Variety (December 1922)

10 EDITORIALS Friday, December 8, 1922 KIETY Tr«<1o Mark Registered Fabllalied Weekly by VAKIKTT. Inc. Sim* Silverman. President 164 West 4Ctb Street New Tork City SUBSCRIPTION: Annual fl I roreiffn SI 8inKl« Copies SO C«nt« VOL. LXIX. <«i^tai Ko. S Afttr 12 court adjournmenta Marie Shotwell, as the executrix pf the estate left by Mary J. Pierson, was last week directed by Surro- gate Cohalan to i>ay within ten daj-s tha $245.50 funeral biUy^ ren- dered against the estate by Oscar OR. Severn, undertaker of 62 Pros- pect place. New York. The order of Ibe surrogate, signed Nov. 29. was iKLsed upon a petition filed several months ago by Mr. Severn, who claimed that no attention was paid .40 the payment of his bill, despite over 10 days had elapsed since Miss ^5hotweU bad Qualified as such executrix. Misa Pierson, who for 30 years mas a teacher in Public School No. •3, New York, died without leaving any relatives on Nov. SO, 1»21. By her will, executed three days be- fore her death, disposing of an estate of about $25,000 in personal- ity, which probate was tied up In the Surrogate's" Court for a while through the filing of objections by the state for no otb»r purpose than ©r making the executrix prove that jio fraud or «ndue Influence existed in the execution of the document, $700 in cash and in personal effects were divided among 11 friends, and th*? remainder of the property was given to Misa Shotwell. Marquis de Lafayette Sharkey, formerly manager of-a Miner's the- atre in New York, and who was a frle.id of Booth, Barrett and Mans- liold, left- a net estate of $45.65 ■which, under his will, goes to his widow, Sarah Nelson Sharkey, of ES2a Macon street, Brooklyn, who is also the executrix) according to fv transfer tax State appraisal of hi« property filed this week in the Kings County Surrogate's Court. "Mr. Sharkej', survived also by six nciihew.i and nieces, was a de- rcentlant of an old French famjly that has lived in New York State ttfoie the Revolutionary War. He vr.s born in New York City Feb. 22, is:7, tho son of Charles and Sarah Hhaikey. His grandfather fought In tho Revolutionary War and was a friend of Marquis de Lafayette, n'lom he entertained at his home. Katherine Murray, wife of EJgar Allen, the Fox booking chief, last w.'fk attached the "Words and Music" act in Bayonne, N. J., to satisfy a $200 Judgment obtained fuur years ago. Miss Murray sued Ned Dandy to recover the amount which she advanced as part pay- ni«^nt for an act Dandy was to write for her. When he defaulted on the i.sjreement Miss Murray was given Judgment for the fu'l amount. The airnrhment arose from that Judg- ment. Kendler & Gold.stein acted for the plaintiff. Elesnor Griffith is being sued on A $700 note by the Commercial De- 1 < nturc Co. on assignment from Pat h'hea. Miss Griffith (formerly the V. iie of Bldgar Dudley, tho agent) h.'iS filed a defense to the effect the note has been satisfied, the receipts Hfolcn, that she signed it in Infancy (being under legal age) and did it for accommodation. ne.«5s & Kahn arc acting for the defendant. Marion Sunshine had a .suit pend- ing again.st H. Robert Law, tlie •crnic man, for .some months. It was to recover $3,500, the value of a ntcklace which the actress dc- jio.sited as security on some scenic work. La.st week counsel for the principals effected a settlement out of court and the action has been dropped. A lighted rigaiet careles.sly thrown In a waste basket in the oM Lalcuny box office (now used VLH a storeroom) of the ronlral. Ne.v York, one day last wo«k, wa.-s tli.s- rovercd by Charles Smith, the door .man, who, uith tlie aid of Harold viowir.an, a page, extinguished the lire. Fred Rael, former st.sgc^manager nt tho Harlem opera house. New Yorlf. is now a.«slstant houso man- ager at Keith's, Far Hockaway, L. I. fiene Heron, foimerly stationed in Worcester, Mass., is house manayf*!"- =ac THE TROUBLE WITH EQUITY The trouble with Equity Is one man. The trouble with any orranisa- tion of details that does not run smoothly Is one man..always one man. It must get down to one man; the others can't assume all of the details nor even a major portion, so everything goes to one man, and finally that one man whoever he may be. believes he is the organization; that it Is under his single operation, and that the members are his puppets. If that is not exactly true of Equity at present, it Is partially so. Eventually It may be wholly to, for it is not a theory but a proven fact with hundreds of similar organizations. With a theatrical society noth- ing is easier. One man In command not worling at his profession which should have been actor, and the controHi(% body of the organi- zation being actors who do work at their profession, must lead to but one end, If everything is not slipping along as t^ugh oiled. There Is one man in Equity who wanted to be an actor and that he Is working now running Equity, at less than ho would have received had he been a good actor, leaves but two conclusions. One is that he was not a good actor and the other reason can rest for a while. The evidence of one man operation may be seen in different moves, blamed upon the organization or affiliations. Professional agitators arc not unlike one another in their maneuverings and—manipulations. Their strength in an organizaUgn usually lies more In their supposed sincerity of purpose than in actuTu accomplishment. Members grow accustomed to follow the flag. If the man holding the flag can convince them he loves it and them, it's not so hard to remain the holder. Many say every organization must have a leader. But any organization should have a check upon its leader, a check in fact as well as in the by-laws. Equity Is out after-three objectives, to enforce a closed shop in the legitimate theatre, and elsewhere If it can; to have its own theatres spread over the country, and to have a theatrical paper of its own. How successful it win be in either try is left for time to record. The closed shop objective must be a matter of some months, sln^^e Equity's agreement with the principal manageni does not expire until June, 1924. Nothwlthstandlng however, the onc^an direction of Equity never allows an opportunity to pass'when he can say for Equity, cither with hla own name somewhere in the story, or at the end of it, that E>]Ulty Is going to have the closed ^op, willy nllly. Granted it may be a four-flu.sh statement, or half hearted or \rith tho Intent to lead up to an amicable extension of the present agreement with the managerh-—.rhat Is the result of all this personal publicity propaganda, with E ju'ty blamed for It? That the managers are preparing for a coml»ur. '":< y don't know what is going to happen. Perhaps it's not a bluff, thoy - y and they can't take chances. Lets make up our mind what is tho bei.1 thing to do. Shall we close our theatres If Equity goes on strike for a closed shop and maintain them through the emergency fund, or .<?hall we meanwhile gather enough other actors, even though they are ama- teurs, hold them out, and be prepared to cast our plays with the best available If the strike comes, and to continue in this way while It con- tinues? Preparing for a battle with a brass band Isn't considered the best way over here. Meailtime and meanwhile the manager is given every Indk-a- tlon Equity will Insist upon Its avowed policy. Accordingly the maiiacer proceeds on that belief, making it extremely unlikely If the battle does eventuate, that neither side will miss belnt; prepared in every pos.sible department, with the managers assured of an enormous emergency fu;ul. whether Equity is as positive of building up as big a money surplus or not. . BALCONY BUSINESS Tho Breadway managert are talking muchly about business being oft In the balcony. That means In tho legitimate houses, the problem not concemizig vaudeville nor picture theatres. There are as many theories advanced to explain the situation as there are persons doing the ex« plaining. The problem seems closely aligned with the ticket matter in total, and the inability of attractions which are regarded successes to draw upstairs appears to be angled to the present system of ticket sal* and distribution. The arrow points to the buys. Tickets for the hits are allotted tho brokers, ofttimes both for the lower floor and the front rows in the bal- cony. It Is assumed the average theatre-going wage earner is the class of individual regularly patronizing the balcony. If that trade is forced to apply to the agencies for balcony seats, it is more than an even chance the attraction will be passed up. Balcony attendance for the most part must be made up of persons able to spend a certain sum for amusement every now and then and unwilling or unable to pay more. Forced to pay a premium is particularly obnoxious. . Reoently In an elevator two girls of the wiige earning class mentioned a certain Broadway attraction. Both agreed It was reported a good show and both wanted to see it. But one of the potential balcony buyers stated the case. She had heard the balcony seats were all in the agencies and she'd "be darned if she'd pay extrar". That may be an Isolated case but the chances are it Isn't. Which brings up the point—why are the balcony seats placed in the agencies? And then again, the balcony's scale is to be considered. Is It too high? The successful show\ making it plain there are tickets avail- able at the box office, is able to dispose of themjquickly. It's being proven on Broadway right now by several attractions.* Balcony business is a very necessary thing to the business side of a production. A lower floor hit ofttimes will not gross enough to turn an acceptable profit. Putting the balcony into cut rates has been shown to be good enough business for it brings in certain money, more or less, that might be lost otherwise. But if it is necessary to have the upper floor scaled lower why not try it right at the box office? . PSALM FOR PSALM Meantime and meanwhile though; Equity has not entirely overlooked the managers might prepare themselves. Equity even seems to have understood the managers might erect a barricade of non-union amateur actors, of both sexe^ and from over the countrj-, drawn mostly from the Little theatre movement if not secured In other ways. (This matter of Equity, the managers and a closed shop can now be discussed without refe^ence to stage hands or musicians' unions, for those unions will not take any action either way until the matter is directly up to them, and that will be when Equity decides on a strike or Is locked out). Tau that doesn't deter the sfngle handed spokesman for Equity from repeating Equity will have a closed shop or nothing;. ——— ♦ '. . That objective, the closed shop, together with the lurking am;Ueur danger may have been the cause of the birth of the Equity Player.*?, a plan that could have only excited the managers to greater efforts, had It been successful. It doesn't call for a dull mind to glimpse behind the Equity Players scheme. If successful In New York, It could be dupli- cated in all of tho key cities, with local investment in the form of sub- scriptions, the same as in New York. This may have been an E(iuity idea of working Into the Little theatre movement itself by thus spread- ing out with Equity theatres, taking a few amateurs from tho lo-al ranks who could bring In large subscription lists, and also mako them money getters for Equity through becoming dues payers. In theory that was sublimatlc, for there are a large number oi* key cities in the V. S. But that awful but intei-v-ened. Yet it could be called another and vinible warning for the professional or commercial managers. The Rev. Alexander Irvine, on the back page of an afternoon paper, discussing first the theory that one cannot se;ve God and Mammon (the :.od of money) both, follows with a 'Psalm for Today," adapted eppe- '••lally to the sinning children of Joy and temptation on the "Rialto." Whether Mr. Irvine is serving God or Mammon (he says one can't work for both) in this, he probably called at the pay window for his wages, and thus served himself. • In either event, whatever the inspiration of his service, this was the psalm: ^ A PSALM OF THE RIALTO Eternal Father, Thou art Lord also of the Great White Way. In the midst of influences destructive to the .'^oul Thy still small voice n;ay be heard even by those who have gone farthest astray. Follow, we pray Thee, with tender solicitude the youths, who, with the fire in their bosoms, walk as over live coals with naked feet. They are somebody's daughters, somebody's sons. They have broken home i\es, and loft far behind the restraints and limitations of .1 quieter life. They are here and some of them are fiuttering around Babylon with broken wings, as moths in the ilame of a candle. In the fierce glare of the lights, in the zone of seductive music, where fiesh fiaunts Itself on parade and men and women play with fire and laugh the hollow laughtier of the empty mind and sickened soul. Lord God be near! Equity, like any other organization of its calibre, Is after dues. Dues Is Its maintenance; dues must be had though not paid, and dues from new members is fresh money. Whether dues must come from strictly actors or amateurs who would like to be actors or those who would like to call themselves acto-s on the strength of holding an Ejuity paid-up card may be beside the point, bet It could be a fact that amateurs hold- 1j s Equity cards could foist themselves upon producers in the smaller places as professionals, and thereby usurp the cast roles professionals should have. And yet the Equity single handed direction might esteem it more important that the organization should have dues than its bona fide profcKsional members should have work? As to an Equity theatrical paper, that objective nianlfer,ted itself shortly after Equity won its strike in 1919, when it barred Variety from its offices. That is known on the small time as the Mp-off. There never has been .nn agitator or a propagandist who did not believe he could do a great deal more with on organ of his own. It looke<l r"ctty rosy for Equity immediately after the strike. It went lo the he;'.d.s of some of them, especially the single bander. He saw the world beneath iiis feet but uouldnt step caretully, for he didn't care and couldn't see. An Equity tluatri al paper was in his mind, like "The Player ' evolved from Mouniford's whimsical brnin for the White Rats, and became tlic chief v/rerkinp plant of that oricanizaiion, long defunct, but with its fli.irter new Equity's br.se. Ko at the first excuse the one-man's clique could llnd, it induced the barring of Variety from all Equity olllces. Then it i.ssurd a month'y "Equity"', ol-o used for perso'ial public.'ity purposes and to t«-ll the members what thg sinp:le bander \\a:Ued them to know, kcq^ing silent about other niatt<'rs concerning Iviulty, and b( Howing nl Variety when Variety published what "Equity"' suppressed. Variety does not claim io be a preacher. But it does claim to have as much right praying as a preacher has writing In uew.spapers. So, having read Mr. Irvine's impassioned prayer for "somebody's daughters, some- body's sons," "fluttering with broken wings" "where flesh flaunts itself on paAde and men and women play with fire." Variety is worried about others who, it seems, are "in the midst of influences destructive to the soul," and offers, In spirit entirely as reverent as that of Mr. Irvine's on behalf of the "moths' In the flame," the foliowlnir: A PSALM OF THE NARROW PATH Eternal Father, Thou art Lord also of the narrow path in which should walk the ministers and preachers of Your Gospel. Follow, we pray thee, with tender solicitude, the soul of the preacher In New Brimswick, who, having coveted and stolen his neighbor's wife, was found murdered beside her; watch Thou over the preacher In Massachusetts, 64 years old, on trial for his liberty, charged by a * fifteen-year-old girl member of his fiock with being the father of her illegitimate child; watch Thou over the preacher in Georgia whose soul left his body after he had murdered his wife and his mother-in- law and cut his own throat; watch Thou over the preacher in New Jersey who recently eloped with one of his Sunday school teachers and set her up to live in a house over which he placed a sign pro- claiming the place a church; watch Thou over the numbskull on 57th street who from one of your altars spews forth slander and yellow filth against his brethren, and whose missionary Is now— on the wicked "Rialto"—organizing a Manhattan branch of the vil- lainous Ku Klux Klan, loudly proclaiming that he is carrying dut Your Gospel of charity and kindness—with organized lynch-mobs, intolerance and hatred. Keep, O Lord. Thine own earthly representatives from the sin and shame and crime and scandal which of late have made them profane their cloth; and keep them, O Lord, in their pulpits, where they belong, and out of the newspapers, where they talk like fools. That brings the ohjecilvi's up to date. The objotives may not he amiss. If surees.«fiil, but to mako them successful, tho t.'oumil should tti p !n rakp .up ftflt fttnrflon »i«i the e<H»trolUng l>ody of i-Vinity, ii't <>ho sinuit' handf r take ra:e of the details and tho Council lake cat e of Equity as an organization. It is important, much more so than many ni' nil>»r.s of the Coiinoil appea^" to believe. We were led, Into this through cauHually r'Mding in copy an editotial herewith, about Mount ford and his operation of the Kats. Wc told E'.tfty on< e upon a 'in;.-^. in i)erson, wh.it Vir'f^iy tln)U':;ht v'i Moiinrf(u-d. Never liflH an: thing .arisen to alter that opinion, and we s.iy to the Coun- cil of K'liiity, not in defiance, not in anger nor In dlsijust -look out for the one man cuitrol—never allow a single man in Equity to do to E(iuity what Mountford did to the White Hats. It Is possible and it l.s pre- ventable—don't let history repeat itself. If the above prayer "works," there may soon be as few first-page divorce, murder, adultery and loose-talk scn.-aLions about ministers aa there are about the somebody's daughters and somebody's sons on Broad- way, where the wickedest playhou.«e "flaunting the fiesh" on the street V.as recently given over freely for the Word of God when tho police ran a girl missionary off the streets. LOYALTY—AND MOUNTFORD How easily one can be forgotten once his usefulness is exhausted was demon.strated this week when the story wetit around Broadway about the i)Jtiful condition, financially and physkally, of one of the former directors of the White Rats. This man. formerly reputed comfortably v.cll off, had sacrificed his time, his money and his health In the battle f(»r the Hats standard; had stood with his bn.k to the wall when the chilthouse was taken over by the X.itional Vaudeville Artists, and through It ^ill had been loyal and faithful to the Mountford regime, believing Mountford right, whether he was right* or wrong. "Blacklisted" and generally elassed as .in asTltntor throviph his unfilnch- ing loyalty to the Mountford el.in, forced to for<iTo his stage work be- 4ju4i«e be found all doors closed as l.,n.', i^ ii,. held tl)"sc }»< !i( fs. his sav- Inj,'.^ account slowly dwindled down to tli" final penny, he found himself rliysicaily broken with no way to tuin^for immediate relief. The em- blem he swore everlasting allegiance to had ^folded up. Tho organization It repre;;ente(i had been Juggled around until It meant nothing. And yet :\li untfoid has another organization, still trying to eke out dues from such as this man. offering them nothing beyond a tankard of hot air and .some richly sounding promises. In his hour of distress they were nowhere to be fottnd, they didn't come to tl)<j front With any substantial offer of aid, and last week it looked as though overtures would be made to the N. V. A. to help the victim of hie (Continued on page 32) I