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A Night in the Show Clippings 4/54

Robert Grau, Motion Picture, New York, October 1915.

A Night in the Show Scenes 

„The funny man who takes life so seriously“

Editorial content. „Why Did Charlie Chaplin Decline

      A $5,000-A-Week Vaudeville Offer?

      By Robert Grau

      Not only has Charlie Chaplin created an upheaval in Moving Picturedom, which now is having its comedy destiny

decided thru his latest stunts, but it is a fact that the Chaplin

craze is enriching two of Charlie‘s old associates in

A Night in a Music Hall, who, like himself, were practical strangers

to Movieland two years ago.

      A Night in a Music Hall has long since exhausted

its vogue in vaudeville, but for over ten years it was a standard

attraction, which finally was relegated to the small-time

circuits. Of the trio of comedians in this English pantomime,

Chaplin was perhaps the least known to fame. Billie

Reeves and Billie Ritchie were certainly more featured than the youngster who has turned the movies upside down, and

it is not strange that the two Billies quickly harkened to the call

of the film studio.

      Billie Reeves is now with the Lubin Company, and with

him is Mae Hotely, Filmdom‘s funny woman.

      Billie Ritchie, who, like Reeves and Charlie Chaplin, is an

Englishman, is with the big Universal Film Company at

Universal City. All these are earning more money now than they

ever saw before. Charlie is getting $1,300 a week, more

than double the amount that was meted out to the organization

which included the entire trio and many others in the

variety theaters.

      Friend Charlie is one shrewd, normal funster among

many foolish ones. He keeps his head and sticks close to the

studio in Los Angeles. He has a secretary who answers    

a mail that is daily increasing to so vast an extent that the Chaplin

entourage is now divided into sections. One man now looks

after the demand for Chaplin statuettes, which have already made

a fortune for the funny man who takes life so seriously. The

second secretary attends to the maze of correspondence from

vaudeville agents who are seeking to lure Charlie into

the two-a-day. But Chaplin does not heed the booking-agents.

      No less a potentate than E. F. Albee is camping

on Charlie‘s trail with an offer of $5,000 a week. Strange

to say, the figure, tho it is $2,000 better than

was ever paid to a single performer, is not big enough.

      For this youth, over whom the world laughs

simultaneously, is fully cognizant of the nature of his vogue

in Filmdom. Charlie knows, too, that his predecessor

in the hearts of the people, John Bunny, died poor, while his family

will have no interest in the films which Bunny left to posterity.

      But Chaplin is considering a monumental plan quickly to convert

his amazing popularity into cash – not by way of vaudeville,

even at the record honorarium of $5,000 for each seven days; not

even by entering the producing field himself, backed

by millions provided by almost any one of the groups of established

film manufacturers, all of whom have invited the comedian

to name its own terms.

      The Chaplin scheme is to get all the money in one month

by presenting himself in the flesh in sixty of the largest

cities in thirty days – a fast-flying tour of the continent, making

a half-day stand of New York City, Philadelphia and

Chicago. Brooklyn in the afternoon and New York at night is

the way the itinerary will start. In each city the largest

auditorium available will be secured on a rental basis. Where

there are no opera-houses of vast seating capacity,

convention halls and armories will be rented and a grand-opera

seale of prizes will be adapted. An army of expert publicity

men will be utilized as avant-couriers. Auction sales of choice

seats to prevent the wily ticket speculators from reaping

a harvest is another plan under consideration. Some showman,

this Charlie Chaplin!“

Redaktioneller Inhalt

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