Variety (December 1923)

'■'/'^i T-i>.K?f>'W7r^;.L"-. r-r^V^' Thursday, December 9, 1923 Tnd* Hark RtgUUnd &. Blow SilTtnun, Pnilduit Mnr Tort City rJf4 WMt 4«tli BtrMt r' BUBBCRIDTIOMl Auaal IT i rortl(a°. M ■lB«l» Copi*9 *• Cmu yol. LXXIII. No. J VARIETY'S OFnCES CabI* Adclr«*M» Vitrlety. New York Variety. London NEW YORK cm 154 Watt 46th Street CHICAGO state-Lake Theatre Building - -.LOS ANGELES Grauman'a Metrepolitan Theatre Building )■ ■ SAN FRANCISCO Clau* Sprecklea BIdg. '' WASHINGTON, D. C. Evans Building, New York Ave. LONDON 8 St. Martin's PI., Trafalgar Sq. Actorviews ami Peerage (Two Booka of the Theatre) Aehton Stevens, the vitriolic Ashton from Chlca^. has written a mighty fine book of Interviews and kept In mind the folks he Is writing about are pretty much plain folks with their own characteristics. Ashton takes great Ilbertle'S with his actor folks. He says some things that the folks themselves might not relish. But he writes an Interview en- tertainingly in so much as he actually creates the proper at- mosphere before unloading the glat of the yarn. This Is a hard ■tunt—try It—but he does It even though he does over- work the capital "I." However, the critic from Chi len't t:he only one with this falling. In his book Richard Bennett owns up that ha Is a pretty intelligent feltow; Sophie Tucker says "Honest to Ood"; Dale Winter telle of her days on the Chicago Bouth Side; the late Bert Williams tells about his liquor drinking pro- clivities; Modest Morrla Gest owns Up that ^ing broke Is his greatest inspiration; Fay Ifarbe talks about how good she was on the Loew Circuit, and last, but not least, all of the lovely lailies are shown In the light of l»Ing dreadfully Intelligent. J There are some laughs In the 11 book for the wise guys and l«ome thrills for the yokels. IThis should sell It two ways. T T+iere is no interview with J Channing Pollock. NoKis men- tion made of "The Fool." That may be in the next of the eeries. "The Peerage" Is a play by A. Y., an Englishaan, whose grudge against the noblUty is not aufflclently strong to force a true signature. As a play It Is eo-so stuff. The author rails against the hewly rich class, enabled to btiy their coronets and likewise their way Into the House of Lords. It is well written In Its way, though not destined to be a sensational seller and is given an aitractive format by the publisher.-;—so attrntUve that It will go well with the green wallpaper in a summer cottage on Long Island. That is one of till' two slrons imints In Its favor. The play. In three sols, Is meant to be sensational. The author should get pounded into his head that the only way to Write a sensational play is to ^et the plot to Involvo a courtesan and a Sir Algernon —that's sure fire. EDITORIAL VARIETr ^'y^ tM*^;:- TEN YEARS AGO from Tarletv Dated Dec S, ttli Bren ao fkr bftok it was reported and believed tbat R. 4k B. and the ShObevta ware oa the aive oC «n amalgamatton. Tbla time the report made K appear tb* oMiaoUdatton would be In effect Dea t, 1»14. Maria Uoyd waa actaeduled to resume her American tour at the Palace, Chicago, while Edna Ooodrioh waa aalllng to take up time In England. Clifford Ftacher promotM a ctrcua at the London Opera House. Soon after Ka Inception the report got about that buslnesa was bad and financial dlTflcuUiea loomed. The affair came to a head when the enter- prise closed owing to salary to acta. The show waa a combination circus and revue. The London Hippodrome waa framing a new show in which were to be concerned Harry Tate, Bthel Levey, Shirley Kellogg, Frank Carter, Isabel D'Armond, Queenle Gerard and George Monro. Proving that history repeats Itself, In 1*13, a well developed acheme was on foot to form a burlesque wheel In England. Oawald Stoll's representative had Just returned from the States and on his report of the Wheel proposition It was made known that Oswald Stoll thought pretty well of the proposition. (Just after the Invasion of Jean Bedlnl's «how In England last year, talk waa current about a burlesque circuit, and It Is not yet certain that It won't go through after all.) Kinemacolor was at th< top of Its career as the leader of the natural film color processes. It Was maklpg big plans in the States and proposed to es'cubliflh its hx^al home m Paris at the Theatre Edouard VII, in Paris. Exploited as the best appointed picture house In the French capital. Evelyn Neebit who had her own show out. appeared In Pittsburgh, home of the Thaw family, it was expected that something would happen, but nothing dii. The Rube Marquard-Blossom Scc:ey affair waa fresh In the public mind, when Joe Kane, former husband of Miss Seeley attached her salary at the New York Palace, alleging that he had an overdue note tor 11,000 from Rube and Intended to get some of it from the box office. There was a sudden craze for dancing acts of high reputation In the cabarets. Vera Maxwell (of "Follies" fame) and ^'allace McCutchcon began a six-week engagement at Rector'K. Chic.ngo. At the same time .Mae Murray and Curios Sebastian were boaUed for Hammeratein's root doing their "Barcarole dance." There was a good deal of di-spule n;bout the entrance of Marcus Loew into the Philadelphia opera house. lyoew'; New York ofti<-e Insisted the engagement would st.irt the next week, while the Philadelphia directors said the date was off and the Loev/ vaudeville would not'evcn start. New York dancers became agitated over the matter of salaries behiK offered to "names" In Chicago restaurants. In addition to Mae Murray and Vera Maxwell, word was spreail th:it Joan Sawyer had been signed at $1,200 to dance on the New York Roof tor Wllll:im Morris. It w.as n matter of comment that chorus girls of yesterday were becoming danclns stars of today at fabulous salaries, and the ranks of the steppers, men and women, were accordingly agitated. The salary boost origlr.atcd In Chicago. The restaurants there were blilJing for New York celebrities. Valesca Suratt engaged In a controversy with Llane Carrera (Anna Held, Jr.) over rights to a certain black and white setting which Mies Suratt claimed for her own. Miss Suratt had just received an offer to appear In the Shuberts' Winter Garden show, but Keltb contracts inter- fered. ■■•■■•-.^ "■ ■'• ;'."" ■■'■■■'■ : - The difference between ^e current and the 191J situntlen among the organizations may" be imagined from the fact that legitimate pl.iyers were beginning to manifest Interest In the White Rats, and It looked as though the Influence of the vaudeville organization might extend Into the legitimate branch. Several Lambs had been proposed for membership in the Rats. Carleton Macy, a prominent Lamb, had been Just elected to the Rats' Board o< Directors, "The small time" waa a relative new creation and all show business was trying to figure out its possibilities. Just at this time the new angle was that It would get away from the four-a-day and by advancing its box office scale of offering, develop Into competition with the estabushed big time oircults. INSIDE STUFF ON LEGIT . ....-, ..y'iji, ^ AnnjL Marble (Mrs. Channing Pollock) was appointed general press representative for A. H. Woods. One of the "Tommy's Tattles" wise cracks for the week was, "'If there weren't a 'No. 2' spot a lot of acta would have to think up a new excuse for flopping." proving tbat Tommy is a thinker not for the present, but for all time. Cyril Maude in "Grumpy" In the middle of Its run did 110,000 at Wal- lack'a, while the rest of show business was off. Ail except "Peg" in Us D2d week at the Cort broke Its own record with $1S,003. INSIDE STUFF ON VAUDEVILLE "Conijiioti .Si use' taken oft the road laat week uivtII a rtieatre coukl be obtained in New York, had a lot of tinkering done to It while out. The last act was rewritten no less than six times, according to reports. The third act at one time had a reformer coming from the hospital and at- tempting to blackmail the heroine, but this waa cut and the chara< ter now makes his last appearance at the ciirt,-iln of the second a''t when the hero (played 4>y Chic Sale) throws him through the ground floor window of a hotel. The play is terrific propagirda .TKainst all reform orijanizatlons. With the second act tlijhtonpd up In s|)ot8 and a belter third act, tlie play should catoh on In New York, for It h;is a timely theme. Herbert Hnll Winslow, the author, has heretofore been Ideutlfliii more with farces. Whaf.s Your Wife Doing," which closed Ia«t week at the Cen- tury Roof, was written by him for Arthur Klein. "Common Sense" is reported to have been hooked up pn-Uy hi'avy In the way of salaries. Sale's Is $1,000 a week. Pirture players who h^ve etitf-red vHitd^vltl*- during Ilia pant few monthj; have handed scveral'surprlprs to th'' sfiid tlx'.Ttre mnn:ii;ers and circuit executives, the most no;iccalift of whiih is their luck of ready casli. With (he quoted picture salaries In their minds it was a distinct ali')-k to the theatre men to have picture players on tlicir bill drawing on the box office every d.iy of the cnnaKoment which has happened In sevcr.il iii- s;aiuR. It h.is likewise hapi)ined that arts headed by pli tuie names haM to rail upon the liooliing office to advani-e transportation to an opinlni; point a custom ranly i^lllul^■ed In by vauJevilllans [ilaying tl:e bi'ltcr griKle of houses. A|)|>.ireiitly the pii tine people left ill tli'lr wiillh In real e-lato or oil wells In the vicinity of Los Arigclca before taking the leap In vaudeville. Ethel Kelly of the "Sally" chorus and understudy for Marilyn Miller got her chance In Washington last F'rlday night when Miss Miller, through throat trouble, had to remain out of the performance that evening. Miss Kelly mopped up as "Sally," according to the roiiort. No one of the capacity attendance asked for a refund when the announcement of Miss Miller's Indisposition was made. The benefits at the Winter Garden, New York, last Sunday and next Sunday night for the beneflt of the New York "American's" Xmas Fund takes two Sundays out of the Shuberts' Garden box oflllce. In pre- vious years the "American's" special performances were given at the Astor. Other Shubert theatres were available for the special shows, leav- ing the Broadway mob perplexed just why the Winter Garden waa turned over for a volunteer show when the Shuberts, with their own bill, usually does $4,200 on a Sunday night up there. The conclusion was that the Shuberts thought U advisable to mlaa a couple of Sundays through the quality of recent Sunday bills at the Garden, and the dimculty they are experiencing In securing acts (or the on« performance weekly. First National, according to report, have managed to secure the back- ing of Julius Rosenwald, head of Sears-Roebuck, as their producing activity. Thus far First National have put a couple of pictures over th* plate, and their latest, "Flaming Youth," la said to be a'box office' knockout. Sam Kntz of Balaban & Katz, Is said to have made the con* nectlon. The Warner Bros, had their New York connection shoot all of the stars of the stage and screen as they entered the Hotel Astor for the E/qultr Ball a couple of weeks ago, and the million dollar cast will undoubtedly be pulled tor one of their forthcoming releases. Several' weeks ago. the Baltimore theatre managers grabbed aom* newspaper space by declaring that unless buslnes; Improved, they would be forced to shut up shop. Since that tlipe another legit house has re- opened, the Lyceum, and the other houses. Ford's and the Auditorium have been bounding along to good business gotten because of tried and true bookings. "Chauve Souris " picked up $2S,00e, the "Follies" $$$.,000, "Pota.sh and perlmutter" about $13,000, "Up She Goes" pulled a big week and ''Zander the Great" made money both ways. /" The same threat was made two years ago, but^e shows kept on coming. Three bad shows in a row at either house i<tlrseve*y theatrical writer In town to lament the conditions and a row of good ones throws their (;om- menls to the optimistic side In a Jiffy. It la not KCiierally known, although the New York producing managers are probably ftill^' aware of It, that one house In the metropolis has been building up n following through the^act that It adheres to the minute to the advertined show-starting hour. The owner of the theatre about a year ago proposed a resolution at a meeting of the Producing Managers' Association that Uie managers as a body adopt the Idea.of lifting the cur- tains on the .idvertlBed hour. So fur, the proposer of thIs<resolutlon has been the only one to adhere to It with the result when g:SO Is announced for the entre act the house Is almost always completely sealed. The purpose, according to the producer. Is tA enable the author to get his message over from the start without really being compelled to write 10 or U minutes of "stnllliu['' dialog so that the theme Is not lost la tba shuffle of the ushers and the patrons' feet. Despite the young man'v mother stigmatlxcd their engagement an- nouncement att "a piece of stupid Impertinence.". Whitney Warren, Jr., and Jeanne ICa^els are spending ihclr Sunday afternoons together. The young society man has cancelled his .idvertised trip to Europe which waa announced after the story at his l>etrothaI to the actrees came out, Charloltc Walker'M commercial career appears to have come to an end. Three months ago, the actress Jook over a lott at 167,West 48th etret-T, opening a millinery and gown sbo^ Although *he had signed a lease tor five years. Miss Walker lately walked out oh her venture. Speaking to a Variety reporter it was remarked as to the source of the papers information on the gros.s ri'celpts printed of various shows and pictures in several cities. The Hpeaker stated'that from his knowledge the reixjrts in general were quite accurate, but he had been unable to fathom \'arlety'» system. In a Jocular vein he nuRed If the paper intended to print the gross of department stores «lnce he hud r<'i<l In last week's paper of a Story from London glvini,' the gross business) Monday last week. In the heavy fog. by Harrodd's big department store over there, of $95,000 as ugalnat $l4r..- 000 by tho a.imo store on MotiUuy of the preceding week (without foR). Tiie department store gross sales were only mentioned compurati\ cly by Varlet.\'s flHure-dlgglng youth In London. U led to conversation In general about gross receipts and the ques- tioner recited a story on Corse Pajton. While Coise had his old stock In Brniiklyn, lin was seated One evening around a table in New York. Sotner)ne asked him what his house had done that night. Corse sail', i:-'. would find out, Returning he announced $370 as the gross. One of Iha party doubted It. "Does sound big," said Corse. "Wonder it be recog- nized my voice? Might have thought It was the landlord." Going to the phone agnin Corse returned, saying, "We were l>oth right " $250." W AI Lewis Is credited with smart management in tho changes within "The Wild Wescotts," which waa fixed up out of town with such con- sequent remits that It Is aimed for liroadway and may arrive next week. It is the second production by Lewis ft Gordon they have put on "The Nervous Wreck" In association with Sam H. Harris. "Tho Wild Wescotts" opened at Stamford, Conn., two weeks "ago. Lewis agreed with others at the premiere thnt the play was Impossible without nxlng, but Insisted It was only right that Anne Morrison, the authoress, make the changes, lie Journeyed with Miss Morrison and «he production to Syracuse, where the play was reduced from four acts to three Several cast changes were also made. Lewis stuck with tho -VVescotts ' into tho small stands of Pennsylvania Inst week. It opened at Wilkes-Barre Frl- day night to $800 and drew a $1,600 house Saturday night. A charitable affair given ,T,t a hotel In Times square recently Included a card game, and one of the prizes was a pass issued by the Shuberts. A nro(ikl.\ji girl who spent about $G for the cause won the ducat which railed for the 49th Street. When «he tendered tlie pass at the box olllce she discovered it was for one free admls.slon, It being patent the ■cpurlesy' was given with the Idea that another ticket would be pur- chased..^ Tickets at the Vanderbllt, New York, last week, which waa the Ili-st week of "In the Next llooiii, " were priced at $3.30 top. but the regular .Stale for the .scale Is $2.50. The iii:,stery drama wa« a sudden entrant, and ax there was no time to order tickcU, It wis decided to u>e a sot on band for "The C.imcls Il.ick." which lasted unly two weeks, but which had u $3.30 «• lie. No ral.<e over that price was male for Xliinl«»Bi. Ing. .Morris fu-st's i)uliliiit\ batlln;; acerige for "The Miracle." whiuii he wtll open mound the holliLiys at ilie I'enliiry, Is peifcit t.j JaiA Uonty* Continued III Dac' 31)