Variety (Dec 1929)

Wednesday, December 25^ 1029 Santa OauslNewe^ Can Talk/Siiig, Qow and Dance TIM E S S QU A R E VARIETY 47 < Broadway'and the talker pictures vent to Santa Claus' head. That teiieratile^set tut' whiikers' with the i'elndeers. and loag of tiys inust I have beeni playing the Main Stem i instead of -the Arctic regrlons. [ He Isn't giving things away." But, tjlke the night club, has affixed A I jtee^not unlike a cbuvert—which Is •f staggering. He's handing out checks i for his bouhtiies-^hebkis Btlch as the cishler of a take-joint lis AccusIt tomed to tally. V . It Is an unhappy thing that Santa i Claiis must be linked with scandal. Xet the man behind the bush has iio out. It's established' that- iH- stead-'of his tshlilihey rdutiyjei' Santa was ripplrig around'the joy dens Mt the Street* TJislhg a <false name find 4J^eing his beard-to-travel In- i^os. " ■ ■ • ■ ■ ■ . Santa Glaus has turned j)layboy. tfntil this 'year he'had 16; ■sterling tedord. ' Always on the'' job' and a swell fellow. But onev'caiA't' play jptage-door and night ofiiijfs Without (icquiring a different / slaint-^-espe- clally • on"' the cost of dolls.-" ■ • Sb, . it ■ must, - come' -dut ■ in print that the heretofpre charming; bene- factor has this Yuletide charged as high as seven to $16,000 for each of this- keenest dolls. That; kind of 1 money will procure the Jast: word in l a Broadway doll;. Sai^ta has in^- ' eluded an amazing upkeep, which r ipakes .the original .cost of iiis best I dolls :insignlflcant. /- Take- a look at . some, of, his pips. Tpu are.,.-now gazing .ilnto .a shpwr <cas$. Nots .unlike a. stage. It' has a spotllghi FootlightSi A leading, lady and an ensemble of the pret- I tiest dolls. Are yo.vi f^tonished to I see them'in sables, ermine and sil- I v^r fojc . Or do you believe the I brooch that the leading .lady years ) is genvfinibt Well,, .it's . good, tor \ |5,00b In any shop with three balls. ; Maybe you don't believe the rings ' she wears are real. Or perhaps .ypu think the studded wrist watches t}i6'.'dplis, arei, wearing J.don't...k^^ time.' toM better talce ^af up with : th^ Importers of.. them... .They cost • as' jjitieh' 4s'' the' fce^t'''irou-' 'Will' ever f..B^:|t^^iii»Vti^;' r- -; V • SBnitft. ipiSfMa?-- Brpad^Ay,.! doUs^ are. ; on-4i,-:Jt»ar'twl^ the ri.t?5lest-.«Ji!QW; girls you've met. . And in some yespects more valuable. No chance of ap- [ I>^dioitlS::^r 'IcatbihlhG^^ . And ; ipctfe.^they are talented. That lead- [ i<Sg[ lady can talk... .You don't be- [ iijife it?... .Well, just call the man- i a^er and he'll say- presto, and it's [ if,'to 1 you'll think you're at a talker [iplpjture. She will talk or sing. Yes, 'Bljr|-sound and effects. She's Wired. (■ .If you know anything about furs •l^d their cost, you will readily es- tiijiiiate the price of that 36-Inch sil- Teij fox coat. Or the prices of coats pn the other dolls, wearing wrips such as yo.vi,.spe only at a 6p- l «lely affair, pre'tailerfe * or similar ft^t^ction. And most of these dolls diince. They dance alone or with I iDaie partners. See thclboy escorts ■ ili, :the opposite ca.se—rrfegidar glgT ■ oIoB. They can be: attached to the «nsemble dolls and do as good If not a?Jtjetter tango than you. Few show gifls can boast so much versatility. ;;Santa has at last perfected a doll c{ unbreakable, nonrlnflammable .belljulold. They have a peaches aiid cijtim complexion, whlchv'niust be aj^ended to regularly to retain the .on^lTial color. Each purchaser re- ceives a pamphlet of Instructions i^th a case of ingredients to pre- Bttye the schoolgirl glow. . ■ ... Oil • sliistructlpns in dev.elbjping the tqn'e (iuality pf the talker voice, *ith directions for adjusting the jajne to pitch, are also included.. The legs and amis must be oiled tor dancing. The old dolls used to M of wax, bisque and stocklngette. Jhey were as fragile as a Broadway ^Qll. Now you can Imagine the up- keep on Santa's newest production. He has spent so much time Im- proving the hair and lines of his aolls that all other toys have suf- I fered. Of course, he hasn't entirely I overlooked the others. But last year he put so. much time In on aeroplane stock, because of the . Urtdbergh-craze,--that^-that='depart- "nent Is about perfect. One can get * toy Sikorsky amphibian for as «uch as $500 to $1,000. But that you learned last year. The Zeps «lB season are way Into big money. I^etoplane games have been im- proved and some new ones put out. In one of the stores Is a train set table. It is marked $2,500. The •Pcpmotive is the counterpart of the BASS K.O.'S MORGAN; WAS 4 TO 1 FAVORITE By JACK PULASKI Benny Bass, of Philadelphia, won the world's, junior lightweight championship from Tod Morgan when he knocked out the champ In the flrst 'minute of the second, round at the Garden Friday night. "Smart" bettors seemed willing to lay .a,ny price on Bass, Morgan suppoi'ters could ' have gotten , as high as four to one. Rarely has;a title'holder gone into the ring With .that 'price Stgain^t him. ' The odds seemed ' kliiipst tbo" tempting, to short ehders, h'u't the layers knew What they were doing. ■ In thfe first rburid: Morgan put' up quite' Ah ' exhlbiilpn of bbxlng' aiid socking. Perhaps Bass took Mor- gan's hitting, ability a bit too light- ly, for he'rbceived a cbuple of rights that' Btraighte'ned- him but. Near the end bf thb rouhd, when Morgian was shooting both ha.nds, Benny got In close ahd slammed to the champ's body, and .whbn the bell clanged Morgan'seemed a bit bewildered by the body blowsw" He was nohei_tbb steady going to his corner, pf'pb^bly' having .'had'' the' wind pouhdbd but "of ■ Mni. ;• •; ■ ■■'■■;■.■.' Second ' rouhd saw Bass quickly lash but With two stinging left' hooks, then a clean right smash to' the jaw and' Tod was down. It didn't look as though he could get up, but he did. Another right to the jaw and there was a new cham- pion. Morgan struggled to get upi but . couldn't make it. They <iarried' Morgan to his-corner. . As regards the odds. It wais pi'etty Well known that the first good.boy to meet Morgan would beat him. Tod had 'th.e title for four years,. AI Singer CQUld.'have 'beaten him: last., year, but . is ..pointing, for .the light-'- ;^eight 'crown. ■< •' • ■• IVtdpgan'Never Drew ■'■ Mbtgaiii ilieV,fer " Was . muck' of "a, Q.r:hM iiere fdf' the i'edsori tifit. h^e, is 'fei ilght hltt'eh'^' 'Bass Will;do niofl^: as" the'ch'ampfbn bf tlfte diyislbn be- cause 'he ■ c'art 'i^bck and showed class in several, fights last seasphc Seiiir-final' of " eight rounds be- tween Al RIdgeway, of • Bayohne, and Nel Tarleton, of England, went on last and held the fans. The feathers argued if out In every ses- sion. The Britisher Is a busy type of fighter and seemed to be out In front until the last round. Throughout the final three min- utes the boys slugged It out, mostly on the ropes, one or the other hav- ing his back to the strands. Tarle- ton appeared to tire but occasional- ly 8lanimed",.ou6 over. But-It wafe Ridgeway's showing at the close which won him a shade. ILL AND INJURED Marie* James, burlesque,- conva,- lesdng. James Marsh, formerly of "Dim- pled Darlings" (Mutual), ulcers of stomach. Jake Newman, operated upon ..for gall stones last week at the Ford hospital, Detroit. Chris Cornalla (Cornalla and Coughlin) ill in Ravenswood hos- pital, dhicago. Philip Hirshoff, veteran vaude producer, seriously 111 of. bronchitis at the Wacker hotel, .Chicago. Manny drbttlleb, Cincinnati bi^nch manager for Universal, Is In the Jewish hospital there convalescing following an operation foi» appendi- citis. John Irving Fisher, m. c. at^the Fox, Washington, confined In the George Washington hospital recup- erating from a break down. Paula Hemmlnghaus, NBC con- tralto, Chicago, suffered a broken arm in taxi accident. W. S. Ralney, NBC production manager, Chicago, recovering from an operation. . T. B. Frawley, NBC actor, Chica- go, back in studio after month's 111- finest electric train that courses the devious Rocky Mountain range. If, as one Park avenue father, you would care to add to the equipment, it is possible to have a train set that sets you back $10,000. Such figures Inclicate that Santa has taken his Broadway seriously. ALLEGED'SPEAK'MOB HELD WITHOUT BAD. sticking up "speaks" In the the- atrical district seems to be a soft ;racket. The racketeers have been operating fpr some time. They feel the whlsperlow .' oWne'rs . cannot squawk, Detectives .Ber£ Masklell ,and John Walsh' arrested two brothers whom they allege have been Identified. The defendants are Harry Lawlbr, 29, 1230 Bay street, Rosebank, Staten Island, and his brother Fran- cis, 26, of the same address. They asked Magrlstrate Gptlleb to adjourn, the.hearlng for a future date Ih West Side Court, It was put off until January. ; James Smith, mianager' of the jShip A'hoy, '63 West' Bl'st street, ayers he was stuck up by Ha.rry and 'another man not - Francis^ about 10 P, M,; DeCi 8,"Harry was the spokesman and brandlfshed a gun, asserted the sleuths, • ^ ' • ; Smithi .was' ordered to he ^uiet.. Harry then . went ' to /th« " damper and cleaned it of'$^110/'i^avihg the' i>lace he warned Smith't'b. make no complaint bir suffer the results, the Cops state, .^mlth' Idehtified' Hairy taWlor, the copi" sald;.^ .Whispered ■ rrhe brothers were- identified for robbing Archibald. Franks ' ahd James Richards, 41 West 61st street, operators of a restaurant., The pair of. defendants' entered, i.'asserted. the gendarmes. Harry whispered his deadly .mission, to the., owners of the establishment. Harry kept his hand on his sack- cpat pocket' indi- bating he carried'hardWtot^. ' " •; Harry then' went to- thb! till arid emptied It 'of ' $^3. '. Franks and Richards Were advised to 'be' silent. The brothers .backed o|iit of the place ' and' disappeared. They did not molest the. patrons. . ^ Masklell and Walsh stated that Franks and Rlchalrds identified XSiQ brothers. "The ' laltter'ff plabe Was *tuck upi Dec. about. lO'p. M. = MagiBtrateTSTbtliSb. fiSecT'no. baili- I ^bny Micheil; whb' .;ft'uijt^ ^ip \the Hertz stable^;' is nbW'W^TEit^ . bWh:, Ha;s'given u'p Hi8^-T)ast'coirin^ctloil.' ^ ^flan,. .Elllptt goes to RKO.jfere- vibwB-Ixt disguise.' ' ..''...r Requiring about 50 supes, "Street; Scene" proved a lucky break for the. layoffs in the loop. RKO prop ofllce still looking for the $86 balloon Which blew Away': from Sioux City In the blizzard.. Couthoui hotel ticket stand got a. call last week from a woman for "tubercular seals." Florence Beebe, golf champ, wants to go picture, 'Shel ls trying for' the cast^- of the Fox^Chi-clv-opera; productlbn. ' Joe 'Sherman ' says If air the first- nights he has attended were placed end to end it would be a good time \& buy, Parj^naouilt.- •Beauty shop'on'-'Sixth istreet, near; Michigan, has been made the tem- pprary dining hall for the cast of "Strange Interluda" Willie Horowitz has been ap-; pointed official gag man for thej local • music • biz. Wilting funny' speeches, for .somebody else, .. ' Sam Thall, Keith . transportation' head, sat thrbugh an evening, bf ballet dances just to see his daugh- '. ter. Mile. Zabellc) , Thall, in the PaVIey-durkralhsky school -recital.' Charlie Lenzen and AI Cameron' bought a radio 'just so they could listen in When their .. tune. "What a' Night for Love," got Its baptlsm>.vla NBC. Indie agents move from one office to anbther so often that every- body, has given up. trying to locate them. One Indie had 17 different desk spots in four months. ■ Ducks aind deer In Wisconsin got a break last week. Ted Healy. in a red hunting outfit, started to chase them. During the big snow two smart boys *tried to dig up sleds to take people sleighing In the Loop at a, price. Spent 24 hours looking, but couldn't'unea,rth. --^Ghopus-girls-gave-the-locia,l-sheets^ a boost in collecting Christmas' funds. Several used one of their slippers for the collection plate in cafes, one babe, upon arising the next morning, found a $50 note In the toe. Success of the sour science be- tween baseball and football play- ens, has started another promoter looking for---Chi's tbughest brick- New York Chatter ASKED FOR $1 REFUND AND WOMAN ARRESTED Mrs. Jean De Sota, 35, of 206 West 104th street, seemed, surplrised When Magistrate Maurice Gotlleb in West Side Court found her guilty oh the charge of disorderly con- duct. Mrs, De Sota wias arrested by Patrolman James Reilly of; the West 100th-Street station on the coiriplalnt of William : Connolly, ticket taker and ispedal officer at Fox's Nemo theatre, '110th Street and Broadway. . Connolly testified Mrs. De Sota demanded of hini the return of her mbney^ $1/ which' she paid tp. see the show. She was accompanied: by her h.usband, . . . /Connolly, explained that Mrs. De Sota sought the return of her ad- miission for her husba,nd.iand herself. He told her he was powerless, b^t to see the manager, William Daley* . He told her It Was not a policy of the house to return the mQney« but she could have a. refund ticket. He averred that her shouts cbuld be. heard in the orchestra and he feared a nilld panic might develop. When; she refused to become silent be had her arirested. . Mgr. Chanced Panic ( Daley, the manager, testified Mrs, De Sota was extremely noisy and shouted for the return of her dollar. He .explained she could have a re- fund ticket, but she refused. He also stated he feared a panic in the auditorium, Mrs. De Sota denied she was noisy. "I am small, your Honor. | stbpjd iri ' thb back of the theatre! About 60 persons were^ln front of me. " ^e heat. was" irtterise and 1 became ill. I explained these facts, biit the best X. got was to bb ar- rested, inarched tlirough, the streets wi%" a-isii'ffe .<sro^d lo^Qiyying. . ■ ' was led to a police station;, but I bailed''myself out. ' I wa4 humlll- ate'd';if ever a. woman. Was.. I' Was not. b'b^trepei'Pus and did not shout," said Mrs. De .Sota,' Magistrate. Gotlleb'.. asserted- he believed Mrs. De -Sota, had been noisy In/^einanding tHb' rteturn of her dollai:, "Her husband had. left before, she .was arrested. The. .Court ertifted '-he'Welleyie.d;iMrsi De .•$qta.-.ln.-i dlsicreet ari'd i'mpbsed a susRi^nded^ senten'ce.'' • ■ ' - '' ' . Bill Seeman has become a hot ping-pong player. Bert Lewis, former m, c„ selling Insuriance. Joo Frisco, offered a night club :post on pereentage basis.: , Cleo Cullen, one of Broadway's best choristers. Is Chrlstmasing With the family In New Orleans. Bee Llllle will draw three gee's for amusing the starched frbnts and low necks at the Lido. Get a load of the men entering and departing from the f\ye and ,dlme storeis—look like brokers. : More women wearing • paste gems In the supper clubs-tHan ever be- jCore. Also imitation fur-coats, > Christmas jpi'obiems''Were not so tough this year for the B'way press agents. • ; Walter Moore hasn't hilSsed a for- mal • dinner In three week's.. The sbcial gangster' of th6' 't6wn. May gd to the cpast In a cbilplj^: of Weeks. ; Sam Shlpman and. pihili^baker will kppear in si'neW rblef7menribers of the Preface of a novel coming out hekt mbrith. . 1 Another solitaire on Frances Wil- liams* connubial ..fingerf That cer- talli^ digit, has worn a Showcase full bf.'pm. • Somebody claims ^ to - have found night club where nobody in the ^oor show Is Imitating Louise Cook bf ^'Chocolates." : ! A former dive has changed Its ippllcy, taking no chairices bf being shut; ■ • First moVe ^aV' to. change the waiters* uniforms to smocks and "Windsor.ties. • ■The Trbcadero. Is jUst''""a' toy de* partment to Jean Ackerm^^n. She'll, say: ■ "i'rci going to -i^tart' ireduclriig some day, but Tm having so mucl^ fun!!r . 2 GHIL SHOPLIFTERS ' glris' Who clalni they^ have appeared In. specialty ;darices iri'sbv- 'eral BroiadWay revues are In the Orlttendqn .Home awaiting' .sen- tence In'Special Sessions Dec. 27 oh their pleas, of guilty, to shoplifting. They are. Frances Travis, 18, and -Abmalne. Austin, 18, both of 266 West'113th.street. ,; The" daricefs. Were arrested "Dec, 12 In Kjress's department store after thay had taken numerous articles valued at $30: from counters and attempted t» leave without^ paying. They were arrested by a store detective, who told the Justices the two were loaded .down 'vt^Hh small trifles when they were searched fol- lowing the ailrest. The -girls teiar- fiiUy explained, to the court they took the stuff to use as Christmas gifts, but could not afford to pay for them, as they had been out pf work for several weeks. George Radolff, 1§, dancer» pf 116 West 76th street, was given a sus- pended sentence by Special Ses- i3lo*ns'l!bilowfrig''1ils'plea bf guilty to shoplifting, Radolff Was arrested D^c. 16 in Macy's after stealing a quantity of articles from counters. YOUNGEST CAPE OWNER Mary Fries, president of the cor- poration which runs the Canton Palace, on Broadway, may be the youngest cabaret owner Ih the world. She Is 16. Canton Palace is a chop-suey site using an all-negro floor show. Talent is drawn ■ from the various Harlem'haunts. layer. Who will be matched with Chi's toughest plumber. A good looking girl at CouthoUl's, In the Sherman, has kept track of her dining datcis for the past two months. Each day she has had a different request to lunch and has gone as high as four dinner re- quests for . an evening. She's the kind that doesn't accept, too. i Some laugh-statuary In one of the class night clubs. A pile'"of rbck, placed preqarlously on' an ex- iqtl^lslte pedestaV.has this legend on a jbrass plate below:: "iSVhat of -It!" ' Not the same old Xmas around, this Square.- Spirit, was there, but .lidthlng else,- It seemed,.- and - be« yikes. "The Market"- still a Working w- • ..- ^ . ; ilA recently opened Main Stem cafe icjdmblnes Hajplem;. and,, Cl^lpatown, iduskles fur^isltfn'^ theviejltertain- -mpnt under £he supervision of the OirlentalS. A' CSaubasfdh <iiooi*matt .dplmpletes ..the 'weIrd ensenpibie, . /jijPicture scouts from the coast need *go no farther than Knox's ^fetji ^Lvenue, hat .Bho.|i^ .>T^.e ..quest sh'piild end behind . the. necktie ;o(j!unter. The last woiKd^^nVa Iboker. SHie could sell a red tlS ■tb''^oolldge. ^n; epidemic pf fronti^ageistpiplea Iri-j the tabs about - Zlegfeld" show gljls of l^te-ryarns .abput .Hazel Forbes,,.Helen Lee Worthing, Mis-^ lain Crosby, Gladys Gladi Agnes O'Laughlln and a-flock of-others. ' j One of "the bpys". Cjpllabpratlng— that, is - furnishing the inside 'ma- tbrlal for a legit production .shortly to be done. Scflpt is about '^the bipys," .;Ought to- glye,^, them some laughs, judging by pi)tllne.: i Alan Bunco, leglt actor, iand his Wife, Ruth. Nugent, w)u>, left here n^ore than a'yeat" agb'fb'play .fbr Williamson and Talt In Australia, have returned and are In N^T^" York at I present, • " '^est news th&t ha^ trickled Into the New York dallies pertd^ins to Ai^hur Caesar being 'king of the "No" men in Holljrwobd. He's sort of :a crowned head without subjects, albne In the field, according- to re.-> ports, , • .They say Al Woods spent half the return, passage wishing, iie was sbi^ewhere else. He made that trip bn' .the Bremen when, ft- was tlireo' day's late because of high seas. .At Was booked on the Titantlc, missed the Lusitanla by accident, and had an idea that they had .finally caught up with him. Jimmy Durante Is taking a vaca- tion from radio. He read in "Va,-^ riety" some of his songs over the air were not so hot and, being sensitive elsewhere than on the beagle. Jimmy vamped. His nerve will return, however, If there's any sugar in his next broadcasting. . When the blizzard hit the mid- west last week The Century came ^nto--the-Grand"^<;entrai"-onc:^TaayHl3^ hours late. It arrived at 10 at night instead of 9:30 in the morn- ing. Passengers received $1 an hour for the delay but would have preferred a little more speed. Go- ing west The Century ran from six to 10 hours latp. In one midwest town every ablebocHed citizen was called to shovel the town out of the snow.