Brownsville Weekly News

SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1941

- oe the we ~

The Music Comes Out Here

These nursery school kiddies who attend the Bennett College

Nursery. School, Greensboro, N. C.,

are trying to find out where the

music is coming from that Miss Dorothy Brown. is playing for thei

enjoyment.
tivity at Nursery School,

N. Y., was salutatorian of the June, 1941 class.

the college orchestra, president of

the choir and an all round ~good fellow~.

Music Appreciation is an important part of the day~s acIncidentally, Miss Brown hails from ~Troy,

She was a member of
the Student Senate, a member of
The children are little Ann

Elizabeth Ford, Nathanie] Catlin, and Estraleta Walket..

Cab Calloway Best
Tailored Leader

NEW YORK CITY~(SNS)~Cab | white. The crowded night club au
Calloway was designated last week

by the Custom Tailor~s Guild of |

America as the ~best dressed~ orchestra leader in the United States.
The Custom Tailor~s Guild is. made
up of the nation~s foremost manu
_.dacturers and ~designers of. men's.

~clothing.

That Calloway was selected for
the signal honor cannot cause any
undue: excitement among the hundreds of thousands of Calloway
fans. Ever since he first began
waving a baton in front of an orchestra, Calloway has been noted
for his smart wearing apparel.

Calloway was the first orchestra

leader to effect evening clothes in
other than the formal. black. One
evening, some ten years ago, Cab
ascended the pondium of the Cotton Club attired in tails of pure

Duke~sNewShow
Opening July 10

_ By LAWRENCE LAMARR

LOS ANGELES, Calif.~(NPB)~
Fans on the drama and legitime
stage plays here, eagerly await the
suspicious premier opening of the
stupendous all-sepia cast stage undertaking ~Jump For Joy,~, starring Duke Ellington and his orchestra with beauteous vivacious
Dorothy Dandridge, in the _ star
prima donna role. The date set
for the opening, is Thursday, July 10th at the Mayan Theatre.

According to Henry Blankford,
production executive, the presentation of ~Jump For Joy,~ will be
revolutionary and novel and many
ways. It will be definitely produced sans any semblance of the plantation of Uncle Tom. The book and
sketches by Sid Kuller and Hal
Finsberg, is modern and up-todate, and treats only those aspects
ef modernity, which boasts. of
sanity. Blankfort said ~the play
and the players will succeed on
their merit, and that alone.~

~The costumes by Rene Hubert,
are in keeping with the general
idéa outlined: by producer Blankfort. The backers of ~Jump For
~ Joy~ have assembled a cast of
outstanding ~sepia entertainment
abilities, in order to assure _ this
Holiyw -to -Broadway venture
will survive its ends. The cast
boasts such names besides Ellington and Miss Dandridge as _Ivie
Anderson, Herbie Jeffries, Jess Lee
Brooks, The Three Rockest (dancers,) Marie Bryant, comedian,
~Garbo,~ enigmatic denseuse,
Three High Hatters (dancers), Pot,
Pan and Skillet, comic dancers
from Texas, and Al Guster, a Duke
Ellington discovery, of great song
and dance ability. A line of 12
epee chorines will augment the

For the production.Duke Ellington. has peened some brand new
numbers. Included are ~Jump For
Joy,~ ~The Brownskin Gal ina
See Gown,~ ~I Got it Bad,~ and
2

Babe,~ ~Chocolate Shake,~ ~Sharpe
Easter~ and ~Blue Flame~...
Webster wrote the lyrics in the
first five mentioned, while Sid

uller wrote the lyrics for ~Sharp

dience gasped and then, as if prearranged, applauded ~alloway for
his showmanship in clothes. Since
His Royal Highness of Hi De Ho
set the pace, scores of other band
leaders have. begun patterning
their. dress after Calloway. None,
however, havé managed to achieve
the distinction with which Cab
manages to carry himself.

Prior to the European War, Calloway had his evening clothes ~designed and tailored for him in
London. During the past two years,
a Toronto tailor has received the
assignment. The Calloway sport
togs are cut for him in Chicago
while all of his lounge suits are
made in New York by a leading
Fifth Avenue Shop..

Calloway and his Cotton Club revue began a three weeks~ engagement at the New York Strand
Theatre on July 4th.

Negro Actors Guild
(Charges Army
Barring Their G

play and will also act in it.

been to be a producer of Negro
radio plays, he went to work immediately and wrote an amusing
15 minute play called ~One Way tc
Glory.~ In addition to writing thi:
play, he will also act in it. His
play will be produced -on a nev
series named ~Young Ideas~ com:
meneing June 29. ~Young Ideas~
is*a direct outgrowth of the KN%
Junior workshop, an experimenta
radio theatre sponored by Donald
/ W. Thornburgh, vice-president ir
charge of CBS Pacific coast operations, and the KNX educationa:
director, Mrs. Frances Wilder. The
KNX Junior workshop was established in 1938 as a training schoo.
for young employes with ambitior
and talent to give them practica:
experience in actual productior
methods.

On this new series Willard wil
work along with proiessionai radic
directors supervising these programs. Each director. will supervise
one show of the series, so that apprentices may receive the benefit
of working with as many differeni
producers as possible.

Since Willard has appeared as an
actor on such outstanding: programs
as ~Scattergood Baines,~ ~Blondie,~

~Silver Theatre,~ ~Screen Guild~
starring Jean Arthur, ~Dr. Christian~ and several others, he find:
that this, experience has been 0!
great assistance in his radio play
Proud of the fact that he was
born on the fourth of. July, Willaré
has always lived in Los Angeles. He
is 27, married, and has two children: Eva, 5, and Richard, 3. A
graduate of Jordan High school
he also attended Compton Junio!
college.where he majored in dramatics.

Although he has worked as 5
janitor at KNX for the ~past sis
years, some day Horace. Willarc
hopes to devote all his time tc
writing short stories and radic

plays.

FOOTLITE FLICKERS

By ALVIN MOSES

NBW YORK~MANTAN MORELAND, one of the best funny men
Hollywood has typed in pictures,
must have a better than average
head upon his broad shoulders.
While we deplore buffoonery and
court-jecting, we are ever mindful
that the ~piper~ (andlord, butcher
end baker) must be paid ~ and
not with promises either...More
land latched on to Frankie Darrow

and today he sees more work out
of Hollywood studios at an exdellent rate of pay than anyone we
can think of at the moment. (maybe you can think of one whi
excels him?)

STUFF SMITH received the reception a true artist deserves when
after a three year absence, he returned to the Apollo Theatre
Stnff playing a _ specially-built
violin for jazz purposes, went Over
big when by request, he played
~Walking by the River,~ the hit
number he claims to have colloborjated in composing with ~La
Chhrlisle?????~....The news scoop
of ours, released a month ago, in
which we said in effect Look for
a book that belongs cn your shelf,
titled ~NEGROES IN NEW
YORK,~ seems to have backfired
altogether, and instead of coming
fiout during the month of July,
has a much better chance of not
being published at all...--..RIO.
OTTLEY. who supervised a staff
ef crack writers who had made the
writers project, and the Negro
book possible, is no longer with the
group, who worked with him, has,
a fine chamce of being knocked the
H--1 out:....Once again, it~s the
timeless story of ~firing the Negro on WPA,~ when his chances
never mind Randalph~s speech) of
securing a joo in OPM, ~ private
industry, et al....are virtually nil:....Sorry that book did not come

~Cal~ in M-G-M~s coming poe
tion....*fLittle Foxes.~ arriot
créated the-role on Broadway, and
besides all this....he~s a | grand
hombre, square as a die, and liked
by the entire theatrical profession

~WHAT WILL happen to Canada {

* Lee one of the great stars of this
geenration, when ~as we predictei
it would) ~Native Son,~ packs up
and moves into the trunks where
announces that he has radio committments, stage, etc., and for his
sake, we hope that he has. However, when a star Negro actor
steps out of the public calcium for
even a week, his fame becomes
commonplace....ask any of them
who have supped at the banquet
table of fickle dame fortune.

The postman brought us a letter and a highly decorated. cara
depicting a Negro (Cuban. ballerin a ale rhumba, from the noted
accompanist, Calvin Jackson, wh)
is winning the acclaim of ~sousezee-mericans~ down Rio de Janeri:)
way, alongside of the internatjonally famous....PAUL DRAPER.

Thanks, Cal, for remembering us
while wooing the charming girls
(lucky dog in our good neighbor
country....Lord knows, we wish
we were right. there with you....
only our little wife, likes only twc
places: ~Chicago or Néw York.....
Adios, Stnors and ~Senoritas.

Barbershop Four
Loses Al Smith

NEW YORK,~(ANP)~ Because
the Society for the Preservation
and Encouragement of - Barber

Robert Moses -: vd wae
as vice-presiden e society.
Smith, Denix ~presidential

New York

of Grand

Janitor To Act
In His Own Play ~

NEW YORK~(ANP)~Horace Willard is probably the
only: janitor in the United States who has written a radio

A janitor at Columbia~s station in Hollywood, KNK, Willard first made his radio debut four years ago as an actor on
Fletcher Wiley's ~Sunrise Serenade~ appearing thrice weekly. When KNK recently announced to its non-professional
employees~including, janitors, page boys, mail clerks, and
stenographers~that it would give them the opportunity to
produce, direct, cast and perform in a new series of dramatic
programs, Willard jumped at this chance.

Since his ambition has always |

Janitor Playwright

Horace Willard, 27 year old janitor at Columbia~s Hollywood studio
KNX, has just written a radio play,
~One Way to Glory~ soon to be
presented on a series of new dramatic programs under the general
title, ~Young Ideas.~

Radio Scripts
Wanted By Lee

NEW YORK~(ANP)~ Realizing
that colored writers heretofore
have not been given an opportun
ity to display their talents in the

radio field, Canada Lee is launch
ing a drive to encourage them by

using any promising radio mater
aa, which. they may submit to
im.

Star of the smash hit, ~Native
Son,~ Lee has decided to embark
upon an ambitious schedule of
activity for the coming ad ee
strenger to the airways, Lee was
the first colored announcer to be
employed on any major ~ station
with John Kirby's WABC program,
~Flow Gently Sweet Rhythm.~ In
April he was featured in the Free
Company drama, ~A Start In Life,~
alsc on WABC. A month ago, over
the same station, he played the
final scene from ~Native Son~ in a
breadeast sponsored by a group of
Negro celebrities in tribute to his
great acting in that play. Two
weeks ago he was heard by NBC
listeners as the guest star on Stel.
la Unger~s program, ~Your Hollywood News Girl.~

Canada Lee~s future plang call
for the presentation of a series of
half-hour plays to run for 13
weeks. Supporting actors wil! be
mostly colored, will be éngaged for
the entire:3 week period, and will
Trobably operate unde-r_ the
name, ~The Canada Lee company.~
Although no sponsor has as yet:
been found, agercies representing
well-known national concerns have
already put in bids for the show.

In an effort to get away from
the stereotyped performances that
colored actors have usually been
cast. in~Uncle Tom, butler, maid
role and the: like~Lee urges those
who weuld like to write for the

-program te sithmit scripts dealing

with all forms of Negro life. Stories embracing the Negro in thc
theater, in sports;.stories with: love,
comedy, or adventure interest, will
be particularly welcome. Regarding
this matter, Lee ~says:

~The Negro, like every other human being, is a person of many and
varied emotions, and interested in
many and varied activities. We
would like to get. away from the
idea. of the Negro always as lynch
victim, or. fast-stepping nightlifer. There are many more aspects to. Negro life than those. We
would like to bring to America,

-thtough. this radio series, the ful!
ect expression of as many aspects
possible of the Negro commun6a:

as
ty in. America.

Letter Is Sent
By Edna Thomas
To F. Osborne

Race Performers

Not Included In

Entertainment Units

NEW YORK,~(ANP)~.Protesting the fact that Negroes had not
been given jobs in the entertainment of. United States Army
camps, the Negro Actors Guild of
America sent the following letter
to Frederick Osborne under whose
direction the committee has been
set up and copies were sent to all
pertinent people in any way con-~
nected with the setup:

~The executive board of the Negro Actors Guild of America, Inc.,
has instructed me to address to you
an inquiry, as to what extent you.
contemplate the participation of
Negroes in_entertaining the soldiers
of the United States army, a project organized under your direction
and apparently already in operation. The inquiry concerns itself
with the reason why the Negro
performer has been so studiously
ignored and this body is compelled
to register a vigorous protest
against, what appears to be a policy of gross racial discrimination.

~The fact is incontestible that
for 75 years, the Negro has been}.
one of the most popular groups in
the entertainment field, giving enjoyment not only to.colored audiences, but winning the acclaim
of theatregoers, both in this country and abroad. Negro performers
are willing to go as far as any
others, in unstinted service to our
government, but they are emphatically unwilling to make a contribution of their own, while the services. of others are being compensated for.

~It may be that you are unaware
of-the talent, with which the Ne
~0 race abounds. In such an
event, the Negro Actors Guild
will assume the responsibility to
furnish you with a comprehensive
list of qualified performers, with
their background and accomplishments.

~So great is our concern and so
deep our indignation, at this appearance of unwarranted and inexcusable neglect, that we deem it
as important, as it is necessary, to
solicit an interview with you at
the earliest possible date, convenient to yourself, for the purpose of discussing the matter.

~With an earnest. hope that you
will give this your immediate attention, I am.

Noble Sissle, president of ~ the
guild, and Bill Robinson, honorary
president serve on the national
committee for the above entertainment, having been named by Mr.
Osborne for this committee. They
are both anxious to start integration of Negroes into the entertainment goihg out among the soldiers
in the different camps.

_complete cycle of success which be
Golden Gates | On ~Denthouse Party~:;

*

Members of the Golden Gate quartet are to be
guests of Ika Chase on ~Perthouse Party~ on the
Columbia networks Friday, July 11, at nine o~clock

oe 4

Se

Eastern Standard Time. The quartet, which is heard
frequently on CBS, is currently featured at. New
York~s Cafe Society. A ~

John Marriott, Ex Gilpin
Player, Reaches GoalinCal.

Clevelander Is Given Role
In Hellman~s ~Little Foxes~

LOS ANGELES, Cal. When
John Marriott was given the part

of ~Cal~ to play| in the motion
picture version of Lillian Hellman~s prize-winning play, ~The

at
a

Little Foxes,~ in production
Goldwyn~s, he was at last in

gan. within the Gilpin Players in
Cleveland, Ohio.,

- Colored actors -have always suffered from the diséase of ~steretypitis~ ~ini Hollywood, and therefore a~ few of them havegone on:
playing ~hunible~ roles year~ in and
year out.~ But. the duthor of ~Foxes~
is the socially aware PulitzerPrizewinner of-the militant ~Watch
on the Rhine.~ Miss Hellman and
Herman Shumlin ~are aware that
all is not well. with the Negro in
America, and for that reason they
appreciate the manliness of John
Marriott.-:

Marriott created on Broadway
the small but important part he is
playing now in the cinema. Before
that he toured with ~You Can~t
Take It With You~ and also with
~Three Men On A Horse.~ In fact,
he has been busy for the past six
years in these shows alone~a remarkable record. His work is improving because he never allows
himself to get into.a rut. He does
radio parts betimes, and also helps
young playwrights on their scripts.
That goes back to his days with the
Gilpin Players, oldest Negro playing group in America.

For ten years, John Marriott was
with this wonderful group, first
as printer, and later as actor. The

Making Personal

Xv

oF RS eee - oe: >

arn ~

appearing at the Earle?

Appearances

#

last three years he did leading
parts in the best Negro plays in
America. When he invaded New
York he exercised the same~ calm,
quiet, effective commonsense which

is a part of him in all he does. He.

took a job helping a colored
~name~ star run a restaurant.
While the boss was showing off,
Marriott was studying and attending auditions. First he got parts in
touring companies..,

When ~Foxes~ was cast, he com
peted with his former em: er
and got the Broadway part. He

RATING THE

received sensational notices, as did

Abbie Mitchell, opposite whom he
played. Pisa
Marriott and his wife, who are
the parents of twins, Mona~ and
David, love Califernia for living,
and New York for working. They
have removed their residence ~to
California for living, and New York
for working. They have removed
their residence to California, while
~Little Foxes~ is in production.
Marriott is a member of Alpha
Phi Alpha fraternity, and an alumnus of Wilberforce University, He
studied ceramics at Ohio State
University, taking a M. A. degree

there, 3s wife bes an AB. foam
isk. They are what folk delight to
call wonderful people. ~ 4

RECORDS _

By FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS
For ANP)

LOUIE~S HOT FIVE

Back in the golden days of jazz
~the 1920~s~a unit came on the
recording scene that set 'the jazz
lovers wild. That group was Louie
Armstrong and his Hot Five. Many
of their discs now being collectors~
items, Columbia has reissued eight
of the most famous sides in a special album. They are GUT BUCKET BLUES and YES I'M IN THE
BARREL; MUSKAT RAMBI~ and
SKID-DAT-DE_DAT; CORNET
YOU'RE NEXT and ORIENTAL
CHOP SUEY and MY HEART;
STRUT.;

Accompanying Louis were Johnny Dodd, clarient; Lil Hardin
Armstrong, piano; Johnny St. Cyr,
banjo, and Kid Ory, trombone. All
of these: were top rankig New Orleans musicians and their work

typical of that day. I must admit

that absence of drums and bass is
a handicap and that some of. the
work sounds off the cob judged by
1941 standards. But I can also
say that this is some of the most
potent, brilliant ard breath taking Armstrong trumpet ever
caught on wax. From both a hisforidal standwoirit fand through
appreciation for Satchmo~s wunrivalled genius, this anthology
should be in your record library.

ONE AT A TIME

Here is Sidney ~Pons~ Bechet~s
unbelievable Victor in which he is
a one man band. On BLUES OF
PECHET he played ~four insttuments, beBinning with a réally low
down piano solo. afd on thé fast~r SHEIK OF ARABY he plavs all
six instruments~piano,:. bass, tenor
sax, drums, clarinet and soprano
sax. His tenor sounds a bit corny,
but that~s the lone drawback. In
fact, you may have a hard time
convincing people that tone man
plays that much music. This piatter is something actually to get up

turns out two nifties. BECAUSE OF
YOU and YOU MIGHT HAVE
BELONGED TO ANOTHER.

crew are not
a

far behind.. Gene
pair of ~Okehs

slow and subdued on BACK IN
YOUR OWN BACK YARD and
then kick sharply on I DREAMT
I DWELT IN HARLEM, 2 Bluebird. Will Bradley -does~

stomping good job on WHEN YO

AND I WERE YOUNG, MAGGIE,
riding the number on out on Columbia. Flipover. is IM MIS.
UNDERSTOOD, torchy and well
played with the leader doing @&

'Tom Dorsey on trombone.

If you like male singers, grab
the Charioteers~ Okeh of ALL
ALONE AND LONELY, very
smooth, and CARELESS LOVE, ~2
real gender. There~s. remarkable
piano on both sides by ~James
Sherman. Also hear the Ink
Spots~ of ~'M STILL WITHOUT A.
SWEETHEART. On this they use
a second tenor solo instead of the
customary talking bass and it
helps. Coupled is SO SORRY, another sweet one in their regular
style... Also on the list ig a
sensational pair of spirituals by
the Golden Gate quartet, ANYHOW; done in slow tempo with
drum accompaniment, and TIME~S
WINDING UP, much faster...
The gospel singing Selah Jubilee
quartet renders LEAK IN THE
BUILDING and I FEEL LIKE MY
TIME AIN'T LONG in real cam
meeting fashion. y

Una Mae Carlisle sings another
original tune on Bluebird, SEE A
MILLION PEOPLE. It has a niece
jilt and John Kirby~s background
band heipt plenty: Filivover is
BOOGIE WOOGIE PIGGY and
the barrelhouse Kirby stufg steals
the side.. The. Harry James
version on Columbia of DADDY
really rocks, and Helen Ward's
guest vocal is the stuff. Coupled isAURORA with a decided Spanish
flavor.. Decca offers a tunic
called NEW PLEASE MR. JGHNSON, but except for different words. and ride with good
solos over kicking rhythm....
Tommy Dorsey plays KIES ~THE
GOODBYE with a -