Variety (December 1923)

Thursday, December 18, 19£S iWffbV BJ^^^aww^^n VARIETY rjBTi'Tr^'TTT t Tittd* Martt BMttirtana rabU«h«a WMkly by TABIRX. IM. ■Im* atlTwioai^ PrtaldMt SI4 W»»t 4«t* 8tr«»t N»w Tork CJtT 8UB8CRIUT10N: Aaao*] It I »or»l«» M ■Incl* Cople» 10 C«nU Vol 1 XXIII. No. 4 Producers Forckig License Issue D^plto Mm preiant Ucsni* eommluloner's general friendliness for the ■how buain«M In New Tork city, the producers of the "dirty shows" might gire tL thought to the periodic changes of administration. With each new mayor, a new license bureau head is appointed. The new Incumbents of the office might not be as kindly disposed as the present commissioner, August '^W^ Olatxmeyer. There is such a thing as amending the department head's powers of administration. Although currently tied on the question of revoking a theatre license (an unusually fortunate thing for some managers) as wan established in the "Demi-Virgin" case, it does not Imply such condition need exist always. ; ..■ VARIETY'S OmCES Cable Addresses! Variety, New Fork Variety. London NEW YORK crrx 164 Wetit 46th Street CHICAGO state-Lakf Theatre Building ^ LOS ANGELES V Graunnan's Metropolitan Tlieatre Building SAN FBANCISCO Claus Spreckles BIdg. WASHINGTON, D. <f Evans Bu Idirg. New Vorlt Ave. LONDOJ 8 St. Martin's PI., Trafalgar 8q, Here is ihc .story of a pretty tougli break. Johnny Boyle and his wife (Doyle and Bennett) the dancers who have been playing around from weel« to week on the Keith time, received an offer fin- ally of a route over the Orpheum Circuit, witli - the Interstate tour added. Vhile negotiations were ro- Ing on their boy, John, Jr., seven years old, was taken ill and on ex- amination was found to be a victim of diabetes, which in children is always 'a fa I. He was removed to the Post Graduate Hospital where he Is receiving injections of the new remedy Insulin. This does not cure but merely arrests the progress of the disease. The doctors hold out no hope of the boy's cure but can keep the lad alive indefinitely un- less complications arise. They say he may live for years and as th^ father and mother refuse to leave the city while the boy la under treat- ment, all thought of touring the Orpheum circuit has been dismissed. In order to remain In the city and be near their boy the parents may open a dancing school In the the- atrical district, but this has not yet been definitely decided. Johnny Doolcy has a Paige car and almost bought another Oct, 16 laat. He had just signed for "The Three Graces" In London, and that deterred hlqt. Dooley paid William C, Pierpont who has the Paige agency In West- chester County $500 deposit, agree- ing to make good the $2,650 balance. When Dooley changed his mind be- cause of the theatrical engagement Pierpont refused to refund, Dooley last week broueht suit in the New York Supreme Court through Les- ter B. Nelson to recover that sum. The Yvette Uugel divorce action against Dooley is still pending. Three performers playing Keeney's Brooklyn, N. Y., the first half of last week had a narrow escape Tuesday evening when they were hit and run down by an automobile at Nevins and Livingston streets, Brooklj n,. while on their way to the theatre. The players were Kdward Lanner, 60; Gladys Plamer, 21, and GIsie Mills, 34. They appear In a skit called "When We Grow Up." After having been treated for slight injuries the performers proceeded to the theatre and appeared In the ntght show as per schedule. M. A. Kashin, formerly m.anaKcr of the Ellsmere, Bronx, has re- signed and is with the Consolidated Amusement Enterprises, Inc, Harry O. Bernstein, former manager of Henderson's, Coney Island, has been assigned to that post at the Ells- mere. A change In policy at the Bllsmere was made last week, the house dropping the vaudeville por- tion for the first half and running pictures. I Mrs. Lillian Forsythe Coffey ha.n T joined Hnrry Walker's bool-lng t)f- flce staff, looking after the motion picture and production end. The license commissioner' can revoke a picture theatre's license arbi- trarily. His power is limited as applied to the legit house, according to the "Demi-Virgin" decision. It Is not at all unlikely, in view of the general notoriety regarding this evil, that if the license bureau head la not at some time given the arbitrary power to revoke any license, be will at last have the authority to suspend it. The suspension of a theatre's license where a "dirty show" is holding rorth would be as effective a slap in the face for the producing manager. The days the theatre retuaiii dosed he is losing thousands of dollars. That mercenary set-back hits right between the eyes. There could be nothing more effective. , , ,. Nobody recognizes more strongly than Commissioner Glatxmeyer that the revocation of a theatre's license would be a tough blow. In the statutes of the city of New York it means, in p'.aln language driving a man out of business, baldly amputating his means of livelihood. Once a license Is revoked, it is a permanent blackball agalntit the Individual. He can no longer secure any license necessary for the pursuit of his business. With the show business which Is Just one license afte« another, the esult is obvious. , ., . . , . > .^... ..■. The chief executive of an Important municipal department as the llceme bureau, after all, must obviously be a liberal individual and not petty in the exercising of his mandatory pcwcrs. Yet, the Broadway en- irepencurs' attitude may not m.ike it unlikely that when the next report of the department is submitted to, the mayor it will carr, a recommend- ation tor the amendment of the license commissioner's powers. right* were never offered for sale to his knowledge. The report from Lon- don was that the piece was of American authorship, but would l>« pre- sented there first. When Flo Ziegfeld Is out of town he spends a good part of his apare time sending telegrams to his office. Since being away with "Kid Boots." the new Eddie Cantor piece, the average cost to and fro has been about $150 dally. Morris Gest has the habit, but not so costly. Some years ago when a representative was in Ottawa, the latter shot a telegram asking why there was no answer to an urgent question. Morris filed a lengthy wire to this effect: "Wish you would please atop spending niy money on telegrams. Who do you think I am, John D. Rockefeller?" Morris left no doubt as to which Rockefelller he meant, and the chap in Ottawa had to pay the tolls. J. P. M<Evoy. the author of the newspaper serial, "The Potters," which readied the stage at the Plymouth last Saturday, ctmio out l)efor( the footUghts for an amateurish speech at the conclusion of the perform- ance. He was nut backward In boosting his native Chicago and the "Tribune" there. Mention of being fri.nhtened of New York audiences was Quallfled by the observation he should have khown better. Then he sprung a well used Joke. But McKvoy forgot mentioning the players, Rlchird Herndon, the producer, or Gus Duncan, the director. One of the players kidded the author in mentioning there were so many sets and so little room for the players that it looked as though he has started a new dramatic school. He believed it. That's something show business should try to avoid. An Amplifier on That "Still, Small Voice" Many instance* huve been pointed out to this newspaper of the new stylo In dramatic criticism since Variety begun i)rlnting its 'box .scores' of tlie reviewers. It is quite palpable many of the scoffing, free birds who wear nobody's collar, and who heretofore tore In without respon: Ibllity to reader, pub- lisher, manager or performer, now go out of their way to qualify their statements; to insert observations that, though they do not like a play, the audience seems to. or the like. What can it be? Of course, a critic has a conscience. That "still, small voice" is sup- posed to guide him when he puts a piece of paper in his typewriter and has at his finger-tips the'>power to ruin, humiliate, chagrin, misrepresent, smirch and ridicule earnest professionals who give their last ounce of energy to their efforts. But human affairs through the ages have proven that if Is always a a salutary and beneficent influence when that same "still, small voice" has a big, hard club behind It. There is no more effective club, by that token, than publicity. And when that publicity takes on the authority of (acts, figures and undeniable truth, it Is difficult to dodge, and dangeretTs to meet. The difference between savages and civilized citizens is that little matter of the accountability—to the public—through agencies of that public, official or natural. The whole truth, frankly told in a medium of wide circulation, is perhaps the most effective deterrent against tyrdnny injustice, recklessness and "loose talk." The critic these days, for the first time in history, knows when he sits down to do his reviewing, that he, too, will be reviewed. His word is no longer the last word, which it has been, beyond appeal or protest, since the institution of published stage criticism began. Now he is checked up. He must account to thousands—and those are the thousands in the world of the theatre, his world, the world In which he struts and in which he seeks to be feared. When that world finds out, in cold black and white, through figures in- disputable, that one of these peacocks is 700 per cent, crow, his chest may have to be pulled in a bit. So he now has it running in his head that when he makes free with his opinion he will be held to account for that opinion. There have been dozens of paragraphs of late In the daily theatrical reviews seeking to report the (acts as well as the opinions. If this is a welcome indication and a helpful innovation, the theatre 1» to be congratulated In that the. one irresponsible factor in theatrical prosperity and dignity has been made to realize that there is no immunity against high-handed utterances. INSIDE STUFF ON LEGIT A record for Syracu.se is claimed tor Raymond Hitchcock In ''rhc Old Soak" for the Inst three days Inst week at the Wieting. The gross was close to $5,000. As the rllr is noted as one of the worst legitimate stands In the state, Hitchy's business created considerable comment along Broadway. Following complaints that the agencies wore exacting excess premiums tor "The Swan" at the Cort, no tickets for an extra mntlnee to be played Dec. 28 (Christmas week) have been given the brokers. The entire house was ordered sold at the box office and up to yesterday half the tickets had been disposed of. The tickets were sold without announcement of the added performance In the show's advertising. Two dailies, how- ever, carried a story on the direct box office eule, "The Blue Flare," reported in London advices as being listed for pro- duction there soon, ie the original title of Earl Carroll's "Bavu," the open- ing attraction of the Carroll theatre, Carroll states that the English "Best People," running In Chicago, is a surprise hit. That has been true of several productions of the Krohman office this season. Particu- larly "The Swan," one of Broadway's best bets. "Best People," at the Ade!phi, Woods' new Loop house, established a new legitimate record Sunday night by grossing $2,405, considered exceptional on the eve of the pre-hollday slump. George Holland, former newspaperman liere and In Boston, has joined the Sam H. Harris forces and has been assigned to'handle the publicity for the Music Box. with Frank Wilstach general press representative for Har- ris. Holland landed squarely with a money yarn that the dailies grabbed. One of the "Music Box Revue" choristers left home becauae her mother refused to part with a fractious monk, then summonsed ma to court for withholding her clolhes. Last spring Holland tried to put the Fine Arts theatre in Boston on the map. He produced a piece called "One Helluva Night," but th» best part of it was the press work, * Eva Le Galllenne, one of the brightest of the younger school of actresses, who is playing the feminine lead in "The Swan," ha« de- veloped what Is called a 'Duse complex." When the Italian tragedienne appeared here Miss Lc Galllenne always attended the performances (mati- nees only) and occupied a front row sent. Invariably when Duse entered Miss Le Galllenne stood up. After hearing of Duse's rather solitary mode of living she made almost Jaily visits to the visitor. Her feeling toward the older woman appears to be a form of hero worshrp and it has crept into Miss Le Galllonne's char- acterization of the Princess in "The Swan." Her gestures and make-up are Duse stuff. She screws up one eyebrow and one side of her face seems padded. The whole effect has resulted in her Princess being a much older person than when "The Swan" opened. The indulgence In such eccentricities Is taking unnecessary chance* of hiding her own native cleverness. Last week a stage manager for a well known producer got the shock or his young life as the result of alleged looseness of tongue. Ha cast iisperslons on the character of a red-headed Juvenile and the latter got completely steamed up. The actor requested the stage manager to come to his room. Then the Juvenile proceeded to treat the visitor to a severe beating and the stage manager has been sporting dark glasses since. The humorous angle is that the actor knew Just what might happen, nnd denned kid gloves after sending (or his mark. That eave<l lxl« knuckles. ., - . Misreprepenfatlon of the length of run a show had in New York la not confined to the legitimate Held. It is perpetrated with frequency in stock. Recently an upstate company advertised "Connie Goes Home" as being a "great New York comedy hit" and a "success in the New York sense of the word." The show did not last two weeks in New York. The "Just released" and "presented In stock (or the first time" are fre- quently used. Plays that have been on the stock market for a year or more are sometimes referred to as having been "just released," and pieces that have previously been given by a number of other stock com-' panics are announced as "presented (or the first time." Exaggeration of the amount of royally paid for a production is an- other thing that creeps into the press stuff and advertising of stock com- panies. Recently a press notice slated the royalty for "Civilian Cfothes'' was "double the usual amount." "Civilian Clothes" has been presentetl In stock since 1920. Some of the stuff which is erroneous may be the press matter written for the play when it was first released for stock nnd sent along with the script without the local p. a. taking the trouble to revise it. John Pollock had to t^ike a loss of $7,900 on the DeWolf Hopper opera company during its five weeks in Kansas City, although there under a weekly guarantee for 10 weeks of $4,900. If Pollock wants to recover he will have to sue almost the entire elite of K. C., since the show went in under the auspices ot the local Junior League as reprMcnted by Barry McCormlck. The flflal week Pollock's eettlement with the theatre was $1,400. He had ask^d to be released at the end of the third week, but the Ic.igue refused. McCormlck, formerly on the coast, left town toward the end of the Hopper run. Last week Hopper made some money In Milwaukee, and hag some good bookings in sight. Eddie Cantor had a song In "Kid Boots" the Detroit critics commented on and against. It was taken out after the first two performances, but later put back, it is said, at Flo Zlegteld's insistence. The show is in Cincinnati this week. Cantor is said to be at the head of a crackerjack show, with Ziegfeld claimed by some who profess to know to have spent $160,000 on the "Kid Boots" production, Zleggy started to Just put on a musical show without a splush, but like "Sally," with Marilyn Miller, after he got going he put It on right. The Ziegfeld management at the New Amsterdam, New York, got the idea that InterpoUiting Julia Sanderson and Frank Crumlt, both singles, into the performance slowed it up. There was no complaint against either of the singles but It didn't seem to strike the show management the per- formance ran as smoothly with the Interpolations us previously. Accord- ingly Miss Sanderson who left "The Follies' last Saturday will not be replaced nor will Mr. Crumlt who leaves this Saturday. When Marc Klaw refilled Hatcher Hughes' play, "The Runt,'' to "Hell Bent," It brought several complaints from different sources. David' Belasco advised Klaw he had a manu.-crlpt under consideration, which Mrs. Louis V, DeFoe (widow ot the late dramatic critic) co-authored, with a similar iltle. It also developed that five years ago Carl Laemmle produced for Universal a similarly titled film. That prompted a I'haiige to the present title, ''Hell Bent for Heaven," Klaw opining that In the event the play proved a hit he had no gimrantee Universal might not revive the film. Th.^ iiliy. another of those North Carolina themes. Is the work of a native oi lliat St.Tte, currently a profes- sor ot English at Columbia I'niiciNlty.