Variety (December 1925)

18 VARIETY EDITORIAL Wednesday, December 2, 1925 OXniETY Trade Mark RrsUtcrcd rabllihrd WefUv b7 VARIKTT. 1m. 8lm« SllTsrmao, PraatdaDt 1(4 Weat 4(tb airaaf Naw Torh Ctti BUBSCIIIPTION; Annual »I roraicn tl ■lOKia Coptaa 10 Cania ' I Ballrooms as Picture House Opposition Vol. LXXXI No. 3 50 YEARS AGO (Prom "(Jiifptir") Nowadays a poor show is fre- quently referred to as a "humpty- dumpty," but back In the days of 1875 George L. Fox was exploiting a comedy troupe "Huiiipty Dump- t}-" framed on the order of a va- riety show with tlie performera coming in for an afterpiece. Ballrooms as opposition to picture houseaT It looks certain. Not evorywhoro and not in a rush, bat It Is already apparent In spots and seems certain to expand. Ballrooms have been going on tholr way, well conducted, carefully watched by their managements, and of good general repute In the com- munities where they are conducted. To hear anything against the present grade of better and big ballrooms is the rarity. Many of the ballrooms are on circuits with regular boolclng connections. They draw well and appear to afford amusement to wide circles of young people. INSIDE STUFF ON LEGFx 8o far the bigge.st ballrooms have gone In for musical attractionH. orchestras mostly. But some are spreading out. They now ask for acts and "names" though limited In expenditure for either. Just now the ballrooms giving attention to special floor attractions ai'e mostly In the Middle West. They are willing to spend from $500 to 1600 weekly as top money for extra attractions. Those playing acts are reported pleased with the experiment. There is talk among ballroom bookers of giving drawing ballroom attractions a route. Ballrooms may find that through increased steady attendance, their special act appropriation will stand an Increase. _ Hartley Campbell's "Fate" was acheduled for a London production —a rarity in the days when the in- ter-relations between the st.ages of the two nations were at the mini- mum. "Rose Michel," a French drama, was adapted by Steele Mackaye and on its production at the Union Square achieved a marked success. Its cast held Uose Eytinge in the title role, while her support count- ed Stuart Robson, J. H. Stoddart and Frederick Thompson. Song hits of the day were "Foot- prints on the Snow" and "Girls Will Have Their Way." ... Sol Smith Russell was touring with the Ber- ger family. Their entertainment consisted of Russell's dramatic work and some mu.sic by the Berger family. . ."■ . Denman Thompson, known simply as Den Thompson, was hPving a new playlet called "TCillamey" produced at Detroit Madame Rlstorl, recently leavinp the States to tour England, had met With a so-so reception and business Wasn't up to snuff. Howes and Cushlng were trans- jor'ting their circus from the United States to South America for a tour ©f the various countries. It aeema agreed that If ballrooms can draw through their side show or acts that they will draw more from picture patronage than from any other form of amusement. Big ballrooms can accommodate from 2,000 to 4,000. Frequently In cities, neighborhoods are supporting their own ballrooms, with the larger towns having ballrooms as well in the down- town section. INSIDE STUFF ON PICTURES Leon Errol was announced for a personal appearance Sunday after- noon at the Strand, New York, for the opening of "Clothes Make the Pirate." He made it, despite Joe Plunkett withdrew the announcement from all of the Sunday ads that could be caught In time. After the an- nouncement had gone out Flo Ziegfeld entered an objection. Krrol, in the Ziogfeld show, "Louie the 14th," at the Cosmopolitan, had,it out with Ziegfeld late Saturday, whCTi the producer withdrew his objection. It was said to have been a personal matter between the'two. Notwith- standing either way, the Strand had the biggest line of any of the Broad- way houses for the Sunday matinee. Tlie Kernan Brothers had opened the new Central theatre in 'Balti- more and advertised it as the finest house in America. It later became the Monumental (and is now the Folly, devoted to occasional Yiddish •hows and stock burlesque). Probably the greatest of all freaks in advertising, e'c. In the year 1875 was that what we call lacrer beer was then termed "lager bier.- , 15 YEARS AGO {From ••Clipper" and Variety) Al Jolson was advertising himself as the season's bigBcst hit on the Orpheum Circuit and a collection of newspaper clippings from various towns on the swing referred to him as a minstrel man "who reached the top notch of popularity with the patrons." Famous Players, under Ita reorganized presentation department. In charge of Hcrschel Stuart, will, it is said, send the presentations pro- duced by John Murray Anderson for the Metropolitan. Boston, around the F. P. chain. In that way the production cost for each house will be greatly reduced, through dividing the original cost according to capaci- ties. Anderson Is to be entrusted with all of the presentation produc- tions, from reports. In New York it Is said Anderson Is only purchasing the best materials, paying from $160 to |200 each for gowns. A report says that William Fox has made an offer for the Walter Read*^ circuit of 18 NcJw Jersey picture theatres. Reade has received Severn' offe:.--. but says he has no intention of selling, asking: "In. a young fellow. What could I do If I aold out?" And nobody knows. Speculation around the picture clubs aa to how much "The Big Parade" cost Metro-Goldwyn 7 iNot much aa film supers go, they say. It started out as one of those J150,000 program releases, but Jeff McCarthy stopped that. Mr. McCarthy, the road show expert, went to Holly'wood to see "Ben-Hur" or what they had left of it at that time. Marcus Loew requested Jeff to look It over so he would know what he was road-showing. When Mr. McCarthy returned to New York (and according to Marcus, himself), he called upon Mr. Loew. "How do you like "Ben-Hur,' Jeff?" aald Marcus. "Oh, 'Ben-Hur.' Yes, that's all set, but what I came np to apeak to you about was that 'Big Parade' they are making out there. There's a road show picture." Mr. McCarthy had seen but three reels, all there was then made, but told Loew the three were enough—he would road show it. After that the "regular program" thing was forgotten, and "The Big Parade' wound up in 13 reels, but not at ^150,000—but not at much more. A ticket-scalping combination In Chicago that has made a practice ot crying and whining In order to obtain tickets has been double-dca'.inj the treasurers. This has caused so much trouble that many of the box- offices believe It is bound to react seriously against all ticket agencies. One treasurer who recently allowed himself to be kidded out of a few tickets found himself In a Jam. The scalpers promised not to stamp the tickets, but did not keep their word, with the house count revealing the stamped ducats and the manager having plenty to say to the treas- urer. The scalpers work on the theory that a fair premium for a ticket Is all you can get. Several treasurers have lately been Jeopardizing themselves by going to this firm to help them get tickets for personal friends, which is playing right into the scalpers' hands, aa they expect "favors" In return. Several Instances are on record where the scalpers have written let« ters to New York offices and caused much unpleasantness all around. The Cherry Lane Playhouse, which has "Polly" current, announces oa Its programs that this presentation of the old Gay operetta is tho flrat performance In this country. From Boston, however, comes information that the piece was don* up there about three years ago by one of the Little Theatre groups, and that It enjoyed fair success. Henry Gordon Watney has been examined In bankruptcy proceedings In London. Ho stated he had lost between £8,000 and £10,000 on a theatrical venture In America. He is an amateur and a member of the Watney family which owns the famous Watney Ales in Britain. Despite the protests of his family, his solicitor and many friends, young Watney insisted upon disposing of his shares in the brewery and going Into the show business. He made a revival of "Sweet Lavender." himself playing the role of Dick Phenyl. Prior to going to America Young Watney gave a matinee performanca of it at the Prince of Wales, where Archie Selwyn 'Thippened to be last year arranging to take over the Chariot Revue to New York. •Young Watney had rented the Selwyn Theatre, Boston, and when Archie was asked about It, said he knew nothing of the matter. But Archie interested, watched part of the performance, after Which he made all sorts of overtures for a cancellation of the contract, pleading with the solicitor and even offering to pay a bonus to call the deal oft Watney was obdurate and went through with the whole affair, with bankruptcy as a consequence. One of the constant attendants upon the Kip Rhinelander-Alice Jonea Rhinelander trial in White Plains is Snippy Mason, colored, who wa» with the "Chocolate Dandies" show. Mason lives near the Jones home In White Plains and knows Mrs. Alice Kip Rhinelander well. It Is also claimed that Mason grew up witli Mr. Holland and Mr. Rose who were prominently mentioned as witnesses. It Is a fact that prior to her marriage, Alice Jones Rhinelander decided upon a stage career and came down town to Join "Chocolate Dandies'' when for some reason or other she' changed her mind. Prior to the trial and Just after the separation between the colore! girl and the rich white man, a New Y^ork cabaret offered her $1,000 a week Just to walk on and off the stage, figuring she would more than Justify the salary expenditure. It is also reported that some very rich, rare and racy stuff was \n the letters exchanged between the Rhlnelanders but which were deleted accordingly when their contents were bared to the court. Corinne Griffith Is reported (in New York) displeased with the stories supplied her of late. That her disapproval la well based appears to be the opinion of film experts who say that in view of Miss Griffith's standing at present, despite her handicap, that she would at present be close to leading the female star tribal had everything else been In accord. A contract is ^jolding her to the Independent managerial firm, according to report. Al Jolson In "Big Boy" at the 44th Street Is continuing to develop a remarkable degree of Intimacy between the audience and himself. The other evening a couple of women a little belated reached their seats down front while Jolson was on. One of the women turned around and pantomimed to those behind if she should remove her hat. "It's all right, madame; keep It oft; you won't disturb anyone," said Al from behind the footlights. Meanwhile the other woman had started to take the pins out of her bat. "That's not necessary for you either," remarked, Al. "If you rather keep It on, keep it on" and both women did, to the amusement of the remainder of the audience. At the Carnegie Technical Institute the two-day talk on the Drama Friday and Saturday brought out In the main the lay opinion of the non-commercial theatre. Some Broadway producers attended but of them only Brock .Pemberton spoke. Mr. Pemberlon's most Important contribution was labelling Otto Kahn as "The theatre's greatest ama- teur." Previously Mr. Kalm had expressed his views. Other speakers were more "students of the drtuna" than practical showmen In any sense. Arthur Hopkins, present, was requested to address the assem- blage, but declined with the statement he could not do so without dis.igrecing with every previous speaker. Percy O. Williams deplored the growing use of profanity and vul- garity in vaudeville. He said that Its prosperity should not lead to carelessness and disregard of the better element, which was essential to its success. ' Charley Bigelow and Mltzl (then Mizzi Hajos) played together for a week at the Anitrlcan and durlnp their act one of HIroIow's lines was: "I must dl.^gulse myself." Mitzl, howfv«-r, talked back to him and aald: "Don't do that; just stay sober." They separated at the end of the week. Harry Kelly, who has played the deacon in many musical einiioiUcs jLand rovucs, had Just finished "The Deacon and tho Lady," a priidtic- tion in which the part was origi- nated. Florencio Constantino, loailhiir tenor of the Boston Oper.i t^oiii- pany, sued tho "Transcript" f<fr 1100,000 because it ran an cdiual.il condemning and accusinp him of using a clni'que to make his ap- ■ ■ .planse louder. TIio "Tran-sf ript" sl.ited that nlthonph rlacqiies tnl-.'ht be necessary to the happiness of Seemingly the old type of picture publicity does not meet with ap- proval in real estate circles, not even in Florida, where the uso of ad- jectives is encouraged rather than frowned on. A number of directors well known in the world of finance have resigned from tho board of the MlEner Development Corporation, which was promoting and building a new development known as Boca Raton, near Palm Beach, because, as they sutcd in their letter of resignation: "Our efforts to regulate the affairs and the management of the corporation and to eliminate ex- aggerated publicity have met with criticism rather tlian co-operation." The directors who resigned were General Coleman du Pont, H. L. Bean, Jesse L. LIvermore and H. S. Meeds. Harry Rcichenbach was the press agent of the corporation against whom the "exaggerated publicity" was undoubtedly made. Robert L. Sherwood, the picture critic for "Life," has sold two stories to the Famous Players. Both are now being made. An actor whose antl-Volstead tendencies have frequently brought him Into much unpleasant notorlty in the past but who has since straightened himself out for what looks like a certain comeback has so far removed himself from an alcoholic atmospliere that he has even refused to portray bibulous characters even on the stage. Despite the star's great faith In a proposed production in which he was offered the stellar role he turned it down flat when he found the part was that of an "old soak," Justifying his action by claiming he was through playing drunks both on and off. They're using Douglas Fairbanks' name on a cigar and Doug doesn't like the idea because he's not being properly compensated. Fairbanks has accordingly instructed O'Brien, Malevlnsky & Drlscoli, hia attorneys, to bring the necessary action if the practice continues. , Constantino, thoy were unljnown In Ilo.'.^ton umil ho c.;nio alonj:. "The l^iirinu- Muid," doslined U> liceonio a pliinonn nul suiioss, Ii^ilI lictn liodki'd into the LitnTty to npLn Clu.sinia.. week. VN'orba .t L< Ufii-lior produced it and Christ! • Mai Donald was staircd. . . . Fred .\ililo (now (liroctinrj pkturcp) w:';; atarritiK in a ro.id tioui>o of "Tli' I'ortiinc Hunter" . . . ilonry P.rr- linylioff, tii'iisurer Of William -Mor- ris, Inc., <•« lilir.itod his lOth wed- ding anniversary. (He's still will tho Morris organization.) . . . Or- vllle Harrold was leaving "Naughty Marietta" to take a four-year vocal course In r.arls. A revue manager known for his haggling on terms and tough glvlng- up for salaries was after a comedy team. The latter swore on their honor to their agent they couldn't bo had under $700. The agent trans- mitted the news to tho producer. The manager wanted the team and insisted he could get them for $500. So positive was the agent that he couldn't, the manager and repre- sentative made a wager that if the act was sold direct at $500, the agent would have no come-back for commission claims. The manager won, again proving the worth of persuasive powers. Schwab and Mandcl have readjustetl plans and will sidetrack the pro- posed musical version of "A Pair of Sixes" until next spring. This de- cision was prompted last week when Lawrence Schwab made arrango- ments to sail Dec. 10 In company with Gilbert Miller, of the Charles Frohman Company, to supervise tho London production of "The Kire- trand," in which they are Jointly interested. Miller nnd Schwab are negotiating for Ivor Novello for the principal role of the piece, played hero by Joseph Schildkraut. The oriin.il American production and effects will be used, the latter having boon .shipped abroad last week. Kd Wynn roturno<l to vauih villo with a now p.arlnor, P. O'M.'ilIey .Icnnings, En^•lis^l comedian, from tho lofrit. They both drosx-d in evening attlro nnd W>nn pulled tli'- futmy daffy dills while Jeiinln^s played tlie u.-^ual asinine .stage lOn- fll"hman. A story of the Theatre Guild bavins an afternoon of dlscu.'isinn over "The Glass Slipper" says seven speakers, including Zoe Akins, John Anderson. Aoseyh Wood Krutch, Dr. A. A. Brill, S. Jay Kaufman, William _ Bcobo and Otis Hkiniur, were asked to sponk of the play. I-^mr roasted it and Ihreo were for it. John Kmerson presided. The Guild has had many subscription.** withdrawn on account oC "The Glas.<? Slipp-r." Tlie di;HnissIr)n allo\v<'d monihor.i to sponk from the floor. There wro scver.il who spoko from the Iloor anJ thoy were very amiislnf;. Tl>ere .ire rival factions among the admirers of tho DlatjhlUff Ballet in London this season. Some stand firm in tholr alleKlonco to Lopokova, V lio.'-o siipieniaoy in "C'.irnival" Is beyond ilirimto. .'^i.tno swear by the ICngUsh ballerina, SokoloV.a, Who has pro;,'res:-cd steadily, season after scajon, from smnll parts to icndtn,; parts. Some, and those !>com to be In the majority, acclaim Nemtchinova as the finest dancer Dlachiieff'e organization lias produced. ••«•*««>tlli 4> I *.«**•