Variety (January 1925)

r 'Tr'v.'-w'^''.' Wednesday, January 7, 1925 VAUDEVILLE VARIETY AO CANCELED 1 FOR PHOTOS 3-Act Loses First Half at « Poughkeepsie TlM recent edict of lndei>endent bookers regarding acta .providing photograph! when booked or elae canceled when photos are not forth- coming was brought home to a thr^ act this week which had beett penciled in/tor the flrsi- half at j^oughkeepsle, N. T., and can celed Monday morning for not hav- ing ^me through with photos for bllUng. The act threatened to eompicaiiii until' the booker called their atten- tion to the photograph clause in thelc contracts which reads that unless photographs are provided acts will be canceled. TMe adoption of this punitive measure is said to ^have been pre- cipitated through house managers complaining they are unable to give their bills adequate advance ez- ploitatlon'and lobby display through acts not sending the house photos and data. Moist of Jix9 bookers attend 'to this matter, but when an act staOs they are unable to hold up' time sheets and billing and uauariy agree to let the performers mail photos direct. Those actually mating good are said to be in a minority and have gotten the bookers in .all sorts of j^ms, the house managers- be- lieving the omissions was due to the tiegligence of the booker rather than the performers. TABS REPUCE BILLS Musical tabs will displace the usual flve-act bills in several houses booked through the Dow Agency, Mew Tork. Lew' Williams and his musical comedy players have been signed for' a tour of tU4 Uew Eng- land houses on the Dow books, playing a week in each town, and jglving two bills weekly. Several other tabs have been signed to fol- low the Williams troupe. If the experiment In the New fin^lund houses lives up to expectations the Idea wlll"^e extended to other houses booked by Dow. CROSS-WORD ANSWERS, 10c Mailed offers from KUza- beth, N. J., are beinat Reived by New Yorkers inquiring why waste their time working out cross-word pussies. Because, says the letter, you oaa vet any answer to any puzzle by writing the signer of the letter, not forgetting to enclose 10 cents. Keidi's Review System The Keith officials are working on a new system after New Tear's. It will create a special department to review and report on all new acts playing In or around New Tork City. This means all acts will be cov- ered following numerous complaints from acts and agents against the present system which makes it iwssible for an act to play several weeks In Independent bouses with- out being seen by a single Keith booker. Acts that have played four and Ave weeks have been unable to have a salary set because the balance of the bookers hadn't seen the act, al- though it was playing in the houses booked by their contemporaries. One of the Keith officials re- cently took the'bookers to task ffbout this condition, claiming they had gotten Into a rut and were not catching shows •as often as neces- sary. According to report, the Alhahi- bra or Royal may become the key house in which acts will be booked and following which they will be ap- praised by all of the booking men giving an act quick action when seeking consecutive bookings. INDEPENDENT BOOKING SffiNPROTECTINGAGENTS Four Eastern Bookers Agree Over Mode of Acts Chang- ing Agents Acta offered ttf~independent small time bookers and changing agents after one agent has previously sub- mitted the act to. the bookers will hereafter have to notify the tMOkers of the change or else will be held responsible to compensate the orig- inal agent Introducing them to the office, according to an edict handed down -by four bookers handling the bulk of Independent vaudeville houses In the east. The ruling was precipitated by endless controversy among agents and acts with several agents claim- ing they had exclusive authority to handle the acts for Independent time. From now on when an act has been sbmltted by an agent that agent alone shall be recognised as authority to book the act until the act should make a change and no- tify the bookers, with the bookers protecting the original agent on commissions unless the required no- tification is filed in writing. THREE ACTS AND OUT Independents Resuming A number of New York and out of town independent small timers that Ither cut down on bills or discontinued vaudeville for several weeks during the pre-holiday depression are re- suming under normal schedule. Reported First Half to Palace, South Norwalk—Policy Changed Charlie Mack Booking: for Michigan Managers* Assn. Chicago, Jan. 6. Charlie Mack has been appointed booking manager of the recently formed Michigan Vaudeville Man- agers Association. The latter organization operates and controls theatres in Michigan, Ohio and Ontario with booking of- fices being maintained In Detroit 1 VARIETY MISSED IT Hvw Young Couple Forgot Their Favorite Paper Marie Saxon and Bid Silverman had their wedding engagement an- nounced through the New Tork dapies last week. Although with his father on Variety, Sid with his thoughts evidently elsewhere muffed ' the news Importance for his favorite paper of the fact that he had asked the charming Miss Saxon to marry him. It Is not unlikely that In the ex- citement the dailies will also Inform Variety when the nuirriage Is to occur. So far no date has been set. ,. Miss Saxon is under the manage- ment of LyIe Andrews and with Mr. Andrews' musical hit, "My Oirf at the VanderSllt. New Tork. >She has worked up by her own sheer efforts Into a position of prominence in the musical comedy • world. Before appearing In Broadway production. Mar?) was in a couple of vaudeville acts and at one time appeared In vaudeville with her '. motho^ Pauline Saxon. Miss Pauline at present is in vaudeville with Al Belasco (Saxon and Belasco). Sid Silverman signs his reviews In Variety, Bkiff. When but of the age of seven, his reviews were in Variety, taken down and printed as be Immaturely expressed his opin- ions, signed Bkigie. SEEKS RADIO POSSIBILITIES Washington, Jan. 6. Ruben I* Lundqulst, chief of the, E^lectrlcal Equipment Division of the Department of Commerce, sailed the Department of Commerce, has sailed for Central and South Amer- ica, where he will Investigate pos- sibilities for radio sales. He will be gone about four months and will visit Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua. Guatemala and Mexico. _ An eleventh hour decision to dis- continue first half vaud.eville bins at the Palace, South Norwalk, Conn., this week effected a general mix-up when three of the five acts billed made the trip to find no show was to be given. Al Dow, who books the house. Is said to have sent out notifications last week when the change of pol- icy was made, notifying two acts direct and notifying the agents of the other three that made the trip. The latter claimed their agents had neglected to notify them that the date was off. The Palace, which plays vaude the last half, had experlhiented with five-act bills the first half for the past two ..w^eks, but couldn'^ make it pay. The house has re- verted to pictures the first half, as formerly. Pantages Generally Denies AUegation in $400,000 Suit Lios Angeles, Jan. C. Alexander Pantages has filed an- swer to the suit brought against him and the Pantages theatre by Jack Keams (manager of Jack Dempsey) and Frank Saunders to recover $423,972 ilamages and trial has been set for next July in part 14 of the superior court. Keams and Saunders brought the action after It was alleged that Pantages and the theatre company failed to parry out the terms of a contract by which the plaintiffs were to provide a musical comedy to play the defendant's circuit for 30 weeks. They alleged that a con- tract was made about March 1, 192S. in New Tork for th« offering which was to be known as "O Dorle" and that SO people, -headed by Doraldlna, the- dancer, had been i^ngaged. They were to get $3,600 a week salary for the ihow besides 60 per cent of the weekly gross re- ceipts of the house after $7,000 had been taken In. After making all arrangements they assert Pantages failed to ex- ecute his portion of the contract. In estimating the amount of damage they want the plaintiffs figured the expense they were put to In get- ting the show ready and the profits they expected to realize under the alleged agreement as rea6hlng a total which equalised the amount sued for. The answer of Pantages Is brief and a general denial of any agree- ment. It states neither Kearns nor Saunders owned the show or had any proprietary interest. in It or that any agreement had kt any time been entered into with Pan- tages or the Pantages Theatre Company. ' HARRY HINES MARRIED ON DARE Forgot Wife, but Disc Record Over His Head Was a Reminder San Francisco, Jan. C. Harry Hines, while on a i>arty In Tacoma, Wash., Deo. 16, was dared by friends to marry Virginia Cook, a mannequin. He married her but after the ceremony forgot he had a wife until reading about It In the papers. He took his wife <o the next stand at Portland, Ore. Nothing happened on the train excepting that his wife broke a phonograph record over his head. Notwithstanding, he brouj^t her here where he made agreement which allowed him to get a divorce. Before Judge Morgan In the Su- perior Court Hlnes has been granted a divorce debree on bis plea that he did not know what he was doing when he got married and also al« leged cruelty. This Is the second marriage for Hlnea. His first wife, a non-pro- fessional, divorced hlra la New Tork. Jack Hartley Changing Shows Jack Hartley, who leflt "My Girl" Saturday, is returning to vaudeville In his former single for several weeks prior to beginning rehearsals In a new musical production. John Byam has succeeded Hartley In "My Qlrl.- HOUSES OPENING Joe Ek:kl Is now booking Werba's, Brooklyn, 11 acts Sunday concerts. Last Sunday was the first. Some of the acts will double with Teller's, also booked Sundays by EckL The Bordentontan, the new pic- ture and vaude house at Borden- town, N. J., opened last week play- ing last half flve-act bills booked through A. A: B. Dow. Following the marriage last month Hines wrote to New Tork he had married the handsomest girl In the northwest and the daughter of the wealthiest family in Taooma. He stated he was taklnir his wife over the entire Orpheum route and that he was the happiest man la the show business. That was probably before he met the phonography record. Butterfield's Only OJEBce Now Located in Deirpit Detroit Ji The ofllces only of ths W. S. But- terfield (Bijou Theatre Circuit) are In this city, in the Insurance Bx- change building. Through CoL Butterfield moving his headquarters to Detroit the Im- pression appears to have spreeul the Butterfield circuit will add Detroit. There Iq i^o basis for that report, ac- cording to the colonel, who states he moved his offices to Detroit to be la the midst of Michigan's busiest the- atrical center. L. & T.'s 22nd HOUSE Chicago, Jan. C. The 22nd of the Lubliner A Trinz chain of movie and combina- tion theatres in Chicago will be a s 8,300-8eater at Lincoln and Belmont. Work Is scheduled to begin within a month. The theatre will house a com- bination policy playing five acts and a feature picture booked by George 1st "EXPECTATION" 2nd "NON.REALIZATION** MISS ELLA SHIELDS IN HER NEW AMERICAN SUCCESS, •'SHE LOVES ML" ,^, f