The March Of Time.

[Music] the mark of time [Music] in no country in the world does the average citizen have a greater money investment in his home than in the United States of America in the number and variety of devices which make for pleasant and comfortable living the American Home surpasses all others every year resourceful industrialists and gadgeteers bestow upon the housewife more appliances calculated to make her work easy and provide Leisure for her and her family but in spending this Leisure many American families like nothing better than to get away as promptly as possible from home and all its Comforts number one means of escape from the he side is the automobile number one nighttime Amusement is the motion picture more than 50 million US citizens regular movie goers pay into the nation's box office nearly 2 b million dollars a year sports are another favorite attraction gregarious and uproarious and agreeably sedentary for spectators they are a welcome Refuge to the millions of Americans who would rather be out with crowds of their fellows than cooped up at home more and more Sports in which amateurs can exhibit their prowess have become a social activity for the whole family and when the last game is over the last movie out the American citizen has a final alternative to home in another currently flourishing institution the nightclub throughout the United States there are about 70,000 night spots and today their major problem is less how to attract customers than how to make room for all those trying to get in perhaps 10,000 of these places are real nightclubs with a band and [Music] entertainers attendance at nightclubs across the land tallied up to some 200 million admissions last year a take of well over $600 million over a 100 million more went to the government in taxes capital of the nation's nightlife is its biggest and richest city New York whose thousand odd nightclubs range all the way from Side Street bistros to elegant establishments whose names and nightly doings are familiar to gossip column addicts from coast to coast today New York's nightclubs are enjoying an extravagant boom night after night such opulent pleasure domes as the Monte Carlo are packed to the doors with well-healed customers whose spending is on a scale unequaled even in the fabulous days of the Roaring 20s as a social institution New York's nightlife has come a long way from the prohibition ERA with its Clip Joints and gang Warfare but though it is today a substantial and decorous branch of Show Business it Still Remains a highly speculative industry because only one new club in 10 that opens its doors as apt to last out the first season it is an investment strictly for those who are willing to gamble on a long chance the the bulk of the initial investment goes into decorations the godier the better to put the customers in the right frame of mind for spending catchen equipment accounts for another Big Slice of the investment there has to be a floor show to get the customers in and it has to be costumed and rehearsed all of which takes money today every Club has to conform to rigid fire laws to strict licensing and police regulation including the fingerprinting of all employees a lingering reminder of the reputation the industry acquired in its gangster ridden prohibition days listen we got every license in the world but the Cabaret license and you'll have to give us a temporary one so we can open up now here boys we got the the health license we got the building license and we got the liquor license and we got rid of the catroom so all we have to do is get the cavaret license and we're all set to keep a first class place going takes a big stop sometimes as many as one employe for every two guests the first one the public meets is the door man stationed there to let in the right people and brush off any not up to the tone of the establishment well we're just going to sit at the bar oh there's no one at the bar either ah nuts to you come on in most clubs the check room girls are hired at a fixed salary by an outside concessionaire he picks them for the kind of personality that will attract tips and every everything they collect goes into their employer's box which is securely locked for the check room and other concessions including the washrooms a concessionaire May pay $50,000 or more some nightclubs are largely financed in this way washroom attendants have many devices for extracting sizable tips the range of personal services they offer is largest in the powder room which serves not only as a restroom but as a Repair Station a social Center and incidentally as a strategic relay point for gossip the fuss she made coming in just to show off her new mink what do you think strictly D muskrat from where I sat but I saw the BG off label look dear anyone can SE in a Burg do label social Arbiter of the nightclub is the head waiter who separates the sheep from the goats to celebrities unknown socialites he assigns the best tables good-looking wellt out customers get next consideration but folding money is the shest leveler of barriers with run-of-the-mill non- tipping customers the head waiter who is out to make money has ways of dealing beginning with cold disapproval and working up to polite extortion for every nightclub has its Siberia the outer Fringe of tables jammed into odd Corners remote from the floor show where traffic is heaviest noise is the loudest and the barflies apt to be most obno at these tables Thrifty customers or those unaware of the time honored ways of New York nightlife quickly learn the importance of taking care of the head waiter see if you can find us a decent table somewhere thank you sir I shall do my best by such pressure a really hardboiled head waiter can squeeze out up to $1,000 a week in tips when business is booming [Applause] the ordinary waiter cannot hope to rival these earnings but his tips average 20% and since prices are not low he can count on anywhere from $100 to $150 a week the waiter who knows how to put on a good show can increase his tips and at the same time help the club by distracting attention from the quality of the food for in many nightclubs food is apt to be indifferent at best but there are some New York night spots which take great pride in this Cuisine among them is the 21 Club nationally famous since its Speak Easy days when it was known as Jack and Charlie a restaurant rather than a nightclub 21 is best known as an after dark Resort for Manhattan and Hollywood notables almost as well known today as their more distinguished customers are 21's hosts the ubiquitous Burns and kler brothers any night in the week they are more than likely to be entertaining a dozen or so front page Personalities in their dining room people like Elliot Roosevelt and his wife the former Fay Emerson of the movies and Hollywood spectacular Orson Wells 21 has no floor show and no Orchestra to attract its clientele as nightclubs do heart of 21 is its kitchen through which nightlife tourists are occasionally conducted with pride by host m quendler a restaurant and Nightclub kitchens are very much the same in Organization no matter what difference in the quality of the food they put out as far as equipment goes our kitchen is one of the best in town but what really makes it is the staff headed up by the metro Duke Cuisine he is responsible for the planning and for the quality of the food prepared by the men under him in our place there are about 20 of them chefs cooks and assistants some for roasts others for salads and so on chefs work under terrific pressure but we know it's good for our Cooks to be kept on their toes by the gmes of our clientele even though as artists they may occasionally react with a little temperament sauce burn was on the fish burette all right it's for Mr Curtis he says don't get the sauce too Brown and plenty of hazelnut maybe like to come in here and make it himself huh but in the average nightclub as distinguished from 21 the bar is the thing for the profit on liquor is about 70% and accounts for much of the income of the place a skillful bartender protects his boss's profits by mixing his drinks without waste chisling by the use of inferior or cut liquor however May cost a bar its license most nightclub patrons stick to the standard hard drinks but in places such as El marocco which cater to the more Urbane International clientele there is a steady demand for Fine Wines and leurs El Morocco's proprietor John perona takes great pride in his collection of Vintage Wines well in a dinner in supper club like this a large part of our investment is tied up in Wines and Liquor our list still includes imported wines and alcohol of the best years because we had the foresight to Stu up to capacity Before the War Began storing wines is a delicate problem some bottles should be rotated slightly at intervals other should not be touched until sered all of them are helped by strictly controlled temperature colder for champagne than for steel wine the somier of wine Stewart with his traditional chain and key and testing cup runs the seller years of experience have made him a connoisseur and nothing is added to our collection until he has tasted and approved it but more than food or drink the show is what makes or breaks a nightclub in the most famed of all the clubs the St the customers themselves are the entertainment the St is jammed nightly with people to whom a glimpse of jinx falkenberg and clip Edwards means more than any floor show nightlife at the store Club gets reported in detail by many nationally syndicated columnists like Leonard Lions long established places with big reputations such as this don't need a floor show people come to see and be seen to Sherman Billingsley the proprietor a houseful of celebrities like Moss Hart Nat preminger Paul Douglas Earl Wilson Bert L and Charlie Butterworth is worth more than any performers he could hire at the store Club the Hub room is set aside for celebrities and favorite clients but most clubs on my nightly beat depend on their show to bring in the customers and there are as many kinds as there are tastes big popular price places like the 400 draw the young crowd they want bandsmen like Jimmy dorsy and room to dance [Music] [Applause] [Music] show places round Time Square the Zanzibar for instance draw the people to whom an evening on Broadway is a Gaya event for about what they paid for their pair of theater tickets these big places give them supper and a full review with drawing cards like the ink spots to get to heaven cuz I know that if I got to [Music] Heaven [Music] you the East Side spots the embassy in places like that are smaller and more expensive they draw a sophisticated audience which goes heavily for dancers like greb and [Music] ler for the Broadway crowd there are Comics like La Martin's Danny Thomas who gets his laughs by a fast give and take with the audience and even by kidding the institution of the nightclub multi-millionaires always occupy space on the Dance Floor got nothing but money these people loaded then come the semi- millionaires those of you who for a while thought you had a ringside table you're laughing come somebody richer than you you're the second row quick like that table drops from the ceiling then come the middle class and the peasants in the back for slightly higher brows there are Retreats like the two Cafe societies Uptown and downtown they present intimate artists like plaintiff Susan Reed who sing old ballots to the tinkle of a zither Mone and she aarrow through the streets Broad and narrow [Music] crying [Music] and alive alive oh [Applause] to ensure against the shortage of name performers Cafe society's proprietor Barney Josephson digs up promising new talent in out of the way places here and abroad and patiently builds his discoveries into prominence now in this country we like our songs underplayed you give him too much in developing his newest fine a Paris nightclub star moon Revel Barney only had to teach her a few added Graces and adapt her Parisian manner to the American [Music] taste Barney had gowns run up especially for her to underscore her guadalupian charm and give her glamour where it would do the most good when Barney has an artist ready he gives the last touches to her show at the dress rehearsal now the empresario has done what he could for his Protegé from here on out it's up to the performer and the public your walk is just the way I want it you're going to be a wow what is it a wow you'll find out okay fellas simmers spot [Music] Tony fora [Music] [Music] [Applause] in Greenwich Village and on 52nd Street jazz bands like Eddie condon's dish out for hepcats the genuine tailgate and gut bucket [Music] [Applause] [Applause] on the fringes of New York nightlife there are always a few freak places which get discovered somehow and do a big business while they last the current and apparently durable fad is a rockus resort on the old bowy called Samy's Barry Foles for years this was a hangout purely for the local aristocracy until the Uptown Carriage Trade found it nowadays the charter members can hardly find Elbow Room in the place so eager and many of the [Music] tourists we never go there anymore [Music] it's we never go there anymore [Music] the [Music] dance the [Music] many many [Music] [Applause] though the post war nightclub boom will hardly last forever the US nightclub as an institution appears to be here to stay for on Broadway or on Main Street it provides an outlet for The American's Eternal Restless need for an occasional escape from the blessings of home sweet home Time Marches On a