Variety (June 1924)

IVfdnesday, JoM 4,19M EDITOiirAL ..■a --*?*-.^Tif,- * ?-*)r'^'^^5--i'• ff VARIETT Trad* Mark B*CtaUf«a aim* Silverman. PrMldaBt m Wait <«tb Btr«at Haw T«i» City SUBSCRIOTIONi ABiaal It I roralpi. ilncla Copl«a • U Casta Vol. I4XXV. No. 3 VARIETY'S OFFICES Cabia Addroaaaai Viirlety, New Tork Variety, London BEW TOBK cm 164 Wast 46th StrMt. CHICAGO ttata-Laka Thoatr* Building LOS ANGELES ■- Grauman'a Matropelitan Thaatra Building SAN FEANCISCO Claua Sprtcklaa BIdg. WASHINGTON, D. C.^ Evans Building. Nvv* Vork Ava. LONIOH 8 8t. Martin'* PI., Trafalgar 84. Elsia Yawson, who withdrew from "Spring Cleaning" several weeks aigo to create a principal role in "Dancing Mothers" (closing after a two-week'preliminary tour), has re- ;turned to the former show. Memorial Day the tablet Installed In the lounge room of the N. V. A. Club, to the memory of the late Samuel K. Hodgdon, who died April •, 1922, was decorated with a wreath of flowers In the presence of his aons, Ray and Jack, with their fam- ines, representtlves of the Keith of- Sce and a large number of members. William B. S ee s kin, for many years manager of the Savaniiah theatre. Savannah, and later la theatrlcala In New Tork. has quit the Hhow business entirely. '' The Colonial, tha old landmark In St. Johnsbury, Vt., was destroyed by lire. Damage |7E,000. f [:; Miriam Battiata, tha child acreen ^lactress. who appeared recently in a balcony scene from "Romeo and JttUat" with Charles Blaton, a U- year-old boy, has accepted a south- ern Loew route. Allen Pryor, called "the Austra- lian Caruso," who waa brought to the SUtes by Samuel H. Blair, who discovered the young tenor when be was touring Australia with the ^ctura, "Robin Hood," ia scheduled to give a special concert in the BlJou. New Tork, June IS, for the benefit of the Swedish Hoapital of Brooklyn. Tha vaudevilla aet of HcDaritt, Kelly and Qulnn, whldi auspended engagements some weeks ago upoa the death of Andy Kelly of the trio ia Montreal, has resumed Its tour of the Loew circuit under the same name. A Philadelphia acrobat and dancer whose name has not been announced has taken KeUy'a phice in the turn. Monroe Goldstein, one of Frank TInney'a several and busy lawyers, is said to have occasioned quite a laugh the other day when he tried to shoo away a swarm of rei>orters by telling them that the whole Tln- ney-Wllson mess waa a publicity gag on the part of Will Page or one of the other Zlegfeld publicity cauncs' final percentages Tha eritieal percentages for the whole of the season ending last Satur- day wx>uld liave been more satisfactory and educational had not so many unexpeoted developments occurred among the Now Tork dallies and con- sequently among their reviewers. It would have been most Interesting had James Craig of "The Mall" continued on his dramatic critical way until the ending of the sesLSon instead of leaving that field midway with a percentage untopped by any of tha others who remained until the last. Craig was the newest of all of the crlttca with no previous reviewing In New Tork yet he Jumped into the lead and remained there while with the dramatic department of his paper. The absorption and merging of dailies the past season also contributed to a somewhat motley list In several Instances but tha main purport of Variety's box score of percentages, to determine on the printed record with what frequency a New York dally reviewer guesses correctly has been accomplished. The box score doesn't rate the critics of the dailies as very expert guessers, according to the percentages of Rights and Wrong* in their opinions. The tMX score though may say that in a town as large as New Tork where a play can jump Into popularity over night or noake Ha way despite adverse notices that the function of the critic Is more to inform the reading public what Is In the show or what it is about than to take heed of their Judgment, for or against Perhaps the smaller the town the more the Influence of the critical opinion. There is no better model than "Abie's Irish Rose." Any three out of four dramatic newspaper men who may see that show will be at an utter loss to fathom its popularity but all will admit it. It has been tested end held up for the record of all American comedies. Its record as a whole to date exceeds that of "Lightnln'" although "Lightnin'" holds two or three individual-run records, Broadway one of them. The box score, however. In Variety doesn't mean anything to the public. But Its Interesting and of interest to all newspaper men concerned In the theatre and to tiie profession, if only looked upon aa a curious comment. it could bring up that aged-old theory that a dramatic critic to qualify as the expert ho is believed to be should have technical knowledge of the theatre; that he should have been a i>laywrlght or an actor, or the com- mon Idea the critic should be in line with the taste of the public at large for the stage. If a critic bats only .500 or .(00 in his percentage of guesses, can he be assumed to know the taste of the public that surely bats 1.000, for the public determines the hits or the failures? The ehanoes are the producers are the best critics; they reject and accept the plays, presenting those accepted that become the auccesses or flops. The unsuspected or unext>ected hits are about one in 200. Some producers have a keener insight than others; some producers can make them believe it t>etter than others, but within the theatre will be found the best critics, else why do some tickets get Into Joe Leblang's before the show opens? HARD WORK OR BAD LIQUOR Hard work or bad liquor or both in the temperamental show business la a oomblnation no oonatltution can stand. PbyalclaMi lasue warnings and they are disregarded. PMfaapa tbe patient thinks "the doctor Is trjring to scar* ma" or that tbe doctor doesn't understand what ho la talking about. ... There may be nothing the matter with a person's heart and the doctors may tell hhn that, but few laymen ever think about the kidneys. Few laymen know little about the efiteot of ether on tha kidneys. Few laymen give but meager thought to how much ether may be employed in the malcing of liquor, and by Uqoor ia meant bear aa well aa wbiaky, tor ether la oaed in the manufacture of Impure beer. Hard work in the ahow busineaa is common. It'a a piQg conrtlnually for many. They work until they fall down and when they fall down, seldom get up. Hard work, atecuiy work, lata woiic. irregular hours and meala; ther work their ravagea on the system, and those under the strain hav* enough aense to know K. They may seek vurceaae in one way or aaotSter, but by tha boose route is the deadliest. The question of ether ia liquor and ita effect upon tha kidneya, tbat appean to operate so often aa heart'a dlsecwa might, is not lafomiation for medical sources, directly. It Is based more upon information from bootlegging aoorcea and observation by people who have noted tha drsad effect of promlaeuona liquor drinkinc. Evan near-beer from accounta la not exempt' troir. foreign pounda, tta»t take their count on the system of the consumer. Judge Walter C. Kelly and Charlie Hill started for Lake Placid, N. T.. ^yesterday, (Tuesday), In Mr. Hills car. After two weeks in the moun- tains the Judge will move his pin- ochle deck to Atlantic City for the remainder ctf, ^^e jpp5ma^,, ^^^. . This is not a preachment, but more in the form of a warning; not to be promiscuous In drinking and not to drink any liquor In «<ny form unless the drinker knows what he Is drinking. When bootleggers will phoney port wine and other light wines that have so little call, it can be imagln d what may be done with everything else. Of 887,000 bottles of liquor recently seized In the northwest, dose to tha Canadkui border, not one bottle approached anywhere near purity. Lessen the hard work and lengthen the life, though perhaps Increasing tbe burden, but keep away from strange liquor of all description, for as a doctor who drinks himself has said: "Any one who will go around drinking boose everywhere and the kin 1 of boose he will get nowadays will not live five years; he oan't." Another doctor warned his patient to this effect: "If you do not stop drinking booze tlie way you are doing, It will get to your kidneys and you will drop off like a shot la a year." That nian died suddenly before a year. No drys around Variety's ofQoe and there are several right in the ofTlce who can read this twice. It's the result of mixing in with drinkers, buyers and sollara of booze; people who say they can tei: good whisky by the smell and also say they haven't smelled (rood whisky in years. There Is good whisky. But find it and don't drink it until you do, nor beer nor ale por anyilt^k^ Ahd t>e pt^iticiilar ab6ut the beer o^ ^enrhlsliyi.- . Equity's ''Strike PaymenU" As far as has been learned by the actors on strlka by Eiqulty's orders, no provision has been made by the organisation for a "strlka payment" to them while out. It is eustomary in strikes, and expected by unions, for tha union to pay the full weelUy wage of the strikers' for the first five weeks, usually^ accepted as the maximum period a strike will last, unless the strike should sooner end. After five weeks the strikers are given a pro rated sum of their wage. In Inatances where the strike proceeds beyond the resources of the union ordering It, affiliated unions in the same trades are called upon to contribute toward the strikers' pay fund. The percentage often requested of affiliated members' unions runs about one per cent, or lees of the members' weekly Saturday envelope. Affiliated with Equity aa in the same trade ar« tha stac* handa^ musicians. Vaudeville Branch and Yiddish unions. The stage hands and. musicians forced out of employment by tha Equity-directed strike are not considered "on strike" nor entitled to any reimbursement from their unions. While under tha union custom tha stage hands and musicians might be aaked to pay a percentage of what they earn to maintain their brethren-actors on atrlke, the men of their own unions forced out, would not be entitled to a call for aasiatanca. In the union strikes previously the men affected have been on • minimum acale with the maximum wage as a mla limited through tha paymenU for overtime or extraordinarily akWed labor. The highest amount under the conditions could be easily gauged. With Equity members and their range of aalary from |40 or fSO weekly In minor roles to 12,000 or $2,(00 weekly with stars or from $1,000 ts $6,000 with stars on percentage such aa Fred Stone (one of the Equity actors now on strike) the question of wage payment to BquUy members on strike while out might raise points not haretofors paaaad upon In union circles. RIGHT OFF THE D^ By NELLIE REVELL '^ ' „^ Somaraat^Hotal, Nsw Tork. The reaction from the excitement of laat waek baa Just aet in and thla is Betty's second trip to my room for copy. Tbe first time she came I waa complotely submerged. I guess this thing of having banqueta, luncheon^ matinee engagements and other celebrations all in the apaoa of aeTea dayv, la too much sporting life for one whose only axdtomaBt la tha last four yeara has consisted of operations and treatmanta. But last woek certainly waa a busy one. After apeadlng tba wsek< end at the Aator, I was returned with thanka by tha FHara on Tuesday and delivered to the Someraet via 44th street and SIztli avanaa. I broka the Jump at Keene's Chop House, where I atuok Paal Heakal for tht' lunch. He had foresight enough, however, to aak Joba Pollock aad J. P. MuUer to come over to embelliah tbe flrat maal I bav* bad la a raaUuninl in five years. I have heard some people say thej grow waary of eating aieala in rea* taurants. but If every dinner out tasted like that one. my firat under theaa circumstances In mo many years, I would be willing to dabaU the point ' with them from now until the Palais Royale reopens. The Wednesday maUnee found me at the Sam H. Harris theatre to aea-, "The Nervous Wreck." The point that Impressed me waa that, while all these menUI steeplejacks are looking for a deflnltlon for "hokum " tha public is laughing lUelf to dtath at it and not caring what it Is. Every one who haa ever had an ache or a pain should have seen "Tha Nervous Wreck." and any one who has never had either should hare aeen it any- way, and then they never would have any. It reminds me of some of the old afterpieces we used to put on way out west where men are men—and some are gunmen. "7he Nervous Wreck" was aa funny to me as "Razor Jim" used to ba to those audiences out there. All of whfcrh reminds me that the father of Dan McCartljy; the handsome auditor of tbe Sam H. Harris ofllea, uaed to have two valuable possessions that were the envy of everyone who knew him In the theatrical game. One was the prettiest wife I aver saw and the other was a trunkful of tba best afterpieces I ever heard. If Dan could only locate that trunk, we would have a real, genuine gold mine. Friday night CUrence and Haxal Jacobson decided that I ought to celebrate Memorial Day by eating across the stra«t at Jack and Jill's' rea^urant. Once over there, I held a reception with some of tha old waltsrs from Jack's resUurant on Sixth avenue^ which was closed for go^ about this time Mst year. I learned from Robert, who used to be the headwalter at Jack's, that George Laah, who bad waited on me for years there and in other restaurants, strung aU the way acrosa the continent, had quit tba prune-piloting profession and had gone into the lumber business, ru bet that, just from force of habit, he U maklnc a spaoiaKy of aupplylng board for tha Ubia induatry. making Aftw dinner Claxenca Jaoct>aon, on bia way to the box office, delivered ^•^ J^? Variety oflloea. I went there to a«a if I could find out who it was JS^SSX.** "**" "^^ ""' "' "*• '^' **^" OM Sun^ It f^l to tha lot of Fred Schader to wheal me from there and now I know why there aren't any dilldren In tha Schader family. The wise old stork ""•^.."V^ fl*t.^^^ ^ maalpulata a perambuUtor and decided ha wouldn t wiah him aa a go-cart guide on any defenseless infant. We had a blow-out. several kinds of engine trouble, ranging from ankyloais of the carburetor to astigmatism of the steering gear, iwd flnaUy stalled m» willow wmton six completely. A crowd fathered a^oSS^ but stmn"J ^.'^L'^J't ""*■•* **" ""*' ■^"'"'^ "auggestlona to stalled motorists " I dldn t have my walking shoes on so I had to tUcH until repairs were made. And it Just occurred to mo aa I looked at the encircling crowd that Broadway after all U Just Main street enlarged a bit A frtond who called on me at the Aator at dinner time one evening IS'rti?*^"'' *'"*'' ''"*' '*" ""**" •'^ ■"^•'" "" *"'■*•" **' <»«»*<rtaW«i "l guess it win be tough, after enjoying all those delicacies, to go back home again." • oacB But my caller did not know of my little resUurant at the Somerset of the care and attention that Mrs. Kelly, the owner, gives mlneTnfl^ ,' her other orders and of the kindly offices of August, the headwalter While the fool at theso oM-.er resUurants was a welooie chan^ j«t m 1^1?,"^^!.**"?!.?^% •'f*'' ""'""'" •" """^ «•«*'"*• I OWn't find " any of them any better food any better prepared than at tha whit. Swan dining room at my hotel wniie Like the little boy who has run away from home, 1 may have bMn glad to get away, but I was twice as glad to get back. \^ If you want to know what a real, undiluted Joy Is. lust hava t«n «# -».. best belove,- g .1 frlendP go away for a period of sever^ montl^rtnd fhe; have them return the samo day. That happened to me and IwtTunday two of mine got back. I felt aa thougrh It had crowned the tepSlM' .0 ' '''-i ■■ :■ ■ f {Continued on pugf 34) • ■ mm- . . .v ».. f-. i ilji,\ ^rtftECisV l»i>.'!-,»^