. And the chap who always greets the digger with a cherry hello, and always se*-ms on the verge of giv- ing out some news of value, but who, after apparently racking his memory for ten minutes, says. "Well, I guess that* all I can tell you to- day—an>Khe hasn't said anything, but l^Jet me see—there was some- thtfg I wanted to tell you, but I can't just recall it." Contrasted with the cheery sa- luter, who invariably imparts noth- ing, is the grouchy Individual who knows real news fr.m piffle and who will give up" only by virtue of a composite 'third degree." diplomatic urging, direct cajolery, alternate ' yessing" and carefully Implied con- tradiction. It's a matter of "drag- ging it out" of the grouchy individ- ual, but the result is a real yarn thaj fully justifies the means. Bull another group is represented by the fellow,—and sometimes it's not a fellow, but a member of the opposite sex, who wants to put something over on someone they have a real or fancied grievance against, and either slyly or openly <but seldom the latter) gives the digger a nighly colored, one-sided version of some business transaction In which they received the shcrt end. The revenge seeker always paints himself as lily white in tell- ing the reporter how he was trim- med, and the person for whom the "knock'' is sought Is made to appear as a combination of Tracy the out- law, Desperate Desmond and ex- Kaiser Wilhelm. The tale of woe is never complete without the revenge seeker urging there Is no necessity for interview- ing the other party and getting his side. for. as they will tell you, he or she doesn't like the paper, never did, always "knocked" it and, far from talking to a reporter for it, wouldn't even give one the cour- tesy of passing the time of day. The digger listens, Jots down written notes, with mental reservations on the side, and seeks out the "other party" to check up with their side, if any—and—there usually is, con- taining frequently a bullet-proof contradiction of all that's been said, or a Justification for the treatment accorded the supposed Injured one, that upon Investigation appears ^hild In view of the provocation or*cir- cumstances. "The Other Side." This group does not by any means include the person with a real grievance. The person who tells a straightforward story of having re- ceived a rough deal at the hands of some tricky agent and produces In- disputable evidence to prove his story of unfair treatment, for in- stance. It isn't so very difficult for the trained reporter to spot the re- venge seeker from the individual with a valid kick. But to make sure, the other side" of the most conclu- sive and apparently ind:sputable talc of unfairness is investigated and the blame, if found to exist, placed where it belongs. There are a limited few the dig- ger queries on his rounds—some who have been reporter:: in their time and others who have never ;» the inside of a newspaper of- fice, who are alike endowed with a "nose for hews," or what may be termed a sense of-proportion in news values. Strange as it may seem to tns person, outside .the newspaper business, neither of these is as soft picking for the theatrical reporter as what might appear through the fact «<f them knowing what news Ifl and precisely what the dig b '« r is after. Provided a person of this type 1. a certain news for publication* he is apt to want it express* ■! in a way that best suits what he believes to be his own lnt< ts. The ex-re- p<rt«- r - usually.Wanti to write the story himself for th<- theatrical news digger. Not literally with r< n. pen- cil or typewriter, but subtly, through Imparting a veiled or often open suggestion or Imputation In th<-> phrasing of the yarn telling it. The other type, sonv Imei a le- gitimate prevuer, a vaudeville agent, picture man or representative of a theatrical asso iation, and ml- Boa newspaper exp* r;- l •-. very* of'en will unfold nine-tenths of a etory to the news digger willingly enough, but when It comrs to t"»e m:sslng tenth, will fence, parry and banter;ngly duck the badly wanted ur.'.old portion with a smile and "iousneas that tcr.vinces the d;gger he has se-ur<.i a'.i he's go.ng to get there. A- d the missing ele- ment must be dug frotn another source, more th~n likely a "l^ad" contained in the niae- ?nths he al- ready has. not intvction^ily. given as such but developed by the dig- ger, following an analysis of what he )\&* iv*»tt, tolO fuu/ishlTVK *> which, thoroughly threshed out, turns up the part Iter; makes the story complete. Familiar Types. A type every theatrical news dig- ger is familiar wfh is the fellow w**ho. like the one who swears him to secrecy after telling him of some in- cident that has been common knowl- edge for weeks, is the agent who acts mysterious and after much urg- ing admits he knows tome very, very Important news—bi t the reporter must not mention tl> agent's name. After much tacking and filling the important news Is finally disclosed by the agent, who reluctantly tells the palpitating reporter he (the agent) Is going to act as the reprc- s itative of a new act to be pro- duced shortly that will set the world afire. And then there's tl e ^ctor, legit, v%udeville or picture, the type is all the same. He wan'.* a little notice, but doesn't come right out with it. He or—yes. It's a she like as not— aUifti aqmeiMoK flWw •thte: "Pay. fta you take advertising? I was think- ing of putti. . in a page or half page soon—how much is a quarter of a page? Tes. the regular adver- tising solicitor for your paper*want- ed me to put an ad in when I was piaying two weeks ago, but I told him I was waiting to get fixed up." The reporter mildly interposes here that the would-be notice grabber has Just said he had been booked up solid for '-0 weeks since the be- ginning of August. That was what he wanted ;rlnted In the paper, 'asn't it 7 • And as the disappointed notice grabber disappears down the street along comes another familiar type— the showman who h*s a hatful of news, but who has to he rehearsed with a routine soi.ething like this: "Have you bought any new shows lately? Are you producing any? Has such and such a star quit vju? Did you break more than two rec- ords last week? Have you engaged any new stars? Is anybody suing you? Aro ypu v\'V{t orvb Jy? Are you going to produce? Have you st Id any of your 'heatres? Have you bought any lately? Are you golnt to Europe this year? Is there any- thing in the report you've boug.-t the Seventh avenue car birns and are going to turn them Into a com- bination burlesque theatre, vaude- ville house, roof garden, bowling al- ley and tea room?" And a few nore queries along similar lines. I;.it the most Important stories do not always emanate from big showmen. A theatrical' reporter never knows where a good "lead" or possibly a complete yarn may spring from. Perhaps a waiter, coat-room boy, cop. elevator man or some person not even remotely con- nected with theatricals may slip him a story of vital important. Several months ago a theatrical re- porter was miles away from the classic purlieus of Timet aajQare, and he overheard the details of a certain big theatrical deal t tat e.tme to pass later being discussed by two r.iz i M M HMMi aeted mtXh *ho** ,b*tsjf*« ness. When asked about the pro- posed deal in New Yorl: come time later, ;.ll the principals denied any. thing of the sort was in prospect. One of the principal when shown conclusively that the deal was in progress admitted that wun */>. hut requested that the news be held ts the matter was not completed and (Continued on aaur* pa i:' • SEASON'S GREETINGS Mme. IN- * Sir James M. Barries GREATEST ONE ACT PLAY Staged by MR. CLIFFORD BROOKE Routed Over B. F. KEITH CIRCUIT Business Representative, Harry Weber