Variety (September 1922)

BURLESQUE Friday, September 1.5, 1922 MUTUAL CASTS OUT TAYLOR SHOW; MANAGER BRINGS SUIT BOSTON BARS BARE LEGS; CENSOR CASEY ON JOB ■n $200 Weekly Guaranteed for Five Years—No Notice Given—"Footlight Frolics" Closed at Cleveland Charles E. Taylor, producer of The Footlight Frolics" on the Mutual burlesque wheel, has re- tailed Frederick E. Goldsmith to bring an action against the Mutual Burlesque Association, for breach of its franchise contract with him which was responsible for the en- forced closing of his show on the wheel on one day's notice. Taylor alleges that he has been damaged to the extent of $30,000 on his |200-a-week guarantee for 30 weeks a year for the five years the franchise was to run. "The Foot- light Frolics" closed Saturday at the Empire, Cleveland, on a wire from Al Singer, general manager of the Mutual Circuit The Empire, Cleveland, was the Initial stand of "The Footlight Frolics." During the middle of the week Taylor states he received a route which would have carried his show along for at least three addi- tional weeks. Friday last he re- ceived a wire from Singer which Informed him the show was to close the following day and that no future time would be assigned to the at- traction on the circuit. , Under the franchise contract which Taylor holds there is a pro- viso that the show is to be passed on by three censors of the circuit and he was to have been informed as to any changes which they de- sired made in the show after which the management was to have 21 days in which to comply with the findings of the censors. If in the event that the show management failed to do as ordered, the circuit executives have the right to lay the show off until the changes were made and the revised edition was passed on. Taylor claims that he received no notification at anytime. The franchise provides the shows shall have seven principals, 16 chorus girls and a carpenter and leader. Taylor states he had nine principals and the required number of chorus people, as well as the leader and carpenter as stipulated. The closing order, he maintains, came without any reason vyhatso- ever, although he states that hp was making two changes in the cast of his own volition. Those of the cast and chorus of the show all held the regular Mutual Association contracts with Taylor. It provides the players shall receive two weeks' notice. Taylor says he lsssued these contracts because the Mutual Insisted on them and that the Mutual's olfice was to receive 5 per cent, commission on the sal- aries paid to the players. "With the closing order issued to become ef- fective within one day, the people he had under contract are looking to him for salaries under the two weeks' clause. At the time that the order was issued Taylor says that he had ad- vanced to the members of his com- pany some $800 on I. O. U.'s and that he js out of pocket for this entire amount. His arrangement under the fran- chise was that he was to frame a show that was to cost not more than $950 a week in salaries to players, director and crew and that he was to receive $200 a week for a period of not less than 20 weeks or more than 30 weeks each season for five years. Under the agreement the Mutual pays the producer a flat sum for the show with the stipu- lated guarantee of $200 weekly flat to each producer, the circuit as- suming all cost of transportation and transfer. In nddltion there was to have been a bonus at the end of the sea- son for the attractions on the wheel that finished one, two and three on the amount of gross business done on the circuit. At the offices of the Mutual Bur- lesque Association it was stated Taylor's show had been ordered off after an inspection had found it be- low the standard desired. The Mutual, according to an offi- < ial of that organization, paid the expenses of the "Footlite Frolics" company back to New York from Cleveland. It was further stated the show that was taken off would not be permitted to play again on the Mutual wheel, but Taylor would b< permitted to produce another show POP SONG REPETITION Columbia Order Against Same Pub' lished Numbers A supplementary order regarding the repetition of pep songs week after week in Columbia shows was sent out Monday to all Columbia house managers by Sam Scribner. The new order specifically men- tions "Three o'clock in the Morn- ing" and "Indiana" as having been beard too much by Mr. Scribner while he was making inspections of Columbia shows recently. Hereafter if a Columbia show ar- rives at a house wfih a published song x that has been done in three, or at most four, preceding shows, the house manager, according to the Scribner order, is instructed to order the repeated number out. IMPERIAL DARK Chicago, Sept. 13. The Imperial, which stopped as a Columbia wheel stand Saturday, following four weeks of the worst business experienced by a first class burlesque house in many yt*ars, will remain dark for the present, with no policy in contem- plation. The Imperial is controlled by the Columbia Amusement Co. under a five-year leasing arrangement at an annual rental of $12,000. The Co- lumbia leased the house from Frank A. P. Gazzolo at the begin- ning of the current season. The Star and Garter has replaced the Imperial with Columbia bur- lesque. a Keep Smiling" Brings Official Letter—Gayety, Boston, Stood for Bareness BURLESQUE REVIEWS BEDINI-WELLS "ROCKETS" The title of the new show Jean Bedini and Billy K. Wells are pro- ducing as a successor to Joe Max- well's "Varieties of 1022'' will be "Rockets." The cast includes Holmes and Wells, George Hunter, Frankie and Johnny, Lew Welch, Sterling Saxo Four, Elaine Beasley, Ruth Wheeler. Jimmie Miller, Armstrong and Howarth. The latter are English comics who have not appeared over here. "Rockets" opens at Miner's, Bronx, New York, Sept. 25. It will play the route of the former "Varieties," taken off the Columbia wheel three weeks ago when the Columbia censors decided it was not up to standard. FRANK PIERCE DEAD Frank Pierce, manager of Frank Finney's Revue, died Sept? 11 In a sanitarium In Scranton, Fa. Death resulted from double pneumonia. Mr. Pierce was 58 years of age and had been associated with Chas. Waldron's Columbia wheel enter- prises In an executive capacity for a number of years. He was stricken with pneumonia about a week previous to his death. The deceased was also house manager of the Gayety, Buffalo, for the Columbia burlesque wheel for a season or two a few years ago. A wife survives. PARK STOCK POSTPONED The opening of Minsky's Park theatre stock burlesque, scheduled for last Friday, was postponed until tonight (Friday), following a dress rehearsal Tuesday night, last week, after which it was found the show could not be whipped into shape to open the fallowing night. The dress rehearsal started at 9 p. m. Thursday and ran until 2:30 a. m. Friday, the first part only having been gone over by that time. Several effects and scenic acces- sories undelivered, also, figured in the postponement. to replace the one removed, which show would have to pass inspection before it would \te placed on the Mutual wheel. That the show that would constitute a second chance for Taylor, In addition to being up to the standard set by the Mutual. Boston, Sept. 13. Bare thighs arc barred in Boston, and will continue to be barred, ac- cording to an edict couched in no uncertain terms and sent yester- day to Sam Scribner from City Censor John Casey. The issue was precipitated by the action of Mrs. Tom Henry, man- ager of the Gayety, *he Columbia circuit-owned wheel house, who permitted James E. Cooper's "Keep Smiling" to play a full week with bare thighs, knees and calves dur- ing the absence from Boston of Casey, who was on his vacation. Whatever chances there wero of Casey smiling at an occasional dis- play of dimpled knee caps in a flash number are now gone, as Mrs. Henry's action has forced his hand, and the.Ministers' League and sev- eral other similar organizations are more aggressively on the Job than they were at any time during the previous administration. The Casey code of morals was compiled about eight years ago, after Mayor Curley had been in office about a year. In brief, it barred double entendre touching on obscenity, bare legs by any but recognized dancing artists, un- draped fleshings for mere display of figure, movements of the abdomen in dancing, bare legs or thighs, nance Impersonations, and the tak- ing of drugs, such as needle jab- bers, snow-bird sniffing and hop- heads. It was rigidly adhered to during the Curley administration, reasonably enforced during the en- suing four years of a so-called re- form mayor (Andrew J. Peters), and upon the re-election of Mayor Curley this year Casey has been again given unqualified backing. At least a dozen other cities have since adopted It. Casey is an old-time showman, rated generally by the profession as being absolutely on the leVel and willing to give an even break to anybody who is trying to work clean. His last open row was with Ann Pennington, who was deter- mined she would play bare-legged, and was given an alternative of wearing diaphanous silks or clos- ing the show. She wore 'em. And so will the Columbia and Mutual wheel shows, regardless of whether they hit Boston without fleshings for the ponies, as was the case with Cooper's "Keep Smiling," which Mrs. Henry let play through the week. Casey's letter to Scribner lays the facts cold on the table regard- less of the "bars up" word that has been passed down the line by the Columbia powers-that-be. "Burlesque has cleaned its house creditably," said Casey, in an in- terview today. "It has made itself a national amusement institution and the phenomenal Increase it has made since it started its campaign for cleaner performances proves that it was shrewd showmanship. It has been a pleasure to watch the development of the Columbia circuit and the proving of the theory that the old burlesque patron Is just as happy and pays Just as regularly as he did In the old days when another element now attending was conspicuous by its non-attendance. The Boston stand- ards are not unreasonable in my judgment, nor do they interfere with the legitimate business whether it be burlesque or the 'Fonies.' Beautiful bare legs, for example, as we usually get them on the stage, average far from at- tractive as when covered with a sheen of silk. And one thing is definite, the Boston code is known to every Boston house manager and those who violate it are doing it not through ignorance, but de- liberately. "And I have no intention of step- ping backward In a policy ei^ht years old that has obviously helped rather than hurt the yearly profits of the business." BOWERY BURLESQUERS (Columbia Burlesque) Buffalo. Sept. 13 In two acts and eight scenes. Book by Billy K. Well*. Staged l.y Marty Stmon. I.yrtes and music by Shubert. Rsruf and ' Woolford. Dances by lien Bernard. WW Billy Poster, Frank Haroourt, Mildred Ce- cil, Llbble Hart, George Ruse, Estello (Arab) Nack. Fay and Florence. Marty Somon, Bert Spencer and Hamid Troupe. Joe Hurtig's 1922-23 edition of the "Bowery Burleaquers" is a credit to its producer and an ornament to burlesque. It is as fresh and snap- py a spoke as the Columbia has Tn its circuit, and in all the essentials of good entertainment it need take a back seat for none. In every de- partment this year's "Bowerys" is a top-notcher. The»production Is as fine as burlesque can boast, with set- tings and costumes which, while not new, are at least clean and fresh, and look like money. The staging, by Marty Semon, shows some sem- blance of intelligence, and the danc- ing and ensembles by Ben I.ernard, while nothing sensational, are well above the average. In the comedy department Foster and Harcourt de- liver strongly, with only occasional help from the "book." In addition to this the show has some real voices, more than the usual amount of talent, and is run off with all the snap and dispatch of the best of its two-dollar brethren. The show starts as though there might really be a book, but it is abandoned before the first act is well under way. After that the come- dians are thrown largely on their own resources and do exceedingly well. Foster has a tendency to lapse into low-brow stuff of the German pre-war variety. Harcourt is a come- dian of parts and looks as though, given the right material, he might qualify for better things. His.work shows restraint, an uncommon quality for burlesque, and the fact that some of his funniest stuff was local reveals him to be possessed qf a ready wit of his own. The two enliven the proceedings on every ap- pearance. Foster carrier some rfcugh stuff and his "tempter" scene in the Garden of Eden was deep blue. There's work for the censor here, although it is doubtful if the Eden scene can be cleaned up and still remain funny. The show is unusually strong on the feminine side, with Mildred Ce- cil, Fay and Florence, Libbie Hart and Estelle Nack scoring repeated- ly. Miss Cecil's good voice, ;\ppcar- ance and stage presence make the average olio prima donna look like a novice. Difficult as it may be, however, she will have to bring her- self down to earth, as she is now working sky-high over the heads of her associates. Fay and Florence did several numbers and a jccialty strongly reminiscent of the Wilton Sisters. The girls harmonize well .and display good showmanship. Libbie Hart is an effective soubret and fills the fleshings to almost the point of perfection. Among the males Marty Betnon plays the semi-straights with a poise and assurance seldom seen In burlesque. Rose and Spencer have a two-act which failed to ret much. PELL MELL (MtTIML 1U Kl is<jt 1 . Bevo Bum.... Billy Kelly Hin»-y Klatz «'harlcy Country Pete, a porter H. K. (Happy) Hay Jaoh Hammond Harry C. Van IMck Davis. m Jack Alton Jim Swift E. U. Jenkins Marie Swo.-t Pauline Harer Grace l^oveland Mabel White Helen Wadc % Doris Brandon "Pell Mell" is a Mutual Burlesque attraction, at the Olympic, New York, this week. Harry M. Stouse Is the producer. The burlesque is in two parts of four scenes, two of them full stage nondescripts to which the dialog has been fitted, re- versing the usual procedure. The other two are drops in "one." The show is fairly well cast, with Billy Kelly as a dirty tramp, as- sisted by Charles Country, a Dutch comedian, the two comics. This pair go the limit for laughs, injecting "expectoration bits" and "blue stuff" with the chorus and principals in the dancing line, wherever the oc- casion warrants, which is often. They are a capable pair of comics for this grade of burlesque, which. Judging from the shows seen, will cater mostly to a stag audience. The women also do the "cooch" and "shimmy" stuff continuously, at least as regards Doris Brandon, a stout, queerly proportioned girl, and Pauline Harer. a personable dark soubret. The latter is all over the show and will be liked by stag audi- ences. She is a nice looker, with a fair singing voice, and steps a mean jazz. Miss Brandon's dancing rep- ertoire consists of three steps, by actual count. Mabel White, a good looking, tall, statuesque, old school prima donna with some nice wardrobe, is the singer. Harry Van is the staight. Jack Alton the character man and H. E. (Happy) Ray a blackface comic throughout. The book, by Billy Kelly, is a bit and number arrangement made up of tried and true comedy bits. They are handled well and pulled laughs due to the low comedy methods of the comics, who took falls and flops? every few minutes. The lines are secondary and consist of a perfect 100 per cent, of released and familiar material. A messy table bit was about as daring m will be seen in any of the Mutual shows. The prima donna and. Dutch comic are acquiring a stage jag with prop wine. Kelly staggers on and expectorates across the table, leaving a rivulet running down stage. The Dutch comedian uses some offensive pantomime and dia- log anent the responsibility for the aqua that was one of the loudest wows heard on 14th street in many moons. The scene ends ,with the comics doing real clever acrobatic stuff as "drunks." One of the heaviest applause get- ters was a jazz band composed of banjo, guitar, fife and washboard bv Kelly, Alton. Kay and Country. On an encore Country played a bass violin made out of a dishpan. A quartet of Kelly, Alton, Ray and Van, along old school lines, passed with flat harmony and rough hokum. The 16 choristers represent all shapes and sizes. The costumes shown are economical choices, look- but which showed Rose to be ft< ing two seasons old, but clean. Th good comedian, straight or with the Hebrew makeup. The presence of Hamid's Acrobats added speed and snap to the show and served as a refreshing novelty for burlesque. The Columbia may bo proud to number the "Bowerys" among its at- tractions. It is splendid burlesque entertainment and will go far to- ward maintaining the traditional standards of the wheel. Burton. HOWE FIXING UP Dave Marion Will Reconstruct Show While it Travels FILLS OPEN WEEK WITH FILM The Grand, Worcester, Mass., Columbia wheel stand, will not play one of tho wheel shows next week, but will have a feature plcc^re. The picturo will fill in the week. otherwise open on the Columbia Wheel, that Joe Maxwell's "Varieties of 1922" was scheduled to play, but T^he Sam Howe show "Joys of Life" was ordered re-constructed, with a change of book and some changes of principals last week, following an inspection by Tom Henry and Jess Burns. Columbia censors. Dave Marion was delegated by the Columbia Amusement Co. to go on to the Howe show the latter part of this week and superintend the making over. Marion may put on an entire new book with carte blanche to make any changes in the principals deemed necessary. The Howe show will not be taken off the Columbia route, the changes being made at morning rehearsals and after the night performance or such times as available. hunch works barelegged through- out, looking from the front like an acrobats' convention. Alton had some heavy moments in a comedy scene with Kelly. The for- mer did a Jekyll and Hyde bit. finally assaulting the comic after the tran- sition to the murderer. The bit is old, but was well received. The last sceno consisted of spe- cialties by several of the principals in a set supposed to represent a roof garden. It could have passed as the Aquarium just as well. Miss Harer and Harry Van had solo songs, followed by Ray in a song and dance, the latter a slow drag jazz affair, getting mild returns. On reports from tho other Mutual attractions seen around, "Pell Mell" Is about the average show. Before a discriminating audience it would have about the same chance as a "hoofer" in leg irons. Three-quar- ters of a houseful in, with the ami- tcurs partly responsible. CO*. would have to be different in every respect from the one removed was wrffl not, through having been or also said to be a condition attend Idered off the circuit a couple of I>uj tfct new show's production. 'weeks ago. Chas. Koster in III Health Chas. (Kid) Koster resigned the management of the "Jazztime Ko- vuc" on the Mutual wheel la<t Week because Of poor health. Mr. Koster is now in Boranac Lake, N. Y., where he will recuperate. He would like to hear from htl friends, the general posr office at Saranac Lake being h's address. •ROCKETS" WITH "SCANDALS" The new Columbia show, "Rock- ets," which Jean Bedini is staging, will have the scenery and produc- tion stuff from the White's "Scan- dals of 1922" (last season's White show) as a basis. The Columbia Amusement Co. bought the last year's ".Scandals" from White recently with the pur- chase price reported at $5,000. Rube Bernstein will produce the "Rockets"' show conjunctively with Jean Bedini, an arrangement having been made with the Columbia Amusement Co. Wednesday where- by Bedini and Bernstein will op- erate on a partnership basis. Bernstein has the "Broadway Flappers'' on the Columbia whe< I, and Bedini "Chuckles of 1022." Both Bernstein and Bedini will retain their Individual shows, aside from the partnership arrangement for "Rockets."