Variety (July 1923)

fwr "y^^ii -TJ^lj^BC^ ■<-':mmmyf^\^^-f.,:/ .^--y^^A .J?'' 1<I VAUDEVILLE .;.'*,,' • ■■■, Thursday. July 26, 1923 OBITUARY ALBERT CHEVAUBR Albert Chevalier, the greateat of all coster comedians, died In a Lon- don nursing home July 11. Born March 21, 1861. he was the son of a French father and a British mother. He became a boy actor In the early seventies and appeared In the Lon- don suburbs In a series of perform- ances in which the late William Lestocq and Arthur Roberts also appeared. He made his legitimate debut with the Bancrofts, playing a smail'part In "To Parents and IN MKHORIAM WITH MVCH DEVOTION TO A FINE FRIEND , AND ▲ GREAT SHOWMAN PERCYCmUAMS Mar hts fatsrs be as happy as be BMkde tb4 atage earvcra of many. taelndlDf ALICE LLOYD O^ttlBffhani. ■ntland. July 24) Ouardlaaa^ at tlie old Prince's In September, 1877. H«» also played with th* Kendals and Sir John Kara. V.-, It nbt until he bad played under mo«t of the Important West S«nd manaiTMnents that he became « Taudsvllle performer. This was malnl/ tlM result of an accident He wms heard to sing one of his coster songs at a club and a few days later Ben Nathan persuaded him into his first music-hall engage- ment Boon he becama one of the foremost "stars'* of .vaudevillo and his sons, "Mrs. 'Enery 'Awklns." "Knocked 'Em In the Old Kent Road" and "My Old Dutch" were sung and whistled all over the country. ' For some time he settled down at the Queens HalL Later he ap- peared both here and in America as oo-«tar with Tvette GuUbert. Re- turning to legitimate, he played in "The Sins of Society" at Drurj' Lane in 1907; then for some years legitimate, with occasional vaude- ville aeasons, claimed him. Having written a stage version of "My Old Dutch,'' he produced it In the prov- Inches and toured successfully for some time, bringing the drama to the Lyceum in July, 1920. It was revived in November of last year. Most of his famous songs he wrote himself. Only a few days ago he announced that be would tour no more. ting a corn. One toe was removed and physicians later found ampu- tation of a leg was necessary, but the patient refused to submit to the operation. THOMAS DONNELLY Thomas Donnelly, nationally known minstrel, died in his home at 14 Pine street. Springfield, Mass., July 20, following a heart attack. For over 40 years Mr. Donnelly had been known as a minstrel entertainer. The vaudeville team of Donnelly and Hatfield was of nation-wide repute. The deceased also was an end man In many big minstrel shows. He last appeared in Springfield, his home town, three years ago. He leaves a widow. Mrs. Emma Lipman Donnelly; three daughters, Edith. Rose and Floria Donnelly, and an aunt, Mrs. John Mulrone. all of Springfield. * '■ > PERCY, G. WILLIAMS The death July 21 of Percy G. Williams is noted in the news sec- tion of this i88>»e. '• \ ■ GRACE BARRON Emily Grace Wills, known pro/ fessionally as Grace Barron, died June 30 in \h« Brokaw Hospital, Bloomington, 111., after a lingering Illness. The deceased, born n Lon- don. Ont., was 62 years old, had been on the st^ge since «he was 15. She was married to the late George Wills with' wh#nj «he formed a team of Wills and Barron. For the IN MEMORIAM Dr.GEORGELLOTHROP Died Aucuit 3t-d, 1922 WIFE and SON past 14 months the deceased had been confined to the hospiUl due to asthma and heart trouble. A son. R. A. Wills of Chicago, and a grands^ survive. YOUNG CATHOUC PRIEST REGULAR SONGSTER Father Conner, of Orange, N. t t% f» - Di^M^ uii.^«ik Ji^* Joe** Combinations to compete. J., Can Rag rianO—WrOie ^ ,b ^ot alone that the visiting or- Waltz Hit Father J. Pierre Conner, a young Catholic priest of Orange. N. J., is probably the only professional song writer who is also of the cloth. The clergyman is popularly voted by his "tin pan alley" confreres, who are mostly anything but of Catholic faith, a "regular guy.- Father Con- ner's visitations to the various pub- lishers from his New Jersey parish are generally marked with good fel- lowship and enthusiasm. The cleric's ability at ragging a badly tuned upright is likened only to Mike Bernard. Father Conner writes better class stuff for publish- ers like Rlcordi. He has a lawsuit impending against a British pub- lisher whose "rose" song has been a hit abroad and still is a current fa- vorite in this country. Father Con- ner accounts for his waits tune reaching the other side and thus travelling back by the fact he thought little of it and obliged an American songstress with a piano copy. She settled in England, sang the song, distributed hand-made or- chestraliuna and unwittingly got the tune in the air, which some English composer adapted. The father's rights are being looked after currently by Nathan Burkan and George Maxwell, the president of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publish- ers, who is also head of the Rlcordi Co. of Milan, Italy, in this country. # / CABARETS Traveling orshssAras and orchMi- tra acts mrm making It touch for Is^ WILLIAM C. REILLY ■William C. Rellly, for 15 years as- sociated with Maude Adams and until recently stage manager of Maxlne Elliott's theatre, New Tork» died July 21 at his home in New York City. At one time he served on the executive board of the The- atrical Protective Union. ^ ^ • . SFIEITUALISM EXPOSE (Continued from, page 1) pages to which they corresponded. I gave one copy to the woman at Avon 4228-L. The other I kept, with two copies of the book. She received one copy of the book. When 'nothing,' the last word on Page 97 was selected.by the com- mittee, I quickly consulted the list and found that the name corre- sponding to Page 97 was 'Miss Dorn.' So I said, 'Call up Miss Dorn.' When the woman at the other telephone heard herself called 'Miss Dorn,* she. too, consulted her list and learned that the page-num- ber corresponding to *Mls8 Dorn' was 97. She turned to the page and read the last word—'nothing.'" Next, ' Rabbi Jasln exposed the "floating table" trick and with a trick slate gave a demonstration of "spirit slate-wrUing." "I have devoted twenty years to the inves- tigation of BO-called spirit phenome- na," he asserted. "I have attended chestra playing ths smaller towns hai! the benefit of u^-to-date light- ing and staging but also, in most every case, the big ^ity combina- tion consists of nine men or more and uses special arrai)gements. After the touring musicians have left town the local leaders are be- siegld with requests for certain songs, but, when they play them, th^ patrons complain the numbers do not sound the same as when played by the visiting aggregation. This has been a source of annoy- ance not alone to the local orches- tras but to the publishers. The local leader writes to the publisher, telling what happened and asking for a "special." In many instancyes the local leader is the best plug in town and for that reason the pub- lisher must go to the expense of having a special arrangement made or else lose the good will of t^ie leader. 0ns of the largest captures of in- toxicants ever made in the western part of MasssLchusetts was effected by the police of North Adams last week when they seised a truck and a touring car containing more than 1,000 bottles of ale on the summit of the Mohawk trail. "When the po- lice patrol overtook the truck after a long chase the occupants of the accompanying car had disappeared, presumably in the woods near by. The driver of the truck, who gave his name as Harry Jones, 25, of Plattsburg, N. Y., was arrested. Ke offered no re.'iistance in the face of drawn revolvers of the ofBcers. Jones was togged out in a man- ner that would do Justice to ICddle Mack's best sporting creations. In the District Court he at first pleaded not guilty to the Charge of possess- ing and exposing liquor^ with intent to unlawfully sell them, but later he changed his plea to one cf guilty and was fined $100 and given a sus- pended sentence of three months in the House of Correction. and possibly th« nsw Four Trees ar« drawing regular patronage. The first named continues to be a stable re« sort for seekers of good fo6d and mild entertainment, but some of tha newer places are coming up rapidly in the way of popularity. :mj The eoming season will probably- see the prominent dance orchestra leaders of the £:ast waging a war for the society business in and around New York. At present sev. eral ofllces are handling the. bulk of the New York society work. ■ ' ^ The slow season that is predicted " In orchestra circles for the cabaret business during the coming season and the prospcot of vaudeville bands t falling off makes the society feature' of orchestra work the sole resort,, and for this reason the orchcstra-if and offices will concentrate on It. When a name organization can de- mand and E*^t upwards of $30 a man for an evening's work it is worth while, and it is this, as murh as' anything /Ise, that is causing manyS^ to go after the New York business. ' The old trie'; of shipping beer and ale by freight, under the amouflage of hay, is not as succe.ssful as it once was. . Customs officers and prohibition agents are noHler about innocent looking consignments than they were a year or two ago. The suspicion of a customs officer that. a freight car on the Grand Trunk line at Fort Covington did not con- tain hay, as it was billed, led him to Investigate. He found under the top layer of alfalfa 100 barrels of a high grade beer known as Mil- waukee Cream. At New York prices this Is said to be worth between* $5,060 and $10,000. The officer seized the load. The consignee is believed to have been a fictitious person. Sunday nights at the Plantation cafe located in Culver City midway between Los Angeles and Venice has developed into the biggest eve- ning of the week in point of attend- smce. The im. .omptu entertain- ment is furnished by visiting and layoff professionals attract the rush. Dancing contests are also held Sunday night and last week Sunday night, Senator Walkir, of New York, was the host that pre- sented the winning team with a silver trophy. An Idea of the entertainment may . , , , . - .x^ . be gleaned from the foUowilng who Felix Adier, master of ceremonies; Sophie Tucker, Gus Edwards, SULLIVAN BROOKE Sullivan Brooke, a nephew of Sir Arthur Sullivan, died suddenly July T In London, England, after having had a stroke on the previous / day. He had been the musical di- rtottv of the Lyceum for some years, the only interval being dur- ing his army service. Beginning his career as a church organist, he soon turnod to the stage and became one of tlie George Edwardes touring conductors. As a composer he had the scores of sq;ne 50 or 60 musical comedies, dramas and revues to bis credit. PITT CHATHAM A sudden death was that of Pitt Chatham, who died July 6 following an operation in London for appendi- citis, aged 87. Up to a week before he had been playing hie original part of Morano in "Polly" at the Savoy, and the theatre was closed on the day of his funeraL He was the McHeath In "The Beggar'e Opera" on tour, and later played the part at the Lyric, Ham- mersmith. Prior to the war he was a favorite ainger at the Czar's Court at Fetrograd and had a large fol- lowing In other continental cities. -At the outbreak of war he Joined up and was severely wounded or. tho Salonika front. Ho leaves a wife and one daughter, who recently made her debut In a British Drama X<eague pro<luctIon. Willism Rellly, a veteran member of the I.A.T.S.E., died of gangrene in New York July 21. He was car- penter at the Maxlne Elliott theatre. New York. Several weeks ago In- fection set In as the result of cut- COURT AGAINST SPECS (Continued from page 4) from .speculators, and notwithstand- ing this warning, If they did pur- chase tickets, they might fhen bo put to the inconvenience of being denied admission at the theatre, which Is well within the rights of the theatre management. •It Is costing the Palace manage- ment a largo amount weekly to convey the Information to the pub- lic of this policy through loud speak- ers, signs, special omcers, etc., so that any one who does patronize these 'specs' has every reason to be familiar with the policy before- hand. "The serious efforts of the Kt-lth officials to wipe out objectlonablo ticket speculation may be generally known to the New York residentn, but there are thousanda of visitors from out-of-town who come to tho theatre here without this knowl- edge, and efforts of the Keith peo- ple are well directed for their pro- tection. "The Keith interests are certainly to be commended In their desire to deal direct with the public rather than entering Into a secret business relationship with the ticket specu- lators, thereby foregoing undoubt- edly a handsome profit. "The Court must be convinced that tlipse straightforward find sin- cere efforts upon the part of Mr. Albee and the Keith Interests to get their admission tickets to the pub- lic at box office prices should not be construed to constitute a public nuisance, but, Instead, if there be no more convincing evidence than that presented here, the Court .should hold up the hands and as- .slst tho Institution dealing so hon- orably with the public." f%ar of contradiction, that there are no genuine spirit phenomena. All so-called spirit phenomena are de- ceptions pure and simple. They are wicked deceptions, because they take advantage of the tenderest sentiments of the human heart "In the course of my Invstlgatlon, I have learned all the tricks of so- called • spirit seances and learned how to perform all of them. I challenge any spirit medium In Cin- cinnati to submit to a test" No local medium has replied to Rabbi Jasin's defi. And there is one woman in Cin- cinnati, whom Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, during his recent visit to t^is city, proclaimed to be the greatest medium in the worldl STAR ACTS FLOP (Continued from page 1) legit, concert and vaudeville field by tho bureau. It was found that exhibitors balked at paying $1,000 or more a week to a special attraction and then pay the rental price for^ big film at t^o same time. In telling a Variety reporter of their decision to discontinue the bureau, B. A. Schiller, general manager for Loew-Metro. stated that the "star attractions" didn't mean a thing to their picture houses, and that In the future the Loew film houses will present in conjunction with their shows "atmospherical shows" (or presentations) which will have some bearing on the pic- ture exhibited in the way of either prologs or epilogs. Whether tho in- dependent exhibitors who have played the "names" booked by tho bureau would continue to do so or not was optional with themselves, said Mr. Schiller. That "star attractions" were hurt- ing picture productions seemed to have been discovered by Famous Players some weeks ago when that concern dropped Its special depart- ment created for the purpose of se- curing special attractions. Frisco (dancer). Lew Brice, Harry Rose, Lou Clayton, Peggy Burt, Bryan Foy, Bennle Fields, Blossom Seeley, Nat Goldstein and several others. All "did their stuff^' ex- cepting Miss Seeley. , In the list of Lillian Lorraine's liabilities as scheduled in her bank- ruptcy petition appeared the name of Ferncliff Lodge as a debtor^ to the amount of $10.06 for a restau- rant bill. This is said to have been' a "little dinner" given by Lillian at Walter Kafferburg's place up in the hills near the Delaware Water Gap. It runs only In the summer. Miss Lorraine included a couple of dre^.smakers in her list, also the doctor who attended her following the bad spine sprain she endured when falling down a flight of stairs at the old 50 Club, while Lillian In addition named some loan concern where she had pledged her jewelry with the concern claiming a balance due after having sold it upon her failure to redeem. Benson's Concordians, the orches- tra which win furnish the music at Montmartre Cafe, of Chicago, the new cabaret being erected on the site of Green Mill Gardens, in which Henry Horn, formerly of the Rendezvous, is interested, will have Al Beckwith as director, and will Include Oscar Pletrack, violin; Robert Marvin, banjo; Emerson Both, saxophone; Frank Novack, saxophone; Herbert Carlin, cornet; Frank Dickson, bass tuba, Charles Cottle, drums, and Al Beckwith, piano. . ' ' A roadside cabaret, known'as the White Swan, three miles south of Schenectady, was badly damaged by a mysterious explosion, supposedly of dynamite, early Monday morning. No one was injured, but the front end of the building was blown out and windows in structures across the road were broken. The explo- sion happened a little while before daylight, and the police have not been able to determine how many persons were in the cabaret at the time, estimates ranging from two to twenty. No reason for the bla^ has been advanced either by th^ police or by the proprietor, James Mann. Walking into police headquarters at North Adams, Mass., and intro- ducing himself as the driver of the Cadillac touring car abandoned early- one morning last week on the Mohawk Trail when Nocth Adams police chased and captured one of a party of three rum runner.s, Daniel Adams, giving his residence at Crown Point, N. Y., was taken on his word and shortly after arraigned before Judge C. T. Phelps on a charge of possessing Intoxicating llquo- with Intent to sell. The boot- legger pleaded guilty to the charge, was fined $100, which he paid, and .was placed on probation for a year. The Six Brown Brothers, with Tom Brown, according to one report from Los Angeles, were going on a road tour, jointly starred with Julian El- tlnge, playing the far west, with El- tinge and Tom Brown financing the trip. Another from San Francisco signed by Tom Brown states he and the Brown boys are accompanying the San Francisco Chamber of Com- merce on their trip to Alaska and Siberia, away for 40 days. They sailed July 20 on the "Buford" from San Francisco, according to the an- nouncement date July 18, wjth Carl Lament of the Sherman-Clay com- pany, Frisco, accompanying them. The summer season has hit Green- wich Village a little harder than ever with bad business forcing 'many of the cabarets and restau- rants to close. About twenty are still open, but of these only four or five: Greenwich, Village Inn, Le PerroQuet, Moris, Jlmmie Kelly's, The 400 Club in New York, a Salr vin night club, has a uniformed po- lice ofllcer on detail there continu- ously. It's something new in police details, and Is called "a 24-hour ob- servation." Under it the New York police apparently have found a way to super'^^Ise cabarets even though the Mullan-Gage repealer took the cops out of the liquor field. ., * '4 .,V1 The new Lyonhurst ballroom of 3.500 capacity, Marlboro, Mass., is experimenting with an Innovation.— Two bands, the Guatemalas and Sheridan's jazzers, are the regular fixtures, but every Friday night a guest orchestra officiates. To date Isham Jones, Al Jockers, Bonnie : Krueger, Harry .Stoddard et al. have ■ been Invited". It has proved a busi- ness getter. Henry Nassberg and nis Greer.- (ContJnued on page 41) *