Variety (Jul 1927)

DWAY PRICE jm.20 -™"- CENTS Published Weekly at 1G4 West 46th St^ New Tork, N. T., br Varletjr, Inc. Annual subscription. |7. SinRle copies, SO centSL Snter«d m Moond cIium matter Deoembar tt. i9ti. mt \h9 PMt QAea at Maw York, M. T.. uadar tba act oC Maroh t, lITf. VOL. LXXXYU. No. 12 NEW YORK CITY. WEDNESDAY. JULY 6.1927 56 PAGES CUTTING FLUKE 500 CRIPPLED WAR VETERANS SEE VAUDE SHOW (HP A WEEK yolunteers to Entertain Soldicff» at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, l!K^l!!;«-^orforai- - ance Every Thursday—Cheers and Feet Stampiiig Wai^ington. July S. It's nlM sreairs •inoe the war. It Isn't over yot for close to 500 sol- diers are slill under treatment at th(> Walter IReed army hospital. Because of this acts playing "Waslilngton Journey out to the hos- pital after the Thursday matinee every week. There is no "request" from the front of th# ktoiiss. Mrs. Mabel Shackelford, volunteer Ked Cross worker since 19L8, calls for tkem in a bus and upon arrival the crippled boys ATs waltliitf^ They Mrs wheeled, they hobble on crutohcH, they are carried—but no matter bow they pot there early to be down fjH>nt. i > ilay last a Vari»»ty reporter Was a-ked to go along. From a stage suggesting the "old town hall" and with but a piano for an orchestra, Johnny Dooloy and ClitY O'Hourke; Yannessi along with Sonny llines and the Gamble Boys; Norberto Ar- delli, Eva Elsmond and Pat Grant, Lrf)ttl Atherton, Hobey and Ctnild, and the Carr Brothers never playQd tb such an audience. The boys who cMdiili^t' Ain>^aud, J>e<Muse they had no arms, cheered. Those who could do neither of these •tamped with their feet. Some ^ust ahowed their appreciation lA tbtlr l^es. Olhord may forget. A crippled vet Wfcy be just and only that to some, hut the weekly trips to Walttr Re^ prove that thoso. of show bliSlWSM haven't and won't forget. BLACK BET AT llOTH QVETowmwns Negroes Sweeping All Over Harlem—Want Theatre for Omrch KscotlatlQiis bipm^A hr a colored chiircli 111 HarKnii to secturt tiie Leiiok theatre, at lienoz ikTeiiue snd ItOth street, mark* ths of th« BIa<^ Belt that stluri«A *t th# Hiurlsai Rivef (14$ih mt^X) to the southern sxliremlty of ths Hair- ItMn district, bounded by HOrnin?- H'ule I'ark on the west an4 Wh ave- nue on the east. Addltlbnillly and for some while the Belt has been overflowing its' former westorn boundary, Morn- ingsidc, going up over the Heights and lodatlng^og,^ja>it^ Mae West's ^Wicked Age' Is New Comedy-Drama Mae West's swagger from the no- torious "Sex" will be carried into Jior latest and new play, "The Wipkofi Age." Besides her personal starrini^ ap- pearance Miss West will again be recorded as an authoress. It's a eomedy drama, in reht-ar.^al this week and destined for a Broadway play shop late in Au- CVSt. Bf>si.le.<j the iMincii>als will bo riO diff^'rent types f)f "hoautifs* with th« mnin comedy eontcTing around local honiify »r.>.*^ofo ..«r..},rt,» ftn/1 bath in It i.s claim, d f..f tlic W'. book that It is "clean," so nuich so say.s James TImoney, once more int«^r- ! «stod with Miss West in a produc- j ^ion tliat ho expects tho c?inj-« to ; i^^t behind Miss West thi.-< timf*. Mr. Timoney didn't mchtlon how tir behind. Another "Cut" Laugh And Executives, Too Los Angeles, July During the salary reduction discussions on ths ooast, one producing executive of a large organization whose income is mainly from a percentage of the gross of pictores fniads on the lot CM lied in another i)ro- dtiction held and infonn<'d him that under tlie now order of things he would have to take a big cut in salary. The Usser luminary in the company llatly refused to stand any cut In his salary whatever, and declared it would bo all right for him to wnlk rn\t if 1h%com- pany insisted tint ho take a slash. A hot l»attle en.-<»jod, with ji'itlK'r williri:^ to )•< d'l from Tlift proposition W.1S held in abcy- inre for a ff*w d i\ s. but thf f i' ion of the produce i h to let salaries stand buri«'d tl»e hatchet between the two pro- duction executives for the time being. ACTION AWAITS m NEW PLAN Motion Picture Academy Credited With Brinaiaa Film Producers to Realli- ation of Better and Wiser Ways to Economize on Production—Some Salary Cuts Ordered Not Placed Into Ezecution-^Saving of . Aroiiad, :E|ri»ecied Wtmrnt PrdUeM::SiBl^^^ " HALF-MILUON PUBUX BOOKING FOR WmiEMAN FOR 40 WEEKS Orchestra to Travel as Unit Over Picture House Qig» trnTHM $12XXM Weekly—All Tm^. portation paid for 33 Men—vActs with Band 'XADDER'S" LOSSES LY WEEK OF UNREST Grosses Arotind $400 Weekly ^Average of 60 Patrons Los AngeleSf July S. Thers will be no sweeping salary cuts among stars, directors and other employees of the West Coast picture studios at this time. The proposed general reduction, ranging iFrom ten to 25 per cent., as deter- mined upon s week ago to become effective immediately for all em- ployees whose weekly salary was in (Continued on page 17) RADIO MINUTE AT $43j;0 FOR 8 TIMES— Firm's Mention Guaran- teed 4 Times Within Elach 60 Seconds With Mi(^ loss iiiled up by "The I>adder" approaching a half million, the continued perforinin<^e of (he play becomes the more .isti>uriding in light of tiie actual grosse.s. Wliile an estimated weekly ilgure h<as been quoted froia time to Urns, it was greatly ex.iggoriitod. On a b'unimer b.isis of aix per- formances (no Saturday shows) the takings have been around $400 weekly. Itar^dy Ipive thsy, gdll#. |Ui higii hM $HiO littr ni^ht. ' "The Lradder ' Ift ending iUi Uth month. It recently moved t*' the Cort for the summer, r^vlucing the scale to >L'.20 top. I'reviously an offer was madM to n'Cund the ad- mission price to anyone not satfai- find with the performance. Cut rat<? ;»Ilotm**nfH w^t" lh^in discontinued, iOdgar B. Uavis, its millionaire backer, ordered out all pass«»ii; Com- puting the nightly ^wo.s8 md flg- (Continued on pa«e 48) A new system of selling Radio's commercial time has been inaug- urated by the appnrfnt possessor of a contract with WJfN for one hour, eight times or more monthly. Ho- llcltors are offering merchants r ^dio "time" of one minute's duration fdght times monthly for $43.50, gross. Mention of the firm's name and address is guaranteed to be male four time's within each of the 60 s/'< ond Tx-ri'ids —H f ti er s * y( i n ** Unm bv ' i tw n .J ii iiU. are allowed per cfnt. of their .^.ilf^.H. One Koii' iti.r H.iid h" •'old ;i5 J)! o.s|icr tM In f»n»,' d iv. It is said tii.it nn liour on WIl.N' rnny he pureh.i«ed frohi fr><> to $100, .iccf>rding t'» the linf- of ~ iH'-.^r^. wlih \ • rato" tor *.yn'.iauo«l busi- Speakeasy Dress FFame A shiny gyp in tlie .spo.ik- casies wl*<?re practiced is the selling of dresses worth $10 to e.s< ortd of ..tand-in young women at and up. The developed .system is for ♦he mnle customer with a load of bad boo/,e i.ri'h"r<'d in ^he s.'ini« joint to lie sl*iercd Into A rear roum by liis lady friend wh' ro he sees, if still rr't.i;;iing liis fy-sii^lit a ro\* of lovely irocks, Mti lir; i.s t(»ld. Th«' ^'iishing girl selo' ts onf, • ' ' •• 'rjtnp li'' ' 'i' >■',> j.- T . "J" ])r.;, i' ' .trntoMfi y>'-r:.>i-v, . ' il.' ■» i.irn il»*n»< for a.s ro iny oMj"r'. ri'i ho or his h r. •vill f iM for X* d ly « l«>Voly !'f 'j. l:s ir»« r"turn« d witli S' I|.t and jtijr' h 1 s<'*r -ipll'Mn^ -l'^' ri'-f. An ngrcement without paraiU 1 In the show ^business la the $500,000 contract entered into between Pub« lis Iniieatrcs (Paramount) and I*a«t ?i%l4<iimui, for the Whitenifiii or- chestra to tour the Publix id< tor.» house circuit next s^o-son at $12,000 weekly for 44 or more week.s. Th'#y^ hooking wm h« for one or more weeks in each thea- tre playe<l, \\ l\h a maximum of fojr performances woek days and livf on week ends, according to the playing policy of the theatro. All transporbilion, including slt ( p«>rs, will be paid by Puhllx, Jvd- dltionally. That circuit will also supply the cast required for ths Whlternan unit, the type of per- fortnariee to be siudlai- to the pr'-s- ent one employed by Wlnlcmau during his engagement M the Par* ' amount, New Y(»rk. Mrs. Whiteman Appearing Tiio VV hitetnan band cIoki'H its Paramount on Broadway enga«(e« mt-nt July 15. For the tlnal weejc starting .loly f). Vindi llotJ (Mr.s. Whilemau) will api>eu.r in a dance specilally in front of her husbands- orchestra. J{lliing for the week will be Mr. .and Mrs. I'aul Whiternan S&m Kalz, for Publix, wiio nogo- tiated the Whiteman agreement,, does not prT)hibit the orchestra ffdSS- pluying elsewliere for a week or so, other than in a Iheatr*;, upon two weeks' notice to Publix. That ivould mean a convention or private mk* gagement, nor is Wliif'nKin re- stricted from ti»e radio or making phonograph (Victor) records. The Whiteman orchestra creatod the first $10,000 salary In the pic- ture and for all of the show Jjilage) busintHS. William Morris Is Whiteman's repre.sentatlv^, act- ing for him In the n'trotintlotis with Katz for the re« ord breaking con- tract. Following the loeul Par.tmount, Whiteman may ipi>' ar for two WerkS at the .-^fifd' V, I Ml i lad'd ph i :1, filling in tile r'-n; »iri'i T of 'he tirne (Curitinued un pa.t'.e ii) IMt NAME YOU GO [}Y WnCN VO ; rr) TO H J Y j i^j/ b WAV ti y '"' Hill ' tn.-^'J iXMM. t , 1