Variety (September 1921)

Us Friday, Septcmbor 2, 1921 VAUDEVILLE X'S VAUDEVILLE BOOKINGS BID FOR BY KEITH AND SHHBERT Diviiiion of Opinion by Fox People—Sliuberts Make / Strong Play—May Continue Independently as at f Present. t ^- w The booking of the William Fox nudevtlle theatres is bangiug in the air just now—between the Keith, Shul>crt and Fox's own yaudeyille a«<'ncies. Dormant for several weeks over the tomiiKi, after the Shuberts and Keith's bad each in turn talked the booking matter over with people of llhe Fox. circuit, the subject underwent a revival last week, when, according Jo repo it the Shuberts resumed their ^mpaiffn to secure the Fox houses *for their vaudeville booking offices. William Fox is said to have had a Jang conference with liee Shubert, in K« Inttor's office. Upon the conclu- Bon of it, Fox repaired to his own Vaudeville agency, calling in the heads ^f that department, and talked the natter over with them at some length, according to the story. Fox found, it is aaid, his lieutenants favored the Keith office, if a change ^ Fox bookings were to occur. If^ey thought the big and small time £ekl 88 preventad to them by Keith's offered a wider range for the selection Vf nets, while, they claimed, the Shu- :1^rt8 were limited to their vaudeville ipotitmrts. with all of the contracts of the Shuberts prescribing the salary, thereby cutting off the opportunity for ]|'ox to "buy" at the best price, as Hiir»uld be their option in an open ^auirket "I William Fox is reported to have Strongly advocated a Shubert con- nection. Fox's interests with the ,Jhuberts in theatres and the renting ftthem for picture exhibitions, while e possibility of the Shuberts as F'' film customers arc said to have weighed most heavily wi^h the Fox Incliuation. Keith Bid. ' The Keith proposal to Fox made jftome months ago wqh said to have rbeen for Fox to retain his present booking quarters but to select any Keith net denired. Hitherto Fox has , and had been "slipping" Keith acts Jbto his programs, with Keith-Moss liousea opi>osing the Fox theatres at aeveral points. The Shubert inducement is the connection to line up against the Keith nnd Moss houMCM with the Shu- berth OS a bane for feature attrnc- -fions. The advantage to Shuberts would be the addition of the Fox time in weeks to their books, while the Ke'th benefit 88 figured, besides k^SKibly the office couuniKKion. would tie the elimination of Fox as a com- petitor signiust Keith houHCM, with Pox ;\t the i(|me liiue removed as a proHpeetive ally. With the Keith bookings in the TWO AGENTS NOW OF HORWITZ & KRAUS Biggest of the Small Time Agency Firms Separates Small time's biggest agency firm dissolved this week. Ita partners were Arthur J. Horwita and Lee Kraus, who will continue to book turns on the small time aa separate and independent agents. Both partners agreed the parting was agreeable and each avowed the fondest of concern for the other's future. ' The dissolution was caused, the two agents said, through condi- tions which had arisen, each believ- ing he can operate alouc with more personal benefit Horwita & Kraus formed about three years ago under an agreement for five years. Arthur J. Horwita then held a Loew Circuit book'ng franchise. He had advanced himself as a small time agent and was re^ ceiving recognition. Jjee Kraua was known as a Chicago agent, occupying something of the same reputation in the Chicago independent booking field. The partnership formed, with Krnus coming to New York, rapidly developed, with the firm extensively promoting itself into the lead of all- of the small time agents. Horwitz Sc Kraus opened branch offices, did a thriving business, and last year they were said to have netted around $90,000 profit. In the dissolution Horwitz retains nil of the firm's acts ond its offices in the Loew Annex building, with the branches. Sadie Kusell is the office manager. Miss Kusell is iT Chica- goan, srister of Dan. Kusell Kraus has taken offices in the Put- nam building. His interest in the firm was purchased outright by Hor- witx, for nn ngree<l upon amount that both expressed satisfaction over. extending over several weeks, in which the Great lA*on and other magicians disputed the i«oIdin claims to origin- ality and ownershi|). iioU\ n will con- tinue iu the larger Keith houKes with the illusion. Fox houses it is quite apt that the | sio". following a controversy B. S. MoHs theatres now leagued with the Keith eip^iilt ;.YFepld have to re- ceive careful fJitntfU^rittion in the way •f future boolbreoittingeniies, also the result of m^^aHiii^ business rela- tions that mirt|^«|S^ie i>etwee» K. S. Moss and Wijltai9[v)py>x if both were «*Jfr one ijadf. tigi^fatiw»l.v. The h\M0iiUi%4J^ booking people are of «,e:^iMili<»Jhnt they can go (ijeng in the. biiittlle of t!ie road as they have bofW-*rtfcg. and with the ^^ances the t)ooklrtg condition around -«ew York this>.«eiitiMi may provide thorn with what they are" looking for Without any he9ilciiij|( affiliation. L l^P to Wedtt^^*y the Fox book- Mfs ere Ktill l^l||iQg. One of the retsons for the itt^an^ion is said to J* *oxs lapse front ^vaudeville nctiv- J*^- /r'»«'«''>K»> his i>ersonal attention w thp pnture end and theatre op- •rttsng. Tox is reported somewhat «r«milittr with curriut vaudeville. •^•n in his own houHCH. *>0K COLLEOE OLEE CLUB The Ohio Wesleyan rniversilv Glee Jjub fallowing a morning showing at «^ ral:,re Aug. 24. wns booked ns 112 '*! "^ ^'''^ I'ttUcc work of Sept. ^•» 1 ' *'"'* in^hiUes 17 men. all kIPMuatrs of the nniversilv. r*i*ire<ily after the Palace showing f »^ Moo Clnh snihvl fo l»anama to i!"'<jri. ... the r. S. (;ov<Mnment forces '•tik ?'."'^' " previous entertainment '^ ti ''''" '*'*'*^*' '" honor of Tresi- _" Hardin- having resulted in the [■•wm.i as.^ignnjont. Paul Durand*. >««'d the Keith booking NO. 2 "VIVISECTION t» N. V. A. Establishes Goldin's Rights to Illusion Horace Goldin has produced a number 2. "Sawing a Woman in Half" illusion, with the Great Jan- sen. The turn opens Sept. 4, at the 12r)th St. Marinelli has the act. The N. V. A. recently decided that Goldin han the sole right to pro- duce the "Sawing a Woman" illu- NO ROCK-WHITE DEAL Killy Uock was tendered a proposi- tion by the Shuberts l.nst week, call- ing for a re-forming of the old Hilly Uock and Francos White combination for Shubert vaudeville, the proposal iucludimg a 20 week route and $.{.000 salary for the team. Uock passed up the offer. He has almost rocovcreu )nn htallh, following a scriou!^ operation for intestinal trouble several weeks ago. SHUBERT'S NEWARK MAN Frank L. Smith has been appointed manager of the Uialto. Newark, which will play Shubert vaudeville. Smith was formerly connected with the Spigel picture enterpri.ses as publicity man. Tho Uialto is undergoing com- plete renovation, and is scheduled to open Labor Day (Sept. 15). ILLNESS STOPS FOY For the first trine In his entire career IMdie Foy v.a.s f,»rced to eon- cel a vaudeville date when he called off an cngHKt'mrnt for the ciiirent week ot the Colniiibia. Far Uockaway, owing to throat tronhle. Victor Moore and l^ninia Littlelield took the vacancy. KATHRYN ANDREWS of TED AND KATHRYN ANDREWS Terpaichoreaa marvels of grace and ability. Have been playing con- secotively in New York for the long- est while. To remain at the Moulin Rouge and open in the New Show on Monday, Sept. 5, still continuing at the Cafe de Paris aod Little Club, having played all three places con- currently all this season. BLACK JACK TOMATO AS LIGHTS GO OUT Con Drops *'CoiipIa Grand" With Referee's Help Syracuse, Sept 7. Dear Chick: Tomato and me got an awfuU deal in Troy Ia«t Thursday night. Wc made the burg to box a local kid named Socks Conroy. It used to be a great sportin town about 20 years ago but about all they have left of the original cast is Johnny I'^vers, Arrow Collars, and a couple of fight promoters who make the James Boys sound like milk bottle pinchers. This Conroy kid has been knock.n them all cookoo and they offer us good jack to come on and quarrel with him. I grabbed the match for I seen Socks box a coupal times and I know that for Tomato, he's no co'u- test. My kid is in great shape and I figure it will be a nire workout for him. If Conroy behaves I was even figurin on lettin Tomato hold him u[) for 10 so we could do a come back later on. You know he's cleaocd most of these up state hitters and it's SH tough as navy recruitin. pickin them. We blast into Troy Thursday aft- ernoon and they have the bout b:lle<l like a circus with 23 sheets all over town. After we register at the Uensalcar Inn. John McCilyon who runs the slab, spills me an ear- full about them w.^ntin to lay hiiu two for one that Sockn stops To- mato before the finish. This is roo soft for your ox-chef sa I lam to grab yome of that sugar before the authorities at Matlewan hear about it. I never seen so much confidence in my life and had no trouble ot all bettin a coupla grand and gettin two to one. Thisiuado rae thouKhtfnll. for the sure thing Iwyn. never offer you anything bat sea weed for your dpuRh. unless they have ares ha-k to buck. I couldn't find nothin wrong after no.sin around and bu/.zin .some friend.s of mine v.-lio worked in tlw c<dlar .shops but I decided to look for any- thing. I made C'onroy take off his bandages in the ring and even frisked his tights to be sure he didn't pull nothin new but everv liiioK .seniHvl jake and up and np. I fiRiirod the referee would cjive ii.s the old slow count and all tlint hut thi:< k'd was snrh a push ovnr for 'i')- innto that it didn't make no'diffor- enoe about the book kropin. Once Tomato ropped him on the btitto:) they could count up to nine million without di.^tnrbin him any. I sent Tomato out to get hrm a.s soon as he rould for I didTi't want to take any rhanres in view of them (uUla. Am soon a.*! the bell r:>nj» To- mato walked over and dropped him in ]\ls tracks with a lonj; s-winp that Uij; T<'ss could have blocked. .Socks wasn't tliroUKh but he stayed down on one knee li.steuin to the Victr^di and if was only a (pieslit>n of wheth r (lie iirxf i)iiiicli look ifiin or the «»n«* after that. [ sf(«r) his iiiauajjer runrn'n ff»r t'li ba< k of the biiildin but. didu't ^^y any attention at the time for I was bold- BOOKED BY KEITH AT $3,000, FIELDS MAY PLAY SHUBERTS Billed For September 4 at San Francisco Oi-pberum, Comedian Still in N. Y.—Marinelli Has Claim For $6,000 Managerial Fees on 40 Weeks. Unless licw Fields opens at th« Orpheum, San Francisco, next Sun- day afternoon, Sept. 4, and proceeds t1h>reafter to fulfill contracts for 30 additional weeks on the- Keith and Orpheum circuits, the Orpheum, San Francisco, engagpmcjjit. being the in- itial date of a 40-week tour, the bookings of which were entered into for Fields by the Marinelli office, a legal action by the Marinelli office against ' Fields for approximately $G,000 is a probability, according to an executive of H. It. Marinelli, Ltd. Fields, according to Marinelli, on Aug. 1, or thereabouts, gave him (Marinelli) full authority to arrange a route for him ou the Keith and Orpheum circuits Fields to appear in an act com- posed of Gve scenes from the Selwyn show, "Snapshots of 1021," which closed recently at the Selwyn theatre, fields was to be supported by a company of 20, the "Snapshots" scenes including "The Hat Shop," "Fiternal Triangle," "Jap- anese sccno," 'Sally number," and "Spanish number," the latter the first net finale of "Snapshots." Ac- cording to Marinelli. Fields specifics!- iy appointed MarineMi his (Fields) manager, and also authorized Mari- nelli to look after the net Fields was to hesd. Marinelli claims Fields also delegated him to assist at rehearsals MnrineUi says neeordin^ly, he pirk^d out the five scenes of "Saap.shots" he tlmu^ht best sniied ->r vaudeville, Marinelli. accordingly went ahead nnd arranged a 40-week Keith and Orpheum route for F'elds, the route in(hiding'two consecutive weeks at the Palace, New York, in February, and a third week later in the season. at a salary of $3,000 weekly for 35 weeks, and $2,750 for the other five of the 40. The booking arraugcmcnt also called for Fields to receive an advance of $7,500 to be paid back to the booking office at the rate of $5<X) weekly. The $7,500 was to be used by Fields to pay the Selwyn.s for scenery and props of the five **Snap- shots" scenes mentioned, and to de- fray author's fees for the use of the material. In arranging with Mari- nelli to book him. Fields, Mirinelli H.'tys emphasixed the fact that he, Fi<'ldH. was not under contract to nuybody and was absolutely free to deni witli whoever he desired. Wednesday of last week Marinelli asserts he was informed by Fields' attorney that Fielda had committed hiiuself to the Shuberts, and ho (Fields' attorney) did not think Fields would fill the Orpheum Frisco date Sunday. Sept 4. Matters stood as above on Wednes- day, with Marinelli, the Keith and Orpheum Circuits marking time necessarily until next l^unday. Fields is billed to open in Frisco by the Or- pheum people. When delegating him to arrange time on the Keith and Orpheum Cir- cuits, Marinelli claim" Fields toM h m the Shuberts iiad proffered a 20-week proposition on the Hhuttert vaudeville circuit. bu^ that he (Felds) had turned it down, •» be wanted a 40-week route. Tom North Leaves Tom North, formerly with Pathe, is leavinj; for .Viistrnlin th's week to act ns special renresentative for the First National Fxhibitors Corp. 1I# will be gone about six months. VIC STONE AND MOVER SISTERS Just iinislied two years solid bookiiiKH on Iajcw Circuit. Further Huccesa nnd best wishcH to the Loew Circuit. Our iM'rKonal thrinkH t,» you. Mr. .1. H.Lubin. Direetiou (il'AKiUK HOFUA.VSKI in Tomato'.H balli rolie all ready t» help liii!i out of the ring u.s hooii jh the Hiaughter w;ks over. .\t the nine rouut SorkH Kf'fs iiii .ind wrap.s hiinsMf up in his uruj-s, bendin over neriily iu half. Toin:it<» (akes a rou|)la punelie-^ at hix f jre- arni.s and tln'u tricM to pull one of li M gloves away \'nnu Ins jaw to fin- ish him. .lu.st at thi:; inoinenl every lij;hf in the joint k<H'H out. I wan about to jiiini» into the (laikeu'-d linx and feel around for my f >:liter but wn.s afraid they ini^jlit rli.s(|ualify liitn if the iJKht.M M'ent u;) r.nd 1 wa.s in the riii>;. In a few .seconds tlir* lights are .«^wit(•hed on and there liej* Tomato out on the floor With ('onroy holdin hiin.Helf up- 1 i^ht by griibbin the to|) rope, while sl;ii»peiin like :i drunken Kailor. The referee .start.s to count but I jumped in and draKged the kid to his corner, forfeitin the figiit, for I know he ,'tint Koin to (oai(> around for a Ions; wh h>. It took nie 10 niinuteH to revive him and theu he lo!d iii« jiiHt what I suHperted. Tlie referee wnH ill on the fruincv When Ik* mjw that Conroy war* t!irou<;h hr» Rjivr the office to the K'ly Inndlin the 1 ghtH. Thi.s bird turned (li<>m off. V»'hile the place i.s u.s bl.K U ,..i .loe (Jan.H, the referee reac'i .s iii.o fils Moise, liriiiKM out a ja>i. ind Kips Toniat) on the cl ii:ie. .liMiipiii him like a loR. lie :<wore after the ficht that just ;js flie Itght.s went out Conroy let fly with a wild M\v II'; tliit l.no 1;'d niy kid dead. Coni-oy conldn't nUt\i To- mato if the kid had on liand< uft'i and shackles and they let Soek.s go in with . u I /linn club in each <ltike. Utit try and lunke I hem hel'eve th.-^t in 'i'ro4 Your oH pal, Con.