Variety (Dec 1929)

60 VARIETY EDITORIAL Wednesday, December 18 iooa Trade. MarK Registered'. PabUshcd Weekly VARIETY. Inq, Slme Silverman. President 164 West 46tb Street New York City SUBSCRIPTION: Annual 410 Foreign til BlnRle Copies..... 2S Cents VOL. XCVII No. 10 Inside Stulf-Vaude Doc Powers, veteran ventriloquist, for the first time in all .his travel; Ing- days, found a new use for his dummies. With summer dates over an4 a long winter ahead, Powers went In for special exploitation .^ork In pictures. One of his first hook ups was doing a sidewalk.and lobby ballyhoo, for the presentation of "The Great Qabbo," a story of a ventriloqulist. Merry I ChriBtmasI 15 YEARS AGO (From Variety unci Clipper) . Mary Pickford pigned with jPam- ous Players at $2,000 a week for 62 weeks pay or play, declining a rival tender of double that' amount; ah unheard of .figure In that era. Alco Films, energetic newcomer In the distributing .field, went, into a brief receivership .due to internal differences. Al-Lilchtman and .'Wil- liam - Sievers^ from St. .liouis, sold ■their interests to Walter HofC .Seely .and the concern was reorganized and continued . .on - larger scale. Harry Reichenbach left Jesse Lasky and wient With Alcb as press agent. Even so far back the. stock man- agers had a grievance against: the play brokers who so overcharg'ed In royalty that no stock manager, ^so they said, could make the gam« pay. Cited one piece that had been a flop on Broadway which was held at 1450 a Week. Brokers,' said inan- agiers, had refused to cohbede any- thing in rates during the. tough'war time period. Arthur Hammerstein took over the Licxington Avenue opera house from his father, putting in vaud- fllm." Blanche' Sweet, who jumped to stardom under Grlfllth, signed for term contract to do Lasky-Belasco pictures, starting with' ."The Woman," Broadway dramatic hit. of previous season.^. George M. Cohan finished a play, temporarily called "Marching For- ward" for William Collier. ?n cast ■were to be also Louise Dr.ebser, Martin Brown and Rosy Dolly. • Pittsburgh mills started opera- tions and wartime depression In business seemed to be nearly over. 50 YEARS AGO (From Variety and Clipper.) Flo Irwin, sister and stage part- ner of May Irwin, was married to John Morris, change artist, in "the Little Church Around the Corner," New York, by the Rev. Dr. Hough- ton. In the wedding party were Mr. and Mrs. Tony Pastor and other stage celebrities. Reviewing the final game of the college football season, in which Tale and Princeton tied, Clipper marvels at the huge, crowd of 8,000 whlcli witnessed the contest and presents arguments in favor of a change of rules calling for 11 in- stead of 16. men to a side. The smaller team would make the game more scientific in attack, as against the bigger team's premium on mere, weight and muscle. Big teami, ar- gues editor,, made It almost Impos- sible for a runner to do anything but push through by superior: heft. Clipper sporting department Js conducting a series of articles on the season Just.passed, at this time dealing with batteries. Point is made that it is good strategy for a team captain to change irioundjsiheh whenevier the opponent, batsmen show confidence, and change should be made whether the pitcher is be- ing punished at the time or not. Stage bands seem to have been in vogue at the time. Pat Gil more was giving concerts, at . the Grand Opera House, New York, In conjunction 'ith the show, Gilmore being lead- 'g military band master of the me- •^polls, head of the Seventh Regi- nt band, N.G.N.Y. (He after- 1 played a unique engagement .-__.__St^tOT'sr^23df-Str56tT^flVinr "^^^^ program in the morning only, he house ran continuous show 30 a. m. to 11 p. m. innovation is described In id Geyer, contortionists, lom did a pedestal clog ie doubled into a bridge Small time acts, eager to make talking film shorts, are swelling New York booking ofllces. Smaller turns are not waiting to be called and take aU sorts of measures to submit themselves. An agent, booking with Paramount, reports that as many as 76 sinali turns clutter up his office a day. Publlx, in its decision to .reduce the number of turns In Its preseiita- tipn units.;to three a,cts, at the same/salary appropriation as at preseiit^ If not more, paid for five, will go into the, standard classification' of variety tlirns^ With three acts the quality will be greatly Improved. ' Accordingly from the account Publix! will then start to bill each act, something it has not done up to. now with Its presentation turns; Boys are now. betting on the longevity of thii) evfer; changing riaiUtigs and partitions Keith's booking office. Current odds are ciu'oted, at six to five against last week's new^raillnjE; retraining-in place more'than four weeks.. .. , ■ : ' ■■ ■ Meanwhile, the carpenters are outgrossing the agents. Several agents are reported to . haVe- sClready ; entered bids, for the Keith carpentry franchise. ''.'- ' . ' ■ - ' '' Proctor'fe S^th Street, New York; has the enviable, distinction. of being 'considered hy R-!K-0-ites and ;others as the Ideal ^neighborhood hoiuse. around Greater | New York. Besides doing tinti&ually good business, Xt is considered one'9f . the' best theatres Ih the' east'In which , to judge! an act because of th'e. audience, drawing from' nearby Park avenue as Well as Third and farther east. Herman Whitman is managing-both the 8 $th Street and '68 th Street. i With a lot of Aotors these days turning .to side llhe^, one performei% Identified with,•■'wop" comedy, sketches:for years, is finding .lucrative pickings"in passing oft a raffle racke.t among other actors. While .work- ing oh and off all the.time and in good physical shape, ttiis perforther has been traveling around the country In Ifis own car,.'interviewing iaftd beseeching "old friends" to help him out. His story Is of a blind ylto for whom he is raffling a wrist watch, or some other commodity in order to ensure care and attention for her. Soft actors, feellhg sorry, ;fall readily for the sob stuff, as far as they, can afford. Independent Coast vaude agent who recently took a date away from the Keith office by offering to save the manager $20.on a five act bill, is all hopped up Over saving sales talks. He is now spending jack for tele- grams telling small time operators how to save money.' t Telegram reads: "This office has taken ov^i; Oxnard <C3al.), formierly booked by Keith. The manager called at this ofilce as we have invited you to do. We convinced - Him we had . the .$ame acts as he played at a great saving. Will you kindly calL You will not be obligated or lilgh pressured. Whether Harry Jolson was responsible for Al or vice versa, is one of those things in show business. In his first article for the "Satuiiday Evening Post," of Dec. 7, Harry stresses Al as the younger of' the brothers and refers to himself as the one who started the nickel singings Al Is "the kid" In Harry's story. , Not the least unusual angle to the Harry Jolson story Is the fact; inside reported, of the "Post" .turning dowh Al Jolson's biography written for it specially by Mark Hellinger and accepting the less-well- known brother's yarn. It is said Mrs. Hari^y Jolson ghost-authored for her husband. In any event it's a very well written article. Interestingly detailing the successive changes that changed Hesselmann to Yoelson to Jolson, and brought the family from a Polish province to Washington, D.. C. The story is in two installments with no date set by the "Post" for the second. Something entirely new in. vaude is paying ofC acts short in one New York Keith house to later pay the full and balahce of the salary in another local theatre. That has been reported with a. number of acts. An act playing a Kieith split Is asked to accept one halt of the amount due for the split and told it will receive the difference at the next stand. With a $1,000 turn expecting to receive $600 on the split, .it will be given, around $260 and the balance paid later, but whether the difference Is charged to the house owing it or the one paying the act isn't known, At first thought, the act believes there Is a cash shortage at the house stalling the payment, while another might be that the circuit is financially pressed. After thinking it over and probably talking to its agent, the act can't understand it, though appreciating his first thoughts were wrong. It's Just funny, to the act as. it is something never before oc- curring on the Keith time. " The explanation Is likely traceable to the Keith, booking department. A surmise is that whoever books these salary postponing Keith houses in New York is ordering the house manager to defer salary payments to prevent that particular house from going In the red for the Week or split. Who the booker may be attempting to fool is another piizzley Or why a house If in the red shouldn't show It Immediately is once again an all new vaude angle. It was reported a few weeks ago that a big Keith vaiide house in New York carried over its weekly sundry bills, not a large anaount, to the next week, just to give the theatre a chance to show black for that cur- rent term. . . Or If there Is an unstated reason, at least the acts might be Informed to stop them from talking if nothing else. It's not politic to ask anyone to Waive payment of moneys due without a reason. And if the purpose Is to keep a house out of the red, though the difference may be quite minute between black and red for that period, it's an all new way of financing and operating in the show business, with one thing 'certain, which forces the booking department surmise, that ho theatre operator or management ever tries to deceive in that manner. . Due to a non-co-operative condition that exists at the present time, the artists' bureau of the National Broadcasting Company and vaude booking exchange (Keith's) of R-K-O are practically of no aid to one another.^-^OpposIng^ ideas"^as"=to the stage-lvalue of^ radio"w conflicting viewpoints are standing in the way of the vaude and i-adio material agencies; both of the Radio family, exercising their close af- filiation. Reported lack of a set policy for the NBC's agenting of acts with Keith's is said on the inside to bar most of the former's chances of-plac- ing ether people in the vaude theatres. Another reported objection by •Keith's is over the allegedly excessive vaude salaries asked for by the NBC in behalf of its contract artists. ... The NBC when acting as agent in booking an act with Keith's charges hside Stuff^jLegit Chas. Dlllinghaih Is said to have threaitened to call off the R..^ deal on the Globe,- New "York, as a grind , unless present empioyeeif i^ the house retain their Jobs. These aire doormen, ticket takers and oOi " house attendants, some of whom have worked for DUlingham for 20 more years. "Grand Hotel," the comedy success In BeiMln which has been bouth* for America by Al Woods, is not by Paur Frank alone as the progH^ over there'states. . ' - Hungarian author, Ladlslaus Fodor, who wrote the successful.'.<p«„ As a Churchmouse," has acknowledged that he polished up the dlajjog^ "The Criminal Code," by Martin Flavin, now .current at the NationaL la said to be a free dramatization of experiences oif Paul Kelly,, was Involved on the West Coast In the Ray Raymond murder. 'kbIIt is reported about to attempt-an acting comeback In "The 9:15 .Reyy^ which. Is slated for Broadway this-iBeason by-.Mrs;. Ruth Selwyn... ■ ■ I"';,, ': ,■' •' '•' .Whe^ Wallace Alui^ro .w^s^^a^^ bit '"^Ihe Red Robe" (since blbsedV he ti^iegrapiieii. .fihea4. to' the Baltimore. hOtel,"Kahsas City for a r'eserva' tion and signiqid'the name ;of, the Red Rpb,e C!ol " The clerk thrduth ij was a ready-to-wear conpern'.and allotted' Monro. a nice ' large' sample room.. • Lew Cantor, who-presented "Mendel, Inoi'' i at- the .Harris recently^ hai ■Withdrawn completely from the i managerial- end of that .attraction,. ;)i'av4 ing sold his interest tor others concerned.; 1 Cantor retained but a minority . share, selling.:most.of:hi8 stock after the show-first tried out. ,. •- Those < principally owning VM^endel" are Hermian Becker, .brother of Ruth Roye; .Eddie< Rugofr, ywho> operates theatres In Long Beach:and Brighton Beaohr-ahd Joa Smith-and Charlie-Dale, wbo are featured.ivrith ■show, •.:■/.:. - ^ ■ ■, ■ ■ I' One of the reasons said to contribute to,|lie unusual lateness oi stage musicals in arriving on Broadway': this .seasph Is the heed for tibpks of greater orlginall^. and strength' than has been the rule in muslcais. ■ As all'producers how' figure to. get. off the nut by selling , the picture rights, the librett.o.: |s. suddenly; more.,iin^portar|t than ever before', hi iformeir times musical cbnnedies rat^d the scoreV the cast, the dahce'lium- bers and the book in about the 'or^er nja^cned. ; Film, talkers consider the plot first ani^ t^e other factors JifterWards as trimmings or secondary strength. Well known femme picture star, formerly a stock actress, was brought up from Hollywood for a special starring engagement In a Pacific Coast production and went on without knowing halt her lines. She went UP so many times and. sp noticeably during one performance, a player opposite her threw her the line she was obviously struggling to recall. As soon as they were off st^ge the star, wpht up to him In a rage and smacked him acroigs the'jaw with": her ,open hand. "HoW dare you do a thirig like that," she yelled, "Don't you tliiiik 1 know this part. Keep your lines to yourself hereafter." A Coast actress .opening a stock company.:offered stock.In the enter- priipe to the. public. . Rather, slow about taking up the issue but one man;' local spprtsm,an, promised to come In;for $M00 the day tiie production opened. The night of. tlie preniiere was rosy, for the. actress wasi.(3ure of the six grand.' The sportsman did not attend the premiere but re- mained at home with his best pal.. .The best pal and the sportsman^got into an argument, w^.tb the latter leaving the room and returning with a gun. No .pne knows, what happened but later the pal was fotind fatally wounded. He was taken to a hospital,where he died. The sports- man is now In jail charged with murder and the stock company, mlmis his six thou. Is having a tough time holding on. The benefit performance given at the Imperial, New York, Saturday at midnight. In aid of the families uf the show girls burned to death in the Pathe-Manhattan picture studio» netted $7,082. Two of the girls were in "Sons 0' Guns" at the Imperial, one was in "The Little Show" and the other was In "Sketch Book." The gross at the box office was slightly over $4,000, the balance being donations. Geo.rge M. Cohan and Sam H. Harris, in addition to appear- ing in the show, each gave $250. Harry Rosenthal bought a box for $600 as did Dwight D. Wiman. A collection among players was first proposed but Lep Solomon, treasurer of the Music Box, suggested the benefit performance which was quickly arranged. The art theatres around New York are trying to get away from being Identified with foreign classics as their Staple production material. Calls are being sent out and a search Is being made for scripts by Amer-ican playwrights. The only trouble Is that It is now and always has been hard for the art theatres to get playwrights to submit scripts to them. Native authors much • prefer ptofessional producers who at least assure them of an attempt at a long run. , The fact that the. Lenox Hill Players ■were able to procure and pW- duce three American plays last season has incited the other art the* atres to make more strenuous attempts to get native scripts. The production of Gorky's "Lower Depths"' Which will be the first production this season • of the Leo Bulgakov theatre group Will be th6 last foreign play that the organization will attempt this season. All bthiers will be American if . they can get thfem. Cancellation of pei-hiiits to stage prison theatrical entertainments under the iauspices of the Mutual Welfare League and open to the public may be One of the aftermaths of the riot at Atiburn last week. For several years, officials of the State Department of C!orrection have been waging a campaign to curtail. the' theatrical and other publicity-attracting ac- tivities of th^ Mutual WelfaCrfe League, but they dared not take definite action for fear of arousing the opposition, of prison reform and upliff associations. It is understood the authorities how feel the riots at Auburn and Dannemora have caused the pendulum of public opinion to swing to the other end, so that a less liberal prison regime may be P"' in force, in spite of the cries which may arise from the reform element While proponents of the Walfare League plan irtslst tliat shows are conducive to a better morale among the convlfets, most of the prison officials believe they are a source of constant danger. It is claimed that weapons can be smuggled into the prisoners by friends at these affairs. 15% for services to.the, acit, or three times the commission the regular Keith (vaude) agents are permitted to receive. NBC is not represented regularly on the Keith booking floor but periodically delivers a list of Its available attratclons to the bookers. A suggestion Is to come up, it is said, whereby the NBC's acts when available for vaude will be distributed among the Keith vaude agenW and represented on the booking fioor ih the customary manner. "Thw would add, howeveri 5% more for the agent, 6% for the booking ofnce and with the 15% NBC charged, act's total commission under that ar- rangement would reiach 25%. -