Variety (July 1923)

Thursday, July 86, 1983 \ VAUDEVILLE &IB FOR HALL'S STAtE; ■ i' .r > HOUSE OF ILOilO PASSES »■ Cost One Million—Public Subscribed to Stock—-' V Judgment Also Against Hall's Ritz, Jersey City— No More Free Pacses tinder Receivership A receiver 4raB appointed Tuesday for the Frank G. Hall house. State Jersey City, and on Wednesday a default judgment was filed against the Riti, Jersey City, for |15.5«7 by the Hoboken Tru«t Coinp<»ny On a BOte for $30,000. B*rank O. Hall was named as one of the indorsers of the note In addition to the Rltx The- atres Corporation. The State was placed in the hands p( Corporation Counsel Thomas XJrogan foTlowlng claims filed against It by James Mitchell, >Inc.. tor $8,000; Fagan Iron Works $9,000; Percy \. Vivarltas. ar- chitect, $8,000. The Mitchell and ]i*asan claims are m judRraent and levies were made on the theatre tinder execution. In addltton small Claims amounting to about $10,000 are included in the indebtedness wtilch is said to be about 575.000. The State Theatre Corpora ion owns the theatre' premises, an equity In property at 101 Monticello avenue. Jersey City, of $42,000; equity in shares of the U. 8. The- atre, Hoboken. of $24,250 and there Is due on subscriptions from stock- holders $90,000. The State was built at a cost of Close to a million dollars, most of the money coming from siiies of •took In the corporation. As each ot the 11.000 stockholderH s re- ported to have rated a season pass 'the house wa«i always heavily "papered." The closing down of Sunday performances in Jersey is also said to have hurt the house which/ for some months playe<]^/ Reitn vaudeville last seacon. The receivership will eliminate the free passes and cut down much of the extravagant'O which is said to, have brought ^he properties tp their straits. ^ . KRAMER TALKED BACK And Traffic "^op Arrested Him Disorderly Conduct for Dave Kramer (Kramer and Boyle), who played LK>ew*£ Victoria the first half of this ^'<eek. was found guilty of a charge of disorderly conduct in the W^t eide Court Wednesday and sentence v^'as suspended by Magistrate Max S. Levine. Kramer was arrested Tuesday af- ternoon while on his way to play the matinee at the Victoria after his car had collided with a taxlcab at Broadway and 50th street Ac- cording to traffic policeman Sam Flare, who made the arrest. Kramer stalled his car in the midst of traf- fic and started to remonstrate with the taxi driver. Flare said he told Kramer to pull his car around on the side street and there get the number. At this point the ofHcer stated tiutt Kramer bfcarpe abusive, swore at him and told him that if he thought he could put anything over on him that ho would mako things miserable for Flare. At thiB juncture »Flare placed Kramet under arrest and locked Jiim up in the West 47th street sta- .tion. Kramer was locked up for almost an hour and was in fear of missing the thow when the Fox vaudcA'illo ofTlce gave $5<W bail for his appearance in court. Magistrate Levine admonished Kramer for his actions and threats and told him that he would find him guilty of the charge but suspend sentence. FRITZI BRUNIBTTE a new motion picture •enaation and sister of Mr. I. R. Samuels. Keith booking manager, is now yUdtlng her mother In Preoport before re- turning to the coast in September. at which tkne she will be elevated to stardom. Miss Brunette's latest picture, "The Other Side." will be released shortly. 'AFIHPIECES' AND BANDS ~ AT LOW EBB ON BIG 11ME ♦ * «, vT^ *V. Bookers' Opiidon Public Fed Up on Both—^rpheum Circuit Booking Less 'intact Bills''—Bands Must HoM Novelty for Bookings cm. ACTS GOING WEST CAN PROTEa SELVES Contracts Should Specify Nomber of Weeks jn All for Routed Time OPERA FOR A DAY Cast of 100 at PrTtiT, Brooklyn, Aug. 14 The opera company under the supervision of Maurice Frank, which recently began a aeries of concerts- at the Polo Grounds, will make its debut to a vaudeville audi- ence at the Premier, Brooklyn. N. Y., Aug. 14. The company will play one day at the house, gtylng a performance of "Aida" to $2 top. Carmcla Ponselle and William Gustavson are in the cast of 100. An orchestra of f$ will be conducted by Gabriel SImeonL "Barney Gtoogle,** the cartoon musical comedy, has been booked into the Premier for two days, Aug. 2-J. ' IjOs Angeles, July 25. The matter of being booked out of Chicago for coast TaudevlUe with contracts not speci^ing the total number oft weeks the given number of playing weeks Will take has brought up the question subject in the office of the laboc commissioner here. •"•.,> ;:■;•"'■■ It directly arose through a com- plaint against tho Bert Levey Cir- cuit. Mr. L^vey on long distance from San Francisco today said that the complaining act ^^^ only itself to blame. He stated the turn In questlon.ti mixed two-act (man and wife), accepted the coast engage- ment In Chicago with the 4iusband knowing his wife would probably be qenflned while on the coast No one -eise was aware of her delicate con- Afterpleces and bands are not in demand for next season's vaudevills bUls, acoording to tho booklnir The public have been fed up on ths afterpieces and also treated'lo aa oinBrdosa of bands. Ths Orpheum elreoit, which wp^- cialised la "afterplsces" aft«r a canvass of Its house managers, re- ports the consensus of the poll was against ths afterpieces and banda Bands will bs few and far be« tween and must be of mors thai!' average ability; also have noveMy features and effects to attract the bookers. The practlcs of booking certain acts on one bill, popular last season on the Orpheum circuit, will be considerably discpntiaued. Ssv- eral of the Orpheum shows wers booked intact on aoeount of "after>- ploces." Tha novelty wore off affw the public saw several of the im* prdmptu scenes one after ths other, until toward ths sad of tha season th« house was walking out on ths afterpieces. HUGHES AND WIRTH'S Bstkstball Turn Secures Australian Contrsot TEXAS SUNDAY BAN Oil Towns Feel Blue Law Ruling— Theatres and Dance Halls Suffer Burkburnett, Texas, .Tuly 25. For the first time in years Burk- bur'nett's theatres afc closed on Sun- day. Heretofore thoy have been operating and paying a heavy fine for so doing, but the City Counbil tightened things up and caused the chows to be unprofitable. Strings were also tightened on the -dance halls and their operation made well high impossible. The ruling causes the passing of one of the wild and woolly frontier towns. Burkburnett In its heyday was one of the great- est oil boom towns in the country. AMUSEMENT STOCKS ARE QUIET; SHOW UNDERLYING STKENCm '.y Famout Players Gets to 76 in Zigzag Movements— Brokerage Advices Bullish on Leadcsr — ^Loew and Orpheum Elasily Held y "'f-, s"- I INDIANA, TERRE HAUTE, DARK Terre Haute, Ind., July 25. The Indiana, one of the finest in the state, is dark and there is no announcement regarding its future operation. The negotiations by which the Consolidated. Realty Co., which books through the Chicago Keith office, would take the house, are be- lieved to have fallen through. The Consolidated now operates the Liberty in Terre Haute. CIRCUS ROUTES Ringling Bros, and Barnum & Bailey July 27, Marshfleld. Wis.; 28. Du- luth. Minn.; 30. Minneapolis; 31, St. Paul; Aug. 1. Alexandria; 2. Fargo. N. I).; 3. Crookston. Minn.; 4, Win- nipoR. Manitoba; 6 Moose Jaw. Sas- katchewan; 7, Reglna; 8, Yorktown; 9. Saskatoon. Sells* Floto July 27. Danbury, Conn.; 28. Wat- erbury; 30. Merlden; 31. New IJrit- aln; Aug. 1, Hartford; 2. Westfield; 3, Albany, N. Y.; 4. Troy. John Robinson July 27. Petcrsburj;. Va.; 28. Farm- vlllc; 30, Lynchburg; 31. Roanoke; AiipT. 1. Bluefields. W. Va.; 2. Wil-. lianwon; 3. Ironton. Ohio; 4, Porls- »nouth; G. Cummlnprsvllle. Walter L. Main Jii'y 28. Oreonvtllo. Mi<li.: HO. South Chicago; 31, ElRin. 111.; Au«?. 1. Stf^rlinp. 111.; 2, Peru. 111.; 3. Strt-aior; 4, I'ontlac, Sparks' Circus •Tuly 27, Knno, Pa.; 28, Brookvillo; 80. .Stoubcnvlllr. O. Ed A. Evans* Greater Shows July 23-28, Nevada, Mo. Stock Exchange dealings in the amuMemont group continued ex- tremely quiet, but in general the movement was. toward better levels, particularly in the case of Famous Players, which got up to 76 for a time and ruled generally around im- proved levels near 74-75. Wall street brokerage advices to clients generally are bullish toward the amusement leader. Unofflcial estimates put current earnings at the relative rate of $18 on the com- mon, this Is taking into account that we are in the dull trade season. The figure does not mean that Famous Players Is making $18 in mid-sum- mer, but tliat the rate of profit at this time indicates that the calen- dar year will show that rate, based on first half figures and the Indi- cated business for the autumn. Healthy Advance Famous Players Is showing every sign of being headed toward 80, from its bottom in June of 65. It recovered briskly to 70-71, then got to 74 and then to 76. taking dips on the way up, but on the broad basl.s always maintaining its forward tendency. Speculators would like to know what the stock's position is as to the volume of short contracts still outstanding. Followers of the isHue figure that there has been much covorinpr on the way up anrl the Fhort interest probably h.as pretty /ell bowed out. Ordinarily this would weaken the stock'.s posi- tion, huL the climb ha.«} been so Rradiial ati»l th(' recessions so well munaqcd that probably there has been little weak following drawn in and hoidinjTH are in "good" hand.s. Loew exhibited .1 remarkable fa- cility to move over a wide area on small volume of husine.sa. One day a turnover of only 400 f«har«».s put the price down \ from 16 to 10%. On the other hand, it required only two trades the following day to put quotations back whero tl^ey were. The Inference Is that clique operators have the situation in hand. They apparently decline to take up offerings except at bargain rates, but, on the other hand« have no trouble in moving quotations up when they want to. This has been the operation right alonir. Qoldwyn's Position —--;• Goldwyn' did not come out all week, its last trade being at 16 the week before. Traders assume that (Continued on page 28) Bert Hughes and Oo^ bicyola ridera who made their Urst Amert- ditlon. Reaching the coast the act | can appearance latt- week at tha haa to lay off In San Francisco for PaUce, New York, hava been sn- Vh% reason, with the husband volun- gaged by the Wirth Clraus for an KEITH'S AFTER PREMIER Negotiations are on for the ac- quisition of the new Premier, seat- ting 2,000, at -Sutter avenus and Hinsdale street, Brooklyn, by the Keith circuit. The Premier, opening the past season, is controlled by the Premier Amusement Co. It at present oper- ates with pop vaudeville on a split week. Jack Linder has Men book- ing it. MUNDORF'S FAR EAST TRIP During next month Harry Mun- dorf, Keith's foreign booker, will leave for a tour of the Far East in search of vaudeville novolty turns. Heretofore Mr. Mundorfs trav- els abroad for the big vaudeville- agency have been through Great Britain and the European Continent. LEWIS' LOEW FRANCHISE .Sam Lewis, who has been manag- ing Columbia Burlesque attractions for several seasons, has become an independent vauJevIlIe agent and given a franchise by the Loew office. Last season Lewis managed one of the Herk-Beatty Shubert vaude- ville units. tarily requesting the delayed route, Levey assenting. The man finally completed the Levey time as a single turn, he added. Sam Kramer, ' Lerey's manager here, states the eight weeks usually glren by the Levey Circuit are played within 12 weeks. The Levey contract docs not limit the time and with the circuit's route ending here Levey Is not required to retur.i the acts to their starting point. Many ants come here on account of the picture possibilities or cli- matic condit^Ions. The Levey and other coast vaudeville bookings prove a boon to them if securing eMY% In many instances the acts agree to any conditions imposed fur the opportunity of working their way out. Some seem to appreciate the chance, while others become dis- gruntled when, after arriving here, they are disappointed on one ac- count or another. , . •; ■ ; ,, Commissioner's Advics The labor commissioner's advice t acts booked out of Chicago is that they protect themselves in the first place through Insisting upon a 'clause in all coaift contracts men- tioning the exact number of weeks t^ be actually played and the exact number of wetks In all ths trip will require. In that manner, the com- missioner's office says, there could hr no misunderstanding. At the labor commissioner's office a Variety representative stated a re- port by wire from the hfew York oflflce of Variety had said It was understood that 20 acts had filed complaints within the week. Commissioner W. B. Stelnect pro- duced two complaints received within the past month against the Levey Circuit, both alleging mis- representation at the booking point. Chicago. One of the complainants Is said to be the act referred to by Levey. Bdward Browder, local Levey booker, will appear before the com- missioner next month in answer to a complaint filed by Roy and Wilson, who declare it took them seven months to complete eight weeks on the I^evey time. They state they wore unable to proceed east after closing here through lack of funds. Tod lirown is the other complain- ant Commissioner Stelnect stated he had received several complaints within the past two years and has taken steps to secure the co-opera- tion of labor bureaus in other stntes to prevent acl.s being brought here t be left under destitute circum- stances as a possible charge upon the community. The labor onicial.s say the slate law will force anyone bringing acts to California to return them to the starting point if misrepresentation in booking can be proven. Australian tour. The bike riders will sail from San Francisco Oct. SO for ths Antlp^ odea Wlrth also booked ths pedal- ers for 10 wseks of fairs, to ba played prior to ths Australian trip. Ths turn wak brought to Mr. Wlrth's attention by a review of the act In last wssk's ••Cllppsr,* The review stated ths basketball game on wheels would prove a wsl- comie diversion for an outdoor at- traction. yOX BILLS nr "OME"'* Vaudeville shows In ths PV»x houses are consisting almost en- tirely of acts in "one" during ths summer, the only occasional excep. tions l>eing opening and closing acts. Sketches and acts which do talk in "two" are not being booked, and won't be until the cooler weather sets in. The "one" shovirs are bsing given in order to allow ths houses to keep all doors open and fans going and allow ths audience to hear talking and singing acts. DANCE HALL OPPOSITION Fort Worth, Texas, July 88. A proposed ordinance against dance halls has been vigorously op< posed by the proprietors, who have hurled doflauce at the city fathera The battle is now on whether or not the public, dance halls will be abol- ished by city legislation. Both sides ars flgtitlng desperately for ths greatest of weapons—public opinion. Danes hall managers have- declared they ars willing to accept a verdict from the public to close, but that they will opposs a similar t^tion from the authorltisf- J. 8. Ashenfelder, acting as spokesman for the dance men, says that the city owns its own bathing, beach and furnishss police protec- tion. He says the dance men en-, courage supervision and want ths public to know this stigma does not reet on the dance halls that ths police would attempt to show does . rest there. The office of dance hall Inspector In Dallas has been abolished by the City Commission through the adop- tion of an ordinance placing the work In charge of the Director of Public Welfare. Tho Mayor said the work could be adequately han- dled by sending a policeman to the dance halls occasionally. YOSCO AN AOENT IJob Yosco (Lyons and Yosco), veteran vaudevllie player, has re- ceived a franchise to book in the Loow office. He began submitting material Tuesday. Yosco is an old timer, having l>eon partner of the late Tony l*oarl.