Variety (Apr 1928)

BROADWAY 3-CORNERED LEADERSHIP IS ON MONG SURE-SEAT (HOn^ ^*Art" Picture Idea Expanding—25 Sure-Seaters Pro- posed in 25 Key Cities—New England Has One Circuit—rMay Book Foreign Film Product Direct .A three-cornered battle for lead- ership in the "art" picture house field looms up with the report that -two: new groups of houses, to be located in ftey cities throughout the country, are now being financed. One of the new art or sure-seat circuits, sometimes referred to as Ufa's last stand. Is to Include 25 houses in residential sections of the £6 largest cities. Opposition to Mike Mindlln, di- rector of the Fifth Avenue Play- house group, will not be in theatre construction but In film buying. Shortage of suitable pictures for the sure-seat theatres" is the big prob- (Contlnued on page 43) BARKEEPSTAK1 331-3% CUT IN SALARY Booze Biz of Speaks Shot —Bootleggers Playing No Favs DOUBLES'FOR LADIES IN RADIO BROADCAST FROM HOLLYWOOD? HERBERT SCHI.QSS WAS ENTITLED TO "RAIN' With business away off In apeak- eagies bartendei-s haye been com- pelled to take a 33 1-3 chop in salary or else. Bartenders had previously been scaled at f75 weekly, with many replenishing the weekly grrosa by tips. With conaitions bad and the (Continued on page 41) A suit concerning "Rain," pend- ing four years, was decided la^t week in favor of Herbert Schloss against John D. Wllliama. Schloss, professionally known as Herbert Castle, has ambitions in the pro- duction field and would have landed a winner on the first try, It was In- dicated from the suit, had not Wil- liams repudiated a verbal contract with Castle to be partneris in the presentation of "Rain." Instead, Williams turned the play over to Sam H. Harris, although Williams retained a ^5 per cent in- terest The action Is something of an oddity In theatrical procedure be- cause Castle did not seek damages. Through hla attorney, Milton Cohn, he contended there was a moral obligation on Williams' part The court upheld the contention, but since specific remuneration was not asked, the verdict resulted in a jadgxrtent of six cents against WIN Hams. Castle was concerned with the production of "The First 50 Years," presented at the Princess several years ago. He Is at present, organ- izing a group of art theatres. Homeless Beauty Contests Par Rockaway, Li. I., Is following .Atlantic City, N. J., in banning Us annual beauty contest this year. Action on the matter was taken at a meeting of the Rockaway Cham ber of Commerce last week. Equity Behind Movement— Wants All Dramatic Commercial Managements Represented in O^e Or- ganization—For Exploita- tion, Promotion and Pro- tection—^Attempt to Bring Back "the Road" In- cluded FUTURE NOT ROSY Card Parties and Chop Soey Chink joints along Broadway are getting wise to - ail the- gags. -Ou' flights when business Is ordinarily slow they are selling women's clubs on the card party Idea. One of the first to pull this was 80 het up over a crowd of bridge females from Brooklyn that a couple Of their "Oxford graduates" forgot the usual courtesies to steady cus- tomers. No brawls occurred, but Its Partiality hereafter to card players •taay nip into the regular trade. What is hoped to b« th« most important movement for the wel far* of the legitimate, stage will be inaugurated at a meeting of man- agers^ actors (Equity) and authors on Friday afternoon at the Hotel Astor. Equity officers have been working on the plan to brinig the three cardinal atao* factors to gether for the past six months. Realization that the legit theatre has reached a climax where it can- not go forward without organiza- tion prompted the latest efforts in that direction. It will be proposed that there be a new managerial association rep- resentative of the entire dramatic field. That will not necessarily eliminate the Managers' i PrptecUye Association, which is bound . to Ekjulty by the basic minimum con- tract, which warded off an actors' strike In 1924. There are important matters, legislative SJid otherwise, which require a solid managerial front. . In outline, the Idea in general Is to form a permanent advisory (Continued on page 43) MoUie 0*Day Must Lose 20 Pounds—Or Else Los Angeles, April 3. ^^MoUie XD-'Day^muslvAo.3^^ to lose 20 pounds or, as far as First National is concet-ned, ^her screen career is over, Miss O'Day was cast for the femme lead in "Little Boss of Ar cady," but on the day before pro- duction was to begin, studio of- ficials gave her the once over and decided that her weight would count against her. Loretta Young got the role. Reports Say That Broadcasting Studio Locked Dur- ing Thursday Night's Hour, Due to Professional Singer Doing the Del Rio Song What Paddock Most Do to Play in Detroit Detroit, April t. Jake Wilke, - handling Charlie Paddock, notified C. H. Miles* Oriental theatre that the' "world's fastest human" and his new pic- ture are available' on. a percentage basis. Joe Lee, Miles' imported press a.gent, was commissioned to an- swer the communication and he did —collect—as follows: "Will play Paddock one week on percentage if he will run from New York to the Oriental theatre, ac- companied -by Bebe Daniels, whom he must bust in the nose at the finish s«k^ can hit page one. "These are our only terms," Reports In New York that the broadcasting chamber in Holly- wood was locked during the Dodge Radio Hour 'Thursday, were fol- lowed bjr others to the effect that doubles acted for Dolores Del Rio and Norma Talmadge, Del Rlo's "Ramona" song Is said to have been sung by a profesr slonal. Anotl^er pro assumed the clothes talk accredited to Talmadge, It Is said. Miss Talmadge Is notort- otisly speechless at public events and the report of a 4oublo for her is accepted by the picture people. With United Artists stars on the. (Continued on page 2) Hagen's Fonner Gaddy Fixing His Scenario Los Angeles, April 3. Wellyn Totman, former personal golf caddy to Walter Hagen, is now Writing continuity for "Green Grass Widows," to be used as Hagen's first for Tiffany-StahL Totman has been on the Coast for more than two years and re- ceived his screen-writing ©xperl- :»nce ,at M-G. ^ Prevailing Question Mliid readers now in vaude a,re getting a steady avalanche of questions from audiences, by individuals asking "when am I going to get a Job f* Lady Dukes in Ballet When the Gavrlloy Ballet opens at the Gallo theatre. New York, April 9, it will have Lady Dukes, graii*Riughter oif the late William K. Vanderbilt, as one of Its dancers. Lady Dukes Is the wife of Sir Paul Dukes, who has written some of the, niufllc for the ballet. Sir Paul will act as guest conductor when his music is being playied by the symphonic orchestra of 1S> pieces engaged for the Gallo pre- sentment. The regular orchestral director will be Eugene FuersL The ballet goes lii the Gallo for a six weeks' engagement. Jaoacs Pendleton and Emily Oppa were engaged as Bpecialty dancers. Cutting Out Dogs' Bark SeatUe, April I, Liocal humane society Is excited Because" MifiC^ K Blackstone hotel here, contemplates an operation on her Pomeranian dog to remove the dog's bark, vocal cords to be partially cut out. The doggie has a loud, shrill bark that had proved a.nnoylng. Some dog doctors say the operation Is .quite frequently performed but that In a few cases the dog that loses its bark goes mad. GREATHOPESON TELEVISION BY SHOWMEN Previews Being Held— Big Concerns Interested in New Device Showthen heading varlou.s ijicture and vaudeville combinations have been attending private showings of Television (sight and sound) iippa invitations from the manufacturing concerns with whom they are con- nected. Within the past few weeks, it is reported, several private previews liave been held with the showmen , there Inimensely impressed with the possibilities of the new device. Its appearance on the market is indefinite at present. Television, according to one of (Continued on page S8> BROOKS THE NAME VOU GO BY V\mEN VOU GO TO BUY COSTUMES G O W S A .N D i; -N I FO II Vf s 14.37 B'W>*Y. N.y TEC 5580 . ALSO Zi.UOO COSTUMES TO lltMT: