Variety (Jan 1929)

44 VARIETY BURLESQUE Wednlsday, January 16, 1929 Burlesque May Have to Play Court Circuit-2d Columbia Pinch J. "Hindu BeHes" was sloughed at the Columbia, N6w. York, Sunday nigrht on charges that the perform- ance was In ylplatlon of the Sab- biath law. The 41 troupers, includ- jing cast and chorus of the Mutual flhowi as well as house runway soiibs and rujiway ensemble, were dismissed Monday, after arraign- ment before Magistrate Rosenbluth in West Side Court. it was the second piinch for the Columbia in several -weeks and the second turnout. The previous troupe was. tossed out some weeks ago by Magistrate McQuade. bperiators of the Colutribia figured the McQuade disposition a prece- • dent, but InstJector Lioonan'is cop>- pisrig had different ideas arid pegged /'Hindu Belles" for a ride. Detectives Creehan and Mc- JTamara figured the show a viola- tion inasmuch as the comicB used putty hoses and the gals wofe no bloomers, which they might have flgurfed would have sacredizied the Sunday show over the regular ses- sions. The ; pinch was orderly and didn't happen until after the shibw, .Whicli saved confusion and refunds. When the proposed ride was im- minent,. Mike. Joyce, house manager, tried to talk the arresters out of disturbing the paddy wagon drivers, .volunteering to . take the quarry westward .on 47th street in, taxis, with the mob rebelling oh this and making preference on a march oyer without torches, agreed upon by all. The mob formulated for the big parade and hoofed It. They were held in $500 bail each, provided by Walter Reade,: pwner of the Co- -*vlumbia. Court Battle Everything was set in the. morn- ing foi* combat as to whether wig- gle opera Is to be or not to be at the Columijia on Sundays. Detec- tive Creehan, prosecuting, took the stand as complainant of record, making the usual spiel. Under cross - examination, Creehan and McNamara did ia brodie as cen- sors when admftting their inability to qualify as experts as to what divides burlesque and vaudeville. Then the toss out. Among those taken were Vltginia Jones, Isabella Van, Mae Brown, house runway soubs; Hindu Wasau, Hap Fryer, Pat Murphy, Evelyn Murray and other principals of the Mutual wheel show. Reade and associates clain^ they are within their rights In offering the burlesque blackouts, flanked by chorus numbers on Sundays, claim- ing the performances are similar to vaude or presentation features of- fered at other Broadway houses.. Break on Jump ' The whole affair was somewhat of a break for the show mob, since the next stand was the Gayety, Brooklj'n, which they made without trouble for the matinee. Despite the double turnout and no precedent established recognizable to Mr. Whalen and his hirelings, It loolcs as though the Columbia and its shoVva will have to play a cir- cuit of city magistrates before get- ting an official low down as to whether mild burlesque - is to be or not t6 be at the Columbia on Sundays. Hurtig & Seamdn's and Irving Place, other Mutual stands in New York, hayo been self-booting since the : Columbia has been getting away with the Sunday shows, with latter houses willing to fall lii line If not previous contracts for Italian and Jewish shows having rated them out of the running. The extra show is a great racket for houses able to get away with it, since neither players nor operator's are given extria remuneration unless the producer gets it Under blind of a bonus. Mutual contracts call for a seven-day week in all towns per- mitted, with New York City rated a six-day town until the Columbia declde<l to flirt with Sunday. Mutual's List for Next Season May Drop to 25 . With weed outs and drop outs since opening' of season it looks like about 25 houses and 25 shows for Mutual next season unless addi- tional "houses are added between now and then. It's also hinted that many of the smaller houses have had a hard struggle to get by with policy even on the prevailing $1,(570 weekly tariff for the shows. At present the Mutuafl has about 45 shows and 40 houses. Chi Stock Blows =^-r-==--=--^---==----Ghicagor'JaTr. - 15r""= Logan. Square, playing Plaza Amusement Co. stock burlesque for two weeks, closed when Harry Cleveland, producer, bowed out without paying s.'ilavie.s. The per- formera gave one commonwealth performance and tlien ili.sbandod. Performers say no salnry Was paid during the cntjro two woolcs. Company, consibLcd of IS chorus girls and''seven priiu'iii.ils. SlaiTO- haiulii and mualoiaiis rccvivod part salary. Police Close Stock Burlesque in Cleveland Cleveland, Jan. 1.5. Branding the stock burlesque show 'at the Empress here as "In- decent, and a menace to the wel- fare pif the comrtiunity," the author- ities ordered the B. 9th street house, closed. The police did the closing Sat- urday. The Empress, formerly the Band- box and originally the Priscllla, is operated by the Cleveland Mutual Co., headed by Sol W. Manheim, with Richard Zeisler, manager of the Columbia here,. also. managing the Empress. The Empress stock, operations In Cleveland had nothing to do with the Manhelmi and Zeisler show op- erations on the Mutual Circuit. In addition to several Mutual sho'v^s, the Manheim Cleveland crowd also control the Columbia, Cleveland, now playing Mutuals. Another Cleveland house, the, Aihambra, plays Mutuals but is scheduled to drop them Jan. 2Q. mg' BiHy Going to See Wife in AUentown GIRLS IN BLUE Mi^^^ ^Ilnskys may piill away from Mutual Circuit next season, or •sooner, unless M.utual makes bet- ter terms for shows booked into Hurtig & Seamen's, New York. The main fly in the ointment be- tween Minsky Interests and Mu- tual Is that Minskys want the same break as Walter Reade is getting at the Columbia, New' York—that of booking Mutuals in at the flat $1,670 weekly fee. instead of the present arrangement which calls for that figure as guarantee, with 30 per cent, cut for the circuit for all shows after $5,000. . Minskys want the top lifted—or else. Burlesque Changes Bobby Leonard has supplanted T6m Green with "Nite Life in "Paris." Margie Penetti, former Mutual soub, went in this week as runway sbub at the Gayety, Brooklyn. Fay Tunis closed as soub with Miinsky's National Winter Garden stock last week and opened this week, as house soub at th6 Acad- emy, Pittsburgh; Bert Bernard,.Minerva Marsh and Ethel Albertinir. have withdrawn from stock at Empress, Cleveland, with Jack La Mont, Marie Tomlln- son and thylUs Dunn supplanting. Buddie McCaldy replaced Ethel Baker In "French Models." Jack Louis and Haz^l , Stokes, principals, Minsky stock at 125th Street Apollo, out. Betty MacAllister, on thei Colum- bia runway downtown, has shifted to the Apollo stock. New York. Larry Adams has gone to the Embassy Emons stock, Baltimore. _Opal Oakley out of "The _Bo- IToii^vians''^ (TJ utMr)"~^w^^^^ Lewis in. Johnny Wober, Shorty McAlister, .ind Paul Ryan have gone in as house principals at the Irving Place, Xcw York, strenglhonora for the visiting Mulu.il shows. "Sliding" Billy Watson, burlosquc- actor, who had been stopping at the Hotel America, "155 West 47tli street, but more recently in West Side . jail, was returned to^ Allen town,. Pa,, ,to answer charges of falling, to pay his wife, . Anna Shapiro, of 4813 North . iRutchinson street, Philadelphia, money awarded her by a court in Philadelphia. Petectlve George Ferguson of the Wesjt 47th street station, arrested Watson oh a warrant charging him with being a fugitive from justice. According to Ferguson, the wai^rant stated that Billy had been directed to pay his wife $25 a week. Billy had been out of work re- cently and might have been short of kale. That story did not aljpease Ferguson. Bjlly was taken to the station house and for some time languished in West Side jail until state papers could be. prepared. . After in jail a few days Billy got bail. Despite his dlfllculty he left the court smilingly confident that everything would eventuate hunky- dory. Burlesque Routes Buffalo's Stock liurralci, Jan. 15. ('•mrt,' Ti'iiaiui'il Uu'. Mii.siv V,uk. in. ills liiii-' 'M|iit^ --[lu-U iii'xt Mdii- tU.y u-llh M'lH K-)ll) ^i.iuin.i;. Weeks of Jan. 14 and 21 Bare Pacts—G«.yety, Kansas City; 21, Crystal, St. joe. Best Show in Towd— Oayetr, Boston; 21, Plaza, Worcester. XJohemlans—ISmplr*, PnyvMehcd;. 2l, Gav- ety, Boston. Bowery Burleisiiuers-^Jafrlok, St. Louis; 21. Gayety, Kaneaa City. Burlesque Review—Eimplrt, Novrark; 21, Star, Brooklyn. Chicken TruBt—Irvln* PL, N. T. C ; 21, Empire,' Providence. .. Dainty Dolls—Tempi*, Syraouae; 21-23, <;eneva; 24-26, . Schenectady. Dimpled Darllners—Lyrio, Dayton; 21, H/mpress, Cincinnati.. Dixon's Biff Review—Orand, AJcron; 21, Gayety, Buffalo. " Flapper Follies—H. A S. Apollo, N. T. C.; 21, U O. French Models-rMaJestle, Albany; 21, Co- lonial, Utlca. Frivolltlee—Lyrie, Brldeejwrt; M, H. & S. Apollg, N. T. C. Ginger Girls-1* O.; 21, Lyric, Bridgeport. Girls From Happyland—Cadillac, Detroit; 21, Smpiro, Toledo. Girls From the FoIIIes-^trand, Wash- ington; 21, Academy. Pittsburgh. Girls in Bluer<:ohimbIa, N. IT. C; 21, Gayety, -Brooklyn. . Girls of the U. 3. A.—Gayety, Milwau- kee; 21, Empreea; Chtca<o. Hello Pareff—U-lO, Geneva; 17-19, Sohe-i nectady; 21, Majestic. Albany. High Flyers—Emplr«, 1\>ledo: 31, Co- lumbia, Cleveland.' Hindu Belles—Qaiyetr, Brooklyn; 21, Gay- ety, Scranton. . ■ • ■ ^ Jazztlme Revutt—!«. O.; tl, TrotaderOi Philadelphia. Kuddllng ICulle^^Cryatal, St. Joe; i21 Gayety, Milwaukee. » Laffln' Thru-<Jrarol. Hartford; 21, L. O. Merry ■Wthlrl^alety. WIlkes-Barre; 21^ 23, Lyric, Allenta>wn: 2i-28, Palace, Tren- ton. ■ Mischief Makers—Gayety, Louisville; 21, Mutual, Indianapolis. MoHihlight Mttlds—14-1«, Lyric, AUen- town; 17-19, Palace, Trenton: 21, Empire, Newark. Moulin Rouge Girls—t4. O.; 21, Grand, Akron. Naughty Nifties—Howard, Boston; 21, Co- lumbia. N. T. C. Nlte Club Girls-Mutual,' Indianapolis; 21, G.-irrick, St. Louis. Nite In Parie—Hudson, Uiilon City; 21, Irving PI., N. T. C. Parisian Flappers—Lyceum, Columbus; 21, Lyric, Dayton. Puss Puss—Plaaa, "Worcester; 21, State, Sprijiglleld. Radium Queens—Star, Bi'boklyn; 21, Or- pheum, Paterson. . Record Breakers—iBmpress, CTlnclnnatl; 31, Gayoty, Louisville. Red Hots—Orpheum, Patetson; 21, Hud- son, Union City. Round the Town—Columbia, Clevelan.i; 21, L. O. Social Maids—EJmpreae, Chicago; 21, Cadillac. Detroit. Speed Girls-State, Springfield; 21, Grand, Hartford. Sporty Widows—Geyety, Montreal; 21, Howard, Boston, £<tep Along—Academy, Pittsburgh; 21, Ly- ceum, Columbus. Step Lively Girls—Gaiety, acranton; 21, Gaiety, Wilkas-Barre. Step On It—Colonial, Utlca; 21, Gayety, Montreal. Stolon . Swcet£H-Gayety, Baltlodore; 21. Strand, Washington. Sugar niibles^-Gayety. Buffalo; 31, Tem- ple, Syracuse. Wine, Woman and Song-Trotoadero, PhlT- adelphia; 21, Qayety, Baltimore. Stock Circuit idea Up^ Once again the stock burlesque circuit idea bobs up with several men Interested convinced a circuit would pay In the key cities. Minsky Bros., most active in stock operations In New York, are not interested, but IroVia & Clamage in Chicago are. There are several stock promoters who would welcome a stock aflllia- tlon as a way to rotate their units. Stock=-ha8 -not-been- dolng^so-well in some of the.eastern spots latel.v. TABS OUT; STOCK IN Canton, O., Jan. 15. Stock burlesque is In again at the Lycoum theatre here, after a few w ncJcs of tab musical comedy and l)if:turo.s. Tony Brill, in charge of ilio house for two seasons. Is re- l'Ovt(-il out. Tho house Is owned by the own- 1 of tlio Palace theatre hon\ liic'il Keith housQ. (MUTUAL) If dirt is good hurlosnuo, this is ;i ircioii l;urlos(iuo show. And. dirt is die word. , In "Girls in Blue"' .the girls are blue in dress and the comics bluer In talk. That',s the way it appeai'ed at 47th street,. Times. SqUiare. Oh foi' a look at this one in the sticks! . ,To6 bad it was Times Square, Ann CcirlO;^ the former pack-'em-in kid of- Izzy -Seidenberg's CacHUac, De trbit, and probably the prettiest gi^i in burlesque, couldn't strip down any further than a mesh brassiere. It looked like nothing under deep purple, that: brassiere,. but it was ■.there... .■ , That particular Scen^ had Miss Corio in "An 'Indian Maiden's Dream." Lengthy note oh the pro gram—last week's Boston program —described the extravaganza thusly: "An Indian maiden, watching by a waterfall, dreaming of her lover, hears him in the distance as he sings, along the trail. She! follows the, sound of hlis voice and sees him just as he Is. shot by a rival brave from ambush. In a wild, frenzied dance of revenge she' hunts . the woods for the» escaped assassin, finally to return, sobbing, to the waterfall." to the only attendee in tlie house —and not a paid attendee at that—. and Inst week's Boston program—it was just. about' as described. To the rest it was just a .flesh display by Miss Corio, She might have needed that foot note announcement of an Indian dance, beca-use it looked almost like any other strip number. The wiater fall wasn't present, or perhaps not running Monday night, but ho one oared. So, for another revenge, -\nnie slipped off her skirt and the spangled piece thiat had* covered the mesh brassiere. What they call getting even—eye for an eye; plenty of eyes for Ann's brassiere. And when. In one of the money changing bits, the ti'oupe's sbubrot yelled ".policfe!" .«!he must have given tlie . ofllco heart failure. On the evening befoi-e, :her call would have been answered. But it waisn't Sim- day night, so .the principal arid secr ondary coniics had to fork over the stiage coin they were trying to hold out on the poor dame. The bedroom scene by Miss Corio and Clyde Bates spilled some inside stiiff and managed to be of a deeper shade of blue than the show's title. The "Lady "bootlegger" Item In "one" ranked next and was rank. Even the company juve, a nice boy, got dirty. "As Harold Lloyd would slngf it," he said, meanwhile donnihg a set of goggles and proceeded to sing a smutty number without re sorting to double entendre. It was out and out. The juve is probably distinctive, however, in being the first male to solo on the runwav. Then he squared it with "Sonny Boy'' from the apron. , That the funniest bit In the show is the cleanest and that it secui-ed the nwst laughs should mean some- thing to . somebody in burlesque. Bates made a howl of his drink njix- Ing scene. He didn't get a better laugh with the dirtiest of. his dirt, aiid most of it was plenty dirty.- But.nb use condemning burlesque or a show for its dirt. Particularly not "Girls in Blue," for it relies Upon dirt. ' No use rubbing It in. No one wants to listen. They'd rather be kidded. Kid dingly, "Girls in Blue" is a grate opera. Even for stags. Bi(je. ECHOES OF 1929 Albany, N. Y., Jan. 12. • Tommy Bozo Snyder In "Echoes oC lO^D." inufilcal comedy; booit by Hozo Snyder; music and lyrics by Tim Brymn and Net- He Lucus; erusemblcs arid dancos staged l-y Frank Montgomery. Willi Wood Sis- ters, Cahlll Sisters, Lcwl.-j l^rotiiers, .Sam i.'reen; Bobby Morrl.-j, U.-llph.VInconc;-Tranlt Lnmbert. Mark Truftott. Vincent Scan- ton, nomena Scott, Bert Ilunler. $1.50 top. Bozo Snyder returned to Albany at the Capitol under , the guisfe of a mijslcal comedy. This veteran bur- lesquer has a. new show, "Echoes of 1929."" EVen- its nanie suggests bur^ . lesq.ue.^ ■ "Echoes" is a rejuvenated bur- lesque show. Its similarity to Sny- der's former Columbia show Is not hidden and perhaps no attempt was made to hide it. The show con- sists of a number of specialties and skits, among them Bozo's old reli- ables, the piano movers, paper hangers and the theatre within a theatre. There are several other skits, including one In a doctor's office, and another showing the dif- ficulties of dressing in an upper berth. Bozo inakes these skits enjoyable and it would be unwise if he tried to cast aside the character: he has .been playing, for years, ^He ^knows his pantomirne. People go to Bozo's show with the expectation of seeing him in his old character as the man who never speaks and to change from this character would be detrimental to him. Bozo, still has with him Sam Green, his old reliable, who rtops all the talking for himsiMf and Bozo. Several gdod specialty acts with tho show, including tho Wood Sis- tors, dancers; Cahlll Sisters, dance and song team; Lewis Brothers, •1 mcin.c: act. atul a male qwarti't. The chorus has IG girls, who need Drop "Clean" Burlesque AiflerOnr$l,000Weeli . Minneapolis, Jan. is. They don't want clean musl^ shows in place of off-coler bur- lesque In this town. This was dem- onstrated in a single week to the satisfaction of a new groip which tried scrupulousiy clean shows In- stead of the less sedate burlesqu* at the Gayety. A weiek of spotless performances brought the Gayety little more than $1,000 gross. The new promoter! immediately shut up shop, although they had brought 40 performers here from New York and Chicago. Under its fbrmer burlesque policy th6 the- atre got from $3,000 to $6,000 « week. • Mayor George E. Leach revoked the theatre's license because of al- leged improper Mutual wheel bur- lesque, shows. Two weeks ago. the theatre was permitted to re-open with the understanding that the performances would be free from objectionable features. Many of the members of the compiany here are being used by a burlesque stock company which has gone into the Lyceum, St. Paul. ONE DAY IN TEENTON Trenton, N. J., Jan. 16. Mutual burlesque seems petering put at the Palace here. House's location is against the burlesque policy among other things. Mutual shows are now playing but one day here, Saturdays only, eliminating the former last half week engagement. New arrange- ment started Jan. 12^ Langdon and Salary Harry Langdon Is in New York looking for playable vaudeville. The film comic has been subriiitted to Keith's, but coin still holding it up. Same Town, New House Mutual shows playing the Hud- son, Schenectady, N. Y., will be switched to the Wedgeway theatre there, starting Jan. 28. STOLEN LOVE (Contluued from page 25) ing prbgram filler, with the added value of having beep-serialized in all of. the Hearst newspapers. With that title and implication. It should l(ind itself to profitable ex- ploitation, especially in the neigh- borhoods. ■ Picture starts put at a nice pace In Its opening love sequences, deal- ing with a 17-year-old girl who has never had a boy friend, owing to strict surveillance by a couple of spinster aunts. She falls for a young garage me- chanic. With the Invention bug, but the aunts queer it and the girl runs off to Frisco to become a model un- der the sponsorship of Barstow (Moore), the menace. Barstow plays the game carefully and then tries to take the girl at the wrong moment, after getting her alone In his. moun- tain cabin. The bpy mechanic rushes in fPr the last minute fist battle. . ■ The runaway sequences and the PTirl's life as a model too long drawn and slow up picture percep- tibly. Mori. DEVIL'S TWIN Pathe Western starring and directed by 1^0 D. Maloney. FOrd L. Beebe, author and supervisor. On one-day,: Jan. 11, dou- ble bill, Columbus, New .York. Running time, 59 minutes. Saving the old homestead is just a working background for Leo Ma- loniey's cowboy stunt stuff. That partially makes up for some dis- graceful cutting and the film's one- man attitude. Photography is good throughout, although looking injured at times because of the jerky slicing. One-man western for one-day bills. Bige. "DetroiFs New '&t<)cT? Bur" " " Stock burlesque goes in next week at the Colonial, Detroit. Billy Allen's company, organized in New York. plenty more rehearsing. Show Is In nine scenes. Many of the settings still carry the "Americana" trade- mark. "Top price in Albany was 111.50, and at this scale the attrac- tion, which iias plenty of .action for a play of its kind, should be favor- able as a road show.