Variety (Mar 1930)

"VARIETY'S" LONDON OFFICE 8 St. Martin's Place» Trafalgar Square FOREIGN SHOW NEWS CABLE ADDRESS: VARIETY, LONDON Temple Bar 5041-5042 Dir. Cinders' $15,000, Near End of Run-U. S. as Profit; "Bitter Sweef Above liOndon, March 4. Most interesting box office data In London Is fact that "Mr, Cin- ders," which now has gone below <1B,000, has been running success- fully for 14 months and Wllllamson- Talt, producers, are not yet In the clear. Due to heavy initial outlay, which amounted to about $180,000, 'including $50,000 down to Julian ■\yyUe besides royalty. Piece is in its last month. Producer probably will finish with a profit and. Is counting for profit on American rights an*d thie provincial rights here with talking picture rights also to be considered. London Grosses Adelphi—"House that Jack Built," $16,000. Show doing eight perform- ances with the Monday matinee out. Aldwych—"A Night Like This," practically capacity means around $20,000. Library de^l is in opera- tion, which means about $5,000. Deal , runs for 11 weeks. Ambassadors—"The Man.-in Pos- session," lair show, about $4,000 a week. Apollo.—"Nine Till Six. Never did. click and is coming, off shortly. Criterion — "Milestones." Steady bubine.ss but small; figured at $3,500. House is negotiating for a new attraction to come in during April. Dominion—"Silver Wings." The biggest thing in London. Doing $2C;000 at $2, but prediction Is that piece is bound to exhaust its cli- entele before long. Duke of York's—"Jew Suss." Still ■keeping its head above water after '.■Us terrifically big start. At th\s stage of the game It must either get its second breath or end soon, •ii Fortune, — "The Last Enemy." Running around $3,500 and will last about another month. Society—"Darling, I Love Tou." Steady around $3,000. Mostly Aveek. end trade. Piece has only one im- portant salary in the cast and gross represents a profit. Globe — "Charles and Mary." Brought here from the Everyman, theatre, suburban house. Is merely a stop-gap and Is doing little. Haymarket—"First Mrs, Fraser." Steady around $15,000. Hippodrome—"Mr. Cinders." Pay- ing'expenses in its.14th month and now below $15,000. His Majesty's—"Bitter Sweet." Steadily jover $20,000, which repre- sents capacity. Kingsway—"School for Sceftidal." Means notliing. Is closing this _ Week. Little Theatre — "Frankenstein" $3,500, which is about two-thirds capacity. Lyceum—"Puss in Boots." Panto- mime, finishing this week after prof- itable run considering type of at- traction. Lyric—"Murder On the Second Floor." Revival used as a stop gap, but with business improving and now around $7,000. Piece has been set for an additional six weeks. , New Theatre—"Healthy, Wealthy ■ and Wise." Opened March 1. Play by a couple of Americans, newcom- ers in the writing craft, and docjs ' not look so robust. i : P.alace—"Dear Love." Finishing •this week after one of Clayton & Waller's shortest runs. Negotiations .^are on for a successor to be useiJ I as, a stop gap, pending Clayton & Waller's new show. "There is talk right now of reviving "No, No, Na- nette," for the Interval only. Piccadilly — "Here Comes the Bride." Up around $15,000 and a li- brary doal on, testifying to popu- larity of the piece. Playhouse—"Devonshire Cream," another Eden Philpotts pliiy and a flop. •' Prince of Wales—"Journey's End" titill sImiws a profit due to its lov^ operatinj; cf>st. l)ul . nowlUTC nocir C'lpacity. j Prince's—"A Warm Crtrnor." Still Very good nround $14,000. Queen's—"The Apple Cart" still holding' up liand.«omely, tcstiryin!? to tlie lioia of Shaw upon the public. St. James—"Michael and Mary," A. A. Milne's sentimental romance^ set as a .«.-ufcpas and turning in $10,'> 000 a week rl.trht along. St. IVIartin's—"Ilonor.q Easy." Kk- oi'lleni niiticpK, future dniilitriil, ORIENT ANTI-JAZZ? Egypt Starts Movement for Pres- ervation of Oriental Music Cairo, March .4. Egyptian government is studying the organization of a musical con- gress in Cairo for the promotion of Oriental music and has engaged Prof, Kutz Zachs through the Min- istry of Education at a salary of £800 a year to study means of etlnfiulatlng native harn\onles. It happens that this action is taken just as Nellie Melba, opera diva, departs from a vacation here, headed for Europe. MISTINGUEHE CHECKED LIFTING DISK SONGS Paris, March i.' Metro objected to Mlstinguette using its "Broadway Melody" theme songs in her revue ' "Paris Miss/' but didn't go to the extent of pull- ing the copyright material out of the show as they originally threat- ened to do. But. when Mistinguette recorded the numbers for Pathe discs, using a free lyrical version, the company .as copyright owner went to bat and compelled the talking machine peo- ple to recall all the records. Metro proceeded on the basis that Mlstlnguette's heavy voice did the nuniibers no good. Metro demanded that Odepn (Pathe subsidiary, for whom Mfstlnguette does her re- cording) pull back all supplies in dealers' hands and the company it is expected, will stop all sales. Copying popular songs and fash- ioning new lyrics, for them which has been a custom here, has always an'gere'd the publishers. For Music Confab Paris, March 4.. John Abbott, Francis, Day & Hunter's London manager, sails on the Majestic Thursday (March 6) for a semi-annual conference with the American music publishers with which his fir.m has affiliations. Objective is parleys with Feist and Radio Music Corp., already allied in the Statesi Carl Fisher, also comprised in the conferencis,. has no European representation. It is probable that the Fisher interest will be included in the Francis, Day & Hunter outlook, since that con- cern already is allied with Feist and Radio. Reinhardt in Paris Paris, March 4. Max Reinhardt, eminent Berlin producer, will do a series of pro- ductions in Paris next season, prob- ably starting with the Oscar Strauss operetta, "Die Fledermaus." ^ Theatre for the venture is now being arranged by Shapiro, Reln- hardt's representative here, who has just closed for the Berlin rights of Edouard Bourdet's current comedy hIt,-"Le Sexe Faible" ("The W^caker Sex"). Jane Sels Cabaret London, March 4. ■ Jane Sels, American dancer, open- ed at the .Acfe do Paris here last week, scoring nicely. house having no special draw and no library deal made. Shaftsbury—"Middle Watch" con- tinuing nicely around $10,000.. Vaudeville—"French Leave" los- ing money. New piece, "Enchant- ment."- is flucv.noxt week, Wyndham's—"The Calendar" fin- Ishlnj? afier a vra-y suec-essful run, sturtiv.}; way back in September. Pio6o wa.H kc'i)t on mitll Edjrar Wal- lace's new .ei-oolv pl.uy was ready. They iiuslsled on iKuing Cliarles Laushton In the cast and piece eonUln't open until lie finished with "Freneli Le.'ive." Savoy—Gilbei-t and Sullivan .sea- son least fcuecessful in many years. Opened )7lg, but tapered olT, Lent starts tomorrow (Wed.) and falling off Is'iinllcipaled a.< a matter of enur.'<e. WILL MAHONEY In Earl Carroll's "Sketch Book," 44th St Theatre, N. T. City The Brooklyn Times said: "Chief among the funmakers of 'Sketch Book' is that hilarious clown, Will Mahoney, who was a delight to the opening night audience." Direction RALPH G. FARNUM 1560 Broadway DRURY LANE DARK Gap Between "Musketeers" and Closing of Panto ' London, March 4. "The Sleepy Beauty and the Beast" pantomime at the Drory Lane ended March 1 and the boose went dark owing to fact the > new production of "The. Three Mus- keteers" was not ready. Cast was not completed on time and there was delay also in finish- ing the new book by P. G. Wode- house, with Gene Gerrard, the" co- median, building his own part, which had not been delivered. Others in the cast are Arthur Wontner and Rita Page, besides an American girl being imported for the role played in the -American cast by Harriet Hoctor. Frank Latona ■■ Dies London, March 4. ■ Frank Latona, American player who had played in Europe for 20 years, died here Feb. 27. He was 73 years old, and had re- tired from the stage in 1910, with his wife, Jen Latona, continuing in the Halls as a'single turn. TBAINED AUTMAT. BILL UP • Capetown,' March 4. The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals hSLS drafted a bill which it will seek to have in- troduced Into the South African Pstrllament. It regulates performances and training of exhibition animals on the stage, "in circuses and. else- where. Dusting the Attic In Variety's files of New . Acts are numerous reports of people who have since become well known In show business, or away from It. Another In the series of reprints: WINCHEL and GREEN "Spooneyvilie" (Skit) 12 Mins.; Two American Roof, N. Y. (March 8, 1918) In forming a likeable act for the No. 2 position, Walter Wln- chell and Rita Green have made a promising start. • Theirs is a sort of bench turn, but it has dialog, songs and dance. For an opening the girl Is perched on a bit of brick wall, and there Is a duet, the lyric of which Is rather bright. They wander to a bench for a spooney bit, followed by an- other song. But here, while the lyric contains the names of famous men, it is not well written. While Miss Green Is making a costume change Winch ell handles a war song, and he gives way for the girl's eccentric solo dance. There is another duet for the close, and some stepping takes them off. The first two numbers appear- ed to have been specially writ- ten, and were helped by the naive manner of Miss Green. The turn isn't one to bring forth any volunne of applause, but it's pleasant. Mr. W'lnchelj.^slnce 1918 has progressed, from^ fair No. 2 act to a well known Broadway columnist. His early habit of ringing In the names of famous people Is still apparent. FRENCH FUND BENEFT MAKES $25,000, PROFIT Paris, March 4. The Union des Artists' midnight gala Saturday turned In a net profit of $25,000 with a scale of $14 top which crowded the Cirque d'Hlver. Net figure includes money realized from auctioning the boxes by Sacha Guitry and Tristan Berhard.s, emi- nent dramatist. The latter sold a series of originals of program .sketches. This Item alone account-' ed for $1,400. They gave a great show with the- atrical notables all doing special- ties as far as possible away from their natural bent, Andre Bauge, musical comedy tenor, did an aerial acrobatic act; Pierre Alcover, screen comedian, did an on-the-16vel strong man turn, while legit lights appeared as circus clowns. Juvenile acts or appeared with animal turns. Performers train for their ap- pearance at this event for weeks. Idea could be copied for the Ac- tors' Fund benefit, which this an- nual gala resembles in character and purpose, ■ 5 MILLER'S N. Y. ^ GERMAN SEASON Berlin, ^larch 4. Kritzi Massary and her husband, Jlax Pellenberg, Germany's biggest drawing cards, have been engaged by Gilbert Miller for a New York season In German starting In Sep- tember, . Miss Massary Is to play "The First Mrs. Eraser" and Somerset Maugh- an's "The Constant Wife." Pallenberg will be seen in a series of comedies. Including "Grumpy," and several of the new Molnar pieces. Show people here look for Fallen- berg to do well In the States. Here he Is regarded aa the world's best player of light roles. "SILVER WINGS" PISIC CHARGE GOES TO TRIAL London, March 4. On hearing the motion for an in- junction by Rlcordl, the music pub- - Usher, against Clayton & Waller, charging, the ' music of "Silver Wings" is an infringement against "Madame Butterfly," the court ruled that the Issue Involved was too complicated for a ruling on .the mor tlon. Instead the court directed that the case be brought to speedy trial to determine rights of the parties. Plaintiff alleges that 24 out of the 33 bars in the music complained of are repetitions of the motif of "Madame Butterfly." Defendants make a general denial and add that even If the allegations of similarity are true, the "Butterfly" melody is not original, but was lifted from that of the Moody and Sanky 'hymii "In the Sweet Bye and Bye." Statement of this angle of the de- fense elicited laughter in court. If the defense is sustained in this case. Interesting consequence will be the future standing of the "Butterfly" copyright. OPERA AT 10 CENTS Artisterdam Season Ends With Benefit for Jobless Amsterdam, Mirch 4. The Italian opera season here closed after an enormous success. Last two performances were under municipal subsidy and were given for the benefit of the unemployed. Entrance fee was fixed at the equivalent of 10 cents. "O Yes, Kitty," has Just celebrated its 100th performance at the Carre. Parade Band Contest Put On by Havana Tourists Havana, March 4. Committee of tourists put on a musical contest parade here for the first time with Cuban and Spanish orchestras playing from auto trucks. Financially the idea nosedived as the $100 prizes donated were not sufficient to cov«r expendes. Just 11 Instrumental outfits In the .event which played to the bigge.st crowd ever assembled locally. Peo- ple turned out for the parade at- tracted by the novelty,- INDEX ADAMS GIBLS BOOKED London, March 4, After 10 weeks on .tour with George Robey's revue, the Adams Sisters resumed dates for General Theatres starting this, week at the Holborn Empire.. DROPPEE'S GALA ' Amsterdam, March 4, Dropper, greatest of Dutch com- posers, celebrates his 60th birthday with a great musical festival, Memr gelberg and Monteux conducting. WEATHER Paris,"March 4. Weather lis Ideally spring In Its Inspiration which works two ways. It keeps tourists in Paris as po- tential theatre patrons, but it gives the natives the idea of visiting the Riviera, London, March 4, Weather ia consideral)ly warmer than normal at tliis .season, with no rain but j, good doal of fog. Show business Is ho))ing that l)right suimy we;iiher will follow, doing sometliin;^ to orf'-et Uie rlo- pros.uion of Lent. Washington, March -1, Weather bureau has furnished tlie following outlook to Variety for llie week beginning tomorrow. Fair Wednesday, .shower.s Thurs- day or Friday, probably ending by Saturday. Warmer Wednesday, colder about Fri»lay and warmer Sunday. VETERAN'S STAGE FRIGHT Herve Succeeds in End in Novel Idea of "Mfsa nth rope" Brussels, March 4. Seasoned actor though he Is, Jean Herve of the Comedie Francaiee al- most succumbed to stage fright dur- ing a special engagement at the Palais des Beaux Arts, playing a new version of Mollcre's "Misan- thrope." Girl students in the audience sav- ed the day for him by giving him encouragement. Novelty of the interpretation is that IJervc plays the leading char- acter of the classic piece from a tragic rather thin the usual com- edy angle. He gave a brilliant per- formance and the new interpreta- tion Is to bo seen in Paris later on. "Wealthy" Looks Failure London, March 4. "Ileallliy, Wealthy and Wise," comedy i;y Kleanor Chilton and Ilerljert Agar, Amei'ieans, wiis pro- duced Alarcli 1 at the New Theatre. Autliors never before wrote a play ind this one look.s it. lUece dls- iil']"'inting, aniateurl.sh an'd look.-- like a ooneluslvc failure. SCOTT-WHALEY PAET. London, March 4. Scf.ii and Whaley, colored come- dian.?, are separating, ending a vaudeville partner.ship th-it h.TP lusted more tlian 15 years.