The Wilmington morning star., 1940-09-03
Man bout

By George Tucker

NEW YORK, Sept. 2.-Already
they are speaking of the old
International Casino, when actual
" it isn't old at all. 1t is only a
couple years old, maybe three at
the most. But it is old in the Broad
way sense, which has nothing to az
with time, because it has outlived
it's usefulness and will now be con-
verted into what is said will be
the largest store in the world.
Bonds is taking over the old
show house and will transform it
into a department store this fall.
The International Casino, a
gaudy white elephant of the Hol-
lywood type, was the last great
gesture in the direction of the idea
that you had to have a tobacco
warehouse for a night club. 1t was
a dismal flop. Most of the time it
has been idle. Clifford Fisher,
with his lavish Partisan revues,
was unable to give it the warmth
and intimacy which r essential
to success on Broadway. It was
vast in the sense that all outdoors
is vast. It had a winding stairway
and a bar that wound all the way
downstairs with it, SO that y o u
could stop and refresh yourself if
you got tired on the way down. It
was operated on the cabaret-res-
taurant idea-that is, dine a n d
have a. chorus girl show of a hun
dred femmes while you eat. It had
glittering escalators to carry you
upstairs. It had three orchestras
and a uniformed staff of scores to
wait upon you. But that wasn't
enough. The International Casino,
as everyone knows now, is truly
dead. 1t was dead the night 1t
! opened. The trouble is that some
times it takes Broadway a long
time to find things out.
But what I really wanted to say
about the old International Casino,
in dropping a posy on its bier, is
that its site is truly one of the
most famous in all New York. This
is on Broadway between 44th and
45th, and it has been 8 celebrated
and famous site, redolent with
glamorous and sentimental memo.
ries, ever since the late Oscar
Hammerstein dedicated his Olym.
pia Theater there in 1895. That was
really the beginning of Times
Square as a theatrical center. It
marked the first northward surge
of the show houses. After Ham
merstein's Olympia came the Mus
ic Hall, the New York, and the
Criterion theaters, all of which ex-
listed for a while on the same site
and gave their names to the his
tory of nightlife in New York.
Among the old, long-remem-
bered shows that delighted New
York were when Knighthood
Was in Flower" and the Prim-
rose and West Ministries.
Maude Adams played there in
The Little Minister" and in The
Girl From Maxims." Later
Lionel, Ethel, and John Barry
more, singly and, on one occasion
all together, trod those boards. It
was the only time the famous
Barrymores ever appeared en- the
same stage in New York The first
Ziefgeld Follies was shown there
too, for by that time the place was
known as the New York Roof. The
site also served for the first Arleri.
can appearance of Sir Harry Lau-
der.
But all that is gone now, washed
down the drain along with an older
and perhaps more gracious era
than the one we know now. Into it's
place will come tableware and neg
ligees, sports jackets and electric
coasters. Yet, all will not be COM
pletely lost. Even in department
stores, if you know where to look
you can find sales girls who look
like Hedy Lamar one week and
Ann Sheridan the next. Even in
department stores you can still
find Mickey Mouse soap, and
mems shirts with Barrymore col
lars. q