Variety (August 1925)

EDITORIAL VARIETY 13 L,^-. WaeUT Xtt VAWWtt. te*. ' Sim* BUT»rm»n. PT««d«nt „« Wt ««tb tr.>t N.W York Clly gUBSCRlPTION: ^5:!:'cip.-'- " *"■"• Phone Diroctone* T-Iil Variety'* New York office, ir* West 4«th atreet, are tele- phona directoriea ol the toUow- inC cities. They may be oonauUed at any time without charge Lol Angeles ""' San Kranclaco Statu* Dfnver Buffalo Albany Syruciue Atlantic Ctly c;biCM(0 Cincinnati Naw Orleana San Antonio Hou«tun OklBbuma City Washington Montreal Top^ka 15 YEARS AGO (From Variety nnd "Clipper^) The new booking system installed Into the United Booking Offices (present Keith-Albee) brought a wall of dissatisfaction from artists and agents, who declared It was bad for them. A week before J. J. Murclock had announced that acts for the small time would "show" and ttet a set of prices would be placed for their services, and that this price would be exceeded by no naan- ager. As a result, many act» work- ed under what they claimed was a heavily cut salary, and BQuawked plenty. •AL'Jolson was playing the Or- phvum Circuit, and his asent was concluding negotlattons for JolSMi to star In a minstrel troupe I during the next season, the show to be built around the singer. In the western sMtlon of the country Jolson was even then recognized as the ewner of all he surveyed—when -*e surveyed It. Felix Isman had entered Into ne- gotiations with Marcus Loew, whereby l>oew would book his *•- cently acquired Boston house, the Orphcum. That was 15 years ago. Loew still books the house. May Tohe, who did a comeback About three years ago for a short time, had been stricken with paral- ysis' while appearing In a San Fran- •ciSTo cafe. Kate Claxton, who died last year, was having trouble with a divorce recently granted her from Charles Stevenson, the actor. She claimed that he didn't use his middle name of Alexander In obtaining the de- cree and because of that she didn't know of Its effectiveness until long after. Stevenson Is currently playing in pictures on Broadway this week at the Rlvoll with a prominent part in "The Man Who Pound Hlmself.- _ His former wife was famous as ' l*«lBe In "The TWo Orphans." Bddle Garvie (featured last •on In "Hell's Bells" and who one of the hits of the season In so 'w as Indlvidtjal acting went) was just opening a new vaudeville act with Bob Dalley. DECENCY AND DRAMA" Editonal from the Philadelptiia "ReeorO^ of AitfuU tS "Varletjr changed its circulation dM in New York to Saturday. Charles J. Frevman, now booking the Intarstat* Circuit, had returned to the Sates after having repre- sented "Variety" In London for wr- •ral years. His brother, Jesse Free- man, now an Association (W. B. M. •^) agmt In Chicago, had sailed to replace hia brother in London tor "Varloty.- In a rtiort time the theatrical season in this city will b« in full BWlnc It is. therefore, appropri- ate that a word b« directed to the purveyors of amusement in Phila- delphia: For your own protection, if <or no other roason, keep your theatres free from smut. We say this ivlmarlly because we believe nine-tenths of our peo- ple do not like stage dirt and be- cause the morals and manners ot both young and old have been affected for the worse in the past few years by the growing tendency of the stage to place on the boards botU plays and musical shows which are deliberately contMved to shock some and to excite others to lascivious snickers. Censorship? We flay it also because we fear a continuance of this policy might bring about a new evil in the shape of a rerform. We mean a censorship. If music shews this year «:i^iblt a tendency to display more and more of the feminine form, if plays to be produced here are based on plots more appropriate to the medical text book than to litera- ture or drama, if erotic Innuendos and bar-room Jokes, sprinkled with so-called realistic profanity, are scattered through these pro- ductions, then the proponents of cenaondiip will gain support of people who would otherwiso look askance at any x>ropo«a1 to shackle the drama. Theatrical men know, from ^e sad experience of the motion pic- INTERNATIONAL SHOW BUSINESS tares, what censorship means. A law is passed authorising censor- ship. A group of poUtloal hench- men are appointed censors. They proceed Qrat of all to spend the taxi>ayers' money in establishing elaborate offices and large staffs of more politloal henchmen. Then they begin nagging the particular Industry or art they are engaged to censor. They make silly rules and ohango them frequently. Hampering Art In the case of the drama no playwright could be sure what particular part of his work would meet the disapproval of the censor. because the censor's ruling does not depend upon the common judgment of the community, but upon the whim of one man or a small group of men, each with his own. prejudices and inhibitions. A censor is of necessity a czar. Any art operating nnder a censorship Is almost pertain to be hampered in its development. The stage must by all means avoid the imposition of this art- stifling Incubus. But the cenHor- sbip is surely coming if theatrical producers continue to put Into the hands of their enemies the weap- ons with which the fight will be won for their opponents *nd lost for them. Clean Up Now The time to clean up Is now. And the clean-up must come from within. If outsiders are permitted to "purify" the American drama, they win almost ruin it. Let the theatrical magnates remember this is the season starts. The sweep of the American ntoving picture has drawn international show bustr.esa clo.sfly together. Closer than coulJ have been h'laard a few years ago. Pictuxes now make the common ground for the show business of the world. As propaganda for the United States, Its power, resources and prog- ress, the moving picture of America has boen and Is the greatest a<lvanco or press agent ever known. The Prince of Wales as a tourinn pre-ss affcnt for Oreat Britain can't commence to compare with tho moving plcturo for America. A picture can be exhibited and for admission In every land of every tongue. Captions or sub-titles, unless they are humorous, are the very least of any picture, though often made more important throuj^b a superfluity of them to "pad out." thereby saving actual footage. Should the day arrive when no explanatory comment Is required to let an audience know aom'ethlng Is happening "That Nlglit," tho American picture in foreign countries will have no more strength. Were the reformers, those who don't want prohibition or amtiswuent on the Sabbath, to spend their time and money dlstributinR movingr pictures throughout tl.e world as propaganda against future waiH. their time and money wouid be mightily bettor spent and undoubtedly mors tangible results attained. iUGHT OFF THE DESK By NEUiE REVELL In this issue ot Variety, called the International NumlJer, a sllcht attempt has been made to Indicate the field of universal entertainment. While we do not believe this International Number Is a signal success from any^'point of view. It Is, however, an Indicator of the possibilities of such an issue, properly organized. Next year Variety, using the Inter- national Number name for an annual issue hereafter. Will try to present a more pointed survey. Besides the moving picture, there has been comparatively little export of American plays and players, more plays than players as a matter of record. This country Imports more players from the other side than the number of imported iplays warrant, leaving It certain the Imported players are also engaged for native plays over here. There can be but two reasons for importing foreign players for native plays, and that goes for any country; it's because the foreign actors are' cheaper in salary titan the home talent or the forelgneri Bt, the American producers believe, the native phty^ roles better than oaa tho native sons or daughters. American plays abroad meet with the same measure and average of success as foreign plays do in' New York, although in New York are brou^rht out more original adaptations. Other countries take the Broad- way hits after they have been tested and may be seen. Broadway takes chances, producing flrst. In a story from London in this issue on tho opening of the loglt season over there. It states that two English playa about to be produced In London and New York will b« heU back in London until the verdict in New York hai been rendered. Georges Mills, N. H. Tho phrase "nobody homer* must have been coined by someone en a motor trip who met the swarms, fleets and bevies of vehicles that infest the roads. It seemed to me on my way up to Lake Sunape* ('N. H.) that the whole world was oa wheels, everyxtne going some place else at from a to 60 miles an hour. So, of course, there's "nobody home." And those who aren't going some place are selling something. Everything is a concession. "Tea Room," "Tourists Accommodated," or "Hot Dog" sign* are like flies along the tralL Once in a while the monotony is relieved by a unique one like the one at New London: "Home Made Preserves and Toilet Artlele*." Another: "AnUques, Homo Made Rugs and String Beans." la front of a human Ailing station in Vermont one reads: "Positively not a tea room, Jtist a pJaco to eat—but a good one." "Bvery man has bla prtee,'* la tho opinion of tho skepUcaL Evory house baa its price, is tho conviction of tho motorist. Just about the time one sinlts kneo deep In admiration for an imposing estate the For Sale sign swats you in tha eye, and after a few motor trips the enthusi- asm, even when approaching the most protentioua domicila, gives way to a feeling of "Oh. you can bo had." Finding tho charm of motoring alone country roads these days demands a vivid Imagination. If we wax poetic or fictional we can describe the lanes lined at either aide with golden rod, the arching troos, tho fragrant meadows, the ancient colonial hontes and all the rest of tho things you read about in summer resort pamphlets. But if W3 aro Jnst reporiers and hampered by facts, we tell it this way: "On all sides, tlie happy motorist is confronted with hot dog signs. Elveryone seems to have gone out of the antique business and into the catering profsaslon. "There aro as many different ways of advertising the product as there aro stands. The doUoacy is termed variously 'Hots,' 'Hot Dogs,' 'Prankfurtera' 'Red Hots,' etc. I'm Just waiting for someone to be original and pootle oaougb to oall them 'Canine Croquettes.'" In vaudavillo and other forms of amnssmont, America remains tho heaviest Importer. Circuses especially on this side aro large users of Continental turns, mostly athletic (acrobatic), that inotading- aerial and horsemanship. For the vaudeville stage a try is made for forsisB 'Novel- ties" in the act division. Novelties are as scarce abroad as at home. Sel- dom does the native turn anywhere when on foreign shores develop into the novelty that seemed possible when seen far away. There is only one staple stage commodity in all of the entertaining- stage—Comedy. A laugh is a laugh the world over. The immensity of the American picture business abroad (all over tho map) is but faintly grasped excepting by those engaged In the nim export trade. It is only a few seasons ago the foreign market for pic- tures was looked upon as negative for return—perhaps the exporter got something and perhaps he didn't, like tho foreign royalty for Ameri- can songs or plays—if you didn't get it in advance yon nenrer got it. With pictures, though, that has been altered. There is a direct busi- ness organization maintained for American picture selling in the re- mainder of the world as well as in the U. S. and Canada. What was a gamble is now a sure profit. An American picture distributor figures his forsign net Income pur* gain. The American picture is expected to pay for Itself in America. That, of course. Is dependent upon production oost. It may return morv or less on this side, but It's seldom the gauge on cost does not permit ^>f an even break at home. Tho only expense abroad is the main- tenance of tho foreign offices and the weekly overhead, whatever that may consist of. The biggest Item, production, has been paid for. It's similar to the theatre manager who charges off his annual rent in 44 weeks and calculates that the other 12 weeks lis has rent free. Proving that some motorists havo a sense of humor, even when gas Is high, and Just to roUsvo tho monotony of the signs along th eroad, they try to provide a laogh from the car behind them. One Jast ahead of me displayed a sign. "THIS IS NOT A COUPS, BUT CH1CKRNS ARB WBLCOMZL" Another sign I saw painted oa the spare tire of a fliwor: "TU-DAMH - K O MA N.- Maude Mills, sister of Floronoe MlUa. is now featured at the £gg Harbor cafe^ AtlanUe City. Nat Martin and his orchestra I open Sept. • at tho Oriole Terrace. Detroit. He was booked by Roehm •A Richards, who have also con- litracted to imt on an elaborate floor ■Ishow at that date. Many years ago Amolia SummerviUe achievod fame as "The Merry Mountain Maid." I may not acquire much fame in the same role (even though I oaa make tho wolght), but I surely am getting circulation in the mountains. I flit from the peaks of the Catskills'^o the foot of the White Mountains like a bee looking for exactly the flower It wants. Comparing my activities this summer with those of the last seven years one must admit there is at least a contrast. After lying for years on a fracture board now nothing short of a gang of mountains suit me. I have swapped the hospital ambulance for a friend's auto, and now I wake up in the morning saying, "Where am IT" And will be a veritable hill-billy by the time I return, and I will be lucky If I don't turn out like the celebrated wampus animal of the Blue Ridge hills that bad legs shorter on one side than on the other BO that it could walk comfortably on the mountainsides. Having the Beaumont sistors as hostesses is something than which there isn't anything more 100 per cent In the world, and anyone who has ever enjoyed their hospitality knows what a fine time I've been having. As the picture theatre on this side seems to be ."mothering all other forms of amusement, so does It abroad. Flverything else in the show line looks minute beside It. Bven vaudevilla, the backbone of British entertainment for centuries, is mixing its vandi-vllle in With pictures and pictures with vaudeville, as vaudeville and plcturt-.i aro doing riglrt here and now. It is not Imaginative to visualize the Chinese 14ughing at an Ameri- can picture comedy nor to know that American picture UUtrlbutors main- tan exchanges In RhanEhai. There's hint in that for the mlMionarles and the Malays. Many a perfectly good missionary might be saved to the family If they sent over a film persuader instead. They can oat the film if they want to, but it will tickle going down. For good measure, this country up hero is one of the sub-divisions «C Heaven. Mountains, lakes, trees and sunshine and such elms! (Page Eugene O'Neil). Long, cool, starlit nights that a person Is almost too sleepy to appreciate. And, right at our door. Lake Sunapco, ths. largest body of water at this altitude east of tho rocktos, to look Btt ride on, or swim In—If you want to. When Billy B. Van and Rose Beaumont discovered a few years *g» that they could not longer laugh at each other's Jokes, tho thrill had gone out of the handclasp, and, as Walter Kelly says, 'They had Just nattirally lost their taste tor each other," they separated. Tlx-y divided the fruits of their years of work. Fortunately there was enough for both. Bach have palatial homes and miles of acreaso. Little Mary Ann Van had not as yet applied for admission into tho Van family and her parents had not even met. Billy had a hunch that some day there would be other Vans be-sldes movlni; van.'* at his houee and tluy would require cow Juice, so he retained all of the high powered cattle atid their pasturage. Rose preferred the property containing the privato lake Inhabited by fish.