Variety (December 1922)

i'S;*" fi.,':yn> .-* "? ..».T.*'' Friday, December 1, IMS LEGITIMATE tr ^fore dontt In America. They are yerenc Molnarli "Dinner," a naive little comedj (tranalated by Charles Feleky), and St. John Brvlne'e tragedy ''Proffreu,** a dramatio ex- position against warfare. "Progresa" is one of the two high- lights. In it. Mr. Blum, the director, acquits himself in his usual finished manner, although he is ordinarily content more with the direction Cn the actual histrionics. Made- I Morrell handles the sympatheti- cally dramatic role to a nicety and James, plays and royalties; James fgenT bowed into the S9th Street F. Goodman, school of the drama; Miss Miriam Lechtman, member- chip; Allen Hinckley, music and pageantry; C W. Hardenbergh« finance; Louis W. Shouse, theatre and halls. TREASUBEBS' CLUB (Continued from page 11) card said. also, favorite hero. Joe Leblang; favorite heroine. Annie hints of poesibtlltiea professionally. I Oakley; favorite songs, "Good-bye, As the sister at the scientist who' Little Buy, Good-bye," "Her© Comes has invented a bomb which will McBrlde." and "It's a Long, Long wipe put whole towns and villages and thus minimise the duration of war. she gives an excellent interpre- tation of the bereft mother who still grieves the loss of her son andhus- band. the victims of the war. when her scientist kinsman refuses to de- stroy the formula, she does so. When he brags it is lmpre<;sed on his mind she kilts the annihilating compound at the source, even at the expense of the inventor's life. ♦•Fancy Free" by Stanley Hough- ton, is a polite triangle comedy that has possibilities for vaudeville if accelerated a trifle. Frederick J. Spender and John Alexander handled the two male roles oeedingly welL Line a-Winding." Also an appli- cant would be required to ^xpress preference of working at the New Amsterdam or the Music Box and explain why. Special songs sung held this gem to the tune of "Annie Rooney'*: She's my Annie, I'm her beau; Tickets we don't sell— Go to Joe. Joe's our buddy. He gets 'em after we start. But little Annie Oakley Is my sweetheart. The Adler-Oray ditties were ex- ' marked as sections to "Amendment IXVIIL" One to the tune of "Oh, ' For the rest, the company deports! How I Hitte to Get Up in the Morn- Itself satisfylngly in qilasi-profes-'ing," ran: sional manner that shows painsiak ing directorial maneuvering. Realistic scenic presentation is eschewed probably more for economic reasons than artistic Not that the impressionistic set pieces do not sufflce—contrarily they are somewhat of a relief from ultra- realism—but if the organization Anally realises its dream of pos- sessing its own theatre, practical settings would be in keeping with the full-fledged professional grol- uation.' Abel A. LIZA '^Tilza," the first colored show to inf Broadway this fall, after a sum- mer wherein a quartet of such at- trartiona bid for business in the theatre zone, opened at Daly's 63d' ^^> Street Monday. -^ The piece or.'glna'ly played at the Lafayette, in the colored section of Harlem, in September. It was then called "Bon Bon Buddy, Jr." When it opened uptown managerial claims were that it had been framed for Broadway, but the presentation then was in need of much fixing before trying for a run downtown. Since then the show has drawn new backing. Few cast changes are announced, but a production has been supplied. The theme song "Liza" was recently adopted as the title. Irvin C. Miller and Emmett An- thony are the comic loads, with Gertrude Saunders the prima donna. Greenlee and Drayton are added players to the original line-up. The show will give a midnight perform- ance Wednesdays, fol'owing the practice established by "ShufTle Along," which ran €0 weeks at this house. "Bon Bon Buddy, Jr.* was re- Tlewed in Variety of Sept. IS, last. Oh, how I hate to count up in the morning! Why can't a treasurer pick his time? When you think the day's your own Then a voice comes o'er the phone: "Yoji got to count up! You got to count up— You got to count up this morning." I hope some day, vfhen I own a theatre. ••,v.r'' .;..•._ ^y-i All of the auditors will be dead; If you work for Lee and Jake You'll have a job that takes the cake— You'll never count up—whea^you should be in bed. To the tune of "Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean": Mr. Dillingham! Oh, ^Ir. Dillingham! DO you know the treasurers have a fund? ' They get twenty when they're 111; And five hundred when they're stillH Why can't you give a thousand on the run? Oh. Mr. Leo! Oh, Mr. Lee! A very cute idea just came to me. They can have the dough I've got. If I could kill 'em all on the spot— Absolutely, Mr. Dillingham, Positively. Mr. Lee. K. C. BUCKIKG TEUST (Continued firom page IS) now In New York. Like this latest scheme, it was given much publicity but its supporters let it drop and are now lending their influence to the new project, as are members of the Comedy Club, a rather ex- clusive dramatic organization which •x!sted as a social affair. The leaders of the Kanssui City Theatre, in their enthusiasm, are talking of incorporating in the new enterprise a school where members will be admitted to classes in dra- matic art, speaking, stage designing, lighting and scene painting; in fact, all of the allied arts of the stage. It is the Intention to present seven plays this season, and the plays committee has announced a list of 24 plays from which seven will be selected. The list: "And So They Were Married." "The Yellow Jack- et." "My Lady's Dress." "Beyond the Horizon," "Captain Jinks," "The Great Divide," "Pomander Walk." "Lotty." "Strife," "School for Scan- dal," "The Winter's Talo." "Lady Windemere's Fan," "Twelfth Night," ' "John Ferguson," "Jane Clegg," "The Doctor's Dilemma," "Man and Supcrftian," "The Power of Dark- ness." "The Inspector General." "The Pretty Sabine Woman." "The Mar- rinf?e cf Kitty." "The Hood Hipe," "Pillar.'* of Society," "The Sunken Boll.' The offlcers of the orp.inization, which will he inrori)orr\tfd, all prominr»nt in bu.'^inc-s nn<l prof»^a- "^ a'onnl circles, are: R Bry.son Jones, president; H^nry I). Ashley, firrt vice-propident; Mrs. CIcorece W. Fuller, second v^ce-prPHid'nl; Davi«l Ben.lamln, third vico-prcsirlnnt; W. D. Hancock, secretary; Thornton Cooho, txca«<nrer: John T. Hardlntr. coun.'^c!; Arthur F. Ilrodic. jiuditor. Thn chnirmen of the c itrht com- mlttoo«» are: Marcus I-'ord. produc BBOADWAT STOBY (Continued from page 13) "Seventh Heaven" hung around 110,000 for Its second and third weeks, then went to 112,200 last week, not much under actual capacity for the Booth. "The Last Warning" is very strong, with $13,- 000 in last week. "The Love Child" showed something by jumping to nearly $11,000 at the Cohan, while "R. U. R." is nearly selling out at the Frazee. The musicals are still topped by Ziegfeld's "Follies." which beat $35,- 000 last week; the new "Music Box Revue." which again beat $29,000 for standee trade; "The Greenwich Village Follies," which is riding in third position, and got $23,000 last week, while "Little Nellie Kelly," at the Liberty,, is cleaning up, with its second week $22,000 and more. "Chauve-Souris." at the Century roof, clicks off $17,000 weekly right along. "Blossom Time," which tops the list in point of run, la doing ex- cellently at the Century, and last week turned a nifty profit with nearly $17,000 in, though the man- agement claims over $20,000. Next week lined up as getting five new plays but the incoming list was cut down to three, because two of the new productions have been held oflf for repairs. "Mike Angelo" was listed to succeed "Why Men Leave Home" at the Morosco, but the latter attraction took a spurt and is announced for all season, while "Mike" is to be fixed up for possible later presentation. The Fay Bainter show, variously known a# "The Panted Lady," "Painted Flapper," and "The Lady CriPti- linda." will not come into the Rltz next week. That house was given a sudden booking Wednesday (this week) in "It Is the Law." a mystery thriller. Going out this Saturday are "The Passing Show," which leaves the (Jardon empty for n^niodelinfi:; "The Cat and Canary," which w 11 he suc- ceeded at the National Monday by "I<\ifhlons for Men'; "To I.ovo," which will 1)0 followed u( the Bijou hy "l-istcnini? In," n!»d "I'artncrs AKaln," which gets two weeks of pi( turt'S and will proh.ihly tal<«> on Jane Cowl in "Romeo and .lullet." Next week's third premiere wMl ^e "Our Nell' (T)\TyiiK ns 'Tiie Hiiysccd' this week in W.ishing- ton). whi<'h relitrhts the T'.aye.s. "The Hunch and Judy " opened at Monday and won a pasting from the reviewers. "Lisa," a colored troupe, entered Daly's 6Sd Street Monday and was very well regarded. The show was originally called "Bon Bon Buddy, Jr.," and has been con- siderably improved sinqe first show- ing uptown (Lafayette). The Comedy Francals did so well at the 39th Street that it will be brought back to town next week, playing four special matinees at the Century. Mme. Sorel is the star. For both weeks at the S9th Street the attraction bettered $16,000. charging $S top. The matinee scale advertised %m "popular prices" is $3 top. "The Bat" easily beat the field in the Subway houses, it getting over $lB.30f at the Broad St.. Newark. "Daffy-DIll" at the Majestic. Brook- lyn, played to $12,500. under expec- tations. "The Bootleggers" at the Montauk got under $4,000 on the week, while "The Monster" at Tel- ler's, in the same borough again got nearly $10,000. "Mister Antonio" drew $8,500 at the Riviera, while "The Rubtoon" grossed $7,000 at the Bronx opera house. Buy Renewal Forced The advance price agencies and the John Golden office clashed last week over the renewal of the buy for "Spite Corner" at the Little theatre. The agency men did not want to continue the buy on the show after the original deal had been fulfilled, but the Gqlden ofitce maintained that if the agencies wanted to continue to handle seats for "The Seventh Heaven" at the Booth, one of the real hits for which there is a strong demand, they would have to Tenew on "Spite Corner." with the producer coming off victorious. Those attractions that have the real call in the agencies outside of the musical pieces are "Merton of the Movies," which seems to have hit the town between the eyes; "Rain" at the Maxine Elliott. "Loy- alties" at the Gaiety and "The Sev- enth Heaven" at the Booth. With the renewal of the buy on "Spite Corner" and the addition of "The Bunch and Judy" at the Globe to the list, the attractions that the agencies hold outright number 27, which is one more than last week, despite the fact that the "Yankee Princess" deal finished last Saturday night. A complete list of the buys in- cludes "The Lady in Ermine" (Am- bassador). "Kikr (Belasco), "The Seventh Heaven (Booth), "Aimer" (Bijou). "Springtime of Youth" (Broadhurst). "The Gtngham Girl" (Carroll), "Sally. Irene and Mary" (Casino), "The Love Child" (Cohan). "Merton of the Movies" (Cort>7 "Rain" (Elliott). "East of Sues" (Eltinge), "R. U. VU' (Frazee), "Whispering Wires" (49th Street), "The Bunch and Judy" (Globe), "Loyalties" (Gaiety), "Hamlet" (Harris), "So This Is London" (Hudson), "The World We Live In" (Jolson's). "Little Nellie Kelly" (Liberty), "Spite Corner" (Little), "The Awful Truth" (Miller's). "Music Box Revue" (Music Box). "Follies" (Amsterdam). "Up She Goes" (Playhouse). "The Old Soak" (Plyipouth), 'The Fool" (Times Square), and "The Passing Show" (Winter Garden). Cut Rates Drop Four The cut rate list fell from 19 to 16 attractions offered at bargain prices this week, with the expecta- tion that the list would build up somewhat next week after the Thanksgiving holiday and the be- ginning of the usual pre-Chrlstmas slump. Those attractions oflTercd are: "Thin - Ice*^ (Belmont), "Springtime of Youth" (Broad- hurst), "Blossom Time" (Century), "Love Child" (Cohan), "Liza" (Daly's), "Texas Nightingale" (Em- pire). "Hospitality" (48th Street). "Fantastic Fricassee" (Greenwich Village), "The World We Live In" (Jolson). "Shore Leave" (Lyceum), "Yankee Princess" (Knickerbocker). "Why Men Leave Home" (Moros- co), "Up She Goc-s" (Pl.ayhouse). "Abie's Irish Rose" (Republic). "Partners Again" (Selwyn) and "Passing Show" (Winter Garden). BEDSIDE CHATS fiT NELLIE &EVELL tion; W, J., rerry, publicity? D., L. the Olobc Tuesday. TUeBootlej? Courts of Justice arc usually sym- pathetic towards the two week.s" cancellation notice as a theatrical custom, but the court In the Fir.sf Municipal Di.«(rict of Brooklyn did not uphold (Miss) Bobbie Hudson's claim for $60 against Harry New- man, owner of the "Bindbox Re- vue." a vaudeviMe act. Miss Hudson sued for her two weeks' .«5alary when then 'he was summarily dismissed in Hobokcn, where the act was plac- ing. Newmrin t'Stified tho girl was tardy for her nhow. The chorine explained sho wgi.s with a sick frifnd. which caused the delay. The judcc did hot deem that a very urRf-nt cause for missing her performpincc. "One good one makes up for several bad ones" was a term I once heard, but I understand it better now than I did then. All doctors are not nickel nursers. In fact, most all that I have met are very humane, sympathetic and understanding. You will perhaps recall the editorial that appeared in Variety a year ago about Dr. George D. Stewart's operation on me, and what he said to me when I asked for my bill. His reply was: "I wouldn't like to have your theatrical and newspaper friends think they are the only people who appreciate a good soldier. We soon find out when we get them on that table how much soldier is in them. You are a good soldier. I am glad to have been of service to you. You don't owe me anything." The other day a vaudeville actress, who has been a patient here, was leaving the hospital, fully recovered. She had an operation by Dr. Stewart. While she was in my room saying good-bye to me. Dr. Stewart came In. '• ' ^ "Oh. doctor," she said, "I feel terribly." "You shouldn't," he replied. "You sre going home, aren't you?" "Yes," she answered, "bet I haven't the money to pay your bill. X haven't been working, and have no work booked." This kind, wonderful man, who stands so high In his profes«lon that he is president of the Academy of Medicine and counted one of America's greatest surgeons, looked at this little pale girl, then patted her on the head and said: "Well, .well—is that what's worrying you? Just forget it, and get well and be happy; and the first chance you get to do a favor for someone who is in hard luck, do it. Than we will be square." I was thrilled and inspired. The Great Nasarene must have been pleased, I thank you again. Dr. George D.. as we affectionately call you. not only for the professional assistance rendered to the little vaudeville girl and myself, but for your friendship and faithful counsel. What a beautiful religion is yours! This roommate of mine persists in singing at all hours of the night No matter how much he is covered up or threatened with eviction, he indulges his love of unfolding "melodies in F." X. Y and 7L At 10 o'clock the other night he wanted to sing "Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean." At S o'clock the next morning he wanted to imitate Van and Schenck. They tell me he is a "roller." if you get what I mean. I think he is in here as an emissary of some of my Christian Science friends who want to get me thrown out, thinking probably that is the only way I will ever get ou(. So some morning I expect to find myself sitting on the curb at Twelfth street and Seventh avenue with my bird cage under one arm and my plaster of parls cast under the other.. , . y , - / .. ^ y* One day last week when he hadn't let a peep out of him all day, I lying here talking to him, trying to cajole him into singing. I remarked: "All right for you, if you don't want to sing for me. I don't have to depend on yoqu I will ask Van and Schenck to come down and sing for me." While I was talking Tom Gorman came In and heard me trying to coax tho bird to sing. He said Van and Schenck were playing at the JefTerson theatre. He mentioned to them how near they were to the hospital, and Wednesday I was surprised with a concert. The boys came over and sang all of their new songs, and many of their old ones, to my delight and the edification of the nurses, nuns and other patients. And to hear them sing was Thanksgiving enough for me. While the attendants were attempting to get me Into a wheel chair, I sat down almost entirely without help. After the concert was over and they startech to go, Joe Schenck couldn't find his cap. An exhaustive search of th| room failed to reveal it. Joe had an idea where It was, but he was reluctant to express it. I began telling them how wonderful It was for me to be able to sit down alone—the first time in three years. "Well." Joe paid, "that's because you didn't have my golf cap to sit on. You're sitting on my cap." And I was. .'■■ "''■'■''''' Dr. Stewart came in the other day, looked at the bird and said: "Can he sing?" I said. "Sure, he can sing." _ ... ... ., "Can he cuss?" „ ■^.>^ ■'■■''■■>■•'".^ .''■■^■•-. "No, certainly no," I replied. * ^ '.^ "Is he deaf?" asked the doctor. Now. Isn't that a nice way to talk about me and my bird? But I will say one thing for Ada Mae Weeks, who sent the bird to me; she was wise in selecting a canary instead of a parrot. Irvin Cobb came in one day last week and asked me how I felt. I told him I had a pain in my abandon. (I stole that from Tom Ryan's act.) He said. "Well, then, that means you are sick all over. How's the back," he inquired. I told him if I put my hand on both of my pains at once. I would be doing a sailor's hornpipe. While he was here E. F. Albee came in. "Can I drop you some place?" he inquired of Mr. Cobb. "No, thanks, I am just getting over the last drop I had some place." retorted the gentleman from Paducah. "Oh, come on. Take a ride in my Ford," urged Mr. Albee. The funny part of it was that the man who thinks nothing of building a $5,000,000 theatre drives down here in a Ford. Mr, Cobb and he left the hospital in it. What do you suppose Henry Ford would give for a picture of those two in his car? If the chiropractor who wrote me protesting my article of week before last and wanting his letter printed wants any advertising in this paper, he must call ui/ Bryant 8153 and ask for the advertising rates. I know all about those space-stealing stunts. I invented half of them. I owe nothing to any chiropractor or their society, and I owe every- thing in the world to the theatrical profession. I even owe them for the bed I'm lying In, and I especially owe It to them to tell the truth when they ask me about my experiences with chiropractors or anyone else. As soon as I feel stronger I am going to write a story relating similar experiences of several other people that have been brought to my atten* tion since I have been here. Jack Lait wanted to send me a noiseless typewriter. But Roy Moulton tclKs nafi he has one and that it makes more noise than PMdlo Dunn's vest. He says it rattles when he Isn't even near it. -——-^ - "Mussolini Demands a Quid Pro Quo. "—Headline in the New York "Times." ^ : *.. ■ -. V\\ take one of those, too—and a cup of coffee. ProoeodinRs for the lease of a Bopton heiress who was detained In an insane asylum on a certificate signed by two doctors have revealed the illuminating Information that anyone can be railroaded to an insane a.^ylum in the Htate of Massarhusctts if two physicians sign a certificate pronouncing them crazy. *• I will stay away from Boston They would lock me Up and throw away tlie key. This goes to press before Thanksgiving, so t can't tel! you about mf Thanksgiving dinner. 'W^ \y.\