Variety (July 1922)

Friday, July 7, 192i TWO WEEKS' NOTICE CUUSE IN SHUBERTS' ARTISTS' CONTRACT; Booking Office Claims It Applies Only to Produc- tion Engagements—Form Headed ''Shubert Ad- vanced Vaudeville Contract** Several clauses In the contract fornn lately iesucd and headed "SJiu- bert Advanced Vaudcvil! Contract," "OfTlcial Ptrformers Conti'act," hnve brought co»*i»n<^nt from aetorH and ngents. One clause carries a two wcrks' notice of lanctllation by either party. The Shuberts had announced a play or pay contract for their vau- deville; tilt coming season. When Arthur Klein, general booking man- ager for fcshubort vai^evillo, was '• AKked concerning the two weeks' notice clause, li^- replied: "That does ^. not apply to vaudeville. We scratch that out for vaudeville acts. It Is 7-Intended, only for production en- gagements." The Shuberts are said to have a . separate pro<luction actor-contract. The contract for Shubort vaudeville, &H it reads, reads only for vaudeville, mentioning and referring to the unit lihows, also to acts engaged. Another clause says: "This con- tract .shall be construed only ac- cording .to the laws of the State of Kew York and any suit or action thereon or following therefrom shall be brought and shall be maintain- able only hi a court held within the county and State of New York, and shall not be brought or maintain- able in any other county or state." Theatrical attorneys ask«d con- cerning the clause confining legal • action against the Shuberts v.nder I the vaudeville contract to the county (Manhattan) and State of New York, asserted its legality was gravely open to question. The contract in many of its points ;_ contains the standard vaudeville conditions, and is reprqduced in full ■ hi this issue. For the revue shows the Shuberts aprce to furnish wardrobe, although the act must provide itself for its H|)e« iality. Another section says th.'it while the act's-material is lestricted exclusively to the act, any othor stoge material used by tho members of the act in the revue portion will become part of the per- formance and may thereafter be iisod by the show, meaning that that Material is subject to copyright '■^ nlong with the remainder of the performance (unit revue). Attorneys Kay a sharp definition should be ex- pressed in writing in the contract ever this |>rovision. '.It is not known as yet whether the Shubert form of contract is the same as the form being used by fcshubert vaudeville producers. Each (Continued on page 22) JOHNSON LOST WEIGHT A. E. Johnson of the Wirth- Blumenfeld agency returned to New York Tuesday, after a long Euro- pean trip with J. J. Shubert. A.sked how things were on the '. other side, Johnson pointed to his "waist line, statifig he had lost 15 -: pounds while away. Mr. Johnsop attributed his loss to fast traveling. Shubert and himself having visited many countries. All nutritious foods were obtainable on the other side, ho said, though a scarcity of milk and sugar existed in Berlin. ^ The best variety bill abroad they had seen, mentioned the agent, was at the Circus Schumann, Copen- hagen. They traveled extensively in Germany and Austria, besides making the northern countries, as ■well as England and France. While booking a number of for- eign artists and acts for the Shu- berts, Mr. John.son stated he c»)uld notvinnounce names. Ceorge Edwards Asked to Write Los Angeles, July 5. Mrs. George Kdwards is recover- ing at the An,u:eles Hospital here -Irom a major operation performrd : June 29 by Dr. Charles Bryson. Mrs. Edwards says she has lost the address of her husband, of the Ed- wards and ^Edwards shooting act, and would like to have him im- KicUiutcJy couamunkate with her. $25,000 VERDICT Judgment Against 8. Z. Poh for Dorothea Antel New Haven, July 5. After being out three hours the jury sitting in Judge AUyji L. Brown's court\a\vardcd damages o( $25,000 to Dorothea Anlel in her suit for $100,000 against Sylvester Z. Poll ^ast VVe(Tnes lay niKht. Miss Antel, vaudevlllian, was injured while playing Poll's I'alace, Hart- ford, Dee. 29, 1913. The award is the l.irgest ever given in a negligence action in Con- necticut, tho highest prior to this suit being in a case where the com- plainant lost both arms and won a 120,000 verdict. The actress was represented by Joseph Slrau.^H, a New York attorney, and Charles S. Hamilton, of this city. The suit consumed three weenij and two dayjs, during which time 32 witnesses were called. Miss Antel, when the accident occurred was playing the Palace as the lead in •The Night Boat." 4 Lewis A, Gor- don production act. While making a costume change, she slipped on a piece of broken concrete and ted to the stage, injuring her spine. Eight physicians testified during the trial, showing the sciatic nerve was displaced and permanent sciatica the resuH with deformity of the left leg a manifestation. The actress was wheeled into court aevera» times on a stretcher. Poll was covered by liability in- surance to the amount of $10,000, which was the sum offered in set- tlement prior to the trial. The man- ager was 'represented by lienjamln Sladc, of New Haven and Judge Foster of Ri'idgeport, the latter act- ing for the Insurance company. The action was brought here instead of Hartford because of New Haven being Poll's vesidence. Miss Antel is a resident of New York. TABS BREAK MORRI- SON'S VAUDL RECORD Rockaway Beach House, Big Time for 25 Years, Is Changed 'BURLESQUE IHE CLEANEST Morrison's, Rockaway Beach, last Thursday started With a combina- tion of musical tabloid, vaudeville and pictures policy. The tab or- ganization operates on the order of stock burlesque, with a change of bill weekly. The tab company was organized and is operated by Fred Clark, manager of one x>f Jacobs & Jermon's shows on the Columbia wheel last season, and interested v.ith John Jcrmon ia the Columbia show "Let'.«» Go" next season. In- cluded in the tab cast are Many Seamon and other burlesque people. The changing of policy at Morri- son's marks the first time in 25 years or more the house has not played straight vaudeville of the big time type. Keith has booked the house every summer for a scoi« of years. The Morrisons are not operating the house this season, having rented it to outside parties. Two performances daily are given of tho burlesque tab section of the show, with the pictures and vaude- ville making it continuous. R. R. Strike Hits Albany District Albany, N. Y., July 5. Albany theatres were dealt an- other heavy blow with the advent of the railroad strike this week. Nearly 5,000 employes are out in this city and Rensselaer, where the big shops of the New York Central and Boston & Maine companies are located. It is estimated over 10,000 men in the Capital District laid down their tools. TREASUREB SENTENCED Chicago, July 5. Joseph Cadmus, former treasurer of the Palace, Milwaukee, and a relative by marriage of Morris Meyerfeld, Jr., of the Orpheum cir- cuit, was sentenced to one year in the Wisconsin penitentiary by Judge Joseph Backus in the Munic- ipal court of Milwaukee, this week, on a charge of embezzlement. Cadmus, several months ago, was arrested in Brooklyn, N. Y., for a shortage of $90 in his accounts and extradited to Milwaukee. It was his second offense, it la said. The Orpheum officials decided an exam- ple must be made. LAFAYETTE THEA. SETTLES Buffalo, July 5. Before trial of the action started by Harry WiBrtkins for salary through summary cancellation un- der a play or pay contract against the Lafayette Square theatre here, the theatre .settled with the. act, paying its claim in full. The case had been set down for trial and Watkins was present pre- pared to go on with it. Hip, Frisco, Split Week San Francisco, July 5. The Hippodrome started last week on a 'split-week policy, al- yr»ou,;h it had previously been an- nminced that the regular full week policy would be maintained. REVUE WITH AMATEURS ONLY AS VAUDEVILLE ATTRAQION Franklin, in Bronx/ Trying It Next Week—^Ten Turns, All from Neighborhood—Called ''Bronx Follies''—Gus Edwards Picking Cast James Fotheringham, manager of B. S. Moss' Franklin in the Bronx, has hit upon another new angle through which the "opportunity" or "amateur" night idea may be worked as a publicity booster for a vaudeville house. The first half of next week (July 10) Fotheringham will present a ten-act turn at the Franklin calle<l the "Bronx Follies," to be composed of eight girls and two buys, all P.ronx amateurs. The act is to be a revue with the spe- cialties interpolated throughout a piece holding a thiead of a story. Ctus Kdwords is pieking the girl candidates for the turn, th«' selec- tions being from photos sent to the theatre. The two boys were chosen from a recent "opportunity" night contest at the Franklin. (Jeorge Thompson will produce the act. Solly ^-^ehwartz, manager of Keith's, JtMsey City, has for some time b«» n running "amuteur ni^lits" with the peopFe appeaTfrig camou- flaged in a minstrel lirst part. The Franklin exjxTiment appears to be the tirst instance of a vaudeville house playing an art wholly made up of amateurs. BENEFITS FOR AGENTS The Association of Vaudeville Artists' Representative?*, composed of agents booking in the Keith office, has arranged with two in- surance companies to pay benefits to its members. A member meet- ing with an accident or becoming ill receives $25 weekly for the period of his incapacity. There is a death benefit of $1,000, if death is from natural causes. If death is cr u^-ed by accident the death benefit is ir.- creased to $2,000. The directors of the A. V. A. R. will meet Friday (today) to discuss the holding Of an entertainment in the fall. SOME OF FIELDS' PEOPLE Some <»r llio peoyde engage<1 foi the Xew Frerds-i>hulKM't vaudeville unit show that Mr. Fi,eMs will per- sonally head ave the M*lody Charmers. Broadway Saxophone Six, Hurry Cooper. ShaiU>w McNeil, Two Leightons and Baby Josephine. The writers on Variety who are familiar with burlesque as they are wit^ other forms of musitml com- edy entertainment, claim that bur- lesque, as represented by the Co- lumbia attractions, is the cleanest performance on the stage. By fttage, they refer to New York, al- I though if tho shows that leave the Columbia theatre, New York, give tho same entertainment elsewhere they are the cleanest on any stage in America. No vulgarity of dialog or action; no shimmy nor cooch dancing, and no bare legs. Those have been the standing rules for standardization Of the American Columbia burlesque shows that play the Columbia, week in and out during the season. Musical comedy permits shimmy- ing and cooch, suggestive situations, questionable dialog and bareness to the point of nudene.ss. Vaudeville varies according to the theatre played in, yet in some of the best theatres things slip by the man- agerial eye and ear, or are rein- serted after the first performance, that the Columbia, New Yoik, in its burlesque .shows will not stand for. Yet in the Columbia a performey, knowinc he has a punch line or gag. or bit of business, might seek to in- troduce it after it has hftjl been cen- sored out during the Monday per- formance there. He might do this with the connivance of the traveling manager—never with the house manager. Executives of the Columbia Amusement Company for some years caught the incoming Columbia the- atre shows at its stand a we^ or so away from Broadway. They Would censor it then, and again when it opened at the Columbia, New York. One show .some seasons ago that had not been caught, through press of affairs at the home office before it reached the Columbia, New York, caused a string of "cuts" at the first performance'that used up all the envelopes the managerial pocket held. It did not seem If the cuts were enforced there would be any "show'' left. The cuts were enforced, and vigilance maintained during the week that none of the cut-out stuff went back into the perfor- mance. The executives talked over this performance. It struck them that a company doing a show like the one that had been so heavily cut would commence to "cheat" again after leaving tho Columbia. They called up Variety and asked if the staff reviewer who had caught the show at the Columbia would see it again at the Casino, Brooklyn. He would be supplied with a full list of the cuts, the Columbia man stated, and the request was made for the Variety reviewer as he would be unknown at the Casino, whereas any of tho Columbia group could not enter the house without being rec- ognized. The purpose, said the Co- lumbian, was to know if tljat show would disregard orders and reinsert the objectionable material. "If it does," we will throw it off the wheel immediately and close the house for the remainder of the week if necessary," said the Columbia executive, one of the most severe in all burlesque for "clean 8how.s." The Variety man caught the show, seated in the gallery of the Casino at the Monday night per- formance. He reported that but few of the cuts had been placed back and that those fe\. were not material. In fact, he was more lib- eral minded concerning burlesque shows than the managerial censor. This managerial censor goes to the extremes in eliminations. He often confuses spice with smut, not because he can not detect the dif- ference, but through his sensitive- nes.s on what may be said about "burlesque." Many convers.itions have bc<'n had with him by Variety men. He once said to one of them: "I know all about what other shows are do- ing. I have seen stuff pulled on Broadway th.it I couldn't utuler- stand how it ever got over on the stage, e.en the first nipht, but that doesn't make any difference to us. Tills is l>urles<iue. For years bur- lesfjue has been i»ounded. It didn't make .'iny difference whether it was oi.e of our (Columbia) shows or just Hori« turkey, it was burlesque the papers or the pe(»ple said. Now if there Is the slightest thing off here, we would be erit i<-i.ved, not I >» rtui Si- it_ ofKn«1 ed anyone-, bu t Just because it is burlesque. "We hav«- to b*- careful. 1 imprt-s.^^ it upon all produceis. \V'o hope to sr«> the time when y,'v can make I tlu! public and newspapers under- stand that our burlesque Ib riot the burlesque they believe they know The only way we can do that is t^ keep the stages of our theatre abj solutcly clean, so that anyone, any. time, man, woman or child, can m into them and see a performance that will not contain one thing to offend. We won't stand for anything else, if we go broke following thlg theory. It's the only thing for the future. We hafe been through it all; there isn't one of us that doesn't know dirt and how to smear it, but there's not one of us that's going to do it on the Columbia wheel and stay on the wheel. "The old-time burlesque produ- cers with us may try to cheat. If they do we will catch them at it and fire them out. Tell it to them and tell it just the way I ve said it," but Variety didn't, because thjs manager's sincerity had almost ruined his judgment. But. neverthe- less, he accomplish :d a reuKirkable work on the Columbia wheel—-ba made tho producers understand what he meant, and he m;;de them cle^an up their shows. He kept after them, he thre^atened and di.seiplined them until he, and nearly he alone, brought the burlesque entertaiii- ment up to the point when, whe^e Variety said, "Burlesque is thft cleanest performance on the stage." Two or three of the New York staff of Variety often drc^p into the Columbia, like the Palace, to watqli the show or talk with the house men. It's a matter of news ftnA 2>ablt. On a Monday afternoon thlii censor may be seen in the end seat of the rear row with pencil aiiA envelope in hand watching the In*: itial performance for the week* Curiosity has often prompted a Va- riety man to stand alongside him during a portion of the show to see what he censors. Often the Variet/ man has protested at a cut made* that beinfl^indicated when the cen«* sor jotted down an item on hfi memo. One, particularly, the Va- riety man said, of a girl doing a' slight shimmy, and as the pencil got to work: "Don't cut that out- It's harmless. She's all right. That isn't a real shimmy. They did worse than that in the old cake walk." "They did, eh?" he answered. "Well, out it goes, just the same." At other times a bit of dialog with a howl, or a piece of business that was well done enough to be but a mite si>icy. yet the pencil, a/id again the protest. "Aren't you hold- ing them down too hard, Mr. Mack," the Variety man would ask. "You will take the hearts out of them and kill their best laughs. You can see (or hear) much worse than that in any theatre in town." "You can, eh?" he would answer. "Well, out it goes just the same." For this unofllcial censor is J. Herbert Mack, president of the Co- lumbia Amtiscn.ent Company, one of the nicest fellows personally that may be met with in the show bus- iness, but a martinet when it cornea down to a question of a "clean" or "dirty">ehow. To the insistence of Mr. Mack may be laid the present status of a Columbia theatre at- traction, a wholesome perform.ance of the burlesque type that draws &9 many women as men to that theatre at Briadway and Forty-seventh street. No less stringent is Frederick M", McCloy, the business manager of ih4 Columbia, New York. Mr. McCloy has been with the Columbia Amuse- ment Co. for about 12 years. Of extensive newspaper experience and acquaintance, Columbia burlesque did not commence to come to the fore as a recognized amu.sement until Mr. McCloy stdrted the dra- matic men of the New York dailies toward his theatre. He did not start them until satisfied tho per- formance there would be what he guaranteed it. Tho dramatic men often have dropped into tho Co- lumbia since, have given the shows there some nice and lengthy notices; they have enjoyed the performances and it has changed their opinion o£ burlesriue, which the New York daily papers had Ignored for time immemorial, until Fred McCloy, by individual talk and calls, persuaded the men of the dailies to visit his theatre McCloy is with Mack on the the- ory of eh'an shows. If anything Mc- Cloy went just a bit farther. At one time Mj-C^'Ioy ])ropo.sed to Mack that, what is known as the "nance" character, be stopped O!) the bur- le.^tiue sliiKC. McCJ<iy still per.^istB on that point. He just can't see anf comedy in it. McCloy also unolficial ly censor?* the Ph«iws at the C<»lum- bia, and in Mack's absence marks down the'cuts. Between the two (Centin)|tfd on page 15)