Variety (March 1922)

'^!iKKmm IS LU11UK1AL5 ^rr^ Ifriday^ March 31, 192a niETY Trade Mark Tlcplstorcd PabUMhed Weekly by VABIKTV, lac. SIME FITA'EHMAN, rro8i<lfiit. 154 West 46th Street New Tork City BUPPCRTPTION: Annual 17 | Foreign, t»ingl« Copies M ,20 CentB VOL.. LXVI. lao No. 6 15 YEARS AGO Bc'ng BnnfJom Items TTrt^rintcd from Variety dated March 20, 1907. More vaudeville houses galore K. & E. Advanced Vaudeville pub- lished a list of 13 houses for the fol- lowing season with promises that the chain would take on additions before the scheduled start. At the same time the Orpheum Circuit an- nounced the addition of five towns to its list—Seattle, Spokane, Taoo- ma, Portland and Butte, making 18 weeks in all. Orpheum and SuUi- van-Considine were reported to have broken off relations and it was figured that the relations between "Big Tim" Sullivan and "The Syn- dicate" would Indicate some sort ol" alliance between those two factors. Jack Levy qualified as "the father of the Broadway cabaret." The agent was working on an innovation which he outlined as a proposition to approach all the big restaurant men and offer to book in a handful of vaudeville acts after the theatre only to encourage late supper trade. lie wanted to call the entertain- ments "The Jack Levy Supper Shows." The summer park business was at Its peak. Its growth had been phe- nomonal and many abuses had grown up connected with booking graft and other activities. A de- mand for a business administration was gaining in force and the air was filled with cries for a reform of methods as the season for out- door amusements approached. The Vaudeville Comedy Club and the "White Rats had been studying a new equitable form of contract sub- mitted by Percy G. Williams and formally endorsed the document Williams booked Marie Lloyd, the English comedienne, for an Ameri- can tour at a reported salary of $2,500. Williams was the leader of that time in bringing over foreign Btars. Another Williams booking was Elsie Janis. Miss Janis, a minor, had contracted through her mother as guardian to play uj;ider the management of the Aborn Bros., and that firm had farmed her out to Llebler & Co. at |750 a week. "Wine, Woman and Song" played its 200th performance at the Circle, New York,—Surrat and Gould re- sumed their old partnership, inter- rupted by Valeska Surrat's engage- ment in "The Belle of Mayfair" at Daly*s.—The close of Joe Welch's tour in "The Shoemaker" was an- nounced for April 15. Millie De Leon, "Till Girl in Blue," playing with a Western Wheel bur- lesque show In Detroit, was closed for the steenth time. This was her first performance of a new dance that was destined to agitate a num- ber of Monday afternoon audiences throughout the country before the police said "NoI" It was called "The Dance of the Seven Veils." Millie was then famous as a "corch" dancer niul only appeared in bur- lesque shows. "The" corch" now \h called the shimmy. AGENTS AND THEIR "COMMISSION" Variety's •ditorial about bookers in the independent agencies accept- ing money from agents to book certain acts, ' and the injustice of that procedure to the theatre owners the bookers represent, has brought several letters. One is from an artist It suggests Variety takes up the task of stopping the thing, not alone in the Independent agencies, but with all bookers of vaudeville. Incidentally he mentions agents them.selves as well. That would be a stupendous Job. Its feasibility is openly :.i ques- tion. But a story about booking graft here and there can do no harm. No circuit agency ever devised a plan to circumvent graft. Where one man nay slip another cash, by hand or letter, it's an impossibility to find means to prevent it. The receiver of the money, being willing, is therefore agreeable to take the chance of speedy or future exposure with his belief that as he received cash, his denial will be as effective as the ac- cusation of the giver, if such an accusation is made. It's the standing l<lea that one man's word is as good as another. That explainj, as is thoroughly understood, why checks or money orders are not wanted and often refused. All bookers, however, whether independent or in circuit agencies, are not wrong. There are some who have the reputation of \iever having ac- cepted a di.'-honest dol!ar, whether they knew it to be legally or morally dishonest. Too much publicity about this sort of thing would stamp the honest booker as dishonest, in general estimation. It's always to be avoided, giving a good man a I ad name. It's easier to give him a bad nam J than it is for the victim to recover from it. In this case it is much safer to believe only those who have accepted money to. book arc morally dishone.«-t, and thui-e not known to have accepted are honest. I3on't brand them all. About agents, that's another thing. The old agents* commission was 5 per cent. In New York State that was later made the legal fee for booking, with men who book professionals obliged to take out an agent's license through the Commissioner of Licenses in whatever city he or she might operate. The license department of New York City believes 5 per eent. of a vaudeville act's salary every week it works is quite liberal. The department figures as against the fee allowed for dramatic booking. 5 per cent, of the salary for the first 10 weeks of the engagement, equal to one-half of one week's salary in all. Of late years there have been but few agents booking acts for 5 per cent. only. Especially on the small time has that grown to be forgotten. It seems now to be a matter of bargaining between agents and acts. The agents call themselves "Artist.^' Kepresentative" and feel free pparently to charge as they please. Ten per cent, for the agent is common. It runs to 15 and 20 per cent, or perhaps a bulk amount, with possibly an agent given an agreed upon sum to secure booking over an entire circuit and the weekly commission to be in addition. This season there has been a case of where an agent, known as a vaudeville agent, cast the entire piece in a legitimate theatre, charging and collecting weekly 20 per cent, of the whole salary of all the cast. The star of the piece received Jl,200 weekly and paid her 20 per cent, witli the others. Variety reported the Appellate Term affirming a decision by a lower court in an action where the amount of an agent's charge or commission was in dispute. The higher court in aflirming the decision virtually said that anyone who secures employment is an agent and must operate under an agent's license; otherwise he is not entitled to make any charge for his services, with such charge under a license limited to 5 per cent. That decision, not the first of its nature, mfty lead to future regulation of agents and their charges through the licenso department but that won't affect nor stop the "slipping" by acts or agents to bookers. The Keith oflflce has persistently attempted to prevent an overcharge by any agent booking through the Keith ofl^ce. E. F. Albee time and again has issued announcements, in writing and verbally, informing all acts playing for the Keith office that no agent can charge them over 6 per cent, commission. Mr. Albee has even gone so far as to request arfy acts that might have paid more than 5 per cent, to its agent to inform him. To what extent that has operated on the big tiijie we don't know, but it certainly has had some beneficial effect, for it would at least make agents more timid about whom they "did business with." Mr. Albee, however, spoke only about his own booking office, which meant the big time. If the leading small time went after it the same way and kept after it, in days to come the 5 per cent, agent's con.mission would go back to its original time Avhen no more was demanded. Some agents now charge but 5 per cent. They are satisfied with that and state that they are; that they want no more. But those agents sometimes receive additional "commission" from acts accustomed to pay other agents and thinking the custom follows when they change booking representative. Matters of favoritism with bookers and agents come up in connection with "slipping" or over-payment of commission. Favoritism must creep in in those affairs, for in the show business as elsewhere, the reasoning runs to the easiest way of getting money. Perhaps this petty grafting may base the vaudeville booking business as It is pow conducted''. When a leader of the vaudeville business like E. F. Albee decides it is an evil and Issues announcements against it, then it is serious enough for everj booking office in the country to adopt the Albee method of trying to stop it. Bert Clark, British perfornft?r who had lately arrived in this counti-y after being expelled from the V. A. F. of England on charges of playing forbidden halls during a strike, was booked for his first American ap- pearance at Ilammerstcin's Vic- toria. Actors' organizations talked of demanding that the managers bar Clark and Hamilton. Clark in his own defense asserted he had not IKlaycd banned halls, that his course in the strike had been supported by leading English players and had paved the way for the arbitration of the dispute between players and managers in England. vaudeville and pictures and superior orchestras. But somehow it didn't work out that way. As regards pictures, the latter has proved a blgK» stumbling block than the vaudeville, and for the reasons below: That tha releasing companies for the greater part are sewed up witk contracts in all of the cities where the burlesque' managers wanted ta play the continuous policy made it difficult for b,urlesque to get anythint like a standard brand of prrduotions. The question of price must havt had something to do with it. The big picture houses pay big rentals for their attractions, and the burlesque managers have not as yet man- aged to grasp that angle. Attractions that bring . loney into the box office must be paid for. There is the matter of presentation of pictures. The day has passed when any audience will be satisfied with the mere dropping of a whit« sheet in one and the throwing thereon of a feature picture. They have been educated to sets, lights and music In the better picture hou.ses, and that is what they require if they are going tj see pictures. Despite thac the regular program product is sewed up in the greater part of the town.*? and the majority of exhibitors have protection clauses in their contracts, doesn't mean that it is impoysible for the burlesque houses to get good pictures if they want to pay. the price. There are any number of productions In the open market that could be secured, and for the greater part these are such that are far better suited to the burlesque Iiouse than they are to the regular picture theatre. Some Columbia people feel that the t mo (Lent) was not propitious for trying the experiment. Coi nteracting this contention is the fact the Columbia houses with stral,q;ht burlesque hu\o done better during Lent than the ones with continuous. ' ' ' . ^ MAKE THE RADIO PAY The "big six" association of electrical apparatus manufacturers must from the present outlook carry on the broadcasting service which is the real selling argument for radiophones. There are concerns outside the combination making radiophones, the popular manifestation of wireless telephonic transmission; in fact, numerous new companies sprung Into existence as the craze spread. But by the very nature of the competition in radiophone making it is more than ever up to the leading companies tci "spread stuff" via the broadcast idea. The managers of the broadcasting stations know well a dry program ' counts pretty much the same as a flivver in a theatre. Radiophone devotees are not compelled to listen in any more than they must attend a bad show. The problem of the brodacasting manager is quite different from that of any other caterer to public tastes. It is up to him to to entertain as many radiophone users as possible. If the interest is not kept into high gear, sales of instruments will decline. The individual or home with a cheap receiving set is a potential buyer of a high' powered radiophone device, just the same as the man with a tin Lizzie is a prospect for a regular car. Radiophone manufacturers know this, or should. Recently one of the big company ofilclals sent out word that something like $5,000,000 would be spent on broadcasting service In the next year. The specific amount is not so much material as the recognition of the makers that entertain* ment must be provided to radiophone lovyrs. For the professional the Interesting angle Is how the broadcasting managers intend spending[^ the money. ^ It is a certainty that the professional who performs Into the radio- transmitter, whether a musician, vocalist, mojiologist or professional^^ leeturer, will receive a fee for the service, if that is not true in some.^ cases already. The amount to be paid will vary just as it varies on-' the stage and for talking machine record work. The price an artist ' asks for radiophone work does not need to be a set amount any more- than in the other fields. ThV opportunity to increase fees for a second,* third or subsequent radiophoire rendition Is patent. The main idea is to make the radiophone pay. If the new craze Is to be counted in any way opposition to the amusement field, that is all the more why artists should refuse to broadcast gratis. The argu* ment that it "is an adv." is obsolete. If the broadcasting manager uses , as a convlncer that nothing is received from the radiophone owner for j service, he is telling it his way only. The vast sales of Instruments are guaranteeing dividends to the big manufacturers and the small as well^ That is where "they get theirs." To sell automobiles and then stop making tires xyould be about the same as slopping broadcasting service and trying to sell radiophones. COLUMBIA'S "CONTINUOUS" FAILURE The fsrtiure of the Columbia Amusement Co.'s continuous burlesque policy to take hold satisfactorily, in the opinion of informed burlesque people, can be traced to several reasons. The most important one ap- pears to be that the Columbia sliurt-slghtedly tried to compete with the regular vaudeville houses, with an inferior grade of show, $200-$250 covering the weekly salaries for the two acts appearing in the vaude- ville section of the continuous part of the performance. In every Co- lumbia city there is a vaudeville house that shows a complete vaudeville bill of small time calitre (but more pretentious than the Columbia's two acts) at a 50-cent top scale, as against the Columbia's $1.25 top. The same applies to the picture houses, every Columbia town holding several first-class film places showing the best the market affords in picture.*?, w ith a large orchestra, for 50-75, and in many cases less. That burlesque was included, the Columbia people figured as overcoming the better ' Broadcastino entertainment should be a variety program. Instru- mental or classical music service without the leavening of humor of popular numbers and songs will compress the value of the service. 'The vaudevillian therefore should have as prominent a spot on "the bill" as the operatic song bird. Some people can be wooed to sleep at the finest concert recitals, while others are In rapture. The radiophone doesn't seek class patrons; it wants all kinds of buyers. At the recent radio- phone convention it was noticed that suburbanites and ruralltes attended in volume. A radiophone in the country sounds like one way of breaking the tedium of the farm. That class of owners doesn't want to drowse listening to a high brow wireless concert. They have plenty of time to sleep. It is possible that revenues from radiophone broadcasting will be a silver lining for the professional who has been buffeted by a bad season. The big men in the radio field are shaping its coursd*by means of gov- ernmental control of wave length to be permitted radiophone broad- casting. There are many other problems to solve before the new force will be made exact In transmission and receiving. If it should develop that a series of broadcasting stations will be able to successfully operate within the same territory without jamming each other, that will roeto opening a wide field fpr professionals. It will mean competition in service. Perhaps some way of charging the owners of receiving sets will be worked out. If so the prospects would be indeed bright. It !• significant that makers of talking machine records are starting to restrict j their artists from broadcasting. It is true, of course, that entertainment via radiophone is quite similar to the talking machine. Mechanical records of that kind turn back to artists much money In royalties. There can be nothing like that with the radiophone, which Is all the more reason .vhy the professional should mako the radiophone pay. weeks v.ere cani iHi J.—The rei)oited alliance of the Shuberts and U. Ji. O. against K. ^ K. was to the lore again. Hr. rry Tate's "Fishing" playing U, B. O. time was cancelled at Shea'.«', Pnffalo, when one of the original i>iayer.s in the act did m t npprar. The turn alsi was fined $250 by .*=5hea and eight remaining (,Earn«v) M\ers Sc Keller Uidw. .S.), one I'f ,tUe hading agencies, was barrtd from U. K. O. booking on the presumed gioimd that they had done business with the .^yndieat^\ Tlie declaration came from the Keith side the same aclion wonM be taken with any other agent that played 1 I.til sUU.-j of the llgljt. The r.rtat Herrmann was book* vl ab'oad f( r a nv^-m^nths* tour.— Marshall 1'. \Nil<l<r had frani* d up a full evf ninj,''s entertainment com- posed of his stories and moving pic- tures of his world travels with a humorous lecture.—Adgie Costello, woman lion tamer, was looking for a dramatic sketch built around her cage turn. Arthur P.uckner had not gone in for selling quarter intert-ts in mul- tiples o! five and was doing a trick bicycle act—Kugcno and Willie Howard had been booked in vaude- ville up to the following Mareh. The awards und"/* the aibitratio.i agrccmont which had ended the English sfriko were being delayed while George AsUwith, labor com- missioner, took ♦n«lles^ t'stiniony. The musicians had finished their case and the tribunal undertook the examination of the artists. All awards were to be announced when all branches of the theatre had com- pleted tho testimony and the arbi- trator had studied the whole sub- ject. To tlie amazement of the circu.s world tho Uarnum & Bailey circus made it known that it would not play th . customary Brooklyn, Jer- sey and Philadelphia dates follow- ing tho IMadison Square garden en- tragement. Instead it would jump <lirect from the rjarden to i:«adin;jr. Pa., and then strike for the Middle Wc St. OthfT circus items were to tii*^ cTeet that tJil Robinson, brother of "Governor" John Robinson of Cin- cinnati, attended his 33rd consecu- tive opening of the Barnum show at the Garden. Robinsons nephew-, France Reed, sold his own circus to Ilargreaves and went w ith the Wal- lacc-IIagenbeck outfit as equestrian director. The Hanneford Family i« P^^^" ing a full week's engag< tnent »t the JNiuMic, Brooklyn, an inJe- pend« nt vamleville niT' Y'ic^^J^ housr*. Fally Markus benlM.l tlie act. Th*^- salary is |!,:^^. TPe !lann« fnrds have been iliyi'^? tue i=:hul,'^Mt Aaudeviilc circ^iit and tooK the Ibpnblic date to fill in <i" ^P*^" week. V