Variety (May 1930)

43 VARIETY TIMES SQUARE Wednesday. May 21, 1930 Broadway Chatter Alice Weaver's new act off. It's a girl at the Julian Smiths. Sam Kopp'-s writing talking shorts. The Chas. Morrisons have dug in at Bayside. Rian James still doing things in pairs. Willie Wang can't read it but he carries a calling card in Chinese. Open bridge invitation stands from Halsey Raines. Electric execs down in Wilming- ton for big battle. Han-y Cooper's son, Irwin, learn- ing construction biz. William Fox was In Wall street .Friday. Ralph ■ Scott Harris back from the south. ' Eddie McLaughlin has taken over the former Club Mac in 45th street. : May 15 ofHcial straw hat day and It rained. Al Ohrman has quit Broadway for Los Angeles. Traffic cops still grabbing the cars left in the stagger zone. • . Roy Siebert is back from Holly- wood. , Anna Bennls has quit the 18-day .diet and still tips at 200. Eva Tanguay's legs still look like a mlillon.' Jule Delmar's annual New Roch- iClle police benefit show May 22. Two of Jack Hart's ribs cracked '.In auto accident. : Jerry Horweln, Is visiting 5th Avenue tailors. , ,■ .Oscar. Oldnow says Roxy is a .£reat host. Bill Sheer In Jewish hospital, Brooklyn. Doing some biz by phone. > ■ Sid Silvers in Hollywood writing .gags for new Al Jolson picture. > In Brooklyn It's the new baby .racket. Exactly 51,408 last year. : t.lThe former Mrs. .Phil Mlndll is now Mrs. Jack O'Conner of the .•Denver recruiting station. • ^ Betty Dodge, lonesome for sister Beth, who eloped and broke up the ..act. •. Renee Carroll Is an official celeb- .rity now. So announced over the I air and as of "Sardl's." ... Nell Roy, late of "Jonica," Is .taking It easy. Maybe vaude or talkers. Sidney Skolsky observes thesanc- .tlty of Sunday by shaving Satur- '.'day. Harry Relchenbach missed Broad- way for-a few days or Broadway missed him. Cold kept him home. Same old bookmaking gang hangs tout around the N, V. A, section. 'Takes $2 bets. •With Wlllard Keefe off press agenting "50 Million Frenchm.en," Phyllis Perlman got it. Kay Lazell Is with Pathe for six talking shorts. She is the daughter of Elizabeth Leltzel. Bonnie Clair has left show biz flat, to open a millinery salon on Madi- son avenue.- Belle Baker is going to whirl over the Continent In a whirl for six \veeks this summer. Say a prayer for "Variety." O. M. Samuel is going away this sum- mer. Paul Bergen is back after six months in Baltimore, catching up on his night life schedule. Blind Bill, cane tapping peddler, has blown Broadway for Coney Is- land ovef the suipmer. Where is the silvery voiced Sir Jos. Glnsburg? Please don't an- swer. Alden Chase plays the only white man in "Lily White," Helen Men- ken's new play. Mrs. Schlesslnger back after selge of pneumonia and looking great. Frank Shaw has deserted from the 45th Street Country Club. Jump- ed ship for good this time. Newman, ticket agency man, has a picture of himself when'he had hair on his head. Jimmy Durante and Joe Regan hit hard by larynigltls bug at Pal- ace last week Fally Markus commutes to Far Rockaway where he owns his own house. Corse Payton longs for the days when 20-dollar gold pieces will be easier to get. ' Claim is made girls In beauty parlors are bigger sandwich eaters than stenogs. Alex Ger:-er, vaude producer, is leaving by boat for the coast May 31. Helen Heibel set for summer as hostess at the Beaux Arts, Atlantic City. John Kerelly has quit show business for real estate on Long Island. f Jack Le Malre, son of the late George Le Maire, is hitting for the coast to take a fling at pictures.' Marie Astaire In from Hollywood. Figures on crossing the pond for a couple of pictures. Kaye Rogers here from the coast looking around for a legit connec- tion. ' Leon Allen, who quit Broadway for Texas, is in town on annual vacation. ' Carl Laemmle, Jr., entertained at a formal supper Saturday nite In hia Savoy-Plaza suite. Martin Herman, who disappeared on another boat, discovered in Budapest. Jules Bledsoe, the colored bari- tone, angling with a Harlem theatre for a week on percentage. Lou Handln, the attorney, is fast becoming known as the official worrier for Larry Rich. Leonard Bergman on the coast. Charles Levy, the ticket broker, went along, still ducking touches. Stampede on the boats sailing last week. Summer rates eflCectlve this week and much higher. A,lfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne summering at Genesee Depot near Milwaukee. Torke and King brought back hundreds of stills, all taken of South African natives in their hjome en- vironment. What an environment! Harry Kline, manager of Chanin theatrical interests, to" Europe on "Bremen," June 10. With the wife of course. Eddie Hayden O'Connor Is dou- bling as exploiter for both "Step- ping Sisters" and "Gold Bmid." legits. Floyd Gibbons will make his film debut in a special trailer for Para- mount Publlx on "With Byrd at the South Pole."' Harriet Carllng, rehearsing with a Chester Hale troupe, was a guest of honor last week at the junior Continued on page 48 CJM\ TH PERFORMANCE IN OUU New YORK, MAY 24 STREET SCENE has moved from the PLATHOCSE TO ANOTHER TIIEATRE ITor further Information •e« dully papers ; Eves. 8:40. Mats. Wed. and Sat 2:80 GRACE GEORGE In the St. John Ervlne comedy "FIRST MRS. FRASER" with A. B. Matthews and Lawrence Orossmlth PLAYHOTIS'E si.. E. of B'way. E»ej. 9th MONTH BROCK PEUBERTON Presents Strictly Dishonorable Csmidii HII by PrMttn Sturm ataicd b> AsMlnttt* Perry * Mr. Ptmbtrton AVON THEATIIE, West <5th Street. ATVn Eros.8:00. Mats.TburB.& Sat.2:30 Rir\ Y \r SOth St. 4 7th Avt. Dir. V/ 1 sf S. LRdharcl (ROXY) O "The ARIZONA KID" X Y Outdoor Movietone Romance with WAiaiTEB BAXTER Brilliant Stag* Show with Famous Roxy Organization MIDNGHT PICTURES ■ nCI ACff\ Thci., W. 41th BL Eva. 11:40 DCM.»£\J\*\J Mata. Thure. and Sot., 2:40' 10th MONTH DAVID BELABOO Present* It s a Wise Child A New Comedy by I<«nreBce E. Johnson SECOND •WEEK NORMA SHEARER The DIVORCEE C A MetiO-OoIrtwyn-Moycr Picture With CHESTER MORRIS On th« Stase—Ravus . Bunohuk, Orchettra B'WAY 51st ST. APITOL RKO TH£ATRES LETSGO' Chatter in Loop Chatter tin London LYA>IT oo MMA RUBENS—HEYWOOD BROCN RIn-Tln-TIa—Dance Fables Chas. Derickson and Burton Drown -Val and Ernie Stanton Slg. m^coe and Band Wed. t» rri. May Jtl-iS- "THE LOVE RACKET" with DOROTHY MACKAILL INGENCES—21 OIRI^ NAUGHTON * GOLD Wed. to Vri. May tl-X3 "THE LOVE RACKET" with DOROTIIT MACKAILIj S5 AVE YORKE and KING JOE MARKS Next to the stage door of the Palace Theatre, the new home of MRS. GERSON'S GRILL After 11 Years on Broadway Sam Bramson made that Omaha trip and return without a scratch. J. J. Garrlty taking the baths in Hot Springs, Billy Stein of MCA, to Toronto to gargle a few. Dave Ross of M-G-M and George Levine of Fox went horseback rid- ing and were the horses sore! Si Griever can recite open, close, high, low figures for the whole stock sheet, • Warner and First National boys safe in their new exchange, which Sam E. Morris came to dedicate. ban Roche is editing a convention sheet for the Pathe meeting, called "Pick-Up," B. N. Judell now occupying the sixth floor of the Universal ex- change building. ShiUs on the busses running to the dog races got the gate last we^k because the biz has been so heavy. Mr, and Mrs, Fred Allen have joined the bunch that dinea- every -Tuesday at Foo Chow's, •.Sam Levy, of.the Barnes-Carru- thers ofBce, spends his noon hour at the picture houses, • Reports from loop hounds are that Sammy Cohen and Doris Roche of a PubJix unit got tired of it all and married in Buffalo last week. John McCormack, Jr., blew In with, his briefcase and spats, and pining for his only friend, the Great Sir Joseph Glnsburg. • And speaking of Universal, Joe Metzger and Papa Laemmle were in town last week. To New York, via Louisville and the Derty. Newsboys wearing sandwich boards and standing in streams of traffic selling dailies when the red Rights are on. Georg. Fassnacht, who owns the ."Passion Play" and also works in it, got a new Cord out of a two weeks' Chicago Civic Opera enage- ment. The Esther Ralstons (Mr. and Mrs. George Webb) are going to Europe in June to await the ar- rival of a new member of the family, Felix Mendelsohn .returned from French Lick In time for M-G-M convention.- He Is often confused by many people with the Felix Mendelsohn who lives in the Con- gress and saves old theatre pro- grams. Merchants of State street have formed the State Street Council, and Barney Balaban Is on the board of directors. Object of the council Is to raise the general tone of the street, arid grab back some of class trade it has lost to Michigan Boule- vard. ' It was 6 a.m. and the Max Richards' were fast asleep in their apartment. Their son, Harvey, burst in and awakened his mother. "I think there is a fire In the-par- lor," said Harvey. Mrs. Richard roused Max, who found a comfort- able blaze eating through an Orien- tal rug. Harvey finally confessed that he used an all-night taper and a pair of his father's new pajamas for the experiment, Half the bright ideas Iti" Par's space department emanate from red-haired youth known as Woolfe,' who was born with a rtfyal flush In his hand. British talker exec here burning up because the only member of his staff to get a lireak In this feature was the p. a. Exec wants a story right now. Hugh Castle, of "Close Up," voted the town's, hardest film slugger. J. C'. Warbls, of "Cinema," first film legman to call Australia long distance. Discovered—yet another indie British unit which hasn't paid full salaries for six weeks. Edna Best's pash is burglars. J. C. Thorpe, of International, re- sents suggestion his unit makes dirt. Says they're out to elevate the screen, etc. Hugh Eliot, killed In plane crash, voted one of the world's finest con- tract' bridge players. Elsie April's thinking about getting a p. a. Joy Dean and Don Ross vaude- villing in Germany. ' George Finch cut his foot on the stage. So he says. "One Arabian Night," at the. Al- hambra, reminds folks One Sunday Night in London la even tamer. It's co.sting the. B'. B. C. two and a half grand to radio the Command Variety Performance, • Betty Moore's had a visit from the stork. Fact "Raw Material" is the new name for ".Women" is voted by the sophists to be just another sex Tallulah's next, "Let Us Be Gay," will give the snappy critics, if any, a chance for an epigram. Shaw swears he only wrote "St. Joan" to save her from John Drink- water. Half the foreign newspapermen in town last week went to Stratford to see where the Shakespeare guy got his stuff. Not content with traffic jams, the town's infilcted an Ibsen rage on the inmates. Peggy Petronella got Elsie Ran- dolph's billet in the "Co-Optimists" while the dancer was out through Injury. Edgar Wallace's doctoring of "Rio Rita" doesn't look much more than a patch job. The Academy show this year is just as bad as ever. BobTiy Jones fraternizing with the Prince of Wales. Bert Errol, femme impersonator, now running boarding house. Terrible thought, but estimating 10,000,000 fought In the Great War, novels by 'em are being turned out at the rate of 10,000 a year. George Banfield, one-time Par exec, turned down from British Associa- tion of Film Directors through dis- senting voice of one A. V. Bramble, small timer. Later the body came round, asked him to sign up, pay his subscription and stand the drinks. He told 'em to go where they eventually will, leaving situation a bit ticklish. "Officers, non-commissioned offl cers and men: Before dismissing the battalion I have an announce ment to make. My wife has just had a child. Officers, non-commls sioned officers and men—I thank you." Crack by Seymour Hicks the censor let by in a British talker short. Open necks for the gigs. Summer bands tuning up. Norah Baring's portrait in the Academy. . Louise Brown reckons she's ar rived—as a dancer. Backless swimming costumes. Rained ever since the tennis sea- son started. Three hundred divorces — four days' work. Sounds American. Eileen Bennett, tennis star, didn't get her face in the Academy after all. . Thames being sanded to make out it's a pleasure resort. Hollywood's the new name for Heaven in the eyes of the talker players. Sydney Howard ain't overjoyed at the way chatterers have dis covered his age is 44, Now Luigl, Embassy Club boss, is dead, this town is without a picturesque nite figure. Imitation jewelry is so good and cheap even press'agents can afford to make presents. Fact Max Reinhardt's to make a talker at Elstree don't mean a thing to British pi-oducers who have never heard of him. Girls who run around here claim- inij Hollywood experience get the air in the casting departments. Heard before,, Randle Ayrton received a bill from Gaumont for the cigars he had to smoke In talker scene. Craze In the nite clubs Is fruit machine gambling at 25 cents a throw. Gets expensive. Columnist here, playing poker at Elstree with star and two directors, for dollar raises, held four kings. Sang the songs his mother taught him, and foui^d the star knocked the pot with four aces. Player now gets no publicity In the column. Tallulah Bankhead' had a look at Augustus John's picture of herself and wondered whether a libel action would be good publicity. Cowarff acted Captain Stanhope for three nites. Must do every- thing, that boy. Gwladys Stanley's got a weakness for sciatica. ^ That Gertryde Stein's stuff is getting a break at the new Gtafton is enough to shut the place up be- fore it opens. "Me np spik Engleesh," says Joe Greenwald, now that he is making Yiddish records for Columbia. Paris Chatter Rocky Twihs from Casino de Paris for Shuberts next fall. Rene Racover by now arrived in New York, slumming it at Ritz Towers. Racover was Roger Wolfe Kahn's cabaret manager some sea- sons ago but like young Kahn, he's gone into ?LVlation as Costes' man- ager. Joe Zelli's Royal Box competing with American Express Co. as Paris mail department, American tourists getting their mail as care Zelli's.. Joe is one of the Amexco's biggest Paris depositors so It doesn't mind, Zelli's farm outside Paris' is a treat to those of his nocturnal inmates who get invited to the sumptuous estate. Joe's house Is 400 years old, being an old French manor, but otherwise modernized, Mrs. Jack Connolly to Vichy to get rid of some of the effects of rich French cuisine. — Poor scenery and costumes mar- red the otherwise good perform- an<fe3 &lven here by Anna Pavlowa. Klku ,Jamata, Japanese actress and daughter of a former Japanese diplomat in Germany, is m. c. at the Pigalle for the Japanese troupe, explaining to the audiences what it's all about in French, Luminous programs printed with radium ink on black paper so as to be readable in the dark are con- sidered by some Paris houses. The waiters at Albert's Champs Elysees .restaurant appear to re- • sent being on duty from W a. m. to 2 p. m. Billie of Blllie and Dollle, Amer- ican sister act, sailed for Buenos Aires where she has a husband waiting for ^ her. Dollle stays here and will make Paris her home. Don Parker's orchestra plays the new revue at the Lido, titled "Casa- nova at the Lido," which calls for a water scene and some good scenery. With the Japanese company at the Pigalle, the show is not so much on the stage as in the auditorium. Girls smoking cigars and wearing pants, also men made up like girls and affecting their mannerisms, are current. Andre Ullman; Paramount theatre manager, gave dinner before sail- ing for a short visit to the States, Maud Loty, popular comedienne, whose free way of expressing her feelings Is public property, told a gendarme all she thought of him When he gave her a ticket. Her appearance in court was as amusing as one of her appearances on the stage, resulting in the gend..rme getting apologfetic. Sequel is that the actress is now offering the gen- darme to personally produce his horse at a Paris circus gala to be given soon at the Cirque d'Hiver. Andre Darbon is shifting his of- fice to the shady side of the Para- mount building. NovcUe Bros, are . grandnephews of Sarah Bernhardt. Georges Fronval, Paris picture critic, was denied admittance at the Madeleine premiere of "Spectre Vert" for refusing to doll up as re- quested on invitations. George Cole has taken a house in Deauville for the summer. He came over with the Enoch Light band, oi Gaumont Palace fame, and has re- mained in France ever since.