The Q Stands For Quick, Fill In

Imagine you’re 24 years old, have been doing a 15-minute local morning show for only a few months and suddenly you’re asked to make your network debut on a half-hour evening variety show.

That’s what happened to Robert Q. Lewis.

To me, at about age six, Robert Q. was the guy who suddenly replaced Merv Griffin as the host of the game show “Play Your Hunch.” What I didn’t know, being a kid and all, was that Lewis had probably gone through more shows than anyone else at the time. Radio and TV listings through the late ‘40s and into the ‘50s show a revolving door of time slots and programmes, none of them seeming to last very long.

Lewis first appeared on WEAF New York on November 20, 1944. Then C.E. Butterfield, veteran radio columnist of the Associated Press, reported the following April 7th:

New York. April 7—(AP)—A new comedy show which NBC believes offers possibilities, steps suddenly onto the network at 7:30 tonight. Assembled almost on the spur of the moment, it is being built around Robert “Q” Lewis, a 24-year-old broadcaster who has been displaying his talent in a local morning series six times a week, under the title “Listen to Lewis”. He is to have the help of Mae Questel, veteran mimic, with variety music coming from the Murphy Sisters and Dave Grupp’s orchestra. His humor, of the Zany Type, depends to a large extent on the use of contrasting voices. The program fills the time given up by the discontinued sponsored, series, The Saint. Lewis insists he inserted the initial “Q” in his name solely for identification purposes.

Actually, the “Lewis” was inserted as well. His real name was Robert Goldberg, born in New York and raised in the Bronx. You wouldn’t know it by his voice; Robert Q. always affected a bit of a cultured tone.

The story doesn’t explain why “The Saint” was suddenly pulled in favour of a non-sponsored show. But Robert Q. lasted until June 2 before his programme was replaced with a dramatic series. Mae Questel continued her career as the cartoon voice of Olive Oyl while Lewis moved back into local radio before another network shot, at CBS, in 1947. Despite what the New York Times declared was “fey humor” the show failed, though Neil Simon and Paddy Chayefsky were among the show’s writers.

CBS kept trying and trying with Lewis (he finally got out of his contract with the network in 1951). New York Herald Tribune radio columnist John Crosby decided Robert Q. was trying, too. This is from the Oakland Tribune, December 24, 1948.

Radio in Review
By JOHN CROSBY
Robert Q. Lewis, the strolling minstrel of the Columbia Broadcasting System, is back on a five-week schedule again (not broadcast in west), changing over from a once-a-week show (Sundays). At least that’s the way things sound as this is written. You never quite know where Lewis will be from hour to hour. Lewis has roamed all over CBS, from the Godfrey show to the late shift on the elevators or from Paley to breakfast, as the saying goes.
Either he's getting better or I’m getting less critical or the Christmas season has filled me with unwarranted benevolence. My current opinion, subject to change without notice, is that Robert Q. is a good-natured humorist whose efforts are certainly on the side of the angels.
A CBS press release refers to him as “honest, eager and thesauric” and after pausing briefly to look up “thesauric,” I feel inclined to agree with that description. The fact there’s no such word as “thesauric” either in Webster or Funk and Wagnalls hasn’t swayed me. There should be such an adjective, meaning encyclopedic, or full of largely useless information.
PLEASANT PIXIE
At any rate—to get this back into English—Lewis is a pleasant pixie who, I’ve always felt, worked a little too hard at being natural. He used to strain so widely at being casual he made me nervous which is hardly the idea. Lately he’s succeeded at informality, a difficult business, and the listeners can relax. His is a friendly, unassuming, largely satiric humor which ranges in quality from excellent to terrible—a wide range. Here’s Lewis concerning his Christmas show which took place last Sunday, the night of New York’s third largest snowfall. “Either it’s snowing outside or the Rinso people are overdoing it. This is our Christmas show and there’s no one in the studio except reindeer. I was hoping to have my favorite carol on it but Madeleine was busy.”
Lewis likes to poke gentle fun at Christmas customs, guest stars, announcers, capital gains deals, or anything else that happens to be on the back pages of the newspapers, leaving the front pages for the more eminent authorities like Gabriel Heatter.
GIRL PROBLEMS
He has a rather special attitude toward girls. Most of his girl friends seem to be homicidal maniacs of grotesque proportions. “We sat on George Washington Bridge and you dangled your feet in the water.”
For a long while there was a nasal girl named Ruthie who called him up every broadcast and confused him. This sort of routine: “Hello, Ruthie?” “Speaking.” “'What?” “What number you calling?” “You called me.”
He has no armor against puns, falling victim to almost any pun: “I dropped in to say hello to the High Lama. I said ‘Hi, Lama’. He has a cute girl—Lama Turner.” Lewis also suffers from self-deprecation, a weakness of all radio comedians. Many of their complaints sound too authentic to be funny. “I was practising my singing this morning. The canary threw himself to the cat.”
BURSTS INTO SONG
When he isn’t making jokes, he bursts into song, plays the slide whistle, heckles his announcer or does everything but turn somersaults in an effort to amuse—which indicates a nice generosity of spirit. As a singer, he is hard to define—falling somewhere between Helen Kane and Ted Lewis. In other words, cute, monotonous and vaguely ineffable.
His choice of songs is rather odd, too. He likes to sing some of the fact there’s a girl snail for every boy snail, a girl quail for every boy quail, a girl whale for every boy whale but there isn’t one for him.
Besides Lewis you’ll find Howard Smith’s orchestra, which sounds a little like 1922 Paul Whiteman, and the Ames Brothers, an excellent quartette, which spells the head man now and then but not often.

CBS hoped to move Robert Q. into television in May 1949 with a revue format but, instead, made him the summer replacement for Arthur Godfrey on the Chesterfield show. That began his career as the number one back-up host on TV. He finally got his own show on January 19, 1950, replacing “Film Theatre.” Here’s Crosby again, from February 20, 1950, saving his biggest dig for owners of nightclubs.

Television in Review
By JOHN CROSBY
Robert Q. Lewis claims his middle initial doesn’t stand for anything in particular. My own theory is that it stands for Quo as in “Quo Vadis.” “Whither Lewis?” people keep asking me. I snap back that I have no idea whither Lewis is headed or whither he’ll get there. (You can’t hang around Robert Q. Lewis very long without becoming afflicted with puns.)
Robert Quo has done about everything over at CBS except play Ma Perkins. His most recent venture is “The Show Goes On” which CBS rather too generously distributes both on television and on radio. On television, it’s an hour (not in West); on radio, the program is wisely pruned to half an hour (KCBS, 8:30 p.m., PST Fridays). If you don’t possess either a television set or a radio, drop in on CBS. He runs six of the elevators there. And in his spare time he took over all of Arthur Godfrey’s manifold duties while Godfrey was in Florida. There’s no money in it but he's getting lots of experience. (He hasn’t time to spend money, anyhow.)
BUYERS ON HAND
“The Show Must Go On,” to get down to it, is a switch on Godfrey’s Talent Scouts and on all the other amateur or semi-pro programs where the talent displays its wares in an effort to get jobs. Here, talent buyers, eager to give jobs away, are on hand. Lewis has rounded up the talent or what passes for talent. The talent does its stuff. The talent buyers shudder or smack their lips, depending on circumstances. Then they either buy the stuff or shrug it off.
To you, it probably sounds quite a lot like the other talent shows. To me, it sounds like a slave market. The buyers—booking agents, night club impressarios, a few Broadway producers—may hire the acrobats on the spot or take a 25-hour option on them. Or say no. No one, to my knowledge, ever says no. If worse comes to worst—and it frequently does—they take a 24-hour option, sneak out the side door and leave the country.
There are several dozen similar shows beating the bushes for talent. Lewis is last man to get a shot and the plumper quail have been brought down before he gets there. Consequently, you are likely to hear a good many, say, girl singers who under normal circumstances would never have got much farther than choir practice.
SEVERAL GOOD ACTS
You'll also hear a couple of good acts. One girl who looked and behaved quite a lot like Judy Garland was hastily snapped up by Ed Sullivan, an exercise of judgment of which I didn’t think him capable. A male comedy team made noises like a newsreel, an act as indescribable as Danny Kaye and almost as funny. For the rest—well, they got to beat those bushes harder.
On television, Robert Q. Lewis looks remarkably like Harold Lloyd, does quite a lot of muggling, double takes and Bob Hopeisms, and still has a lamentable habit of ruining good gags by running past them instead of stopping at the end. (On radio, he still resembles Robert Q. Lewis to a remarkable degree, though he is beginning to calm down a bit, a fortunate thing.)
There is nothing much the matter with “The Show Goes On” except it sounds like too many
other shows. Its greatest contribution, to my mind, is the intimate glimpses one gets of some of the night club owners, sharp-faced little ferrets in pin-striped suits, the sight of whom may keep some of the listeners out of night clubs for the rest of their lives.

“The Show Goes On” went on until December 29, 1951. Sponsor Gillette was unhappy CBS changed its time slot from Thursday to Saturday and cancelled. The show did accomplish something, but not for Robert Q. Billboard of March 25, 1950 reported Tony Bennett’s price tag jumped from about $125 to $750 on the basis of one shot on the show.

Lewis moved on, hosting his own shows or filling in. To show you how television changed, one of Lewis’ guest hosts in 1956 was a young man named Johnny Carson. Before doing “Play Your Hunch” in New York, he was hired in 1961 as a disc jockey by KHJ Los Angeles, arriving in a Rolls-Royce with his white poodle (the Rolls was part of his contract with the station). By 1972, Lewis had been hired by KFI and was opining to the Los Angeles Times that he couldn’t get work in television because he had overexposed himself and programmers thought he was too old. He was two months younger than Bill Cullen, 2½ years younger than Gene Rayburn and seven years younger than Garry Moore. By 1974, he was moved to the all-night show and was reviewing films for the station. He spent time acting in comedies on stage (Las Vegas was one of his venues) but he was a rare sight on television, and his name had become one from the past. It’s a little jarring seeing his face in anything but black and white.

Lewis effected an air of elegance on occasion. He was from an era where the elegant smoked. He sold Chesterfield cigarettes while filling in for Arthur Godfrey. He died of emphysema on December 11, 1991, age 72.

Here’s Robert Q. in one of his fill-in jobs, with a group of young men, a definitive panel and the best announcer in game show history, Johnny Olson. And a package of cigarettes.

That’s Oswald, 1928

Oswald the Rabbit started 1928 being produced by Winkler Pictures, Inc. for Universal. Oswald finished 1928 being produced by Winkler Pictures, Inc. for Universal. But something happened in between. At the start of the year, the cartoons had been drawn by a crew headed by a chap named Walt Disney. By the end of the year, almost all of Walt’s staff had deserted him and went to work for Winkler himself. Walt, as history shows, got the last laugh.

Oswald went through a few more changes, but the other one in 1928 was that he became a sound character. Exhibitors Daily Review announced on November 19 that the first Oswald in Movietone sound would be “Oswald’s Ragtime Band.” Theatres not wired for sound would get the silent print.

Winkler, or perhaps his boss Charlie Mintz, pushed Oswald in the pagers of Film Daily. Between July and December 1928, there are 28 box ads for Oswald, all with the same layout and typeface as the ads for Mintz’ studio’s Krazy Kat. They’re pretty cute. Oswald has long ears in some, and stubbier, tongue-depressor shaped ones in others. There’s one with some pigs that looks like it could have been in a Harman-Ising cartoon at Warners in the early ‘30s. All but one of the ads (which is mutilated) have been posted below, interspersed with reviews of the Oswald cartoons. The dates are publication dates, not release dates.

Anyone familiar with animation around 1930 should be familiar with the future careers of the names in the clippings. Roland (Ham) Hamilton was a top animator for Harman-Ising. Tom Palmer went to Disney, had a disasterous career with Leon Schlesinger and high-tailed it to the other side of the U.S. to work for the Van Beuren studio. Walter Lantz ended up producing the Oswald cartoons for Universal in 1929, leaving Mintz, Winkler and Disney’s former animators looking for work.






July 29, 1928
"Hot Dog"—Oswald
Universal
Circus Fun
Type of production....1 reel cartoon
The circus comes to town, and Oswald the rabbit tries all sorts of schemes to get into the big top without paying. He experiences a series of exciting adventures as the cop chases him. He takes refuge in the lion's cage without realizing what he has done, but when the lion sees his membership card in the Lion's Club he treats him like an honored guest. Finally as the cop chases him he gets a hitch on a wagon—but it turns out to be the patrol wagon, and poor Oswald is pinched anyway. The kids will like this one.

August 5, 1928
"Skyscrapers"
Winkler—Universal
Clever
Type of production..1 reel animated
Oswald gets a chance to show his skill as a construction hand on a new building. Walt Disney has worked up some exceptionally clever cartoon material with a steam shovel and a donkey engine that are almost human. In fact they look like live creatures, and their expressions and actions are highly amusing. This Oswald cartoon is a good number featuring some fine cartoon ingenuity.






August 26, 1928
"Mississippi Mud"
Oswald—Universal
Clever
Type of production. . . .1 reel cartoon
Oswald is deck steward on a Mississippi river boat, and when the villain kidnaps the beautiful heroine and takes her away on the boat, then the fun begins for all hands. The cartoonist has evolved some very clever cartoon gags and sketches for showing the antics of the animated rabbit, and of course it winds up with the hero rescuing the girl and proving his right to her love. Well up to the high standard of this series.

September 9, 1928
"Panicky Pancakes"
Oswald Winkler
Universal
Lively
Type of production. .1 reel animated
Oswald is running a concession at the county fair, when various animals start to interfere with his business. First the elephant drains his lemonade bowl through his trunk, and then a pup steals his pancakes as he flips them in the air. Finally the bandit mice steal his cash register and Oswald has some exciting time before he recovers it. Good gags put over at a lively pace. Hamilton and Palmer are now handling the work on this cartoon series.






September 17, 1928
Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit, has made a departure in his amusement program. Heretofore there has been nothing topical in the cartoons in which Oswald is depicted. But the imagination of Oswald's creator, the Winkler Company, was so fired by Commander Byrd's determination to reach the South Pole, that they have made and will release in a very short time a picture entitled "The South Pole Flight."

September 23, 1928
"Fiery Firemen"—Winkler
Universal
Clever
Type of production..1 reel animated
Oswald, the funny rabbit, turns fireman, and proves himself a hero when he tries to save Miss Hippo, but she falls on him and flattens him out. Some tricky stuff is worked in by having the firemen sleep or mechanical beds that are almost human and answer the fire alarm and do almost everything that the firemen do.






September 30, 1928
"Bull-Oney"—Winkler
Universal
Animal Fun
Type of production..1 reel animated
This time Oswald, the rabbit finds himself a trainer for the bull that is picked to do his stuff in the bull ring. Before Oswald realizes what has happened, the bull has him in the center of the ring, and a real scrap is staged that the crowd didn't expect. Oswald finally escaped by a narrow margin. The audience consists of all the various animals, who arrive for the fight by transportation methods and vehicle sthat are laughable and original. Cleverly animated, and with lots of comdey action.

October 14, 1928
"Rocks and Socks"—Winkler
Universal
Peppy
Type of production..1 reel animated
Oswald, the rabbit starts out for a day's shooting. He tackles a little tiger, and is lambasting it when the mother conies along and makes things hot for Oswald. Escaping finally from the tiger, he encounters other strange monsters of the jungle, and is glad to call it a day. The cartoon work is very unique and some clever technique is employed. It carries the laughs also.






October 28, 1928
"The South Pole Flight"
Winkler Cartoon—Universal
Type of production. . 1 reel cartoon comedy
These lucky Oswald rabbit cartoons provide a real kick for any kind of audiences. They are exceedingly clever, and some of their exaggerated silliness is good for real guffaws. This one shows Oswald making a dirigible flight to the South Pole, and the difficulties he encounters, only to land at the desired spot, to place an American flag at the Pole.

December 2, 1928
"Farmyard Follies"—Oswald Cartoon
Universal
Original
Type of production. . .1 reel animated
Artists Hamilton and Lantz put a lot of clever animation into this one. They show in their work that they are striking out along new lines, and the line of gags they develop for the funny rabbit Oswald are amusing. Oswald attempts to take charge of
things on the farm. He washes the little pig, and tries to milk the cow, but with poor success. His chief trouble is with a sassy young chicken that insists on mixing things up generally till Oswald applies the ax to her neck. A very enjoyable cartoon comic for old and young.






December 23, 1928
"The Yankee Clipper"—Oswald
Universal
Clever
Type of production. . 1 reel comedy
Oswald, the funny rabbit goes through his cartoonatics in great form. This time he is a barber with a very up-to-date establishment. The animated barber pole picks up pedestrians off the street and shoots them into the barber chair. This helps trade a lot. The climax shows Oswald made up as a manicurist in order to please the villain wolf whom he has kept waiting. Wolf takes him for a necking party in his car, and when he discovers that Oswald ain't that kind of a gal, he throws him out with a pair of roller skates.





1928 was a watershed year for animated shorts. I’ll have a timeline post encompassing studio highlights from the pages of The Film Daily in the future.

Have a Blast With a Kite

The old Hole-in-the-Body Gag. This time from “Ventriloquist Cat” (released 1950), written by Rich Hogan and directed by Tex Avery.

Spike sees the huge stick of dynamite.



The effects animator goes to work. Here are the first two explosion drawings.




And here’s the hole. I’ve always liked the little gag at the end where the duck serenely flies through the hole.

Grant Simmons, Mike Lah and Walt Clinton get the animation credits on this one.

Let’s You and Him Fight Backgrounds

Olive Oyl’s in the way, but look past her and enjoy the buildings in the background of this scene from “Let’s You and Him Fight” (1934). The Fleischer cartoons of that time are full of street scenes where everything looks like it’s melted.






And a couple of interiors.




The background artist was, unfortunately, uncredited. A travesty,

The Key to Jack Benny

Humans are complex and contradictory people. That’s the reason you read news stories where people are shocked to find they have a relative who’s committed some kind of major crime.

So is it really possible to know someone? Even if you haven’t met them?

One of Jack Benny’s biographers thought so.

Marcia Borie got together with Hickey Marks, Jack’s brother-in-law and producer, to write a book. Borie felt she found the key to Jack whereas Benny’s own family had not. Cynics might suggest the claim was a good hook to publicise one’s book.

Borie’s book found Jack Benny was the nice man everyone said he was. But why was he that way? Borie thought she found out.

This is from the Orange County Register, April 16, 1978.

Jack Benny: Heart, Soul Found In Book
By GARY LYCAN
Marcia Borie would have you believe she did little more than assist Mary Livingstone and her brother Hilliard Marks in writing Jack Benny (Doubleday, $10.) After all, she reasons, her name won’t sell books so her involvement is unimportant.
The truth is, however, Ms. Borie is a gutsy, seasoned journalist who became convinced midway into her research that neither Jack Benny’s wife nor his brother-in-law “knew him as well as I intended knowing him. I lost my parents when I was a teenager, and every so often I would wonder when my mother was 17, would she do this or that. I realized when you’re alive you don’t just sit with people and ask what were you like at age three or did you like peas and carrots, you just take it for granted they’ll always be around. So it was not out of arrogance, but ignorance, I decided to go to Waukegan, Ill. That’s where I found the key to this man.”
This is the best of the books on Jack Benny. Anecdotes are sprinkled throughout a detailed narrative of Benny from birth to death. Marks’ expertise was comedy, not biography, so he hired Ms. Borie. Mary Livingstone participated in the book after Marks and Ms. Borie signed with Doubleday.
“(Irving) Fein’s book was out, and she didn’t particularly care for it," said Ms. Borie in a luncheon interview at the Beverly Hills Hotel Polo Lounge. “And (Milt) Josefsberg’s book was out, but she had no feeling one way or the other about it. It was more like a textbook for how to be a gag writer. She knew ours would be the family biography, the heart and soul of her husband, and she damn well wanted to see it be the best book it could be.”
The mention of Fein disturbed Ms. Borie. He was Benny’s long-time manager, but when it was pointed out he appears nowhere in the Marks book, she indicated neither Benny’s widow nor brother-in-law are on friendly terms with Fein. “I didn’t even know that Irving Fein was coming out with a book until three months after I had signed a contract. I felt betrayed. I went to Mr. Marks and he said Fein’s a this and a that. Now, Irving Fein may be the nicest man in the world, I don’t know him personally, I only know what my experience has been relative to the book. I think I mentioned he was a pallbearer. If not, we’ll throw it in the 15th printing.”
So much for what is not in the book. Ms. Borie is eager to stress what is in the Benny book and to re-emphasize the collaboration by her and Marks, based on sales, worked. “He (Marks) did not physically write most of this book. I mean we would get together daily and discuss things. He’s a comedy writer. He did not know how you start a chapter one, how you end it and start chapter two.
“But we discussed every word of that book together. Sometimes we had knockdown, drag-out fights, because I think any collaboration is like a marriage. Sometimes it goes well and sometimes it doesn’t. But Mr. Marks would always listen. Mary had no decision at all in the writing. All she wanted was an accurate picture of her husband.
“It was my idea to go to Waukegan. Marks wondered ‘why?’ But people closest to a person don’t know that person. For instance, why was Jack Benny the only non-ethnic comic? He never traded on his Jewishness. He was non-ethnic because he came from a non-ethnic community in the Midwest. He was more Waukegan than Hollywood.
“We (her and Marks) saw Jack’s sister in Chicago. Then we rented a car and drove to Waukegan. I left Mr. Marks off at the home of a southern cousin and said I wanted to go around town for four or five hours. And I walked and I walked. I touched every flower, every blade of grass that was different than I had seen before, and I went to the first place where he lived. I looked out over Lake Michigan. I went back to the little synagogue where his parents had worshipped and I went to the Waukegan Sun-News, where they were re ally excited a writer had come from Hollywood to look through their morgue. I found myself giving a lecture on writing a biography about someone you don't even know.
“And when I came back I said to Mr. Marks I have the key that unlocks the door to Jack Benny. He didn’t know what I was talking about. I wasn’t spinning my wheels. I was pinning down who Jack Benny was.”
Proof that she was on the right track came after she wrote the first chapter on Benny returning home to a parade in his honor. “I came across a letter from Jack saying ‘that was the happiest day in my life when they shoveled that spade of ground. Imagine, me, who dropped out of school. What would my mother and father think.’ Without knowing that letter existed, I assumed that had to be a culmination, at least to that point, of his life, to have left that town a third-rate vaudevillian, with his mother dead, his father disappointed in him and to come back a legend, honored in a parade. That had to be a high point in a man's life.”
There are scores of Benny stones in the book — his friendship with Clark Gable, his marriage at 33 after having a girl in every port the time he first held his hand up to his face after Mary scratched the side of his cheek with her fingernails, the fond memories of their daughter Joan who was anxious to talk of the joy of having Jack for a father but was ignored by the media after the comedian’s death on Dec. 26, 1974.
“When we started writing, she (Mary) was still in very deep mourning. Sometimes she would be talking in the present tense then she would get that look in her eyes and say, ‘Gee, I thought I just heard Jack coming in,’ and then she would stop herself. And it was very painful at first. We would start the sessions by saying ‘Mary, how nice you look today,’ and then ease gently into conversation about Jack. After the mourning was further behind her, she became keenly interested,” said Ms. Borie. To date, she and Marks have been assigned the bulk of publicity interviews. A rare exception was Mary Livingstone’s conversation with Johnny Carson on the NBC-TV Tonight Show.
Jack and Mary Benny had planned to adopt more children after Joan. Marcia Borie: “Strangely enough, no one had told me that Mary had lost a child. In a remote clipping in the Academy library, I found a short item which was headlined. ‘Mary Benny Miscarriage.’ I went to Mr. Marks and asked if he knew about it. He said yes, but didn't think to tell me. No, this is not stupidity on his part. He is a comedy writer. He doesn’t think in narrative, which is my job. I know the woman reader wants to know about episodes like this. I asked Mary and she said they were considering adopting a little boy when she found out she was pregnant. But she had always had a low blood sugar condition and she lost the baby. It took up only a few paragraphs, but it was a very human moment.”
Most people agree Jack Benny was not in awe of anything. There was never any pretense. He was happy eating in an expensive restaurant or a McDonalds. About the only thing he didn't like was standing in line at airport terminals. Which is to say when you’re profiling an entertainer of his star status, his very normalcy made him abnormal. Far from dull, the Mary Livingstone-Hilliard Marks-Borie book accents Jack Benny’s zest for life. It may be the best Hollywood biography to come along for years to come.
“I am happy they're having the joy of this,” said Ms. Borie. “I, God-willing, will go on to other books, but Mary had only one husband and one book. Hilliard Marks had only one famous brother-in-law and probably one book. I am surprised it’s doing as well as it is. It’s not salacious. There is nothing filthy about it. I was resigned to the fact this would be accepted as a warm book. I mean there was nothing here to manufacture, to titillate. If they want breakdowns, let them go to ‘Vivien Leigh.’ Jack Benny was a damn decent person and that’s all there was to it.”

One of Ms. Borie’s statements struck me as odd.

…why was Jack Benny the only non-ethnic comic? He never traded on his Jewishness. He was non-ethnic because he came from a non-ethnic community in the Midwest.

Setting aside the generality of “only,” the answer doesn’t strike me as true. He was non-ethnic because his act never was a broad dialect act, just as Fred Allen’s act or W.C. Fields’ act had nothing to do with their ethnic origin. Jack became a stand-up comedian while in the Navy and did jokes about general things the audience could understand. He was no different on the vaudeville stage of the ‘20s. Must someone automatically do stereotyped Jewish routines because of their personal religious beliefs?

But, then again, I don’t know Jack Benny. Frankly, I don’t think any of us ever will. But having been entertained for years by recordings of his radio shows, I’m sure willing to agree with Ms. Borie’s conclusion that he was a decent person. I’d be disappointed if it were otherwise.

1936: A Cartoon Year in Review

1936 was one of the years of change in the animated cartoon industry. Walt Disney signed a distribution deal with RKO, jumping up a notch from United Artists. That’s even though RKO owned 50% of a company in New York, Van Beuren Corp., which made cartoons and live action shorts. The Van Beuren cartoon studio quickly died and Amadee Van Beuren reorganised his company.

Not far away in New Rochelle, Paul Terry eased out his former partner and grabbed some of the cream of the Van Beuren employees. And on the other coast, Ub Iwerks suddenly stopped making cartoons for North American theatres after an abortive attempt to expand his operation and then move it to New York.

The Film Daily reported on much of this in its editions of 1936. We’ve already posted what happened at the Schlesinger studio that year, so let’s post selected stories about the others. Due to length—and this is already long—I’ve skipped the reviews and some feature articles “written” by people like Walt Disney, Charlie Mintz and Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising about cartoons in general. I’ve also left out a bunch of items about merchandising deals. There were a bunch of them about licensed Scrappy stuff. Columbia was sure pushing him.

While everyone today talks about the Iwerks studio, the trades in the day referred to it as Celebrity Productions, the name of Pat Powers’ distribution company. You’ll notice virtually nothing about some of the studios.

Two curious items. One involves a film series called “Marty Monk.” Whether it got made, I have no idea. The Big Cartoon Database reports on an earlier series in 1931. Even more curious is a political cartoon called “The Amateur Fire Brigade.” It was made in 1935. It depicted the Republican elephant sleeping while the Democrats run off with prosperity. A donkey dips into a pork barrel while recovery burns on a stove. Miss Liberty puts out the fire as the Fire Department (led by FDR) uses its hoses to soak the rich. Who animated it? Beats me. Jam Handy maybe? If anyone knows, I’d love to hear the answer.

January 3, 1936
British Firm to Make Ad Films for Celebrity
Stanley S. Neal, head of Revelation Films, Ltd., largest British producers of business films, said yesterday that he will make arrangements with Celebrity Pictures, Inc. [sic], for production of nine color cartoons for advertising purposes and that while here he will endeavor, at the request of two national British advertisers doing business in this country, to line up theater bookings for business films. ...
Neal said he paid British theaters from $15 to $300 weekly for use of business films and that during 1935 his company produced 27 shorts which brought revenue conservatively estimated at $750,000 to theaters. Neal said his company's biggest success in business films had been obtained with a color cartoon produced by Celebrity Pictures for Booths Chemists, Ltd., the largest drug store chain in the world.

January 15, 1936
Max Flesicher, producer of “Popeye” and “Betty Boop,” left yesterday for a mid-winter vacation in Miami. He will return to New York about February 15.

January 16, 1936
Essaness Puts on Cartoon Shows
Chicago — First of a series of “Giant Cartoon Shows,” matinee programs of animated shorts for children, will be offered Saturday by the Essaness circuit at the Devon, Embassy, Biograph, Davis, Irving and Vic theaters.

Deco-Frost Signs "Scrappy"
"Scrappy" candy cake decorations now are being manufactured by the Deco-Frost Products Inc. of New York, under a preferred license recently granted by the franchise department of Columbia Pictures, which controls the merchandising rights to the juvenile animated cartoon character.

January 20, 1936
Jewelers Sign "Scrappy"
Silverman Brothers, Inc., of Providence, manufacturers of novelty metal jewelry, have signed with Columbia to manufacture a new juvenile line of stamped metal "Scrappy" jewelry in four colors. The other characters in the Columbia animated cartoon series also will be used on the jewelry, which will be distributed nationally in chain stores.

January 30, 1936
Schlesinger to Film NBC Radio Feature
West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY
Hollywood—"Death Valley Days", for five years a popular NBC radio feature, has been acquired for filming by Leon Schlesinger, producer of "Merrie Melodie" and "Looney Tune" cartoons for Warners.

February 1, 1936
Ralph Wilk column from Hollywood
Additional nominations for Academy awards will be announced Feb. 6. First candidates to be named cover the short subject division. These nominations are: Harman-Ising's "Calico Dragon" and Disney's "Three Orphan Kittens" and "Who Killed Cock Robin?" in the cartoon field

February 3, 1936
Phil M. Daly column from New York
• • • LOOKS AS if "Scrappy" . . . Columbia's animated cartoon character . . . has stolen the spotlight in the exhibition of the Bermuda Trade Development Board . . . which will start tomorrow eve and continue throughout the month in the British Empire Building at Radio City . . . there will be a "Scrappy's Going to Bermuda" section . . . with talks on the art of drawing and modelling Scrappy in crayon, paint, soap sculpture and wood cutouts by foremost artists and members of the city Board of Education . . . to be given every Saturday morn before school teachers and the general public . . .

February 5, 1936
80% of Van Beuren Lineup Ready for April Release
More than 80 per cent of the Van Beuren Corp. product for 1935-36 release through RKO will be completed and ready for release by April 1, according to President Amedee J. Van Beuren. . . .
By April 75 per cent of the "Easy Aces" [Jane and Goodman Ace live action] series and the "Rainbow Parade" cartoons in full Technicolor also will be finished.

February 6, 1936
Appeals Cartoon Decision
An appeal taken by Helen Kane in her infringement action against Paramount and Max Fleischer, cartoon producer, from a lower court decision will be argued in the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court next month. The actress charges that Betty Boop, a character in Fleischer cartoons, infringes upon her rights.

February 19, 1936
Gets First Color Cartoon
George H. Callaghan has received the first of a new series of "Marty Monk" color cartoons entitled "The Paper Hanger."

Chicago—Action of the Ohio sponsors in banning the animated cartoon, “The Amateur Fire Brigade,” satirizing the New Deal, will be fought to a finish, according to Raymond Pitcairn, national chairman of the Sentinels of the Republic.

February 21, 1936
Scrappy-Bermuda Exhibit
Roger Albright, assistant to Carl E. Milliken of the Hays Office, will deliver a talk on "Cultural Overtones in Present Day Motion Pictures" as part of the Scrappy animated cartoon exhibit at the Bermuda Festival, British Empire Building, Radio City, tomorrow.

February 26, 1936
P. A. Powers to Produce "Reg'lar Fellers" Comics
In addition to a fourth series of ComiColor Cartoons already planned for 1936-37, P. A. Powers will expand the activities of his Celebrity Pictures by producing a new cartoon series based on the Gene Byrnes newspaper strip, "Reg'lar Fellers", under a deal made by Charles Giegerich of Celebrity. Both series will be produced under the directorial supervision of Ub Iwerks.

February 28, 1936

Celebrity Gets Screen Ad Deal
Following the showing of a test reel made for the Boots Pure Drug Co. of England, Celebrity Productions has signed a contract with Revelation Films, Ltd., London, industrial film company, whereby Celebrity will make a series of cartoon comedies for a full business promotion campaign. Deal was arranged by Stanley Neal, representative of Revelatoon Films, with P.A. Powers of Celebrity.

Scrappy Sells 436,000 Lamps
Final figures received this week from General Electric Co. revealed that the Scrappy license secured by that company from Columbia, covering the animated cartoon character, resulted in the sale of over 436,000 Christmas tree lamp shades. General Electric has the license to also market Scrappy dishes, cups and saucers, lamps and toys.

March 3, 1936
Will Produce One Cartoon Feature a Year Besides Shorts
West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY
Hollywood — Deal was closed yesterday whereby Walt Disney, now producing the Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony cartoons for distribution through United Artists, will release through RKO Radio, starting with the 1936-37 season. He will make one cartoon feature a year in addition to the series of Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony subjects.
The deal was arranged by M. H. Aylesworth, Leo Spitz and Ned E. Depinet for RKO Radio, Walt and Roy Disney and Gunther Lessing for the Disney organization. Contract runs for a period of years. First of the Disney feature cartoon is "Snow White" now in work. It will be produced in the three-component Technicolor.

Moser-Terry Cartoon Unit Undergoes Reorganization
Frank Moser, president of Moser-Terry, Inc., producers of the Terry-Toon cartoons for Educational, has resigned to devote his time to painting, and Terry has acquired Moser's interest and succeeded him as president of the firm, to be known hereafter as Terry-Toons, Inc., it was announced yesterday following a meeting of the board of directors.
Harvey B. Day was elected vice-president in charge of sales; Philip Scheib, musical director, was named second vice-president, and William W. Weis[s] secretary-treasurer.
Terry and Moser have been associated in cartoon production for 15 years. The reorganization will be followed by an expansion of the Terry-Toon staff and the acquisition of larger quarters in the Pershing Square Building at New Rochelle.
Moser will take an extended vacation before turning his attention to painting.

March 6, 1936
Academy Award: Outstanding Short Cartoon, “Three Orphan Kittens,” (Walt Disney).

March 9, 1936
Phil M. Daly column
• • • AND NOW to get some Names into the kolyum complaints have reached this dep't that we don't get enough names in . . . Arthur Kay, the character voice of the Terrytoon Cartoons, also voice recordings on Max Fleischer and Van Beuren cartoons, and a gent who has scored and is scoring brilliantly in radio, vaude and nighteries with his fine characterizations of pop entertainers.

March 10, 1936
Disney Short in Dual Premiere
Walt Disney's "Orphans' Picnic," Mickey Mouse cartoon released through United Artists, will have a dual premiere in Radio City, opening tomorrow at the Center Theater and next day at the Music Hall.

James B. Turbett Dead
Detroit — James B. Turbett, 62, vice-nresident of Jam Handy Picture Service, died last week in Atlanta. Turbett, pioneer in the animated cartoon field, had been with the company for 20 years and before that was with the Bray Studios and the original Edison Film Studios.

March 12, 1936
113 ONE-REELERS SET BY PARAMOUNT
Eighteen shorts in color, representing three series, will be included in Paramount's short subject program for 1936-37, which will consist of 113 single-reel subjects, states Lou Diamond, in charge of this type of production for the company. The color part of the lineup will be made up as follows: six Musical Romances, six Color Classics and six Popular Sciences.
The cartoon series will comprise: 12 of Popeye the Sailor, 12 Betty Boops and six Screen Songs.

John Nolan Dead
Long Branch, N. J. — John Nolan, 66, father of William Nolan of Hollywood, creator of the movie cartoon, "Krazy Kat," died a few days ago at his home here. He had been associated with his son in drawing the animated cartoons.

March 17, 1936
School for Animators
West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY
Hollywood — Don Graham and George Drake will be in charge of a temporary school that Walt Disney will establish in New York to select 50 cartoon animators for his studio. Carter Ludlow, studio publicity man, will handle the business details.

March 18, 1936
More Space for Terry-Toons
Stimulated by a new contract for a series of cartoons to be released by Educational Pictures, Terry-Toons, Inc., has signed a lease doubling its space in the Pershing Square Building. Remodeling is already under way.

Phil M. Daly column
• • • SHORTLY SPEAKING . . . with a first class school for animators now zooming on the Disney lot in California those progressive brothers Walt and Roy Disney are now planning on opening another school in New York City to be run by none others than Don Graham and George Drake from which they will eventually select fifty animators . . . When you see one of those Silly Symphonies or Mickey Mousies on the screen little do you realize, Mr. Exhibitor, the magnitude of the studio and the tremendous amount of work connected with the producing of one of these shorts . . . but take it from one who knows . . . it's colossal as 'twer . . . and now that Donald the Duck has had his first birthday he will probably be cutting up shines and need more animators to keep him either in or out of trouble . . . then again speaking at length . . . there is that feature Snow White cartoon all in color and all Disney . . . you gotta hand it to those boys . . . cartoons may come and cartoons may go but for our dough "THE THREE LITTLE PIGS" will go on forever

March 24, 1936
George Gordon Promoted
Paul Terry, continuing the reorganization of the company making the Terry-Toon cartoon series for Educational, announces promotion of George Gordon to head the animation department. Gordon has been on the Terry-Toon staff for six years.

March 25, 1936
Seek Cartoon Animators
Search for cartoon animators to work for Walt Disney Productions has brought to New York Carter Ludlow, George Drake and Don Graham, executives of the company. They are interviewing applicants at headquarters in the RKO Building, where they intend to operate for two months. [Note: a later story said one of the applicants who was hired was a commercial artist named Les Novros].

March 26, 1936
25 A, 25 B PICTURES ON RKO '36-37 LIST
Radio Pictures plans for production of 50 features for 1936-37 release include 25 A and 25 B pictures, it was stated yesterday by an RKO spokesman.
Radio's annual convention is scheduled for the first week in June. Radio will probably distribute all of the Van Beuren product next season except the color cartoons, but has made no deal yet.

March 30, 1936
Phil M. Daly column
• Mickey Mouse, in person, is slated to appear under sponsorship of Fanchon & Marco at the current San Diego Fair in a Mickey Mouse circus, which will tour the country . . . Walt Disney has agreed to allow Mickey and his cartoon pals to join the circus biz, in replica, of course . . . After the San Diego appearance, the Mickey Mouse circuit will play Fort Worth at the Texas Frontier Exposition and eventually reach the World's Fair in New York in 1939
• • • BANK AND thermometer novelties, bearing the names and likeness of "Scrappy," animated cartoon star on the Columbia roster, will be manufactured by Zell Products Co.

April 2, 1936
To Set Van Beuren Deal
Completion of a deal for RKO distribution of Van Beuren product next season, with the exception of the Gullett [sic] color cartoons, awaits the return next week from Hollywood of A. H. McCausland, representative of the Irving Trust Co., RKO trustee.

April 4, 1936
Heads Terry-Toon Story Dept.
Mannie Davis, who has been associated with Paul Terry for 15 years, has been promoted to head the story department of Terry-Toons as the latest step in the re-organization and enlargement of the staff making Educational's cartoon series.

April 10, 1936
Kane Suit for $1,000,000 Argued in Appellate Div.
Decision was reserved by the Appellate Division, New York, yesterday after hearing arguments on a $1,000,000 action brought by Helen Kane against Paramount and Max Fleischer, cartoon producer. In her suit, Miss Kane charges that her stage character has been infringed and her civil rights violated. Attorney Louis Nizer was counsel for the respondents; Samuel Weltz represented the plaintiff.

April 11, 1936
Van Beuren plans 32 shorts for RKO
[no mention of cartoons]

April 20, 1936
New Scrappy Toys For N. Y. Toy Fair
THE Gong Bell Manufacturing Company of East Hampton, Conn., and 200 Fifth Avenue, New York City, one of the country's oldest and best known toy manufacturers, have just been granted a license by Columbia Pictures Corporation to manufacture a complete line of wooden and metal pull toys and telephones, using the name and likeness of Columbia's famous cartoon character, Scrappy. A comprehensive advertising campaign is being prepared by the Gong Bell Mfg. Co. with the assistance of Columbia Pictures. It is stated, that the Scrappy line will be finished in time for display at the New York Toy Fair. —Columbia Pictures.

April 21, 1936
DIMENSION ILLUSION PROCESS IS SHOWN
A third dimensional illusion process developed by the Fleischer studios was explained and demonstrated yesterday by Max Fleischer, head of the company. Fleischer did not claim actual third dimension but said his devjee tricked the eye into thinking it saw depth. Further experiments are now being made.
Fleischer has partly solved the difficulties of third dimension by developing a camera with a finity of only six feet. In other words the lens will not photograph beyond this distance. Miniature sets are built on angles to conform with this six-foot perspective and the animated characters are photographed several inches in front of the sets. The platform holding the set is constructed as part of the camera and must be in slight motion to give the desired effect.
Experimental shots taken with the new process have been incorporated in many of the recent Fleisher cartoons, released by Paramount. According to Fleischer, unsolicited letters have convinced him that he is on the right track.
The process is not yet practical for ordinary motion pictures as the plane of action is limited to left and right and up and down. Figures walking away from the camera would increase in size due to the short perspective of the camera and figures walking towards the lens would become smaller. The real secrets of the system are contained in the camera which is to be patented before further details are released.

April 28, 1936
New Series of Cartoons Is Planned by Celebrity
A new series of cartoons adapted from the widely-syndicated newspaper comic strips "Reg'lar Fellers" will be added to the output of Celebrity Productions for the 1936-37 season.
Under present plans Celebrity proposes to produce a series of six "Reg'lar Fellers" cartoons in addition to a fourth ComiColor series, but it has not yet been decided whether "Reg'lar Fellers" will be in black and white or in color. The ComiColors will continue to be processed in Cinecolor.

Disney Has 201 Artists
In one year 201 artists are employed at the Walt Disney studio, animating
Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony cartoons. Working hours total 259,888.

Plan 6 Color Ad Cartoons
Under agreements already closed with large commercial organizations, Celebrity Productions will make at least six color cartoons designed for advertising purposes during the coming season.

April 28, 1936
Finishing Cartoon Series

The last ComiColor cartoon on the current schedule of Celebrity Productions is now in work, with completion expected far in advance of original listing. All the shorts are made in Cinecolor.
ComiColors are adaptations from popular fairy tales and childlore. Completed subjects, called by Celebrity, "million dollar titles," are "Humpty Dumpty," "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," "Tom Thumb," "Dick Whittington's Cat" and "Little Boy Blue." Each short has a counterpart in school reading of lower class elementary school pupils.

April 30, 1936
SOVIETS WANT MORE U.S. FILMS, EQUIPMENT
Acting on a request from Moscow that he purchase more U. S. pictures, V. I. Verlinsky, Amkino president, will take along prints of four features and seven Disney cartoons when he leaves May 28 for the Soviet Union.

May 2, 1936
Cartoon Decision Upheld
The Appellate Division yesterday unanimously affirmed the decision of Judge McGoldrick in favor of Paramount and Max Fleischer in the action brought by Helen Kane. Miss Kane sued for $250,000 charging that her stage character had been infringed and her civil rights violated in the Fleischer "Betty Boop" cartoons.

May 7, 1936
Fleischer Wins Judgment
Judge Woolsey of the U. S. District Court, New York, yesterday granted Fleischer Studios, Fleischer Art Service and Joseph L. Kallus a judgment for $5,450 against Ralph A. Freundlich, Inc., Ralph A. Freundlich and Sol J. Freundlich, doll manufacturers. Infringement upon the cartoon character, Betty Boop, through dolls was charged. Phillips & Nizer, attorneys for the plaintiffs, were awarded $15,000 as counsel fees.

May 13, 1936
After Cartoon Talent
Gordon Wilson, general manager for Harman-Ising, producers of "Happy Harmony" cartoons for M-G-M, arrives in New York tomorrow from the coast to interview talent, particularly gag men, as well as to close distribution arrangements for a 50 per cent increase in Harman-Ising cartoons.

May 18, 1936
Celebrity May Transfer Cartoon-Making to N. Y.
The P. A. Powers ComiColor Cartoons and the new series of "Reg'lar Fellers" cartoons for 1936-37 may be made in New York instead of Los Angeles, according to new production plans being considered by Celebrity Productions. Harry A. Post, vice-president of Celebrity, is en route to the coast to confer with Cartoonist Ub Iwerks on the practicability of moving the entire animating plant to New York or the advisability of separating production, with the new "Reg'lar Fellers" series to be made in New York while the ComiColors would continue to be produced at the Beverly Hills studio.

May 27, 1936
Ralph Wilk column
One of the subjects in the "Going Places" series is "How A Cartoon Is Made," produced at the Walter Lantz studio. The picture has met with such success that various newspapers are using full pages, made up of stills from the subject.

May 28, 1936
With the engagement of John Herman to create ideas and gags, Paul Terry has now increased his Terry-Toon staff 50 per cent since the reorganization of the company making Educational's cartoon series. Herman for twelve years was assistant to Rube Goldberg.

June 10, 1936
Carol Tevis, who speaks the lines for Minnie Mouse in the Walt Disney cartoon, will be seen in "Sing, Baby, Sing," musical now in production at 20th Century-Fox, with Adolphe Menjou, Ted Healy, Alice Faye and Patsy Kelly in the featured cast.

June 13, 1936
A complete cartoon will be broadcast on Sam Taylor's "Hollywood Highlights" program on WOR this eve the cartoon is Harman-Ising's "Old Mill Pond," featuring colored entertainers in "swing" rhythms the sound from the film will be carried from the Astor screen to the studio for re-broadcast.

June 16, 1936
4 More Artists Added To Terry-Toon Staff
With the addition of four more artists to the Terry-Toons staff, the cartoon organization is now 60 per cent larger than it was when Paul Terry started his reorganization in the Spring.
Dan Gordon, brother of George Gordon, Terry-Toon's director of animation, has joined the Terry animation staff, and will also contribute story ideas. Herb Roth, contributor to newspaper comic sheets for 20 years, will furnish stories and gags. Arthur J. Zander [Jack Zander] and Carlo Vincignerra [Carlo Vinci] are animators.
Dan Gordon was director of animation for Van Beuren, and Zander and Vincignerra were ace members of his staff. [Note: Carlo’s last name was “Vinciguerra”].

July 13, 1936
BESSIE MAES, animator connected with the Max Fleischer studios, went to Minneapolis last week to lecture on animated cartoons at the University of Minnesota summer session.

August 20, 1936
Five "Happy Harmonies" in Production
Five Happy Harmonies cartoon subjects are now in work at the Harman-Ising laboratories for M-G-M release. In addition to "The Old House" and "Circus Days" are "The Fox Hunt," featuring the two little pups; "To Spring" a musical fantasy based on Grieg's composition of the same name, and an untitled subject presenting a mouse in a sort of Jekyll and Hyde characterization.

August 23, 1936
Belgian Color Cartoons
Brussels—Le Dessein anime European has been formed by a French-Belgian-Italian syndicate for the production of color cartoons, using a new Belgian color process. The first production will be "The Discovery of America."

August 27, 1936
Finish "Toonerville Picnic"
"Toonerville Picnic", cartoon comedy in Van Beuren's Rainbow Parade for RKO Radio release, has been completed. [Note: this was the final cartoon made by Van Beuren].

August 28, 1936
Giegerich Quits Celebrity
Charles J. Giegerich, sales manager for Celebrity Productions, has resigned and is making new plans. He stated yesterday that he is considering two proposals and also thinking of opening his own office to handle, nationally and internationally, independent pictures, including a new series of cartoons. No successor to Giegerich will be appointed.

September 3, 1936
Disney Music Deal
Walt Disney has signed a contract with E. B. Marks, music publisher, giving Disney reproduction rights to the Marks catalogue of more than 11,000 titles, and like access to more than 60 catalogues affiliated with or controlled by Marks. Dailey Paskman represented the music company in negotiations. Disney will use the music in his cartoon comedies.

September 4, 1936
Disney Gets Gold Medal At Venice Film Exposition
The 1936 gold medal award of the International Cinema Exposition at Venice for the year's best animated cartoons was awarded to Walt Disney, whose entries included "Mickey on Ice," "Three Orphan Kittens" and "Who Killed Cock Robin?", the United Artists office was advised yesterday by cable. This is the third successive year that Disney has taken the medal.

September 14, 1936
New Friedlander Firm Starts Operation Soon
Fortune Film Corp., a new firm headed by Al Friedlander, formerly vice-president of First Division Exchanges, Inc., and J. K. Chapman recent secretary-treasurer of that company, has taken over the Van Beuren space on the 22nd floor of the RKO Building in Radio City and will start alterations around Oct. 15, when alterations will be completed.

September 16, 1936
Dean of Cartoons
The oldest cartoon character on the screen will soon be cutting a birthday cake. Twenty years ago this fall Paul Terry created his Farmer Al Falfa, the comic hayseed who has appeared frequently in the Terry cartoon creations ever since. In celebration of the event Terry now has in production a picture titled "Farmer Al Falfa's Twentieth Birthday" for the Terry-Toons series he is making for Educational, and in which Al Falfa appears occasionally in company with the new cartoon star, Kiko the Kangaroo.

Popeye Clubs Increase to 300 in Year
Popeye Clubs are having an anniversary. In slightly over a year they have multiplied from one to 300. Membership in the clubs fluctuates between 300 and 1,500 youngsters. The kiddies are taking their memberships seriously, according to reports from exhibitors. They report en masse to the theater on days when the Sailor Man is on the screen.

Wayne King has recorded the new Mickey Mouse eighth birthday song for Victor Records. It was specially composed with the aid of Irving Berlin for the celebration of Mickey’s eighth birthday party, which is to be celebrated Sept. 25-Oct. 1.

September 18, 1936
The new series of ComiColor Cartoons will be distributed by Big Feature Rights exchange.

10 Radio Programs in Tie-up On Mickey Mouse's Birthday
Hookups with 10 nationwide radio programs already have been arranged in connection with the eighth birthday of Mickey Mouse to be celebrated the week of Sept. 25. Programs include Guy Lombardo and other orchestras on WABC, WEAF and WJZ, as well as Kate Smith, Burns and Allen and other popular radio attractions. Walt Disney, producer of the cartoons for United Artists release, also will be interviewed by Cecil B. DeMille on the Lux hour next Monday. Irving Berlin’s song, "Mickey Mouse's Birth-Day”, written specially for the occasion will be heard on the Gillette Community Sing program tomorrow night, with 104 stations in the hook-up.

September 26, 1936
Filmusic, Inc., rendering a comprehensive service to producers in the preparation and adaptation of music to films, is fortunate in securing Winston Sharples to take charge of all synchronization and recording Winnie is aces in his line as he proved while musical director for Van Beuren Corp. [Note: Filmusic is, as far as I know, the original company that later released the Jack Shaindlin stock music used on early Hanna-Barbera cartoons].

October 28, 1936
Fix Jan. 5 as Trial Date for Vitacolor-Cinecolor
Trial date of Jan. 5 has been fixed in a patent infringement case brought by Max B. DuPont Vitacolor Corporation against Cinecolor, Inc., in the U. S. District Court at Los Angeles. This suit involves four patents on "natural" color film and the process of making it.
Notice has been served on Warner Bros., Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Celebrity Productions, and Scientific Film Laboratories that they will be held responsible with Cinecolor for alleged infringement in connection with color shorts and cartoons manufactured for them by Cinecolor. The notice was sent by Eugene Overton of the Los Angeles law firm of Overton, Lyman and Plumb, representing the Vitacolor corporation.

October 29, 1936
“TURKEY DINNER," the first of the new cartoon series featuring Meany, Miny and Moe, the monkies which Walter Lantz is producing for Universal, will be released within the next 10 days. To take care of their increased production of 26 cartoons, the Lantz organization has had to double its staff, which now numbers 100.

November 6, 1936
Phil M. Daly column
• • • THE RELEASE by Educational of the next Terry-Toons cartoon on Nov. 27 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the oldest cartoon character on the screen . . . Farmer Al Falfa . . . twenty years ago when Paul Terry was beginning his film career, he first presented this hayseed character . . . Farmer Al now shares starring honors in Terry-Toons with Kiko the Kangaroo and Puddy the Pup . . . his anniversary picture will be titled "Farmer Al Falfa's Twentieth Anniversary"

Detroit Tavern Starts Films With 16 mm. Cartoons
Detroit—Marking the first invasion of the local film field by a beer garden, Fisher's Tavern on Washington Boulevard is offering 16 mm. pictures, largely animated cartoons. Gabriel S. Coldwater, Detroit fire marshal, made a check up at the reported request of H. M. Richey, general manager of Allied Theaters of Michigan.

November 11, 1936
Connecticut Houses Bid For Kids With Giveaways
New Haven—In an effort to recapture juvenile patronage, houses in the State are resorting to giveaways. The Devon and Thomaston Theaters, and the Park, Allingtown, are among the first to introduce Saturday afternoon drawings of a doll and a wagon, boy and girl prizes. The Fishman houses in New Haven and Fairfield will run Scrappy Cartoon matinees, distributing the puppet shows which are a Columbia-Pillsbury tieup. The Hamilton, Waterbury, has a long run of Saturday matinees planned, with the President medallion series as prizes. The Liberty, Bridgeport, operated by J. Corwel, is distributing candy to children from 2 to 5.

November 17, 1936
George Hirliman, Grand National Producer, and Amadee Van Beuren are understood to be discussing formation of a new company to produce shorts. Continental Pictures is mentioned as the name of the new company. [Note: Condor Films announced December 16th RKO still owns half of the Van Beuren Corp., which will be part of the new company].

December 2, 1936
$500,000 Asked in Cartoon Suit Against Paul H. Terry
Frank H. Moser, cartoonist of Hastings-on-Hudson, had filed suit in the Supreme Court, White Plains, against Paul H. Terry, president, and William M. Weiss, secretary-treasurer of Terrytoons, Inc., Earle W. Hammons, president of Educational, and the corporation of Moser & Terry, for $500,000 or restoration of his half interest in the firm, was learned yesterday when Justice Raymond E. Aldrich reserved decision in a motion to examine Hammons before trial. Moser claims he was jockeyed into selling his interest in the firm for $24,200 on allegations that the company was in a bad way and that Hammons might not renew the contract for distributing the cartoons. A short time later, he alleges, he learned that Hammons had renewed the contract and that the corporation made a profit of $140,728 in 1935. All the defendants deny the charges.

David Fleisher, brother of Max, the cartoon producer, has purchased a home in Miami Beach.