Variety (July 1925)

W"Mli,A"i"iJH mi'^mmfimmmim- VARIETY VAUDEV \ Ju> 1. 1»3« 1 DIRECT BOOKING BY UNDER FOR INDEPENDBTTS Manager* Can See What Tliey Arc Gettinip— I 20 Extra Desks A direct booking Idea with house ■uuutcrars booking tkeir own ahAws will b« experimented wtth next •eason by the Jac:. Under Agency, Kew Tork. Linder baa acquired •4ditional stMice to bla suite of ef- Scee and wiTl install 20 desks, each one representing a house on bis kooks and a local beadguarters tor tiie out-of-town managers wlsbing to take advantage of the Inaova- tien. All bouses will hold franchises, with the customary 6 per cent, booking fee coverfaig the franchise. A performer's reception room will give the managers a clear survey •f acts available that come Into the office and the managers will be permitted to 'ine up their own •bows witb the office giving co- operation or atsiutance, eapeclaDy fn the matter of protecting the aoanagcr-booker on prlcea. The •fBce files containing itrevlous con- tracta and reports on acts will also be access! Ltic. Under this new arrangement acts can book direct or through an agent. Ail business will be done by the managers, with Linder and Jack Allen only coming into the matter when re<iuested. , The new idea will be available to all managers on Linder's books, aad if, aXter several weeks' trial. any wish to throw up the sponge as a booker. Linder and Allen will book for them. Linder has sounded bla clients on the idea and they are la favor of St. The new policy will be effective the latter part of August. ; ■__ . * Iiii£nl Tlops^; Now Works for Throw Money Th* histrionic endeavor a of C!hlef Little Cloud are reported as havlag reduced the Sioux oblaftala to poverty. The former per>orm«r !■ M»« earning his living by strum- aslilK; a guitar in eaboxets of the tsptown "black belt" and entirely dependent upon "throw money" for An existence. Little Ckmd came to New Tork about two years ago with $16,000. Be equipped a pretentious flash act but couldn't seem to get a break. LAter he opened an Indian cabaret •ailed "The Reservation" in Qreen- wich Village. While a novelty for K4w York. It failed to hit also. Between both IB-teted enterprises the Indian droptMd his rolL For a time he bad been staging •nd playing his Instrument in the •mall cabarets of Greenwich Village but to sparse returns until some one •et him up in th* "black belt" where <hnes and quarters are ahowered Vpon him more plentifully accord- ing to his own statement. A frlena ht made while having the Village resort has provided sleeping quar- ters until the performer gets upon Ills feet again, financially. Little Cloud Is determined for •nother try at vaudeville as soon as be can gather another roIL UOTV&VODE By J. C. NUGENT "IJoes playing vaudeville sketches help one as a legiti- mate actor t" I am asked. No. Not If they ars vauds- vllle •ketches, broadly written and broadly played, as most of them ara "But perfectly legitimate sketches, legitimately played r* Tes and na Tes, to this extent Fine acting depends on two things, directed by intelligence: mood and projection. By mood I choose to mean nnderstandlng and feeling th« meaning of a part. Digesting the auth<nr's meaning to Its last shade of thought, then thinking and feeling through it until It l« the actor's owa. The psychology of acting. Don't miss what is covered by those two atmple words; think and feeL ■ The intellectual player who plans it all out thoughtfully and the instinctive player who feels it truly must blend to get an the possibilities of what la bunched ondor the head of "mood." Temptations in Vaudeville Projeetlea Is "getting It ever." Projecting it. so tlMt one la heard, seen and fett by all parts of the house. Vaudeville la' good for pro- jection. One leama unction. paaas, 11 as i n g, emphasis. "CUcking," aa they say. But so much effort is given to that, neceasarlly, on account of Mg, noisy audltoriaiBs, and the larger, lowsr and more mixed grade of intelligence which is the general vaudeville audience, that mood is often sacrificed for the soperflelal vttect. Only a firmly grounded ar- tist win get the benefit of vaudevine experience and still retain the finer values of mood. There are many temptations to "clown" and they gradually imdermlne the actor who is without foundation. Vaudeville makes a good actor better and a bad actor wsnto. REFUSING ARBrntAIMi CASE 60ES TO COURT '^. Rickurds-HoBbrose's 25tli Today (Wednesday). July 1, at their home. 140& Townsend avenue. New Tork City, Frank Richards and Louise Montrose will celebrate their silver wedding anniversary (26th year). Mr. Richards was formerly of Reno and Richards and Mrs. Rich- ards appeared with the late Jos. Hart's "Rain Dears." Flask Act Elaborated "^ Into Floor Show Vred Kolland's flash act, "Broad- way Cuties," has been elaborated Into an hour floor show and spotted at the Club Fronton, Greenwich Vil- lage, New Tork. Rolland, who keads the cast of five principals, has added eight girls. The revus Is on a guarantee and percentage of the cover charges Rolland's arrangements is for eight weeks with a cbango of numbers •very two weeks. Flash Act with Hindu Mara-Mara, Hindu dancer, will withdraw fron| "The Diverted Vii- lago," current rcvua at the Triangle. Oreenwich Village, and head a new jdancing ftafih In vaudeville. ■ The settings wMl be designed and executed by Childe D'Hohan D'Ar- 9Pitrtf .'•. Mnrphy Opening Summer At His Vt Hilly Plaee Amid the green hills of Ver- mont is South Royalston, so denotad on the map. Near Royalston Is Bingham Beach atuX at the Beach Is where Bob Murphy bangs out In th* summertime. All Vermont Is pleased when Bob comes there to hang and they have their best wishes for the mob of Ml professionals Hr. Murphy nsuaUy has with him at so much per. Mr. Murphy^ summer boarding house gets Its start this week, with Bob Murphy, himself, the equal of two ordinary laymen, leaving New Tork tomorrow (Thursday;, ac- companied by Kddie Pkriu as his fixer. Mr. Parks Is hopeful that he can stand Bingham Beach for the rest of the summer as after that he will head the vaudeville conden- sation of "The Gingham Girl." When the Murphy boy counts up after his boardcra leave thoroughly cleaned. Bob Murphy and—wUl re- sume annoying the patrons of the Loew Circuit. Mr. Murphy declares it's a libel- ous rumor that there are no green hills In Vermont. He clabns they may be seen any moonlight night from the window of his kitchen. (There are two bay mows behind the kitchen). 'before and After" Beeimt Two Act»—Marty Brooks Brings Suit A peciUlar mlz-tv whereby two acts ef like material ars earreatly toarlng vaudeville has reaefced tfee courts for legal adJodleatlOB aad wiU be tried Oct. I la the Brooklya (N. T.) Supreme Court. The com- plaining parties have refused to salNnlt to arbltratloik Forrest & ChlMon, an up-8tote attoraey and eodalar oqart ludge^ aad Marty Breek% vaudeville pro- dnoer, are solag Jack Donoourt aad Frank CtarlAths, vaodevllllaas, Sor aa iajunetlon aad daaaagea^ The details are tlsat Donoourt aad Qriflkths wrote an act, "Before and After" and worked In It under Brooks' direction. Chilton figures through having bought In on Brooks* end. A difference of opinion arose and Doncourt and Griffiths continued playing the act under their own di- rection, with the two women neces- sary In support, one from the for- mer Brooks' production. Chilton and Brooks also ' sent the same vehicle out with .., new coB»peny under the title. "Ideals." Although Brooks claims author- ship of the act, Joseph H. Doncourt, Jr. (Jack Doncourt) has the. act copyrighted and also registered with Varitf. Brooks and Chilton were denied an Injunction, as were the actors who counter-claimed similarly. Dln- een A Dineen are attorneys for the defense. Chilton's affidavit has It that the reason he refused to submit to ar- bitration was because "arbitrations are sometimes too arbitrary." TAP DANCERS-AND OTHERS ■.. ■ .* ■- "w • * ■;i^;'^w', -JV-'-if f i- Tarlstgr^ story aaent the retura to popularity of tap dancers ha!i ■tarted ■oraething anaong the hoofing fratamlty. It's paradox itiii but true that the greateat top dancers nevef received big salaries In vanderllle until they ovlt dancing and developed Into comedians •r atralvhta Tha esplanatloB !• that the public doesn't know when a tap danfiwy big leaguer Is perfomUng. The contests held in the old aaya, with the ^dgea nndemeath the atage, where they couldn't •ee the daaecra' faeaa, would treexe out some of the dancers of the p r aae n t day, who. In the eyee af the public, are great hoofera As a matter ef fact the acme of tap dancing la eaae, style and execution, or the direct aatltheeia of the pieaent atyle of perspir- ing hoofer, who worka harder than a pitcher twirling a double- haadcr on aa August day. Instsnce of John Boyle TlM pablle accepts tbs bard worker as the better exponent of terpelchcret and he gtvea the pubOe what It wants. As an example of how little are the rewards for tap dancing in the cases of John Boyle (Boyle and Brazil and later Boyle and Bennet) are shining cxamplec^ Boyle Is acknowledged by dancers as one of the greatest tat the world. .la vaudeville he aad his last partner were invariably handed the deuce assignment. Beyle's star dance was a triple stop tinw routine, in which he danced in time on the up-beat. The dance would send a hoofer into ecstasies, but to the public it vras more or less applesauce. TlM same went for the bookera Down In the body of the bill a Russian dancer, who couldn't do a "wing" If offered a slice of Siberia, would wow them. The book- ers believed the squatters also, so Boyle gave away his grease paint and opened a dancing school. An old-fas|iioned dancing contest, with the Judges under the stage. Is now In the steamlng-up iu-ocess. A fS.OOO wager can be had from a certain vaudevilllan that Benny Ryan and John Boyle can out-tap any of the present day dancers of vaudeviHe. BAUGHtEE n nCTUBES Los Angeles, June 80. Martha Sleeper, engaged to play leads in Hal Roach Comedies, is a daughter of W. B. Sleeper, fonaer Keith-Albee executive, who Jour- neyed to the Wset coast for bis health. * ■ Miss Sleeper is about 1§, and a comer in motion picturea FSANCES STAEB OH EOUTE Frances Starr has been routed by the Keith-Albee Circut ha "Colette," the sketch which Is now using a "presented by David Belasco" Itaie on the billing. Miss Starr will open her route at Keith's, Boston„ Sept 7. Alf Wilton arranged the bookinga Hypnotist and 16-Yr. Giri ' Pittsburgh, June 10. Laverfie Lyons, ti, hypnotist, known as "Chickola the Great." was fined $100 with the alternative of 10 days when arraigned la Morals Court charged with vio- lating the state child labor law. According to the poHce, Lyons en- gaged Jane Fulton, 16, of Arnold, Pa., as an assistant in his act, with- out the consent of her parenta The Fulton girl, the police say. Is mar- ried and separated from her hus- band. The arrest of Lyons resulted when Mra Fulton and another actor in the troupe were arrested when they visited the apartment of Lyons fol- lowing a complaint the young wo- man hadjbeen mistreated by CHiarles Harris, a member of the theatrical troupe, Mrs. Fulton accused Harris of entering her room white she was asleep. Mrs. Fulton in testifying against Harris, told the magistrate that she had been engaged by Lyons to work in his hypnotist act. Harris was held on a serious charge. TOM McGUniE LEFT FOBTTJNE Tom McGuire, picture actor and former vaudevilllan. arrived in New York this week to settle up the es- tate of his brother, Jack McGuIre, who recently died. The estate estimated at about $60,000 may become the subject Of litlpatlon as other relatives were ignored in the be<]uesta William NEWELL and MOST Elsa "THE LAST DANCE." by Wilbur Mack. "These are two bright new personalities you owe it to yourself to moet."—CLEVELAND "PLAIN DEALER." "Jesting such as that indulged in by Newell and Most always is welcome in the vaudeville theatre. Legitintate comedy of the eccentric order is what they dispense and they do It remarkably well. The cleverest line of patter that has come to notice this season."—CINCINNATI •ENQUIRER." "Tho Orpheiun advertised only three headline acts but Newell and Most should share in the honors. They stopped the show."—NEW OKLEANS "ITEM." "Newell and Most furnished mnny laughs. They have been here be- fore, but that doesn't make any difttrencc—they went over big despite the fact they closed the show."—DALLAS "DISPATCH." Direction TOM J. KENNEDY. ' 350 MLES TO ENTERTAIN m SiGHT-SEEINe BUS Group of Performers Left Yes- tert^y for Dannemora Prison at Clinton, N. Y. Teeterday Johnson's sight seelag bus left Tlmee square, coatribufted by the owner for a trip of 350 miles to Clinton, N. T, where the per- formers carried by the bus will en- tertain the prisoners of Dannemora. 'Harry A. Shea, the agent, fur- nlsbed the volunteer acta and a*m' ranged for the entertainment They will return to New York in the save bua It seats U, Show with Small Timers in Cast Blew Up in Pa. "Little Miss America." a road musical attraction stranded in Greeley, Pa., after several weeks of wildcattlng and sparse box otfiee returns. Several members of the company unable to pay hotel bUIs were arrested upon complaint of Valentine Engelhardt. proprietor of the Mountain Houaa They were released when friends came to their assistance and wired sufficient funds to pay their hotel bills. Most of the company returned to New York. Timid members, afraid pt face p6s8ible kidding, went dae- where. The show was booked out of New York with a non-Equity cast. Most of the people were recruited from small tints vaudeville. Ac- cording to those in the know they could have qualified as America's greatest lay-off cast since most of the members had worked seldom In vaudeville in season. The show was promoted by one Samuel Dempaey who had a mail order addreaa in the Putnam Building, New Tork. Sam la re- ported aa having floated the enter<> prlae en^ nerva. He convinced * local acenic atudio It was "a great piece of property" and the studio speculated stock stuff to equip th* production. A east was lined up and rehearsed. Marjorie Flnnega% ingenue, is accredited with havlaf advanced $100 to keep the troup* rolling until it bit the rocka After striking a continual snag of bad business Dempsey made his oxit without taking the company into his confidence. This made Marjorie sore aod she threatens to bring civil action to recover the amount due her on the loan in ad- dition to three weeks of unpaK salary. '4 -i 'i Bowery Turns Down Pop An attempt to establish a vaude and picture policy at the Peoples (Bowery), New Tork, flopped alter a two weeks' try. The house will close for summer and reopen in Augu.st with Jewish legit shows as formerly.