Variety (November 1924)

■ ^'^j^'Si'j*^wi,%vr-;- Wednesday; November 5, 1924 l^AUDEVILLB VARIETY Be =iA wmmiimamism J) I opl«. and I ■*:^ (Contlnuwl from paK* abart the namea of these people. be »*Mr "Now, the purpose of the thine la tbia: Tou could hacva the uSof eartaOn thaatraa. You would hi^ 8ertlU«^tlrin«a in the moVlea, tha plcturea. and the lines and thlkun woHM;«W>aar. There would Sr. «art«l«'Ito^a worked into tb* ^udeviUa Circuit. There would t>e Certain atunta put on. Jolson would cet off cracjca or gags or songa or aometblng of that sort, and these paopla would do aomething w{)ich would produce p«bHctty, of a favor- Abla kort for the candidate." fv Everything f«r 9M,tM0 I aald: "Well, now, what about it? Why do you bring thla thing to me?" "Because," he said, "we think you ought to have it and make use of it for the lAFollette campaign." I ■aid: "WelU Just as a maXter of in- terest, what do you wantT How mi'th is It " He said: "Wen. for ISS.MO we Win let you people have It, and that price possibly might be gliaded for you folks, but we would kwve to have that or qjore than that- Oram either of the old parties." T aaltl to him: "Well, now. yOu liiust know that $60,000 looks so big to t'he' La Fbllette people—thoy haye' been complaining to me that they did not know where t» turn for postage stamps and railroad fare, and I have written to a. friend of mine for a contribution of a thou-' sand dollars to see if I cannot help P solve that." I said: "Fifty thou- sand dollars looks 'so big to us that «>e could 'hat-d)y see the sun behind it, and we Just cannot consider it" Z said: "I do not understand, how. Wer, how you can tell me that John Drew and people of that sQ^t are willing tn sell their political alleg- iance or political support for a lump sum to be txlM to a publicity oom- ttktyr •■ ^•-' Offar«d Guarantee * 'He saldr "We win give you a guarantee or any aaauranoes that you want that we will perform. Tou Just say, or steer us up against the peivRon who will say It la all-right, and we will make the contract and g^t-the tS0,40«, and you will see that #e will give ybn any guaraAt*e <hdt we wUl perform." I said: "WeU. I eannot do It, I cannot give you any aaaurance, and I will not take any- one «ny furtbar, because you had ^^er take tt to people that havo the money and are buying that kind of thing. YOU had better take it to the Republicans.* '-■ Senator Caraway: And tfUiy dtdt Mr. Gardner: • And I jadgs tkat. they did. because I the next thing*^ I hr>anl nothing more of it .unti l, w Mr. Walsh: I waa going to aak you to look at that and see If you recognised the names. .Mr. Ga'^ner: I saw the newspaper account ( thlg- crowd of acftoraatod I ■aid lmmedUt«l7t "Why. thtee are our old frlend«> This la A) Jolson and John Drew and Chanotte Green- wood." and then I understand there were some ringers-ln who came from down on the avenue, who were t>rought in to swell'the crowd and complete the picture. . Senator Caraway: Let me ask you a question. They are beautifully non-partisan, are they not? Mr. Gardner: Apparently they ^ere purely non-partisan. ' They had no choice? ""^ i No choice. AVhoever had the money had' th«ir lillegiance And their heart? Whoever . bad . tbe money wnuld apparently have-' their bratna and ,their talents. And their sohgs? And thelf- Bongfl' aiid thblr Wlf tad their hiitnor and their puMldtr. ':' AH they wanted was somethMg that was non-partisan? . Something that was purely Bon« partisan. , Mr. Walsh: Did you afterward look up and see that there was a theatrical agency in Chicago, and the address of it? Mr. Gardner: I did. Will you kindly give it to the c^m* IbUttee? r think It is M West Randolph htreet, Chicago, McCutcheon ft ISerston Tliektticat SyndfcatQ.' Did he My anythiriff to you abeot %faether that Arm wis the resttiMir i>Ubnolty agency or adVertutag '•getacy <0r any particular ttteattM having under their control «ny far- tlcular actors? He gave me to understand that Clerston, I think It w%s. had been (or years oonnected With tbe 8hu- bert outfit, and that this Was merely jB subsidiary ot the Shuberta. that they handled tbe publicity generally tor this concern, and could deliver. Mr. Walsh: I think that l» all. Name* Stuek Senator Bayard: Will you give lis "^o tbe best of yobr recollect4<ni the ^MUnes of the actors and actresses Wiom he mentioned to you who would be ir this troupe, who would cotnn down? Mr. Gardner: I looked at the thing t«ther casually. There Were three James that stuck flrmly in my mem- •fy. What Were those names? Those were John Drew and Al Jolson and Charlotte Greenwood, wh^re were ot?ier n!ame« on it, but my recollection would not be aliwo- lutely rlKht on them. Senator Bayard: And he gave you EI£T!ON BETTING niglit's latest odds oDi' the national and local ele'c'hona were:,., ',- ' Xoondge, to-win, t-1 to 10^1. Smith, to, win, 2-1. Bloom, to win, 1-1. H. Oehrlng; to win, 6-B Outside betting was 2 to 1 that Al Smith would not re- ceive 160,000 majority in New York State, • to 5 he will not receive 100,000 and even money he will not get 26.000, the lat- ter almost equivalent to a wager on the total outcome and below the quoted odds for a Smith victory. .,Sol Bloom and Charles E. Gehring, both Democrats,, rah-, ning, for Congre<^. w^e f^Y*'' fbe edge In the election!betUng, though, each. Js in a strong mld-sectloa Republican di*!' trict. . ■ , ' Gehring was reported to have his opponent, 'Ogden LJ Mills^ panicky, with .the MiII« head- qujarters calling up unknown vpters In the .district by phone a.s late as Simday to obtain a, line and plead, their cause. . 'The Bloom . headQuartera,] claimed its canvass sho,wed the Congressman wouid.^ln by at least' 2,200. Odds pf evens on Blopm. showed a decided drift toward Bloom by t|>e betting m.^n, although tbe. Republican leaders ot the Nineteenth Con- greM.Io^a| District are,said to have onUtted notblng in their '. effort to hold the district by returning Walter H. Chandler to Bloom's seat. The Bloom-Chandler elec- tion la expected to bring a contest regardless of which one Is elected unless the Win- ner leads by over S,OM votes. Times Square bettors appar- ently paid no attention to the poeefblUtiea on the national Issue find followed the down- town odd* on tbe Co^Ndse ehd. hi*. 'C OH TAin)E¥ILLI .^«r JACKJOYCfe . You have eeen me with one leg, now see me with two. Appearing on the isetven and' In person Ip FANCHON and MARCO'S Revue at JMEWa STATS TUJBA-- TRi;, IvOS ANQ2LE8. Toi/have'Ai^t any peirsonal kAowI- edgfe as to whether ai^rMie paid'iiny' suiB whatever Mr this party thtit came to Washlagton, have yvnt I know only that this offer was' made to om. t'ou h9ve not a/iy personal knqwl- edge qii t^e subject? I did sot iiee any money traM- ferrod; no." ' Tou hare Aot aaythtng other tiUm your own inference atnd suspicion that money was paid fdr UT I, know only what I hav« tastUted to In rupu-jd to It; y Mr. Boiirland: TBat Is aH^ Mr. Walsh: WelT, you'heard this n«n-partisan gentlemait testify that be paid all t^e expenses? Tou beard that, of oodrae? Mr. Gardner: Tes; I beard that In the committee room here. W<ui tbo Infakvatfon brought to you that «pon your refusal to entor- tain this propoaitlen tbo satBO oflbr was made to Robert M. Ia VoOette, Jr.. the son of Senator La FdUetteT I did not know thitt It bad gone to Bob, Jr. Have yon heard that since? I have heard It since. I did not know it. at tha time. Ife-, Walsb: That la all. Thank to ti3derstand, then, that these three persons'At l«ast wieuld be controlled' by thb o»mitlon. ted It yen' made the contract with the Li^ FcIIotta poople they woald be for Ia Fol- lette? Mr. Gardner:'Tea.' ' If tlMy did notlitban Itiwaa tbe purpose of this agency to take their theatrical wared to other poUtlcaf parties and sen them If they oould? Mr'. Gardner: Yea. sir. Mr. Bourland: With what papers are you connected, Mr. Gardner? With Scripps Papers Mr. dardner: The socalled Sci;Ipps newspapers. Are tiiey supporting Mr. La Fol- letto'a candidacy? ■■ _ Tea, sir. And you are a partisan supporter of bis, are you not? I have been a friend and a vup-i porter of La Follette always. And you still are? And 1 still am. . Whak was the name of this young man who eame to see yon? Well, I have given bis name con- ndetttlally to the ' attorney for the 6ommIttee. I would prefer not to m^e'it public. Mr. Boxitla'nd: I' tbliik, Senator, we ooght to haVe^lt.' ' Smator Caraway: I think you ooght t» disclose bis name. The in^ (Ident has been testified to, and I tiiink yo.u should give tbe nam* to tbe cpnimlttee, >tr. Gardner, apd I hoi>e you will 5X0 80. Mr. Gardner: His name Is Biirch. Mr. Bourland: Do you 'know his flrst nam*? WiUtam^ Do yoti know where he lives? ' He lives -In tb* Wyoming apart- ment hpuse. In Wasbington? Tet. , When «flis this talk with Mr. Burch? iEloote time early in 'Septemhei'. Did you tell him he l^tti better take It to the' Republlpana or tJemo- crats? ' ' Preferably the Republicans; they would have more money. But you told bim' It* had-4>etter take It to one ar the other of them? Y^s. V. , ,. ;,. .-:.■:■ Senator- C^away: M* evidently took your advice, did he not? Mr. Gardner: He ividenlly did. Mr. Bourland: You did'rtot know whether he did or not. do you? Mr. Gardner: WeH. I would Infer that he did. from the results. That is Just your suspicion? That is Ju.Ht my inference. ' ' ft«na*ra t^otn iSi^leaqus T9U 8^ jriijgers vyere. brought In from down'on the,axenue. Do, you refer to the btirtpstfue t^ople ,w3ib JolneW thf i<arty» ' ^ '^^ - ^'^^ Tes. "The World" fell boavUy tb* other day for the pipe that Rosle Dolly an.d Edpar Allan WooU will marry before the Dolly girls return to Europe. That usually alert morning paper fell so hard it also published the on- gagement would be formally announced by Floernce Walton a.t the Club Ostend. Miss Walton and her husband, Leon Lsltrim, are dancing at the Ostend. The Waltons, Dollys and others hav* been wont to gather o( an att*r> noon at Mr. Woolfs sociable and companronabl* ai»artment. "The World's' story sounded Just like a little matter between friends, "framing" for one another. On the top of the page, under a displayed head, was tb* engagement story. On the same page and at the bottom of It was a br4*f*r article, stating that Gon. Atterbury will succeed to the presldsney of the P*nn- sytvania system when President Rea retires early In tb* new year. Accordingly, a* per "The World." for publicity it's maota better to b* lA the show business than the president of the world's greatast railroad. Ab-eady {here has been talk ot the eztanftlon ot Jack Dempsey's vaude- ville contract with the Iioew circuit:' It Is said the champion ot the world is demanding that further time, beyond his present Loew route, mast be at XiJlOO a week. He is now receiving )5.000. With expenses Loew** is reported io Incnr on the" engagement, Loew's gr^ss <»ost at present tor the Deihlwey headliher is about tB.MO. While by far the highest saUrJed act ever book^ by Loew's the Demp- ser gross receipts to date ha^ Justified H. This week DsMpsey la at tioflw's State,' New York: How he Will draw in New York no one would deviously predict, but be is looked upon as a positive attraction outsld* the big city, and may duplicate his own-ot-town showings at the Stat*. Rhin*t^Mid«r Wal$* Exaiiiin*d Mr. Walab: H*r* on this list yoti have Expenses, delegation of non- partisan actors and ac- . trwMds i» Waahtngten: Railroad far«....«l,2<4.TS Meals nJU $l,n2.60 Tou Mid their railroad far*, .their sleeplQS car charges, and tOr their mcAls, to brlng'thehi down here? Mr. Waldo: Tes, sir. Did you get them through the Shubcrt Advertising Agency, or the McCutcheon A Gerston AgsncyT Get what? The actors and actresses? No; Al Jolson. s He is a Shubert star. Is he? ' I believe he is., . -Did you know Al Jolson before? No; somebody brought him around. Who brought him around? Tou^ know that Arm, do you not, Mc- Cutcheon & Gerston? . > No. sir. -J ■/ .. Who brought Al JoI«ob aro|U>4 to you? . <"-"^.\i..- I cannot tell., you.' -Som* friend said he was ttt^MtM'« 'kettlng together a gMUytttOtOm.' ' Do you iPBf W Mv-nftqitT No, sir.-. .>i, Tb* trflH^Jthat mnttar (s. you haft ^llib^ig la. W iful It, •xcept sot^.iSDn^tUlKuV it'n^dp of ac- tyiey told hi* ilyitt Al JoI«*n would b* intar«stAi.>i»;«f1t«»» of this idiA: torn* m a w/TBBP' «^9"<>^ wq^ » to«»rest«df M«^^Vn^;'' 'l^iMt9'''jIot (dl you his I sOMltotMfftJaftn. 1'do not kV *'^5^iiSi^S*''l 't'W »'• • - : Howl dp TW bnow? I'dV^^Know, but I understand "aiaiy he was Just a fciepd of Ion's. ' '^ou ever see him before? ftr. , , did you see Al Jolson after tbUMK^i . ■ ' ' r ' ." ;. >AVHHln about 24 hoiirs-, he brought Al Jolson around to my offlce. Dld^Al Jolson ehoir you the liter- ature We "had to give oirt the eong* he was going to sing, "Keep Coot Cal"? He showed me the song before he came down here, but not at tbe time I, met hi|n. .. ' '.■.. ■ Did he give.^oii also a list oc the .iokes? N9, sir, , Did he show you somf advertising m.'xtte'r he had ftqin att a^lyertlsfnt; .isency. which c.irrfed tbift ititerest- . • (Continued on page 4J> The new big time drpheum (Orpheum clrdUlt) tbeati^ a^ X^os'Anifete* will seat around S.SDO. Construction Is starting. The present Orph«)im, [ big time, Jn that cHy seats about 1,800. The Orpheum has been send- ' Ing some big a.id expensive bills to the coast since early la the summer. The bills have ranged In cost from |7,000 to It.OOO wee)[|y, giving that, section vsi'udevlllf bills of more than customary magnitude and salary. That the far west appreciated has been shown through headllnerS In tW) j Orfheum's big* timers ,ov>t there., holding over often for naore than two ] ^eeks. A reflection of this policy miy be noted over th« entire big tim*^ Orpheum circuit In the clrcu:t's new hous* in Cblpago. seleet«d. but Hbt y4t started, tbe capacity win be around S,MO. That house Is <olng In for the Adsio hall type ot performance, and to be particularly different trom aa^ Amer- Icaln vaudeville^ , Last week Charlie Morrison, the Palace building's ray of •unsbtaoT reviewed a Broadway musical opening for the N. T. 'XSraptalc." such descriptive matter as "a representative gatboriag *qtbusiastioaUy received" and "a triumphant evening" Is the UpoS as t« that which kept Charles'at a typewriter until S a. m., with odds oa that WInebell, the dramatic editor, was adjacent until the bralnstorin P MMd . Although the review was headed by a caption tl^las Morrison's office addresv^try and't^ htp hideaway piioA* nttmbora. . Independent vaudeville and Its inner troubl**, as th*y ar* repeated by those famlMar. aound so badly It hardly s ee m s aayoa* *acac** la the business of booking independent vaudevlDe thMttres epuM b* SO wboUy inconsiderate of other bookers or agendea or of their o/ffn wettare. As an example that is known, the toHowIng Is typical of one iade- pendAt booking agency at least. The ageihcy plays br«ab-ln acta. BMafc- in acta as a rule are worthless in value, excepting to All la on a prograsa. It they develop entertaining tiuallty during the break^ln «agag*m*BtJ that is fortunate tor the tb*atre. Previously, hawever, no «aUry Is aet and customarily' an act does not expect muoh for Ita br*ak*ta period, merely waiting to play before aa^audience to smooth Itaelf out, gaug* tb* points afid other matters Incidental to shaping up for better tlm*.. Cons^uently, it is not extraordinary for an act breaking-in to accept ISO for tthe date. Of course, the booker of the break-in time Is aware of that. He also knows tbe act i^itt improve and, as it Imm-oires, be worth more money. As the act works It does become worth more. The. act accepting 160 from .the break-In agency may be. playing for |ltO or more within a couple of weeks. But not then booked by the same Independent agency. This is when the unscrupHlous independent agency geta in ita deadW wo{k. It flndfi out where the former break-in act Is playing, learns its salary and then casually drops into the theatre and watches the turip. Looking up th3 manager, the agent gUMy says, "Pretty good show, that, r notice you're playing Blank and Blank. All right, too, for the money. I had to .-pay them $126." . l^tt*'^iilia^^f. is skeptical the a$ent takes oul his book and turns back^ ]^;OK%iSi^fV>k^ VtAskrln flgure of $50 l;tad been made 1126, but the Inde- MnC[«JQi^..^|Oe«.li|^ot inform the manager he played the a<^ for a break-in and thr.i|i4*Mmd*nt,|nftnager quite frequently hasn't show sense enough ^,kaOw1lVWf,fein^^ r-s ' / ^ ■ A result. 1# tl^e Inifependent manager, pei^apa booking with ts respop-i slble ah ind$>en4e<|t (i|;eihcy as Fully Markus' or It coUM be the Amalgji-l| mated CKscry ,:^^|i^o) (another reputable Independent) immediately .b*-- llevea he biis li«i^.4ent .an act at an overprice. If the manager changei agents ftail Mkes on the double-cro*s*err he quickly becomes disgusted and likely clian^s his,i)pllcy. . ••...," This system never hkf,b{;en known to ben«flt anyone, but it goes be- ' yond ordinary harm In 4^l*|^lns the independent fleld, often losing ho.u^M which might have develOMtd Jnto flrst ol*ss independent stands. : One reason why the'fiujaalendent agencies of the east can't orga,nlz3 may be ther*.aro so fa^^^j^f^ really independent bookers who will *'Ven nominally ^Mlate ttIIH IhSfAbtJ' have found ptayiag tbehvbusiness in' an under-h^ded way. .^la'^ajnMd-west the indep*ad*nta ar*^ tog*ther and App*rej^nr..4nd K vMi^ktp^^^'their mutual welfare, while the independents : on |ft^^actflo Cojdfii li^i^^^ Levy of Los Angeles with his own eironit, ' ' BMtn a^^arrtt^^H^Dan Francisco, also w|th their own olr4;uit, ,uc)i a high etandlnc.lbe rasnag*t* of tb*lr tecrltocies know &l abdut'lhem. ends'pf the .Job, thorough »^te: '.''Anew program is put at-tit* Keith'* Palac*, New Tork, in bo^k form. It '1^ said Elmer Rogecji,-'.manager of that leading vaudeville theatre, in wHpliy re8ponlil.ble"for thi^' departure. The booklet la attractvie In m.'«ke up with-a colored. fronilai>ite>>JVy Archie Qunn, Inside the pages arc illuH- trai;^ with'tikenesses of the future attraction sat the Palace, while tho advertising matter a(jtpe(i.r)i'jH^ntitul enough to say Mr. Rogers gave bntli •Uentlon. ... . , . - ^. ...^.v •'; ..',■• , '.^ Jacic'Rose. Jr.,'ft'dcpted son .of. the .qumedian, answers profnptly.bv running to lils dad whenever the latter blows a police whistle. Ti" youngster is i bright boy with curly hair and good looks, ^Jack h.1.1 taught his son a number of riddles. It's humorous to hear the Kidlet start; "There lr> a hill and on the hill there la a mill," etc., with the ansV.-f>r Impatiently given after, 'Well, will you give up?" as "Mil-wau-kpe " Jack, 8r,. .sajs to the boy. speaking rapidly, "Jack, how old are you?" and the boy replies, "Five." "How old are you on tr.-iins?" "Four." Two sm.ill signs, white letters on blue background, bearing the wordft: "Do Not Harlt Here," have been hunc on each side of the front door, of the Friars on Mth street. The parkins reetrxlnts m.i.v work "double.": as not a da.v piiMxes without a bevy of Friars and uon-Frlars talj^lns •hop Jojt outsUe llie club eilranc*. . „>