Variety (Jul 1930)

"VARIETY'S'^ LONDON OFFICE a ST, Martin ■» Place, Trafalgar Sqttare FOREIGN SHOW NEWS CABLE ADDRESS: VARIETY, LONDON : Tempi* Balr 5041-50*2 i ' «« ACTIVE SCALE CUT IN ENGLAND, TO nCHT FILMS „ London, July 29. '"GeoT^e Black, hfead of General '■iiheaj^cs, will cut admission prices IH til© chain's provincial revue or vaude stands In half, broadcasting the action Is part of a campaign to <»ml@nEall^lhe picturesr — j Pirst house aflCected will be the , jljppodrome, Llverppol, theatre of ^'000'capacity. Hiehest price here 7BC, will be reduced to 37c. The Llverpot»l house will serve as an experiment, If the reduced scale works successfully, the same treat- mint will be aipplled to other hoiises in the chain with large capacities. EngEsh III N^w 3bows for B'way ' ■ ' London, July 29. ■ Sbuberts have made an ofEer to ' Frank Harvey to play his original .^role In his own play^ "The Last ,;Bneniy,". in New York. He has. de- qljned,., being more concerned In '.fliaking a picture version ot "Cape JForlprn'! here. .. Reymond Massey^ Intended for the jShub^rt, production lji .|^ew Tork of "The ;((Ian Jn Possession", will , not make the journey. Massey Is npw in the show in London but quits it Aug. 2 to undergo an operation. Ow^;Na^es. will tak;e;UP the role in liohdiyii. ' ' '" The New Tork cast for "The Man In-: Possession" wUl, include Leslie BankAiIsobel Jean;}, PauI.GilU Jane Eaglan, I>eslle Perrin and Clarke ^mlth<,all English. Lydla Sherwood has been engaged for VTihe. Insult" to be done on Brofidway,by the Shuberts during the autumn. Paris, July 29. Sailings of players signed for Shubert productions are: Princess To Hay TOng and Kalil Ogly on the "Hie de France" Aug. 17. ■ is&bel Jeans, Sept. 26 on the "Buropd." PIRANDELLO COMING OVER FOR 3 MONTHS Paris, July 29. The Shuberts have closed for four Pirandello plays. Two have been wmpleted under the titles "Tonight We Improvise" and "Aa Tou Want Me." Other two plays not yet com- Weted: They will be entitled "Giants of the Mountain" and "When Tou Are Somebody." Pirandello will visit New Tork ouWng the autumn and produce a aiualcal piece not yet completed, m to be called "Just Like That." In the cast will be Jack Blrls and Qad Gherson. The author will spend three months in the States g>rtng the time making a trip to Hollywood. ' , He sails from Berlin In Septem- J^r, going to that city to submit to the Paramount office 15 scenarios worn which will be selected the lour stories called for under an opUon taken by Jesse Lasky dur- ■a '■«cent trip in Europe. ,. Another Shubert purchase Is a ?T^r P'ece entitled,- jTlffo'nme qui Inspire Conflance" b/ t**^" "Who Inspires Trust"), ^ Paul Armont and Leopold «archand. English adaptation ?^°»?^ly will be handled by Har-" "ood and Broadway production scheduled for September. American Billed ^ , Zurich, July 29. in^i, ^ '^^^^^ Songbirds, new at- ^t the Mascotte cabaret "ere, are billed as American. CLARKE, BIRKENHEAD, EXPLAINS BOOKINGS Birkenhead, England, July 16. "Variety," London: I aitn, as you probably know, one of "Variety's" oldest subscribers in England, J have been away from home otherwise I would have com- municated with you before in refer- ence to .paragraphs in Variety of June 25th, on pages 105 and 124 in which yoU' mention the theatres for which I book. The limit placed on theatres booked by me of salaries up to $750 is not cori^ecf^ 1 have paia and do pay salaries equal to any other Arm booking for the Provinces, for the Ave halls you name. Secondly, I may say that every American or foreign act with hardly an eJcception that has visited Eng- land has been offered to me and in a great many cases American artists have communicated with me direct with the object of playing the Argyle theatre, Birkenhead, which is apparently as well known to the profession In America as it is in England. I would like to state further that I do not confine my bookings to any agent or set of agents and - have always been open to do .business with any agency with, suitable ma- terial to offer. I may say that I, have never known any of the well known circuits booking artists with the object of barring them ^rom playing for me; I have always .worked in harmony with the big circuits referred to. I would take it as a favor if you will contradict the statement in Variety" as It Is apt to cause mis- understanding with Anierican ar- tists visiting England as far as I am concerhed. D. J. CLARKE. mm NEVER BE Economic Reasons Likely to: Force Reich to Rescind Its Original Plans—Spadoni, Schultz et al. Still Active ;—State Subsidized Agency Grossed $175,000 First TldreerMontfas^Too Maify Financial Strings RUSS MART FOR ACTS SIMULTANEOUS WORLD PREHIEIi^0F2PLAyS Berlin, July 20. Charlie Chaplin is the subject of the well-known Austrian author, Norbert Garai's new play, "Chap- lin's Hlmmelfahrt" ("Chaplin's Fly Towards Heaven"). Play will have simultaneous premiers at the Kaipmersplele, Vi- enna, at the Schausplelhaus, in Frankfort-on-Maln, as well as at one of the Leipzig theatres. The publishing house of Max Pfeffer is setting it for America and England as well. At the "theatre In der Behren- strasse," In Berlin, and at one of the Shuberts' New Tork stages an- other simultaneous premier will take place of a play by Felix Jo- achlmsohn, "The Ugly Girl." DEATHS BY BURNS AND SUICWE IN SYDNEY Sydney, July 29. Sidney Stirling, prominent stock actor associated with the William- son'Talt forces, died here last week. Other deaths among show people Included the suicide of Dorothy Parker, employed by First National Pictures, following a nervous breakdown. Pearl Bayer, chorus girl, died In Sydney, the result of burns when her flimsy costume took fire from a heating apparatus. New Hotel in London London, July 29. Dorchester House, new hotel In Park Lane, under the direction of Sir Francis Towle, head of the Mayfair hotels, will be ready around the end of next May. Hostelry Is said to be the last word in luxury. Establishment, fill- ing in with the new vogue for American bands, is already dicker- ing with Guy Lambardo, making an offer of $2,500 a week. Berlin, July Id. The coming year, it is believed, will not spell the last of the variety, agencies, and it is expected that apart from the State agency, "Pa- renna," also other private ageneiesi such as Spadoni, Schultz,. et aU will continue to exist. This hope is based on the lack vf money on part of the Reich. It has been legally provided that all agents who should die would receive a single Indemnification, if they had been licensed before 1914. This would cost the Reich many niillions of "marks.. For economic reasons the matter of indemniflca tion will have to be done away with and all agents permitted to continue business. The indemnification for the art Ists' agents in itself would not be so expensive, as only 14 agents come into jconsideratibn, but If ;they were permitted to continue working, they would be bound legally [this is the new plan] -to toreigo acll claims on damages, if they are able to work for a longer period than one yeat*. Of course the agents will con- sider this very thoroughly. The hope of the agents that the state subsidized "Parenna" would turn out a failure has hot come true. The "Parenna" has been working officially since April 15 and In le^s than three months made contracts amounting to 700,000 marks ($175,- 000). This is a considerable suc- cess considering the opposition this new undertaking met when first starting. The "Parenna" is progressing rapidly and at the moment Is try- ing to open up the Russian field for the <3erman acrobats. Around 120 acrobatic acts can reckon upon doing good business In Russia this coming season. A report that the establishment of the "Parenna" cost 600,000 marks (1150,000) Is Incorrect. The Reich <jeclared itself willing to give 600,- dOO marks credit to the "Parenna" for the first threia years, to be re- turned by the "Parenna," but If this agency continues to work as It has so far, it will only use a small amount of this credit, and there Is no doubt about paying back. F2stab- lishment of the "Parenna" did not cost one-tenth of the 600,j000 marks. It is also said that the German government will lose the agents' as taxpayers. However, the State was never In a position to really lay hands on the great income of the important agents while the "Pa- renna" Itself, as well as Its em- ployees, will surely have to be quite considerable taxpayers. DeBiere Bankiupt London, July 18. A receiving order in bankruptcy has just been made against Arnold deBiere, the conjuror. Last year deBiere picked up an odd (35,000, commission on the dough he Introduced to Goodson's, exploiters of the unbreakable disk record. Another transaction of deBlere's resulted In a minor 115,000, a rake- ofC on some German patents. Fact he's bankrupt Just shows how expensive conjurors' gadgets must be. BRITISH EQUITY'S 1ST AMERICAN CONTRACTS London, July 29. First American contracts signed since newly formed British Equity were for the English company headed for New Tork for the Shu- berts in "Nine Till Six." Contracts were at first made out in letter form sighed by Terry Byrne, agent for the Shuberts. Alfred Wall, secretary of the Lon- don Trades Council, which in- cludes all the trade unions, said, "I think this letter contract is dis- gi^acefuL'- ^— - Auriol Lee wired to J. J. Shubert in Paris that British Equity forbade the company to sign a letter con- tract. 'Whereupon the Shuberts gave way and the troup is now signing the regular American Equity contract form at British Equity's dictation. STRffiLING N. G. FOR LONDON MUSIC HALLS London, July 29. After Monday night's fight here, >In which Toung Strlbling knocked out Phil Scott, the Englishman,' in two rounds, Strlbling (American) was offered to the London halls. Not even a nibble. ALL VIENNESE LEGIT DOOMED BY SOUND GARDINER HELD OUT OF U.S.-NOW IN CANADA Ottawa, July 29. .. Complaint has been • made to Canadian government officials that Shale Gardiner, English film actor, hiis been denied entry into the United States although'he.had been granted an American visa before leaving England. Gardiner, now In banada. Is waiting developments, but expects to return to England. Ho was refused admission under the qudta law although he had been in Hollywood to play in a number of productions including "Dlsraey," Three Live Ghosts," ar.d "Three Passions." Gardiner claims he had contracts In Hollywood which he cannot fill. He may go Into vaudeville on his return to the United Kingdom. ALL-COLORED BHl IN PARIS AS BENEFIT Paris, July 29. The Casino de Paris will stage an all-colored bill for a special matinee tomorrow (30) for the benefit of the American colored gold star mothers, now back in Paris after visiting the battlefields of the World War. A bill has been assembled com- prising Noble Sissle, Louis Mitchell, Snow Fisher, Two Black Dots and Brick Top. A long Invitation list has been sent out for the occasion headed by the American Ambassador to France, Walter E. Edge. "Traffic" Looks Good London, July 29.- "Traffic," an underworld thriller dealing with the "white slave" theme, was well received upon open- ing at the Lyceum. Piece looks like a winner for this popular-prized house, which runs to melodramas. Stars are Dennis Nellson Terry and Mary Glynne. Vienna, July 29, The death-knell for the smaller Austrian theatres is literally spelled by the soundfilm judging by the near bankruptcy which Is facing •at-^leitst-^hre«-A4entia-theatresj-AH— dramatic and operetta houses here are on the edge of ruin through lack of funds to pay off salaries falling due Aug. 1, much less the . enormous state and municipal taxes. The summer heat combined with the superior draiw "of almost any of the averagelymeritorious soUhd- fllm is the' direct cause for tbn.' With three of the houses on the actual brink' of bankruptcy, urgent call for help to' the state was met with a deaf ear, although the Aus- trian government has been latter- ly enriched by the new International loan. The big banks finally proved less hard-hearted and extended |30,0'00 at a low interest and the -Viennese theatres now have a new breath- ing spell until the next crash. The banks, however, asked Dr. Beer, dllrector of the Deutschira^' Volkstheater, and Max Relnhardt to become guarantors for the loan. Dr. Beer assented' but tlie eminei)t Professor Reliihardit, who Is as good a business man as a showman, re- fused. Loans or no loans the smaller houses here are doomed to a cer- tain extermination by the advent. the ''tdnfllm's," as the sound- alpfl. talker films are called locally. Am. Acts MnstOeiiiaiiid A Clause to Prevent Cot-In by tte En^ish Lpndon, July 29. American acts accepting London dates for Stoll or Gsneral Theatres at a cut; figuring they can augment their incomes by doubling in the cabarets, should Insist In advance upon a clause giving specific per- mission for such engagements in their contracts; In the absence of such a stipula- tion they will be barred from doubling in cabarets unless the the- atres are cut In on the extra salary. The mo.st recent case covering the situation Is that of Barry and WhItledge, who were asked to double at tbe Cafe de Paris, with the Palladium management ac- quiescing on condition that the team cut the theatre in for $150 a week out of their cafe salary. HOPE HAMPTON GOES WTTH PARIS OPERA Oriental Conjuring Trick The Hague, July 29. At the Kursaal (casino) at Schev- enlngen, sea shore resort near here, an Oriental conjurer named Oklto has created a mild sensation by the novelty of his magic performance. His Chinese costumes and stage eftecLs are reported to have cost $20,000. Feature of his act is an illusion Involving' a shadow ca.st into wh.nt appears to be a trans- parent f-abinet. Paris, July 29.. Hope Hampton, Who deserted the screen and stage for grand opera, has been engaged for a winter sea- son In the Paris Opera. She also has offers for appearr ances at Covent Garden, London and Vienna. Ushers Trebfing and H. 01* London, July 29. Harry and Frances Usher have been held over at the Mayfair hotel cabaret for thoJr tlilrd week. . Team Is also playing the Wood- green nnd the Chez Henri. Frer Opera in Holland Arn.aterdam, July 29. Fren< li opera In Holland Is a reality establl.shed under the aus- picef) of tho IJutch ambassador to Paris. Koopman, miunagor of the Opiia, Vedran, Is in managerial control