Variety (Sep 1928)

34 VARIETY VAUDEVILLE Wednesday, September 5, 1928 Cut-Throat Booking Methods Are Spreading Among Indie Bookers Ii is said that the acheming anfl cut-tliroat methods that prevail among imiie .vaude bookers in New. York city are spreading into out oE town bookers. Houses in the south particularly are now be- ing fought over and snatched by bookers. Bookers are writing to managers in the south offering acts which they could not possibly de- liver but which they, say they could secure iC given the theatre's book- ings. One booker; in Philadelphia wrote to a theatre In Lynchburg. Va., of- fei:4ng, an act which was under con- tract to another booker and was playiiig Lynchburg that Very week. The actors are the real sufferers In the underhand competition." If the acts have- managed to get a isalary raise some booker will dig out a contract years old showing he booked them for less.- When this is shown to the house man- a,ger he turns over the house to' the cheapest booker. ANDY EICE WITH M-G Los Angeles, Sept. 4. .Andy Rice is out of the F.ox Movietone department having re- signed to join the M-G sound staff. . • New contract with Rice is under- stood to be $400 more a week than he obtained from Fox.; . . Paul Morton's Daughter Naomi Glass,, daughter of Paul Morton . and Naomi Glass- (Mrs .Morton), has joined E. K. Nadel's ^^•Happiness Girls," replacing. Rose Brill. Photo by Witzel HARRY WEBER Presents LOUISE HOWAn "Radio's Happinesii Girl" ORPHEUM, LOS ANGELES Week of September 2 Act's Kickback A standard vaudeville act- man and woman, recently m^i<ie a Vitaphone short. Several weeks ago, just before they opened in an; eastern house, this Vita record was shown in the town where they were to play. When tlie act finally went on, before the man In the turn had uttered 15 words for the trick opening the audience be- gan mumbling, talking and saying the act was'a duplicate of the screen talker.... The act closed after playing three days. Making Talker of Paul Armstrong's -^Underworld" Los Angelas, Sept, 4. Irving Cummings is making the screen versiion of Paul Armstrong's vaude sketch, "Romance of the Un- derworld." It. will be Moyietohed. In the cast are Mary Astor; John Boles, Ben Bard, Robert Elliot, Helen Lynch and Oscar Apfel.' 30 Weeks or More Books In the Keith-Orpheum booking department under the su- pervision of Bill Howard, are re- ported In better condition than they have been at this time for the past five years. Among the acts already routed for 30 or more weeks are Doctor Rock- well, Ted Lewis, James Barton, Van and Schenck, Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys, Frank Gaby, Weaver Bros., Herman Tlmberig unit, Ha,rry Carroll unit, Sid Marlon, Frankle Heath, ^cott Sanders, Toney and Norman, Butler and Parke, Wilton arid Weber, Harry Burns, J. C. FUp- pen unit, Medley and Dupree, Fred Allen, Roy Cummings, Irene Rlcardo, Jack Benny, Ruth Warren, Grade Deagon, Bert Hanlon and Jack Pearl. Names now being n^igotlated with are Mae Murray, Harry Langdon, Sophie Tucker, Jackie Coogan and Fannie Brice. Coogan has been playing for Piibilx. 2 Bands for Vaude Horace iSeidt. and orchestra' are readying an act for. a trip over the OrpheUm and KC'ith circuits. Heidt has been m- C; at the Grand Lake; Oakland, Cal., for rnore than a year. His musicians are all grad- uates 6f the University of Southern California. Johnny Johnson's . orchestra now at the Hotel Pennsylvania, will also enter vaudeville -via Keith-Orpheum. Clifford and Higgins, dancers, will be in this act. Want Dance Derby Ban Minneapolis, Sept 4. There'll be no nnore dance mara- thons in Minneapolis IC the local city, council passes an ordinance Introduced' by Aldermian Victor Johnson, chairman pf the license committee. Ordinance bans all such contests in the future. The third Twin City dance mara- thon within the spac6 of a few months is now In progress with 75 couples at the Armory and drawing big. Fearing the possibility that the follcs might be, getting fed up on the tejplschore derby, current promoters have put on a flag pole sitting contest In conjunction with it. Pie a,nd melon eating and other such competitions also are held during the dancers' rest periods. . Inside Stulf-Vaudeville Nolle Roy, from vaiide, stepped In opposite Joe Cook after four others had had the Mary Wheeler role of "Rain or Shine." She has never had any -stage experience other than that gained in vaude. Following her opening in the Cook show, Green and Jo'nes placed her und^r a flv»- year contract. Miss Roy comes out of the west originally and entered vaude as single, doing imitations of Nora Bayes and others. She flna,lly landed at the head of vaude musicals. Vaudeville agents ^ho have made ; new connections with franchised Keith agents after they were let out by Keith's are riot expected to' re- main with the new co"nnection Whether the final clean out of agents will occur after Keniiedy-Mur- dock-Casey return from Europe or whether John Ford will previously Issue the edict has not been divulged, but information la to the effect that the original group wlil have to' go eventually. " Also one or two agencies granted Keith franchises may -be among the missing when the final clean up arrives. One of thesis agencies Is said, to have received a Keith franchise un- der a misappirehension, although there is some doubt remaining as to the exact purpose. Misapprehension might coVer a deeper reason. Sent from one Keith exec to another, etc., the applying agency Is reported to have given an Impression of receiving ah okay, so Its application was okayed. That agency has had a flood ot complaints filed against It with the Vaudeville Managers' Protective Association, of which Pat Casey Is the head. Plimmer Remains Indie : Walter J. Plirrimer will . stick to his independent agency, negotiations with Keith and Proctor having col- lapsed. ^ Jack Birman will book the houses on Plimmer's list with Plimmer en- gaging in field work for the agency. Pliminer is currently booking nine houses and . some one and two-day stands with the minority split weeks. SPRINGFIELD'S 2 VAUDE BILLS Springfield, Mass;, Sept. 4. This town is to have vaude coni- petition for the first time In years. The Broadway takes K-O acts starting Sept. 10, with the Palace, switching from Poll to Fox, play- ing Fox layouts, Gordon Wrighter has resigned as manager of the Palace. He is suc- ceeded by U. J. Lorehzi. K-0 Routes New acts booked for future ap- pearances in Keith and Orpheum houses include Dixie Norton and" Anna Ford In "Meal Hounds"; Henry B. Techer and Esther Day in "A Very Bad Cold," by Frairces Nordstrom; Eddie Pardo's "All Col- legiate Show"; Van Nessl in a new turn with a male pianist and danc- ing team; Bill Tllderi, II., in a mono- log, and Harold (Red) Grange. FLOOD EFFECT ACT With the Mississippi flood as the punch of a vaudeville act. Prof. H. Armand has a scenic effect entitled "The Mississippi" which has been given Keith bookings. City of Natchez is shown before and after the flood with talk on the flood by Armand. Rosalie Stewart's Yale Acts Rachel Feld, who studied the stage under Professor Baker at Yale, Is to have several of her one- act pieces produced ibr vaude by Rosalie Stewart. TBmE FOB LOimON Trixle Frlganza sails for London immediately following her Palace New Tork, engagement this week She opens there at the Victoria Palace. Langdon Opening Sept. 20 Los Angeles, Sept. 4. Harry Langdon opMis his three weeks' engagement for West Coast Theatres Sept. 20 at Portland, Ore Supposed "opposition" that Fox and Loew houses have had fr^om Keith's in the past seems over, with the in and out booking the three are doing for their N6w York houses. One act played a half week at Keith's Coliseum and almost Immediately- after was at Fox's Audubon in the same neighborhood. . Another Keith turn played the Jefferson; then went Into the Fox Academy, both on 14th street, then Into a Keith house. Only recently the Berkoff Dancers played a full week at the Academy and the follow- ing (last) week, at Keith's Palace, uptown.. Baldwin pianos are receiving credit lines on all Vitaphone talking shorts. It's another page from tlie book of vaudeville. Lesser personalities In picture casts will find a hard road to travel so far as personal appearances aire concerned as a result of a stunt pulled In a downtown Los Angeles film, house on the opening night of Greater M.o^ie Season. Cast of a picture depicting stage life were requested, to make a personal appearance and a woman who was an old timer in films appearing in the cast elected herself m.c. The house was jammed, so the lady decided she would do her stuff aplenty before intro'ducing any of the other members. She started gagging arid wise-cracking. (Continued on page. 65) 800 Hour Marathon Dqb Moines, Iowa, Sept. 4. Flooding the town with passes for the first ten days promoters are now harvesting thousands for the Mid- Western Amusement Company of St. Paul, staging the dance mara- thon here. The show has run one month and nearly 800 hours have been hoofed. Five couples remain- The local papers are doing every- thing they can to hurt the show and stop it, but It only makes for larger crowds and more money for the promoters. BENirr BUBIN IN PICTUBE Los Angeles, Sept. 4. Benny Rubin, m.c, at Grauman's Egyptian, has signed for a role in "Ritzy Rosey," being made by First National. Rubin is doubling from the stu- dio In the day time to the theatre at night. Karl Dane's Personals Los Angeles, Sept. 4. Karl Dane is utilizing his spare time between pictures in making personal appearances at small pic- ture houses around here. "BILLY" TICHENOR in '^Modern Cinderell<e* By NEVILLE FLEESON FIRST HALF (Week Sept. 3) Keith's Fordham : ^ NEW YORK LAST HALF (Week. Sept 6) Keith's 81st Street NEW YORK Direction SOL and TINY TUREK HELEN AGNES HARRINGTON THEM NOTORIOUS WOMEN KEITH'S PALACE This Week (Sept 3) NEW f YORK Direction MILT LEWIS MAE JOHN FALLS-READING BOOKED SOLID K. A. O. TEDDY BOYCE Direction MARTY FORKINS