The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-03-07
By cHARLEs YALE HARRISON.

/ remember quite distinctly when as
a youngster l was supposed to be
studying or out looking for a job that
the vaudeville theatre held strange
attraction for me. Many an after
noon when / was supposed to be run
ming from office to office in search
of gainful employment, | would sneak
into Keith or Loew theatre and
sit throughout the afternoon watch
ing act after act whiz by on the bill.
There was something fascinating in
the technique of the vaudeville act. 1t
too& ten or twelve minutes and it NOV
ed with amazing speed and dispatch.
1t was neat, snappy and its hard eff
ficiency reflected the raciness of mod
ern American life. 1t mirrored the
lie that knew so well, the cheap wit
ticisms of the streets; the weeping
sentimentality Of the "song-hit" bal
lad, the wise-cracks, the rakish straw
hats of the "hoofers "-this was the
life that | knew. Of course, as l
sat among the gallery gods, l didn't
rationalize in this manner-I simply
sat and enjoyed myself.
Then in the evening, l went home
and listened with heavy heart to
the endless complaints Of my mother
and numerous other relatives who
pelted me the neverending questions,
Did you get a job?" Did you look
hard ?" MY God, everyone seems to
be able to find work, except you"
j mention my early attendance at
the vaudeville theatres, to prove that
am a qualified expert Of things
vaudevillian. Equipped as am with
a complete knowledge of all the in
tricate technicalities Of buck and wing
and soft-shoe dances, with an almost
perfect acquaintance with the posi-
ton which an act should have on the
bill, for example that the one-act
sketch should come before the next
to-closing act and so forth), I feel
that l can speak on "Hoboken Blues"
with an air of authority
In 1923, any Negro Tor white for
that matter) who dares to dream of a
day when the merciless exploitation
of leather factory will be no more,
is almost certain to lose his wife and
children and have his head cracked by
police clubs. Sam is no exception.
All these things happen to Sam in
"Hoboken Blues" And with it all
there is boisterous humor, lots Of
music, jazz and light vaudevillian
tears. But underneath the whole
show lies bitter and effective class
conscious wisecrack. "Hoboken Blues"
is a glorious poke in the eye at a
world run by get-rich-quickers, Wall
Streets bankers and G. 0. P. polite
ians. 1t is the sort of vaudeville that
| should have seen in my early days.
1t is headline vaudeville written by
Michael Gold, based on the Com
munist Manifesto, not on sex, which
explains the bitter attacks on it by
the capitalist press. 1t is typically
American. 1t has the CUTS of modern
capitalist society with all its capacity
and murderous exploitation condensed
into two and one half hours.
=
All of which explains why the
dramatic critics of the metropolitan
press tore it to shreds after the open
ing night. Came the critics Walter
Winchell, the wise-cracking, but emp
ty-headed critic for "The Graphic
called it alleged entertainment"
Winchell, Broadway speakeasy
habitue, certainly could see no enter
tainment in "Hoboken Blues"
Alexander Woollcott Of the World,
thought Of smart crack and then