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Fubllshea ^Witieklir at We«t.46th Street, New York 19, N. T;, by Variety^ - Inc. Annual iiiibiicrlptloti, tlO: hhgXm ooi>I«s, t6 c<uita 
IDntsrea fjita neeond oIsb* m«tt«V December 2!!, 1905, at tha Post Oltjee at ptetr TOrk, If, Y., under tin act of Uai'cli Si 18TS. 

. fJOVYRIOVT, 1»M, BX TAMBlfr, IHO. Atji BIOHTB < HiSSBKYKEI. «. . 



VOL. 169 No. 13 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 194S 



PRICE 25 CENTS 




AS 




BIZ W 



m MONEir DUE 
FOR SKID Af 
r MIAMI 

- ■ - ■ Miami Beschj Marclr 2. . 
\ THe/'^snd" Miami Beach as a 
•■winter playgrouna lor the big money 
•elements is the topic' of inside tallc 
'being hearcl ■ 'm Florida and 'elie- 
%'here. Tlie current cleanup ot ihe 
gambling; and molester element is 
'the opening gun in a campaign that 
■will eventually tfftnstorm the luxuri- 
ous Beach into a' p,ot>-priced resort 
town, ticcording. to this new iiea- 
'a'oning. ' : ' . _ ■'. . 

; Oiice the entire area, including the 
neighboring Broward county* closes 
(iiOiwti' on 'gambling, the town may no 
-longer entice' the heiivy money thai 
.alters in from New York, Chicago, 
^Detroit and elsewhere". If this come's 
:to tSass, the plush hotels in the 
■'•leai could well be without a healthy 
source o£ income and thus ready for 
-cdPhtrol hy banlcers. It is figured 
rthat when and it the financial houses 
4t>t>k over thft majority of the hotels, 
'rtfife , Beach would become a ' -winter 
%tfit'lon of the Roekawaysi Coney 
Istatid or Atlantic City, It's, pre- 
■dieted.' •• ' • 

.' .These, arguments are supported by 
the tact that banlc mortgages on the 
' Miami Beach hotels run into the 
WiUiona. Many ot the inns were built 
•W a Cost ot upwards of $10,0001 ^ 
• (Continued on page 55) 

Jxhibs' Palm Springs 
; Hotel Splurges Spark 
; Land Boom in Oasis 

* • ' ' ' Palm Springs, March 2. 

,Thls California^ desert oasis seems 
^QT- tie' ijyramiding its land boom in 
•Inverse ' ratio to other commodities, 
i'l'eture ' theatre ownei-S seem to be 
the dominant sparkplugs , in further- 
ing development. Newest hotel, the 
Palm Springs Biltmore, on the Indio 
road outside oi town, is a 52-suite 
hostelry just built by Samuel H.- 
Levin, San Francisco, theatre owner. 

Another Frisco exhibitor, Joe Blu- 
^n'enteld, alre;idy has an extraordin- 
ary .successs in the Wonder Palms, 
■ with i'ts' 43 rooms, which will be 
augmented by 20 more next season. 
Just opened, and managed hy Mrs. 
McGae, long, at King Charney's (now 
'ftoi'ace Heidt's) Lone Palm .hotel, 
the Wonder Palm is a signal success, 
getting a strong -show biz following. 

The tlurd big .spot, with show biz 
baifkgrbund, is the swank La Quiijta, 
'some 20 miles froni ' here, which 
■John Balaban and a, Chicago syndi- 
cates ars utilizing as a sparkplug for 
•a realty development. William 
■Walsh, ex-Las Vt^gas : hotel • man, 
'manages La Quinta but, unlike the 
Tnore direct supervision of the Heidt, 
Levin; -Blumenfeld and Chariie Far- 
't"ell '(Hacquet CJuB) ope*atl'bns, Bal- 
aiban's i« more an absentee landlord 
propojiition. It enjoyed a boom dur- 
ing the war years. 

Farrell, former Fox Film star, has 
the top Spot here. It's owned and 
jointly, operated by him and-, his 
(CoHtinuei) on page fiS) i ' 



15 of 39 BVay Cinemas 
Ni)w Ptey Foreign Pix 

With 13 theatres out ot some 39 
housed: in the Broadway ai;ea al- 
ready . regularly playing foreign 
'fltms, 'Brandt circuits Is switching its 
W. 42nd St. Pix, a 900rseaterj from 
oldies to arties in the near future. 
Teeoft reportedly will be the Mayer- 
Burstyn '; Import, "Paisan," .written 
and directed by Roberto Rossellini 
of "Open City" fame. 

Current foreign total can be upped 
to 15 if the Park Avenue and Win- 
ter Garden theatres ' are included. 
Houses :respectively are playing the 
British-tinades, "holiday Camp" and 
"Jassy/* . .Other recent converts to 
foreign pix besides the Pix ^re Ar- 
thur Mayer's RialtO' which dropped 
a B first run poli6y, while the Sut- 
ton, on S7th St., hopped on the 
foreign bandwagon with the Briti-sh 
pic, "I Know Where I'm Going," 



Jukebox Chains 
Eye Smafl Labels 
For Disk Cut-ins 



Jukebox ' operators are going the 
way ■ of the grocery business. It is 
an- established praictice in the latter 
field that after a retailer has estab- 
lished a stnall chain of his own in 
■am area he tries to get from smaller 
food processors the exclusive dis- 
Jjribution rights for their products 
for that territory. The jukeboxers 
are now prevailing upon small rec- 
ord m^nufaitu'rers to let them be- 
come, distributors. 

The .fliachine ops offer what the 
.smaller label people admit is a 
pretty cogent argument. Say there 
are 2O0 box placements in his favor. 
The operator in that particular area 
has no one to account to, but to 
himself, in servicing a machine with 
records. He^ can, if he elects, insert 
the product' of lesser known comr 
panies Instead of that of the major 
label.",, And*if he builds these minor 
labels into hits, the' op feels that he'.s 
entitled to the added' reward of hav- 
(Continued on page 55) 



USES STAGE TECHNIQUE 
TO SET WALUCE RALLY 

Minneapolis, March 2. 
At the Henry Wallace campaign 
meeting here it was revealed that 
"showmanship" , is being' employed 
for all of the presidential candidates': 
rallies to give them glamour and en- 
tertainment, value. Theodora Peck, 
erstwhile stage and radio director 
and actress, has been employed a.s 
' stage director" and .says her job is 
"glamour and entertainment." 
I « Miss Peek, who admits to "know- 
i ing a lot" 'a,bout stage lighting, dis- 
closed that 'stage production meth- 
ods'' will be utilized for the Wallace 
meetings, with effective lighting of 
the speakers- and hall one of the 
principal aims. 

Attracting a capacity crowd at the 
armory liert;, the Wallace rally was 
higbliahted by talks by Canada Lee, 
Negro stage and .screen actor, aqd 
■ <GOntinued oh page 53) 




SEEN ' 

ALL lUnNIS 



Television, the infant prodigy > of 
show business, may prove just what 
the doctor ordered for the ailing 
entertainment World. 

With most phases of show biz 
currently stalled in poor .business 
doldrums, television — liifshoot' of 
them all — is the only/ one now 
showing any signs of progressive 
activity. Situatiop has led some to 
believe that video will steamroller 
ahead at the expense of the others. 
but most key execs of allied ' flelfis 
have become convinced that the hew 
medium Will eventually boom them 
all to new top-profit conditions. 

Radio, most closely allied to, tele, 
has continued to shdw neat profits 
each year. With constant criticism 
raised against radio tor its failure 
to develop new stars or new ■ pro- 
gramming formats, however, there's 
no question about ' its being in a,: 
static condition. Top networlt and.ad 
agency personnel, consequently, are 
hopefully eyeing tele as the jjr^r 
scription that, can remedy the situ- 
ation. 

NBC exec veepee Frank E. Mullen, 
while indicating that the web may 
eventually merge, its radio and tele 
(Continued on page 41) 



Raps H wood Fear 
Of Tele As 'Silly' 

By JACK HKIXMAX 

'Hollywood, March 2. 

"If the picture people are smart 
they'll give us all the film we need." 

It Was Frank Mullen doing the 
talking and he was more than , a 
little put out with Hollywood's atti- 
tude toward television, being the 
chief spokesm.'jn for NBC's video 
operation, which he commands as 
executive veepee, 

"I think they're being downright 
silly in their fear o( television's in- 
roadii on the box office," he al- 
lowedj "and their refasal to go^along 
in these early stages is more than a 
little annoying. If they'll only look 
at the potential audience to be 
created by the new sight medium 
they'll wi.se up to the fact that tele- 
vision can be their greatest medium 
to -stmiulate attendance. Only one in 
20 now go to picture -shows and 
video can make addicts o£ the other 
19. 

"We're not trying to needle the 
(Continued on page 47) 



Axis Re-Education Pic 
Plan Gets Army Exit 

The ambitious film program of the 
U. S. War Dept. which was to be a 
prime tool in the education of Ger- 
many, Japan and' other occupied ter- 
.ritories, has petered out because of 
a crippling Governmental regulation 
in the Army's book of rules, it's been 
learned. Congress appropriated $3,- 
000,000 for use in film production by 
the Army's Civil Affairs Division. 
Of that sum, $2,500,000 has been re- 
turned to the War Dept. unused and 
intact. 

Regulation which has hampered 
the program compels' the Army to let 
out the film work on bid alone, with 
the lowest offer getting the job. 
Brig. Gen. Robert K. McClure, head 
of the 'film division, it's understood, 
is opposed to that inefficient forni of : 
operation since it fails to guarantee 
the right kind of output. He's there- 
fore refused to let out much of ttie 
work. 



Video Teaches 
Kids Balked By 
School Walkout 



Minneapolis, March' 2. ' 

KSTP will televise classRS. for 
Minneapolis public , school fupils 
locked out as a result of the teaeh- 
ersi' strike. Approximately 50 tele- 
vision receivers are 'being placed in 
settlement houses, churches and li- 
braries throughout the city. 

Groups of P.T.A., Church. Univer- 
sity of Minnesota, Boy Scout, Y.W.C. 
A. and Y.M.C.A. representatives- 
have planned the program, which 
includes morning and attemoon film 
sessions, demonstrations and en'^er- 
tainment for children. 

Two KSTP television sight-and- 
scund transmitters are bektg set up 
on rooftop Iqcations in downtown 
"Minneapolis. 

Teachers' strike here is proving 
break for theatres' teen-age and 
juvenile attendance, having jumped 
75% since pedagogues' walkout, . 

With all grade and high school 
classrooms closed as strike's result, 
many youngsters apparently are 
.spending spare time at pix and get- 
ting their present "education" from 
screen. ■ , 



Tops- of the Tops 

Betail ]>igk Sell«r 

"Four Leaf Clover" 
- Retail Sheet UbiSie Sdlelf 
"Now Is The Hour" 
"Most Requested" .blak 

"Foul' Leaf Clover" 
Seller on Coin MachincB 
• ^'Now Is tha Hpur" 
British Best SellW 



SKEPTICS WWH 
LUX AOe 

In, face of some opinion thaj; Al 
Jolson.. might, fade out before' th« 
radio season was half over,, the vet 
showman has j'iist written the poafe 
.chapter in his spectacular "come- 
back" saga' with, the latcs^^' HoQ{>ers 
linking up' a 30,5. x^tinjf f Or his CBS 
."Lux Radio theatre" dramatization; 
of the "Jolson Story" pjc^ yhis was 
the !juestj5B-'niBi^*r>ffe1«!Ri?;&ay <23>., 

Th(rffe«..")K»^<bi>'"rating of the 1947- 
'48 season for any broadcast, with 
the single exception of the Louis- 
Walcott fight. The previous week's . 
Lux trailer (when ■ the CBS^ ■dra- 
njatic show was vjitiiag the 'Jffa. 1 
Hqoper^ting crestV wtus,. figured n(* 
mean factor jn estE^ishiug "tha 
year's record BUdlences-f>uU. 

Fact that Jolson's ovifn Thgrsifay 
night show (Kjraft) is. consistently 
batlins in the top rating 'league is 
furtlier clincher of the continued 
potency o£ .Tolson at the boxoff^c in 
the radio-pic-disk media. 

The Lux Hooperating is the high- 
est it's ever had since 1942 and is 
currently in the le&doS spot on the 
Hooper, Nielsen and new Gallup 
ratings. That's UhprecedentQd in the 
"counting noses", sweepstakes. 

Jolson, incidentally) is scheduled 
to do, a few shows put of New York 
in the spring, '. * 



PIX UNREPPED AT 
D.C. CENSOR MEET 

Washington, March 2. 

It appeared today (2) that the 
film industry might, in effect, be ex- 
cluded from Secretary o£ Defense 
.lames Forrestal's first meeting on the 
voluntary peacetime censorship plan 
here tomorrow (Wed.). 

Kric Jc^nston, Motion Picture 
Assn. of America prexy, was invited 
to the get-together of media men, 
but is in England. MPAA offered to 
.^end a stand-in, but it's said that the 
suggestion met- with lukewarm re- 
ception at tbe Forrestal office. As 
a resOltj some ' question existed 
today whethi»r Any film rep would 
. , • (Contltittetf OH mmi%h 



Italians Frankly Want 
U. S. Newsreel Clip To 
Help Figkt Commie Wave 

Washington, Maseh 2. 
Italy, considered by poUt(c»I cont* 
mentators and Government ti£Kci&Is 
as the next crucial battleground ia 
Europe's struggle of Communists vs. 
democratic forces, looks like the first 
country to call on American- film 
companies for their direct aid in the 
fight. To combat the extreme left, 
these non-ttotalitarian elements in 
Italy want a lit>er^ dosttge of; V. S, 
newsreel clips woven info Italian 
I eels 

A. Pallavicinni, Pathe correspond- 
'ent in Italy and distrib of Italian 
newsreels, has been sent here as atr 
emissary for that country. He's al- 
ready made a pitch with the U. S, 
State Dept. to build up completer 
coverage of American events' for ia- 
clusion in Italian newsreels., Palla» ;: 
vicinni is also seeidnEi 'CdoffSPS^Sii 
of mjior companies which ' woald 
take the shape of turning over to 
him clips of Important events* 

Italian emissary, in turn, woul^ 
forWard these clips to Italy, whete 
they'd be immediately distributed via 
regular reels. His argument is that 
the Communists are makin; pfiliUcgl 
capital out of distortions of Amer- <. 
lean occurrences and pattern at, liv- 
ing. Hencet it's at utmost iotpor- 
tance that • 'tair pictixtlzstioH ttt 
these events re»cH the widest peiS' 



Wc«lnc«i1»y, Marrli 1949 



SUteDepL, f idi Part of Voiee' Bui^et 
OriAsb Senate For FiiU$3437a000 



Washington, March 
Although the House Appropflfi' 
tions Comnaiittee gave them a »harp 
increase Wst Friday, (27), member* 
of ths State Department'* Office of 
Information and Educational Activi- 
ties are turning to the Senate, hope- 
tul that, they will B«t- more. 

State Department had asked $34,- 
878,000 for its "Voice of America" 
and allied functions. The House 
committee recommended $28,000,000. 
The State people claimed that they 
etripped their budget to the bone. 
The program was developed to ineet 
the demands placed upon ihenA by 
passage of the Smith-Mundt bill 
wliich calls for fin all'Out informa- 
tion offensive to meet the Russian 
■ HfOrd-barrage in Europe. , 

• Included in the deal, State had 
asked $2,621,000 for motion pictures, 
plus $8,657,250 for radio operations, 
•and $4,400,000 to construct new 
radio relay • stations in Europe an^ 
North Africa to giv^ the "Voice of 
America", a more powerful tone. 

. Number of other points were 
.developed in the House hearings 
which were made public on Friday: 
Although Congress had directed 
the "Voice" program to operate on 
8 little under $11,000,000 during the 
current fiscal year, it has run Into 
the red and is seeking a deficiency 
appropriation of $4,795,500 to keep 
.It. goingr until June, 30. 

In. accordance with the Congres- 
eiortal plan to usa private industry 
es much as possible, the State De- 
partment expects to. spend about 
'$11,000,000 of its money among the 
media— films, radio and publications 
01— rfor thjs purpose. 
., IBiggest, beneficiary o£ this use .of 
private industry will be Columbia 
and' National Broadcasting. The 
webs have each been receiving about 
$750,000 apiece a year .for the use 
of their overseas radio facilities and 
programming assistance. Presitmr 
ably they will get more under the 
greatly eJtpanded program. Walter 
Lemmon, of Wldeworld' Broadcast 
Ing Foundation, appeared before the 
committee te'tJwgppffn mat. he was 

• not getting, a chance^ tfc *9«td^fejipate 
in the "Voice of America" and that 
it looked lik» a monopoly for CBS 
and NBC. TWiUiim T. Stonfe, direc- 
tor of OIE, aaid Lemmon had been 
'Deceiving about $160,000 a year for 
■part-time rental of his facilities but 
thAt no agretment could be reached 
'On ■• ptogramming because Lemmon 
>^^6Uld nOt give a formal estimate 

At outline his plafos. ' ' 



Typed 

After the dresiB rehearsal of 
"Oklahoma!" on the stage of tha 
St. James in New York, I had 
iust dismissed the company and 
was about to go home, When an 
elderly/ benjga-loolting man 
stepped on the stage from the 
wings and asked: "Do you recog- 
nize me, -Mr.v Mamoulian?" I 
said, that the face loolsed 
familiar, but that I couldn't place 
him exactly. The man said, "I 
acted in the first picture you 
ever directed, 'Applause' with 
Helen Morgan. . .Yes, sir,, you 
started me on my acting career!" 
"How nice," I said, "What part 
did you play in 'Applause'?" "I 
played the part of a doorman," 
he replied. "Aha," I said, "and 
what are you doing now?" "I am 
a stage doorman here at the St. 
James," he said. 

Then, after a short pause, with 
a .whimsical smile, he added: 
"That's' funny, 14 years ago I 
played a doorman, now I am 
oner . 

-rrltouben Mamoulian. 




298di WEEK! 

KEN MURRAY'S 

"BLACKOUTS OF 1948'' 
El Capitan Thaatra, Hollywood, Cal, 
Nariond/ Rtfcaw - "WU AHO COO" 
Emtar VImk , „ ^ 

Released through KepubUc Plctui-ea 



Writers, Conq^osers 
Would Benefit By 
Proposed Tax Laws 

, Washlpgton,' March 2. 
Two proposed amend'ments to the 
, income tax laws, giving authors and 
[ composers a special beneficial tax 
status- were introduced an the House 

• last , week by Rap. Hugh Di Scott, 
'■ Jr. (H., Pa.). ' .■ 

The first would permit writers 
' Who seU a story to Hollywood to 
pay only, the 25% longteim capital 
gains tax, rather than pay the gen- 
eralljr much higher income tax rate 
on that lund of 'deal. 
.'Under ' the other hill, authors 
■ dramatists and composers would 
have had to pay more than 30% in- 
come tax on' "such original works. 
ITie argument is that writers and 
composers deal in an equally unoer- 

• tain commodity and should benefit 
by the same- kind of special treat- 
ment. ■■ , . 

Jane Froman to Wed 
Pilot Who Saved Her Ufe 

, Jane Froman, singer on the Sun- 
' clay night CBS Coca-Cola- show.^eft 
Monday (1) for Florida, where she 
will be married to John Curtis 
Burn, Co-pilot of the Lisbon Clipper 
which crashed in 1943 Jft the Tagus 
river, Portugal. Burn is credited, 
with saving Miss Froman's life dur- 
ing the crash, when he kept her 
head above water until help arrived, 
rived. 

• Miss Froman last week divorced 
Don Ross, former radio singer, whom 
jibe married hi 1^33; Wedding to 
Burn is scheduled for Coral Gables, 
Friday (5). 

She'll be off the colie show for 
two weeks, and is .slated to return 
March 28. Later, Mis.-! Froman ex- 
pect? to enter the hospital for an- 
other operation, which may enable 
her to discard h'er^cirutches. . { 



Adnlt Symph Orch 
Used as 'Toy' By 
S-Year-OId Maestro 

The Italian moppet batoner, eight- 
year-old Ferruccio- Burco, was an 
audience click Saturday afternoon 
(28), when he conducted a special 
BO'-piece -symph orchestra at Carne- 
gie Hall, N. y. He is believed to be 
the youngest person ever to direct 
a symphony concert in the U. S. The 
3,000-seat house- was packed for the 
performance. 

The concert was in the nature of a 
stunt, as the kid's manager, Benja- 
min Bonito, had engaged a solid 
symph outfit for the occasion. It in- 
cluded most , of the musicians of the 
N. Y. Philharmonic-Symph, who can 
play practically any. standard con-, 
cert piece with er without a conduc- 
tor.' The program waS virtually the 
•same as young Burco batoned le* 
cently in Rome', including'the Over- 
ture to Beiflini'a "Norma," the "WU- 
liam Tell" Overture; Beethoven's 
Firgt Symphony, the Prelude to "Die 
Meisters'inger" 2and the Prelude to 
"La For'za del Destine." He con- 
ducted all but t^e' last without a 
score,' ■ . 

The audience gave the urchin an 
ovation after every selection, and a 
femme enthusiast in the front row 
arose at one point and, made a, 
speech, then kissed the youngster's 
hand. . All of which he took in stride, 
even when his unrestrained admirer 
was given the: heave-ho, 

Most of the New york dailies cov- 
ered' the concert ai a news event, 
without, attempting: to review it for- 
mally. The second-stringers, gener- 
ally notedv -young -Burco's vigorotis 
style and his showmanship. 



HEARST MAY AHEND 
DINNER FOR LOUY 

Los Angeles, March 2. 

Although recently ill, William 
Randolph '■ Hearst- will try to attend 
a testimonial ' dinner Thursday (4) 
at the Cocoanut Grove, Hotel Am- 
bassador, for Louella O. Parsons. 
Shindig will cost some $50,000, cost 
to be borne by the Hearst organiza- 
tion, Publishers and managing edi- 
tors of all Hearst papers wjU attend. 

Guest list is between 800-1,000, 
with about 1,000 others, including 
some shpw biz bigwigs, turned 
down because of inability to handle 
the crowd. 



Plenty of Showmanship 
With That New Look; 
From Shuberts to TV 

By tXJCETXE CABOJN 

■ Paris, Feb. 26. 
Paris "Couture" houses have every 
reason to be optimistic: American 
buyers have returned home, leaving 
behind millions of francs. Accord- 
ing' to a survey; the sales more than 
doubled last season's. They have 
never been higher since pre-war 
days. This was due, not only to the 
devaluation Of the franc, but also 
to the great variety of styles, each 
house .having interpreted the new 
silhouette in its own way, giving it 
a great interest from, a commercial 
point of^ view. This variety of 
styles combined with a distinctive 
"Paris Look" pleased the buyers. 

Never before^have Fashion Shows 
had a greater- buildup in, the Paris 
press: everyday last week, between 
dramatic headlines about the latest 
political troubles in . Europe, or in- 
ternal financial difficultieisl, smiling 
models made the front page (the 
Paris press completely disregarding 
« rule that no fashion picture was 
to be published before April 1). 
, Starting this week, the public is 
permitted to see the collections pro- 
viding they have, an invitation and 
are willing to fight their way ^in. 
There are alw^s far more invita- 
tions than seats or space, but smart 
Parislennes enjoy it all the Inore. 

U. S. , Ambassador Jefferson Caf- 
fery accompanied his wife- to one of 
the Christian Dior shows,' but , Brit- 
ish Ambassador Sir Oliver Harvey 
let his wife go alone. Gabriel Pascal 
and his wife came together. Model 
Do Evedon, wiie of Harper's Bazaar 
fashion photographer, and who is 
under contract with David Selzniek, 
was brought over here especially by 
Carmel Snow to be photographed in 
the latest dresses... for Harper's of 
Course. ■ ■ ' 

Many celebrities are now seen In 
the fitting-rooms: Merle Oberon, in 
Paris for a few days; Princess Of 
Bourbon Parma- (Anne's mother); 
Priscilla Kastner, wife of the Co- 
lumbia Pictures Continental man 
ager, Laeey Kastner; Princess Aga 
Khan, etc. 

E-vita Peron, wife of the Argentine 
president, sent a special me.ssenger to 
buy four dresses: ''Grace's," "Ban 
CO," "Caprice" and "Divertissement; 
She had her vbody" (a dummy) made 
at Dior's last summer and she 
cabled she had not put on any 
(Continued on page 55) 



Pitching HdftSESHOES 



5Qf,Ught Cut Would K.O. 
Nite Baseball on Coast 

Los Angeles, March 2. 

Coast League baseball clubowners 
are in a tizzy over Governor War- 
ren's suggestion for a 50% cut in 
night lighting as a means of con- 
serving electric power, 

Mea-sure would affect film houses 
slishtly, caiJ.iing them to douse their 
marquee lighting, wh'ich they did 
during the war without appreciable 
loss of trade. It would be different 
in the ball parks, where the lighting 
is thrown directly on the playing 
field. A 50% reduction U^ould force 
the clubs to return to daylight base- 
ball. } t.J-i . , r, 1 (; 



1 caught CUvtic X*wrence the pthet aveninf tn a revival of the No«H 
Coward playlet*, 'Tonight at 8;30.'» 

As I watched MJsi Lawrence talte charge of the audience,.! asked my- 
self, "What inakes this babe worth five thousand a week? Is she funny? 
Yes, pretty funhy. but Nancy Walker is funnier, pan she act? Sure, but 
not any bettet than a little gal named Barbara Bel Gfedde.'?. Is she a great 
singer? Well, if* « matter of taste, taut personally I prefer Pearl Bailey. 
Is she an ot^staliding hoofer? Heck, np< Any of my; chorus kids can dance 
better," 

- What, tlien, makes her Gertie Lawrence? What kihd of light and heat 
does this £|tar give out that makes her a bigger draw at the boxotflce than 
all the other ^Is I've mentioned put together? - < 

Well, that's a question ipore, easily faced than fathomed.- Ask any five 
producers- i^hy one person is a wow and another a -walk-on^ and you're 
liable to get five different answers. Ask me and I'll 'mumble— miinible 
about some mysterious • and magnetic quantity I call "X"r-the ability to 
turn It on when you need it.- 

Remember that World Series game in Chicago when Babe Ruth turned 
to the fans whp were booing him, pointed to a spot in the bleeebers atid 
smacked the next pitch right where he had pointed? That was X. Ae- 
member that day at Forest Hills when a fairish tennis player named 
Jones banged four successive aces past Fred Perry? -The fabulou,^ Fred 
was never noted for his serve, but he saluted, Jones and- then aced him v. 
right back with four of the fastest serves of M».life. Another example of 
what I mean by X-appeal. ... 
But let me t^ll you about one of the times Oef tie Lawrence turned it on. 
In "Lady in the Dark," as you and several million other customers re- 
member, .Gertie jdayied the bosslady of a slick fasbjion ma|(azjoe. The, plot 
of this musiraL concerned Itself with her neuroses< which were sprouting 
neuroses. Moss Hart fashioned this- Ubretto with, the Bnglish <&tar in mind, 
and the sainted Sam Harris, who produced .the fshow, .hqd to guarantee 
Gertie $5,000 a week against a double helping of .the gross, Like Cornell 
and Haye!!, she was the show, and Was in a position to call all the shots, • 
And from what I h'eard around Broadway, Gertlet frequently called them 
at the- top , of ;her voice; 

During the last 'week or rehearsals, Moss got wort^ied. Miss Lawrence 
had some cute songs, including the one about l)er ship having sails of 
silk, but no slam-bang comic song had been written for her. On the other 
hand, a tcid out of the Borscht Circuit named Danny Kaye had been handed 
a clever ditty called VTschaikowsky." The script called for Danny to sing ; 
this song in act two while Gertie relaxed in a swing upstage. Well, Mo.ss 
knew his. show business well enough to know that. the star wa.'sn't ^'oing 
to sit by happily while a newcomer: with hair like a popsicle took the 
theatre over. "Tschaikowsky" -was. a cinch vto be ytoked ri^ht after the 
opening performance out ol town. 

The worried Moss comtered composer Kurt Weil and lyricist Ira Ger$h- : 
win, locked them in -a room and stood guard. At Ct:30 next morning, the 
boys emerged 'with a miiltiversed little number called "Jetmie." Hart 
didn't think too much of it, and when it was played for her that afternoon, 
neither did Gertie.. Tlie star pointed out it was .only- moderately funny . 
and not her style. It might do for a shouting songstress .Jifce Sophie 
Tucker, but after all, Gertie was a lad'y. 

"Look, my pet," Moss pleaded, "we're going up to Boston to try things 
out. Learn the song and see how it goes. If it doesn't click, Kurt and Ira 
will write another for you." 
"Okay," agreed the star, "but it's a waste of time." 
Miss Lawrence memcvized the lyricv and during the dress rehearsal in 
Boston, half-mumbled and hatfrsang it, making no secret of her belief 
that "Jennie" would be jettisoned before the N^W' York premiere. 

And then came opening night at the Colonial Theatre. In act one, 
Danny Kaye gave a good account of himself, but-Gertie was the sta'r and 
the audience was given no chance to forget it. - But down in act two, 
Danny stepped to the footlighta and let go with "Tschaikowsky." And as 
Moss Hart tells it, Danny was scared— -scared he was going to stop the 
show with tills murderously good piece of lyric writing. And then have 
it cut out by order of the star. - 

But the lyrics of "(Tschaikowsky" were too hot to be cooled off, and. 
Kaye had too much of what It takes not to give. 'When he finished the 
funny tongue-twister, the. crowd applauded for two solid minutei^— practi- 
cally a lifetime in the theatre^ The distressed Danny tried to shuish the 
audience, but this was mistaken by the customers, for modesty and they 
clapped all the louder. 

In the back of the house; Hart, WeiV and Gershwin gave each other tha 
old "that-doesrit" look. Moss was already speculating on what he could 
substitute for Danny's show-stopping specialty. 
And then "X" took over. 

When the applause finally tapered off. Miss I^awrence slipped down off 
the swing, saluted Danny with a deft gesture, took stage center and went 
into "Jennie." - 

Now remember she was singing a song. that wasn't her style, and which 
she didn't especially like. But the crowd had cheered somebody else- 
some smart Alec had whipped four service aces past the champ. 

Suddenly Gertie stopped being Miss Lawrence and became Sophie 
Tucker, Fanny Brice and Gypsie Rose Lee. As she reached the end ol 
the first couplet of "Jennie," Gertie let go with a Beale Street bump. 
During stanzas 'two and three, she did things with her aristocratic derriere 
which had the audience in a wall-eyed trance. And down neaJ the end 
of the song, the star went into the most magnificent mock strip-tease ever 
seen inside the theatre or out. 

Well, when Gertie, finished, they had to do everything but turn on the 
sprmHer system to quiet the crowd and get back to the plot again. 
And Jennie," the song nobody liked, went sltrocketinc into theatrical 
history. ■ ■ *^ ' 



STREAMLINED FORMAT 
FOR RINGUNG CIRCUS 

The Ringling circus will have that 
"new look" when- it rolls into Madi- 
son Square Garden, N. Y., on April 
7, According to John Ringling North 
prez and producer of the big top 
this lyear it will be streamlined to 20 
acts to be presented in a new format. 
Equipment and traveling gear for 
the entourage ha,s also been com 
pletely overhauled ro simplify the 
circus' itinerary. 

Just returned from a Iwo-and-a 
half month talent .search that carried 
him through seven European coim 
tries, North signed three acts over 
seas including a trapeze team and 
couple of animal specialtie.s, Th 
first act will arrive in the U. S. on 
March 25, 

. Circuses arc bigfier than ever 
Europe, North reveals. Travelling 
through several war-.stricl<en coun- 
tries as well as Spam and Portugal 
he ."aid circuses arc playing to ra 
pacity because the people want to 
^ft.baflii to ^hp^mplqj,.t}iinfi?., > i 



I presume Miss Lawrence still cashes a pretty big check oh payday. 
Well, as far as I'm concerned, the lady doesn't have to blush when she 
hands it to the bank teller, 
a I were the. bank teller, she wouldn't everi have to sign her name. 
Her •*X^' would be sufficient. 

• (Copyright, 1948, by Billy Rose) 



Surefire 

Solly 'Violinsky, who has laid 
off under four presidents (one 
of them with 'four terms yet!) 
was diagnosed by his doctor as 
having fatigue from "overwork." 

Comedian always latclies on 
to unitft entertaining wounded 
veterans in the various Army 
hospitals. "I'll entertain any- 
body that can't, walk out on me," 
.says Violinsky. 



Critic Hannen Swaffer 



RINGWAII MOVES DISK SHOA^ 

Cleveland, March 2. 

Dr, Rudolph Bingwall, associate 
director of the Olevelatid Symphony, 
moves his sponsored disk show from 
WJW to WGAR and from a Thurs- 
day night to Sunday ,slot. 

Sponsor "remains the same, So- 
ciety for- JS,fty/tngj^. .Bank., ,,i"y,'',.', 



For Show's 'Indecencies' 

By HANNEN SWAFFER' 

London, 

I am sorry but I have felt it my 
duty to report the indecencies in 
the Olsen & Johnson show to the 
chairman of the Entertainment Com- 
mittee of the London County Coun- 
cil. This is -the body which has 
control of the licensing of music- 
halls. 

1 went to the first night with all 
the goodwill in the world. Chic 
Johnson, whom I had met, was ob- 
viously a fine type of man, good- 
natured, intelligent and with all the- 
appearance of an admirable ."ihow- 
man. Ole Olsen had made himself 
(Contjuiuied on ^page 55). < t ' 



Wednesday, March 3, 1948 



WFf 



TCCTmBS 



8 



BIGGEST U. S. THEATRE CHAIN 

lATSE s Roy Brewer Testifies in D.C. 
Commies Would Take Over Hwood 



' "Washington, March 2. 
^he speptre of a Communist con- 
.cpu-acy to take' over the Hollywood 
.studio unions was drawn before the 
House Labor subcommittee today by 
Roy M. Brewer, Coast rep of the 
International Alliance of Theatrical 
Stage- Employees, as the hearings 
stretched on for the 12th day. Ham- 
mering away consistently at the 
Ctimmies' infiltration tactics, Brewer 
accused lierbert K. Sorrell, head of 
the Conference of Studio Unions, 
add several local union leaders of 
responsibility for the existence of 
the Red threat in Hollywood. 

Sorrell, who's scheduled to take the 
stand tomorrow (Wednesday) in- 
formed Vauibtv that hell "take up 
the «harises one . by one and show 
whether or not I am a Communist." 
-He , indicated that he will deny alV 
chariges' and hinted that he will 
quote copiously . from testimony in 
the George E. Browne- Willie Bioff 
trial to prove that the lATSE lead- 
ers were guilty of instigating the 
tangled labor situation in the stu- 
dios. After Sorrell's testimony, 
.which is expected to take a day-and- 
. a-half, the House committee plans to 
recess until other witnesses indicate 
their Intentions to appear before it. 

Brewer listed a bill of Indictment 
against the Commies in Hollywood 
that spanned four years of studio 
(Continued' on page 18) 



SWG (But Not the '10') In 
Attack on Tvt Courts' 

. Hollywood, March 2. 

■ Screen Writers Guild is preparing 
an attack on the principle of "pri- 
vate courts created by private cor- 
porations to enforce a law that does 
not exist." That is Thurman Ar- 
^. nold's explanation of bis current 
legal connection with SWG. The 
onetime U. S, attorney-genesal . de- 
clared that the Guild's Impending 
action is purely a legal assault on 
studio "blacklists" and is not in any 
way connected with the trial of 
screen writers indicted for con- 
tempt of Congress. He will appear 
only in the civil cases involving, loss 
of studio jobs, as a friend of" the 
court. ■ ' 

The Guild, Arnold explained, is 
interested only in the principle of 
- concerted action on the part of the 
studios. The producers individually, 
he asserted, have the right to hire 
and five employees as they see fit, 
but when they tak6 such action as 
part o£ a. unified plan they create an 
intolerable situation. He added: 

"There have been blacklists be 
fore, but they were secret affairs. 
This in effect constitutes an industry 
court which determines the fitness 
of every writer to have his work 
produced. It does not determine 
the fltne-ss of his work." 

Arnold emphasized the theory that 
(Continued on page 47) 



H. M. Warner's Gift 

Harry M. Warner, prexy of 
Warner Bros., has made a cuffo 
offer to the U. S. State Dept. of 
20 prints of WB's two-reel docu- 
mentary on the Freedom Train, 
it's been learned. Warner wants 
the prints to be distributed in 
France 'and Italy by the film 
division of the Office of In- 
formation & Educational Ex- 
change. 

Understood that the State 
Dept. will accept with thanlcs. 
Films will be given a new com- 
mentary and then shipped over^. 
seas for Government handling 
there. 



Film B.O. Extreme 
Terrifico or NG 



'Average business, insofar as film 
exhibitors are concerned, has be- 
come a thing of the past. 

Reports from e»hi'bs in all. kinds 
of situations ■ throughout the coun- 
try, from the key city first runs to 
the ^'sub-subsequent run" houses in 
the hinterlands, indicate that busi- 
ness today is either very good or it's 
terrible. There's no longer any in- 
between point. Situation, of course, 
depends ■ on the ' picture, signifying 
the industry axiomtOf "a good pic- 
ture will always do good business" 
is as true today as it ever was. 

With the national boxoffice picture 
still on the downbeat side, exhibs 
declare it's obvious the number of 
mediocre pictures fed them in the 
last year or so has far outnumbered 
the good ones. . \ 

Indications from the majors of a 
goodly number- of potential high 
grossers coming out in the next sev- 
eral months have given exhibs hope 
that the distribs have caught on to 
the problem and are attempting to 
solve it in what the theatre opera- 
tors think is the only way pos.sible. 
National boxofflce, in fact, while 
still below expectations, has perked 
up slightly in .the last few weeks as 
a result of better pictures. 




Hollywood, March 2. 

Should the U. JS. Supreme Court 
okay the film anti-trust decree, as it 
now stands, or declare for all-out 
divorcement, Charles P. Skouras is 
understood planning to pull out of 
20th Century-Fox;s National Thea- 
tres and establish a chain under his 
own control of as many as 1,500 
theatres. It's reported also that Jo- 
seph M. Schenck would leave 20th 
Gentury-Fox to join Skouras in op^ 
eration of the circuit. 

Associated with them in the gigan- 
tic plan are understood to be Ed- 
ward Pauley, wealthy California oil 
man, was ^as. recently under Con- 
gressional fire for activities while 
serving as special assistant to the 
Secretary of War, and Robert Han- 
negan, who recently resigned -as 
Postmaster-General and chairman of 
the^ Democratic National' Committee; 
Hannegan would probably take an 
active part in the circuit operation, 
while Pauley would , be- , involved 
only with financing. 

Chain which Skouras is planning 
would be as large and as powerful 
(Continued on page 20) 



'Joan' Winds After 82 Days, 
Budget Tops $4,600,000 

Hollywood, March 2, 
Eight days of additional shooting 
on the Hal Roach lot wound up 
"Joan of Arc" and pushed produc- 
tion jiosls slightly over the $4,600,000 
budget, Which had been designed to 
■cover additional shots, technically 
known as "bridge" scenes. 

Total filming time on the Ingrid 
Bergman starrer was 82 days. Pic- 
ture wiil be released by RKO in 
November. 



SCHNOZ KUDOSED 

Hollywood, March 2. 

Jiinmy Durante was the first re- 
cipient of the Heart of Gold Award, 
instituted by the Mt. Sinai Men's 
Club in a,ssociat(on with the Mt. 
Sinai-Duarle National Medical Cen- 
ter and planned as a regular annual 
event. Award was in recognition of 
the actor's 33 years of "tireless ef- 
forts for the underprivileged." 

Louis B. Mayer, Metro presty, 
made the presentation, and Garry 
Moor« served ' as emceei 



Fear of 'Slavery,' 
Not Money, Made 
Parks Balk at Pact 

Los Angeles. March 2. 

Larry Parks' legal struggle for re- 
lease from, the shackles of Harry 
Cohn and Vi\e Columbia plantation 
went into its sescond week before 
Judge William C. Mathes in U. S. 
District Court with prospects of go- 
ing on for several days more. 
< Actor, who is seeking to break his 
film contract on the ground that he 
signed it under duress, declared he 
didn't care particular!/ for money, 
but added: • 

"I didn't want to be in slavery 
under a contract tor the rest of my 
life." 

Parks testified that he was signed 
originally in April, 1941, lor $75 a 
week." When "The Jolson Story" 
came up in 1945, he said, he was 
offered a new seven-year pact with 
a starting salary of $800 weekly, but 
balked. At a second meeting, he 
testified, Cohn used violent language 
and threatened to relegate him lo bit 
roles in the studio'.s "lousy B's" for 
(Continued on page 18) 



New Export Ts^s 
Won't 'Censor Pix 



Nathan D. CJolden, Dept. of Com- 
merce film expert, assured major 
company foreign department toppers 
at a meeting in New York, last Fri- 
day (27) that new Government ex- 
port licenses, which became manda- 
tory Monday (1), were not a- means 
to censorship. He admonished the 
execs, however, that if the industry 
is not selective in the type of prodT 
uct it sends abit>ad, the action might 
"handicap" .it at some future date. 

Golden was very forceful in deny- 
ing the censorship implications of 
licensing. He said that the Govern- 
ment would entrust to the industry 
that pix sent to the Russian satellite 
(Continued on page 20) ' 



ENT'S 'MIAMI BEACH' YARN 

"Miami Beach Story," saga of the 
Florida resort's development, has 
been set for early screening by 
Enterprise. Outfit has purchased 
rights to "Famous Hoosier," biog of 
the late Carl Fisher, Miami Beach's 
founder, as a basis for the. film. 
Book was penned by Fisher's widow. 

Miami Beach civic groups will co- 
operate with Enterprise i»>jthe pro- 
duction. ■ 



% Tax, 25% Freeze, 25% Remitted 
Seen as Ae Compromise Ba»s On 
Anglo-U. S. Film Tariff Stymie 



It Shrinks 

The economy wave has ap- 
parently hit British studios, too. 

According to an announce- 
ment by the J. Arthur Rank 
office in New York last week, 
the title of Sydney Box's film, 
"Quintet,'' has been changed to . 
"Quartet." 



Korda s $lj 
U. S. Bank Loan 



■ London, March 2. 

Sir Alexander Korda today (Tues- 
day) announced he had obtained a 
$1,500,000 loan from the Bankers 
Trust Co., N.Y., for, financing of his 
London Film Productions in Eng- 
land. Sum is believed to represent 
the largest payment ever received 
by a British film company in dollar 
exchange. 

Loan is an advance against . U.S. 
rentals of the first Jthree Korda films 
to be delivered to 20th-Fox for 
American distribution. They include 
"Ideal Husband," already in release, 
"Anna ICarenifia" and "Mine Own 
Executioner." Under terms of the 
loan, $1,500,000 in dollar exchange 
is to be deposited to Korda's credit 
with the BatUc of England, which in 
turn will make the money available 
to him in British pounds. It carries 
a 6% interest rate and is payable as 
Korda receives his share of the prof- 
its from 20th's distribution of his 
product. 

POLITICO CONY. SAIB 
PITCH ON M-G^S UNION' 

Metro's plans to kick off "State of 
the Union" immediately before the 
political conventions open in Phfla- 
delphia in June will get the final 
nod during the M-G sales managers' 
meet on the Coast this weeki 
M-G distribution chiefs believe .the 
Frank Capra production is grooved- 
for the political meets and can ^iet 
plenty of added ballyhoo and word- 
of-mouth by preeming in Philly at 
that time. 

Original idea was to stage the 
Philly opening during the last week 
(Continued on page 15) 



National Boxoffice Survey 

Despite H.O/s, Biz Is Brisk— 'Northside,' 'Bishop's,' 
♦Turtlfc,' 'Daughters,' 'Agreement' Big Five 



Director Castle Plays 
Drama Crick Rosenfield 

Dallas, March, 2. 
Director William Castle chose 
himself to play the role of John 
Rosenfield, Jr., amusements editor 
and drama critic of the Dallas News, 
in the Robert S.' Golden productio'ii, 
"Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven," 
Which he is currently steering. 
. Guy Madison and Diana Lynn co 



star. Feature was adapted from 

Barry Benefleld's -best-seliet "Eddie (M-G), "Knew Susie' 



Milder weather, even though fol- 
lowed by more snow and cold in 
many key cities, is keeping the na- 
tional boxoffice picture bright this 
week despite the number of hold- 
overs. "Gall Northside" (30th) is 
leading the field by a bijt margin, 
with around $500,000 in some 17 
cities. The Jimmy Stewart, starrer 
shows up with good to smash biz 
in virtually every key, being le£*der 
in San Francisco and Boston. ' Film 
continues strong in N. Y. at Rox,y 
on second week and is landing a 
sock $76,000 .on first session in Los 
Angeles. 

Second money goes to "Bishop s 
Wife" (RKO), displaying almost 
like strength but in fewer keys and 
on extended-run in several. "Voice 
of Turtle" (WB) is only a step be- 
hind in third place. "Three Daring 
Daughters" (M-G ) is a solid entry in 
fourth slot. "Northside," "Bishop's," 
"Turtle" and "Daughters" also 
fought it out lor the top four posi- 
tions last week, this stanza witness- 
ing an improvement in the standing 
of the first two. 

Others in the Big 8, in order of 
business done and showings made in 
each city, are ''Gentleman's Agree-' 
ment" (20th), "Cass Timberlane" 
(RKO) ahd 



London, March 2. 
Basis of the compromise being 
talked here this week on the British- 
American tax hassle calls, it has 
been learned, for a 30% .tax and a 
25% freeze, with remittance to the 
U; S. of the- other 25% of earnings 
of American pix in Britain. As bait v 
for acceptance of the high tax, it is 
reported that British Chancellor ol 
the Exchequer Sir Stafford Cripps 
is .offering unlimited use of the 25% 
of the coin frozen here, permitting 
purchase of theatres, production, or 
any other normal use to which a 
British citizen could put his money. 

Only hitch that now appears on 
the horizon to successful conctusioa 
of the negotiations being carried on 
by Eric Johnston, president <jf the 
Motion picture Ass'n oC America, 
is the attitude of U. S. indie pro. 
ducers, . represented here by James 
A; Mulvey, prez of Samuel Gold- 
wyh Productions. Indies have stead- 
fastly objected to any settlement en- 
tailing a freeze, claiming that they 
have no disti-ibution or production 
establishments- here by which the 
money could be profiitably em- 
ployed. Unlimited use allowed by 
the British of the frozen funds, how- 
ever, is seen as possibly overcomin{( 
the indie objections, particularly "in- 
(Continued on page 15) 



U May Deliver To 



Tax Is Stfll Snarled 

• London, March ?. 

Reports have been persistent her* 
that if present negotiations' by Eric 
Johnston do not lead to settlement 
of the 75% tax stymie. Universal 
may break away from the united 
front of American exhibs and .re- 
sume delivery of films to J. Arthur 
Rank. This would be the initial 
break in the embargo imposed' by 
the U. S. industry last Aug. 9 and 
could have a highly significant elfect 
on the future of - American film in- 
come from England. 

Universal is in a unique position 
concerning the embargo, since it has 
a contract with Rank requiring de- 
livery of a certain number of film* 
(Continued on page 15) 



and the Archangel' Mike," ' 



I "Aibuquferqu^" (Pdr). ' Last-named 



moved up from a strong runner-up 
classification held last week. Three 
best runners-up this week are "High 
Wall' (M-G), "T-Men" (EL) and 
"To Ends of Earth" (Col). 

"Double Life".(U) gave further 
promise of being a strongi entr^ on 
pop-price dates with nice showings 
in three cities. "ROad to Rio" (Par) 
continues big in second week at 
N. Y. Paramount. "Night Song" 
(RKO) shapes disappointing this 
round in four of five cities where 
now playing. "My Girl Tisa" (WB) 
looks moderate to very thin , in 
three spots. "Miracle Can Happen" 
(UA) is getting no place in three 
places now playing, 

"Black Bart" (U) will be fair to 
light in four cities. "Out of Blue" 
(EL) shapes as okay in Philadel- 
phia, which is extremely spotty. 
"Walk Alone" (Par) is pacing 
Louisville. "Sleep, My Love" (UA), 
getting additional playdates this 
round, is especially strong in Port- 
land. "Smugglers" (EL) is in for 
a big frame in Frisco. • » 

Additional playdates are handing 
"Meant For Me" (2(!th) solid ses- 
sions in Chicago and Cincinnati. 
It's okay also in Philly. 

(Complete Boxo/fice Reports 
on Pastes 12-13) 




Ti'«de Mark Beelstered 
POUNDED BT SIMB SILVISRUAN 
FublUhed Warldjr hj VABIBXI, Inc. 

Sid Silverman, Preitdsnt - 
164 West «th St., New York iJitN; T, 



SUBSCRIPTION 
Annual . . . . . .He Voi-elgn. , i-, . .»U 

Single CaMea., ,, Ceiita 



Vol. 169 



No. is 



INDEX 

Bills 46 

(jhatter 54 

Disk Jockey Reviews 38 
Film Reviews ............. 8 

Foreign 16 

House Reviews ..,...,. ..,, .(■. 47 

Inside Legit .,..,'.,•48 

Inside Pictures 15 

Inside Radio ............... 32' 

Inside Television 30 

I Legitimate 4& 

Literati '.,... 53 

Music 1 , , •. • 36 

New Acts , 46 

Night Club Reviews 44 

Obituaries 55 

Orchestras .................. 36 

Pictures -3 

Pre-Production News ...... d 

Radio .. .' 22 

Radio Reviews 28 

Records .... . 38 

Fsank Scully : 53 

Television .. . , ... .'. , . ... ,.2^ 
Vaudeville ..^ . . 48 



■■ DAILY VAKIET'E 

(Fubllalicd in Hollywood by 
Dally Variety, Ltd.J 
$16 a Teab— $20 t'orelgn. - 



FICV1W9 



WfiAnte^Y', Tfiasch 3, 1948 



Metro Purgdl Of Contenqd h On 
M Par s Atty. Excoriated 



Chicago, March 2. -f 
•Metro was let out of contemfil 
iharges during a stormy session 
today (Tues.) on the Jackson Park 
decree when Federal Judge. Michael 
igoe tossed out the complaint agaiiist 
JVI-G While refusing "to dismiss 
^gainst the other defendant?. Judge 
Igoe blew up at one point and lashed 
(Dut at Ed Johnstone, attorney for 
Paramount. Metro had held up In 
Chicago distribution until January 
tind then sold its product by com- 
petitive bidding only. 

With J. J. Donohue, Paramounrs 
midwest division manager, on the 
stand and Johnstone bringing .out 
the fact that Par handled its dis- 
tribution on advice from him. Judge 
Igoe «)g?loded into the declaration: 
"It's shocking that a member of the 
bar Should go ahead and make a 
decision without consulting me. It 
■ 'i^ppear^ you have taken a most con- 
temptuous attitude toward this court. 
^ situation like^his has never he- 
tore" happened in the Chicago fed- 
«raX district court;" 
• court's declaration boded little 

food for the majors. Prior to that, 
lonohue made a spirited defense of 
his company. He noted the fact that 
♦Unconquered," Par's Technicolor 
fpectacular, mus.t gross $8,000,000- 
f9;000,000 to make a proat4 He so 
t^tifled to dramatize the need for 
advanced prices on expensive 
t>roduct. 

•Negative cost, Donohue said, came 
to $4,250,000 ■ while advertising ex- 
penses exceeded $900,000 and print 
(Continued on page 20) 



British Show Biz Tax 
In Jan. Higher Than ^47 

London', March 2. 
Despite industry pessimism, gov- 
ernment receipts from the entertain- 
ment tax were higher this January 
than for the comparable period last 
year. Attendance showing is con- 
sidered remarkable inasmuch as 
films available, this year were gen- 
erally thought to lack the drawing 
power of the 1947 product. . . 

With the coming of 1948, backlog 
of unreleased tJ. S. films scraped 
the bottom of the barrel. Conse- 
quently exhibs were forced to rely 
more and more upon American re- 
issues and poorer grade British- 
made pix to fill out programs. Prime 
factor behind the upped attendance, 
it's believed, was this January's mild 
weather- contrasted to last winter's 
unseasonable cold. 

Par yes Execs 
Dec(»rtra^ 
Bffl Mered 



O's Ta| 7 Rec'd $321,600 
In Bowses Bit Deaana's 
$^3,476 T<9 '47 PiyroB 

Washington, March 2. 
•Seven of Universal's top officers 
received bonuses totalling $321,800 
during 1947, under their employment 
pacts, report filed her« this week 
flisdoses. Biggest cut of the pie 
was handed to Nate J. Blumberg, 
ITs pxexy, and J, Cheever Cowdinj 
board chairman, who each took 
(171,785 as their share in the profits 
for '47. Other officers taking $35,606 
.apiece under profit-sharing deals 
were Matty Fox, eJtec veepee; 
Cfaailes D. Prutzman, veepee; Wil- 
liaiin J. Scully, sales chief; Joseph 
Seidelman, foreign dept: head; and 
{!K^ Work, former production head. 

Despite their cut in the profits, 
none of .these officers were among' 
the top earners of the company. 
Leadoff breadwinner for the year 
was Deanna Durjiiiu who was paid 
4323^478 for her thesping services. 
In second spot was. William Goetz, 
veepee in charge of production, 
with 1284,000 while Bobert Mont- 
gomery, actor-director, was third 
with $250,000. 

Breakdown of U's. stockholders 
shows J. Arthur Rank's "General 
Cinema Finance Co. as the only 
party holding more than 10% of 
company's common stock. GCF 
holdings are 134,373 shares or 14% 
of the total common outstanding. 
. It's also learned that the 129,000 
shares divided between Goetz and 
1.60 .Spitz for the acquisition by XJ 
of' International Pictures cannot he 
sold by them under their purchase 
I agreement. 

■ Cowdin is biggest holder of stock 
option warrants with 86,876 now in 
his coffers. Blumberg comes next 
With 32,400 and Fox third. With 
aSiOOO. Pi-utzman holds 23.250. War- 
rants may be converted to common 
Anytime before April 1, 1956 at a 
set price of $10 per share. 

Ploclt of legalties came in for fees 
during the year. Julian T. Abeles 
received $24,000; Chadbourne, Hunt, 
Jaeckel & Brown, $27,000; Thomas 
Turner Cooke counsel in the' anti- 
trust .suit), $25,000; Gardner, Mor- 
rison & Rogers, $35,000; Lewinson & 
Arinstron,g, $25,000; Loeb te Loeb, 
jpSOvOOO; and Olvany, £isner & Don- 
nelly, $30,000. Maxon, Sells & 
Schwartzman, architects, were paid 
$30,800 while Price, Waterhouse Co., 
accountants, took $61,840. 



Carrying his policy of decentral 
izirtg Paramount's sales force one 
step' further, Charles M. Reagan, 
Par's veepee in charge, of distribu- 
tion, has ordered the stationing of 
division sales chiefs at local head- 
quarters within their terrilary. 
Greorge Smith, western, division head, 
is already operating from Los An-: 
geles. J. J. Donohue, midwestern 
topper, is moving his h.q. .to Chicago,; 
Karl Sweigert, mid-eastern head, to 
Philadelphia; while Hugh Owen, 
eastern and southern manager, con- 
tinues operations from the New 
York homeoftice. 

Revision of the sales setup, Reagan 
saidrhas heen shaped to permit m«re 
frequent visits of top-bracket sales 
execs to exchanges. That's neces-< 
sary, sales topper added, because of 
the increased' problems under single- 
selling of pix. When his aides were 
stationed in New York, distanoe from 
territories curtailed the treks to 
home ground necessary to iron prob- 
lems. 

It's in line with this decentraliza- 
tion that Paramount upped two dis^^' 
.trict managers this week to ass't di^ 
vision chiefs, according to Reagan, 
Duo promoted are Albert M. Kane of 
Boston and Harold Wirthwein of 
Los Angeles.. Kane will serve under 
Owen and Wirthwein under Smith. 
They'll be en hand to do some of the 
necessary footwork for their division 
bosses. 

Reagan's Beasonlng 

Commenting on the fact that Par- 
amount was sole tiieatre-owning de- 
fendant to oppose competitive bid- 
ding before the tl. S. Supreme Court, 
Reagan declared the Government 
would learn that the bid method 
would decrease competition rather 
than sharpen it. Tests indicate, Reai- 
gan said, that circuits could "take it 
on the chin" in one situation by bid- 
ding exorbitant prices for product 
while riding the punch in other 
spots. The small indie, with one or 
two theatres, can't afford to battle 
it out with the circuit under these 
circumstances. 



Jack Gross Named 

AidetoScharyatRKO 

l^ollywood. March 2. 

Jack Gros«, executive producer 
for five years at RKO, moved into 
B new post as assistant to produc- 
tion chief Dore Schary. 

As a member of the Schary cabi- 
net. Gross will be in charge of pre- 
filmtog analysis of production costs, 
adjusting budgets to present-day 
budgets. , 

Metro, m RKO 

Setting an industrywide pattern 
for 3,000 white coUarites in New 
York film offices, arbitration awards 
this week granted pay hikes averag- 
ing 15% to publicists at.20th-Fosi 
and office workers at Metro and 
RKO. Other,^ arbitrations in the 
works covering all employees or- 
ganized by the Screen Publicists 
Guild and the Screen Office & Pro- 
fessional Employees Guild, are ex- 
pected to wind up with similar re- 
sults. Pay increase talks between the 
unions and major companies are be- 
ing held uniJer a wage reopening 
clause in the'labor contracts. 

Coriipany payroll loads will be in-, 
creased approximately $1,000,000 an- 
nully for the whole industry if the 
15% award is made the general 
formula. In addition, companies will 
liave to shell out about $500,000 in 
back pay settlements running back 
to Sept. 27, 1947. At Loew's, the 
arbitrators scaled wages up from 
$5 to $12, while at RKO the awards 
ranged from $5 to $10. 

Under terms of the 20th-Fox de- 
cision, delivered by the American 
Arbitration Assn. in New York, 
senior publicists will get a weekly 
increase of $20 with minimum wage 
to be $125; publicists get $15 with 
minimuih at 4A7.50; associate publi- 
cists get $10 with minimum at $62.50; 
and apprentices get $8.50 with mini- 
mum at $40. Board of arbitrators, 
consisted of Prof. Harry Shulman, 
Yale University; Aaron Schneider, 
regional direptor of the 'United Of- 
fice Workers of America; and Nor' 
man Steinberg, 20tb-FOx attorney. 

Meanwhile, SPG voted endorse- 
ment to the presidential candidacy 
of Henry Wallace at a special mem- 
bership meeting last week prior to 
the UOPWA convention being held 
currently »t the Hotel St. Cfeorge, 
Brooklyn. SOPEG- is expected . to 
follow suit in plumping for Wallace 
in line with the national union's in- 
dicated policy, ■• 



UA Opens Fire To Force Mrery 
Of Hawks' 'Red River,' Cagneys' Tune' 



U's Test Dates on 'Sons' 
With Eye to Upped Prices 

Scattered test engagements of Uni- 
versal's "AH My Sons," fllmization of 
Broadway's hit drams of last season, 
will determine whether the pic will 
make the rounds at advanced admis- 
.sions or regular prices. Film will go 
into Loe w's Criterion (N, Y. ) and 
.several other spots at upped scales 
but without fanfare on the increased 
prices. If "Sons" scores solid grosses 
at raised tabs, U will sell it that 
way down the line. \ 
On the other hand, if the pic 
doesn't hold its own at the higher 
jrice, U will prove it as a regular re- 
lease. Possibility of the film going 
into Radio City Music Hall is now 
definitely out and the Criterion date 
has been set for some time in April; 



Wape's Oarni 
OnHawbTies 
hto InaCom 



Bogey, Bette, Morgui Top 

The three' highest salaried people 
In the Warner Bros, aggregation for 
Its fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 1947, 
IK'sra players, according to the com- 
pany's annual report filed. with Se- 
eurltlet Si Exchange Commission. 

They were Humphrey Bogart, 

{467,361; Bette Davis, $328,000; and 
tennis |(OP«an, |325.8»3i 



SCHARY, SHMR m 
ONE WORLD AWARDS 

Adding to his honors for pioneer- 
ing pix on the anti-Semitism theme, 
Dore Schary, RKO's exec producer, 
has been designated for the One 
World Award for Films. Award was 
made in Hollywood fo,r his coH' 
tribution.s in the film indu.stry to in- 
ternational amity and sponsoring 
such pictures as "Crossfire" and "The 
Farmer's Daughter." Selection of 
Schary by the One World Commit- 
tee was also intended as a tribute 
to Darryl F. Zanuck for~.20th-Fox's 
production of "Gentleman's Agroc' 
ment" and to Hall WaUis for "The 
Searching Wind." 

William L. Shirer, Mutual network 
commentatoi-, was given the One 
World Award for radio in New 
York. Citation was made because of 
Shirer's "outstanding work in in 
terpretiog world news • over the 
radio in the last 14 years." 

■ (, *■ I''». 'Kt^ 



FEDMAN'S $1,000,000 
SUrroyERFlCPAOiAGE 

Holly wood, , March 2. 
Charles K. .Feldmoii Group Pro- 
ductions has filed a $1,000,000 dam- 
age suit against Joan Fontaine, 
Burt Lancaster, Universal Pictures, 
Norma Productions and Eagle Lion, 
charging the defendants pirated his 
rights to Gerald Butler's novel "Kiss 
the Blood Off My Hands," and plan 
to start the pic based on the book 
without his consent 

Injunctioit abo is aSked to pre- 
vent makitig the picture. 

Pioneer Pics Ano^r New 
Unit to Make 'Em in N.Y 

Lower cost of making films in the 
east was stated by Ralph Cohn this 
week as his reason for establishing 
a new unit, Pioneer Pictures, for 
production of features in New York. 
Cohn sees reduced budgets made 
possible by eastern production as the 
answer to declining markets 
Europe, he explained. 

Producer, who is the son of Jack 
Cohn, Columbia v.p., said that the 
new setup did not mean the end of 
his association with Mary Pickford 
and Buddy Rogers in Triangle Pro- 
ductions. Triangle made one pic, 
"Sleep My Ijove," now going into 
release via United Artists. Cohn said 
Triangle may go ahead with other 
projects at some future time. 

Associated with him in Pioneer is 
Jules Bricken, who has had experi- 
ence in New York production in 
working with David O. Selznick on 
"Portrait of Jenny" and Boris Mor- 
ros on "Carnegie Hall." 



Hollywood, March 2. 
Dei iding the legal convolutions of 
certain indie producers, George E. 
Yousling, veepee in charge of film 
financing for the Security-First 
National Bank of Los Angeles, de- 
clared here last week that such com- 
plications preventing immediate re- 
lease of a film was one of the pri- 
mary factors ill dampening his 
bank's interest in film financmg. 

Yousling made his statement at a 
meeting with United Artists reps 
when John Wayne asked the $50,000 
due him on a $150,000 contract for 
.^tarring in Howard Hawks' "Red 
River," made for UA release. Under 
the deal, Wayne was to receive 
$50,000 a year hi 1946, '47 and '48. 
He's now seeking the money due 
him last year, 

Bank and its affiliates are under- 
stood to have loaned Hawks a cer< 
tain amount of money based on the 
film's original budget estimate of 
$1,300,000. Picture ran to $2,800,000 
before it was completed, Yousluig 
told those at the meetiag that banks 
can be expected to- be more cbodsy 
in financing indie^ productions in the 
future. He said most banks have 
un into complications recently due 
to high production costs, the British 
situation and the domestic boxoSice 
drop, as well as UA's delay in re- 
leasing various films. 

Yousling added that a number of 
films financed for UA release should 
have paid off long ago. Revenue has 
been held up, however, because of 
the distribution delay, he said. 



-f United, Artist?' attorneys will he 
busy on two fronts this week iu 
efforts to force delivery of a psip'of 
Alms the distrib claims are being 
illegally withheld. First of the ac- 
tions begins this morning (Wednes- 
day) when arbitration starts in Nsw 
York on failure of Monterey Pro- 
ductions to deliver "Bed River," pro- 
duced by Howard Hawks. In the 
meantime, despositions are being 
taken this week from two New York 
bankers and an attorney in prepara- 
tion for trial of a counter-suit in 
California March IS by William Cag- 
ney against UA, following the lat- 
ter's suit, filed in N. V. Supreme 
Court, to force delivery of Cagney's 
"Time of Your Life" (James Cag- 
neyO. 

There was some- hint yesterday 
that the "Red River" arbitration 
might at the last minute be called off 
or , postponed. Three-man panel pre. 
pared to sit, however, consists 'of ; 
Abe Bienstock, attorney for Grad 
Searis, Walter Wanger and other 
filmites, who was named by UA; 
Charles Abramson, rep in New York 
of Famous' Artists (Charles Feldman) 
agency, who was named by Mon- 
terey; and William Zimmerman, 
RKO sales department attorney, who 
is the impartial third man. 

It is expected, that Monterey will; 
claim that the film is not yet finished, 
and thus not ready for delivery. UA 
maintains that the producers are 
stalling. Actually holding it up now, • 
it is understood, is a demand by John 
Wayne, star of the pic, for immedi- ! 
ate payment of the salary he de- 
ferred, which has tied "River"' up : 
in Coast legal difficulties. 

Depositions in the Cagney ca.se 
wUl be taken from Alex Ardrey and 
Harry Watkins, of Bankers Trust 
Co., which financed the production, 
and from Alfred Heuston, of the law 
firm of White & Case, which acted 
for Cagney in setting the contract 
originally. 

Paul D. O'Brien and Edward G. 
Raftery, of O'Brien, Driscoll, Haftery 
& "Lawler, UA's counsel, will go to 
the Coast for the trial of the suit. 
They will be accompanied by UA 
prexy Grad Sears. 

UA's suit against Cagney in New 
York comes up preliminarily next 
week when jurisdictional argumerit 
will be heard on whether Cagney 
Productions can be sued in N. Y. 
State. Both the New York and Cali- 
fornia actions are for- declaratory 
iudgments, the first to state that 
"Life" must go to UA under the 
terms of the contract and the second 
to state that Cagney is under no 
obligation to deliver the fllm.yin 
the meantime, Warner Bros., which 
had a tentative deal for "Life," has 
informed UA attorneys that it will 
not accept the picture while legal 
action is pending; 



Commie Coup Snafus 
Byram's Europe Plaus 

Developments in Czechoslovakia 
during the past week may force a 
change in plans oT John Byram, 
Paramount play editor, for his trip 
abroad later this month. Byram had 
planned visiting London, Paris and 
Prague. o 

If the Commie coup makes the 
Prague trip impossible, Byram plans 
to visit one of the other continental 
capitals. He leaves New York 
March 16. His wife, Marian, Broad- 
way legit p. a., who accompanied 
hira on the European trip last year, 
will not be able to go this time. 



Senate OK's Geo. V. Allen 

'Washington, March 2. 
George V. Allen, former Ambassa- 
dor to Iran, was confirmed last week, 
by the Senate as Assistant Secretary 
of State in chai'ge of the information 
services. 

Allen takes "over the post for- 
merly held 1^ William A^ton. 



Ed Gross' 'Stubborn Wood' 
To Follow 'Mrs. Mike' Film 

Hollywood. March 2. 
Ed Gross has bought "The Stub- 
born Wood" for an indie production 
to follow "Mrs. Mike." Deal set by 
Liiiira Wilck is for $50,000, 10% of 
the profits and a 10-weck's writing 
job lor author Emily Harvin. Likeli- 
hood that Broadway production Will 
precede picture, Gertrude Lawrence, 
who has read the bookj is reported 
interested. 



. N.Y. to Europe 

Mts. Reginald Connelly 
Mrs. 'Victor E. Egan 
Joseph Hummel 
Max Milder 
Jorge Negrete 
James Perkins 
Charles Tucker 
Lou Wilson 
Georgie MI(ooii^,. 



L. A. to N. Y. 

Lloyd Aherne 
Low Andrews 
Joan Chandler 
Richard Conte 
Jean Dairy mple 
Laraine Day 
Leo' Durocher 
Cyril Endfteld 
Reginald Gardiner 
Paul Hollister 
B. G. Kranze 
May Mann 
Albert Margolies 
'Victor Mature 
CoL Tim McC<«r 
Robert Mochrie 
Louis A. Novins 
Harriet Parsons 
Claude Rains 
Ron Randell 
Bobert Reud 
Charles Schlaifer 
Robert Siodmak 
Spyros SItouras 
Morton A. Spring 
Terry Turner . 
Al Zimbalist 

N.Y. to L.A. 

Madeleine Carroll 
Alex Cohen 
Edmund L. Dorfman 
Russell Holman 
Paul Lazarus, Jr: 
Sid Mesibov 
Gregor'Rabinovitch ■ 
Paul Raibourn 
Stanley Shuford 
Dorothy Stickney 
Sir Philip Warter 
Ben Washer 
Robert Young 

Europe to N, Y. 

George Archibald 
Robert Benjamin 
Compton Bennett 
Sidney Field 
Emile Lustig , . 



Wednesday, Mhim;1i 8, 1948 



nC^TIJRES s 



PULL NO PUNCHES ON PK ABROAD 



Bcaster-Exhib Huddles on Coast 
May Blueprint National Theatre Tele 



Hollywood, March 2. -f 
Coast may set the national pattern 
tor theatre television. This is indi- 
cated in diselbsures here that the 
Theatre Owners of America will use 
current Coast activities in that phase 
as its national norm, with same to 
be discussed when the TOA board 
meets here next Tuesday (9) and 
Wednesday, at the Ambassador hotel. 
Statements came at tht initial meet- 
ing of the • television committee o£ 
the Southern California Theatres 
Assn.'s with ad agency and televi- 
^bti. reps here last week, presumed 
to be Ihe only group making such 
moves in the country so far. 

The meeting between the two 
Ijroups here resulted in an exchange 
61 ideas on the knotty theatre tele 
iiroblem, and the SCTOA's presenta-, 
tioii of its proposed code of practices. 
No committments came from either 
side but the attitude of the telecast- 
ers and agencies was Kenerally re- 
garded "as friendly and receptive 
among- exhibitor reps J. H, Nichol- 
son, S. Charles Lee and Earl Rice. 
, Among the theories' advanced were 
that the use of even 15 theatres from 
among the SCTOA's 500 could 
double present receiver audiences, 
and that given chains of theatres 
■ could be worked out between 'tele-, 
<>asters. SCTOA revealed that many 
exhibs are ager to dip into tele, 
though cognizant of c,osts running 
from $1,500 to over $25,000.— 

Attendance will now relay the 
code proiJosals to higher-ups for-fur- 
ther discussion and decisions. In 
brief it proposes: Programs to be 
presented intact with commercials 
(Continued on page 18) 



Pair's Theatre TV Tab 

Checkup by exhibs of the cost 
of duplicating large-screen tele» 
vision equipment in the Para- 
mount theatre (N. Y.) indicates 
thai the tab would come to 
$38,000 for one house. Par, of 
course, spent considerably' more 
since it's been experimenting for 
the past 10 years. System em- 
ployed is a film intermediary 
one in which the video tube is 
filmed and the negative immedi- 
ately developed and projected in 
one operation. 

Scouting by exhibs has also 
turned up lact that four extra 
men are required for the opera- 
tion. It's not. ,:necessaryi how- 
ever, that they be highly skilled 
so the paychecks wouldn't run 
too high. Duplication could only 
be done with Par's okay since 
the company holds the patents 
covering their equipment. 



Fox Movietone's Tie 
With Television Riles 
At Least 1 Exhib Group 

Early trade indications that inde- 
pendent exliibitors would go along 
with the sale of Fox Movietonews to 
television as the lesser of two evils 
have apparently proved wrong. It 
. appears that several large indie 
• eirpuits are so riled at the contract 
» inked by Fox with NBC and Camel 
■cigarets that they're attempting to 
cancel Movietonews out of their 
theatres. 

First reaction to the Fox-television 
deal came several weeks ago from 
Associated Theatre Owners of In- 
diana. AUied-afliliated group ex- 
pressed the opinion that selling the 
reel to tele would lessen its values 
to theatres. ATOI pointed out, how- 
ever, that the growth of tele was 
inevitable and that, if Fox didn't 
enter the business, the reels would 
be forthcoming from some outside 
source. Hence, the interests of in- 
die exhibs might best be protected 
(Continued on page 15i> 



$386 Hon Tax 
Total Spats '47 
AsTopB.O.Year 

Washington, March 2. 

Final Federal tax figures covering 
business done in 1947 disclose that 
it was the alltime smash boxoffiice 
year, even though it did slough off 
at the end. 

The Federal general admissions 
tax for the 12 months was $386,789,- 
735, of which about 80 to 85% is 
estimated to come from picture 
theatres. Remainder is made up of 
everything from legit and opera to 
the bite on dancehall and swimming 
pool tickets, and includes paid ad-, 
missions to all sports. 

Same terrific picture shows up in 
niteries, even though they were fall- 
ing off badly in the latter part of 
1947. The 20% bite on tabs brought 
Uncle Sam $56,364,588.' This means 
that the public "poured more than 
$280,000,000 into nightclubs last 
year, 

The figures on January collections, 
which reflect the Decembet box- 
(Continued on ^ge 20) 



Mayer WaiMre If The 
Price (500G) Is Right 

Arthur Mayer, w.k. Rialto theatre 
<ip. took to the hills Monday (1) to 
.dutk a deluge of calls from exhibs 
anxious to buy his lease to the thea- 
tre. The dyke was lifted and the 
flood started by Walter Winchell, 
who Qii Sunday (29j advised his 
readeis lhat the er.stwhile merchant 
of menace was in tlie market to 
peddle his lease at a $50,000 figure. 
The low price quoted set off the 
; chain reaction. 

Winchell, however, was off by one 
cipher. Mayer wants $500,000 or 
something in that neighborhood 
anyway for his seven ar id one-half 
year lease to the Rialto. He's been 
shopping around for a considerable 
stretch, having expressed a willing- 
ness to let the hoiise go "for a nice, 
round figure." but never pushing 
negotiations with a sense of 
imminency. , 

Rialto, several months back, 
switched from hnri;or thriller-dil- 
lers to foreign-lingo pix. On its 
"first try, "Panic" did just about as 
well as the average take of a menace 
pic at the tlieatre. Second entry, 
"Furia." according to Mayer, i.s doing 
considerably better, indicating that 
the new Jiolicy will pay off. 



mi VIA 



U S. GOVT. p|[|AS^'''^^^^i^'^®''<''^^^v^i^'^®>'^s- 



U.S. state Dept. ha.s junked its 
early postwar film policy of playing 
down America's abundance in a 
world ■ in need. Henceforth,- pix 
made and handled, by State's Inter- 
national Film Division, Office of 
Information & ;. Educational Ex- 
change, will portray America with 
its best foot forward. The change in 
stance, in effect, is an an.swer to 
frequent criticisms that U.S. films 
generally (and especially major 
company theatricals) stir up envy 
and hatred by showing an overflow- 
ing board to lands pressed by 
famine. » 

"We've adopted this new policy, 
and we're going to stick to it, let- 
ting the chips fall where they may," 
Hamilton MacFadden, associate chief 
of the film division, told Variety. 
"The Department now believes that 
films depicting America as a land 
of plenty are more truthful . and 
wiser in the long-range. 

"In 'effect, what we are now doing 
is showing people overseas that our 
way of life has its rewards in a 
plenitude of goods," MacFadden 
said. "We're drawing no invidious 
comparisons witli other ways of life. 
'The audiences can draw their own 
conclusions if they wish." MacFad^ 
den' conceded that during the war 
aiad for some time thereafter, pix 
made by the State Dept. tabooed 
the filming of the rosier aspects 
of American life. That attitude; un- 
der present worldwide conditions, 
(Continued on page 18) 



UA Stalls Own British Production 



An«eI11s Ovrn Blackout 

St. Louis, March 2. 

Louis K. Ansell, owner of nine 
St. Louis theatres and a Holly- 
wood producer on the side, can't 
show his own film - in his own 
film houses. His new picture, 
"Women in the Night," will be 
shown in a St, Louis first run 
house because of a prior com- 
mitment made by Film Classics, 
his releasing outlet. 

The Ansell theatres are' all 
second ruit bouses. 



Theatres Eventually 
Must Test Legally If 
Cinema Telecasts Tabu 

Run-in between NBC and RKO 
theatres which resulted from RKO's 
attempt to stage a large-screen tele- 
vision show using an NBC-televised 
broadcast has "film legalites digging 
ir>to their Blackstoncs. The tiff, 
crrj'oing up several weeks back 
when NBC banned the pickup by the 
RKO 58th Street theatre, is posing 
the. tough legal question of whether 
a broadcaster can nix a theatre or 
bring suit thereatlfer. 

Some exhib attorneys think that' 
NBC had no legal right to prevent 
the pickup and . they're . seeking 
precedent for their curbstone 
opinions. It's believed the stumper 
will be tested in the courts by some 
exhib, sooner or later. Understood, 
Theatre Owners of America is dig- 
ging into the question and will re- 
port on it at the unit's forthcoming 
Coast board meet March 9—10. 



Transatlantic's H Pic 
(Bergman) in England 

Alfred Hitchcock and Sidney 
Bernstein, .partners in the Transat- 
lantic Productions unit, head for 
England at the end of this month to 
start preparations for filming "Un- 
der Capricorn" there. Ingrid. Berg- 
man, who will star in the film, -will 
go over in May. It is expected to 
start shooting about June 1. 

With windup of "Rope," unit's 
initial entry, Hitchcock is currently 
working on the Coast on the script 
of "I Confess," which . will follow 
"Capricorn" on the production slate. 
It will be made in Hollywood next 
Winter. "Rope" and "Capricorn" will 
be released via Warner Bros., with 
no distribution plans set beyond that. 

"Confess" is being made from an 
adaptation, originally titled "Re- 
demptionj" by Louis Verneuil, from 
a 1902 play, "Our Two Consciences," 
written by Paul Anthelme. It has a 
Canadian background and there may 
be some location shooting in that 
country. ■ 

"Rope," Jame.s Stewart starrer in 
Technicolor, is to be released next 
October. Al Margolies, Transatlantic 
pub-ad chief, returned to New York 
from the ^Coast last week to start 
work on the campaign. 



New Briti^ Blow 
May Give K.O. To 
YankProlhUJL 



Confusion among the majors over 
the prospects of Yank production in 
England became, apparent this week 
when varying interpretations were 
made , of the latest ruling by the 
British treasury. The ukase, re- 
garded by most companies , as the 
final and crippling blow to V. S. 
filmmaking on the island, was inter- 
preted by these companies as a de- 
termination that all revenues from 
pix made in England must be re- 
turned to the homeland and sub- 
jected to the stringent regulations 
covering British; m9nies. United 
Artists, on the other Aand, felt that 
a scheme could still be worked 
which would enable it to produce on 
a sizable scale in Britain without 
returning all coin to that eountry. 
fSee UA's British production story 
herewith). 

Ruling is equally applicable to 
most majors think. That's a drastic 
switch from previous' treasury 
practice which exempted films 
made with dollars from the 
bring-home-the-take provision. As a 
result of this new ruling, Hal Wallis, 
Paramount's indie producer, called 
off planned production in Britain 
this spring, of "House of Mist." Wal- 
lis,- who's been enthusiastic on the 
(Continued on page 46) 



•f- Detailed . discussion of the advis- 
ability of producing films in Eng- 
land took up the major portion of 
the United Artists board meeting in 
New York yesterday (Tuesday )> and' 
Monday. Directors had.-a variety ot 
proposals before them for engaging 
in British filmmaking. 

Pinal decision on whether the com- 
pany will go ahead with any of the 
plans must await further informa- 
tion and will hinge in large measure 
on the success of current negotia- 
tions in London on ending the 75% 
tax. One of the principal objectives 
of the production plans under dis- 
cussion would be to get income out 
of Britain despite the tax. 

While postponing decision on its 
own British produQtio.n plans, tha 
UA board okayed a deal for- pro- 
duction of six pictures there by Le.s- , 
ter Cowan and Mary Pickford, with " 
each one to have an all-American 
cast. First will probably star the 
Marx Bros,, although a lensing data 
hasn't been set. 

Board at the same time okayed 
production of four either films. Top- 
ping the .Mst is James Nasser's "An 
Innocent Ailair,'^ starring Fred Mac* 
Murriay. UA is to receive a 25% in- 
terest in the film in return for $150,- 
000 investment. Lloyd Bacon will di- 
rect. Also on the okayed list is "Con- 
(Continued on page 15) 



WB Greets Warter 

Sir Philip A. Warter, chairman of 
Associated British Pictures, Warner 
Bros, affiliate in Britain, formally 
met WB's homeoffice staff at special 
luncheon yesterday (Tuesday) at 
the Waldorf-Astoria, N. Y, Max 
Milder, Warner International prez, 
handled the introductions. 

Warter and Lady Warter entrain 
for the Coast Friday ,5) to meet 
Harry M, and Jack L. Warner. 
Meanwhile, Milder is slated to. leave 
Friday (5) for London. 



Redtape Stalled Rep s 

Issue; Now Viewed as a 'Blessing' 



MPAA Asks Govt. Aid 
In Balking Mex. Tariff 
Ys. American Pictures 

Washington, March 2. 
Motion Picture Assn. of America 
has formally requested tlie Gov- 
ernlheiit to oppose a request of Mex- 
ico that it be allowed WgK trade, 
barriers and taxes against Ui S. 
pictures, 

Mexico has asked certain revisions 
in its trade treaty with the U. S., 
some o£ which would increase the 
cost of exporting films and adver- 
tising accessories into Mexico. A 
brief, asking opposition, prepared by 
MPAA general counsel Sidney 
Schreiber, was filed With the Com- 
mittee on Reciprocity Information 
last Friday (27) by Theodore Smith 
ol the MPAA international depart- 
ment. 

Most ihteresting feature ot the 
brief was an explanation of the fat 
business Mexican pix are doing in 
the U. S„ without anything to pre'- 
vent the producers from taking 
home all their coin. 



'DueF at Regular Scale Now 

"Duel in the Sun" opens its initial 
regular-price date at the Stanley, 
Philly, today (Wednesday), David 
O. Selznick pid started in release 
last April at upped-admission scale 
and has played all its engagements 
on that basis so far. 

Flock of other normal-price dates 
is now .set, with openings .scheduled 
in Jacksonville-, Tampa, Ft, Lauder- 
dale. Wilmington, Pittsburgh and In- 
dianapolis this week and' next. 



Insiders at Republic are viewing 
now as a "blessing in disguise" the 
fact that the company, through a 
technicality, was unable to float a 
$6,000,000 stock sale that prexy Her- 
bert J. Yates was promoting last 
spring. It's thought that had the flo- 
tation succeeded, Rep — ^instead of 
being in the excellent financial shape 
it now fln4s itself— would be in fiscal 
hot water. " 

Stock plan was being arranged by 
Yates in order to tie up name play- 
ers, directors and producers to fur- 
ther his idea of making Rep a first- 
line company with a plentiful supply 
of top-budget pictures. By the time 
technicalities in the scheme were 
ironed out to meet requirements im- 
posed by the New York Stock Ex- 
change, the British 75% tax had hit 
and Hollywood execs — including 
Yates— had pretty much changed 
their opinion on heavy coin spending. 

Studio execs fear that liad the plan 
not run up against the Bxchange 



now with a backbreaking roster of 
costly names that might have spelled 
trouble. As things now stand, com- 
pany is well ahead of itself on pay- 
ing off its only loan— a $4,000,000 uft-' 
secured credit from the Continental 
Ban'-, N. Y., obtained as part of the 
scheme to up production budgets. 
Rep paid off $250,000 of the principal 
during the fiscal year ended last Oc- 
tober and has paid another $1,000,000 
since then. It is Yates' plan to get 
it down to $1,500,000 by the end of 
1948. i 
Scheme for the $6,000,000 stock flo- 
tation was to sell common and pre- 
ferred in a package. This was nixed 
by the N, Y. Exchange,- although it 
was oka.yed by the Securities Ex- 
change Commission. By the time the 
sales plan was rearranged to break 
up the package idea, and all neces- 
sary approvals had been obtained, the 
British debacle occurred, the market 
had taken a severe decline that made 
it inadvisable to float an issue and 



regulations, Rep would be Saddled i the whole idea was dropped. 



BORZAGFS $271,939 TOO 
RICH FOR REPUBUC 

Washington, March 2. 

Pile ot coin which Frank Borzag* , 
took from Republic in 1947 is evi-. 
dence why Rep called off its bank- 
rolling-relfeasing deal with the pro- 
ducer and' went back to cheaper 
films: Bofzage's paychecks f r o m 
Rep totalled $271,939 making him the 
top-paid exec in the company for 
the year.. ■ , 

Herbert J. Yates, Hep's prexy ana 
board chairman, came in second with 
$175,140. John Carroll, actor, mad? 
the third highest— $149,000 for the 
year. 

Some 45 of Rep's employees aild 
officers made over $20,000 from tha 
company during '47. Their aggregate 
pay was $1,890,051. Compensation to 
22 officers and directors totalled 
$406,878. • ■ 

Drop Plan for Open Air 
Track for '49 Oscar Derby 

Holly woodi March 2. 

Plans to hold neitt year's Oscar 
Derby in the HoWwood Bowl were 
dropped because of construction of 
the new freeway; which will te in 
full blast in that neighborhood in 
the spring and summer of 1949. 

Meanwhile the studios are aiming 
their important pictures for fall re- 
lease, instead of rearranging their _ 
schedules for an Awards deadline in 
June, Academy board is considering 
1949 alternatives to the Shrine Audi- 
torium, where the Oscars wiU toe < 
presented this year. 



Pictures T&*» 

There May Hav^ 3^ « So, -T^*^ ^^^oxo^ce 
SITTING P^^ ,„ 

..irth-NlakertoCQme5romn j^^^^.^ 



i lie pv,^- _ l^ioaei 

Itt A lx)agv^^S Audieoees 



f verjr Exhibitor Is Sitting Pretty With These Great 

Gentleman's Agreement -Captain From Castile MmkrM Were Meant For Me 



Wednesday, March 3, 1948 




HADE! 




^^^^^^^^^ 



Mi 







OXY N.Y. SNEAK 










Attractions from 




lorthside ?77-Scu(l(la-lloo! Scudda-Hay! Technicolor -fury At Furnace Creek 



Weilneiday, IVIarch 3, 1948 



Miracle mt th« Bells 

Hollywood; f«ib. 2S. - 

TLKO releane iit Jesm. I<. lJulcy-'WaIUr< 
IfacHiWfn production. fitMB Fred MacMur- 
iwy, Vftlli. Frtnic- Slnntni: ItMtuwn I^ee,!. 
C'rtbb, V«rmvllrti Pataky, Vhlllp Alin; Har- 
eia ■Vewnllyea. Dirwted hy IrvlnK PWlieJ. 
tlciK!enjaa.y, BMi Heclit, Quentln Rwnolds; 
trom i\oir»l by Russell Jannw; CTmera, 
Kobeit DcGraEse; Bcore, I^igh Harlluo; 
mnii (Enellalt lyilcsl, Ju1»b Styne aiid 
S»iiiniy Calm; bikhjIkI bell e(rectaj_t.H>ertjr 
OarlUoM, Inc. ; eililor. Elmo ■VylUlmn*: 
TradeHhoWn Feb. 10, '48. Running time, 
118 mWi 

Hill Dunnigan Fred MacMumjy 

t)lKa Tre.'skovna. . V»Ml 

rather Paul Franis Sinatra 

MaioUB Harris I.e»-J. Coht 

Anna Klovnsf.: Veronitai Pataky 

Mlnir Oow.,.., rhilln Ahn 

NU;k OrtoK-. Harold VM-nillj-rai 

Father , Siting. . tJharles Meredith 

Doctor. ... ..i. ... , . . . • . • .I'ranb' Wllop» 



"The ISiitHsle of the ISells" comes 
Jto the screen as ^ tremendously 
moving draniK Told with compel- 
ling ^pUcity And great, hieart, it 
will lato audience acelaim that 
counts -for heavy grosses. As a 
goodwill messenger for Hollywood. 
Aim also is potrat. 

In telling the story ot faith as 
narrateii- in Bussed JanueyV novel 
of the saine title, Jesse I.. Lasky and 
Walter MacEwen have strung their 
production: on a chord of simnlicity 
that registCTR with the widest ap- 
peal.' The-, characters; locale and 
theme ring true. 

Valli, introduced to American 
-audiences iti a prevnius Hollywood' 
production ('•Paradine-Case"), justi- 
fies any acclaim witti Mer perforaw- 
artce in "MSiacIe." It's- a- portrayal 
of great sympathy, understanding 
and boff talent. Her marquee value 
should soar after this. She- is not 
alone; though, with: Outstanding 
work'. Her co-.starSi Pred itSiacMur- 
ray and Prank Sinatra, top previous 
performances; and' Hsb featured and 
supporting , players- come- thmu^ 
-with characterizations that make the 
story live, 
.. ^'Miracle" is not without its 
human ' chuckles,, and never bears 
down with a dramatic wei^ that 
-would make- for heaviness or tedi- 
eusness. Responsible for this smooth 
flow of interest is the direction of 
Irving Pichid, .which makes the al- 
most tworhour nmning time seem 
co-iparatlvely ntort. 

Screenplay by Ben ^Hecht. and 
Qi-sntin ReynaldK is always engross- 
iag in development, -takes- hold eor^ 
and never \ets- Up in the realistic 
unfoldmrait. Script 'isn't patterned 
too cloady in detail to the novel, 
■but brings' out the original's theme 
with all the scope possible in screen 
treatment, , 

St»iy is. told partly in flashback 
as a hotshot, press agent biangs the 
body- of an actress back to the small 
Fennsyt mining 'town, in ' whii^ she 
was bom, ffir biuiial. The ehatacteir 
of the .girl, 'what she found in life 
end what she: panted to give to her 
people, is. brought out as Fred Mac- 
Murray, the flai^. recounts her story 
to the prie5t..af a ^all, poor chtlrch, 
MacMurrsgr's scheming to make her 
k funeral » memorable event' and, in- 
i cidental^ to- use that fanfare to in- 
f duce her .producer to release her 
Htst and only picture,- has a vivid 
reaction throughout- the nation. 
Story subject seems mortiid, but so 
'tsstfully is it -handled, it never re- 
pels and the 'miracle of; the bells 
created , gets a strong grip on the 
imagination. 

Miss Valli's performance conveys 
the impression of tiie poor Polish 
girl, .'ambitious for good, with a feel- 
ing that sticks home. Her reading 
of Joan ef Arc in the motion picture 
sequences' is high artistry. Mac- 
Murray -shddics the p:a. character 
w'th just the righft touch to -win in- 
terest. Sinatra, the' poor priest, is 
outstanding. It's a human, thought.- 
]ful portrayal. He «l«o sings Englidl 
Jyries' to a .Polidi folksong, "Ever 
iEIomeward;" for standout vocal mo- 
ment. 

Lee J. Cobb is a .dolid . ambassador 
for Hollywood in his performance 
ss the producer. It's a character 
that's more true to life than the 
popular fiction drafting of 'film mak^ 
ers as money-grubbers with no in- 
stinct for,:.good or beauty, 'Veronlka 
Fatalcy, a tempecamental actress, 
clicks in a single scene. Philip Ahn 
lends dignity to performance as an 
i>ged Chinese, and Harold 'Vermilyea 
graphically gets over the smallness 
that afflicts too many persons in this 
-world. 

Leigh Ha«IIhc's musical score, 
-directed by Constantin Bakaleinl- 
tuofi, is an ace job. Special bell 
effects and other baclc^ound toneSj 
.figure importantly. Robert De- 
Grasse did the top quality lensing 
and other credits are equally out- 
standing in measuring this one for 
attention. Brogt 

Gary Cooper as Orville 
In WB Wrights' Biog 

Hollywood, March 2. 
Gary Cooper will play Orville 
'Wright in Warner film on lives of 
the airplane inventors, Wilbur and 
Orville Wright. Henry Blanke will 
produce. 

It will be second film of Cooper's 
new Warner pact. First, going soon, 
will be "Fountainhead." 



Se«<l«l«-HMl 

(CObOtt) 

Hollywood, Feb. 28. 

aoth-Fox relcaSQ ot Walter Nonosco pro- 
duction. Stan 4uii« Hav«?! teetiuw lion 
McCalliater, Walter Breonan, .Anno Be- 
vero, Natalie Wood, HoWat Kitrno», Henry 
HliU, Tom luHft Direction and ecreenplay, 
F. Hugh Herbert. From novel by OeprW 
Agnew Chamberlain; camera <Tedhnlcolor), 
Smest Palmer; muMc. Cyril HodtarldQ; 
editor, Harluoa Jones. Tradeehowtt Feo. «• 
'48. Kunnlnv- tim«v Mr M«N8, . 

Uud McGiU June Haver 

Snug Dominy. ...... .......lion McCalUster 

Tony Maule. .'WaUer Hrennan 

Judith Domlny Anne Beyero 

Bean McGlU Natalie Wood 

Stretch Dominy . ........... .»obe»-t Kamra 

Milt Domlny Hem-y Hull 

Roarer McGIU jy>m 'fully 

Chea ^'^''IS?".? 

Mrs. MoQIU Geraldlho Wall 

Shcrlir Bursom.. Ken Christy 

Jmlge Stmtrell , ^l"^ 

Jim?.... Matt MeHuah 

Bai'brr. ............... .Charles Wageliheim 

Duxait.'. ............ ■■',.. .Hmliort Heiywwod 

Ted. .. .....Kdw-ard tSarK.-tn 

Blmer «uy B«J»'h 

Uulane Pat Collins 

3Sx\. . .V. • : .OharMM Woolf 

Stablet Hatid .Kujfone Jackson 

Olrl Friend Marilyn Monroe 



Miniatiire Reviews 

"The Mirmele af the Bells" 

(RKO). Simple, moving story 
of faith. Certain of potent 
audience response. Strong b-o., 
"Soadda - Hoo! Sendda-Hsy!" 
(Cohjr). (20th). Modern farm- 
ing story excellent for general 
b.o. 

"Xfce Bctnrji of the WliUtlei" 

(Col). Fairish Whodunit for 
supporting situations; ' 
"The B»wk *r »*W€ter Biver" 
(KL). Poor western in the Eddie 
Dean aeaAes, . 

"OklaaiMiiK mObataar (Rep). 
Allan "Rocky" Lane in fast- 
paced western thriller; fine sup- 
port on tM^nners. 

"Biiuiehe-Viary" (Color) (Brit- 
ish) (GCD). Stewart Granger in 
mo«dy meller; likely . only for 
prestige market in V& 



'An OiUogy to a mule . doesn^t- sound 
like B good, commercial film idea, 
but "Scudda-Hoo! Scudda-Hay!" 
easily proves it is. Taken from the 
hovel of the same title, which en- 
joyed » wide, reading audience, plot 
has been adapted to celluloid in 
mannen that carries appeal for most 
any theatregoer. "Added value of 
Tenhnioolorj a sound story <rf faim 
life, and genwsd' production show- 
manship augur well for boxoffice. 
returns in most situations. 

'While theme of giving the mule 
his proper' place in fame as a .'imart 
draft animal is thoroughly explored, 
elements ot stoity. that will hit; a 
wider ^peal have not been over- 
looked; Combination of the two has 
been developed with punch ifl' P. 
Hugh Herbert's script and^ as direc- 
tor, he overlooks no bets in pointing 
tile ingredients for audience inter- 
esl^i A flrstrate cvodit tm both 
counts. 

The. mule, with no .pride of an- 
-cestry and no hope for posterity, is 
shown for just what he is-^ hybrid 
developed from mating of a horse' 
to a jack— a proud uiimal, able to: 
hold his own witif the thoroughbreds 
for savvy, wotfc fdiility, or contrari- 
'ness. FiliQ examples are .a pair of 
string animals', a lacgo^mule and a 
jenny.' ° 

. Lon McGallister gives a sound 
portrayal as the young farm lad who 
acquires ownership of the mules on 
the time-payment plan and bis ad- 
jventures . as he woisks and 'flght« to 
retain them ragainst: odds posed by 
nature and man ase engrossing. Left 
with a cruel stepmother and .■step- 
brother when his father, returns to 
the sea, McCallister hires himself 
out to a blustering farmer neighbor: 
Hard 'Work to meet his weekly pay- 
ments on the team, his romance witih 
the- f arnter's daughter, his friendship 
with an old muleskinner and other 
ingredients are told with jinteresting 
simplicity in the Herbert script. ; 

June Haver, as romance opposito: 
McCallister, justifies her staixing 
role in one scene when she tells off' 
her father for his plot to take aiway 
the boy's team. Otherwisev.her role 
is more or less standar4, Wsdtw 
Brennan is skillful as the old mult!- 
skinner. Anne Revere and Robwt 
Karnes are excellent as the menac.. 
iog step-parents. Tom Tully gives a 
top account of himself as the loud- 
mouthed farmer and little Natalie 
Wood clicks as Miss Haver's kid sis- 
ter. Henry Hull is seen briefly and 
effectively as McCallister's father. 
Geraldine Wall and others in the 
cast point up their playing well. 

Walter Morosco gar'bed ' the prO' 
•duction with topnotch outdoor 
values and gave the George Agnew 
Chamberlain novel intelligent screen 
interpretation. Ernest Palmer's color 
lensing milks every value from the 
outdoor and night scenery and other 
credits measure up in craftsmanship. 

, Bro0. 

Rottirn «»f the WUsder 

i^olmnbia releane ol' Rudi>l|ih C; Ij-lothow 
nroduotion. Featum HIcbael Duaiie. Le- 
nore AuHert, Itlohard T.dne; Dlrnoted hy I>, 
Hon X^dcnnan. Orlslnal atory, Comi'U 
Woolrlch, aueseiiied "oy CU8 program, ■The 
Whiotler"; screenplay, Edward Bock, Mau- 
rlcR TombraKe); camera, Philip Tahnui-ii; 
editor. Dirluht Caldwell; manic, MlBcha 
'Bahaleinikoir. At ifew Yorker thetitre, 
N. T., Fob. 38, -ABi ItUnnlAK time, 63 MINS. 

Ted NIcholir. Michael IJuane 

Alice Barclay .Tjenors Aubert 

Gaylani Tmvem Richard I.«ne 

John JMmw Cam well 

Mre. Barclay...... .Ann Sltoeiiiaker 

Mrs. Hulakamv. ......Sarah Padden 

.. .-. Gntntland. , . . .Wilton flhiil 

Jolt Andennn.. ........... .....Olin irowlin 

Hum Eddy Wall^ 

Arnold .... Z . .Trevor BardettB 

Sybil....;.....,..,......, Ann Doran 

Hart. . . . . . ...... . . .Robert Kmnett Keane 

Captain GrlgW. ............ .Kdiiitfr Dearine 



would-be bride with Duane unable 
to providei Uny of her batsfcground 
that woidd lead to her return. From 
a few effects left b^ind, he's able to 
trace her-whereobouts and finally afi« 
feet a reunion after the customary 
chase and fisticuffs. 
, Central character of the CBS radio 
program, "The Whistler," has little if 
anylming to do with the proceedings; 
Occasjanally, the Whistler flashes 
across the screen with some dire 
forebodings that neither contribute 
nor detract from the general pro- 
cedure.' 

The lead roles by Duane and- 
Lcnore Aubert, lattep as the missing 
bride, are completely essayed, witti 
staunch support by Richard Lane as 
the private eye who walks ints the 
case. James- CardweU> pnvides-' the 
major portion of the villainy. 
. Directojr D. Boss Lederman man- 
ages' to infuse some excitement after 
the story padding is out ot the way. 
.Lensing by Philip Tannursis.ohay. 



open spaces plot in that the cowboy 
hero fakes being the newly, «rriv«l 
r«ncfaowner, a comely farame. Thte 
enables him to outwit the usual 
western outlaws and the familiar 
two-faced leaders, this time the lat- 
ter being a westwn newspaper pub- 
lisher. Besides painting him as 
tiioroughly unsonipulous^ yarn 
inclined, to poke fun at an out-of- 
-work legit actor. 

There's the usual note< due on the 
ranch, the careening^, stagecoach, 
stickups, gimplay. and' rough-and- 
tumble fights. Last one is staged on 
the top Of a racing stagecoach for a 
maximum of thrills. 

Besides the fine job turned in by 
Lane and his hoss^ Mildred Coles- 
adds the necessary femme touch as 
flie newly-arriv£d ranchowner. Eddy 
Waller adds some comedy touches as 
the hired hand at the ranch, Cieue 
Stutenroth' heads- the support. Bed- 
sides Canutt's fast direction, John 
IfisBurnie does nicely with- has cam- 
.era. Wenji 



Fiwy 

(Crier) 

London, Feb. 19. 

General Film Diatributors rclrjim! of - A. 
Hnw4oct{-Allsn ' (TlankH'iue«inU1) prodiHv 
lion. SJtars- Valerie HobAon. st*>wnrt Gran- 
der. . Directed by ' Man^ AJlOKrel. . flrreen- 
play by Au«lrey- I.indoii. (;!ccil MMJivom 
from n»y<.l by- J6eeph SliearinK, Hdltur, 
Jack Ubi-rla; .inu9U\ Clifton Piiricer; cam- 
era, Guy .ODeen, iH^iBttiy TlMwerth. At 
Odaon. Runnlnic Ume, W MIIW. 

Philip TiMM-o -.fitewavt Grsinser 

Bianetae Fury...,. >..:.,.... Valerie Molimn 

Simon Fury . Waiter FitzKerald 

Lavurenre Fury. Michael Gouxh 

Kajdr Fraaer.. Maurice l>enliam 

{.onisa. . . . HyhillA Binder 

Oblonel Jcnliii>;^. ....^.GkUvard T^esfsr 

tJKvUtla Fnr^ .' . . . ... . . , , . .Suzanne GlblHt 

Wetherby. Mhm Jeayes 

Galamy,. . i .KmeRt Jay 
l.>vrd Rwlford ............... Ai-ltiur '^Vontner 

.VML Wlnterbourne. ......Amy VetwM 

Almeer. Georse Woodlnrldjce 

Jordan ^.......Biian Herbert 

BroannitinK Couneel.T. .Cecil Baniase 

Molly , t-nierry London 

..... ......... . . ;Tawn»en(l' WitJcliei; 

:Uta. Htiwkes, :..,...M«r!;aret Withers 



(SON«S.) . 

Baglo Lion reletme ot ■ Jew Thomas pro- 
duction, atain Ea<He D»am leiituree Jen- 
nlCer Kolt, .lloscoe Ate.^, Junci< Carimm. Dl- 
rei'teil by Ttay Taylor; Original a;)ieenpliiy, 
George Smith ; crinni-a', . Kmic Miller ; eongs, 
Dmn, Hill Bliiir. Pete Oatea; editor, Joe 
(Ituclr. I'rcviewed.JI, T., Feb. ■Sit, MS. Bun- 
iilUK time. SH-SHNS; ^ 

Bddie'. Kddio Doan 

8oa)iy. ^ . .Hoscee Ate« 

ViTlan. .'. . . ..Tennlfer : Holt 

<''aroiB ..V. .. . . Juiu) Carliian 

Cochrane ..; . ..... .Kddle Parker 

■Mitchell ..... .Tei-ry Frost 

'Copper*. I.nne Bmdtord 

rHea-t^. t. .* .<i^arl Mathewa 

Heavy. ............... . ......... .Teii French 

.Bill... . Steve Clark 

Drh-er. .................. Tex Palmer 



Film vaults -evidently contributed 
in no small way to the footage of 
"Tl>e Hawk of Powder Rivec." 
Number of' scenes which had been, 
used in lureviously released Bddie 
Dean oatuners are spliced into the 
plot of this entry. Picture is. bound 
to produce a "haven't J seen this be> 
fore" reaction among the action fans. 
B.o. prospects mUd. 

While the story formula remains 
basically similar to other films in 
this series, thereY a slight switch in 
■that Jennifer Holt is tiie .leader of' 
the outlaws, Her underlings kill her 
uncle who was on the vmge. of ex- 
posing her. JSfae ^ao plots- tb rub 
out her ' cousin, June Carlson,, bttt 
the scheme is nipped by ]3!ddie Dean. 
Usual chase-, sequences, fisticutts and 
shootim; .sprinkle the reels. 

Quartet of songs is sandwiched in 
at ^Strategic points. Tunes sll had 
been spotted in other Dean pix. 
Acting is so-so with Dean contrib- 
bing his standard characterization of 
a U.S. Marshal on a secret mission. 
Miss Holt is a credible lieavy while 
Miss Carlson shows the need of 
further cicperience. Ros6oe Ates, as 
customary, supplies the comic re- 
lief. Others- are adequate. 

Ray Taylor's direction is fair. 
Producer Jerry Thomas drew the 
budgetary purse.^rings a bit too 
tightly on ''Hawk." Ernie MUler's 
camerawork is average. Joe Ghick 
rates a nod for editing the library 
clips in .so adroitly. 



T|us.,$l,900,(WO Xechniceldr entry in 
the current Joseph Shearing cycle 
<*™o!!s Ro.sc," "Mark of Cain," "So 
Evil My Love") is like all Shearing 
murder stories in that it's based on 
:fact. This film is on the famous .Buish 
murder in the 19th cento^y, which 
caused a stir throughout England. It 
is a morose, moody tale of sex and 
unabashed villainy. Picture has been 
well produced althtiutfa cool calcu- 
lation is visible in eiyery. move of the 
picture. Pic shnuld-cio well here, but 
may only find i. prestijge! market in 
U. S. 

.'fVench director Iiiarc AUegret 
makes his -EEnglish debut and his 
technique is evident throughout. He 
has used color to Jgreat advantage, 
while his settings and outdoor scene.s 
have immense beauty. . fhis should 
help put it; over although. prinNpal 
.b.o. jpodl will be Stewart Gxai^te. 
. Xhe suddenness with whidi the 
.cUmax is reached, the amazing and 
tiot wholly explicable chanjie in . « 
.'loving' womaai and' the seeming in- 
sanihr in the man 'afte loves .are never 
satisfactorily lacplained; 

Not one of the principals is.sympa- 
thetie, which is hardly an asset. But 
that is the nature of the tale, and 
Blanche^ played by 'Valerie Hobson 
(Mrs. Bavelock-Allan), certainly 
dominates the picture.. She has 
beautjr that lends itacffi enchantingly 
to color. If she cannot register the 
depth such a woman should have had 
ii perhaps is because it is asking too 
much of one person. 



credit side, flkn manages to generate 
that "old Russia" look' through au- 
thentic settings and backgrounds, 
appropriate costuming and sonie ' 
darldy shadowed lensing. 

Well-known yam ot « comscienoe- 
stricken muroerer who's finally 
driven to confessing his crime is 
enacts by a group of thesper? who 
make near-misses in tiieir parts. As 
Raskolniknv, flie pauperized intel- 
lectual with m Nl^fioleonic complex, 
Hampe. Fsaistmim glowers strongb 
through his role but lacks the fine 
shadings necessary - to project acute 
psychologioal suffeijngi As the de- 
tective who plays .« cat-and-mouse 
game with his victim, Sigurd Wallen 
also misses the depth of irony need- 
ed as counterpart to the crimlnars 
fake bravado. 

The women 'come through a bit 
more effectively. Gunn Wallgren, as 
the »ligious sti«etwaIker, registers 
with an honest and simple perform- 
ance. Playjns Baskolnikov's sister 
and mothw, Vrie Albin and Harriet 
Philipson usa'ddivw solid portray- 
als. Rest 9t the cast give good , sup- 
port : 

Herirt.' ',■ 

(DOCVMiBNTAS¥) 

American -Film Preduceofr Pniduciion. 
Narratinni, Georse Bryan and Philip .staUl; 
mlitoF, Jean Oner: music, EdwaM- (^ralg, 
ItevJewe* W. y,, Feb. 25, '48. Uunnlnis 

time, n mam. 

Aikilph HiHer. II iniKelt 

Kvti Hraun liti-isrit- 

Ifeimann Geiering. lltniwic 

Ifuul Josenb Ooebbela Iltmself 

Julius Stnicher........ .HlmwJt 

Heinrich Himmler. , ........ ... .Hlmqeir 

Beiilta MU—l lBii....... Hlnweir 

And a aKVPorltBgs'east ot other flunmiK 
and Infkmonv iierxmages. 



"The Return of the W hi s t le r" 
■tnis'ses because of obvious padding of 
an insufficient amount of story ma- 
terial. With some judicious editing, 
the film could have been a superior 
suspense thriller. However, there's 
an' okay substitution of the chase and 
fisticuffs to provide the picture with 
the noimal quota of excitement. Fair 
dualer. 

There are times during the picture 
when the taut story lines of the 
Cornell Woolrich original are dis- 
cernible. However, an undue amount 
of slow dialog and unnecessary flash- 
backs obscure the virtues of the 
original idea of presenting a crime 
with few clues to work on. 

The story concerns the sudden dis- 
appearance of M i c h a e 1 D u a n e ' s 



Stewart Granger, as Philip., is a 
curious- mi}dure of degeuefate no- 
bility with melodramatic stableboy. 
His best moments are those of pas- , 
sion, but the camera and the script' score is adequate, 
are occasionally less kind to him th'an 
it has been to his co-star. The .lesser 
characters are played with sldlL 
Camera work is good. Both con- 
tributed more than the usual share 
to a «U5tin<:;tive,,i^eture. Cane. 



Oklfthows Badlands 

Hcpubllt! release «( Gordon Kay produc- 
i.imi. KtarB Allan "Rocky" T..aiie. Directed 
by Yakimfi C'anutt. OrfvUml scittenplay, 
Bob WUlianiH; camera, John' HacrBurnle; 
editor. Ai thur TltibcrtB. Tradeshown .H Y,, 
I'Yb. *.!7, -4,8. Hunniiig time, m MIN». 
Allan "Boclcy" lJ^nc.. Allan '-Hocky" I.Ane 

Nugget Clark.. ..lUddy Trailer 

Leslie Rawlins. ..Mildred Coles 

Sanders. ......... ..... . . .... .'.Roy Barcroft- 

Oliver Budt,'" Oenift stutenroth 

.lonathan Walpole...........B!arle Hodeins 

Hiiarkey, Dale Van SlcKel 

Ken RatrllnB... ^. Jay Klrby 

ytKatha Scrajig Cluiro Whitney 

.sherlfr. ... .................. . . .Terry Frost 

l^ostmaetcr (lltttk Fatternon 

PirHM€-iiKcr ............... IlouHe Peters, Jr. 

Htugecoach Dricer. Jack Kirk 



With ' the baddUig of the Navy 
Club of the, Ul S., an indie produc- 
tion outfit; Imown as American Silm 
Producers has*-' compiled a chrone- 
logieal pictorial accouot of Hitler's 
rise and eventual slide to' oblivion. 
Negotiations for theatrical dL-rtribu- 
t'ion of the '61-minute film are in 
progress. Exhibitors will find the 
picture packed with exploitational 
qualities. 

For the most part, "Love Lite of 
Adolph Hitler" does not rank as a 
good documentary of the past war. 
Title chosen is cheap add lurid. "No 
doubt it will stimulate interest of ' 
'^ind bouse patrons, hut the better 
situations will shy away. - Market 
for this one will be garnered, by 
heavy .bally plus tlfe further atten- 
tion of those who are morbidly, cu- 
rious tis .to bow £va Braun looked 
in a bathing suit. 

Film's title is a misnomec inas- 
much as the pic sti«sses Hitler's de- 
sire for power as his dominating 
trait rather than overly developing 
the top Nazi's occasional fondness , 
for . women. Most of the footage ap- 
pears to be old newsrcel vault stuff. 
However, the producers claim much 
of the film's running time represents 
dips seized from the Germans, es- 
pecially the Sequent sequences 
where Hitler's paramour, Eva Braun, 
is seen froliekin^ at Berchtesgaden. 

Entire print is accompaaied by 
narration of George „ Bryan and 
Philip Stahl. Summed up, their 
comments ^iut aut a moral by re- 
tracing, the diabolical development 
of the Hitler military machine via 
the. Qelhiloid medium. Naturally, 
with the Navy Club sponaoring the 
picture, the moral is the "Navy is 
our first line of defense" and as 
such we must^ build it up to the 
extent where a tbniiar threat to 
world peace cannot be maxie. 

Editing and iiarm&m are fairly 
woll handled, while "ftae mnsieal 

Gilb. 



Clime and iPuwittluncnt 

(SWEDISH'-MABB) 

(In Swedish; '£n.0li«h Titles) 
Film -Hii^hts International relciisc of 
Terrafliiu piyHluction. Stai-s Hnmptt FauHt- 
man. D-lrettted by -Faustman. ?*c7't't.nrilny. 
Bcrtll AlalinlKirK, Kven Rtolpc; VKtsed on 
Dostoevaky novel; camera, Goran - Strinil- 
licrg. At fStaJilej', N. Y., VH). 28, '40. 
KunninK time, IM MNSi-. 

Raskolnikov. Hampe FslitsllYian 

jSenia. .. .. .... , .......... .Ounn VVailfrren 

Samiotov Siiiurd Wallen 

Dunia. , . .... . .Blsie Albitn 

X'U..|Jia .....Gfeeme- Funk<iulst 

Modern. .Tckla SJoblom 

ituBumlklD. -. .Toivo Pavtrlo 

Allona Uilsa Widborg 

Harmeladov. . . Huko BJOrnc 

Katarina.. I.isskuUn. John 

Kaiascfahft. .*. . . .Harriet Plillipson 



Lost HapiritaMRfifli 

(ITAUAN-MAIHE) 

X.C.I, release aed pi-oduetlon. .Slavs 
I.«Dnardo Cortese, Ulna MasBBll. Direrted 
by -F. M. Haiti. At Cinema Verdi, 1*. Y., 
Fell. !17, '48. Huonln« tKnei Iff *MSIB. 

UiorKio VIglieri . . . . , , Leonardo Cnrtese 

Anna.. ......... ,. ...,.T..... . . .Dlna Batatoli 

Fi»nco ..Manuel Itiiero 

.Sahastrlaro , .Gliuieii)>e Porf>lll 

.Vicola. ........ i , . ..ATHldo Tier! 

Maria ................. Adrian* de Koberto 



Allan "Rocky" Lane and his big 
stallion, "Black Jack," go far in 
helping put over this western 
thriller. Aside from this, "Vakima 
Canutt, vet of many oat operas and 
former champ rodeo performer, has 
directed with a know-how that un- 
doubtedly stems from long contact 
with this type of screen fare. Hence, 
•it's a pat entry for spots where they 
go for these cactus mellers or to 
back up a No. 1 feature of many 
twin combos. 

Film deviates from familiar wide- 



This Swedish version of "Crime 
and Punisdiment" is the late.st and 
least successful cinenuitic try at the 
popular Dostoevsky novel. This one 
lacks the intensity of the French 
pic starring the late Harry,Baur, and 
falls far short of the technical slick- 
ness of the American version with 
Peter Lorre. Full of irrelevant de- 
tails and. loaded with gab, the pic 
travels at a .snail's paee with little to 
relieve the tedium. Thig entry will 
make only a slight dent in the sure- 
seater market. 

Chief defect lies in the scripters' 
presumption to improve the novel 
■by adding some original story de- 
tails. As a result, the film frequently 
topple^ into a hokey mood com- 
pletely at odds with the overall seri- 
ous intent of the production. On 



(In Ifalion; English Titles) 
"Lost Happiness" is a minor of- 
fering with an appeal strictly limit- 
ed to' Italian-speaking audiences. 
Stilted and old-tashioncd, pie-dates 
way back to the ten-tweiit'»thirt' 
type of melodrama. Some ncwsieel 
;^ots of the recent war are inter- 
laced into the story, but that's its 
only sign of modern vintage. Other- 
wise, .pic is marked by uneven di- 
rection, corny yarn and florid the.sp- 
ing. Background music is damaged 
by a noisy soundtrack. 

Plot concerns a fatal love triangle 
involving a famous violinist, llis 
wife and accompanist. Latter is a 
heel who takes odvant.-5Re of the 
wife's one moment of weakness to 
blackmail^ her into continuing the 
affair. Pushing his pique to rather 
extreme limits, he frames the hus- 
band to a 10-year jail sentence by 
planting fake evidence of his own 
murder. Choppy film suddenly ends 
as the culprit gets caught aAd killed 
hy the violinist, > 

Dina Sassoli, as the wife, is a 
striking looker who also docs a$ 
well as can be expected under the 
burden of her role. Leonardo Cor- . 
tese, as the vilionist, show.s some 
thesping promise, but Manuel Rocro. 
as the accompanist, shows nolliinf. 
but .ham. flei-m. 



Wednesday, Mamli.S, 1948 



PBR-PnODlICTIOBr 



U.S. PRODS. S WING TO CANADA 

IKiei^ Rea^ Siraqiiiig Dorandb; 
C«fld To M For Closed Shop 



HttUywood, Match 1 
on committee proposals, 
Screen Directors Guild Is getting 
ready to pnesen't a set of sweeping 
demands to the producers when 
contract negotiations open for a new. 
basic agreement replacing the 1939 
pact which expires March 15. De- 
mands, which will first be placed 
before the SDG membership for' ap- 
proval, include a closed shop and 
new minimumsvfor freelance direc- 
tors based on negative costs, and the 
right to strike. 

New freelance minimums would 
etart at $2,500 for two-atid-a-half 
weeks' work on films having a nega- 
tive cost up to $50,000. A gradually 
expanding scale reaches ♦lO.OOO for 
10 weeks' work on pix between 
.$175,000'»$200,000. An alternate pro- 
posal would give freelances a mini- 
mum salaj-y of 5% of estimated 
production . cost Biccording to the 
present bookkeeping system. This 
would protect directors on high 
budget productions. 

Scales for contract directors call 
for -salary of $750 weekly for 52 
weeks with no ' layoff period, and 
tSOO weekly with a 12-weefe layoff 
period. Guild wants to eliminate 
layoffs entirely but if it cannot be 
negotiated, SDG will seek to set up 
standards calling for at least one 
week's notice and limitation of lay- 
off to six consecutive weeks with 
permission to do outside work dur- 
ing that period. 

On . loanout^,'. directors .will seek 
to share SO'rSO^ with' studio on the 
amount over the regular contract 
lalary with provision that the con- 
tracted studio be entitled to deduct 
the difference up to six weeks sal' 
«ry of directors unassigned previous 
to theloanoiit ^ 

A danse covering the right of 
conti»ct termination will also be 
asked.. It would provide that a di- 
rector who's been unassigned to a 
picture within 26 weeks will have 
the privilege of ending his pact on 
written notice. Suspnisions would 
he Umited on any single period of 
the 'Contract, in no case ' to exceed 
fix consecutive weeks. 

:SDG board will, recommend i 
basic clause eliminating the prohibl 
tiori of the right to strike following 
a poll showing that a majority of 
members favor the st^p. 

Directors would also be given 
tight to controlj cutting up to and 
including the first preview, or in 
cases , where there is no such pre- 
view, up to the timfe the film is 
•hown to a studio exec who has' the 
final deciBioa on cutting. Advertising 
credits are also covered in the pro- 



Producers SHioiild Pay 
MoEeAttentioiitoExyb 



lememan 

_Waiiam J. Heineman, Eagle Lion's 
digtribution veepee, is plugging for 
greater attention to exhibitor ideas 
on story content and production ele- 
ments which would boost boxoffice 
revenues. From now on in, Heine- 
man says, EL will give important 
consideration to exhib braintrusting 
on production matters. That deci- 
sion was reached in huddles with 
Arthur Krim, EL proxy, and Bryan 
Poy, production veepee^ ' 

"We feel that exhibitors know bet- 
ter than anyone else the elements 
which wiU draw patrons, and that 
they also know, far in advance of 
any polls or questionnaires, which 
stars are on the rise and which are 
beginning to lose their drawing 
power. This knowledge is exactly 
What we want to havC) to guide us in. 
determining which stars to sign and 
which types of pictures to make," the 
sales biggie declared. 

Many companies, Heineman said, 
have a sharp distinction between 
production and sales. "We don't be- 
lieve this is healthy — or smart," he 
explained. "We feel that no com- 
pany can achieve its full potential 
unless "both departments fusiction 
together." Heineman stressed the 
use of exhibitor knowledge in der 
daring that EL's present goal was 
a ininimum of 12,000 domestic book- 
ings on all company releases. , 



MPF Meet Set Back 

E. V. Bichards, Paramount circuit 
partner and head of the Motion Pic- 
ture Foundation, announced yester- 
day (Tues.) that a three-day meet- 
ing of the trustees, originally set for 
March 16^18, has been moved back 
until sometime in April. 

Postponement of the trustee con- 
clave, it was said, was due to the 
fact that the Theatre Owners of 
America had scheduled a meeting on 
the Coast for March 9-10. Date of 
this gathering was to close to the 
trustee, huddles hence the moveback 
to April. Switch also will give the 
MPF committee more time to pre- 
pare the agenda. 



CzediCoiv Won't 
Hart US. Films 




aas 



Optimism that no serious conse-' 
quences would result to U. S. films 
as result of the Communist coup in 
Cssechoslovakia last week was ex- 
pressed Monday (1) in New York 
by Irving Maas, v.p. and general 
manager of the Motion Picture Eb(«. 
port Assn. Distribution of major 
company, product to Czecho is han- 
dled for the industry by the MPEA. 

Maas pointed out that there have 
long been Communists active, in the 
Czech film monopoly, which con- 
trols all houses and distribution. 
He said that it was with them that 
the MPBIA made its original deal in 
1946. Lubomir Linhart, head of the: 
state monopoly, who came to the 
U. S. to ink the pact, is reputedly a 
Commie. 

MPEA topper also explained that 
his organization regularly does busi- 
ness with other Soviet orbit coun- 
tries, such as Poland, Rumania and 
Bulgaria, which have Communists- 
at the top, as Czechoslovakia now 
has. Maas added, however, that the 
developments "won't do us any 
good; this kind of thing never does." 

MPEA and Czech officials were 
at a standstill on negotiations for 
a new. pact when the Commies took 
over the government last week. The 
old contract ran out last November. 
It called for delivery of 80 pictures. 
About 12 or 13 of this group are 
yet to" be played off, according to 
the MPEA, Because of the popu- 
larity of IT. S. pix, making for long: 
first-runs, the playoff is very slow. 

Czechoslovak business is particu- 
larly valuable to the American com- 
panies, since they get full remittance 
of the coin they earn. Most other 
Soviet orbit countries permit only 
print costs or a little more. MPEA 
does not distribute in the country; 
but merely delivers its product to 
the monopoly. Theatre gets eSc. out 
of each boxoffice dollar, with 65% 
of the remaining coin goinjg to the 
MPEA and 35% to the monopoly. 
However, a number of charges are 
taken out before the final es-'SS 
divvy is made, with the result Maas 
estimates MPEA actually gets about 
9c. out of each b.o. dollar. 





H wood EcMomy Axe Halr» Contract 
ggnjl Hiespm; 398 Layoffs At 10 Studios 



Toi-onto, March 2. 

According to deals negotiated by 
the Canadian government with the 
U. S. film industry, feature films will 
start rolling at once in Canada in "a 
big way," according to Hon. C, D. 
Howe, Minister of Reconistruction. 
Production expenditure in this coun- 
try may equal the $17,000,000 that 
U. S, films reportedly take out of 
Canada every year. In keeping with 
the current bush-hush policy re- 
garding deals with Hollywood ■ top- 
pers, Howe, gave no details. 

"It is' our hope that the American 
film industry will contribute to the, 
solution of our exchange problem, 
not "by contraction of business here 
but by the development of produc- 
tion in Canada," he said. "An im- 
portant by-product will be the pub- 
licity and resulting tourist business 
stimulated by a development of this 
nature.'^ 

Howe says the most obvious way to 
correct the drain on Canadian dol- 
lars, as far as theatre attendance in 
this country is concerned, would be 
to impose a quota on American films. 
However, he is being- governed by 
results when this policy was tried 
elsewhere and believes these have 
hewn far' from'satisfaetory. His idea 
(Continued OB pagef IS) °. 



Clothier-Author Loses 
'Miracle Suit Vs. 20th 

Boston, March 2. 
Twentietii Century-Fox won its 
civil suit here brought by Ralph J. 
Burns, Hub clothier, charging copy- 
right infringement in connection 
with "Miracle on 34th St." Burns 
claimed that a substantial amount 
of material for the bofl'o film was 
taken from his novel, "An Angel on 
Horseback," and sued for damages 
and an accounting of the film's 
profits. 

. Judge Charles E. Wyanski de- 
cided for the film company, ruling 
there was no evidence that 20th 
had access to or had ever heard of 
Burns' boolc 



Caaailiaii Goods As 
effsettoMPicCoin 

With the , pmadian- ^go^nernment 
mulling measures' to restrict the, 
flow of film coin from the Dominion 
to the U. S. the Motion Picture 
Assn. of America, along with the 
majors, are currently engaged in. a 
campaign to build up Canadian 
goodwill and thereby blmit the 
threatened fiscal axe. .Understood 
campaign: is being handled by. 
Francis : Harmony MPAA veepee, 
who's asked the majors fullscale co- 
operation in promoting both Cana- 
dian goods and the country, itseU, 
as a resort paradise. 

Majors, on their part, have agreed 
to promoting the Dominion's rep 
both by turning out shorts depicting 
various phases of< Canada and by 
inserting dips of Canadian events 
in Y^nk newsreels. Paramount, for 
instance, is making a two-reel pic 
of Canada and the other majors are 
to do similar spadework. 

MPAA is also pushing production 
in Canada as a partial answer to the 
uneven flow of film coin. It wants 
(Continued on page 20) 



Lazarus' 'Miracle' Hop 

Paul' Lazarus, Jr„ United Artists 
pub-ad chief, planes to the Coast<to- 
day (Wednesday) for discussions 
with Benedict Bogeaus and Carl 
Leserman on the advertising for 
their film, "A Miracle Can Happen." 
Lazarus expects to be gone from 10 
days to two weeks. 

"Miracle" recently went into re- 
lease and has been doing only so-so 
business. It's assumed that huddles 
by the producers with Lazarus are on 
a search for a new advertising ap- 
proach. 



DofJ/sHands-Off 
TheabeBoysUntfl 
SopmneaRobig 

While the New York office Of the 
Dept. of Justice has already been 
directed to probe the purchase of 
the SivoU theatre, Broadway -show- 
case, by Louis B. Mayer, Metro's pro- 
duction head, there's little likelihood 
of immediate intervention: by the 
Government, it's been learned. That's 
because ..the D. of J. has fixed an un- 
official hands-off policy on localized 
complaints until the U. S. Supreme 
Court renders a decision on anti-. 
trust cross-ajppeals. 

.Only instance when the Govern- 
ment would.step in, it's said, would 
be where t^e general countrywide' 
situation is affected to the detriment 
of the decree's workings. In the 
case of the move by Joseph M. 
Schenck, 20th^Fox exec, to buy the 
Golden State circuit, D. of J. did in- 
terfere because it felt the entire 
Coast area theatre situation would 
change complexion if the deal went 
through. Schenck, it's understood, 
has' agreed to take no .further .steps 
towards acquiring the chain untiL a 
court ruling comes down. 

D. of JT. has received a fair num- 
ber of complaints from exhibs 
throughout the, country who've 
griped over alleged failures by<the 
majors to live up to the decree. All 
of these complaints are being kept on 
ice pending the court's . final say^ 



Briefs From th« Lats 



Hollywood, March 2. 

WarneiEi bought ^'The Octopus and 
Miss Smith," authored by . Jerry ' 
Graskin, and assigned Harry Svr- 
nitx as producer and scripter.. . Fhil 
Brown drew a key role in the 
Tyrone Power starrer, "For Fear of 
Little Men," at 20th-Fox.. . .Edward 
Marshall, California historian, 
signed as adviser on "The 49ers,'' 
which has been restored to Michael 
Curtiz production program at War- 
ners, after a downward revision of 
the budget.. . .Lucille Watson drew 
Character role in "That Wonderful 
Urge" at 20th-Fox.. .Eicliard Wid- 
ittsrk assigned to gambler part in 
20th western, "Yellow Sky.". . . 

Return of' "Blood on the Moon" 
from location makes throe pictures 
currently in work on the RKO lot. 
Others are "The Boy With Green 
Hair* aUd "The, Long Denial.",., 
WiUiain Dleterle will direct "Weep 
No More," Joseph Cotteu starrer, at 
RKO... Henry O'NeUl drew a dip- 
somaniac role in "Winner Take 
Nothing" at Columbia. 

Warners bought "The Octopus and 
Miss Smith" and assigned it to 
Harry Kurnltz as writer and pro- 
ducer. . . Jean Renoir and Forrest E. 
Jndd forming an indie unit to make 
pictures for Allied Artists release 
. . .Cameo Productions acquired 
screen rightvS to "The Publican," as 
first of four indie pictures, , .Bicfaard 
Thorpe will direct the next '"Lassie" 
jiicture. to be produced by Rolnvrt' 



Sisk at Metro. ..Walter Wanger 

purchased , "Anne of- the Indies," 
Satevepost yam authored by Her- 
bert B. iSaiw, his third' production for 
Eagle Lion. 

Harry Sherman paid $100;000i for 
screen rights to W. C. Tattle** Hash- 
knife stories for a series of westerns 
. Chack BelsaertWill direct "Bom 
to Fight," to be produced by Leonard 
Ficker at Eagle Lion. . .Columbia 
bought "Turn of the Century" for 
production by Bori. Kelly... "How 
to Clean House" new tag on 'The 
Bij Cleanup" at RKO... Hal WalUs 
purchased "The Sound of Years," 
novel by Merriam Modell, as starrer 
for Barbara Stanwyck, i . Howard de 
Sylva signed for "Great Gatsby" at 
Par. 

Fifth o£ Pete Smith's "Pest" series 
of diorts at Metro is "Pesi Control," 
starring Dave CBrliei^, ..FUan 
Banks named his new indie company 
Banlis-National Pictures and moved 
into Motion Picture Center to pro* 
duce "Share My Heart" for, UA re- 
lease: . ."Dig That Gold" new tag an 
"Almost a Millionaire" at RKO... 
Nat Holt checked Off RKO lot to pro- 
duce independent picture with Can- 
adian background; 20th-Fox release 
under negotiation . , . Tom Drake will 
play the Biebard Bodgers role - in 
"Words and Music" at Metro... S. 
Sylvan Simon completed Metro's "A 
Southern Yankee" in 28 days, seven 
days ahead of schedule, fastest time 
ever majie by a Bed Skeltou starrer. 



Hollywood, March 2. 
Wave of economy during tlie la.it 
12 . months has washed more than 
half the contract players off 10 ma- 
jor studio payrolls. Casualtie.* 
amounted to 398y leaving 336 thesp 
Qontractees on the rosters. 

In a few cases the players were 
washed from one studio to. another. 
John Payne moved from 20th-Fox to 
Universal, Ann Miller from Colum- 
bia to Metro, Arlene Dahl .shifted 
from Waniers to Metro, and 'Vera 
Ellen from Goldwyn to Metro, but 
the vast majority, victims of the 
economies that' followed the British 
tax bite, are working now and then 
as freelances. 

Metro led all the film lots in th« 
retrenchment campaign by lopping 
124 off the payrOU. Lagging in place 
position was 20th-Fox, with 92, iol- 
lowed by Paramount with 60. Trail- 
ing were RKO, .29; Columbia, 20; 
Universal, 19; Republic, 19; Warners, 
13; Eagle Lion, 12, and Samuel Gold- 
wyn, with four. Among the namesf , 
dropped were: 

Meiro-^Butch Jenkins, Richard 
Hart, Dorothy Hart, Cameron Mit- 
chell,. PhyUis Thaxter, Marilyn Max- 
well, Gloria De Haven, l>at Marshall, 
Selena Royle, John Carroll, Lucille 
Ball, Lila Leeds, the Wilde Twins, 
Hume Cronyn, Marsha Bunt, Ruth 
Hussey, James Craig and -Bill'Lun- 
digan. 

30th-Fox^ Perry Como, Carmen 
Miranda, Vivian Blaine, Georga 
Montgomery, lion McCaUister, Peggy 
Ann Garner, Dick Haymes, David 
Street, Richard Crane, Lynn Bari, 
AHyn Joslyn and. William Eytlie. 

Paranwnut-^ Diana Lynn, Stanley 
Clements, Corinhe Calvet, Sonny 
Tufts, Robert Preston, 'Virginia 
Field, Eddie Bracken, Johnny Coy, 
James Brown and Virginia Welles. 

Wamen— Jim Davis, Arlene Dahl, 
Robert Alda, John Dahl, Joan Lor- 
ring,'Martha Vickers.; > 

BKO-rTom Conway, Robert Ster- 
ling, Richard B e n e d i c t, George 
Cooper, Suzi Crandall, Gail Davis, 
Jeff Donnell, Marilyn Mercer, Rich- 
ard Powers; Jidi Nolan and Jason 
Robardd. 

CniverMl - Intematianal — Rod 

Cameron,'EUa Raines, Maria Montez, 
Peggy Ryan, Andy Devine, Robert 
Paige and Turhan Bey. 

Colombia — Ann M i 1 1 e r, Ellen 
Drew, Ludwig Donath, Nancy Saun* 
ders and Virginia Hunter. 

Bepablic— Dale Evans, Don Barry, 
Peggy Stewart,' Jane Frazee, Connie. 
Moore, GiM>y Hayes, Linda Stirling, 
William Maxsfa all, Catherine 
McLeod, Tbm London, Sterling Hoi- 
loway, Ruth Brennan and Sunsdi: 
Carson. "* 

Earle Lion — ^Terry Austin, Keeft 
Brasselle and ChUi Williams. 

Goldwyn— -Virginia Mayo, Steve 
Cochran,. Vie Cutler and Vera-Ellen. 

Regardless of the washout, Metro 
still bas the largest number of play- 
ers under contract, a total of 80. 
Other studios and their contractees 
are Warners, 49; Paramount, 41; 
RKO. 40, 20th-Foxj 39; Columbia, 27; 
Universal-Intemationsd, 18; Repub- 
lic, 14, and Eagle Lion and. Cioldwyn, 
five each. 



Indiana Allied Pfaigs 



35m Because of Shorts 

Indianapolis, March 2. 
Associated Theatre Owners of In- 
diana, an. AUied' affiliate, is pushing 
the idea of exhibs installing 16m 
projectors in booths along with regu- 
lar 35m equipment as ..the best way 
of combating the threat of narrow- 
gauge competition. ATOI is also 
pointing up the fact that a good 
deal of celluloid -material, particu-' ^ 
larly shorts, are available only in 
16m. 

Chicago may be the first town to 
latch onto the idea, ATOI buUelin 
notes, since Elmer and Harry 
Balaban, owners of 32 Chi houstes," 
are mulling 'narrow-gauge shorts 
programs in some of their nabe the- 
atres during the afternoons. Ac- 
cording to the Balabans, there's a 
richness of short subject product in : 
16m which would help to supple- 
I ment the regular 35m brie&es; 



' d^aesday^ . March 3, IIM* 



X < -i ' <f' 



UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL presents 

YVONNE De ClUtUI 
DAN DURYEA 
JEFFREY LYNN 





isii 



Screenplay ty lUCl WARD, JACK NAHEFORO and WILLIAM KjpS --Directed by 6E0R6E SHERMAN 




12 



PICTVRB GROSSES 



Wednesday, March 3, 194« 



L A. Very Spotty; 'Nordiside' 
Smash, But 'Black Bart' L^t 34G; 
Turtle' A Rabbit at 48G in 2(1 Wk 



Los Angeles, March 2. 4 
Getting the real boxoffioe play this 
session is "Call Northside," which 
looks to soar to a sock $76,000 or 
close in four theatres on iirst week. 
Otherwise, new entries shape as 
very mild-, ' 

*'Black Bart," in five houses, 
probably will be only, light $34,000 
while "Women in Night" and "For 
You I Die" shapes as very modest 
f 24,000 in five situations. . 

Among the holdovers, "Voice of 
Turtle" appears standout with nifty 
S49,000 on second frame, three loca- 
.tioiis. "Albuquerque" is dropping 
to $21,000, still okay, in two Para- 
mottnt .houses. "Night Song" is fin- 
ishing a thin run with $24^000 in 
two^ S'pots, second week. "High 
Wall," in three situations, will be 
light $23,000, and "Outlaw" is down 
to $16,500 iii four sroallseaters, both 
on initial holdover sessions. 

Estimates for This Week 
• Belmont (FWG) (1,532; 60-$l)-^ 
"Women in Night" , (FG) and "For 
You I Die" (FC). Modest $2,500. 
Last week, "Adventures Casanova" 
<EL) and "Whispering City" (KL), 
lair $3,300. 

Beverly Hills Music Hall (G&S- 
Blumenleld), «2iB; 65-$l)— "OuUaw" 
<UA) (2d wk). ' Thin $2,000. Last 
week, okay $3,700. / 

Carthay Circle (FWC). (1,518; 60- 
$1)— "Sign of Ram" (Col) (2,d wk). 
. Slow $5,000. Last week, $6,500. 
Chinese (Grauman-WC) (2,048; 
60-$l)— "Call Northside 777" (20th). 
Sock $20,000. Last week, "Sign el 
Ram" (Col), slow $11,200. 

Culver (FWC) (1,145; 60-.$!)— 
"Women in Night" (FC) and "You 
1 Die" (FC). Slight $3,000; Last 
week, "Casanova" (EL) and "Whis- 
pering City" (EL), $3,800.'' 

Downtown (WB) (1,800; 60-$t)-*^ 
"Voice Turtle" (WB) (2d wk). Near 
$18,000. Last week, good $21,000. 
' Downtown Music Hall (Blumen.^ 
leld) (872; ' 60-$l)— "Outlaw" (UA) 
(2d wk). Good $10;000, Last week, 
fancy $17,000.' 

Egyptian (FWC) (1,538; 60.$!)— 
"High Wall" (M-G ) (2d -wk ). Only 
$6,000. Last week,; fair $11,700. , , 
El Bey (FWC) . ' (861; ' «0.-$l)-' 
"Women In Night" (FC) and "Yoti 
1 Die" (FC). Weak $2,500. Last 
•week, "Casanova" (EL) and "Whis- 
pering City" (EL), oke $3,700. 
' Esairire (Rosener) .(685; '"85-$1.20) 
—"Nicholas Nickleby" (U). Good 
$4,500 or over. Last week, "Beauty 
and Beast" (Indie) (6tli wk), $1,800. 

Four Star (UA-WC) (900; $1.20- 
'fl.80)-*'"l!ilournlng Becomes Electra" 
(RKO) (loth wk). Down to $3,500. 
Last week, not up to hopes at $4,200, 
but still oke. 

Guild (FWC) (968; 60-$l)— "Black 
- Bart" (U) and- "Jiggs, Maggie in 
Society" (Mono). Okay $4;500. 
Last week, "Double Life" (U) and 
"Fighting Mad" (Mono) (3d wk,6 
■ft days), $2,300. ; ' 
■I Hawaii (G&S'-Blumenfeld) (1,106; 
mm 60-$!)— "Outlaw^' (UA) (2d Wk). 
Near $2,300. Last week, pleasant 
' i4,30O ' ' 

Hmiywaoil (WB) (2,756; 60-$l)— 
"Voice Turtle" (WB) (24 wk). Neat 
$15,000. Last week, very sturdy 
$19,800. 

.Hollywood Mu.sic Hall (Blumen^ 
feld) (475; 60-85)— "Outlaw" ' CUA) 
(2d wk). Dull $2,000. Last week, 
neat $4,300. ■ 

Iris (FWC) (828; 60-85)— "Blafck 
Bart" (U). Slow $4,(100. < Last week, 
"Double Life" (U) <3d wk-6 days), 
good $3,100.- . • 

Laurel (Rosener) > (890; 85) 
^'Panic", (PR) (2d wk). Nice $2,500. 
Ijast week, nifty $3,800. 

Jboew's State (Loew-'s-WC) (2,404; 
60.$1) — "Northside" (20th) and 
"Let's- Live Again" (20th). Solid 
i$30,000. Last week, "Sign Ram 
(Col) and "Heading for Heaven" 
<EL) (8 days), .modest $22,500: 

Los Aiigeleii (D'town-WC) (2,097; 
e0'.$l)— "High Wall" (M-G) (2dwk). 
Down to $11;500. Last we^k, okay 
$23,400. 

Loyola (FWC) (1,248; 60-$l).- 
"Northside" (20th). Fancy $12,000. 
Last week, "Sign Ram" (Col) (8 
days), $8,100. 

Oipbeum (D'town-WC) (2,2l0r 60- 
$1)— "Women in Night" (FC) and 
"You I Die" (FC). Thin $13,000. 
Last week, "Casanova" (EL) and 
"Whispering City" (EL), light $13,- 
800. 

Fantages (Pan) (2,812; 60-$!)—. 
"Night Song" (RKO) and "Woman 
From Tangier!' (Col) (2d wk)^ 
Light : $12,000. Last week, $16,100. 

Paramount (F&M.) (3,398; 60-$l)-- 
"Albuquerque" (Par) and "Gaged 
Fury" (Par) (2d wk). Dipping to 
$13,000. Last weiekT nifty $25,700. 

Paramount Hollywood (F&M) tl,- 
451; 60-$l)— "Albuquerque" (Par) 
and "Caged Fury" (Par) (2d wk), 
Okay $8,000. Last week, nice $12,900. 

HKO Hillstreet (RKO) (2,890; 60- 
80)— "Night Song" (RKO) and 
"Woman from Tangier" (Col) (2d 
wkX Slow $12,000. Last week, dull 

•Btt« (FWC) .(1,370; 6041 )— "Black 
But" (U). Fair $6,000. L>asl week; 



Broadway Grosses 



Estimated Total GroM 

This Week ........... $723,0 

(Based on 23 theofres) 

Last "Year $662,0 

(Based -o» 18- theatres) 



'BishopV $15,000 
HotlLCEntry 

Kansas City, March 2. 

Biz is holdmg a healthy pace here 
with at least three first-rate money 
grabbers. "Cass Timberlane" contin- 
ues its socko pace of last week on 
second frame. Orpheum is in the 
monejr after a long lull with "The 
Bishop's Wife." Tower-Uptown- 
Fdirway have "Call Northside 777" 
for a pleasant, if not big week. 
"Walk Alone" shapes as trim at 
Paramount. Mild drizzle most of 
week is not hurting biz. 

Estimates tdr This Week 

Esquire (Fox Midwest) (800; 45-65) 
—"Road Big House" (SG) and "Shoot 
to Kill" (SG). Mild $3,500. Last 
week, "Black Cat" ' (Indie) and 
"Black Friday" (Indie). $4,500. 

Midlaitd (Loew's) (3,500; 45-69)— 
"Cass Timberlane" (M-G) ,(2d wk). 
Still sock at $17,000, bettering many 
first weeks. Likely stays a third 
week. Last week, great $24,000. 

Orpheum <RKO) .(1,900; 45-69) — 
"Bisbop's Wife" (HKO) and "Des- 
jerate" (RKO). Far above anything 
lere recently. Sock $15,000 and 
h o 1 d o V e r. Last week, "Bambi" 
(RKO) (reissue) and "Seven Keys 
Baldpate" (RKO), dandy $11,000. 

Paramount (Far ), (1,900; 45-65) — 
"I Walk Alone" (Par). Trim $11,000 
or over. Last week, "Golden Ear- 
rings" (Par) (2d wk), $8,500. 

Eoxy (Durwood) (900; 45r65) — 
"Topper" (Indie) and "Turnabout" 
(Indie) (reissues). Average $3,500. 
Last week, "Whispering City (EL) 
and "The Big Fix" (Indie), same.. 

Tower-Uptown-Falrway (Fox Mid- 
west) (2,100, 2,043, . 700; , 45-65) — 
"Call Northside'.' (20th).. Moderately 
good $15,000. Last week, '"T-Men" 
(EL); ditto. '. ' y 

Pitt Perking lip Albeit 



Cantor Solid at I SiG 

Pittsburgh, March 2.. . 
'Ca$h registers are banging away 
nicely -almost everywhere this week 
except at the Penh, whefe "Intrigue" 
got a battering from the crix and 
looks mild. "Call Northside 777" is 
giving off sparks at Harris, "If You 
Knew Susie" is big at Stanley and 
moveovers of "Three Daring Daugh- 
ters" at Ritz and "T-Men" at War» 
ner are in top brackets. Fourth week 
of "Bishop's Wife" at Fulton will be 
bigger than third because house was 
hurt last week when big downtown 
fire closed regular traffic. Also hurt 
"Relentless" last week at the Harris. 
Estimates for This Week 
Fulton (Shea) (1,700; 44-76) Bis-h- 
op's Wife" (RKO) (4th wk). StHI in 
on sugar train at $9,000 near. Last 
week, big downtown fire closed traf- 
fic for 3 days until walls were torn 
dbwn, and cut into Fulton busines.s; 
hence $8,000 was okay. 

Harris (Harris) (2,200; 44-76)' — 
"Call Northside" (20th). Got a big 
(Continued on page 18) 



'Susie'-Gleason $22,000 
Smaish in Blah Balto 

. Baltimore, March 2. 

Surprise in current slow week 
here is "If You Knew Susie" 
coupled to vaude at the combo 
Hippodrome, It's heading for one 
of best house figures in many moons. 
Nice holdovers are "Bishop's 'Wife" 
at the Town and "Call Northside 
777" at the New, Jattei in third 
stanza. 

Estimates for This Week 

Century (Loew's-UA) (3,000; 20- 
60)— "Intrigue" (UA). Fairish $13,- 
000. Last week, "Three Daring 
Daughters" (M-G), $13,400. 

Hippodrome (Rappaport) (2,240; 
20-70)— "If You Knew SUsie" (RKO) 
plus vaude headed by Jackie 
Gleason,' Topping town in a big 
way with wham $22,000 or near. 
Last week, "Woman from Tangier" 
(Col) with Sammy Kaye orch, fine 
$20,300. 

Keith's (Schanberger) (2,460; 20- 
60)— "Tenth Ave. Angel" (M-G). 
Opens today ,(Tues.) after week of 
"Jassy" (U) at very mild $6,000. 
"Albuquerque" (Par), previous week 
was nice $10^000. 

Mayfair (Hicks) (980; 35-55)— 
"Frieda" (U). Mild $3,50O. Last 
wto, reissue of"Green Heir (UA), 
$3,200. 

New (Mechanic) (1,800; 20-60)— 
"Call Northside" (20th) (3d wk). 
Maintaining fine pace to $9,000 after 
strong second sesh at $11,000. 

Stanley (WB) (3,280; 25-75)— "In- 
termezzo" (SRO) (reissue). Not far- 
ing well at $7,000. Last week, "Ojrl 
Tisa" (WB). didn't work out at 
$7i700. 

Town (Rappaport) (1,500; 35-65)— 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (2d Wk). 
Holding stoutly at $14,000 after socko 
getaway at $1,8,W. *, ' 

'Nordiside' Beats 
StLooWy,24G 

St. Louis, March 2. 

"Call Northside" coupled with 
"Campus Honeymoon," only, new 
screen fare this week, is far out in 
front in currently. Crix lauded the 
Jimmy Stewart opus. vAU-day rain 
Friday followed by near-tornado 
Saturday slowed turnstile activity. 
"Cass Timberlane" is still a lusty 
draw on seconfl.round. ; , 
Estimates (or This W«ek. 

Ambassador (F&M) (3,000; 50-75) 
—"Voice of Turtle" (WB) and "When 
a Girl's Beautiful" (Col). (2d wk.). 
Nice ■ $16,000 after great . $19,500 
opener. , 

Art (S'Renco) (115; 85) — "Happy 
Breed" (U) (3d wk.). Okay $700 fol- 
lowing neat $800 second stanza. 

Fox (F&M) (5,000; 50-75)— "CaU 
Northside" (20th) and "CampUs 
Honeymoon" (Rep.) Stout $24,000. 
Last week, 'Thunder in Valley" 
(20th) and "Black Gold'? (20th), 
$18,500. ■ 

Loew's (Loew). (3,172; 50-75)— 
"Cass Timberlane", (M-G) (2d wk). 
Great $20,000 after swell $26,000 for 
initial session. 

Missouri (F&M) (3,500; 50-75)— 
"T-Men" (EL) and "Black Gold" 
(Mono) (m.o.). Nice $11,000. Last 
week, "Mea'nt For Me" (20th) and 
"Woman's Vengeance" (U) (m.o.), 
$10,000. 

Orpheum (Loew) (2,000; 50-75)— 
"Foreign Correspondent" (Indie) and 
"Trade Winds" (Indie) reissues), 
ok $7,500. Last week, "House Across 
Bay" (Indie) and "Stand-In" (Indie) 
(rf>i.ssues) $8,000. 

St. Louis (F&M) (4,000; 50-75)— 
"Alberquerque" (Ear) and "Caged 
Fury" (Par) {2d wk.). Fine $7,000 
after $9,000 for first week. 

Shubert (Indie) (1,500; 40-60)— 
"Walter Mitty" (RKO) and "Hagen 
Girl" (WB) (2d run). Trim $6,000. 
Last week, "The Spoilers" (FC) and 
"Diamond Jim Brady" (FC> (re^ 
issues), $5,000. ^ 



"Double Life" (U) (3d wk-6 days), 
solid $6,700. 

Studio City (FWC) (880; 60.$1)— 
"Black Bart" (U). Mild $5,000. Last 
week, "Double Life" (U) (3d Wk-6 
days), nice $3,300. 

United Artists (UA) (2.100; 60-$l) 
—"Black Bart" (U) and "Jiggs, Mag- 
gie in Society" (Mono) Neat $14,- 
500. Last week, "Double Life" lU) 
and "Fighting Mad" (Mono) (3d wk- 
6 days), neat $5,700. 

Uptown (FWC) (1,719; 60-$l)— 
"Northside" (20th) and "Let's Live 
*Again" (20th). Solid $14,000. Last 
week, "Sign Ram" (Col) and "Head- 
ing for Heaven" (EL) (8 days), fair- 
ish .$9,600. 

Vogue (FWC) (885; 60-85)— "Wom- 
en in Night" (FC) and "You I Die" 
(FC). Dull $3,000. Last week, "Casa- 
nova" (EL) and "Whispering City" 
(EL), slow $4,500. 

Wilshire (FWC) (2.296; 60-$l)— 
High Wall" (M-G) (2d wk). Scant 
$5,500. Last week, fair $11,300. 

Wiltern (WB) (2,300; 60-$l)— 
■Voice Turtle" (WB) (2d wk). 
Sturdy $15,000. Last' week, smooth 
$19,100, «lthpti£h not up to original 
hopes. 



Brownout Hurts Frisco; 
Stewart Strong $29,000 

San Francisco, March 2. 

Power-saving brownout placed in 
force this week is being blamed for 
business slump, with Market Street 
visibility and boxoffice both dull. 
Presence of many holdovers aliio is 
contributing to the downbeat. Only 
two important newcomers are "Gall 
Northside" at Fox and "Smugglers" 
at Esquire. Latter is unusually big 
while the Jimmy 'Stewart starrer 
also is strong. Otherwise, city's 
mostly in holdover. 

Estimates (or This Week 

Golden Gate (RKO) (2,844; 65-$l) 
—"Knew Susie" (RKO) plus vaude 
headed by Louis Jordan orch (2d 
wk). Down to $20,000 but still good. 
Last week,, tremendous $40,000, 
hypoed by opening day Eddie Cantor 
personal. ■ 

Fox (FWC) (4,651; 60-95)— "Call 
Northside" (20th). Strong $29,000 
or ■ over. Last week, "Voice of 
Turtle" (WB), $28,000. 

Warfield (FWC) (2,656; 60-85)— 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) (ni.o.). 
Trim $16,500. Last week, "If Winter 
Comes" (M-G), fair $14,500. 

Paramount (Par) (2,646; 60-85)— 
"Albuquerque" (Par) (2d wk). 
(Continued Ob' page 18)' 



HubHobby by H.O.'sBut 'Northside' 
Standout $31M Daugbters' 32G. 2d 



Key City Grosses 



Estimated Total GroM 
This Week $2,930,000 

(Based on 22 cities, 221 theo- 
tres, chiefly first runs, tnctudino 
N. Y.) 

Total Gross Same Weeir 
. Last Year $3,178,000 

(Based on 23 cities, 202 theatres) 



'Agnsement'Tops 
Phaiy, Huge 42G 

Philadelphia, March 2. 
"Gentleman's Agreement" is rack- 
ing up a smash gross in its opening 
session here at the Fox, being the 
only really bright spot in an other- 
wise dull setup here. However; 
"Double Life" is doing okay at the 
Boyd. ".My Girl Tisa" looks mediocre 
at the big Mastbaum. Otherwise the 
town is mainly holdover and largely 
fair to mild. 

Estimated for This Week 
Aldine (WB) (1,303; 50-04)— 
Black Narcissus" (U) (2d wk). 
Pale $9,500. Last week, big $15,S0O. 
Arcadia (S&S) (700; 50-94)— 
Sierra Madre" (WB) (2d run) (2d 
wk ). Okay $5,50(1 alter neat $7,000 
opener. 

Boyd (WB) (2,350; 50.-94)— "Dou- 
ble Life" (U). Good $24,000. Last 
week, "Night Song" (RKO) (2d wk), 
down to $12,500. ■ 

Barle (WB) (2,760;. 50-94)— "High 
Wall'' (M-G) (3d wk). Oke $14,000 
or near after $17,500 for second. 

Erianeer (Goldman) (1,800; 50-94) 
—"Cass Timberlane" (M-G) (5th 
wk). Neat $15,000 after fine $18,000 
in fourth. . 

Fox (20th) (2,250; 50-94)— "Gentle- 
man's Agreement" (20th); Colossal 
$42,000. Last week, "Ideal Husband" 
(20th), thin $16,000. 

Goldman (Goldman) (1,300; 50-94) 
—"If Winter Comes" (M-G) (3d 
wk). Fairish $14,000 after $19,000 
last week. 
Karlton (Goldman) (1,000; 50-94) 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (3d wk). 
Nice $16,000 after $19,500 last stanza. 

Keith's (Goldman) (1,350; 50-94) 
—"Meant for Me" (20th) (2d run). 
Okay $8,000. '.Last week, "Road to 
Rio" . (Par) (2d run), $7,500. 

Mastbaum (WB) (4,360; 50-94)— 
"Girl Tisa" (WB). Very thin $19,- 
000. Last week, "Voice of Turtle" 
(WB) (2d wk), modest $17,000. 

Pix (Cummins) (500; 50-94)— 
"Outlaw" ,(UA) (5th wk). Good 
$8,^00. Last week, $9,000. 

Stanley (WB) ■ (2,950; 50-94)— 
"Miracle Can Happen" (UA) (2d 
wk). Mediocre $16,000 after good 
$22,000 opener, below hopes. 

Stanton (WB) (1,475; 50-94)— "Out 
of Blue" (EL). Moderate $9,000. 
Last week,' "Whispering City" (EL) 
an^ "Love From Stranger" (EL), 



'Northside' Lands Call 
In Cincy, Fat $15,000; 
' 'Daughters' Daring 13G 

Cincinnati, March 2. 

Three sprightly new bills, with 
CaU Northside" shading "You Were 
Meant For Me" and "Three Daring 
Daughters" for top rating, are hold- 
ing this week's overall total to fair 
to middling level. "Gentleman's 
Agreement" continues strong in its 
third week. Favorable weather 
warmed weeitend biz. 

Estimates for Thii Week 

Albee (RKO) (3,100; 50-75)— "Call 
Northside" (20th). Perky $15,000. 
Last week,. '"Fabulous Texan" (Rep) 
plus Yvonne DeCarlo, Alan Carney, 
Joe Howard, others, on stage. Solid 
$26,000 at 60-95 scale. 

Capitol (RKO) (2,000; 50-75)— 
"Three Daring Daughters" (M-G). 
Surprisingly good $13,000. Holds. 
Last week, "Tenth Avenue Angel" 
(M-G), mild ,$6,500. 

Grand (RKO) (1,400; 50-75) — 
'Gentleman's Agreement" (20th) 
(m.o.) (2d wk). Holding to Sturdy 
$8,000 after sock $13,000 last week. 

Keith's (City Inv.) (1,542; 50-75)— 
"Secret Beyond Door" (U). Mild $5,- 
500. Same last week for "Girl Tisa" 
(WB). 

Lyric (RKO) (1,400; 50-75)— "Black 
Cat" (Indie) and "Black Friday" 
(Indie) (reissues). Okay $6,000. Last 
week, "Voice of Turtle" (WB) split 
with "Bambi" (RKO), four days each 
on moveovers, pleasing $6,,500. 

Palace (RKO) (2,600; 50-75) — 
"Meant For Me" (20th). Merry $14,- 
000. Last week, "Night Song" (RKO), 
all right $12,000. 

Shubert (RKO) (2,100; 50-75)— 
"Night Song" (RKO) (m.o.). Slow 
$4,000 Last week, "If You Knew 
Susie" (HKO) (m.o.), fairish $5,000. 



feoston, March 2. 
"CalJ Northside 777" is getting the 
lion's share of biz this week. Other 
spots are not so good with product 
blamed as much as anything', "Three 
Daring Daughters'' looks okay on 
holdover at State, and Orpheum! 
"Green lor Danger" with stageshow 
is only okay at Boston. Foreign 
houses are holding up. "Bishop's 
Wife" in tenth week at Astor stiU is 
big. 

EstiihateB for This Week 

Astor (1,300; 40-80) — "Bishop's 
Wife" (RKO) (10th wk). Had a great 
holiday weekend but current week is 
dropping back> to $14,000 after huge 
$17,000 in ninth frame. 

Boston (RKO) (3,200; 50-$1.10)— 
"Green for Danger" (EL) plus Russ 
Morgan orch, Luba Malma, Lew 
Parker, others, on. stage; Okay $25,- 
000. Last week, "I Love Trouble" 
(Col) plus Mills Bros., Gil Maison, 
Yvette, others, on stage/ big $33,000. 

Exeter (1,300; 55-75)— "Upturned 
Glass" (U) and "Aircraft Missing" 
(Indie) (reissue) (3d wk). Class 
nabe house plenty sound at $4,000 
after $5,800 for last stanza. 

Fenway (M-P) (1,373; 40'80)^ 
"Saigon" (Par) and "Let's Live 
Again" (Indie). Opens today. Last 
week "The Flame" (Hep) and "Ten- 
der Years" (20th) yanked after five 
days at dull $4,000. 

Kenmore (Indie) (900; 40-80)v- 
"Panic" (FR) (3d wk). Alternates 
with Disney roundup on Sundays as 
result of Hub censorship^ but getting 
big play at $3,900 after nice $4,500 
last. 

Memorial (RKO) (3,000; 40-80)— 
Ideal Husband" (20th) and 
'Woman's Vengeance" (U). Begins 
tomorrow (Wed.). Last week, "Night 
Song" (RKO) and "Fighting Mad" 
(Mono ). Held additional day to get 
back on usual opening days, but tbin 
"0,000 for eight days. 
Metropolitan (M-P) (4.367; 40-80) 
"Call Northside" (20th) and "Mr. 
Reckless" (20th). Only bill doing 
real 'biz; solid $31i000. Last week, 
"Saigon" (Par) and "Let's Live 
Again" (Indie), $28,000. 

orpheum (Loew) (3,000; 40-80)— 
'3 Daring Daughters" (M-G) and 
Wreck Hesperus" (Col) (2d wk). 
Okay $22,000 after nice $27,000 last. 
.Paramount (M-P) (1,700; 40-80)— 
'Saigon" (Par) and "Let's Live 
Again" (Indie). Opens today. Last 
week) "Flame" (Hep) and "Tender 
Years" (20th) yanked after five days 
at $12,000. 

State (Loew) (3,600; 40-80) — '3 
Daring Daughters" (M-G) and 
"Wreck Hesperus" (Col). (2d wk). 
Neat $10,000- after $14,000 in first. 

Translux (900; 30-74)— "Betrayal" 
(jklono) and "Happened 5th Avenue" 
(Mono), (reissues). Standard $5,000. 
Last week, "American Empire" (UA) 
and "Bucksin Frontier" <UA) ( re- 
issues), $4,600._ 

'Turtle' Hep Here, Port., 
16i(< 'Northide' Big llG 

Portland, Ore., March 2. 
Good pictures are bringing in the 
coin at downtown houses. "Voice of 
Turtle" at the Orpheum.and Oriental, 
and "Northside 777" at ■ Paramount 
are great guns. "Sleep, My Love", at 
Broadway also is strong. "Senator 
Was Indiscreet" at Guild is ace hold-- 
over. 

Estimates for This Week 
Broadway (Parker) (1,832; 50-85) 
—"Sleep, My Love" (UA) and "The 
Pretender" (Rep). Strong $10,500. 
Last week, "Senator Indiscreet" 
(U) and "Hat Box Mystery" (Indie), 
sock $13,000. ; 

Mayfair (Parker) (1,500; ,50-85)— 
"Girl Tisa" (WB) and "San Antonio" 
(WB) (reissue). So-so $3,800. Last 
week, "The Fugitive'' (RKO ) and 
"Blondie I» Dough" (Col), okay 
$4,700. 

Miisic Box (H-E) (1,000: 50-85)— 
"Meant For Me" (20th) and "Lost 
Moment" (U) (6 days) (3d wk) 
(mo.). Okay $1,850. Last week, 
good $2,600. 

Oriental (H-E) (2,000; 50-85)— 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) and "Whis^ 
pering City" (EL), day-date with 
Orpheum. Big $6,000. Last week, 
"Relentless" CCol) and "Mary Lou" 
(Col) (6 days), fine $3,900. 

Orpheum (H-E) (1,750; 50-85)— 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) and "Whis- 
pering City" (EL), also Oriental. 
Big $10,500. Last week, "Corsican 
Brothers" (EL) and "South of Pago 
Pago" (EL) (reissues), mild $6,800 

Paramount (H-E) (3,400; 50-85)— 
"Northside 777" (20th>. Sock $H;Q0O. 
Last week, "Relentless" (Col) and 
"Mary Lou" (Col), fine $7,200. 

Playhouse (H-E) (1,200: 50-85)— 
"Relentless" (ColJ and "Mary Lou" 
(Col) (m.o.). Okay $1,800. Last week, 
"Tycoon" (RKO) and "Linda Be 
Good" (EL ) (m.O.) , good $2,400. 

united Artists (Parker) (895: SO- 
BS)— "High Wall" (M-G). So-so 
$6,500. Last week, "If Winter Comes" 
(M-G) (2d wk), okay $5.600., 

Guild (Palker) (427; .50-85)— 
"Senator Indiscreet" (U) and "Hat 
Box Mystery" (Indie) (m.o.). Fine 
$2,500. Last week, subsequent-run. 



Wednesday, Mturch 3, 1948 



Chi ClimlisilcCoy'-Cole Trio $75,i0, 
Sock; leant Me Fine 21G.W17G 



picrmiB GROSSES 



Chicago, March 2. ■ 

Cellar-ward slide of grossen here 
was' halted this week b^ thfr arrival 
of jseyeial strong new' f^ms. Bigilest 
thing in town is the ataiggerinic $75,- 
000 being registered by "Killer Mc- 
Coy" plus Yvonne DfeCarlo and the 
King Cole Trio headiqg ^t^geshow jtt 
tiie Oriental. ^'You Were.Meant tor 
Me" seems headed for a fine $21,000. 
at United Artists< Bainj iau>wr*apd 
sleet last (Mon.) uigbt is cutting into 
nearly all theatre takes. ' . ' 

III eoiitrast, "Black Bart" looks 
light at Palace with $17,000.. "Amela 
AfliVir,"' with Phil Began 'and the' 
HooKier Hot Shots, shapes as lean 
$33,000 at ihe State-I«ke. 

Holdovers are'senerally stronger 
than inost of the ifAvi, films. - "Call 
Nortb.side" should hit' an' excellent 
$40,000 ill the lecond fraitw at 'the 
Chicago,. "Voice of Turtle", looks 
okay $17,000 in aeco'nd. iveek at 
Roosevelt. "Bij^boprs Wife" gives no 
sifijis oi leaving the Wtoods, with 
.strong .$16,000 fbr eighth .week. "Gen- 
tleman's Agreement," 'hypoed by 
Brotherhood Week publicity, slwt to 
$12,000 at the AppUo. ^'Desire Me" 
lool:s neat $12,000' in ,iecond w«ek at 
the- Bjlonroe. . , ( - ■ 

, tEslimates for, TM« Week . 

Apollo (B&K) (1,400; $1:28): — 
•'Gentleman's Agreement" <20th) 
(16th wk). Trim $12,000. Last week. 
$10,000. 

Chicago (B&K) (3,900; 98)— ''Call 
Northside' (20th) (2d Wk). Big $40,- 
000. I4vst week. $50,000. 

Grand (RKO) (1,500; 98)— "House 
Across Baj''^ (UA) .(reissue) split 
Willi "Stand-In" (WB) (reissue). In- 
ferior $9,000. Last week, '.'Know 
Where I'm Going" (U), good $13,000. 

Monrm (Indie) ( 1,000 ; 98 ) — "De- 
sire Me". (M*G) (2d wk). Neat $12,- 
000. Last week, Strong $18,000. 

oriental (Essaness) (3,400; 08) — 
"Killer McCoy" (M-G) with Yvonne 
.DeCarlo and King Cole Trio topping 
Gtagebill. Best gross in three months. 
Giant $75,000. Last week, "Sleeps 
My Ix)ve" (UA) (3d Wk). with Pied 
Piper.s on stage, nice $39,000. • 

Palace (BKO) (2,500; »8)^"Black 
Bart" (U). Weak $17,000. Last week, 
"It You Knew Susie" <HKO> (2d 
wk), oke $13,600. 

Roosevelt (B&K) (1.500; 08)-- 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) (2d wk). Ex- 
ccllent $17,000. Last jvcek, $25,000. 

State-Lake (B&K) (2,700; B8) — 
"Arnclo Affair" <M-G) with Phil 
Regan and-Hooai£r Hot Shots- on 
stage. Lean $33,000. Last week, 'To 
Eiicl.s ot Earth" (Col) with Marion 
Button afid Dean Murphy (M wk), 
nice .$32,000. 

United Artists (B&K> .(1,700; 98)— 
"Meant For Me" (20th). -Pert $21.- 
000. Last week, "Gr^en Was my Val- 
ley". (20th* (reissue), $9,000. 

Woods (Essaness) (1,073; 98) — 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (8tb wk). 
Holding strong at $16,00Oi Last -week, 
$18,000. 

World (Indie) (587; ?7)— "Shoe- 
Shine" (Indie) (4th wk). Grand $»,• 
BGOi, La.st ■week, $6,20O. ; . I 

seattSMT&ags 

BW 'TURTLE' $13,000 

"Seattle; 'March 2. 

BJ)xo'tfiee pace continues to lag 
here* this week. Standout is "Voice 
of Turtle" at the Orpheiim. "Black 
Bart" looks dlsappointinj; at the 
Paramount. "Northside" is holding 
up well in 'second stanza at the Fifth 
Avenue. 

Estimates for This Week 

Blue Mouse (Hamrick-Eve.igreen ) 
(800; 45-80)— "T-Men" (BL) and 
"Padfjc Adventure" (Col) (m.Ov). 
Fair $3,500. La.st week, ''Tycoon" 
(HKOi and "Tracy Meets Gruesome* 
(RKO) (2d wk), $4,000, • . 

Filth Avenue (H-E) (2,349: 45-80) 
—"Call ■ Northside" (2£n:h) (2d wk). 
Okay $e,500 in 8 days after nice 
$11,800 opener. 

Liberl.v (J & VH) (1.650: 45-80)— 
"To Ends of Earth". (Col) and 
"Blondie'.s Anni" (Col) (3d wk). 
Trim $(i.500 after swell $9,900 second 
week. 

■ Music Box (H-E) (800; 45-80)— 
_Seoret Beyond Door" (U) and 
"Killtfi- at Large" (EL), Mild $3..m 
Last ■ week, "Sierra, Madre" (WB) 
(4th wk). $3,800. 

Music Hall (H-E) (2.200; 45-80)— 
' Timberlane"-(M-G) (5th wk). Stout 
$0,000 or near after last week's 
grand $7,800, 

Orpheum (H-E1 (2,600; 45-80)— 
'Voice of Turtle" (WB) and "Al- 
ways Together" (WB). Big $13,000. 
Last week, "T-Men" (EL) and 
pacific Adventure" (Col ), nice 
$10.S0ti. 

Palftmar (Sterling) (1,330; 45-80) 
— High Wall" (M-G) and "Black- 
niaU; (Rep). Good $7,000. Last 
week, "Qui of Blue" (EL) and 
Trcspa.sjer" (Bep), moderate $6,200. 
.Paramount (H-E) (3,039; 45-80)— 
tick Bart" (U) and "Upturned 



Estimates Are Net 

Film- gross estimates, as re- 
ported herewith from the vari- 
ous key cities, are net, i.e., with- 
out the 20% tax. Distributors 
thai^e on net take, when playing 
percentage, hence the estimated 
figures are net income. 

The , parenthetic admission 
prices, ■ however, as indicated, 
include the U. S. iamusement tax. 



13 



'Body' Okay at $10»000, 
Omaha; 'Northside' 9ViQ 

Omaha, March 2, 
"Body and Soul" looks to turn up 
the best gros.s Uii.s week although 
"Northside 777" .shapes about same. 
Sudden snow and cold over the 
weekend checked the upbeat at the 
boxofl'ice. 

Estimates for This Week 
Orpheum (Tri.states) (3,000; 16-65) 
—"Body and Soul" (UA) and "Smart 
Polities' (Mono), Oke $10,000. Last 
week. "T-Men" (EL) and "Linda Be 
Good" (EL), $10,000. 
. I'aramuunt (T.i-i.'Jtates) (2,800; 16- 
65)— "Call Northside" (20th). Lusty 
$9,500 -or,_betler. Last week, "Cap- 
tain. Castile" (20th). smash $13,000. 

Brandeis (RKO) (1,500; 16-65)-^ 
"To Ends of Earth" (Col) and "Al- 
ways Together" (WB), Okay $6,500 
or over, La.st weelt. "Knew Susie" 
(RKO ) and "Tracy Meets Gruesome" 
(RKO), good $7,000. 

Ojnaha (Tristatesi (2,100; 16-65)— 
"Captain Castile" (20th) (m.o.) and 
"Trail o£ Mounties" (Indie). Fancy 
$9,000. La.st week, "Sleep, My Love" 
(UA) (m.o.) and "Vance's Secret 
Mission" (EL), good $7,000. 

State (Goldberg) (865; 16-65)— 
"Great Waltz" (M-G) (reissue) and 
"Three on a Ticket" (EL). Nice $5,- 
500. Last week, "The Gangster" 
(Mono) and "Mertofl of Movies" 
(M-G) (2d wk), hot $5,000. 



'Agreonent' 25G 
Sets (^ve. Pace 

, ', ■ Cleveland, March 2. 
..J^^^t'^-'''- mai'ks. this stanza go to 

Gentleman'.s Agreement" at Hipp 
and "Northside 777" at Palace. Each 
looks in for a big aession. "Bishop's 
Wife at Allen also is torrid but 
Slate's "Hieh Wall" is sluggiiJk 
iEitimates for This Week 
„ A'Jen (RKO) (3.000; -55-70) — 
"Bj.shop's Wile" (RKO). Sizzling 
S19.500. Last week, "Bambi" (RKO) 
(rei-ssue);. sock $18,000. 
H ip p (Warners ) (3,700; 55-70) — 

Genlleraan's Agreement" (20th) 
Big $25,000, and h.o, Liast week, 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) (2d wk), 
smart $15,300. 

Lak« (Warner) (800; 55-70) — 
"Voice of Turtle'' (WB) (m,b.). 
Third downtown chapter extra good, 
$3,500 or near. I.a.st week, "Treasure 
Sierra Madre" (WB) (m.o.) (4th 
wk), same. 

Lower Mall (Community) (370: 
90c-$1.50)— "Henry V" (UA). Solid 
♦5(500, following great $7,000 last 
week, on this return date. 

OU* (Loew's) (1,300; S5-70) — 
"Stand-in" (UA) and "Hands Across 
Bay" (UA) (reissues). Average 
500. Last week, "Son of Franken- 
stein" (U) and "Bride of Franken- 
stein-' (tr> (reissues ), eliciting $10,- 

Palaee (3,300; 55-70) — "North.side 
777" (20th). Faiicy $20,000 or close. 
Last week, "Night Song" (RKO), 
$18,000. 

State (Loew's) (3,450; 55-70)— 
"High Wall" (M-G). Sluggish $15,- 
000. Last week, "Three Daring 
Daughters" (M-G ). stout- $22,500. 

Stillmau (Loew's) (2,700; 55-70) — 
"Three Daring Daughters" (M-G) 
(m.o.). Swingy $9,000. Last week, 
"I Walk Alone" (Par) (m.O.), $10,000. 

Worst Blizzard of Year 
Sloughs Mpls.; 'Kenjron' 
$10,500, leantMeMSG 

week, "BlHck Bart" (U) and '^Lone 
Minneapolis, March 2. I Wolf Loudon" (Col), disappointing 
Worst weather of an extremely | $20,000. 
bad winter a s;a in slugged big 3 over , Michlffan (U-Pl (4.039: 70-95)^ 
the weekend whim it really hurt. M""ac]e Can- - Happen" (UA) (2d 
A near bli/.zard. the season's heavi- ■ ^k). Bfii-oI.v passrble Slfi.OOO after 
csi .snowfnll. kSy' pavements and sub- \ n'"" S27.00(^ Inst week 
:'.oro temperatures did the job at the •""'3' 70-95)— "T 

box otric'e. Such pictures as "You ?S?n^ A^-V..o'^l„h'"i"i? 
Were McEMl For >je." "Daisy Ken- I ,'EL). Greaj S24,000. Lffst week "Rc; 



Turtle' Fast 21G, 
Del; Stewart 31G 

Detroit. March 2. 
Most biz is on tlie risie hifere this 
week in the face of several days of 
bad weather and continued stiff op- 
position of Sonja Henie's ice show. 
Of the three new films, '<Call North 
side ■ 777" at the Fox will get the 
most coin* It's big. "T-Men" at 
Palms and "Voice of Turtle" at 
United Artists also are great. 
Estimates for This Week 
Adams (Balaban) (1,740; 70-95)- 
"Cass Timberlane ' (M-G) (2d wk) 
Good $12,000 after sms^h $22,000 
opener. 

Art Cinema (Marten) (250; 60-90) 
— "Beven.!;-e" (Indie) and "Midnight 
In Paris" (Indie). Capacity $2,000. 
Last week. "King's Jester" (Indie) 
(2d wk), oke Sl.OOO. 

Bread way-CapituI (United-betroit) 
(3,309; 70-95)— "Sundown" (Indie) 
and "Foreign Correspondent" (Indie) 
(reissues ), Easy ' $9,000. Last . week, 
"Fugitive- Chain Gang (WB) and 
"Case Of Murder" (WB) (reissues), 
same. 

Downtown (Balaban) (2.G83; 70-95) 
-"Gone With Wind" (M-G) (re- 
issue) (3d wk). Improved $7,000 
after fair $6,000 last Week. 

FOX (Fox-Michigan) (5,100; 70-95) 
—"Call ISforthside" (20th) and "Let's 
Live A,ffain" (Col). Bic $31,000. Last 



Colman s $125,m 'fioa(r-Prima 1§5G 
Top B.O. Pied Pipers on Broadway, 
Despite Bad Weather, KO. Pletiioni 



"Bhi 

Gla.s.s" (U). MUd K,S00. Last week; 
Zorro" (20th) and "Drums Along 

Moliawk" (20th), (reissues). $7;300. 
-Roosey^H (Sterling) (800; 45-80)— 
Out of Blue" (EL) and "Trespa.sser" 

'Rep) (m.o.). Good $3,S00. Last 

week, "Shde-Shine". (Indie), $2,600. 



yon" and "Relentless" all were hurt. 
Predomfinatin,^ the holdovers is 
"Bi.sliops Wife:" 

Kslimatcs for This Week. 
Aster (Par) (900; 30-44) "Road 
Big HoLi.^o" (SG) aiid "Blonde Sav- 
age" (ELI. Mild $1,800 in 5 da.ys. 
Last week, "Kilroy Was Here" 
(Mono) and "Green Cockatoo" (In- 
die) (reissue) split with "Bose Santa 
Rosa" «CoI) and "Chinese Ring" 
(Mono), fair $2,300 in 8 days.- 

Centiirv (ParXl.fiOO; 50-70) "Voice 
of Turtle'" (WB) (m.o,). Looks mild 
$5,000. Last week, "Captain Castile" 
(20ili) (3d wk), fair $5,500. 

Gopher (Par) (1,000; 44) "Kan- 
san'" (Indie) and ''Sundown" (Indie), 
(reissue-s). Mild $3,000. Last week, 
Hal Roach Come<iy Carnival (UA), 
$3,200. 

tyric (Par) (1,000; 50-70) "T-Men" 
(EL) (m.o.) Fast $5,000. Last week, 
"Albuquerque" (Par) (2d wk) sock 
$5 500 

Bad'io City (Par) (4,400; 50-70), 
"Meant For Me" (20th). Well-liked 
picture tiying hard to overcome 
weather but looks only fair $13,000. 
Last week. "Voice of Turtle" (WB), 
disappointing $14,000. 

BKO-Orpbeum (RKO) 2.800; SO- 
70). "Relentless" (Col). Helped by 
crix but only mild $10,000. L.ast 
week, "Night Sohg" (BKO), oke 
$10,000. 

BKO-Pan (RKO) (1.600; 50-70), 
"BiFhop'« W^ife" (RKO) (2d wk). 
Solid $12,000 after big $14,000 first 
week. 

State (Par) (2,300; 50-70). "Daisy 
Kenyon" (20th >. Modest $10,900. or 
near. Last week, "T'Men" <BL), 
same. 

tJytewn (Par) (1,000; S0-5S), 
"Sleep, My Love" (UA). First jiabe 
showing. Moderate $4,000. Last week, 
"Killer McCoy" (M-G), good, $5,000. 

WerM (Mann) (350; 50-85), "Night 
Song" (RKO) (m.o.).. Fair t2,00a 
Last week. 'Man About Towti" 
(RKO), $1,600. 



lentle.ss" (Col) and "The "Knockout" 
(MonoX $l{i.000. 

Ignited Ai tisis (U-D) (2.f37fl; 70-95) 
—"Voice of Turtle-' (WB) and "The 
Flame" (Ron). R.o\!sins; *2),000. Last 
wo-k. "B.nmbi" (RKO) (reis.sue) and 
"Slippy McGee" (Rep). .$14,000. 



^SWORDSMAN' |16M 
NOT KEEN IN WEAK D.C. 

Washington. March 2. 

p«!ieral tenor of biz is in lower 
registers currently except tor "Bish- 
op's Wife/* which is doing a second 
sock stanza at RKO Keilh's. "Ten- 
der Years." at LocwV;. which was ex- 
pected to be pulled into big time by 
■Tex Benecke's band on stage, is dis' 
appointing. - 
Esliiiiaies for Xhls Week 

Capitol (Loew's) (2,434; 44-80) — 
"Tender Yeai-s" (20th) plus Tex Ben- 
eke orch on stage. Very mild $20.- 
OOO with film small help. La.st week. 
"High Wall" (M-G) plus vaude. fine 
$26,000, with holiday weekend help- 
ing. 

Columbia (loew's (1,263 : 44-70)— 
"Meant for Me" (20th). Cull $5,000. 
Last week. "CUi.>,f. Timberlane" (M-G) 
(2d run), brisk $9,000 for third mid- 
town week. 

Keith's (RKO) (1.8.38: 44-80) 
"Bishop's Wife" (RICO) (2d wk). 
Ringing the bell at $20,000 after ter- 
rific $26*000 for oocning week. 

Metrepolitan (WB) (1.163;.44-70)— 
"Intermejizo" (SBO) (reissue). Fine 
$8,000. Last week, "Smugglers" (ED. 
good $9,000. 

r»la«e (Loew's) (2,370; 44-70) — 
"Call NortlLside" (20th) (2d wk). 
Skidded to $12,000 or near after 
stout $23,000 last week. 

Waraer (WB) (2.154; 44-74) — 
"Sword; m;:n" fjCol), So-so $16,000. 
La.sl u'( I k. "Givl Tisa" (WBI, very 
thill $11,000. . 



Rail) and snow; plus another cold 
snap, are giving Broadway firstruns 
a very .spotty appearance this week, 
I'he fact that the Street is nearly 
100% holdover and the natural re- 
action from the Washington birthday 
upswing of the previous week also 
are making for sharply . reduced 
grosses in many theatre,s. . 

There were only three (irst-run 
openings during the past week, with 
"Albuquerque " at the Victoria stand 
out. This western opus is striking a 
very big $20,000 in its first week end- 
ing next Friday (5). Also big is "Far- 
rebique," which i.s giving the small 
Art theatre $8,800 in the initial ses 
sion ended last Sunday (29) night. 
"Passionnelle," another foreign-make, 
is a disappointment at $4,500 or near 
in its ttrst frame at the LittJfe Garr 
negie. Crix panned it, and iUm stays 
only one week. 

Best of the holdovers is ''Road' to 
Rio," with stageshow headed by 
Louis Pi-ima band, at the Para 
mount. This combo continues in 
rousing fashion, with $105,000 likely 
in second session. Also doing well 
is the Music Hall with "Double Life" 
and stage-show. It likely will hit nice 
$125,000 on initial holdover stanza 

Although still in the chips. "Call 
Northside," with stagebill topped by 
Hazel Scott, Raye & Naldi and Gil 
Lamb at the Roxy, is off sharply 
from first wedc It looks to hit great 
$90,000 in second round, after Orst at 
$129,000. "The Pearl" aLso continues 
big with $11,000 initial holdover 
frame at the Sutton. 

Final six-and-half days in third 
week of "Three Daring Daughters," 
with Horace Heidt heading stage- 
show, is giving the Capitol a sturdy 
$68,000, best third session at house -in 
weeks. Tiiis combo had a highly 
profitable engagement, with the film 
getting a terrific boost from Ileidt's 
band and revue on stage. 

Cap opens "Naked City" with Tex 
Beneke'.s ' band, Jerry Lewis and 
Dean Martin topping stageshow to- 
morrow (Thurs,). Picture gets a spe- 
cial preem tonight. (Wed:) for bene- 
fit of N. Y. Heart As-sn. "Sign o^^ 
Ram" opens today (Wed.) at the 
State' after three big weeks with 
"Killer McCoy." "McCoy" slipped 
sharply in final session to merely 
passable $17,000. "Black Bart" also 
tees off today at the Winter Garden. 
"Relentless" is slated to open next 
Saturday (6 ) at the Criterion after 
two weeks plus three day.-* of "Sleep, 
My Love."' with a disappointing total. 
Estimates for This Week 
Ambass,idor (Siritzky) (1,200: 70- 
$1.50)— "Volpone" (Indie) tlOth wk). 
For stanza- ending , Thursday (4) 
looks very good $10)000 . or under; 
ninth week was big $12,000 including 
holiday. 

Art (Rugofl-Becker) (570; 95-$1.10) 
— "Farrebique" (Indie) (2d wk), 
French-made clicking in fine style, 
with strong - $8,800 on first week 
ending lait Sunday (29). Previou.sly,' 
house was second-run. ' 

AStor (City Inv.) fL-lOO: 80-$3,80) 
-^'"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (13th w;-). 
Twelfth frame ended last (Tues.) 
night to hit fine 528,000 or bdter 
which is natural slip-off from stout. 
$35,000 Of nth week. Continues. 

Bijou (Citv Inv.) (650: 85-$1.50)— 
'Beauty and Beast" (Indie) (11th 
wk). Still holding on even keel at 
$7,000 in 10th week ended Monday 
(1) night, after strong $8,000 in ninth 
round. Stays on. 

Capitol (Loew's) (4,820: 70-$l.S0) 
—"Three Daring Daughters" (M-G) 
and Horace Heidt orch and revue 
on stage (3d-final wk). Final session 
of six-and-a»half days looks sturdy 
$68,000, best third round here in 
weeks; after fancy $77,000 for second 
week. "Naked (jity" (U) with Tex 
Bcneke'a orch, Jerry Lewis. Dean 
Martin opens tomorrow (Thur.s.) 
after special preem showing of 
"City" for benefit of N. V. Heart 
As.sn.. with N. Y. and Hollywood 
celebs attending tonight (Wed.). 

Criterion (Loew's) (1.700; e0-$1.25) 
"Sleep, My Love" (UA) Vi& wk-3 
days). Second session concluded 
la.st (Tues.) night slipped down 
badly to thin $13,000 or less alter 
good $24,000 opener. Stays only 
three days more, - with '"Relentlejis" 
(Coll) set to open Saturday (6 i. 

Elysee (Siritzky) (750; 85-41.50)- 
"Fanny" (Siritzky) (3d wk). Third 
week ending tixiay (Wed.) looks 
stout $8,000 after strong $10:000 in 
second. Continues. 

Globe (Brandt) (1,500; 70-$1.20)— 
"Body and Soul" (UA) (17th wk). 
Back to I'ecent pace with this round 
at $16,000 after big $22,000 for 16th 
week. 

Little Carnerie (Indie) (400: .95- 
$1,20)— ""Passionnelle" (Indie). First 
wuek looks to hit only $4,500. VcA\\ 
and stajvs .iust one week. "Jenny 
Laniour' (Vog) opens Saturday (B). 
Last week, sixth for "Ninotchlca" 
(M-G) (reissue), okay $4,500, makhig 
it a very profitable run for an oldie. 

Mayfair (Brandt) (1,736; 70-$1.50) 
— "Geiitlenian's Agreement" (UA) 
(17th wk). Sixteenth week ended 
Monday (1) night was fine $25,000. 



after great $40,400 lor 15th frame. 
Stays on. > . , , 

Fabice (RKO) (1,700; 60-$1.20)— 
"Knew Susie" (RKO) (2d wk). Ini- 
tial holdover stanza winding up next 
Friday (5 ) is dropping to $20,009 
after excellent $33,000 opener, albeit 
a bit below- expectancy. Stays a' 
third, with "Berlin Express" (RKO) 
set to come in next. " ■ 

Paramount (Par) (3,664; 55-$1.50) 
— -"Hoad to Rio" (Par) plus Louis 
Prima orch heading stagebill (3d 
wk). Second stanza ended last 
(Tues.) night is holding well at big 
$105,000 or near, after terrific $120,000 
initial week, best here this year. Do- 
ing six- shows daily on Saturday and 
Sunday. May hold through Easter at 
current pace. 

Park Avenue (U) (.583; $l.20-$1.50) 
—"Holiday Camp" (U) (6th-;flnal 
wk). Down to $4,500 in 6 days of 
final, after fancy $7,000 for ififthv 
"8bng of Heart" (Mono) comes in to- 
morrow (Thurs.). 

Bsdlo City Miisic Hall (Rockefel- 
lers) (5,945: 70-.?2.40)— "Double Life" 
(U)-with stageshow (2d wk). Initial, 
holdover session loojcs to stay up 
nicely at about $125,000 after, great 
$144,500 opener, a bit over hopes. 
Holds a third round, and possibly a' 
fourth. "Remember Mama'-' (RKO) 
comes in next 

Riaito (Mayer) (S94; 3S-$1J!0)— 
"Furia" (FC) (7ih wk). Still fine 
profit at $9,000 in sixth week ended 
yesterday (Tues.); fifth was big $13,- - 
000. Stays. 

Biv«« (UAT-Par) (2.092; 60-$1.25) 
—"To Ends of Earth'' (Col) (3d wk). 
Third round ending today (Wed.) 
looks fine $29,000 or near albeit off 
from strong $39,000 of second frame. 
Stays a fourth with "Miracle of 
BelU" (RKO) slated to open March 
n. ■ ■ 

Boxy (20th) (5,886; 80-$1.50y— 
"Call Northside'' (20tlj) With stage 
show topped by Hazel Scott, Raye 
&; Naldi, Gil Lamb (3d wk). Off 
sharply from opening round but still 
great at $90,000 after smash $129,000 
initial week. Due to stay only third 
week, with "Sitting Pretty" <20th) 
opeiiing-Marcb 10. 

St«te (Loew'.,) (3,450; 43-$1.10)— 
"Sign of Bam'' (Col); Opens today 
(Wed.). Third week of "Killer Mc- 
Coy". (M-G) (Ist run), hit skids to 
get -only $17,000 after sock $35,000 
for second. 

Strand (WB) (2,756; 75-$1.50)— 
"Girl Tisa" (WB) with Vaughn 
Monroe orch .topping stagebill (2d : 
wk). Second week ending toriiorrow , 
(Thurs.) is sagging to $.50,000 or less 
after disappointing $00,000 for ttrf-t 
Sutton (Rugofl-Becker) (Sfll; 70- 
$1.25)— "The Pearl" (BKO) (Sd <vk). 
Third w-- started yesterday (Tues.) 
after bi, $11,000 for -second frame; 
first was sma,<.'h $13,800:' Looks in 
for a long run, ' ' 

Victoria (City Inv.) (720; 70-$1.50) 
--"Albuquerque" (Pari. For first, , 
week ending next Friday (5) looks' 
to hit very bid $26,000. Holds. "Tlie ' 
Search" (M-G) follows but date not . 
set. In ahead, nine days of "Bum-' ' 
ing Cross" (SG V wt's good $17,000, 
Warner (WB). (1,499; 90.$1.50)— 
Miracle Can Happen" (UA) (5th 
Wk), Fourth stanza ended last Mon- 
day (1) night v;as sad $7,000 while 
third was com!>a):atively good '.ai 
$14,800. 

Winter Garden (UA) (L312; 60- ' 
$1.20)— "Black Barl" (U). Opens' 
today (Wed. ). Final 6 days of sec- 
ond week for "Ja,v.sy" (U) slid to 
$14,000 or under, while first was dis- 
appointing at $21,000. 



Indpls. Fans Know Ail 
About 'Susie; OK $13,e06 

Indianapolis. March 2. 
Biz is spotty , at firstruns here this 
.stanza. "If You Knew Susie" is tops 
at Circle, followed by "Cass Timber- 
lane" in strong; second week at ' 
Loew^. "I- Walk Alone" is fair at 
Indiana. Weather still mild. 
Estimates for This Week 
Circle (Gamb^e-Dollc) (2,800; 44- 
65)— "Knew SusV (RKO) and - 
"Caged Fury" (Par). Dandy $13,000.- 
Last week, "Voice of Turtle" (WB) 
and "Perilous Waters" (Mono), solid 
$15,000, 

Indiana (Gamble-Dolle) (3,300; 44- 
m)—"I Walk Alone" (Par) and 
"Jiggs, Maggie in Society" (Mono). 
Fair $11,000. Last week, "Sierra 
Madre" (WB), average $12,000. 

Keith's (G-D) (1,300; 44-65)— "In- 
visible Man" (U) and "Invisible Man 
Returns!' (U) . (reissues). Pancr - 
$6,000. Last week, "Lady from (Sxes- ■ 
enne" (Indie) and "Lady in Jam* 
(Indie) (reissues), $4,000. 

Loew's (2,450; 44-65)— "Cass Tim- 
berlane" (M-G) (2d wk). Nice.- 
$11,500 on top of big $20,500 in flfst ■ 

lyric (G-D) (3.300; 44-65)— "Voic* 
of Turtle" (WB) and "Periloua 
Waters" .(Mono) (m.o.). Mild $5,50O. 
Last week, "Tender Years" (20ft»> 
and "Main Street ICid" (Rep), taow ' 
$5,000. . 



14 



WcdneMlMy, Mareh 8, 1949 



Inh UlL^nbY dIKL/ 






THRFF n&RIMn 

DAUGHTERS" IS 
FOR YOU! 



"It's terrific at Capitol, N. Y., second 
best in 12 months —topped only by 
'Hucksters/ It's doing great in all 
openings, too! Buffalo, Cleveland, 
Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New Orleans, 
Toledo rate with top M-G-M hits of 
the year!" 

MMMIIIIIIIBIII^BM 



"It's something absolutely new, novel and diflfer- 
ent in screen musicals. Not in many years an 
L-mertainment s() sparkling with charm, excite- 
ment and melody!" 



"Technicolor at its best . . . revealing the lavish- 
ness aboard a luxury liner ... the spectacle of 
exciting night dub life . . . the exciting escy- 
pades of three mischievous daughters who try 
to block the rom ince of their beautiful, young, 
flirtatious, divorcee mother." 



"A cast with unusual appeal. A New JEANETTE 
MacDONALD in better voice than ever. JOSE 
ITURBI in a real-life role, wait till you hear 
his bongic-5v oogie.JANE POWELL, rising 
young movie star, of radio and record fame . . . 
and many more." 



"Bubbling with iongs— 12 to be exact and in- 
cluding the newest hit of the airwaves— The 
, Pick^y mt4 Song, That's me folks!'' 




M " ^- 



M-G-M's TECHNICOLOR MUSICAL! 

"THREE DARING 
DAUGHTERS" 

JEANETTE ' JOSE 

MacDONALD • ITURBI 
JANE POWELL 

V.' 1 1 \\ 

Edward ARNOLD • Harry DAVENPORT 
Color by TECHNICOLOR 

Ziru^.i] Jcr-T, Tiff !,y Alr-rl Mit.trb. 
r:-.;>T; k Khv: ^-ys l,'-v;..n J M,.,.h3,; 
Direcled by Produced by 

FRED M. WILCOX ■ JOE PASTERNAK 



*Jtmmy Fuller 
jgave it top 
rating on his 
nationwide 
broadcast!" 




9 M 




Wednesday, Maiireli 3,"I948 



PICTURES 



IS ' 



Inside Stuif-Pictures 

Johnny Hyde (William Morris agency) and attorney Martin Gang, on 
belialf of Gladys Glad Hellinger, are still disposing of certain Mark Hell- 
inger properties, since it's the widow's intent to get out of the picture 
business.. Now that Humphrey Bogart and A. Morgan Marie have gotten 
Robert Lord away froixt Metro, and will release their former Hellinger 
Productions commitments through'- Columbia, there s1ill remains one im- 
portant group of talent. Hyde and Universal will probably rnake a pack- 
age deal for Bm;t -Lancaster, .Howard Duf? (the "Sam Spade" of radio), 
director Jules Dasslri' and Don Taylor, another player. It vyill probably 
entail rewriting Lancaster's deal. He was willing to continue for Hell- 
inger, personally, at $65,000 a picture for three commitments, in appre- 
ciation for "The, Killers," via which' Hellinger first projected Lancaster to 
prominence, but wants a better deal if shifted to a corporation. 

Mrs. Hellinger, meantime, plans selling their Hollywood estate which, 
for example, required a monthlj; payroll of $1,200 lor help alone. This 
has been ciit in hall. And while her share of the profits from "The Naked 
City," HelUnger's , fburth and final film for U, will exceed $500,000, the 
Idea is to liquidate everything. Meantime Gang is working out a cost- 
of-living allowance from the estate ' since, it appears, Hellinger so tied 
it up (in order to protect his wife and their two adopted children, Gladys, 
Jr. and Mark, Jr.) that her liquid position isn't what it should be, in view 
of the continuing overhead, v 

First production by the new partnership may be "Tokyo Joe," pur- 
chased last week from Henry Kesler and Steve Fislier for $80,000. Bogart 
wilt star; it it. a tale «>f 6Is In postwar Japan; 

It Hollywood has. a slight case o( jitters, then British filmites have a 
bad case' of. the dumps, according to a late roundup of the British indus- 
try published in the London Daily Express. Instead of the "shining pros- 
pect" of 100 films projected for 1948, only 40 to 4,') are actually expected 
to materialize. Three factors listed a.s responsible for making the cham- 
pagne go flat are as follows; (1) lack of money, (2) waste of time, and 
(3) misunderstanding of the American market. 

Under the 'first' 'heading, it's poirtted out that bankers' coin has gone 
into virtual hiding Since J, Arthur Rank announced an $8,000,000 loss last 
year. Apparently, the moneybag.'! have soured on "prestige" and prefer 
straight profits. Secondly;, British pix are suffering from an old disease 
oE too inuch shooting time. An average film in Britain takes four niinths 
to complete as against two months in Hollywood. Third reason is an 
overestimation of the American market's potential. No one knows how 
many dollars British pictures earn, in. the U.S. since Rank keeps his figures 
a secret. But, according to an American film exec, the mo.st a British film 
can earn is about $400,000 in the U.S. The rest is absorbed by advertis- 
ing, exploitation and distribution costs, "It all makes sad reading," says 
the article an conciusion. 



Practical method in slicing production costs of we.stcrns was shown the 
trade press last week in New York at a' screening of an Eddie Dean oater, 
"'The Hawk of Powder River." At least three scenes, it was agreed by 
the reviewers, were, lifted out of earlier Dean films and inserted in "The 
Hawk." Same picture also uses four musical numbers, all of which were 
warbled by Dean in previous pix. 

Dean westerns were made, by Jerry Thomas for PRC release, but dis- 
tribution was taken over several m9nths ago by Eagle Lion. Late last 
year is was reported that one of the final Dean pix made for !PRC was 
turned out in one shooting day with the footage padded out from other 
stock already on hand. 

• These efforts to hold down the budget on westerns were deplored' last 
week by William J. Jones, preview and booking director of the Veterans 
Administration, which buys dozens of the oaters for it.s hospital patients. 
He felt that "Dean -has a' .good voice", but suffers from a producer who is 
inclined to be too "ecdnomyTminded'' via liberal repeats of chase sequences. 
Feeling in some quarters is'"let'.s have more and better » chases" but why 
can't we see 'em gallop on a diffesrent road? 



A pure hunch by David E. (Skip) Weshner may well be the difference 
between red and black ink in the final tally on "Copacabnna." Weshner, 
sales rep lor Sam Coslow, the picture's producer, entirely on an idea last 
July that something was in the'wirid in England, insisted on prints of 
"Copa" being air expressed to Lqndoh. Five Weeks later the British, 75% 
tax struck, with the w.k. unfortunate results. "Copa" already has earned 
$120,000 in remittances from England to help defray the $1,300,000 produc- 
tion budget; It's expected to take the combined U. S. and foreign income 
to get the film oJff the hook. 



Payoff on Tyrone Power's goodwill flight around Africa and through 
Europe is more than 300 bookings for his old pictures in Africa alone. 
Seven of his films .are currently running in Capetown, S. Africa, and one 
theatre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, will be screening only Power pictures 
for the next two months. 



Usually a Hollywood studio buys film rights to a novel, but the pro- 
cedure is reversed in the case of Metro's "Homecoming," based on an orig- 
inal screenplay by Sidney Kingsley. Now two publishing houses are 
trying, to buy novel rights to the film. 



U-Rank Confabs 



Continued from page 3 : 



yearly. It has nOt fulfilled this pact 'tween Eric Johnston, prexy of the 
since joining with other companies i Motion Picture Assn. of America, 



in the decision made after the 75% 
tax was imposed not to Shlil' filtns 
to England. 

With the shortage of product now 
getting acute here, ' it is understood 
that Rank fs making demands— and, 
possibly threatening legal action— to 
enforce delivery. It was for this 
reason that U prexy Nate Blumberg, 
board chairman J. Cheever Cowdin 
and other top brass of the company 
came to England last month for 
huddles with the British film tycoon. 

Should the current negotiations by 
Johnston not save U from being 
placed in the position of turning its 
back on other American companies. 
Blumberg is said to have promi.sed 
delivery Of 30 films to Rank. One 
problem which stands in the way 
and which it is thought the British 
Treasury would gladly work out to 
smash the embargo is the necessity 
of depositing in advance the esti- 
mated amount 'of the 75% tax.' That 
would be a backbreaking sum for U. 

U Toppers Extend London 
Because of Johnston 

Nate Blumberg, Universal's prexy, 
and , Toe Seldelman, •feepee heading 
the foreign dept., have sidetracked a 
projected Universal conference in 
Paris to be onthmdtat^oDifabs >be~ 




Stay 



and British officials. U's toppers see 
co'nsiderable hope of a settlement of 
the 75% ad valorem tax" and want 
to stick around for that eventuality. 

Originally, Blumberg and Seidel- 
man expected to meet with U's con- 
tinental managers in Paris to review 
'the,:EurOpean situation. Their shelv 
ing Of those huddles is considered of 
some significance. Duo will return 
to the U. S. the third week in March. 
Their wives meantime have gone to 
Paris; Robert Benjamin, head of 
Rank's U. S. org, returns tomorrow 
(Thurs.) by plane. 



M-G's 'Union' 

Continued from page 3 ; 



in May, some three weeks before the 
ilepublicans tee off their Presiden- 
tial nominating confabs. GOP com- 
mittee members are expected to be 
in the city by then and it's Metro's 
idea to get the film rolling in time 
for ' the mass influx of delegates 
about June 15. Idea was to follow 
the Philly preem with some 600-day- 
and-date bookings throughout the 
country but whether M-G sales vee- 
pee William P. Rodgers will at- 
tempt to line up so many dates re- 
mains questioiiable.. 

Greate.st number of simultaneous 
dates ever gathered by Metro for 
one film was the 250-odd compiled 
for "Hucksters" last summer. Rod- 
gers had hoped to line up about 300 
bookings for "Hucksters" but was 
stymied partly by a sales drive be- 
ing staged by a rival company at 
the same time and also by the fact 
that many first i run houses were 
holding over other M-G films. It 
was decided that it would be unwise 
to give up revenue from a hoJdover 
merely for the benefit of a publicity 
campaign so Metro didn't attempt to 
push "Hucksters" into those houses. 
With several of Metro's top films for 
1948 scheduled for release in May 
and June, Metro may run up against 
the same situation with "Union." 



Tax Compromise 



NatlAllieds Exit from MPF Doesn't 
Enjoin Local Groups from Joining 



ZOth's 50c Divvy 

Twentieth-I*ox board Monday- (1) 
voted a quarterly cash divvy of 50c 
per share on the company's common 
stock and 37%c per share on con^ 
vertible preferred stock. Both are 
payable March 31 to stockholder's 
of record March 10. 

Board also declared $1.12^4 divvy 
on prior preferred stock, to be payed 
March 15 to Stockholders of record 
March 10. 



Farnol Details New 



No Heiil^iii^i Successor 
British films will be completely 
absorbed by Universal's regular sales 
forces and henceforth sold as part" 
of U's ordinary product for the sea- 
s^on. A.s such, there'll be no ap- 
pointment of a successor to William 
J. Heineman, who left the -spot of 
U. S. sales supervisor of J. Arthur 
Rank pix handled by the company; 

Liaison between the Rank office 
and U will be under the supervision 
of William J. SeuUy, U's veepee in 
charge of distribution. Edward T. 
Gomersall .Will handle . some of this 
work but only incidentally to his 
legular cliore.s as assistant to 
Scully. He's not stepping out of the 
latter job..) 



s Continued from page 3 ss 

asmuch as it is. known that Cripps 
will consider no solution that does 
not entail retaining i« this country 
the 75% of American take called 
for by the ad valorem duty imposed 
last Aug. 7. 

Must Duck This Issue 

Another coiiipromise factor which 
the Motion Picture Ass'n of America 
prexy is insisting on in his talks 
here — and which it is understood 
British treasury officials will grant 

is a change in last summer's law 
wjiich requires that a sum equal 
to the estimated tax on a picture 
be deposited with the treasury when 
the film is imported. That would tie 
up millions of dollars of American 
funds, imposing an unbearable bur- 
den. 

Johnston, who arrived with his 
party on Saturday (28), continued 
his whirlwind negotiations today. 
Johnstony Mulvey, Joyce O'Hara, the 
MPAA chief's assistant, and Allen 
Dulles, counsel" to the MPAA on 
international matters, met with Ha- 
rold Wilson, president of the Board 
of Trade. This followed a luncheon 
session yesterday of Johnston and 
Dulles with Ernest Bevin, British 
foreign minister; Cripps, Wilson, Sir 
John Henry Wood, Foreign Office 
expert, and Lewis Douglas, Ameri- 
can ambassador. 

Prior to his meeting with Wilson 
toda.y. John.ston lunched with J. 
Arthur Rank. Followins? the Board 
of Trade confab, he was slated to 
huddle with London chiefs of the 
American majors. Conferences with 
Wilson are scheduled to' continue 
Thursday (4) and there's some opti- 
mism' here that a settlement may be 
ready for announcement by that 
time. 

Better Entente 

Ambassador Douglas apparently 
ha 1 the way well-paved for John- 
ston to hop right into the negotia- 
tions. Rather than the cold reception 
which' had been promised American 
film execs, Johnston found top Brit- 
ish officials ready to meet with him 
and get right down to cases. 

Reception to the MPAA chief, as 
a matter of fact. Caused some sur- 
prise here and it is assumed that 
Douglas had done considerable 
straight-talking during tlje Week 
■prior to Johnston's arrival. Tlohnston 
had had a number of sessions with 
the Ambassador in the U. S. a few 
weeks ago. Douglas returns to 
Washington Saturday (6). 

Particularly heartening to those 
looking for a quick solution to the 
tax stymie was Foreign Minister 
B'evin's statement at the luncheon 
yesterday: He declared; *'This must 
be settled." 

It is uncertain how long Johnston 
and his party will be here. He said 
on his arrival that,.it could be "a 
week. 10 days or a month." He may 
visit France and Italy following the 
present discussions, he said. 
' Mulvey's ^Jresence came as some- 
thing of a surprise. Apparently he 
left with Johnston on last-minute in- 
structions from the Society of Inde- 
pendent Motion Picture Producers, 
which he repre.sents. Whether he is 
actuall.y autliorized to accept a set* 
tlement in SIMPP's behalf isn't 
'CXeai^'^.«.. J. .■ ■ J, ... ■ , V 



la 

Personalized Letters 

Lynn Farnol, Goldwyn pub-ad 
chief, is doing away on future pic- 
tures with the bulky book of mimeo- 
graphed handout stories which have 
been provided newspaper film page 
editors on big pix in the past. He's 
substituting personalized letters to 
editors with background into that 
they can tailor to fit their own Hol- 
lywood columns or other needs. 

Farnol's been making a test of the 
idea on "Bishop's Wife," iwith prac- 
tically unfailing results. Each let- 
ter is at least partially individually 
dictated and all are hand-typed. 
Tour of a large number of cities, 
from which Farnol recently re- 
turned, proved, he maintains, that 
with the shortage of space available 
for film news, the mimeod handout 
stuff is ju.st waste. Goldwyn pub 
topper noted, incidentally, that book 
sections were now getting more 
space than pictures in many sheets. 

Farnol's initial note jn the personr 
alized campaign was an explanation 
of why Goldwyn is prefacing the 
words "Gary and. . ." to the title of 
f'The Bishop's Wife." He declared 
in one letter that the label "gave 
young people— the teen agers who 
are half of any motion picture audi- 
ence — the sense that 'The Bishop's 
Wife' was a picture with a message 
— that it was a 'good for you' picture. 
Bobbysoxers came out of the' theatre 
expressing surprise that they had so 
much fun. . .This created a problem; 
How could the picture be labeled as 
a comedy"? With an enormous in- 
vestment in a national advertising 
campaign, with all the great national 
magazines having already reviewed 
the picture enthusiastically under 
the title, 'The Bishop's Wife,' cer- 
tainly the picture. couldn't be retitkd 
in any formal or, arbitrary way. Up 
from nowhere came the- suggestion: 
Why not call it 'Dudley and the 
Bishop's. Wife'? It would lighten the 
feeling of the title and suggest com- 
edy. From that developed 'Gary and 
the Bishop's Wife.'" 



The powder taken by National Al- 
lied on the Motion Picture Founda- 
tion's formation and campaign to 
raise $10,000,000 for philanthropical 
uses isn't, expected to hit the new in- 
dustry project particularly, hard. 
While none too happy over Auied's 
decision which resulted in the resig- 
nation of Abram F. Myers, Allied'si 
board chairman, as MPF trustee, of- 
ficials of the project note that local 
theatre groups are still free to join 
up. 

National's rejection, it's under- 
stood, is not mandatory on its mem- 
ber orgs which have sufllcient 
autonomy to make their own de- 
cision. As a matter of fact, it's said, 
several of the groups have already 
am.iated themselves with the 
Foundation and haven't signalled a 
change of heart since the parent out- 
fit's ruling. 

As far as National Allied is con- 
cerned, it's the old business of that 
org meticulously avoiding any tieup 
with the, majors, indirect though it 
may be. Group's always been 
jealous of its reputation for inde- 
pendence and in the past has refused 
to join in such all-industry projects 
as distribution of Government films 
and trailers, united front on taxes, 
or the battle over ASCAP. Under- 
stood that this desire to stand alone 
fostered the nix. 

Added to this is Allied's .suspicion 
that the Foundation is being formed 
to shoulder the financial burdens of 
caring for old-time employees of the 
majors who've recently been pink- 
slipped in the economy wave. Al- 
lied argues that exhibs Who fall in 
the film -biz drift to other occupa- 
tions and that the Foundation; there- 
fore, won't be of any use to them. 



POE AND LESSER'S TOURS 

Seymour Poe, of Producers Repre- 
sentatives, Inc., returned to New 
York over the weekend, following 
several weeks of confabs with indie 
producers on the Coast. 

Irving Lesser, prez of 'PRI, who 
also participated in the huddles, i.v 
making a tour of western exchange 
cities and returns to New York next 
w>-'ftKend. 



Movietone-Tele 

Is Continued from page 5 s 



UA Board 

Continued from page s; 



by the major, newsreel companies 
allying themselves with the tele- 
casters. 

In its latest bulletin to members, 
however, ATOI declared this was ap» 
parently a "minority viewpoint." 
Noting exhibs' antipathy to the deal, 
the bulletin said this might be due 
to the fact that tele is not yet com- 
petition to theatres in Indiana. But, 
the bulletin continued, "in areas 
where video programs are regularly 
received, exhibitors have already 
experienced a serious loss of busi- 
ness — particularly on certain nights." 

Theatre executives in these areas, 
according to ATOI, "felt that Fox 
speeded UP and broadened that com- 
petition arid did a 'definite disservice 
to exhibitors. Under the smart, they 
stated that Fox should make a 
choice arid either serve the theatres 
or the bars and taprooms. Inasmuch 
as . they had cho.sen the bars, ex- 
hibitors should cancel out Fox news 
contracts. Several large theatre 
groups have already announced their 
intention to cancel." 

Bulletin did not Identify the cir- 
cuits wi5faiM::|i)-'#&i-;tb«-itijtiiieitfitt^ 



ffi.ssions of a Communist," to be pr6- 
ducpd by A. Edward Sutherland on 
material furnished by Gen. William 
•I. ("Wild Bill") Donovan from here- 
tofore secret files in the Oflice of 
Strategic Services. 

Elie Rothschild, of the banking 
family, will finance a film to be pro- 
duced in Canada by Leopold Schloss- 
berg. Adapted from the novel, "A 
Man Scans His Past," the film will be 
turned out in both English and 
French versions. Last film okayed is 
a remake of "Little Shepherd of 
Kingdom Come." it'll be produced 
by Dink "Templeton and lensed in 
Technicolor. ■ 

Cryx.pf the British issue — and 
what has caused virtually all other 
American companies to temporarily 
duck British production— is whether 
or not U. S. income from fhe piX 
could be retained in this country. 
While other 'companies are of the 
opinion, that it could not, UA e*ec 
v.p. Arthur W. Kelly, who recently 
returned from lengthy sessions on 
the matter in London, told the dii'ec- 
tors he believes a satisfactory 
scheme could be worked out. 

Kelly's idea, on me basis of his 
British tallcs, is that an agreement 
could be reached whereky dollars 
could be retained In the U. S. in pro- 
portion to the amount of dollar 
capital invested in the production 
in England. While the i»ew' quota 
law is not entirely clear on this 
point, .<!ome UA adyisers feel that a 
100% U. S. corporation making a 
100% British picture in England am} 
investing dollars, could retain' a pro- 
portion of earnings. 

General interpretation of the new 
quota act is that any dollar earnings 
of a British-made pic in the U. Si 
will be confiscated by the Britisb 
governmentj with the producer be.^ . 
ing given equivalent pound credits 
in London, Not only have U. S. com- 
panies no desire to pile np sucli 
frozen funds, but they also have a 
fear that the pound may be devalued. 
Reports reaching them are that it 
will drop from its present $4.02 to 
around $2.10.- 

UA board also went into a yariety 
of other matters in its two-day ses- 
.sion, including election of a new 
director. He is Harold Weill, of the 
law firm of Leon, Weill & Mahoney. 
This is the same outfit of ; which 
another UA director, Vitaiis L. 
Chalif, is a member. Chalif, is in- 
directly related to UA owner Mary 
Pickford.and he and Weill represent 
her on the board, alohg with Sata 
Dembow, Jr., and Peter Cusaclc^ 
Weill's, election represents a com- 
plete change of directors for Mss 
Pickford in the past year. 

Weill-Chalif firm handles much of 
Miss Pickford'* personal legal work-^ 
ihaiiti#:^'>it:Ult«Ftif!iiii&I Sc GraiS^ 



i 



•VABIXnnt'B' I4ONDOM OFCICB 
I St. liaitlarv.Jrfani^ TnWcM SquMi 



PeroH Pnnuses Spur Argmtine Fdm 
Production; Studios Outline Plans 



Buenos Aires, Feb 51. > 
Argentina's picture studioni are 
working full tilt and production has 
been considerably iteppcd up »i«ce 
the Producers Assn, received 'assur"' 
ances from President Feron tA full 
Kovernroent support for the ■indus- 
try, •'rhese assurances were followed 
by announeeatent :that Argentina 
■would buy plx only Irqm countries 
which take hers in exchange. 

Although Emelco's prexy, Kurt 
Leow, is an Austrian refugee, he's 
one of the more nationalistically in- 
clined local producers who are most 
often appealing for intensification of 
protectionist measures. Since Ehnel- 
co went into the production of long- 
reel pix, notWng of special interest 
has been turned out by the studio 
and it's pinning its hopes on "The 
Drums of Tacuari," now in produc- 
tion with Carlos Borcosque: direct- 
ing. This is a historical .story star- 
ring 17-year-old Juan Carlos Bar- 
bieri. \ -k 

Emelco has already inaugurated 
one of the new modern sets at Mar- 
■ tinez, outside Buenos Aires, and 
worlt is going ahead on t'Sweetheart 
of the Navy," with Benito. Perojo 
directing. Many scenes for this pro- 
duction were shot in Mar del Plata 
on the Atlantic coast, where there 
is a big Argentine naval station. 
, Emelco .also has a crew on location 
in far southern Tierra del Fuego, 
shooting sceiies for the picture, 
"Tierra del Fuego." Italian star 
. Amadeo Nazzari has been signed for 
. three pix to . be made by Emelco, 
after Slay.* T*is follows on Guaran- 
teed's signing of Aldtf.Fabrizzi. 
- . Cinematografica ' ^ter-Americana 
has inked a contract with comedian 
Luis Sandrini, which, gives the stu- 
dio hi* exclusive services through 
1950. His first picture will be a film 
version of "Juan Globo," legiter, 
which broker all boxOfflce' records in 
' 1945.' 

French Distribution Set 

Inter-Americana has lined up dis- 
tribution in France, through Delver 
Films of Paris, for two of its 1947 

* productions: "In Cold Blood" ("A 
Sangre Fria") and "Angel Without 
Pants" ("Un" Angel sin Fantalones">. 

• - AAA (Artistas Argentines Asocia- 

dos) is putting, finishing touches to 
"AU ... for Them" ("For EUos . . . 
Todo"), with vet actor Enrique Mui- 
no starred. Antonio de Raco, young 
Argentine pianist now touring the 
U. S., has a part in the film. Studio 
. is now casting for ''The Street Cries 



Filipiiuf Film oi) Moros 
Done in Cobr for 1006 

Manila, Feb.' 24. > 
First serious attempt of the Fili- 
pino film industry to utilize color 
has been made in LVN's recently 
completed "Waling-Waling" which 
contains a number, of tint sequences. 
Reportedly produced on a $100,000 
budget, film was shot on location 
in Mindanao, a southern Philippine 
island. - Picture -was a' -year .in the 
making. 

Made with the cooperation of 
Moro officials of Lanao prbvincis, 
"Waling-Waling" stars Jaime de la 
Rosa and Rebecca Gonzales.- Story 
outlines the fight of a Moro princess 
for a heritage. More than 500 Moro 
extras, were used, in film. 



Eiffip s Oaisws 
Sharpi^Kurs 

. ■ Paris, Feb. 24. ■ 
French censors here art getting 
increasingly, watchful'. . They are 
more likely to pick' oh foreign pic- 
tures since it does not mean antago- 
nizing local friends. Latest film to 
draw, their fire is the Mexican-made 
"Nana." After a first screening, this 
jwiU have to be shown , before the 
full assembly of censors. The best it 
can expect, after considerable scis- 
soring, is to be given a rating "for 
adults only." 

Tougher attitude of censors here 
is typical of what is taking place all 
over Europe today. Sweden's cen- 
sor, board nixed 13 films and Fin- 
land censors banned 15 in 1947. 

Th^e censorial experts blue-pen- 
ciled nearly all horror pix such- as 
the Frankenstein, epics. "Near Mur- 
derer," Ji Arthur Rank release, also 
was knifed. 



'Cnrie' Diplomatic Coup 

Sofia, March 2. 

It took a diplomatic coup for 
the Motion Picture Export Assn. 
to get Metro's "Madame Curie" . 
into Sofia's top cinema show- 
case, Republika, recently. Ef-. 
forts bl MPEA's local rep, Jean 
Biildiahn, 'failed to budga local 
authorities who are becoming 
increasingly hostile to U. S. : 
films. • 

Then MPEA persuaded the 
Polish Embassy in Bulgaria to . 
sponsor the film which is based 
on the life of Poland's most 
noted woman scientist; As a re- 
sult, the film preemed at the 
largest' house and was attended 
by several government bigwigs. 



Deny Clasa Films Govt. Supbrvi^ on 
Spells Mex Pix Kz Nationalization 



British Pix Extras Riled 
Over Work, Pay Cuts And 
'Packed' Union Roster 



Revolt ai^otag Britain's fUm ex- 
^ I tras is growini^. It was announced 

Out'" ("il Calir"GrUa'~),"wirich~L^^^ **W erowd artists are to be re 



Qyerdose, Cited in Probe 
Of i^farafiaii Radio 

" Sydney, Feb, 24. 

According to evideiit^e gathered 
by the. Parliamentary Standing 
Committee from all over Australia,,- 
listeners feel that the Aussie either 
is cluttered up with too much vul- 
garity and too many thriller serials, 

South Australian Advisory Com- 
mittee named "The Cashmere Bou- 
quet Show," radio players Ada and 
Elsie, and "Me" (Boy Rene), as 
putting over borderline blue gags; 
Committee, also frowned on such 
horror-type ^hows. as "The Shadow." 
Players named emphatically deny 
use of blue gags. New South Wales 
Advisory Committee also condemned 
the overplayii of serials.- 
. Allegation that Uue material was 
heard over, the national (non-com- 
mercial) stations after, the Federa- 
tion of Commercial Stations and 
condemned it on their own stations 
was also made. Spokesman for the 
FCS stated emphatically that there 
was a strict cod9 of ethics adolpted 
by all commercial stations to main- 
tain a clean ether throughout the 
Antipodes. Every Script used, on 
FCS was given the once-over by a 
special censorship committee. Noth- 
ing of a dirty nature, gag, song or 
otherwise,' was permitted an airing 
by. the 100. commercial, stations in 
AuSsie^ spokesman added', 

Australian Broadcasting Commis- 
sion, • non - conunercial operators, 
claimed it always nixed any dirt in 
shows before hitting the ether. 
Spokesman said that all scripts are 
closely watched for any over-blue 
stuff and immediately censored. 

Whether or nctf the government 
will' order an air cleanup is a moot 
point. 



cas Demare is to direct, and based 
op., a screen story by Carlos Alberto 
Cftsfando., , ■ 

. Ih^ihiton Studios has skedded pro- 
dvictiotisot "Death Walks Under the 
Rain" ''P'ta Muerte' Camina en la 
Lluvia"), with Hugo Christensen di- 
recting an<it' ''01ga Zubarry teamed 
with vet actcff .Guinermo Bataglia. 
Christensen is .currently cutting 
"Los Pulpos," in i^Wtlidi^'-Olga Zu. 
barry is starred wifti- Robi(^to Esca- 
lada. "A Daring AdventuteV ("Una 
Atrevida Aventurita"*), also from 
the same studio, is due for release 
early this year. • ; 



British Name Grierson 
To Top Govt Fihn 

London, Feb. 24, 
John Grierson, formerly "director' 
of Public Information Xor UNESCO, 
has been named to the Central Of- 
fice of Information, as controller of 
its film activities. He will coordi- 
nate work of the Fitais Division and 
the Crown FiUn Unit, and supervise 
the production and distribution of 
government films. 

At one time he was director of 
the Empire Marketing Board Film 
U-iit, which he founded, and was 
appointed to the B.f'.O. Film, Unit in 
■1935.' • ■ • •„■ • 

Brit Trade W 

London, Peb^ 24. 
British National Chamber of 
Trade, which includes 700 affiliated 
chambers and represents some 250,- 
000 shopkeepers and businessmen, 
has decided to ,ioin the fight against 
the Government proposal' enabling 
local authorities to go into show 
business; fThe'Chamfoer has, askeci: all 
members to communicate with inem 
bers of Parliament protesting against 
the grossly unfair clause in the^locat 
Government bill now being debated 
by Parliament. 

This enables local authorities to 
provide entertainment of any nature; 
facilities for dancing; provision for 
a theatre, concert hall or dance hall; 
and to maintain a band or orchestra; 

Frank Gratwick, general secretary 
of the Chamber, stated It- should W 
borne in mind that taxpayers will 
have * to . pay *or Ipsses incurred 
through: such entertainment ' ven- 
tures. Any fines imposed because of; 
breaches of licensing laws Will also 
have to be paid by the ratepayers; 



OPEN WAY FOR U.S. PIX 

' •■MeAii^',Ci^,-jib,.24. 

Use by Hollywood p^ucers of 
the two latest pic studitiis here, the 
Churubuscp>'<i,tid the Tepeyac, prom- 
ises to be' easier, since Alfonso Fer- 
nandez Bustamante',' secretary gen- 
eral of the Picture Production 
Workers Union," promises Jul! facili- 
ties to all U. S. companies. 

American producers were barred 
from using these studios by the 
union's insistence that they-'make 
a film in Spanish for each one in 
English produced at these plants. 



ine 



moved from the central register of 
the extras union, while on the other 
hand the Film Artists Assn.- has been 
split by claims that hundreds of 
"undesirables" have been allowed 
to take out union cards. 

Over 8,000 are on the books of the 
Film Casting Assn., the central 
body associated with the Rank Or- 
ganization from which all members 
of the Film Producers Assn. and all 
producers who hire space in Rank 
studios, draw the players for their 
crowd scenes. The men say if they 
get one day's work in three weeks 
they are lucky, and allege that 400 
women on the list have not had a 
day's work Since last. fall. 

Since. October, extras have been 
paid ¥10 a day, but many of the ad- 
ditional payments, which were made 
for "wet" scenes, wearing heavy 
makeup or beards, have now been 
discontinued and the, extras say they 
are 'worse off than when they were 
Itetting 46.60 a day. They claim that 
since October. Sir Aleptander iCorda 
has dropped .his rates for crowd 
work from. $I9.7iS to the standard 
$10. The "rebels" in the Fihn Art 
isis Assn. are now asking the asso. 
elation to repudiate the agreement 
provisionally accepted between the 
two associations last October, and 
are now formulating their counter 
proposals, 

They approve the Idea of a cen. 
tral casting organization but ,say it 
should be independent, and that 
work should be given to those who 
have been making their living in the 
studios for years. 



Mexico City, March a. 
Supervision Of Clasa Films Mun. 
diales, biggi* pic producer, by the 
National Properties Ministry in no 
way isignlfles the start of nationalu 
station, of tht Mle^icaa film industry, 
th« 'Ministry htw explained. An. 
nouhcement - of the supervision 
prompted reports in some circles 
h«?e that the Mexican government 
was ifoina into the .pic business, just 
as it did tho oil' industry back in 
1038 when th« leftist Cardenas ad- 
ministration expropriated Anglo- 
American oil firms. 

Ministry -explains that the super- 
vision is merely in the nature of 
aiiditing Clasa Films Mundiales be- 
cause the government has an inter- 
est in that firm, and that the audit- 
ing, is like that the Ministry does of 
the Bank of Mexico, Pelroleos Mexi- 
canos, the ofiUniial oil, company, and 
Azucar, S. A., ^ the. sugar .control 
agency, in all of which the .govern- 
ment has .lar{(# interest, and sev- 
eral smaller-.^^tflts, in which, like 
Clasa Films HfuuditdeSh the govern- 
ment has a minority 'Inliejrest. ' 

Government 'held a small interest 
in both Clasa and Fihns Mundiales 
when they were organized as sep- 
ai'ate companies some years ago, and 
that interest continued when the 
firms merged. This interest in the 
film company is through the Banco 
Nacional Cin.ematograflco, the film 
trs^de's own bank, which was re- 
cently raised to national status. 

Ministry was created by Freindent 
Miguel Aleitaan jn January, 1947, a 
month after he started his six-year 
term, for th^ purpose of. keeping 
,olOse< check on the use of govern- 
ment fundSi When Clasa Films 
Mundiales' supervision was an- 
nounced, Antonio- Caso, secertary of 
National Properties, asserted- that 
the- action v^as neither sensational 
nor suspicious. 



MONO SETS 16H PIX 
FOR 2 mn MARKETS 

William -Satori-, Monogram's Eu- 
ropean rep, is slated 'to' leave his 
London headquarters on April- 7 
aboard the Queen Elizabeth for a 
combined U. S. vacation and home- 
office huddles. Now in Paris, he's 
negotiating a new pact with the 
company's French distributor, Inter- 
france Films. 

Monogram 16m product is now be- 
ing released in Belgium and Lilxem- 
bourg as a result of a recent deal 
handled by Satori with Belgian dis- 
trib, L. Martens. He also arranged 
for distribution of Mono's 35m prod- 
uct in Denmark through John Olsen' 
of Teatrenes Films, Copenhagen. 



. London,. March 2. 
- "Burlesque," which opened Feb. 
15 at the Princes, was cordially re- 
ceived but not rated solid enough 
lor a lengthy run. Theme is rated 
as hackneyed here. Play did a profit- 
able Christmas season in Manchester 
prior to coming in here. 

Marjorie Reynolds and Bonar Col- 
leano are starred in the current edi- 
tion. 



Bergher's Carioca Spot 

Michael Bergher, formerly Uni- 
versal's Far Eastern supervisor, has 
been named by U as its managing 
director for Braizl. Bergher replaces 
Al Szekler, who held that spot for 
U since 1032. Szekler will return to 
the New 'S'ork homeoffice. 

Bergher. ha.s' been' with U since 
1945 as topper in the Orient. 



Current London Shows 

Londoni -March 2. 
(Fiflttre sltotos iceefcs of rim) 
"All This Ended,"' St. Jas, (4). 
"Anna Lacasta," Majesty's (18). 
"Annie Get Guii," Col's'm f39). 
"Bless the Bride," Adelphi (45). 
"Blind Goddess," Apollo (13). 
"Burlesque," Princes (1). 
"Chiltern Hundreds," Vaude (27). 
"Cockpit," Playhouse (3). 
"Biauiond Ul,» Wales (6). 
"Edward My Son," Lyric li;40), 
"Family Portrait," Strand (3). 
"Gather. Storm" St. Mart (3). 
"Gorbals Story," Garrick (3). 
"Hidden Tears," Fortune (6). 
"indiif. Shepherd," Crit. (4). 
"Life with Father," Savoy (39). 
"Linden Tree," Duchess (29). 
"Mountain Air," Comedy (5). 
"Nevejr Can Tell," Wyn. (22). 
"Oint«c'*rd," Piccadilly (40). 
"Oklabowa!" Drury Lane (44). 
''Outrageous," W. Garden (44). 
"Present Laughter," H'ymkt (46). 
"Relapse," Phoenix (5). 
"Starlight Eoof," Hipp. 06). 
"Sweetest Lowest," A mbass, (96). 
"Togclhfr Aeain.'* Vic Pal, <46), 
"Tuilpencc," Globe (21)i 
"Worm's View.'.' Whitehall (44). 



Mex. Govt. Okays Grant 
Of $20,000 for Legit 
House Co-op Operation 

Mexico City, Feb. 24. 
President Miguel. Aleman has 
okayed the theatrical federation's 
proposition of a $20,000 federal gov- 
erniment sttbsic^ to enable th^ legit 
revue tiieatre to survive here',. lEhis 
will go to help eight stage theatres 
here to organize as a co-op and 
start again on that basis on March 
27. This is a life-saver for 1,119 
people who depend on the legit the 
atre for a livelihood. 

In pleading its case, the federa 
tion told President Aleman that only 
234 persons now are working in the 
eight local houses— the Ideal, Arlpeu, 
Fabregas, Lirico, Follies, Iris, Tivoli 
and Hlo theatres. It *as cited that 
only Jour of these currently are in 
operation, and thej- now are in the- 
red about $36,000. 

Plan calls foir these local hfSbses 
sharing their profits and losses 
equally. Co-op concerns all with the 
theatre excepting the players who 
will fqrm their own companies and 
play for 40% of the gross, this to 
be distributed pro rata among mem- 
bers of each company. 

It's planned to use U. S. and other 
foreign players in 1jh:e theatres, es- 
pecially for vaude-revue houses. 



DIWY ON FOREIGN COIN 
^ARLS DANISH SPLIT 

Dissension by Columbia Pictures 
at a meeting of film company foreign 
managers in New York last week re- 
sulted in failure to come to an agree- 
ment , on diVvy of coin allocated by 
Denmark to the tJ. S. industry. 
Agreement was reached, however, on . 
split of the take from Chile and 
Colombia.. • 

Dollars allocated for films by the 
latter two countries will be divided 
on the basis of the "Australian 
formula.'' Tt»at means that in each 
country they will be in dij-ect pro- 
portion to a company hiUings less 
its operating , expense^^ Flan, was 
first applied in Australia. 

Col Objected in the case of Den- 
mark hecause it said it had to know 
in advance approximately: what it 
would be getting. This is necessary, 
it explained, in making deals with 
the indie producers who release 
through the company. Col stated it 
had not had sufficient experience in 
Denmark to judge the income; as it 
could in Colombia and Chile, in ad- 
dition to which the situation is dif- ' 
ferent, since coin which cannot be 
remitted is only frozen in Colombia 
and Chile, while it is confiscated in 
Denmark. 

'Foreign managers Also nixed a 
proposal presented by Cuban realty 
operators, for a common film ex- 
change building in Havana. It was 
said that the companies might be in- 
terested in such' a project, but rent- 
als proposed were beyond reason. 



Joffe Gets Ledermaii^s 
20th Philippine'^ Spot 

Six changes in 20th-Fox Interna- 
tional field personnel were made by 
prexy Murray Silverstone this week. 
Gustave Joffe, former Venezuela 
manager, becomes Philippines man- 
ager, with Albert Leonard, member 
of homeoffice staff, going to Vene- 
zuela post. 

Carlos Herrera, manager of Ecua- 
dor, becomes sales managejfi for 
Mexico under Allen Noye, with John 
Finder, former Dominican Republic 
chief, going to Ecuador, Orlando 
Calvo move^ up from-Vbookcr in 
Panama to Dominicat) - Republic 
manager. Dan Ledermkn, old 
Philippines man.iger, haS-heen called 
to N. Y. for new assignment. 



Central Censor Board 
For India in Making 

Washington, March 3. 

Deputation of Indian film industry 
called' on Deputy Prime Minister 
Sardar 'Vallabhal Patel early this 
year to . recommend creation of a 
central censorship board to approve 
pictures for all of India. At pres- 
ent there are three separate boards— 
at Bombay, Calcutta "and Madras, 
reports U. S. Dept. of Commerce. 
The film industry people also asked 
Patel to provide government assist- 
ance in. creating technical institutes 
in pict(ires and irulowering taxes on 
the industry. 

Censorship situation shows that 
during last November and Decem- 
ber, the Bombay censors examined 
14 U. S. features, making deletions 
in seven of them. All but two of 
the cuts provided for the removal of 
drinking scenes. In Novemberi the 
Calcutta board viewed two U. S, pix. 
No changes were made. 



Wednesday, Mwch 8, 1948 



17 




COLUMBIA PICTURES 
present - 



Susan 
Peters 



%9 S»gn Of 
%z Ram 



eo-ifamng 
AlEXMDEII rHYUIS PEfiGfMM 

KNOX -THAXTER- GARNER 

RON • bAMEMAY AUENE 

RANDELLWHiTTY- ROBERTS 





ScfHnplty by Chiflw toniMtt fO/uA upon «ii nwil by Mirfmt »f«iMi 

Directed, by JOHN STURGES • Produced by IRVING CUMMINGS. JR. • AN IRVING CUMMINGS PRODUGHON 



18 



PICTVRKS 



Weilnesdiay, "M«jrvli 3, 1948 



Ekwood Park, E, To Get Theatre 
It Doeai't Want; Other Blinding 



Chicago, March 2. 

Whether or not the viUage of Elm- 
•wood Park, lU., objects to having an- 
other pic house is immateriai-^it's 
going to have another. Cooic county 
circuit court last week issued a writ 
permitting the building of an 1,800- 
seater by Beach theatres. 

Town had ^objected to house on 
grounds that it would be a ttuisstnce 
end that concentration of cars wpUld 
act agaiilist safety of child*«hi 



liisht One in Gi-anlte City, ill. 

St. Louis, March 2. 

The City, a new 700%se'ater at 
Granite City, HI., has been lighted 
by Fanchon & Marqo, on the .$ite 
of the old Rialto, whfeh' was raxed. 

The. Goldman & Tofein Circuit ha.s 
lighted its new Lincoln, a 300-seater 
et Kinloch, Mo. , ^ 

I. D. Hawley has opened the Odin, 
a 300-seater at Odin, 111; 



Exhibit^Mayor Gets .Another 
Albany, March 2, 



Brewer Testifies 

ss Continued from: page 3 
labor. stEjf e. jn Ootobet, 1S44, '. he 
charged the Reds with- starting ^ 
jurisdictional strike over the issue of 
set decorators that served as a ''trial 
balloon" for f lu-ther contests. Brewer 
characterized the '43 strijte as a 
^%reat victory for violence," points 
ing out that the strike was on Ihe 
verge of coUapsinpc wh^n the CSU 
forced producers to a settlement via 
mass picketing. 

Brewer, asserted that the Commies 
were responsible for the tailure of 
an inter-union arbitration system in- 
itiated by the Screen Actors Guild. 
Eveti SoEirell said so, Brewer said, 
H. L, Lindelof, Painters union prez, 
also admitted thiat the . Commies 
were in complete control of his 
union, according to Brewer. Linde- 
lof said he "only wanted lo get 
enough information to "throw Sor- 
rell out," Brewer asserted; 
During his two-days of testimony. 



A 500-seat theatre under construc- 
tion by Fred Starlc in Galicoon, 

N.Y., is scheduled to premiere about I Brewer branded the following unions 
July 1 under the management of \ as being: "Communist-.dominatcd;" 
Harvey English, exhibitorTmayor of 



Hancock, N.^f.,. who- operates 12 film 
houses in npstato New York and 
Pennsylvania. 

Stark xan theatre some years ago 
at Liberty, N.Y. 



Slr.uid, Cape Vincfqti/Biirns 

Albany, Mda-ch 2. 

Cape Vincent, in the Thousand 
Islands Vogion, is- oflE the film map, 
due to a fire which deslr.oyc.d the 
Straiid theatre there test weefc Mrs. 
Barbara Handloy had been inanag- 
ing the 300"-se'ater on lease frq,m Mrs. 
Frances cGrappottpe, ; 

Other V' buildings owned .v by the 
latter wei;e. also' burn 6d. ' 



To BuilA ' Htwatve In ''Bryan» ' lexaiS 
Bryan,_Texas, March 2. 
The Bryan Amus. Co. has pur- 
chased for $32,000" the site foir a new 
1,600 seat theatre to cost,, aljout 
$250,000 to build. " The company 
already operates three other, house.'; 
here and plans have alifeady been 
made to build still another "near the 
one for wliich the site has been pur- 
chased. • 

The 450-seat Leo has been Opened 
at Texarkaha, Texas, by. Bounds & 
Houck Theatres, a partner.ship com- 
posed of L. O. Powevis, G. G; and Leo 
Bounds,; Frank G. Muilin and J. N. 
Houck, of New Orleans^. iThe' group 
also owns and operates' th|*e other 
Texarkana houses, the Ritz!, Joy and 
Palace. The new house, built at a 
cost of $125,000, replaces one de- 
stroyed by fire about a year ago. 



Mass. Theatre 'Ejection' 
BOl Fraught With Woes 

Boston, March 2. 

Bill in Massachusetts legislature 
Currently being eyed by both the 
film . and legit trade as implying 
plenty of possibilities for additional 
glief in ' connection with admitting 
or ejecting patrons, always a touchy 
business anyhow. 

House Bill 189, filed by State Rep. 
Gabriel Piemonte, provides a stiff 
fine and possible imprisonment for 
any house manager "wrongfully" 
ejecting or refusing admission to 
any patron. ' Bill doesn't define 
"wrongfully," leaving a house man- 
ager holding the bag if th« patron 
can ! work up a case. 



New Theatre-Buildinc for Cleve 

Cleveland, March 2. 

Construction of a' new $325,000 
theatre ■ and shopping-center build- 
ing is being started by Frank Poro- 
zynski and A. H. Balcerski, owners 
•f several local nabe stands. 

Seating capacity will be 1.800 and 
opening date fe set for November. 



Canada Swing 

.Continued from page 9 j 



is that Canada can handle the dollar 
exchange problem, in the film indus- 
try in a more constructive way, ex- 
panded productioh by U. S. compan- 
ies here now being tabbed as a pos- 
sible solution; . ■ » . 



Rogell's 'Shadow of Time' 
1st Yank Pic for Canada 

Hollywood, March 2. 

First of a series of American pix 
to be uroduced in Canada has been 
announced by C, D. Howe, Dominion 
Minister of Reconstructions. Itll be 
"Shadow Of Time," Which Albert S. 
Rogell starts lensing in Jasper Park 
area in the next four wecJcs. 

Howe said arrangements have 
been made for pix totalling $17,000,- 
000. Rogell, planning teeoll will 
bring ski stars, from Switzerland for 
thrill stuff although interiors are 
elated for Hollywood. Possibility, 
however, is the entire pic '{vill be 
done in' Canada. Rogell a)so plan- 
ning two other pis: there this year. 
At least half of "Mrs. Mike," which 
Edward Gross will produce in asso- 
ciation with Sam' Bischoff, will be 
done there, and 20th-Pox plans a 
mounty pic filmed in Canada. 

Mat Holt is mulling a pic on the 
Canadian Pacific Railway. 



lATSE costuroers, Local V05, his 
own union; 'which 'he said adhered 
to Ihe party line due to the influence 
of its business manager, Ted Ells- 
worth. 

Cartoonists Guild, headed • by 
Maurice Howard, who was alleged 
to be an "important party line 
strategist" by Brewejft* 

Screen Publicists Guild, headed 
by Milton Gottlieb. 

Screen Office Employees Guild. 

■ Screen Writers Guild. 
Screen Story Analysts. 
Painter union Local 644. 

■ In conclusion. Brewer i.id the sit- 
uation is now fairly well under con- 
trol. But, he said, "the smear 
tactics and the character assassina- 
tion employed by the- Communists 
was a wonder to behold. actually 
saw in Hollywood a "revolution in 
miniature. I wish anyone who has 
to make a decision on this could 
have lived through it." 

Brewer's Bap 

Coping with the lA charges of 
Communism for top -honors was a 
red-hot. exchange of words between 
Irving iWcCann, the house commit- 
tee attorney, and counsel for the 
producers and • lA. It was an ex- 
tension of. the running battle which 
has been going on since the hear- 
ings started. ; 

Earlier in the day, tempers, had 
boiled over as house committee 
counsel Irving McCann on one side, 
and lA lawyer IMatthew Levy., and 
MPAA counsel Burton Zoi^i' on the 
other, 'engaged in a bout of name- 
calling. 

As Levy - finished his testimony 
on the Communist activities of 
principals in the studio strikes, Mc- 
Cann petitioned the chair. to "ask 
witnesses to regain - from side 
speeches that are not relevant to 
the issue." The remark brought 
scrappy Matthew Levy to ■ his feet 
in protest. '■ 

"Mr. McCann," he shouted, "has 
indicated from the beginning he 
was the- protagonist of one side. 
Anyone who states, that what I have 
said has nothing to do with the sub- 
ject, just doesn't understand the 
Ho'lly-WQod labor situation." 

McCann, in retaliation, began to 
say something about *'these attor- 
neys," (Levy, Benjamin and Zora"} ',- 
when Zorn leajied up and objected 
to: "all of Mr.'' McGann's, remarks 
about me throughout these hear- 
ings," adding • that "Mr. . McCann's 
conduct ought to be fully exposed." 
McCann's answer to this was i 
wrathful indictment of the entire 
trend the hearings have taken since 
the beginning of the CommMnist 
angle was injected. 

"Evejy effort has been made to 
needle me- and the chairman," he 
charged. "We have listened patient- 
ly through two days to all the evi- 
dence these men say they Icnow, but 
they haven't proven anything. When 
the hearings were extended to in- 
clude the Communist charges, we 
wanted definite proof, but we've 
heard nothing but reflections, criti- 
cisms and personal abuse. I don't 
care now and have never- cared 
where the -chips may fall and will 
deviate not one inch from the. truth." 

Levy refuted the charges of 
"hearsay- evidende" by stating, "if 
this were a legal trial, I'd present 
live proof. Legal technical proof is 
not required by a congressional 
committee. There.,. has not' bem any 
proof given of the charises of col- 
lusion." 



Harry Brandt P.R. Aide To 
Skouras' Children's Fund 

Harry Brandt, prominent N. Y. 
exhib, was named yesterday (Tues.) 
aS' chairman of public relations and 
special events of the N. "5?. commit- 
tee for the American Overseas Aid 
of the United Nations Appeal for 
Children. . His appointment was an- 
nounced by 20th-FOx proxy Spyros 
Skouras, chairman of the national 
drive which seeks $60,000,000. 

New York City quota for the fund- 
raising campaign is $6i600,000. As 
part of the Gotham drive a chil- 
dren's parade is scheduled to be held 
on April 12 through the heart of the 
city. Iii addition a mammoth show 
is slated for Madison Sq, Garden 
May IS to boost the appeal* 



GoV*t Pix 



S ConUnued from pace S ssi 

would be a mistalce', officials felt, 
and so the change in strategy has 
been put through. 

Film division of the OIE wrapped 
up 32 subjects during 1947 for over- 
seas- and domestic distribiition, Mac*. 
Fadden said. Included "were a haU- 
dozen feature-length ' ijohnnentarles, 
12 one-reel news vmagszines made 
by Pathe newsreel, seaA sMO/t 14 one 
and two-reel pix. 

If the $28i000,0Oe overall foudget 
for' films and raOMt proposed in -the 
House, is passed by Congress, OIE 
will prol^ably turn out another 26 
.subjects during the present year, ac- 
cording, to MacFad^en. While the 
number T«preaents a drop from last 
yearns total, footage will .roughlj 
be the sarne.' Thai's because the 
division is working on more feature- 
length subjects. 

The public has now demonstrated 
its readiness for istraighii documen- 
taries and theatricals treated with 
documentary technique, MacFadden 
said, and the majors are' well aware 
of the trend. Because of ithis, major 
company interest has been consid- 
erable in the filAU beiAn' producjbd 
by the OlE and 'several are consid- 
ering the distribution, of the.- news 
magazine issues as a commercial 
pcssibitity. ' , 



Picture Grosses 



Parks' Pact. 

S Continutd from paee 3 sse 

the rest of his contract-life, which, 
under the original agreement, still- 
had two and a half years to run. He 
finally gave in and' signed the new 
pact, but only after he had been 
threatened with an assignment to 
a bit role as a taxi driver in a 
"Boston Blackie" picture. 

After he completed the "Jolson" 
film, Parks declared, Cohn offered 
him a bonus of $25,000 on condition 
that he add another year to his con- 
tract. 

"Then I blew up,'* he said* "I 
said it was outrageous, and could 
make me a slave to the man for the 
rest of my life." 

After an adjournment over the 
weekend, the hearing was resumed 
today (2). 



Theatre Teie 

Continued from page S 



included; admissions not to be raised; 
no solo presentation of video but use 
of it only as a standard pic program 
augmenter; that theatres using video 
.■ihall announce: "Televisions presen- 
tations are offered as an add^ serv- 
ice to our patrons. Television . is a 
free public service and is presented 
here as such; all newspaper ads re- 
ferring to video .shows will include 
station call letters and sponsors' 
names, and theatres promise to sKo-vr. 
video to t:he best advjkstage, insuring 
presentations against mishap to avoid 
reflection on the medium. 



SAN FRANCISCO 

(Continued irom page 12) 
Down to «il2,000, big drop from last 
week's big $29,500, hypoed by open- 
ing day appearances of ^ars from 
film, 

St Francis (Par) (1,400; 60-85)— 
"T-Men" (EL) (4th wk). Okay 
$9,000v Last week, good $10,000, 

Orpkeam (Blumenfeld) (2,448; 55- 
85)— "Black Bart" (U) (2d wk). Off' 
to $10,000 after tost week's okay 
$16,500. ■ 

United Artists (Blumenfeld) (1,207; 
.W-aS)— "Double Life" (U) (2d wk). 
Fancy $12,000 or close after hefty 
$19,500 opener. 

Stagedoor (Ackermau) (350; 60- 
85)— "Hungry Hill" fU) (2d wk). 
Nice $3,000. Last week, $3,200. 

Clay (HoesHer) (400; 65-85)— 
"Beauty and Beast'* (Indie). Sock 
$4,000. Last week. "Barber .of 
Seville" (Indie) (4th wk); mild 
$2,100. 

United Nations (FWC) (1,149; 60- 
85) — "Gentleman's ■ ' Agreement" 
(20th) (6th wk). Fair $5,500. Last 
week, steady $9,500, 
'Esquire (blumenfeld) (952; 55-85) 
—"Smugglers" (EL). Big $10,000. 
La.st week, "Black Bart" (U), $10,- 
SOO. , 

State (Par) (2,133; 60-85)— "Be- 
trayed" (Mono) (reissue). Fast 
^8,000. Last week, "Sierra Madre" 
(WS) (tt),o.), nice $8,500. 

Geary ■ <1,550; 90-$1.80)— "Mourn- 
ing Becomes ' Electra" (RKO) (j2d 
wk). Slid off a bit to $6,500. Last 
week, oke $8,500. '" 

'BisI»pV Great $21000 
In Ppr4 liordi^e' 19G 

. ' , Providence,' March 2, " 

There is no appreciable drop in 
biz hereabouts with most stands still 
reporting high grosses. Hitting the 
high spots this wepk are "Bishop's 
Wife" at RKO Albee, and "Cajl". 
Tfortbside" at MajesHc. Loew's SMate 
still is nifty in second week- with 
"Cass Timberlane." 

fistitaatea for This Week. 

Albee (AKO) (2,200; 44-65) "Bish- 
op's Wife" (RKO) and "Philo Vance's 
Gamble" (RKO). Great $21,000. Last 
week, "Smator Indiscreet" (U) and 
"Upturned Olass" (U), good $15,000. 

Carlton (Fay-Loew) (1,400; 44-65) 
—"Voice of Turtle" (WB) and "TraU 
of MountteS" (WB) (2d run). Good 
$4,500; .Last week, "T-Men" (EL) 
and "Heading lor Heaven" (EL) 
(2d run), $5,500. 

Fay's (ray) (1,400; 44-65) "Buck- 
skin Frontier" (WB) and vaude on 
stage. Nice $7,000. Last week, "Har- 
vey Girls"- (M-G) (reissue) and 
vaude on stage, good $6,000. 

l*jJe«tl« (Fay) (2,200; 44-85)' — 
"Call Northside" (20th) and "Dan- 
gerous Years" (20th). SoUd $19,000. 
liast week, "Voice of Turtle^ (WB> 
antl^raU of MoOnties" (WB), Oke 

MetropoUtan (Snider) (3,100; 44- 
65)— "So Well Remembered" (RKO) 
and "Western Heritage" (RKO). 
So-so $8,500. Last week, "Wreck of 
Hesperus" (Col.)%nd "Fighting Mad" 
(Mono), weak $6,500. 

State (Loew) (3,200; 44-65) — 
Cass Timberlane" (M-G) '(2d wk). 
Very nice $17,000. First session Was 
wow $30,000. 

Str*Bd (Silveman) (2,200: 44-65)— 
Albuquerque" (Par.) and "Big Town 
Dark" (Par). So-so $8,500 for 9 days. 

«twr;;V$K^"=" 

PITTSBURGH 

(Continued from page 12) 

ItSltS;" ^''.?'^ K^^^- Loo'i^s solid 
$18,000 and holds. Last week, "Re 
lentless" (Col), hit by same down- 
town. flr_e and tooic a $2,000 licking 
to wmd up at $9,500. 

<Loew,'s-TJA) (3,300; 44-76) 
Intrigue" (UA). Lambasting from 
hurling. Will be lucky to get 
$10,000, mild. Last week, "Three 
Daring Daughters" (M-G), best here 
jn some time at $20,000, strong. 

RUx (Loew's) (800; 44-76)— "Three 
Daring Daughters" (M-G)' (m,o ) 
Sizzling $5,500. Last' week, second 
here and 4th downtown of "Cass 
limberlane" (M-G), sturdy $3,500. 

Senator (Harris) (1,750; 44-76) --• 
"Flame New Orleans" (U) and 
Broadway" (U) (reissues.) Oldies 
getting nice play at $3,000 or better 
Last week, "Case of Murder" CWB) 
and "Fugitive Chain Gang" (WB) 
(rei.ssues), ditto. 

Stanley (WB) (3,800; 44-76) — 
"Knew Susie" (RKO). Eddie Cantor 
apparently still has lots of that old 
will hit big 

li?'SS?- ,week. "T-Men" (EL) 
$21,000 in 9 days. 

Warner (WB) (2,000; 44-78)— ''T- 
Men" CEL) (m.0,) Thrnier has 
caught on and shape* to land $9,000 
or close. Last week, "Voice of Turtle" 
(WB) (m.o.) great $8,500 in 8 days. 



LVille's Weather Break 
No Help; W Alone 
Big 14G, 'Turtle' 7G, 2d 

Louisville, March 2. 

Break in cold weather is helping 
downtown theatres, but busineess is 
not too strone tWs week. Only the 
Rialto'^ and Strand have new fare 
"I Walk Alone" at the Rialto looks 
to cop the best coin. "Black Nar- 
ci.<!sus" and' 'VSotnftthing in Wind'* 
look 'slow at National, 

Gstimatea 'for This Week 

Brown (Fourth Avenue) (1,200; 45- 
65)— 'Pittsburgh" (FC) and "Green 
Hill" (FC) (reissues). Slow $3,500. 
Lr.sl week, "Out of Past" (RKO) and 
"■Tracy Meets Gruesome" (RKO) 
(m.o.), about same. 

Kentucky' (Swlto'w) (1,200; 30-40) 
—"Road to Rio" (Par) and "Her 
I-Iusband)s Affairs" (CoD. Perky $3,- 
000. Last week, "Good News" (M-G) 
and "Blondie's Anniversary" (Col), 
(airish $2,900, , 

mary ' Andersen (People's) (1,100; 
45-65 )—" Voice of Turtle" (WB) (2d 
wk). Getting weather breaks which 
first week didn't have, good $7,000, 
not far from first week's figure with 
oke $8,000. 

National (Standard) (2,400; .45-65) 
"Black Narcissus" (U) and "Some- 
thing in Wind" (U). . Straight film 
fare after two weeks of ice show on 
stage. Slow $5,000. Last week, "Gas 
Hou.se Kids Hollywood" (EL) and 
^■Hollywood .on Ice" on stage t2d 
wk), fine $16,000. 

KUIto (FA) (3,400; 45-65) — "I 
Walk Alone' (Par). Shaping far 
sturdy $14,000. Last week "MaRic 
Town" (RKO), mUd $10,000. 

State (Loew's) (3,300: 45-65) — 
"Cass Timberlane" (M-G) (2d wk). 
Likely- nice . $11,000 after initial 
week's..solid $17,000. 

Strand (FA) (1,000; 45-65) — 
"Tender Years" (20th) and "Danger- 
ous Years" (20th). Comfortable $5,- 
000. Last week, "So Well Hemem- 
bered" (RKO), $4,000. 



Denver, March 2. 
Snow Sunday night and all day 
Monday (1) is denting film grosses 
here this sessibn. "Call Northside," 
which is unusually big at the Den- 
ver, is topper, with solid total for 
three spots. "Albuquenque" is good 
enough to -stay a second week at the 
Denham. - 

Estiinatc* for This Week 
.\Iadiiin (Fox) (1,400; 35-74)— 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) and "Peril- 
ous Waters" (Mono), after week at 
Denver, Esquire. Good $5,500. Last 
week, "PagUacci" (Indie), $5,000. 
Denliaai (CockrlU) (1,750; 35-70) 
■"Albuquerque" (Par). Fine 
500. Last week, "1 Walk Alone" 
(Par) (3d wk) and "Big Town Dark" 
(Par), out after 5 days at thin $6,000. 
- Denver (Fox)- x:2,52S; 35-74)— 
"CaU Northside" (20th) and "Head- 
ing for Heaven" (EL), day-date with 
Esquire. Webber. Sock $18,000. La-st 
week, "Voice of Turtle" (WB) and 
"Perilous Waters" (Mono). $16,000. 

Esquire (Fox) (742; 35-74)— "Call 
Northside" (20th) and "Heading for 
Heaven" (EL), also Denver and 
Webber. Okay $3,000. Last week, 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) and "Peril- 
ous Waters" (Mono), big $6,000. 

Orplieiun (RKO) (2,800; 35-74)— 
"Night Song" (RKO) and "Bush 
Pilot" fSG). Good $14,000. Last 
week, "Cass Tunberlane" (M-G) 
and "Dragnet" (SO) (2d wk), 
$14,500. 

Paramount (Fox) (2,200; 35-74)— 
"Personal Column" (UA) and "Half 
Past Midnight" (20th). Modest 
$11,000, Last week, "Intrigue" (UA) 
and "Dangerous Years" (20th), good 
$13i000. 

BWto (Fox) (878; 35-74)— "Di.n- 
mond Jim" (PC) and "The Spoilers" 
(FC) (reis.sues). Good $5,000. .Last 
week, "T-Men" (EL) and "Woman 
from Tangier" (Cal) tm.o.), oke 
$4,000. 

Tabor (Fox) (1,967; 3S-74)— "Wel- 
come Stranger" (Par) and "Make 
Mine Music" (RKO). Not strong 
at $7,000. 'Last week, "Black Cat" 
(U) and "Black Friday" (U), $10,000. 

Webber (Pox) (750; 35-74)— "Call 
Northside" •.(20th) and "Heading lor 
Heaven" (EL), also Denver and 
Esquire. Solid $3,000 or better. 
Last week, "Intrigue" (UA) and 
• Dangerous Years" (20th), $2,700. 

N.Y.U/s Film Forum 

New Yorlc University's dept. of 
motion pictures, headed by Robert 
Ges.sner, will hold a film forum at 
the school, either March 30 or ,31. 
Theme will be plots and characters 
in motion pictures. . 

Bosley Crowther, of the N. Y. 
Timesj will represent the Critics; 
Arthur Mayer of the Rialto theatre, 
will ispeak from exhibs* viewpoint, 
and Olin Clark of Metro, Will ' talk 
as a story editor. 



ITedneBdny, March 9, 1948 



19 




mil IKN FILMS pnuils 
wi*JOHN SUTTOfToEORGE 



^Am^^Om^ia ^ COIlOOVA iyClllE BUEHEMiJH BEI HOill MSB . 

M^EOIiGE TOBIAS • IWrt l» IBMTO "CM • 1*^^^ 




20 



We«Iiu;8(Aay, March 3, 1948 



Anybody Wanna Buy a Tlieatn? 
Waco Jexas,Has One;Excliange News 



■ ■ .■■ '-'Dallas,'. ' 
The city of Waqo Is trying to sell 
a theatre it received ftowiitoe Amy 
when Blacklatfd Army > Air Keld was 
closed. About the only inquiries so 
far have come from schools and 
churches interested in obtaining; the 
640 upholstered seats. Baylor umv. 
here iias already bought^ the stage 
curtains and fooUights. 

Alfred Sack, of the Sack Amuse- 
ment CO., has acquired rights in 14 
southern states to distribute the 
ItaUan film, "To Uve in Peace; He 
has already released two other Italian 
films in this area. .... 

Arlie Crites, former district man- 
ager for T;heatre Enterprises at Kan- 
sas Ci^. has been transfeifred to the 
firm's local oif ice, ' _ 

Sol Sachs, of the local RKO branch 
exchange, is at St. Paul's hospital 
foHoyriing a heart attatk. 

Jake Lutsier, manager for Film 
Ctesslcs' since itsreorganization about 
s year Vitff, has been promoted to 
southcfm division manager. ^Halph 
Feckham, manager of the Atlanta 
exchange, has* been transferred here 
to manager the local "exchange. Ralph 
IMteCoy has been named new Atlanta 
manager. Lufcft'r Will continue to 
make his headquarters here. His ter- 
titory includes Atlanta, Charlotte, 
Cincinnati; Memphis, New Orleans, 
Oklahoma City and IXillas. 

Stardiv«»t'» SnU 

IjOs Angtles. 
B. V. Sturdivant, former director 
tor- National Theatre Amus. Co. in 
Latin America, filed a $500,000 
damage suit against that company 
and Charles P.- Skourtis, charging 
breach, of agrement. Suit is -an 
aftermath -of the sale of the, circuit's 
interests in Mexican theaii«!l ' last 
year, 

Sturdivant declares he had an 
agreement' ^ih Skouras, NT prexy, 
to receive any amount over the cir- 
cuit's' actual investment in the Mexi- 
can bouses. NT's profit on the sale, 

'tss(j»&^ was $360,000. 

/: ' ■ ' sehoenstedts Go AlUed 

Chicago. 

B. Schoenstadt & Sons, Operators 
«t 17 houses in Chi, have joined' uP 
wlth-Allied Theatres of Blinois. Cir- 
cuit, headed by Arthur Schoenstadt, 
recently settled an anti-trust action 
wMch ai^ed.over $1,000,000 &om the 
■ niai<Kr$.. ' - ' '..'-^i'-' 

Ernie Emerllng^s Spiel ',.. 

New Haven. 
A <t>fierent kind of first-is la the 
making; with the annomtcemen.'t' from 
IiDe#-PoU N^ England. Iieadquar' 
tew here -that Erijest. Bmerling, 
IrfieWs national tUrector, .of adver- 
tising ^^d publidty, will hi? a prin- 
cipal.' speaker at &e.i^ve|9tion of 
New Zaigland Newi^aBee -Advertis 
ing Sxeciitives ',ASs((<!^^^r Ehner 



Chi Appeal 

Uasag Continued from pat* 4 S 
cctsts, $300,000.. Donohue flies 



to 



ing, first theatrical advertising ex«c- 
utive ever to address this group, is 
slated to speak at the Hotel KlmbaU 
gatherinit on March 0 in Springfield, 

Mass, 

Subject of hisaddress will be 'JMo; 
tion Picture Tli«atro Advertismg," 
in which he will discuss the problems 
of the picture bushiess, the peculiar- 
ities of theatre advertising, adher- 
ence to advertising code, the matter 
of rates and free publicity, how the 
advertising dollar is spent, the im- 
portance of keeping amusement 
pages dean, and other details. 

ianerling, quondam manager of 
various Loew houses tbrougtiout thc^^ 
country, is now rounding out 28 
years with the organization, 18 of 
them in the N. Y. advertising depart-, 
ment. 

M.P. Associates Adding Femmes 
Motion Picture Associates is turn 
ing to the distafi side to hoist the 
ore's membership. Change in the 
constitution to permit women work 
ing in the industry to sign up has 
been recommended by the board and 
will come up for ratification at the 
unit's next general meet, April 1. 

The outfit is launching a *:ive for 
increased membtrship undei' the. 
chairmanship of Ray Moon, 20th-Fox 
sales'.exec. 

Shattfn Exits -Goldberc 

Omaha. 

Edward Shafton. for two years 
general counsel and manager of B. 
D. Goldberg ZAiterprises, resigned 
eflective March 6. Ken Seymour, of 
radio station KOAD, has joined 
Goldberg on pidtlic relations, effec- 
tive at.once. Seymour has been an- 
nouncer, writer and" general news 
man for KOAD. • ' , « 



More Eagle I<i«m ClMqces 

Eagle lion' continued reshuffling 
.its domestic and foreign sales forces 
'this week by naminf two exchange 
managers and acceptmg the resigna- 
tion of a foreign dept. exec. Latter 
is Eugen Sharin, who's been with 
EL's overseas cohorts since last 
March. 

Newly tapped branch managers are 
Nelson Towler, Atlanta exchange, 
and Gordon C. Craddock, Indianap- 
olis. Towler stepped up from sales 
ihanag^ of Atlanta. Craddock 
switched from XTpiv^rsal, where he 
was a homeoffice sales exec. 

Tour Bridge to Tfu, MempUa 
Memphis. 
Tom Bridge, former sales thanager 
for Paramount at . the district office' 
in Dallas, 'is new branch manager 
here. ■ 

He succeeds L. W. McClintock, who 
is .talcing a six-month leave for his 
health. ' 




tali MUftac • Scmi WANAMAKBt ! 

lb "MY GIRL TISA" with 

AUm Twin* • Alu H*l* « Huh Htu 
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•■4 -Bis Orchntm and Berne 
A* i7tk Ktn«t STRAND 



•AUO CITY Mine HAU 
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RbNALD tOLl«AM 
"A DOUBLE LIFE" 

U6NE HASSO • EDMOND O'MIEN : [ 

iJ: ' A Kaalii TMtOBctlon 
, A Valmnnl-IMcnMtiMal Selawe 
' IPtCTAeUtA* STA6X PRESEMtATIOH 



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Dallas today to testily there on the 
Xri-State anti-trust litigation. 

Earlier in the week, Tom McCon- 
nell, JP's attorney, had rested his 
cast after introducing 494 contracts 
of various distribs. Johnstone, Ui 
turn, rebutted with the argument 
that JP'a gross had risen from $2,000 
weekly average before the decree to 
a current $4,000. 

Major issues boiled down mainly, 
in the first week of the hearing to 
practices of clearance and circuit's 
right to double feature. .Testimony 
brought out that Paramount, 20th- 
Fox and Loew's have established 
subsequent-run clearance after. Loop 
showings, McConnell claims that this 
is the same as "dead" or waiting time, 
while the defendants insist that 
clearance, as long as it is not iini 
torm> and established film by f Urn, 
is permissible. 

Plaintiff also contended before 
Judge Igoe, tluit B&K and Warners 
circuit had used product to double 
feature, depriving JP from pictures. 
Defendants all agreed, that such pix 
liad been offered to JP first, which 
had reused films, before they 
double-featured them. Another point 
of contention is the set release dates 
that majors have devised for subse 
quent runs- with protective clearance 
clauses in them ranging up to 21 
days. ' McCoquell claims that this is 
the same as the old Chi system. The 
defense argues that set release dates 
were necessary after Loop showings 
in order to give time for booking, 
advertisifig, and bidding. 

SsUdnV Xesttnony 
Bicliard SaUcin, manager of the JP, 
took the stand Wed, (25) to teU why 
iie refused to book certain films. He 
said that certain xelease. dates set by 
2eth-Fox. Paramount, and in several 
instances, KKO, violated the JP de 
cree ban on waiting' time. Release 
dates on "Golden Earrings" and 
Where There's Life," he said, pre " 
vented liim from playing films im- 
mediately » after their Loop runs. 
"Unconquered" was withdrawn from 
the Chicago marlcet after advance' 
price showings at the United Artists, 
he ikdded. Even thongh it tras adv 
vertiised as a roadshow^ not to be re 
leased generally until April 1,' he 
contended that it should have been 
offered to hun. 

Testimony took a humorous turn 
when manager testified that although 
he. hesitated to play "Monsieur Ver. 
doux" becwose of Hearst and Ameri 
can Legion boycott, scarcity of 
product finally forced him mto 
booking it. "Ver doux," he said, 
promptly broke Uie house record. 

William Rodgers. Metro sales chief, 
and 20th-Fox assistant sales man' 
ager William Gehring testified 
Thursdiiy of the necessity of ^|n 
clearances.' Both declared this 
necessity for proper booking and eX'^ 
ploitation. Both id«iittd any priice 
fixing with. Btdfibidi & Katz land 
"Warners circuits. 

Itodgcrs stated he gave orders that 
pica be.held'off Chi market until last 
monfft while releasing system was 
being developed, wliich retained prO'^ 
•tective clearances of 7, 14, and '21 
days". He revealed that in 1946^ 
Loew's did not comply witti the de- 
cree until Nov. 19, 1947, because 
Loew's attorneys hoped :defendai|ls 
would win in file, JJ, 'S. Snpremii 
Court. 

R'iday's sessiol^ IbrQUgtt a surprise 
move when Ed Johnstone, B<^-. 
Paramount attorney, was called to 
the stand by McConnell. The JP at-- 
torney earlier had asked the cotirt 
to cite Johnstone 'for contempt on 
the grounds fliat he had advised his 
clients on evasions of the decree ^od 
conspired with other defendants in 
evasions. 

Questioning brought out that John- 
stone had . not advised the home of- 
fice of Paramount and since mahf 
date of the decree, Nov. 19, had not 
confierred with any of the other de- 
fendants 



It's Prof. Bergman 

Maurice Bergman, Universal's east-* 
em ad-pub chief, will head up a 
course on motion picture advertising 
given by the New School for Social 
Research. Bergman mounts the po- 
dium April 2S in the first series of 
five weekly lectures. , 

He'U call on a niimber of fitanites 
as guest lecturersi 



Biggest Chain 

s ConUnued from pai« 3 s 



PALACE 



EDMECMIfM^JOMINIiflS 

CKMtlES BiKSLE-SOeSV iMRSCKL 



WMT DISNEY'S 

mm 

COIOR irTECHNtCOLOg 

"SA. (EPUBUC%S^' 

-I 



Nelson's Chi Suit on JP 

Chicago, March 2. 

Latest suit stemming from the 
Jackson Park theatre case was filed 
last week in Chi federal district; 
court by Charles and Herman Nel'- 
son, former operators of the Lawn- 
dale theatre here' tfom Oct. 29, 1939, 
to May 8, 1947^^ They ask triple 
damages amouiiting to $1,039,000 foe 
asserted infStiopolistic practices of 
Balabair & Katz, the Warner Bros, 
theatres and other major distributors 
-in period Feb. 25, 1943-May 7, 1947. 

Majors named are Paramount, WB, 
Loew's, Universal, 20th, RKO, Colum- 
bia, UA, Republic, and Monogram.' 
Lawndale, west end nabe, formerly 
played in lOlh week. 



as •Paramount's, now the .country s 
greatest, with 338 top houses owned 
outright and 1,250 more ill , partner- 
ship. National Theatres, which pays 
Skouras ahnost $1,000,000 a year m 
salaries and bonuses as its super- 
visory head, is now the country s 
second largest circuit with 634 
houses owned in toto and 102 in 
partnership. ■ . 

Maneuver recently ot George 
Skouras, Charles' brother, in regain- 
ing control of the St. Louis Amuse- 
ment Co. and the reported Skouras- 
Schenck-Pauley-Hannegan interest in 
obtaining the Golden State chain in 
California, are understood part of 
the master plan, which has already 
been put into operation. St. l^uia 
Amusement controls about 30 houises 
and Golden State 116 

Four 20th-FAX Subsldi 

Also understood to be included in 
the plans are four major 20th-Fox 
affiliated circuits. They are Pox- 
Midwest, comprishig 115 theatres 
headed by Ehner C. Rhoden; Fox- 
Wisconsin, with 66 houses topped by; 
Harold J. Fitzgerald; Fox Inter- 
mountain, 89 theatres, presided over 
by Frank H. (Rick) Ricketson. Jr., 
and possibly, the giant Fox-West 
Coast circuit, with Its 237 houses in 
Charge of Skouras himself. 

Composition of the chain will de- 
pend ^somewhat on the Supreme 
Court decision. If the decree as it 
now stands is upheld, the majors can 
hang on to any theatres of which 
they own less, than 5% or - more 
than 95%. If there's complete, di- 
vorcement, all the houses, of course, 
wlU be cast free. In any case, 
Skouras' aim will be to Une dp as 
many of the National Theatres af- 
filiates as possible and add to them 
whatever other circuits he can b\iy 
up; '■,'■■■■.'' '■■■■'.''• , ■'■ 

Spyros Pi Skouras, prez of 20th- 
Fox, and brother ot Charles and 
George, will remain in that position 
if the company 'is forced to unload 
its theatres, it is understood. George 
Skouras is prez ot Skouras Theatres, 
N. v., and v.p. of United Artists; 
Theatres Circuit, of which Schenck 
is prexy. 

Skonras* St Loo Oonttol ^ 
Skoiuas will take over control of 
the St. Louis Amusement Co. next 
June 1, when Harry Arthur's man* 
agement contract expires, it- is lib" 
derstood, CuUen &py, chief ' film 
buyer for F-WC, is reported slated 
3 be named by Skouras to run the 
chain. Arthur is planning to move to' 
the Coast, where he'U join his broth- 
er, Milton^ in operation of the cir- 
cuit they held in and around Los 
Angeles. 

Skouras holds 52% of the St Louis 
stock, with Arthur owiiing 49% 
(Fanchon. fc Marco are associated 
with him in the operation) and the 
remaining 3% scattered. Clarence 
Turley, St Louis .banker, is re- 
ported to have rounded up the nec- 
essary controlling interest for 
Skouras. It has been stated at vart'- 
'dus times that tiie Dept.' ot,Justi(le 
might put in an ^ objgcticih t<a 
Skouras' regaining control of the 
company. It's been learned, hoW' 
ever, that wheii Skouras made his 
first move, Arthur sent one of liis 
attorneys, Russell Hardy, to Wash 
ington to' check- on the legality of 
the action 'in hope of staving it Off: 
Dept ot Justice is . said to, have 
okayed the buy, since George is not 
connected with any affiliated .cir- 
cuit. 

It is understood that Pauley and 
Hannegan, working with a well- 
Imown indie circuit operator, who 
is acting as Jront man, have been 
negotiating with Mike Naify to get 
the Golden State chain. If the Su 
preme Court action is such that 
Skouras goes ahead with his plan, 
which is likely, he and Schenck 
would take the Golden State into 
the master circuit. Schenck is now 
involved with the -Chain to 'Uie 'ex- 
tent that he has endorsed Vhe $2^ 
200;000 Bank of Amwica note which 
enabled Naify recently to buy out 
his partners, Eugene H. Emmick and 
Robert A. McNeil. At the time of 
inking ..the note, the 20th'-Fox pro- 
duction exec sent a letter, to tlie 
Dept. of Jastice guaranteeing to the 
anti-trusters that should there be a 
default by Naify, thus handing ' 
Schenck the chain, it would not be j 
turned over to an affiliated circuit ' 



'47 Tax Total 

Continued from pace g- 

office, show that nationally the gen. 
eral adm^issions tax was $28,688,455 
or about $3,100,000 below the figure 
for December, 1046. The slump in 
nitery business for the month wag 
almost one-fifth. . thtt tax teke 
amounted to $4,385,327, compared 
with $5,211,068 for ttie same month 
a year earlier,' 

In getieral admissions, the droi» 
from November to December was 
particularly sharp. For example, the 
December tax total was roughly 
$9,000,000 under the November flg. 
ure. ISJis means that the biusiness 
fell $45,000,000 below November. 

However, things were better on 
the Broadway sector of Manhattan. 
Tax figures f<it the ftrd Internal Rev- 
enue District of New York, all ot 
Manhattan above 23rd street, actu- 
ally showed, a gain over the preced- 
ing month,''9ompletely reversing the 
national trend. The general admis- 
sions bite for the month was a fine 
$6,232,294, whlie nitery biz paid the 
Revenue Collection a very fancy 
$728,000 on the month's business. 



Plug Can. Goods 

IS Colktlnned from p«(e 9 



the.majora to groove as much film- 
making as possible to tiie Dominion. 
Additionally, MPAA is now plug- 
ging for major distribution of fea>- 
tures and shorts made in -Canada 
both by indie producers and the 
government 

Point of the -whole operation is 
to lend the powerful facilities of the 
majors to a goal of hypoing U. S. 
appreciation of Canadian goods and 
resort facilities. By so doing, it's 
felt that Canada's economic status 
would be given a considerable boost; 
That in turn, would take the pres- 
sure off the Canadian government 
'Which is pushing it into a corner 
where it'll have to regulate rev- 
enues coming to the majors from 
distribution of "yank films north of 
the border. 



] Expert Tags 

^ ' ' Continued from page 3 '' 

countries (a/ show the American 
way of life in a favorable light; (b) 
contain nothing disparaging to 
American foreign policy, and (c) aid 
the Marirtiall plan. 

I^licr last week the industry won 
from the Commerce- Dept. an ex- 
ception from the ruling that a li- 
cense must be obtained for every 
shipment « Blanket license was 
granted each company until July 1. 
Fihns are -the only industry so ex- 
cepted. Action followed the indus- 
try's argument that the amount of, 
footage in a shipment had no bear- 
ing on the dollar return to the U. S. 
According to Golden, aim of the 
licensing is to niheck: the flow of 
dollars back to this country. 



Sharon Gets Into Tax Act 

■I Sharon, Pa; 

City Council here is planning to 
enact an ordinance levying a $20 an- 
nual tax on each juke box, pinball 
,machine, bowling alley and pool 
table in the city. 




BEACH 



OCiAN FRONT 4 40lb f« 4M SM. 

I . Walter Jacob! 




Now Speciatizins) 
in Refreshment 
''Concessions for 
RiVE-IN THEATRESy 



^IFOttTSEimCfi, Inc. vMt>rts««r«. 
tST BtDG BUfFMO. N. 



Vedncadny^ March -3, 1948 



21 




22 



RADIO 



K&E s Fannout of Borden Muscat 
To Huimnert Aiif FeiAwres Ofke 
Aecffflts Agcys.' Propannfflg SUI 



Tipoff on the whole new trend of- 
advertising agencies de-emphasizing 
Its ence-eheijshed radio production 
rote a seen in the turn ol events 
involving Borden's Wednesday night 
show on CBS. It also caps a succes- 
sion of frustrations and disappoint- 
ments spanning the last few years 
in Borden's attempt to land a win- 
ner in the programming sweepstalces. 
It was {( period which saw Young * 
Rubicami after having the account 
for a decade, lose it to Kenyon & 
Eekhardt and nearly get it back a 
few months ago. . 

On the heels of last week's an- 
•nouneement that Borden's present 
Mark MVarnow show shift from a 
Coast orgination to New York, "with 
a complete change of talent," comes 
word that K&E is now "farming 
ouf^ production of the show. It's 
. believed to be the first time In re^ 
cent agency annals that a miaior 
agency with' its own production 
setup, whUe stiU retaining the bill- 
ings on an account, has turned over 
the job to an outside operation. 

Incidentally, in the last few weeks 
the agency has overhauled its radio 
setup, moving veepee Bill Lewis out 
.o£ UH! top radio spot to mastermind 
tiu^ jiewly-acquired liincoln-Mercury 
overall biz. I<e<HUu:d JBH^kson has 
moved in from BBTXbO as a radio 
veepee. 

Effective AprU 7, the Borden show 
will come out of the Frank X. Hum- 
ineEt-Air Features oSice. The pro- 
gram's, new talent will be recruited 
from the . ifiummert "stahl^' of 
pe9r«nnials now showcased on the 
outfit's other nighttime shows 
(^'American Melody Hour," "Ameri- 
can Album," etc.),. These include 
Thomas L. Thomas, Earl Wrightson 
and Mary Martha Briney, with ft 
mixed chorus conducted by Edward 



WitfnQW drops off the Borden se- 
tCimitinued on page 34) 



Kzzy Dean Plans To 
Join IKsk Jockey Radis 

Chicago, March 2. 

There's a good chance Dizzy Sean 
might join the disk jockey ranks. 
Lanlcy ex-pitcher is under contract 
to call ba.%hall for the Falstaff 
Brewing Corp., St. Louis.: : Firm 
pinned its label on the Browns last 
year, but doesn't plan to renew this 
season. Cards have been wrapped 
up by a rival suds maker< 

In kicking around ideas to show- 
case. Dean's flair for fractured Eng- 
lish, the best one to emerge so far 
is the deejay spin, with a spot for 
sports interviews and chatter. Half- 
hour session might consist of hiU- 
billy waxinga, although standard 
pops are favored as the most likely 
■far*!. ■ ■ 

F^lstaff, while still in the market 
for good sports buys, has been 
leaning toward high frequency, low 
cost disk shews. Firm now bank- 
rolls more, than 20 platter stints in 
South and Midwest markets. Dancer- 
Fitzgerald-Sample is the agency. 




ALIAS "SUE CARSON" 

PALMO FULLER 

P*lmo is the "Sue Carson'' Of 
KX^'a popular afternoon participate 
Ing stanaa, "BudKet Brigade." She 
■mixes recipes a.nd household hints 
with guests such as Lon McAllister, 
Donaicl Du«k and Donald Woods. 
She's also a veteran on ICLZ's Avrit- 
ing' stalE. __ 
KLZ, .DENVER. 



Sequel to^ 'QoeenV 
m Airinr. 5,568 
Ihhbcs Get Reluiib 

, Pittsburgh, %ffch 2. 
More than S,SOO Pittsburgh v/omm, 
who had their hearts set on being 
"Queen for a Day;" finally settled for 
a consolation prize after their ex- 
cursion into the kingdom of network 
rddio giveaway: A spokesman for 
the sponsors announced here last 
week that the show's, bankroUers and 
producer had paid back |10,8S6.30 to 
S,S68 disgrtmtled women of the 6,500 
who attended the "Queen" show 
here at the Hunt Armory on Jan. 27. 

When the local dames put up a 
big bowl, shouting "gyp" and sev- 
eral other epithets, even going so far 
as threatening to take the matter to 
the Better Business Bureau, Alka- 
Seltzer and I%ilip Morris cigar ets 
-and Bojr Morgan, owner of the show, 
took out big ads in all the local 
/dailies offering to refund the admis> 
fiion fees. So anxious were they to 
dear the air locally that they said 
ticket stubs weren't even necessary, 
and that women could get back the 
price tb^ paii^ merely by ikigning an 
Aflldavit that they attended. 

FuU rounds of $1.95 were given 
tq 4,178 women' who presented stubs 
and t« 1,300 affidavit-stgners. . Some 
got back the $1 which was charged 
for . stIAding room. 



There V Joy fliN.0. 
Agaki:H(K>psBack 

C. E. Hooper lias changed his mind 
about depriving New Orleans of City, 
Hooperatings because of WNOE's 
persistence in a telephone promo- 
tional campaign which. Hooper 
charges, "artifit^sdly infiater the. rat- 
ings." City Hoi^era win /continue 
to be published, but the offendir.K 
station will be left out in thr non- 
rating: cold. 

In the space where 'WNOE^s rat- 
ings would appear will be a line 
readiiig: ''WNOE ratings withheld 
due to presence on T/TO.OE of ,tele- 
iphone promotional campaign which 
artificially irtfiates the ratings." 

A revised interviewing technique 
has been developed which will 
eradicate any evidence of this in- 
flation. Hooper said. The resulting 
abridgment of the New_ Orleans City 
Report will serve as a model for 
future use in other markets where? 
any instances of inflation turn up. 

Hooper explained' that this "par- 
tial modification" of his decision to cut 
N.O. off the list was decided upon 
"in the light of both buyers' and 
sellers' dependence upon New Or- 
leans City Hooperatings for informa- 
tion on that market.". The monthly 
New Orleans Station Listening In 
dexes for the period Oct-Feb., pre- 
viously announced as recalled, are 
not affected by the new decision, it 
was announced. 

WNOE incurred Hooper's wrath by 
conducting a promotion in which 
listeners are asked to respond to 
their telephones with "WNOE," in- 
stead of "Hello." The station denies 
the campaign influences local ratiiig», 



lews 

On Tiicker Anto Agenda 

Tucker Autos, via the Durstine 
agency,. is mulling entry into net- 
work sponsorship-^the new car out- 
fit's, ftrtt, radio advertising— via a 
lO-miaute Weeidy hews stint by 
John B. Kennedy on ABC. Deal is 
expected to be set within a few days. 

Stannt would give Kennedy two 
bankndlers, RCA having signed last 
week to sponsor him in a 6:30 p.m< 
new* atrip on « limited hookup. 
Starting in raid-March. 



CBS' N«w Phone Format 

Attar March 8 CBS will have a 
new telephone number in New 
York. It's PlKM S-2000. 

Old Wickersham 2 exchange Is 
being replaced by the M. Y. Tele- 
phone Co^, with a number of big 
Jitlblic IiifUttitlonf undergoing the 
ii«uftl jnuiiance of number-changing. 



TIRST NK^' (aVEN 
LAST MINUTE RENEWAL 

Just as CBS was getting ready to 
wipe it off the 'books, Campana last 
week Came through with « 13-week 
renewal for its Thursday night 
"First Nighter" show. 

In the past, Campana has stuck to 
a 26-week budget, cued to the prod- 
uct's plugging during the cold 
weather. However, this year it's de- 
cided to go around for another 13. 
New cycle starts April S. 



IkDe^SiKiA 
i^'t Skeered (Hf 
(jvfl^ls Issue 

'Was Mutual seeing a spectre 'Hiat 
didn't exist, when it yanked a 
dramatic presentation of the Presi- 
dent's Committee on Civil nights 
Report in favor of a word-for-word 
reading? 

Tliat seemed a distinct possibility 
this, week For if , a spot cheek 
made by VARncni' following last 
Tuesday's (24) premiere of the four" 
part series is indicative, southern 
stations aren't as scared of the civil 
rights political hot potato as Mutual 
apparently believed. 

Of 12 MBS affiliates queried in 
major cities below the Mason-Dixon 
line, seven reported that they car- 
ried the initial program and will- air 
the next three; one (WNOE, New 
Orleans) did not ' carry tile initialer ' 
because of a gubernatorial, primary, 
but had the next... three programs 
scheduled, and one station (WAB&, 
Mobile) pointed out that it won't be 
on the air until ApriL 

WATL, Atlanta, called the stanza 
"superb public service feature." 
WHBQ,,.Memphis, "considered it an 
outstanding broadcast" 

Other stations reporting they were 
carrying the series were WLOS, 
Asheville; WGRC, Louisville (on a 
playback basis at 10" p. m. be cause of 
local commitments); WlfNB, Bir<- 
m ingha m; Wt^E, Richmond, and 
KTHT, Houston. 

(No replies were received from 
WRBC, Jackson, Miss.; WNOK, Co- 
lumbia, S. C, and KWFC, Hot 
Springs, Ark.) 

'While Mutual officially denies that 
poUticsl Or , *outbem pressures or 
fear of southern stations' reaction 
motivated its last-minute decision to 
switch ' formats (claiming instead 
that it decided the dramatic treat- 
ment overplayed eectaui elMnents of 
the report and omitted others), fact 
remains the web was far from sure 
the series, wotdd get much airing in 
Dixie. And a flood At proteists from 
the south was far from unantici- 
patedL 

Yet it now appears that many 
(Continued on page 33) 



VeJngeJay, March 3, X948 



fa ttgual Dntdh . 

Detroit, March S 

Booth Radio Station, Inc., operator of M9Jh& in Detroit was 
in Dutch Monday (1), in perbaps 17 diSercat litufuages^ including the 
Egyptian, . . , ■ ■ 

It aU came about in Federal Court Friday (37> because the corpora- 
tion had announced it would fluff all foreign language programs oil 
the air aa of March 1. . 

Attorney Edward N. Barnard sought and obtained from Federal 
Judge F. E. Lederle a temporary restraining order stalling the ciiange.. 
over for 10 days. ? - 

Foreign groups have sought to obtain support of newspapers in the 
drive to stay on the air, but the editors have unanimously nixed -the 
idea of mixing in the scrap. 

E. H. Clark, Booth veepee, refused to divulge What action was 
planned at this moment. 



Soap (^poas Take Beatfflg in St L 
GeradI Pol; & E yies Ky Shows 



Ci K Hooper doubled the veepee 
count in his rating organization last 
week as a preliminary to. activating 
his expanded operations covering 
television^FM and U.S. Hooperatings 
(projectables). H. Douglas Hadden, 
who has been with the agency since 
September, was named v.p. and gen- 
eral manager, to head up admin- 
istrative functions of the entire set- 
up. Albert M. 'Wharfleld was upped 
from manager to v.p. over Program 
Etooperatings. 

Fred Kenkel continues as execu- 
tive veepee and Ward 'DorreU as 
veepee over station relations and 
City HOopcratingt. 



M&M Candy Buys Phone 
Show ui Five Markets 

M li M Candy, heretofore H spot 
advertiser, is going in for program 
sponsorship, having bought indie 
producer Harry S. Goodman's "Tele- 
phone Numbers Game" show for 
airing on stations in five of the 
country's major markets. 

Show, a prewar item recently re- 
vived following lifting of wartime 
restrictions on phone uses, will tee 
off next Monday (8) in Philadel- 
phia, and within a month in Chi- 
cago, Boston, Detroit and Pittsburgh. 
Sponsor Is expected "to odd other 
outlets if the test Is satisfactory. 
Agency is Compton. 



LsnAfy hto New 
&ee Post 



Robert J. Landry, for the past five 
years Director of the CBS Division 
of Program Writing in New York 
and supervisor of the network's full 
iKmr dramatic series, '"Studio On^,^ 
since its inc^tion 4S weeks ago^ 
has been appointed to a position : 
new to CBS^^Secretary of the Pro- 
gram Board. The Board Itself is less; 
than two years old and indudeit 
board chairman William S. Paley, 
president Frank Stanton, vice presi- 
dents Howard Meighan, 'Victor Rat- 
ner, William Gittinger, Joseph Ream, 
James M. Seward, Davidson Taylor 
and Hnbbell Robinson and, in addi- 
tion to lAndry, 'William Fineshriber, 
Robert Mann, Oscar Katz aind Guy ' 
della Gioppa. 

Landry's new duties will be re- 
lated to radio, television and off-air 
CBS expansion plans. It's expected 
that CBS may produiic a series of 
educational films dealing with mod- 
ern communications problems and 
this is scheduled to come under 
Landry's supervision, 

Annaunccment of the new post 
and unit was made by prexy Stantmi 
yesterday (Tues.) but iVe understood 
the mw activities will be organized 
to report administratively to Howard- 
Meighan. 

Rumors concerning Landry's new 
connection have been rife for sev- 
eral weeks. The final decision was 
apparently sewed up following the 
return last week ot Paley from a 
Florida vacation. Landry will, as- 
sume his new duties almost im- 
mediately but it will take some 
weeks to assemble space and staff. 



Labor Costs Alisorb 
60 Cents Out of $1 For 
Small Stations: Doherty 

New Orleans, March 2. 
The toughest problem facing 
broadcasters next to programming 
is that of labor relations, according 
to Richard P. Doherty, NAB direc- 
tor of employee-employer relations. 
Speaking before the Louisiana State 
Broadcaster's Assn., Doherty said 
that labor costs absorb approxi- 
mately 60c. out of every $1 of total 
operating expenditure iot a typical 
small station. 

Pointing out that .steadily rising 
labor costs have raised the break- 
even point for practically every sta-^ 
tion, he said the answer eouldl be 
found through "greater flexibility of 
operations" and more efficieint util- 
ization of the existing manpower, 
Inflexibility due to featherbeding, 
he charged, reduces the average 
! level of Individual wages which the 
'station e«n pay. 



Airikenium te Bms "Studl* One" 

With tfie switchover -of ' Robert J. 
Landry to new exec status at CBS, 
the supervision of the CBS 60-min- 
ute "Studio One" show will pass to 
Harry Ackerman, who joined the 
network recently as exec producer. 
Fletcher Marlde will Continue as 
director, with Ackerman as his new 
..bossi' • ■ 

Every indication is that "Studio 
One'^ will, go on indeflniti^. Show 
has a Jlodper rating current^ of ».6, 
tops for the CBS sustainer list 

Postom's Spot Test 

Instant Postum (General Foods) i.« 
putting on through Foote, Cone & 
Belding an experiment with nilnutc 
announcements incorporatinif souiid 
effects. The four markets picked for 
the test are .Charlotte, Cincinnati, 
St. Louis and Rochester. 

After studying preliminary result? 
of the copy and sound effects, the 
weakest and strongest markets will 
have the blurbs switched. 



, St Louis, March 2. 

Radio soap epaxa serials are in 
decided distSut* in St Louis, while 
public interest programs are in de- 
mand, according to a poll conducted 
by the Radio Council of St. Louis. 
Disclosing the result of the poll, 
Robert A. WilUer, member of the 
Council, annauneed last week that 
61 ou^ ot 100 natives answering a 
radio preference questionnaue indi- 
cated th^ wanted fewer soap 
operas. 

However the soap opera result did 
not coincide with the opinion of 
Robert A. Hudson, director of edu- 
cation for CBS, who attended the 
meeting-an«l who declared "the thing 
that is wrong- witii radio is the lis- 
ieiuxB, People say they don't like 
soap operas, but they listen to them." 
Hudson also asserted that soap 
operas are a source of revenue and 
there is a difference between what 
people say they want to hear en 
their radio and what they like to 
listen to. 

Dwigfat B. Herrick, operations 
manager.^f the public a^Tairs dept 
for NBC said that listeners' disap. 
proval of "heavy" programs was il- 
lustrated when network serials were 
cancelled to carry UN broadca.sts. 
He said that 13 letters approved 
tiisse programs and 4,000 complained 
Of 'tlie serial cancellations^ 

M% 'Wmmt Fewer WhedaaUs 

A bceahdown of, the poU. survey 
showed that in addition to the dis- 
approval «f soap operas, iS% want 
less mystery stories; 21% want less 
(Continued on page 34) 

U Murrow Shtei For 
DiiPoit Awsff^ Slnrer 



Rash of gabber awards is in the 
making. William L. Shirer got the 
1948 One World Award last week. 
Edward R. Murrow, it's been 
learned, has been tabbed for the 
commentator citation at the duPont 
Awards dinner in New York next 
Mbnday (8). THut Overseas Press 
Club will band out its annual 
awards fer fbreign reportage on ' 
March 18 and it is reported that 
Marrow will be one of the recipients. 

Shirer, who got a Peabody plaque 
last year at about the time he was 
being fiaded off CBS (he's now on 
Mutual), got the Ona World nod be- 
cause, the award committee said, he 
"fought against the menace of world 
destruction' both thceugb his broad- 
casU and his boek, '^Berlin Diary," 
which helped to waken America to 
the danger of Naziism. He-has, since 
the end of World War. IX, worked 
untiringly on behalf of one world 
of peace .as an authdir, broadcaster 
and journalist." 

Ifs the second year in a row that 
a Mutual gabber has copped the One 
World honor,' last year's recipient 
being the late P. R. LaGuardia. Ini- 
tial winner - was Norman Corwin. 
Award wiU be presented to Shirer 
(Continued «n page 32) 

Safihier Tttes Up R»k 
Stars for Brit. Airing 

, Hollywoitfl, March 2. 
Deal has becE« <.iased by James 
Saphier with the J. Arthur Rank 
organization whereby the stars and 
properties of the British producing 
company would be made available 
for a radio series. Programs, to be 
patterned after Lux Radio Theatre, 
would be recorded in Luxemburg 
and beamed across the channel into 
Britain, 

After sponsorship has been 
arranged, Eddie Pola will be dls- 
patch(>d to Xotidon to direct the 
series. 



Wednesday, Mareli 8, 1948 



RADIO 



23 



GOLENPAUL SUES MBS FOR 500G 



The Bess Is Yet To Come 

Washington, Mareh 2. 

An all-out battle to stymie efforts of Herman Bess' General Broad- 
casting Corp. to win FCC approval for purchase of the prize plum, 
WOV, New York Clty, without going through the AVCO procedure of 
accepting competing bids for the station is in prospect here. 

Commission has been ncrtifled that a competing application for the 
Manhattan indie. will be filed within the next few weeks by a group 
composed of WOV employees and outside business interests, who 
argiie they can match the Bess bid in all respects. / 

General Broadcasting Corp. has made a strong pitch to bypass th4^^ 
AVCO procedure on the ground that FCC did just that in okaying the 
sale of the WKBW, Buffalo, N. Y., to the Churchill Tabernacle of 
Buffalo. There the commission pointed out that the sale resolved liti- 
gation and' a long-standing "family squabble" between the Tabernacle, 
former owner of the station, and the pre.sent licensee. General's deal 
to buy WOV involves $200,000 cash plus . relinquishment to Arde 
Bulova.of the 10% block of stock held, by iJick O'Dea in Bulova-owned 
WNEW, New York city. 

Sale would also call for dismissal of O'Dea's $500,000 lawsuit against 
Biilova and give O'Dea a third interest in WOV and a $15,000 annual 
salary for 20 years. Therefore, General is asking for special treatment 
like that accorded the Buffalo sale. 

Now company of WOV execs, however, will point to FCC's refusal 
to okay a sale in Evansville, Ind, (which involved a stock trade and no 
cash) without considering competing cash offers. 
' Observers here point out that if the fteid.is opened competition 
may be keen lor WOV which is reported to have about $100,000* in 
liquid' assets which will accrue to the buyer. 



$3M00O Westiiighouse Spot Bk 
Plum Reported Free & Peters-BoumI 



Scramble among a host of station* 
rep organizations and several out- 
siders tot the handling of the West- 
inghouse stations' $3^000,000 of na- 
tional spot business was said y ester-, 
day (Taes.) to have come to an end 
•with the plum soing to Free & 
Peters. The decision represents the 
biggest setback suffered by NBC's 
,Spot Sales since its existence. It 
was understood that the Westing- 
house station management had also 
leaned strongly to the idea of setting 
up its own offices, FSeP has been 
representing KEX, Portland, of the 
Westinghbiue gtov^, 

KBC has had .the group's spot 
business ior the past 10 years and 
Westinghouse's quest for a successor 
was heightened by a rep "popularity 
poll" conducted via questionnaires 
sent 60 time buyers. Efforts to get 
in touch with J. B. (Steve) Conley 
general manageif, of the six West- 
tnghouse outletsv • were unavailing 
yesterday <Tuesday) as he was clos- 
eted with his managers in a meeting 
at Hei^shey, Pa. In last week's ac- 
count of the Westinghouse rep- 
search Ed Boroff was mistakenly 
referred to as "former" ABC v.p. in 
charge .of midwest operations. Bor- 
off is still Chi operational kingpin. 

Coke s Downey 
Heads NBC Way 

Looks like Coca-Cola will give the 
nod (and $700,000 billings) to NBC 
in its switchover of the Morton 
Downey' show from Mutual. 

CBS. which now has the coke 
company's two half-hour musicals 
(Percy Faitli and Spike -Jones) , has 
been in there pitching for the added 
biz. offering the same 11:15-11:30 
p.m. niche as NBC. But Coca-Cola 
reportedly; prefers sending Downey 
over the NBC network, ! 

Singer is heard three nights week- 
ly. Under his present Mutual deal, 
he's done about six weeks of pro- 
grams via transcription, but if he 
goes NBC it'll be strictly a live show, 
in keeping with NBC's transcribed 
taboo. 

Coke company plans the switch- 
over ioy late spring. Tab for the 
show is picked up by the coke 
dealers. 



Sure Hallmark 

, Overheard in an East 52d 
street (N, Y.) restaurant: 

"All of radio is diyided in 
two parts — geniuses and non- 
geniuses." 

"How can you recognize a 
radio genius?" 

"He acts like a genius." 



Mutual Salvages 
lOOGofZemths 
$12S0,l)00Spread 

The Zenith-Mutual Network im- 
passe over sponsorship of the wetb's 
"iNewsreel'' show, which saw $1,250,- 
000 go out the MBS window, re- 
solved itself over the weekend into 
a way for the net to salvage at least 
$100,000 of the elusive account. 

A total of 122 stations had been 
lined up for the Zenith sponsorship 
on the basis of a written contract 
turned over to the network by the 
MacFarland, Aveyard agency, which 
handles the Zenith biz. Subsequent- 
ly, Zenith served notice that the 
agency had not been given authori- 
zation to commit the client to the 
show. 

Mutual lawyers, who say the net- 
work has a clear case in its favor, 
have figured out the dilemma this 
way: Web i.-s proceeding with the 
show's sponsor.ship (it's been on 
sustaining for the initial few 
weeks), with a notice of cancella- 
tion going out to the 122 stations. 
However, since such cancellations 
require four-weeks' ■. notice, Zenith 
Will be obliged: to pick up the $100,- 
000 sponsorship tab for that period 
of time. Original order was for 13 
week.s. Meanwhile, the net will cut 
costs on the show ^Vherever possible 
to take it oft the hook. 

Exact rea.son for Zenith decision 
lias Hot been made clear, even to 
Mutual, except that the client exv 
pressed a de-sire to "wait and see"' 
bow. the show ; finally- crystallized 
before investing its coin. 




Dan Golenpaul, owner of "Infor- 
mation, Please" package, this week 
slapped a $500,000 suit on Mutual 
Network, He claims that's the amount 
of damage: -susjained by ''Info", be- 
cause of the manner in which the 
co-op program has been handled by 
the web. 

Golenpaul says he'll carry through 
with Mutual until present sponsor- 
ship contracts expire in June, when 
he'll "scram, but fast, off the net- 
work." 

Golenpaul, whose "Info" !has been 
slotted in the &: 30-10 Friday night 
MBS slot since last September, 
charges that a substantial number 
of stations were carrying the show 
for commercial sponsors for which 
no accounting was made; He claims 
sponsors were accepted by Mutual 
without the producers' approval, as 
specified in the -original terms with 
Mutual; that a number of stations 
were carrying the show on a delayed 
basis without his authorization. 

Thi! suit, served on Mutual Mon- 
day (1), further alleges the follow- 
ing violations of the original pro- 
visions: 

That stations didn't carry the pro- 
gram at all and still others only 
sporadically and at irregular times* 
making it impossible for listeners to 
hear "Info" consistently; 

That Mutual permitted stations 
and networks outside its system to 
carry "Info" both commercial and 
sustaining without his knowledge 
and consent; 

That the continuity of the pro- 
gram was interrupted and abridged 
to accommodate spot announce- 
ments; 

That Mutual permitted FM sta- 
tions to carry ttie show in direct 
violation of the agreement; 

That opportunities for sponsorship' 
on full regional networks were lost 
by Mutual's permission to individual 
stations of the regional webs to 
make sales. 

Golenpaul says he had taken up 
the matter with Ed Kobak, web 
prexy; that the latter had expressed 
complete surprise and had promised 
an investigation and institution of 
corrective measures. Golenpaul says 
that after an interval of many weeks 
nothing happened, that the viola- 
tions still existed, and it left him 
(Continued on page 32), 



Hhrver Dealers' 
W Deal Bis 



Montgomery as Gabber 

Chicago, March 2. 

John W. Shaw ad agency here is 
peddling a quarter-hour weekly air 
show featuring film actor Robert 
Montgomery in the role of a news 
commentator. 

Understood that the Texas Co. 
gave the stanza a double-o but nixod 
it on the basis of an audition hear- 



Oh, Mammy! 

Hollywood, March 2. 
It'x been a long time between fluffs 
— so maybe it was overdue. Any- 
way, an NBC control-board opera- 
tor' in Hollywood last Thursday 
night (20) threw the mike switch on 
Ai Jol.>iOM'S show just . as the star 
wound up his warmnp with: "If you 
aren't gonna l.nigh. get the hell outa 
here.' 

Webbers vov>i'd nobody was flred 
or [locked over the incident, and 
privately prayed it'd be quickly for- 
gotten — vemenibcring uncomfort- 
ablv sonfe reverberations of past 
fluffs. 



'Oieht Jockey Time' as Shows Fde; 
GF, (mfM Drop Brice, Xorfiss'; 
Tmu 'Crime' M Cues DeSoto Beef 



Ail<^!» Spoof Tribute 

The late Mark Hellinger made 
a date some months back with 
Fred Allen to appear on. his NBC ' 
show this Sunday riight (7) to 
tie in with hi.s projected visit 
east in connection with the 
"Naked City" premiere in N. Y. 

That's why Alleti is 'turning 
over this week's show to a sort 
of memorial to Hellinger, vend- 
ing up with a satirization oX the 
"Naked City" pic. Allen's go- 
ing to spoof it. for he figures 
that's the _yfway Hellinger would 
have wanted it. 



Mutual's having a run of sponsor 
sinafii.s tlie.s'e days. In the wake of 
the Zenith deal which maybe isn't a 
deal to bankroll the web's "News- 
reel," it's now learned that the Ford 
Dealers aren't picking up "KFD 
America" after all. And Foi^ Mo- 
tors is paying off the talent costs 
of the fluff — a $40,000 piece of 
change — and getting nary a com- 
mercial for it. 

It's a case of the flivver dealers, 
almost simultaneously given their 
choice of either Fred Allen or the 
farm quiz show, plunking their dol- 
lars on the NBC comic in such num- 
bers that only a handful was left 
who were interested in putting coin 
into "RFD." 

When so few dealers got on the 
line — despite Mutujil's advance 
buildup of the Lou Cowan-packaged 
-stanza, picking off favorable trade 
notices and far better than average 
publicity— the web agreed to let the 
dealers out of the commitment. Ford 
in return eoascnting to pay 13 weeks" 
talent costs (at $3,200 a week) to 
take liutual off the hut with Cowan. 

Thus, i'ord is footing the bill, ex- 
cept for time, until April 1, without 
getting so much as a plug on "the 
show. Agency involved in the fol- 
deroo is J. Walter Thompson, which 
also has the Fred Allen show for 
the Ford dealers. . 

Mutual isn't giving up hope of 
nailing a sponsor. Stanza, piped out 
of Chic,ago With Joe ("Quiz Kids") 
Kelly quizzing farmer contestants, 
vjill continue to ride the web's 9:30 
Thursday slot until at least mid-May. 



Truth' Vs. 'People 
Stunt A Trespass'; 
HadNBConSpot 

NBC got out of the middle of a 
Ralph Edwards vs.. Art Ijinkletter 
situation, last week. The trouble 
arose when Linkletter announced he 
was injecting a contest idea into his 
Friday night show on behalf of the 
CARE organization. Edwards thought 
the Linkletter letter-writing-with-a- 
charitable-payoff idea hewed so 
close to his own showmanship stunts 
as to amount -to trespassing. After 
some huddling, NBC reportedly ar- 
ranged some format reshuStling and 
everyone appears now to be happy. 

Linkletter preems his stunt this 
Friday (5), when he'll invite letters 
— with cash contributions, to be con- 
verted, into CARE food packages— 
of encouragement for the destitute 
and hungry in Europe. Writers' of 
the best letters will be invited to 
participate on the show for the 
grand payoff contest. 

Giveaway will be what amounts 
to a permanent lease on life — a new 
home, a garage and automobile, and 
cash to buy a lot. 

NBC has assured Edwards that' 
no other network program will be 
permitted to use his method of mak- 
ing phone calls around the country. 
Permission given John Guedel and 
Art Linkletter for the phone call 
device on the giant giveaway will 
be the last. Execs contend that Ed- 
wards is entitled to protection on 
the phone call contest adjunct he 
popularized. 



Option-time at the season's half- 
way mark has shaken commercial 
radio out of its six-months' period 
of lethargy. Result is that estab- 
lished nighttime .shows are falling 
by the wayside, precipatating a free- , 
for-all among sponsors jockeying for ' 
better time segments. 

Highlighting major programming 
developments over the past few 
days:. , . 

1. Campbell Soup is dropping the 
CBS Sunday night at 9 "Corliss 
Archer" show March 28 after spon- 
soring the family comedy for over 
a year. Client is currently sponsor^- 
ing 10 quarter hours (Club 15, Wal- 
ter O'Koe/o) on CBS and abandon- 
ment of "Corliss" is said to be for 
reasons of budget. CampbeU's de- 
cision leaves CBS with the .full 
9 to 10 Sunday night hour open, 
Texaco having checked out of the 
9:30 segment. "We the People," not 
too enthusiastic over its Tuesday 
night "Amos 'n' Andy" competition, 
has put in a bid for the time, but 
CBS frankly admits it's shooting for 
bigger things for the Sabba^th -seg^ 
ments. 

2. General Foods is cancelling out 
the Fannie Brice show, with May 28 
set for the windup of the 11-year 
GP-Baby Snooks tieup. While the 
client advances as the reason for 
the action the reallocation .of adver- 
tising funds, it's be.lieved'""'lhat the- - 
comedienne's health was a factor 
in the cancellation order. , Move 
came as a stunning blow to 'tJBS, 
with the Brice show currently grab- 
bing off the top Hooperating in the 
web's Friday night comedy sweep- ; 
stakes. GF is retaining the time, 

Brice cancellation is construed in 
some advertising quarters as just 
the forerunner of a general realign- 
(Continued on page 32) . 



Nielsen Back in Gotham 
With WCBS' 40G Buy 

A. C. Nielsen has a New York 
client again. Chicago research out- 
flt, which lost its one and only 
Gotham station subscriber last Octo- 
ber when WOR cancelled, last week 
pacted WCBS. 

It's reportedly about $40,000 la 
year in Nielsen's pocket. For this 
heavy outlay the Columbia iiagship 
will get indexes on round-the-clock 
listening to all N. Y. stations. 

Nielsen has made formidable bids 
to sign other major N, Y. outlets, 
but the expensive tab has . scared 
them off. Nielsen has also signed up 
Don Lee and Columbia Pacific Net- 
work on the Coast. 



Hme Factor In 
Cantor-ToDies 



Eddie Cantor's dissatififaction with 
his current NBC time slot (Thurs- 
days, 10:30 p.m.) is giving impetus 
to CBS' plan to wrap up the come- 
dian and his sponsor, Pabst, for its 
projected 60 - minute "Ziegfeld Fol- 
lies" program. 

The comedian has already put 
himself on record with the network 
and the Pabst agency, Warwick • t 
Legler, over what he considers a 
poor time segment, and has threat-, 
ened to "look elsewhere" for a more 
favorable period. Factor, too, is 
Pabst's concern over its inability to 
reach several markets, because cer- 
tain NBC stations refuse to carry ■ 
beer show. 

Pabst, which also owns Hoffman 
Beverage as a subsid operatioui has 
expressed a desire to expand to a 
full hour, for a two-way plugging. 
That would tie in with CBS hopes 
for a 60-minute "Follies" showcas* 
ing of Cantor. 



700G Tab for N-K News 

Nash-Kelvinator deal for a five- 
minute evening news strip on ABC 
—which, incidentally, will be the 
web's first nighttime oross-the-board 
commercial stanza under single 
•sponsorship — is a $710,000 time bill- 
ing. BankroUer will pay 20% o£ the 
hour rate for an initial hookup of 
100 stations, it's believed probable 
N-K Will later expand the deal to 
cover the full net. 

Show, which will be carved out 
of ABC's 15-minute ''Headline Edi- 
tion" at 7 p.m., tees off April- 26. 
Agency is Geyer, Cornell & Newell. 



GFS 500G DIP IN 

WEATHER SPOTS 

General Electric'S appliance divi^* - 
sion has under consideration a cam- 
paign involving the broadcasting of 
weather forecasts daily in every 
town of over 100,000 population. The 
outlay for such a spot splurge would 
run well over $500,000 on a basis 
of 52 weeks, as recommeded by 
Young & Rubicam, agency on thiis 
account. Suggested starting date Is 
April, 5. / 

Latest census shows there arft 109 
markets with belter than 100,088 
population. The forecast idea had 
been tested in a couple spots 
the thing turned out so well that th« 
country-wide proposition was drawa 
Up by the agency. If the proposal 
goes through it will make the largest 
appropriation dished out to the spot 
end of the businc^ in some time. 



24 



RADIO 



W<!4lnesday, March 3, 1948 



Amfience Research Shows It Doesn't 
Take a Rating To En joy a Program 



The most popular programs, rat--f 
ing-wise, are not necessarily the ' 
ones most enjoyed, judging by a 
survey Of listener preferences being 
conducted by Audience Research, 
In<;. The same organization recently 
announced preliminary results of an- 
other sUrvey, one showing the "en- 
thusiasm quotient" of radio person- 
alities, based on number of times 
heard and desire to. hear. 

Aceording to Sam Nonhcross, ARI- 
radio head, the first three polls in 
the survey of ".most enjoyed" pro- 
grams indicate there are probably 
numerous "sleepers" 'on the air 
■which might become top-raters if 
givien choice time' and network spot- 
ting; He points out that more than 
two-thirds of the programs men- 
tioned in the polls were not ones 
ordinarily considered among the 
top shows. 

An average of 190 different pro- 
grams were mentioned as "most enr 
joyeefin each .survey. The questions 
used to develop the "most enjoyed" 
list have-so far restricted listeners to 
a choice of only one program. A 
fourth study currently under way 
permits listeners three choices dur- 
ing the preceding week, which will 
make possible specific "enjoyed" 
pe-centages, arrived at by weighting 
program mentions for first, second 
and third' choices. . ' 

, In the three polls taken so far 
(weeks ending Jan.' 24, Feb. 7 and 
JFeb. 14), "Lux Radio Theatre," with 
top position every time, is the only 
program with a substantially larger 
vote than the rest. The others are 
very closettiand the last 10 are virtu- 
al'y tied in 'all three measurements, 
No Conclusions Yet 
The three polls' have been nation- 
wide and have involved' about 1,000 
personal interviews each, in all city 
si^es and income levels: Northcross 
believes theSe ''most enjoyed" sur. 
veys may help uncover promising 
talent and indicate the Itind of -pro- 
gram format and treatment listeners 
(Continued on page 34) 



Cleveland B'casters 
Seek Ruling on Right 
To Air Court Hiearing 

Cleveland, March 2, 
' An understanding of radio's rights 
in courtroom reporting may be 
reached this week in a meeting of 
Common-^ Pleas judges and radio 
news directors headed by Ed' Wal- 
lace, -WTAMj who also is executive 
secretary of the National Assn. of 
Radio News Directors. 



'Joan's' Cuffo Trailer 

■When CBS announced it was 
delving into the Joan of Arc 
story for its Sunday after- 
noon "CBS Is There" show, RKO 
really hopped on it, grabbing off 
what amounts to a free coast- 
to-coast trailer for its upcoming 
Ingrid Bergman"Joan" picture. 

Knowing that his ex-CBS col- 
leagues would give it all the 
high standard quality production 
trimmings, Paul HoUister, ex- 
CBS promotion director,, and 
now RKO publicity chief, ef- 
fected a quick publicity liein 
with the airer. 

RKO flacked up the CBS show 
for all it's worth. . 



Pearson & Allen's 
950GWBALPlan 
KFCCQvesNod 



. Washington, March 2. ; 

Drew Pearson and Robert S. jMlen 
now plan a $950,000 capitalization 
to carry a 50,000 watt clear channel 
station in Baltimore, if they can 
convince the FCC- to give them the 
channel of Wiltiam.- Randolph 
Hearst's WBAL, 

They gave testimony regarding 
the expanded capitalizatioh, up from 
$500,000, last Friday (27) as they 
defended their financial qualifica- 
tions to carry the nut of - such a sta- 
tion, against the challenges . of 
Hearst. 

Pearson testified that his broad- 
casting contract with Lee Hats was 
n 0 n - cancellable .for three years 
and that he was also well fixed 
through his newspaper columning; 
He said his net radio income was 
Van excess'- of $100,000 annually and 
that his newspaper take was "in ex- 
cess" of $75,000. 

Pearson, and' Allen each explained 
that ' they were ' increasing their 
personal subscriptions of stock in 
their proposed station to $163,000 
each. Allen said they had figures 
on the cost of suitabla studios at 
only $4,000 a month, , 
William Dempsey, Hearst attorney, 
challenged the figures and also the 
propriety of Pearson and Allen in- 
troducing such, testimony at this 



Mpls/ Negro Disk Jockey 

Minneapolis. March 2. 

First Negro disk jockey in this 
section of the country will begin a 
sponsored show March 8 over 
WLOL for one hour at 10:30 p.m. 
Mondays. 

He is Vant Washington, former re- 
porter for Twin City Observer. 
Washington -will tie up program 
with title references, one set of 
tunes, for instance, referring to 
weather, others to various subjects, 

'Ford Theatre' 
On NBC B More 

"Ford Theatre" stays put in its 
Sunday 5-6 pim. period, with the 
client and agency, Kenyon & Eck- 
hardt, rejecting the ABC network's 
proffer of the Thursday night 8-9 
segment. The renewal is for another 
13-week matinee whirl. 

Actually, Ford, in retaining th^ 
same time, still hopes that by the 
fall NBC will come up with a night- 
time period'.: Network hope.s to 
clear Friday night 8 to 9 in October 
in its desire to retain the stanza to 
counter the rival ;webs' hour-long 
dramatic shows— CBS' "Lux Radio 
Theatre" arid ABC's "Theatre Guild 
of the Air." , ' 

Renewal will take "Ford Theatre" 
into June, when it vwill probably 
pull out for the summer. 



It's 'Waltz Me Around Again, f dlie' 
As Dun, Sawlek, White Bally Radio 



Triple-Threat Otto 

Cincinnati, March 2, 
WCPO's news editor Bob Otto 
saw a. holdup, had the bandit 
arrested, telephoned police to 
■ send' a cruiser to the scene, and 
flashed the story to his station 
for a bulletin beat Tuesday (24) 
night, all . within several minutes. 

Stopping in a downtown drug- 
store for a package of gum, Otto 
saw the nian ahead of hiTn show 
the girl cashier a note while us- 
ing a newspaper to try to conceal 
an automatic pistol. Otto re- 
treated to the outside and told a- 
traffic officer he remembered 
seeing there when entering the 
store of the holdup. With his 
gUn drawn, the cop nabbed the 
rubber when reaching Ihe side- 
walk. Then Otto called police 
headquarters and WCPO. 



Ford's Crop For the Season 

Kenyon & Eckhardt, agency for 
"Ford Theatre," this week unreeled 
its list of dramas to round out its 
(Coritinued on page 32) 

PETKILLO, WEBTtO 
RESUME TALKS MAR. 8 

The Petrillo-network lull ends 
next Monday (8). On that day, in 
James C. Petrillo's N. "Y. American 
Federation of Musicians office, at 
2:30, the. tug-o'-war to arrive at 
terms for new web contracts will be 
resumed. On whaftaclt the talk will 
take off is anybody's guess at the 
ihbment, since there's been no com- 
munication between the nets and the 
union boss since a 60-day truce was 
called a month ago. But the feeling 
is around that the preliminary 
sparring is over and that the boys 
will make a deal before the March 
31 contract extension . deadline 
arrives. 

The word sifting, through to Web- 
bers who've been sitting in on the 
huddles is that Petrillo is now anx- 
ious to get the whole affair settled as 
soon as possible. 
Web reps have slated a meeting 



Stations sought right to place j was presumably closed. FCC Com- 
microphones and wire recorders in missioner Rosel Hyde, sitting on the 
j-.i.! ii-- TT ij jasg^ accepted the testimony but 



(for Friday (5) to evolve their 
time after that phase of the case strategy for the final round 



court for testimony in the Harold 
Beach murder trial, but Common 
Pleas Judge Samuel Silbert ruled 
them out after consulting Attorney 
Joseph Hostetler, prexy of the 
Cleveland Bar Assn. Newspapers, 
however, had~fuilr complement of 
photographers and reporters. 

Papers headlined judge's action: 
"Circus Air Banned by Court." 

Radiomen had been attempting to 
get court policy established, on 
micrpphones for past several months, 
but succeeded .only in getting a run 
around. 

How to clear the situation and 
why the Cleveland Bar A.ssn. should 
judge radio's right.? will be discussed 
in this week's meeting. 



there was no final decision on 
whether it would go into the record 
of the case. 



Writers To Package 
Their Own Whodunits 

Mystery Writers of Apieriea has 
optioned a radio show to be based 
on whodunit novels by the members, 
and titled "Mystery Award Theatre." 
A Hollywood package outfit, C. & F. 
Productions, is handling it under a 
five-year agreement. 

The series would pay MWA a 
regular royalty, with a fee to the 
author whose story is used or the 
fcripters of originals. 



Petrillo meantime has finally se- 
lected a pressagent,- Hal Leyshon & 
Associates, a N. Y. public relations 
outfit; to pit against the All Industry 
Music Committee's recently acquired 
p.r., Verne Burnett. 



Sedgwick Says 
Can. Radio Must 
Clip CBC Powers 

Toronto, March 2. 
The power of the Canadian Broad- 
casting Corp.', this counti'y's nation- 
alized Federal radio setup, must be 
clipped and a new regulating body 
be appointed, according to Joseph 
Sedgwick, - legal counsel for the 
Canadian Assn. of Br^oadcasters, 
which embraces Canada's 103 inde- 
pendently-owned stations. : 

Addressing the Toronto Advertis 
ing Club, he recommended that "the 
extremely wide powers of the CBG" 
be divorced from regulation of price 
mentions, advertising content, use 
of records and transcriptions, news 
broadcasts, and beer and wine, ad- 
vertising; and urged advertising 
agency men to lend their efforts to 
the setting up of some impartial 
judicial body to enforce such regula> 
tions as should be applicable to pri- 
vately-owned stations, 

Sedgwick claimed that the CBC 
has "power to supervise and con 
trol everything that goes out over 
any Canadian station, publicly- 
owned or private" and that this right 
to legislate radio practice is not con- 
ceded in the original Federal: Broad- 
casting Act. On constitution rights, 
he believed that "with new and 
greater technical knowledge and 
control, some aspects of broadcasting 
that are currently thought to be in 
the Federal field may turn out to be 
properly matters for Provincial 
legislation." 



4- An anticipated three-way verbal 
wrestling match on what's wrong 
with radio turned into another waltz 
last Friday night (27) as reps of the 
industry, FCC and the public met 
and embraced each other at d New 
School for Sociai Research forum. 
In' the respective corners were Clif- 
ford Durr, FCC member; Robert 
Saudek, ABC vlce-prexy and indus- 
try-champion; and Llewellyn White, ' 
assistant director of the Commission . 
on Freedom of the Press. 

Defining the great issue ol our • 
times as the preservation of democ- 
aoy, Durr declared that the increas- 
ing concentration of control withiti 
the broadcast industry represented 
danger to freedom. Pointing up 
the extent of trend, Durr quoted 
statistics from 1946 broadcast earn- 
ings which revealed that one adver- 
tiser alone contributed 9% of the 
evenue while, the next two adver- 
tisers were responsible for 13%. The 
cohcentration ol business in the ad 
iigencies is even more extreme, he. 
said. 

Durr asserted that this tendency is ■ 
facilitating the "engineering of con- 
sent" for any political or economic 
philosophy supported by those who 
currently control the industry; 
Therefore, he said, there's been a 
shift of emphasis from, the tradition- 
al concept of freedom of the speakei^ 
to freedom of the listener.. As such, 
function of the FCC is to guarantee, 
"the diversification of opinion . in the 
market place of ideas." Durr dei 
clared that government regulation 
of the broadca.st industry had re- 
sulted in a better balance of news 
presentation than exists in the press. 
Saudek In> Industry Defense 
Saudek made a blanket delense of 
the industry. He mildly derided the 
longhairs for urging a switch in pro^ 
gramming' to an exclusively high- 
brow level. Such a transformation, ; 
he predicted, would chase the aver- 
age listener and make tiiem inac- 
cessible to radio's current!., positive 
educational side, Cr jdek also gently 
queried Durr's assertion that con- 
(Continued on page 34) 



'Studio One* to 30-Min. 
Mar. 9 for Taft Pickup 

"Studio One," the 60-minute Tues- 
day night dramatic show on CBS, 
is being cut to 30 minutes for the 
March 9 broadca.st to permit the 
-web to pick up Sen. Taft. Fletcher 
Marker's "Sometime Every Summer- 
time," with Burgess Meredith, will 
be the presentation. 

Following week show reverts back 
to an hour, with Susan Peters doing 
"One Mor$ Spring." 



RADIO EDITORS' QUALITY RATING 



WKEK OF FEB. 2A-27 



As Compiled Exclusively for Variety by Dick Mansfield, 
Freelance Researcher 

(it composite eo«l«ation of proflroms by the notion's leading radio editors, rated upon the follow- 
ing points,- Script, Per/ormance, Production, Aduer tiswg.'^JtfusiG, Originality. Rating system allows for 
a possilfle high of 30 points, as jollovps: Outstanding, AA or 30; -A plMs of 25— ^Excelletit, A Or 22; B plus 
or 19— Good, B or 16; Fair, C or 13; Poor, D or 10.) Of the 65 critics polled, .36 . responded in this report. 



Praviom 


Iwtiiiig 




6 






1 






3 






2 






5 






4 






7 






[9 





1. Ozlie & Harriet 24.3 

2. Bing Crosby 24.0 

3. Fibber & Molly 23.8 

4. CBS Is There 23.5 

5. Amos 'n' .Andy 23.1 

6. ^ Jock Benny ^ . . 22.7 

7. Henry Morgan 22.4 

8. Lux Radio Theatre 22.2 



Previous 
Rating 

(12) 
(8) 



(10 
(13 
(M 
(14 



9. 


Percy Faith-Coca-Cola 


22.0 


10. 




21.6 


II. 


Theatre Guild of Air. . . 


21.3 


12. 




21.0 


13. 


Fred Waring 

Duffy's Tavern ........ 


20.5 


14. 


20.2 


15. 


Jimmy Durante. . 


19.2 



EDITORS' RECOMMENDED LISTENING 

Child's World ' * ABC 

Mr. Ace and Jane.........^ CBS 

Candid Mikft ' ABt 

Jom«s Melton , NBC 



NJ. B'casters Plan Annual 
Rutgers Radio Institute; 
Seek Libel Innnunity 

Plan to set up a Radio Institute 
at Rutgers University, New Bruns- 
wick, N.J., and discussion ol pro- 
posal to have radio stations in- 
cluded in the Reilfin Bill are on the 
agenda lor the two-day spring 
meeting ol New Jersey Broadc^t- 
ers'Assn. to be held March 1203, at 
Asbury Park, Newspapers ol New 
Jersey have had a new.spaper In- 
stitute at Rfttgers lor some time, 
and plan lor - radio broadcasters is 
patterned after this. 

Wallace S. Moreland, assistant to 
Rutgers prexy, will outline the plan 
at the confab. It will be recalled 
that the N.J. broadcasters suggested 
setting up clinics for various de- 
partments of their stations to pass 
along -Cfital info, and the Radio In- 
stitute at Rutgers would' accompli.sh 
the same result, it's claimed, bnly 
on a university level. 

The Reiffln bill would make news- 
papers immune from libel action on 
published material supplied by ac- 
creSited news agencie.s, and the 
N.J. Broadcasters Assn. is seeking to 
amend: the bill so as: to give the 
same, immunity to r-adio stations. 
Six states already have statutes 
exempting stations Irom liability for 
political broadcasts. 

The two stations in Asbury Park, 
WCAP (Walter Reade, Jr) and 
WJLK-FM (Thoma-s B. Tighe) will 
be hosts at the meeting this month. 



'Perry's' New Cue Tosser 
As P&G Switches Agcys. 

"Perry Mason," Procter & Gam- 
ble daytime strip on GBS, switches 
agencies the end ol this week (7), 
with Dancer - Fitzgerald - Sample 
handing it over to Benton & Bowles 
as a result ol the sponsor's decision 
to use the soaper in part to plug the 
new Tide detergent. Heavy sales 
push being put behind Tide is indi- 
cated by the lact that B&B also has 
just signed ABC's "Ganghusters" lor 
the product. 

Agency shift will mean a change 
in directors on the show, Arthur 
Hanna handing over the cue-throw- 
ing chore to Les Harris, B&B staffei. 



WtBdhestlar, Mwrcli 1948 






NAB Board Slicks up Code For 
Final Action at L A. ConventM 



Washington, March 2. 

A sUcked-up NAB standards of 
practice is In the final process of 
polishing and will be mailed to 
KAB members for their double^o at 
least 30 days before) the May 17 
opening of the broadcasters' Los An- 
gelas convention. Decision to put 
the proposed new code up to the 
eoiiclave climaxed a three-day 
meeting of the NAB board at Hot 
Springs, Va., last week. 

Lion's share of program discus- 
sions revolved around the FCC's 
controversial Port Huron decision 
on political broadcasts, with board 
members registering heated objec- 
tion to It; As a result, the whole 
code section on political program- 
tning will be kept fluid pending a 
final decision on the Port Huron 
case. • ■ . 

'Other board actions: 

1; Gave unofficial blessing to Chi- 
cago as permanent convention site 
and authorized opening of negotiq- 
. tions with the Hilton Hotels there 
for the 1949 conclave. 

2. Sanctioned a $200,000,radvo pro- 
motion campaign, announced earlier 
by NAB, to sell radio to advertisers. 

3. Authorized funds to hypo lyAB 
activity in the international radio 
field, both on treaty and sliort wave 
matters. 

4. Voted a bigger nut to carry 
NAB's shafe in the All Indu.stry 
Music Committee's activities. 



Bimingbam Stations 
Join Forces for Unique 
Airii^ of MarshaH Plan 

Birmingham, March 2. 

Local affiliates of all four major 
networks joined last Wednesday 
(25) in an unprecedented coopera- 
tive effort to explain the, basic facts 
of the Marshall. Plan to their south- 
ern aydienoes. 

In a 24-hour period, WAPI (CBS), 
WBRC (NBC), WSGN (ABC) and 
WTNB (Mutual) aired, at different 
times, an address by William L. 
Batt, president of SKF Industries, 
Inc., of Philadelphia, speaking in be- 
half of the National Committee tor 
the Marshall Plan, of which former 
Secretary of War Henry L. Stim- 
son is- chairman. Talk was plattered 
in advance by one of the stations, 

In each airing— scheduled in each 
case at an hour calculated to hit a 
different segment of the listening 
audience covered by the stations — 
Batt's address was prefaced by a 
special message from former Secre- 
tary of War Robert P. Patterson to 
the city of Birmingham congratulat- 
ing the four stations for "doing their 
country a, service and carrying on 
the southern tradition of leadership, 
and patriotism." 

Batt's talk drew a parallel between 
the predicament of the South in 
1865 and the plight of Europe today, 
pointing out that there "was no 
Marshall Plan then, and it has talcen 
some parts of the south as much as 
80 years to recover from the de- 
struction and chaos of that war' so 
long ago." 



Bob Smith's Web Spread 

WNBC's (N.Y.) Bob Sniith. who's 
been the web flagship's white liope 
to swipe attention from WCBS' 
Arthur Godfrey, looks set for a 
chance to spread his talents over 4be 
network. 

It has turned out that one of 
Smith's fortes is kid shows. In ad- 
dition to his earjy-ayem patter stint 
opposite Godfrey, he's been doing a 
Saturday morning "Triple B Ranch" 
.stanza for juves on WNBC, and 
maestroing a twice-weekly television 
party for moppets on WNBT, the 
net's N.Y. video -outlet. This week 
the web was in the proce.ss ot clear- 
ing Smith's "Triple B Ranch" for 
Satutday ayem network airing. 

Plans were also in the worlcs to 
make Smith's tele show (co-starring 
hini with a Snerdish puppet called 
Howdcdodc) into a three-tinics- 
wepkly affair. That would give 
Smith a total of 10 radio and tele 
i'linls s week, running to 12^: hours. 



Eddy Vice Jolie 

Hollywood, March 2. 
Looks like Nelson Eddy will ride 
the Kraft Music Hall this summer, 
when Al Jolson checks out for 13- 
week layoff. Summer replacement 
deal is currently being negotiated 
via J. Walter Thompson agency.' 

Eddy also took over for Kraft last 
summer. 



FCC 



ITS IT'LL 
TCP 





FM Gripes Put 
AT&T On Spot 

Washington, March 2. 
Discussions have Cfpened between 
A. T. & T. and the I'M Assn. on 
coaxial cable rates to carry PM pro- 
grams, with the association seeking 
some kind of arrangement which 
will also provide for multiplexing 
facsimile. 

Nothing has been worked out since 
the original tentative A. T. & T. pro- 
posal for $10 per mile per hour 
which FMA is actively protesting, 
and the signs are that big A. T. & T. 
may very likely find itself in the 
middle of a hornet's nest of dispute, 
with the AM broadcasters also rais- 
ing objection. . 

Key to the situation is the tenta- 
tive proposal of $40 per mile per 
hour, which A. T, & T. suggested 
some time back- for television. FCC 
has now ordered the phone company 
to file its commercial video rates by 
April 1 and to open negotiations on 
FM rates. The assumption is that 
A. T. & T. will ask the $40, or some 
figure very close to' that. 

The gimmick in the deal is that 
A. T. & T. has normally charged ac- 
cording to the amount of space re- 
quired. Television requires 2.7 meg- 
acycles for its bands. That is 180 
times as much as the 15,000 cycle 
lines for which FM is negotiating. 
Yet, the telephone company wants 
one-fourth as much for FM. 

It is interesting that the A. T. & T. 
wire deal with AM radio, for 5,000 
cycles, costs $6 per mile per hour. 
Hence the ratio of discrepency be- 
tween that and the suggested tele- 
vision rates are even greater. 

Thus there is plenty of guessing 
liere that, if a $40 rate for television 
is filed, everybody will come down 
on A. T. & T., running to the FCC 
with demands for "justice." 



'Stop Music' Won't Stop 
Ws World; %lorii^' 

ABC still thinks it has something 
In "Child's World," the serious- 
minded Juvenile Jury session in 
w hicli moppets candidly discuss their 
problems. 

Despite the half-hour sequence's 
failure to build a rating— attributed 
ill large part to the Jack Benny com- 
petition it bucks in" the 7 p.mi Sun- 
day spot-^the web isn't scuttling the 
show in the Sabbath reshuffle to 
introduce the new hour-long "Stop 
the Music" program March 21. 
"Child's World" will be moved into 
the 10 o'clock Thursday night spot 
currently occupied by Lee Sweets 
land's music.: : Stanza has copped 
considerable critical kudoes. 

INfew spot won't keep the partici- 
pating kids up late. Show is plat- 



. Washington, March 2. 
A majority of the PCC appears 
sympathetic to softening of its ho- 
editorial ban to permit stations to 
tout causes so long as time is made 
available on an equal basis to oppo- 
sition views. But the bureaucrats 
are dead set again' the network -NAB 
putsch for editorial privileges with 
< absolutely no strings "attached. 
•^This, at any rate; appeared to be 
the sentiment of the four PCC mem- 
bers who carried the ball in quizzing 
industry reps at the opening sessions 
of the editorial hearings yesterday 
and today (2). Hearings will recess 
this weekend and .resume at a later 
date. 

Prexies of three major webs 
(Mutual was not represented) took 
the stand to echo earlier statements 
in support of an absolute FCC 
"hands Off" on all program matters. 
They lined up cheek-by-jowl with 
NAB prexy Justin MiUerts "free 
radio'' fight and made it clear the 
editorial issue . itself was small 
potatoes. All the .web brass insisted 
the ban was a violation of free 
speech and argued neither Congress 
nor FCC has the right to breathe 
down the necks of stations who 
editorialize, to see that they are 
giving all comers an equal break. 

Commissioners who did most of 
the talking (Chairman Wayne Coy. 
Clifford Durr, Edward M. Webster 
arid Paul A. Walker) appeared sym- 
pathetic to views of Nathan Straus 
of WMCA, N. Y., and Dr. Robert 
Cushman of Cornell -University sta- 
tion WHCtJ, Ithaca, N. Y, These two 
argued for a licensee's right to edi- 
torialize but wanted the FCC to 
hedge this privilege with guai'antee 
that the opposition would get a 
chance to backtalk on the air. 
Webs Won't Go For It 

The webmen, on the other hand, 
privately said they preferred the 
status quo to any ruling which puts 
FCC in the business of enforcing a 
"fair play" policy as » condition, of 
handing out new or renewal licenses. 

These were other developments: 

1. Clue to the webs' indifference 
to the editorial issue, per se was 
tipped when both NBC prexy Niles 
(Continued on page 34)" 



New York State Rural FM Network 
For Farmers May Prove Bucofic 
Mickey Fum ior Majw (kins 



tered, without the kids' knowledge _ 

that they are taking part in an airer. | merciai air show.' 

"Exploring the Unknown" also is 
getting ' another reprieve. Despite 
failure to date to snare a sponsor 
for the Sherman Dtyef package,, web 
probably will shift the show to 8:30 
Monday rather than dropping it 
when "Stop the Music" debutii. 



Cliff Edwards' $15,000 
'Jiminy Cricket' Package 
From Disney Pix Stndio 

Ambitious show idea, to be built 
into a $15,000 weekly package orig- 
inating from Walt Disney's Holly- 
wood studios, with a historical fan- 
tasy format starring the cartoon 
character of Jiminy Cricket, is being 
prepped by Cliff (Ukelele Ike) Edr. 
wards. Veteran actor expects to cut 
an audition disk of the stanza in 
New Yorlt next week with Eobeit 
Young as guestar. 

In its proposed regular origination 
from Hollywood, the show would 
have a 30-piece orcb and the Lynn 
Murray chorus in addition to Ed- 
wards and name guests. Art Lane is 
set to handle tlie writing chore, with 
Ernest Sax directing. 

Edwards got the inspiration for the 
format . after he portrayed the Dis- 
ney character in ABC's documentary. 
"1960? Jimmy Cricket!" last year. 
Di.sney has since given Edwards 
clearance to use the character — the 
first time, it's said, that the animator 
ha.q approved appropriation of One 
of his cartoon creations for a com- 



That Talent Nut! 

Chicago, March 2. 

Even though coiits for 24 sing- 
ers have tripled in the last five 
years, the bankroller of Mutual's 
"American Radio Warblers" has 
no Intention of paring down the 
east. Canaries formerly gobbled 
up 50p. in birdseed weekly, but 
inflation has boosted their feed 
bill td $1.50. 

American Bird Products, the 
sponsor, gets the stuff wholesale. 



Stations to 50 Kw. 



Washington, March 2. 
Bin to clap a 50,000-Watt ceiling 
on the power of domestic stations 
was introduced in Congress last 
week by Senator Edwin C. Johnson 
(D., Colo.). It would cover all sta- 
tions operating between 550 and 
1600 kc. 

Johnson pointed out in his accom- 
panying statement that FCC has to 
make its final decision on clear chan- 
nel operations prior to April 1, since 
there is a May 1 deadline to submit 
American proposals to the NARBA 
meeting. Superpower is .one of the 
matters being considered .by FCC, 
and Johnson feels that Congress 
ought to. take a stand on that. 
- Under super-power, said Johnson, 
Congress has a right to determine 
whether such great power should be 
placed in the hands of a few people 
who could influence public opinion; 
whether super-power would not 
destroy eeonomieally many small 
regional stations; whether a few big 
stations could satisfy , the local cus-- 
toms, habits, economic interests, 
etc., .ot the various sections of the 
nation; and whether this would pro- 
vide better service than the present 
clear channels. 

In an unprecedented move, the 
acting chairman, Charles Tobey (R., 
N. H.) of the Senate Interstate 
Commerce, ordered "PCC, over the 
weekend, to hold up any decision 
on, the long-pending clear channel 
proceedings until hearings are held 
on the Johnson bill. 

Commission had planned to un- 
leash its finding by May 1 to aid 
U. S. broadcasters in preparing pro- 
posals for meetings next summer 
on the new North American regional 
broadcasting agreement. 



JUIutual's Progrannnb^ 
a 



Chris Cross To Geneva 

Christopher Cross. V. S. radio 
liaison oft'icer for the United Na- 
tion,'!, sail."! today (Wed.) on tlie 
America for Europe, following sev- 
eval weeks' leave of ab.sc;nce from 
hi.s UN chores. 

He'll vi.sit Paris .first, then proceed 
to Geneva to attend the Freedom 
of Informatipn conference on as- 
signment from UN. 



WJW's 40G Ball Pact 



Cleveland, March 2. 
WJW gets the broadcast rights for 
Ihe Cleveland baschaU games , with 
Standard Brewing Co. footing the 
ro.'5t for around $40,000' It is ex- ^ 
15coled that 15 AM and FM stations i Woody 



Program reshuffling at Mutual, 
after hitting a mid-season peak a 
couple of weeks ago, with replace- 
ments and time changes abounding, 
leveled off last week to one cancella- 
tion, one temporary suspension and 
one addition. 

Cancelled out was "Song of the 
Stranger," the Bret Morrison star- 
ring strip at 3:30 p.m. (current rat- 
ing 0.9), on which the sponsor, 
Pharmaco, has been expected to 
yank bankrolling for some time. 
Stanza will fade off March 19. 

Added was , Canada's day tim,^ va- 
riety show, "The Happy Gang," aired 
over CBC for 10 years. Stanza, with 
Bert Pearl as emcee, will be fed to 
Mutual out of'Toronto and be, offered 
by MBS as a cotop in the 1:15-1;45 
p.m. cross-the-board segment, start- 
ing March 15.' . _ a^r— 

"Red Hook 31," 'Virginia "aincf 
Kloso's farmlife chatter 



near Cleveland will pick up the | -^-'-i^'" 1:1^-1:30 time slot, will 

broadcasts but (details have not been | fake a two-week luatuf, and return 
announced. 

Jack Graney and Jim Dudley will 
be at the milte.' Out of town gamcf. 
arc to bo aired live wherever pos- 
,sible. It is also expected that WJW 
will originate the FM broadcasts 
since the ..station Avill get it<; PM 
beam in the air within 10 days. 



A Rural Radio Network is set to 
begin operation early in May of th» 
first broadcast web devoted exclu- 
sively to the farmer. RRN, which 
wil} comprise upon completion six 
FM stations to service the New York 
State area, will tee off with only 
three, the other half coming in dur- 
ing midsummer. Central head- 
quarters will be located in Ithaca^ 

Sponsored by 10 leading farm or- 
ganizations representing most of the 
state's farmers; the network is pri- 
marily deigned to correct an al- 
leged persistent negflect of rural 
audiences by tlie existing networks; 
Past attempts to set up statewide 
networks to reach the farmer have 
foundered on station commitments 
to local and national advertisers. 

Chief worry for the big nets is the 
commercial challenge represented by 
the RRN in being a more economic 
broadcasting medium for reaching' 
farm audiences. Currently adver- 
tisers can approach tlie farmer^lisr 
tener bnly via llighrpowered stations 
whose rate cards for these facilities 
iAclude their mass urban audience. 
On the other- hand, advertisers want- 
ing to reach both rural and urban : 
audiences may find that the nets:, 
can't deliver the rural section as 
paid for. That is, if RRN clicks as 
planned, 

RRN plans to provide a riidio 
medium comparable to the farm 
ne"wspaper and magazine. All fea-. 
tures of the programming, operation 
and promotion will bp channelized to 
this single end. Each of the RRN 
transmitters will also include studios 
for local program originations and 
will be staffed by skeleton produc- 
tion staffs. Network will be linked 
by radio relay instead of the usual 
telephone lines. 

Heading the operation as RRN 
general manager is B. B. Gervan, 
formerly director of information foi" 
the Cooperative . Grange League 
Federation Exchange. He was re- 
sponsible for grange's radio opera- 
tions. H. Stilwell Brown, former 
partner in Rural Surveys, and for 
several years sales manager for 
WHCU, Ithaca, will be' assistant g.m. 
Chief Engineer is Donald K. deNeu^. 
formerly vice-prexy for oj)erations 
at Pr«ss Wireless. 

Transmitters will be located in the 
villages of Nowfteld. Hermitage, 
Bristol Center. DcRuyter, Charry; 
Valley and Turin. The 10 farm or* 
ganizations backing the project in- 
clude the N. Y, State Grange, N. Y. i 
State Farm Bureau Federation, N. Y. ] 
State Federation of Home Bureaus^ ' 
Cooperative Grange League Federa- 
tion, Dairymen's League Cooperative 
Assn., N. Y. State Poultry Council, 
N. Y. State Vegetable Growers 
A,ssn., N. Y. State Horticultural So- 
ciety, N. Y. Stale Artificial Breeders* 
Cooperative. Empire Livestock Mar- 
keting Co-op Assn. . 



Ex-Disk Jockey Into 
Belinoit's Bigtime 
Radib-TY Package Setup 

Detroit, March 2; 
Formation of Broadcast Produc- 
tions, Inc., agency devoted to creat- 
ing, packaging and producing radio 
and video programs, the first of its 
kind iti Detroit, wes announced by 
Toby David, former disk jockey :ori 

WJR...^ -y .■\-:; ':„: 

Prime ihission of the organizatiQB 
is "to bring goSdv high cjuality ra- 
dio and television entertainnietrt 
witliin the reacli of locat .ftdver- 
tl-sers," David explained. ' ; 

In the paast a local talent buyer 
Jias been offered a selection limited 
to tvithcr station-produced dramas/ 
to tiie air March 2,') in "Song ot the nowscasts. sport shows or segments 
Stranger's" 8:30 period. j of disk jockeys. Under David's plan 

"Pvcd Hook" still won't get N. Y. it will be pos-sible for a sponsor to 
ah'ing. however. , WOR will take select a show btlilt for his product 
advantage of the Pharmaco cancella- and aimed at listt-ners in hiS' ■par,. : 
lion to relurti Jack BaiTy's "Daily ticular market groiip, which can be 
Dilemmas" to its former 30-minute pre.^ented on the station of hit 
format. ' choice. ■' " • ' 



M 



TBIjBVISIOlW 



WedneMla^, Matich 3, 1948 



WATV (Newark) Sets Cap for Major 
N.Y. Market in Preon 3 Weeks Hence 



With equipment tests already be- -t- 
ing made ^rom the transmitter sta- 
tion atop First' Mountain, West 
Orange, N. J., WATV television 
station in Newark, N. J., expects to 
Utart remotes within the next three 
or lour weelis. WATV studios 
should be ready for use by April ,15. 
Television layout will cost lipwards 
of $600,000 w/hen fully completed. 

The transmitter, "which was al" 
ready sending out a test pattern; litst 
-w^ek, is iituated on an elevation of 
about 6dQ feet abdye «ea level. With 
the tower, this gives the station an 
antenna height of 800 feet. Another 
aintennti, 100 feet high, is going up 
ifijkQP the Mosque theatre building, 
Newark, where the television studios 
now are nearing completion. 

Television plans for the Mosque, 
which is owned by WATV and 
WAAT, 'indie jpadio. station; call for 
two smaller tele, studios besides the 
main one, which, will be 84 feet , by 
82. This majn studio has a 25»foot 
ceiling, making it possible to use sets 
higher than one floor. ■ > 

The, studio has a lightmg system 
designed, to provide uniform light 
intensity at all points with neces- 
aftry high-lighting supplied by spot- 
light banks. , Use of fluorescent 
lighting, coupled .with the vast light 
sensitivity of the image ortbicon 
«ameras to be .used, enables a pick- 
up even by the light of - a single 
candle. 

Station setup is such that WATV 
will have its own theatre television 
when the time time is ripe via the 
big Mosque theatre, immediately 
adjacent to the new WATV 
studios. This. 3,500-seat house 
£Qon .will bt running on a film pol- 
icy. At present it is used about once 
a week for concerts. ; 

Television lineup for the main 
studio calls for offices on two sides 
of the big stage space and dressing 
rooms on the main' floor. Guests at 
telecasts WiU be se&ted behind a vast 
glass window' stretching about 7ff 
feet, When viewers are desired for 
«ud participation shows, they will be 
escorted from this section, seating 
abput 200, and taken up to the mikes.. 
On opposite side of this main stu- 
dio is the show's operations panel, 
an announcer's booth, and a film: 
room. 

A 24-8heet poster campaign in 41 
locations . will tell the public about 
WATV ftorn March 1 tn April 22. 
The arrival of- the new tele station 
also is being broadcast dally over 
WAAT. Understood that opening ofi 
main tele studios will be preceded 
by a radio . broadcast from the 
Mosque theatre st^ge, with New Jer- 
sey state officials invited to special 
televised jprpgram immediately fol* 
lowing ia the adjacent WATV stu- 
dios. It's likely that the entire.radiO' 
show will; pick up on film and 
subsequently sh6wn' as part the 

telecast. 



3G Grid Tab? 

Inclications are that the cost of 
telecasting professional football 
games around New York by 
sponsors this coming fall may 
go up as much as 10 times what 
they were last season. * 

An agency inquiring last week 
for an estimate on time alone 
wa; informed that the station 
is thinking of setting the price at 
^,00Q a Sunday afternoon. Last 
year the- bill per game was $300. 



RritainPidiesTV 
De^eEoNKMnies 

London, Feb. 30. 
Government has informed Sir 
William Haley, Director-General of • 
the BBC, that despite general finan- 
cial economies, woxk can proceed on 
tha erection of a new Birmingham 
television station and an FM station 
in Kent. Other substantial capital 
development for radio is either be- 
ing slowed down or postponed in- 
definitely because of existing con- 
ditions. 

. Major schemes involved are the 
erection of a nationwide chain of 
televsion and FM stations; a Broad- 
casting- House headquarters exten- 
sion; new Regional Headquarters, 
and a new, centre in London to pro- 
vide for the development of tele- 
vision and the grouping of other 
broadcasting activities at present 
scattered throughout < London. 

These improvements are ultimate- 
ly essential, and the corporation is 
bulding up a capital reserve so that, 
when .labor and materials become 
available, work jnaay be speeded 
without . delay. ' 

In a special technical report just 
issued by the corporation it is re-, 
vealed that changes have been, made 
throughout the BBC .system to im- 
prove the; technical quality of the 



PAR-DuMONT HEARINGS 
STALLED UNTIL MAY 10 

Washington, March 2, ' 
The promised searching probe into 
the ramification of Pararoount's tele- 
vision plans, including its connection 
with DuMont, slated to have begun 
yesterday, has been postponed until 
May 10. The FCC> action was taken 
because the Par attorney, Duke Pat- 
rick, was down w;ith virus pneu-. 
monia. 

However, the Commission plans to 
go ahead with consolidated hearings 
fof TV channels in the various 
cities in which either DuMont or Par 
affiliates have applications. Then the 
decisions will be held in- abeyance, 
pending the coming sessions here. 

Meantime, the Commission an- 
nounced these hearing dates for the 
different cities: Detroit, March 15- 
17, with United Detroit Theatres 
Corp., in the running; Cleveland, 
March 18-24, with DuMont an ap- 
plicant; San Francisco, April 5-9, 
with Television Productions, Inc., 
(Par), a bidder; Dallas, April 12-16, 
with the Interstate Circuit, an ap- 
plicant; and Boston, April 26!-May 7, 
where New England Theatres is 
competing for a channel. . 

Only new development here is 
that 20th-Fox has applied for a Bos- 
ton channel and has been bracketed 
into the consolidated hearings. Thus, 
two- film companies will be -scrap- 
ping each other in that blsttle royali 



In^e Tele^n 



ClevielaiHl-^Western Reserve Univ. 
has contracted for televising all 
home ' football games next fall 
through WEWS. 



TBA Petitions For 

Lemke Bill Hearing 

Washington, March 2. 

Television industry, acting through 
the Television Broadcasters A-ssn, 
petitioned the House interstate and 
foreign commerce committee yester- 
day (Monday) for an immediate 
hearing of opponents to the Lemke 
bill. If adopted, the bill would as- 
sign a part Of tele's channel No. 1 to 
FM broadcasters. 

Move'^was the first concerted at- 
tempt on the part of the industry to 
fight the bill. Petition was filed with 
Rep. Charles A. Wolverton, commit- 
tee chairman, by TBA Washington' 
representative Thad H. Brown, Jr, 
It pointed out that original hearings 
on the bill Feb< a and 4 had been 
limited solely to its proponents and 
that the committee to date has made 
no move to hear arguments from 
those opposing the bill. 

Tele broadcasters, according to the 
petition, are "vitally concerned • in 
the development of a .complete 
record in this matter." 



Television programming apparently will at least have to be acceptable, 
if the public's expected to invest in sets. Receiver sales in both Cleveland 
and Cincinnati have slumped tremendouslyi since stations in those two 
cities hit the air. Sinc6 preliminary sales were good, manufacturers be- 
lieve that it's the unprofessional programming that. created the downbeat. 

Cleveland especially has not been up to expectations, according to trade 
.eporls. RCA engineejs recently staged a week-long demonstration of 
closed circuit video at- the Higbee department store there and Higbee 
execs reportedly expressed amazement at the clear pictures obtained, de- 
claring the WEWS signal was never as good. Higbee sales-manager is re- 
ported to have told! the RCA crew that he sold rtany sets before WEWS 
began operating but couldn't sell a oile between the. end of December, 
when the station preemed, until the RCA outfit arrived in February. 

Law firm representing one of the major ad agencies last week brought 
up, a legal wrinkle which cau.sed its client suddenly to halt negotiatioijs 
for a series of sports films made some years ago, pending* further probing - 
of the angle. . Question posed by the lawyer is whether the film of a pro- 
fessional event can be- used for itelevisibn tinles? the owner of the film held 
the rights specifically for video or could show that the principals in the 
e«ent had originally signed away all rights, 

The law firm said that it wasn't sure whether there would be any lia- 
bility unless such rights were cleared, but it felt that the agency, to be 
on the safe side, ought to get the details of the contract , made between 
the principals in the films in question and the producer before closing 
any dteal. ■ " ■ ■ 

N. Y. Daily News' forethought a yeat ago in reserving tele rights while . 
granting radio rights to its "Did Justice TTriufflph?" "Sunday feature articles 
as the basis for a WOR-Mutual air series, didn't give the paper title to the . 
radio scripts as a- basis for video shows. Now the j News' WPIXf which 
expects to go on the air in June, wants to do a tele series on the mUrder- 
story articles and has queried Chet Young and Bill Crawford, WOR Ka]e.s- 
men who own the radio show (no longer on the air), about how much 
they'd want for loan of the scripts. No : deal, yet. 

Flat-faced cathode' ray' tube for television pictures, - which is said to give 
a picture about 12 square inches larger than the standard oval-faced tubes ' 
of the same size, has been developed by Zetka Labs* subsidiary of U.S. ' 
Television Corp. New 15-inch tube, according to UST prez Hamilton Hoge, 
gives a 135-square inch picture, whereas the largest picture produced by 
an oval-shaped 15-inch tube is 123 square inches. 

Tube also features an "ion trap,'' wttich eliminates the ion spot that 
often forms in the centre of other tubes. Result is a uniformly clear 
picture. Zetka tube is now in production and is being sold to several set 
manufacturers. 



\ Television Reviews 



MULLEN, STROTZ EAST; 
GOP VIDEO FOR NBC 

Hollywood, March 2. 

Frank Mullen, NBC executive 
V. p. in charge of television, is en- 
route back to New York after pass- 
ing two weeks on the coast. He will 
be followed east the next day by 
Sidney N. Strotz, who will pass four 
months in New York coordinating 
the network's television operation. 
During his absence Lewis Frost, as- 
sistant to Strotz, will look after the 
western division segment of the 
chain. ; . , 

NBC will set up its cameras at 
the Republican convention in Phila- 
delphia next June, with a certain 
number of handpicked advertisers 
sold time to defray the expense. 
Network, wants to break even on 
the project and may integrate 100 
commercials ttiroueh the three-day 
session. 



Schaef er Beer's TV Splurge 

Schaefer beer is buying the five 
- minutes-- preceding the 'Brooklyn 
Dodger;^ baseball games on WCBS- 
TV this season. This spot will be 

filled by the suds account ■vrith reels 

" containing standout plays in National 
League games^ 

Red Barber will introduce the 
reels. -Parber is also set to call, the 
p\tcyi'^t ih» Dodgers games for Old 
CSold on the same TVer, 

'-'"Shfy Missus Goes A-.shoftping," 
now on WCBS-TV Wednesdays, will 
ij* rntoved back to an earlier period 
on |{ame...<lsy8t a:* iflO' > .i.<« > '..<.- . « 



LC. 4-'A TRACK MEET | 
With Tom Greenwald. Mel Allen, 

Stftn Saplini - < 
Madison Sqiure Gikrilen <2S) 
FORD MOTORS 
WCBS-TV, N. Y. 

(J. Wolter Thompson) 
Columbia has been doing track 
meets from the Garden since last 
spring and improving right along. 
There are still a couple of odds and 
ends to be wrapped up but followers 
of track should find these video ver- 
sions of the sport satisfactory. The 
Ford commercials, were on film and 
fair enough. 

A track meet, as with other sports, 
emphasizes that the man- who moni- 
tors the cameras is the foundation 
of the broadcast. He makes or 
breaks- it. And from the fan, or 
viewer standpoint it is vital that 
this director know his sport. Tele 
is in the advantageous position of 
being able to profit by the mistakes 
radio made in its early sportscasting. 
The big mistake radio imade, and 
often continues to make, is in pick- 
ing personnel for radio rather than 
athletic savvy. ^ Those dulcet tones 
are meaningless unless the guy 
knows what he's talking about or, for 
video, where to point the camera. 
. The setup a^ the Garden has the 
monitors, video and audio, down- 
stairs in touch by phone with the 
working crew in the balcony. Some 
system should be worked out where- 
by the narrator can call and get both 
the camera and lens he wants when 
he wants it. That's because he has 
all the action in front of him- The 
way it is now, the narrator can be 
talking about one thing with the 
camera showing something else. An 
exampfe of this popped up in the 
freshman one-mile relay, an added 
event which didn't count in the of- 
ficial score. To viewers in general 
it ofuld only have been another race 
whUe over at the side a boy was 
about to try to crack the inter- 
collegiate indoor pole vault record. 
But the carhiera never left the race 
to pick up this record attempt. 
Which is the fault of the monitor. 
.At another point the monitor spoiled 
the climax of the 1,000-yard event, 
a highlight of the evening, by going 
to so close a close-up of a three-man 
blanket finish that only the shoulders 



Following the pattern established in other cities of preeming tele- 
vision for the localities before a station takes the air, WAVE in Louis- 
ville will ii).troduce video to Kentuckians April 2-11 at the annual home 
show and exposition. Tele display will feature the '*home Of the future"- 
exhibit, with leading manufacturers demonstrating their new sets at the 
time. 

RCA and NBC are participating in the display, with a corps of NBC 
engineers under producer Jack Boyle handling the equipment. Louis- 
ville win thus be the first city in the south to display a complete video 
setup to the public. WAVE-TV expects to begin operating late this year. 



Those Philco half hours from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, via 
NBC Tuesday nights, have been entertaining sessions. For this the nar- 
rator. Dr. Roy Marshall, is responsible. With a pleasaAt manner and in lan- 
guage the average viewer can understand, Marshall reduces the scientific 
Subjects to interesting and informal talks which have little of the lecture 
about them. Having the camera to show what he's talking about Marshall 
has now gone from atom bomb to teles.copes in a twice-weekly series he's 
made very palatable. However, on the evening he spent aboard the Insti- 
tute's Baldwin locomotive, who can forgive -him' for confessing he never 
wanted to be an engineer? 



r 



Ford Motors would like to get into every major baseball league city 
where: there will be a television station operating .this season. So far it's 
set in New York and. Chicago and the only thing that's holding up a deal 
for the sponsorship of the Cleveland Indians over that city's WEWS is 
the okay of Bill Veeck, the team's boss. Veeck has yet to decide whether 
he 'wants to get into television. 



and head of one runner and part; 
of the heads of the other two were 
on the screen. This completely 
robbed viewers of the thrills at the 
tape. All the excitement was there- 
fore from the audio, end (sound) 
due to the narrator's description. 
For television this is' not .enough. 

It is also only fair to say that -the 
monitor also did occasionally swing 
his camera away from an ordinary 
track event to take a quick look at 
the high or broad jumps. But the 
impression remains that it would be 
smoother if the narrator, allowing 
he's a good one, could call his camera 
shots. 

In this instance the narrator was 
Tom Greenwald who tutned in a 
competent job aided by but not be- 
cause of Mel Allen. Of course, Allen 
has the announcing rep but he 
doesn't really know track so it was 
proper that Greenwald take Over 
whenever the action started. Besides 
these, two down on'the floor, was Stan 
Saplin doing trackside interviews 
of the winners. These conversations 
can become very wooden, stiff and 
uninteresting. Saplin better start 
looking for a different set of- ques- 
tions to put to the boys or leave 
them alone. • 

Two cameras seemed to be enough 
to cover the meet and with smai't 
use made of the Garden's public ad- 
dress system Greenwald kept his 
audience Well informed as to what 
was going on. A help would be the 
quarter times in the longer race.s, 
records for the events, and more 
side comment, or "color," as to the 
favored squads, men, etc. For in- 
stance, the fact that Yale rolled into 
second place in this meet was a sur- 
prise when the advance dope pointed 
to N.Y.U. and Manhattan as the 
leaders. N.Y.U. finished on top. 

There cannot be too much atten- 
tion given these athletic broadcasts 
by the stations. The reason is that, 
today, sports comprise the backbone 
of television, the mobile unit is the 
origin of the sports broadca.st, and 
the camera monitor is the key of the 
mobile unit. The main fault has 
been and continues to be that direc- 
tors ignore the fact that a steady 
camera is the b<;»t camera, meaning 

(Continued on- page 3S> ■ 



The American National Theatre & Academy gets $300 a week from 
NBC for its sustaining drama series Sunday nights on WNBT, New York. 
Money is a fee for the organization's services in bringing together the 
elements of the show (NBC itself pays the performers, etc.). The entire 
amount goes into the ANTA treasury, where it is used to help carry on 
the organization's varied theatre-promoting adtivities. 

The price being quoted by film libraries to ad agencies for 16m stock 
shots is $1 a foot. Purchases are on an outright basis, without any limita- 
tion on the number of uses or exclusivity. 



WGN-TV BOW APRIL 4 
CUES CHI TRIB SPLASH 

Chicago, March 2. 
Chicago Tribunets big splash in 
tele, .which many view as the begin- 
ning of video's upward zoom in this 
area, wiU come April 4 with the for- 
mal teeoff of WGN-TV. Bow will' be 
hypoed by a special tele supplement 
of the Trib, tied in with a two-week 
campaign with dealers, distribs and 
manufacturers. 

Huddles to shape up the push are 
set with manufacturers for March 1.5 
and retailers March 23. Tele sup- 
plement will be published on a five- 
way, split-run basis to localize ads 
in Chi nabes and suburbs. 

Stationj now in the test pattern 
stage, will have cost $500,000 by 
kickoff time. At the current rate of 
sales, Chi area will have 17,500 sets 
in operation by April, 



Motorola Preps TV Play 
Series From Chi Museum 

Chicago, March 2. 

On the hunt for a prestige tele 
show, Motorola, currently bankroll- 
ing fight cards on WBKB. is eyeing 
a.po.ssible series based on exhibits 
in the Museum of Science and In- 
dustry on Chi's South Side. Weekly 
show would use exhibits as settings 
for -playlets. 

WBKB telecast a series from the 
Museum last April, but the shows 
Were straight educatidnal fare. 



McC-E's On-the-Air 
Test to Weigh Merits 
Of Film Vs. Live Video 

First actual on-the-air te.st of the 
comparative merits of film and live 
television programming is to be 
staged by McCann-Erick'son tele 
chief Lee Cooley. Idea will be tried 
on the "Swift Home Service Club" 
show, coincidentally with its move 
on the NBC web April 1 from the 
Friday 1 to 1:30 p.m. slot to the 
Thursday night 8:30 to 9 slot. 

With a leading male radio star re- 
placing Tex McCrary and Jinx Falk- 
enburg as the show's emcee at that 
time, Cooley will film two halt-hour 
versions of the-- program. Initial 
week will be run live, with the two 
filmed shows following. They'll in 
turn be followed by ^another live 
show. Cooley believes that by that 
time hp'll be able to judge whether 
canned or live studio shows offer the 
greatest impact and are best from a 
cost viewpoint. Production outfit 
for the films hasn't been set, but 
Jerry Fairbanks may draw the as- 
signment as part of his film pact 
with. NBC. 

McCrarys ar* reportedly leaving 
the show because Miss Falkenb'urg 
(Mrs. McCrary) is expecting a baby. 
Cooley declined to reveal the iden- 
tity of the male replacement, since 
no contract has been inked yet. 



Wednesdoy, March 3, 1948 



TBIJEVIfSlOiV 



27 



RDC'S IITTLE TELE FORMULA' 



CiipessiiKiad Faffies m TV? 

Washington, March 2. 

senator Claud* Pepper (D., Fla.) has renewed his bill to broadcast 
the proeeedings. of Congress, introducing an amended version which 
would also provide for televising all ^sions of the House and Senate. 

Bill would also set up.two. Congressionanjr-opeiated shortwave sta- 
tions— ou"- on the Atlantic Coast and the other on the Pacific side— to 
pi'cnride a continuous performance of the Congressional foIUes, some- 
thingf the private stations could not be expected to give. 

Pepper , has been hammering away for broadcasting Congres,s for the 
past couple of years. He introduced his first bill on the subject in 1»47. 

Appearing before the Senate Committee on Expenditures in the 
Executive IJepartrntnts, the Floridian declared that an ear^and-eye 
presentation of the House and Senate .would aid the cause of democ- 
racy. Pepper pointed out that both Australia and New Zealand broad'- 
cast their parliamentuy proceedings via government-ownect stations. . 



New WmJIkim Tele Dept. Presides 
Mass TV Eatry of (mt Tadeid Reps 



Hollywood. March 2. 

Television doesn't mean much to 
the talent, agencies here yet but with 
the medium promising to be- plenty 
mealy by summer, the flesli peddlers 
are sharpening their cleavers. Indic- 
ative is the disclosure that the Wil- 
liam Morris office is readying a 
"television department" This pres- 
ages Serious entrance into video by 
others who have been' functioning, 
with the left hands of their radio de- 
partments. *■ 

Tllelre have, of course, .already -been 
some passes videowise. General 
Artists set up shop six months ago, 
aAd the Orsatti ageticy dittoed late 
in December. Then it was in hopes 
and for prestige and education. But 
now the imminence of a competitive 
station lends a glimpse of lucre, 
whereas to date there has been no 
parallel with the east's competitive 
picture. .Too, the percenters arc be- 
ing hypoed toy the Screen Actors 
Guild, which sees opportuuities for 
idling thesps, especially since the 
picture busines* has sagged in em- 
ployment. 

Arrival here of Abe Lastiogel 
Morris office's big gun, will report- 
edly 'kick off the setting up of a de- 
partment, with the likelihood that 
George Gruskin, radio topper here, 
and Fred Elswit, now dabbling in 
tele, will form the nucleus. Event is 
likely to l«unch a contest for leader 
ship and introduce new faces and 
ithoW;.idleas.' 

Orsatti agency is already working 
on several packi^ges for tele, includ- 
ing one with June Preisser and Gene 
Reynolds. It hopes also to use local 
video, as. a showcase for pix studios 
tq gander, new talent^ and plans in 
troducing'an unnamed. new Austrian 
femme "find" over tele in June 
(Continued .on page 35) 



Wai the FCC Like Tliis? 

Philadelphia^ March 2. 
Hadio men here generally aren't 
huncti players, but you couldn't 
prove it with Philly'g numbers 
bankers last Saturday. 

Deluged with a heavy play on the 
number 101, the numbers boys bC' 
«ame cucious, inquired and found 
the reason - easily .. 

Seems that WX:Air-TVa new 737' 
foot television ' tower atop the huge 
PSFS Building was finished last 
Friday night and the station ran its 
first test pattern- at 10;10t p'.m. oyer 
Channel 10. 

The results were "good," said Di- 
rector of Television T. Bennett Lar- 
son. But the hunch wasn't Number 
101 got lost in the shuffle. 



CBS Tele due 
Set isi i^btes 

CBS, following through on its in 
tentions of pushing to the front rank.s 
of television networks, has invited 
execs. of itsr 165 affiliated stations to 
attend a tele clinic March 31 at the 
'homeoltice. Announcement of the 
clinic follows close on the heels of 
the we/lj's disclosure that it would 
boom its N. Y. video outlet as the 
flagship station of a contemplated 
nationwide network via major studio 
construction. 

Noting that the clinic was called 
at the request of CBS' affiliates' ad- 
visory board, web prexy Frank Stan- 
ton 'declared that broadcasters "far 
removed from the present key tele- 
vision centres have trouble hi piec- 
ing together all the scattered seg< 
ments bf television information to 
inake a comprehensible whole." Web 
execs, consequently, will oiler the af- 
filiates whatever guidance they de- 
sire in fomulatiug. their own tele 
plans. 

' Tele veepee Lawrence Lowman 
will preside' at the one-day session, 
with Stanton slated for an opening 
talk. Lowman and stations relations 
veepee Herbert C. Akerberg will 
direct the clinic arrangements. Web's 
video execs plan to hold additional 
days- open itat further huddles with 
station officials, on their iudlviclual 
plans. 





NBCAecekrates 
MitiatidiiPace; 
Signs Up Frisco 

Despite the lack so far of any cut- 
and-dried television station affilia- 
tion contracts, WBC continues to 
sign on stations at a steadily-increas- 
ing pace, NBC exec veepee Frank E 
Mullen announced on the Coast last 
week that the budding San Francisco 
Chronicle .station has been added to 
the web, In addition, the present 
four-city east coast network is ex 
pected to be increased to seven cities 
within the next six weeks. 

NBC's eastern net for gome time 
has comprised WRGB (Sch«!nec- 
tady). WNBT (Newr York), WPTZ 
(Philadelphia) and WNBW (Wash- 
ington). New stations to be added 
iiicUide WBZ-TV (Boston), which 
will be fed N. Y.-originated shows 
via the Bell System's N. Y.-Boston 
micro-v.'ave relay, and WBAL-TV 
(Baltimore) and WTVB (Kichmond), 
both of which are already within 
reach of N. Y. by the coaxial cable. 
NBC is also feeding its exclusive 
film material How to WLWT (Cin- 
cinnati), WTMJ-TV, (Milwaukee), 
WWJ-TV (Detroit) and KSDtTV 
(St. Louis). All these will be fed live 
shows as soon as the cable is ex- 
tended to their territories. 

San Francisco station _(KRON-TV) 
expects to start building in the near 
future and Mullen predicted it would 
take the air before the end pf the 
year. NBC is priming its owned-and- 
operated KNBH in Los .^geles to 
(Continued on page 35) 

K.C.'$ 6th TV Bid 

Kansas City, March 2. 

Business of applying for television 
Ucenses is booming here. Cook Pamt 
«nd Varnish Co., operators of WHB- 
Mutual, being the latest to petition 
the FCC. This is the sixth application 
for a local TV license, and the third 
on Channel 5. WHS vies with KCMO 
and the New England Television Go. 
for Channel 5. 

KCKN, owned by Arthur Capper, 
has made application for Channel 2, 
vni KMBC, oy/ntA by Arthur 
Church, has applied for Chinnel 9. 
Thte Kansas City Star already has 
been granted tJse of Clianflel i. 



SET m lElS 



N. Y. chapter of the Radio Di- 
rectors Guild successfully completed 
negotiations with CBS Monday <1) 
for the establishment of what 
amounts to a "little television for- 
mula." providing hefty pay hikes 
for Columbia's video cue-throwers 
and giving them their first protec- 
tion against "kickbacks" on com- 
mercial fees. 

Terms of the agreement, which 
will be signed within a few days, 
are expected to set a general pat- 
tern for future negotiations by the 
guild -with other eipcvplpyets' of tele 
directors, including ad agencies. 
Wage provisions .of the GBS pact 
will: raise directors' base pay, re-* 
troftctive to Jan. 1, from $90 to $130 
weekly and associate directors' from 
465' to $05. Percentage - wise, the 
raises (ranging up to 44.5%) ex- 
ceed even those recently obtained 
by RDG for network radio cue- 
throwers. 

Whether or.' not these boosts, how- 
ever, wiU whet the appetite of NBC 
tele directors to organize under the 
guild is eifen to question. The web, 
fearing raiding of its director per- 
sonnel by other tele operators as 
well .as possible attempts to organize 
it, recently gave its staff directors 
substantial hikes. Their pay, it's 
aaidi now ranfes from $100 to -$150 
weekly, which puts them both above 
and below the new guiid miiiim'um. 

CTBS raises represent. more than a 
100% gain in pay for tele directors 
in the past year. Just before RDG 
inked its first pact with CBS last 
May, the web's video directors were' 
getting $60 a week. 

New contract also provides, simi- 
larly to the AM agreement that the 
first $65 of a commercial fee shall 
be exempt frcxm kickback and 25% 
over that amount shall be- deductible 
from a director's base .pay^ For as- 
sociates, the exemption is' $55. 

Fact additionally prescribes lim- 
iting lists of duties-for both directors 
and associates. 



TV to See How 
Fomy Peoide Are 

Hollywooci, Mai-ch 2. 
Preliminary -discussions looking to 
ward televising "People Are Funny" 
were Started last week ' by Sidney 
Strota and "People" package part 
ners, John Guedel and Art Linklet- 
ter. Nothing definite yet but both the 
net and the show owners ■ are in 
happy accord on the project. Con- 
tract between the program and the 
sponsor gives the latter first refusal 
on video treatment of the show. 
Other Guedel-Linkletter property, 
OE House Party," on CBS is also 
being groomed for video. 



JWTs Vox Poppg of Kraft Tkatre 
AudiencesReveaisSigmficantReaction 



Tele'i'48ers 

When NBC. a few wieeks back, 
splurged in the conSiunev press 
to tell its TV story via a full- 
page ad in the key cities that 
are television-conscious, it didn't 
reaUze what it was inviting. . 

Network has since been be* 
sieged with hundreds of requests 
for jobs, both from people in- 
side and outside of show busi- 
ness, many of them taking the 
slant that "all my life I've 
wanted to i;et into tele/' 

Hert^ are the statistics to date . 
on NBC-lV personnel:. There 
are 233 on the network's tele- 
vision payroll (that's <.high for 
any. one single. TV enterprise), 
and. doesn't include those from 
NBC radio who are lending an 
assist in the video medium. Of 
the total. 116 are engineers^ And 
of the 235, a total of .199 are; in 
New York headquarters. 

Web figures that by the end of 
the year the figure should rea,ch 
350. Chief factor in holdiiag 
down personnel to Ms present 
level is -lack of space. In fact, the 
three months "briefing" period 
in N. Y. for Sid Strotz, NBC's 
Coast head, and Hal Bock, web's 
tele chief on the CoastV plus 
Carleton Smith's switch to the 
N. Y. office, poses ■ problem of 
where to locate them. 



WPKMNews) 
Sete Fdm ^ 
For Coast ^onsor 

WPIX, the N. Y. Daily News' video 
operation, has moved into the film- 
making business. It has made a deal 
with Standard . Oil of California, 
through the B. B.D. it O. agency, to 
service SOG with motion pictures of 
the Tournament of Champions and 
the Golden Glove contests for re- 
lease over west coast stations. Bouts 
will be held in New York March 3 
and 23 respectively and the contract 
calls for having the films on the 
Coast six days after each event . 

The project has an unusual twist 
in that the fights are to be held in 
Madison Square Garden.' CBS has 
the exclusive tele rights to that sta- 
dium but since the bouts come under 
the sponsorship of the Chicago 'rri- 
bune and the News an exception' to ; 
the CBS-Garden tieup prevails, so 
far as the films anyway are con- 
cerned, 



♦ Television audiences will go for 
th? same types of dramatic shows 
thsit have become established on ra- 
dio during , the la^t 20 years. That> 
the- indication drawn from about 800 
letters forwarded to the J. Walter . 
Thompson ad agency toy viewers of 
the "Kraft Television Theatre," aired . 
over the NBC tele web Wednesday 
nights. . ,- 

Letter^ were mailed in by viewers' 
in answer to a request for reaction , 
o "Spring Green,!' a play dealit^g . 
with teenagers scripted by Florence 
Ryerson and the late Colin Clements, 
Viewers, while expressing almost ; 
unanimous approval of the weekly. 
Kraft playsy aliso furnished some in.^ 
teresting insights into the general 
reaction ot tele audience t^t tiif be- . 
dium. 

Housewife in M a s p e t h, Long , 
Island, for example, is apparently, 
satiated with most of the tele shows , 
now on the air. She writes: "To a , 
starved televiaon audience, your" 
play;s are a breather. Oh, tor lots ' 
more 6f ' the same:" This hausftau'^ 
also pointed up the terrific advej;-' 
tising impact possessed by video. She 
declared: "when , you show your 
cheese poured over toast,, just what 
do you 'think, happens? After the ' 
play is finished, I've got to make' 
some for aU.That's something radio ' 
won't do. Talking about it is on* ' 
thing, but When you see it done in ' 
front of your eyes,' it loolra so gSood, " 
you just have to trj^ some." 

Audience reaction to teenage shows' 
will probably foe °}Ust diver.se as ' 
they ari to the same type dramas on 
radio. A Flushing, N.' Y., viewer, for 
example, declared: '^As a rule, your • 
plays are excellent As , for . 'Spring 
Green,' veven the teenagers 'disliked: 
it—ibut thoroughly. I realize that to' ^ 
pl^se everyone all' the time is; im- 
possible, but I do believe most of the ' 
listening audiences are fed up on ' 
'Date With Judy,' 'Henry Aldrich,' 
etc. — even the teenagers for wlioia' ' 
they are written." • 

Varied Reactions 



WLWT Signs To Air 
34 Cincy Reds' Games; 
Burger Beer WiH 6.R. 

Cincinnati, March 2, 
Television treatment of baseball 
on a commercial basis bows here 
this season, with Crosley's WLWT, 
only local television station, carry- 
lag 34 Reds' games, four of them on 
Sundays and the balance on week- 
days. BankroUer is the Burger 
Brewing Co., sole sponsor of base- 
ball airings on Scripps-Howard'a 
WCPO, which holds exclusive broad- 
cast rights With the Reds on a con- 
tract expiring this year. Play-by- 
play will be by Wait* Hoy t, W<3PO 
baseball announcer. 

Announcement of the a«al was 
relayed yesterday (Monday) from 
the Reds' training camp in Tampa, 
Fla,, emanating from Warren C. 
GUes, the team's president and gen- 
eial manager. WLWT, which went 
commercial last month, carried, tele- 
casts of three Reds' games at the 
tkll end of last aniW (A an «Kpeiv. 
ImentRl tryi 



Opera Excerpts As 

Television Package 

Excerpts of the most famous clas- 
sical operas are being wrapped up 
into live Studio television packages 
by Herman Fialkoff, prez of Celeb- 
rity Concert Corp. Series, to be 
directed by Luigi Rossini, will be 
available to sponsors on a 13-week 
basis, with each one running either 
15 or 30 minutes. 

Although plans for the series are 
already in the works, the shows 
won't be able to take the air until 
'the American Federation of Musi' 
cians lifts its ban against the use of 
live musicians on video. Celebrity 
Concert also plans eventually to film 
the acene.s in 15-minutc segments, for 
networking to stations throughout 



Opposite reaction was expressed . 
by a 'y^oodmere, L. L, housewife,. wh« , 
suggested tha^ Kraft start a series 
on the 'ISpripg Gs»den"..theme. This, 
she^wrote, woUld givfe television its ^ 
; . ((Continued -on page 35) . , ■ ■ 

MacysSetFor 
Plunge in Video 

Macy's, New York largest depart*' 
ment store, is plannin" to hop on 
the video bandwagon even before 
its own station, WBAM, is ready for 
operation. The store is shopi>ing 
around for a half-hour period on one 
of the local TV s-tations. with WABD 
probably turning out. the choice. The 
program is also yet to be. selected. 

Macy had been dickermg with an 
audience participation show whicli 
involved a play on matbemaiical 
progression and the figure "6," wh'ch 
would have highlighted the stoie's 
"6% cheaper" promotional angle, but 
it couldn't get together with the 
packagers on price. It also, looked ^ 
over "The Missus Goes a Shopping'* 
but shied away from the fact that it' 
Would have to share the show with 
others. 



the country. Narrator is to -supply a | 
brief description of each excerpt in 
film form. • 



AGENCY TIME-BUYERS 
0.0.m VIDEO PiaURE 

Subject of television has become 
i so liot aroimd the New York ad . 
agencies that several of them are 



WCAU-TV Plans 'Sneaks' 

Philadelphia, March t 
WCAU-TV. Philadelphia Evening 
Bulletin's television outlet, started 
airing its test pattern yesterday 
(Monday) on Channel 10. During the 
test pattern period, the station will 
run "Jjneak previews" of CB& net- 
work video programs, ofilciaU s»id. 

New outlet has a visurt |>owcv of 
as kw and aural power «t kW* 



arranging to have members of their 
time buying staffs make the swing 
of local video stations for the dual 
purpose of gettmg acquainted with 
the operation and finding out What's, 
on tap programwise. One of the' 
agencies. Young & Rubicam, already ' 
-has put the look-see plan into effect 
There was much of this type ol 
touring in matters radio prior to 
the war, With BJtJ3.&0.» particur 
larly, making' it a practice of having' 
at 'least one,' member of its staff on 
the ro«d "kt xegular intervals. Th* 
travelers this time- win, '«f cowm^' 
als» dontact radio stations.' >' 



28 



RABIO BEVIEWS 



V«dn«gd»y» Mfirch 3^ 1948 



LIVING— 1*** 

Wltb Ben Grauflr, Mrrator; Dr. 
' Geort«'- OMIiif*, Viekji Vola, Gert- 
rude wurhcr, Alexander Scourby, 
tieow ' J[anney; Bpb Warren, an- 
nouncer . >■ ; ■ 

Writer: t*u Hanm , 

Director: JameB Harvey , 

tS Mtns.; 'Sun.^'4:$S-S p.ni. 

Igustalnini: 

NBC. from New York , 

NBC's 'bigtittie-excursioh into: pub-; 
lie service pri)£rainiining, tm thir 
agenda since 'Ken Dyke took over 
'the web's • progranjming operation, 
got oft to a belated, start Sunday (.81) 
with the inauguration ol the "Living 
— 1948" afternoon series. 

The pifemiere broadcast made ex- 
citing and at times wonderful radio,, 
except for a disconcerting luHijig-* 
people-intp-cohtentment note of> es- 
capism at the windup. " . 

The network has set itself a lofty 
and ambitious goal in this series-^ 
ttn ' bverjall ' documenl&iton^' of the 
problems facing Americans as citi- 
iens in a democracy^ ' 

It's a tall order; as tall, in fact, as 
anything being., attempted in con- 
temporary; radio, and for the initial 
broadcast NBC formulated ,the pat- 
tern for -the ."series with a "Signs of 
Our Times" dramatic montage re- 
flecting the 'state of the nation today. 
By means of a 4hree-way narrationv 
q.&a. , and dramatization technique, 
the confusion of "living in 1948" was 
thrown into sharp focus; flitting from 
the high 'cost of living, the New 
. Look in clothes, inadequate housingj 
ynescorted women at bars and the 
Marshall Plan to a new Saroyan 
play and the, song called "Civiliza- 
tion." • 

AH this was superimposed on such 
fitting quotations as Gandhi's (just 
ttrior ,to his death) "Strange world, 
ao'iif long have I to play this game?" 
And again, the eminent Nobel prize- 
winninft physicist's: "Other animals 
have died, out, why not lis?"' 
. Then- along came Dr. George, Gal- 
lup^ who is cooperating with the web 
in the overall planning of. the series, 
to shed light on this 1948 conglomer- 
ation. And here, basically, is where 
the show missed- fire. For out of the 
tiiirest and 'confusion projected in the 
allowing , of the current ■ state' of the 
jiation'camig a terrible rne'ed,fof clar- 
ification ' and, above all, a- "right -un- 
derstanding" which will, give faith to 
the people in this one wprld, fast be- 
coming Awb, ' .' . 

Gallup did. express. .complete faith 
in the people, but it' was not born 
.of the faith that comes from first 
giving the people "the ■ right to un- 
derstand a matter" (his own quote in 
justifying George Washington's faith 
in the people). • Gallup brushed off 
the need by his own survey, in 
, which he asked the people if they 
were happy— and they answered yes. 

He saw in this a direct connection 
between happiness, and politics, and 
followed .this up with statistics about 
France, where two thirds' ot . the 
people . who were unhatSpy were 
Communists — ^ and that we were 
thankful for living in America. 

Granted that we are living in the 
fcestot all possible lands, the fact re- 
mains the issues facing our, land re- 
quire fuller undeiistanding, olear and 
unbiased, ' . ■ v Bo*e.: 



KINSEV KEFORT 

With Dr. S. Bernard Wortis, »r. 
Abraiwia Stone, Dr. Huth Bene- 
dict, Morrl* L. Ernst , 

3« Mini., Friday, 9:3* P.n>- itv 

SMtaininr 

WMCA, New York , 

■ This discussion of Dr. Kmsey* 
best-selling book ' surveying the 
'ISexual Beliavior. of the Human 
Male" was a notable event. -Despite 
its ponderousnesS, self-conseiousn.ess 
arid listener-chasing erudition, it did 
accomplish one" thing. That was, it 
weiit much further than any pre- 
vious broadcast in gettipg various 
taboo words into the open' and on 
the .air. As , such, it <was probably 
worth the evident work Of prepara- 
tion and the necessary concentrated 
attention. But as a popular , clariJi- . 
ejition , of a complex 'subject,- it wafe 
pretty briital.' ' ' . ■ . 

The show suffered from the pro-, 
fessional ■ approach >r of the partici- 
paiits. The three - experts sounded 
learned, serious and a bit dull— defi- 
nitely not calculated to hold the 
attention Of or enlighten a casual 
dialer. They read from painstak- 
ingly prepared scripts, in which the 
weighty writing defied easy under.- 
standing. And their statements did 
little to put the subject, into terms 
of the everyday lives of the listenersr. 
Albout the only personally appli- 
cable fact offered was that the sex 
patterns of contemporary American 
males are substantially the same as- 
those of former generations. ^ . 

As moderator, Ernst repeatedly 
read lines . apparently intended to 
clarify the tall palaver, but the at- 
tempts invariably came to- nothing, 
(and as the ' whole broadcairt was 
in script form these, were obviously 
just eonversational gestures). Othei!- 
wise, Ernst seemed to be reaching 
a bit in his attempts to swing, the 
confab around to . the subject of 
democracy versus dictatorship^ 

Still, it was probably worth all 
the trouble on -both sides of the 
microphone to have . certain taboo 
Words rescued fjrom the hushrhush 
realm and brought into the open. 
Such a thing would probably not 
have been permissible in the radio 
of several' years ago. But -now, that 
it has' been done, - and nobody's 
'morals demonstrably injured, there 
may be more" and better public dis- 
cu^on of the- whole general subject, 
'making possible greater public edu- 
cation . and " socialTmoral . improve-, 
ment. ■ ^ " . , I 

In any case, WMCA rates a 
genuine nod for putting on such 'a 
broadcast . ' ■ Kobe. 



HIGH TIME - 
With Bill Irearont 
Writer-Producer: Tearout 
60 Mini.; 10:30 ii.m^; Sat. ' 
Suitalninc v 
WBEN, Topeka ' • 

Idea behind this one .Is to give 
teen agers of Topeka ^something to 
«lo and som'ething ..to listen to on 
Saturday mornings. - When it moved 
to Topeka couple of months ago 
from Lawrence. WREN moved into a 
tieup' with the Wagon Wheel Youth 
Center for an on-location broad- 
cast each Saturday. The chore most- 
ly was assigned to Bill .Yearout of 



ly : 

the ; announcing staff, but .there is 



AUDITION AMBITIONS 
Witli- Sidney Andorn, Georce Duffy, 
CJmrlcs' Soberti, Cor^bella J«hn- 

< Mn; Itam AnustroUK, announcer 
SO Mini.; Saturday, 1 p.m. -: 

Swstainint 

WGAB, Cleveland v 

Newest wrinkle to test ' and give 
amateurs a break— arid one lit the 
best stunts yet — ^promises to propel 
itself among the tops -on- the local 
airways.' . 

Briefly, would-be air wonders write 
for chance to audition.- Best ap- 
plicants are selected for appearance. 
Judges merely hear the applicant' 
on the air; a screen prevents them 
from seeing' them. Following the test 
the judges, meet the contestants, tell 
them what's wrong or what's good, 
and, if possible, pick the best con- 
testant, who: then gets a week's sal- 
aried engagement at WGAR. 

Judges change . each week, but 
are experts in their field. The week 
reviewed, for example, included 
George ' Duffy, whose bo,ys p!a.y .at 
the Statier, 'ruling on popular sing- 
ers; Charles' Roberts, WGAR's chief 
announcer, judging would-be an- 
nouncers, -and Carabella Johnson, 
formerly of the Met' and now voice 
coach, Classical singers. - 

Test for announcers is the reading 
of copy plugging a Civic event such 
as Red Cross drive, need for hospital 
funds, etc. 

So far there has been one winner 
each week, with two of the winning 
singers in line to get top jobs with 
trade. / 

■ Judges don't mince words in 
weighing ability of contestants. Sid 
Andorn.and Tom Armstrong handle 
the' applicants and do much to ease 
nervous straih. Aitdorn is now plan- 
ning a stage appearance on Wednes- 
day night at Keith's 105th Street 
theatre whereby two weekly win- 
ners of the radio stanza will appear 
in the variety show. 
■ Should the program .show, as it 
promi.se.') to do, that enough" dra- 
matic talent is in the community, 
station is contemplating .<ietting up 
« drama class to draw from. 

A good ;half -hour show, with 
WGAR gettihg "A" tor effort and 
tor clearing "A" time.' 



considerable ' station staff planning 
behind it. What results is an hoar 
containing a bit of several subjects 
of interest to the younger crowd. 

As Yearout does - it,,]^ the show 
amounts to a glorified inari-on-the- 
street brought iAfo "The Hiib"— as 
the- high teens call their center, and 
concentrating on teen topics. Format 
includes recordings of pop music, 
ihterviews," a quiz session called 
"High-(3 Time," a teen reporter, and 
some general cheering, and plugging 
for each of the area's high schools 
in turn. 

Show has been on since mid-De- 
cember, and by now is gaining a 
rep among the hep prep' schoolers. 
Interviews on this one, for example, 
caught ki,ds visiting from' En>poria 
and Manhattan. The quiz session 
requires only yes or no answers 
and is run on an elimination basis. 
Marilyn Mathiason, of Topeka 's 
Washburn High, walked off with 
the prize on this one. getting ati 
album of Mercury records. Lasers 
on the show swarm to the fountain 
and all have a chocolate malt on 
the house and the show. In fact. 
■Yearout orders any one o£ the gang 
tp the tountain at the least excuse, 
and makes for almost feverish in- 
terest from the milk shake and malt 
followers. 

A bit more attention to searching 
out interesting interviewees and 
picking up another loo.se end here 
or there would help, but in the 
main show more than holds its own. 
It's one of the major efforts in this 
area directed at the juve listeners, 
and is improving with age. Quin, 



TO SEOIIBB THESE BIGHTS 

Wiih Arnold Mom, Juano Hcrnandex. 
joieph Julian, Norman Roie, Ed- 
win Jerome; Ralpli Paul, an- 
houneer; Jobn Gart, mniio 

Otraetor: Mttoheli Grayion 

Producer: Elsie Dick 

to Mini.; Tuea. (24), 10 P.m. (EST) 

Sustainlnr 

Mutual, from New York 

Mutual originally planned this .to 
be; the premiere of- a four-shot series 
'dramatizing the report of the Presi- 
dent's Committee on Civil Rights, 
In an eleventh-hour change of mind, 
the web threw out a script by radio 
writer Arnold- Perl and substitul&d, 
for reaiion,s pot definitely sub-stan- 
tiated, "'a dramatic reading which 
stuck to the language of the docu- 
ment. The story of why the format 
switch, - whether it was .justified, 
whether ifvrepresented "censorship," 
etc, obviously belongs in the news 
columns. Whether - the series -wiW 
accomplish its purpose a;! effectively 
via this treatment as it would nave- 
through dramatization is, of course, 
a sub.iect for speculation. Thpre are 
arguments for both treatments, one 
school of thought holding that dra- 
matization is always the -most effecr 
tive technique, another that «the. un- 
changed words of a document such 
as this, report, eloquently read, have 
a ring ; of truth' which,, no, "drama 
could- Impart. '" ■."'. 

Certain it is," however, .-that the 
presentation which went' on .the air 
could have been little', iniproved 
upon in the form it took. ' It had the 
dignity, the conviction :, and the 
clarity of the committee's -fliidings, 
projecting meaningfully, the depth 
and strength of thought, which went 
into the report. The hard facts were 
there, lucidly set forthi , alorig with 
the inescapable coriclusiohs, " ihe - lat- 
ter perhaps more frank ^ana urgent 
than the network would- have" dared 
to submit on its own. Thft'indict- 
ment,. for instance', of. intolerant ele- 
ments in the South for, their crimes 
against the Negro, was staVkly clear. 
And it bore the stamp 'o'f : an im- 
portant group of citizensj . « '- ' 

There were times, it must* be ad- 
mitted, when the recitation, seemed 
to cry out for dramatization.- -It 
can't be, denied, too, .that the read-^ 
ing; .for- all- 'Its eloquence^ .eoiild-not* 
possibly ■ acljieve tri'e 'emotional , JAi- 
pact .of'a dramatic depiction of the 
fa'cts. Confined to the reading, the 
appeal? was almost entirely to the- 
head rather than to the he^'rt 

That it came through as dramatic- 
ally as it did, preserving the: dignity 
and taste of the document while 
punching home its spade-calling)' 
was due in larg<» part to a- gather- 
ing of skillful, persuasive mike tal- 
ent, given expert handling by Mitch"- 
ell Grayson, who needs no: introduc- 
tion in the documentary- -field.- .John 
CtarVa original scoring dici- -much to 
build a -setting for the iepiyijeace. 
■•' Stanza opened, wisely,'' with a 
reading of President Trufiian's exec- 
utive order creating the committee, 
followed by a listing of the com- 
mittee members, to document the 
authority of the statements to fol- 
low. In the signoff, if wa§. pointed 
out that the "sole obje'cV' of the 
series was to "encourage Serious -dis- 
cussion of this report." There can't 
be much doubt that it will.',' 

Mutual rates an accolade' for hav- 
ing the courage, at least, to- give air 
time and money to the airmg of a 
document which is the core' of - one 
of the hottest political potitdes in 
the country at this moment-, :' - 
■ ■ Doon. 



KNITTING CmOIiE 

WUli Bin Berni, Giii Alton 

Prodttcer-Direetor: Buia Dnnbai' 

IS Mini.; Sat., 10:30 p.m. 

YARN CENTRE 

WOR, N. Y» 

(JEllis) 

The "Knitting Circle" over WOR 
may indicate that the multitude, of 
household program? dotting;., a.m. 
radio are going in for specialties, 
This is strictly-lor the knit-onerpurl- 
two aficionados,, and • doesn't *eem 
capable of ' attracting a wide base: 
among the itemnf^ listeners. -" " " - 

■The format is fairly .simple, w.ith 
Gizi Alten, editor of "Modern Knit' 
ting-i" " acting as the expert " on' the 
session, with , Bill Berns acting as 
eon^erencier. - Miss Alten ' answers a, 
multitude of questions' on the subject 
with a" .soft Viennese . accent,* while 
Berlis flits in 'arid 'out of the. pro- 
ceedings with his' own obse,t'vatjons. 
on the subject. ■ ; - - : ' - , 

Bferns carries oufc his - end- of the' 
assignment with a nice "sense of 
humor to" give .the staiiza a lively 
touch". . ... . ..... ' ■ - ■ 

; Sponsor is,., appropriately enough, 
a raidtown: New York yarn shop. 

Jose. ■ 



SONGS FOB EVERYBODY 
With, Dorothy Kiddincton, I^oWell 
Hicks, Bob Rohlfinc, the - Electric 
Four ■■■ 
Producer: Victor Bell 
25 Mins,; Sat.. 6:30 p.m. •: 
UTAH POWER AND LIGHT CO. 
KSL, Salt Lake Citv 
(Gill/tnm) 
"Songs For Everybody" is slanted 
for easy listening, with particular 
appeal for the mature segment" of the 
audience. And it does a nice jolj 
of attaining .its goal. 

The mood of the program is easy 
going, with familiar tunes on the 
sweet side. Featured are 'Vocalist 
Dorothy Kiddington, the Electric 
Four, Lowell HickS at the Hammond, 
and Bob 'Rohlfing at the piano. Each 
one is a capable "performer, althodgh 
Miss Kiddington's voice is -a little 
thin, and when she gets into the 
upper register she has a tendency to 
sound as it she's forcing. 
■ On -stanza caught (f4) quartet 
opened with "Rose Room," Miss Kid- 
dington followed with "The Stars 
Will Remember," the quartet re- 
turned with "Tea For Two," the two 
instrumentalist.s did "Moonlight And 



BOB...TROIIT 
5 Milts.; Sun., 4:30 p.m. 
iSUstainini . 
NBC, from New York 

This is. apparently just a break-in 
stint for Bob Trout on NBC's news 
lanes, inasmuch as this veteran news- 
caster, who moved over to the web 
recently following a long hitch at 
CBS, unquestionably is one of the 
ablest news gabbers going and is 
destined for much more important 
use by NBC. (His only other air 
assignment is on the currently - in- 
augurated "NBC Television News- 
room," Via WNBTt N. Y„ with W, W. 
ChapUn and John MacVane,) 

In his teeoff last Sunday (29) ot 
this quickie: news roundup, .Trout 
displayed the competence of an old 
hand, but seemed to be in need of a 
little regular' workout to regain his 
best stride. He had a well-selected 
roundup of highlights f com tlie news 
wires: his reading was . in the ac- 
cepted newscasting pace and in-" 
flection (maybe this is what NBC 
wants- of staffers), but lacked dis- 
tinguishing emphasis or personality. 
Trout can do. a lot more than this, 
and, iindoubtediy will.. Doftn. 

WE reti;rnje:d.:TO Palestine 

With Jim Ameche, HukIi Douglas, 
Bob Hoffman, Norman Pierce, 
Jesse Push, KuH Kwpter, llks 
Diehl, Harry.. Elder*,- Pat Gleason, 
Art Peterson, and Don Gallagher 
Writer: Mendel Kochanski 
Producer: , Howard Keegan: 
31) Mins.; Tues. (10); 9:;{0-p.m.: 
WCFL, Cbi^aigo 

This is the first half -hour drama 
WCFL has staged on its own in 
months, if not -years. All .hands con- 
cerned deserve lots of credit, even 
though the result isn't likely., to win 
any Oscars. 

Drama dealt with the blood, sweat 
and tears of the Halutzim (Pioneers) 
in converting Palestine wastelands 
into productive country w.ith pros- 
perous villages. Show opened with a 
montage that depicted worldwide joy 
ot Jews at the UN decision to par- 
tition Palestine, then switched to an 
old shepherd on a mountainside, in 
Galilee. Shepherd, who had come to 
Palestine as a youth, served as the 
I pivot for highlights in the country's 
development. 

Scripter faced a tough problem ia 
trying to cram 35 years of history 
into a halt-hour framework. Shep- 
herd device was good, although 
weakened by the parallel role of 
the narrator. Better solution would, 
have' been to have had the shepherd 
tell the entire story via first-per.son 
flashbacks. Lack of- an oreh also 
hurt. Organ played standard stuff, 
helped .somewhat by a flute. 
, Jim Ameche was impressive aS 
narrator and the rest of 'the cast 
came up to the mark. It's too bad 
their efforts weren't punched tip by 
musician.s. One-limer was presented 
in . cooperation with the Palestine 
Histadrut Campaign of Chicago. The 
Histadrut is a 'Zionist orgdriizalion, 
compo.sed of "X'^testine .workei-s. ■ 
. ■ ■ ■ "■ ■ ■ . : Bflxt; 



THE PADDED CELL 

With Ken Nllea, emcee 

Producer: lrvlA.-Att;(n« . - . 

ao-Minfcr'»l»4 «#3WiMi:- . -.■...••;'^ 

scHwrrEK CANbx co, 

"KNXlPliS '-f««MI«-.:l«re»wor|(' ' . '..'.V' " 

Parlaying ijVln, Atkins to ken- 
Nileu shovid prove a winner to this," 
candy bnv attcftuo;. for two, cogent . 
reasons. Atkins has ' been around ' 
"•People Are Funny" as production ■ 
assistant fojr nine' years and kno\»s 
,all .the quirks ^nd daffy doings of 
the pew holdera. . fliles has that 
bouncy ebullience »o much the stock- 
in-ti:ade of 'manipulators of zany 
foibles. The 'tee-u'pper would indi- 
cate their "talents -are meshed to the 
end of making this .coast entry a 
poor man's "People Are Funny"'^ or 
"Truth Or Consequences." A cross- 
cut Of .the-V«di'l$ iin apt analysis. 
. As - is : "to r Be " .expected from the 
title everythih'g goes in the Olsen & 
"Johnson manner and nothing makes 
too much sense. It's geared for wild 
and. -raucous, laughter' and Niles 
keeps the gags rolling with all the 
enthusiasm of a participant. Main 
pitch is to suppressed desire which 
makes for mad clowning and electi ic 
pace. Mischa Aiier was brought on 
as guestar to enliven a romantic bit 
and it paid off as well as most of 
such giggle-getters. 

Show lias a low budget and should 
manage a sizeable Saturday night 
audience. Candy bars get a thorough 
plugging through the gift of cartons 
to contestants and the advantage is 
all on the side of the sponsor. Such 
formats grow like weeds out here 
but they haven't Atkins and Nilesj 
and that's where the big bulge lies. 

■ ■■ Uelvi. 



MUSIC FROM THE HEART OF 

AMERICA ^ 
With Jack Haskell, Anne^erihey, 

Joieph Galllcohio Orehv Jobn - 

Holtman, annonnoer 
Director: Parker Gibbs 
Writer: William Murphy 
30 Mini.; Thuri., 8:30 p.m. 
FALSTAFF BREWING , 
NBC (Beclonai), from Chicago 
(Doncer-Fitafferald-Satnple) 

As a discreet seller ot suds in the 
family circle this show does the job 
in flrstrate style. It re-echoes the 
Contented- Album , of -Familiar Music 
formats, turning" otit, standards; for 
the Serutan set. A' Victor Herbert- ^ 
loving W.C.T.U.'er might wind up 
hating herself in the morning. 

Show, which preemed Feb. 5, in- 
herits a chunk of the Jolson, audi- 
ence in airing on S.'i southern and 
midwest stations bypassed by Seal- 
te.st. Package is dominated by NBC 
staffers who., do themselves proud. 
Anne Hershey, a soprano newcomer 
to network radio, if not radio, ,has a 
fresh, pliant voice that quickens the 
oldies. Choir of three femmes and 
five males is directed by Fred Jacky, 
who commanded the choristers on 
"HymnS"~of All Cl|urohes." 

Session caught (26) rolled out the 
barrel with ensemble themeing "The 
Whole World Is Singing My Song." 
Choir went haii-yche.sted in "Stout- 
hearted Men." vaguely humorous in 
"Woman in the Shoe" and mellow in 
"Old Mill Stream." Miss Hershey got 
a genuine sweet-young-thing effect 
in her solos; 'Haskell baritoned 
moonstruck lyrics on the' uutton. 
O r c h gave excellent backing 
throughout and worked its brass for 
prime results in a fancy pass at 
• Parade of the Wooden Soldiers," 
S.trings in vocals had a Kostelanetz 
flavor. 

Scripting made for smooth transi- 
tions, with commercials following 
the hospitality-family fun linci Ai 
Falstaff's second try at regional ra» 
di^, this- series should bring hand- 
some returns. Baxt, 



STOP THE COURTESY CAR 

With Walter Kay , ' 

la Mins., TVIou-thrn-Ffl,, S.p,in. 

RUDY FRtCK, Inc. 

W.IW,. Cleveland 

; (Ohio Adrertisins) 

Using as a gimmick the identifica 
tion of a car and the award of a 
paii- ot theatre passes, a steak din- 
ner and a corsage. Rudy Fick has de- 
veloped almost 15 minutes' ^ solid 
sponsor identiflcation. -' 

The .program derives Its' name 
from the ability of listeners to stop 
an agency. car that has been touring 



Mark. 



CONCERT OB- CORN - 
With KMOX Hill Billies 

Writer: Beni Wilson 

Producer: Al Bland 

30 Mins.; Wed., 8:,'iO-9:00 pm. 

Snstainintr 

KMOX, St. Lotfis 

KMOX's galaxy of hillbilly musi- 
cians had their initial opportunity 
to pit their individual and collective 
talent against recording.s of the New 
York Philharmonic symph orcli in 
the first of a series of unique pro- 
grams designed to determine 
whether mountain tunes or the long- 
haired stuff is the most pop in the 
region Covered by the station. Tlie 
(Continued on page 35) 



Ro.sps," Mis.« Kiddington did "Love i ^ neighborhood and to repeat cpr- 
Me Tonight." and the entire com- 1 f^'^Vw ^: '''"f' 

pany clo.sed with "Will Vou Re- '",.^„„^^'"" . ,, 

member." All the arrangements M"^ P^sram is on the air, the slogan 



were straight, and in capable hands. 



,.an that has been carried 
window. During the iiine 
. the air, the slogan 
IS removed. Identification is madt 
j from the car to the studio by riieails 



Just two commercials are given. ; of mobiV-7adTo "Yelephone."''Con"ect 
.short and to the pomt. Rex | ije,-„ificatipn of the slo.Ejan by two 



both 

Campbell reads his spiels in. an easy, 
straightforward manner, in keeping 
with the mood of the show. Com- 
mercials are in.stitutional, slanted 
towards the constantly lowered 
rates for electricity offered by the 
"business managed" company, and 
the fact that Utah Powef and Light 
rates are 22% lower than the na- 
tional average. 

Victor Bell rates a hand for whip- 
ping together a smoothly pleasant 
musical session. Berl. 



^ I people earns them the, pri';.es. Loca- 
- ! tion of the car is announced on the 
I precediijg day's program, 
I Outside of the gimmick, and two 
I records, the )5-miniite stanza is .solid 
-'■poii-sor idptitification eitiier through 
singing tran,scriDtion or the an- 
nouncer's remarlts. Excluding the 
opening and closing leflgthy com- 
mercials ,and the ' i wo i-ecprdings 
played, the reviewers counted at 
least l.") times that the spon.sor'F 
' name was mentioned. Merle 



WPOB SHOWCASE 
With Bab Martitt 

&0 Mln«,;,Mdn.<-TIittra.:s»i„ I«:30 ]t<m. 
SustalnlnK 

WPOR, PortlaUdi Me. 

Ostensibly to showcase its a.m. 
net (ABC) offerings by sample taped 
repeats in late evenings, WPOR, pro- 
gres.sive local 2!50^watter, has blun- 
dered into an idea' that might have 
exciting possibilities if carried to its 
logical conclusion. Counterpointed 
against relatively s.ophistieated eve- 
ning standards of dramatics, morn» 
ing shows hit as would' a reel or 
two of a Charles Ray flicker .spliced 
into the footage of Altred Hitch- 
cock's latest production. Shrill 
dramaturgy is okay when the audi- 
ence is worrying about what to cook 
for dinner while running the electro^ 
lux in the next room. Come even- 
tide, though, and amidst the cyni- 
cism of an; armchair listening-post, 
it may sound sheer silly. 

Repeated in benzedrine milieu of 
Saturday night's (21) programming 
was taping of Friday's session of 
"My True Story" (Libby, McNeil & 
Libby), inlroed as adapted by Mar- 
garet E. Sangster from material sup- 
plied from life by True Story mag. 

Dead serious commercial copy 
geared for a.m. ' haU-listening here 
made Henry Morgan's attempts to 
broaden same into^ laughs seem like 
senseless lily-gilding. Libby's 
Corned Beef Hash was clarloned as 
"The hash that can't be beat!" and 
the question was delicately asked, 
"Do you suffer from 'menu anemia"?" 
(Include Libby's Tomato Juice.) 

Bob Martin, for the .station, ex- 
plained that the series would be con- 
tinued indefinitely .— , to acquaint 
nighttime listeners with what they 
might be missing. It's /or tree. 
Everyone should' be very happv, 
- Don. 



yir^,}n fHay,, March 8, 194ft 




...nm 







BILL SPIER 



The master of suspense 
this ABC mystery starting tomorrow night! 

Yes, a tlcft, sure hand will wind "The Clock" this Thursday 
night. This half-hour of spine-tingling drama— featuring 
strange tales of suspense— will be directed by William Spier, 
radio's top producer of crime and mystery! Having 
already acquired a large and loyal audience, "The Clock" 
now becomes an even more terrific buy. Packed with 
action, thrills and chills, and attractively priced! You will 
have a good time period on your hands, too— Thursdays 
at 9:30 pm EST. Why not call Circle 7-5700 today? 



PROGRAM DEPARTMENT 

30 ROCKEFELLER FLAZA, NEW YORK, Circle 7-5700 



30 



BAJHO 



4-»-»-»t»» ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦*»»»»»»»«^»»t ♦»♦♦♦»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 

From the Production Centres i 



♦ ♦♦♦♦ 4 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦♦♦♦«♦«♦♦♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 



ii\ A'Er YO/?K ory . . . 

Robert J. *Landry, newly appointed Secretary of the CBS Program 
Boird, has been using "unmarried" on the records since 1947. His former 

■wile. Marcia Landry, now resides in South America Ted Bates and 

client Bob Ilealy, Colgate's ad chief, to the Coast i"6r Sunday's (29) Kay 
Kxser 10th anni party ... .WOR will build Gabriel Heatters "Magic Cur- 
tain" talent-hunt show into a full hour stanza lor a Saturday night preein 

late this month when ,the gabber returns from fflorida Jim GaiQes en; 

trains for Denver late this week to doiible-o'the KOA operation Mu- 
tual is looking at a Cdihedy quiz show starring niiery comic Dean Murphy. 
Stanza has been packaged by Sam Levine. co-producer of "Harlem Hospi- 
tality Club," and Bob Monroe. "High Adventure" director. ., ..Clare Booth 
Luce being offered around as a commentator to cover next Summer's 
pol tical powwows in Philly, 

Mona Kent, scripter of "Portia Face.s Life," currently facing life- in the 
Virsin Islands, where she's polishing off her first no vel . . . .^Ilinor Inman, 
C?S director of religious broadca.sts, wed Sunday (29) to Clifford Ross 
Jennings, an accounting consultant, in Chi.... Baden Powell checked out 
of MBS' audience promotion dept. to become program director of KIHO, 

new Mutual affiliate in Sioux Falls, S. D Leon Levine upped by CBS 

to -director of discussion broadcasts New edition of "World Words," by 

Dr. Cabel (^rcet, CBS speech consultant, coming off the Columbia Univ. 
Press.. Art Henley has a "Forecast for Radio Writers" in the current 
Author & Journalist. Tomorrow (Thiurs.) night he's speaking at Hunter 
College on air comedy and "the mathematics of humor''. .. .James Boles 
into the "David Hamm" cast. Eva Parnell with "Katie's Daughter." 
Richard Janaver and Walter Black added to "Lora 3Ui*ton" and Helen 
Ray into the "Young Widder Brown" roster, , WiUiam Podmore, Helene 
Dumas, Sybil Trent, George ^Baxter and Joan Tlghe new to "Front Page 
Farrell." Z^:.' • 

Bert Tilt, Young & Rubicam contact man on the International Silver 
and other accounts, has been made a vice-prez and contact supervisor of 
the agency. He'll have charge of the Silver ("Ozzie and Harriet") account 
Blanche Gaines has signed as radio agent for Madeline Gapp, writer- 
sister of cartoonist Al Capp. They're working out n new radio-tele show 
idea. .. .Kermit Shafer set a deal for Columbia Pictures to do a series of 
film briefies on Allen Funt'S' "Candid Microphone"... .Priscilla Kent to 
Havana for two weeks* . Two upcoming "Cavalcade of America" scripts 
are hers ; , .Charley Slocum, ex-Godfrey show gag writer and brother of 
writer ^11 Sloeum, doing his first air stint— a 15-minute. Mutual stanza 
Saturdays at 4:4ft in which he kids the news. 
Art Feldman, Mutual "Newsreel" producer, papa of a Leap Year girl. 

Mother is former Rhoda Ma^id, ex-BBC sta/Ier Lester and Juliet Lewis 

having a Havana fortnight. .. .John D'Aiutolo shifted from ABC press- 
dept. to spot sales. ...Ben Myers, Radio Directors Guild national counsel, 
has a one-man show of paintings arid drawings in 57th Street's Argent 
Galleries... .Police Athletic League shoW, dropped by WOR, gets a 15- 
miuute slot OQ WNBC starting next Wednesday (10).^..Toin. O'Brien^ ex^ 
NBC anaoowcer, now on WMCA's gabber staff. 

m HOLLYWOOD ... 

Elliott Lewis, about the busie.sl, actor in radiOi restored by Mutual to 
the I'ead in "Case Book of Gregory Hood" for March 9 takeoff. Ray 
Buffum writes and directs. . . .Norris Gofi, Abner of Lum &, back in Holly- 
wood, ^fter niEtior sur.gery in .Lexington, Ky. He rejoins Chet Lauck in 
. two ^fieks. . i, kPaul iMastersoxi and Hank Weaver launchpd a new type of 



Wedneaday, Marcli 3, 1948 ^ 



tSbn eab by going behind the scenes with guests from pictures. ABC takes 
ft for the Coast skein.... Sponsor of "Gildersleeve' has bought 26 more 
stations on NBC, giving the comedy show a total of 143 , . .Alfred Woojley 
kin of Monte, took over operation of NBC's recordmg division while Qscar 
Turner was in New York replacing Robert ^riedlieini. . . ,Biow an<i Ev^- 
sharp called off the nine-week junket of "Take It Or Leave It m fevor ot 
a month in New York. 

Garry Moore missed out on last week's broadcast because «rf painful 
shingles around his eyes, . . .Carmen Dragon direcUng -the music ft>r Diana 
Lynn's show, "Youth on Parade," being packaged by Wyn Rocamora as 
summer bait. .. .Pied Pipers replaced Modeirnaires on Club 15 ..■•Ar 
Lewis asked for and received his release from CBS as staff writer- 
producer. ., .Walter Gering left KMPC because of conflict with, the sta- 
tion's policies. He claimed too much interference with his production 
duties. . . .Bob Hope will finish out the season playing colleges and is blue- 
printing a personal tour during the, summer layoff :.. .AH the cumulative 
boodle on (iroucho Marx's quizzer went. last week when a team composed 
ot a trash collector and housewife knocked off $3,»75. . , .Only three heads 
fell in the "economy wave" at KNX-<»S; Dick .Creedon, writer; Bob 
Moon, announcer, and Frank For4, Who was replaced by Peter Roebeck as 

merchandising manager Bill Henry moved back to his eastci-n base 

after a week of airing his newscast from the home town Frank Samuels 

flew east to shake up some business for ABC's Coast operation. .. .Maxie 
Ro.-^cnbloom set for a refurbUhed version of "The Leather Pushers," which 
he claims is in line as sununer replacement but he isn't saying for whom 

Al Jolson doing two broadcasts from Palm Springs, .. .Garry Moore, 

Ransome Sherman and Ralph Edwards will each do a week of "Breakfast 
in Hollywood" while Tom Breneman takes a month's rest from radio on 
doctor's orders. ,. .Hal Peary will take most of his cast along, when he 
p.a.'s thi.s summer.... Don Searle has installed a complet* print shop in 
valley liome and handling "social" jobs for his pals... .Jimmy Saphier 
heading east to wrap up another package. 

m CHICAGO .... 

Toni Co. has renewed its quarter-hour of "Ladies Be Seated" through 

FC&B. effective March 29 BUI Ray, NBC news chief, resumes his desk 

this week, following recovery from major surgery. .. .Jack Paar, subbing 
for Don McNeill as "Breakfast Club" emcee, trained to Indianapolis over 
the weekend to visit his folks.... Jim Ameche teed off "Dessert With 
Ameche," 15-minute weekly ^ow, via WGN Monday (1 / . . . .Pulton 'Lewis, 
Jr., aired his commentary from local Mutual studio March 2 and 3.... 
Singer Bob Atcher back at his ballads after three week? in the hospital. . . . 
"Hint Hunt" rounds out its first year this Friday (3)) with Chuck Acree 
hasting at a studitt.party. .Aaron Brody, of NBC's guide staff, turns his 
hand, to scripting for WCJS next week . . .Bob White, ABG's director of 
agriculture, in Wa^ngton over the weekend, conferring with Diept. of 
Ag officials. . . .''Nikki Kaye Show" chalked up its 300th broadcast Sunday 
(^9).... Hugh Jones, recent j;rad of NoMhwestern 'U., has iieen added to 
WBBM's news staff ... .VaUghn Monroe does his CBS airer from here 
March 13. . . .-Ann Farrell, former Quiz Kid, plays a lead role in the North- 
western U. theatre production of "Papa Is All," March a-fr, . . .Mary Hart- 
line, who batons the band on aA£C's "Junior Junction," has been posing 
for - the blonde beauties on coke billboards. . . .Clark Dennis writing the 
scripts for his new cross-the-board song show which teed off as an ABC 
sustainer Feb. 23. 

Chartoc-Colman, packagers of "Bulldog' Drummond," have been getting 
bundles of mail in connection with Ralph Edwards' "Walking Man" con- 
test. Lot of listeners have Driunmond pegged as the. "Walking Man" 
because of the sound effects that open and close the adventure series. ... 
Noran E. Kersta, director of NBC tele operations, and Reynold Kraft, the 
net's tele sales mgr., thumped video's drum at meet of 200 clients and 
agencymen her6 Wednesday <2S).. ..Bob Conn and Elmer Cawthon, for- 
merly of WBKB's engineering staff, have switched over to WGN-.TV.... 
'Jim Howe resigns as "Ladies Be Seated" scripter March IS. 



RCA s $8,000,000 
Net Hie {or '47 

Radio Corp. of America net ear, 
nings foT 1947 rose nearly $8,000,000 
as compared with 1946, according to 
the annual report released last 
week. Net earnings amounted to 
$18,769,557 last year as compared with 
I!;l0,e85,063 in 1946. The "47 earnings 
are equal to $1.18 per common share 
while earnings (after paymeilt of 
preferred .dividends) Were equiva- 
lent to 56c. per share in 1946. 

Statement revealed a better show- 
ing, too, on net, profit as compared 
to gross income, being 6% ot gross 
income in 1947 as against 4.6% in 
1946. Gross income increased 
$77,042,802 over 1946, being $314,023,- 
572 in 1947. Report noted that the 
diwy per share had been boosted to 
30c. per share on Dec. 5 as compared 
with 20c. formerly , paid. 

Just how much the average week- 
ly take-home pay was for hourly 
paid employees also was i-evealed. 
It was $52.96 last December which 
represents an increase of 109.9% 
over January,. 1941,. ; 

Corporation's earned 'surplus as of 
Dec. 31, 1947, totalled $6!>,558,7S4, an 
increase of $11,459,711 over eai'ned 
surplus at the end of 1946. 

Significant progress was made by 
RCA during the past year, accord-,^ 
ing to the statement of David Sar*' 
noff, board chairman, who cited tele- 
vision as the most important new 
factor in radio and said that it be*' 
gen to fulfllli its promise of becom* 
ing a great industry and a vital pub« 
lie service in 1947, 

Covering NBC, a subsid of RCA, 
the report showed that its 21st year 
was marked by the largest volume ot 
business in any year since formed in 
1926. The fact that 93% of NBC's 
1946 network clicTits renewed their 
contracts for '47 was pointed out in 
the report. Of total network pro- 
gram hours in the year, commer- 
cially sponsored programs occuiued 
51% of the time. 



Hartford — Mikeman Robert Gil- 
Ifespie of WONS here has resigned 
to become program director of 
WWCO at nearby Waterbiny. 




It-'s a big new4 year. And when news pops, the nation shops for the product 
advejrtised on a news hroadcast! The center of news is Washington. And 
in the center of Washington, ai;e two of the ablest^ most fearless newsmen in 
America. Both are available for sponsorship- over WOR. Both are "buys": 
in any year; and fr«m«iu!ou» buysin an election yearl 

A "BU Y'Vl/tTOW LEWIS, Jr. 

7:00 to 7:1S FMp Mon. thru Fri. 

One of the best-knovm news analysts in the business. A showman, fact- 
finder, award-winner, red-tape-eraser, 

A "BU Y"ilOBEItr A. ALLEN 

2:4S PM, Sunday* 

Brings public figures and the public-at-larg« rushing to their radios. Fear- 
less, colorful, swift-paced. 



-wor 




Wednesday, March 3, 1948 



SI 



Canters Choice 



• • • 




eievision 



Right now the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is starting something- 
what will be one of television's most elaborate, exciting developments 
—The Camel Newsreel Theatre. 



Naturally, when Camel decided to sponsor a new liill-lenglh newsreel 
each day, 5 days a week— naturally, the choice in television was NBC. 

So . . . excuse this paraphrase of Camel's Choice of Experience clincher: 

Let your own experience tell you why more sponsors are choosing 
NBC Television than ever before. 



Here's how CAMEL telecasts the NEWS! 




The Camel Newsreel Theatre 



A new 10-minute reel Is telecast each 
Monday through Friday —with NBC's own 
Television Newsreels (Mpn.-Thursw-Sun.). ; 
That means lastrminute sight and sound 
news programs offered on NBC, 6 days 
a 'week. 




Wm. Esty Co. has events 
filmed by Twentieth Century 
Fox Movietone News . 



Shots are edited, 
scored, narrated, 
then 





Reels are flown to NBC television 
affiliates not yet joined to the East- 
ern Network while 



Camel themes and 
commercials are 
integrated. 



Viewers in New York, Philadelphia, 
Washington, - Baltimore, and Sche- 
nectady, (Boston toon), watch simul- 
taneous broadcasts of latest events. 





Result: more news, more 
viewers, more Camels. 



NBC 



Television 

NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPANY 
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New Yorh 20, N. Y, 
A Service of Radio Corporation of Anterim 



S2 



RADIO 



WedniCBdwy,, lUiareh 8, 1948 



FCC Asks Nets' Policy on Duplicating 
AM Shows fo Non-ATiliated FM'ers 



Clients Jockey 

= Continued from page «3 s 



Washington, Maich 2. 

Another step toward duplication 
of AM programs over FM stations 
has been taken by the FCC which 
is seeking to clarify network policy 
preliminary to pushing the webs 
Into duplication. 

Eventual idea appears to be to 
have the nets not only feed their 
programs to FM outlets owned by 
their AM affiliates, but also to per- 
mit independent FM stations to buy 
such progtams where there is rip 
other available transmitter. 

The Commission made its request 
for new information to the four 
major networks over the weekend 
along linos which have been in- 
formally urged by the .FM Assn. 
FMA has also filed a petition "With 
tha Commission for a firm rule on 
duplications, now that James C. 
Petrillo has apparently given it % 
green light. 

■ In the letter to NBC, CBS, Mutual 
and ABC, the FCC reminded that 
each net had stated its willingness 
to make programs available for FM 
facilities of its own AM affiliates 
but had been prevented, from doing 
so by their contracts .with the 
Amei:ican Federation of Musicians. 

"It is understood that since the 
date of your letter," wrote FCC, "the 
four major . networks have reached 
an agreement with the American 
Federation of Musicians which 
would apparently permit the simul- 
taneous broadcast of AM network 
programs over the facilities of both 
■AM and' FM stations. In order that 
the Commission might have- com^ 
plete information concerning this 
matter, in connection with its con- 
sideration of a petition filed by the 
FM Assn., you are requested to fur- 
nish information concerning the fol- 
. lowing matters: 

"May AM affiliates broadcast the 
AM network programs simultane- 
ously over the affiliates' FM facili- 
ties? 

"If affiliates broadcast some of the 
AM network programs over the FM 
station, /are they required to carry 
over the FM station aUX network pro- 
grams which they carry (>v6r ' the 
AM station? . 

"May non-affiliated FM stations 
in communities where there are now 
no AM affiliates carry your network 
programs? In communities where 



ment 61 the General Foods adver- 
tising picture in line with the re- 
I ported tendency from witliin the 
your regular affiliate' does not carrj j combine to decentralize the divisions 
the network programs on FM, may j and grant them greater autonomy 

ot operation and evojvement of 
policy. This development is ex- 



another non-alfiliated FM station 
carry these programs?" 

The nets have generally taken the 
position that if and when their af- 
filiates duplicate on FM, they should 
carry the full AM package and not 
merely, select the best of the AM 
offerings. Their position haS' been 
furtbej) that the FM feeds should 
be limited to their own affiliates. 
So far as permitting FM stations 
to take the programs in communities 
where the webs do not have AM 
affiliates, the belief has been that 
this might interfere with programs 
sent by clear channel affiliates in 
other communities. : 

It, is interesting, to not* that at 
the recent FM Assn. huddle in Chi- 
cago, Leonard. .H." Marks; attorney 
for the FM'ers, offered a resolution 
asking FCC to call a meeting at 
which the four webs, would be 
grilled on their duplication policies. 
While this resolution was tabled, 
the Commission appears to have 
adopted the sense of it in its letter 
to the nets. 



Look Like WAIT May 
Have to Wait for Tower 



Chicago, March 2. 
WAIT. Chi indie, hit a snag last 
week in building a new 420-foot 
tower in Elmhurst, 111., to replace 
one toppled by a windstorm on New | . 
Year's Day. Zoning enforcement i niche. 

officer of Du Page county nixed a | Toms motive for moving 



pected to bring about a revised level 
of thinking in radio buying, with 
circulation costs taking precedence 
over prestige value. 
' ■ Toni vs. DoSota 
3. Cancellation of "Crime Photog- 
rapher"- by Anchor. Hocking may 
precipitate a battle between Toni 
Permanent Hair Wave and DeSota 
Cor the Thursday night 9:30 period 
on CBS. 

If Toni goes through with its deal 
for the Thursday period along with 
the "Crime Photographer" program, 
the network will encounter . some 
stiff repercussions from the DeSoto 
account. The automotive people last 
weekend were trying to contact 
Frank Stanton, CBS prez, in Atlanta 
,to ask him how the network had 
not made the spot available to th^m 
as he had promised, according to 
their impression, some weeks ago, 
DeSoto, handled by BB! " 
makes the contention that whei 
asked whether it could .have the 
next period that became open be- 
tween 9 and 10 p.m. Thursday for 
"Christopher Welles" Stanton had 
assured it of first choice. Last week 
when Anchor-Hocking Glass can- 
celled "Photographer," Toni advised 
the network that it would take ovet 
the show four weeks hence if CBS 
could in the meantime , clear the list 
.of required stations lor ; the ■ aC'' 
count's soap opera, , "This Is Nora 
Drake," In Columbia's 2:30-2:45 p.m. 



Inside Stuff-Radio 

Radio critic John T. McManus closed his desk at PM, N,Y., last Friday 
(27) to begin an indefinite leave, of absence during which he'll serve as 
secretary to Rep.-eleot Leo Isacson, Wallace-backed Bronxite, \vhose baU 
lotbox victory made headlines recently. Trade won't be surprised if 
Isacson turns up on the receiving end of quite a few air interviews, 
McManus is ex-Time radio ed and ox-prez of thp N.Y. Newspaper Guild' 

It's expected Seymour Peck, who formerly handled radio for PM, will 
get the chore again. 

In renewing his pacts with Armour ("Hint Hunt") and Quaker Oats 
("Man on the' Farm") emcee Chuck Acree insisted on deletion of the 
ban on flying in both .contracts. Prime reason is his weekend cabin in' 
Wisconsitt within easy flying distance of Chicago, but n.S.h. for railroad 
excursions.' Eventually he plans to buy a six-seater for use in p.a. hops. 

Virtually any Lps Angeles indie station can bt; had for a price these 
days, i* appears. When last .week KFVD was first reported sold' a sta- 
tion-peddhng binge Was kicked off with some live- others indicating by 
grapevines and otherwise that they, too, were open to bids. General re- 
trenching at majority further points up the now vivid fact that the "gravy 
train days" are but over for all. Station brokers, traditional drummers- 
«p of interest, are heightening situation with tlieiv activities at trying 
to make commissions, with asking prices ranging from a quarter million 
tor the light bulbs to $750,000 lor the 5,000-watt tonier Juke boxes. 

Ad agency circles point to share, of audience figures recently released 
by A. C, Nielsen as beariiief put the observations they have been making 
for the past several months that circulation levels'have been shifting in 
favor ol the unafliliated stations. In other words, while it is true that 
network homes have increased, the increase has not been in the same 
proportion as their shares are being cut by unaffiliated stations. Th« 
Nielsen figures' referred to are those showing the relative share of audi- 
ences for each of the networks and unaffiliated stations as a group for 
■1947 as compared to the 1946 sliceup of the audience pie. 



permit for the -tower, following 
beefs by operators of the Elmhurst 
Airport, which adjoins the transmit- 
ter site. 

Airport ops argued the tower 
would be a hazard to air traffic and 
a violation of zoning restrictions. Ed 
Jacker, WAIT chief engineer, points 
out that the tower has occupied the 
same site since 1937, whereas the 
airport is only several years "bid. 

Issue will be decided by the Du 
Page county zoning board of ap- 
peals Thursday (4), 



Golenpaul 

Continued from page S3 



'Drake" 

out of its present 11-11-15 a.m. slot 
on NBC is twofold; one's to get away 
from the rising competition of the 
Arthur Godfrey-Chesterfleld stanza, 
and^the other is to benefll from the 
discounts ' earnable as sponsor ot 
three programs on CBS, the third 
being "Give or Take," which Toni 
has bankrolled on that web Satur- 
day matinees for some time. 

CBS may have another ticklish 
situation accruing from the latest 
Toni proposition, if it materializes.; 
It was but a few weeks ago that it 
installed the Elaine Carrington soap 
opera, "Marriages for -Two," in the 
2:80 spot. CBS' matinee schedule 
with the Toni deal would become 
all loaded up, that is excepting 5:30 
to 5:45. 



Ed. Murrow 

Continned from page . Zt 



at a Carnegie Hall (N. Y.) ceremony 
April 27. 

CBS' Miirrow, who gave tip a vee- 
pee job last year to^ return to the 

air, will get the duPont award made 
annually to a newscaster lor out- 
standing news interpretation. Elmer 
Davis was last .year's winner. 
Couple of other awards in radio also 
are made by the duPont committee, 
but. the recipients (mcluding Mur- 
ro..') won't be officially announced 
until the time of the dinner, f 

John Daly of CBS is chairmaning 
plans for the Overseas Press Club 
shindig, which will take place at 
the Waldorf, N. Y. Speakers will 
include Bernard Baruch, Gen. Omar 
Bradley, and John Jay McCloy, pres- 
ident of the World Bank. 



DON LEE PLANT WILL 
BE READY BY MAY 22 

• Hollywood, March 2. 

Don Lee's new $2,500,000 studio at 
1313 Vine St, will be ready for the 
ceremonial dedication May 22. After 
a speed-up ultimatum to the con- 
tractors, Lewis Allen Weiss, general 
manager of the coast skein, was as- 
sured the plant would be ready for 
occupancy b^ that date. 

E'or the first time Don Lee will 
play host to a meeting ot the Mut- 
ual board of directors May 19 and 20. 




with no alternattv«i biut to sue the 
network for damages. 

"Info" package owner claims, for 
example, that while Chesapeake & 
Ohio was paying $5,100 a week for 
the show in seven major markets, 
an investigation via listening posts 
disclosed that about 60 stations were 
picking up the commercials "The 
results of this survey," says Golen- 
paul; "established that the entire 
Mutual operation in connection with 
'Info' was chaotic." 

According to Golenpaul, his deal 
with Mutual calls for a guarantee 
of $7,500 a week, plus 60% of every- 
thing above that up to $15,000, and 
40% beyond that. He claims that, 
despite Mutual's original assurance 
of a gross between $22,500 and 
$30,000, the gross has been around 
$10,000. 

Mutual execs have declined com- 
ment pending study of the com- 
plaints. 



Deep South 

Continued from page Zi 



Ford Theatre 

Continued from page 24 



555S I 




southern stations probably scheduled 
the series before or without even 
knowing about the format switch, 
risking wrath much closer to home 
than Mutual was. 

And the expected flood of listener 
reaction turned out to be a dribble, 
most of it in praise of the program. 
Up to the first of this week, Mutual 
had received - exactly three listener 
letters from the south, two denounc- 
ing the stanza (as "highly inflamma- 
tory" and "unconstitutional") and 
one lauding it. 

Arnold Perl, who scripted the'dra- 
raatic version and bitterly decried 
Mutual's ditching of it as out-and- 
out censorship, is seeking a way to 
get his Interpretation (which the 
network didn't deny was a brilliant 
piece of writing) plattered and made 
available to stations throughout the 
country. Three N. Y. stations, in- 
cluding WNEW, have expressed in- 
terest in doing his show, he .says, 
but Mutual has not yet seen fit to 
sell or grant the script right's it pay 
Perl for. 



lirst season. Lineup" revealed a de^ 
termined effort to inject aji wide ap- 
peal as possible into the show's 
repertoire for the last, and perhaps 
decisive, lap ol its first semester' oh 
the airwives. -' 

Next Sunday's (7) production ol 
Ben Hecht and Charles Mac Arthur's 
';'20th Century" will be followed bjr: 
March 14, "Autumn Crocus;" March 
21, "It's a Gift," an original by Lee 
Bloomgarden; March 28, "The In- 
former"; ApUl 4, "The Goose 
Han^s High;" April 11, Agatha Chris- 
tie's "The Murder of Roger Ack- 
royd;" April 18, cither Sidney How- 
ard's "The Silver Cord" or Rose 
Fran ken's "Another Language;" 
AprU 25, Laurence Riley's "Personal 
Appearance;" Maj 2, Booth Tarking- 
ton^s "Alice Adams;" May 9, "Tug- 
boat Annie;" May 16, either "A Free 
Soul," based on the novel by Adela 
Rogers St. John, or Elmer Rice's 

'Counsellor-at-law;" May 23, to be 
selected; May 80, Edna Ferber's "So 
Big;" June 6, .either "A Star Is Born" 
or Sinclair Lewis' "Arrowsmith;" 
June 13 and TO, to be selected; June 
27, "Meet Me in St. Louis." 



Cincinnati — Listener ratings on 
Alvin . Heifer's five-minute com- 
mentaries are climbing steadily and 
Appalachian Coals, Inc., the spon^- 
sor, which started the series last 
Dec. 1 on 58 stations, has lately 
added nine stations to tiie string and 
is considering lurther . extensions. 
Outlets, mostfy Mutual stations, are 
in 14 states and Washington, D. C, 
stretching from Canada to Georgia, 
and west to Wisconsin. 



BOBBY DOYLE'S PITT SHOW 

Pittsburgh, Marcli 2. 
Bobby Doyle, young Pittsburgh 
-singer and navy veteran' who had 
hi.s own network commercial for a 
while and was also featured for a 
while on Connee Boswell'.^ CBS 
airer, has returned \o the airwaves 
here on a sustaining program for 
WCAE. 

He's being given a buildup on a 
quaiter-hourer twice weeldy at 
scvtui in the evening backed by 
Barion EUliott's staff orch. 



John BIgir & Co 



I Buffalo. — RalpJ^ HuljbeH, Buffalo 
' .-poi'tycaster for 17 years, became 
sports director o£ WBEN starting 
; Fell. 29. lie succeeded ,)im WcH.s 

ref>ls;n(>d to become as-'i.slant to 
; .James F. Breyill. owner ot the 
Buffalo all-American Football Con- 
ference team. • 



IDEA for 
Television 

Carreon charaetar 
unlvertally publf- 
Cisedt avdilabl* i« 
tit-up. Hat 
Itiit liesslbllMes Ictr 
I mavtvi f (idt«!r 
comU ifil* 
Md merehoN- 
dblng. Mulw 
ally prefitabit 
arrongem*** 
with original 
« 0 py r i g h t 
owiMT. Writ* lox 4522, Variety, 
IS4 WMt^4«Hi fthNOt^ lU It. 




5,433,574 PeopJ« 
REMEMBER what 

they .Ke«r on . . 1 




PHILADELPHIA ! PIONEER VOICE 



WIP 

BASIC MUTUAL 



"*^/?yprs;en/^.d nalionally by EDA^RD PETRY &-c6. 



"IT'S ABOUT TIME ONE OF THE NETS 
GOT AROUND TO A SHOW LIKOHIS" 



(Variety, ¥^h. 11, 1948) 



Only 4 weeks old and already , , * 



n 



MUTUAL NEWSREEL 



n 



has been acclaimed the most graphic, dramatic and exciting news program on the air today 

BECAl^SE for the first time, a program makes use of the full possibilities of radio in reporting the new6. 

BECAUSE it's a program of the news as it happens, when it happens and presenting the personalities the . 

world over, who make the news. INot narration^ not analysis, this program gives the full, dra* 
matic impact of events breaking. 

BECiAUSE in four short week8,"MntnaI Newsreel^ has presented such national and international pep- 
.sonalities as: - • ^ 

Mohandas K. Ghandi Emily Post John L. Lewis 

Harry Lauder Rep. Leo Isacson Bob Hope 

V Leslie Groves Jan Masaryk Alt. Gen. Clark 

Clement Atlee Herbert Hoover Henry Wallace 

Henry Ford, II Seicty; Marshall Dwight Eisenhower 

' Pope Pius XII Robert A. Taft Gene Autry 

BECAUSE it's put together not by one or even a half a dozen men, but by thousands. 

(a) The nearly 500 affiliates of Mutual put behind it their full news facilities ... on-lhe-scene 
reporters with mobile units, wire and tape recording equipment ... and with special short- 
wave and line feeds into our New York news room. 

(b) Mutual's corps of 22 experienced, foreign correspondents trained In "Newsreel's" special'; 
techniques^ short-wave their ieatufes from the world's news centers. 

(c) "Newsreel" draws on the full facilities of many other international news and short-w^aye 
-services* 

BECAUSE the industry's most critical reviewers have given it full-column rayes, studded with jsuch 
-phrases- as:: 

'♦Overall effect Is punchy,- dramatic and antfaentlc, a p*rieS of real-life vignettes conveying the 
color and mood of each Occasion.'^ (Variety^ 2/11/48) 

"The listener feels that he was there when the news broke." (Chicago Tribune, 2/18/4^) 
"This show is top-flight radio news coverage." (Billboard, 2/28/48) 

(We don't think any show is as good as Variety and Billboard say this w— fewt we know it's a 
• great show and we wHl aim to make it as good' — or better.) 

BECAUSE it's broadcast at 9:15-9:.30 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday, "Newsreel" gathers and «llts 
the big news of the day and puts it on at a time when everybody can hear it. Remember that 
60,000,000 Americans are at work in the day and cannot listen to the news. 

FOR ALL THESE REASONS, "Mumal Newsreel" is undoubtedly the biggest news program 
on the air today and already it's building a tremendous following. 

FOR ALL THESE REASONS, "Newsreel" should make an unusually i!ffec,tive and powerful 
I program for some advertiser— in fact we say without any hesitation, that "Mutual Newsreel?» 

is the program buy of the year. 

Write, witts or phone for the full story— and the remarkably low prices. 



34 



Wedntiflilay, March 3« 1948 



Webs Drydook Mayflower 



Continued from page ti. ; 



Trammell and ABC prexy Mark 
Woods said they had no present 
plans to editorialize. CBS' Frank 
Stanton aired for the hearing an 
experimental recording of an , edi- 
torial series bis net plans to in- 
augurate once the ban is lifted. HalE 
of the so-minute recording (in sup- 
port of Federal aid to \ education) 
was in the form of radio letters to 
the editor opposing the network, 
spiel. Woods said .the big question 
•was whether broadcasting would 
continue as a "strong body with no 
head" or would serve the best in- 
terests of listeners by "editoiializiiig 
vigorously" whenever they feel it in 
the public interest. 

2. CBS" Stanton carried the ball 
lor the webs, but took a heavy quiajT 
aing from Commissioner WaUcer on 
reasons for Columbia's cTiangfe of 
heart on the editorial question. 
(Board Chairman William Paley in 
1941 recommended to a Senate com- 
mittee that networks be licensed and 
regulations be written to insure 
fair handling of controversial issues 
on the air), 

Stanton- said that when there were 
Only a few huBdred stations on t"V2 
air this argument was valid, but with 
the number of stations authorized 
and applied for now exceeding by 
more than two to one the total , of 
English-language daily newspapers, 
the "frequency scarcity" theory is a 
myth. He maintained that with 
more than 3,600 AM and FM trans- 
mitters, a balance of opinion would 
be maintained witl<out any exercise 
of government regulation. 

All three webs have a policy of 
giving eqtual time for controversial 
questions;, but said they preferred to 
see a- station abusing the other by 
airihg only one. side of a fight rather 
than have an FCC ukase calling for 
fair play. 

3. Growing kinship between radio 
.(inid the press ^and pix as a result of 
advent of television and fax was 
also hammered home by the -web 
brass, ' Stanton declared: "The time 
Is running out for those who would 
keep radio in a special compart- 
ment of artificial restrain." Woods 
called radio's present muzzling '^sec- 
ond class citizenship." 

4. Trammell took the brunt of 
FCC grilling when he insisted it 



//Tr W, 



wasn't abridging free speech for a 
broadcaster to fcgep certain points 
of vi6w OflE the milce, but that any 
government edict calling for all sides 
to be represented violated the First 
Amendment and the Communica^ 
tions Act. He said to be "con- 
sistent" he was forced to take this 
view, which led Chairman Coy to 
comment dryly: "Let's not be con- 
sistent. . .How about exercising some 
sound judgment on these questions?" 

The NBC boss also found himself 
red-faced when he expressed no 
great opposition to the radio act's 
requirement that political candidates 
have equal access to the mike. Coy 
and Durr wanted to know why this 
was less an abridgment of free 
speech than a similar proviso cov- 
ering all controversial questions. 

5. Stanton also was taken over the 
hurdles by the FCC bench on the 
"scarcity" argument. Durr reminded 
him o£ CBS' concern about the 
scarcity of lowrband television chan- 
nels and the threat of a video 
monopoly on this count. Said Durr: 
"Would you. bar television from edi- 
torializing until the new band is 
opened up?" 

The CBS prexy ran into some 
trouble, too. when he argued that 
newspapers, now all-out on one side 
of the political fence, would exer- 
cise "fair play" in, programming their 
afiiliated radio stations if the May- 
flower decision were dropped with- 
out qualification. 

Straits' 15-Minute Formula 
3. Straus advocated softening of 
the ruling to permit a maximum of 
IS minutes daily of "clearly labeled" 
editorial time, which would .include 
airing of letters from the public op- 
posing the station's editorial posi- 
tions. He was against editorializing 
by absentee owners, however, and 
would forbid networks from doing 
so except via their owned, and op- 
erated stations, on the local level, 

Headaches involved in any. modi- 
fication of the editorial ban seemei 
a chief .concern of the FCC commis- 
sioners as the hearing went through 
the second day. They questioned the 
wisdom of specific limitations such 
as proposed- by Straus. Coy several 
times professed himself unable tp 
draw a clear line "between political 
and other controvei^sial issues" in 
radio discussions. - 

Ex-FCC. Chairman X<awrence L. 
Fly, representing the American Civil 
Liberties Union, headed the parade 
of supporters of the status quo. Fly. 
one of the authors of the Mayflower 
Decision, said, "Some Broadcasters 
have taken shelter under the sup- 
posed meaning of the Mayflower De- 
cision to avoid public responsibility 
in airing important issues." He 
added , that the important thing "is 
that radio be impartial, not that it 
be inactive and unconcerned." 

Joseph Beirne and Stanley 
Faulkner of the Voice of Freedom 
Committee ur^ed not only retention, 
but possible stretigthening of the 
Mayflower rule. 



Chi, HVood Unions 
Delegate ABUG As 
Mayflower Spokesman 

Mayflower hearing in Washington 
this week lent emphasis to steps to 
organize a national coalition of ra- 
dio unions and guilds. When spokes- 
men for the recently organized New 
York ABUG (Asan. of Broadcast 
Unions and Guilds) took oft' for the. 
hearings the first of the week, they 
were armed with authority to speak 
not only for seven organized groups 
in N. Y„ but for similar coalitions 
in Chicago and Hollywood. 

Word that ABUG would have 
spokesmen on the stand opposing 
reversal of the Mayflower Ruling 
brought requests from the Council 
of Broadcast . Guilds and Unions 
(Hollywood) and the Council of Ra- 
dio Arts and Cralts (Chicago) for. 
the N. Y. unit to speak in their 
behalf; 

Session of ABUG delegates, held 
Friday (27) named George Heller, 
executive secretary ol AFRA; Earle 
MoGill, Radio Directoi's Guild prexy, 
and Oliver NicoU, acting chairman 
of ABUG, to represent the allied 
group at the hearings. 

Through Nicoll; FCC also was re- 
quested to schedule as additional 
witnesses in behalf of their respec- 
tive unions and guilds: Erik Bar- 
nouw. Radio Writers Guild prexy; 
Heller, for AFRA; McGill and at- 
torney Ben Myers, for RDG; Bay 
Wood, prexy of Local 1212, IBEW 
(International Brotherhood, of Elec- 
trical Workers; and Charles R. lucci, 
secretary, Local 802, American Fed- 
eration of Musicians. 

NABET (National Assn. of Broad- 
cast Engineers and Technicians) 
mailed a brief to FCC on its stand. 
Seventh ABUG group, the Assn. of 
Theatrical (and Radio) Press Agents 
and Managers, will be represented 
by the ABUG .spoke.smcn. 



'Wftltz Me' 

Coiitinue4 from page 24 ; 



■EAUTIFUi, large two roomr, — 
hiteiwneftCi hold apartmmr, twin 
bads, completely rafurniihtd and 
radoeeratedi Full hotel Mrvic*, 
inrga-elosatsi tiiblet lminedkit«. |)ia(' 
Motmi^ W*st 72iid Stnwt off C«n- 
irol Farii. WILLIAMS. Cel. S4077. 



WJR'S DIWT, BIBECTORATE 

Detroit, March 2. 

At the annual meeting Wednesday 
(3.')) directors of WJR declared a 
quarterly dividend of 25c per share 
payable March 12 to shareholders of 
record March 1, President 'G. A. 
Richards announced. 

The following directors were also 
reelected: G, A. Richai-ds, Frances 
S. Richards, P. M. Thomas, Harry 
Wismer and William A. Alfs. 




centration of control could conceiv- 
ably squeeze i out' unorthodox ideas 
from the airlanes. 

Scheduled, as a rep for the public 
but claiming to speak for nobody but 
himself. White declared that radio 
was steadily ' improving in the de- 
partment of "intelligence programs," 
to use the New School jargon. He 
saw a hopeful trend in documenta- 
ries and; kudosed Saudek for his 
contrifoutionf^' White panned the 
so-called "listener grouijs" who were 
monitoring programs. Of 200 such 
groups, he revealed, he found only 
a dozen who were functioning on a 
regular basjs. The rest are coffee 
klatches, he averred. 

During the question period, the 
audience pelted Saudek with queries 
concerning the alleged blackout of 
liberal commentators on the air; 
Saudek said it ain't so, naming ia 
half dozen working commentators of 
liberal persuasion, and saying tiiat 
as far as ABC was concerned at 
least, no one was fired because of his 
viewpoint's coloration. Maybe the 
public doesn't realize that commen- 
tators haven't a title in perpetuity 
to their particular 15-minute slots, 
he said. In any case. Saudek claimed, 
the nets were carefully trying to 
present all sidefe of public issues. 

In cross-discussion between Durr 
and White, both agreed that tre- 
mendous strides could be made in 
the field of educational broadcast- 
ing. Durr stated his disappointment 
over the fact that the major private 
universities had failed thu.s far to 
apply for FM stations, Bbth Durr 
and White were in favor of govern- 
ment subsidies to privately run 
educational broadcasting institutions. 



•*Wow! Tb«)r'ie.ceRUy warming up that pitcher!" 



Soap Operas J 

as Continued from page KS jssaaal 

pop music; 16% want less comedy 
and variety; 42% want less quiz and 
giveaway shows; 22% want less farm 
programs, and 20% want less sports. 

Criticisms of radio through an in- 
dication of need for improvement in 
various types of programs was re- 
flected in the fo.llowing: 26% want 
improvement in public interest pro- 
grams; 31% want improvement in 
childrens' programs; 23% want im- 
provement in news and news com- 
mentary; 29% want iipproveraent in 
comedy and Variety, and 14% want 
Improvement in religious programs. 
The questionnaires received did not 
show how "the various programs 
were to be improved. 

Respondents to the survey showed 
that the gap is closing between 
newspapers and radio as news dis- 
seminating media; 37% said radio 
has more to offer in this field. Edi- 
torials are considered 90% a news- 
paper value. In the field of practical 
information, the vote was 33% for' 
radio and 51% for newspapers. En- 
tertainment, which iiv this survey 
covered many items under headings 
of education, cultural material, etc., 
received a 91% vote for radio and 
1% for newspapers as preferred 
source. Newspapers received 70% 
approval as the best media for locat 
advertising and radio, 12%, 

The survey was conducted among 
members of International Ladies' 
Garment Workers Union, Junior 
League, Urban League, Parent*; 
Teachers organizations. League of 
Women Voters, library groups, 
Council of Jewish and Catholic 
Women, CIO Industrial League 
Council, Board of Education and 
other labor, civic and-social groui>s. 



Friseo PtTA Hits Kid Sliows 

San Francisco, March 2. 

San Francisco's PT A lashed out 
At- objectionable children's radio 
programs in a unanimously sup- 
ported rep'ort which stemmed from 
a poll taken among San Francisco 
parents by the organization. The 
PTA listed three groups of programs 
which it considered objectionable. 
These were:, 

(1) Adventure serials which over- 
stimulate children and jilots which 
deal with violence and death; (2J 
Cllrime dramas which relate in detail 
crimes which may be copied by 
children. Crime dramas which ridi- 
cule representatives of the law or 
depict them as being incompetent or 
inferior; (3) Comedy or variety pro- 
grams, which have, any suggestive or 
oif -color material 

, Other program features considered 
objectionable are the gruesome sound 
effects and "to-be-continued" pro- 
grams which close on a note of sus- 
pense or uncertainty; 



K& E 



Continited from page 22 



rics after the March 31 program, 
and will remain on the Coast 



Olmstead in Coast Itowoiit 
Hollywood, March 2, 

Clare Olmstead has resigned as 
Coaist radio director of Kenyon & 
Eckhardt, a post he held since May, 
Robert Wolfe, as.'Jociate radio di- 
rector, comes in from New York to 
take over. 

Qlmstead's. assistant, Jesse Butch- 
er, is also leaving in a few weeks. . 

Transfer of the Borden show to 
N.Y. after March 31 broadcast leaves 
the Hollywood agency with only half 
of Tom Broneman's "Breakfast in 
Hollywood" for KcllogK, and Haven 
MacQuai'rio's, "Noah Webster Says," 
for Wesson oil along f oast. 



Audience Research 

Continued from page m- -'— 
most enjoy. Such information would 
1 2 valuable In program planning 
and production, he thinks. He notes, 
however, that no concrete conclu- 
sions will be possible until months 
of exploratory work is done. 

Following are the 20 programs 
named most often in answer to the 
question, "During the week eadiiig 
last night, what one program Would 
you say you enjoyed most?" (Inter- 
viewing was spaced throughout the 
week.) 

Week ending Jan. 24: Lux Radio 
Theatre, Bobe Hope, Jack Benny, 
Red Skelton, Talent Scouts, Bing 
Crosby, Fil^ber & Molly, Hit Parade. 
Fred Allen, Theatre Guild, Truth or 
Consequences, Amos 'n' Andy, Lone 
Ranger, Mr. District Attorney, Music 
Hall, My Friend Irma, Charlie Mc- 
Carthy, Telephone Hour, Sam 
Spadcand Life of Riley. 

Week ending Feb, 7: Lux Radio 
Theatre, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Hed 
Skelton, Fred Allen, Henny Morgan, 
Talent Scouts, Bing Crosby, Fibber 
& Molly, Dufl'y's Tavern, Studio One, 
Theatre Guild, Truth or Conse- 
quences, Mr. District Attorney, 
Music Hall, My Friend Irma, Charlie 
McCarthy, Telephone Hour, Infor- 
m-tion Please, and Eddie Cantor, 

Week ending Feb. 14: Lux Radio 
Theatre, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Red 
Skelton, Henry Morgan, Fibber & 
Molly, Hit parade, Fred Allen, Thea- 
tre Guild, Mr. District Attorney, 
Town Meeting, Suspense, True De- 
tective Mysteries, 'Horace Heidt, Tal- 
ent Scouts, Amos 'n' Andy, Music 
Hall, My Friend Irma, Charlie Mc- 
Cartliy, and Aldrich Family. 



Canadian FM Boys 
Profit by U.S. Mistakes 
In Channel Allotments 

Toronto, March 2. 
Profiting from what it claims 
to be mistakes made in the 
United States where some FM 
frequencies -has been assigned 
to stations which are. too close to- 
gether," the Canadian radio Ucens- 
ing authority (Department of Trans- 
port), has assigned permits across 
Canada to independent stations and 
the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. 
networks; but has made sure that 
all assignments are four channels 
apart in any given area, this to con- 
form with the bilateral agreement 
between the U. S: and Canada. 
., 'CBC is operating FM transmitters 
in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver; 
will start operation in Ottawa within 
a few weeks; but recent Federal 
restrictions on equipment imports 
from the U. S, appear to mean that 
the Canadian radio industry will 
havo to stand on its own feet and 
that manufacturers of FM radio re- 
ceivers will also have to depend 
almost entirely upon themselves for 
construction of sets and availability 
of parts.. The receiver situation, of 
course, has held back the develop- 
ment of FM broadcasting in Canada; 
such household items are beyond the 
reach of the average man's wallet. 



CANCER SOCIETY'S 
CUFFO SPONSORSHIP 

Hollywood, March 2. 

KFWB's "Preview Theatre ol the 
Air" has a sponsor — but for free. 
Harry Maizlisn has turned the for- 
mer sustainer over to the Cancer 
Prevention Society after several 
months of airing. 

Unusual public service step for 
the live program involves giving 
the Society two cuffo plugs per half 
hour. Listeners subscribing five dol- 
lars get two examinations gratis. 




^DSU bniadcuK JOOtf vUtt' 
ftoin tht. French Quuter la 
'the Gulf and South Xoutsiana listener*. 

From daily associanoii with timC'honorcd 
Kew Orliaiis iaslillilhui WDSU hat 
developed a high quality of integrity* 
WDSU devotes prograta time reeiitartf 
and exclusively to the St. Louts Cathedral, 
the International House, Moisant Inter, 
national Airport, IVilane University, 
Union StatiaH,(heMunicipalAuditoriuiii^ 
nphonics and Opera$.< 

WDSU's dominate Hoop. > 
crating proves t^at hon. 
oring local institutionft 
creates high listener . 
loyalty. 



SVloy^ 



ew OilMnt . - 



NEW 
ORLEANS 

12«0 kc 



WDSU 



ABC 
Allilial* 

sow 

Walls .. 



lOHN BLAIR A C0„ AcpreseiltaliM 




IN WORCESTER 



WTAG 



Wednesday, March 3, 1948 



G1RCU1IG THE KILOCYCLES 



Oin«innK*l-TCgnslderiug oflers for 
a swltcli to the ad agenqy field, 
I^aurence E. Neville resigned last 
week from WLW aft?r 28 months in 
its apecial broadcasting services 
division, 

Denver— !BiU Gillin, lately national 
•spot advertising, KLZ, named man- 
ager Of Alf M. Landon's new Denver 
station. Opens about May 1 in Park 
Lane liOtel. CalMetters not assigned 
«s yet. ^ 

Boston — Quartet of WBZ and 
WBZA veterans deceived service but- 
tons from' Westinghouse this week 
on basis of 15- and' 20-year service 
records. W. Gordon Swan, program 
manager, got 20-year button for 23 
years with, the outfit; 15-year buttons 
were awarded to announcer Malcolm 
MeCormaek, night news editor John 
F. McNamara, and oSice, manager 
and auditor Robert S. Halloran. 



Mioncapolis^E. W. Ziebarth, di- 
jector of education for WCCO and 
central cU vision «f CBS, will receive 
doctor of philosophy degree from 
Vniv. of Minnesota on March 18. 



Pittsburgh — Martin Agron- 
sky's early morning newscasts on 
WCAE have landed a bankroller. 
General Electric Radios, and Ray 
Scett gets to do the cut-in commer' 
cials. Book company sponsor of 
Dorothy Matthews' Saturday after- 
noon disk show has just renewed her 
for 13 more weeks on KQV. And on 
same station, Nancy Dixon's (Rosa- 
land^Kharfen) tab has Taeen picked 
up for another solid year. 



ant general manager and newly 
named vice-president. 



Cleveland. — Formation of Gerst, 
Sylvester & Walsh ad agency ma- 
terialized here with principals being 
W, J. Sylvester, sales manager WJW; 
Edward Walsh, advertising sales- 
man of WHK, and Arthur Gerst, 
owner of Gerst Advertising Agency. 



AMMO 



35 



Dm :M9t|ie«H— Bob Moore, formerly 
with KSCJ-Sioux City, as newscaster 
and staff announcer, has joined the 
jstaff of WHO and WHO-FM, Des 
Moines. 



Cleveland.— £. Harry Camp, sales 
manager for WGAB for the past 
nine year.s, has resigned. Although 
Jhis future plans have not been dis- 
closed it is expected he'll take a 
A«w executive post in radio, out- 
Side Cleveland. Sales activities will 
be 4)irected^ by Carl George, assist- 



4 



COVERAGE 

; . »- t 



.WJben you buy The 
Team you get KMBQ 
plus KEEIM , its new 
$,000-watt daytime 
550 Kc. associate sta- 
tion for rural Kansas. 
The Team's coverage 
is custom-built to 
cover all the Kansas 
. City market. And The 
Team is the only 
Kansas City broad- 
caster doing that job. 




of Kansas City 




tar Rvtal Kansas 

f«f c»mpl*to Coverage of KitiMt 
City'i trade area 

-fREE* PETERS, INC. 

NMkinat RepnseirtattM* 



Memphis Latest additions to 
WMPS staff are Garry Goodwill, 
announcer, formerly with RDKA, 
and Esther Whitehead, continuity 
department ' formerly with Foote, 
Cone & Belding in Chicago. 



Wichita— KAKE, local MBS out- 
let, observed Leap Year on Feb. 28 
by handing over all announcing 
chores to a group of local non-pro- 
fessional women. Femmes, who 
handled all gabber duties for 18 
hours, also were featured in a spe- 
cial Leap Year airer. 



Cleveland— WGAR starts a farm 
.show from 6:30 to 7 a.m. Monday 
through Saturday with Dick Kathe, 
formerly WMRNi as farm editor. 



San Antonie-^A lex Cole has 
joined ihe sales- staff of KITE, com- 
ing from. a similar post with KMAC. 



Television Reviews 

Sasa Continiied trom page 



lews 

26 '1 



the medium shot which gives the 
viewer the best perspective of the 
action as a whole. There is a time 
and place for closeups but athletic 
fields are not .studios and the two 
techniques, for the cameras, should 
be separate and distinct 



LEADERS IN INDVSTRT 

With Allen Scatty Arthur C. Kauf- 

nuuin, John A. Marpby 
Producer: Herbert BInggold 
Director: Paul NlchoIS' . 
18 Mini.; 8:15 B-aa.. Tuea. (24) 
fHEYNCVLDS & CO. 
WPTZ, Phlla. 

(Phil Klein) 

A stock brokerage, Reynolds & 
Co., is trying something virtually 
unheard of— ^trying to get clients via 
an air show. Using video and big 
names in business and industry in 
and around Philly, the brokers hope 
to hit the upper bracket audience 
which might be potential customers 
for stoclts and bonds. 

The show is of the interview type 
with some props to give it visual 
interest. Guest on show reviewed 
was Arthur C. Kanfraann. executive 
head of Gimbel Bros, and newly- 
elected president of the Philly 
Chamber of Commerce. Kaufmann 
described the working of the huge 
department .store with photographs 
Showing the various departments. 

Show was given a lift by the glib 
ad. lib of Allen Scott, who is: a vet 
announcer and has the know-how in 
handling q and a so that it has some 
life. Kaud!mann made an apt sub- 
ject for the «iiz; the guy has a 
natm'al sense of humor. 

John A. Murphy, a partner in the 
firm of Reynolds, takes a brief part 
in the questioning, while the com- 
mercials are restricted to a pitch to 
viewers to send for a booklet on in- 
vestments, giving the show the aura 
of a public service rather than a 
straight sales approach. 

This type of show could be deadly 
on video, but rapidflre handling by 
Scott malces it okay listening and 
viewing. : Shal. 



TO THE QUEEN'S TASTE 
WMh Mrs. Dione Lucas 
3« MIns.; Thnrs.^ 8:1S p.nl. 
Siutainlng 
WCBS^TV, N. Y. 

''To the Queen's Taste" is a natural 
type of women's show lor video. It!s 
a cookery program originating from 
the kitchen of the Cordon Bleu 
Restaurant which gives the femmes 
a chance to see a theoreticsil xecipe 
being worked out in practice with 
perfect clarity. The cameras have 
little to do except follow the culinary 
legerdemain of Mrs. Dione Lucas, 
owner of the- restaurant. Besides be- 
ing one of the country's topranking 
chefs, Mrs. Lucas has eno\)gh wit 
and charm to make this program 
acceptable to non>-cooking males. 
Under normal procedure, . however, 
this type of show should be slotted 
for afternoon viewers. 

No doubt working under the 
theory that television set owners can 
afford them,- Mrs. Lucas avoids such 
plebian dishes as hamburgers and 
prefers to play around with shrimps 
a la Creole and champignons a la 
patisserie, or some such dish. The 
recipes are worked out step-by-step 
with Mrs Lucas keeping up a steady 
flow of chatter containing helnful 
hints to housewives. At the end or 
the half'hour, the dishes are taken 
out of the oven, definitely not halt- 
baked. Hertn. 



Power of the Portable 

Hollywood, March 2. 

The importance of the port? 
able radio is best dramatized by 
Loretta Young's crack, "We have 
the entire house and swimming 
pool all hooked up for every- 
thing fancy from the Capehart 
to radio— I suppose the television 
is next— but we wind up actual- 
ly using the portable radios the 
most." ■ ■ i 

Hollywood, like the showfolk 
in New York, is perhaps the 
most airminded consumer mar.* 
ket, so far as receiving sets are 
concerned. 



JWT 



Continued frem page 37 



MMitoi% Ae For^ Conntries 



first "Aldrich Family" or "Hardy 
Family" serie.s. Other viewers a.sked 
for more my.stery shows and one 
Brooklyn physician suggested that 
Kraft mix 'em up for more variety, 
running a mystery one week, a 
drama the next, then a comedy, etc. 

Long Branch, N. J., viewer, prais- 
ing the "consistently high level of 
entertainment" in the Kraft .shows, 
declared: "Other sponsors will have 
to recognize television for what it is 
today and be willing to undertake 
the high cost of fine television en- 
tertainment in order to compete 
with the excellent showmanship af- 
forded the public by your company." 
Another viewer, bringing up tele's 
potential threat to the legit theatre, 
noted that the Broadway production 
of "A Young Man's Fancy" had 
closed to wait for another available 
theatre. She suggested it be staged 
in the interim on video, so that it 
could be judged when the play re^ 
opened whether tele would actually 
out into legit boxollice. ("Fancy" 
has since been completely aban- 
doned.) 

Kraft also got its humorous let- 
tens. Group of high-school kids in 
Boonton, N. J., noted they had staged 
the same play in their high school 
auditorium, and declared: "We liked 
ours better. Our play got three cur- 
tain calls. Yours received none... 
Anytime you want us to come and 
put on a good show for you, let us 
know." A building contractor in 
Huntington, N. J., after buttering up 
Kraft by praising the shows, recalled 
lie'd been a star athlete in hi^ 
school and also sang with a barber- 
shop quartet. He suggested himself 
as the. star of a sports show and a 
barbership harmonizing program on 
teie. ■■ 



Washington, March 2. 

(Follourfjip detielopments in radio 
around the world have been, broad- 
c«st by the Darious countries ond 
monitored by the U, S. Government.) 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Immediate- 
ly after the Communist seizure of 
the Czeeh government, the job of 
"purging" employees of Radio Sta- 
tion Prague got under way. The 
Action Committee of the station 
summoned all employees of the sta- 
tion to a meeting and decided that 
"certain employees known for their 



Will. Morris 

S Continued ttom pace 27 Sm 

Marvin Salzman now heads up its 
tele department. 

Jack Mulvihill, now ea.st, tops 
GAC's radio-television department 
here. Milt Krasny, agency chief 
here, says several packages are being 
worked on and it'?: likely activities 
will increase soon. Berg^Allenberg 
has Harmon Nelson doubling be- 
tween radio and tele, aided by Keith 
Brown, and like others, doing 
groundwork with ad agencies, nets 
and stations-in-the-making. Nick 
Kessely, recently brought from New 
York, is share-watching radio-tele 
for Sam Jaffe. Music Corp. of 
America's Mickey Rockford, Coast 
air-rep, and aides are also on the 
double duty kick. Part-timing for 
Famous Artists is Tom Greenhow, 
and dittoing for M. C. Levee is Ben 
Benjamin, who says he's packaging 
some puppet shows initiaUy.' Mort 
Warner holds the dual fort for Art- 
ists, Ltd., while Carlton Alsop is 
the radio-tele, frontet tOr A. & S. 
Lyons, with "Barry Wood Show" al- 
ready: gomg on KTLA. 



NBC Accelerates 



Continued from pace 27 ; 



Radio Reviews 

s contlnned from page 29 -5 



classical and hoe down strains were 
alternated in the program, which 
carries a $25 weekly cash award tor 
the best letter explaining why either 
of the two styles of music is pre- 
ferred. 

Inclination of the live talent to 
robustly applaud selections played 
by their own clan was a distinct 
drawback to the initial program as 
the recordings, had no palm-pound- 
ers to win more support, 

Marshall Pope, wlio m.c.'d the 
.show, pleaded through the program 
with dialers not to turn ofl! their 
sets when music being played was 
not their particular choice, explain- 
ing that some of the tunes, such as 
"Chokin' the Reefds," by the hiU- 
billies and "Dance of the Reed 
Pipes" by the symph had much in 
common. 

The symph music Included a few 
bars from Beethoven's "Fifth," a 
two-minute excerpt from "Carmen," 
Tschaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flow- 
ers," "Dance, of the Reed Pipes'' 
and "Caprice Espanol." The ditties 
turned out individually and en masse- 
by the hillbillies included "Turkey 
in the Straw," "Shave and a Hair- 
cut — Two Bits," "Paddy On the 
Turnpike," "Dill Pickle Rag," 
"Careless Darling" and . "Mama 
Don?tLike Symphony Music in Here 
Now." 

The wide conv asts in the styles 
of music being presented seems cer- 
tain to attract a large following, and 
it looks like the station will not 
have to wait long for a bankroUer. 

Sahtt. 

: follow-up Conmiefit; I 

Fred Allen took over the sermon- 
izing stint of "Tlie Family Hour" on 
MBS last Thursday (2«) and gave it 
a delivery that was so wai'm and 
forthright that it couldn't have 
helped but cause many a listener to 
perk up his ears arid wonder at the 
comic's alter personality. The theme 
was of the usual pattern which pre- 
cedes and follows the dramatized 
story, namely, a plea for family 
prayer, but Allen, instead of tossing 
off one of those lip-service jobs, 
molded it into something that sound- 
ed as though the thought had deep 
meaning for him and : had a strong 
persona! association. 



negative attitude" should be su.s- 
pended forthwith. One employee, 
described as a "disrupter" had fled 
the country. The Action Committc* 
also charged that a former .8tl« 
uouncer, Mancal, had sought to 
gather a group to occupy the radio 
station. Some people were forbid- 
den further access to the station. 

BULGARIA: A bill to formaliie 
the government monopoly of Hie 
Bulgarian radio service has been 
submitted to the Supreme National 
Sobranie. The monopoly would in- 
clude construction and maintenance 
of radio communications and br«ad- 
c^ting stations, transmission of 
speeches, music, television, etc, Tlie 
monopoly would be controlled by the 
Posts, Telegraph and Tel.- phone 
Ministry, the committee for Science, 
Arts and Culture, the Directorate 
General of Radio Broadcasting, and 
the National Defense and Interior 
Ministries. 

BELGIUM! The Private Radio 
Broadcasting Assn. has protested the 
closing down of private stations, and 
has requested thaf the government 
introduce, the radio broadcasting l.nw 
which has been promised Suice 1945. 

NORTHERN KOREA: Owners of 
radio receiving sets have been or- 
dered to take out permits' immediate- 
ly and to notify the ofHcit^ of any 
change of address, 

BRAZIL: The MSaiistry of Educa- 
tion and Hfealth Has begun experi- 
mental service on its new j^ortwave 
educational station. 



t>hiladelphia, March 2. 

WPlEN's recent offer to 4ff public 
service organizations here of free 
sustaining time, has been snapped 
up — but quick. 

Arrangements have been com- 
pleted with 16 groups, which taltes 
care of all of the station's sustaining 
time now. The remaining 24, .says 
Program Director, John McClay,, 
won't be forgotten. "Over the course 
of the year," he added,, "all will re- 
ceive equal, free air time." 




DMTE» RKXAIX URro CO. 
WetliHwday, NBC, ie:30 ,V.!Ui. . V.D.T. 
M-<i-M— .'''Oil th« iDliind With Ym" 

"THIS Time Foa netmr 
atit.: tau CLAVTiw 



start operating at about the same 
time, so that "-the two stations will 
comprise a ..modified regional net 
Uptil they can be linked to the east 
coast chain. Mullen declared that 
the coast-to-coast link would be 
completed by 1950 "at the latest." 

Pacting of the Chronicle station 
by NBC and the working arrange- 
ment with Balto's WBAL-TV, which 
is owned-and-operated by the Hearst 
syndicate, has knocked two stations, 
at least, fi'om the contemplated net- 
work Of newspaper-owned outlets. 
Other trade reports, meanwhile, 
indicate formation of such a web 
may fall by the wayside before it's 
even started. WPIX, the N. Y. Daily 
New.s' forthcoming station, for in- 
stance, is rumored already castinjt ; 
around for a major network affilia"- . 
tion. 



H.adio Sta.t.ibH 




N E W Y O R K 

BOLLI^G COMPANYii^a 

Effective Marcli 8, 194S 



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AFM-hdustry Mikic Comm. Begin 
Tosang Brickbats Over Disk Ban 



Artsument between the American*' 
Federation of Musicians and the In- ' 
duatry Music Committee over the 
recording ban put into eflfect last 
Jan. 1 by the AFM is getting sharp- 
er. In answering president James C. 
petrillo's lengthy explanation of his 
reasons for calling the ban, which was 
printed last weelt in the International 
Musician, AFM house organ, and 
gent to newspapers, the industry 
committee rapped PetrlUo plenty by 
stating that the royalty monies re- 
ceived by the AFM as a result of its- 
recently expired contract with the 
recorders were improperly dis- 
tributed. 

Industry committee asserted that 
ilie coin was ^'distributed among the 
locals of the union; in ratio to the 
Voting power of thelociils in electing 
the Federation's president. More- 
over, practically all of the money 
went to people who were already 
fully employed. The head of the 
union is still looking, not for com- 
pensation for the people who actu- 
«Uy perform music, but lor support 
for persons who earn their money in 
Other fields who also happen to be 
members of the AFM." 

Tljis attaclc by the Committee on 
Petrillo indicates the temper of 
some recording execs in the disk 
fight. They are becoming increasing- 
ly militant under the Taft-Hartley 
law, which ties l*etrilIo's hands 
pretty tightly. That attitude has 
been evident by recent indications 
that certain disk execs were of no 
wind to string along with the AFM, 
One major company actually lias is- 
sued orders to recording directors to 
(Continued on page 41 ) 



Local 47 Warns 
Maestres ^ 
Travel' Scheme 



Hollywood, March 2. 

Local 47 of the American Federa- 
tion of Musicians apparently has 
shagged member-maestros continu- 
ing to attempt ducking its rules con- 
cerning road trips by combos com- 
posed of all Local 47 members. It 
sent out a letter last week to all 
members to stop adding "travelling" 
i)ien to bands composed of all Local 
47 musicians as a means of avoiding 
payment of transpertation costs. 
(When a maestro has a '•local" band, 
if he adds just one member of an- 
other 'AFM local the combo becomes 
« "travelling" unit). 

Local 47 execs state that any 
leader caught in such an act will be 
hauled before the local's trial board. 

Mileage rate established by Local 
47 calla for from $2.50 for 26 miles up 
to $2S for 400 or more. Fees are 
per trip. ■,■ 



Schwarz's 7th Brass Ring 

Washington, March 2. 
Paul J. Schwarz was reelected last 
week to his seventh term as presi- 
dent of Local 161, American Fed- 
eration of JMusicians. Other officers 
named were; Edward '3. McCrath, 
veepee; Ray Peters, secretary; John 
Fichette, treasurer. 

Electees for the board: Marty Em- 
erson, Jim Nicholas, Jack AUyn, 
Tony Saudio and Robert Weaver. 



Agents M AFM 
OKToCiieckOn 
D^oat Chedb 

Band agencies' are suggesting to 
the American Federation : of Musi- 
cians another cliange in the pre- 
scribed methods of doing business 
with buyers. They ai'e seeking the 
consent of the AFM. in checlung the 
validity of deposit checks forwarded 
by buyers, before confirming future 
bookings. 

Procedure now, when a band is 
sold on a one-nighter for example, 
is to deposit with the AFM the con- 
tract between a buyer and the 
agency and/or a leader at the time 
the former sends it in signed. Ac- 
companying this contract is his de- 
posit check. This is placed in 'a banlc 
tor collection, but by the time it's 
pi oven whether the check is 'good or 
not tha agreement has been con- 
firmed by the AFM. Then there's a 
lussle. Some agencies want the AFM 
to allow delaying the filing of con- 
tracts witli the union until deposit 
checks clear and the agency knows 
for certain that the buyer is finan- 
cially responsible. 

It's all a part of current conditions 
and a companion move to one of 
some months ago. At that time 
agency men secured a change in the 
AFM rule which makes them respon- 
sible to a bandleader if the promoter 
of a date fails to pay off. Formerly 
the agency was forced to take over 
the promoter's debt to the leader 
without equivocation.! Now the 
agency isn't responsible unless it's 
proven it was negligent in making 
the booking with an irresponsible 
buyer, and then not until the AFM 
has exhausted all other efforts to 
collect for the maestro involved. 



DECCAUSESBACiaOGOF 
TRANSCRIPTION SUBSID 

Decca Records Is beginning to 
utilize the raft of material stocked 
away before the disk ban by its 
World Broadcas!ting transcription 
subsid. Decca did not, for example, 
make a master of "Beg Your 'Par- 
don'* for its own use prior to the 
ban, .but the"tune had been cut for 
World by Russ Morgan and, as a 
means of competing with rival com- 
panies now that the tune has reached' 
. the*hit class, it transferred the tran- 
scribed version into its record divi- 
sion. 

Decca's contracts with its own re- 
cording artists Who Also are. imder 
contract to World allows the switch 
of material from one disk channel 
to the other. Decca simply ■ pays 
Morgan and his musicians the 
amount they would have been ' paid 
had the tune originally been made 
for Decca use. This arrangement, 
Which has existed for years, figured 
to be of some help to Decca during 
the disk ban, and in this cajge it has 

. been. Most record companies did 
not cut all the tunes submitted to 

• them by publishers prior to the ban. 



AFMHobts 
Trial "Msm 



Hollywood, March 2. 

American Federation of Musicians 
has developed a plan which it hopes 
will replace tlie royalty-per-record- 
sold agr^mentj which, when out* 
lawed by the Taft-Hartley Law last 
summer, launched the AFM's refusal 
to record imd started the disk strike. 
Plan is for the . establishment of 
symphony orchestras around the 
country paid for by contributions 
from the recording industry and 
Hollywood film producers (idea 
would be incorporated into what- 
ever new deal AFM will make with 
filmites). 

Recording industry executives 
know nothing about the latest AFM 
idea and film prociucers couldn't be 
found here who could say they had 
heard of it. At any rate, disk in- 
dustry attorneys were of the opin- 
ion that even Iticking In to the AFM 
under the word "contribution" 
would be a violation of the T-H law. 



FOR 'SLEEPERS' 



Youmans Estate Bests Mifler Music 
In Royalty Fight May CoDect M 




Almost every disk: jockey who has 
a reasonable listener-rating, and 
many that do not, is doing his or her 
best currently in an effort to come 
up with a "sleeper" recording as a 
means of getting credit for launching 
a national hit song. Due to the pub- 
licity accorded a handful of jockeys 
in the past year or so who have 
plugged , obscure disks into big hits, 
the practice of ' Selecting likely new 
or old platters and plugging them 
constantly hoping to initiate a na- 
fional craze has reached almost the 
saturation point. It's figured that 
if>% of the nation's jocks have their 
own pet "sleeper." 

At one recent gathering of disk 
jockeys in the east, record company 
representatives; attending were at 
one time qj? another during the party 
buttonholded by every spinner pres- 
ent on the subject of sleepers. One 
spinner on a midwest station has 
been plugging a disk of his choice 
for the past four months without a 
break, in an effort to make it catch 
on with local listeners And thereafter 
spread to other territories. So far 
he hasn't been very successful and 
the disk itself is by now a dead issue 
in every other part of the country. 

The desire to be able to point out 
that he or she gave the first impetus 
(Continued on page 53) 



Sleeper for Col. 

La.st week, Columbia moved a 
"sleeper" disk that was being issued 
by its foreign department into the 
pop division for promotion along 
with its pop bands and singers. Disk 
was made by a polka band con- 
ducted by Frankie Tfankowic. Titled 
"Just Because," the item has sold 
well over 100,000 copies, unusual for 
an obscure disk. 

Eddy Howard has also made a ver- 
sion of the song, for Majestic,. Leeds 
owns the copyright. 



H'wood Unit for Regent 

Hollywood, March 2. 

Regent Music, owned by Harry 
Goodman, brother of Benny, is 
opening a Holly wood , office. Branch 
will be managed by Duke Niles, how 
on hi.? way here from New York. 

Regent is a Broadcast Music-affil- 
iated' publishing firm. 



Standiurd Pu^s 
Ci^ vs. PetriDo 
On Bargammg 

Hollywood. March 2. 
Standard Transcriptions is pros- 
ing its case against the American 
Federation of Musicians over the 
latter's disk ban, whereas Capitol 
appears to be at ease following its 
opening outburst last week. ■Stai\d- 
ard last week sent letters to both 
AFM head James C. Petrillo and 
the execs of AFM local 47 here de- 
manding that a date be set for a col- 
lective bargaining meet in accord- 
ance with the terms of the Taft- 
Hartley Law. Standard has given the 
union until March 22 to set such a 
date, after which it would move 
deeper into legal channels. 

If the union fails to agree to the 
bargaining process, Standard can file 
a petition with the National Labor 
Relations Board. Beyond that, Stand- 
ard is not at the moment prepared 
to go. Lewis Teegarden, flfra's at- 
torney, asserts there are no further 
plans at the moment, except -pos- 
sibly against CBS, which last. week 
refused Standard permission to use 
its Hollywood studios to record art- 
ists notified to appear for cutliiig. 
Teegarden indicated Standard is 
miffed by CBS' refusal, which is 
looked upon as a secondary boycott,- 
a violation, of the T-H legislation. 

Meanwhile, Ike Carpenter, who 
with Mischa • Novy last week was 
ordered by Standard to come in for_ 
recordings as. per their agreement' 
with the firm, has advised Petrillo 
that he will hold Petrillo respon-sible 
in the event Standard obtains a court 
order preventing him from doing 
live dates unless he fulfills his re- 
cording pact, a move which has been 
threatened. AFM execs have advised 
Carpenter and No\'y simply to "sit 
tight'* and follow instructions to stay 
clear of Standard. 

Capitol Records appears to be sat- 
isfied with having ordered the ^ands 
of Wesley Tuttle, Benny Goodman 
and Je.s.se Price ta record and is do- 
ing nothing further. Cap wanted to 
settle the contractual angle more 
than anything else. It doesn't intend 
risking future trouble with Petrillo 
by stirring up a storm similar to 
Standard's. Its contracts with lead-, 
ers guarantee the latter a certain 
number of sides yearly and it didn't' 
want to be put in the position of 
"having maestros approach it it and 
When the ban is dissolved and de- 
mand payment lor the uncompleted 
sides which the di.sk ban prevented 
them from doing. In this vray Cap 
feels safe from future litigation. 



Dwothy Fields 1st 
Feimne Candidate 
For ASCAP Board 



Dorothy Fields, the femrae song- 
writer, established a precedent for 
the American Society of Composers, 
Authors and Publishei's last week 
when she was named as a candidate 
for a seat on the Society's director 
board. Her name was included 
among nominees Sammy Fain, 
Joseph Meyer, Mitchell Pdrrish, 
Andy Razaf, Eastwood Lane and 
Jacques Wolfe as writer candidates. 

On the publisher side of the nomi- 
nation.s, which had presented a prob- 
lem for the Society duo to, the in- 
ability of the first-named nomina- 
tions board consisting of Dave 
Dreyer, Redd Evans and; Adolph 
Vogel to get together on nominations 
(Dreyer and Evans resigned, re- 
placed by Ben Bloom and Jules Von 
Tilzer), there's another unusual oc- 
currence. Jack Robtains, who went 
off the board after selling his 26%* 
slice of the Big Three to partner 
Metro (which in turn sold it to 
20th-Fax). has been posted, again. 
He went into own publishing busi- 
ness soon after soiling out to Metro, 
and is now again qualified for a 
board slot, Dreyer, whom Evans 
and Vogel sought to name as a 
nominee while he was a member of 
the nominating boai-d, also was put 
up for a directorship by the new 
board, along with Sam Fox and John 
Sengstack. Robbins is expected to 
get the nod over his rivals. 

Incumbents in tlie writer faction 
are Gene Buck, Ray Henderson, 
George W. Meyer and John Tasker 
Howard. On the publisher side the 
current seat-holders are Max Drey- 
'fus. Jack Mills, Donald Mills and 
Johnny O'Connor. Since the latter 
is resigning from contention, one of 
the above named pubs must be 
named by the voters. 



Miller Music lost its fight in N.Y. 
Supreme court last week to retain a 
portion of performance royalty coin 
earned by 19 songs written by the : 
late Vincent Youmans. If the deci- 
sion is allowed to .stand, Vinyou,: 
Inc., which is Youmans' estate, 
stands to collect from Miller an es- 
timated $250,000. This figure repre- 
.sents the difference between what 
Miller ha?} paid and what Vinyou 
claimed since the ■ contracts were 
inaugurated in 1931 and 1932. 

Argument stemmed from agree'* 
ments made between the two par- 
ties via which they would act as co- 
publishers of songs such ,as "Time 
On My Hands," "More Than You 
Know," "Without a Song," "Great 
Day," "Through -the Years" and, 
"Drums In My Heart." Agreements ' 
called for slices of performance roy- 
alties paid by the American Society 
of Composers, Authors and Publish- 
ers to Miller, amounting to 50%, 
.331/3% and 25%, involving separate 
groups of the tunes. 

When Miller failed to account for 
the agreed-upon splits of the per-, 
formance royalties, Vinyou filed suit ^ 
in 1941. It had received its due slice 
of mechanical, sheet music and other 
royalties, and so these did not enter 
into the suit. 

In deciding. in favor of Vinyou on 
three counts stemming from the 
three separate contracts, Justice Irv- 
ing Levy decided against 9. fourth, 
(Continued on page 4?) ' 



6 Set For 
(MOnkPbfla. 

Benny Goodman is coming «ast' in 
May to go to work. He's been booked 
into the Click Club, Philadelphia, 
owned by Frankie Palumbo, at the 
head of his sextet. He opens May 
24 for two weeks ^ his first dance 
booking in the eastern area in some 
ti ne. Goodman has played concerts 
in the east solo duiing the past year, 
but has not worked with a big band 
or his sextet. 

What will follow the Click is un- 
certain. There's a possibility B. G. 
will work with a big band after 
that date, but so far nothing is defi- 
nite. His manager, Mark Hanna, 
who's also been booking the clari- 
netist since the latter's break with 
Music Corp. of America a couple 
years ago, has been submitting the 
leader for other dates, however, 

B.G. has been living on the Coast 
and concentrating on making Capi- 
tol recordings, which, of coursCi 
were stopped as of Jan. 1 last by 
the American Federation of Musi- 
cians' tlisk ban. He also has a house 
in Connecticut and is bringing his 
family east for tlic summer. 



Dectia Tafld^ 
ATakeoMDeal 
With Majestic 

There's a possibility Decca Records 
may take over the Majestic Records 
manufacturing. During the past 
week or so Decca chiets have been 
discussing the move, and Jack Kapp, 
president, went to Chicago over the 
past weekend to talk with Majestic 
execs. " 

It's emphasized that so far noth*' 
ing definite has been arrived at, be- 
tween the two organizations. No 
offer has been made by Decca and 
none can be until Majestic's legal 
difficulties have been straightened. 
It took jefuge from creditors' several 
weeks ago behind Chapter II of the 
Chandler Act and is now in the 
process of reorganizing. This move 
included the radio, television and 
recording angles of the company, all 
grouped under the Majestic. Radio & 
Television title. 

In the event Decca does come to a 
conclusion with Majestic tl^e move 
would be in line with its expan.sion 
aims. It now producos three labels 
•MiJommodore, Decca and BrunS'^ 
wick— and should it make a deal 
with Majestic, it's probable the lat- 
ter label would rptain its identity. 

Majestic's plant, in Newark, re-, 
sumed operation late last week. 
Company has four records for which 
there has been a consistent demand, 
and has begun filling orders, for 
them. Three are Eddy Howard disks 
and one Ro,»e Murphy. 

Kapp also commuted to Choa^e 
prep sehQol at Wallingford, Conn,, 
last week to address the student 
I -dy of 600 on the record business, 
the AFM stance on the disk situa- 
tion, etc. - 



Cl^T,LOmRIIO,HNA 
PmS) BY WALDORF 

Xavier Cugat, Guy Lombardo and 
.lack Fina have completed contracts 
with the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, New 
York, .eliminating the talent prob- 
lem for the hosfeU'y'.? Roof season. 
Cugat opens May 13 for eight weeks, 
followed by Lombardo. July 8 for 
four'and Fina' Aug. S until^the end 
of the Roof's run early in Septem- 
ber. 

Cugat precedes the Waldorf date 
with four weeks at the Capitol the- 
atre, N.Y., opening April 15. His 
i projected trip to the Philippines htnj 
been set back until August at lea 



I 
i 



■■11 



4 



S8 



orcukstras^mijsic 



Vedneaday, Mardi 3, 1948 



Jocks, Ji/kes ancf Disks 



By Ben Bodee 



Jan Gai-lter .Orch. — ^ "Serenaclei"' 
"My Extraordinary Gal" tCapitoI), 
In a business where hits come from 
the least expected sources the debut 
of Garber on Capitol could harbor 
a surprising repercussion. His treat- 
ment of "Extraordinary Gal" has a 
freshness and insinuating catcbiness 
which could lift this Terry Shand 
oldie into a lather of revival. Num- 
ber was quite a favorite ol Isham 
Jones. "Serenade" gets some pleas- 



My Favorite Five 

JBiH £vMns 
WGN.Chicago 
"Sonsr of India" (Tommy Dor- 
sey) 

"Je«lj»U!il«*^ (Alfred Newman,) 
«WhlV«'OI>r*»tn»«»" (Bing 
Crosby) 

"TumbllUfi;' TUmbleweeds" (Jo- 
Stafford) 
"My Ideal" (Fred Waring) 



ant tenorizing from Ernie Mathias. 

Frank Sinatra-^"But None Like 
You," "We Just Couldn't Say Good- 
bye'' (Columbia). Sinatra's tprisils 
sound tired op either side and 'there 
isn't , much iire in either of these 
ditties. For rating purposes, "Good- 
bye" is the- more appealing item-. 

Ja '$ta«ora-^"It Was Written in 
the Stars." "It's Monday Every Day" 
(Capitol). Not much else in "Stars" 
than a nice vocal exercise jn the 
knack of changing keys, whereas La 
Stafford in "Monday" is as engaging 
' as she can be in juggling an easy- 
. going blues composition. 

Adele Clark-'"None Like You," 
•'You've Changed'^ (Decca). Promis- 
ing bow for this talent who has been 
seeking her stylistic groove since she. 
exited from the WACS.- This may be 
it. ller subdued manner, simple but 
adroitly sensitive phrasing and her 
rfelaked approach makft this platter 
worthy of jock attention. Though the 
heart's there, she still needs a little 
warmth. 

teuls Prima— "Tutti Tulti Pizzi- 
catfo," "The Bee Song'' (Victor). 
. Zaniest brace the' fog-voiced band- 
man Aas contrived in some time. 
• While the buzzinis ■ routine that at- 
tends the "Bee" recital will amply 
tickle tiie cUehtete with k leaning 
for the \yhacky, the chances are that 
the other side's broad spoofing of 
music instruction will turn -out the 
more clicksome. 

NoTo Morales Orch. — "Hora Stac- 
■ cato," "Chen Chen .Co" (M-G-M). 
. Esy Morales, ' whose flute springs 
boiardtsd • "Jungle Fantasy" into a 
best seller -for Rainbow, may repeat 
that feat for his brother, Noro's, fast 
rumba, "Hora Staccato." .Esy's solo- 
ing will, in any event, make the 
platter a "must'' for the disk seg- 
ments of Latin-American persuasion. 
The reverse surface, is ope of those 
shouting tests; but still solid Afro- 
Cuban fare. • 

Tex Beneke Orch.— "Cherokee 
Canyon," "St. Louis Blues March"; 
"Beyond' iiife Sea,". "Strange and 
. Sweet" (Victor). Beneke has Anally 
got his "March" standby on wax for 
the 'trade and it's a whopper; Jack 
Sperling goes to town on the drums 
and the airrangement's marching 
tempo Is ' so deftly dovetailed with 
. the blues theme as to give the W. C. 
, Handy classic a' new polish. The 
bandmans' sax and vocalizing in 
"Cherokee" make ■ it an appetizing 
mate; "Sea" smacks of bestseller 
stuff. Concert treatment of this Eu- 
ropean import, with the strings 
dominating the melody, ranks as one 
of the band's finer productions. 
Larry Stevens adds a notch of his 
own with the lyrie. 

Hoaffy Carm"chael-^"Ok'l Baby 
Dok'l," "For Every Man There's a 
^ Woman" (Decca J. Bounces the hov«. 
elty into one of the, better versions, 
with the Chickadees furnishing a 
snappy afifist, but his draggy, off- 
key rendition of the ballad' tends to 
distort its original rhythmic appeal. 

Platter Points 

Phil Harris (Victor) ticks off a 
couple of sliarp lyric recitals on the 
themes of "I'm My Own Grandpa" 
and "Never Trust a Woman." A 
natural for his following.. . Martha 
David, Decca's throaty ch?»nter of 
the blues, tries ftai^d 'oh "Hohey, 
Honey, Honey" but really goes 
'to town with "Cincinnati," es- 
pecially that riding of the ivories., . . 
Hi, Lo, Jack and the Dame (Bullet) 
fare well with "Corabelle" but make 
a risible and bright novelty of "Cut 
the Knot, Turn Me Loose.". . Johnny 
Mwrl» (Orpheusj whips up "John's 



Other Wife" into quite a zaney 
event, but there's one line in it, the 
reference to the hotel clerk and the 
registered ' "Mr. Smith" that may 
make it skiddish for radio. ... Snooky 
Lanson, Ray Noble's ex-vocalist, has 
a distinctive rendition of "Beg Your 
Pardon" on Mercury.;, , 'Another 
quality job on the same label is John 
Laiirenz's "Serenade." His "Just 
About. This Time Tonight" is not . so 
forte. ..V Alan Dale (Signature) 
makes listening a refreshing oc- 
casion with both "I'll Hold You in 
My Heart" and "Papa, Won't You 
Dance with Me." In Frankie Carle's 
latest twin for Columbia the high- 
light of "Some One Cares" is his 
flavorsome piano, while Gregg Law- 
rence's manful job on "Laroo Laroo 
Lilli' Bolero" merits him an extra 
gold star.. . .Paul Gayten .(DeLuxe) 
imparts some of his pungent New 
Orlfiians boogie woogie to the 48ing 
Of "r Love YOU, Yes I Do."... Billy 
'EelcBtine doffs the old intimate touch 
and goes cbncerty on "I'm Out to 
Forget Tonight" and "Intrigue" 
(M-G-M), with Hugo' Winterhalter- 
ing piloting the symphonic unit be- 
hind the crooner. Nevertheless, that 
beguine rhythm on "Intrigue" ' 
makes it an appealing side.; . Hadda 
Brooks Trio (Modern) dishes a nifty 
barrelhouse piano via "Hollywood 
House Party Boogie," with the lead- 
er' shaping up as. a restrained ; Nellie 
Lutcher in her (Jiiss Brook's) treat- 
ment of "Honey, Honey, Honey.". . . 
Charleii Lelghton ((Harmonica Rec- 
ords)' turns in snazzy mouthorgan 
versions of "I Don't Stand a Ghost' 
of a Chance" and Can't Give You 
Anything But Love.". . .Eddie Hey- 
wood Trio (Victor) has a pair of 
dillies in "Heywood's Boogie" and 
"The Continental." First item is a 
sizzling mixture of beats centered 
around the Heywood piano and on 
the reverse side the tempo eases' but 
the blend of riffs and melodies in- 
'gratiate.. . .Les Paul unveils a batch 
of intriguing sound effects in his 
guitar strumming with, the Trio in 
"Lover" and" "Brazil" (Capitol). In- 
strumentalists, especially, will get a 
kick out of this coordinating of a 
i-ecording into a re-tecording.. . .The 
Three Dynamites (Columbia) tout a 
brand of uninhibited backroom jive 
to pieces - catpioned "Jumpin' to the 
Boogie" and "Dig These Dynamites." 
...Freddy Slack (Capitol) trims a 
not too intricate set of jazz notes in 
'Two Left Hands," with Charlotte- 
Blackburn caroling, pleasantly, but 
spirals off into the esoteric via an 
instrumental tagged "StroUin'." 



:: Disk Jockey Reviews :; 



JACK GREGSON EEVXIE 
With Jack G^egson 
180 MIns.; ,10 to 11 a.m.i % to % p.M< 
Participating 
KSFO, San Francisco 
. Highlighting a big personal pitch 
in his commercials, which gives 
them a breezy appeal, Gregson has 
an affable -unaffected style which is 
easy On the ears aiid nerves. Slant- 
ing his chatter so that it delmeates 
the personality and background of 
his sponsors, most of which are 
radio shops, auto repair spots, and 
similar service salons, Gregson 
courses along in a completely re- 
laxed manner, talking about 
"Brown's" experiences in the air- 
corps and "wouldn't he therefore be 
just the person to fix your auto," etc. 

Gregson is an old hand with air 
palaver having been in radio since 
the age of 12 in Seattle. Approach 
is completely personal and infec- 
tious. Commercials are kept to 15- 
minute intervals. 

Music spinning is mostly in the 
popular field with top tunes of the 
day getting best break. Ted. . 

M-G-M Goes West 
For Pressings 

M-G-M label will have record- 
ings pressed on the Coast, starting 
within the next week or so. Com-- 
pany has made a deal with the Su- 
perior pressing plant, Los Angeles, 
under wjhich ft Will begin turning 
out M-G-M disks ior Coast market 
con'sumption as' soon /as ' stampers 
shipped from the east arrive. Agree- 
ment was icompleted only late last 
week and so the first disks under the 
deal aren't expected to be available 
for 10 days or more, ■ 

Up until the Coast arrangement 
'was made, M-G-M's production was 
confined to its Bloomfield, N. J., 
plant, which was built up from 
scratch after' the building was taken 
over from .the Government. All 
equipment is new, including be- 
tween 85 and 90 automatic pressing 
machines now turning out approxi- 
mately ' 65,000 disks idaily on an 
eight-hour shift; five day.s a week. 
That's 325,000' weekly, and the ma- 
jority of the output is being taken 
up by Art Mooney's "Four-Leaf 
Clover" disking. 



PetriDos Disk Pot Won t Boil After 
July 1; Companies To Drop Royalties 



Hendler Rejoins RCA 

Herb Hendler joined RCA-Victor 
again Monday (1) at the company's 
Camden N. J., headquarters. He's 
with the advertising and promotion 
department under Dave Finn. 

Hendlep quit a record promotion 
post with Dinah Shore for Victor. 

Frankie Carle Cancels 
Tour to Plane to 111 
Daughter on. Coast 

Frankie Carle 'cancelled a string 
of one-night dates through the south 
last Thursday . (26) afternoon" to fly 
to California to the bedside of his 
daughter Marjorie, who sang with 
his band under the name Marjorie 
Hughes until .last fall. Carle 
abruptly dropped his tour the after- 
noon he was to have worked, the 
Aud., Columbia, S. C. and rushed tv 
Dallas, to board a plane for the 
Coast. 

In all, the leader has so far can- 
celled five bookings: others are 
being held yntil it's determined 
whether he will play them. He's on 
the . one-night, run until March 20, 
ending it in New England. 

His daughter, who's married to 
Hugh .Backenstoe, former assistant 
to Carle, is gravely ill and Carle 
didrt't wait for anything to head 
west. V 



Eli Spivack, gypsy singer-guitar- 
ist at the Club Skazka, N.Y., pub- 
lishing • his self-composed tune, 
"Beautiful Stranger," under his own 
imprint, Exclusive Music Co., Henry 
Berman authored the lyrics. . 



AL BORDE-INGALLS TO 
SET JOCKS FOR YAUDE 

• Chicago, March 2. . 

Al Borde, who packaged and 
booked the disk jockey revue open- 
ing at the State-Lake theatre here, 
March 12, and Miles Ingalls, New 
York agent, have joined- forces 
aimed to produce a series of similar 
revues throughout the country. First 
j eastern show, using local jocks,' 
i opens in Boston, March 18. Other 
shows are set to open within a 
month in Columbus, Cincinnati, 
Dayton and Milwaukee. 

Mel Torme, EUa Fitzgerald, Her- 
bie Fields orch and Lee Monty's 
Tu-Tones will be featured with local 
deejays, Dave Garroway, WMAQ; 
Ernie Simon, WJJD; Eddie Hub- 
bard, WIND; and free-lancer Linn 
Burton. 



.^^^^^10 Best SeDers on Coin-MacWnes ^ 2» 



. . 1. NOW IS THE HOUR (S) (Leeds) 

%.. FOVB LEAF CLOVEB (6) (Beihlck).. 



4. GOLDEN EARRINGS (10) (Paramount) .. . 

5. SERENADE OF THE BELLS (8) (Morris) 



: \, ' : ; ( Gracie Fie(d.-i Vondon 

■ ■ • • • • • • • • ' ■ r • \ Bing CrosJfy ......... . . .Dbcco 

^AriMooney. .IW-G-Jtf 

'""\Uptown String Band Mercury 

MANANA (4) (Barbour-Lee) Peggy Lee. , ...... .Copitol 

[Peggy Lee.. ...Capitol 

' ■"■■■"(Dina/i Shore..... .Columbia 

i Jo Stafford...... ...... ....Capitol 

" " ISammy Kaye. . . . . . ... .Viclor 

[Francis Craig.. Bullet 

• ■ " • ■ ■ ■ ■ • • • ■ ■ {Frankie Carle'. Columbia 



6. BEG YOUR PARDON (2) (Rohbills) 



7. BALLERINA (15) (Jeffefson) ........... .. .... , l Vaughn Monroe., ... Victor 

,:. (Jiwimy Dorsei/. ....... .M-G-JW 



8. I'LL DANCE AT WEDDING (?) (Slmoti) 

9. HOW SOON (14) (Supreme) 

10. SABRE DANCE (1) (Leeds) ............ 



BUT BEAUTIFUL (Burke-VH) . . 

IN LITTLE BOOK SHOP (BVC) 

SHINE (Shapiro-B) 

MY OLD FLAME (Famous)' 

TERESA (Duchess) 



Coming Up 



( Clark-Noble ...... . , .... Columbia 

X Tony Martin .... Victor 

(Bing Crosby Decca 

'[Jack Owens .......Tower 

( Macklin Marrow:. .M-G-M 

' I Freddy Martin ... . . . , . . Vietor 



■ • • • • • • - ^'• • • - I' • • • B'ti? CrosljH- . ..... .Decca 

......i... . , . j Vaughn Morifde.y Victor 

. . ... ..... ..... ...... . . I gjjy j^ojpjjii^^y ' Decca 

. . ... .. . . . . . , , . , , . , Frai)kie.^Laine , ....... , , , , .Mercury 

.V ..,.(•, ,.,... . Spike Jones. ...Victor 

• ( Andreios Sis-Haymes ...... .DecCa 

.............. . . . .... , . Damone. , . .Mercury 

\ Jo Stafford.....;. Capitol 

"' I Dinah Shore............ Columbia 

LITTLE WHITE LIES (BVC) Dick Haymes Decca 

... , ; ( Tony Pastor. Coiimbio 

/' '" • • \ Benny Goodman. Capitol 

\Perry Coino. ......... ..Victor 

RECAVSE (Chappell) . Perry Como. . . .... . , ,. .... .Victor 

MADE FOR EACip OTHER (Southern) 



.BEST THINGS IN LIFE (Crawford) 
LITTLE WHITE LIES (BVC) . 
GONNA GET A GIRL (Miller) 

PIANISSIMO (^antly-Joy) .... 



Clark-Cugat . , . • . . . . . . . . Colutrebia 

J ^ \ Vaxighn Monroe. , ......... .Viet&r 

• ^ Franfc Sinatro. . . . ....... Cohwibia ' 

_ . i jf^o"'* P"'"io- • • ■ ■ Victor 

" " " * ' I Johnny Mercer. Capitol +' 

MATINEE (Morris) Vaughn Monroe .Victor t 

IFigures in parentheses indicate, number of weeks song has been in the Top 10.] 



STARS WILL REMEMBER (Harms) . . . 
THOUSANi) ISLANDS SONG (Morris) 



+ American Federation of Musicians 
wiH be paid royalties on every re- 
cording sold by the major disk man- 
ufacturers for th« ilrst half of this 
year, according to terms of the now- 
expired agreement between the two 
tsarties, but after July l such pay- 
merits 'will cease. 

Whether James C. Petrillo, AFM 
head, still believes the AFM will con- 
tinue to reoeive royalty payments 
on. pressings sold from masters made 
during the. term of the expired con- 
tract is undisclosed. But the diskers 
say they will stop such payments 
after July 1. They will continue 
them until that date because the 
Taft-Hartley law prohibits such pay- 
ments to unions after the expiration 
of such a contract ' or iollowing July 
1, whichever comes first. In this 
case it would seem that the contract 
expiration arrived first (last Jan. 1), 
but the companies will pay on the 
first six months of this year regards 
less. y 
■ Petrillo had stated last December, 
before the AFM contract with the 
diskers ran out, that the AFM would 
))enefit from it for at least 10 years. 
Me asserted that the royalty arrange- 
ment would apply to' all pressings 
made from masters cut between 
Nov. 11, 1844^ when the contract was 
made, and Jan. 1 last, when it ex- 
pired. Since many such disks re- 
main in vogue for years he felt that 
the AFM would continue to benefit. 

Disk company attorney.s»felt dift'er- 
ently but weren't inclined to argue 
at that time. Two who feel that 
they represent the four majoi: com- 
pdnies — RCA - Victor, Columbia, 
Deccai Capitol — assert the payment$: 
will stop as of July 1; 



CBS Mulls Recording 
'CBS Is There B'cast 
For Disk'^bsid Sale 

Columbia Records may put out 
album versions of 'the CBS docu- 
mentary series, "CBS Is There." 
Idea under considej^ation is to press 
12-inch platters of selected shows 
along the lines of Decca's "Sorry, 
Wrong Number," a much repeated 
dramatic program which CBS orig- 
inated. 

Networks has repeived hundreds 
of requests from schools for re- 
corded copies of "CBS Is There" 
broadcasts and it was this surge of 
interest that indticed to bring 
its recording subsid into the picture. 
If the plan goes through it will be 
the first radio program given the 
status of a production series by a 
phonograph record company. 



SIGNATURE CREDITORS 
AGREE TO EXTENSION 

Signature Record executives met 
Monday (1) with a committee of its 
creditors before Referee Olney in 
N. Y. federal court and secured an 
extension time to proceed with re- 
organization plans (Signature filed 
under Chapter 11 of the Chandler 
act last Dec. 13). Referee allowed 
the requested additional time to re- 
shape its affairs and set March 10 
as the date for another confab. 

Meanwhile, Signature is proceed- 
ing with the establishment of a new 
string of distributors. It's old agree- 
ment with General Electric was can- 
celled some time ago. 



C.C. Camarata London's 
Eastern Disk Sales Head 

Carleton C. Camarata has been 
named eastern division sales man- 
ager of London Records, which 
makes him at the. same time as- 
sistant to national sales mgrr James 
P. Bray. He's brother of London's 
maestro Tuttie Camarata. 

Revised .setup of the company puts 
Joseph C, Martin in charge of ad- 
vertising and promotion, but Ascher 
Associates 'continues to handle pub- 
licity. 

London has so far shipped into this 
country close to l&OflOO copies of 
Gracie Fields' "Now la the Hour," 
giving the American: branch . of the 
London Gramaphone Go. its first 
major break in this new market. 



Capitol Records ha.t declared reg- 
ular quarterly dividend of 6Sc a 
sha*e on $2.80 cumulative conver- 
tible preferred stock payable April t 
shareholders of record \March 15. 



Wjednesdnyr Maaxh 8, 194S. 






I 




^NAOA 




THIS AD WILL 
APPEAR ON 

MARCH 7ff, ?948 



?™0» MOSfC 



CORP. 













M Ij 

•230 -VEr 
IRV'NO 1 

.. V 


s 1 r c 0 15 

c - , • - S S ' 


P C' P A ' 1 C "i 

C se e ? -5 ■ ; -1 



40 



ORcnm'ntAs-jiiijsic 



WednesdAy, Marck 3, 1948 



Barton Muac Co. 
Nearer Takeov 



A conclusion is expected to be 
reached within the next weelc or so 
over the future of Barton Musici 
which for wedks has been embroiled 
in a financial situation that has kept 
it. teetering on the brink of a bank- 
ruptcy petition. In recent weeks 
there have been three other music 
firms interested in taking it over, but 
it appears that: a deal will be con- 
summated soon via which Henry 
Ijeyine, music printer and' owner of 
Jewel 'Music, will get the catalog, its 
assets and its debtSk 

A plan has. . been worked out 
whereby songwriters, who are Bar- 
ton's major creditors, will be paid 
off 75c on the dollar and general 
creditors 50c on the dollar. All told, 
Barton owes between $60,000 &nd 
$65,000 to the former and . some 
$17,500 to others, excluding the claim 
of Charles Koss, onetime professional 
manager of the ^flrm,' who has 
launched a suit for $35,000. 

■During recent • weeks, the firm's 
financial position has been improved 
by the collection of some $IS,000' in 
royalty collections, debt's outstanding 
>of its own aiid an e'xtra, undisclosed 
amount from the sal^ of office furni^ 
ture and s^ce lease . to Tommy 
Valando's new^ Laurel Music. 

Levine woul'd get the catalog for 
about 420,000, pliis whatever it costs 
him to satisfy creditors. One, debt 
df $2,500, owed Frank Sinatra in roy- 
alties, is being contested, Sinatra has 
been asked to waive the coin due to 
the fact that he's now revealed to 
.'have recovered the copyrights to 
"Jifancy" and . "Put Your Dreams 
Away" some time ago for $1 each. 
This is the way Sinatra is believed 
to have gotten, out of Barton, (he was 
« «ne-third stockholder )i Barton and 
Baiik Sanicdia, the other owners, 
pdw in California, probably won't 
^realize any money out of the dispo- 
siUon of the company. . 



FIRST SMASH 
HIT OF 1948.'/ 



IITH AHEY 
AND A HI 

ANO A 
HO HO HO! 



BOURNE INC. 

799 Seventr. Ave. 



Abe Oimah Suggests 

I'M IN 
THE iVIOOD 
FOR LOVE 

Mmie by * . . 
JIMMY McMI/OH 

HOBBINS 



WANTED 

Acliva Partner Who Knows 

Record Mfg. Bis 

also 

Music Pub. Bit (BMI) 

' Z-r-X. Y. Corporations K««d UO.OOfl 
for Miunslon and imrtnrr to gpcnil 
IMtt 'tiqio on iiremraes and oiitnldn, 
'HSMO m 1/S and other fStOOO to 
M iw-lnrest«d> la <Mua« br nrcMmt; 

^ , Box yM,e,» Varietr, 

is* Vfi 4m. St. Jfeir York a . 



RETAIL DISK BEST SELLERS 



Survey of retail disk best 
sellers, based on reports obr 
tained irom leading , stores in 
11 cities, and showing com- 
parative sales rating for this 
and last tbeeki 



National 
Ratine 

This Last 
wfc. wk. 



Week Ending 
Feb. 28 

Artist, Label, Title 



6 



o . 

I 



MOONEY (M-G-M) 
"Fonr-teaf Clover" 



2 2. 103 



FEGGY lEE (Capitol) 
3 "Manana" ....... ....... i i. 2 



jS 3 70 



GB4CIE FIELDS (London) 
"Now Is the Hour" 



1 57 



PEGGY liEB (Capitol) 
4 "Golden Earringrs". 5 



4 9» 



VAUGHN MONROE (Victor) 
"Ballerina" 



3 3 1 



4 S , » SI 



BING CROSBY (Deeca) 
6 «fNow Is the Hour" 4 



2 .. 



37 



JO STAFFORD (Capitol) 
"Serenade of the Bells". . . 



5 .. 8 



S . 6 



SAMMY KAYE (Victor) 
"Serenade of the Bells". . 



;. 5 



6 15 



9 .10 



FBANKIE Carle (Columbia) 
"Ber Your Pardon". . , 



13 



lOA 14 



FBANKIE LAINE (Mercury) 
"Shine" 



10 



11 



lOB 



FRANK SINATRA (Columbia) 
"But Beautiful. . . . . . ./ , 



11 



IOC 



FRANCIS CRAIG (Bullet) 
15 "Ber Sour Pardon" ... 



7 10. 



5 11 



lOD 11 



B. CLARK-NOBLE ORCH. (Col) 

"I'll Dance at Your Weddinf"...... 9 



6 .. .. 11 



LES.PADL (Capitol) 
f'Lover" ..... 



* • ' . 'a. * - 



.. 10 11 



15 



VAVGHN MONROE (Victor) 
"Matlnet" 



16A 



B. CLiURK-NOBLE ORCH. (Col) 
18 "Treasure of Sierra Madre". ....... 



16B. 



GUY L.OMBARDO (Decca) 
"I'm My Own. Grandpaw". .. 



10 



16C. 12 



ARTtlVB GODFREY (Columbia) 
"Too-Fat Polka". 



5 „ .. 



19A 



STAN KENTON (Capitol) 
"Lover" 



^9B 



MACKLIN MARROW (M-G-M) 
"Sabre • Dance". . ............... 



20A 21 



JO STAFFORD (Capitol) 
"Best Thinrs in Life Are Free". 



20B 



JO STAFFORD (Capitol) 
'VImMy Own -Gi»ndpaw" 



5 



FIVE TOP 


"PARK AVENUE 


2 

"AUEGRO" 


3, ■ 
. "SENTIMENTAL 


■ 4 ,■ 
"eOOD NEWS" 


S 

"CAPTAIN mOM 


ALBUMS 


HIIUIUY" 
Dorothy Sliay 


Grig. Cmt 

m 


DATE" 
Parry Com* 


Grig. Catt 


CASTILE" 
AMrod Nowmon 




Columbia 


Victor 


Victor 


M-G-M 


Majestic 



LA. Plant Agrees To 
Continue Vita Pressing 
On Cash Plus Carry Basis 

Chicago, March 2. 

After a series of confabs with 
Viacoustic Records execs, Larr-y, H. 
Mead, head of Perfection Plaslncs 
Go^ipany, Los Angeles producer- for 
the diskery, ha.s agreed to continue 
pressing and distribution for the 
company. As a creditor, Perfection 
will collect the balance due bn 
Vita's overdue account according to 
the provisions made, by Judge Walter 
La^uy; <Vita last week filed for re- 
organisation und6r Chapter 11 of 
the Chandler Act). All future com- 
mitments, will be handled on a cash 
basis. A newly developed plastic 
material, less expensive than viny- 
lite, will be used. 

While in the midwest, Mead con- 
tracted with Chi's Rondo Record, 
to act as its Coai>t distrib. A simi- 
lar deal was made with Metro-tone 
Records of Brooklyn. 

Mead, who is also prexy of the 
Belda Record and PublishinfJ Co., 
producers of kiddie disk and book 
combinations, made arrangements 
wit* Sear.s & Roebuck, Chi, to' serve 
as His local retail sales outlet. He 
also signed- with Pan-American Dis- 
tributing of Detroit, which will serv- 
ice Belda through the Kresge Dime 
Store chain. • ■ « ; 



Maas' Morris Shift 

Jack Maas, who represented the 
Burk6-Van Heusen publishing firm 
in Hollywood, will not be out of the 
Edwin H. (Buddy) Morris setup 
completely when and if the B-VH 
firm- is revised in scope. He Will 

.shift to the Melrose Arm and con- 

rrtSue at his Coast "post. 



TAVERN JUKES QUIET; 
OPS BLAME TELEVISION 

Hollywood, March 2. 

Juke box operators here are 
dazed by empty coin boxes in their 
platter machines and are laying the 
blame' on television for the worst 
year in their revenue history. . As a 
result^ some over-anxious ops are 
known to be offering machines on as 
high as a 70% -30% take to locations 
just to keep the jukes plugged in. 

There's a difference of opinion 
among ops over whether they are 
killing themselves by offering such 
a huge slice of the profit.s to loca- 
tion owners during this period 
when prices on platters, jukes and 
repairs are also the highest in his- 
tory. Operators, 14 years ago. placed 
their machines in locations and 
were accepted by proprietors merfely 
as a biz boost. "The next year a 25% 
Cut was han'ded to the locations, and 
in 1938 the take jumped to a 50-50 
split, with ops ladling out for ma- 
chines platters' and upkeep. 

It s Florence' 

Now on Label, Too 

Because customers we're asking for 
Louis Prima's RCA-Victor recording 
of "1,000 Island Song" as "Oh, Flor- 
ence," a phrase in the lyric, Victor 
h switching the title of the tune on 
forthcoming pressings. Retailers, it 
was found, were becoming confused, 
too, by the requests. 

As a result of Victor's switch 6t the 
title, Morris Music is also revising 
the tune's callin' name. On future 
printings the "Oh, Florence" tag will 
be used^. 



Harry Cool Cancelled . 
In Indpls. Due to Tiff 
Of Theatre on Standby 

. Indianapolis, March 2. 
Harry Cool's orchestra was can- 
celled out of a scheduled, booking at 
the Circle theatre here, which was 
to have started Friday (26), due to 
the insistence by the American Fed- 
eration of Mu.sicians local that a 
standby band be hired. Theatre had 
agreed to put on a pit band at a 
co.st of approximately $900 for the 
week, taut attorneys didn|t want 
them to actually work, pointing out 
that would constitute "featherbed- 
ding" and a violation of the Taft- 
Hartley law, The entire deal was 
okayed, but when the AFM local 
execs were advised that a standby 
crew for the one week was okay, 
they insisted on the theatre signing 
a contract to adhere to the standby 
principle weekly thereafter. This the 
theatre ops refused and there was 
nothing to do but cancel Oool's trav- 
elling band. 



Memphis AFM Gripe 

Memphis, March 2. 
AFM local here has requested the 
national office in New York to place 
the Warner theatre- here on the "un- 
fair list." Action followed the re- 
fusal of theatre- operators to hire a 
standby orchestra during a one-day 
date played by Vaughn Monroe's or- 
ciiestra Feb. 16, 

Monroe was not involved in the 
dispute. He. played the date. 

Arthur Lee Simpkins forced to 
cancel dates at the Town Casino, 
Buffalo, and the Latin Casino, Phila- 
del]>hiay. because of illness. ' 



TJ). s Ideas On 
Price Structures 

Tommy Dorsey recently experi- 
mented with « new and unusual 
method of aeiling his band on one- 
nighters as a means oi helping pro- 
tect promoters against financial loss. 

Leader developed a plan whereby 
he asked $1,.900 nightly in guaran- 
tees plus graduating percentagfti 
splits. When he played a date, the 
first $1,500 that came into the b.o. 
went to him as hLs guarantee, the 
next $500 to the promoter, the next 
$500 split 60%.40%, the following 
$500 cut 65% -35% and all similar 
sums thereafter split 70%-30%. 

Dorsey tried out such a financial 
arrangement on a date in the mid- 
west recently and it didn't work out 
well. He felt that it failed because 
the p;?omoter involved did not lower 
his admission price commensurate 
with his lower guarantee. He stiU 
feels it would work to the advantage 
of both, himself and promoters. 

Dorsey, now on vacation in Flori- 
da, resumes work on a one-night- 
tour through the southeast April 5, 
but is not "being sold on the plan 
he developed. He's being peddled 
on his -usual $2,000 a night against 



Indie Union 'Ready' 

To Make'Records 

New York recording companies 
were notified last \veek that the in- 
dependent Musicians Union, Local 
701, New York, were ready and 
eager to make records for them. This 
union, which has 320 memhets. Was 
inaugurated in 1939 and has had sev- 
eral discussions with the American 
Federation of Musicians over joining 
that org but none ever reached a' 
■deal. 



TELL ME 
A STORY 

LAUREL MUSIC CO. 

1619 Iroadway 
N*w York 

TOMMY VALANOO 



irs TEminc liki he sezi 

AINT 
MISBEHAVIN' 

Featured in 
"YOU WKRi MEANT FOR MB" 
•■ •■ ■ ■■ 
An Old Sweelheait with 
the New Uoh 

MARY LOli 

WHEN YOU*RE SMILING 



MILLS MUSIC, INC. 
1619 troadway New York It 



"SUNRISE SERENADE" 
successor , 

DREAMY 
LULLABY 

OXFORD MUSIC CORP. 
1619 ftroadwoy 
New York 19. N. Y. 



ATTENTION PERFORMERS 

I am limltinK my wrltlnir to paro- 
dies only. I>o|i ttiiil Dtundnrd tnnrfi. 
AH funny nnd dUTtirmt Mtnntlona. Ii 
Intermf »d HCnd tin }948 Uuta ot over 
196 parodies. 

MANNY GORDON 

Alft W. TXWth Ave,, Milwaukee 0, Wis. 



WMlncssday, March 8, 1948 



oitenE$'i»A$.Mvsic 



41 



BETAE SHEET BEST SELLERS 



Survey of retail sheet music 
sales; based on reports obtained 
from leading • stares in 11 cities, 
.and showing emipatative gales 
rating for thto and lost week. 



, RatiMr 
This Last 



Week Ending 
F^. 28 



Title 



Pablisher 



T 
O 
T 
A 
L 

P 
O 
I 

N 
T 





I 




1 


1 


1 


•1 


2 


1 


2 


1 


1 


1 


3 


106 




.■2: 


"Foar-IiCitf CIvver". . , . . Remick. . . . 


2 


2 


2 


2 


1 


2 


1 


2 


2 


2 


1 


102" 


3 


'4 




3 


6 


3 


5 


7 


3 


7 


10 


4 


< : 


2 


67 


4 . 


5 




5 


5 


4 


4 


G 


4 


3 


4 


5 




5 


63 


5 


3 






■4.' 




3 


3 


5 






3 


-■>3: 


7 


63 


6 


8 




6 


3 


5 


7 


9 


8 




S 




10 


4 


42 


7 


6 








6 






6 


5 


3 


6 




8 


32 


8A 


7 


"I'll Dknce at Weddinf". Simon. . . ... 


7 




9 


6 




10 


8 




7 


7 


9 


2H 


8B 


11 






8 


10 


9 


5 


9 








5 


6 


25 


10 


10 


'West Tblni^ Are Fi^ee'',Crawtord. .. 






. 7 




4 






6 


10 


8 




20 


11 ' 


9 




8 


9 














8 


9 




14 


12 


12 


"Xhe Stars Bemember" . Harms 










10 




6 


9 


9 






10 


13 


13 


"How Iiueky Yoa Are". .Maurice, . . . 










8 










6 




8 


14 


15 


••I'tn Own GrandpaW*'. .General. ... 




7 




10 
















5 


15 
















7 












4 


'16A 












, 8 
















3 


16B 


15 


















S 








3 



16C. 14. "A Feltww VTeeds Girr.Wjlliamson. 



X Dorsey Uncertain. 
On Modns Operandi 
ShouU Hp Reorganize 

Hollywood, March 2. 
Jimmy Dorsey ha* not yet made up 
Shis ininrf nbout reorganizing his 
Orchestra. He's being urged, how- 
ever, to revamp completely the style 
of the band if and when he decides 
to piclE up a baton again. Advice he's 
jgetting is to. lay out a style that em- 
phasizes' entettaiiunent and comedy 
touches more than the musical angle; 
And he's . fiunpprtedly resisting the 
indvide,'-' " : . *^ 
. Dorsey stlU hasn't made up his 
mind over the agenrar with which he 
would be afiiliated, tout General 
Artists Corp.'^HMurently liax ihe in- 
side track. 

.(J. ;'• l u. ' ■ , . 1 r I . ^ 

Harem, N.Y.| Sets Amaz 
h Switch to Names 

Halem, New York riitery on the 
site of the old Hurricane, which 
used name bands, is itself going for 
■a similar policy with Desi Arnaz or- 
chestra. Amaz opens March 14 for 
^our weeJis and ' tiien moves to the 
CUek, Philadelphia, April 12. 

Arrm i» «lso set to inaugurate a 
band ipolicy at the IKpintf !Rock Club, 
Saratoga, N. Y,, during the racing 
•eason. He opens there Aug. 2. 



STILL LOOKiNG FOR 
, THAT NEW CAP 

SEE J 5 NOW 




fllURi»»-llllSE(n(in.lnc. 



.Jtaram* Ay*, at. W. 172d it. 
lUdlew 8-3333 



AFM-Diskers 

Continued from paf c 37 ; 



use musicians if a' song warrants re- 
cordings 

Beyond citing the increasing bit- 
terness of the disk argument, Petril- 
lo's explanation of the ban proved 
little except to reveal tliere is no se- 
cret agreement between the union 
and the disk manufacturers, as ha; 
been rumored for weeks. Petrillo 
pointed out in his lengthy discourse 
that the ban wa» brought about by 
pressure from his membership as a 
whole and that in 1946 RCA- Victor 
used only 2,844 musicians, paying 
them an average of $177; Columbia 
used only 1,942, paying an average 
$218, and Decca ottly J,65St at an av- 
erage $103. 

Kecorders laugh at these figures, 
pointing out that in so far as they 
are concerned It's the name band- 
leaders who- make record sales pos- 
sible and not the musicians who 
work for him, and that the union 
carefully avoids stating how much 
the leaders received. Such llgures 
range downward from the $200,00ff 
paid in 1947 to Guy Lombardo. An- 
other thing the recorders point out 
Is that the making of records and the 
popularity they enjoy have strength- 
ened in the past 10 years the public 
interest in music and is the cause of 
the AFM membership roster Jump- 
ing to its present high of >25,0(tff. 



Pact Time Finds Penn, N.Y., 
Jumping With MCA Execs 
AtJurgens'BandPreem 

Attendees > at the opening of 
Dick Jurgens' band at the Cafe 
Rouge, Pennsylvania hotel. New 
York, last week (23) were amazed 
by the turnout of Music Corp. of 
America executives. It extended 
from president Lew Wasserman, 
through David (Sonny) Werblin, Ear 
Bailey, Jim Breyley, D'Arve Bar- 
ton, Charles Miller, Bill Richards, 
Johnny Dugan, and several others. 

P.S. The conclusion of the major-, 
ity of bandsmen present vfaa cor- 
rect. Jurgens' MCA pact expires in 
another month and he's been stub- 
born about renewing. And the MCA 
turnout for his opening has reached 
the ears of other MCA maestro* and 
they want to know how come. 



Stone on ASCAP Staff 

Louis T. Stone, attorney, formerly 
with Cravath, Swaine & Moore, law 
firm, has been .added to ASCAP's 
staff In New York as assistant to 
resident counsel Herman .Fiqkel- 
stein. Press of work upon the latter 
required the assistance.- 

Stone's appointment was okayed 
by the Society's board oi directors 
recently. 



Bands at Hotel B.O.'s 



.Bead. 

Enril Coleman*. 



Botel 





Cov«n 


Tcitiil 


WcehK 


Vttst 


COTCVI 


Vlarcd 


WwU 


Ox Data 




2,175 


47,325 




1,625 


1,625 


. 1 


1,250 


2,025 




800 


61,400 


20 


2,575 


44,475 


7 


1,225 


9,325 



Selno Streiig: 

HELEN POLKA 

Dana 2002 

Camiitg Up: 

DON RODNEY, supported by 20- 
piece Dana Sldglng StriilflSf con- 
ducted by JIMMY eARHOLL. 
present*: 

EVENIN6 lELLS 
. MY IRISH COLLEEN 
DoM 2003 

DANA 

2M Fifth AvcHiw - 
HeW Yerb 1, N. Y. 



Shep Fields*...... New Yorker (400; $1-$1.50). 

Johnny Pineapple. Lexington (300; $1-$1.50) 

Guy Lombardo... .Roosevelt (400; $1-$1,50) 

Eddy Howard..., Commodore (400; $1-$L50). 

"■Lucienne Boyer. at Wli^dorf^ Ice Show ot Weil) Yorker. 

Chicago 

Murray Arnold (Empire Room, Palmer House; 550; Min. $3.50-$l cover). 
Kaye Ballard heads hold-over re-vue, but seasonal dive contmues. Fair 
2 200 

'Skitch Henderson (Boulevard Room, Stevens; 650; $3.50 Tnin.-$1 cover). 
Last two weeks before shift to ice show policy. Light 2,400 

John Kirbv Sesitet and Barbosa'S -Quintets (College Inn Sherman, m, 
$2-$3.50 min'.). Kirby and Mildred Bailey, rocking the blues with n.s.g, 

'"ceor^" o'lseji .(Marine Room, Edgewater Beach; 700; $1.SO-$2.50 min.), 
Olsen, Roily Rolls and French revue, neat 8,000. 

Los Angeles 

Freddy Martin (Ambassador; 900: $1.50-$2). Stout 2,500 IhI-k. 
,1»n Garber CBiltmore; 900; $1-$1.50). Crackerjack 2,750 covers. 



PRES. Am HONORS 
ARMSTRONG AT NICE 

Nice, March 2. 
liouis Armstrong was honored last 
week at Nice by French President 
Vincent Auriol at the completion of 
his week' at the Jazz- Festival there. 
Trumpeter was given the Vase de 
Sevres, a signal honor, at a $15-per- 
persou finale ball at ttie Negresco 
hotel. 

Armstrong is now in Paris, where 
he's to perform at two concerts to- 
night (2) and tomorrow (3). The 
combo leaves for U. S. Thursday (4). 

A headache to Armstrong and oth- 
er maestroes brought here from 
other countries to perform at the 
Festival, but especially to the U. S: 
musicians, were the attempts by b.o.- 
minded jazz cafe owners and others 
to get them to do impromptu per- 
formances when visiting local niter- 
ies. They were forbidden under the 
terms of their agreements to do any 
other appearances upon pain of hav- 
ing their contracts cancelled. The 
latter called for free transportation, 
meals and lodging. 



Pubs Eye Tde Fihn . 
Makers Warily Pearing 
ConllictionWithffiroed 

With cotnpanies inteiit -on making 
lllms for television Cprouting up all 
over the countryi! several of the ma- 
jor music publishing houses seem, to 
have decided to go, slow about issu- 
ing licenses for such films until 
they've canva.ssed the' situation. The 
angle that has them concerned is 
how this new film industry will or 
could all ec't' their licensing and priee 
relations with Holly wood 's film 
makers. 

■These music ' firms^ in mulling 
propositions already received from 
TV-Blm producers, take the view 
that they don't know as yet the value 
of the rights beihg' asked of them 
and that they might give away somer 
thing that will result in sharp reper- 
cussions from Hollywood customers. 
One thing that.these pubs say they 
are not disposed to do is to sell the 
title of a song, for a TVrflIm on an 
exclusive basis. That is something 
they would prefer to retain for box- 
office films where the conpensation 
is far greater. 



Location Jobs, Not in Hotels 

(Cliicago) 

Tommy Carlyn (Trianon; $1-$1.15 adm.), Just above 10.000 mark 
Del Courtney (Aragon; $1-$1.15 adm,). First week moderate 11,000 
"Art Kassel (Blackhawk; 500; $2.50 min,). Joins the moaners with 1,900, 

(Los Angeles) 

Wdody Herman (Palladium, B, Hollywood, 4th wk.). Sma.sh 18,()00 ad- 
missions, ' including use .from Friday (27) when general public was 
excluded. , ,-1 c^,, .J b'..-.'C < 



BMI 7Sf-^S^ 

HIT TUmS FOR MARCH 
(On R«c«rds) 
ALL DRESSED UP WITH A BROKEN HEART 

(Marhtl . 

Pegsy L*e-Cap. IS022 ■ • Buddy awk-Col. »79IS> 
Bob Hoiidon^MGM 10113 • Alan 6«rard-Not. 7019 
Mn iBerMii-Merniry 5093 ef Alai< Dalif>^S)fl. 15174 
Th« Fiv* Ban— BuUm 1009 • Jndc Owant— T«w*r 1263 
The Vanguards— Univenal 34 * Jtrry Coop«r-^Diant.eiul 2090, 
Rum Morgan-DM. 24339 • Eddy Hctward-Maii 1230 . 

DREAM PEDDLER, THE (Peer) 

Frauki* Carle-Cel. 3SCt1<^ * Hal Ocrwin-Cap. ^t, 
tammy Kaye^Vic; :|0>20S2' • Sneoliy lanMli-nMei«> * 

FOOL THAT I AM fHiii & RaNe) 

Dinoh Sho»-Col. 379S2 • Sammy Kayt-^Vic. 30-3601 
Gaorgio 6ibb(-Maj^ 12013 • Billy Idutina-MO.M 10^7 
Erskina HowkiM-Vic. 30-2470 • BrAa°k« Bitoth*rf4lM. 'M049, 
Dinah Wathingtoh— Merc. 8050 • 6fildy<'iPalm«r— Mimcte 104 

IT'S EASY WHEN YOU KNOW HOW rp«w«,) 

Jebn Pari>~Vic. 20-9027 * ieoit f<lwatili->Vila. 932 
Buddy Clark-Xovitr Cugat-Cel. • 1W*e |«h»»«;-'MOJW * 
- Eddi* BallanliMr-Tewer * . > 

I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED interna 

Harry Cool-Mafc. SOOO • Sammy Keyef-IAt* 

LET'S BE SWEETHEARTS AGAIN (CoMpMi-Parsie) 

Morgai^ WMling-~Cep. 1S0I0 « '-Vkler l«^i^Ma|. 7209 
Blue 8«rron-M6M I012I * Shep ReSihr^Mhicalift 523 
Bin JebiMn-rVlic; 20-2391- . '. , 
Guy l«iiibarde-MoiikM.ljkyri*HM.,,3429t ' 

LOVE IS SO T£RRIFFIC fM^» ^ 

iM Brawn-Caf. SBOM • Art |wnd'^-NMlM 10120 
Halefi CarreH « Sati«fi*r«^^Vii,'204i7;i - 
Vic Damena-Marcury f104 • tnit 'Mitm Qmriat-Cap,, 4W' 

PASSING FANCY <•»«» v . 

Vaughn iMenraa-Vic. 30-2S73 Ray Doray-Mni.. MBO- . 
Johnny Johntton— MOM 10127 .France* .langfard— Marcuiy' 309S 

TERESA (DiiciMu) 

Dick HeymesiAndrew* ti«Hr»-B«c.-243^' • Kay KyMir-fel, iM0«7 A 
Jack Smith-Cap:' 404 • Vit Daman*-M<f ciity-' |0(2 ' 
Do-Ray-Ma Trio— Cam. 7504 Thfea jRlazanr^Excl. 201 ■ 

WHO PUT THAT DREAM IN^YOUR fYESr^witlt 

' Mark VVarnow-Cadti'B03O',!« l^iy Cartari«|l«p> .122 
Jdck McUan-^a«» 001$ ' 

WHY DOES IT HAVE TO RAIN t>N SUNDAY 

UehMlMMi} 

Freddy Merrin-Vre. 30-2S57 • Snaaliy lanMiMMaK. S0B2 

■ "Dannn Day*-Vic>."'204377.'':'. 

YOU'RE GONNA GET MY LETTER IN THK 
MORNING (tonddhii 

Mary Otborna— Dac. 24308 ■ Guy lambarda-rDa*.* 

Adrian RoHlni-Bullat 1023- 

YOU'VE CHANGED (Melady Loae) 

Anna Shaltan-^Undon 110 * Adala Clark^4lM« 24352 

Harry/'Jema>-l>ick Haymat*#Cal. 36412 
Frankia laina— Atlaa 236 • Mary OdbMlta— AladdiH 3010 
King Cola Tria-Cap. • Jaan tdWardt-Vita. * 

*Seaii Ta Ba Ralaasad. 

Coming Up 



A KD RO^ES Udhii- 
ttane) 

I'M LOOKIN9 rOR A 
SWEETHEART (Joy- 
Dec) 

. I LOVE rOU. YES i DO 
(Loll) 

I WANT TO CRY (Excel- 
sior) 

LOVE IS FUN (iMert) 
MY PROMISE TO YOU 
tlMI) 

RHUMIA JUIILEE 
(AmHioI 



ROSALINDA (Cherio) 
SOMEONE CARES (Camp- 

beli-Peiqlel 
SWINO JLOVir SWEIT 

CLARINET fStiMrtI 
THE DREAM FEDDLER 

(Peer) 

THE JUNGLf RHUMRA 

(DmImwI 
THERE I «0 (BMI) 
TROUBLE IS A MAN (Rc- 

qent). 

WHO'S 60T ALL THE 
DOUSH (AMa) 



BROADCAST MUSIC INC. 

580 fIFTH AViMUE • ■ N£W YORK ' ? >J r 

NE-W YORK . CHICI^GO • HC.I.LYWO00 



ASCm '48 Wimifan With Radio 
Pact on Rcitroactive 'Sustabiiiig' Com 



American Socieljy of Composers,: 
Authors and Publisher^ 1948 dis- 
tributable melon -will be consider- 
ably enricfied upon the completion of 
negotiations; between the Society and 
the radio networlcs for the ejctension 
of their . current contract another 
I nine years. . llhe amount which will 
accrue to ASGAP represents the, dif- 
ference between the rate ASGAP has 
been receiving for cooperative pro- 
grams that are originated oy netr 
worJcs as. sustaining and sold com- 
mercially by affiliates, and the 
charges it feels it should have gotten 
from the sponsored Outlets. It had. 
been paid; on an overall sustaining 
basis. ■ ■.. ■ ■ .-. -•■ 

Network and indie station repre- 
sentatives wiio. have been meeting 
with ASCAP to negotiate a nine- 
year extension of the current agree- 
ment have .agreed, it's said, to reim-. 
burse ASCAP retrocatively for those 
sho^ locally sponsored over the 
years. There can be no- definite es- 
timate of the amount involved, but 
fairly responsible guesses put the 
figure in the. n e i g h b o r h o o d of 
$500,000. Exact amount awaits an 
accounting. 

Completion of discussions over the 
contract extension, incidentally, is a 
matter of a fpw-"Weeks.: Radio men 
met with ASCAP's radio' committee 
10 days ago in New York and the 
conclusions arrived; at were placed 



• . Hollywood, March 2. 

Cocoafnut CJroVe of AiWbasSsidor 
hi)tel, a ■ l^iisic 6orp.- of- America 
stronghold for 14 years, has been 
conclusions arriveu ai w«<= t..<«.=u General ^rtists Corp. 

before the respective ASCAP and ^ wfinir,. M«rri',. o«Vr,nJ,- 
National AssHi of Broadacsters direc 



tor boards a leW.day^ latei?.. 



Alvy West Preems Swing 
Regime at Edison, N. Y. 

Kdisoh hotel, New York, switches 
the policy of its Green Room from 
sweet bands to.;swing combos March 
25 with the advent of Alvy West's 
six-piece unit. Irwin Kramer,, who's 
now buying music for the room, has 
been itching to make the change lor 
sometime. With West he will use' 
another small group of a semi-jazz 
type \ for dancing. Henry 'Jerome's 
big band goes in- for nine days 
March 17.' 

West's combo, a new one which got 
a start mainly due to its recent album 
of originals for Columbia Records, 
is in for eight weeks with three 
four-week options. It'.s his first date 
in the east: -"previously his only 
booking was at the Chanticleer, Hol- 
lywood. 



GACWM BOOK INTO MCA 
LA. GROVE STRONGHOLD 



Youmans-Miller 



continued from page 37 - 



which asked tor cancellation M the 
contracts; This move, by ^issu & 
Marcus, attorneys for Vinyou, was 
customary and v/as. not expected to 
be honored. Justice Levy ordered 
that a referee be appointed to make 
an accounting due Miller of the roy- 
alty coin involved. 

\ Miller Music To Appeal 

Miller's defense, handled by Julian 
, Abele?, was based on several 
points: (1) that at the time Robbins- 
Metro bought the Miller catalog in 
1937 th^ attorneys for Miller raifed^ 
no ; points over the Youmaris con- 
tract, (2 ) that Youmans personally 
filed a petition'in bankruptcy in Cal- 
ifornia fn -1936 and did not list the 
Miller agreement as among his as- 
sets, and (3) that no attempt wa^ 
made by the. writer until 1941 to 
cpUeot his portion, of the -. royalties. 
It was Also claimed that Youmans 
or his', estate was and is being paid 
its proper share of performance 
royalties from ASCAP itself based 
on Youmans' position as a writer. 

Abeles will appeal . the decision. 
VinyoU is demanding not only a por- 
tion, of performance royalties paid 
Miller but is also seeking a slice of 
availability and seniority revenue 
ac^c.ruing to Miller from the Society. 
Since this income is bas'ed:on an 
overall .picture of the company's 
holdings, not only those- songs by 
Youmans, this argument by You- 
mans' attorneys presents an unusual 
picture. 



and also by William Morris agency. 
'GAC ' has' inked Frankle Carle' 
orch to- a 'five- week ■ stint,- starting- 
May II, and ha.>^ also secured d,efl- 
nite commitment whereby Grove 
will play Sammy. Kaye group for 
eight weeks - during summer. Wil- 
liam -Morris booked Miguelito 
Valdes into spot, opening June 15. 
. Ambassador hotel account further 
was dented by GAC in setting Ernie 
Felice combo into -the Casino bar, 
adjacent to Grove, for irideflnite en- 
gagement commencing March 9. 



CAPAC, Can. Theatres To 
Dfecusis. '4$ Rate iSoosts 

, Toronto, March 2. 
Composers, Authors and Publish- 
ers Assn. of -Ca'hada has promised 
that- it. iVill . seek no. theatre tariff in- 
creases during 1948, but intimate 
that the. situation will change- the 
following year. Meanwhile, Col. John 
A. Cooper, secretary-treasurer of the 
newly-formed National Committee 
of Motion Picture- Exhibitors 'Assn. 
of Canada, is now huddling with the 
Musical Protective Society of Cana- 
da to prepare for forthcoming coin 
discussions with CAPAC. 

Canadian exhibitors are resigned 
to the eventuality of higher music 
fees.: It's expected CAPAC will a.sk 
a 15-20% increase over the present 
rate. 

Present rates, based on per seat 
per annum in Canadian film houses, 
are as follows: 1,600 seats and over, 
15c.; 801 to 1,599, 12c./ 800 seats and 
under, 10c. Understood that CAPAC 
may be influenced by the . new tariff 
recenllx negotiated with ASCAP by 
Theatre Owners of America, where- 
by .scale is: 1,1)99 seats and over, 25c.; 
80O to l..')99, 19c.; 500-799, 12%c.; 499 
seats and under, 10c. 



i Songs With Larg^ Radio Audience i 

'. '. The top 3i $ongs of the week, based on the copyrighted Audience 
<■ Coverage Index Survey of Popular Music BToadcast Over Radio 
;| Networks, Pwhlisded by the Office of Research. Inc, Dr. John G. 
Peatman, Dir'ector. ■ 

. Survey Week of February 20.-2$, 1948 

A Fellow Needs ' a Girl— '♦"Allegro" Williamson 

An Old Sombrero . . , » , . , Shapiro-B 

Ballerina Jefferson 

Beg Your Pardon .' Robbins 

Best Things Are Freer— f'Good News". .............. .Crawford 

Big Brass Band From Brazil-^.'*"Angel In the Wings", .Morris 

But Beautiful— f'Road To Rio" ' Burke- VH 

Golden Earrings— t"Golden Earrings" Paramount 

Hc-.v Lucky You Are , ,i..Manrice ' 

How Soon ..• Supreme 

1 Never Loved Anyone t. ........... .Dreyev 

I'll Dance At Your Wedding Simon 

I'm Looking Over a F0ur Leaf Clover Remick 

In a Little Bookshop i.i.,, . -.i. ......Triangle 

Little Old Mill i . . . , ........ .Mood 

Lone Star Moon . .................... ........... Advanced 

Love Is So Terriffic . , ; Mellin 

Manana - < . . • . . .Barbour-Le9 

In ow Is the Hour Leeds . 

Papa. VoU'Daocs Witlx Me— *"High Button Shoes".. ..Morris 

Passing Fancy - , .BMI 

Pianissimo .Santly-Joy 

Saturday Date : .. ............... Southern 

Sat. Night Central Park— *"Make Mine Manhattan". . . .T. B. Harms, 

Serenade Of t-he Bells .Melrose . 

Teresa , ............ .Duche.ss 

Treasure Sierra Madre^— f'Treasure of Sierra Madre",. Rcmlcic ; 

What'll I Do..,..i. ............ .1 , .......Berlin 

With- a Hey and a Hi and a Ho Ho Ho Bourne . 

■You Don't: Have To Know the Language-— t"Boad Rio" . Burke-VH 
You Were Meant For Me Miller ; 



The- remoiriing 19 songs of the week, based on the copyrighlM 
Audience ^onerttge. Index Survey of Popular. Music Broadcast Over 
Radio Networks: Published by the <Qf)[ic6 of RfsearCh, JnCi Dr., John 
G. Peatmdii, Director ■ 

A-n-g-e-1 Spells Mary . ; United 

At the Candlelight Cafe. , Witmark 

Dickey-'Bird Song . ... ...... .... .... Robbins 

Gentleman Is a Dope — '•"Allegro" , , Williamson 

I Still Get Jealous— *"High Button Shoes". ; .Morris 

I'll' Make UpVFor Everythirig .■. ..Leeds . 

It's Easy WhSn You Know How Femora 

I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling; ,. ...... Santly-.Ioy 

Let's Be -Sweethearts Again . ., ...C-P 

Oooh Look-a There, Ain't Shift Pretty Leeds 

So Far— ""Allegro" .............. . ... . . . . ...... Williamson 

The Stars Will Remember Harms - 

Tell Me a Story .Laui'el ' 

Thoughtless ........... i . Feist. 

Too-Fat Polka ..... . , ........ ....... . Sbapiro-B 

Two'Things To Worry About . . .... .... Block' N 

When You're Smiling Mills 

You Turned the Tables on Me- . ... ..... .....Fox - 

t Your Red Wagort ...... .r. ............ .i -Leeds 

tFilmwsica!. 'Legit MusicaU 



- Best Britisil Sheet SeOers 

, (We?fc Ending Feb. 19) : 

London, Feb. 20. 

Near You ... . ". B. Wood 

Tree In a Meadow ,. .Connelly 

I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now Feldman 

Peg C My Heart , Ascherberg 

Shoemaker's Serenade .... .................... .Kassner 

Apple Blossom Wedding .v. ....... .. jj .. .. Connelly 

I'll Make Up For Everything Maurice 

Little Old Mill .Dash 

Coffee -Song „ Southern 

Serenade of the Bells . . , . . , . . , ; . . . . Morris 

And Mimi .. ,, .. Connelly 

Once Upon^ a Wintertime Cinephonic 

Second 12 

I'm Happy Right Hete......... ,. ..Unit 

vSorrento — , . ..... Ricordi ' 

Darby and Joan , ..... .. Box & Cox 

Happy Go Lucky You .... . . ... Da.sh 

South America . Feldman 

Girl That I Marry .... ..... .. ,..:.-.if. .... Berlin 

Garden in the Rain . ..... Connelly 

Ho\y Are Things in Glocca Morra .. . ..... ...... .Chappfll 

First Love, Last Love .Dash 

I Never Loved Anyone ..- Yale 

Now.Is theHour ...... .. . ..... .. .. .,..K. Prowse 

Anniversary Song 4.^. ,.>..k . . ... ...... Connelly 



SPIKE JONES FIRES 
Fin B.O. IN CONCERT 

Pittsburgh, March 2. 
Spike Jones concert at 3,800-seat 
Syria Mosque last Tuesday night 
. (24) packed 'them in to the rafters, 
and take soared to nearly .$8,000 at 
$3 top. There wasn't room in the big 
aud to jam- another spectator and 
show 'Could have sold out all over 
again. So much so that there's talk 
by Beegle Brothers, the leading local 
impresarios, of bringing him back 
again before the season ends. 

Jones' figure represents -top dough' 
here all year for this type of enter-' 
tainment: Stan Kenton gross printed 
last week included tax money, too, 
and while Kenton drew as many 
people as Jones, he was scaled lower 
and couldn't take out as much coin. 

Jones' biz was almost exactly what 
he did here on his 'first appearance 
year ago, with not more than $50 
difference either way. Concert was 
sold out eight days before his ap- 
pearance. . 



fro-" M Cj.M s V...V H I 

'THREE DARING DAUGHTERS' 




DICKEY-BIRD 
SONG 



m 

mmm 



ROBBINS MUSIC CORPORATION 



AOUIS ARMSTRONO^ 



and His Eamous All Stars 
JACK TEAGARDEN • EARL HINES 

BARNEY BIGARD 
SID CATLETT • ARVELL SHAW 

VELIMA MIDDLETON 

CURKIENTLY 

NOW PARIS, FRANCE 

Two Caneami March 2 Md '3 
VICTOR RECORDS EXCLUSIVELY 



ASSOCIATED BOOKING CORP. 

JOE GLASER, Pres. 



Wednesday, Marck S, 19441 



Saratoga ITitaies Wary d PosaUe 
Qafflpdpwn On Caano Operations 

' 1. ' .. ■ Cf^nni^e^rtn mi l-Ai^iae ^ ■ ' ■ ■ : ■ ■ ■ .... . ''■ -i, 



Operators ot Saratoga . niteries*. 
. ar« fearlul that the political situa- 
'tion may spoil any chances of hit- 
tine higtime coin. It's argued that 
New York's Governor Thomas E. 
Pewey may force clampdown on 
the casinos for the season,. 

Situation is likely to have its reper- 
cu.ssions in the buying of tajent, in- 
. Bsmuch as the casino activity nor- 
mally su#orts the huge shows 
usually imported during the spa's 
• i'Seiflg season. 

A start has already been . made 
in talent buying with Clark & Mc- 
Cune, owners of the Piping Rock 
having contracted Pupi Campo's 
band lor the entire month. 

Operation of the "Piping Rock 
hasn't been completely settled, so 
far, although it's likely that Lou 
Walters, operator of the Latin 
/ Quarter, N. Y., may run the nitery 
end of the spot for the third suc- 
ces-sivf season. Clark & McCune, 
who own the Brook club, Miami 
Beach, operate the setup but lease 
i. out the ni'tery. 

Talent agency men anticipate that 
the cafe operations will use top 
■ names, evert in gambling doesn't 
materialize, but will economize on 
the rest of the show. . 

BLOOM SELLS INTEREST 
IN CLUB CHARLES, BALTO 

Baltimore, March 2. 
Cy Bloom, one of the owners of 
the Club Charles, Baltimore, has 
been bought out by his two -partners, 
Tom Shaw and Moe Levy, last week, 
is slated to open a cocktail lounge 
shortly. . 
Meanwhile, the remaining part- 
. ners have sold the building hou.sing 
the spot and have taken out a long- 
" term lease/ No change in the Club 
. Charles' policy is contemplated by 
Sh'aw and Levy. Sol Tepper will 
continue .to..booli; out of New Yorli. 



Rose Murphy's Cap Date 

Rpse Murphy, sepia songstre.s.<!, ha.s 
been signed for her first Broadway 
vaude date. ' She starts at the Capi- 
tol theatre at the conclusion of the 
'ruii Of "Naked City." 

She'll be on the bill with Xavier 
Cugat and Harvey Stone. Film will 
be "B.F.'.s Daughter." (M-G). 



Vui Eiclattv* tmi Amuitii^ 




LAURETTE and CLYMAS 



'rDANCUMORISTSr 

nth Keturn EiiRtiKenw^nt 
MOUNT no VAK HOTKI. 
Monl'rcHt, Onniiilu 
Nrw York K<>iK : OiiiiiiKO ll('i>. : 
.»A»;li IkAVIKH ••IllI, rVltKKi.l. 




HEENE and HOWARD 

'Comaily Onnf AifMa' 

STATE, HARTFORD 

Dir.: MATTY ROSEN . 



Ina Ray Into N.Y. LQ. 

Ina Ray Button, originally set for 
the Latin Quarter, N. Y., in Septem- 
ber, has been advanced to open May 
23. Entire show will be built around 
the band. 

This will be the first bandshow in 
that cafe since Ted Lewis several 
year s ago. Lewis, incidentally is 
booked' for a summer date here. 



Broadway, N.Y., 
May Get New 
Vaude Policy 

Broadway may get a straight 
vaude house yet, if present plans go 
through. Sam Gulwirth, who in 
conjunction with. Ernie Anderson 
promotes the Town and Carnegie 
Hall "Concerts at Midnight," is 
presently working 'on a deal to put 
vaude into the now vacant Broad- 
way theatre. 

Gutwirth plans to open around 
March 27 for three-day bills weekly. 
Idea is to run Friday, Saturday and 
Sunday; with a matinee, everting 
and midnight show Saturdays and 
two shows on Sunday. 

However, there are some hitches 
in the plans, fhe first being United 
Artists (house lessees.) refusal- to 
commit the theatre for three nights 
weekl.v for any sii.stained period. If 
a permanent tenant becomes avail- 
able, Gutwirth's promotion niay be 
bumped,. 

Another factor is the present 
scaroit.y of t6p material. Gutwirth 
hoped to have a layout topped by 
Milton Berle for the opening show. 
A headliner of less calibre, he felt, 
would be insuflicient to buck Good 
Friday. Berle, however, is not avail- 
able, and Gutwirth is seeking other 
headliners. 

.Gutwirth feels that the "Concerts 
at Midnight" have proven th^ Vaude 
shows can draw, if angled properly. 
He says that much of the gamble 
will be eliminated by running the 
three best days of the week. 

If the proposition comes off, the 
Broadway theatre on show nights 
will be the closest .approach to the 
old Palace theatre, N. Y. 



48 



FISHER BOWING OUT AS 
BOOKER OF N.Y. CAFES 

Arthur Fi.sher is- bowing out of 
N. Y. cafe bookings. Fisher, who has 
been booking the Latin Quarter and 
the Harem, relinquished these spots 
to concentrate on theatre bookings. 
However,' he'll continue to book for 
the Latin Quarter, Mia.nni Beach. 

With Fjsher's exit, Lou 'Walters, 
LQ operator, will do his own bookr 
ing, while the Harems Nat Harris' 
plans will be made known on his 
return from Florida this week. 

Fisher drops a healthy revenue 
in giving up the cafe business. The 
talent bill on these two rooms fre- 
quently ran around $25,000 weekly. 
At tl^e 5% booking fee* Fisher's, 
take was around $1,250 weekly. . 



\jA Martinique, N. Y., 
Pacts Line for New Show 

La Martinique, N. Y., is restoring 
girl line starting with the Majch 11 
show'. Dario, spot's operator, has set 
a June -raylor group for show with 
Frances Faye. Jack Carter, Freddie 
Stewart, Rajph Font and 'Val Olman 
bands. 

Dario has al.so appointed Harry 
Morton as booker for the spot.. , 




WL THE INK SPOTS 




- M«i^« — AyiMcy. Inc. . 
•••.'WtM .4tttli Strmtt,- New Voik 



Not So Open House 

New York's dancing teachers, 
who are in a position to steer 
trade to the cafes featuring good 
rhumba bands, are peev-d at the 
Embassy dub. Latter, in order 
to draw attention to its new 
Latin outfit, Louis 'Varano's band, 
last week invited the terp-tutors 
to an. evening at the . cafe. They 
turned but en masse oii thet as- 
sumption it was an evening on 
the house. 

It wasn't. 



Ora.«e Hayes was forced to cancel 
her opening at the Famous Door, 
Miami Beach, Thursday (26) be- 
cause of a heart attack. She's the 
mother of comedian Peter Lind 
Hayes. 



Tqiline Rhmida Bands Now Lnrin^ 
Hefty Patronage to N. Y. Bistros 



Rhumba bands have become stand- 
ard equipment in virtually, every 
major N. Y. cafe. In many casu the 
Latineers are the major part of the 
draw inasmuch as a hearty portion 
of cafe regulars choose their spots 
on the ba.sis of who beats out the 
hippy rhythms. 

Even the major tourist havens, 
the Latin Quarter and the Harem, 
are going in for Latin name 
personalities^ The Latin Quarter has 
set Pupi Campo for a date, while 
the Harem has . booked Desi Arnaz. 
Even the China Doll is going after 



the rhumba aficionados with the 
pacting of Noro Morales. 

'Vaiae of a good Latin band to a 
cafe is indicated in the pickup in the 
Club Ebony's re.ceipts as soon as a 
good rhumba crew was signed. Mar^ 
celino Guerra is credited with having 
taken the spot out of the red. 

Business underwent a renaissance 
at the Havana-Madrid when it start- 
ed to tise name Latins, but biz has 
dipped' again, because competition 
has become more keen. La Mar* 
tinique similarly affected a business- 
increase when it went Latin. 



OF 

NATIONAL MEMBERSHIP 
MEETINGS 

to Nominate Delegates to thft 

NATIONAL CONVENTION OF AGVA 

You owe It to AGVA and yourself to attend. Your AGVA card 
is your admission if you are paid up to July 31, 1947, or after. 
Don't leave it to the other fellow. Do your share. 



BALTIMORE Branch Areo-^Mareh 11 
3:00 p.in.— 'New Howard Hotel 

BOSTON Branch Arech— March 8 
3:00 p.in.->-Braciford Hotel . 
(Includes Providence, Springfield, 
Hartford) 

BUFFALO Branch Area— March 12 
3:00 plm.<^lks Auditorium V 
211 Delaware Ave. 
(Includes Rochester, Rome, 
Schenectady, Canada) 

CHICAGO Branch Area— March 10 
2:00 p.m. — Garrick Theater BIdg. 
M W. Randolph St. 

CINCINNATI Braneh^Areo^Morch 8 
7:00 p.m. — ^Hofel Gibson ^ 
(Includes Louisville, Indianapolis and 
adjacent cities) 

CLEVELAND Branch Area— March 10 
3:00 p.m.—Olmstead Hotel 

(Includes Akron, Ctanton, Yaunfst9W(ii 
and adjacent cities) 

COLUMBUS Branch Area— March 7 
2:30 p.m.'— Variety Club 
55 East State St. ^ 
(Includes Dayton and W. Va. areas) 

DALLAS Branch Area-^March IS 
5:00 p.m.— Artists BIdg. 
1918 Live Oak S^. 

DENVER Branch Area— March 13 
3:00 p.m.<^AIbany Hotel ' 

DETROIT Branch Area— March 10 
3:00 p.m.—Detroiter Hotel 

(Includes Toledo and adjacent cities) 

HOLLYWOOD Branch Area— March 8 
3:00 p;m.T^I Patio Theatre 



HOUSTON Branch Area— Match \h 
11:00 a.m;r-Chamber of Coftimercc 
YMMdnSt. : 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Branch Area , 
March 8—7:00 p.m. — CoHtiHcnlot Hotel 

MIAMI BEACH Branch Area— Morvk ICf 
3:00 p.rn. — Lord TorletoM Hdtcl ' 

MONTREAL Branch Afff^^r-March 14 
3:00 p.m.>^1252 Stcnilfy.St. 

NEW ORLEANS Branch Ai«a— March 11 
3:00 p.m.>^oo$«ve)t' Hotel 

OMAHA Branch Ai«a— Mnreh 10 
. 2:00 p.m. — ^Ronie^Hofel 

NEW YORK Branch Arc»-Morch 11 
. '2:00 p.m.— Town Halt 

(Includes Newark, .and. odiocent 
cities in Conn.) 

PHILADELPHIA Branch Are»-Mareh'f 
■ 3:00 p.m.— Conimodotc Hotel 

(Ineludtfi Reading, Allentown and 
adjaeeitt cities) 

PORTLAND,. Ore. Branch ArM*-Mareh 10 
3;00 p.mi«— Labor. Temple 
13US.l4thSt. 

PITTSBURGH Branch Area— March V 
3:00 p.it|<^jM|«"ry Hotel 

ST. LOUIS Branch Area— March 13 
3:00 p.m.-*^Mark Twain Hotel ' 

SAN FRANplSCO Branch Area 
March 9— 3:0^p.m..^149 Powell Si-. 

SEATTLE Branch Areo— March 11 
2:00 p.m. — University Bidg. 
Room 407, 1305 3rd Ave.. 



ATTEND THE MEETING— NOM INATE— VOTE 

Sincerely yours, 

Four A's AGVA Executive Committee. 

HY FAINE (AGAAA), Chmtman 
FLORENCE mXrSTON (SAG) DEWEY BARTO (AGVA) GEORGE HEllER (AFRA) 
RAY COOK (Chorus Equity) A. FRANK REEL (AFRA) ANGUS DUNCAN (Equity) 

American Guild of Variety Artists, 1697 Broadway^ New York 19, N, Y. 



44 



Dusting the Attic 



(For «o other than nosfolffic rea- 
jotis these Palace bills will be re< 
))rini.e(I each week, ^nd ^qr the cof V: 
re$poncii»0 week, as they originally 
appeared in Vabiecy 25 years ago.) 

PALACE, N. Y. 

XSfareh -19!iS3) 
George Gottlieb's ..final weekly, 
fling at .the Palace bill is a corking 
effort, although there s,eemed to be 
an .edge in iavbr of the first faaU 
of the program, ~Even'the "Topics" 
' narrations highly amused,^ > 

Abundant ' witb f ens^nine . names, 
the .show. impre£^e4. reselling its 
highes.t point witli Fjipiiy.Brice and 
the BiUmore Orchestra,' Nqs. 4 and 
B respectively, ^ey closed out an 
initial portion that,, va itself, testified 
it would take plenty of following to 
gain additional momentum. To hold 
the pace set by the opening stanza 
looked to be about impossible. It 
was, and while entertaining values 
were affluent during the; latter 
stages, ii was a grade below "the ve- 
locity 'plreceding the interim. 

Wtiss Brice, Grfette Ardine, DeLyle 
Alda> Jue Quon Tai and Robbie Gor- 
done comprised the fair Sex contin- 
gent of the nine-act bill. They per- 
formed in pairs, the initial duo 
placed ahead of the ist):etch . period, 
tliR'n^xt two foUoiying thbb cessaiipa 
of «ictivities, withi': liliss Gordohe 
cloitirig. iQtitt«r ''thiEin.^'fhe musicians, 
tliQ'THr^e LAndoiis, dojiahe Sc Nev- 
ins, 'niid Van & Corbett rounded' out 
the evening! ■ : 

The former "Follies" c6m«dienne 
ran .away with the performance, do- 
ing nine songs and a recitation for 
SB minutes, with - still' a 'demand. 
MiM- Brice literally. Went 'lor ''the 
works,"' even untO'« Cockney lyric 
that listened as being an' emergency 
ditty from former. deySi and made 
it problematical as' to hOW'the men 
in the pit played tlie «i«hestration. 
Their rendering wafted fiuspiciously 
of a more or less degree of faking, 



EDDY 




"H*If«li of 4li* 

.'htrmoHic!*.'" < 

RAINBOW 
RECOIIOS 

Bxdnslv* 



Margery Wallet 'it Rfoo 



u 

A 
N 

S 
0 
N 



COMEOY PftTTBI 

, l^r Alt JtnmUMt af IMMrieaU 

I WMASTER 

: VTh« Shew lis Gotl f »< 

Nos. .1 to 22 at $t.Olpi ea. 
10 i>AR6dlES for $10.00 
"How io Be an Emee*" 

$3.00 liieluiiiiig 2 Gag KIcs 
Stad lor list ot material. ptU'odjM, 
comsilr Rnnitti, minsticl Utc— 1>tack- 
out«, Kkitft, '«K*4 

NO C.O.I>'« 

PAULA SMITH 

too W.. Mill St., New Sork » 



but so was Miss Brice's Cockney- 
Yiddish accent. A return entrance 
lor an encore finaH wjtli the hotel 
dance miisic combination, brought 
another outbavst as a reception for 
the singer. It reached the clamoitous 
claEsifioation at the conclusion. This, 
last bit had Miss Bri.ce in male even- 
ing attire £tept)ing to 9 "hot"selec- 
tion. 

Someone with a sense of propor- 
tion evidently :has re£ramed the< rou- 
tine of the Biltmor? . orchestra. Be- 
sides an opening medley rendered 
behind a gauze screen, upon which 
flowers float downward,- there is but 
anojtiver .pop .conglomeration ot. mel- 
odies and a violin sol|o. . Ibe foHow- 
up wa? the encore, with Miss Brice 
in front, and finish. Jt makes for a 
compact offering that, has not the 
fault of running on indefinitely and 
is neither too much n6r too little. 
Additionally, there is the maneuver- 
ing of .Willie Crsager at the drums, 
whd. is practically putting the .band 
over by his comedy mannerisms 
while workjng' around traps^ Not 
that the orchestra is without merit, 
albeit there is many a musical comr 
bination that cap play right along 
with this one; many can top it; but 
Creager possesses a sense Of show- 
manship and humor -and .sells both 
to the end. The band is not .only a 
band," but an act. 
The Three Londons j>ushcd off at 
close to eight, succeeded by Coome 
>& Nevins, who carried it .along nice- 
ly with their songg. Miss Kadice 'asr- 
sisted by John Tyrell and Tom lUacb, 
•flashed a speed dance episode that, 
for 17 minutes, provided as much 
action as could normally be con- 
tained in such a length of time. The 
costimies of the girlj backed by the 
special setting, .iUusioned prettily,, 
while the stepping was 'way 'above 
par and of sufficifeht merit to over- 
come the aoi&ewhat weak vocalizing 
and minor 'dial4)g., SiBglyi doubling 
or in ensemble the trio seem equally 
at home, while an early swing of the 
girl (by the two boys) is bound to 
be "copped" right and" left. The end 
was a. tieup, although the- necessity 
of a speech was sensibly passed. 

Van k Corbett, next, to closing, 
froliced through to continuous re- 
turns and went to the head of the 
Glass as far a$ the latter half of the 
schedule was eoncemed. . The team 
tacked on a bit, for a finish,- th^t 
had a reappearance of the Chinese 
girl as an excuse. It iramed as'a 
neat comedy situation and sufficed 
a.s to its purpose. ' ■ 

Mis.s . Alda ■ was on ■ seventh with 
her elaborate satire on the: musical 
legit productions. The act clicked 
Tcgularly and was accorded a subr 
stantial outburst .at 'the "finale. .The 
cast iS' capable in their support of 
the J Reading, member, whose- high 
notes were not all they, should, have 
been and developed an inclinatioxi to 
register a little oil key every bo 
often.. The. pantalette costume, of 
Miss Buckley, y/orn in the second 
scene, was decidedly unpicturesque 
and out of place, 

Santos,. &. Hayes, ■ although pro- 
graranned, did not appear, and Jue 
Quon Tai blazed the trail for the 
second heat. The miss froni the 
Orient seemed to find it difficult to 
ge>. started. That may, in some part 
have been due to the morale of the 
previous succession of events she 
was forced to follow. The bringing 



pn of the' sister- provided th*, impe- 
tus, with' th6 song and dance of the 
protege putting the turn on the right 
side. It looks now as if the younger 
member co"uld go oiit and give her 
close relative plenty of opposition. 
Miss Gordone's. series of poses ter- 
minated for the night to a ' house 
that was quite willing to sit and not 
take any chances of missing a trick. 

Skig. 



POLLACK CIRCUS SUED 
BY INJURED BffiERfllR 

* Chicago, March 2. 

Pollack Bros. Circus was sued for 
$S0,000 in Superior Court here last 
week by Elsie Walther Sidney, trick 
bicycle rider. 

Miss Sidney claims she was per- 
manently injured last Oct. 30 when 
she fell 50 feet from a rope. Fall, 
she maintains, was caused by in- 
secure rigging. . " . '. 



Attached by Attorney 

June Richmond, sepia singer, cur- 
rent at the Club Ebony, 'N. Y., is 
Working sans salary these days. Her 
coin has been tied up by an at- 
iachmenf obtained by attorney Leon- 
ard Loewinthan on a $800 judgment* 
ment. , ' ■ 

After the judgment was filed. Miss 
Richmond went into bankruptcy list- 
ing no assets and |5,600 in liabilities. 
She subsequently sought to have the 
attachment vacaited and have the at'? 
toritey take hi» turn along with other 
creditors. Justice "Byrtte of the Nj Y,- 
city court last week refused to 
vacate the attachment. 

She may get some , of her salary 
when - her ease comes up before : a 
federal ^efer^e next .week. 



George Wood's Aussie To 
London Via N. Y. Stopoff 

Georgie Wood, for many years a 
leading • British comic', returns to 
Australia for some commercial radio 
starting next October. Wood, just 
back from ' Down Under, where he 
established . himself as a legit and 
pantomime producer, flies back- to 
'Lond'on Friday (5) . 

His two biggest. hits in that coun- 
try were "CI>itterbuc}c". which ran 14 
weeks in • Sydney, and the panto- 
mime. "Aladdin," which did smash 
business for the traditional • six 
weeks. His production of "Sweetest 
and Xiowest" met, with a fair recep- 
tion. 

Upon returning to England, Wood 
is slated to confer with Parliaftien- 
tary ' leaders on the question o£ 
British tax *laws governing U. S. 
pei'formers.. 



Nigirt Club Reviews 



Conniee Boswell Doubling 

■ WSami, March 2. 

Connee' Boswell • is here doubling 
between the Olympia theatre and 
the Brook Club/ and doing a click 
b.o. .iob at both. Singer opened at 
the theatre last Wednesday (25) for 
one week and the Brook date is for 
two weeks. , . 

Nitery booldng was made after 
the singer left New York to fulfil] 
the Olympia commitment, along 
with a theatre booking in Jackson- 
ville, Fla. 



AMERICA'S TOP HEADLINE SiMGiMG GItOUr 



ICurrmlly' 
LAkKY POTTER'S 
SUPPER CLUB 
Hi|Hywe««, CM. 



All MajAr Notwurliii, 
TlM-atren iinil Cliibi), 
Vt Sp and CnniKlti 




BOYS 



RCA 
VICTOR 
fAVORITES 



Personal I>lrectl<in-~'ICI> Knmmv 
tm KKQ BiilUtac. J)'ew Yarii 2«. M. Y. 



JACK PARKER 

"r##f JACK OF CLUBS" 

' CURtCNTLY 

^ COTILLION ROOM 
HOTEL PIERRE 
NEW YORK 

TfeMkt f* NAUY KUf Y. VAC 

,-,'?■ . IMmcHm: , , 

YOM niZPATmCK 




l^<in Qiifurtcr, N. V. 

Frank JLibuse, Radio Ace* (3), 
Nick Long, Jr., Marion Manners, Tito 
& Corinne Valdex, Patricia Adair, 
Mona. Piroska, Beau BrummeU (4)^ 
Proinenaders (4), 7-iine (17), Vincent 
Trouers Orch, Buddy Harlowe Orch; 
staged b]/ JVatcuho Kamarovm; pro- 
duced by Lou Walters; $4 rninimMm. 

Lou Walters' current show- at the 
Latin Quarter Is still showing 'em 
how to deliver entertainment value 
in the pop priced, nitery belt. This 
Is one for the hiasses that'll sell to 
visiting, firemen and regular nitery 
patrons. A 90-minute layout titled 
"America's Hall of Femme," show 
has pace, color, and variety with 
plenty of laughs to build it into, a 
solid payoff for th? customers. 

■Production- numbers are elabo- 
rately dressed and neatly designed 
to give , a firm base to the proceed- 
ings. Opening with "New Orleans 
Mardi Gras," number arrays the full 
line of girls and ciwrus lads in e 
flashy choreographic place 'based on 
a cai-nival motif. Good specialty 
dances are delivered by a lowdown 
adagio team, Tito and Corinne 'Val- 
dez,,.«nd ballerina Patricia Adair 
with an assist from Mons. Firoska, 
an agile acrriterper with clas.f. Two 
other production humber.s, matcliing 
the first. "include ' "New Orleans Bai 
Mosque" and "Doing the New York," 
all of them featuring voicals stints by 
the cbantcuses assisted by two male 
quartets, the Beau Brunuaels ^nd : 
Promenaders. 

Bill ^ates highest in the key com^ 
edy division with Frank Libase, 
"Hellzapoppin"' zany, in the top 
spot, Libuse, equipped with props^ 
pratfalls and stooge, delivers a broad 
type ot comedy that rolls the cus- 
tomersi- tile fives « pre-ahtiw taste of 
his act by acting' as a faeadwaiter and 
making mayhem on the floor with 
water squirts, fake <disbes and fresh 
talkback. During his regular stint, 
Libuse uses an operatic sopranb 
stoogt for hi* takeoff point and bis 
routine is expertly timed for maxi- 
mum reiults. 

Other sock comedy item ia fur- 
nished, by' Rmiio Aces, a .{pale 
trio in the Sitz Bros, vein. Team is 
stocked with click novelty nunttwrs' 
including "What Does the Public 
Want," ''Sam, You Made the Skirt 
Too Long'' and "The Last of the 
Masters of Ccreqfionies," Some> of the 
gags a!re on the comy side but the 
trio eompensates with a v»satile 
brand of warbling, tricky gag de- 
livery, effective mugging and plenty 
of zest. Encore bit is a radio quiz 
program satire that earns big salvos. 

In terping department, Nick Long, 
Jr., displays some clever' terpology 
with a series of impressions oii a 
cavalcade of hoofers ranging froni 
Pat Booney to Ray Bolger. Bill is 
rounded out by Marion .Manners 
who shows off a good set of pipes on 
"Basin Street Blues," a new num- 
ber, "Matinee" and a couple of Ster, 
phen Foster tunes. Muriel King, 
lyric soprano, warbles an operatic 
tune that sels off a mild striptease, 
act by a couple of showgirls Which 
precedes the flnalt. 

Vincent 'Travers orch, with an. as- 
sist from the Smith Sisters, a harpist, 
quartet, cuts the show in competent 
fashion and doubles With the Buddy 
Harlowe' combo in furnishing dance 
music for the customers in a variety 
of styles. Herm. 

Bowory, Detroit 

Detroit, f'eb. 28. 
PrortJcfe Lolne; Franleie Ropp> 
Dubinettes (6)- J«ne McPonoupIi-, 
Flying Barryt, iBovsery Hepcats (4) , 
Tubbv & Kettle, Ben Yottnir Orch 
(10). 



The Bowery has a sock layout for 
current stanza that should pay off. 
Frankie Laine toplining, clicks in 



his song session. Lad has 'em from 
walk-on and holds them ail .the wav 
Opening with "River St. Marie," he 
follows with "That's My Desire" 
'^Black and Blue," ''Baby All the 
Tune," "Someday Sweetheart" and 
"Shine" for solid returns. Encores 
with "We'll Be Together Again" for 
additional plaudits. 

Frankie Happ, versatile emcee 
liicores in his stanzfi. His fodlerv 
with the Dubinette linfe of girls and 
other clowning keeps show moving 
at a merry pace. Jane McDonough 
does neatly in her song session. 

The Flying Barry«, roller skate 
team, arc okay With trick aiiud fancy 
skatinfe. Bowery Hepcats provide 
additional comedy to bill. , 

Tubby and Kettle, sepia hoofers, 
contrib clever terp routines; 

Ben Young orch twckgrounds 
show expertly. St<^n. 

CItek, Philty 

PhiladelplUa, Feb. 19. 
Ina Ray Button Band (]2l with 
.Danny Siceardo; Page Cavanangh 
Trio. 



Ina Bay Hutton, she ot the cling- 
ing gowns and swaying torso, is still 
an attraction when she steps In 
front of her orchestra on any band- 
stand. Current stint at Frank Pa-- 
lumbo's Click is no exception. 

The gal has collected, a workman- 
like' dozen of musicians who play 
danceable, as well as listenabte mtr- 
»ic. • 

Vocals are neatly handled by 
•Danny Riccardo, whose voice regis- 
ters Well in the massive Click. Miss 
Hutton takes over with the novelty 
tuners,' giving 'extra meaning to the 
lyrics with her swaying chassis. 

Lulls are handled in fine style by 
Vasfe Cavanaugh. trio. 

B'z good, with plenty standees at 
bar when reviewed. Sliat. 



(fOtliOWOT) 
Martha Raye's return to the Ilarem 
tor her last' date in the U.S. prior to 
sailing for England for a March 29 
opening at the Palladium, London, 
provides a view-with-alarm outlook. 
(Continued on pa^e 46) 



THE 

DE LEON SISTERS 

"Tkose Danelag Darlliigt" 

CwTMiHy .,'„.. ,' 

TROCADERO CLUB 

tVAMSVILlE, INPIANA 

ThnnlM, »AM ROBKHt'M 
DIreeHon: 
TOM FI1ZPATRICK 
ISO WmI 42lld StTMt. New York 



COMEDY lAftGAINSi 

PAIfODIES, snpCIMt MNGS, tITS. ate. 

.ir iarg'tAl )uieta*m in' sbwwbic! 

i tots CATMiOti KBBK! „ , 

ii ExclnNiire aUitMiat mit kim'^IuH}-! 

J. & H. KUINMAN 

HOKLYWOOV «S, C'Al.ir. ISM 



COMEDIANS— M. C.'t-AtL ACTS! 
C*l«Ml VllM! 'PrtMtliml INDEX CARDED 
Cm FII> H MlMhly SWViie. (O 2.00* CMV 
Qulm, HmMw tttftt: CoMly Stuiib. <te.> 
•n 3 ky 5 Inch INDEX CARDS, ClastMled W 
Subjute. (2) Portakli Fil« Cakimt. (3) PUs- 
tlc TRANSPAREKT Wlllduttid Walfcl kollliag 48 
Giita VISIBLE far OuKk SiiMly ak Tralai. at 
Lmuli, Id Drwtlai Raani, etc. OUTFIT as 
akavt. plus 3 Mcntkt' Srrvlct, Fr«sh Gawi, <tc. 
(LIMITED). tl« faitaaU. SAMPLE WW Gail, 
aa Cards (Jaauary Itsus), M. "PATTEH^DEX" 
BOX I5t WOODSIDE, N. Y. 



Saranac Lalie 

By liappy Benway 

, Saranac Lake, N. Y,, March 2. 

Lillian Bergson elated over gift of 
a . gold wristwatch by Paramount 
Pictiu'cs for 25 years oS faithful i 
.service. Her sister, Gertrude Klein | 
in from N, Y. C.'for the bloWout. ' 

Jeanette Binkley shot in from Lnn- 1 
"I'^tev, Pa., to visit her father John ; 
(lATSE) Binkley, who is proeres- 
siiig nicely. 

Eel Warrin in from Newark, N. J „ 
for \yeekend visit with Arthur 
ProfCitt, who's doing nicely with in- 
firmary routiiie. 

Eddie VogJ appointed as chairman 
of Publicity for the Red Cross drive- 
Mane Southard handling Will Rog- 
ers collections with George I'ee, Inez 
Delm-cs Liverpool and Mary Mason 
asw.sting. " 

George Fee, musician, given an all- 
clear and now part-time switch- 
board operator at the Rogers. . 

Bill Lalis cheered up plenty by 
surprise visit from Rose McMahon, 
Marie Lalis and Irene Langtry last 
week. 

Kenneth Chetwood planed in from 
Cheyenne to bedside chat with An- 
drew Grainger, who is doing nicely. 

liaura Sloan upped for meals and 
visiting privileges, 

Mabel Burn.s in and out of the 
general Iwspital after masterinit the 
BronciMcopljy operation *tsA resting 
■*t the Soger*. , 

(Write te these wita are III). . 



SUlPHATHtAZOtE'S 


SURREALIST HUMORlST 


ONLY ItiVAl 


(Co C'est Bon?) . 


(Vcitt, Vidi, VTci) 




1 0 U 


iiiil 


SEILER 


Just completed 8 


. CURRENTLY 


hysterical woeks 


TELfiVISlNG 


CASA SEVILIE, L. 1. 


SCHEDULED 


SCHEDULED 


BERGUNDY ROOM DETROIT 


FOREST LODGE 


When art t*ita»:-l*wst Udf^i, VOM S 


■Man St., Schmcta^ 7, M, V., U. S. A. 



MAXINE 

SULLIVAJX 

CURREHTLY 
VIUAGE VANGUARD, N»w York 
RA»iO: SMrikvi»13$1|>.M.. WNEW 

MUSIC eoti. «N> MMBIICA 



Wednesday, March 8, 1948 



VAVPEVILLB 



4S 



Aussie Welcomes 
Yank and Other 
Foreign Acts 

Sydney; March 2. 

With Aussie Actors Equity ready 
to play ball by easinfi bans on for- 
eign talent, Down Under' is due for 
a tremendous upbeat in flesh enter- 
tainment. That's the opinion ex- 
pressed by David Martin, head of 
the powerful Tivoli circuit here>, 
before he planed to the U. S. Sun- 
day (29) on a talent-buying junket. 
Equity has seen the light, he 
daiiMed, as the result of his long 
campaign to show the organization 
that If vaude is to survive here 
more outside acts must be permit 
ted to enter the coifn try. 
: Martin's American itinerary calls 
tor stops in Los Angeles and New 
York. He's slated to arrive on the 
eoast tomorrow (Wed.) and is due 
jii Gotham Sunday (7) for a two- 
weelc stay there. In view of Equity's 
more liberal attitude, the Tivoli 
chief has already booked Cathy 
Barr, Metro actress, for a swing on 
the circuit as well as Norman LaU' 
ranee, and Sonya Yarn for 'the mu- 
sical, VMarinka," which is scheduled 
to preem ' in -Melbourne ' April 24, 

• French revue, "Vive %» Venus," 
will also be brought in foy Martin, 
with, much of its company compris- 
ing talent from the Casino de Paris. 
Other acts booked for "Venus" are 
Koba jSc Kalee from Ken Murray's 
"Blackouts"; Henri Vadden and 
Girls, Dick Burns, Bob Parrish and 
the Schallers. Martin is hopeful of 
signing ^Chico Marx for this show. 




Lovely 
Lady 

of 
Song 



JANE 

JOHNSON 



Conyentioners Give A.C. 
Best Winter Season in Yrs. 

Atlantic City, March 2. 
A total of 1,435,254 persons at- 
tended 971 gatherings of various 
kinds last year in cityi»owned Con- 
vention hall. Influx . of visitors 
helped local amusements and nitery 
biz plenty. 

Thirty-one conventions -were held, 
drawing an average attendance, of 
1,476 for each event. 

Other events included 129 shows 
and entertainments, 80 athletic 
events such as ice hockey, skating, 
boxing and other sports, two dances 
and ;681 -meetings, banquets and 
similar affairs. 

These facts were in a report com- 
piled by the Hall's managerj Phillip 
E. M. Thompson, and submitted to 
Mayor Altman last week. 

The HaU has 71 permanent em- 
ployes, more than 1,400 others be- 
ing hired on a part-time basis to 
help set up and tear down exhibits 
and keep the various shows in 
operation. 

The payroll for the year exceeded 
$430,000, but Thompson said rnudi 
of this was returned in the form 
of reimbursements from exhibitors 
who utilized the extra services. 

"We had almost twice as much 
business last year as during the pre- 
war years," said Thompson. "Pros* 
pects for this year are even better," 
he added. . . : 

John Harris' "Ice-Capades" will 
again tenant the main auditorium 
during July and August. David 
Lowe is also expected to bring back 
legitimate shows in the ballroom. 



B. W. Chi FB Boss 

Chicago, March 2. 

Frederick Bros.' agency, which 
lost its last Chi band booker, Lang 
Thompson, to Associated Booking 
last week, is not contemplating a 
replacement at present B; W. Fred- 
erick and Herb Pauley, who heads 
the nBdwestern operation, will take 
charge of the department. 

Pauley explained that they feel no 
immediate need for another staffer. 



Fredericb Sfice N. Y. Agency Staff 
To One Rep, Kettering Back to Chi 



STEEL PIER, A.C., TO 
SET WEEKEND SHOWS 

The Steel Pier, Atlantic City, will 
resume talent for the Easter Sunday 
weekend March 27 with a display 
headed by Georgia Gibbs. Shows 
will continue weekends until mid- 
June, when full weeks resume. 
Names and name band policy will 
continue; 

Steel Pier, operated by George 
Hamid, is expected to be the only 
•vaudeville opiration in the resort. 
Hamid, who also owns the compet- 
ing Million Dollar pier, expects to 
confine shows to the Steel Pier. 



America'a 
ForentQat 
JMfarimbiat 




GEORGE I 

GUEST 



•Mmonnl Management: 
ROBBKT GOE ASSOCIATKB 
S6e Mndi«nii Ave.. Kew Vork 
VA. B-S417 



Performers Petitioning 
Repeal of 20^ Tax 

A movement for **repeal or re- 
duction of the 20% amusement tax 
has been started among performers. 
Petitions urging lowering of the tax 
has been started by Miriam Scabpld 
dancer current at the' Casa Seville, 
Franklin Square, L. I.y who is seek- 
ing popular support for this move- 
ment in the entertainment industry 
as well as the public at large! - 

Miss Seabold contends that jobs of 
many entertainers are jeopardized 
by the 20% tax, and is urging that 
support be given a bill introduced 
by Rep.' Mac Donald, (Cal.) which 
iseeks to reduce the impost to the 
prewar 5%. 




Shelvey Faces 
Ga. Extradition 
Hearing in Pa. 

Matt Shelvey, deposed national 
administrator of the American Guild 
of Variety Artists, faces an extradi- 
tion hearing today (Wed.) before 
Pennsylvania's Governor Duff at 
Harrisburg. Shelvey was appre- 
hended last week in Philadelphia by 
Georgia authorities on charges of 
fraudulent conversion of $20;000 al- 
'legedly donated by the Henyy Grady 
hotel, Atlantaj to the AGVA welfare 
fund. 

Shelvey will fight extradition on 
the grounds of personal illneis.s, and 
will plead innocent to the charges. 

Arthur W. A. Cowan, Shelvey's at- 
torney, sought a postponement of 
the hearing; being slated to speak at, 
a Miami Beach meeting of the Shel- 
vey faction of AGVA, today (Wed.). 
Request was denied. 

Arthur Kaye, who was indicted 
along with Shelvey on the same 
count, surrendered several weeks 
agO; and is now out on $,9,000 bail. 

Meanwhile, the AGVA national 
committee, placed in charge of 
AGVA affairs by the As.sociated Ac- 
tors and Artistes of America, is 
cleaning out remnants of the Shelvey 
faction among the branch heads in 
various . cities. Latest to be dismissed 
is J. H. Thatcher, Jr., branch head in 
New Orleans, Who was replaced by 
B6n White, formerly AGVA's Phoe- 
nix rep. AGVA last.week fired Fred 
Dale, head of the Boston office, and 
assigned Emll Lowe to head the Hub 
office. Dale refused to surrender 
AGVA quarters to Lowe, and latter 
constsquently opened new offices. 

Shelvey Calls Convention 

Philadelphia, March 2. 
Matt Shelvey, embattled national 
director of the National Guild of 
Variety Artists, last week issued a 
call for a "national convention" ol 
the Union to be held for three days 
starting April 30 in the Hotel Sher- 
man, Chicago. 

Charging that a convention sched- 
uled by the 4 A's in New York on 
May 7 was "rigged to elect 4A' 
stooges," Shelvey declared that a 
Series of "educational meetings" 
would be held in branches to prepare 
for the Chicago parley. 

Shelvey, viho is still ill in his 
Ventnor, N. J., home, dispatched his 
attorney, Arthur W. A. Cowan, to 
make a tour of eastern branches to 
line UP the membership. 

Cowan's Urst educatiohal meeting 
was in Boston on Friday (27). To- 
morrow (Wed) he's set to huddle 
with AGVA members in Miami. 

Dates for other meetings are: 
Baltimore, March 5; Chicago, March 
10; Detroit, March 8; New Orleansj 
March 10; Philadelphia, March 10; 
Cincinnati, March 12; Cleveland, 
March 11; Pittsburgh, March 17; and 
New York, March 23. Meetings are 
also scheduled for San Francisco, 
Hollywood, Dallas, and Buffalo, with 
dates not yet set. 

'In his wire to branch officials, 
Shelvey said that Chicago was the 
"only legal place" to hold the con- 
vention as explicitly provided in the 
contract of Nov. 29, 1946." 



George White to Produce 
'Scandals' as Nitery Show 

^ Hollywood, March 2. 
In a move away from diminishing 
headliner bills, the Florentine Gar- 
dens here goes theatre-restaurant on 
May 5. 'Going into competition with 
Earl Carroll's, the spot will present 
"George White's Scandals." Return- 
ing to show biz. White will recreate 
his famed "Scandals'' for the. first 
time in a nitery and for the first 
time in several years. His previous 
try was with theatre units. 
■ Deal was worked by Federal 
Artists Corp., for White to put on an 
extravaganza involving some 50 
people, full-scale production being 
estimated to cost $50,000 initially, 
with a $19,000 weekly nut. White 
will get a guarantee and a reported 
30% over $25,000 gross, with a pos- 
sibility of netting himself $200,000 
on the year. He'll line up old aides 
to help produce, also former talent. 

Spot's standard $2.40 admish will 
remain except for the opening night 
which will probably be pegged at 
$20 per head. 

Former Philly Rep 
Blames Nat'l AGVA 
In 'Vanities Stranding 

Philadelphia, March 2, 
The $63,637 damage suit filed 
against him last week by 12 per- 
formers of the closed 1947 edition 
of "Earl Carroll's Vanities" is "an- 
other attempt of leaders of the na- 
tional and international union to 
discredit Local 6, American Oliild 
of Variety Artists, Richard Jones, 
Local 6 executive secretary, charged 
here. 

'Failure of the cast to receive its 
back pay," Jones added, "is due to 
the willful and delinquent negli- 
gence Of the Four A's and the so- 
called director of AGVA, Matt Shel- 
vey." 

The suit, filed in U. S. District 
Court here, charges Jones failed to 
help the . performers collect thcjr 
back pay or provide transportation 
to the west coast when the show 
folded at the Earle theatre on Jan. 
23, 1947. 

Jones Claimed the performers had 
been owed money from the time the 
show left the Coast in October, 1946, 
until it arrived here. He charged 
national AGVA with failing to ob- 
tain proper bond for the troupe and 
denied he failed to buy them their 
fare back to the Cot)st. He said he 
collected $2,536.96 for that pvirpose. 



+ Frederick Bros, agency in New 
York, will dwindle to a one man 
operation. This office, several years 
ago, among the busiest talent outfits, 
underwent several changes this 
week, with Tom Kettering, head of 
the N. Y. division transferred to Chi- 
cago, Jimmy Dundedin, of the 
vaude dept., and Fred Stengel of the 
radio dept. were let out. Kettering, 
who will .spend one-t week a month in 
N.Y., will put in an agent to: handle , 
the cocktail business^ and has dele- : 
gated the accounting firm- of Kast- 
riner & Harris to take care of bach ■ 
collectiotis. The FB operations in 
Chicago and Holly wood are not " 
affected. 

The FB near foldo In New York 
comes as a climax to several years of 
internal difficulties. The office was 
at its peak of activity when Charlie 
Yates (now with Associated Booking " 
Agency) headed its talent operation.s. 
As a result ot a disagreement in ofr 
fice policy, Yates abrogated<i>a 10 year 
contract, and a costly court suit 
failed to bring him back. Others 
that left around that time included 
Jerry Rosen, now an indie vaude and 
nitery agent; Joe Marsolais, cocktail 
dept. head; and the bulk of its radio 
dept. Later resignations included 
Jack Edwards, now with Music Corp. 
of America, and Jack Kalch^m, 
heading l^is own talent agency. 

It's estimated that mpre than $100,- 
000 was invested in this FB attempt 
to penetrate the eastern talent mar'- ' 
ket. Prior to its national expansion ' 
move, FB was regarded as the fourth • 
largest talent office in the U.S.'being 
a step behind MCA, William Morris 
and General Artists Corp. Virtual 
closing of the N.Y. office puts it 
plenty notches behind. 



Beatrice Kay has been signed for 
a May date at the Harem, N. V. 



PHIL 
REGAN 

CWrtHily 
STATE LAKE 
THEATRE 

CHICA«6. lUlMOIS 




Professional Photc 

JOHN I 



N HOLLYW 



Cleve. RKO's 1-Day Vaude 
Bills After 15-Yr. Hiatus 

Cleveland, March 2, 
Vaudeville is being resumed at 
the RKO-Keith's after a 15-year 
hiatus, on a one-show-per-week 
basis as an experiment beginning 
March 10. 

Initial stage bills are to be 
wrapped around, weekjy winners of 
Sidney Andron's "Auditions Ambi- 
tious" radio tryouts, aired by WGAR, 
with four other acts and a pit or- 
chestra augmenting them. Shows 
may be expanded to split-week 
size,- according to Max Mink, RKO 
division manager here^ if idea 
clicks. ■ 



are considered 
by the trade 



When on the coc 

JOHN E. RE 

6633 SUNSET 
HOLLYWOOD, 



HARRY A. ROMM 

38 E 57'*^ 5' N-.---.' '^ork N Y 



4« 



.WotlntMMlay, March 5, 



Variety Bi^Us 



WEEK OF MARCH 3 



Numcmld In cminecUnn with hills below Indicata opening Swy of show 
whet lit|r full or splU week, 

Lntlor In pnrentlicses tiiilicnlcs circuit: (I) Inilciiendenlt; (I.) Loew: 
(10 I'tthiiuonnf ; (K) KKO; (H) St<iU; <W) Warver , « 



MSW VOIIK CITV 
Cui>itol (1^) 4 

'I'l'X DennKc Ore 
J>Rfln Martin 

AlUsW- JHUllI (() 4 

luu-ry StorcU 

Vniiam Shviner 
AlfnHlo .Guizzi ■ 
IjawrtMifi.? 3Surl«Jl 
KookettGM 
Corps (1e Pallet 
aiee Club 
Syni Ore 

rnramount (7) 8 

IjOuIs Prima 
Diclc & Dof Rciuy 

K«i.v <I) 8 
Hazel Scott 
l>on Henry 8 
Baye & Maldt 
*J(1 I^ajnb ^ 

Strnna (W) B 
Vau8>hn Mfinroe Or 
FranK JPontalna 
Slayo Bros 



Jack lioona-rd 
Carl Sandtj Ore . 

ItOKIlT (1-) 5 
Lucky Milllmlfi- Bd 
Sara Vaughn 
Kfiloliell at <!1b«on 
Collins ■& I'ice 
IIARYmitll. 
State (1) 6-7 
Elliott Ijawitonce O 
Milla Bros 
Stove EvanH 
MiAltff 
Olympia (1*) 8 
J & c Brick 
Glllntte St IlichardM 
Sammy 'Walah ■ 
Phil . Brito 
Beilell & Malson 
NKWAUK 
Adama (I) \ 
Count BaaiP Ore 
tewis & White 
Stumt> & Stumpy 
OMAHA 
'Qrph«um (F> S 
cayae iffeCoy Bil 



DOLINOFFS 
and RAYA SIS. 

Return KnenEements Everynerp hi- 
MUdinK CAPITOL, WASH, W. <'■ 
WKKK MAK. 18 

Mgt.i £DQI£ SiUITn' AGISNCX 
ISOt Broadnray " New York 



^ UALXIMOKK 
Bij>iKidroqi« (I) 4 

Gay 903 Show 

State (I) 4-0 
KliytlimaireH 
Lady Francis 
Bobby Byron 
Tlic LiatlnoH 
7-10 
l^a Verne & .Ton 
Milton Frome ' 
Morrie & Ryan 
C. Fredericks Co 
■ • BOSTON 
IIOKton (R) 4 
Stan Kc'nton Ore 
Pat HonnlnK 
Morebcth Old 

CAMDIiN . 
Xoureni <1) 5-1 
N .& M. Collins 
Grace. Johtiiitvn 
Andy Arcart : 
sum ftmliltn Co 
The Vespers 

OlilGUi;o 
Stat«-I.nke (t>) i 
PJiil BeaKan 
Owen & Johnston 
Hoosier Hotshola 
Orit'htal (I> 4 



fine Colo 3 
V — 



onne BeCarlo 

BBtTAIir 



Harmonieuts 
Baron & HoKf'vs 
.Larry. Daniels 
PATKK80N 
Majestic (t) 4-7 
Gay 903 Bpvue 
8»10 

N & V COUins , 
Lady Francis 
D Sc. V Paige 
Danny Drayyon 
Dacal 3 

KKAniNO 
Baijah (I) 4-6 
Rubs - Morgan Ore 
Curr.v, Byrfl & - 

LeRoy ., :. 
WcHt & Lejcinar 
Johnny DcaliYond 
BOOKFOKU 
; Palace (I) fj 
H'wood Banrlvyaifon 
Easy Hasit , 

Hcaly & Maclt 
Phil' Maraqtiin 
Mirth & Mack 
H, DeCourey Co 
Paul 'Walker Ore . 
WASHINOTOX 
Cavitol (I.) 4 • 
)}runa Jolanda Co 
Jane ICean , 
Frank Con vl lie 
Saul Grauman Rev 



Xtlriilm La Velle 
Uacasas Oru 
Iceland 
Boyd Hontb! 
(.' & F ■ Simpson 
CJiuger Kinney 
Ben Ribblo ore 
Jack Ripley Line 

Hotel Kdlsun 
Tojnmy Reed Ore 

No 1 Vifth Av* 
Joan Casto 
Hal Haokott 
Uazol Webster 
Downey & FonvUle 
Hotel Belm't-PIaza 
Carlos Ramirez 
lilnrica & Novello 
Eddie Stone Ore 
Machito Ore 

Hotel Biltmore 
Larry Green Ore 
< : Turecamo Ore 
Hotel Commodore 
Eddy Howard Ora 
Hotel Iiexinetoa 
Pineapple Ore 
Hotel New 7«rlier 
Shep.r JMeldB Ore 
Marshal Beard 
Phil Romayne 
Torry Brent 
Jay Martin . 
1V1 Uriel ..Pack 
.lanico Hamilton 
Hotel Pennnylvanla 
Dick Jur^rens Ore 

Hotel Fierce 
Nina Nova 
Olso 

KrIC Thorson 
Van Smith Oro 
Chas Reader Or.e 
Diamond UorBeBhoe 
Mata & Barl 
Choral Octet 
H Sandler Oro 
Alvorcw Mera 
Juenffcr Ballet Line 

Hotel rinza 
HlldoBftrdo 
Joel Horron Oro 
Salvatore Gioe 

Hotel Koosevell 
Guv Lombardo O 

Hotel St Morltz - 
Menconi Ore 

Hotel St Keen 
T>avn Apollon 
Hal Saunders Ore 
Evhiyn Tynor 
llosaMnd Courtrlght 
Laszlo & Popito 
Hotel Tatt 
Vincent Lopoa Ore 
Charlie Drew 



tlABDlFF 
K(iw Theatre (S) 1 
"atecpine B*auty' 
Freddie t'orbes 
Nita Croft 
Phil Strickland 
Bert Murray 
Billie ljo.ve 
Iflobcl Marden 
Jilt Dunckley 
Tjcon & Kikl 
Hamilton Robins 
: Sidney Trevelyn . 
Vilnor De Boer 
BMty Hobbs Eight 

Globe GITla 
Bnlntoral Four ' 
Charles AnOaster 9c 

Gertrude ■ : 
Beatons 12 tTuve . 

cniswiOK 

Kmplte (S) 1 ' 

Cyril. Flotchet' 
Sandir towel! 
Mi Bey 
Manley.Broa 

LioiVfi KSae 

Betty & Mddle Day 
Andreo 

■ HACKNKV ■ 

Kmpire <S) 1^ 
Buster Shaver Co . 
Bertudiel Htnlere 
Aimee: Fontensy Co 
Kddie Gray 
iratbleen West < 
Bil ■■& Bil 
HonniO' Leslie . 
Floyd & B'Nay 

JjBICIUITIiR 
Openi Hoase (S> 1 
Humpty Domp'ty 
DupBle Wakolleld 
B Huntley-Wrlgut 
• Stan Little 
Doreen Lavender 
Harold Chllde 
Roy Jftftcrles 
iruKh Harden. 
Little Jack 
Harris & Stan 
1!! Juvoniles 
Wenda. HorabrouKli 



I'aiuce (S> 1 

Holiday Moot) 
Caryll & M-undy 
Moxham Bros 
Ann Scott 
Java Bros 
Danny Gray 
Wyatt Sisters 
V & M Noriiian 
George Ijavoie t'o ■ 
I,ONlK»>f 
StoH (S) 1 
Stars On Ice 
Casino 

Olson & JoTinsoTi 

Keatoh & ArjTi field 

Gloria Gilbert 
I'ttlladlum 

Danny Kayo 
MANOHIiSTKR 
Hipp (S) 1 

Ronald FranUau 

.Sonny Jenks 

Jack 'Stani!ora 

.Toan .Davies 

Joy Hayde'n 

Smcddlo Bros 

Rosamund Belmore 

Agar Youns Trio 

Stuart Poarco 

Braemar Pipers 

Tiller Girls 

■Terry Juveniles 

SHBPU'BDS ni'sii: 
Umpire (S) 1 

ClieffttO • ,1 

Jade Daly 

K & H Nesbitt 

Helga Stone 

Hope & Hay 

iSraham Bros 

Otga Varona 
VFOOb 
Kmplre (S) 1 

Vera Lynn 

Ronald Clieaney 

Clarkson; Rose 

Iris Sadler 

Saveen 

Cilia's Dogs • • 
Pauline & Kddie 
4 Clni^lison ttusfb's 



Blackhawk ' ' 

Art Kassel 
loria Hart 
Randy Brown 
X & J Mahopey 
Ciiez Puree 
Marty Gould Ore 
Ray Bolger 
Liirry Marvin 
B Knift Dancer! 
OR ICovac Orch 
Ohes Adorables 12 
Krleen O'Dare 
4fot«l Blacluitone 
Kay Morton Ore 
.liimtiy Sayo 

Hotel Bismark 
J Sudy Oro 
Benno Delson O 
Tracy Sisters (2) 
l.aV«rne & Jon 
'•lie Martinis (S) 
Paulena (2) 

Helsingi 
Al Morgan 
Bill Chandler Ore 
Dick Galo 
Ellen- White 
Dlcl^ Hayloman 




NEW iroBK dlY 



ItairateUe 

Dorothy Ross ' 
Blue Ancel 

Alice Pearco 

Marc Lawrence 

Jay Marshall 

Delta Bhytlim Bys 

ISllis Lorkin 8 
Cato Society 
{DowntAwn) 

H4.1 Sherman 

Olnnie Powell 

Fats Plchon 

C'lIK Jackson 

Kdmund - Hall Ore 
China Holt 

Katlmrine Chanv 

J lick Son 

Iitturlo Long 

8 Cantona 

Matt Tuck 

J Frasie 

Coparnlinna 
pTerry Lester 

Call Kavazza 

f)'Anselo & V«nyA 
i nar, Qravoy 



Hotel IVurwick 

Alan McPaiife 11 . 
3 Suns ' 

La Martinique 
I^enny Kent 
M Valdes_ Ore 
Ralph Font Ore 
Lander & Hnlland 
Leon Ai laddie's 
EddlG Davis 
Art Waner Ore 
Sherry Britton 
Lyda & Yauni 
Winie Danville 
Lenore Rogers 
Bettj' Gaynelle 
Danny Sullivan 
Shepard Line ' - 
Old Ronmantnn 
Sadie Banks 
Bella Smaro 
Joe LaPocte Oro 
D'Aquila Ore 

"EnBtx House 
Brwln Kent Oro 
Latin Ouiirtei 
Frank Libuse 
Nick Long Jr 
Marion Manners 
Radio Aces 
Patricia Adair 
CAT ValdM 
Arthur Laurent 
Bon Vivants 
Vincent -Travers O 

Ruban Rlru 

Connie Sawyer 
Day, Dawn, Dusk 
Muriel Gaines 
Paul Villard 
Normjinn Paris 8 
Wally Blacker 
Splvy's 

Splvy 

Diane Courtney 
Hayes Gordon 
Versailles 
Carl Brisaon 
Bob Grant Ore 
Panohito Ore 

Vlllnice Bam 
Piute Pete 
Kay Carole 
Cbrdano & Corlatve 
Populaires 
Buccaneers Ore 

Village VanBuard 
Maxine Sullivan 
Paula Drake 
Max Kamlnsky I 
Don Pryo 

■Wnldorf-AstoriB 
Lucienno Boyer ,, 
Emil Coleman Ore 
Misha Borr .Ore 



New Acts 



FATS PlCnON . 
20 Mins, 

Cafe Society. -Downtown, N. V. 

Coming up from the Old Absinlhe 
House, rfew Orleans, where hq, was 
a fixture for years, Fats Pichon is a 
solid- performer on the ivories with 
a flair for both lowdown and long- 
hair rhythms. He also sings in a 
semi-patter blues style that banks 
a bit too heavily on facial expres- 
sions and too little on the quality of 
his pipes. For this Greenwich ViU 
lage boite where the hot piano 
aficianados have been conditioned 
by Hazel Scott's brand of boogie- 
woogie, Pichon's straight pianistics 
won't be a letdown. 

For his current stint, Pichon is 
mistalcenly reversing his stress with 
too many vocals. His opening is a 
sock rendition of the "Hungarian 
Rhapsody" but he follows' with a 
raft of so-so vocals on "Ain't Mis- 
behaving," "Huggin-and-a-Challrin'," 
"Embraceable You" and "Margie." 
He'closes on a strict upbeat with an 
instruniental workover of "St.,IiOuis 
Blues" and some New Orleans 
music. Herm. 



Night Glub Reviews 

SSBSStiSmSit Cuntlnued from.-':^t* ,44- SBSSsSEiSiiBaBaissss I 



JUAN VICABI 
Instrumental 

15 Mins. » 
Slieraton Ijonnge, N. V. 

Juan Vicari's outletf^in niteries are 
limited to spots where there's an 
audience equipped to appreciate good 
music. He's an accomplished instru- 
mentalist playing the guitar and 
mandolin m concert style and pro- 
viding colorful renditions of classic 
and semi-classic numbers. 

Vicari's instrumentals show a high 
degree of technical skills His chords 
are interesting and varied and' pro- 
vide a full-bodied background 'ior 
the strings stressing the melody. 
Vicari dwells on tunes mainly of 
Latin origination, although he hits 
the masters of other nationalities' as 
well. 

However, for nitery work, Vicari 
will hav6 to develop his own per- 
sonality. A spoken announcement 
of his numbers might do the trick, 
tl Jose. 



CHICAGO 



H Bd8«water Beach 

Oeorge OlBen Ore 
Roily Rous 
Boy Foy 

Lucienne & Ashnnr 

Marian Fcdete 

D Hild Dancrs (12> 

Hotel Sherman 
John Kirby Ore 
Marty Hogan 
Mildred Bailey 
Barbosas Orcli 
Iv & K Ring 
I Carl Marx 

Latin Quarter 

Sonny Mars 
Buddy Shaw Oro 

Jackie Hiiliard 

Winn Seeley 
Palmer House 

Kay Ballard 
Murray Arnold Or. 

Andrea Adagio TH6 

Rudy Cardenas 
Hotel Stevens 

Paul Re«an 

Skltch Henderson O 

Fryde & Day 

BonleVadlears 



0E QUINCET Si GIVENS 
Dancing 
17 Mins. 
Wlvel, N. Y. 

Ruth De Quincey and Jimmy 
Givens are an uninhibited, satirical 
ballroom team whose slapstick rou- 
tines call for plenty of energy. It's 
all very corny, but nevertheless 
team drew solid applause at this 
spot. They've obviously been around. 

Both work in sotme audience par- 
ticipation stulf by barely missing the 
laps of ringsiders while executing 
some fast whirls,^ Another zanyism 
is the nonchalance shown by Miss 
De Quincey when knitting while 
perched atop her partner^s shoulders. 
Close with a bit of oriental business. 
When the rough edges are smoothed, 
act should find its niche in both 
vaude and cafes. ' Gilb. 



Yank UK Prod. 

B Continned ttom page 5 s 



Jelt Clay 
Michael Durso Oro 
Fernando Alvarez O 

El ChiCo 
F Del Monte 
Noro Morale.s Ore 
Victoria Bareolo 
Bita & Rosilno 
Los Panchos 

Umbaw 
Cass Franklin 
Motiica Mooz'o 
3 .Flames 
Fisher &'-"Wlille ■• 
Dorothy Blaino 
Louis Varano Ore 
Joso Cortex Ore 

Harem 
Martha Rn.\« 
Chandra-ICnly Dera 
Jaqucline Jlurley 
Jobtt Elliot 
Nevada Srtiitit 
Fansto Curbello O 
Art Roman O 

nnvnnn-Afadrld 
Cocuona Cnti'n B'l's 
Barrancos ' 



subject of British production since 
he recently coiiipleted "So Evil, My 
Love" on the island, now plans mak 
ing "House" in Hollywood. 

Understood, also, that both Metro 
and Warner Bros, have. shelved their 
projected filmmaking in Britain. M-G 
had two-to-three pix on a tentative 
schedule and WB had at least one. 
What's more, there's^ little possibil 
Ity of other -majors except UA work 
frig in Britain while the new ruling 
stands. . 

Actually, the requirement* tlia 
revenues from homemade pix mu-st 
be brought back to England has been 
on the books for many years. How 
ever, heretofore, it never was en- 
forced on films which were made 
with dollars rather than pounds, 
Which meant, in the past, that ma- 
jors could use the British take of pix 
distributed in England for produc' 
tion there without greater restric 
tibns than if the particular films 
were turned out in Hollywood. 

Subjecting the coin to British reg 
ulations would mean that it couldn 
be sent out of the country without 



Harem, N.Y. 

If she does th^' same act sne's doing 
here, there may be repercussions, as 
it's doubtful if the Britons Will take 
to her indigo material. 

Miss Ray e, one of the more ac- 
complished- comediennes of the day, 
is now established as B. S. Pully in 
petticoats. Even so, her genuine 
comic talent has brought her a $6,- 
500 weekly take. There's no doubt 
that her name and material have 
boxoffice draw, as she registered 
heavily here two months ago and 
since then has helped pull the Latin 
Quarter, Miamd Beach, out of a spot. 
However, it's been done at a great 
loss of personal stature. 

At her opening dinner show Mon- 
day (1). she did an abbreviated act 
because the Ben Yost Guardsmen 
were delayed by an accident en toute 
I'rom Florida. The dinner trade con- 
sequently didn't get the bluest pprt 
of her act. But there was_plenty off- 
color in her "Feets Too Big for de 
Bed" and "Paganini," and her occa- 
sional stories and various bits of 
business. A less talented comedienne 
couldn't get away with it, , but that 
only, shows how much l^etter she 
might be without it. 
. The surrounding show has under- 
gone some changes. The production 
.songs, and terps are now by Betty 
Bonney and Marcia . Leighton, and 
Jaquellne Hurley (New Acts) is in 
Elisso Jayne's dance spot. The Chan- 
dra-Kaly Dancers continue their top- 
flight Javanese, jive and straight 
terping interludes, and the Kana- 
iawas still' click with their, iisley' 
work. ,Jose. 



JAQUELINE HUBLET 
Aero 

10 Mins. ' 
Harem, N. V. 

Jaqueline Hurley's aero and con- 
trol work indicates a wealth of ex- 
perience in niteries and vauders. 
She has a well integrated act that 
points up difficult tricks and un- 
usual botiily discipline. Accompany- 
ing that is a well-developed person- 
ality that helps overcome some of 
the less-dainty postures that usually 
go with this type turn. 

Miss Hurley has a good line of 
backbends and works with extreme 
agihty. Much of her work is done 
on the small confines of a table, 
gmng her a chance to show ex- 
cellent balance tricks. She tops off 
her routine with fast cartwheels. 

Jose. 



NEAL TBAVEBS 
Songs 
10: Ming. 
WiVel, N. r. 

, A Scotch-Irish tenor; Neal Travers 
impresses nicely in this Swedish 
bistro. Lithe and handsome, he pipes 
a Cole Porter medley followed by an 
Irish lullaby. Saris a mike, he has 
ample volume. Dramatic qualities of 
the„singef's voice are pointed up by 
Golden Earrings." 
Travers rounds out stint with an- 
other Irish number. For the most 
part, warbler's material registers 
with the patrons. However, addition 
of a Swedish tune would have been 



. „ appropriate in this sipot. He's a good 

license from the treasury. That hard- p op-priced c afes. Gi(b 

er to get than a percentage rental on 
a one-reel documentary. 

Situation is further snarled by 
the fact that the British Board of 
Trade has stymied any loans by 
British banks to U, S. companies 



BETTY SAWXEB 
Diincing 
6 Mins. 
Wivel, ti.r. 

Betty Sawyer is a stocky lass 



wanting to nrndupfi in Fnpianri ^'^"^'^ routines con.sist of the aver- 

wanting to produce m £,ngland. Ihe ggg rcperto re used by most torpors 

Boards at itude has, therefore, ef- On the overall her hoofinq is lliirly 

fectively blocked the use of Briti.<.h sond and she mixes in some aero 

pounds which otherwise would have stuff for a change of pace, 

been made available by Anglo finan- i Opened the show here to mild re- 

ciers. Some trade circles, feel thai iurns. but returned later to display 

the Board's' stance as well as that snappier ' pirouettinfi. With further 

of Treasury may .shiiC toward.s ''^pcnence Miss Sawyer may' bo 

leniency if the Marshall Plan gpc,- .endow .her turn with more 
into operation. 



Terrace Room, N.Y. 

(HOTEL NEW YOBKEB) 

Shep Fields Orch (15),. with Toni 
Arden, Bob Johnstone; "Newfangles 
on Ice," with Phil Romayne,- Terry 
Brent, Marshall Beard, Muriel Paclc, 
Janice Hamilton, Line (4); $1 cover 
after 10, $1.50 weekends. . ■ 

After- taking a short-lived fling 
with an aU-woodwind orchestra^ 
Shep Fields has revived his original 
rippling rhythm melodies, with his 
band now • comprising the same in- 
strumental makeup as' it did when 
he first hit the bigtime sorjie 10 or 
11 years ago. 

Fields' crew comprises three 
strings, five refed, three brass, an 
accordion and three rhythm. Two of 
the sax sidemen double on flutes and 
it's their trills, combined With the 
accordion, striA'gs and 4i;um- gourds, 
that furnish the rippling efleot. It 
adds a neat touch of novelty to the 
music, but whether it makes for 
better- listening or better dance 
rhythm is a. moot point. 

Fields' arrangements are so con- 
trived that the Tipple doesn't break 
the rhythm. At several points, how- 
ever, his efforts to inject the novelty 
into ft slow dream tune definitely 
break the mood and style of the 
ntunber. Ripple' effects, though, is 
Fields' stock in trade and if the 
customers like it, then he's probably 
wise to stick to it. Femme vocalist 
Tonl Arden, a fresh-looking young 
brunet, handles both the ballads and 
jump tunes witl^ a smooth clean-cut 
voice. Male vocalist Bob Johnstone 
has a good baritone. 

Ice show is one- of the best yet 
staged by Truly McGee for the New 
Yorker. Presentation has plenty of 
color and flash and .the intricate 
gyrations on the room's ultra-small 
rink bring constant gasps of amaze- 
ment from the payees. Adagio 
routines of Phil Romayne and Terry 
Brent, despite the fact they're both 
on skates, are as good as most 
.straight nitery acts. They're given 
good support by Marshall Beard, 
Muriel Pack and Janice Hamilton in 
the other leads. 

Line is compased of four lookers, 
with the two blondes-two brunets 
efEect adding a novel touch. Cos- 
tumes, designed' by Bob Mackintosh 
and executed by Mme. Berthe, are 
standout. Jay Martin emcees the 
show capably and displays a good 
set of bary pipes in his melodic 
in trees. Fields' orch backs the show 
neatly. ' jSjol. 

Maisonette, IV. Y. 

(HOTEL ST. REGIS) 

Dauc ApolloTi loith Deane AJunscr, 
Lauerne Gvi,stoA)sbn; Harold Sliau) 
Trio Pepito Trio; $1.50 coucr. 

Dave Apollon is proving himself 
a click item in the class nitery belt 
as evidenced by his recent date at 
the JHotel Pierre's Cotillion room 
ana his current booking at the 
Maisonette. Flanked by two tal- 
ented blonde lookers on the piano 
and harp, Apollon with his mandolin 
wi7.ardry fits into the intime atmos- 
phero easily and naturally,. The 
accent is on music expertly-rendered 
with Apollon wisely playing diminu- 
endo on his gag intros. The gags, 
however, serve okay as pleasantries 
because they're widely spaced. 

Act dishes up a combo of longhair 
and popular numbers with Apollon 
opening into "Begin the Beguine," 
.<:c«uing rapidly into -"Golden Ear- 
rings," and giving a fast change Of 
pa CO on Liszt's "Second 'Hungarian 
Rhapsody.", Deane Munse'r' takes 
over on the harp for a spek solo fol- 



ing the customers completely, Apol- 
lon winds with two classical num- 
bers, a Chopin waltz and "Hova 
Staccato," to a solid sendofl. 

Harold . Shaw's trio furnishes a 
good assist to Apollon's act with 
background details and also delivers 
okay dance rhythms for customer 
hoofing, alternating on the stand 
with Pepito'S rhujnba trio. Herrii. 

Glass ilat, IV. V. 

(BELMONT PLAZA HOTEL) 

Cnrios RomirE«i Enrica & Wotjello 
Eddie Stone Orq/t, Machito Orch' 
$3,50 niinirouw. ' 

The Belmont Plaza's Glass Hat, 
with this show preems a new policy 
similar to the one prevailing at the 
across-the-street Waldorf - Astoria's 
Sert Room. The floorshow now has 
a pair of strong turns "instead of the 
former full-show and girl line 
Whether, the new idea will work 
out will depend, of course, on the 
calibre of acts used. 

The Glass Hat has presented a 
problem to the various bookers that 
have been servicing this room. It's a 
large and frequentlv cold room with 
an acoustical problem arising from 
the bar in rear of the room. Conse- 
quently, most of the entertainment 
has been slanted toward sight values, 
Music Corp. of America until this 
layout had been exclusive -bookers 
of this room, and have been credited 
with a generally satisfactory job. 
Herb Jacobs has 'now taken on this 
assignment and hss made an auspi- 
cious start with a pair of acts-~ 
bought from MCA. 

The headliner is Carl Ravazza, 
whose last N. Y. appearance was at 
the nearby Sert room. This Latin 
baritone is capable of warming the 
large room to meet mass appi-oval. 
He has a full-bodied voice with a 
maximum amount of melody, and 
endows his numbers with feeling, in- 
terpretation and personality. In all, 
just about what a singer needs. Tune 
selections, include "Beguine,". "Gra- 
nada," "Yo Te Quero Mucho" and 
the Toreador Song from Carmen, 
which get plenty salvos. 

Other act is Enrica and Novello, a 
pair of vet ballroomers who impress 
with good routines. Their lifts and 
spins get potent applause, but some ■ 
slight redesigning of their straight 
terp passages is needed to keep up 
with the livelier sections of their act. 
But inasmuch as the duo spend the 
majority of their time in perform- 
ing pirouettes and such, their re- 
ception here is excellent. 

Eddie Stone does the showbacHing 
while Macb^to entices, the rhumbs 
dancers. Jo'sg. 

Wivel, I¥. Y. 

Betti; Saioj/er, Oe . Quincey & 
Gioerts, Heal ' Travets, Bob Lee, 
Harry Horton Orch (4); no minimum 
or cbver. 



fipri'ie to sot her for better snots lowed by some boogie-woogie pian- 
on the -cafe circuit. . . Ci,!b., , (}la§y by Laveme Gustavson. Hold- 



Now 19 years old; tiiis Scandina- 
vian nite spot off Broadway rates as 
a "must" lor the out-.of-town buyers 
and the family trade. Accent is 
primarily placed iSUpoh the low- 
priced 'cuisine augmented by a mod- 
erately .budgeted show. Worci-ot- 
mouth bais helped through the years 
to build 1M> a heavy repeat trade. 

Some 01 the Wivel performers are 
as much an institution as the nitery 
itself. Emcee Bob Lee is rounding 
out his 16th year while Harry Hor- 
ton's capable hand is perennially on 
hand. Lee handles his intros .nicely 
and in bis own right is somewhat of 
a mental marvel via a happy faculty 
of recalling names of patrons, their 
.professions, etc., and combining the 
info into extemporaneousttj ingles. 

New supporting show bowed in 
last week. Terper Betty Sawyer, 
teripr Neal Travers and the ballrooni» 
team of De Quincey & Givens are- 
all reviewed Under New Acts. Gillr. 



Sheraton Lounge, N. Y. 

(SHEBATON HOTEL) 

Harry Smith, Stan Hyer, Jvan 
Vicari; no cover, no -minimMm. 

One of the most provocative rooms 
in town is the Sheraton Lounge in 
which the majority of the pull is. 
ba.sed on the garb of the waitresses. 
But once a patron is enticed, there'.s 
an entirely different reason provided 
for repeat trade. It's a warm and 
restful si>ot where the entertainment 
is relaxing and unobtrusive. An- 
other angle which gives the room a 
healthy amount of business is the 
lack of a cover and minimum, and 
above all, no 20% amusement tax. 
It's a sip-and-listen spot built to or- 
der for a genteel trade. 

The spot provides a good grade of 
musical entertainment with Stan 
Hyer at the organ, Harry Smith at 
the piano, and Juan Vivari, (New 
Acts) playing guitar and mandolin. 
Latter provides a virtuoso touch to 
the proceedings with semi-classicat 
selections. 

The other entertainment is relax- 
ing with Smith and Hyer mixing 
pleasantly with duets and solo con- 
tributions. Their tunes arc mainly 
along pop lines, some from musicals, 
and there's sufficient variety to keep 
patronage interested. 

For those not musically inclined. 
The thin voile skirts of the femnic 
servitors, pt-ovides au extremely in- 
teresting loach. Jose. 



Wednecday, Mnirch S, 194S 



ttouse Reviews 



Capitoh Wash. 

- Woshitigton, Feb. 29. " 
Tex Beneke Orch (30), Lou Wills, 
jr Marshall Bros. (2); "Tender 
years" (20tlJ). 

Usual practice of tossing the cus- 
tomers a lightweight screen attrac- 
tion when there's a heavyweight bill 
on stage baclt-firecl here this. week. 
Tex Beneke, playing under his own 
banner rather than the Glenn Miller 
tab has been a b.o. disappointment, 
with management gnashing its teeth 
over faillure of the large nut shelled 
out, to balance the budget. 

Seems to be no, reason for n, 
since the large, well balanced 
Beneke troupe stacks up well along- 
side big name orchs which have 
burst the seams of this Loew house. 
Payees at Sunday matinee caught 
displayed plenty enthusiasm for the 
50-minUte show, so word-of-mouth 
plugs may yet pull the Beneke chest- 
nut out of the fire. u 

Band is strong on strings, though 
that section is featured in only one 
liumber, "Over the Rainbow." Fea- 
tured soloist of crew, besides Beneke 
himself, is ace drummer Jack Sperl- 
ing, Who is plenty flashy in "Halle- 
luiah," Opening number, Maestro 
himself handles the batons the sax 
and vocals with equal ease. 

Of the straight orch numbers, 
''Golden Earrings" is standout, giv- 
ing Kich section of the bund equal 
share in honors. Also deserving 
kudos is- the finale, "St, Louis 
March," which is just what its name 
indicates. Arrangements in latter 
are novel 'and effective. Beneke 
shows here a flair for arranging 
Which . is missing in some of the 
other orch numbers, which im- 
pressed as routine in form. 

Beneke gets fine returns with a 
novelty vocal "Rambling Around." 
"Moonlight Serenaders," three men 
and a girl, join him in two numbers, 
best of which is "Chattanooga Choc 
Choo," handled with style and novel 
effects. Singers are part of band. 

Two acts wedged into package are 
X.OU Wills, Jr., featured' terper in 
"Wild Irish Rose," and Marshall 
Bros., team of comics. Wills sings 
as well as dances, but payees like 
his terping best. He dances with 
ease, humor for good- returns. 

Marshalls are strictly slapstick in 
a routine of take-offs and gag.s. 
Resort 'to everything but pie-throw- 
ing, and succeed in getting laughs 
most of the time. Imitations are not 
meant to be taken seriously, pro- 
gressing rapidlv 'hrough a Sinatra 
opening to Gang musters, soap opera, 
Xionel Barrymore, and Peter Lorre. 

Beneke gets a satisfying amount'of 
response from the teen-age gallery 
with his pleasant, una.s-suming man- 
ner and good looks. All in all, show 
; is. worth a better reception at b.o. 
than it's getting. Lowe. 

IIK«I, Boston 

■ Bo.9tOTi, Feb. 27. 

BUSS Morgan Orch (16), Lubn 
Malina, tew Parker. Tip. Tap & Toe; 
'Green ]or Trouble" {ED. 



For a while it looked as' though 
Music in the Morgan Manner" was 
going to be secondary to Morgan's 
bid for a single comedy turn. After 
theme opener Morgan takes over 
for about five minuteSi kidding and 
joking with audience. Follows with 
band number "Cheerful Little Earl 
xul ' in neat commercial style, 

Band has pleasant, easy .style and 
features a sharp fiddle trio. Morgan 
leaves no doubt whose band it is, as 
he Sings "Small Fry," plays trom- 
bone in all arrangements and winds 
with medley of his own compositions 
on piano. His easy manner pleases 
the .stubholders. 

Pat Laird, band thrush, does nicely 
on "Little Old Mill" and "All 
pressed Up in a Broken Heart." 
later doing a tap routine. Followed 
by Tip, Tap and Toe in their -sock 
standard terp chore. 

Comedy offerings of Lew Parker 
were not too solid at opener except 
In dining room skit. Could use 
stronger material. Luba Malina, last 
here in "Marinka." wows : with 
vivacious manner and fast delivery. 
Handles tongue-twisting lyrics In 
paimv Ka.ye manner, scoring heavily 
m "Someone for Me." Biz okav at 
openefi Elie. 



Casino., Lonilon 

Eojidon", Feb. 24. 
Olsen and Johnson in "Hellzapop- 
Vm" with Gloria Gilbert 3 Pttch7?ien, 
Keaton & Armfield, J. C. Olsen, June 
Johnson, Wax Bocor?. Clark Bros., 
Great Alexanders TcoMpe, . Joyce 
Goldinfli, Louise & Does, Freddie 
Carprnter's Casino Girls, Harold 
Collins Orch. 



a clever dual-voiced' operatic duet^ 
tor nice returns. 

Clark Bros., colored dancers, get 
well earned applause for their in- 
tricate steps. Max Bacon clicks with 
comedy patter, ending with a turn 
at the drums, with Eddie Wtiite at 
the piano. 

Closing first half are the Great 
Alexanders Troupe, springboard 
acrobats in clever gymnastics and 
balancing feats. 

"Hellzapoppin" ran. 30-minutes 
overtime on opening show but kept 
'em happy throughout. Uised to the 
antics of the local Crazy Gang, audi- 
ence was prepared for anything, but 
most of them, judging by their faces, 
gunshots. (Hannen Swatter, noted 
British critic, reviews the O-J show 
more extensively on page 2). 
were overpowered by the incessant 

Gloria Gilbert wins applause with 
her clever dancing and the Three 
Pitchmen find favor with their 
musical act. The older the gags the 
more the public responded, and as- 
suredly the screen fans of this com- 
bination will- see that it draws the 
town. 

No doubt of Olsen and John.son's 
popularity and the generous prizes 
and gifts were also greatly appreci- 
ated. If the necessary cuts are judi- 
ciously carried out to fit the time 
limit, the breaches of good taste 
should be the first to go -and greatly 
enhance the stars' prestige in this 
country, . Clem. 

Apollo, IV. Y. - 

Buddy Rich Orch (14) tuith Karen 
Rich; Hadda Brooks, Johnny Hud- 
gins, Steve Condos, Streamliners (2) ; 
"Phiio Vonce's Secret Mission" 
(JEL). , ■ i - . 



Fir.st variety bill to follow the 
pantomime .season is Olsen & John- 
son's 60-minute version of "Hellza- 
poppin ' occupying second half of 
show. First part iis well-balanced 
and a pleasing, peaceful prelude to 
the noise to come. Freddie Car- 
penter's Casino Girls open with 
dance routine, followed by Louise 
and her dogs — a clever animal act 
With a pony and three pooches do>; 
mg the usual circu.s tricks. 
^•Tnyne GnldinE c'ontribs "I'm a Big 
Girl Now." dialect versions of "The 
Charge of the Light Brigade" and 



Buddy Rich's hot combo heads up 
new layout at this sepia vauder and 
pulls all the stops on the loud and 
slick arrangements this audience 
goes for. Band is an okay outfit that 
prelects on a solid beat to win plenty 
audience appreciation. 

Bandf comprising three rhythm, 
five saxes, three trumpets and three 
trombones, tees off with a sizzling 
version of "Fine and Dandy," spot- 
lighting the saxes and other side- 
men on hot licks. Karen Rich, good- 
looking vocalist, then works over 
versions of "Blue Heaven" and 
"Don't Take Your Love From Me," 
best on the latter. The Streamliners, 
mixed sepia team, score with clever 
tripstering. 

Band takes over again for "Song 
Is You" and "I've Got News For 
You," Rich handling succession of 
giggle choruses, which sets things for 
Johnny Hudgins, Negro panto comic. 
Latter wows with his hockey bit_,and 
takeoff on dame primping up for a 
.stroll. Comic then goes into audi- 
ences and corrals guys and gals- to 
jitterbug for sustained howls. Of 
course, its the brace of femme 
stooges that makes for the best 
laughs and a begoff. Band socks 
over another sizzler, "Let's Keep 
Thin," featuring tenor sax. 

Hadda Brooks, recording song- 
stress, of song and pianistics, is quite 
sharp in both departments. She 
socks acro.ss slick versions of "li 
AH Depends on You" and "That's 
My Desire" for top returns. Num- 
bers are interlarded with pianoing 
that's al.so appreciated and gal could 
have remained On longer. 

Steve Condos, formerly of the 
Condos Bros., spots his slick terpinK 
sessibn next with his "Drum Beat' 
dance, wherein he cleats to rhythm 
of .skinbeating, standout Of bis turn. 
Band takes over again for finale. 

Edha. 

Stat«-I.ako, CJif 

Chicago. Feb. 27. 
Phil Regan. Boosier .Hot Shots, 
Johnson & Owen, Ca.Tol King, Lou 
Breese Orch (13); "The Arjielo Ai- 
fair"' (M-G). 

It's doubtful that Phil Reganites 
will take to the Hoosier Hot Shots 
and vice versa. Regan still has the 
elegant dust of the Palmer House's 
Empire Room on his shoes while the 
Hot Shots aren't too far from the 
county fair circuit. All in all, it calls 
for wide range In taste. 

Bill opens with Johnson and Owen 
bounding on for aero stints on high 
bars. Dapper pair in sport clothes 
unreel, bar-to-bar flights with comic 
stuff breathers for steady returns. 
Carol King, following, toe terps 
triple measures for okay returns. 

Regan offers standards from his 
nightclub familiars. t!asy-mannered 
singer tees off with "I 'Wish I Didn't 
Love You so." then "Feudin' and 
Fightin'." 'Vocalist offs after firm 
response to "Peg O' My Heart." then 
returns for "Whiffenpoof Song" and 
"Dear Old Donhegal" for additional 
salvos. . „ . 

Hoosier Hot Shots maize finds a 
ready market here. Foursome, pla.y- 
ing bass, guitar, clarinet and wash- 
board-slide whistle, corral , yocks 
with broad byplay and bucolic gags. 
Chief Comi(!. Hezzy. manipulates the 
slide Whistle and a washboard 
sprouting bicycle horns. Battle of 
music has him matching slide Whistle 
against the clarinet. , 

Quartet gets brisk response in 
vocals of "On the West Side of Chi- 
na.go" and "She Brokp My Heart in 
Three Placfi.s." 'Medlev of "Bhip 
Danube," "Anvil Chorus" and 
"Yankee Doodle" has Hezzy i« fancy 



work on the horns. For encore, 
group does a jive job on "Flat Foot 
Ploogie." 

Lou Breese Orch makes the most 
of its spot with the violins spotlight- 
ed in "Hora Stacatto." Baxt. 

Oriental, Chi 

y«onne DeCorlo, King Cole Trio, 
Jacfc Leonard, Carl Sands Orch' 
'•Killer McCoy" (M-G>. 

It's unusual w..en the opening act 
holds down, the spot in such fine 
shape that the rest of the show, al- 
though good, pales in comparison. 

Show stealer is Jack Leonard, 
hefty comic, who has developed "a 
prime stock of fast and (jlean throw- 
away gags. In addition to his, fun- 
stering he socks across a couple of 
tnne.s, "I'll See You in My Dreams" 
and "My Blue Heaven'" for^ top re- 
turns. 

Yvonne DeCarlo, fi'lmster, clicks 
in her song session. Teeing off with 
"Dat's Love" from "Carmen 
Jones," she follows through with 
"For Every Man There's a Woman" 
with a bit of hip weaving. In a bit 
of hokum with orch • leader Carl 
Sands, she does some of her pic 
dance routines. Winds with "Ba- 
balu" for plenty appreciation. 

King Cole Trio scores in foUowup 
spot. Combo opens with "Ballerina" 
and segues into "What'll I Do," 
"Henry Jones." Electric guitar has 
opportunity, for good bit of solo 
work in "Jones," and "Baby, I Need 
Vou," latter pointed up with comedy 
bit. Trio finales with their disk 
fave, "Those Things Money Can't 
Bjjy" for sock applause. 

Carl Sands crew shine in medley 
of songs from Miss DeCarlo's pix. 

Zabe. 

Hippodrome, Balto. 

Baltimore, Feb. 29. 
Jocfcie Gleason, Elton Britt, Paula 
Bane;, Four Macks, Jo Lombardi 
House Orch (12); "If You Knew 
Susie" (RKO). ■ 



47 



said, NBC may be forced to make its 
own picture.s such as is being done 
by Jerry Fairbanks, who is turning 
out a- series of 17-minute subjects. 
May Make Their Own 

"We're going to need film and if 
'Hollywood studios won't malce it 
available we have only the alterna- 
tive of making our own," be said. 

"Sound broadcasting has a lot of 
lift left in it," offered Mullen, "and 
I would guess it will stilL be around 
20 years from now. AH niedia seems 
to manage to survive and standard 
broadcasting will be able to sustain 
itself for a good many years lo 
•come." 

Sitting through a pre.ss conference 
for an hour, H. V. Kaltenborn, who 
is airing from here, (juipped to Mul- 
len as he got up to leave, "well, I 
guess it's time f6r me to get back to 
my obsolete medium." 



television as 




Arnold-SWG 

Continued from page } 



Three singles, two of them vocal- 
ises, and all routed in successive 
order, make up the most of this four- 
act layout. Fourth turn is a quar- 
tette of roller skaters. Take it from 
there and figure what became of 
vaudeville. It takes about 40 mins. to 
run off and provides spilling time 
for _ film portion ("If You Knew 
Susie") which is drawing maximum 
trade! ^ 

Follo\<'ing a swingy orchestral bit 
by Jo Lombardi and his house or- 
chestra, on stage, Jackie Gleason 
takes hold as emcee to bring on El- 
ton Britt, cowboy singer who accom- 
panies himself on the guitar for typ- 
ical cowboy and hillbilly ditties in- 
terlarded with yodeling,. Has a style 
for this type ofrstint and makes the 
most of it. Because of available acts 
Gleason is forced to follow in the 
deuce \ffith his own routine of swift 
gaggirtg and comedy impressions and 
the rotund comic makes it count in 
spite of the strikes against him. 

Next comes Paula Bane, legit 
singing gal who delivers "Falling in 
Love," "Golden Earrings," "If I'm 
Elected President," and for encore, 
"Donkey Serenade." Stubholders re- 
acted well enough when caught in 
.spite of excess of music tossed at 
them but went all out for closing 
flash by the Pour Macks, mixed 
roller skating foursome in punchy 
spins and throws and Just right to 
give some novelty to the whole busi- 
ness. 

The acts are here but the com- 
bination is all wrong and a little re- 
prise out of the old book of routin- 
ing a show might serve the responsi- 
ble parties here; flwrm. 



there can be no decision on the fit- 
ness of writers. If sucli a yardstick 
could be applied, he said, the stories 
of O. Henry might be turned down 
as possible screen material because 
the writer had served a prison term. 

"We are not going to talte part 
in the contempt case,*' he declared. 
"The Guild is not a legal aid bureau. 
It should represent only public is- 
sues — and there is a great public is- 
sue at stake. It i.s of tremendous 
importance, not only to the Guild 
but to every medium of artistic ex- 
pression, including the press." 

Arnold's fee for handling the SWG 
action,' understood to be between 
$25,000 and $35,000, depending on 
the length of time the cases require, 
will not come out of the Guild treas- 
ury. Fund is being raised by volun- 
tary contributions from individual 
members. 

10 Writers' $61,108,975 
Suit For 'Conspiracy' 

The indicted 10 writers have start- 
ed a new legal action, filing suit for 
$61,108,975 damages, charging pro- 
ducers "conspired" to drive them 
from the industry in violation of 
the State Labor Code. Damages 
claimed approximate $2,000,000 each, 
based on individual earnings, plus 
perpetual restraining order against 
any blacklist, discrimination. Les- 
ter Cole, Ring LaTdner, Jr., Dalton 
Trumbo, Alvah Bessie, Samuel Or- 
nitz, Albert Maltz, John Howard 
Lawson, Edward Dmytryk, Herbert 
Biberman and Adrian Scott are the 
plaintiff writers. 

Defendants are Loew's; Inc., 20th- 
Fox, Paramount, Columbia, RKO, 
Warners, Republic, Goldwyn, Roach 
and Universal, along with their top 
execs, the Motion Picture Ass'n 
of America, the Society of Indepen- 
dent Motion Picture Producers, Eric 
Johnston and Donald Nelson. 



Raps H'wood Fear 



Fear 

■ ' — ^ 



S Continued from page, 

picture industry, but they're behav- 
ing just like the press did in the 
early days of radio. They were dead 
certain that news broadcasts would 
wreak havoc on circulation but wliat I 
happened was that a greater reader- 
ship was built up than could be han- 
dled. Television will do the same 
thing for pictures and I'm confident 
aft^r we really let rolling theatre 
attendance will be doubled. Just let 
us run a flve-minute vignette of a 
big picture and then watch them 
flock to the theatres showing it. 
Not For Sponsors 

"Hollywood needn't fear any com- 
petition from television in their 
main product. No advertiser could 
afford the cost of an hour and a half 
running time on 100 stations; Magni- 
tude of production required for tele- 
vision's needs is far beyond their 
comprehension. In another year we 
could use up in 30 days all the 
product turned out by HoHywood. 
Currently video is using equal' thirds 
for film, field pickups and studio 
programs." 

Asked what NBC would do about 
it if theatres projected the network's 
programs on their screens without 
permission or payment, Mullen said, 
"we'd use their pictures and perhaps 
we'd both be sued." He declared that 
a test case will have to be made to 
clarify rights of appropriation. li 
Hollywood continues in its tough 
attitude . toward television, Mullen 



3d Fostponement (or the 10 

Washington, March 2. 
For the third time, the trial of the 
10 "Unfriendly Witnesses" for "con- 
tempt of Congress" has been post- 
poned. 

Late yesterday (1), Justice Rich» 
mond B. Keck, of the U. S. District 
Court, granted a postponement until 
April 12 in the case of John Howard 
Lawson, first on the list to be tried. 
The others are scheduled to follow, 
one at a time. 

The case had been slated for 
March 8. The-"last two postpone- 
ments have been due to the continu- 
inf? illness of Rep. J. Parnell Thomas, 
cliairman of the House un-American 
Activities Committee, who is re- 
quired as a witness, particularly by 
the defense. The last time the ques- 
tion of a postponement was brought 
up by defense counsel, who claimed 
they could not proceed without 
Thomas. The Government lawyers 
said they would be satisfied to call 
other members of the un-American 
Activities Committee. 

Yesterday, however. Government 
lawyers also said they needed 
Thomas as witness. Hence the post- 
ponement was at the request of both 
sides. 



Pix Unrepped 

^ Continued from page 1 ss 

be on hand for the Pentagon 
session. 

Invitations have gone out to some 
two dozen top-level media execs, 
but several, including Johnston, 
won't be able to attend, it has been 
learned. For the radio industry, 
Justin Miller, National--Assn. of 
Broadcasters presty, and an exec 
of each of the four major networks 
have been invited. Bids also have 
been sent to the American News- 
paper Publi.sher.s' Assn. as well as 
■to several lop magazine people.- 



S5 Continued from 

broadcasting activities, has announc'* 
ed NBC's immediate intention of 
duplicating the best radio shows on 
video. That will naturally mean 
dressing up the radio programs with 
visual accoutrements. It's hoped that 
out of the idea eventually will 
emerge new programming techniques 
ifor radio, as well as for tele. 
1 'What's In It For Me?' 

I That tele has drawn off much of 
t the lure and glamor from radio for 
ad agencies, advertisers, talent and 
execs is Unquestionable, Most of the 
agencies, for example, report that 
the first thing their clients say now 
when they start talking business is, 
"What's television? Is there anything 
in it for me?" Confronted with that 
attitude, the agencies have b.een 
forced to, delve into tele, whether 
they wanted to do so or not. 

Radio talent has manifested increas- 
ing interest in tele. Video projects 
undertaken by such top radio artists 
as Edgar Bergen, Rudy Vallee, Tex 
McCrary and Jinx Falkenburg' dem- 
onstrate their interest. Others, when 
permitted, have been more than 
eager to take a crack at the new 
medium to see what all the shout- 
ing's about. Attitude of radio execsi 
is exempiifled by. NBC, which is 
gradually 'moving its top personnel 
from raciio into tele, thereby leaving 
openings in radio. 

Current downbeat trend in the 
film industry has been manife.st 
for months. Rising production costs, 
coupled with the slumping domestic 
boxoffice and near-collapse 'of the 
foreign market, has that industry 
casting about for a way out of its 
morass. Tele, according to some 
fllmites, may provide just the hypo 
needed to give a lift to the industry, 
which hasn't seen a real innovation 
since the advent of sound 20 years 
ago. Leading producers envision add-' 
ed revenue by turning out film's 
especially fop tele. Twentieth-Fo* 
has already paved the way by selling 
its newsreel to television. Exhibitors; 
although still uncertain of tele's po- 
tential threat or value to them, are 
beginning to see a lucrative field in 
theatre ' tele. 

Legit theatre, although it's enjoyed 
a comparatively good season on 
Broadway since last fall, is also in a 
static condition. More Equity mem- 
bers are out of work today than ever 
before and the opportunities for tyro 
playwrights and producers aro equals 
ly slim. Tele is expected to benefit 
that medium, too, by offering count* 
less opportunities for talent and pro« 
duction personnel. Video will also 
be instrumental, it's felt, in booming 
an interest in legit throughout the 
country. • 
Blstcos In the Re^ 

Niterles and vaude can be classed 
together^ as far as. business condi-' 
tions go. With an end to the easy- 
money era of the war years, most of 
the key city bi.stros have been op- 
erating in the red. Big names^ which 
can draw business, are scarce and 
most of them still expect the sam^ 
kind of top money they received 
previously, despite the slump in biz, , 
Lesser<lights, ' on the other hand, 
although they'll work for less coin, 
won't draw business. Significant is 
the recent fold of vaude at Loew's 
State, N.Y., until, then the nation's 
leading vaude stronghold, and of 
the Carnival, N.Y., nitgryj which de- 
cided to shutter until another top 
name was available. 

While tele may not provide the 
means to bolster vaude and nitery bis, 
immediately, it will offer job oppor- 
tunities for the talent thrown out ol 
work. And, at . least as far as telt 
officials are concerned, the medium 
.may eventually tioost that part of the 
entertainment biz. Video set. owners,, 
they think, will have a chance to see 
many experienced and new perform-, 
ers on their receiving sets and will 
consequently desire to see, them in 
veal life as well. That, according to 
the tele officials, should turn the 
trick. 

in addition, tele itself will revive 
some of the activity now dead to 
vaude and nitery performers. Video's 
emphasis on variety shows has al- 
ready given promise of returning to 
life the aura of the old two-a-day 
vaude. Very fact that the Major 
Bowes Amateur show has been re-^- 
vived on tele indicates what the me» 
dium can mean for tyro performers, 
for example. ' 

As for the music industry, it's be- 
lieved, doubtful ihat video can do 
much to perk up the recording biz 
or road stands of topname bandsi 
But, as soon as the American Feder- 
ation of Musicians settles \4th the 
tele industry, the new medium is ex- 
■pected to welcome live musicians 
with open arms. With new stations 
springing up across the country, 
tele should offer plenty of job oppor- 
-tunities to unemployed musicians. 



48 



LKGITIMATK 



Wedneadajr, Miufdi 3, 1948 



Strawhal, (let Eqd; ^ce-Over 



Principal issue b^ing considered +- 
by Equity's council is the possible 
revision o£ tlie new regulations for: 
stock, especially as applicable to 
strawhats. 

Protests were made to the coun- 
cil last week by a group o£ stock 
managers, and a session between 
them and Equity's conunitte<; was 
held Friday (27), when the straw- 
hatters voiced their views. Equity's 
idea is to try the code before nsak- 
ing changes but the suggestions of 
the stock people may lead to some 
modiiioations. 

Slock bunch complained that il 
had not been queried for opinions 
as to the practicabiEty ot , somt 
changes in the rules, but it's reported 
that the actors': committee had con- 
sulted with Milton Stiefel, pvesideirl- 
of the stock mstnagers association, 
which meets sporadically. Strawhat- 
ters contended that all summer 
stocks should not be subject to all 
the new rules because of the dif- 
ferences in capacities, a suggestio:» 
that was regarded as logical by 
Equity's committee. 

The rural managers of smaller 
stocks stated they will be forced out 
of business because of ' the r ule re- 
quiring stock casts to be 7S% Eq|uity. 

They argued that summer stccL' 
theatres which gross less than $3,000- 
will be unable to operate. It is pos< 
sible, therefore, tliat the small out- 
fits, will • be exempt from the perr 
centage regulation, as Equity is not 
inclined to crimj? summer stock ac- 
tivities except those individuals who 
liave .Allegedly chissSled by "guai- 
teeiog" Eqiuity memberships to their 
drama school grads. 

OK With Some ' 
Some strawhatters made no ob? 
jections, they, specializing on pack- 
age shows or unit stocks, which vir- 
tually troupe the "circiat.''. Others 
stated the regulation of apprentices 
was desirable. Sliggestions . were 
made whereby a director shall be 
required to .go in' advance of partial 
pacKage shows and provide the local 
manager with »-pirompt bo<^ which 
would dimiimte -weelcend aiiguments 
which ' atise when temparamental 
stars arrive expecting the local sup- 
porting cast to- have been competent- 
ly^ rehearsed. 

Stock men have asked the Dra* 
matists Guild to reconsider its new 
rule whereby 5% royalty applies; to 
all stocks. Guild has been asked to 
replace that requirement with a 
gradtiated' percentage scale, also dC' 
pendent on fhe house capacity. The 
custom has been for play brokers 
who contract for stock performances 
set the amount of royalty, they being 
familiar with stock operators 'and 
gross possibilities. Minimum roy- 
alty, in the smaller :spots would con 
tinue to be $75 per; week per play 
If the Gtiild makes -.the concession, 
but in larger houses " the royalty 
would be as much as^ $750. That 
amount of royalty would apply to 
1,400-seaters, some strawhats having 
that capacity.. 

Actual seating capacity may be 
fair but '.lt's the. gross that counts. 
Pointed out that a- 4S0-seater frc' 
quently got $150 or less,- on we^day 
Djghts la^t summer - and ' the stode 
was lucky to gross $1,000 on the 
week, and tliat in a fairly jilopulous 
summer ar^a. : 



St. Louis, March 2. 
"Sari" and '"Rio^Rita,'' two of tile 
most popular musicol exti'avagsnsias 
with the Muncipal Theatre . Assn., 
sponsor of allresw entertaininent in 
thfe (jpen-aif Forest park playhouse, 
ate Bkedded foi- a return engagement 
during the 1948 season that tees ofl 
June 3. 

- Season probably will start with 
presentation of the world preem bf 
Hugo Abercfotobie's "A u 1 d' I- a n g 
Syne," .'-fy 

Chicago will have replicas of at 
least two current Broadway hjts in 
late- spring or early aumro^r, and 
(4hei^ may' follow 

suit. Buo to he readied soon are "A 
Stoeetcar Named Desire," dramatic 
elide, and "High Button Shoes," one 
of the season's musical standouts. 

Both No. 2 troupes are due into 
rehearsal late this month. There 
has been talk of putting out another 
compsaiy of "Mister Hoherts," Broad- 
Mray5s newest sensational comedy- 
c^ajnac but the management has not 
setJdusly considered the idea, al- 
thdugh It's a possibility foi^next f?iil, 
.One of the leads for "Shoes" wiH 
be Eddie Foy, Jr., who was slated 
for a revival of "SaUy," planned by 
Hunt fStronrfierg, Jr. Latter placed 
Foy under contract but failed to 
contracts have finally been signed j deposit tte salary-guarantee money 



THE ENGUSfl, ffiDPLS., 
GOMAMOmYBM 

Indianapolis, March 2. 
Sale of English hotel buildinj.:, jii- 
cUiding the English theatre, to 
Equitable Life Insurance Co. for. 
82,100,000 has been approved in 
probate court: Plan is to demolish 
building and put up a J. C. Penney 
department store on site. B u-t 
further legal entanglements and 
building difficulties are expected to; 
Iteep 68-year-old theatre going at 
least another" season. . 

Meanwhile, Murat, old Shubert 
house owned by the Shrine, is be- 
ing groomed to take over United 
Booking office fi-anehise, with pos- 
sibility that Keith's, now operated as 
film house by Gamble^Dolle group, 
entering situation, 

?n 

Plans to move Jean-Paul Sartre's 
"Tiie Respectful Prostitute" from n 
downtown little theatre to, Broad- 
way were .stymied' for a tJine 6ut 



kkfe Sbiff-4ept 




Wand fait Me/ 
At Central City, My 

Denver^ March 2. 

Frank St. Leger, Metropolitan 
Opera Co, executive will again di- 
rect the Central- City play festival 
operas at the 70Tyear-old opera 
house in Central City, 45. miles west 
of here in the mountains^ 

Operas this^ year will he Offen- 
bach's "Tales of Hoffman" and 
MoMrt's "Cosi Pan Tutte" (They 
All Do It"). Presented, in alternate 
performances, the festival will run 
for .26 performances over three 
Weeks, starting; July 3. Both operas 
will be presented in English. 



Ebsen's Bonfils Comedy 

Denver, March 2. 
,. Bonflls & Somnes (Helen Bonfils 
•nd her husband, George Somnes), 
*'wlU produce "Honest John," a 
„ comedy by Buddy Ebsen, with Ebsen 
playing the lead, , 

Somnes goes to California this 
week to. talk the production over 
with £b«en. 



for the switch. The show wiU open 
uptown at the Cart, March 16, house 
becoming available through the 
failure of Ibsen repertory of 
"Ghosts" and "Hedda ' Gablei:" (Eva 
Le Gallienne)\ New Stages, a group 
of actors who presented the short 
drama at lirst, demurred, because 
stock conditions which apply in the 
little house ace out on- Broadway 
so far as the stage unions; are conr 
cerned. Equity excepted. - 

Having already made two presen- 
tations. New Stages is established 
as stodt by Equity, New :Stages 
having followed "Lamp at Midnight" 
with "An Evening of Two Plays," 
consisting of the Sartre work and 
Church Street," 'a curtain raiser. 
In addition to a regular backstage 
crew, ; regulation house, company 
maitager and press agent, plus box- 
office staff, will be installed, but 
the actors can continue on pay at 
the stock minimum of $50 weekly.. 
When the attraction moves to the 
Cort "The Happy Journey" by 
Thornton Wilder will replace 
"Street" 

. ' Juupeil- 'fal $S,OM'' 
"Prostitute" Jumped to capacity 
right after opening, the gross in the 
300-seater downtown being around 
$5,000 weekly: Atthe Cort possible 
takings will be more than three 
times that figure, reason why the 
producing j;roup decided to comply 
with the unions' requirementSi, 
There are 100 actors hailing shares 
in New Stages, plus 15 others, in-: 
eluding, backstage and front-of-the-; 
house staff. Even if the Sartre play 
lives up to its promise, those in- 
terested will get but moderate 
profits-. . 

. Expected thai some of the dialog 
in "Trostie" wUl be. toned down for 
Broadwiay. .When the double bill 
was presented there were .half a- 
dozen teams of alternates for the 
leads, especially for the Sartre 
drama, but that was found to be 
impractical. New Stages will con- 
tinue in its downtown berth with 
revivals and prohaWy some new 
playt, it being the original idea that 
all players In the group be given 
a chance to appear. But there ai-c 
only seven in the "Prostie" cast. A 
tour of college auditoriums is being 
arranged for "Lamp," based oh the 
life of Galileo. 

Fresh capital was required to fi- 
nance the Sartre play's Broadway 
showing, money coming from the 
outside, latter to aet 25% of the 
profits, with 75% going to New 
Stages. 

There will be no union concessions 
for stock performances at the Cen- 
ter this spring either, nor were there 
any when a six- week winter season 
was encouragingly received there 
recently. 



for the show with Equity up to the 
time the show was to have "gone 
into rehearsal, which made Foy free 
to accept the, "Shoes" assignment. 
It's , understood young Stromberg 
was stymied in raising the backing 
for "Sally." 

"Roberts" is feasible for run 
stands such as Chicago but there's a 
production problem to be solved be- 
fore it can be roadshown. It re- 
quires over two days to set up the 
ship scene, which is principally used, 
and when the try out moved from 
New Haven to Philadelphia- over a 
weekend the first performance at 
the latto.' stand could not be played 
until Tuesday, and- the same applied 
when "Roberts" went from PhiUy 
to Baltimore, Its Broadway debut 
was on a Wednesday- 



Several Sunday (29) papers went to to.wn for "Mister Roberts" in fol- 
lowup comments. New TTork reviewers backing up their original rave 
notices. All the critics were in accord on the comedy-drama. In the 
Daily News the play with a wartime Naval background was rated as "per- 
fection" on the stage by John Chapmsin but Bob Sylvester, the drama 
editor, was in disagreement. In a letter to the drama editor (signed by 
"R. MacPherson Sylvester") he said that while Thomas Heggen's book 
ol the same title was the best picture of Navy life in the Pacific yet writ- 
ten, "Roberts" the- play lost most of the novel's authenticity "f6r the sake 
of burlesque situations and forced bcllylaughs." Sylvester, who was in 
the Navy during the war, describes him.self, in the letter to himself, as 
"a retired, resigned and repudiated chief petty officer, USNR." 

An indefinite number of theatre parties could have been sold for 
"Roberts" but»,producer Xleland Hayward shut down on such deals after 
21 had been accepted. Parties include matinees arranged for women's 
dub, the piain gobs' talk being no deterrent. Parties including noatinees 
have been contracted; too, for "The Hallams" wliich opens at the Booth 
Thursday (4), package deals extending through April. There are still pro 
and con opinions over the value of parties among managers. Party agents 
generally get 5% for handling such deals. ' 

Principal backer of Sammy LambeVt's musical, "Hold It," is understood 
to be Anthony B. Farrell, a newcomer to show business financing. He's 
an Albany manufacturer and. became acquainted with Lambert through 
mutual friends. Farrell is reported to have put up $189,000 of the required 
$200,000 for the show, depositing a check for thie amount" to Lambert's 
account some weeks before the scheduled start of rehearsals. "Hold It" 
is I^mbert's first try a* a producer. He was previously stage manager 
for Michael Todd. V 

It's believed the $189,000 hankroU is one of the largest single units of 
show backing in years. A siaeable wad at. financing was reported to have 
been supplied by one person for Henry Adrian's production of "The Girl 
from Nantucket" several seasons ago, and Mrs. Lorraine Manville Dre.ssel« 
buys put up a major part of the coin for the $400,000 production of "Rhap- 
sody" three spsons ago. 

Feature in the current issue of Fortune mag spotlights the "system" 
employed for successful angeling by Jack Seidman, partner i» the account- 
ing firm of. Seidman & Seidman and an active legit backer since the 
early 1930'S. His formula for "what will sell in the theatre/' the piece 
states, is to place 100% emphasis upon the script itseU. When assaying 
a play he doesn't weigh possible advantages to be gained via casting and 
direction. If these turn out to be okay, so much the better, but he opined 
"they can never be tempting enough to turn a bad play into a good risk." 

According to Fortune, Seidman already has chalked up a 100% return 
on an $80,000 investment in "Bridgadoon." Other .plays in which bis 
"system", worked out were "Lady in the Dark"," "Three Men on a Horse," 
"Room Service" et al. 



Some of the carriage trade at the two opening nights of "Tonight at 
8:30," revived at the National, N.Y,, abused the non-smoking rule within 
the theatre during intermissions; some also used lighters to read the pro- 
gram. However, the house has a smoking alleyway reached through 
doors at the back of the house. A numl^r of patrons carelessly stood in 
the foyer with lighted cigarets inistead of stepping, through- the door- 
ways, and they disregarded warnings of the u^ers. latter stamped out 
lighted butts, and there were complaints made to the front of the house. 



SkakyFmancesCne 
Frib Reiner {{uittmg 
Pftt Synqih for Met 

Pittsburgh, March 2. 
Shaky financial condition of Pitts- 
burgh Symphony Orch is believed 
by insiders to be the chief reason 
for resignation of -Fritz Reiner after 
10 years. Reiner leaves at end of 
this season, apparently headed for 
the Metropolitan Opera Co.. although 
maestro's new managers, S. Hurok 
and National Concert Artisjts, insist 
they have made no definite plans, for 
him so far. ' ■ 

It's no secret that Pittsburgh 
Symph has been having, a rocky 
time of it last couple of years. In 
order to keep going this year, local 
Symph has- had to resort to a num- 
ber of money ^getting angles, includ- 
ing a Symphony Ball, railing off of 
an automobile and extra concerts 
with non-longhair names. In addi- 
tion to other troubles, attendance 
has fallen off considerably this year, 
and recent imposition of a city tax 
of 10% on tickets, on top of 20% 
Federid levy, has further curtailed 
take. 

. No permanent conductor will be 
named to succeed Reiner for 1948- 
49, and season is to be run off with 
string of guest directors. That's 
what Pittsburgh Symph did in 1937- 
38, and from group of visiting 
maestri that year. Reiner was se- 
lected as reigulaf leader. 



Walter Hart's Collab 

Walter Hart, directing Kormit 
Bloomgarden's production Of Nor- i guest leader during the first four 



Seiner's Mpls Date 

- Minneapolis, March 1. 
With Dimitri Mitropoulos, Min- 
neapolis Symph conductor, accepting 
an invitation to serve as New York 
Philharmonic maestro during the 
early part .pf next season, the or- 
chestra here has engaged Fritz 
Reiner, who recently resigned as 
Pittsburgh Symph conductor, as 



Gilbert Gabriel, former N.Y. drama critic, is, retiuning to Broadway 
show coverage. He's joined Theatre Arts Magazine, which has been com- 
bined with. The Stage by Alexander Ince, both monthly magazines. Since 
leaving the newspaper field Gabriel wrote for studios in Hollywood and 
was in London for the War Information Bureau but. has spent most of 
his time authoring of books. When reviewing for the N.Y>. Sun he won 
VMKEiv'a »Miual. critics boxscore twice and copped three times when' he 
switched to the American (now Journal- American). • 



Among those who've made their mark, after being in "The Rise of the 
Goldbergs" at one. time or another during its 16-year radio history, are 
Philip Loeb, Garson Kanin, George Tobias, Paul Stewart, Joseph Cotten, 
Everett Sloane, Allen Joslyn and Rosemary DeCamp. "Goldbergs" is the 
l>asis for "Me and Molly." Broadway opener last week which Gertrude 
Berg adapted' trom her original ladio bbatacters. She and Philip Loeb head 
the legiter^s cast. 



Ballet Society WiU 

Admit PuUic 1st Time 

Ballet Sociiety will offer a week 
of ballet to non-subscribers for the 
first time, in performances at City 
Center, N. Y., week of April 28. 
Engagement will see the premiere 
ot a new ballet, "Orpheus," with 
music by " Igor Stravinsky and 
choreography by George Balan- 
chine, under Ballet Society cominis- 
sion. Stravinsky will conduct all 
performances of his work. 

Opening night will be for sub- 
scribers only, but subsequent per- 
formances through May 1 will be 
open to the public. Event is un- 
usual in that Ballet Society nor- 
mally gives members about four 
performances a season. Society wilt 
also repeat two ballets preemed this 
year. 

Balanchlne is artistic director of 
the troupe, with leading dancers in- 
cluding Maria Tallchief, Tanaquil 
LeClerq, Nicholas Magallanes (who 
danced in the Broadway legiter, 
"Music in My Heart," early this sea- 
son), Herbert Blisss, Maria- Jeanne 
and Frank Moncion. Two-year-old 
Society is guided by Xjncoln Kir- 
stein, art patron, who is its secretary 
and part-angel. 



man Rosten's "The Golden Door," 
is also coHabotating with mag 
writer Nancy Davids on a dramati- 
zation of a novel of 'iindiscIo.sed title. 
. In addition, Miss Davids work- 
ing solo on her first play, an or- 
iginal drama. 



weeks of next season, starting Oct. 
18. 

Mitropoulos WiU continue as the 
local organization's general music 
director and orchestra conductoi'i 
with Yves Ciiardon' again as asso- 
ciate baton^er. 



Wales On Emporia Date 

Kansas City, March 2. 
Margaret Tann Williams, Welsh 
I contralto, made the long jump from 
, Cardiff, Wales, to - do a one-day con- 
cert Tuesday (2) for descendants of 
the original Welsh settlers at Em- 
poria, Kan.s. The occasion was their 
60th annual St. David's Day observ- 
I ance. St. David's Welsh Chorus, uii- 
; der direction of Ann Davies, ac- 
companied Miss Williams. 

Concert, was free to the public, 
Walter Jones, Lebo, Kans., cattle- 
man of Welsh .ancestry, paying the 
■fees f Of Miss WUlieiils. 



QosnginRed 

Dublin Gate' Theatre players, ap- 
pearing at the Mansfield, N. Y., in 
Irish repertory, wiU close a disap- 
pointing engagement of tour weeks 
on Saturday (6). Visitors offered 
three plays in many weeks, 'final 
being "Where Stars Walk," which 
drew a better press than the first 
duo but it did mild business air 
though holding over for the current 
blowoff stanza. 

DubUo troupe opened with Ber- 
nard Shaw's "John Bull's Other 
Island," followed by "The Old Lady 
Says No," and it was then clear that 
the attraction was too limited in 
appeal. Same house has; had four 
Irish plays in succession, Dubliners 
having been preceded by "Kath- 
leen,"' which la.sted less than a week. 

Aldrich & Myers presented - the 
Dublin Gators, headed by Michael 
Mac Liammoir and Hilton Edwards, 
in association-^ith Brian Doherty, 
Toronto attorney-playwright. Latter 
guaranteed the company 12 weeks, 
eight of which will have been played 
at the etid of this week. Troupe may 
lay off, with Boston a possibility, 
plus Canadian repeat dates. Aldrich 
& Myers are out on the venture, 
with Doherty assuming: any addi- 
tional red. 

Ibsen repertory starring, Eva Le 
Gallienne also stops this weekend, 
presentations of "Ghosts" and "Hedda 
Gabler" (current) being flops, too. 



"Inside U.S.A.''— Arthur Schwarts!. 
"Hold It"— Sammy Lambert, 
"Msebe^ih" (revival)— TJieatrc, lac, 
"Temporary Island"— Experimen- 
tal Theatre. 



Wedjaesday, March 8, 1948 



LE«SITIMATE 



49 



Dram^ts Eye m. h Drive Vs. 
Segregate; Seek Belaseo, D.C. 



The nesX »t«p to the Dramatists -i 
Guild drive to end Taciifl-segrcgatioii 
policies in legit theatres wtU prob- 
ably be against the American, St. 
Louis. However, action will likely 
be deliorad indefinitely, primarily to 
aUow the situation to clarify at the 
National, Washington. The Guilfl's 
stand on the subject is similar to, but 
distinct from that of Actors Equity, 
whose contract with the League of 
N. Y. Theatues prohibits Equity 
membfers from appearing on the Na- 
tional stage afterjiext May 31, un- 
less the house's segregation nile is 
ended; 

The Guild is cooperating with 
Equity in the case of the National, 
but it actuaUy began a drive 
against segregation there before 
Equity did. This was done by per- 
suading Guild- membeors to sign a 
sledge not to permit their plays to 
be ptesmted in the theatre as long 
as the segregatioii policy was in 
eflfeot. Practically every, leading 
playwright sigaed. and none of their 
woriis; (writhen and contracted ior 

» production ' since the pledge was cir- 
culated) has been presented at the 
National. The Guild figures that 
such »■ poiiay must ultimately force 
showdown on the segregation ques* 

.<'tion. 

Influential members of the Guild 
Intend to mo*e slowly iij the case of 
the American, They recognize that 
public sentiment may be more sym- 
pathetic to segregation there than in 
'Washington, and that circumstances 
there aren't as appropriate for 
dramatizing Hut anti-democratic, un- 
Ametiean aspect of such discrimina- 
tion. 

Guild leaders ace determined to 
vase a fi|$ht on -the issue until their 
plays are not shown in any theatre 
practicing: segr^ation. Their en- 
tir« attitude on the question is in- 
dependent of that of Equity, 



ChrmaQ New Drama Ed 
(tf New Repdbfic Mag 

Harold Clurman,< legit producer- 
director, becomes drama critic ol 
New Republic, effective March 15, 
succeeding Irwin Shaw. The latter 
is resigning to devote full time to 
another writing project, believed to 
be a novel. Shaw has been critic 
since last fall, following the de- 
parture of Stark Young. 

Besides being a corfounder and 
one of the mainstays of the Group 
Theatre, Clurman "was co-producer 
of Arthur Millei-'s prize-winning 
"All My Sons" and staged such 
Broadway play.s as "Awake and 
Sing," "Golden Boy," 'The Gentle 
People" and "The Whole World 
Over." He directed "Deadline at 
Dawn" lor RKQ," wrote "The Fer- 
vent Years" a history of the Group 
Theatre, and has contributed to 
various magazines. 



Bodh tor BelMe*, DiC, Leg<ii 
Washington, lUbroh Z. 

A new pu^ to have ttie old 
fielasco theatre restored to use as 
a legit house has been started here 
by Rep. George H. Bender (R., O.) , 
Vfba dedsp^ that at least one D. C. 
legit xhould be open to all, irres- 
pective of color or race. The Na- 
tional maintains a "white only" 
•policy, similar to most other amuse- 
ment spots in town. 

Bender called on W. E. Reynolds, 
tli S. Pcilplic Buildings Commis- 
sioner, to reconsider his prior re- 
fusal tp lease the Belasco for a 
theatre. The building is now oper- 
ated by tlie Treasury Department 
as a warehouse fbr old files. Bender 
declared this was a "trivial and- un- 
substantial" reason for not providing 
a second theatre. 

"It is a national scandal," said 
Bender in a statement, "that the 
capital of this, tiie greatest democ' 
racy of the world, has no legitimate 
theatre whicii may be attended by 
pei-scms 0* the Negro race. As long 
as this remains true, it. reveals that 
'socious gap between our ideals and 
s«n* ot' our practices' which the 
President in his messages declared 
must be closed." ' 

Bender wrote to Reynolds, "I am 
informed that several prospective 
bidders have indicated their interest 
in renting tiie- Belasco building and 
neonverting it into a theatre which 
could be freely attended by persons 
wganllesB of race." 



Broadway producers and the N. Y. 
stagehands union. Local 1, huddled 
again last week on a revised basic 
agreement for more wages and con- 
ce.ssioris, but there were no devel- 
ments. Sesdon at the offices of 
ttie lieague of New York Theatres 
found no change in the portions 
taken by the respective factions but- 
there were indications .that the dif- 
ferences are on the verge of settle^ 
ment. . Union held its monthly mem- 
bership meeting Sunday (ZS) with- 
out any untoward reaction. 

The. factions got together Friday 
(27) at tlte suggestion of Richard 
^olsh, president of' the International 
Alliance of Theatrical Stage Em- 
pleyeesv of which Local I is an at- 
-flliate. lA ai^ed the deckhands to 
continue negotiations despite the. 
impasse with tiie managers, whose 
offer of a moderate wage boost was 
rejected. Wateh has been in Wash- 
ington on call as witness in the Con- 
gressional investigation of the Hol- 
lywood studio strike ijitaation. 



Dorothy Samoff Set 

For Lester Operetta 

Hollywood, March 2, 
Dorothy Samoff has been signed 
for the lead in '-Magdalena," a new 
operetta with music by Brazilian 
composer Heitor Villa-Lobos; lyrics 
by Robert Wright and George' For- 
rest, and book by Homer Curran and 
William B'rederick Brennan. 

Edwin Lester will put the show 
into reheai-sal in June for the Los 
Angeles Civic Laght Opera Assn. It 
intends to premiere here in July 
and open in New York in mid-Sep- 
tember. 



A^taAai%. 
ResigBs m Wake 





Giiild Mm 

4-Ma.y Simng Sked 

Detmit, March 2. 
The Detroit Drama Guild, which 
expanded its activities this- season by 
bringing a Broadway company of 
Arthur Miller's "AU My Sons" here, 
is already jplanning four of its own 
productions for next spring. Roger 
Stevens, local realty man who heads 
-the group, is in New York this week 
(or .huddles with the American Na- 
tional Theatre tc Academy on the 
subject. 

The DDG was started last fall with 
a, pro company and Ian Keith as 
director-iead. Productions of Piran- 
dello's "Right You Are" and Molnar's 
"Tlie Play's the Thing" w<3re pre- 
sented in the Grosse Point high school 
auditorium, with Molnar piece sub- 
sequently moved downtown to the 
Cass theatre. Stevens and his asso- 
ciates brought "All My Sons" to the 
Lafayette when the scheduled en- 
gagement of "The First Mrs. Frazier" 
was cancelled. 

The "only play set for the DDG's 
four-week season next spring is 
Jean-Paul Sartre's "No Exit." 



$9 liise. Bars Two Kids 
Fromflapf hi'Mama' 

Milwaukee, March 2. 

Wlien "I Remember Mama" plays 
the Partcway, Madison, Wise, March 
.9 and 6, the Davidson, Milwaukee, 
the week of March 8, it will have 
to do without its- two chUd players, 
a boy of 11 .and a girl of nine. 

Wisconsin Attorney General John 
E. Martin ruled that the Wisconsin 
law prohibited children under 12 
from appearing in professional stage 
productions. Although the law has 
been on the book for years, nobody 
paid any attention to it until the 
question was- raised for "Mama." 
The "Life With Father" troupes, with 
their numerous youngsters, have 
play-ed in Wisconsin for years with- 
out being bothered. 

John Scharnbergi manager of the 
Parkway, and Anthony Thenee, 
'Davidson managd:, said they could 
get oldor (ihildnen for the roles with- 
out difficulty. 



SALARY CLAMS VS. 

m mm producer 

Claims for salary in lieu of clos- 
ing notice hy player.'? in "Dr. So- 
cial," drama tliat played less than 
a week at the Booth, N. Y., recently, 
were filed with Equity last week. 

Management (Harold Barnard) 
complained that the actors didn't 
know their lines. It was brought 
out that the play was rewritten 
more than once after opening. It 
closed down for two days during 
the try out in Boston, at which time 
it was discerned that the part played 
by Al SheaH, one of the leads, had 
^'een written out, then reinserted. 
Seven-eighths of s week's pay is due 
each. ■■■ 



B'wiy Sei^ h Te^i Last 
h Qffi^, E^edill^ Tuners 



Atlanta, March 2., 
Burt Wellborn, manager of At-" 
lanta's S.OOO-!>cat Municipal Audi- 
torium, resigned Saturday (28) as 
climax to series of disclosures in- 
volving alleged mismanagement of 
aud. Charges culminated ' in indict- 
ment, of Wellborn by 'E^ilton County 
Grand Jury on charges of larceny 
after trust, bribery and making 
fraudulent .state income tax returns. 

At same time George Carr, assist- 
ant manager of aude and Wellbom's 
son-in-law, submitted his resignation 
to City Council's Buildings and Ath- 
letic Committee, which ha^ been in- 
vestigating «ilc@Bd irregularities in 
handling of aude's rental and affairs. 
.Committee had previously announced, 
that it would ask- for removal of 
Wellborn at City Council meeting. 

I n v e s t i g a tion of irregularities 
started two weeks after disat^ear- 
ance of $7,000 from Wellbom's ofBce 
in aude at close of 'Holiday. On Ice' 
'engagement. Loss was reported to 
police, who launcdied immediate in- 
vestigation. Moneiy subsequently 
was found on person of Wellborn, 
who told police he found it back of 
pipe organ in building. No charges, 
were filed against Wellborn at'time, 
but both Councils Building and- Ath- 
letics Committee and Grand Jury 
started - aeparaite investigations: 

Felony indictment returned Fri- 
day (27) charged Wellixim converted 
to his own use on April 4, 1947, ^00 
delivered to him by O. L. Freeman, 
aud concessionaire, 'for the purpose 
of applying the .same for the use and 
benefit of Paul Jones!^ 

Bribery indictment declared Well- 
bom received bribes totalling: $10,- 
380 fi-om promoters Paul Jones and 
J. Lee Friedman. First- count al- 
leged Wellborn received a bribe of 
$6,180.57 to influence his official be- 
havior in renting auditorium space 
to Jones for the 'Holiday On Ice' 
show in March, 1846. Second uount 
alleged that on Mardl 10, 1947, Wdl- 
bom received from Jones, and Fried- 
man a bribe of $3,000 in order to 
obtain rental of Auditorium space 
fbr 'Holiday On Ice' &om Feb. 24 to 
March 8, 1947. Third count alleged 
Wellborn received bribe of ^00 from 
Jones for rental of space f&r a New 
Year's Eve -hillbilly ball Dec. 31, 1947. 

Indictment for making fraudulent 
state income tax return clUirged 
W^Uborn with intentionally omitting 
taxable income in amount of $4,785'. 

After submitting his . resignation 
Wellborn appeared at Fulton County 
SherifiTs office and posted ,$3,508 
bond. He said he was ,«oing fishing. 

In testimony during investigation 
Wellborn admitted that be had 
shared in profits Ot various and sunr 
dry promotions of Jones, .stating that 
he was to have received one-third 
cut of $18,000 net of 1948 'Holiday 
On Ice'. Carr admitted that lie had 
received $300 cut of hillbilly ball. 
The $503 which Wellborn is accused 
of appropriating was a payment 
made by Home Builders Exposition 
for purchase of a date Jones had 
reserved. 

Paul Jones, who cut quite a sv^th 
in wrestling circles for many years 
is the promoter of weekly wrestling 
shows here and dabbles in other 
promotions. 

Garfield Battles Illness 

Despite an ear infection and 
persistent cold, John Garfield played 
every performance last week in 
"Skipper Next to God," at the. Play- 
house, N. Y. ' 

Ther-e was a ques^ibn whether he'd 
be able to go on Tuesday night (24), 
but his physician okayed it at the 
last minute, and the actor played not 
only the legiter but also filled a 
scheduled appearance at an orphan- 
age b^Biiairshow at Madison Square 
Garden. ^ 



Margo Jones to Stage 
'Smoke' on fi'way in Fall 

Dallas, March 2. 
Tiieatre '48 board of directors has sire, 
voted to extend the length of the 
local drama season each year, be- 
ginning next winter, until it eventu- 
ally will have year-round operation. 
The current season of 20 weeks will 
close March 20, following the cur- 
rent four-week repertm-y program. 

Eugene McDermott, board presi- 
dent r«ports that revenue from the 
current season ' will provide suf- 
ficient funds to coAier expenses of 
reopening next fall. Margo Jones, 
managing director, will work £i-om 
March through June hi detailed 
planning for next winter's season. 
From July until Oct. 1, she will be 
in New York to direct' the Broad- 
way production of Tennessee Wil- 
liams' play, "Summer and Smoke," 
which preemed at: Theatre '47 last 
summer. She'll return to Dallas in 
early October to begin rehearsals for 
.the November opening. 



Pi-oposal to the New York legit 
ticket code board to okay "lifting 
the premium for balcony tiokets sold 
by agencies fi-om 50c to 75c has been 
turned down. Brokers have been 
advised that the extra quarter iee 
will apply only in the mezzanine, or 
ft-ont part of the second' floor, and 
then only when the boJtoffice price 
is the same as- on the orchestra .floor. 

AlQiDU^ 17 Hieatres are supposed 
to designate mezzanines there are 
few hous&s where such locations are 
separated hy an aisle from the bal- 
ance of' tile second floor, and oiUy a 
couple of attractions have? the same 
scale as downstairs. If so that price 
applies only late in the wfif^ 

Brokers contended thaft it requires 
as much service to sell balcony loca- 
tions as for the lower flecgr and that 
the tilt should be .allowed, too, be- 
cause of .the rise in the cost, of opera- 
tion. N. Y. state law limits the pre- 
mium to 75c also, but makes no 
distinction as to locations, statute 
applying to all tick%ts of admission 
whereas the code is limited to legit 



MRY HUMTER W&£S; 
CLAIM ON 18^' 

Full payment' under the teems of 
her contract was awarded Monday 
(1) to Mary Hunter in her claims 
against Monte Proser and Joseph 
Kipness, producers of "High Button 
Shoes," -at the Sfaubert, N. T. Miss 
Hunter charged brfiach of her con^ 
tract to stage the production. The- 
'S-ward was made Iqr -«n American 
Arbitration Assn. panel, iiicluding 
Irwin Maigueties, R. H. Burnside 
and John W. Rumsey. 

The decision entitles Miss Hunter 
to $1,509, plus three-quarters of one 
percent of the gross for the Broad- 
way and any other companies, plus 
her Contractual share of stock, ama- 
teur, subsidiai-y and . .foreign rights. 
Sh« was not allowed .punitive dtunf 
Ages for alleged injury to her. pro- 
fessional reputation. 



Qualitatively, 1»47'48 continues to' 
top last season on Broadway in 
straight plays and, more emphati- 
cally, in a musical way. Approach to 
spring sees two ■ smashes in the 
first classification, "Mister Roberts" 
(Alvin) and "Streetcar Named De- 
(Barrymore-), as against last: 
season's sensational '"Joan of Lor-" 
raine^" There has been only one . 
major musical casualty on Broad* 
way, "Music in My He.irt," which is 
something of a record considering 
failures of other seasons, although 
another, "Bonansa Bound,^' failed fit 
Iryout. 

Six of the current money musicals 
are new this season, four out of th& ' 
10 ISow playing being huidovei-s. The 
fresh flock: "Allegro" i Majestic), 

"Angel in the Wings" (Coronet), 

Gilbert Sc Sullivan operettas (Cen- 
tury), "High Button Shoes" (Shu- 
bert), "Look, Ma, I'm Dancing" 
(Adelphi) and "Make SiGne Man^ 
hattan." The holdovers: "Okla. 
homa!" (St. James),. "Annie Get 
Your Gun" (Imp«ial), "JinlanVs 
Rainbow" (4eth Street) and "Briga- 
doon" (Ziegfeld). 

L.ist season there were only two 
new musical standouts, "Finian's 
Rainbow" and "Brigadoon" ■ .but 
"Sweethearts," a . reviwal, also scored. 
The number of musicals then was 10. " 
There were -also four holdovers at 
the time, "Oklahoma!," "Annie," 
' Carousel," and "Call Me Mister." 
La-tter has expired, "Carousel" is 
cleaning up on the road, '|Annie" 
drew capacity last week and "Okla- 
homa!" did very well, too. Latter 

the ftv.e-3«ear -mark on ' 
Broadway at the end of' the month, 
a record never attained heretofore 
by a musical, but it hasn't yet been 
decided whether the show wfll ex- 
tend further into the spring. 

There are at least two more ma- 
jor musicals due on. Broadway dur- 
ing the spring. "Inside the U.S.A." 
and "Hold It." Ether or botti will 
strengthen the comparison between 
this season and last musically. There 
are a fair portion of- dramiatic suc- 
cesses, exicepting "Streetcar;" and 
"Tloberts," some straijtht-Blay -hold- 
overs that, continue to clean up in- 
cluding. "Harvey" -anA **Born Yes- 
terday," plus cisck- revivals ;»uch as 
"Antoriy :and Cleopatra" "vnA "Man 
and Superman." 



At the musical's current pace of _^ 
$3b,000 a week at the Shubcrt, the | (,^ncrship and -editorial setup. 



MFlUsMoBil 
IMye to Mti liie 
&H;liingat^aliead 

A national membership drive, with 
the dual aim of raising funds and 
organizing a wide public for the -the-' 
atrci is under consideration by .th« 
Aiilerician National Theatre tt 
Academy. It will probably be ap- 
proved shortly by the ANTA board 
of direetont. 

Idea Would be to offera new mem- 
bership claaeification, with $2 an- 
nual dues including a subscription to 
the projected ANTA bulletin. Such 
bulletins have been issued spasmodi- 
cally in the past,' but would hence, 
forth become a regular publieotion, 
carrying new* «f ANTA and th» 
tfaetttett 'generally. 

Thui- fitr, no -real membership 
c-,Mi>paign has been condurted by 
ANTA. It has various membership 
classifications, and anyone writing 
to inquire about becoming part ef 
the organization has been invited to 
become a subscribing manUMr, 4it' 
$10 annual dues. This membership 
has included a year's subscriptwn to 
Theatre Arts Monthly. It's eitpected 
ihia sxraawsment will continue, even 
though the mag recently changed 



award will bring Miss Hunter an 
e5tiinate.1 ' $285, per week (retroac- 
tively), plus a percentage from the 
road company now being ireadied. 
If, as reported, tba shoW is done in 
XiOndon, she will also get her stipu- 
lated share from that 

Miss Huntef^s .attorneys in the 
case were William Fitelson and his 
associate, Floria Lasld. The attor- 
neys for Proser & Kipness are Jaile 
ic Jaflfe, but this ciise was handled 
by Milton Weir, lawyer for Lee 
Shubert, who has a $21,000 invest- 
ment in the musical. 



Options Newman's 'Dollar' 



other available ANTA member- , 
iihips include corporate (elected by 
the board of directora, and limited 
to -500), at $25 anaual dues, with 
the right to vote in etectiens of di- 
rectors; group, at '$2S dues, includ- 
ing subscription to TA mag; life, at 
payment of $S00, Jtnd organization^ 
at $100 dues. 

Hart Puts 'Em to Work 

Moss Hart, president of the Dram- 
atists Guild, has appointed several 
committees to handle special phases 
' of the ofganizatioa's activities, Rich- 
ard Rodgers is chairman of the 
young writers committee, Kurt 
Weill Of the office management 
committee, Marc Connelly the racial 
discrimination -committee and How- 
ard Lindsay the foreign rights com- 
mittee. 



Paul S. Newman's play "Dollar 
Diplomacy" has been optioned to 
Vioila Rubber. Deal was agented by 

Paul Small. 

The author is a son of Joseph _ , . „ ., 

Newman, head of - the Broadway \ Mills Ten l^ck is the Guilds ex- 
Theatre ticket agettcy, N. Y. ecutive-sccrctary, 



so 



ubgiumaiv 



Wedneailay^ March. 3, 1948 



B'way s Top Week of Late UTinter; 
Roberts' SRO $33m Gertie 22G, 
Gate N.(l$7miony' Looks OK 



The anticipfited late-winter peafc 
oa Broadway was reached last week, 
startiBg with Washington's Birthday. 
About 70% of the shows gave mati- 
nees, with nearly all, getting virtual 
capacity and many having standees. 
In addition, the holiday night busi- 
ness was surprisingly strong both at 
the tooxofflces and the agencies, 
Whereas there is usually a lull on 
such evenings. Number of incomers 
during March is limited, but the 
present productions are generally 
regarded as oi high order. 

"Mister Roberts," In its first full 
wecTt, Ijfi'oame the top straight play 
grosser, with taltings over $33i300. a 
level Which will be upped with the 
addition of two rows of seats. 
"Tonight at 8^30" got approximate 
$22,0Q0 in its first full week, despite 
a distinctly critical press. "Where 
Stars Walk," third Irish play, was 
received better than -the first two 
itnd is held over but closes Sat, 
(6). "Hedda Gabler" rated no bet- 
ter than >"'Ghost!5,''' first Isben drama 
and folds too, ;,"Me and Molly" was 
. adcorded iriendly . notices and may 
land. ■ .. . 

Estiiuates fpr Last .Week 

Keys: ■ C (.Comedy) , D (.Drama) , 
CD (.Comedy-Dramcf) , R (.Revue), 
M (Musical)^ O (.Operetta). 

''Alleero." , Majestic (20tli week) 
(M-1,695; $6). Top grosser on Broad- 
way has not been materially under 
marks of first three months; again 
got gi-eat $46,000. 

' ''Atieel in the Wings," Coronet 
(12th , week) (R.998; $4.80), Holds 
to amazing' figures for intimate 
musical; last week's count was again 
around $28,000. , 

"Anni^ Get 'Tour Gun," Imperial 
(94fh>eek) (M-1,4'72- $6.60). Looks 
as if the run smash will coast past 
the two-year mark with the gross' 
going up to capacity; $4S,000. 

"Horn. TesierditT.'f Byceum (108th 
Mireek) ■ (C-993; $4.80). Continued 
popularity of Max Gordon's longest- 
run production was Again indicated 
last week, when- the §ross. went to 
around $18,000; ' 

."Brleadpoii," Ziegfeld 051st week) 
(Mri;628; $4'.80). Skipped the holi- 
day matinee and. was the only musi- 
. cal td play Thursday" afternoon (26); 
gross jumped to $38,000. 

"Command Decision,*? JFulton (22d 
week) (D-968; $4.80), Did not play 
the holiday 'at a^l,; hut rboth Sunday 
(22) performances drew excellent 
business and the -gross- improved to 
-nearly $19,000. 
: ''fe'lniknts , ; Rainbow,'.' mti .Street 
(eotli ii^eek) (Mrl,319; $9).' Well lip 
Ih'the.higli grossing parade and rose 
witlj t-.fhe ' field last week; apprbxi- 
mateia $40,000. ;.. > ; 

. .^'Fo'r' love' ox Moh«n'« Miller (17th 
w,eek'); (C?i;94<);',$'iv30). ■ -JPerfced almost 
.a,'&%much'..as some musicals, with the 
-iSross' gpinsi .to fkrounS. $15^d0; cinch 
Slntb spfing," ■ . . : = 

• ' "' ."Happy Birthday/; Plymouth (70th 
.week)' ('0-1,063;-, $4.80). Also' im- 
proved" and' -got^'Satisls^ctory gross 

. around $17,500. - 
••■ "Harvey," 48th St.. (175th week) 
(C-902; $4.20). With James Stewart 
taking over., as' star March 29, the 

- straight play run leader will set 

- through the spring to good grosses 
VI* last wfeek; '$16,000. . 
• "High Button .Sboes,".,Shubert ,(22d 

, ,week) (M-1,387;W. Road' company 
for , Chicago btflng readied . the 
' ■ ' original continueis to play to standee's; 

• $38.000.* ,. • • I , . • 

-"Icetlme t>f 1948," • Center (4i>th 
week) (B-2,894; $2.40). Dated to 
continue until- April 3; skating revue 
is hajling another highly profitable 
season; with II. performances last 
week takings.- leaped; to corking 

$45,000. ' ■;■ ■ 

"Look Ma, I'm Sanoin'," Adelphl 
(5th -week) (M-X,434; $4,80), One of 
halfi-dozen high- grossing musicals, 
altbQUgh not 'u^itnin Times Square 
, proper; went .over $40,000; best 
gross to date. '; - , 
. '*M^e Mine Manhattan,"' Broad- 
hurst (7th week) (B-l,ie0; $6), An- 
other- in' the same' feategory; revue 
click generally bas, stiAldeeii'- and 
' With an 6xlra matinee Went td new 
high; $39,500. 

"Me and Molly," Belasco' (1st 
week) (C-1,077: $4.20). Opened last 
Thursday (26) and drew cordial 
press air around; goodly chance for 
the dialect comedy which got $8,500 
in first four times. 

"Misler Roberts," Alvifl (2d week) 
(CD-1,331; $4.80). Broadway's new- 
est sensation drew that kind of gros.'s 
■{or straight play; $33,500; limit ot 
"' istandees all times. 

"Oklahoma!", St. James (264tK 
week) JM-1, 505; $4.80). Still flour- 
ishing against a field of strong musi- 
cals; the take improved to $22,500. 

"Skipper Next to God," Playhouse 
(7th week) (D-865; $4.20). Started 
last week strongly like others and 
ihe pace improved to $16,000. 

"Strnnre CiBedfellows," Morosco 
(7th week) (C-935; $4.80). While not 
selling out, the laugh show is doing 
quite goodly business; again around 
#16,000. 

"Streetcar NankMl Detire," Barry- 
mottf (13th week) (D'1,(N4; $4.»»J 

■ >, »• « pi «i <i ■> ■ . ^-il m 



Agency demand for dramatic stand'* 
out is stronger now than it was in 
the early weeks; over $27,500, with 

"The Heiress," Biltmore (22d 
week) (M-1,505; $4.80). Real money- 
maker and among leading candidates 
lor Slimmer holdover; rated ovfir. 
$22,000. • 

"The Hallams," Booth (D-712; 
$4.80). Presented by William Brown 
Meloney; written by Rose Franken; 
lilsed ih Boston; opens tomorrow 
(4). / 

'■The Linden Tree," Music Box 
(C-i;012; $4.80). Presented by Mau- 
rice Evans; written by J. B. Priest- 
ley; scoring a run in London; opened 
last night (Tues. 2). ; 

"The Winslow Boy," Empire (18th 
week) (D-1,101; $4.80), Slated to 
continue until the end of May then 
tour; making money; up last week; 
around $16,500. 

BeviTais 

"Antony and Cleopatra," Beck 
(14th week) (D-1,214; $4.80). One 
more week to run; goes on tour at 
the end of the month; another strong 
gross last week; $22,000. 
, n'Oylv Carte Opera Co,, Century 
(9th week) (0-1,670'; $4.80). At least 
another month for British Gilbert 
and Sullivan specialists; "The Gon- 
doliers" is reneating this week; "Pin- 
afCire" and "Cox and Box" last week 
got around $34,500. 

Dublin Gate Theatre Co., Mans- 
field (997: $4.80). Final and- fourth 
week; "Where Stars Walk" was 
accorded a fairly good press and 
holds .over, this week, but closes 
Sat. (6): $7,500; 

"Hedda GaWer," Cort (D-1,064; 
$3.60). Was received no better than 
its companion. ''Ghosts" and will fold 
this (third) wjeek; "The Respectful 
Prostitute" arid a curtain raiser 
moves untown here March 16, 

"Man and Superman,'' Hudson 
(21st week) (CD-1,057; $4.80). Sha- 
vian oldie is still getting great busi- 
ness, especially last half; $23,500 
quoted. . ■ ' • 

"MeAtia.'' Royale (0-1^025; $4.8Q). 
Laying oil lor second straight, week; 
played 17% weeks; .due to resume 
Mondav. (8). , . " ' , ' . 

"TonlKht at "8:30," National (2d 
week) ' (1,064;' $4.80). Despite weak 
press, the first full week . fllgured, 
aroundf'$22.000; three theatre parties 
wereva factor; business: under ex- 
pectations. ' » . ^ 
Added " • 
"The . Respectful rrostitute," and 
"Church Street,"',New Stages,' Selling 
dut'in dqivntowh 300-seater; $5,00Q; 
ihoves Match -16 .'to the Cort. with 
.','The. Happy , Journey" replacing 
'-Street'"* '"* ' 

. Manrice. Cltevalter.'< 'Golden.- Solo 
SliowinB lor- tour weeks started Sun- 
day (29)!: I^ipse '^hsis been showing 
pictures "this- season. .. 



'SOLDIER' OKAY $22,000, 
W CURRENT, BALTO 

Baltimore, March 2, 
"Chocolate Soldier" built well at 
Ford's la.st week, drawing good re- 
sponse from local crix and capacity 
at weekend. Nothing is current*, but 
Peggy Ann Garner arinves Monday 
(8) in "Pick-Up Girl." , 

Estimate for Last Week 
"Chocolate Soldier," Ford's (single 
week) (1,500; $3.66). Well received 
at good total take of $22,000. 

'Joy'MiUm 
'Carousel' 

W 71/2^ 

Philadelphia, March 2. 

Last, week's two legit newcomers 
didn't cause much of a ripple, "Joy 
to the 'World" got mixed notices and 
fair business in the first of two ses- 
sions at the Forrest. "Pick-Up Girl" 
got pretty good opening day biz, but 
was slow-paced thereafter. 

The Theatre Guild revival of 
Shaw's "You Never Can Tell" opened 
last night (Mon.) at the Walnut, and 
"Blossom Time'^ bowed at the same 
time at the Shubert for its umpty- 
umpth PhiUy visit. Next Monday's 
(8) pair include the n^w musical, 
"My Roipance." at the Forrest for 
three weeks, and "The Glass Menag- 
erie,'' a return, at the Locust for two 
weeks, this time with Helen MacKel- 
l^r featured. - 

Attempt is being made to stagger 
three openings now dated on March 
29. Hope is to bring "Harve.v," with 
Frank Fay, to the Locust the pre- 
ceding Saturday (27) for an indefi- 
nite rum Other two openings skedded 
for then are "Antony and Cleopatra" 
and "Inside U.S.A." Katharine Cor- 
nell's revival is in for two weeks at 
the' Forrest and would presumably 
keep the Monday, opening date, but 
the revue is booked for^ three weeks 
at the Shubert and might be pushed 
back to Tuesday (30). , 
. tlstimates tor Last Week 

"Joy to the -World," Forrest (1st 
week) .(1,786; $3.90). Comedy try- 
out got mixed notices and not a great 
deal of word-of-mouth; $10,500. 

"Pick-Up Girl," Locust (1st week) 
(1,580, $3.25). Opened with holiday 
I matinee -Monday ' (23), -but skipped 
midweelr afternoon' show; under $7,- 
^00 after promising start. 

"Carousel," ; Shubert (5th week) 
(1,877; $5.20). Approached $28,000 in 
its final week-, with, no musical com- 
petition. . . 



'BLOSSOM' SWEET 166, 
CMPTEENTH PITT DATE 

: . , - • Pittsburgh, March 2.- , 
, "-Blossom Time" obviously still h?i? 
It; Tt^e 'Oper'ettk.came back to Nixon 
last week for ' the umpteenth 'tinte, 
on the heels of "Student ' Prince,*' 
and, like its predecessor, played ^io 
okay attendance. : ' |V 

Nixdn is currently dark, tgxA -will 
be.;next weekv tod, first, time; al} sesi>- 
son' house will have been shutter^cl 
foi-.so long 'a; period. Relights- March 
is; ; when Mary Martin's "Annie Get 
Your Gun', opens for' two' weeks. 
Estimate .for Last Week 
'^Blossom* Time," Nixon (single 
week) (2,100; $3.25). There's still 
plenty, of gold for this perennial; 
$16,000 last week, with no oo'ni- 
plaints anywhere, . 

'Windermere^ Big $22,000^ 
Despite Circus, M'l'wkee 

■ Milwauljee, March 2. , 
■ "Lady Windermere's Fan" had 
near capacity business at the David- 
son, Four blocks away the 'Hamid- 
Motton winter circus, playing at the 
Auditorium, turned away 1,000 and 
more at every performance, after- 
noon and evening. 

Estimate for Last Week 
"Lidy Wivdermere's Fail," David- 
son (single week) (1,500; $3.60). 
Third lilay in Theatre Guild-Ameri- 
can' Theatre Society subscription 
series .was well patronized and 
praised; $22,000, 

'Inspector' 12G, Cincy 

'Cincinnati. March 2. 
Legit is recessing here this week 
and resumes next week with Tallulah 
Bankhead in "Private Lives," to be 
followed by "Song of Norway." Last 
week "An Inspector Calls," with 
Thomas Mitchell, racked gp a win- 
ning gross, 

E^timiiie for Last Week 
"An Inspector Calls," Cox (single 
week) (1,300; $3.60). Theatre Guild 
subscripfion support helped for'a 
moderate $12,000 on eight perform- 
ance?. 



'mm m $is;ooo, 

'SOLDIER' CURRENT, D.C. 

'' ' , . Washington, March 2. 
"The Linden Tree," J. B. Priestly's 
philosophical drama with Boris 
K&rlofI stirred up f ail'- interest at 
the' National last week. Critical re- 
ception was fairi though Maurice 
■Evans'T production and cast's were 
'generally favored. 

Estimate (or Last Week 

"The Llndeiii Tree/' National 
■(single w'eek) (1^680; $3.60). Wordy, 
philosophical drama managed .a 
moderate : $15,000. "Chocolate Sol- 
idier," with Billy Gilbert," began .a 
fortnight run last night (Mon.) and 
the Spik0 Jones Music Deprecia-: 
tion .Revue" opens March 15 for a 12- 
day run,/ • . 

'Menagerie' SRO 6G, L.A.; 
Preem Bill Titden Play 

Los Angeles, March 2. 

Town's, three attractions roared 
along in high gear last week. Success 
of 'The Glass Menagerie" brought 
it a speedy extension at Las Palmas 
and it will remain through March 21. 

Only newcomer this- week is "New 
Shoes," William T. Tilden play which 
world preems tonight (TueS;) at El 
Patio. , 

Estimates for Last Week 
"Blackouts of 1948," El Capitan 

(297tb week) (1,142; $2.40). Usual 

capacity $17,000. 
''Deep Are The Roots," Belasco 

(6th week) (1,061; $3). Anothet' 

strong $16,000 frame. 

. "The Glass Menacerie," Las Palmas 

(2d week) (388: $3). First lull week 

drew capacity $0,000. 



'Sweethearts' $16,000 First Wk. Chi; 
'John-Mary' $ W Lunts 



Mesiiue' Big $21,500, 
'laspector' Current, St L 

St. Louis, March 2. 

"Burlesque," with Bert Lahr and 
Fay McKenzie in: the top roles, 
proved a spring tonic last - week. 
Raves from the crix and moderating 
temperature, comboed for a nice 
gross. "An Inspector Calls" moved: 
into town last night (Mon.): for a 
one- week engagement. The house is 
scaled to $3.81. 

Estimate for Last Week 

"Burlesque," American . (single 
week) (1,700; $3.81). Eight perform- 
ances grossed an estimated $21,1300 
for ne^it biz, despite stiff opposish 
from several quarters. 

TuHuWannim 
lary'OK10G,DeL 

- " - ■ ' A. 

Detroit, March 2. 
Competition was tough here last 
week. Sonja Henie drew 13,000 cus- 
tomers niglitly at her ice revue and 
the other trade was shared by the 
Detroit Civic Light Opera show, 
"Music in the Air," with featured 
Irra Petina and Wilbur Evans; 
Frankie Laine at Barbaro's Ham- 
tfamck spot; Tallulah Bankhead in- 
"Private. Lives;'' and "Mary Had a 
Little." , i 

Estimates for Last Week 
"Music in the Air," Masonic Audi- 
torium (single week) (5,000; $3). 
Still a good draw, but slipped a 
trifle more to $37,000; "Gay Divorce," 
witli Grace McDonald, is current. 

"Mary Had a Little," , Shubert- 
Lafayette (1st week) (1,950; $3.60). 
Comedy with Edmund Ijowe only 
fair $11,000. Current week is the 
finale. ' 

"Private Lives," CaSs (2d week) 
(1,432; $3.60), Tallulah Bankhead's 
popularity netted $17,000; moves out 
this week. 



'BOAT' WHAMMO $62,400 
IN K.C.-DES MOINES SPLIT 

Kansas City, March -2. 
"Showboat" steamed into tlie 
Music Hall last week and sold out at 
all four performances,' 'despite the 
$4.27 toPi Next legit- is "Lady 
Windermere's'' Fan" due- in March 
10-13, with Cornelia Otis' Skinner 
starred. 

.' ^Estimate tor Last Week 
"Showboat," Music Hall (four per- 
formances) (2,572; $4.27). Had what 
it takes and the stillest prices of the 
season failed to dent trade; capacity 
$30,000. 



'Mama' $17,000, Indpls. 

Indianapolis, March 2, 
"I Remember Mama" played six 
days to good business at the English 
here this week, getting a break in 
the springflike weather and build- 
ing nicely on stoength of reviews 
and word-of-mouth. Bert Lahr took 
over in "Burlesque" for three days 
starting last night (Mon.) to a satis- 
factory advance^ 

Estimate for Last Week . 
"I Remember Mama," English 
(single week) (1,500; $3.00). Char- 
lotte Greenwood and the play got 
kudos from the critics; nice $17,Q00, 



SRO $32,000, Ses Moines 

Des Moines, March 2. 

'.^SHawboat" was a sellout $32,400 
for three nights and one matinee at 
the 4,200-seat KRNT Radio theatre 
last week. It was the best showing 
of any production here this season. 

"Song of Norway" arrives at the 
house for. a three-dfiy (four per- 
formances) engagement, starling 
Thursday (4). 



Ballet Theatre's 46G 
In 10 Shows at L. A. 

Los Angeles, March 2. 

Ballet Theatre grossed an esti- 
mated $46,000 in its 10-performanee 
stand at the 2,679-seat Philharmonic 
auditorium here, ending last Wednes- 
day (25). The engagement included 
nine evening n^rformances and one 
matinee, at a $3.60 top; The total 
take was $4,000 better than last sea- 
son's 10-perIormancG gross. 
- Troupe is now playing one-nighters 
in nearby towns, works east for a, 
stand March 12-14 -at Kiel audi- 
torium, St. Louis, then plays the Eng- 
lish, Indianapolis, March 15; the Par- 
amount, Toledo, March 16, and winds 
up the tour with two performances 
March 20 at the- Mosque, Newark^ 

After a two-week layoff, it opens 
an engagement April 4 at the Metro- 
politan Opera House, N. Y, 

'Prince' $20,300, Toronto 

Toronto, March 2. 

With tumaway business, "Student 
Prince" had its biggest engagement 
in Royal Alexandra history since 
this perennial started its annual 
visits here a score of years ago. With 
rave reviews, the week's stand 
topped its previous local record by 
over $2,000. 

-Estimate for tast Week 

"Student Prince," Royal Alexan- 
dra (single week) (1,525; $2.50). 
Capacity" $20,300. 



• Chicago, March 2, . 

Lenten sag hasn't been felt here sn 
far. Grosses are getting the uplift 
latecomers at the about-to, 
clbse "Annie Get Your Gun," "o 
Mistress Mine" and "Red Mill" 
Katherine Dunham and her dance 
troupe also close this week. Revue 
lias been doing fair biz, but not in 
the brackets of the others. 

"Show Boat" opened last night 
(Mon.) at the Shubert with a hel'tv 
advance. "Burlesque" is set or 
March 8 at the Selwyn and "Sleep It 
Off" arrives March 7 at the Black- 
stone. '"^ 

Estimates for Last Week 

"Annie Get Tour Gun," Shubert 
(17th week) (2,100; $6.18). Record 
run closed Saturday (28) with usual 
sellout; top $51,000. 

Katherine Dunham, Studebaker 
(4th week) (1,246; $3.71). On the 
light side with $13,000. 

"John Loves Mary," Harris (3d 
week) (1,000; $3.71). Up again to 
fancy $21,500. 

"O Mistress Mine," Sclwyn (16th 
week) (1,000; $4.33)., Lunts close 
here Saturday (6); latecomers hyped 
gross to $20,000. 

"Red Mill," Blackstone (5th wk)' 
(1,358; $4.40). Revival was doing well 
enough but eased, -^19,000; cloSIs 
Saturday (6). 

"Show Boat," Shubert (2,100; 
$4.94). Onened last night (Mon.) to 
$150,000 advance. 

"Sweethearts," Erlanger (1st wk) 
(1,333; $4.3,3). First eight perform- 
ances $16,000; light at matinees. 

Teff mm Hub; 
'Romance' $27,500, 
~ 'Hallams' pOOO 

■ Boston, March 2. 

There were no openers last week, 
and there's only one this week, 
"Carousel" at • the Opera House for 
two weeks and a virtual sellout - in 
advance/ Flickering legit season will 
get a little hypo with the addition of 
"Red Mill" on the Shubert's bill, 
"Joy to the '.World," on the Plym- 
outh's, . and the possibility of the 
Gate .theatre coming to town. I'lce 
Follies" ■ cleaned up here last ■ week, 
running more than $250,000 take at 
the Boston Garden.'. 

Estimates for Last Week 
" "My Romance," Shubert (2d 
week) (1,700; $4.20). Gained plenty 
on its second and -final week to reach 
excellent $27,500. - . 

"The Haliims," Wilbur (2d week) 
(1,300; $3,60). Second .week gained, 
to touch estimated $10,000; opens on 
Broadway this week. 

"lou Never Can Tell," Colonial 
(2d week) (1,500; $4.20). Sock on 
tl)e Guild-American Theatre Society 
9u$pice's, gaining on- second week to 
w<i<ir $23,000; house is now dark. 



'BRIDE' HAPPY $7,000 
IN 4 TIMES, N. HAVEN 

New Haven, March. 2. 

"There Goes the Bride" broke in 
a road tour at Shubert last Thurs- 
day-Saturday (26-28). Negligible ad- 
vance got a- window sale hypo, with 
total gross ending on the good side 
of the ledger. House hits pix 'for a 
couple of stanzas, then go,es musical 
with a lull week of "Carousel" .for 
March 15-20. It's the show's first re- 
peat here since it originally preemed 
at this . pre-Broadway springboard a 
few seasons ago. 

Only other definite booking is try- 
out of "Held: It," which lifts its 
initial curtain here March 25-27. 
"Pick-Up Girl," originally skedded 
for Apru 1-3, has been cancelled. 
Estimate. for Last Week 

"There Goes the Bride," Shubert 
(4 performances) (1,700; $3.60). Peak 
price was regarded as high, but ap- 
proximate $7,000. 



'Sleep It Off Had To; 
$3,000 in 5 Shows, Mpls. 

- Minneapolis, March 2. 

With such boxoffice help as the 
Jackie Cooper, Ann Corio and 'Vince 
Barnett names, "Sleep It Oft" ran in- 
to a near blizzard, icy pavements, 
subVzero temperatures, and public 
apathy induced by the reaction to 
the immediately preceding show, 
"Mary Had a Little." In consequence, 
despite favorable customer word-of-» 
mouth, business was miserable. 
Estimate tor Last Week 

"Sleep It Off," Lyceum (5 perform- 
ances) (1,900; $3.60). Couldn't over- 
come the multiple handicaps, plus n 
mixed press; all-time low of $275 on 
the second night and finished to a 
pathetic $3,000 for four nights and 
matinee. 



TOWERS ABOVE LONOON'S ENTERTAINMENT WORLD 

IN THE MOST SENSATIONAL TRIUMPH 

LONDON HAS SEEN IN TWENTY-FIVE YEARS! 




ACCUIMED BY PRESS AMD PUBLIC ALIKE 



Says "MAE WEST IS TRHIMPHANT- 

SHE CAME TO LONDON LAST NIGHT-ANB CONQUERED IT!" 



CO- 




tuire, ai^d made laj^ous 

1 v/i* Pf"*Kiiskv dove." . 
1 ^«'«(MincK^^' Guardian.) 



'■OATD^ 



Jihe ■g^^'^.f Sff the pleasure 
! 'I)e cabaret is r ' "* " 



act in 



^ ffte''? five *, '»'as re 




j^^^^Zrier^ conceptloR 
i Arthur ^f'ur^ ,^ ^ 



I ous, BOJJS . >n tV>»s IS <». nrd » 



BLACKPOOTw 

« Mae West's incandescent 
personabty lights up the stage 
u^**j;A° Sencrousmeas- 
^''"<«' Glyn defines 

(Evening Gazette). 



[tier' show 



Her art|^;^i« iu;-; ^ 



came *° ^Bitkenhcaa 



btouf V *^^^c sVb- 



IN 



LONDON 

fPkfd "her.'M She did was n.ake 
me enjoy wsell.^p^.jy ^^^^^y 



iWAE WESI'S TRIUMPH 

[ *e «S> ?'"^ho is all that onrexpects 
Mae West, who IS au i"- ^^4^^ 
and somethmg more ine n 

I the blonde hair, the wmoub^ b ^^^^ 
the shimmy are all tneit, w 

j wfeecracks added. ^> 



VAl PARNELl in conjunction with TOM ARNOLD presents MAE WEST in 
"DIAMOND III " at the PRINCE OF WAIE5 THEATRE, LONDON, ENGIAND 

-. ... K. WILUAM MOMIS A6BiCY. AMBUCA. .iri HA»W FOS««. EM61AMD 



S2 



IJBGITIMATB 



WedneHday, MareK ft, 194B 



Plays^on Broadway 



Mle and Molly 

OUvar Smith, I'niil FAIgay anfl Herliorl 
KenwIUi production (In imaoplatioir with 
JDuvid CunnniUKS) of coiTiedy in thr^Q wrls* 

viertruUe Berff ariA PhiUji tjoeb. Btiigtid l>y 
Ms^iN'Ai Stone; aettlHg:, llurty Hovner. Opened 
it Jielasco, N. f., JTeb. 20, .4t(: S-t.iiO t«i. 



Joi-. ^. , . « . • 

Mrs. 

Hymle 

Beujy 

MlUy 

Molly Uoldliei'tr. , . . 
t'nclo David....... 

baiximy (Joldbefjf . , 
'Rama £lj>IdherK .... 

Mrs. SI?KOl. 

JaM Goldberg 

I'nualn Binv»n...,. 
Mr. M'Pndet. . . . . t . 

Vora Worthelmer.. 
Piatio Man. ........ 

Mrs. tJrof^H. ...... . 

Mllte 

Mrs. »-C... 
Jessie . 



Mrs, Ullenbogen... 



,Jtenry LaHcoe 
vMit'hael 15nHerri> 
. . . . .Paula Miller 
....Arlhur C'as.sc'l 
,;C'tiarlPH l-'uruian 

TIfrt>i? Ilabn 

...Ocrtfiide Bci'b 
........mi Jllmx 

,i....lAstPr i'arr 

...... .iToan T.iiJ^or 

...HerlhM 'WakU'n 

..I'hlHl) Lneb 

l.ouiH Slirin 

,;bavia Oiu'iloshu 
.(MxirRaret .Veury 
...George Sitelvln 

Sarah Krohner 

David Bm'ke 

. .Bes-sle. S»mos» Blumsiein 
PUyUia Jjlverni.'in 



.»airy Udioii' 



'•The Eise of the Goldb,erg.s," a 
former radio serial that spanned, 
many years^ has been transported in 
part to the stage. ' It's' a likeable 
Jewish dialect comedy that's very 
well presented. It should have a 
moderate boxoffice appeal. 

Scene is a flat in the Bronx, 1919, 
where Jake Goldberg, a garment 
worker, has just moved with his wife 
Molly and their two youngsters. It's 
characters are genuine, a friendly 
set as. portrayed by expert dialec- 
ticians ^topped by Gertrude Berg 
(Molly), who wrote the play and 
serial, and Pliilip Loeb (Jake), who' 
■was in her radio seriaL 

.The naturalhess of Miss Berg, as 
Ihe ample Molly, is one of the most 
unusual performances of the season. 
Perhaps it demonstrates that radio is 
just as. adept in training talent/for 
th^ stage as any other medium. She 
is Molly Goldberg in all fat:ets, a 
character listened to and enjoyed by 
radio listeners for so long a period. 
^ She worked on the stage scriot for 
several years under the urging of 
•John Golden, who 'finally- released 
the stage rights. 

Loeb's Jake is a faultless charac- 
terization. He I o V e s his Molly, 
Sammy and Rosie (the kids) and 
Uncle 'David, who lives with them, 
but is ambitious to have his own 
dress factory. But he, has a series of 
disa'ppointments which start when 
his proposed partners walk out. The 
special setback comes when Mendel 
decides tO;study pharmacy, and it's 
pattly Molly's-faUlt, because she has 
been match-waking. Mendel becomes 
engaged to Vera Wertheimer, a blond 
piano teacher, and she has promised 
to wait until he graduates. Fact that 
cousin Simon, the richest of the 
Goldbergs, is given the air by Molly 
when he wants to buy in on Jake's 
in-between dress sizes is a comic 
highlight. Part of Simon is played 
by Louis Sorinf who is oH in the first 

and third.acts'. 

Uncle Da'vid is pla.vecl by Eli 
MinXz, who, like Miss Berg, makes 
■his first Broadway appearance after 
many y e a rs in Yiddish-language 
shows here and in Europe. He is one 
of the friendliest of. characters and 
evokes some of the best laughs. 
David Opatoshu pla.ys Mendel, and 
ne, too, emanates from the Yiddish 
stage, Joan Lazer (.Rosalce). Lester 
Carr (Sammy) and- Marearet Feury 
(Vera) arg other pleasant Characters. 
Counting in the atmosphere of Miss 
Bergs cameo of eastside people are 
other housewives --an "in-between 
sizes'— and their children. 

In the end Jake hasn't his factory 
assured but he exits oh Moll v's arm 
to go to the synagogue to see their 
Sammy barmitzvahed. (conllrmed). 
confident that the Goldbergs will 
continue their saga with reasonable'^ 
, hanptness. 

_Ezra Stone (radio's Henry Aid 
rich), has gotten all there i.s out ot 
the characters in his staging of the 
play. Ibee. 



ing them is unchafiged. But there's 
a subtle, if vital, difference. 

Possibly the change isn't jn Che- 
valier himself. H the great French 
entertainer is any difl'erent, its in 
being a shade more confident, more 
poised and more deft a singer and 
comedian. But perhaps the audience 
isn't quite the same. Perhaps it's that 
this appearance doesn't follow such a 
long absence. Possibly it's the knowl- 
edge that there's nd logger any "ques- 
tion of whether Chevalier \could 
make the comeback and be again the 
brilliant, ingiatiating perfoimer of 
old. Whatever it is, it has lessened 
the drama and the sentimental qual- 
ity of that prcvioti.s engagement. 

All the same, Chevalier is still un- 
deniably ojte of the great personal- 
ities as well as one of the great en- 
tertainers of his generation. He be- 
longs iti the ever-so-exclusive circle 
of great personalities in- the old, tra- 
dition of show busiiie'ss, with such 
immortals as Al .Jolson, George M. 
Cohan, and, perhaps the greatest oi 
them all, Harry Lauder. And even 
under not-quite-perfect circunj- 
stances. he has the talent and the 
magnetism to capture and hold an 
audience's imagination. 

For his present engagement, Che- 
valier is doing the s'arae things that 
have become his trademark. He has 
the same irresistible smile, the pro- 
truding lower Up, the jaunt.y walk 
and the eye twinkle that can be 
sensed, if not actually seen, from the 
last ■ row. For his opening appear^ 
ance he wears his familiar straw 
.skimmer and thereafter sports top 
hat; cloth cap, bolero hat, comic ielt 
lid or disreputable tramp hat. 

An innovation this time is a mon- 
olog about his introduction some- 
years ago to George Bernard Shaw, 
and his fast crusher to the Irish wit's 
ribbing. Other new numbers since 
the last appearance are "J'ai-Du Ciel 
Dans. Mon Chapeau" (in which he 
shares with the audience the. bit of 
faeavei^ he's found in his hat), "It's 
Good to E*all in Love"'- (a straight 
ballad, in English), the uproarious 
"Fox a Poll Dur" (about an aging 
romantic fox terrier), and "La Sym- 
phonie des Smelles de Bois." 

IJfumbers repeated from last time 
include "Mimi," "A Barcelone," 
"Quai De Bercy," "Weeping Willie" 
"Priere" and "Place Pigalle." Open- 
ing night he encored with "Louise," 
"Just a Bum" and; as the final bow- 
out, the inevitable "'Valentina." As 
before, Irving Actman plays the 
piano accompaniments skillfully. 
The staging consists 'merely ot grey 
and blue drapes, plus unevenly han- 
dled lights. - 

The premiere probably suffered by 
being on a Sunday night when, for 
some reason, a less orderly audience 
generally seems to turn out. In this 
instance the gathering was noisy, el- 
bowy and appai-ently contemptuous 
'of "fire regulations; Several cotiver- 
sationalists in the i-ear of the hou.se 
didn't make things easier for occu 
pants of the last" row, either. 

Hobe. 



though this part is irrelevant to the 
story, it has the play's best lines. 
Other excellent performances are 
turned in by Meriel MoOre and Nora 
O'Mahony. Herin. ' 

Hjptlda Oablor 

T.oulH ,1, Hlinser (mtl -Aiiiorican Uppertory 
Thi'afve reylval ot ilriiina in lhri'9 . »i,'ts 
(Cour scenes) h.v lleB'-lU lliscn, Iraiiahtted 
and illreiAei)., by Kva l.s OiiHleiine; produi- 
llnn BhHCrvlnPd liy MarKiirel Wi>liaier. Slara 
Kva I.e t(:i.IUt'|ine. At I'lirt, -N'. ^-i ii,.. 
M.S; p.du top. . 
.Iwlinna : Tesn>an 

Berta. . ^ 

U.oorft'e Tf'.snniM. 
Medda 'JV.snutn. 
iMI-s; Klvsioji. . . 
Judge yjract: .... 
ISllert Lovbors. 



. . Marlon (i. I'ivenaen 
.Mi'rlB Muddern 

.p.obert Phnhardt 

KVH 1.1' (liflllwine 

iCiiiiU- McN'air 

. . Hrrlipi t B.erishiVC 

.l',rrt'ni 2ilmbalist, Jr. 



Ufanriee CItPvalior 

Arlhur rje.sser preaenlsi Maurice Cheraller 
Irj '.sonija and imnressioila," lyKh nliini 
lu-eoinnaniment by •irvtnB' Acliiaan. At 
t.olden, x. Y.. Teb. 29, '48; fl.SO top (f(! 
opening nlghl). 



After a season's tour, Mauyice Che- 
vaher is making a scheduled four 
week "farewell appearance" on 
Broadway before returning to France 
and an engagement in Paris. He's 
the same inimitable personality and 
talent that Broadway welcomed back 
last season after an absence through 
the war years. Many of his numbers 
«re the same ajad his way of preiient- 



SAMUEL FRENCH 

SINCE mo 
Play, Brokers and 
Authors' Representafives 

IKS Suniwt Qird.. Honnreod it, Cai. 



This second of the two Ibsen re- 
vivals presented by. Louis' J. Singer 
and the American Repertory Thea- 
trei seems more anemic than the 
first. There may be various reasons 
for that impression. Bi|lti whatever 
the explanation, the E«ra Le Gal- 
lienne-starring engagement is a fail- 
ure; both critically and commercially. 

Possibly because she's played the 
part several times in the past, and 
it therefore offers loss interest and 
less Of a; challenge to her, Miss Le 
Cjallienne's Hedda seems less spon- 
taneous and litelike than her per- 
formance ot Mrs. Alving in the pre- 
vious week's "Ghosts.'' The actress 
uses the sam^ limited assortment of 
set physical, facial and vocal man- 
nerisms. But in this role they seem 
more of a pattern and as a conse- 
quence have less ^illusion. Also, the 
fact that the character, of Hedda is 
unattractive is a handicap; 

Herbert Berghof lacks the subtlety 
and poise suitable for the part of 
Judge Brack, Robert Emhardt makes 
the husband a fatuous character 
without giving him sympathy. Efrem 
Zimbalist, Jr., doesn't suggest the 
inner turbulence indicated for the 
role of Lovborg, And Emily Mc- 
Nair isn't especially poignant as 
Mrs. Elvsted. Marion G. Evensen is 
acceptable in the small part of the 
aunt and Merle Maddern underlines 
the "reactions" of the maid. 
--Miss Le Gallienne's staging is ex^ 
oessively slow. No one is credited 
with the single drawing-room: set. 

Kobe. 



Hays Out of Town 



lloil Pavlllion 

North Hollywood, Feb. 25, 

Horse.sboe 'riu-alrc iinalurtinn Ot di'ania Iti 
t\wu aria (llvK ai-eue.fi by fulherJno U'lii'ney 
fliid Sieiibeji Jjunifalri'tH. Oiroi'ted by Opal 
Unari!, Oi>eiied ill Horaeshoe theatre, North 
Hollywood, Feb. -H. ^J.SO.lop. 



,l?Oisa Murray. . 
MiirKaret I'etClv. 
Anna.'. . 
llavry Murray,., 
l*antola Ffinton. i 
Alee }'»itou. . , ; . 

flay Mnrr**y, 

tswen Petrle,.,., 
iMr, Williams.... 



i .Klale Baker 
;.t:!ertr«ae Ciraiter 
.4;,l.llllaii Burden 
....Vi'il K. Dasi-r 

, ,\.,t'ay .Forfialer 
i ,, Howard Hunter 
.. ,.1'atrlek Whyle 
. . . . . .Ijynit MlUan 

.... Harold .Motter 



Where Stars Walk 

AWrivh & ' Myer», in aHSOClalion ; with 
Hilfln Doherty, pT*sent the Dublin Gate 
Theatre Co. productton of <'omedy in thr(y» 
Hcls by Mk'hefil Mriic Liammoir. Stars Mhc 
Lhimmoir; fi-aiures ;Meriel Mooie, Helena 
HuRhea. Slaged by Hilton Kdwards; set- 
tinR;,Mftl]y MjnoKwen. Opened at Mans- 
field, N. Y., Ft!b. 24, '48; ¥4.80 top. . 

Sohphia Bherldan. .; .,JMene1 Moore 

Robei't Tu'oraey. Deni.s Brennatt 

Rex Dillon. Boy Irving 

Tonnny Millington i.Wdward Golden 

Kliftilsf McCann : . .Patricia Kennedy 

AfvH. Dempsey ..Nora 0'M»hany 

>)ll]een .Helena Huf^hebi 

Atnrtln'. . . . , , . > . , . , .MUbeal Mat* I*iammoir 
Nig;el Bi'Uhlun..... ...... ^..jr-NovmaA Ban'H 



HOTEL rooms:; 

IX. THE HEART OF XIMlilS SQ. 
Boom, bilh and shower. Telpplioit*. From %?, 



HOTEL JIOSOFF 

147 W. 4SM «, 
(«t rway). B*. «.S4M 



Raititirant 
Ml tiM 



The Dublin Gate Theatte' oompapy 
olTers its best show with "Where 
Stars Walk," . third in the series 6i 
four plays being presented during 
the limited engagement at. the 'Mans- 
field. Written by jack-of-all-tradfes 
Michael Mac Liammoir, -who co- 
heads the Irish group with Hilton 
Edwards, it's a comedy fantasy tvith 
considerable charm and occasional 
moments of dramatic power. 

The play, however, is limited by 
the author's failure to treat his 
material consistently. Paradoxically, 
the fantasy portion of the i)lay comes 
off. most authentically, while the atr 
tempts at drawing-room realism are 
stamped with hokum. When Mac 
Liammoir explores his Ifegend 
through ordinary folk speech, the 
play comes alive with a quality of 
poetry and magic that surmounts'the 
thin story sUDstance. Too often, 
however, it trips over inept corn. 

Following a •well-established' Irish 
literary tradition, the story is spun 
out of an ancient Celtic legend of 
two star-crossed lovers who meet 
beyond life. The myth repeats it- 
self in modern dress between two 
servants in a Dublin home, .Arid 
while the two lovers work out their. 
prede.st«ited fates, the lady of the 
house and some of her Irish intel- 
Jectual friends are trying to write a 
play about that same legend. 

Mac Liammoir, as the manservant, 
gives a superb performance as a 
dreamy, yet dynamic personality. 
Helena Hughes regi.i>ters with a 
strong impact, playing the young giri 
with simplicity, feelirtg and depth. 
One of the htgblijfisstg ol tb« piece is 
> ■ Wormart Jterr*' ebstntsitrizM'm ot 
' m'Ottsae vki^ Kegiitbama, Al' 



Current Road Shows 

(Morch 1-13) 
'An Inspector CaIls"-^American, 
St. Louis (1-6); Cass, Det. (8-13). 

"Annie Get If our Gun" — Music 
Hall, Cleve. (1-6); Aud., Rochester, 
N. Y. (8-13). 

Ballet theatre-^Aud., L. A. (1); 
Fox, San Bernardino (2); Lobero, 
S. Barbara (4); Aud.. San Jose (5); 
Aud„ Sacramento (6-7); Aud., Salt 
Lake City (9); Keil Aud., St. Louis 
(12-13). 

. "Blackouts of 1948"— El Capitan, 
Hollywood (1-13).' 

"Blossom Time"— Shubert, Philly 
(1-13). 

"Burlesque" — English, Indpls.- 
(1-3); Hartman, Col. (4-6); Selwyn, 
Chi. (8-13). 

"Carousel"— Opera Hse., Bost. (1- 
13). 

«ChocoI»te.'Soiaier''— Natl., Wash. 
(1-13). 

"Harvey"— Aud., Nashville (1.2); 
Aud.. Memphis (4-6); Tower, At- 
lanta (8-13). 

"I Remember Mama"— Town Hall, 
Toledo (1-3); Palace, So. Bend (4); 
Parkway, Madison (4-6); Davidson, 
Milwaukee '(8-13). 

. "John Loves Mary" — Harris, Chi. 
(1-13). 

"Joy to the World"— Forrest, Phil- 
ly (1-6); Plymouth; Bost. (8-13). 
. "Ijady Windermere's Fan" — Aud., 
St. Paul (1-2); Lyceum, Mpls. (3-6); 
KRNT, Des Moines (9); Music Hall, 
K. C. (10-13). 

"Mary Had a LMtl*" — Shubert- 
Lafayette, €)6t. (1-6): Hartman, Col. 
(8-10); Englisn, Indpls, (11-13). 

• My Bomance!' Shubert, Bost. 
(23-6).. 

"O' Mistress Mine"— Selv/yn, Chi. 
(1-6); American,- St. Louis (8-13). 

"Oklahoma!" — Aud., Denver (1- 
6); Curran, -Frisco (8-13). 

"Pick Up Girl" -r- Locust, Philly 
(l'6);.Ford's, Balto. (8-13). 

"Private liives"— Cass., Det. (1-6); 
Cox, Cincy (8-lS). 

Sail Carlo Opera Co.— Aud., L. A, 
(1-6); Aud., Fi'e.sno (7);' Aud., San 
Jose (8), Opera Hse., Frisco (9-13). 

"Sleep It Off" — Davidson, Mil- 
waukee (1-6); Blackstone, Chi. (8- 
13). 

"Song of Norway" — Conv. Hall, 
Tulsa (3); KRNT, Des Moines (4-6); 
Orpheum; Waterloo (8); Iowa, Cedar 
Rapids (9); Orpheum, Davenport 

(10) ; Parkway. Madison (12-13). 
"Student • Prfnee"—Erlanger, Bufif. 

(1-3); Shea's, Erie (4); Colonial, 
Akron (5); Park, Youngstown (6); 
Music Hall, Dayton (7); English, 
Indpls. (9-10); Coliseum, EvansvJUe 

(11) ; Aud., Nashville (12); Aud., 
Memphis (13), 

"Sweetbearts — Krlanger, Chi. 
(1-13). 

"The First Win. Fraser"— Shubert, 
N. Haven (5-7). 

"The Glass Menagerie" — Locust, 
Philly (8-13). 

"The Bed Mill"— Blackstone, Chi. 
(1-6); Shubert, Bost (8,13). 

"There Goes the Brtde" — Aud., 
Hartford (1); t-yric, Bridgeport (2); 
Court, Springfield (3); McCarler, 
Princeton (4); Playhouse, Wilming- 
ton (5-6); Shubcrt-Lafayette, Det. 
■ (8-'13)* 

.Never Cm *e«"— Walnut, 
Philly u-i?;,, , J. 



This collaborative effort of Stephen 
Longstreet. whose "High Button 
Shoes" is now on Broadway, and, 
Catherine Turney sounds too family 
iar. The Hollywood dialog is pain- 
fully evident while saying nothing. 

Story concerns itself witli a proud 
California family's reaction to 
daughter's sudden marriage while 
east at art scliool and tlie subsequent 
tliscovery that the husband had been 
on trial for the murder of his first 
wife. As an idea, it's not bad, but 
the playwrights get themselves hope- 
lessly involved ''in bringing the plot 
fo life. As a play it needs to ,be re- 
written almost completely although 
it offers some film possibilities. First 
act particularly is weak. ! 

Strongest part of the writing is the 
character delineation, which is wrll 
handled. Current production suffers, 
from the -fact that it's centrall.y 
staged by a group not quite up to the 
demands of this medium, and direcr 
tion is slow. 

Of the cast, Howard Hunter as the 
husband. Cay Forester as the wife, 
'Verl E. IJagel as the father, and Har- 
old Motter in a bit, show up best, 

Kap. 



enough, as far as comedy lines' and 
situations are concerned, to register 
as acceptable light enlertalnment. 

The Chase-Alda 'team turns in a 
pair of okay job.s, former swinsing 
lion's share of burden In a role tlifit'a 
distinctly up her alley. Alda fills llie 
bill for pix patifons interested in a 
look-see. 

Others in the company are Joseph 
Dooley, 'Virginia Girvin, Emily Law- 
rence, Cynthia Latham, Harold J. 
Kennedy, and Philip Coolidge whty 
doubles at directing. Setting is by 
Richard Burns. 

Show is a presentation of Harold 
J. Kennedy and Herbert Kenwith, in 
association with Robert K. Aduins. 

Bone. 



Sleep It Off 

Minneapolis, Feb. 28. 
.TameH EUlMbivMlohaf^l. ^iloMiif} iivoduclion 
of faroe in Iht-ea ;K't.s- l>.v I.yford Moore :iml 
iSarlan Thom'pHon. aiarti .lucKie Cooper, 
Ann Covio antl Vince BaruPtl. DH'ftt-lecI by 
faultt Slotie; SBltlner, Plrtlli) S. Rtilsusl. At 
Lycetini, Mionftai)oltK;.JjlS.(10 toj»T 

Bddie I^igsett. ..Jut-kie C'oodpi' 

"wutUerlng- HpeiiKlpr. .Vr ..(J16n Ve-rnon 

.Pjlannali D.iviJ» ..Ann t'orlo 

Dan Uiller. .Bill Hcniy 

Olem Pearaon Wall^ rindcl 

pr. HanijtUon Twetfd. .......... ..Tun Arvan 

Betsy TvreeA... .CiJi'f^ii M»i'.s)i 

Ipaul 'Mason.. George BeynoUla 

carol Gibson.......,..'......, ...Ton Ki'lianl 

"yigey" MalMie^ Vim-e Bainrtt 

Mis. W. Hpenglw, Sr. . . . .ICathryn Sbehlon 

TWutherlng Sponitler, 'Sr. Plei'ce l^ydBn' 

Cliptnin .AVitlliarr ,.T1. Philip Chambers 

Gorlle VU'Blnia Cox 



Newly re-born on the Coast and 
heading eastward, "Sleep It Off" 
impresses as a moderately .amusing 
farce with, perhaps, some hinterland 
non^critical general audience ap- 
peal. But it's' much too thin, failing 
to have nearly enoMgh laughs and 
entertainment for Broadway. 

The attraction's principal assets 
are a company of young, attractive, 
personable 'performers and; for the 
boxoffice, a trio of such personali- 
ties as> Jackie Cooper, Ann Corio and 
Vince Barnett. Even though the 
play is not strong or smart enough 
for tough Broadway, its cast may 
I help it to profitable progress out.side 
■of the main, stems, arid it would 
, seem to have some film possibilities, 
probably as a musical. 

Plot deals with how a scapegrace 
college student (Cooper) almost 
gums up the works for hi.s bankrupt 
school's plan to obtain a life-saving 
endowment. The near-debacle comes 
about as a result of the student's 
use of a "hypnotizing machine" to 
mesmerize a bubble dancer (Miss 
Corio) employed to entertain at a 
stag arranged especially for the 
prominent aliimnus expected to 
Qome across "with the needed coin. 
Situations arising from the hypnotic 
experhnents on the bubble dancer 
and the arrival on the .scene of her 
gun-toting gangster admirer (Bar- 
nett) provide most of the fun. After 
a slow, first- act the farce' gets going 
at a good dip in the secondi only to« 
bog down again in the third and last 
Because Of the thinness of the ma- 
terial. Laughs seem spaced too far 
apart and the lines are only infre- 
quently bright or funny. 

Miss Corio is exceedini{ly good to 
look at and entirely equal to all of 
her role's demands. Barnett also 
scores. Cooper and Bill Henry from 
pix are not only handsome but 
capable actors as well, while Caren 
Marsh and Jan Erhard, the feminine 
love interests, provide more treats 
for the .masculine optics. ■ All the 
other cast -members measure up to 
the dem'ands made on them, and the 
fast pace reflects good direction. 
This is the show's fourth engagement 
aflei' a one-night Oakland premiere; 
from here it goes to Milwaukee; then 
Chicago. gee.t. 



Legit Follownp 



There Goes the Bride 

New Haven, Feb. 26. 

They've parlayed the Ilka Chase 
legit and literary .draw with the 
Robert Alda "Rhapsody In Blue" 
film following for this late version of 
the George Oppenheimer comedy, 
"Here Today." under a new title. 

It's aimed strictly for the road, and 
On that basis it should do all right. 
Despite fact script wa.s batted out 
liome years ii8$>. it is still tiieiiiely 



ltro«»klyn. 

Hollywood, Feb. 28. 

This revival of play by John 
Bright and Asa^ Bordages, which 
Lionel Stander originally presented 
in New York two weeks after Pearl 
Harbor in'December\ 1941, and .sub- 
sequently ■ was withdrawn witli i m- 
pacl of war, was re-introduced by 
Standcr. Feb. 23 at HoUytOwn thea- 
tre, Hollywood. 

Ho holds are barred in this piece 
purporting to be expose of Murder, 
Inc., in days when syndicate's hat- 
chetmen really roared and made 
music with their victims' cries. Ac- 
tion .has ingredients which make for 
an exploitable stage piece, namely 
violence, brutality, gangsters and 
sex, with plenty of suspense to keep 
audience's . in tense and expectant 
mood. It should enjoy word-of- 
mouth advertising for good receipts. 

Scene is laid mainly in Brooklyn 
candy store, front for the gang, al- 
though first murder is committed in 
barber shop next door, when long- 
shoreman, who resents his workers 
being pushed around by racketeers, 
has throat ripped by, razor; Main 
character is young thug, played by 
Richard Benedict, who has utter dis- 
regard of law, wit;h closing scene 
the ' death-house in Sing Sing just 
before execution of four members 
of gang. 

Benedict gives rugged interpreta- 
tion to his role, a quality inserted in 
impersonations of every member of 
cast and which Slander in his di- 
rection maintains in every bit of .ac- 
tion aided by an excellent cast. 

Shimen Ruskin is notable as bar- 
ber who is finally murdered as he 
is about to turn informer, and .Tody 
S. Gilbert, candy store keeper, is 
also -.standout. Olive. Deering, moll 
who admits .she was "born wrong," 
is another femme standout; Stephen 
Roberts m a k e s his gangleader 
smoothly menacing, and his hench- 
men include Benny Baker, Edmund 
MacDonald, John Kellogg and Carl 
Milletaire, each contributing io 
shock value of play. ■ Whit; 




VloleMos Imperialet) 

Paris. 

Henri Varna production' of raiisk'al c-oin- 
etly in two acts (IS iioencs). Book by Paul 
Acluird, Rone Jeanne and Varna, finale by 
Vini;ent Scotlo. Direi-tca by SroHo. Set» 
by Pelesry and OHO de Xamora.; uoHltimes, 
de Zamora; choreography, Paul lisnobevl. 
Paul Floreiidas, conduftor. At 'IMifalra 
Moffador, Parts. , 

IDon .Tufin d'AsraniK. Mai'fi>l MiM'kofi 

Mal't'iui.'i FBrn.'iiid, tlilb^i't 

KMlaniT)illo .llobprt AlUtrd 

I'll Loquito... Piei'.lBO 

rainard ; , I'hartea ValHtor 

L^inaplra ie*ur llobprt £>onk 

f'onsRiraleuv 'Charles I.»rlch» 

Danseur .Paul Tjanibert 

Violetta. . ,'■ i I-lna Walla 

Eusenie 'de Monttjo. ...*., Knymonde Allain 
Heiraflna. . , ... . . .... . . .Mari i'lle (Rason 

Ilose.ttr, , Annie Alexander 

M,iii8. d'AHcani?. rtpnee 'I'liorel 

Signora. Tambourinelli..Andrpe I^e 3.>jinte(i 

.CqncbH .Cbi'iHtianp. .lamcia 

Pepii.. Rpnee Marc 

Bui'b>".'iae iVAIUp.i .losflle lliinsoo 

A\>*o Anita I.anp unil .Ramon Alineda, dance 
team; Misfl May'e ballet. 



Under conditions prevailing in 
Paris it takes courage to produce an 
expensive show. This estimated 
.$40,000 musical effort of Henri 
Varna is likely to click with the 
mass trade, containing bright col- 
ored costurhes, ambitious sets, a 
story and some comedy. 

Though show has the earmarks of 
a reviio, there is no nudity. Pro- 
ducer Varna has gone overboard on 
costumes and sets, and turned out a 
show that's long on eye appeal and 
shorter on talent. Marcel Merlce.s, 
baritone' matinee idol, is a sure bet 
for the femme trade, for looks as 
much as voice. The femme star, 
Lina Walls, a brunette with a shrill 
falsetto, appears to savvy the biz 
part of showbiz, 

Ra.ymonde Allatn is quite person- 
able in the part of ESmpresis Eugenie. 
The best comedy' is supplied by 
Pierjac, and the broadeast by Fer- 
nand Gilbert. The more corny the 
gags, and the easier they draw 
laughs. No subtle touch is used, 
either in lines or business. ' ' 

Story concerns a Spanish noble- 
man involved in several love affairs 
while also engaged to a girl of the 
minor Spanish nobility who later 
becomes the wife of French Emper- 
or Napoleon III. The music is pure 
yincent Scotto, easy to U.sten to but 
without anything particularly catchy. 
It's suitably batoned by Paul Flor- 
endas. . Maxi, 



W«diM«t«yf March 8, .1948 



LITERATI 



53 



Literati 



flvw Export Rule Excludes Books 

Contrary to previous word, the 
Office ol International Trade; Dept. 
Of Commerce, has announced that 
bbpks ar« expluded under its new 
export regulations. Book* ol! all 
kfads may be shipped to any country 
In the world, as before issuance of 
the new rules last fall. 

There had been concern on the 
part of publishers, not only because 
of the expected trouble and expen.se 
of ' Obtaining an export license for 
each shipment of boolcs, but also be- 
cause of the possible censorship 
aspect of the setup. 

NiiiMtyt Davids^ Guild Suit Arcued 

Ifancy fiavids' suit against the 
Authors Guild, seeking access to the 
organization's membership list, was 
heard yesterday (Tues.) by the. 
Court of Appeals, in Albany. De- 
cision was reserved. The plaintiff 
won a decision in the original action 
ill N, Y, Supreme Court, but was 
reversed on the; Guild's appeal to 
the Appellate Division. 

A second Q.l£iim in the initial suit, 
that Miss Davids be given access to 
the minutes of the Guild council 
meetings, 'has since been granted by 
the organization's officers. 

E«sier 'BesUability' 

"With the Associated Press .ioining 
tlie ranks ot news organizations that 
have resorted to "readibility" ex- 
perts, the older line of newspaper 
man is beginning to wonder whether 
this phenomenon won't become as 
much of a part of a cityroom'^s stand* 
ard equipment as the frayed Web- 
ster,. In the AP's -case the job of 
probing the copy output and showing 
how it can be made more digestible 
for the average reader is being done 
by Dr. Rudolph Flesch. The a.ssoci- 
ation brought in this human .slidei ule 
of the written phrase after some of 
its miember papers had complained 
that, the AP stories 'were too wooden 
and stiff. 

Dr Flesch, an emigre from Austria, 
worlted himseU into this new twist 
•of the research trade as a result of 
difficulty he himself had with the 
English language while studying law 
at Columbia University. The thought 
occurred to liim, at the time that 
there was some j way that English 
could be made more readable. Sub- 
sequently Dr. Flesch devised a sys- 
tem for making copy readable and it 
was a thesis on the subject that 
garnered him a degree in doc- 
tor ot education at the same house 
of learning, / 

Various Gevernment departments, 
especially the OPA and agriculture, 
latched 'on to the thing quickly and 
made it a must for consultation in 
phrasing directives and other litera- 
ture. Later Xtt. Flesch was brought 
In by the jMacfadden Publications 
and Prentice-Hall publishing hoa-ie 
as , a consultant. Others, oflering 
Variations of the system of their own, 
started peddling it around to news- 
papers. Among such that have used 
the "readability" apparatus have 
been the Wall St. Journal, the N. Y. 
Tribune and the Omaha World-News. 



March 18, will be on the subject, 
"The Publisher and His Cultural 
Responsibility." Speakers will be 
McCormick, Cass Canfleld (I-Iarper), 
Clifton Fadiman, Irvin Edmau (Co- 
lumbia UniV;X and Jack, Goodman 
(Simon & Schuster.). 



N. C. Colleciate Press Meet 
Jack Lait, editor of the N. Y. Mir- 
ror; Harry Martin, prez of the Amer- 
ican Newspaper Guild; J. G. Taylor 
Spink, publisher of the Sporting 
NewspHoscoe Ellard, a.ssociate dean 
of the Columbia School of Journal- 
Ism, and Sidney R. Stanard, news 
editor of the St. liOuis Post-Dis- 
patch, will address the North Caro- 
lina Collegiate Press Assn. on March 
18-19-20, at its annual convention at 
Duke University, Durham, N. C. 
Some 50 colleges and universities in 
the state are represented by the as- 
sociation. . 

The editor of Varie'ty has also been 
invited to address the body on the 
subject of "Variety— the Spice of 
the Newspaper World," with the sug- 
gested theme that college news- 
papers can in.sert pep and utilize the 
unique but effective devices Vahiety 
does in writing and headlining their 
news." 



Pubs Set Series ot Confabs 

Ken McCormick iDoubleday), 
Bennett Cerf fRandom House), 
Hazel CLirk (a, librnrian), Sani:ord 
Cobb (Soars, Roebuck) and Fred 
Smith (Book-of-the-Month Club) 
will speak on "The Reading Tastes 
ol^ Rural America," March 11 in the 
"Points of View in Publishing" 
series- of meetings sponsored by the 
Authors Guild, American Book Pub- 
lishers Council, the American Book- 
sellers Assn. and New York Univ. 
The confab will be held in the con- 
cert hall of the Barbizon Plaza hotel, 
N. Y, . 

Xlie JElQal session of the series. 



Rex Stout's Postwar SiilHsh 

Although he was inactive as a 
mystery writer during the war; Rex 
Stout's two postwar whodunits have 
so far sold better than any of his 
previous books. "The Silent 
Speaker," published iti October, J946, 
by Viking, "sold 18,000 in the trade 
edition, about 75,000 in the De- 
tective Book edition and 25,000 
papers-bound in the Armed Services 
edition. His latest, "Too Many 
Women," issued by Viking last 
October, has thus far. sold about 
13,000 in the regular trade edition 
and is about to be i.ssued in the 
Detective Book Club edition. None 
of his prewar books did that well. 

In preparing to ballyhoo 
"Speaker," the Green-Brodie ad 
agency conducted a survey wliich 
indicated that, despite his eclip.se as 
a novelist during the war, Stout was 
better known to the pubUc than his 
fictional hero, JtiJero Wolfe. It was 
figured that the author's work with 
the Wr'Rers War Board and otlier 
groups had' kept his name before 
the public. Therefore, Stout's name 
was featured in, the Viking ads and 
exploitation over that of Nero 
Wolfe, , reversing the emphasis used 
'oet'ore the war. 

Stout " hasn't written a serious 
novel in a decade or more. 



'Vargas-EsQinCre Ruling Reversed 

The U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals 
in Cliicago reversed Saturday (28) 
the Federal District Court decision 
which had declared invalid a con- 
tract between Alberto Vargas, the 
illustrator, and Esquire mag. The 
ruling makes effective the 10-year 
pact, effective Jan. 1, 1944, under 
which the Peruvian-born creator o£ 
the "Varga.girl" was paid $18,000 
for his first 18 months' work, with a 
raise of $1,500 each succeeding 18- 
month period. 

The artist claimed that he did not 
understand the contract when he 
.signed it. ■ 



Contempt Case tietisbition 

The case of the two Newburgh 
(N.Y.> newsmen who were jailed 
last week rather than reveal their 
source of information of a- newspa- 
per story, has become a cause 
cclebre. As a result of the 10-day 
sentence given Donald V. Clarke, 
news editor of the Newburgh News, 
and Charles L. Leonard, reporter on 
the: same sheet. State Sen. Thomas 
C. Desmond Has reintroduced! in the 
Assembly his bill exempting news- 
men from revealing news sources. 
Although la-st Wedne.sday (25) was 
the deadline for introducing legisla- 
tion, an exception was made permit- 
ting submission of the Desmond 
.measure was granted. 

A hearing was held yesterday 
(Tues.) at the "White Plains supreme 
court on a habeas corpus move for 
the newsmen's release. Meanwhile, 
the men were the recipients of nu- 
merous pre.sents from well-wishers, 
many of whom visited them at the 
jail. . ■ 



New Whodunit Monthly 

Clayton Rawson, a whodunit 
writer, will edit and publish a 
monthly mag, Clue, starting with 
the May issue. It will sell for 15c. 
Publication will cover the mystery 
field, including books, films, radios, 
etc., featuring schedules, news and 
criticism. 

Raw.son's most recent book is "The 
Mystery Writers of America pub- 
Mystery Writiers of America pub- 
lication, Third Degree. 



Well, Why Not? 

Recent announcement by 
Prentice-Hall that it had sched- 
uled for publication a sympo- 
sium on the Kinsey "report 
brought forth the usual requests 
for review copies. 

One bid came from a mag 
called "Fun With Hobbies." 



completed,, novel. This time »lie'll 
have no legit script in his luggage. 

Scenarist's current assignment is 
the adaptation of the Flaubert novel, 
"Madame Bovary," for which he's 
getting $10,000 a year for 10 years, 
under a lease arrangement. He pre- 
viously wrote the screenplay for 
"Three Musketeers," which Metro 
now has in production. 



. : ■ ' CHATTER 

Joe Laurie, Jr.'s piece in next 
ra,qnth's, Esquire on "Stage Mothers." 

'Omnibook, digest mag, has added 
foreign editions in Australia and 
France. 

Sherman (Stork Club) Eillin^s- 
ley's piece, "How to Throw a Party,'" 
in current American jnag. -j 

Milton Barker is severing connec- 
tions with International News Serv- 
ice after 11 years as head of the 
Hollywood bureau. 

Rouben MamouUan has completed 
'Art ot Gods and Monkeys," a book 
about Hollywood and Broa.dWay, for 
publication by Knopf. 
' Mary Harriet Bixler, of the stijlf 
of Time mag, will be married in 
June to Thomas J. Naughton, associ- 
ate editor of True mag. 

Gorham Munson has resigned as 
consulting editor of the trade book 
division of Prentice-Hall. He'll re- 
veal his future plans shortly. 

N.Y. Sun trailerizing its boxscore^ 
winning Ward Morehouse for top- 
ping the N.Y. critics. Daily is do.'ns! 
it in the form of display ads. 

Jack Crandall, Sunday co-feature 
editor of the Chicago Herald^ Ameri- 
can for the past 12 years, leaves to 
join feature department of the Den- 
ver Post. 

Ray Josephs, back from his near- 
ly-a-year's South American tour, 
with the mss. for his "South Amer- 
ican Diary" due for "Random House 
delivery by June, now off on a lec- 
ture tour. 

Joseph Medill Patterson Chair of 
Journalism established at Fordham 
U. in honor of the late publisher of 
the N; Y. Daily News. Partial en- 
downment is from a $50,000 gift 
of the Patterson estate. 

Arthur Koestler, author of "Dark- 
less at Noon," "I,«mp at Midnight," 
etc., is due this month for his first 
visit to the U. S. He'll make a six- 
week lecture tour. Guy McCrone, 
author of . "Red Plush," will also 
make his first visit to this country, 
arriving in April from his native 
Glasgow. 

Dale Curran's "Dupree Blues," 
jazz saga, via Knopf; his first novel. 

March issue oi '48 is the first ed- 
ited by Richard E. Lauterbach and 
has the beginning of a two-parter 
on "Ross of The New Yorker," by 
Henry F. Pringle; also "What Makes 
Songs Popular," by Oscar Hammer- 
stein 2d, who should know. r 

Group of literary agents calling 
themselves Authors' Associates has 
been organized by Elizabeth Hau- 
chett and Oliver Holden, latter be- 
ing of the N. Y. Times editorial staff. 
Others in the new office are Frances 
Kane Hazlitt, a former story editor 
for Paramount; Gertrude Workman, 
formerly with the Century Play Co., 
and Milton Wayne, a radio executive. 



I SCULLY'S SCRAPBOOK i 

By Frank Scully ♦♦♦«♦«♦«« 



Mattewan, March 2. ' 

With "High Wall" on the marquees, "The Snake Pit" due for release, 
"Madhouse" (formerly "Mattewan") in production, and "The Stubborn 
Wood," a super-shudder study of sex and psychiatry coming up, I've been 
consulting my psyche (which is in too great a fragmentation to be diag- 
no.sed as anything so mild as a "split personality") to see how I can help 
schizophrenics not quite as far gone as the rest ot us. I believe I can 
serve best by compiling a handbook, to be printed on phosphorus or 
Braille, something which can be read in the palm of one's hand when- 
ever the dialog gets too tough to understand. Pull up a .straitjacket and' 
take a sneak-view Of Act I Scene I. 

ABULIA, Inability to exercise the will. A symptom of dementia prae- 
cox. Associated mostly with producers who can't make up thcii' minds 
which end .of a picture to i-elease— the head or the tale. 

ACEDIA; Apathy. Common to critics and story editors when authors 
begin to retail plots. 

■•■A.A... , 

A. Q. Achievement quotients. That is == A.Q. It always comes 

M'.A. 

out as that of a 12-year-old child and means you're destined tb be either 
an editor of The American Weekly or a prisoner of Zanutk. 

ACHROMATOPSIA. Inability to shoot a picture in color. Color-blind. 
Producers who say, ''I can't see .color for murder mysteries." 

ACROMANIA. Ideal disease for assistant directors, as acromaniacs are 
always mute. 

ACROMEGALY. Addiction to enla,gements and closeups. First described 
by Marie in 1886 and popularized by Griffith in 1912, 

ACROPHOBIA. Fear of high place.s. ALso called bathophobia, which 
.sounds like a fear of bathing at San Moritz, Sun' Valley or the GateUill.s. 

ADDISON'S DISEASE. Disease of suprarenal glands, -causing brown 
pigmentation. Also called Palm Springs Tan. 

ADLER'S THEORY. That going nuts is a sort of compensation for an 
inferiority complex. , > ; 

. AGEUSIA. Absence of a sense of taste. Common amonj^ chatter-writers 
and fan magazine editors. 



Stage Technique 



Continued from pi-g* I 



AGNOSIA. Loss of ability to recojmize a part from the whole." Occupa- 
tional psychosis of bit-players and budget-pruncrs.' 

AGORAPHOBIA. Morbid anxiety when in wide open space's, George 
Jean Nathan assigned to catch westerns. 

_ AGRAPHIA. Loss of ability to express thouRhts in writing; i.e. writers. 

AKATHISIA. Morbid tear of being seated. Stars who have gone horse- 
back riding, executives who' can dictate only- when walking, up and down, 
people who are only happy when they see "SRO" in a theatre lobby. 

ALGESIA. People who only snap out of it when at the receiving end! ' 
of a kick in the pants. 

, ALIENATION. Currently associated in Hollywood exclusively with 
affections. Legally "insanity." 

' ALLOTROPIC TYPE. Personalities preoccupied with what others 
think, mean or do. Second-guessers. Source of cycles in films, 

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE A pre-senile psychosis. Producers who say, 
"We can .fix the end with loud music .and a church choir." 

AMAURO'nC FAMILY IDIOCY. Hereditary loss of vision. Relatives 
who confirm a producer's hostility to any change— sound, color, tele-' 
vision. . • . 

AMBl^VALENT FEELINGS, Experiencing love and hate for the same 
person at the same time. Clams have it Hence the phrase "camming 
up." - • ■ 

AMNESIA. Everybody knows that one, but who except an idiot Imows 
that atnentto means one without a mind? 

AMUSIA. Brain lesion resulting in a failure to recognize musical 
sounds. Jam sessions. 

ANALYSAND. Patient being treated by psychoanalysis, but in tliis case 
still picking up the tab. 

ANAPHIA. Loss of discriminating sense of touch. Peculiar to aged pan- 
handlers, pickpockets and old Lubitsch di.sciples. • 

ANARI'THMIA. Inability to count, common in auditors of publishers' 
ro.vaIty statements. 

ANERGIC. Lacking enetgy; dull; listless. If • this doesn't interest you" 
you're anergic, ■ 

ANHIDBOSIS. Absence of Sweat Even your best friends can't tell- 

you. . ' ' . " 

ANOMIA. Loss of ability \e> remember people. Will Rogers on being 
introduced to Calvin Coolidge and gagging, "Didn't get the name?'' 

ANOMIA: Loss Of sense of smell. Essential to producers Of - B picturesi 

APIPHOBIA. Morbid dread of B's. 

APANTHEOP'y: Aversion to human society. Common.in defeated can- 
didates' and backers of flops generally. 

APHEPHOBIA. Morbid fear to being touched by another person. 
Tightwad Also called Benny's di.sea.se. 

ASEMIA. Inability to understand meaning of signs, gestures, coiamand,s. 
Producers who habitually try to bypa-ss the Breen office. Asytnbolia. 

ASTHENTIC TYPE. Physical type described by Kretschmer as slender, 
flat in fronts long chested. Caviar .to manufacturers ot^falsies. 

ATAVISM^ Inheritance, of characteristics from remote ancestors. 
Authors who can't get off the boy -meets-girl plot formula. ' 

ATONIC. The opposite of atomic. Relaxed. ■* 

AUDITORY NER'VE. Eighth cranial nerve. Worn ragged since inven- 
tion of radio. ' 

AUTOPHILIA. Self-lov^. The Narci-ssus complex. Also called Actor's 
Itch. Not to be confused with outophobio or with autopsy, though it 
might not be a bad idea if it were now and then. 

This about concludes the first lecture in psychiatric terms. To old 
Freudians it may read like a lot of Kraeplin. Unless there's an over-, 
powering demand for more, the rest of the alphabet will remain in secret 
files of the subconscious.' 'J 



Roper's World Poll on ERF 

Elmo Roper, public opinion anal- 
yi.st, has liiunched an international 
survey on the Marshall Plan for 
.Time m.ag. Poll of opinions is cover- 
ing 11 countries, including the U.S., 
Canada, three Latin-American and 
six European nations (Russia ex- 
cluded). 

^Results will be revealed in thp 
ma.H's April 12 issue and will be the 
basis for an international forum be- 
ing held in New Orleans, April 14-17. 



Ardrey's Novel 

Robert Ardrey, winding up a 
scripting assignment for Metro, fig- 
ures on going east in several weeks 
for publisher confabs .w his ipartly 



William Gailmor, New ..York radio 
commentator, as well as the presi- 
dential candidate's main a d dr e s.s. 
When Wallace came on Miss Pecks 
dramatic blue "'spots" were turned 
ofl: in favor of ordinary, overhead 
lighting. Miss Peck, who says she has 
acted in a number of plays that 
never i-eached Broadway, was in 
charge of seeing to it that "sounds i 
coming over the microphone"' were i 
.soothing to the ear, instead of being 
distiirbiiig, and that "showman.ship" 
was employed "to the utmast de- 
gree", not only in the presentation, 
but also in the haU decorations and 
the tactics used to obtain collection 
contributions to the campaign from 
those present. ' • 

In addition to the trick lights there 
were offstage announcements and 
comments over the loudspeaker^and 
snappy entrances to make for dra- 
matic effects. It's believed to be the 
first time that political rallies have 
been stage-managed with an eye -to 
showmanship in this manoert 



Diskers Jockey 



Continued -from page. 37 



to a disk is even extended to hit 
tunes marketed by major publishers, i 
which figure to get some public at- | 
tention bepause all disk raanuafc- ! 
hirers had recorded them and ex- : 
pen.sive publishing staffs were at j 
work on them. Jocks play versions j 
of such tunes and point out that they | 
were the first to air them and the ' 
fii-.-it to predict success for a particu- j 
lar rendition of it 

'Make Mine a 'White Label' j 
This desire has led to a sharp in- 
crease in demands by jocks from 
press agents of artists for white la- 
bel (pre-release copies) disks; as a 
means of being first on the air with 
a new tune and, if it's succcs-sful, to 
later point out they figured in its 
success. And p.a.'s, and in some 
cases, artists, are cooperating to an 
extent that is annoying the disk 
compauieit «nd In sohw c^ses pubr 



lishers particularly in view of the 
ciu-rent disk ban. ' 

When a disk jock .'playS a pre-re- 
lease copy of a new song it's pos- 
sible that his action will create a 
demand for the record. In so far as 
the manufacturer is concerned that 
disk may not be set for release un- 
til Weeks hence, or it may be re-* 
.stricted by the publisher until a cer- ' 
tain date because the latter is con- 
cerned with the explo.itation of a 
prior tune. By creating a demand 
for the disk, the jock is upsetting the 
record company releasing schedule, 
and perhaps upsetting the publish- 
er's sked. If the time happens to 
stem from an urureleased film the 
Injury can be costly to both film 
and song. 

This practice is comparable to the 
situation of a few years back when 
manufacturers and publishers were 
constantly harassed by Macy'a in 
N.Y., and other' large retail stores 
to stop the pre-release broadcasting 
of white labels. Stores at that time 
were deluged with r^uesis for disks : 
ihf y hadn't beaiid vL 



u 



CHATTBR 



Wednesdiay, March 3, 1948, 



Jack Mills toack from Florito vaca- 
tion. 

Phil Ober's father stricken on the 
Coast. 

Franns Renault convalescing after 
a series of operations. 

Doc Bockwell fiUted <or another 
guest-shot With Fred Allen, 

Jeremy Oury elected v.p. and ap- 
pointed copy director ol Donahue 
& Coe. • . 

Sid Field, British comedian, due in 
today (Wed.) aboard the Queen 
Mary. 

Loew's theatre exec Oscar Doob 
back at his desk after a Havana va- 
cation. 

Walter WincheU catching up on 
Broadway shows he missed while m 
Florida. 

Hetb Sheldon, radio emcee, pur- 
chased home in Long Island's swank 
Jamaica Estates. 

Ray Callahan, former box office 
man, killed recently by hit and run 
driver in Far Rockaway. 

Alice Frost, femme half of radio's 
"Mr. & Mrs. North," script reading 
■to return, to legit stage. 

Ruth Tobey, of the.VARiEXT office, 
is out with her leg in a cast, as a 
result of a skiing mishap. 

Bin DoU to agent Sammy Lam- 
bert's musical, "Hold Jt," with 
Michael O'Shea his associate. 

LDiwrence Herbert Lapidus', son of 
Jules Lapidus, Warners eastern sales 
manager, engaged to wed L61s Elaine 
Liff. 

Dorothj- Mtfftimer, former actress, 
wife of Pete TJavis, gen-ragr. of the 
Theatre Guild> recuperating from 
operation. 

Bob Taplinger, Enterprise pub-ad 
chief, in to wis for confabs on 'Arch 
•of Triumph" plans following Nassau 
and Miami vacation. 

Selig J. Seligman, Paramount exec, 
engaged to be' married . tO'. Muriel 
Bienstock with the nuptials planned 
early in April. 

Renee Carroll will celebrate 21st 
year as hat checker at Sardi's: Fri- 
day .(5> and her birthday's next 
week— a secret. 

Leo M. Solomon, former editor 
tff Wide World photos; joined flack 
firm of Wain & Baruch . as news 
photo consultant 

Cynda Glenn back from Havana, 
in company of Ella Logan, off to' 
Paris next week. -to star in the new 
. VFolies . Bergeres" there, , 

James Perkins, Paramount's man- 

f 'ing director in. Britain, sails i 
i^nd Friday <5) aft^r a short U.S. 
ly for hoineoSice huddles. , 
'. ' Spyrbs'&kouras back at homeoffice 
after a week'^s huddles on the Coast 
with studio execs and a quick o.o. 
of forthcoming 20th product. 

British writer Comptgn Bennett 
arrives on the Queen Mary today 
(Wed.) en route to the Coast for a 
scripting assignment at 'Metro. 

Howard Lindsay, Russei Grouse 
and Mrs; Clarence Day control most 
of the upcoming "Life With. Mother" 
which Oscar Serlin wilt produce. 

Mrs,' Bugs (Louise) Baer « Virus 
X victim, on eve of the big "Heart" 
show at the Capitol tonight (Wed.), 
for. which shets been a sparkplug. 

Frank Seiden, planning to carry 
Florida season thru mid-April, 
signed Dick Gasparre for another 
.six weeks at his Palm Beach hotel. 

Three-year-old grandson of James 
•W. Reilly, managmg director of the 
League of New- York Theatres, killed 
by .auto in Freeport, L. I.. Sun- 
day (29). 

Mrs. Reg Connelly, wife of the 
London : music publisher, deferred 
her saUing for Englandv en route 
. back 'home from' Nassau, until later 
this week. . ' ^ • 

The names of Frank Fontaine and 
Ziggy Talent were transposed in the 
review of the Strand, N. Y., stage 
bill last week, as part of the Vaughn 
Monroe show. . 

Emile Lustig, veepee of Westport 
International Films, due in on the 
Queen Mary today (Wed.) after a 
two-month European junket to pur- 
chase new imports. 

Tom Fadden inked for a principal 
role in Ladislas Fodor's new play, 
"The Vigil," which Alexander Mar- 
key .is producing at the Coronet 
theatre about March l6. 

The Hsnry Jaffes (Jean Muir) to 
Connecticut for two weeks. He was 
• discharged from Doctors Hospital* 
N- Y. over the weekend, after a 10' 
day siege of pneumonia. 

Bob Hilliard and Carl Sigman 
■ coUahing on score of new' legit mu- 
sical, "Give It Back to the Indians," 
which Marjorie and Sherman Ewing 
' will produce next Reason. 

Marc Connelly, Archibald Mac- 
Leish and Arthur Hopkins speak on 
"The Playwright's Future," at a 
P.E.Nv Club dinner tonight (Wed.) 
at the Netherlands Club, 

Ted Steele, WMCA disc jockey, 
resumed following virus pneumonia 
bedding. Rehearsing his just re- 
organized band, a wartime casualty, 
to open March 27 at Essex House. 

Teddy Willis, assistant to Charles 
Yates, has quit the blisiness for good. 
She and her husband, writer William 
Willis, take off for West Indies to 
live on a boat they've purchased. 

'WbereabQUts of Lawrence Joseph 
Oeait, otketane airctis. and' 'rodeo' 



clown, is being sought by Josephus 
T. Thorny, attorney in Marietta, O. 
Dean just inherited a sizable legacy. 

Robert Breen, exec, sec. of the 
American National Theatre Sc Acad- 
emy, Abingdon, Va., back from con- 
fabs with Robert Porterfteld on next 
season's plans for the latter s Barter 
Theatre; , 

Lawrence Aicholtz named supers 
visory sound director for Jerry Fairr 
banks productions; with accent on 
increased television film shootmg. 
He was recently with Columbia and 
Sound Service. " ■ ■ „ 

The Joseph Hummels (WB Euro- 
pean-African; chief) returning to 
Paris today (Wed.) aboard the Amer- 
ica; ditto Jorge Negrete, Mexican 
film star, and Mrs. Victor E. Egan, 
the former Elsie Ferguson. 

William Harris, -Jr., legit producer 
who died Sept. 2, 194fi, left an e.state 
of $11,689 gross and $10,889 net, ac- 
cording to a' transfer tax appraisal 
filed last week. His widow, Mrs. 
Ouello Houston Harris, is sole lega- 
tee. ■ 

Friday's' (5) sailing of the Queen 
, Mary slated to have a liberal rep- 
resentation of percenters. Returning 
to England will be the British mdies 
Charles Tucker and Hyman .Zahl,. 
along with Lou Wilson, the Pnnce 
Littler rep. . , ., ■ j, 

Jack Hylton's Gino Arbib, in from 
London by air, to align an ice show 
for the Continent and to set the 
Shakespearean Memorial Festival 
(which Hylton manages) for a V- S. 
{our. Arbib is talking to the Theatre 
Guild for sponsorship. 

Hazel Scott and Congressman 
Jacob K. Javits honor-scrolled by 
Cinema Lodge, B'nai B'rith, last 
night (Tues.) at a special meeting 
at the Hotel Astor. Robert M. WeTt- 
man, . Lodge's , prexy, made , the 
presentation for outstanding Ameri- 
canism. 

Charley Schlaifer and Arthur 
Mayer guest speakers Friday (5) at 
New School's course on "Freedom 
of the Press at Home and A'hroaa." 
They'll spiel on the aim industry. 

Among birthday gifts Paul Hart- 
man received were one moose head, 
10 lessons at Fred Astaire's dancing 
School, several packages of snails 
and yogurt (he gets ill from them 
nightly in "Angel in the Wings"), 
a bundle 6f old Ballyhoo Magazines 
(from Bob Hope, with whom he ap- 
peared in the flop "Ballyhoo" revue 
years ago), and a case of empty 
bourbon iottles (he doesn't drink). 



London 



"Anna Karenina" having 
feet deleted since Its bow at the 
Leicester Square. 

Jack Buchanan and actress Vir- 
ginia Winter off to the tl. S. March 
0 on the Queen Elizabeth. 
.Bernard Delfont negotiating with 
Slapsie Maxle Rosenbloom and Max 
Baer to do a variety stanza at the 
Casino. V 

"Golden Rain," grim first play i&y 
Stephen Wendt, was presented at the 
New Lindsey Theatre Club, Feb. 12, 
with Noel Hewlett in lead. 

Roffe Thompson, publicity chief of 
London Film Productions, has, re- 
signed, due to differences with Sir 
Alexander Korda over publicity 
arrangements for preems. ; 

Robert Lantz, former Universal 
story rep here who recently planed 
in from a month's stay in the U. S., 
goes to Paris March 20 for a four- 
day stay prior to sailing for New 
York aboard the Queen Mary March 
31. . • 



By Raul Quattrocctai 

After a 30-year la|>se, openair 
carnival revived in. Rome. , ' 

Michel Simon here for a leading, 
role in Universalia's "Pabiola." 

Beniamino GigU and daughter, 
Rina; in beneflt-recital at Argentina 
theatre, 

Frank Latimore and Valentina 
VassiUevna married by Mayor Sal- 
vatore Rebecchini. 

Next Venice' Film Festival- will b.c 
held August 11 to 26. Cofttempotary 
with it, an. 'International Film 
Technique Ejdiibition will be organ- 
ized. 

. Vittorio Gassman to play Giacomo 
Casanova in Lux Film's "The 100 
Women of Casanova," produced by 
Dino De Laurentis and directed by 
Riccardo Freda. 

Dulcie Gray and Michael Denison 
here for leading roles in Victoria- 
Renown's "The Glass Mountain" 



production at Scalera Studios, 
ture stars Tito Gobbi. 



Pic 



Detroit 



By Hal Cohen 

Eileen Donnelly is Eddie Ready's 
new partner in his dance acti 

Ted Blake back to Swan Club in 
Philly for his fifth engagement there. 

Gene Kaufman, part-time an- 
nouncer at KQV, elected president 
Pat Rooney, the elder, and A. 
Duval Go. topping new floor show 
at Terrace Room. 

Geraldine Belaney replaced ailing 
Patricia- Boyer in the cast of "Blos- 
som Time" at the Nixon. 

Ex-Pittsburgher Victor Griffin 
sailing Marph 12 to take over Will 
Parker role in London "Oklahoma!" 

Bill Fay, former Post-Gazette re- 
porter, has quit the Chicago Tribune 
to become sports editor of , Collier's 
mag. • 

Helen Grayco, with Spike. Jones, 
and Al Nobel, KQV disk jock, had a 
reunion here; they: were both with 
Hal Mclntyre. 

Glojria Poster, who used-to be with 
Carmen Cavauafo, has joined Desi 
Arnaz's band as featured vocalist, 
of student council at Pitt Univ. 



lerina, to dance title role at the 
Opera in "Malheurs de Sophie." . 

Georges Clouzot has Anally dis- 
covered an actress to act his mod- 
ernized "Manon." She is Cecil* 
Aubry. - • • * 



By Erie Gorrick 

"Pygmalion," British pic, out on 
rei.s.sue in Sydney. - 

Biz powerful for the Rambert 
Ballet at Tivoli, Sydney. 

Bruce Newbery in iwew Zealand 
lookseeing biz for Republic. 

Wolfe Cohen, Warners Interna- 
tional , veepee, due here in early 
April. ' . „ 

Sid Albright, tppper for 20th-Fox, 
plans trip to U.' S. for homeofflce 
huddles. 

Looks a sweet six months or more 
for RKO's "Best Years" over the 
Hoyts loop. . . 

' Little Foxes" is doing okay at 
Princess, Melbourne, for Garnet 
Carroll-Fullers. 

Hoyts hopes to get okay to build 
theatre underneath the present 
Regent, Brisbane. 

Syd Albright, managing director 
of 20th-Fox here, flies to U.S. for 
huddles in early April, 

Major Baker,. Ealing Studios, Lon- 
don, managing director, has arrived 
in Sydney for important huddles. . 

Pete Towers has moved in as the 
Aussie rep for Western Electric. He 
replaced Ed Warn, now en route to 
N. Y. 



Hollywood 



■I ■ 



Dublin 



Cleveland 



By Stan Worris 

Bob Anthony, W/BK flack, ill with 
a bad cold. 

Northwood Inn, shuttered all win-- 
ter, opens April 1, 

Harry Heilman, former Detroit bat- 
ting star, . is the latest addition to 
WJR's sportcasting team. 

Paul E. .Fields, doorman for the 
past y^ar, has been named assistant 
manager, of the Alhambra' theata:e. 
: Irwin Corey, currently at Cafe 
Burgan'dy, Detroit, set for a Lewis 
Milestone picture via United Artists. 

Ceil Von Dell, stripper, quit road 
show at the Avenue Thursday (26) 
to take, a vac&tfon'before her night 
club tour. 

Bud Guest, WJR's reporter-at- 
large, plans to syndicate his program 
nationally. He . has expanded- it to 
WFIL, Phifadelphia. 

Bob CaHee, 19, Detroit Times copy 
■boy, makes his bow as an actor 
Saturday (6) in the Detro'it Civic 
Players' production of "Treasure 
Island." 



Emmett Kelly, circus clown, de- 
veloping, a new routine at Alpine 
Village. 

Arthur Spaeth, movie critic of 
Cleveland News, buying a 40-acre 
farm on the coast of Maine. 

Korman Amusement Go. of De- 
troit" sold the Ace, local, ttabe house, 
to Paul Bader, who will also man- 
age it. , 

Larry Atkins, flght promoter, has 
cooked up a vaude type of pop con- 
cert and sinking the civic auditorium 
for it. • 

Al Sirat Grotto's IBth circus at 
Mimicipal Auditorium, topped by 
Clyde Beatty's cats, passing last 
year's attendance mark. . 
. Bev Kelley and Allen J. Lester, 
both Ohioans formerly on Ringling's 
publicity staff, joining Dailey Bros. 
Circus at winter headquarters in 
Gonzales, Tex. 

By Glewi C. Pullen 
William F. McDermott, drama 
critic of the Plain Dealer, has gone 
to California for a month's vacation. 

Diana Thomas, harpist-wife of 
Peter Greenough, local reporter- 
socialite, has organized a four-piece 
band for the Continental Cafe. 



By Maxwell Sweeney 

Eamon O. Gallchobhair named 
conductor for Radio Eireann orches- 

p. J. O'Connor readying Dublin 
production of Eugene O'Neill's "The 
Iceman Cometh." 

Hungarian producer Ladislas Vajda 
looking over Irish plays for presen- 
tation in Budapest. 

Total footage of films imported 
into Eire last year was 7,889,681, 
compared with 7,570,810 in 1946. 

Radio-gabber Michael O'Hehir lec- 
turing Irish Advertising-Press Club 
on U.S. radio as he saw it on recent 

visit. ;•■ r , ■ ■ 

Former Radio Eireann miisic di- 
rector Michael Bowles planed to 
Italy to conduct Arts Society sym- 
•phony orchestra. 

John McCormack's music, library, 
consisting of over ^00 volumes, for- 
mally handed over to the National 
University of Ireland , by his son, 
Ca^t. Cyril McCtormack. 



George Seaton ill with flu, 
' Edward Nassour down with flu. 

Claire James divorcing WilUani 
Girard. ' • , , 

Peter Shaw leaving next week 'for 
London. , 

Martin Broones trained to Indi- 
anapolis, i. 

Bess Ehrhardt suing Roy Shipstad 
for divorce. 

George Pal recovering from emer> 
gency surgery. 

Ann Sothern arranging a sum- 
mer tour of Europe. 

N. Peter Rathvon in from Wash- 
ington labor hearings. 

Myrna Loy and Gene Markey re- 
turned from New York. 

June Haver recuperating at home 
after an appendectomy. 

Sam Wanamaker in from Broad" 
way to resume picture making. ■ 

Leith Stevens leaves in May on a 
concert tour of South America. . 

Billy De Wolfe has been offered a 
booking at the Palladium, London. 

Jimmy Wakely recuperating, at 
homei following emergency surgery. 

Gregor Rabinovitch in from Italy 
for 10 days of huddles at Columbia. 

Edgar Bergen sails June 5 for two 
months in the Scandinavian coun- 
tries. 

Eve Arden going to England next 
fall to make picture for J. Arthur 
Rank. 

James R. Grainger in from New 
York for Republic studio confer- 
ences. 

Sonny Tufts out of - the hospital 
after ' treatment for an old spinal 
injury, . 

Keith Thompson leaves this week 
on a three-month tour of harmonica 
playing. 

John Berry, .stage and film direc- 
tor,; organizing a little theatre group 
in Santa Monica. 

Kathryn ' Grayson and Johnnie 
Johnston booked for an eastern sing- 
ing tour, starting March 21. 

Charles; Lacey resigned as per- 
sonnel ^director, at Columbia to • go 
into the golf supply busines^j. 

Publisher - author Bennett Cerf 
ended his La C^inta. vacation and 
resumed his lecture tour, then back 
to N. Y. , 



Honolultt' 



Portland, Ore. 

By Bay M. Feves 

"Ten Little Indians" at the Civic 
Theatre. - 

Ted Gamble, TOA Proxy, back 
from Eastern visftS" 

Nadine Conner concerts at Vhiv. 
of Portland this week. 

George Amato scheduled to open 
new club here next week. 

The Larry Parlises completed two 
weeks of skiing at Timberline Lodge. 

Marian Anderson into the Audi- 
torium for one nighter next Monday 
(8). ■ . 

Michael Loring, Pauline .Paul and 
Jack Whitehead's orchestra are at 
the Rose Bowl, Multnomah hotel. 

Henry King orchestra inked into 
Jantzen Beach Ballroom, March 13. 
Jan Savitt Orchestra follows March 



Paris 



By Mabel Thomas 

Show business here is at its lowest 
ebb in 24 years, 

H. R. Spence, owner of KXRO, 
Aberdeen, Wash, on his first vaca 
tion here. 

George T; Folster, chief of NBC 
Far East station in Japan, a visitor 
for a week. 

Tats Matsuo flew to mainland and 
will proceed to Washington, D. C, 
with Lew Rosen. 

James Wong Howe a two-day vis- 
itor on his way to Hong Kong; rC' 
turns here in six weeks. 

Honolulu will have its first straw- 
hat theatre when- Richard Smart 
moves his group here from Frisco, 

Rogelio De La Rosa and Lota Del- 
gardo, Filipinos stars, are at the 
Roosevelt theatre for Royal Amus 
Co. •;■■ ■ ■ 



Film actor Bob Pur'cell in from the 
Coast for a stay with his family. 

Carl Brisson ;toIlows Jimmy Savo 
into the Hotel Blackstone's Mayfair 
Room. ; 

Al Fuller, the press agent, in Mi< 
chael Reese hospital after major 
operation. 

Mrs. Ray Bolger off, to Coast to 
prepare a muscial for her hubby for 
fall debut. 

Dewey Robinson, Hollywood actor, 
in Chi visiting fellow-toughie, 
Horace MacMahon. 

William Rodgers, William Gehr- 
ing, at\d legalites . in for Jackson 
Park .contempt hearings. 

Ann Marsters, motion t>icture cri- 
tic for Herald- American, in Denver 
vacationing; Jeanne Beaton subs. 

Hack Elliot, who scripted the Judy 
Canova shows, here for 'a week be- 
fore leaving for England to produce 
a show. 

The Hotel Sheraton will drop its 
band policy and convert the New 
Horizon Room into an elaborate 
cocktail lounge, with a Turkish' decor. 
' Katherine Uunham, and the en- 
tire cast of her "Tropical ; Revue," 
Julps and Joan Walton, the dance 
team, and Studs Terkel, local disk 
jock, are set as; guests of honor at 
the Stage for Action annual shindig. 



By Maxime St Beix 

Elias Lapinere to Rome. 

Merle Oberon buying Paris dresses. 

Borrah Minevitch back from 
Switzerland. 

Robert Lantz due in Paris some 
time in March. 

>Tino Rossi to play Mitty Goldin's 
ABC on next bill. 

Auteuil steeplechase racetrack 
opened before a packed crowd. 

Marcel Pagnol, currently in Portu- 
gal, plugging a Latin picture setup. 

Donald McAfee transferred from 
Paris to the Madrid 20th-Fox office. 

Mrs. Joseph Seidelman and Mrs. 
Nate Blumberg here from London. 

Comedie Francaise postponing re- 
vival of Henri Becque's "Les Cor- 
beaux." • 

Jean Paul Sartre will have a new 
play, "Worldly Goods," at the An- 
toine soon. 

Spanish pianist Jose de Tejada 
giving recital at the American Stu- 

Next Paris- fair in May has 9,000 
exhibits already set, and won't allot 
any more stands. 

Les Gemaux, Andre Sarru's ant- 
mated cartoonery, moving to new 
studio in Neuilly. 

M. Albert, operator of Club Opera 
and Sheherazade, married to torch- 
singer Renee Lamy. 

Jan Kott, Polish red writer, who 
translated many French boolcs, re- 
fused a French visa. 

Merle Oberon at opening of pic- 
ture, "Ruy Bias" and getting spot- 
lighted in the audience. 

The Bouglione Brothers topbilling 
a big bear family in their l4-act 
show at Cirque d'Hivcr. 

t'oaHUi Cmvi«r,'. 14-year-old bal' 



By Marc Thibeault 

"Miss Paris 1947" is at the local 
Quartier Latin. 

Samovar nitery now closing Sun- 
day .nights, giving in to clergy 'pro- 
tests.' •■■ , 

Tony Pastor's band booked' for 
Chez Maurice Danceland, March dl 
and April 1. 

Michael Redgrave and Flora Rob- 
son will play "Macbeth" at His 
Majesty's March 23-26. 

New Odeon house, the 1,500-seat 
Champlain, scheduled for opening 
March 27. Will show first-run 
French originals. Art Bain, ex, of 
Odeon Kent, is manager. 

Rene Germain, prez 'of Quebec 
Productions Corp., going to England 
and France, and promising his stu- 
dios will go into production upon his 
return. He is scheduled to confer 
with Marcel Pagnol while in Paris, 
with the possibility of Pagnol pro- 
ducing a French pic at the com- 
pany's St. Hyacinths Studios near 
here.; - . 



Lacy Kastner returned to London. 

Marcel Pagnol touring Algarve, 
southern province of Portugal. 

"A Matter of Life and Death," J. 
Arthur Rank production, in deluxer 
Tivoli. 

Pierre Benoit, French author, in 
town and received by the president 
of the Republic. 

Beniamino Gigli making a per- 
sonal in the Coliseum, biggest thC' 
atre-picture hall in Lisbon. - 

Ttie National Bureau of Informa- 
tion Culture and Tourisme inaugu- 
rated the exhibition of works done 
in the last 14 years, and .covering 
evet;y fleld'of flUus, thedtte, etc. 



Conservatory for jaxz music found- 
ed by Director Walter Heidrich. 

Theatre in Josefstadt rehearsing 
"The Winslow Boy," by Terence 
Rattigan. 

Helene Thimig to take over man- 
agement of Reinhardt Seminary late 
this year. , • 

Raimund Theatre rehearsing 
"Gypsy Music," operetta by Gustav 
Zelibor, as next show. 

Leonard Bernstein of N. Y. Sym- 
phony orchestra expected here dur- 
ing June musical festivities. 

Prof. Heinz Schulbauer took over 
management of Reinhardt Seminary 
after resignation of Oskar Deleglise. 

Josef Gielen, chief director of 
Teatre Grande in Buenos Aires, of- 
fered job as general manager of 
Burg; theatre. 

Betti ".Fischer, emetime operetta 
star, in strong comeback at Raimund 
theatre in Bruno Granichstaetten's 
"By Order of Empress," 

Alfred Piccaver, British tenor and 
star of state- opera before the war, 
returning from London to be pro- 
fessor at State Academy for Music. 



Alicia Mendez,' society gali inked 
to an acting pact by Premiere Pro- 
ductions. 

Manuel. Conde Productions sched- 
uled to shoot a film serial, first ever 
made here, . . • 

Fernando Poe, of Palaris Films, 
named lfi47's top Philippine pic pro- 
ducer by the Business Writers 
Assn. 

Tita Duran narrowly escaped 
drowning while doing aquatic scenes 
on location near here for Sampfiguita 
Picttires' "Son oif^the Sea."- ' 



^ednetday, Mwrch 8, 1948 



OBITUARIES 



I,e« Baker, 7Z,- who sppeared inl 
many productionf on Broadway, died 
%\>. )t4 in \m Angeles. 

Born in Ovid, Mich.,' Bakear, after, 
being a teacher, made hie first stage 
aopearanpe with Eugenie Blair's 
iompany in "Othello" at Kenosha, 
Wi» He jnade his New York stage 
debut at the opening of the New 
theatre on Nov. 8, 1909, «s a member 
of the co);npany of E. H. Sothern and 
•Jdlia Marlowe. 

, Other plays in which he- appeared 
Jntluded' "School for Scandal," 
"Twelfth Night," "Song of Songs," 
"Daddy'g Gone A Huntin'," "Mourn- 
ing Becomes Electra" and "Strange 
iflterlude." 

In recent years he appeared with 
Maurice Evans in "Richard II," and 
was irf the original production of 
Maxwell Andersom'a "High Tor/' His 
final engagement -was with IMIulah 
Bankhead in "The Little Poxes." 
Surviving is his wife, Zoe Arthur 
-,*aker..; ; . 

' ]^ 

Mary (Maynie) Hueber, 54, sec- 
retary to the manager* <ff the Cox 
theatres and Shuberts' interests in 
Cincinnati for the last ?5 years, died 
Feb. '27 at her home there after an 
illness of three weeks. She under* 
went an operation 18 months ago. 

Miss Hueber was secretary to Lee 
McDonald for the last three sea- 
sons and to his predecessor. Nelson 
Cr. TowbridgQ, for 22 years.' She also 
was local subscription secretary of 
the American Theatre Society for 
manj^ years.. 

Mothet^ brother and two sisters 
suTirivpi. 



after having been executive editor 
of the Edmonton Bulietii). 

Oliver wrote light operas »nd 
many, orchestrations. 



WILL <iOI.»STON. 

Will Goldston, 67, magician, died 
Feb. 24 in Folkestone, England. As 
Carl Devos, he did a stage ad, "Black 
Magic," and in 1913 founded the 
Magicians Circle with, HoudinL He 
pulilished 51 books on magic and 
many illusion acts for other per- 
formers. 



lACK KAUJF'MAN 

Jack Kaufman, 65,. vet vaude per- 
former, died_ after a heart attack at 
the home of' his daughter in Valley 
Stream, L. I., Feb. 27. He had ap- 
peared, in vaude for a number of 
years with his btother Phil in an act 
billed as the .Kaufman Bros. After 
the latter?» death some years ago he 
also appeared for a time with an- 
other brother, Irving, until his re- 
' tirement 15 years ago. 

Re leaves his wife, two sons >knd 
four daughters, one of whom Is Jiidy 
Glarh, screen actress. 



PAUL EVlBRTON 

Paul Everton, 79, stage -and screen 
actor, died Feb. 26 following a heart 

•ttack at the Motion Picture Country 
House,' Calat>asas, Calif. He retired 
three months ago, after 69 years of 
acting. On the stage Everton played 
male leads with Elsie Ferguson, Ma- 
dame Jauauschek and other stars of 

■ a bygone era and toured extensively 
in. the U, S. and Canada. His last 
Appearance on the screen was in 

, "Leave Her to Heaven." 
llVife and daughter survive, 

yE*N r. x^oxiNo 

Vem tlf. Youiig, 70,. president of 
Y <t W Management Corp., In- 
dianapolis, died Feb. 26 in Miami 
Beach. He had returned to Florida 
only week previous, following an 
operation at the Mayo Clinic, Hoch- 
ester, Minn. A pioneer Indiana film 
exhibitor, Young started with a 
house to Gary in 1907. Y & W now 
operates 27 theatres in Indiana. He 
retired about five years ago. 

Wife, son and daughter survive. 



LODOVICO OLIVIEKO . 

Lodovico Oliviero, 62, / operatic 
tenor, died Feb. 25 in New York. He 
was under contract to the Metropol- 
itan Opera Co. this season and sang 
a principal role in the opera, "Peter 
Grimes," two night before his death. 

Before joining the Met in 1939, he 
sang with opera companies here and 
abroadi including the San Francisco 
Opera Co., ' Chicago Civic Opera. 
. Wife survives. 



. ALTON COOK WATSON 

Alton Cook Watson, 34, composer 
and lyricist, died Feb. 23 at his 
home In Raleigh, following' a linger- 
ing Illness. Among his songs were 
"Each Minute Seems a Million 
Years," "Gonna Write My Daddy a 
Letter," "Some Day, Darling," "Arfe 

. Ycu. Sorry Now You Said Goodbye?" 
and"There's An Ache itt My Heart 

- Over You;!' 



.TOIIN OLIVER 

John Oliver, 53, composer, ar- 
ranger and a.ssociate editor of the 
Edmonton, Alta., Journal, died of 
pneumonia, Feb. 9, in Edmonton. He 
" had been appointefl to the Journal 
ptSl-^only 10 dftlrs^lVior to hiSifdeaHhf' 



JAMES RICE 

James Rice, 76, vaude and l^git ac- 
tor, died Feb. 25 in Chicago. He and 
his wife formed the team of Rice & 
Lyons, which appeared at both Chi 
worm fairs and with many stock 
companies. His last Broadway show 
was "The Blonde Sinner." 

Daughter and. son also survive. 



DANIEL CASE¥ 

. Daniel Casey, 76, brother, of film 
industry labor relations consultant 
Pat Casey, died Feb. 28 in Spring- 
field, Mass. 

He operated a vaude booking 
agency in New York. 



CHARLES A. MAST 

Charles A. Mast, 79, a stagehand, 
died Feb. 24 at his home in St. Loui-Si 
of a complication of infirmities. He 
joined the grips' union in 1892, 
worked in various St. Louis theatres. 
He retired in 1945. 



Motber of L. A. & B. W. Fred- 
erick, president and < vice-president 
of Frederick Bros. Agency, di6d Feb. 
25 in Hollywood.' Sh»'l^ft her home 
in Shawnee, OklA., to visit her sons 
and collapsed Dl a heart attack on 
the afternoon of her arrival. ,■ 



Sybil Eliza' .Tones, 58, one of the 
organizers and a life member of the 
Pasadena Playhouse, died Feb. 23 in 
San Diego. In recent years she was 
associate professor of dramatics at 
San Diego State College. 



Wife of James W. Gantz, news 
director o£ Station KYW, Philadel- 
phia, died there Feb. 28 after a long 
illness. Her husband was formerly 
sports editor of the Fhilly Record 
and Public Ledger. 



Jack Mabee, £0,, former bronc rid- 
ing chatjip and Wiid West show 
owner, died Feb. 24 in Hollywood. 
For years he operated The Round- 
up, a tavern near Gower Gulch fre- 
quented by film eowpokes. 



Barott James V. Auriema, 60, 
vaudeville ; baritone, died in Phoe- 
nix, KyVi., Feb. 24, of a . heart at- 
tack. Brother, Francis Renault, a 
female impersonator, survives. 



Mother of Peter Higgins, vaudfc 
and nitery singer, died Feb. 24 at her 
home in Pittsburgh after a long ill 
ness. Three other sons and three 
daughters also survive. 



Father of Weldon Walters, man- 
ager of 20tti-Fox, exchange in Pitts 
burgh, died last Feb. 23 at his home 
near Willces-Barre, Pa.; after a brief 
illness. 



: Wife of Richard W. Myers, part, 
ner in the legit producing firm of 
Aldrich & Myers, died Feb. 27 at her 
home in Westbuty, L. L Mother ani' 
sister also survive. 



that, because of a eurious resistance 
and other pM^chological bugs which 
developed while some of the local 
contractors were working for Levin. 

Despite the large show biz influx, 
and its "liberal" attitudes, some of 
the hide-bound prejudices seem to 
p'ersist as evidenced, for instance, at 
the Tennis Club where there Js a 
specific membership restriction on 
grounds of religion. , One of the 
oldest hostelrics here maintains a 
"quota." This angle, incidentally, is 
said to have figured in the difficul- 
ties that Levin faced with his Palm 
Springs Biltmore. Whereas certain 
hotels deliberately aim lor a 'mixed" 
patronage, just as the Tennis Club 
does In reverse, these very embargos 
on free patronage forces type-cast- 
ing. Perhaps the best approximation 
of mixed patronage obtains at the 
Racquet Club which Charlie Farrell 
has pyramided into a somewhat 
phenomenal desert succes.<:, so that 
now he maintains a summer site at 
Catalina Island. Farrell first bought 
some 80 acres, of so-called desert 
wasteland for., under $1,500 many 
years ago and today his guest bunga- 
lows cost^l?>000 each. 

The community generally is boom- 
ing beyond its borders -so that realty 
developments on the road to Indio— 
all of whom ballyhoo in the two 
local dailies and over the radio there 
is "one hour more of sun"— are liter- 
ally doing landoffice business. 

Shops^ Clubs 

Ditto the shops. The Bullock's 
Palm Springs is a gem of city .shop- 
ping in the desert. Don Manchester 
and Nathaniel A. Davis, latter of 
Los Angeles, have opened the new 
Don Manchester's Bombay, right on 
the main road. North Palm Canyon 
Drive. Davis himself is operating the 
new Temecula Hot Springs tiotel 
and restaurant at Murrieta, some 60 
miles Irom here - There are two 
popular -casinos hard by 

Bob Hope was recently made 
"honorary mayor" of this resort of 
which Clarence Hyde is the official 
first citizen.'. 

KCMJ, CBS affiliate, now in its 
third year, operates 17% hours daily 
under Dick Joy, manager; Don Mc- 
Bain, chief engineer; Larry Eaton, 
who just joined as asst. c.e.: Roland 
Vaile, asst. mgr.; Harry Davis, ac- 
count exec; Cecelia Ehreseman,o fEice 
mgr.; Dorothy Fanning, traffic mgr.; 
Hal Davis, speeial events announcer, 
and Gene Morgan and Arthur La- 
Boe, announcers., "rhe entire Indio 
valley is an ever-growing potential 
market, and spot commercials from 
Brawlejr^ and kindred neighboring 
towns, inay be the reason tor Desert 
Sun (semi-weekly) publisher lOliver 
B. Jaynes- giving the brushoffi to 
Frank Sinatra in his column. Pub"- 
lisher Jaynes observes the crooner 
"wants to put up a radio station 
which Palm Springs needs like a 
snowplow." The other local 'semi- 
weekly is the Limelight-Ncws which 
Smith Davis, the newspaper broker, 
is mergiiiit with' the . Desert Sun 
shortly. . 

Sinatra, Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, 
Bob Hope, Sam Briskin, Sol Lesser, 
Monte Proser, Paul .Lukas, Jack 
Benny, Armand ^Deutsch . (Benay 
Venuta) and Bryan Foy, among 
other show biz' personalities, are PS 
home-owners, " ' ; 

Bobby Riggs and Jack Kramer 
billed for March 7 by Tennis Club 
prexy Lee Bering. . 
' Jai Alai booming in Tijuana, and 
getting mucli Southern. Gal. tourist 
trade. • 

The 49er Room of Del Tahquitz 
hotel, which silent film star Fritzi 
Ridgeway once operated, but is now 
run by Max F/ Dresdner, has ap 
elaborate fioorshow headed by the 3 
Loose Screws plus' Maury Walker, 
Ricki* * Bobley, ifIelen Golden and 
Bob Lane at the "musical pianabar," 
where the customm' quafll as he 
rkles the fceyik ■ > 



Kay Palmer, traveling auditor for 
Warner Bros, since 1981, died Feb. 
26 in Atlanta. Wife, soh and dau^- 
ter survive. 



Father of Rosemary Rotli, New 
York radio writer, J^eb, 21 in Welles- 
ley, Mass. 



Palm Springs 

Continued from psge 1 «— J 

wife, Virginia Valli. Legit actor 
Ralph Bellamy .started in the ven- 
ture with Farrell but sold out. 

Levin, like Balaban, is utiliiing 
his hostelry, to develop the Rancho 
Royale subdivision tract adja- 
cent to the Biltmore. , Latter* budg- 
eted at ,$2i567oOO. is said to have 
'mi, time? 



'wBiSpck-jujp^costing , aimo"*' 



Swaffer Swats 

Contlniiea . f rom pag« Z 5 



very popular in Bohemian London 
in a very few days. 

To my surprise and great disap- 
pointment, two men who were ob- 
viously masters of humor were par- 
ties to at least a dozen gross breaches 
of good taste. 

The L.C.C., a Socialist-controlled 
body, deliberately refuses to be a 
Nosey Parker. It does not send in- 
spectors round the halls in search 
of un-EngHsh activities; but when a 
complaint - is -made to it, inspection 
immediately follows. . • . 

I particularly called the Coun- 
cil's attention to the carrying across 
the stage of a lavatory .pan with 
Olson hoppina. ^6ut , HncM^^tfiWy 

,9n pne foo{,stiie-i#i®pihg^.Jii:,fai, doll 



65 



on a woman pretending to be 
screaming in labor pains, and the 
pursuit of. a girl> wearing a kind of 
chasity belt, by Ole Olsen carrying 
a safe-opener's blowpipe. 

Olsen and Johnson obviously need 
in no way fall back on breaches of 
good manners of this kind. John^. 
son's admirable compering and Ol- 
sen's comic, face are in themselves 
the basis of what, without indecency, 
might be a really flne^ if over- 
noisy entertainment. ; 

Refusal to amend the ' show to 
comply with • any recommendations 
made by an LCC inspector might 
lead' to the London Casino. losing its 
license. 

I must say, out of fairness to Ol- 
sen & Johnson, that ' until I inter- 
vened no British newspaper critic 
had found any fault on the grounds 
of its impropriety. 



Plenty Showmanshqi 

5SSS ^e>iti>>tte4' (rem page X jsass 

weight. She will not need any flt-^ 

ings. 

Mannequins' U. S. Tour 
Dior's eight mannequins, a real in- 
ternational crop (Portuguese, Polisli, 
American, Russian, Manchurian and 
French) will be seen' in Shop-win- 
dowis all over America. Lillian 
Greneker, wife of Claude Greneker, 
publicity agent of the Shuberts, is 
having the eight gals figure sculpted, 
to be ready for the spring manne- 
quin show in New York. Mrs. 
Greneker has been in Paris planning 
these figures with Dior and Rene 
Gruau, the French artist. They will 
resemble Dior's eight girls and will 
show women how to look and stand. 
She, with Dior and Gruau, also have 
been modelling heads, deciding . on 
skin tones, mak'eup, hairsets, also se- 
lecting various attitudes. Dior ex- 
pects tO'fiy. over to'New York to see 
the finished product. They will repre. 
sent the Perfect Woman— the New 
Venus "fathered in Paris and born 
in New York." 

Telecasting These SUimners 
Hats are world, video's job this 
week. The best known modistes—' 
Paulette, Maud & Nano, Maud Roser, 
Domino, .Leg'roux, etc.— are being 
televis^. They , have asked their 
best customers to come , in and co-> 
operate. Closeups are made of the 
most, glamorous "clientes" who are 
seen trying on the newest hats. There 
is, as usual, quitfe a little rivalry and 
plenty of 'contusion at* first, but 
Robert Capa has had training in \ 
handling' amateur society women by ' 
now. Many, a little Paris "midinette" 
dreams that a talent scout or a 
famous producer somewhere in 
America will ^Single: her out. 
. Soon aU the famous restaurants- 
Maxim's, i^our d'Argi^t, etc.— will be 
on world's video. 'programs. ' 



Jukebsx Cliains 



Contlnned from pate 1 as 

ing the distrlbutio'ii rights- for his 
territory... . - - 

By acquiring such franchises the 
jukebox operator not' only reduces 
the prices of his machine-placed 
record by 20% but he stands to 
recover his original investment on 
the disk entirely through sales of 
the release to retaiteis in the area. 
Placements have been pressuring the 
operators foif a bigger share of the 
nickel take, and the jnachin«.(iwners 
look upon this distribution angle as' 
a way of ■ compensating for aity con- 
cessions they must make to the spots. 

Some of the smaller labels'^lready 
approached by the ops have shown 
a dispo'.sition'to go along with them. 
•A number of the smallies' find them- 
selves at the moment in a tight fi- 
nancial fix because on the money 
they poured in master stocks, prioir 
to the AFM ban, and the tieup is 
enticing to them; they get their 
records into ..machine not available 
to them before and the ice is broken 
for them in areas where heretofore 
their product has not had a dis- 
tributor. 

Obviously disturbed by the reach- 
ing out into the distribution field by 
the machine men are the major rec- 
ord companies. If the distribution 
sideline were to be adopted gen- 
erally by the operators, these major 
firm's would be faced for the first 
time with competition from exploit- 
ers as well as consumers of record;;. 
What seems to worry the big com- 
panies most about this prospect is 
that the machine men might carry 
their amtoltlons to the point of in^ 
ducing flisk jockeys: ^to work ijand, 
in hand' wife th'em, ' ' ' ( 



'Big Money' Skid 



Continuea from pace 1' 



room. A niccoy cleanup would de- ' 
prive many-of these hotels of both 
. moneyed patrbpage and the: conces^ 
sion coin. The bookmaker pays con- 
siderable fees .per season for the 
privilege of soliciting bets -at the 
sundry tiostelries. .Without the people 
that can pay as high as $30 daily per 
room, loss of properties would be in- 
evitable sin^e,, under' present finan- 
cial encumbrances^ they can't op- 
erate at a $10 . daily average during 
season. 

The dopesters also point out that 
.the campaign for the Beach's take- 
over coincides with the fact that 
black-market and kindred types of 
money is no more. , 

History proves that a major resort 
starts out as a haven for the Social 
Register. Then the nouveau-riche 
come in and eventually the hoi-pol- 
loi takes over. The Rockaways and 
Atlantic City prove that. 



MARRIAGES 

Elinor Frainklin lnmait to CSittord 
Rose , Jennings, . Chicago, Feb.' 29. 
Bride is CBS director of religious 
broadcasts. 

Faith Locke Langley ' to Dr. Vin- 
cent Paul Michael Hollander, New 
York, Feb. 27. -Bride? is a legit ac^ 
tress. 

Lillian Mae Smith to Harold Davi.s, 
New York, Feb. '7. .Grqom is New 
York rep of Station WCAUi - Phila- 
delphia. 

Dorothy Stephens Berry to Victor 
Mature, Yuma," Ariz., Feb. 28. He's 
the film actor. " ' 

Doris Zimmerman to Arthur Bron- 
son, Mlanji',B^ijfa«. March 1. -^le's a 
Vabiexv staffer: " '. 

S. Jane .. Applewhite to .Oran K.' 
Tally, Corpus Christi, Texas., Feb. 
26. He's an engineer for KYPM, Sim 
Antonio. 

Bernice Parks' Pike to Dr. Law- 
rence M. Shefts,' New York, Feb. -28. 
Bride is' an actress-singer known 
professionally as Bernice Parks. ■ 

Valentina Va^silievna Nilutina to 
Franklin Latimore Klincj *Stamfordi 
Conn., Feb: 28. He's a film actor, 
known professionally as Frank Lati- 
more.' . ' , ■ ' _ 

Mrs.. . Blancl^e. D., , Moscgsohn to 
Walter Cowen.Xorn, New York, Feb. 
11, Bride is a member of the 'board 
of . the N.. Y.i f Philharmonic-Sym- 
phony. Society and vice-chairman 
of Stadium Concerts, Ihc, ^ 

Ebba Blackwood tO' .<$. T. Alcixan- 
der, Las 'VegaSi'.'Feb. 20. Bride^is 
with RKO's Los Angeles 'Exchange. 

Natalie Drapelf' to Ivan Gdff. Yiinla, 
Ariz., Feb. 26. She'* an actress; he's 
a screen, writer. 

Patricia Lucile Huber to Jellerion 
McCarthy. Pierson^ New York, Feb. 
20. Bride is daughter of Paul Huber : 
ahdi Lucile^.tii^orris ;,jEIuber, both ^for- 
merly of Xegit. He -is son of B. 
Wayne Piersop..iand Lulu Dunn Pier- 
son,' former Jegit^ . , ^l 

Helen Westcott .to Don Gordon, 
Oxnardj Calif.; Feb. 18. They are 
film players. ; • . ' 
' Helen- Cleveland to Harry Owens, 
Santa Bartiara', Feb, H^'k j|he 
band leader.' ' ' 

Marjorie Lee to Bernie Halp'ert, . 
Las 'Vegas, Feb. 20. Bride Is- a, .vo- 
calist. ' ' . ' 



BIRTHS 

Mr, and Mrs. Henry 'Levin, -'son, 
Hollywood, Feb. 27. Father 'Js a 
director at ColUfnbia. ' ' 

Mr. and Mrs. Fordyce Mitchell, 
son, Memphis, feb.' '22. Mot|ier is 
the former fMiss'Louisiai^a, ' and,. an 
opera - singer .Mnder - the name of 
Marguerite McClelland. . 

Mr. and .Mrs, Edwin Clay, daugh- 
ter. New York, Feb; 22. Father is 
with touring company of "Annie. 
Get Your Gun." 

■ Mr. and Mrs. Paul Pease, son, 
Hollywood, Feb. 26. Father is treas- 
urer of Walt Disney Studios,. 

Mr. and 'Mrs, Jerrj^ Adler, daugh- 
ter, Hollywood, Feb. 19. Father is 
staff musician at NBC. , - 

Mr. and Mrs. Charles ' Stone, 
daughter, New York, Feb. 22. Father 
is a press agent. 

Commander and Mrs. Walter Win- 
sloWi daughter, Coronado, Calif. » 
Feb. 24. Mother was Tonl Favor, 
legit actress, 

Mr. and Mrs. John Galbraith, son, 
San Francisco, last week. Father is 
chief announcer for station KGO 
there. 

Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Langkop, 
son, Dallas, Feb. 20. Mother is for- 
mer figure skater,.now produces ice 
.shows for the Century room in 
Dallas' Adolphus hotel, 

Mr. and' Mrs. Ronald Dewar, 
Oaiifihteri.IJolly'wpod, March I'.^He's 
,Vf:^pcf ; -gf -jj^rgQ^ j^^av.<i.aonv £^ 



WfjAwtaAay^ Mweeh 3, 1948 





mim ARIISTS COAPORATIOt 



THOMAS t.KOCKmt.hMMtM 



CAPITOL 





■ism 



THE KEW YOUK 

PUBLIC WBRABY- 

ASTOJi, UEN'OX AND 
H 1S48 I. 





Published Weelclr*at ISt West 4etb Street, New Torh It, N. T.. by Variety, Inc. Annual subscrltttlon, flO. BittBl* <:oples, IK cents. - 
Bntered M aeednd clam matter December ii, IMi, at the Post OKiee at New York, N. T., under the a<tt af irareh 3, l8Tt, 

oonwi^aiT, utt. m TAumcr. inc. aix KteHxs BESnRviiD. 




VOL. 170 No. 1 


NEW YOitK, WEDNlfiSDAY, MARCH 10, 1948 \ 

________ — — , .1 — . — ^ — .' ' ' .'. ' ,'. ' ' \'' 






KPUBUC 






Forep Marts, EspedaHy \mi^ 
M Ondetlor U. S. Acts, i^mies 



' fcontrafy to the situation in tl>e* 
* . film industry, tiie foreign marlceU 
are^ currently a lifesaver for the 
" vaude field. England, which consti- 
tutes the bulk of foreign talent buy- 
' ing. is shelUng out heavily for U. S. 
. ^ performers. ' According to a state- 
: tnent issued by the British Chan- 
cellor of tjie Exchequer, Sir Stalforh 
\Oipps, in answer to a parliamentary 
QV^tion, for the six months starting 
'lafet November American talent 
working in theatres and music ha'ls 

■ teVe remitted $696,000 to the U. S. 
\ Ttiis sum has given a considerable 

s*"*; lift to talent agencies here. The Wil- 
'liam Morris agency has been the 
maioi' recipient of that coin, having 
boiled the majority of acts playing 
'ftHtafei. 

Siinultaneously, British theatres 
'.{lave Ijeen hypoed considerably by 
. American acts. For example, the 
-! ^ falladiunj^ London, has been gros.s- 
, i^giln excess of $32,000 weekly witli 

■ Danny Kaye as the attraction. Simi- 

■ lar topnotch grosses are being hit 
by the Casino theatre there, with 
Olsen and Johnson as the lure. 

Ameirlcan talent is now becoming 
^.'^ «.stt(p}e in the British entertainment 
niarts 1>ecause of the herculean 
(' ^ grosses theatres have been hitting. 
J " Th^ C&smo theatre has signed for 
^ * futme dates Sophie Tucker. Ella 
Fitaigeiald, Jimmy Durante, Walter 
i Dare \Vahl, Charioteers and Maxine 
y,SvilljVEvn The Palladium will suc- 
»! fu<Wted' Danny Kaye witti Jean Sablon 



s^p«&.|wis spplifed! for American citi- 
1» (Continued on page 63) 

When Saloon Bk Dips 



Ini^A-Fussin' 

Broadway would like to see a 
, pan of nttery partners who aren't 
, . faudmg; When" declining revenues 
bit thd cafes, partners seemingly 
jj.. .Sjart to blame each other for the bad 
' ^S?** i^suiMy the buslness-boniface 
oeihattds retrenchment, while the 
shojiirmlan of the group generally 
wants to go ttU-out In the matter 
ot names and iadvertising to revive 
F«?-Jagging trade. 

■, ,"'*^y now axiomatic that i£ the 
c ™swc and traditional partnership 
oI Mn (Enken) & Eddife's (Davis) 
SpWt. no Combine is immune 
K . dissolution. Dario and Jimmy 
,i'kX^°n dissolved last year, with 
verhon taking a powder on La IWar- 

■ rl"?"^* management, although he 
, Tetains a financial interest. 

+h n """^ secret that 

- ''"P^cabana is being split wide 
, VX*"* partners. Although 

'3. nominally the head 
'-'CpLi , '''sti-o. his influence in tlie 

■ ct-ates management is reported con- 



All-Fanqly Theatre 

Philadelphia, March 9. 
The many-member family of Don 
Rose, veteran Evening Bulletin col- 
umnist and author, has formed an 
alt-Rose theatre company for local 
bookinjis. 

Known aij the Penepae Players, 
the cast is made up of various mem- 
bers of the family, from Don on 
down to nieces, nephews and grand- 
children. The same family line ex- 
tends to the production end with 
songs, costumes, s'-enery, lights, 
staging, production, etc. 

All costumes are designed and 
made by Mrs. Don Rose. 




Nets Bypassed as Gillette Pays lOOG 
For Lduis-Wakott RadkhTV R^s 



>^r?. ^ on the decline, and JuUe 
' n<»^ signing all talent con- 
influencing the prociuc- 



Berlin Waxes 
Lyrical About 
•Steady' Songs 

Irving Berlin has his own ideas 
about the worth of so-called 1,000,- 
000-copy song hits. He feels that the 
smash pop seller is a very nice thing 
for the immediate economic benefit 
of all concerned, but he believes that 
the importance of tiie song is to be 
preferred, so far as copyright value 
is concerned. 

A l,000,C!00-copy bestseller may be- 
come as dead as yesterday's news- 
paper, whereas the sturdy, so-called 
"solid" songs of the Kerns, Herberts, 
Hoschnas, Youmanses, Louis A. 
Hirsches, Lehars, Rombergs, et al., 
have a durability which appreciates 
with thf years. These values run 
the. gamut from thematic music for 
"period" purposes (in films, big 
radio programs, etc.) to their basic 
ASCAP worth under the broad 
classification of "availability." This 
counts for 30% margin in the ASCAP 
royalty melon calculations. 

Berlin feels he is only qualified to 
speak with authority yabout his own 
(Continued on page 63) 



W long-runninjf Uff is cur- 
(Oontinued'ibh page 27) 



MUIX AYIESWORTH BIOG 
FOR m RADIO' FILM 

Hollywood, March 9. 

M. H. Aylesworth's memoirs 
slated for Collier's serialization in 
April, may become a film biog of the 
history of radio. Probable title 
would be "Mr. Radio," which may 
also be the caption tor the book ver- 
sion. Simon & Schuster currently 
has it under consideration but mean- 
time Collier's will do it in five or 
si.-c parts, paying Aylesworth and 
Ben Gross, his frollabo^ator, $1,200 
per article. Latter is radio editor of 
the N. Y. Daily News. 

Ayle.sworth was formerly presl 
dent of NBC. RKO Radio Pictures 
and al.-^io publisher of the N. Y. World 
Telegram for Boy cScripps-) How 
ard. He's now in public relations. 



By HERB GOtDEN 

Stars ain't what they used to be. 

That's a nutshell summary of the 
tremendous change in thinking con- 
cerning player valuesjtbat has taken 
place in the picture/indUstry in the 
past few months. 0\'ertUrn of many 
long-accepted ideas on the values of 
stars to pictures is, in fact, one of 
the most significant results of Holly- 
wood's currently disturbed state. 

Aside from the established lure of 
a handful of these, perhaps 25 at the 
most, who provide producers with 

insurance" — or the "illusion of m- 
surance," as David O. Selznick put 
it last week — many students of the | 
industry are coming to the conclu- 
.sion that there are mighty few play- 
ers who count for a dollar at the 
b.o. 

That's not to say the star system 
is dead. There's no denying, how- 
ever, that it's probably ht its 
shakiest position since films were a 
foundling. Unless a new crop of 
players — a crop that's not currently 
on the horizon — comes up, other 
values in pictures are bound to con- 
tinue toward becoming more im- 
portant than any star. 

The paradox of the present situar 
tion is that it is much less public 
taste than traditional and OUtiAoded 
(Continued on, p»ge 63) 



Straw Vote in the Wind? 

If . the Repufolieans study fhc 
Hoopers, they can do some fancy 
gloating. 

It cost the U. S. Steel's "Theatre 
Guild of the Air" 2.3 rating points, 
probably representing 1;000,000 lis- 
teners, in carrying President Tru- 
man's speech during the intermisr 
sion of the Guild's "Barretts of 
Wimpole Street" airer on Ffeb. 29, 
the new Hoopers reveal. '■ 

For the first half ot' the Sunday 
night broadcast, "Guild" was riding 
high with an all-time 13.5 record 
rating. Then came Truman, and the 
second half nosedived to an 11.2. 



Am's Unique Approach 
Finds Publisher Buying 
Songs Submitted by Mail 

Leeds Music ran into an unusual 
approach by an amateur songwriter 
some months back, and the occur- 
rence culminated last week in the 
firm's at'ceptance of some cf the am's 
tunes. 

Last year, Leeds' office in Holly- 
wood received an envelope marked 
Prom Records. Attached to a letter 
was a $5 bill, and the sender ex- 
plained that the money was to cover 
a bet with Lou Levy, Leeds head, 
that among the material enclosed 
were some hit tunes. 

Levy, intrigued by the approach, 
answered, and last week Julian H. 
Miller II, showed up at Leeds' 
New York office. It was then 
that Leeds %ound put that in 
addition to writing songs, Miller 
owned and operated two record la- 
bels in St. Louis, the Prom and Man- 
hattan series, plus a music niag also 
called Prom. Both disit labels re- 
corded nothing but Miller Mngs and 
out of the batch he subniitted Levy 
selected a half -dozen. 



Tops of .ihe Tdf* 

KetafI Disk Seller 
"Four Leaf Clover'' 
Retail Slieel Music Seller 
"Now Is The Hour" 
"IWost Requested" Disk 

"Miinana" 
Seller on Coin aiachines 
"Now Is The Hour" 
Britisb Best Selfer 
"Tree in a Meadow" 



U. S. Reels, Nixed 
On Protest Talk 
Olympb Boycott 

Movemept by the American news- 
reel companies to boycott the sum- 
mer Olympic games in England is 
under foot following .the nixing by 
Avery Brundage, chairman- of the 
AmericEin Olympics Coinmittee; of a 
plea by the reels that the games be 
kept open to , all comers. : Brundage 
this week, in a letter to tfie reels, 
conceded that "exclusive rights to 
film the sports events had been 
awarded to J. Arthur Rank, British 
fllra,maker. while rejecting the Yank 
demand to set aside the deal." 

Following through in what's ob- 
viously intended td protect Rank's 
frantihise, the World Olympics Ctira- 
mittee has now issued its rules cov- 
ering the games which bar all mo- 
tion picture cameras from the sta- 
dium. Guests and visitors, regula- 
tions provide, may take still shots of' 
the matches, but may not, under any 
circumstances, shoot live action 
lilms. It's intended to prevent boot- 
leg pix from being taken from the 
(Continued .on page 27) • 



Marking the first time that % 
ma.ior national advertiser has sewn 
up both radio and television rights 
to a mainr sports event, Gillette this 
week .shelled out $100,000 for rights 
to the second Joe Louis-Jersey Joa 
Walcott heavyweight champion.ship 
fight scheduled for June 23 at Yan- 
kee Stadium, N. Y. " 

In the past, rights to such events 
were held 'by the broadcasters, wlia 
then went out to find a sponsor for 
them; Joint 'contract held with Mike 
Jacobs' 20th Century ^Sporting Club 
by Gillette and NBC for tele and 
with ABC for radio hss expired, 
ho w,ever, and Jacobs ' decided . to : 
throw the event on the open 'mar- 
ket. NBC reportedly bid for tele 
rights to the fight, but refused to 
meet Gillette's offer,. 

Because of tlie standout coverage 
and promotion job turned in. by 
NBC on previous title fights, thoujgh, 
it's believed probable- that Gillette 
will assign coverage on the June 
fight to that web. Fact that NBC 
win have its entire six-station 'ftet- , 
work in operation by that time also 
figures in the selection of a web, 
NBC, plus whichever radio weii) gets 
the AM coverage, will raportedW 
kick back a hefty part of .the $100,000 
laid out by Gillette fo^ the privilege- 
of airing, the fight, indicating Gn- 
lette may recoup most of the amount. 

Promotion of the fight and ar- 
rangements for putting it on the 
auction block were concluded ill a 
meeting in Florida last week 'among 
reps of the Yankees, MadisOQ S9> 
tGarden Corp., the Jacobs office and 
Louis' managers. Gillette purchase 
price will probably be spUt among 
Louis, Walcott and <!racobs. 



LA. GOV. DimiNG 
FOR SETWiRK SHOW 

New Orleans, March 9. 

Gov,. James H. Da«?is iays he's 
dickeiing with ABC Network for a 
show that vaould be ^tnown as "The 
Sunshine H<iur." 

Davis, whose terra as governor 
ends May 11^ said he. had prepared 
sample recordings Of the proposed 
show and that he is now negotiating 
with the network, He said he did 
not know when, the program would 
start since "nothing definite has been 
decided." 

The governor, a song T»riter and 
much -recorded handleader, said the 
program "Would be principally musi- 
cal and that his bancH -would take 
part. 



10' ; 

Of Prodneers Seeing 
Play Alive %r the Actors' 

."Happy Birthdajf,'^ Whicji cl<Bes a 
72-week run ?on. Brpadwpy Saturday ■ 
(13 ) at the Broadhurst and .ViU not 
tour, is ah unUsual instance oi the- 
management continuing an engage- 
ment for the benefit of the actors. . 

The Anita Loos play paid off on 
prodi'ction last fall, whcp the show 
had run more than a year, but there 
has been' an ojperating profit t9 
Rodgers & Hatamersteifi, who pro- 
duced "Birthday," very few weeks ' 
through the winter. Operating'-niut 
for the play has been e-cceptit»nally 
heavy for a straight sliov.', which 
explains the length of time required 
to re^;apture the investment in an 
attraction that wfis one of last .sea- 
son's ^tandoutj^. 

R. it H. ndacte a special agreement 
with Helen Hayes, ^vho's atarted; 
the author and Joshua Logan, show's 
sta&or, whereby each would accept 
a lessor percertage if takings 
dropped to levels at which there was 
no profit. The managers were con- 
tent to keep "Birthday" running as 
long as the star wished; provided 
such continuation did not push the" 
show into the red. That arrange* 
ment proved satisfactory and wan 
(Continued 0]v<^age„6S) 



•I 



i»icircnRi» 



Tmman Hooper Is Hi^ Hemii^ay s 
Low, i Cubanio4](«sciou^ Key West 



By DOROTHY HOLLOWAIT ■ 

Key West, JMtorch 9, 
This southetmost U. S. town is 
probably one of the few spots south 
of the Mason-Dixon line where 
President Truman is still ringing up 
a high Hooper. The Conks, as the 
Jtiatives are called, make no bones 
about the fact the President has 
done more to put the island on the 
map than hurricanes and pirates 
have done in the past to wipe }t off. 

At the same time, the local C. of 
C. echoes a dirge heard in resort 
towns the country over. Although 
the volume of tourists continues at 
high pitch, the rubberneclts "are 
coming more and more from the 
eticks and spending less and less.'^ 

As a result, the island's more than 
80 honky-tonk bars and niteries (a 
high ratio for a floating" population 
around 25,000) still rely on the 
sailor trade from the three, nearby 
Navy posts to. stay in business. Most 
of them operate "package" stores 
and backroom gambling on the side. 

Sloppy Joe's <not the joriginal, of 
coiurse) continues to pull in the 
customers, still profiting from the 
.publicity given it by Ernest Hem- 
ingway in his Key West novel, "To 
Have and Have Not," The Trade 
Winds, located in an old ship cap- 
tain's house on Duval street, is the 
nearest approach to a New York- 
type nitery outside the hotels, while 
the locally-owned Tropics, which 
boasts an honest-to-gosh stripper, isi; 
also popular with the tourist and 
Navy trade. 

Cuban Jive Joanoeit Bart 
Petrillo has a flourishing local 
here, jnade up mostly of Cubanos, 
hillbilly trios and U. S. entertainers 
down for the winter.- Bars go in 
heavy for live music, much of it 
Cuban jive. Peggy Lee's'Capitol re- 
cording of "Manana" is heard around 
the clock and gobs push nickels into 
Jukes aU over town toi hear Arthur 
Godfrey's "Too Fat.PoUca." 

Town's, other Briigs for the tour- 
ist trade are its good Cubano eater- 
ies, disguised in the form of termite- 
ridden shades plastered together 
with Coca Cola ads, .superb fishing 
oft },he keys and the stepped'up in- 
flux; of literati and artists who have 

- chosen Key West as a Florida ref- 
uge. 

- ■ Currently in town is Budd Schul- 
herg at the Casa Cayo Hueso hotel, 
Where he is working on writing com- 

' ' (Continued on page 61) 



Foreign Newt 

Foreign news, long segregated 
in Vabiety under an Internatioh* 
al News plassiflcation, wUil;be db- 
partmentaU?!ed heneejottfe into., 
the respective ri«wB".'seMons.; ;N 

Chatter from foreign cities rjsjf -; 
mains on the Chatter page as 
.usual. ' 




W«An«sday,' Mfilidhi 10;- 194^ 



BERNSTEIN, WELLES IN 
i^AL FOR PIC lEAR' 

Hollywood, March 9. 
Sidney Bernstein, who leaves lor 
E^Iand April 1, has set a deal with 
', Orson Welles for filmization of 
Shakespeare's "King" Lear" in Eng- 
land. Alfred Hitchcock will sail with 
, Bernstein to set up' plans for "Under 
Capricorn'' Ingrid ' Bergman starrer, 
overijeas. She leaves in May. 

All loeationing is to be near Oalj- 
land, where the countryside resem- 
bles Australia, where the film is set. 
Except for Miss Bei-gman, cast will 
be all British. 



Rank, Sarnof f to Get 
Honorary Degrees At 
Boston U. on Friday (12) 

Jv Arthur Rank, David Sarnofl, 
prez of RCA; and Paxil G. Hoffman, 
head of the Studebaker Corp., will 
receive Bachelor of Laws and Let 
ters degrees from Boston University 
Friday morning . (12) in the 
course 'of a celebration of Founders' 
Day in which other show biz per 
sonalities wiU.bfr on hand. . , 

Rank will also deliver a speech in 
the course of a banquet, Friday 
oveningi During the day, Spyros 
Skoura.s. 20th -Fox prexy, will chair 
man a panel on films in education; 
their contributions and potentiali' 
ties. Other slated speakers in the pix 
section are Louis De Rochemont, 
film producer, and Arthur H. DeBra, 
Motion Picture Assn. of America 
official. ■ 

■Radio will also have its innings in 
p'Snel discu.ssions. Justin Miller, Na- 
tional Advisory Board prexy, will 
wield the gavel on a mulling of the 
.significance of the new ■ radio code. 
Speakers will be" Harold E. Fellows, 
general manager of WEEI, Boston; 
Craig Lawrence, general manager of 
WCOP, Boston; and Ted Cott, sta- 
tion manager of WNEW, New . York. 

Rank then returns to Gotham,_ 
Satiu'day (13), for confabs with' 
American film biggies. He's tenta- 
tively slated to leave New '^'ork, 
March 17, for a one-week stay in 
Palm Beach at the home of Robert 
R. Young, railroad magnate who 
also heads Pathe Industries. 

From there, he'll entrain for the 
Coast, via New York and Chicago, 
where he plans to visit his daughter, 
Mrs. Fred Paclcard, for one week or 
so. Then, back to New York again, 
for a short haul and down to Green- 
brier, White Sulphur Springs, Va., 
as guest ol Young at that hotel. 

He'll finally wind up again in New 
York for a return passage to Eng- 
land. 



299th WEEK! 
KEIV MURRAY'S 

"BLACKOUTS OF 1948" 
El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood, Cal, 
No»fonol ««/«a«» — Etwter W«»k 
^BILL AND COO" 

Releasied through 'HepubHc Pictures 
" 'BtU and Coo' is the greatest pic- 
ture of its kind I have ever sepn," 
LOU ELLA O, PARSONS. 



"By Joe Ijaurie^ Jr.** 



'Rartree' hcome 
May Totals 

Estate of Ross F. Lockridge, Jr., 
who committed suicide in his 
Bloomington,- Ind., home Saturday 
(6), is expected to: receive a total of 
$225,000 from the author's hestseU-. 
ing "Raintree.Country," under terms 
of the Metro prize-novel contest. 
That's the maximum amount possible, 
from a book that does not cop the 
Pulitzer award. 

Lockridge received $125,000 from 
Metro as the minimum guaranteed 
to the author for having won the 
contest. Another $25,000 was awarded 
him when his book was selected by 
the Book of the Month club. Other 
$100,000 is based on a percentage of 
the gross sales of the book, wliich 
has been on the bestseller lists for 
some time. C^rey Wilson has been 
assigned to produce "County" for 
Metro. • ■ 

In light of the 33^ear-old Lock- 
ridge's recent success,' his New York 
acquaintances could not ligure out 
the reasons for his suicide. Note 
penned by Loctaidge to one of them 
several weeks before his death, how- 
(Continued on page 22) 



*Voice of America' Coin 
Awaits House Action 

^ Washington, March 9. 

"Voice of America" $28,000,000 ap- 
propriation was okayed and sent to 
the Senate for action last week, by 
the House. Measure is exactly as 
it came from the House Appropria- 
tions Committee except for one new 
section which will permit the State 
Dept. to place American informa- 
tion and propaganda films in foreign' 
theatres, even if it involves paying 
the exhibitors. 

Amendment was oJiered by Rep. 
Karl Stefan (R., Neb.), who ex- 
plained lie was especially anxious 
to have it for the benefit of the 
Italian and Austrian situations. In 
'Italy, the State Dept. will work with 
Sandro Pallavicini, head of Incom, 
which produces the only newsreel in 
Italy. State Dept. clips will be placed 
in the reels, which reportedly reach 
8,000 theatres weekly, Stefan said 
the price would be $2,000 a week on 
the Italian deal, which the U.S. is 
.anxious to have, under way as soon 
as possible because . of the immi- 
nence- of the Italian elections," 

Stefan was asked whether the' 
State Dept. would , be limited to 
.using a share of the "Voice" money 
earmarked foi' motion pictures. The 
way ,his amendment is. worded,, he 
«x'plaincd, it would be possible) to 
use any portion- of th>i. *"11 
aftJO.-.-.tT r ■ . • 



London's Sid Field On 
Flying N.Y.,ff wood 0.0. 

Sid Field, British comedian who 
arrived in New York last week on 
his first visit,, is slated to star in a 
picture for Rank's Two Cities . Films 
in June and also in anober London 
musical in October. 

While in New York, Field plans to 
catch as many shows as possible be- 
fore planing to the Coast next Sun- 
day (14). He's due to return to 
Gotham April 4 and sails May V for 
home aboard the Queen Mary. His 
forthcoming legit musical will be 
presented by. George and Alfred 
Black. 



Gloria Swanson S^ned 
For WPIX Tele Series 



Former film star Gloria Swanson 
this week became the first performer 
to sign for a series of shows over 
WPIX, tele station being built by 
the N. Y. Daily News. She's to star 
in a weekly one-hour daytime .show, 
titled the "Gloria Swanson Hour," 
teeing off on or about June 15, when 
the station is slated to take the air. 

Program is to be slanted at women 
viewers, with Miss Swanson putting 
the emphasis on home-making hints 
to the hausfrauj;. It will be divided 
up into four different segments, with 
each segment available to a separate 
sponsor. Miss Swanson appeared as 
guest star once last year on a Chi- 
cago video show but the WPIX 
series will mark her preem as a 
tele entertainer. 



Ratoff Yens Longer Stay 
In Italy for Tax Reasons 

With Edward Small'^ "Cagliostro" 
now completed, Gregory Uatoff, who 
went |o Italy to direct -the film, is 
making efforts to line up another 
deal that will permit him to stay- 
there a while longer. He has been 
contacting British and American 
companies with a view to making a 
producer-director arrangement with 
one of them. ' 

Ratofi"s aim reportedly is to keep 
busy jn Italy long enough to extend 
his stay outiside of the U, S. to a 
year. His income from work abroad 
then becomes exempt from U. S. 
tixes. 

"Cagliostro" negative has now all 
arrived in this country. It had been 
shipped over ni daily ru.shcs to avoid 
po.ssible loss a.s result of change in 
the government or disturbances, 



Cusick's Mme. Sand Bipg 
With Garbo (In France) 

Peter Cusick heads for the Coast 
this week for confabs with Salka 
Viertel on the deal he has been 
endeavoring to set up to make a biog 
of Georges Sand in France. Miss 
Viertel has written the screenplay, 
in which Greta Garbo would star. 

Cusick returned last week from 
England, where he made a tenta 
tive partnei-ship agreement with Sir 
Ale-Tcandcr Korda on the film. He'si 
slated to return to England follow- 
ing the Coast huddles. " 



Surprise for Prexy 



Washington; March 9. 
Annual dinner of the 'White Ho'use 
Correspondents Assn. Saturday 
night (6)' wa^ hypoed by the: sur- 
prise appearance of Margaret Tru- 
man as guest soloist. Even Presi- 
dent Truman, honor guest at the 
Orson' -Welles, who starred it} the affair, admitted he had been "fooled." 



film hns gone to England to appear 
'! '. 'ano" for Sir Alexander 



Show other than that was en- 
tirely handled by thq Spike Jones 
"Musical ' Deprectati*Ji" • troupe. " 



The Palace on Broadway and 47th street, New York City, will be 35 
years old! on March 25, 1948. It has been glorified in pictures, m novels, 
on the radio, and on the stage. It ceased .being, the throng room of the 
Kings of Vaudeville in. 19321 It is now just a picture house. 

The Palac0 Wtfs a very {appropriate namej ft>r here is where the Kings 
and Queens of Comedy, song and 4ance, inusi*;t drama and acrobatics 
ruled for 19 years! W was here t% princes of entertainers and the enter- 
tainers of princes played for the many subjects ol Irfidy Vaudeville. When 
an act made good at the Palace, he was Hnighted and admittedi to the in- 
ner court eircles of the aristocrats and the blue bloods of the Vaudeville 
Kingdom. The PaJace maybe didn't play royalty hut it paid royally' If 
you made good at the Palace, you stepped, down, the three golden steps 
that were on each side of the stage, and you steppe^ into the rich, fields 
of musical comedy, drama, films and raijio,' 

The Palace was built by Martin Beck, taken away from him by E, F, 
Albee and, finally taken over by Joseph P. Kennedy, the financier who 
later becanie the U, S, Ambassador to England, Kennedy placed Hiram 
Brown at the head of liis new kingdom—be was a big leather man who 
knew nothing about show business except what the ticker tape told'him! 

Beck-Albee-Brown Blood-Sweat-and Tears! It was Martin Beck's 

blood that bifilt the Palace, E. F. Albee's sweat .that kept it going as the 
world's greatest yaudteville theatre, and Hiram Brown's tears • (when the 
stock market stopped laughing at vaude) that washed it away. Beck 
was the artist, Albee the showman, and Brown the busmess rnan. It was 
big business that ruined vaudeville— and The Palace! 

The immortal Sarah -Bernhardt put the. Palace on its .feet, and came 
back a few years later when she only had one leg to stand on! Her other 

one was amputated bat her ability as an actress and drawing card 

w:asn't. She received $7,000 a week paid to her with $500 in gold after 
each show. It wasn't that she diclta't trust the Palace, but she was a 
great showwoman," and although $7,000 a week was the greatest salary 
ever paid to an artist at that time. $500 in gold after each performance 
sounded bigger! I have heard it said by certain gentlemen who were in 
position to know that the $500 in gold payoff after each performance was 
strictly for the newspapers, that the "Divine -iSarah" was paid off at the 
end of -the week with a check ...certified! 

Art Over Profanity 

The Palace started Off with a strict, check on anything that was off -color 
in song, dialog or pantomime. Frank Keenan, the no^d dramatic actor 
(grandfather of Keenan Wynn), played a sketch in which an old fouthern 
gentleman is pleading with the Governor for a pard^on' for his son who 
killed a man. "Mr. Governor, he spat on the picture of Robert E. Lee, 
and GODDAM him my son killed him!" It was a shock to the audience 
who never heard such language on any vaudeville stiige, but it was all 
done so artistically that Mr. Albee allowed Mr. Keenan to keep it in, and 
play the entire circuit . . .Keenan and the line did plenty of business for 
the circuit. It was many years later, 1929 to be exact, when Beatrice 
Lillie sang a song at the Palace in which her finishing line was, "I see 
the same GODDAM faces." Lady Peel also did It artistically. .. .it was 
not censored. 'The blue and the double entendre were, starting to eat 
aWay at the roots of vaudieville,. Later came the dirty jokes and dirtier 
pieces of business, topped by the Lou Holtz cane technique. There werfe 
no more signs at the Palace reading, "It is forbidden to use the words, •' 
damn, hell, devil, cockroach, spit, etc." The signs were covered with dol- 
lar marks! 

The Palace was the first and only theatre that I know of in which 
a funeral service was held. The fine showman, Sam K., Hodgdon who 
was an executive with the Keith Circuit for over 40 years, had his funeral 
services held at the Palace which was jammed with the children of 
vaudeville who deeply mourned the loss 'of ' a- very good friend. 

AU Femnies and AU-EncUsh'! : 
It was at the Palace where Weber & Fields walked off the bill becaase 
they, were billed second to Marie Dressier. It was the first .time in their 
entire noble theatrical career that they failed to appear in a billed per- 
formance. It was at this same Palace that showed some of the top '.single 
women' on one bill. , Marie Dressier, Cissie Loftus, Marie Cahill, May 
Irwin and Yvette Rugel. , . .and- for good measure Cissie Loftus aud Marie 
Cahill did a 'sister act' and they too sneaked in a 'bluey' when Mi.ss iCahill 
asked Miss Loftus about a mutual girl friend, "iShe never married, did 
she?" and Cissie replied, "No, her childten woWdn't let her." 

It was at the Palace they had the first all-English bOl in 1925. Brausby 
Williams, Ada Reeve, Albert Whelan and Nervo. iSc Knox were the fea- 
tures. They repeated an all'English bill a Vear tater with Daphne Pol- 
lard, Arthur Prince, Marie Cahill, Ella Shields and' DuFour Boy.s, vAc- 
tually Miss Cahill wasn't English.) . 

In 1922 .<iomeone got the bright idea of running a show without head- 
liners. Nobody was featured. It didn't pay off. There were no names 
in lights at the Palace until 1928. The only lighted sign up to then was 
Keith-Albee Vaudeville, but in i928 the sign was removed and a, new one 
put up reading Radio-Keith-Orpheum, and it made room for the actor's 
names, in lights. The first ones to be put. up Weae Fanny Brice, Al Tra- 
han and Fowler & Tamara. During World War I. there was a mass meet- 
ing held at the Palace by the greatest namies in show biz with Geo. M. 
Cohan presiding, to organize entertainment •ynits to be sent to the front, 
the hospitals and the camps. And it was the same Palace that E. F. Al- 
bee turned over on Sunday mornings fo^. religious services. 

Bookers and Manaeers, 
Carlton Hoagland was the first booker for, the Palace, followed by 
many others: Martin Beck, Max Gordon, Arthur Willi, Bill McCaffery, 
George Gottlcib, Bill Howard, Eddie Darling and Charlie Freeman. 

Darling booked the Palace in its heyday and was liked by actors for his 
sense of humor and fair play. He was a great practical joker and ribber, 
and many a time would go backstage and drop a casualremarfc to the ladj 
headliner that would caase a terrific upheaval backstage. Frank Thomp- 
son was the first manager followed by Doc Breed, William Wood and 
Elmei; Rogers who remained throughout the palmy days of the Palace. 
Paul Shindler was"the first musical director followed by many real greats 
of vaude leaders, Jules Lenzberg, Charlie Dabb and Benny Roberts. Mil- 
ton Schwartzwald and guest conductors came later. 

The theatre even today echoes with the great boffolas, yoks and belly 
lau^s that the great jestcr.s received. To mention them- all would 
take a volume but I do know that one of the greatest laugh riots to play 
the Palace was Will Mahoney when he- first came there with his falling 
down dance. 

There were so ■ many jesters who' came back every few months and 
became great favorites. Bert Williams with his "Nobody," "We Play Ac- 
cordin' To Hoyle" and hLs "Wait 'Tiir'Martin" story. Savoy & Brrnnan 
with their Margie talk. Joe Cook with his one-man vaude show, Harry 
Fox with his whistle, Avon Comedy Pour, Willie and Eugene Howard, Leon 
Errol, The Dooleys, ..all of 'em in any act. Dr. Rock we U with his 
banana stalk lecture, Frisco with his wi.se made to order Palace.-cracks, 
Roy Cummings, Bert Fitzgibbon, Karno's "Motoring," Marx Bros.. Ryan 
& Lee, Herb Williams, Al Herman, Imhoff, Conn & Corinne, Harry Breen, 
Laurie & BronsOn, Tommy Dugan 8f Babe Raymond, Four Movion.s, 
James J. Morton, Toncy & Norman, Burns & Allen, York & King, Bert 
Lahr & Mercedes, Mandell Pros., Walter. C. Kelly, Mclntyre & Heath, 
Avcling & Lloyd, Cliff Gordon, Rube Dickinson, Conlin St Glas.-j, D. D. 
and' of course, Clayton, Jackson & Durante! 

Great Single Women , 
The great single women who played the Palace read like a Whos 
Who. Nora Bayes, Belle Baker (the first single woman to close the 
show at the Palace), Lillian Shaw, Fritzi Scheff, Mme. Calve, Florence 
Moore', Stella Mayhew, Helen Morgan, Kitty . Doner, Valasica Suratt, 
Ethel Merman, MoUy Picon, LiUian Russell, Marjgaret Ypung, MariOn 
' \ColitiAued on page 25) 



mieh 10« 1949 





ON U. S. FIX ROOD 



JQA'jS Ambffidiis Public Relations 
hi^rain: Juvenile Definquency 



' ' ' Los, Angeles, March 0. • 
• Theatre Owners of America's two- 
aav boarol sessions .w?»ich opened to- 
day (Tues.) are expectedl to gtin the 
most ambitious public relations drive 
taken on 'by exhibs In many years. 
■■ ffinfare.a big program of cooper- 
.«tJon>wlth the Government, U.S. 
Attorney General Jom Clark has 
*adp the cross-continental trek for 
a yrideiy-publicized appeal to exhibs 
to throw their weight behind his 
iorthcoming campaign against juve-. 
ijHe delinquency, . , 

Clark is asking, the TOA to sjiear- 
heat the oampaign.via trailers, lobby 
^pjlays and, other drumbeating 
which the theatres can do better 
than any other medium of communi- 
cation. TOA will undoubtedly accept 
"the Invite stace it's been hankering 
iat a full-scale romancing of the 
public for a long time. ' 

TOA will probably take on the 
job of swinging the entire film in- 
diistry' behind Clark. But the juve.- 
nile delinquency .drive, It's under- 
stood, is merely the opening wedge 
"forother co-op moves aimect at heal, 
ftig the breach bfetween the Govern- 
fceiit and the industry. It's expected 
that the'e^thib group will also prom- 
ise that, it'll be available for other 
|t(]£ilic relations projects which the 
do^ernment is anxious to g6t mov- 
ing. 

There are other subjects also top- 
|»iiig the board's agenda during the 
current meet. For one, the hoard is 
'ilated to approve the settlement ar- 
(Continued'On page 29) 

LOEWS V.P.-TREASURER 
IN ENCORE STUDIO 0.0. 

■ Metro treasurer- veepee Charles C. 
Moskowit!! trained out to the Coast 
Friday (5) for a week's survey of 
Etudio conditions and huddles with 
fi^dio .executives. 

Trip is a foUowup to that taken 
by lUtoskowitz earlier this year, at 
which time he reportedly completed 
the retrenchment program inaugu- 
rated at the studios. M-G official re- 
ported following that trip that the 
major part of the savings might 
restalt from all studio personnel now 
putting in a "full day's work for a 
full day's pay." It's expected that 
a checkup on that factor will be one 
of Moskowitz's chief items on his 
current visit. 

■ He's slated to leave the Coast Fri- 
■4tay (12),. returning to the home- 
office Mondaj (15). 



Yeah, But Can They Iron? 

' Memphis;. March 9. 

Barney Woolner, of Memphis, 
operator of several drive-ins, plus 
the Esquire, at. Cape Girardeau, Mo., 
is building a niw drive-in near New 
Orleans. ■ 

Spot, to be ready mid-April, will 
have a deal with a nearby launder- 
ette whereby patrons can have their 
week's wash done during the per- 
fof'mance. 

Woolner. hopps' ; to . have similar 
service at his other drive-ins next. 



Bank's Arrival Now 

Lot Different Story 

Footnote to the vagaries of show 
business in a fast-moving world is 
the differential between the arrival 
In New York tonight (Wednesday) 
pf J. Arthur Rank and the great en- 
thusiasm and • excitement . which 
greeted the British film leader when 
h? made his first visit to the United 
States last April. 

Spirit and talk at that time was 
all of good will arid hope of making 
British pictures an important part 
Of the American theatrical scene. 
Now, as result of Britain's depleted 
dollar situation, there's almost a re- 
verse trend with interest of the en- 
tire American industry "focused on 
efforts of Eric Johnston in. London 
to straighten out the tax snarl and 
get American pix back into England. 

Queen Elizabeth, on which Rank 
,« arriving, was originally slated to 
dock this morning, but was delayed 
li hours by storms. Press confer- 
ence called for today has, as a result, 
peen postponed ^ntil tomorrow 
mprnmg. Traveling with Rank is his 
Wife and G. I. Woodham-Smith, his 
attorney. 



Even Banks Admit 
Requests for Pix 
Loans Are 'Slow' 

Indication -of how thoroughly the 
diminishing foreign market and 
shrinking domestic b.o. ha.ve scared 
off indie producers is seen in a 
statement this week by Alex Ardrey, 
v.p. of Banlcers Trust Co., N. Y., that 
requests for financing are currently 
at the lowest ebb in years. Ardrey 
is in charge of him loans at the bank, 
which has been the most active in 
the field of New York institutions 
backing Hollywood indies. 

Banker said he remains perfectly 
open to deals. He acknowledged, 
however, that producers were having 
much more difficulty getting second 
money and completion guarantees 
than banlc coin. Banks, which hold 
a preferred position in the , payoff,, 
generally are thus fairly slUre of get- 
ting their money back, which is not 
true of second and end money finan- 
ciers In the present market. 

Ardrey declared that "it has been 
a long, long time" since applications 
for film loans were so few and far 
between as now. He said that Bank- 
ers Trust had made a few tentative 
commitments recently, but no actual 
loans of any importance since that 
granted the Alfred Hitchcock-Sid- 
ney Bernstein Transatlantic unit for 
"Rope," which has now been com- 
pleted for Warner Bros, release. , 



GriniefPs Prod. Plans 

' ■ Jacques Grinieff, New Ybrk film 
nnancier and foreign sales agent, 
warned for the Cqast from Gotham 
over the weekend. He's lining up 
swry and cast for several produc- 
tions he plans in European countries 

■ ' thfe ^ '"^''"^ °^ freeing curremcy 

...JiHe's expected. b9ck in New York 
.••««Ktweek. •, \. , 



Zoltan, Vincent Korda 
DueintheU.S.NextWk. 

Zoltan Korda. pro(jlucer-director, 
and his brother, Vincent, art director 
for brother Sir Alexander's London 
Film . Productions, are expected in 
the U. S. from England next week. 
Zoltan Went to Europe last month 
to get his Wife and children, who 
were in Switzerland, and bring them' 
back to Hollywood, where they will 
settle. 

Producer-director has a deal on 
With a Coast niaioi'. He recently 
made "A Woman's Vengeance" for 
Universal. Vincent will be just 
visiting, but may also set a deal in 
Hollywood. Brothers will also work 
on "The King's General," to be made 
by Sir Alex in the U. S. in the fall. 

V Toppers Due Back 
From Abroad March 20 

London, March 9; 

Nate Blumberg, Universal prexy; 
.loe Seidelman, U's foreign boss, and 
Charles D. Prutzmau. v.p. and gen- 
eral counsel, left here over the 
weekend for Paris. They're attend- 
ing a European sales confab. Plan 
is to leave France by ship at the 
end of this week for New York, ar- 
riving about March 20. 

Universal contingent liad been in 
London for the past' three, weeks 
huddling with J. A'lhury Rank ■ on a 
discussion of Universal's contract 
with, the British producer. They had 
originally intended skipping the 
Paris meet in order to stay close to 
negotiations being carried on by Eric' 
Johnston, Motion Picture Assn. of 
America prez, with the British gov- 
ernment on end of the 75% tax, but 
made an llth-hour change of plan.' 



\m mm df 





French demands tor halving the 
playing time allotted American films 
are seen as presaging further re- 
strictions in much of Europe 9S a 
result' of flooding of markets in the 
past few months 1^ U, S. com- 
panies. Anticipating just such a re- 
action as has taken' place in France, 
many top American execs are view- 
ing the situation alarmedly. Un- 
controlled flow of- pix has started 
in Europe through failure of ' the 
majors to renew recently-expired 
postwar agreements designed to stem 
just such a mad tide. 

French Foreign Office; according 
to Paris dispatches, has asked the 
U. S. State Dept. to start negotiations 
aimed at revising the film , clauses in 
the Blum-Byrnes agreement. Latter, 
signed by Leon Blum, special French 
emissary, and the then Secretary, of 
State, James F. Byrnes, in Washingr 
ton, in 1946, provided that four oiE 
every 13 weeks must be reserved 
for French theatres exclusively to 
show French films. 

Paris government now wants to 
raise this to seven weeks of every 
13, or 30 weeks a year. French film 
execs have been squawking th^t the 
fiooding by American films has all 
but killed local production. . , 

Execs of the Motion Picture Assn. 
of America are of the opinion that 
the Blum-Byrnes revision is being 
' (Continued on page 27) 

Writers, Cmhposers 
Benefit by 2 Bills 
Easing Tax Burden 

Washington, March 9. 
' Authors, dramatists and composers 
would reap greater financial rewards 
from their creations under two bills 
recently introduced in the House by 
Congressman Hugh D. Scott, Jr. 
(Pa.). First measure, H. R. 5561, 
would limit the tax on their earn- 
ings ' from creative efforts to not 
more than 30% while the second 
bill, H. R. 5562, would classify money 
received upon assignment of motion 
picture rights to various works as 
capital gains. 

Maurice J. Speiser, general coun- 
sel of the National Assn. of Per- 
forming Artists and a leading pro- 
ponent of the measures, declared in 
Philadelphia yesterday (Monday) 
that under the present tax structure 
an oil prospector can claim income 
from a gusher as a capital gains 
(25%). But a writer, dramatist or 
.composer who sells to films is sub- 
ject to the present graduated scale, 
(Continued on page 24) 



StiD No Fmal Settlement on 75% Tax 
Despite Optimism; Johnston Stays On 



Only in Brooklyn 

In Brooklyn' where only the Dodg- 
ers are sacred, J. Arthur Rank's 
Shakespeairean drama, "Henry V," 
is being sold via a new 'type of kid- 
ding trailer at the Vogue theatre. 
Written by Ed Schreiber, ad-pub- 
licity director of the Century circuit 
which, owns the house, the trailer 
says in one section: "You must see 
'Henry V.' If you fton't see the pic- 
ture all it means is 111 be "fired and 
my son will be left without a bagel 
to his name." 

Schreiber plans to continue the 
same type of exploitation on Warner 
Bros.' "Voice of the Turtle.'' On all 
Brooklyn marquees, it'ir be billed as 
•The Verce of the Toitle." 



Rank Won't Press 
For UFdms Until 
Tax Talks Qose 



• ' London, March 9.. 

J. Arthur Rank is holding off on 
demands that Universal comply with 
its reciprocal distribution tieup by 
delivering its product pending out- 
come of the current negotiations be- 
tween Eric Johnston, Motion Picture 
Assn. of America prexy, and British 
officials, it's been learned here. 
There are also strong indications 
that should the present compromise 
maneuvers between American dis- 
tribs and the government fail, U will 
deliver its pix lineup to Rank under 
the, contract which so specifies. 

U's high brass and Rank termi- 
nated their confabs here at an un- 
complete stage and the huddlesr will 
be renewed during the British mag- 
nate's current visit to the U. S., it's 
said. These conferences are on ice 
(Continued 'on page 19) 



Oscar Deadline March 13 

Hollywood, March 9. 

Academy ballots postmarked after 
midnight Saturday (13), deadline 
for balloting in the "Oscar" derby, 
will be rejected by public account- 
ants handling the counting ■ of the 
1,993 member ballots. 

Ticftets to 20th annual awards 
presentation are currently on sale in 
second year that the affair has been 
opened to public. 



National Boxoffice Survey 

Lent, Income Taxes Dent Biz — 'Northside,' 'Bishop's,' 
'Saigon,' 'Life,' 'Turtle,' 'Susie' Top Six 



Exhibitors are feeling the influ- 
ence of Lent, changeable weather, 
and approach of Federal income tax 
deadline, with the boxoffice nation- 
wide reflecting these factors down- 
wards. Several new strong entries 
and nearness of Faster, however, are 
adding a pheerful note to the film 
theatre biz picture. 

"Call Northside" (20th) is pacing 
the field for .second weelt in a row 
despite being on holdover or ex- 
tended-run in most keys covered by 
Variety. "Bishop's Wife" (RKO) is 
not far behind in second place, also 
for Second week in succession. Third' 
position is going to "Saigon" (Par), 
With okay to sock trade in some- 
eight keys. 

Fourth best is "Double Life" (U), 
although disappointing in Washing- 
ton and offish in Indianapolis. "To 
Ends of Earth" (Col) will finish in 
fifth groove. "Knew Susie" (RKO) is 
sixth from top although slow or on 
disappointing side in some spots. 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB), mainly 
lioldover this frame, is seventh and 
"Albuquerque" (Par), a strong 
eighth place winner. 

Leading the runners-up are "Gen- 
tleman's A^re^ment" (20th), "Three 



Daring Daughters" (M-G) and 
"Walk Alone" (Par). "Meant For 
Me" (20th) , with several additional 
playdates this stanza, is. faring well 
in several keys. 

Standout by a wide margin among 
the newcomers, of course, is "Naked 
City" (U). Mark Hellinger produc- 
tion is soaring, to a new record at 
N, Y. Capitol with a colossal $145,000 
or close. It's also nice in St. Louis 
with $22,000. "Song of Heart" 
(.Mono), which preemed' in N.. Y. 
the p£(£t week, shapes fairly well in 
the arty Park AvenuCi ''Sign of 
Ram," (Col) , third, new film, will be 
only moderate at iST. Y. State. 

"T-Men" (EL) is sturdy 'this week 
in Washington and okay in mild 
D§troit. ""Blacls Narcissus" (U), 
while only rated fair in Philly, will 
have a fine wcelc in Washington and 
shapes good in Cincinnati. "Ideal 
Husband" (20th) looks fairish in 
Buffalo. 

"The Gangster" (Mono) is rate'd 
solid in Portland. "Duel ^ in Sun" 
(SRO), playing pop scale in Philly, 
is among the leaders there with 
bright session. 

f Complete Boxoffice Reports on 
Pages 14-15). , . ,^ .' 



■ London, March 9. 

Expected to be the crucial day ' 
in ' the current effort of American 
industry leaders to iron out the 75% 
tax, today (Tuesday) passed still 
without seeing a settlement. 'Specu-' 
lation was rife here as to whether 
the continuation of the talks boded 
good or evil, with Eric Johnston, 
Motion Picture Assn. of America 
prexy, as mum as Board' of ' Trade 
prexy Harold Wilson. 

One indication was. certainly clear 
and that was that the traders on 
both sides apparently had plenty of 
.humps to get over. Wilsouy with* 
out doubt, was sticking to Britain's 
frequently-announced policy that 'flt»' ' 
more than $16iO0O,00O could be re- 
mitted to America. The difficulty, 
therefore, got down lo figuring 
ways to keep the rest ($30,000,000 to 
$35,000,000) in England on a basis 
that w6uld please both tlie majors, 
represented by Johnston, and the in-- 
dies. ■ • ■ ■ 

The Ameriean party was slated to 
leave for home' tomorrow at the 
latest, but has now postponed its 
departure until possibly Saturday 
(13),- with conferences continuing 
tomorrow. Tonight Johnston and the 
other Americans were guests ot 
honor at the . annual meeting and 
party of the Cinematographic Ex- 
hibitors Assn. at Grosvenor House. 
Wilson also attended the meeting 
and spoke, following a private ditt"- 
ner he gave for the U. S. reps. 

JOLSON MAY GOTO 
COLUMBIA AFTER ALL 

Hollywood, March 9. 
Al Jolson may stay with Columbia 
Pictures after all. Metro supposedly 
has a technical option on a sequel t» 
the mammy singer's life, and Harry 
Cohn, prez of Col, after first tiffing 
with the star of the now socko "Jol- 
son Story" production, has had a 
change of heart. "■ 

Technically, Columbia's five-year 
exclusivity on Jolaon doesn't, explra 
until May, so that all Metro has, so 
far as a potential sequel is con- 
cerned, is, an option on Jolson's fol- 
lowup ' biopic, effective when and if 
Col doesrji't take any action before 
May. Col may do so now, after alt 




> 'Trade Maflt tteelstered ' \ 
BOUNDED Br SrME SILVERMAN 
Pabllalieil Weekly by VARIETr, Inc. 

■Sid Silverman, nPreaident 
164 west iOlh St., New Tork 19, N; T. 
Hollywood 28 
0911 Yucca .Street • 
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f I.iondau WC!S 

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SUBSCRIPTION 

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Single Copies.; ....i... ...... SS Cents 



Vol. 170 



No. I 



INDEX 

Bills .• 56 

Chatter . . , , . ....... ....... 62 

Disk Jockey Reviews...,..*. 45 
Film Reviews .„ . . , » . . . . 10 

House Reviews ...... 56 

Inside Legit ... ...i .......... 58 

Inside .Pictures 18 
Inside Radio ....... ... ... 42 

Joe LauriCj Jr. 2- 
Legitimate . .. . . . . . . . . . ..... 57 

Literati . , . . i .... ..... . 61 

Music, . . . . , ....... . . s . 43 

,New Acts , . ..... ... ... ...i, '55 

'Night Club Reviews 55 

Obituaries . . . . .4 . . . > . . . . , 63 

Orchestras ; . . . 43 

Pictures ; ......... . ,. . .- . . , 2 

Pre-Production' News 11 

Radio 30 

Radio Reviews 40 

Records , ... . . , 45 

Frank Scully ... 61 
Television . . , . . . . ... , . . . . . , 34 

'Vaudeville ................ ^ 62 

DiUIiT VABIEXY 

(Published in Hollywood bjr 
DnHy V*rlety, Ltd.) 
MS a Year— ForelKn 




^ Ask Mr, Joe Vogef of Loew^s about this sensational lousiness 



6 



W«dne0dfiy, MHtih . 10, 1948 



Sorrell's Sensational Fik Labor 
Testimony Includes 'Murder Talk 



Washington, March 0, t 
Climaxing four days of testimony 
before the House Labor subcommit- 
lee, Herbert K. Sorrell, head o£ the 
Conference of Studio Unions, hurMd 
ii charge of "murder" into' the hear- 
ings today (Tuesday). Sorrell re- 
ferred to Pr^nk Nitti, dead ex- 
Chicago associate of Willie BioH and 
George Browne, convicted ex-heads 
of the International Alliance: of 
Theatrical Stage Employees. 

Relating the history of th« 
Browne-BiofT trial, Sorrell said he 
told a -Los Angeles reporter at that 
time that Nitti "can't-stand trial. His 
job was to contact the big producers. 
He knew too much about them for 
them to let him testify. Either they 
won't find him or they will kill him. \ 
Some time later, Sorrell said, Nitti 
was found dead and judged a sui-; 
cide by the coroners. "He shot him- 
self in the head, twice," Sorrell said. 

Questioned by reporters after 
coming oS the stand, Sorrell cate- 
gorically stated that he meant the 
producers- as the "they." Did you 
mean to imply that the producers 
had Nitti murdered, he was asked 
and Sorrell replied, "yes." According 
to some observers, Sorrell's testi- 
mony may be instrumental in open- 
ing up a giM -l jury inyestigatiotv 
into Nitti's death. 

SoneH's Walsh Chargea 
Sorrell created, another sensation 
when he gave figures ta the commit- 
tee on money which he charged 
' Eicliard F. Walsh, lATSE, with tak- 
ing. He said lA lias a 2% asse.'ss- 
ment on all members. Of this coin, 
Walsh received when he was vice- 
prexy yearly payments between 
1935-40 totalling $45,568, S#)rrell as 



Daily Variety's Stand 

Washington, March 9. 
The story of the fight of 
Daily Variety and its editor, 
Arthur Ungar, which eventually 
culminated in the jailing of 
Willie Bioff for extortion was 
placed last week in the record 
of the House Labor 'subcommit- 
tee investigating ihe studio ju- 
risdictional strikes. 

Herb Sorrell, head of the Con- 
ference of Studio Unions, first 
told some of the story to the 
committee, explaining how Un- 
gar had refused to write a flat- 
tering piece about Bioff in the 
193J, at the letter's request. 

"Ungar refused/' said Sorrell. 
"He knew Willie was crooked. 
He wouldn't write it even though 
Bioff threatened that all the 
studios would take their adver- 
tising out of his papers." 

George Bodel, counsel for the 
Painters Union, spent Jnost of 
last Friday afternoon at • the 
hearing, reading into the record 
editorials and news stories from 
Daily. Variety in th* p^ei?s ex- 
pose of the racketering by Bioft 



At %ed Prices 



On-again, ofl-again attitude of 

.„„ , , , . , major film companies on the policy 

serted. He said" that . the , money was j of increased admission prices h-^s 



handed t<r Walsh by Jehn L. Risley ( apparently swung back to the olT- 
and Al Lanigan, members of lA's i a?ain side, with only United Artists' 
Hollywood locals. . " [(Enterprise) "Arch of "^riumph" 

fn addition, in 1941, $J25,00Q was i scheduled to go into general, release 



withdrawn from the 2% fund and 
divided among various veepees, Sor- 
rell alleged. At that time, Sorrell 
said, Walsh got -$4,080 which he 
cashed in New York City and on 
which he. paid tax. Sorrell was 
asked the soiirce of this money and 
replied "I hope you don't press me. 
but I'll tell if I have to." . 

Otherwise, Sorrell concentrated 
his main fire against the Interna- 
tion "Alliance of Theatrical Stage 
Employees, in general, and Roy ,BI. 
Brewet, lA's Coast rep, in particular. 
SorrelVsaid thaf Brewet "is the most 
hated- man in Hollywood. He is 
looked upon as an imposter, brought 
in from the outside to head the lA 
and film labor." i 

Detailing the history of the 1945 ; 

(Continued on page 25) | 



at upped scales at this time. 

Situatian is a direct switch on that 
of a month ago, when several of thfe 
majors had their eyes on the added 
revsnue they hoped would be forth- 
coming from boosted scales. Dis- 
tribution chiefs at that time had 
looked on l^ie modiSed. coendstiow 
poUisy as the only means possible 
ot .r«;oupine heavy investments on 
top-budgeted films in the lace of a 
slumping market. Wave of adverse 
reaction from both exhibitors and 
the putoc, however, has- apparently 
convinced the sales toppers that 
'uppinft of scales will serve onlj^ to 
deijit the boxofflce further. 

Only possibility at preserit, be- 
sides "Arch," is Universal'* "All My 
Sons." U sales chief Willlfim A.. 
Scully has decided, to hold scattered 
test runs of the film at boosted' prices. 
If grosses are , good with the raised 
tab, it will be sold that way down 
the line, but if it's found, that "Sons" 
can't hold its own on the roadshow 
plan, it wUJ go <iut gefleifally - at; 
regular scales, Filni is schediilcd to 
preem at the CritfelQn, .lf.; Y., at 
unped prices Idut^itg tb6 ^veek before 
Easter. 

Possibility of Metro asking for in- 
creased prices on "State of the 
Union," scheduled as its top film for 
1948, is believed slight. Metro sales 
■ I chief William F. Rodgers stated his 
' I onnogition to boosted scales when 
'{"Green Dolphin Street" was released 
nated $30,000. ■ Of the 150G, about j^st . winter and it's considered 
half , came from a souvenir prcgram | (]o„btfui that he's altered his opinion 
with a wealth of name byliners and • gincg that time„since market, condi- 
artists who combined in saluting the tions are no better now. Paramount 
late newspaperman-producer, a vie- { sj,jes veepee Charles Reagan has 
tim of heart disease at 44. i Similarly ruled against boosted prices 

Berle emceed an extraordinary ' for "Emperor Waltz," probably the 
stage show, as he did at the Copaca- 1 hiahast-budgeted film on Par's re- 
'feana, N. Y. nitery, and the Lord i lerse roster , this year. 
Tarleton hotel, Miami .Beach, which ' Samuel Goldwyn's "Bishop's Wife." 
respectively realized $17,000 and beins distributed by RKO, was 



UoWo'Due 

Rome, Feb. 26. 

Producer Alessandro Ghenzi and 
director Renato Castellani, whose 
"Sotto il sole di Roma" ("Under the 
Sun of Rome") is now ill the cutr 
ting stage, plan a screen version Ol 
Shakespeare's "Othello." 

Cast will include many. weU- 
known Italian and foreign players, 

Hollywood Goes AU'Oot 
ToHonorlouellaPars<His 
On 27th Aitni With HearsI 

By AKTHUR UNGAK 

Hollywood, March 9. 
Louella O. Parsons, for first time 
in 35 years, kept her hair pujned up 
and disclosed none of her innermost 
secrets at the testimonial dinner ac- 
corded her by the Hearst newspapers 
and International News Service be- 
fore some 600 persons in the Cocoa- 
nut Grove of the Ambassador hotel 
last Thursday (4) night. Dinner was 
staged in recognition of her 27 years 
service- with the Hearst chain and 
her employers expended some 
$45,000 for vittles and libations to 
bring out the star-studded set of the 
•film industry. 

And they were therein droves and 
droves, toppers from every branch of 
the industry. If one took an inven- 
tory of the guests there would be 
enough to pay ofE the war debt. 

There was the i*epresentation also 
from the political, civic and religious 
spheres, including Gov. Earl War- 
ren of California, the dark horse in 
the Presidential race, who escorted 
of Mi!>s Parsons to the . rostrum; 
Mayor Fletcher Bowron, Rev. Mon-? 
signor Concannon, Fathers O'DonncU' 
and English, and numerous close 
friends of Lolly's of bygone days, 
who though not iK>w in the glamor- 
ous, spheres of show business, turned' 
out to honor the columnist. 

Style and more style highlighted 
the evening as far as the femmes 
were concerned. It was quite remin- 
iscent of the old glamorous Mayfair 
days, when all the gals had the 
smartest in raiment especially for 
the occasion. Adrian, Irene and all 
the smart builders of women's re- 
galia, tried to outdo each other in 
costuming the gals. And the Cocoas 
nut Gsove, wh^e flim'dom has not 
<Continue5] on page '29) 



Teadiedbed' Theatre Firemen Bill 

■ ■ ; .. ■i ■■ , , '" 

Tanud mm as N.Y. Showmen Squawk 



Pe^ to TetUly 

Washington, March B.. 

Westbrook Pegler has been in- 
vited by Carroll Kearns, chair- 
man of the House Labor Sub- 
committee, to give testimony on 
his original newspaper expos* of 
the Browne-Bioil affair. 

King Features replied for the 
columnist, saying he'd be ready 
to testify at the end of May« 



Tedmcdor s Net, 
a422,I5lTops'« 

Reversing the trend of the past 
ttirce years which saw dwindling 
profits to the company. Technicolor 
has come up with its top net of 
$1,422,732 in 1947. That figure rep- 
i'es'ents more than a 300% boost over 
the $436,168 profits in '46 and more 
than double the $867,441 banked "in 
'45. Gross sales also climbed to an 
absolute high of $17,4(j7,975 against 
$13,057,516. 

Further hoist in the gross is pre- 
dicted in the financial report by Dr, 
Herbert T. Kalmus. Techni prexy, 
who discloses: that 48 pix are now 
bemg filmed, in preparation or under 
contract in Technicolor during 1B48. 
Techni's 35m output in prints for '47 
totalled 222,017,439 feet against 
165,027,297 in '46. Total of 30 films 
were made in the color process. 
Company's British aillliate did six 
features and plan nine during the 
present stanza. 

Falling boxofiice and the BrilLsh 
tax can have one of two effects on 
Techni's future hiz, Dr. Kalmus said. 
The point of view that better pic- 
tures can carry the load may pre- 
vail in which event Uechnicolor 
would be in greater demand than 
before. But that economy may re- 
, (Continued on page 27) 



Albany, March fl, 

Bucked by the most impressive 
array of show biz representatives 
ever seen in the state capital, legia. 
lative proplosal to saddle places of 
amusement with firemen has been 
watered down drastically but with- 
out weakening the oppoailion. New 
aaiendments to tlie Fino-Claocy bill 
would limit d«)taiUng of firemen only 
to theatres where live entertainment 
was presented, reduce payments 
from $10 per man a show to $10 per 
man a dey, and .raise the ceilinc 
from 5,000 to V^OOO-seat houses 
where unlimited assignments of men 
can be made. 

However, despite the fact that film 
intere9t» were taken oH the hook by 
the amendments, they stood in a 
firm united front With other theatri- 
cal intKrcsta'. In a joint statement by 
film and legit r^ps, the amended bill 
was roundly scored as forcing many 
theatres to abandon stage shows, 
forcing unemployment to actors and 
related professions. The bill was 
also termed "discriminatory", without 
benefit to anyone except the firemen 
who are »lrefidy provided for fay law. 

As the state legislature session 
neared its adjournment Saturday 
until- next Jan. 1, likelihood of the 
amended bill being acted upon dis- 
appeared. In any case, advance 
soundings indicated enough opposi- 
tion in both houses to insure defeat 
of the measure. Not taking any 
chances, however, theatrical reps are 
remaining In Albany until the bill is 
definitely interred. 

Among those here fighting the bill 
are James F. Heilly, exec sec of 
League of N. Y, Theatres; Orrin 
Judd, Metropolitan Motion Pictures 
Theatre Assn.; former Senator J. 
Heni-y Walters, RKO; Leonard Ros- 
enthal, Upstate Theatres; Abraham 
Mopper, counsel of the independent 
(Continued on page' 18). 



mKED on' GALA GETS 
ISOG^R HEART DRIi^E 

Mark ■ Hellinger's "Naked City," 
which is en route to setting a new 
record at tlie Capitol, Loew's Broad- 
way showcase, sparkpUigged a $150,- 
000 gala last Wednesday (3) for the 
N. Y. Heart Campaign. Ed Sullivan, 
N., Y. News coluranist, who with 
Mrs. Bugs (Louise) Baer and Milton 
Berle, have keynoted the heart cam- 
paign, announced thai,, additionally, 
the JSkouras Theatres in N. Y. do- 



l^ie Stop Censorship Committee 
of writers, artists, actors and crafts- 
men, launiibed two weeks ago will 
hold an action meeting March 18 to" 
organize formalJy. It will take place 
in the Astor hotel, N. Y. 

The continuations committee, with 
Christopher La Farge temporary 
chairman and. Edward Choate tem- 
porary treasurer, held a luncheon 
meeting yesterday (Tues.), and 
. f prnied a planning, committee, in- 
cluding La Farge, Choate, Moss Hart, 
Howard Taubman, John Hersey, 
Richard Lauterbach, Minerva Pious 
and Margaret Webster. 

Speakers so far scheduled to ad- 
dress the March 18 meeting at the 
Astor include Hart, Florence El- 
dridge, Albert Maltz and Arthur 
Garfield Hays. 

The idea is - to map plans at 
the meeting for a continuous battle 
against censorship on all fronts, but 
particularly such groups as the 
Thomas committee and the Tenney 
Goramittee in California. There may 
also be a rally at Madison Square 
Garden' in about two months. 
'10' State Case in Book Form 
Timed for April 12, when the 10 
j indicted Hollywood figures are 
; scheduled to go on trial in Washing- 
' ton, Boni & Gaer is releasing"Holly- 
I wood On Trial," their reply to the 

$15,000, Harry Richman flew in from tested in several pre-release runs at '■ ^^'"^'Scs made by the House Un- 
Florida fflr the occasion -and a pa- advanced prices, but faltered at the ; American Activities Committee, 
rade of names; including Morton ' hoxof Ace. RKO promptly let the ' , , , " ioreword, Thomas Mann, 
Downey, Bill Robinson, Jane Kean, film go out generally at popular f^"^"^' prize- winning novelist, com- 
Golden Gate Quartet, Louis Prima, scale.-} and, according to Goldwyn P'V^'t' persecution" of the 10 to 
among others; worked in yeoman ! homeoffice execs, no further films ^J'"'^*,'''.'^)?*"™ Germany , under 



Tcdraeokff's 4S hi '48. 
A Ibw 11^ for the Co. 

Technicolor's 1948 commitments, 
as disclosed by its reports, hit a 
high o^48 pictures. Company break- 
down is as follows: 20th-Fox, 10: 
Metro, 9; Warners, 5; Paramount, 4; 
Universal, 3; Republic, 2; Disney, 2; 
Argosy, 2; Vanguard (Selznick), 2; 
Columbia, 2; RKO, 1; Federal, 1; 
Transatlantic (Hitchcock), 1; George 
Pal, 1; Goldwyn, 1; Stephen Amos, 
1, and Walter Wanger, 1. 

British Technicolor's 1948 slate 
calls for production of some nine 
films including a color version of the 
1948 Olympic O&mes. Rank Or- 
ganization will m*k€ four, followed 
by Sir Alexander Korda with three. 
Transatlantic is shooting one while 
Individual Productions (Launder- 
GiUiat) is down for a lone tinter. 



Eastman's $43,1B9^54 
Net Vs. $35,691,118, '46 

Net earnings of $43,199,254 were 
epoi-ted yesterday (Tues.) by Ea-st- 
man Kodak for 1947 against $35,691,- 
318 in the year before. Sales for the 
period Aiotmted 'to $351,751,068 a 
healthy rise over I946's $274,703,448. 
Per share earnings came to $3.48 
compared to $2.85 in 1946. 

Of the total 1947 sales, report 
states, some 9% or approximately 
$32,000,000 was derived from pro- 
fessional motion picture films. Top 
sles came from amateur photogra- 
phy supplies which amounted to 30% 
of the total. 



Canadian-Made 'Sins' 
Ready for Gen'l Release 

Toronto, March 9. 
Shooting of the latest madc-in- 
Canada feature production, "The 
Sins of the Fathers," is now com- 
pleted and will be ready for trans- 
Canada and British release in three 
weeks. 

With Pbil Rasen" brought in from 
Hollywood as directoi-, picture was 
financed by a group of Toronto busi- 
ness men who incorporated Cana- 
dian Motion Picture Productions, 
IM., with a capitalization of $600,000, 
for this initial venture. • ' 



fashion for two hours before the at unped tabs are contemplated at 
actual pic preem.. Horace Heidt did i this time. . RKO's"Miracle of -the 



his regular stint as an entracte. 



Bells" and ".r R^mcatiber MaiUa'' are: 
both going out at" straight prtciis. 
Walter Wanger's "Joan' of "Are" may 
get. upped scale consideration be- 
cause of the • hefty budget invested 
in it, but the film won't be ready for 
c'elivery to RKO until at least 
Thanl^giVing, 50 no decision on 
merchandising it has yet been made. 
' "Ai'ohi": meanwhile, is draw;ing 
down fair ' grosj^es in its current 
school teacher picture, ."Mips ■ Miismi Beach pre-release' run. Film's 
O'Brien,'' will be ready for filming I next opening will be in N. Y., where 
sooner than expected. '1 Pre."iently trying to line . up a 

Harry Kurnitz will produce "Kiss,'' 1 theatre'.' N. Y. scale will run from 
based on a story by Everett Free- j .'61.20 to $2.4ft, with a 75c-$1.20 scale 
lnan» With Delmar Saves directlnSt to be charged in all other spots. 
■\ ' 



Wyman Gets 'Kiss^ 

Hollywood, March 9. 
Jane Wyman was assigned --bjis: 
\yarners to costar with David Niven 
In "Kiss In the Dark," a role 'origin- 
ally assigned to Joan Crawford. It 
was explained that Miss Crawford's 



^ Committee's $200,000 

Washington, March 9. 

The House this afternoon voted a 
$200,000 appropriation to the Un- 
American Activities Committee by 
an overwhelmiiig vote of 337-37, 
Speaking against the appropriation, 
Rep. .Adam Clayton Powell, (D.-. 
N: Y.) attaclfed the tactics of the 
■J^horoaiS-Ranljin committeej and pro- 
tested again.st the citation of the 10 
Hollywood figures lor contempt. 

However, the 10-1 vote for the ap- 
propriation, indicates that the com- 
mittee ba.s enough .support in ,t"he 
HouKG to continue as it lias been 
doing. ,„„ , ■ ■ 



N.y. to L.A. 

Paul Aclcerman 
Barney Balaban 
Mrs. Ed Begley 
Pat Dane 
Gus S. Ey.vsell 
Paulette Goddard 
Leonard Goldenson 
Sam Halper 
Harry Homer 
Patricia Kniglit " .. 
Anita Loos 
Gregory Peclt 
Edward C. Raftery 
' Robert Si.sk 
Rex Taylor 
Paul Villard 
Cornel Wilde 

N.Y. to Europe 

John ByiMm 
Jean Louis 
Clau(jle Bains 



L.A. to N.Y. 

Katherine Alexander 
Jerome Beatty 
A, Pam Blumenthal 
Barry Buchanan ' 
Richard Cobte 
Nelson Eddy 
Florence Eldridge 
Hope Emerson 
Chester Erskine 
William Fadiman 
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. 
Arlene Francis 
Robert A. Fucillo 
Edward Golden 
Jp.mes R. Grainger . 
Richard Herman 
Sam Israel 
S:',ul Jnlfe 
Deborah Kerr 
Ciare Booth Luce 
Paul Lukas 
William Lyon 
Victor Mature 
Hoy McClinton 
Ray Millarid 
Norman, Moray 
Charles C. Moskowitz 
Joseph H. Moskowitz ■■, 
Mike Nidorf 
Su-san Peters 
Herb Pettey 
Jerry Pickman ' ., 
Manny Reiner 
Jack Schlaifer 
Ben Schwalb 
Lee Simonson 
Robert Siodmak 
I.ouis Sobol 
. Helen Sloan Stetson 
Gforgc Stevens 
Dpems Taylor 
iyar.shall Thompson: 
' Hal Wallis 
John M. Whitaker 

Europe to N:Y. 

Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Ecknian. 
L-'Wrence Kent - 
TTr. & Mrs, J. Arthur Rank 
G. I. Woodham-Smith 
Robert Wolff 
.George Archibald 



Jr. 



WBdwe»dl»y> March 10, 1948 



ncnniBS 



miNG PK TO SPRUCE 6.0. 



Setznick-Eyssell Ttf Results 
h 'Blandn^s Mto N. Y. Astor 



I Battle between G«s pyssell, man-- 

• aataf! director .o< the Radio City Mu- 
' Sic Hall, N. Y., and David O. SeU;- 

nick ■ resulted in the booking this 
Veek oi Selzniek- Releasing .Organi- 

' iation'S" "Mr. Blandings Builds His 
Dream House" into the Astor, N. Y., 

' idarch S5. Dispute over the length 
of the run of SRO's "Paradine Ca.se," 
which closed a six-week stand at the 
M. Feb. 18, led to an alleged 

■ crack by Selzniek that he'd "never 
fllpy the Music Hall again," 
' ."Blandings," made by RKO but 
distributed by SRO, was pencilled 
into the giant Hockefeller showcase 
until the hard feelings developed, 
^ftei' that,. Seljanick took advantage 
of the availability of the Astor for 
4n Easter booking on "Blandings" 
despite the . fact the film wasn't 
actually .slated for release until late 
spring or summer. It will have no 
lijther dates, in fact, until then. 
'■ Dte|iute between .Eyssell and Selz- 
flicjj started , when "Paradine" 

' 'iSroCpe4 below the Music Hall's hold- 

. over flgure <$75,000 between Thurs- 

. day morning and Sunday night of 
.each week) in the fifth frame. 
Nevertheless, because the weather 
had been very bad, Kyssell agreed 

' .to allow the pic a sixth stanza. 

j - The sixth week's gross rebounded 

'■ And. went over the control figure. 

' S^Wck, on that basis, asked for a 
seventh week. Eyssell's stand was 
that the big b,o. was accounted for 
primarily by the Lincoln's Birthday 
holiday, which 'fell on the first day 

-AOf' the sixth week. He insisted, 

, therefore, on sticking to the terms 
of the contract ahd booting the film 
in favoi of the' current tenant, "A 
Double Life" <U). 

Eyssell, reportedly, was in no 
TOOOd to grant furtber favors to 

_ (Continued on page 25) 

'BMngs' Tangle 
Further Snafus B'way 
Showcase for 'Arch' 

. • Booking of Selznick's "Mr. Bland 
lngs"-into ibe Astor, N. Y., squeezes 
. Enterjpjise's "Arch of Triumph" 
<UA) out of Another potential Broad- 
way showcase. George J. Schaefer, 

• Ent's distribution chief, had been 
pitching for the Astor, , 

Situation leaves the Einfeld-Loew 
unit up in the air on a New York 
home for its $4,300,000 Xngrid Berg 
man-Charles Boyer starrer. Possi- 
bilitj' is that Ent will have to go into 
.. a Siecondary liouse, perhaps foUoW- 
, mg.its own "Body and Soul" into 
Brahdt's Globe when that pic winds 
up its' current highly successful (it's 
now in its 18th week) run. 

Schaefer had previously been 
angling for Loew's Capitol. TJni- 
versal's "Naked City," however. 
Opened there last week and appears 
certain, from present strength, to 
guarantee it of at least three months. 
That would. push "Arch" back into 
a summer "^preem, for which Ent 
. doesn't want to wait, even if a deal 
with Loew's were assured. 



Groceries Win Out 

Clevelapd, USafch 9. 

Exhib hereF, .queried on the 
state of the b.o. at his house, had 
a succinct summing up of what 
the h.c.l. is doing to theatre 
grasses. His explanation: 

"You can't fight pork chops,"- 



Allied Rocky Mt. 
Blasts Distribs 
On Toverly Line 

Denver, March 9. 

Pending U. S. Supreme Court de- 
cision on the film industry's anti- 
trust decree may have called a tem- 
porary halt to the institution of any 
new sales policies by the majors, 
but it apparently hasn't affected the 
constant . exhibitor sniping at those 
policies now in effect. Results of the 
diminution in sales staffs effected by 
tlie majors as part of their retrench- 
ment program, in fact, seem to have 
widened the rift .between exhibs .and 
the major distribution chiefs. 

Example of the steady growls 
emanating from the exhibitor camp 
was contained this weeK in a news 
bulletin sent to its members by Al- 
lied Roclcy Mountain Theatres. Tak- 
ing a broad swip^ at the entire sales 
policy picture in a story titled "Hell 
and High Water," the indie exhib 
group . accuses the majors generally 
of having established a "line" . of 
propaganda allegedly revolving 
about the losses' they've recently in- 
curred in the domestic market. Ex- 
hibs' gripe, of course, is that the so- 
called "new company line" is talting 
effect on the "sales departments? ill- 
will towards the exhibitor" by show- 
ing up in "attitudes and outrageous 
demands for more rental,". 

Noting with amazement the re- 
marks of their local distribution 
chiefs about the production-distribu- 
tion end of the business losing 
(Continued on page 18) 



NJ.ieSEE 




Despite' the fact that -film business 
is still off about 10-20% over this 
time last year in the metropolitan 
New York indie, circuits, a general 
feeling of optimism has pervaded the 
circuit chiefs of laiie; Reason is the 
chain heads' belief that most of the 
films scheduled, for release by the 
major distributors .during the next 
several . months . look like boxof fice 
winners. 

General situation was summed up 
by Harry Brandt, prez of the Brandt 
theatres. Biz on good pictures is 
gradually picking up, het declared, 
whereas the grosses rung up on the 
poorer quality pictures is way off 
last year's mark. That proves, , he 
said, that the public makes up its 
own mind on what it wants to see 
before most films reach the nabe 
houses. He attributed the public's 
reaction to some form of "alchemy" 
within the industry, which, he said, 
is based mainly, on' the performance 
of a picture in its N. Y, first run, 

Performanee of a picture in the 
Broadway showcase : houses, conse- 
quently, is still the best barometer 
as to how a picture will do when 
it reaches the subsequent runs. As 
a result, Brandt believes that subse- 
quent run exhibs can be expected to 
become more selective in their book- 
ing. They'll welcome any film that 
does good biz in the Broadway de- 
luxers, he said, but will refuse to 
accept films that fare poorly in the 
first-run situations. 

Plug for the producers-distribu- 
tors was turned in by Walter Reade, 
Jr., chief of the circuit bearing his 
(Continued from page 24) 



Rep. Tames W Budget, 
Fihn R# Next Month 

Hollywood, March 9, 
_ John Wayne starrer, "Wake of tlie 
«ed Witch," is back on the Republic 
shootmg schedule after a stormy 
passage through financial billows, 
wiginally budgeted at $2,500,000, the 
story was taken off the production 
if \ .^lerbert J. Yates with the idea 
nSn^-'ttling it down to about $1,- 
"00,000. Thus far the expenses have 
oecn lopped down to $1,500,000 with 
we lopping still going on. 

5>tuolio announced that the sea 
story will be launched late in April 
:0r. early May. 

Five films will be produced be- 
n!!!. 1 ^"^^ May 1 at Republic to 
In,? u , ^'^^ studio's program of 16 
ow-budgcters for 1947-48. To date 
^ave been wound up 
rn? the nth, "The Thrill Man," is 
i""'=""y in production. Lined up 
'•fful. ^'^e "The Castaways," 

"Th I, ■ ^'•"■y-" "Ringside," 

aiirt V . i''*' Brothers" and "Come 
and Get Me," 



WB's Selectivity of U 
Product Opens Market 
For Loew's Outside N.Y. 

Touchy negotiations between Uni- 
versal and Warner Bros, for the 
rental o£ U's product to WB's thea- 
tre circuits have finally been con- 
cluded after many months but the 
picture isn't the same as in the past. 
As a result of area-by-area deals, 
the Warner houses are now taking 
only a split of U's product in many 
locales. Previously, WB's flickeries 
could call on the entire Universal 
product for all its houses. 

That situation hasn't been true 
since Jack, Warner ordered . a boy-' 
cott of U's films . as a result of a 
studio .tiff about one year ago. 
Warner claimed that U was raiding 
the company's studio roster and 
thereupon called off licensing pacts. 

For a period of three months be- 
tore current ■ negotiations were 
started, U did not service Warners 
at all. The area-by-area deals were 
then initiated to put through a re- 
vision of U's rental terms. Change 
in rentals for this season's product 
resulted from U's switch away from 
block-booking to single picture sell- 
ing. 

As a result of the new grooving 
of U's product, Loew's circuit out- 
side of New York is now buying a 
split from the company in most situ- 
ations. Heretofore, Loew's out-of- 
town theatres hooked no Universal 
films. Indie houses and other chains 
are also in on split product deals. 

U is also currently pushing reduc- 
tion of clearances wherever the 
company deems them excessive. 
Aition has been talcen in that direc- 
tion regardless of whether the first- 
run is affiliate or indie. Latest .step 
was the' slicing of WB's first-run 
clearance in Milwaukee from 45 
days to a. present 30 days. 



Timberlane,' 'Norlhside,' Turtle 
Paced the Feb. Boxoifices 1-2-3 



Top B.O. 12 for Feb. 

1. "Cass Timbertane" (M-G); 

2. "Call Northside" (20th). 

3. "Voice of Turtle" (WB). 
41 "Walk Alone" (Par). 

5. "Bishop's Wife" (RKO). 

6. "Sierra Madre" (WB). 

7. "Gentl'm'n's Agr'm't" (20th) 

8. "Daring Daughters" (M-G). 

9. "Meant" for Me" (20th). 

10. "T-Men" (EJL). 

11. "Knew Susie" (RKO)., 

12. "To Ends of Earth" (Col). 



Long-Range Sales 
Keyed by Metro's 
18Pixin8Month$ 



MAJOR CIRCUITS' BIZ 
OFF 10%, 1ST 10 WEEKS 

Grosses of major theatre circuits 
are off about 10% for the first 10 
weeks of ,1948i as compared with the 
same period a year ago. At least 
partially responsible is the bad 
weather that prevailed, throughout 
the country between Jan. 1 and Feb. 
15. As soon as cold, wind and snow 
abate in any territory, boxofflces 
show considerable bounce, accord- 
ing to circuit toppers. ' 

Lincoln's birthday- and Washing- 
ton's birthday holidays were ■ both 
better than a year ago. Otherwise, 
grosses have been hopping up and 
down with changes in product and 
weather, with the general tone since 
the beginning of the year fairly 
good, but off in the various circuits 
between about 7% and 14% for the 
10-week stretch. 

Comparisons .with a year ago 
should shortly start looking better 
on the graphs — if not in the till. 
It was just a bit later than this last 
year-t-at the end of March and be* 
ginning of April— that the sharp 
b.o. recession from wartime peak 
business began setting in. B.o. be- 
gan showing first signs of slipping 
around Jan. 1,' 1947, but didn't reall.v 
hit the big slide until about three 
months later. 

There's been no trend among' the 
major circuits toward admission 
price changes, either up or down. 



Metro announcement this week 
of a complete, release schedule from 
now untU the end of August is be- 
lieved to point up thp conviction of 
M-G. distribution toppers that the 
time has come for a return to long- 
range planning. Company is one of 
the few to set up a release rOster 
so far in advance, with the ostensi- 
ble reason being the determination 
to build its ad-publicity plans on 
each film as far before the film's 
release as possible. 

With eight features, already re- 
leased for the first three months this 
year, the new plan decided on at 
the five-day sales meet which wound 
up on the Coast Friday (5), calls for 
10 more new films to be released 
from April through August. - Total 
of 18 in eight months breaks down 
to an average of two-and-a-quarter 
features per month, indicating that 
Metro officials don't believe the 
market is in a position at this time 
to absorb any' more; Four of the 
remaining 10 films "to be released 
before August were lensed in Tech- 
nicolor. 

Included in the list is only one 
outside production^— Liberty Films' 
(Continued .on page 24>. 



Mystery Writers Name 
3 Fix for Their 'Edgars' 

"Kiss of Death" (20th), "Crossfire" 
(RKO) and "Boomerang" (20th) 
have been nominated by the Mystery 
Writers of America for tlieir annual 
"Edgar" (for ■ Edgar Allen Poe) 
award as best crime- picture of the 
year. Ballots are going out this 
week, with winners to be announced 
at the MWA's "Edgar" dinner in 
New York next month. "Killers" 
(U) was last year's winner* ■ 

Also on .current ballots are nom;- 
inations for best crime novel and 
best radio mystery. In the former 
category the nominees are "The 
Fabulous Clip Joint" by Predric 
Brown: "Unflinished Business" by 
Gary Lucas, and "Never By Chance" 
by Sylvia Tate. Contesting for radio 
honors are three series, "The Clock" 
(ABC), "Suspense" (CBS) and "Mys- 
terious Traveler" (MBS). 



♦■. "Cass Timberlane" (Tracy-Turner) 
made the best nationwide showing in 
February, according «to boxoffice re- 
ports from more than--2a key cities - 
covered by ■Varibtt. This Metro pic- 
ture wound up the month with 
nearly $800,000 garnered at . princi- 
pal theatres over- the country. It 
never sagged below sixth place in 
national " ratings, twice finishing 
fourth and once was virtually tied 
with the week's leader. 

Showing of "Timberlane" reflected 
the strong business done at the N, Y. 
Music Hall) It launched the month 
with a series of big to socko sessions. 

In second position was "Call 
Northside" (20th) mainly on great 
strength displayed in final two weelca ; 
of February. It was second best one 
session and in first place by a wide 
margin another. Showings were uni- 
formly solid to>,gyeat. Close behind 
was "'Voice of Turtle" (WB), whicU 
also paced the field in one week. " 
This reproduction of the Broadway 
legit show picked .up b.o. stamina as 
the month progressed, making a lot 
better showiDig.' In keys other than 
N, Y. ■ 

"1 Walk Alone" (Par), No. 12 in 
January,- advanced to fourth slot in 
the past month. This meller was 
third twice and sej30Hd one we6k, 
with the picture racking up a record 
of seldom being/ below the nice clas- 
sification. 

'Bishop's' New Ad Campaign 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) wound up 
in fifth place, possibly reflecting a 
new ad-publicity campaign to regis- 
ter sock biz in many key cities. 
"Sierra Madre" (WB), which was 
ninth in January, climbed to sixth 
place in February even though feel- 
ing the competition of many new 
(Continued on page 24) 



Even Hawks' Arbitrator 
Votes Deliyery of His 
'Red River' Film to UA 

United Artists has served notice 
on Monterey Productions (Howard 
Hawks) demanding delivery of "Red 
River,-' following a unanimous arbi- 
tration award to the distrib last 
week. Monterey was unrepresented 
at the hearing before the three-man 
board, but a brief (prepared by Sam- 
uel Norton, who has since resigned 
as the indie unit's counsel) -was read 
in its behalf. 

UA proxy Grad Sears and counsel 
Edward C. Raftery testified for the 
distrib and introduced considerable 
documentary evidence to prove their 
right to the picture. Result was that 
even Charles ' Abramson, - arbit; ator 
named, by. Monterey, voted in favor 
ofUA. " 

Monterey brief was highly legalis- 
tic, but boiled down to a contention 
that the film, wasn't completed yet. 
Sears testified that he had seen the 
pic himself and it has been shown to 
many other people at private screen- 
ings.; . ■ 

Meantime, argument was post- 
poned in N. Y. supreme court last 
week in UA's dispute -With William 
Cagney over failure to deliver "Time 
of Your Life." Scheduled to be 
argued was whether the indie pro- 
ducer could be sued by UA in N. Y. 
State. A countersuit by Cagney 
against UA is slated to come up in 
California next Monday (15), • 



Breen Back After Vacation 

Hollywood, March 9. 
Joseph I. Breen, Production Code 
Administrator for the Motion Pic^ 
ture Assn of America, is back at his 
desk after a three-month leave of 
absence on vacation, -•• 



Larry Parks Loses His 
Suit Vs. Col. But Court 
Flays Contract Methods 

Los Angeles, March 9. 

Larry Parks lost his legal fight for 
freedom from his Columbia contract, 
but the decision may result in vital 
changes in clauses currently found 
in the majority of Hollywood's 
player pacts. While \holding Parks 
to the contract, Federal Judge Wil- 
liam C Mathes' rebuked the meth-* . 
ods by which the actor's signature 
was obtained and aimed scathing 
criticism at several paragraphs in 
studio pacts, particularly the loan- 
out clause. - ' 

Judge Mathes declared that Parks 
lost his suit because he waited too 
long. If the actor, he said, had sued 
to terminate the 1945 contract im' 
mediately, instead of accepting, its 
benefits through three pictures be- 
fore protesting; the decision might 
have been different. 

Columbia's tactics, in obtaining 
Parks' signature were condemned 
by the judge as "outrageous, im- 
proper and coercive in the extreme." 
He referred to the studio's ihreat to 
consign the actor to "B". productions 
if he refused to sign the contract. 



Bifl Cutting 20nax 
introed But Chances NG 

Washington, March 9. 

Another bill to slash the 20% ad- 
missions tax to its pre-war 10% level 
has been introduced in the House by 
Rep. Gerald Landis (R., Ind.). 

However,, such a cut is not called 
for in the plans of the congressional 
leadership, nor has it been recom- 
mended by the Administration. 
Hence it seems to have no chance at 
present. ' 



Pix *Mama* Kayoes Legit 
Booking ui Syracuse 

Syracuse, March 9. 

"I Remember Mama," booked for 
am engagement at the RKO-Empire, 
was scratched because of imminent 
release of fllm version of the Broad- 
way come'dy. 

Only future bookings are "Lady 
Windermere'* Fan" May 18-19 and 
"Harvey" May a5-2«i' 



10 



W1}LM RBVIKWS 



Vednegday, March 10, 194$ 



I Rememlier Mama 

RKO rclEBse ot George Stevena (Dore 
iScliary) production, directed by Stevens. 
Stars Irene DXinne, Barliarn, Bel Geddes, 
Oscnr Hortiollta, Philip Dorni (eaturen Sir 
Ceflrlo Hnrdvvlcke, Edgnr Bei'sen. RM«y 
Vnllee, Barbara O'Nell. Screenplay by 
DeWltt Bodeenj bnsefl on play by John van 
Druten from Kathryn Forbes' novel, 
"Mama's Bank Account"; camera, Nloholas 
Musuraca; editor, Hobort Morses aReeial 
eflccts, Hupsell A. Cully, Kenneth Peach! 
eiiTB't Ulrcclor, .lohh II. Swlnkl murfie. .C. 
Bakalolnlkolt; score, Ro.v Webb. I'ruJe- 
*hown N. Y, March 8, '48. Jtumilng time, 
131 WINS. 

Manias ; . . . ... ... . . .Irene Dunne 

Katrln Bsutrain Bol OeiWes 

TJricle Chris. Os'.'nr HomolUa 

Papa, . , . . . . . . . . .. ■ . .Philip Porn 

Mr. ■ Hyde. ........... ..Sir CedfliJ Hardwlclcfl. 

Mr. Thorkelson Edgar Berften 

Dr. Johnson Hudy Vallce 

Jeesle Brown... Barbara O'Xeil 

ChrLstine PeKsy Mclntyrc 

Uagmar. ... . . . . ............. • . .June Hcdm 

NelH. . .. . .... . . ...Steve Brown 

Aunt Trlnu VlWon Ccrby 

Aunt .Tennv....... ............Hope tandin 

Aunt Sigria .Kditb EVarifon 
Cousin Arrie 'tommy Ivo 



With "I Remember Mama," RKO is 
spreading a layer of warm and 
deeply- moving nostalgia that plucks 
at that special heart-string which 
echoes strongly at the cash register. 
Based on the John van Druten legiter 
(which is still touring in the U. S. 
hinterlands), the film encompasses 
those same broad, human values 
which lifted the play into the smash 
hit class. The ingredients are equally 
surefire on the screen. 
' DeWitt Bodeen's screenplay is a 
faithful adaptation of the original, 
adding only an extra dimension of 
background depth and, story detail.. 
In extending the scope, however,- it 
doesn't blunt the;impact of the yarn. 
This reminiscence of growth in a 
San .Francisco Norwegian family is 
related in a simple and genuine 
manner. It's frequently sentimental 
but never hokey. •. 

Irene Dunne, who played, a New 
York mom in Warjners' "Life With 
Father," is the central {)illar of this 
production. In. holding down the 
most demanding role of her career, 
she earns new honors as an actress of 
outstanding versatility. Her Nor- 
wegian dialect sounds queer for the 
first couple of minutes but soon es- 
taWishes itself solidly, as a natural 
part of her lingo. In , general, her 
role is marked by a great strength 
and sympathy that makes her sym- 
bolize all mothers. That jwon't hurt 
the b.o., either. 

■ Unfolding in flashbacks as the eld- 
est daughter mulls over her memoirs, 

■yarn beings into leisurely focus a 
series of domestic ,crises and trage- 
dies. The mist of tears is relieved by 
plenty of laughs in the telling. 
There's the buildup of the maternal 
bank account w,hich turns out to be 
. mythical; the growiQg pains of the 
lour appealing children; - the sour 
aunts and the, bluff uncle: the chloro- 
■ formed cat, the graduation exercises 
and the rest of the anecdotes leading 

■ up-, to the heart-cracking finale. 
>■ Against the story, the production 

neatly suggests, a Frisco background 
In the 1910's. 
The rest of the fiast also do yeo- 

■ man's service jji draping this pic with 
a 'fiesh-and«blood reality. Oscar 
Homolka, repeating his stage role of 
the uncle, contributes A massive and 
memorable performance. As the 
youngster who matures into an 
authoress, Barbara Bel Geddes plays 
a 15-year-old schoolgirl in a tour de 
force. Her portrait of adolescence is 
sensitive, compelling and authentic. 
Remaining kids are played appeal- 
Ingly by Peggy Mclntyre, Steve 
Brown and June Hedin. 

Surprise , performances are turned 
in by Edgar Bergen and Rudy Vallee. 
Bergen, playing a milquetoast romeo 
to an aging spinster aunt, reveals -a 
sharp comic talent that doesn't have 
-to depend on gags for its effect. 

■ Vallee, in a bit part.as the family 
doctor, delivers a straight dramatic 
role in first-rate style. As the father, 
Philip Dorn is slightly colorle.ss but 
that's the part's fault and not his. 

The three, aunts from the old 
country are played superbly in a 
variety of comic styles by Ellen 
Corby. Hope Landin, and Edith Evan- 
spn. Sir Cedric Hardwicke is on the 
screen only briefly as a mysterious 
boarder who leaves his literary in- 
heritance \vith . the family. Other 
players in lesser parts also deliver 
uniformly excellent support. 
Dore Schary's, production is ultra 

■ and George Stevens' expert direction 
is geared to the film's total mood.' 

. The long running time is caused by 
his lingering over the separate inci- 
dentSj squeezing out of th«!m the last 
drop of sentiment. Camera work and 
editing are handled with superb 
craftsmanship while - the musical 
score also adds to - the film's high 
quality. * , Herwi. 



"I Remember Mama" (RKO). 
Irene Dunne, in deeply moying 
version of tlie legit ployj SOUd 
b.o. in all situations. 

"Fort ,ApmJi*" (BKO). Eiteit- 
ing saga of early west and fights 
between U. S. cavalry and Indi- 
ans. Certain for important b.o. 

"The 'Sainted' Sisters" (Par). 
Fair comedy, Veronica Lake, 
Joan Caulfield and Barry Fitz- 
gerald to help the selling. 
"Casbah" (Songs) (U),, Ho- 
mantic melodrama pic version of 
"Pepe Le Moko" set to music 
with Tohy Martin singing solid 
tunes. 

"April Showers" (WB), Stand- 
ard backstage musical with 
vaude background in 1900's; stars 
Jack Carson and Ann Sothern. 

"The Matlne of Millie." (Col) 
Delightful comedy for the en- 
tire family. Glenn Ford and, 
Evelyn Keyes for marquees. 

"So Evil My Love" (British) 
(Par). Ray Milland, Ann Todd 
in overlong thriller. Good box- 
office, 

"Smart W<tman" ■ (Mono). 
Well-made drama of femme 
lawyers, racketeers- and murder. 
Okay programmer. 
; "Madonna of the ©esert" 
(Rep). Good action programmer 
with misleading, but apt, title. 

"Idol of Paris" (British) (WB). 
First indie Maurice Ostrer pro- 
duction loolts too feeble lor 
U.S. 

"The Tioga Rtd". (EL), Good 
Eddie Dean western for the .ac- 
tion situations. 

"Three Weird Sisters" (Brit- 
ish) (Pathe). Horrific meller has 
little marquee, pull; chances. in 
America are slight. 



sponsible for the film's humor «re 
Victor McLaglen, Dick Foran and 
Jack Pennick. Ward Bond, post's 
master sergeant; George O'Briep, a 
cavalry captain; Anna Lee, his MK', 
Irene Rich, Guy KIbbee, post medico; 
Grant Withers, crooked Indian agent: 
Miguel Inclan, the Indian chief, and 
others in the large cast all make 
their roles count. , ^ . . 

Dick Foran demonstrates a voice 
seldom used in his films with sing- 
ing *ol "Genevlev*" dunng post 
horseplay. Good tor laughs are se- 
quences . wherein the topkicks break; 
in a new group df recruits. .The 
Frank S. Nugent screenplay, sug- 
gested by James Warner Bellahs 
story^ "Maiisacre," is expert frame- 
work for the action. 

As tradeshown, "Port Apache' is 
long, but length is not wearing al- 
though- scissoring is indicated in a 
few of the sequences, particula.ily 
the opening. ' Brofi. 



The ''Saintoir 

Hollywood, March 5. 
I'iu-aniount release of Richard Malbaum 
pi-oductlon. Stars Veronica I^ake, Joan 
OaulflcM,- Barry Fitzgerald; features Wil- 
liam DemnroKt, GeorKO Reeves, Boulah 
Bondi. Directed by William D, Russell. 
Screenplay, Harry Clork, N. Ilicnard 'Hush : 
adapted by Mlndret Lord ; based on_ story 
by ^Itsa Blalk and a play by Hllisa Blalk 
and Abien Nash; camera, Lionel Llndon; 
music, Van cleeve; editor, Hverctt Douglnfl, 
Tradeshown in 'Los Angeles, March 5, '48. 
Runnlns tloie, Rtl JtllNd. 
Letty StBnton.;,..^......,., Veronica Lake 

Jane Stanton., . . . . , v . . . . . . . .Xonn Oaulfteld 

Robbie UcClenry;,,;,,!. ..Barry l<'lt!sgerald 
Vern TewlHlBBr. . . «. ». .William Dcmarest 
Sam Stoaks.. .............. ..George Reeves 

l^lestcr Rlvercomb . ..:..>.,.. .Ueiilah Bnndl 

Will Twltchell. Chill Wills 

Jud TerwllllKer. ,Darr.vl Hickman 

Davl.l FrlBbee (8 yrs,) Jimmy Hunt 

Martha Tswllllger. . , . Kuthryn Card 

Abel Blvercomb, Ray Walker 

Lederer. . . ; .Marold Vermllyea 



The October Man 

"The October Man," a Two 
Cities-Filippo del Giudice pro- 
duction, whtclx Eagle Lion is dis- 
tributing in the 11, S., was re- 
viewed In London by Vambty 
Sept< 10, ld47t Original running 
■time of 9S minutes has, been - 
trimmed, to $S'for American rei. 
lease. Co-prqduced by Eric 
Ambler, who also screenplayed, 
film stars John Mills and Joan 
GreenwootJ. * 

"With John Mills in top form," 
the review opined, "and a grand 
aU-round cast, this pie is due for 
hefty grosses here and should be 
well received in America." ' Film 
is the "study of the conflict in 
the mind of a mentally sick man, 
not absolutely cej-tain that he 
hasn't committed murder." Title 
is an astrological reference pre- 
suming that people of October 
birth, such as Mills, are fond of 
life and thus are not the suicidal 
type. , ■ 



Vort Apaehe 

- Hollywood, Ma.rch 6. 

RKO release of John Ford-Merlan C. 
Cooper (Argosy) production, directed by 
Ford. Stars John Wayne, Henry Vonda, 
Bhirley Temple, Pedro Avmendarlis; features 
John Agar, Ward Bond, George O'Brien, 
Victor McLaglen, Anna Lee, Irene Blqh, 
Uick Foran, Guy Kibbee, Grant Withers, 
Miguel Inclan. Screenplay, Franit S. Nu- 
gent: suggested by story, "Massacre," by 
James Warner. Bellah; camera, Archie 
Stout; score, Klohard Hageman; editor, 
.Tack Murray. Tradeshown March It, '48. 
Running time, in ^INS. 

CaSt.i York........ .lohn Wayne 

Colonel Thursday. ........... .Henry Fonda 

Phtfadelphia Shirley Temple 

Lt. O'Rourke...... John Agar 

Beaufort. .Pedro Armendnriz 

Sgt. O'Rourke.,; '.....Ward Bond 

Mrs. O'Bourlce . . .Icemi. .liicb. 

Capt. CoUingwood.. ........ George O'Brien 

'^iVfrs. CoUingwood.- Ann.^ Leo 

Sgt. Mulcahy." ......Victor McLaglen 

Sgt. o£ the Guard Dick Foran 

.•^gt. Shattuck... .Task Pennick 

Dr. Wiiklns.. Ciuy Kibbce 

.=!ilas Meacham.' Gi-.ml Withers 

Cochise Miguel Inclan 



FredZinnemanMayDo 
Wence' for M-G 

Former Me tr o Director Fred 
Zinneman may return to that studio 
soon to meg "Act of Violence" on a 
single^picture deal. . Zinneman is 
under, contract to direct one a year 
for RKO but no film has been set 
there for him and he said he prob- 
ably wouldn't begin his RKO chores 
until summer. 

Now in New York to do advance 
ballyhoo on "Search," which he di- 
rected for JMetro in Switzerland, 
Zinneman said Metro hadn't yet set 
a producer or cast for "Vislence.*' 



"Fort Apache", undoubtedly will 
cause considerable critical pro and 
con because of the openly commer- 
cial approach John Ford has used on 
the subject. He has aimed the pic- 
ture directly at the average theatre- 
goer, bypassing non-profitable art ef- 
fects. As a consquence, film has mass 
appeal, great excitement and a po- 
tent boxoffice outlook. 

The important cast names, pointed 
up by John Wayne, Henry Fonda and 
Shirley Temple, among others, will 
give luster to any marquee, and that 
initial draw is backed up with super 
■action entertainment. ■ 

Film captures the flavor of the 
early west, and whams over high- 
pitched, stirring scenes of U. S. Cav- 
alry and Indians in action. For sheer, 
seat-edge attention, "Apache" is 
socko. Mass action, humorous byplay 
in the western cavalry outpost, dead- 
ly suspense, and romance are mas- 
terfully-combined in the Ford-Merian 
C. Cooper production to stir the 
greatest number of filmgoers. 

Integrated with the tremendous 
action is a superb musical score by 
Richard Hageman. Score uses sound 
effects as tellingly as the music notes 
to point up the thrills. In . particular, 
the massacre scene wherein the 
deadly drumming of the Indian 
ponies makes more potent the action 
that transpires. Archie Stout's cam- 
era, too, plays a strong part in dress- 
ing up- the rugged outdoor back- 
ground against which the story and 
movement takes place. There's a 
breathless feeling of space in some of 
the shots, in fact, the scenic beauty 
occasionally distracts. 
. Cal^t is as tremendous as the scope 
achieved by Ford's direction and as 
a consequence;''some of the roles are 
very short' but all elfective. Henry 
Fonda is thfe colonel, embittered be- 
cause he has been- assigned to the re- 
mote fort after a brilliant war rec- 
ord. His rule-book manners and in- 
ability to accept advice of officers 
experienced with the -west and the 
Indians lead to a tragic, and unneces- 
sary, death, bjr massacre for himself 
and the majority of his command. 

John Wayne makes a virile cavalry 
eaptoin, wi.se in the way o£ the 
Indian. Shirley Temple, the colonel's 
daughter, perks her sequences in ro- 
mance with ,Iohn Agar, West Point 
graduate. Latter impresses. Pedro 
Armendariz, Mexican film name, is 
excellent as 9 ;s$rgeant. Making jlvP a 
group- of tough topkicks that are re- 



"The 'Sainted' Sisters" a fair 
comedy about a pair of early-day 
confidence girls. Marquee value of 
cast names is on the sturdy side to 
help grosses but returns will be 
spotty. Veronica Lake' and Joan 
Caulfield, in title roles, seem out of 
place but there is enough of the 
ridiculous in the situations to spring 
chuckles, and Barry Fitzgerald 
makes for a strong keystone to help 
carry this one along at a fair pace. 

While undoubtedly the era por- 
trayed had its ladies who played the 
shakedown trade, characters in "Sis- 
ters" do not ring true, so entertain- 
ment depends strictly on laughs that 
can be wrung from frenetic situa- 
tions .into which golddiggers are 
forced. Outside of the artificiality of 
the doings, William D. Russell's di- 
rection is good for material offered. 

Fitzgerald's tricks of the trade 
stand him in good stead in pulling 
laughs from his character as a 
shrewd New Englander who turns 
his forced harboring of the sisters 
into a. good thing for his small vil- 
lage. It's his role that principally 
carries the story. • 

Plot has {he Misses Lake and Caul- 
field fleeing New York fpr Canada 
after shaking down a banker -for 
$25,000. A storm forces them to take 
refuge in Fitzgerald's thouse and 
when latter discovers true circum- 
stances he sees a way to aid the poor 
of the Maine border town. He forces 
the girls to dole out their ill-gotten 
swag in good deeds and eventually 
brings about their reformation, 

William Demarest points up as- 
signment as cagey, sheriff who spends 
most of his time dodging disagree- 
able duties and the town's rich 
shrew. Beulah Bondi. George Reeves 
occupies romantic spot opposite Miss 
Lake. Chill Wills, Darryl Hickman, 
Jimmy Hunt and others are accept- 
able. 

and other production 
okay. B^fif. 



talent and knows how to use those 
assets to the best advantage. Martin 
is good as the daghing thief whose 
elusive ways are. the despair of the 
police. He makes full use of his s.a. 
vocalisthenics with the tuneful Leo 
Robin-Harold Arlen songs. "For 
Every Man There's a Woman" and 
"What's Good About Goodbye?" 
stand out, while "It Was Written in 
the Stars" and "Hooray for Love" 
are listenable. 

Atmospheric values obtained by. 
producer Nat C. Goldstone and" his 
associate, Erik Charell, reflect lavish 
budget and give color to the melo- 
dramatics. Story plot hews closely 
to the original yarn about the thief 
who hides in the Casbah from the 
police but is finally lured to his 
death Toy a beautiful girl. Suspense 
and intrigue are forced to a halt by 
musical portions, making John 
Berry's direction seem ragged at 
times, but when film is telling the 
story the pace is expert. L. Bush- 
Pekete and Arnold ManofI scripted. 

Yvonne DeCarlo is good as the 
native girl who loves Martin, but 
major femme interest goes to new- 
comer Marta Toren. Peter Lorre 
clicks strongly as the police . inspec- 
tor who finally gets his man. Hugo 
Haas sells his tourist guide charac- 
ter well and Douglas Dick scores as 
the informer. Thomas Gomez, 
harassed police chief. Gene Walker 
and others are capable. Katherine 
Dunham- and her .dancers appears too 
briefly, apparently on the cutting 
floor in the main. 

The sharp lensing by Irving Glass 
berg, atmospheric art direction and 
set decorations, costumes and other 
factors are excellent production 
values. BrOff. 

April ShoweM 

■ (SONGS) ■ ■ 

Hollywood, March 9. 
Warners release of William .laeobd pro- 
duction. .&tui-s .lack CiirHon, Ann Sothern; 
fea urea Hubert Alda, ,S. Z. .Sakoll. Robert 
J).llls, Richard Roljer, Joseph Crehan. Dl- 
if.i*" ^- J*^""- ."Si-reeDplay, 

ieter Alllne; huggesled by a slory by Joe 
Laurie, Jr.; Camera, . Carl Gulhrle; new 
songs, Kim Gannon, Ted Fetter. Walter 
Kent; editor, Thomas Reilly. Tradeshown 
m Los Angeles, March 8. '48. Running 
time. «» MIN8. o. -to. Auiiinng 

.Toe Tvme (.„„ot 

.rune Tyme Ann Sothern 

^"'y„f"';'y Robert Aldi) 

Mr. Curly.. ^ g. 55. gg,j,,„ 

Al Wll.wn Richard Rober 

Air. n,-,rclay uay Walker 

^Z- ^;'";<;'"' -lohn RalLiuaet 

1?,;, I"-. Philip va-n Zandv 
Aiindcihouten Billy Curtis 



vaude blgtlmer, but directorial nac- 
ing of James V, Kern helps to give 
it some freshness. Dance numbers 
and the jokes have the quaintness of 
the era, and are good for an ocoa- 
pional giggle. Miss Sothern display* 
just about the most shapely gams in 
films and appeals otherwise as" the- 
patient wife and mother. And CAt- 
son know h,ow to sell his wares. 
Young Ellis 19 talented and precoci- 
ous, showing best in footwork rou- 
tines. Bobert Alda's role as impres- 
ario of a group of dancing lemmes 
is rather thankless, but he manages 
to lift. it. His near-finale knockdown 
and dragout fight with Carson is 
solid action stuff, S. Z. Sakall, thea- 
atrical hotel keeper, and Others of ttie 
cast lend okay trouping, 

William Jacobs' production super- 
vision garbs the picture with all the ■ 
necessary trappings to fit the period. 
Carl Guthrie's lensing is good, and 
musical arrangements and adapta- 
tions by Ray Heindorf are expertly 
defied to portray flavor of the en- 
tertainment era. Other credits 
measure up. Brog, 

The Mating of MUile 

Hollywood, Mareh 6. 

Co umbin release of Casey Robinson, pro. 
ductlon. Siai's Glenn Ford, nveiyn lC(>ye«i 
teatures lion Wandell, Wlliard .I'arkeiv 
Jimmy Hunt. Directed by llenrv Levin. 
i?crcenplay, Louella. MacFurlane. si,, ciiiir 
.MoKelwayi story, Adclo ("nmaiKlliii; cam-, 
era, Joseph Walker; score,. Wernisr R. Uey-- 
mann; editor, Richard Fiinll, Previewed 
March a, 'iS, Running ,tlme, 80 MIMS. 

Doug Andrews Gb-nn Ford 

Millie McGonlgle..... Bvelyn Keyes 

Kulpll Galloway.,.,.,.. ..Hon KnPdell 

Phil Gowan . , , , . W ilia rd Parker 

.Madge , ,,Viritlniu Hunter 

Tommy Bassell.. Jimmy Hunt 

Mrs.. Hanson MhIicI I'mge 

Mrs. Thomas Virginia BriKsao 

Cookie I'aisy frelghton 

Harvey VVillaagliby. ., . ... . .Tom steveniion 



Lensing 
credits are 



€a«ibah 

(SONGS) 
- . Hollywood, March 5. 

Universal release of Nat C. Goldatono 
(MarstuiO production. Stars Yvonne De- 
Carlo, Tony Martin, Peter Lorre, Marta 
Toren ; i:catures Hugo Hans, Thomas Qotnex, 
Dougliis Dick, Katherine Dunham and her 
dancers. Associate producer, Krlk Charell, 
Directed by John Beri-y. Screenplay, L. 
Bush-Fekete, Arnold Manolt; musical story, 
Erik Charell; based on novel, "Pep© lie 
Moko." by Detective AshelUe; camera, 
Trying Gias-sberg; songs, Harold Arlen, Leo 
Robin; music director, Walter Scharf: edi- 
tor, Kdward Curtlss. Previewed March 2, 
'48. Running time, 03 MINS. 

Inez, ... , , .Yvonne DeCorlo 

Pepe Le lloko. . ; Timy Martin 

.SUmane. . ...... s ........ . Peter Lorre 

Gaby, ...... . i...., . ... , , . . ... . Marta Toren 

Omar Hugo Haas 

Louvaln. . . , . ; .Thomas Gomez 

t^arlo. . . . . . .Douglas .Dick 

Odette.. . r. .Katharine Dunham 

(^laude. 1..;,. . .Hei-bert Rudiey 

Hoiand.. .Gene Walker 

.Vl.'iurice .Curt Conway 

^V'uleni Andre Pola 

Max. i Bn ri-y Bernard 

Madeline. .... . . . .., Vlvglnln Gregg 

Beggar. Will Lee 

Pierre. Harris .Brown 

Anton Duval. ... ...... .Houseley f^tevenson 

Ahmed .•, . . . . i . Robert Kendall 



That romantic prince of thieves, 
Pepe Le Moko, is back again, this 
time with music. In "Casbah" Uni- 
versal has a number of entertain- 
ment elements that indicate pleas- 
ing returns. The music is excellent, 
Tony Martin's singing is sock, and 
the Le Moko story has always been 
good, if familiar, screen fare. That 
the romantic melodrama doesn't al- 
ways mesh too well with the musical 
story makes for a distraction, but 
on the whole, this Marston produc- 
tion is generally on the credit side. 
It'n do okay business. ■ 

Film introduces a new femme 
face to American audiences and the 
debut of Marta Toren, • Swedish 
jEkCtre.is, augurs well for her Holly- 
wood future. She has grace, beauty, 



April Showers" is an avcTage 
backstage mu.sical. This time the 
standard plotting deals with vaude 
hoofers shortly after the turn of the 
century, with the west coast a« the 
locale. Names of Jack Carson and 
Ann Sothern will help spark okay 
returns in' most situations. Enter- 
tainment quota in the familiar story 
has old songs and vaude routines to 
give it nostalgic value. 

Title tune is reprised several times 
and other oldies used as background 
for musical routines will carry older 
filmgoers down memory lane pleas- 
antly. "Put On Your Old Gray Bon- 
net, ' Carolina in the Morning " 
"Pretty Baby," "Cuddle Up a Little 
Closer, ' Every Little Movement has 
a Meaing All Its Own," and "Mr 
Lovejoy and Mr. Gay" are among 
those that will rate favor. 

newer numbers, "World's 
Most Beautiful Girl," .by Kim Gan- 
non and Ted Fetter, and "Little 
Trouper," by Gannon and Walter 
Kent, are neatly spotted storywise, 
to gain added meaning. Carson gives 
them good vocal treatment. In ad- 
dition, to his songs, Carson rates a 
nod for excellent handling of hoofing 
sequences, working both with Miss 
sothern and moppet Robert Ellis. 
Trio does much to inject a lift into 
the musical formula. 

Carson and Miss Sothern are seen 
as hoofers never quite in the big 
time, but when their young.ster de- 
serts school to do the stage with his 
family the act becomes west coast 
bigtime. Act's Broadway chance is 
killed when blue-noses clamp down, 
with the Gerry Society movement 
forbidding kids under 16 from stage 
work. Carson takes to drinlc, while 
his wife and kid start over again in 
the more liberal west. Finale has the 
family back together again, and 
w o r k i n g, when Carson takes the 
pledge. 

There's nothing much that's new 
in the Peter Milne script, .suggested 
by a story by Joe Laurie, Jr., ex- 



"The Mating of Millie" is solid fun, 
ladling out hefty, laughs and 
schmaltzy heart tugs in iu.st the right 
doses to keep audience interest high. 
It should click with all types of the- 
atregoers and be particularly .strong 
in rating attention of the younger set 
and family groups; Its stars, Glenn 
Ford and Evelyn Keyes, please 
mightily in projecting the fun to be 
found in this ace script. ■ ■ ■ 

The lively dialog and situations 
have been given strong directorial 
guidance by Henry Levin, He has 
injected deft bits of business and at 
all times realizes on entertainment 
aims of the punchy script by Louella 
MacFarlane and St Clair McKelway, 
based on a story by Adele Coman- 
dlrii. The racy pace belies the run- 
ning time. 

Miss Keyes is seen as a business 
girl who wants to adopt an orphan. 
To do so she must get a hu.sband, 
even though she doesn't like the idea 
of wedlock. A kindred free .soul is 
Glenn Ford, who volunteers as coach ■ 
to snare the right man. There's never 
any doubt of the outcome, but the 
way the inevitable conclusion is 
reached is sparked with plenty of 
fun, sharp writing, playing and di- 
rection. Dialog is particularly bright. 

Performances by the principals de- 
light. Ford and Miss Keyes make 
a sock teami able to broadly belt 
the risibilities or drop into a sincere 
touch when a heart tug is needed. 
Ron Randell registers strongly among 
the able perform^inces, as does Wil- 
lard Parker, both targets of Miss 
Keyes' matrimonial chase. Little 
Jimmy Hunt is an appealing orphan, 
the object of Mi.ss Keyes' affections 
and others in the cast answer to all 
demands capably. 

■ Casey Robinson's production guid- 
ance gives this one solid backing. 
Film is crammed with smooth 
touches, properly valued art direc- 
tion and > set decorations, a music 
score that aids the chuckles, and 
crisp editing. Brog. 

So Evil My Love 

(BBmSH-MA»E) 

London, March 4. 

Paramount-Brlilsh release of. Hal Waills 
production. Stars Ann 'I'cdd, Geraldine 
Fitzgerald, Ray Milland. Dy-ecled by 
Lewis Allen. Screenplay by Leonard 
Splgelgnss, Ronald Millar, based on imvtl 
by Joseph Shearing. Camera, Max Greene; 
iiiuslc, William AUwynec Previewed Uin- 
don, March 8, '48. Sunning time, Itt *IINS. 

Olivia Harwood....... .....Ann redd 

Mark Beliis. ,. .Rny M illund 

tSmnn r;ourtney. . .. .Geraldlnij. FHngearld 

Kitly Feathci-S , - .'M'oira , Llsler 

Mrs. Courtney Mtirtlta Hunt 

Hcniy Courtney Rii.vmand Huntley 

.Iiirvls. . . . , .Leo G., CiirroU 

Haltle sahoebridge............ .M-urlei Aki'd 

I'Mgiir Bellamy.. Raymond Lnvell 

Sir .Idhh Curie Roderick Luvell 

Dr. Kyrilc . Finluy Currle 



Last of the present Joseph Shear- 
ing cycle <"Moss Rose," "Blanche 
Fury" and "Mark of Cain"), this Hal 
Wallis production is the best of the 
quartet, but can be vastly improved 
by further judicious editing. Like all 
Shearing murder stories— fictional- 
ized versions of actual British mur- 
der cases during the 19th century-— 
this has plenty of atmosphere and 
the usual trappings of the period. 
But Wallis has been almost a.s lorig 
as the original author in getting to 
the kill and the thrill. With Hay Mil- 
land and Ann Todd, boxoffice .should 
be good, though the going may not 
be too easy. 

There's no evidence in the pic that 
Wallis had all the disadvantage;; (u 
a strange organization and of bui.'d- 
ing up a production ill a foreign 
country. Such failings as the film 
has aren't due to its being made 
over here. Best piece of lortiine was 
getting Max Greene, ace cameraman, 
to look after the photography, Rarely 
has Ann Todd, a difficult subjeel, 
(Continued on page 22) 



Mknli 10, J94S 



rRB-MBWDCnON 





Ml TekvisMNi 
Bckiqi for Theatre Piffpi^ 



DtOnite policy bjr NBC and other- 
networks which would dear the way 
for lhe»tre pickup Ot television pro- 
tems i* beinff sought by the Theatre 
Owners of Ametica in a series of 
■ fiSwie* initiated with NBC. TOA is 
leeking to formulate a, book of rules 
with NBC that couia be widely ap- 
plied to both the video and film in- 
dustries and which would prevent a 
recurrence of the recent ban by the 
network against RKO when that 
company slated a large-*a"een tele- 
vision demonstration in it» 58th St. 
Xheatre, N. Y. 

Aft mult of the- NBC nd&ig and 
indication^ that'other nets would fol- 
low suit, theatres are now faced with 
a toadblock on their attempted 
«doption of tele to exhibitor uses. 
In the case of RKO, NBC threatened 
legal action for violation of copy- 
light- regulations if the theatre outfit 
. didO% call oh tts announced demon- 
fitntion: What TOA wants is « fail: 
pradioes code which could be ap- 
plied in all situations. Exhib group 
■'lias alteady had several confabs with 
NBC officials and will pick up again 
. following its Coast board meet this 
week. ■ • 

Beportedly, NBC. is stiU undecided 
OA its ultimate stand. The net doesn't 
^ know whether to charge theatres 
. seeking use of their programs, or to 
igiiew the large-screen movement as 
loinething which should be treated 
. cuffo since it boosts the audience for 
' tele programs and, therefore, is 
{leasing to sponsors. Outfit is also 
indecisive on whether to charge 
auditoriums fdt programs which are 
directly piped to them. 

Because RCA is NBCs parent or 
ganization, problem is even knottier. 
' BCA already manufactures theatre 
television equipment. If NBC is. to 
(Strike a hard-and-fast attitude that 
' tde programs can't be picked up by 
theatres unless they iirst pay for the 
ixglits, RCA's manufacturing pro- 
'gram is due for a definite setback. 
Meantime exhibs are going slowly on 
ordering theatre video apparatus un- 
til tbp greenlight on programs is 
tiuov. 1 on. 

•Actually, it's understood, NBC was 
'peeved over RKO's assumption, 
' without consultation, that the pro- 
grams were available for use with- 
out charge. The NBC irritation is 
over being taken for granted, and it's 
< probable that consent would have 
been given for limited use, had the 
okay been sought. Moreover. NBC 
was afraid that a precedent would 
have been created which could not 
.be .upset later it the ban hadn't been 
'immediately clamped. 

■ Qaestion ot television is bulging 
large at the current TOA board meet. 
It's understood that the result of the 
meet will be some sort of communi- 
cation to TOA members that they 
make immediate plan.'! to climb on 
the television bandwagon. The TOA- 
ers will he advised that theatres .had 
better get into the picture before the 
play is taken away from them by 
r others Outside tlie industry. 

mm TO DO PATHE 
PROD. FOR 6 MONTHS 

_v t«ndan/March 9. 

When liou Jackson completes "No 
Room at the Inn" at British Na- 
tional's Elstree studios, Maurice 
Ostrer takes over for' si£ months to 
make two pictures tor Pathe dis- 
tribution. 

^Understood that Jackson and liady 
, Yule haven't seen eye to eye for 
«ome time, and she has withdrawn 
her backing. 



Skouras' (^Ipast C&se 

Los Angeles, Slarch 0. 
, prastiQ cuts in' cooperative ad- 
volising by distrlbs may lead to 
a hot battle with Charles P. 
Slcouras, prexy of National The- 
atres,, in the fore. Skouras, it's 
reported, has ordered reprisals 
against distribs who refuse to 
lay out the same proportion of 
coin in co-ops as heretofore. 

Reprisals, it's said, would take 
the form of NT theatres reducing 
their house budgets on. films on 
which, 'disttibs nix the usual 
kick-ins by way of cooperative 
ads. 



SAG Shows Drop 
From 742 to 463 
Jdbs in 12 Mos. 





AT m m 



Hollywood, March 9. 

Screen Actors GuUd tabulation 
shows 463 under pact as compared 
to 742 a year ago. Figures don't in- 
clude freelancers. Report adds that 
"in addition to a decrease in num- 
ber of contract players, there un- 
questionably has been a still greater [ 
decrease in employment of free- 
lance actors.-" 

Present list contains 262 men and 
201 women, compared with 401 men 
and 341 'women in 1947. Report 
doesn't cover moveover of thesps 
from one studio to another. 

SAG fiffures show Metro down 
from 174 to 94; Paramount, 103 to 
47; 2bth, 106 to 59; HKO, 69 to 51; 
Warner, 57 to 49; Columbia, 53 to 
39; Republic. 32 to 18; UI, 35 to 18; 
EL, 21 to 13; Goldwyn, eight to six; 
Monogram, 39 to 34; Roach^ 14 to 
six; Vanguard, 18 to 15; Lesser^ 
three to two.' 

Cagney productions is the only 
one with more on the list upping 
from two to four, Disney, Story 
Productions and Selznick are status 
quo with three, one and four, re- 
spectively. 



The mercury's rising in what looks 
like another round of the exhib- 
distrib perennial feuding over ad- 
vertising budgets and who pays for 
what. It's the distribs, this time, 
that are hot; under the collar because 
they're noting a growing habit by ex- 
hibs to slash theatre allowances for 
newspaper ads. Consensus of ma- 
jor's top flacks is that no theatre is 
advertising in proper proportion toi 
the grosses on pix. Unless exhilis'N 
reverse the practice, distribsi say, 
there'll be a crackdown in short 
order. ■ ;. : 

Chiseling process has reached the 
point, It^s said^ where theatres in 
important first-run situations have 
now lowered the level of advertising 
to an absolute cellar standard of 2%- 
3% of a film's gross. Accepted pro- 
portion in prewar days was 6% of 
a theatre's average gross, budgeted 
for advertising expenditures. Top 
liouses used to spend as much as 8% 
at times. 

The-trend has been heightened by 
both levelling, grosses and the ma- 
jors' partial withdrawal from coop- 
erative a d vert i sing. That with- 
drawal, ad-pub execs feel, shouldn't 
spell the shaving of theatre budgets 
because "cooperative ads w.ere al- 
ways intended for marginal and not 
basic theatre requirements." 

"This applies to circuits, affiliate 
and otherwise, as well as everybody 
else," one ad-pub topper put it, 
(Continued on page 22) 



Putter's British Yen 

Walter Putter, veteran indie film 
producer who retired about five 
years ago to his New Jersey farm, is 
re-entering the industry via a pos- 
sible British production deal. He 
sailed last week abroad the Queen 
jwary for a two-month- stay in Eng- 
«nci to work out his plans. 

Wigmally stepping into the film 
rin ^^'26, Putter later pro- 

duced shorts for Universal as well 
tw ""'"''er of features for release 
«, iu^'l. ■^'"'■'ous minor distributors. 
Brnrn^ °* retirement he was 
dkh-TK"?- "^Jf l>>s indie pix for 
"istiibutiou through JIKQ. 



After a Row of Toughies 
RKO's Mochrie Feeb He 
Has Some Easier to Sell 

RKO sales force, working on a 
quartet of more-or»less problem 
films that have followed one after 
the other, is looking forward to 
comparative salad 'days with the 
next trio. They are "I Remember 
Mama," starring Irene Dunne, 
adapted from the hit Broadway 
leglter; "Miracle of the Bells," with 
Fred MacMurray and Valli, from 
the best-selling novel, and "Fort 
Apache," John Ford special with 
Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Shirley 
Temple and Victor McLaglen. 

Far from behind the RKO film 
peddlers, however, are "Le Silence 
d'Or" ("Man About Town"), French- 
(Continued on page 22) 

HERSHOLT BOWS OUT 
AS PREZ OF ACADEMY 

Hollywood, March 9. 

Press of other duties is forcing 
Jean Hersholt to bow out as proxy 
of the Academy of Motion Picture 
Sciences & Arts. He won't seek a 
third term and leaves for New York 
after opening the Motion Picture 
Relief Fund's new hospital on April 
18. Hell Spend five weeks east then 
saUs June 1 for a two'month Euro- 
pean vacation. 

Other duties include air.show 
translating Hans Christian Ander- 
son's fairy tales from the Danish and 
acting as one of two reps on actors 
branch of Academy's board of gov- 
ernors. He plans to return to Holly- 
wood in August,' but goes to N, Y. 
again in Novemtter for a combined 
Relief Fund and Actore Fund benefit 
show. 



Court Soft Pedals Previqus 
Blasts Against Distribs As 
Chi Contempt Hearings End 

Chicago, March 9. 

Federal Judge Michael Igoe took 
the sting out of his previous verbal 
assaults against- the majors on close 
of the Jackson Park contempt hear- 
ings Friday (5) but film row by- 
standers still feel that sc decision 
adverse to .the defendants is likely. 
Court wimplimerited attorneys on 
conduct of the hearings and reas- 
sured distribs that any remarks made 
by him from the bench did not 
signal his final decision. He had pre- 
viously blasted defense attorneys for 
advising their clients' course of ac- 
tion without consulting the court. 

For one, it's felt tliat the case for 
reasonable clearances was weakened 
by Myles Seeley, attorney for Metro 
and EKO, who announced that Wil- 
liam F. Rodgers. M-G's sales chief, 
had decided to deny protective clear- 
(Continned on page 22) 



B&K s 2-Week CAs Cm^fic^ed 
' Further by Distribs Away 



StHne Random Budgets 

Selecting at random, one dis- 
trib offered the following ex- ■ 
amples of flrst-run theatre budg- 
ets to support distribs' conten- 
tion that these and Other budg- 
ets are now down to 2% of aver- 
age film grosses. Other houses 
throughout the country conform 
to these figures with little varia- 
tionr it's said. 

.Ad 

Av'age budeet 
Theatre &. town gross (weekly) 
Memorial, Boston. .$22,000 $600 
Stanley, Phila...... 21,000 800 

Boyd, Phila 22,000 800 

Harris, Pittsburg. . 12,000 350 
Fulton, Pittsburgh.. 12,000 350 

Palace, Chicago 25,000 1,000 

Centre, Salt L. City. 11,000 100 
RKO < 1st runs), 
Cincinnati .I4,00a-20v000 279 



ptfoxSatisied 
With Gnnpetiiive 
KdSy^mCU 

TTwentieth-Fox's plan of selling via 
competitive bids in the Chicago ter- 
ritory has worked out well for the 
three films released so far under the 
system. It's not definitely decided, 
however, whether the plan will be 
continued if the Supreme Coiu-t 
rules against bidding on its pending 
decision on the- anti-trust suit, ac-* 
cording to 20th sales manager Andy 
w; smith, Jr. . 

Plan, which Smith emphasized is 
a flexible one^ involves the division 
of the Chi territory into IS or 16 
firet-run key zones. AO competitive 
theatres in each zone and in tlie 
sub-key zones in turn are given an 
opportunity to buy a run on each- 
film by bidding against every other 
theatre in that zone which desires 
the same run. Thus, 15 or 16 thea- 
tres, can run a 20th film day-and- 
date on the date of availability. 
Plan is exclusive' of the first-run 
Loop theatres. 

Despite the fact that the plan also 
provides for a flexible 7-14 days' 
clearance for the Loop deluxers. 
Smith denied it was set up primarily 
because of the Jackson Park decree. 
(Continued on page 22) 



Briefs From the Lots 



■ Hollywood, March 9. 

"Feudin'i Fussin' and Fightin'" is 
the new tag on "The Wonderful Race 
at Rimrock" at Universal-Interaa- 
tional . . , Collier . Young, formerly 
with Warners, joined Columbia as a 
production executive ... Republic 
switched to "Train to Alcatraz" fi-om 
"Alcatraz Prison Train." . ! . Bill 
Boyd returned from his Hawaiian 
rodeo tour to make a series of six 
"Hopalong Cassidy" pictures in 
three months for United Artists re- 
lease . . . Samuel Gold.wyn signed 
William Sclwyn, formerly with Wal- 
ter Witngrer, as executive talent di- 
rector . . . Robert Sisk picked the 
Santa Cruz mountains for extensive 
location shooting on "Sun in the 
Morning," originally titled "A Home 
for Jock." at Metro. 

Si Wills makes his first screen ap- 
pearance in seven years in the Frank 
Seltzer production, "The Gay In- 
truders.". . .DOUgtes Morrow shifted 
•from thesping to writing, on the 
Script of "The Story of Monty 
Stratton" at Metro. . ."Rusty Leads 
the Way" is the new tag on "Rusty 
Takes a Walk" at Columbia... 
Charles Lamont wUl direct "The 
Wrangler," the Harry Joe Brown 
production for Columbia release , . 
Peter Stewart draws the director 
chore oh "Jungle Blindness," which 
Siff Nenfeld Will produce for Film 
Classics release. . .Anabe! Shaw 



plays the femme lead in "Bom to 
Fight," produced by Leonard Pieker 

at Eagle Lion. 

Independent Artists will follow its 
first production, "The Velvet Touch." 
with an untitled yarn written by 
Dudley Niebols, a partner of Rosa-, 
lind Bvssell and Frederick Brisson 
in the company , . . Nvnoan Elzer, for- 
merly with Metro, ■ became general 
mansger of Marsball Grant Pietorcs 
and started propping "Runyon of 
Broadway" and "Domino Parlor" for 
early filming. . . Leah Salisbury, play 
agent, in town to negotiate an indie 
filming deal on "Deep Are the Roots,'' 
controversial legit drama. 

Blake Edwards is stepping out of 
his producer status temporarily to 
thesp in "Winna- Take Nothing" at 
Columbia . . .Jt^rothy Porter shifts 
from radio-for- ai' singing role in 
Columbia's "Texas Sandman" . . . 
Henry Morgan <not the radio comic) 
drew a role in "The Saxon Charm" 
at Universal-International. . .Cart K. 
Hittleman's next indie production for 
Screen Guild release will be 
"Last of the Wild Horses," starting 
April 15. 

Ilka Chase returns to the screen, 
after a five-year absence for a key 
role in "The Tatlock Millions" at 
Paramount . . . Warners bought "Be 
Nice to Emily," authored by Matt 
Taylor, as a starrer for VIveca Lind- 
Hors, with Alex Gottlieb as producer. 

> , J • -.-n ■ ■ 1 . ; I -. -■ • . ' ■ t 



Chicago, March 9, 
-Balaban & Katz's product problem 
for its flrst-run Loop houseSi in a 
highly critical state since the Jack- 
son Park case brought on the judici- 
ally-imposed two-week ceiling on 
first-'runs, appears to be growing 
more acute. Several major distribs 
are swinging away from the BSsK 
houses, preferring indie theatres 
which aren't bound by the 14-day 
rule. If this treikd grows, trade 
circles here see a , slow Strangulation 
for B&K's six mainstem deluxers. 
"Metro has booked "Cass Timber- 
lane" into the Woods, a flrst-run 
indie theatre. M-G, right now, has 
three pix showing in the I<oop area ' 
and only one, a programmer, is in 
a B&K house, inierc's also reason 
to beUeve that 20th-Fox is dealing 
with both the Woods and Oriental, 
another indie Loop theatre. Here- 
tofore, Metro and 20th customarily 
sold their product to B&K while the 
Woods and Oriental were supplied 
by Universal, United Artists and 
Columbia. 

Because of the bonanza which the 
JP decree creates for indie houses, 
there are a number of reports that 
subsequent-run houses in quantity 
will attempt to invade first-run pas- 
tures. One house, the Monroe, has 
just made the changeover. Other 
theatres within a short hop of the . 
Loop want to climb the gravy -train, 

B&K's dim prospects are worsen- 
ed by the crippling restrictions 
which prevent a fair fight with com- 
petitors. Its problem was serious 
enough when it could count on a 
supply ot film from its traditional 
sources, since the two-week rule 
pushed up its requirements to 
double the former figure. But if the 
distribs pull out en masse tron\ serv- 
icing B&K's Loop houses, its case 
will be acute. 

Already, the Garrick has convert- 
ed to third-run, double-feature for 
lack of product. The United Artists 
(Continued on piage IS) 



PIX PUBUC RELATIONS 
READIED FOR A HYPO 

Further devidopment of the public 
relations setup of the film industry 
was discussed by members of the 
Advertising and Publicity Directors 
Committee of the Motion Picture 
Assn. of America at their last ses- 
sion last week. Committee consist- 
ing of the pub-ad directors of the 
major companies, serves as an ad- 
visory body to the MFAA on public 
relations. 

Implementation of the program 
the pub-ad chiefs have been work- 
ing^ out awaits the retium of Nate 
Bliimberg, Universal pr^y, from 
E^ngland. Blumberg is chairman of 
the public relations committee of the 
MPAA board. Following consulta- 
tions with Wm by the pub-ad com- 
mittee chairman, Maurice Bergman, 
of Universal, it is expected Blum- 
berg will take up the recommenda- 
tions with' the Johnston office direc- 
torate. 

One of the aspects of the plan is 
to hire more people for the public 
relations job. Coin has already been 
appropriated by the MPAA, and 
there has been one addition made 
to public relations chief Ken Clark's 
staff in Washington. Holding up 
further enlargement, however, it is 
reported, is an idea held by some 
of the pub-ad chiefs that a public 
relations job might better be dona 
by an outside agency or by a public 
relations expert reporting directly 
to Johnston. 

On the other hand, most of the 
committee members, are agreed that 
greater efficiency would result 
through expansion of Clark's staff, 
keeping all the operations integrated. 
It's anticipated that this issue will 
be- thoroughly thrashed out when 
Blumberg and Erie Johnston, MPAA 
prexy, return to this country. Action 
in one direction or the other, it is 
hoped, will follow quickly. 
- Continuing as the basi.i of dis- 
cussion at last week's meeting was 
the p.r. plan drawn up by Charles 
Sehlaifer, 20th-Fox pub-ad topper, 
and chairman of a special industry 
public relations 'coimmittee. Sehlaifer 
plan, has since been modified and 
added to. 



ISA 





IS A SHOWMAN'S DELIGHT BECAUSE 
IT HAS EVERYTHING THE PUBLIC 
ALWAYS UKES IN MOTION PICTURES . . . 



says "OASBAH'S POWiHm BOX-OmCil" 



■ 



Wc<Inc8tl»y» March 10, 1948 




., , 



%$^^;^4By md night 




'I 




Emry Man There's a Woman " 
About 



,,,lSi»,,..„„ 







i' .-'<•( if,,. 



.liiiipiiiliili 



sipipilliiijip 



pi 

i: 



or Loue, 

CASBAH" has been pre-sold by show- 
manly publicity and exploitation. 



everywhere 



4. 




4: 



i 
:3 



A MfMi.r,mV >>v-^ 

YVONNE DtCARLO 



UNIVSRSALINTERNATIONAL presents A MARSTON PRODUCTION 

TONY MARTIN * PETER LORRE and infr^du^^^s MARTA TOREN 




In 




with' 



HUGO HAAS ^ THOMAS GOMEZ • DOUGLAS DICK 

ond KATHfRtNE DUNHAM and hw •xoffc danciers 

. - . ^. N»T C GOLOSTONE • Directed U JOHN BEMW . Mu,ic b, MAfiOLO ARLEN .nd l,r,« tv lEO ROBIN . S«~npl.y b, L. BUSH FEKETt .nJ ARNOLD MANOff ^.Ifcrtlc.. SUnf.»».aiR«H*REUV 



, ■? ^-y-i '-(1.' '^ 

\ 



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iissiliisiliiilliiiipftip^iiisi^ 



> ^ i. t.. \ ft........ 



14 



Vedweeitoy^ THIMk 10, 1948 



L A. Perking Up; Daughters' 
'Susie Slow 32G, Ladd Lofty 41G, 
'Intripe 31G, mrtkide' 59a 2(1 



. Los.Angeles, March 9. 

Despite five' new bills, the overall 
flrstrun pace* h«re is a bit mildish. 
"Three Daring Daughters" shapes as 
ckay $50,000 in three theatres. 
Comparatively stronger among new- 
comers is "Saigon," which will do 
slice $41,000 in two houses. "In- 
trigue" looks to hit good $31,000 in 
lour small-seaters. 

On slow side is "Knew Susie" with 
$31,000 in two spots, "Panhandle" 
«hape£ to g^t light $26,000 in five 
situations. 

"Call Northside" continues on 
stout side with , $51,500 in second 
Jlrame, four houses, and also has 
added a fifth spot this session for an 
extra $7,500, Third round of "Voice 
of Turtle" will be near pleasant 
.'$31,000 in three locations. "Black 
Bart" is down to scant $16,000 on 
second frame, five sites. 

Estimates for This Week 

Belmont (FWC) (1,532; 60-$!)— 
"Panhdndte" (Mono) and "Louisi- 
ana" (Mono). Just oke $3,500.' Last 
■week, "Women in Night" (FC) and 
"For You I Die" (FC) (8 days), 
modest $2,600. 

Beverly Hills Music llall (G&S- 
Blumenfeld) (826; 65-$l)-— "Intrigue" 
<UA). Sturdy $6,000. Last week, 
"Outlaw" (UA) (2nd wk-10 days'), 
$2,100. 

Carthay Circle (FWC) (1,518; 60.- 
$1)— "Call Northside" (20th) and 
"Let's Live Again" (20th). Okay 
$7,500. Last week, "Sign of Ram" 
(Col) (2d wk-3' days), light $5,300. 

Chinese (Grauman-WC) (2,048; 
60-$l)— "Northside" (20th) (2d wk). 
Keat $13,000. Last week,, great 
$21,000. 

Culver (F,WC > • . (1,145; 60-$l )— 
•'Panhandle" <Mono) and "Louisi- 
ana" (Mono)i Slow $4,000. Last 
'week, "Women , in Night" (FC) and 
"You I Die" (FC) (8 days), slisJjt 
$3,000. ' 

DowntoVft' (WB) (1,800} 60-$l)— 
•'Voice Turtle" (WB) (3d wk). Near 
$12,000. Last week, average $14,100. 

Downtown Music Hall (Blumen- 
feld) (872; 60-$l )--"Intrlgue" (UA).- 
Fair $12,000. Last week, "Outlaw" 
<UA)' (2d wk - '10- days). Good 
$13,400. 

Egyptian (FWC) (1,538; 60-$l)— 
"Three Daring Daughters" (M-G). 
Good $13,500. Last week, "High WaH^' 
(M»G) (2a, wk), dull $6,000. 

El Rey (FWC) (861; 60-$l)— "Pan- 
handle" (Mono) and "Louisiana" 
(Mono). Light $3,000. Last week, 
"Women in Night" (FC) and "YOU 
1 Die" (FC)- (8 days), only 32,400. 

Esquire (Rosener) (685; 854^1.20) 
—•"Nicholas Nlckleby" (U) (2d wk). 
Nice $3,000. Last week, good $4,500. 

Four Star (UA-WC) (SOO; $1.20- 
$1.80)— "Mourning Becomes Electra" 
(RKO) (Uthowk). Thin $3,000. Last 
■week, $3j400. ' 

Guild (FWC) (968; 60-$l )— "Black 
Bart" (U) and "Jiggs, Maggie in So- 
ciety" (Mono) (2d wk). Scant $2,000 
I«st week, okay $4,300. 

Hawaii (G&S-Blumenfeld) (1,106; 
eo-$l )— "Intrigue" (UA). Nifty $7,000. 
X,ast week, "Outlaw" (UA) .(2d Wk 
10 days), $2,700. 

Hollywood (WB) (2,756; 604l)- 
"Voice Turtle" (WB) (3d wk). Fi 
Hales at $9,000. Last Week, above' 
average $13,000. 

Hollywood Music nail (Blumen- 
Jeld) (475; 60-85)— "Intrigue" (UA) 
Fast $6,000. Last week, "Outlaw" 
<UA) (2d wk-10 days), $3,600. 

Iris (FWC) (828; 60-85)— "Black 
Bart" (U) (2d wk). Down to $2,000. 
iast week, dull $3,700. 

Laurel (Rosener) (890; 85)— "Cara- 
van" (EL). Slow $2,000, Last week, 
"Panic" (FR) (2d wk), okay $2,000. 

Loew's State (Loew's WC) (2,4,04: 
«0-$l)-^"Northside" (20tb) and "Live 
Again" (20th) (2d wk). Good $21,000. 
last week, very fancy $32,400. 

Los Angeles (D'town-WC) (2,097; 
€0-$l) — "Daughters" (M-G). Okay 
$23,000. Last week, "High Wall" 
(M-G) (2d wk), light $11,100. 

Loyola (FWC) (1,248; 60-$l)- 
"Northside" (20th) (2d wk). Stout 
$8,000. Last week; socko $12,300. 

(^rpheuim (D'town-WC) (2i210; 60- 
$1)— "Panhandle" (Mono) and "Loui- 
siana" (Mono). Thin $12,000. Last 
Tweek, "Women in Night" (FC) and 
"You I Die" (FC) (8 days), slow 
$13,800. 

Panlages (Pan) (2,812; 60-$l) 
"Knew Susie". <RKO) and "Tracy 
Meets Gruesome" (RKO), Dull $15,- 
BOO or near. Last week. "Night Song" 
(RKO) and "Woman From Tangier" 
(Col) (2d wk), skinny ,$11,100. 

Paramount (F&M) (3,398: 60^$1)— 
"Saigon" (Par) and "Mr. Reckless" 
(Par). Smooth $27,000. Ldst week. 
"Albuquerque" (Par) and "Caged 
Fury" (Par) (2d wk), light $12,800. 

Paramount Hollywood (F&M.) (1,- 
451; 60-$l) — "Saigon" (Par) and 
"Mr. Reckless" (Par). Fast -$14,000. 
Xast week, "Albuquerque" (Par) and 
"Caged Fury" (Par) (2d wk), okay 
$8,300. • 

RKO Hillstreet (RKO) (2,890; 60- 
80) "Knew Susie" (RKO) and 
• "Dick Tracy" (RKO). Slow $16,500. 
Last week, "Night Song" (RKO) 
and "Woman From Tangier" (Col) 
(2d Wk), dull $11,700. 

ttits (FWC) (1,370; 60-$l)— "fiiicV 



Broadway Grosses 



Estimated Total Gross 

This Week $685,000 

(Based on 23 theatres) 

Last .Year $712,089 

(Based on 18 theatres) 



'Earth' Rolls Up 
in Prov. 




Providence, March 9. 
Loew's State, with "To Ends of 
Earth," shapes as leader this week. 
Two holdovers, -"Bishop's Wife" at 
Albee, and "Call Northside," at 
Majestic, both are hep. 

Estimates for This Week 
Albee (RKO) (2,200; 44-65)— 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) and "Philo 
Vance's Gamble" (RKO) (2d wk). 
Very nice ?l7;000. First week was 
sock $21,000. ' 

Carlton (Fay-Loew) (1,400; 44-65) 
—"Voice, of Turtle" (WB) and 
'Trail of Mounties" (WB) (third 
downtown se'Sh). Good $4,000. First 
week was nice $5,000. 

Fay's (Fay) (1,400; "44-65)— "The 
Challenge" (20th) and vaude on 
stage. Fairly- solid $7,000. Last week, 
"Buckskin Frontier" (WB) and 
vaude, good' $6,800. ■ 

Majestic (Fay) (2,200; 44-65) 
"Call Northside" (20th) and "Danger- 
ous Years" (20th) (2d wk). Sturdy 
$15,000. . First week was fancy 
$19,000. 

metropolitan (Snider) (3,100: 44- 
65)— "History Is Made at Night" 
(Indie) and "You Only Live Once" 
(Mono). Average $8,500. Last week, 
"So .Well Remembered" (RKO) and 
"Western Heritage" (RKO), steady 
$8,500. 

State (Loew) (3,200; 44-65)— "Ends 
of Earth" (Col) and "Curley" (M-G), 
Best in city at $24,500, big. Last week, 
"Cass Timberlane". (M-G) (2d wk), 
fine $17,500. 

Strand (Silverman) (2,200; 44-65) 
—"Albuquerque" (Par) and "Big 
Town Dark" (Par) (2d wk). Not so 
hot at $6,000. First week was fairish 
$8,500. 

H.O/S DEL BUFF. BIZ; 
'MEANT MF $17,000 

Buffalo, March 9. 

Too many holdovers will cut into 
total ■ biz here this week. Both 
"Meant for Me" and "Double Life" 
are shaping for nice sessions of the 
newcomers. 

Estimates for This Week 

Buffalo (Shea) ' (3,500; 40-70)— 
"You Were Meant for Me" (20th) 
and "The Challenge" (20th). Fairly 
Strong $17,000. Last week, "Call 
Northside" (20th) and "Dangerous 
Years"*(20th), about same. 

Great Lakes (Shea) (3,400; 40-70) 
—"Gentleman's Agreement" (20th) 
(2d wk). Neat $11,000. Last week, 
'sock $20,000. 

Hipp (Shea) (2,100; 40-70)— "Call. 
Northside" (20th) and "Dangerous 
Years" (2dyi) (m.o.). Stout $9,000 
or close. Last week, "Voice of 
Turtle" (WB) and "Big Town Dark" 
(Par) (2d wk), $8,000. 

Teck (Shea) (i,400; 40-70)— "Con- 
gorilla" (Indie) and "Borneo" (In- 
die) (reissues). Sturdy $5,500. Last 
week, "Good IJilews" (M-G) (2d), 
$3,000. 

Lafayette (Basil) (3,000; 40-70)— 
"Double Life" (U) and "Lone Wolf 
in London" (Col). Nice $12,500. 
Last week, "Relentless" (Gol) and 
"Mary Lou" (Col), $7,000 in four 
days. 

20th Century (20th Cent.) (3,000; 
40-70)— "Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (2d 
Wk). Going over $12,000, great. 
Last week, big $17,500. 



Omaha Revives; 'Campus* 
Upped by McCoy, $21,000 

Omaha, March 9. 

Three heavy snowslovma fore part 
of the past week flattened biz, but 
weather break upped business over 
weelcend. Coinparatively the beat 
showing is being made, by "Bishop's 
Wife" at the Brandeis, The Or- 
pheum's Clyde McCoy band and 
Harmonicats on stage with "Campus 
Honeymoon" looks strong despite the 
storm, ■ • '■ 

Estimates for This Week 

Brandeis (RKO) (1,500; 16-65)— 
''Bishop's Wife" (RKO) and "Wreck 
Of Hesperus" (Col), Stout $7,000 o/ 
near. Last week, "EndiS of Earth" 
(Col) and "Always Together"^ (WB), 
$6,000, 

Orpheum (Tristates) (3,000; 20-80) 
— "Campus Honeymoon" (Rep) with 
Clyde McCoy orch and Harmonicats 
on stage. Solid at $21,000, Last 
week, "Body and Soul" (UA) and 
"Smart Politics" (Mono), good '$10,- 
406 at 16-65C seal*'. . 

Omaha (Tristates) (2,100; 16-65)— 
■"Body and Soul" (UA) and "Smart 
Politics" (Mono) (m.o.). Stout $8,000. 
Last week, "Captain Castile" (20th) 
(m.o.) pnd "Trail of Mounties" (In- 
die), neat $8,800. 

Paramount (Tristates) (2,800; 16- 
65)— '\Voice of Turtle" (WB). Strong 
$11,000. Last week, "Call Northside" 
(20th), good $10,000. ,. ' 

State (Goldberg) (865; 16-65)-^ 
"Pittsburgh" (Indie) and "Greeft 
Hell" fl(Indie), ppUt with "Odd Man 
Out" (U). Good $4,500. Last week, 
"Great Waltz" (M-G) (reissue) and 
"Three on a Ticket" (EL), $5,200. 

'Bisbp's Portly 
$31,000 in Frisco 

: San Francisco, March 9. 

New product is 'overcoming the 
handicap of dimmed-out conditions 
on Market Street this week. Despite 
absence of ■yaude at the Golden Gate, 
it is coming through with smash tak- 
ings on "Bishop's Wife." Also solid 
is "To finds of Earth" playing in two 
theatres. "Saigon" shapes' great at 
St. Francis. 

Estimates for This. Week 

Golden Gate. (RKO) (2,844; 60-85) 
—"Bishop's Wife" (RKO). Smash 
$31,000. Last week, "Knew Susie" 
(RKO) *(2d wk) plus vaude headed 
by Louis Jordan orch, dropped to 
$20,000. 

Fox (FWC) (4,651; 60-95)— "Call 
Northside" (20th) (2d wk). Down to 
$12,500 in. 6 days. Last weelc-, strong 
$28,500. 

. Warfield (FWC) (2,656; 60-85)— 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) (m.o.) (3d 
wk). Very thin $3,000 in 4 days. Last 
week, okay $16,500. " 
Paramount (Par) (2,646; 60-85)— 

Girl Tisa" (WB). Great $11,000. 
Last week, "Albuquerque" (Par) (2d 
wk), good $12,000. 
St. Francis (Par) (1,400; 60-85)— 

Saigon" (Par). Great $18,000. Last 
week, "T-Men" (EL) (4th wk), okay 
$6i700. 

Orpheum (Blumenfeld) (2,448; 55- 
85)— "To Ends of Earth" (Col). Big 
$21,000. Last week, "Black Bart" (U) 
(2d wk), $10,000. 

United Artists (Blumenfeld) (1,207; 
55-85)— "Double Life" (U) (3« wk). 
Off to $7,500. Last week, pleasing 
$11,400. 

StagedOor (Ackerman) (350; 60- 
85) — "Ninotchka" (M-G) (reissue), 
(Continued on page 24) 



Bart" (U) (2d wk). Slight $3,500. 
Last week, slow $5,900. 

Studio City (FWC) (880: 60-$l)— 
"Black Bart" (U) (2d wk). Near 
$3,000; Last week, mild $4,900. 

United Artists (UA) (2.100; 60-$l) 
—"Black Bart" (U) and ''Jiggs and 
Maggie" (Mono) (2d wk). Very mild 
$6,500. Last week, neat $14,400. 

Uptown (FWC) (1,719; 60-$l) — 
"IJorthside" (20th) and "Live Again" 
(20th) (2d wk). Hefty $9,500, Last 
week, socko $14,900. 

Vogue (FWC) (885; 60-85)— "Pan- 
handle" (Mono) and "Louisiana" 
(Mono). Dull $3,500. Last week, 
"Women in Night" (FC) and "You 
I Die" (FC) (8 days), only $3,100. 

Wilshire (FWC) (2.296; 60-$l) — 
"Daughters" (M,G). Good $13,500. 
Last week, "High Wall" (M-G) (2d 
wk), scant $5,500. 

Wlltern (WB) (2,300; 60-$l) — 
"Voice Turtle" (WB) (3d wk). Solid 
$10,MOf. Last week.^k'urdy $l4,36o! ' 



D.C. Dull Except TMen' 
Hep 18iG; W 18G, 
Mildish Despite Kudos 

• Washington, March 9. 

; Town seems to be in the midst of 
a full-dress rehearsal for the annual 
Holy Week lull. In a generally dull 
week, there's hardly a stand-out. 
Even "Double Life," at Loew's Pal- 
ace,: which garnered aU^out praise 
from the crix, is not up to hopes, 
"T-Men,'' hypoed by high-powered 
flackery, is the best in weeks at 
the Warner. ' 

Estimates for This Week 
Capitol (Loew's) (2,434; 44-80)- 
'' Alias Gentleman" (M-G ) plus vaude 
Satisfactory $22,000. Last week, 
"Tender Years'' (20th) plus vaude, 
$23,000. 

Columbia (Loew's) (1,263; 44r70) 
—''Captain Castile" (20th) (2d run)-, 
So-so $7,000. Last week, "Meant For 
Me" (20th) (2d run), $6,000. 

Keith's (RKO) (1,838; 44-80)- 
"Bishop's. Wife" (RKO) (3d wk) 
Slipped to good $12,000 after fine 
$18,000 last week. 

Metropolitan (WB) (1,163; 44-70) 
—"Black Narcissus" (U). Big $10,000, 
well above house average. Last 
week, "Intermezzo" (SRO) (reissue), 
hot $10,500, far over estimate. 

Palace (Loew's) (2,370; 44-70) — 
"Double Life" (U). Disappointing 
$18,000, despite crix kudos. Last 
week, "Call Northside" (20th) (2d 
wk), okay $13,000. 

Warner (WB) (2,154; 44-74)— "T- 
Men" (EL). .Sturdy $18,500, topping 
recent weeks by a .good margin. Last 
week, "Swordsinsin" , (Co,l), slim 
$13,000. 



Weather Breakups Pitt; 'Saigon' 170, 
Stout, 'Albuquerque' Fast at 17^26 



Key CH} GrossM 



Estimated Total Grosr 
This Week $2,691,000 

(Based on 22 ci(ies, 202 t>ica- 
tres, chiefly first runs, tncittdino 
N. Y.) 

Total Gross Same V/vtlt 

Last Year $3,273,100 

(Bnst'd on 22 cities, 213 Ihenfrcs) 



L'ville Biz lifts; 
'Meant Me'n 

IA>uisvi]le, March' 9. 

Downtown houses are boItUng a 
nice pace this week, with not much 
decline due to Lent. ''You .Were 
Meant For Me," at the Rialto, looks 
bright, while Tiny Hill band on the 
stage with "Three On Ticket" at the 
National, shapes up for brisk .session. 
Estimates (or This Week 

Brown (Fourth Avenue) (1,200; 45- 
65)— "I Walk Alone" (Par) (m.o,). 
Fairish $4,000. Last week "Pitts- 
burgh" -(FC) and "Green Hell" (FC) 
(reissues), $3,500, 

Kentucky (Switow) (1,200; 30-40) 
—"Wild Irish Rose" (WB) and "Ex- 
ile" (U), Medium $3,500, Last week, 
"Road to Rio" (Par) and "Husband's 
Affairs" (Col), $3,000, 

Mary Anderson (People's) (1,100; 
45-65)— "Voice of Turtle" (WB) (3d' 
wk). Nice weather helping to keep 
this one in the running. Good $6,000 
after last week's nice $7,000. 

National (Standard) (2,400;- 55-85) 
—"Three on Ticket" (EL) and Tiny 
Hill orch, others on stage. Brisk 
$15,000. Last week, "Blacic Narcissus" 
(U) and "Something in Wind" (U), 
slow $5,000. 

Rialto (PA) (3,400; 45-65)— "Meant 
For Me" (20th) and "Half Past Mid- 
night" (20th), Nice $15,000. La.st 
week, "I Walk Alone" (Par), $14,000 
and lin.o. • 

State (Loew's) (3,000; 45-65)— "To 
Ends of Earth" (Coi) and "High 
Tide" (Mono), Good $12,000, Last 
week, "Cass Timberlane" (M-G) (2d 
wk), mild $10,000, 

Strand (FA) (1,000; 45-65) — 
"Grapes of Wrath" (20th) and "To- 
bacco Road" (20th) (reissues). Virile 
$7,000, best here this year. Last 
week, "Tender Years" (20th) and 
"Dangerous Years" (20th), $5,000. 



Pittsburgh, March 9. 
First good weekend weather'break 
in months, with crowds streamine 
into town for pre-Easter .shoppine 
put busmess back on the gold stand.! 
ard for a change. Two heavy davs 
wjll insure .okay takes in general 
'Saigon", IS lending the parade at 
Penn, with "Albuquerque'' a pleat- 
„*^.''P'''s^ Stanley. Holdovers 
of "Bishop's Wife" at Pulton and 
"Call Northside" at Harris both 
holding up in great style. 

Estimates for This Week 
„ Jf»>ton (Shea) (1,700; 44-76)— 
''Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (5th wk) 
Longest run for any fllm here in a 
long time and should wind up 

^'■?-^"^,ll'S?°' "^'^ Sood- Last weeS 
solid $10,000. 

,^'*,'i"'*?r (Harris) " (2,200; 44-76)— 
'Call Northside" (20th) (2d wk) 
StiU soclto at $11,000, and moves 
$16 000° ereat 

Penn (Loew's-UA) (3,390; 44-76) 

■"Saigon" (Par). AlaA Ladd is 
heavy b.o. around here' and this 
one's no exception, strong $17,000 
Last week, "Intrigue" (UA), okay at 
$13,000. • ' 

Bite (Loew's) (800; 44-76)— '<3 
Daring Daughters" (M-G) (m.o.) 
(2d wk). ^Held here after having 
played the Pann one week. Hefty at 
$4,000 on top of big $5,000 las? week. 

Senator (Harris) (1,7S0; 44-76)— 
"Wedding Night" (UA) and "Unholy 
Garden" (UA) (reissues). Trim 
$3,000. Last week, "Flame New 
Orleans" (U) and "Broadway" (U) 
(reissues), about same. 

Stanley (WB) (3,800; 44-76)— "Al- 
buquerque" (Par), Off to a flying 
start with big $17,500 or better. Last 
week, "If You Knew Susie" (RKO). 
$17,000. 

Warner (WB) (2,000; 44-76)— 
"Knew Susie'" (RKO) (m.o.). Nice 
$7,500. Last week, "T-Men" (EL) 
(m,o.), $7,000 after 9 days at Stan- 
ley. 



IcCoy' Killer Diller 
$16,000 in Okay Denver 

Denver. March 9. 

"Black Bart" and "Challenge," 
playing day-date at Denver and 
Webber, will get high coin this week, 
being very good in both sp()ts. 
"Killer McCoy" looks solid at the 
Orpheum. 

Estimates for This Week 

Aladdin (Fox) (1,400; 35-74)— 
"Private Life Henry VIII" (FG). 
Fair $4,000, Last week, "Voice of 
Turtle" (WB) and "Perilous Waters" 
(Mono) (m.o.), good $5,500, 

Denham (Cockrill) (1,967; 35-74) 
—"Albuquerque" (Par) (2d wk) and 
"Caged Fury" (Mono). Nice $14,500, 
Last week, $15,500 playing Solo.. 

Denver (Fox) (2,525; 35-74)— 
"Black Bart" (U) and "The Chal- 
lenge" (20th), day-date with Webber. 
Good $16,000, Last week, "Call 
Northside" (20th) and "Heading for 
Heaven" (EL), big $18,000. 

Esquire (Fox) (742: 35-74)— '"VCoice 
of Turtle" (.WB). After" week at 
Denver, AUadin, and "Always To- 
gether" (WB). Thin $2,000. Last 
week, "Call NortH.side" (20th) and 
"Heading for Heaven" (EL), fair 
$3,000, . : 

Orpheum (RKO) (2,600; 35-74)— 
"Killer McCoy" (M-G) and "Cara- 
van" (EL). Solid $16,000 or over. 
Last week, "Night Song" (RKO) and 
"Bush Pilot" (SG), $14,000. 

Paramount (Fox) (2,200: 35-74)— 
"Girl Ti.sa" (WB) and "Always To- 
gether" (WB). Very thin $9,000. Last 
week,"Personal Column" (UA)' and 
"Half Past Midnight" (20th). fair 
$11,000. 

Rialto (Fox) (878; 35-74)— "Call 
Northside' (20th) and "Heading for 
Heaven" (EL), after week at Denver, 
Esquire, Webber, Fancy $5,500. Last 
week, "Diamond Jim" (FC) and "The 
Spoiler.s" (PC) (reiissue.s), $5,000. 

Tabor (Fox) (1,967; 35-74)— "Pitts- 
burgh" (Indie) and "Green Hell" 
(Indie) (reissues). Good $11,000, Last 
week, "Welcome Stranger" (Par) and 
"Make Mine Music" (RKO), $7,000. 

Webber (Fox) (7.50; 35-74)— "Black 
Bart" (U) and "The Challenge" 
(20th), day-date with-Denver. Neat 
-$3,300, Last week, "Call Northside" 
(20th) and "Heading for Heaven". 
(BSL), $3,000, 



Better Weather Boosts 
St Louis B.O.; 'Bishop's' 
Big $24M 'Naked' 22G 

* St. Louis, March 9. 

Seasonal weather is luring natives 
away from their homes and biz at the 
main stem cinemas is on the upgrade. 
"Bishop's Wife" is the leader, closely 
followed by "Naked City." Both won 
plaudits from the crix. 

Estimates for This Week 

Ambassador (F&M) (3,000; 50-75) 
-^"Bishop's Wife" (RKO). Big $24,- 
000. Last week, "Voice of Turtle" 
(WB) and "When Girl's Beautiful" 
(Rep) (2d wk), $17,000, 

Art (S'Renco) (116; 85)— "Happy 
Breed" (U) (5th wk). Neat $600 
after $750 fourth stanza. 

Fox (F&M) (5,000; 50-75)— "Naked 
City" (U) and "Dangerous Venture" 
(UA). Fine $22,000. Last week, 
"Call Northside" {20th) and "Campus 
Honeymoon" (Rep), $20,000. 

Loew's (Loew) (3,172; ,50-75)— 
"Secret Beyond Door" (U) and 
"Black Narcissus" (U). Nice ,$18,000. 
Last week, "Cass Timberlane" (M-G ) 
(2d wk), $20,000. 

Missouri (P&M) (3,500; 50-75)— 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) and "Call 
Northside" (20th) (m.o.). Good 
$12,000. ,-l,ast week, "T-Men" (EL) 
and "Black Gold" (Mono) (m.o.), 
$10,000. 

Orpheum (Loew) (2,000; 50-75)— 
"Cass Timberlane" (M-G) (m.o.). 
Solid $8,000. Last week, "Foreign 
Correspondent" (Indie) and "Trade 
Winds'' (Indie) (reissues), $7,500. 

St. Louis (F&M) (4,000; 50-75)-- 
"Saigon" (Par) and "Mr. Reckless" 
(Par). Okay $12,000. Last week, 
"Alburquerque" (Par) and "Caged 
Fury" (Far) (2d wk), $7,500. ; 

SJbabert (Ind) (1,500; 40-60 — 
"Belle Starr" (20th) and "Frontier 
Marshal" (20th) (reissues), 
$4,500. Last week, "Walter Mitty' 
(RKO) and "Hagen Girl" (WB) (2d 
run), $5,000. 

Snow Slaps K.C. With 
'Bart' Average $12,000 

Kansas City, March 9.^ 
Town is off a bit from pace of 
recent weeks but still fairly .steady. 
"Bishop's Wife," continues its earjy 
momentum and will bring the Or- 
pheum another big ses.sion in secona 
week. "To Ends of Earth" at Mid- 
land looks mild. "Black Bart," solo 
in Tower-Uptown-Fairway combo, 
shapes average, as is midwest preem 
of "The Smugglers" in the Roxy, 
This area had six inches of snow 
for the weekend, holding down 
trade. 

Estimates for This Week 
Esquire (Fox Midwest) (820; 45- 
65)— "Call Northside" (20th) (m.o.). 
Here from Tower-Uptown -Fairway 
combo, neat $4,000. Last week, "R9?d 
Big House" (SG) and "Shoot to Kill 
(SG) .$3,000. 

Midland (Loew's) (3,500; 45-65)-- 
"To Ends of Earth"(C:ol)and "Sweet 
' (Continued on page 24) 



nCTVtm GROSSES 



Id 



falk'PacesQii New Fix at $47,11; 
'AflnipHrpK' Loud 20G, 'Boycott' 13G 



Chicago. March 9. ■ 

Hnldover grosses still are high, 
«,ah only tfeee new films befng 
Smchcd this week. With the excep- 
Soi "I Walk Alone" at the Chi- 
caco which should capture a solid 
wvnoo other newcomers are on the 
Miiside. "AlbuquorqueV should do 
« Smt $20,000 at the Roosevelt,, but 
ScaXiii Boycott" at the Grand looks 
WeaV at $13,000. 

Oriental continues big to. the sec- 
ond week with "KiUer McCoy." with 
Yvonne DoCarlo and Iving Cole Trio 
toDPina stageshow. This combo 
Should bit bofE $65,000. "Meant for 
Me" appear.s headed Sot an excellent 
fco,000 in second week at United 
Arusts. "Bishop's Wife" goes into 
final (9th) week at the Woods with 
firm $15,000. 

"Black Bart," at the Palace, second 
frame, is SiO-so $14,000. 

Estimates for This Week 

Jtobllo (B&K) (1,400; $1.28)— "Gen- 
tlernah'S Agreement" (20tb) (Jlth 
wk). Slow $8,000. Last week, $10,- 

""cWsso (B&K) (3,900; 98)-"I 
Walk Alone" (Par). Solid $47,000. 
Last week. "Call Northside" (20tb) 
(2d wk), strong $35,000. 

Grand (RKO) (1,500; 98)— "Cap- 
tain Boycott" (U). Weak $13,000. 
Last wt'ck, "House . Across Bay" 
(UA) and "Stand-in" (WB) (reis- 
sues), dull $9,000- 

- Monroe (Indie) (1,000; 98)k— "De- 
sire Me" (M-G) (3d wk). Fair $7,- 
000. I^st week, $12^,000. 

OrlenUI (Essaness) (3,400; 98)— 
"Killer McCoy" (M-G) with Yvonne 
JJe Carlo and King Cole Trio head- 
intf the stage show .(2d wk). Socko 
$65,000. Last week, $73,500. ' 

Pdlace (RKO) (2,500; 98)— "Plack 
Bart" (U) (2d wk). Moderate $14,- 
000. I.ast week, thin $18,000. 

IhMMevctt (B&K) (1,500; 98)— "Al- 
buquerctue" (ParT, Solid $20,000. 
Last week, "Voice of Turtle" (WB) 
(2d wk). bis $18,000. ■ 

.9tote.Lake (B&K) (2,700; 98)— 
"AtnelO Affair" (M-G) with Phil Re- 
gan and Hoosier Hot Shots heading 
stagebin <2d wk). Mild $24,000. Last 
week, okay $30,000. ' 

United Artists (B&K) (1,700- 98)— 
"Meant for Me" (20th> iZd Wk). Ex- 
ceUent $20,000. I^ast. week, big 
$24.000. . . 

Woods (Essaness) (1,073: 98J— 
"Bishop,'s Wife" (RKO) (9th wk). 
Firm $15,000 for the final week of 
run. Last week, rousing $16,000. 

World (Indie) (587; 77)~T"Shoe- 
shine" (Indie) (5th wk). Tall $4,500. 
Last week. $.'5,000. 

Tracy-Turner Torrid 
$22,000 Top Tan Mpk; 
'l^rth' Solid $15,000 

Minneapolis, March 9, ' 
Better weather and windtip of the 
Shrine Circus, which- drew nearly 
18.000 daily for a week at the Audi- 
torium, are proving a boxofflce tonic 
here. Two strong entries, > "Cass 
Tindierlane" and "To Ends of - the 
Earth." also are doing much to re- 
verse' the' downward trend. "Bishop's 
Wife." in its third week, continues 
to demonstrate virility. It's also the 
third week for "Voice of the Turtle." 
Estimates for This Week 
Century (Par) (1,600;' 50-70)— 
"Meant for Me" (20th), (m.o.). Hit- 
ting okay $6,000. Last week, "Voice 
of Turtle" (WB) (2d wk), good 
$5,500; 

Gopher (Par) (1,000; 44)— "Green 
Hell" (Indie) and "Pittsburgh" (In- 
die) (reissues). Slow $3,000. Last 
week. "Kanjian" (Indie) ' and "Sun- 
down" (Indie) (reissues), $3,500. 

lycenm (Schreiber) (1,900; 50-70) 
— "Rembrcndt" tFC) and "Beloved 
Enemy" iFC) (reissues). In for 
seven days between legit shows- 
Thin $3,000 looks about all. Last 
week, "Patient Vanishes" (FC) and 
Spy in Black'' (FC) (reissues), very 
dull $1,000 in 3 -days. 

lyric (Par) (1,000; 50-70)— "Voice 
Of Turtle" (WB) (m.o.). Third loop 
sta'nd. Solid at $6,000. Last week, 
'T-Men" (EL) (2d wk), $5,000. 

Badlo City (Par) (4,400; 50-70)— 
Cass Timberlane" (M-G).' Especial 
interest attaches to thi.s one here be- 
cause autlior i.s Minnesotan and this 
state is story's locale. Solid bally 
nelpmg to sock $22,000. Last week, 
..Meant for Me" (20th), disappoiht- 
>ng $13,000. 

*KO-OrpUeum (RKO) (2,800; 50- 
70)— 'To Ends of Earth" (Col). 
Sock $15,000. Last week, "Relent- 
less,' (Goi), mild $9,000. 

"KO-ran (RKO) (1,600; 50-70)— 
Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (3d wk). 
Socko $9,000 sighted after $12,000 
last week. 

State (Par) (2,300; 50-70)— "Pirates 
Monterey" (U). Ught $8,000. Last 

« : -Daisy Kenyon" (20th), $9,500. 
, Uptown (Par) (1,000; 44-60>~ 
Ooocl News" (Par). First nabe 
f.U"\^"f"g- Good $4,500. Last week, 

I^ve" (UA), $4,000. 
"rJ^?"*,, (Mann) (350; 50-85)- 
t^onf Konyon" (20th) (m.o.). Fair 

rRKn, "'^"^iSl't Song" 

'KKOj (2d wk),' $2,000, 



Estimates Are Net 

Film gross estimates, as re- 
ported herewith from^ the vari- 
ous key cities, are net, i.e., with- 
out the 20% tax. Distributors 
share on net take, when playing 
percentage, hence the estimated 
figures are net income. , 

The parenthetic admission 
prices, however, 3s indicated, 
include the U. S. amusement tax. 



'Earth' Fiat 34G 
In Brighter Hub 

Boston, March 9. 

Stan Kenton band plus "Perilous 
Waters" is the top notcher in town 
this week at the RKO. "To Ends of 
Earth" looks moderate at State and 
Orpheum. ''Call Northside," at Met, 
looks nice on second week. 

Estimates for This Week 

Astor (Jaycoclcs) (1,300; 40-80)— 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (11th wk). 
StiU lively at $12,000 after $14,000 
last Film has grossed nearly $170,000 
in run here.- 

Boston (RKO) (3.200; 50-$1.10)— 
'■Perilous Water,s" (Mono) plus Stan 
Kenton orch on stage. Big $35,000 in 
sight. Last week, "Green for Danger" 
(]^) plus Russ Morgan orch, Liiba- 
Malina, Z4ew Parker, others, on stage, 
$26,000. 

Exeter' (Indie) (1,300; 55-75)— 
"Capt Boycott" (U). Nice $7,500. 
Last .week, "Upturned Gla.ss" (V) 
and "Aircraft Missing" (Indie) (re- 
issue) (3d wk), .'53,000. 

Fenvray (M-P) (1,373; 40-80)— 
"Saigon" (Par) and ■ "Let's Live 
Again" (Indie). First week big $8,- 
500, with two-day h.o. beginning to- 
day. ■ 

Kenmore (Indit-^ (900; 40-80)— • 
''Panic" (FR) (4th wk). Excellent 
$j;500 after $4,000 last; goes only 6 
days a weeic with Disney roundup on 
Sundays ai result Hub censorshict. 
Memorial (RKO) (3.000; 40-80)— 
Woman's Vengeance" (UJ and 
'Ideal Hu.sband" (20th). Mild $21,000. 
Last week ."Night Song" (RKO) and 
Fighting Mad" (Mono), $19,000 for 
8 days. 

Ifletropolitan (M-P) (4.367; 40-80) 
—"Call Northside" (20th) and "Mr." 
Reckless" (20th) (2d wk). Fairly 
powerful at $23,000 after sock $32,- 
000, first. 

Old South (Siritzky) (900; 40-80)— 
"Idiot" (Indie) and "Don Juan" (UA) 
(reissue). Drawing nice $3,000. Last 
week, subsequent-run. 

Orpheum (Loew) (3.000; 40-80)— 
"To Ends of Earth" (Col) and "Devil 
Ship" (Col). Oirish .1(23.000. Last 
week. "Daring . Daushtors" (M-G) 
and "Wreck Hesperus" (Col) (2cl 
wk). big $20,000. 
Paramount (M-P) (1,700; 4-80) 
•"Saigon" (Par ) and "Let's Live 
Again" (Indie). Fir.it week was big 
$17,500 with two-day h.o. beginning 
today. 

State (Loew) (3.!5O0; 40-80)— "To 
Ends <5f Earth" (Col) and "Devil 
Ship" (Col). Moderate $11,000. Last 
week. "Daring Daughters" (M-G) 
and "Wreck Hesperus" (Col) (2d 
wk), nice $10,000. 

Indpls. Sluggish Bot 
'Daughters' Hot {17,000 

IndianapoUs, March 9. 

Biz in oft at firstrun spots here this 
stanza, only exception being "Three 
Daring Daughters," big at Loew's,. 
witli possibility of holdover. "You 
Were Meant for Me" at Indiana and 
"Double Life" at Circle both are be- 
low house averages. Blustery March 
weatlier and Lenten influence is 
blamed by .exhibitors. 

Estimates for This Week 

Cirele (Gamble-Doll) (2,800; 44- 
65)— "Double Life" (U). Oifish $8,- 
000. 1,ast week. "Knew Susie" (RKO) 
and "Cagey Fury" (Par), , dandy 
$13,000. 

Indiana (G-D) • (3,300; 44-65)— 
"Meant for Me" (20lh) and "For You 
I Die" (FC). Pair $11,000. Last week, 
"I Walk Alone" (Par) and "Jiggs, 
Maggie in Societ.y" (Mono), about 
same. 

Keith's (G-D) (1.300; 44-65)— 
"Flame of New Orleans" (U) and 
"Broadway" (U) (reissues). Slow 
$4,000. Last week, "Invisible Man'' 
(U) and "Invisible Man Returns" 
(U) (reissues), fast $6,000. 

Loew'a (Loew's) (2,450; 44-65)— 
"Ttoee Daring Daughters" (M-G) 
and "Wreck of Hesperus" (Col). 
Hefty $17,000. Last week. "Cass Tim- 
berlane" (M-G) (2d wk), trim $llj- 
500. 

Lyric (G-D) (1.600; 44-65)— "Ride 
Pink Horse" (U) and "Green for 
Danger" (EL). Mild $5,500. Last 
week, 'IVoice of Turtle" (WB) and 
"Perilous Waters" (Mono) (m.o.), 
ditto. ' • 



*BishopV Corpulent 

$19,000 in MUd Cincy 

Cincinnati, March 9. 
"Bishop's Wife," corpulent' at the 
Albee, dominates do'wntown biz this 
stanza. Overall score is several de- 
grees under last week, hut all houses 
are registering in black ink. Of- the 
other two new bills curjfently, "Sleep, 
My Love" looks mild in the big Pal- 
ace. "Black Narcissus" is taking the 
chUl off Keith's. , . ' 

EsHmates for Tfaifi .Week 
Albee (RKO) (3,100; 50-75)— 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO). Portly 
$19,000. Last week, "Call Northside" 
(20th), big $18,000. 

Capitol (RKO) (2,000; 50-75)— 
"Three Daring Dau^ters" (M-G) 
(2d wk). Sweet $8,500 on heels of 
hotsy $14,500 preeni. 

Grand (RKO) (1,400; 50-75)— 
"Gentleman's Agreement" (20th) 
(m.o.) (3d wk). All right $6,000 alter 
pleasing $7,500 last week. 

Keith's (City Inv.) (i;542; 50-75)— 
"Black Narcissus" (U). Good $9,000. 
Last week, "Secret Beyond Door" 
(U), slow $5,000. 

Lyric (RKO) (1,400; 50-75)— "Call 
Northside'' (20th) (m.o.). Lusty $7.- 
000. Last week, "Black Cat" (Indie) 
and "Black Friday" (Indie) (reis- 
sues), strong $6,500. 

Palace (RKO) (2,600: 50-75)— 
"Sleep, My Love" (UA). Mild $10,500. 
Last week. "Meant for Me" (20th), 
favorable $14,000. ' 

Sliubert (RKO) (2.100; 50-75)— 
"Meant for Me" (20th) (m.o.). Fair-: 
ishr $5,000. Last week, "Night .Song" 
(RKO) (m.o.), $4,000, " 




Pop Sca{e> 

Philadelphia, March 9. 
"Gentleman's Agreement," at the 
Fox, continues the top boxoilice, 
favorite here currently in its second 
week. "Saigon" shapes as sock at the 
Earle while "Duel in Sun," playinq 
at pop scale at the Stanley, also is 
brisk. Otherwise, biz is on spotty 
side with weekend weather a com- 
bination of sleet and then snn.shinc 
on, Sunday. 

Estimates for This Week 
Aldine (WB) (1.303; 50-94)— 
"Black Narcissus" (U) (3d wk). Pair 
$9,500 after good $12,800 last week. 

Arcadia. tS&S) (700; 50-94)-^ 
"Walk Alone" (Par) (2d run). Mild 
$5,500. La.st week, "Sierra Madre" 
(WB) (2d run) (2d wk). neat $5,800. 

Boyd (WB) (2.350; 50-94)— "Double 
Life" (U) (2d wk). Oke !ii21,000 after 
-strong $26,500 opener. 

Earle (WB) (2,760; 50-94)— "Sai- 
gon" (Par). Sock $30,000. Last week. 
"High Wall' (M-G) (3d wk), down 
to $15,500. 

Fox (20th) (2,250; 50-94)— "Gentle- 
man's Agreement" (20th) (2d wli), 
Strong $34,000^ after smash $42,000 
first week. 

Goldman (Goldman) (1.300; 50-94) 
—"IE Winter Comes" (M-G) (4th 
wk). Dull $10,000 alter tepid $14,500 
in third round. 

Karlton (Goldman) (1,000; 50-94) 
—"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (4tlv wk). 
Hefty .514,000 after $17,000 last week. 

Keith's (Goldman) (l,3,'50;-50-94)-r 
"Woman's Vengeance" (U). Thin $4,- 
000 or les.s-. Last week, 'Meant For 
Me" (20th)' (3d run), tall »B.5()0. 

Ma,stl>aum (WB) (4,360; 50-94)— 
"Knew Susie" (RKO). Disappoint- 
ing $25,000 or a bit better. La.st week, 
"Girl Tisa" (WB), dismal $17,200. 
. Fix (Cummins) (500 ; 50-94)— 
"Outlaw" (UA) (6th wk). Mild $6,-. 
500 after good $8,000 lust week. 

Stanley (WB) (2.950; 50-94)— "-Duel 
in Sun" (SRO). Briglit $25,000. Last 
week, "Miracle Can Happen" (UA) 
(2d wk), dull at $15,500. . 

Stanton (WB) (1,475; 50-94)— 
"Fugitive from Chain Gang" (WB) 
and "Slight Case Murder" (WB) (re- 
issues). Tidy'^$l 1,500. Last week. 
Out of Blue" (EL), $10,000. 



'Naked Gty'-Beneke Qothe Broadway 
Capitol in a New Record, 
W-Pnma 8SCl3d; "Bart'in Black»25G 



Det. Knows All About 
Ue; Fancy $18,000; 
'Winter' MOdish $7,500 

Detroit. March 9. 

The Lenten slump and some cold 
days are not helping to improve 
business this week here. Only two 
new pictures, "If Winter Comes" at 
the Downtown, and "If You Knew 
Susie" a^t the Michigan. "Susie" looks 
nice but former is'mild. 

"Call Nbrtside 777 ' still the- best 
coin getter being sturdy on second 
weelc at the big Fox. 

Estimates for This Week 

Adams (Balaban) (1.740; 70-95)— 
"Cass Timberlane" (M^G) (3d wk). 
Satisfactoi-y $10,000 after good $12,000 
last week. 

Art Cinema (Marten) (250; 60-95) 
—"Beauty and Beast" (Indie). ''Big 
$1,500 or over. Last week. "Revenge" 
(Indie) and " "Midnight In Paris" 
(Indie), capacity $2,000. 

Broadway-Caipltot (United -Detroit ) 
(3.309; 70-95)— "Congorilla" (Indie) 
and "Borneo" (Indie) (reissues). 
Good $9,000. Last week. "Sundown" 
(Continued on page 24) 



Despite five new bills teeing off 
during the past weett, business at 
.Broadway .firstrun theatres is very 
i^neven and generaUy lower this 
session. This is partly attribute4 to 
the number of lioldovers which are 
failing to hold up in their ' third 
weeks, and also to the weather and 
influence of Lent. Snow on Thurs- 
day (4) plus more snow and - rain 
last Sunday (7) hurt many pictures. 

Opening in the storm of last 
Thursday, "Naked City" with Tex 
Beneke band, Jerry Lewis and 'Dean 
Martin on the staKe is soaring to a 
colossal $145,000 or near, and a new 
aU-time high at the Capitol. Rave 
reviews from nearly all of the crix 
are helping to attain this giant fig- 
ure, closest to it being the $114,500 
hung up by "The Hucksters" last 
July. . House started- getting $1.80 
opening night with $2.20 for loges. 
It also was helped by starting at 9:30 
a.m. and running a midnight show. 
Show is displaying such stamina that 
the first Monday's (8) business actu- 
ally topped the initial day. 

"Naked" is the only smash new 
picture, although "Song of He^rt" 
will get ,$7,000 or better at Park 
Avenue, especially nice in view ox 
harsli reviews.- "Black Bart," an-. 
other new- entry, is doing fairly well 
at $25,000 or less at the Winter Gar- 
den but is far from big. "Sign of 
Ram," at the State, is on the dis- 
appointing side at $18,000, and stays 
only n'hie days. It is being replaced 
by "Mating of Millie" next • Friday 
(12). "Relentless" is going no place 
with $16,000 in first week at the 
Criterion. 

Outstanding extended-run combo 
is "Road to Rio" with Louis Prima 
band at the Paramount. This i.s still 
in the chips with solid $85,000 for 
third stanza, with the picture now 
.slated to go six weeks. "Double 
Life" is down to barely oka'- ' ' - 
000 on its third week 'at the Music 
Hall, with "I Remember MEma" 
opening there tomorrow (Thurs.). 
"Call Northside'' with stagebill 
headed by Hazel Scott, Raye & Naldr 
and Gil Lamb is finishing its third 
round at the Roxy with very good' 
$71,000. 

Warner i.s bringing- in "Robin 
Hood," a reissue, today (Wed. ) "'■'■er 
five dismal weelis With "Miracle Can 
Happen." "Robin" will bridge 'the 
gap until "Winter Meeting" opens, 
likely Easter week. Roxy -open.s 
"Sitting Pretty" with stagtelsow 
topped by .Art Mooney band. Al 
Bernie . ana Betty ■ Bruce today. 
Strand brings in a reissue of "Pi nht- 
ing 69th" backed by Rusk Morgan's 
band on the stage Friday (12). 

"To Ends Of Earth," which has 
held up well at the Rivoli. is being 
supplanted Tuesday (16) by "Miracle 
of Bells." "Earth" will get nice 
$23,000 in fourth week ending to^y 
(Wed.), aiid stays five days of fifth 
stanza. ■ 

Estimates for This Week, ' 

Ambassador (Siritzky) (1,200; 70- 
$1.,50)— "Volpone" (Indie) (llth wk). 
Current week ending tomorrow 
(Thurs.) likely will hold to tiim 
$9,000, after very nice $10,209 for 
10th round. Stay.s. 

Art (Riigoir-Becker) (570; 95-$1.10) 
— "Farrebique" findic) CM wlc). 
Second week ending last Sunday (71 
was fine $6,600, after strong $8,800 
in fu-st. 

-Astor (City Inv.) (J,300; 80-$1.80) 
—"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (14th wk)- 
For 13th I'ound ended last (Tucs.> 
night slipped with others to around 
$25,000 after fine $29,000 for 12th 
week. "Mr. Blandings" (SRO ) opens 
March 25. 

Bijou (City lav.) (650; 85-.$1.50>— 
"Beauty and Beast" (Indie) (12th 
wk). Down to $4,500 in llth week 
ended Monday (8); 10th frame was 
sturdy $6,000. Current pace is offish 
but film continues. 

Capitol (LoeW's) (4,820; 70-$2.20) 
-^"Naked City" (U) witli Tex Beneke 
orch. .lerry Lewi.s. Dean Martin ton- 
ping sta.ge"show. Sure, of new house 
record, and looks colossal $145,000 in 
week ending today (Wed. ). B'ing 
helped b,y upped scale, early open- 
ing and late after-midnight shows 
plus rave reviews. Opened in snow- 
storm.last Thursday but ort to sock 
start anyway. Old high of $114,500 
was made by "Huckstei-s" (M-G > last 
July. Last week, tliird of "Daring 
Daughter.s" (M-G) and Horace Heidt 
orch. landed solid $."54,000 in 6¥/. days. 

Criterion (Loew's) (1,700: 60-S1.25) 
—"Relentless" (Col). Teed off last 
Saturday (6) and likely will get 
modest $15,000 on first week. In 
ahead, "Sleep. My Love" (UA) (2d 
wk-10 days), -slid to bare $16,000. 

Elysee (Siritzky) (750; 85-$1..50)— < 
"Fanny" (Siritzky) (4th wk). Fourth 
stanza ending today (Wed.) looks to 
hit okay $7,500 after s-tout $8,500 in 
third. Holds again. 

Globe (Brandt) (1,500; 70-81.20)-^ 
"Body and Soul" (UA) (18th wk). 
Holding 'UP fairly well in view of 
lenclh of run at $12,500 after ."S14,200 
l^|t' wepk, fiplow, hppg-s, Stuj-s an> 



with "Adventures of Casanova" (EL) 
opening March 20. 

Little Carnejrie (Indie) (460; 95- 
$1.20)— "Jenny Lamour" (Vog), First 
week encUng next Friday (12) looks 
sock $8,500 or over, with crix praise 
a big help. Stays on. Last week, 
"Passionelle" (Indie), did only $3„'")00, 
pan reviews being too much ot a 
handicap. a ■ 

Mayfair (Brandt) (i.'j'se; 70-$I.50) 
— "Gentleman's Agreement" (20tli ) 
(18th wk). For 17th week ended 
last Monday (8) night, held to $21,- 

000 after, fancy $25,000 in I6th frame. 
Conti^nues. 

Fal'aee (RKO) (1.700; 60-$ 1.20)— 
"If "Sfou Knew Susie" (RKO) (3d 
wk). Third round ending next Fri- 
day (12) looks to reach okay $17,000 
after good $20,000 in second stanza. 
"Berlin Express" (RKO) is next in, 
but date not set.. 

Paramonnt (Par) (3,664; 55-$1.50) 
—•'Road to Rio" (Par) with Louis 
Prima orch topping stageshow (4th 
wk).' . Third session ended last - 
(Tues.) night held up nicely at &8^,- 

0001 especially stout in view of new 
competition; 'second was big $104,000. 
Now set to stay six weeks, being 
held over for Easter week. 

■ Park Avenue (U) (583; $li20-$1.50) 
—"Song of Heart" (Mono). Doing 
fairly well at $7,000 or & bit below 
in week ending to(2ay (Wed. ) even 
in face of uneven reviews. Holds.. 
In ahead, final 6 days of sixth week ■ 
of "Holiday Camp" (U), okay $4,000.. 

Radio City Music .Hall. (ROcke>» 
fellers) (5,945: 70-$2.40)— "Double 
Life" (U) and stageshow (3d-final 
wk). This slipped considerablv in 
second frame and is also olf in blow- 
off week at $110,000: second was 
$119,000, okay but below expectancy. 
"Remember Mama" (RKO) opens 
tomorrow (Thurs.), 

Rialto (Mayer) (594; 35-85)— 
"Furia" (PC) (8th wk). Slipping a 
bit to $7,500 after nice $9,200 for last 
week. "Smugglers"' (EL), opens 
March 27. 

RivoU (UAT-Par) (2,092; 60-$1.25) 
—"To Ends of Earth" (Col) (4th 
wk). Fourth stanza ending today 
(Wed.) looks, to hit $23i000. good; 
third was $27,000. BeUig held five 
days of fifth frame with "Miracle 
of Bells" (RKO) opening next Tues- 
day (16). 

Boxy .(20th) (5,866; 80-$1.50)— "Sit- 
ting Pretty" (20th) with stageshow 
topped by Art Mooney orch, Al Ber- 
nie, Betty Bruce, Salici" Puppets. 
Opens today (Wed.). Last week,' 
"Call Northside" (20th) with stage- 
bill headed by Hazel Scott, Ra.ye & 
Naldi, Gil Lamb (3d wk), Was very 
good' $71,000; second was big $91,000. 

State (Loew's) (3,450; 43-$1.10) — 
"Sign of Ram" (Col) (2d wk-2 da.ys). 
First weelc ended last (TucsJ night ■ 
was disappointing at only $18,000 but 
holds over two days, with "Mating 
of Millie" (Col) coming .in Frit'av' 
(12). In - ahead. "Killer McCoy" 
(M-G) was passably good $17,000 for 
third .week. ■> 

Strand (WB) (2.756; 75-$1.50)— 
"Girl msa" (WB) with Vaughn Mon- 
roe orch heading stage.show (Sd-final 
wk). Final frame ending tomorrow 
(Thurs.) is down to mild $40,000 after 
nice $44,000 for second. "Fighting ■ 
69th'' (WB) (reissue) witlr Russ 
Morgan orch topping stagebiil, opens 
Friday (12).- Tliis is set for only two . 
weeks, with "April Showers" (WB ) ■ 
due to open Easter week. 

Sntton (Rugoff-:&cker) (561; 70- 
$1.25)— "Tne Pearl" (RKO) (4th wk). 
■Third round ended Monday (8) 
reached nice $8,700 after, big $1LOOO 
for second week. Continues. 

ViotorU (City. Inv.) (720; 70-$1.5O) 
-i-" Albuquerque'' : (Par) (2d wk). 
Second round ending- Fi-iday (12) 
looljs still sturdy at $12,000 after very 
big $21,000 opener. Stays on two 
weeks more, with "The Search" (Mr 
G) opening -Marcli 27. 

Warner (WB) (1,499; 90-$l.!)a)-T- 
■'Robin Hood" (WB) (reissue). Ooens 
today (Wed.) to cover interim until 
"Winter Meeting" (WB>, new Botte 
Davis starrer, romes in. Last wcelv, 
"Miracle Can Happen" (UA),: around 
$5,000 in final 8 days of fifth ses.sion 
after $7,000 for fourth, both very 
dismal for thi.s house. 

Winter Gar.-len (UA) (1.312; 55- 
$1.20)— "Black Burl ' (TJ), First week 
ended last (Tue.s.) night was fairly 
good for this type vehicle at $25,000 
or near. In ahead, six days of sec- 
ond week for "Ja.s.sy" (U) was only 
$12,000. New Ijargam scale o' 5.5c at 
early-bird matinee is helping," 

F-WC T^ts Foyer Tele, 
Carthay Circle, H'wood 

Hollywood, March 9. 

Fox-West Coast todk its first 
video .step with the test installation 
at the Carthay Circle of mezzanine 
foyer large screen console. 

Jerry Ck>5tigan's Capitol receiver, 
with 18x22 screen, was put in as a 
preamble to further ctests with large 
screen projection video, which' will 
te in.stalled this week for theatre 
shpwmg^, ..J. , , •,'.'} 



F 



. . . Reprinted from the March Hth Editiou of Motion Picture Daily 





Century-Fox has the Product! 



WeditMday, Mar A 10, 1948 



ireement 



Its record at the boxoffice 
isjlatcfred onJy by its 
record acclaim! 



Wain 



rom 

TECHNICOLOR 



2nd Consecutive month a 
Motion Picture Herald Box- 
office Champion! 



The musical thafs meant 
for audiences and showmen 
everywhere! 



iorthside JH 



"Smash! Leading the field I" 
reports Variety as it oW- 
grosses the biggest of 20th's 
outstanding -true" dranfas! 






Setting records for laughs 
and ticket-selling in New 
York-Miami-Boston! 





TECHNICOLOR 



Matching the pace of 
Friend Flicka;' "Smoky" and 
"Home In Indiana" in 6-state, 
329-ThBatr6World Premiere! 



IS 



RevointkHiary Maiise Fdmiiig 
OBtope'StitssesNewPicTecWqiie 



By MIKE CONNOltT 



Hollywood, March 9. 
Pre-reheai'sal technique worked 
out so well on "Rope,"-\yhich Al- 
fred Hitchcock and Sidney Jj. Bern- 
stein have just completed for War- 
ners release, that proflucing duo wfll 
use a great ijeal of the same method 
m shdoting "Under Capricorn" and 
"Datl? Duty," their next two. Actual 
lensing time was 10 days, plus five 
days of retakes, but complete sched- 
ule was .36 days, including intense 
rehearsals. , ■ " 

Final budget for the 85-minute 
TechnicQlor' picture ■ is reportedly 
^1,500,000. It would have run' well, 
over $2,DOb,000 if lensed in the rou- 
tine manner,' according to an official 
report, but.it would have been well 
under $1,500,000 it it hadn't l»een for 
the retakes, Latter, were unavoid- 
' • able because, of the unique manner 
in which the film was made. Pro- 
' ducers learnied a ItJt in filming the 
precedent-maker, and their findings. 
Will ie .imt to use in the jfuturei 
HitcKeockf who ditected, never 

■ said "jCttt" on' any scene • until ■ the 
camera fiad rolled betwfeen six and 

■ nine minutes without a halt. In 
other words, roughly 11% of- the 
picture was finished iM'less than 10 

" minutes, while the rest oi the' lenses 
in Hollywood grind out about 1%% 
ot the- picture- in- an eight-hour d^jff 
i . A total of 45 takes vwapped wp the 
. pictuiifei with ll. 'tiages of dialog 
, gobbled up iou eajih shot, .- > 

Revolutionary screen treatment is 
' considered by technicians herfe as 
ranking with the' introduction of the 
, closeup, the camera boom and sound. 
However, it should, be, rememherpd 
that no 10-day..' shoQting schedule' 
completes the pictures, b.ecftjise days 
of , careful .rehearsal are^ necessaiy 
■wiW camera' erew and |g<;tors he- 
lore each' reel 'is shot,',." \ 
" Past fixperlments 
Hitchcock- had experimented with 
the technique on isolated sequences 
in "SpelHaound," "Notorious" and 
"The Faradine Case." Peal for shoot- 
ing an entire picture in this ^manner 
gre-W 'out 'oi BetnsteiQ's- Ideas about 
•shooting entire performance of 
' Shakespeare at the Old Vic, in order 
to pre-serve on film roles" by Lau- 
rence-Olivier; Ralph Richardson and 
■ others of that" coinpany. 

Pair adapted the idea to "Rope," 
. froni.' Patrick. .Hamilton's play, 
I "Rope's ■End,",shooting it with stage 
techttiqjie titicler sound stage cohdi- 
• tions< '&im«;a 'ostensibIy never sfops, 
because screenplay has , fto- - time 
lapses, .taking place in an hour-attd- 
, «-hal£ in one apartment. 

Wild wallsi.term xtsed to de^mtte 
detachable flats, were used' for the 
collapsible apartment. Hung on 
overhead tracks pnd pulled manu- 
ally,- -sides of the- apartment sBd- 
"away, allowing the camera to follow 
actors, through . narrow doots; 
Camera ' returns, -\yithout a haltj i 
with the actors, keeping the walls 
just out of tte lens flngle until they 
close. Then the camera swings 
ftrouad to show a -solid 'room. 

'With as many as 40 setups in , one 
reel,; it was a trick for Electricians.^ 
And' if an ' actor fluffed or a light 
went wrong .-the whole reel was 
junked and started over again; That ; 
accounts 'for those five days of re- 
takes. It's also the reason grips re- 
sponsible (or camera movements are 
getting screen credit in MRope" for, 
the first time' in fliclierdom's history. 

During rehearsala the floor was 
marked with - numbered circles. 
Markings were removed for the 
take, and plotted on a board from 
which a script supervisor signalled 
the camera crew, on every move 
during the 96o-fobt shot, which is 
the limit on a Technicolor reel. The 
30 distinct camera moves In film's 
second reel 'indicates the speed and 
precision with which the crew 
worked. At the start of the reel the, 
camera is facing south. On com- 
pleting , the trip through the coir 
. lapsible apartment it faces north. 
This is Hitchcock's first Technic 
color picture. He uses the tint prin- 
cipally to note change in the time 
of day, keeping it subdued at all 
times and recording color as the eye 
receives it, with no glaring contrast. 
Cast Includes James Stewart, Sir 
. Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier, 
John Dall, Farley Granger, Edith 
' Evanson, Dick Hogan, Joan Chandler 
and, Douglas Dick. Hitchcock ap- 
pears, too, as usual. This time liis 
phij; is on a neon "Reduce" sign on 
the side of a miniature building 
seen from the apartment. , 
„ Director stresses that "Rope" was 
sn unusual .stint— hence,' ."HoW you 



of sets I don't know, although we 
are definitely going to use it a good 



deal in our next two pictures, and 
probably more and more . after that, 
as it becomes more practicable. It's 
true I made "Paradine'' .in 85 days, 
against 36 for "Rope,"., but., prior to. 
that "Spellbound", wps.madein 48;- 
so yo» can't fllway^-Rin; it. down, i H 
we had needed, more retakes, ,3i's en- 
tirely possibjie ,"R6p,e" .woi^ld havfe 
gone as long , as . "Sp.ellboundfV BUt 
there's no denying .it helps the 
budget." ' ' • 

Bernstein, pointed (jut that the 
money lost on Technicolor wastage 
because Of fluffs and technical errors 
was made up for by cutting corners 
in other ways. Cast wasn't too top- 
heavy, and reels that were shot with- 
out necessity of retakes made up 

for other losses. , ' ■ , ■ 

Warners will release filiii' in- the 
fall, Bernstein said. Transatlantic 
tefes off with this picturev*. , , 
: y 



Isltegai Victory, Fw 
Majdrs ma Long rune 
Is Tri-Slale Texas Case 

Dallas, March 9. 
The majors have broken their 
losing' streak with' a complete- vic- 
tory aftw trial m an -.'anti-tvust; 
treUe-dainage suit .Federal' Jradge 
William H. Atwell has thrown out 
the $1,200,000 damage action of Tri- 
State Theatres against the ' eight 
ma.iprs, Interstate Circuit and Robb 
& Rowley following six days, of 
trial. : Court's decision was made 
from the bench. 

Suit was axed because the court 
held that Tri-State jailed to prove 
a conspiracy on the part of the de-' 
fendarits. It was claimed, by plain- 
tifl"s owners, B. R. . McLendon and 
four other McLendons, that an il- 
legal-releasing system resulted in" 
unreasonable 'clearance in Dallas. ' 

-As a result, it was charged, plain- 
tiff was forced to" sell its Beverly- 
Hills theatre at a price $200,000 be- 
low its true" value. There's silso .& 
claim: that a loss of $100,000 in profits 
was suffered at the Beverly Hills 
and anotliur $lOO,ODtf at the Gasa 
Linda. 

I Tom McConnell, who • was vic- 
torious as attorney -for "the- Jackson 
Park in . Chicago) fared second best 
as Tri-State's legality. Along with 
him as attorney was- the local firm 
of Clark;. Cofan, Holt " & Fisher. 
Knight, Harris, "Wright & Weisberg 
handled the choies for the dlstribs,; 

Victory is the first for the majors 
since the WiUitim: Goldman case was 
lost in P|iiladelphia. It'$ expected tO 
have a stiffening effect on the majors 
so far as future settle'mcnt negotia- 
tions in other actions are concerned. 



Important Legal Kink 
On Damage Ijni 
In Buffalo Test M 

Buffalo, March 9. 
Federal Judge Harold Burke has 
reserved, decision on a legal stumper 
which is of top-ranking importance 
in the dozens of exhibitor anti-trust 
suits throughout the country. Ques- 
tion posed to the court is whether the 
consent decree, ehteired in the pov- 
e'riiment anti-trust suit in j.e40, start- 
'«d thfe -statute of limitations running 
again after it haiSl been tolled, by . the 
'ilj.ng;,'M,tha.t actiO'n in 1938. 
"judge ^(urke's, decision will affect 
not only pending exhib actions but 
also those brought in, the future. 
Under the Sherman Act, there's a 
six year. Umit on actions- Hovrever, 
that law also provides that the time 
which a Government overall action 
limit ceases to run for the period in 
is pending in the courts. .The majors 
are arguing that the consent decree, 
in effect, suspended the Government 
suit arid started the time running 
again. If that's sustained; it would 
cut off three years and plenty of po- 
tential damages from current and 
incipient suits, ;' 
' Point is illustrated in the BivolJ 
theatre action, pending here, and the 
one ^hich has raised the cvirrent 
question. iEtivoli .has applied to 
Judge Burke for permission to 
amend its complaint by boosting 
treble damages from the present 
$1,000,000 to $3,000,000. It wants to 
sue for the past 13 years of opera- 
tions rather .than the normal six. 

Amendment pitch was made by 
David. I,anday, who's pinch bitting 
for. Tom McConnell, attorney for 
Rivoli. . Jamer'Moore, attorney for 
Metro and Paramount; George, Raf- 
tery, repping United Aftists and Uni- 
versal, and Sidney Pfeiffer, 20th-Fox 
and RKO legalite, opposed the ap- 
plication. 



Inside StalH*i^^ 

Evidently there are two schools of thought as to the existence of ^ ftjai 
production boom in Britain. C. A. Lejeune, the N. Y. Times' London cor- 
respondent, in 'Sunday's issue Xt)> took the negative side. Her lead 
authoritatively states, 'JThe panic is on, at last in British studios, Not 
since September, 1939, whi^n ^he outbreak of w.ar'.seetned likely to paralyze 
the British, film. Industry, has such gloom and despondency prevailed 
around Wardour St. . . . 

"It is plain today, even to the most wishful thinker, that unless the' sit- 
uation (75% tax and U, S. film embaicgo) is tackled with an almighty 
promptness partial collapse, at least, is only a few months ahead. Of the 
60 effective shooting stages in this country, only just half are in opera- 
tion .at the moment, and it. Is believed that even this number will bfc re- 
duced ' shortly." . 

On the other hand Stephen Watts of the London Sunday Express re- 
cently cited increased production at Korda's two Studios as well as hypoed 
filmmaking at Rank's Pinewqod plant. "British studios are working close 
to capacity," he wrote. "Yet there aire tho.se who would have you believe 
otherwise." tGeorge Archibald, according to "la c6port in this issue, seems 
to hold with Watts.] ' . ' • ' 

Fawcett Publications, has pulled a switch this year in its annual fan mag 
promotional gimmick of, selecting the country's "champion" picturcgoer. 
lastead of tracking dowh the person who attended films oftenest, exploita- 
tioh idea was given an "intellectual" approach. Contestants vere asked 
-to'wtite reviews of a dozen or so films, which were compared with re- 
views in leading trade publications, Person coming closest to agreement 
with opinions of the professional o,o,ers was the winner, 
■ "Champ" turned out to be a 18-year-old uptown Manhattan bookkeeper, 
Arlyne Bogors. She was toasted at a luncheon in New York yesterday 
(Tuesday) and goes. to the Coast today for two weeks of feteing. Finale 
will be a party in her honor by the Atwater Kent, 

Femme gave up her iaookkeeping job last Friday in view of the "honor" 
she won, which has the Fawcett promotional stafi slightly worried,* Sez 
she's going to turn legit actress, but the boys aren't sure they see the 
connection). 



Advance reports on the outstanding acting job turned in by Czech 
moppet Ivan Jandl for 'JScaroh," -Praesens production made in Switzer- 
land for Metro, will be aU the, more significant, it's believed, when the 
full facts about J«idl are revealed. Seems the nine-year-oldster still 
doesn't understand a vmiA of fingliih, despite the tact that SngUsh is 
the .only language he «petiiks in the JSlm. ■ • • ■ - 

'Entire dialog was mem<)rized in rotelike fashion by Jandl. Director 
Fred Zinneman was forced to work with him through an interpreter. 
Metro reportedly had hoped to' bring the kid over to the U.S. but his 
parents thumbs-downed the' idea. It's reported, incidentally, that some 
of the Jewish youngsters acting their real-life roles of displaced persons 
in "Search" subsequently went to Palestine, whete several of them were 
killed in fighting with the .Arabs. 



Firemen Bill 

Coutbnied from ptge S 



Theatre Owners of America; and a 
Jive-man committee representing the 
International Alliance of Theatrical 
Stage Employees headed by Thomas 
Muriha. Ijocal 4, Brooklyn. 

Stage and Screen Bally 
Campaign against the bill was 
whipped into shape over last weekend- 
when film, legit and opera interests 
got wind of the fact that the' bill 
was up for coiisideretion, Widespread 
protest was organized from all state 
theatres ' with cevisrat thoijisand tele 
grams pourinK into the' offices of 
state legislatures. ■ Their weight was 
definitely felt. Maintaining the drive, 
theatres are being asked to enter 
protests against the amended bill 
al.so. 

With proceeds from the levy going 
into firemen's pension funds of local 
communitie!?, firemen oeiievolent or 
ganizatioLis hava been pressuring for 
the bill's pasfage. In N. Y. City tfiey 
pointed out. there are 1(10 theatres 
presenting live. show where firemen 
are stationed' at the expense of ■ the 
city. If the- theatres paid' their $10 
per day, it would help relieve the 
current shortage of firemen, they 
argue. 

According to Oscar - A. Doob, 
Loew's exec and chairman of the 
MMPTA, the bill is "featherbedding 
at its worst," Dohb said that '*there 
lias been no serious theatre fire in 
New York for many years, since 
stringent buildiuig codes and care- 
ful., borough insjpection, coupled with 
rigi4 con)pUaiac<iL,by . tKe An^usitoent 



MO. EXHIBS ASK 330G 

»i MONOPOLY surr 

' Meniphis, March 9. 

Barney Wootoer and Harold Roth 
of the Esftulre theatre, Cape Girar- 
deau, Mo., have filed suit for $330,- 
OOO, ciharging monopolistic practices 
against several film majors and sun- 
dry parties Involved in the. Esqulre's 
Cape Girardeau opposition. 

Suit is actually filed in the name 
of their Cape Pictures, Inc., a Ten- 
nessee corporation, in, federal court 
at Cape Girardeau against Warners, 
Universal, United Artists, 20tft-Fox, 
Republic, Fox-Midwest theatres. Na- 
tional theatres, Glenn Carroll, man- 
ager of two- rival showhouses; and 
Elmer C, Rhoden ot Kansas City, 
president, and Fred Souttar of St, 
Louis, district manager, .for Fox 
Midwest Amus, 

Complahit alleges the defendant^ 
have conspired and' cn^tged In 
monopol.istic practices in making 
flrstoun pictures available, to the two 
Fojt-Midwest theatres and'refustag 
to book them into the Esquire, Bill 
asks coitrt cofets and attorneys' fecK, 
in addition to the $330,000. 

Plaintiffs, with headquarters in 
Memphis, filed ttirough their at- 
torneys, Abe D, "Waldauer and Ben 
C. Adams, Jr„ of Mem,phis, and 
Storm & Spradling of Cape Girar- 
deau. 



would .apply the'all-iO»er method „ta |. industry,' has reduced, apy, possible 
iMf^miOiffiM^li^ mvinimJK a lot'' fire hazard to a j^i^iujj; 



- Practically ill ot-the reviewers last week pointed out a peculiarity in 
the successive bookings at P«nn theatre in Pittsburgh. House is currently 
playing Par's "Saigon." The attraction before that was UA's "Intrigue." 
Both movies deal with, the black market in Shanghai. And both in 
"Intrigue" and "Saig'onV- George Raft and Alan Ladd, respectively, play 
former U.S. Army fliers who have stuck around tor some excitement In 
the Orient. ■ ■■•■■■:.■■■.■■■''■■ 

Outside proiucet^a making low budget pieces tor 20tb-Fox release art 
working on a naiTow- margin of profit. Deals tor films produced at $150,« 
000, «r iinder, call for 39% .distribution costs of around 2S0 prints, plus 
15% i>t the cost for advertising. Studio guarantees them 10,000 bookings 
at an average ot $30. °They are permitted to fheic money back, plus 
25%, after which 20th-Fox shares SO-SO on the .profits, 

Fred MacMurray's deal to play the male lead, in "An Innocent Affair," 
which James Nasser will produce .tor United Artists, ,is a combination of 
art and finance. , Actor bought the story property for $65,000 and sold it to. 
Nasser tor $165,000. When the picture's receipts have covered the produc< 
tion costs,, MacMurray will, draw 4 tialary ot $229,QQO, in addition to 10% 
of the net. , ■ 



BM CeiKiig 

Continued Irom pase H 



has played a reissue combo. If the 
product situation continues tight, the 
Apollo may be the next to drop 
first-run and go into something else, 

At the contempt hearings which 
closed last ■ week, Myles Seeley, 
M-G's, counsel, disclosed that in 
huddles with, 'William Hodgers, dis- 
tribution veepeCi for the company, 
it was decided to deny clearance on 
any M-G pic playing B&K Loop, 
theatres. Unaffiliated houses, how 
ever, would still be given clearance. 

Outside interests are now loolcing 
■to buy some .of B&K's best house.s, 
Johnny Jones, prexy of Screen Guild 
productions, offered to lease or buy 
several houses last week from the 
circuit but his bid Was nixed. Sev 
eral other syndicates are interested 
and are trying to open negotiations. 
B&K is probably waiting for a U.S 
Supreme Court ruling on divesti- 
ture before considering offers. 

At that time, Par may take over 
the houses itself, if permitted, or" 
they may be sold to a syndicate of 
present B&K officers. Circuit might 
also want to dispose of several south 
side houses if ,the right to double 



Bing Crosby and his four sons, Gary, Philip, Dennis and Lindsay, work 
without salary in the 'Walt , Disney picture, ','Two Fabulous Characters." 
Instead, they draw 5% of the gross, up to $200,000. Bing sing.s three off- 
screen songs and reads a page of narration. The youngsters go before the 
cameras for a week in June^ when sch<>ol Is out. 

Release of "Night Unto Night," completed early last year and press 
previewed in August, is being held back by Warners In order to intro- 
duce Viveca Lindfors to the American public in a more important role. 
Preceding "Night" on the release program, will be "To the Victor," in 
which the Swedi^ actress co-stars wiSi Denni; Morgaii. 



'Poverty' Line 



Cointinned from pafe 7 ; 



money. Allied declares that these lo- 
cal reps of the majors wiE "grud- 
gingly admit that the parent company 
is showing a profit, but they, gay it 
comes from the company's theatres," 
Statements, according to Allied/ rep- 
resent a "company liney" handed 
down by the sales managenS to "slash 
smallfry off the payroll," to keep 
salesmen' and branch managers from 
asking for and getting raises, and to 
'refill the old hypo needle which 
constantly needs refilling." 

This "company line is, of course, 
pure unadultered hogwash," accord- 
ing to the Rocky Mountain bulletin. 
''A careful examination of the film 
companies' profits will show plenty 
of production and, distribution prof- 
its in spite of the most outlandish 
extravagances th<i world has ever 
seen." Bulletin goes on to point up 
the tremendous salaries paid to key 
production execs and to "lesser pro- 
duction geniuses" and the alleged 
millions of dollars spent every year 
in "outlandisli story buys, a large 
proportion of which are never used." 

Bulletin continues: "On top of that, 
the producer-distributmg companies 
have, huge legal firms to which they 
pay fabulous salaries. Value re 
ceived? A continuous flow of such 
bad legal advice that those same 
companies are now awaiting judg-; 
ment for haying violated the; anti-J 
trust laws— not to mention a rash of 
.private law suits which are spring- 
ing u^ aU,.,<),Yfr '&?«*=*>V?.|!'y"v Al}i<}d 



also snipes at the Motion Picture 
Assn. of America, citing the "King's 
Ransom" paid in yearly by each 
company, which they "tote up as 
overhead." 
These, according to the bulletin, 
are the real facts behind the pro- 
ducer-distributor 'overheads.' Money 
that Is poured down rat-holes an4 
costs that are padded to' the moon. 
Yet, their representatives will argu« 
all day over a $5 charge on your the* 
atre's operating expen.'se. The 'costs 
of production and distribution' are 
so extravagant that it is a miracle 
that production-distribution doei; 
make money. But make it they do, 
.and the profits add up to the millions 
even without their own theatres in- 
eluded in the total. - Don't let the 
salesmen and branch managers pass 
the 'company line' about distribution 
losses on to you because you icnow 
better." : 



See Wright Into Pvt. riactice 
Washington, March 9. 
Robert Wright, motion picture 
specialist Of the Department of Jus- 
tice anti-tfust division, is reported 
about to turn in his resignation M 
enter private law practice. Wngnt 
has not commented. ^ - 

. One of Wright's friends claimeo 
that he- remained with the Justice 
Department only this long so as to 
get the Big 'Five divorcement issue 
^'in-tb^the Igip.ol.^he Smaremc^ Court. 



Wdln egJiiyi March 10, 1948 



ire Yon Squandering $100,000 This Year? 

' ," L«omrd H. KMtriii«r, 0,P.A., »nd Irvbi( C. Harris, C.P.A. 

Favorite topics' of polite conyer- 
mtion today ate generally the 
Sher end the high cost of living, 
ffiipther pursuit of the latter auhject 



■imost invaifiably leads to a discus- 
don of Federal income tax, and the 
iljiable portion of Income it con- 

■■•mweft,,, 

Most, persons have heard at one 
'tiitte or another of various tax- 
■•voidance schemes which have em- 
hralled taxpayers in difficulties v;?lth 
the Collector of Internal Revenue, 
i>ut few are sufficiently aware of the 
'legitimate tax-saving features pres- 
ent in the technical wording of the 

• Federal Internal Revenue Code. 

We will attempt here to explain 
in simple terms the, provisions of 
Section 107 (a) ai>d (b) of the Code, 
■which relate to income received for 
personal services rendered or from 
the disposition of an artistic work 
or invention where such services 
.^0vered a period of 36 months or 
more! Basically, the law provides 
that if. a person's efforts are ex- 
pended over, a period of three years 
or. longer on a particular piece of 
work, and at least 60% of the total 

'cotlipensatioh therefrom is received 

' within one taxable year, the indi- 
vidual is permitted to allocate part 
of -the Income received during that 
j'ear, to. the prior years to the ex- 
tent that work was performed dur- 
ing such earlier periods. 

'- By means of such apportionment 
of income over a period of three 
or four' tax j^ears, the taxpayer is 
entfbled to secure the advantage of 
the, lower rates of tax applicable to 
«0)aller amounts of total income in 

. Mch of the various years rather 
tjian those rates to which he would 
be subject if the large sum of in- 
come received were taxable in its., 
entirety in the year Of receipt. Thus, 
he may lawfully redu<!e the cost of 

. his income tax. 

Prime beneficiaries of these pro- 
visions of the law are artists, 
authors, composers, lawyers and 
others whose efforts and manner of 
compensation may fall into these 
categories. 

^ An Illustration of the application 
of the apportionment of income 
permitted . under Section 107 may 
itrove more illuminating. Let us as- 
sume that an author received $6,000 

' per, annum during the years of 1944, 
1945, '1946 and 1947 from a magazine 

'publisher under a contrkct whereby 
he furnished a story every second 
month. On January 20, 1944,, the ..au- 
thor ^ commenced writing a play 
which he finally completed on March 
25, 1947. After several brief options, 
the play was sold for a Broadway 

• production on July 2, 1947. The total 
' income received 'by the author dur- 
ing that year from the sale of the 
•play was $80,000. 

The author's total income in 1947 
therefore amounted to $86,000, con- 
sisting of $80,000 from the play and 
|6,0D0 from magazine stories. Assum- 
ing that his deductions for expenses 
and- dependents amounted to $11,000, 
the ne,t taxable income equals $75,000 
and the tax on this income, arising 

• from a graduated scale of tax to a 
peak rate of 81%, is $43,861.50. . 

Now, iet us consider the saving 
in income tax which this special 
feature of the law affords our au- 
thor. He is permitted to allocate a 
'portion of the Income from the play 
over the 36 months (although in this 
case, the play required 38 months 
to complete, the author is restricted 
to a period not in excess of 36 
months for purposes of this appor- 
tionment). Assuming that $8,000' of 
nls deductions for expenses were 

■ dli-ectly attributable to his income 
from the play (such as agent's' comr 
mission, entertaining of prospective 
producers, etc.), his net income from 
the play . during 1947 was $72,000. 
Dividing this Bgure by the 36- 
month period, the anlount of Income 

..from the play allocable to each 
such month is determined to .be 
$2;000. 

Therefore, the amount of the in- 
come from the play received during 
1947 which is to be taxed in each 
M the respective years during which 
ti-j play was written is as follows: 

19*7 (3 months) . .$6,000 

1946 '....24,000 

1945 ■ 24,000 

1944 (9 months) . .18,000 

Total, .....$72,000 
By adding these amounts to the 

■ other mcome earned in each of 
those years, and deducting the ap- 
propriate; expenses and exemptions, 
we arrive at the adjusted taxable 
income fpr each year. , The corrected 
rax for. 1947 consist? of- the total of 

• S J^"** regomputed ior each oi 
these years, less the total of the: 



taxes previously paid for these same 
periods. 

Here is the real surprise in this 
arrangement: the revised Income 
tax for 1947,'1)ased on the applica- 
tion of Section 107 to the problems 
of our mythical' author, totals only 
$28,870.50, a clear reduction of 
$15,000 in cash outlay! Furthermore, 
since there is lio income tax attach- 
ing to the amount of this reduction, 
it is actually equivalent to an In- 
crease in his taxable Income of 
roughly $100,000! 

Many complicated factors enter 
into the proper application and com- 
putation of the 3B-month regulation, 
but it will almost invariably result 
In a substantial reduction in' Fed- 
eral income tax cost if' .the proper 
basic elements are present.. In sum- 
mary, these are , 

(1) The work from which the in- 
come arises must have consumed 36 
months or more of the taxpayer's 
time. •■ 

(2) During the taxable year, the 
taxpayer's gross income from the 
particular piece of work is not less 
than 80% of the total gross income 
therefrom received and to bie re- 
ceived during the following 12 
months. 



SelznickSuretoNixOwn 
ussie Distrib Setup; 
Metro Has Feelers Out 

Sydney, March 1. 

Looks pretty certain here that 
David O. Selznick wUl nix any bid 
to operate his own distribution set- 
up in the Antipodes. -Manny Reiner, 
Selznick's Latin American rep, has 
been here for the past month hud- 
dling with film toppei-s. He's now on 
his way back to N.Y. after a stop- 
over in New Zealand without an- 
nouncing any deal. 

Reiner, it's understood, had hoped 
to be able either to make a deal lo- 
cally, or fix it to operate his own 
distrib setup. After probing the 
latter angle, however, he was forced 
to nix' the Idea when he found that 
there's a gentleman's agreement op- 
erating between the eight major U.S. 
distrib^ In the Antips on manpower 
swapping. , 

Reiner had long huddles with 
Norman B. Rydge, head of the 
Greater Union cinema loop and also 
of ■ British Empire Films, indie dis- 
tribs, covering the release and 
distribution of ^'Duel in the Sun" 
and "The Parading Case." The for- 
mer was okayed by the censor last 
week. 

A deal with Rydge and his group 
is on the Are on question of terms. 
Also learned that Metro, after tak- 
ing some heavy setbacks recently 
with its own product, has put out 
feelers to handle the Selznick fare, 
with RKO also a keen bidder.- The 
bit bait held out by Selznick is 
"Duel in the Sun," as yet unreleased 
here. It's knosra Selznick would 
like to get this one out pretty smart- 
ly before it becomes dated. 'Who 
will ultimately handle the Selznick 
fare will be decided in N.Y. within 
the next two weeks, with Rydge, 
Metro and RKO in the running. 



Rank-U 

5S Continued from page 3 ; 

now, it's_ understood, to see what re* 
suits come from Johnston's efforts 
to win a tax settlement. No decision, 
of course, could be reached on 
whether U would break with the 
other distribs until Johnston is given 
a full opportunity to straighten 
things permanently. 

Added credence is given to these 
reliable reports by several signifi- 
cant sentences in Rank's farewell 
statement to the press which were 
generally overlooked. Rank flatly 
declared: "In our theatres, future 
programs are ■' guarairteed. Though 
we all hope to see a happy settle- 
ment of ad valorem talks so that we 
in Britain can screen the best pic- 
tures of all countries, our theatres 
Will stay open and busy." 

Potentials In Produoi 

Knowing Bank's penchant for cau- 
tiously - worded pronouncements, 
British trade circles believe that this 
country's ace filmmaker would not 
have spoken with such assurance 
unless he was certain of additional 
product. t6 his own 40 pix or so an- 
nually. Certainly, it's thought here, 
the tremendous Odeon and British 
Gaumont circuits can't be guaran- 
teed full bookings on this number 
of films alone. Supplemented, how- 
ever, by 36 or so films from U and 
an equal number from iSagle Lion 
(with which Rank also has a dis- 
tribution deal), there's a good 
chance of Rank's promise to the 
public being carried out. 

Rank's theatres might be kept 
open for a limited time on reissues 
plus new British product but it's 
questionable whether they'd also be 
kept busy on oldie celluloid. More- 
over, Rank's top men are convinced 
that the number of British 1aims 
produced by home studios can't be 
raised substantially without diluting 
their quality badly. As it is. Rank's 
filmmaking equipment and person- 
nel are now operating -at capacity. 

.Rank has the right, it's conceded, 
to demand compliance of Universal 
under his pact. . Any refusal by U 
would lay open to costly damage 
suits. Rank, however, recognizes U's 
difficult position and is extremely 
loath to press for product. He'll do 
it, if he must-^and , that must wpuld 
follow a blowup of ]the Jobftston ne- 
gotiations, 

, In his departure statement, Rank 
branded as "nonsense," talk that the 
British film industry is in bad shape. 
Attendances in his theatres, Rank 
declared, is up 4.7% for December, 
January and February over the year 
before. '^After an. abnormal winter, 
last year, and an abnormal summer 
which adversely affected boxoffice 
receipts, we are nov running at a 
level which is no cause for glooin," 
he said. 



UA Would Change Its 
Italian Franchiseholder 

"United Artists is reportedly of- 
fering for sale for $130,000 a fran- 
chise on Its product in Italy. Dis- 
trib is understood having difficulties 
with its present franchiseholder, 
Feruccio' Caramelli, and is desirous of 
making a, switch, despite the fact it 
owns stock in Caramelli's company. 

Trick angle o£ the matter *is that 
Caramelli's outfit owns UA's Italian 
trademark, Artisti AssociatU, and the 
new franchiseholder would have - to 
work without it, at least for the 
present. According to reports reach- 
ing the U. S., UA is demanding as- 
surances from would-be buyers that 
t'hey open a string of branches sim- 
ilar to the present setup. 

UA recently sold its Mexican com- 
pany and last year sold out similarly 
in Spain. Italian situation is dif- 
ferent, however, in that' it; doesn't 
own a majority control of the com- 
pany there. 

Wurtzel Preps 5 

Hollywood, March 9. 

Sol M. Wurtzel has five features 
lined up for his 1948-49 program for 
20th-Fox release, starting March 11 
with '?Fighting Back." 

Others on the shooting schedule 
are "Big Dan," "Trou,ble Preferred," 
"Tucson" and "Ticket to N6 where,'? 



Amus. Stocks in Feb. 
Dipped $36,517,741 To 
New Postwar Low Mark 

Month of February saw the brakes 
on amusement stocks still failing to 
work. Stock prices of important en. 
tertalnment companies, as quoted on 
the' New York exchange, spiralled to 
a new postwar low of $597,576,683 
They were off a total of $36,517,741 
from the close-of- January figure of 
$634,094,424 which in itself was the 
bottom evaluation since hostilities 
ended. 

Average price of amusement stocks 
came to $14.59 on Feb. 28 against 
$15;47 on Jan 31. Included in the av 
erage are common stock prices Of all 
major film companies, the top radio 
nets, music publishing houses and 
disk: outfits all set up on the big 
board. 

. The decline is a continuation of 
the full-scale slide which started in 
1947 after stocks had hit an alltime 
high of $926,813,983 shortly after the 
war. ended. Thp '47 closeout figure 
had registered a drop of $257,716,843 
from the postwar peak total. 

Film shares rebounded nicely on 
both Friday and Saturday of last 
week, witli some stocks showing 
gains of more than a point for the 
two days. Revived interest in the 
amusement group and slightly bul 
lish attitude was based on optimistic 
reports from London that Eric John 
ston might work out a satisfactory 
adjustment Of the 75% tax. in Great 
Britain. However, picture stocks: 
were inclined to follow the general 
list Monday and yesterday (Tues. ) 
as shares turned downward; 



vwwmass 



19 



Rank s 40 Films in '48 Budgeted Up To 
I, lYi Times '46-Arcliiy d 



Atlanta's 1,048 Theatres 

Theatre survey of the Atlanta 
territory, 29th in the series of 
31 exchange directories being 
issued by the Motion Picture 
Assn. of America, shows a total 
of 1,048 theatres with an aggre- 
gate seating capacity of 639,296 
currently in operation. In addi- 
tion there are 10 drive-ins with 
a <3,385-car capacity- and 24 shut'- 
tered theatres with 10,3S7'"seats. 

Of the total number of houses, 
671 are circuit-owned while the 
remaining 401 are operated by 
. indies having less than four 
theatres apiece. 



Pathe'sYrly. Statement 
Discloses Wanger Plans 
4 Films for Eagle Lion 

Limited terms , of the . final deal 
closed between, Walter Wanger and 
Eagle Lion a^e brought to light by 
the annual report of Pathe Indus- 
tries, EL's parent company. Wanger, 
it's disclosed, plans four pix for EL 
distribution on a venture involving 
joint financing. Idea, however, .of aii 
exchahge of stock between Walter 
Wanger Productions and EL has 
been dropped. 

El won't acquire a substantial In* 
terest in the Waiiger producing unit 
as originally envisaged. Moreover, 
the company is not buying an inter- 
est in 10 of Wanger's films previ- 
ously released by Universal. Both 
propositions were abandoned when 
the parties failed to agree on the 
price of the acquisitions. 

Pathe's net ' income for the 4ft 
weeks ended' Nov. 29, 1947, is down 
to $511,359,.agalnst $1,073,396 for the 
similar pmod ended Nov. 30/ 1946. 
It's gross climbed far ahead of that 
in '46, reaching $19,739,535 compared 
to the earlier period's $14,977,306. 
Earnings for the entire fiscal 194'7 
are estimated at $570,000 though no 
exact figure has been reached pend- 
ing fixing of amortization schedules; 

Substantial increase in gross, was 
due to rentals collared by EL in '47, 
its first full year of operations. At 
the same time, Pathe's total . costs 
rocketed to $19,252,663 against 
$13,872,333 in '46. That, too. Was due 
to EL's full-scale operations. 

Revolving credit of $7,500,000 has 
been -created for EL, report discloses, 
on which the company can borrow 
up to 70% of the cost of future pro- 
duction. Under its terms, EL must 
apply its weekly rentals, less costs 
of prints and expenses of distribu- 
tion and advertising, to reduce tlie 
loan. Banks extending the credit 
are First National Bank of Boston. 
Bank of Manhattan Co., Marine Mid- 
land Trust Co. of N. Y.. and Con- 
tinental Bank & Trust Co. of N. Y. 
Obligation matures Jan. 15, 1950. 

Pathe also has a term credit of 
$3,500,000 which matures the' same 
time. In November, company issued 
$1,000,000 of 5% obligations which 
are subordinate to outstanding bank 
credits. 



RADIO NETWORKS OFFER 
SCRIPTS TO HOLLYWOOD 

File-searchers at Columbia Broad- 
casting have turned up about five 
used radio scripts which have been 
submitted to film companies for con- 
sideration as picture material. Both 
CBS and the National Broadcasting 
Go. recently organized departments 
to hunt out of their files scripts 
suitable for filming. NBC'has not 
submitted any yet. 

CBS scripts presented to story de- 
partments 'simultaneously in New 
York and on the Coast, were in 
synopsized form, prepared by Arthur 
Heineman, formerly assistant story 
ed of Columbia Pictures. Most story 
eds agreed the yarns were "better 
than the average run of wild sub- 
missions." Some had already cov- 
ered them when they were origi- 
nally aired. 

. Nate Halpern, assistant to the 
president of CBS, in charge of the 
project there, claims to have a sale 
pending this week, with the broad- 
casting company getting a guaran- 
tee and a percentage participation 
for the rights. ' 



. J. Arthur Rank's production of 40 
films during the current year repre- 
sents- top capacity with present 
facilities and there's little likelihood 
of the figure being boosted m the 
near future. That's the opinion of 
George Archibald, head of Inde- 
pendent Productions, one of Rank's 
major lots, who supports his view 
with the fact that the ban on studio 
construction shows few signs of an 
early lifting. 

The Rank studios have been work- 
ing in high gear to shove the figure 
to 40, Archibald said, which, in 
itself, is an increase of 12 pix over 
1947 .and of 21 over .'46. Nor is there 
much likelihood of a boost through 
the making of cheaper films with ' 
shorter shooting schedules since the 
high echelon is convinced that a 
swing away from big pix would be a ' 
mistake. 

"The future - of the British film 
industry lies in making big, am- 
bitious films," Archibald declared. 
"They're necessary to maintain our 
prestige, and there are no plans to 
drop the practice. Of course, we 
aren't going to make only big films, 
but we do expect to maintain the 
present proportions." 
: While there's been a definite at- 
tempt to cut costs, Archibald said, 
the production budget in 1948 will 
amount to $36,000,000 $40,000,000 
which is two-and-one-half times 
greater than the 1946 nut, So^far as 
his own unit is Concerned, present ' 
productions are: bracketed between 
$1,200,000 and $1,750,000. 

No Product Fainine? : 

Archibald seps no immediate prod- 
uct famine in Britain. The bulk of 
the theatres, he noted, are now . 
booked for six months ahead with 
reissues and whatever new product 
is available. No houses, to his 
knowledge, have been forced to 
shutter. . , . 

Referring to the current ban on 
studio construction, British film- 
maker said that $1,000,000 had been ' 
allowed by the government for re* 
pair, reconstruction and maintenance 
since the end of the war and another 
$500,000 has been granted for the 
future. With present building ma- ; 
terials still scarce, new studio con- 
struction is out of the question. 

Archibald is in New York to dis- 
cuss sales plans with Universal and 
Eagle I4on. He's going to swing 
through eastern exchanges of both 
companies with the idea of polling 
exhibitor and sales opinion on 
British films. He wants to bring 
back to England suggestions on how 
to improve the saleability of his 
unit's product. He won't, however, 
shoot specifically for the American 
market since he thinks films take on 
a phoney tinge when they're not true 
to their native heath and culture. 
He returns to England, March 27. 



Par-Cooper Settle 10-Yr. 
Tiff by Selling Out Or 
Giving Up in 18 Houses 

A 10-year hassle between Para- 
mount and its erstwhile partner, the 
late Joseph H. Cooper, ended in 
amicable settlement last week. Par 
sold its haU interest, in se'ven mid- 
west houses while surrendering its 
disputed claim to the half interest in 
another 11 theatresi Amount re- 
ceived by Par is substantial but un- 
disclosed. 

By the terms of the settlement, 
Par gav« up its claim to the Stuart 
and Nebraska theatres, Lincoln; 
Neb.; to the Ute, Trail and Tomp- 
kins, Colorado Springs; the Main and 
Uptown, Pueblo; the Sterling and 
Park, Greeley; and the Cooper and 
Joy, Grand Junction, all in Colorado. 

Additionally, Par sold its interest 
to the Lincoln . theatre, Lincoln, 
Neb.; and the Criterion, Capitol, 
Tower, Ritz, Plaza and 'Victoria, 
Oklahoma City, Okla. Deal was 
closed with the Cooper Foundation, 
which was set up by Cooper's will 
to administer the. estate's assets. 

Dispute dates back to the days 
when Paramount was in receiver- 
ship. Par claimed that it had an 
agreement with Cooper that he was 
to acquire theatres under his own 
name, but with the understanding 
that Par had the right of taking over 
a half-interest if it chose to exercise- 
its option. Cooper, while alive, main- 
tained that he had offered that 
choice to Par, but that the cb.ri»pany 
bad iailed toipick'up its option. 



Business is 



'A 




at Paramount 



Contrary to popular opinion, business at theatres playing Paramount pictures 
is holding up to and even beyond levels of the boom period for comparable 
budget and comparable star pictures. Cases in point are: 

ROAD TO RIO which in many situations is topping previous 
"Road" pictures released at the height of the bo^ofBce boom. 

. ALBUQUERQUE which' is equalling and in some cas^s sur- 
passing Paramount's last previous color-western released a year ago. 

I WALK ALONE, black-and-white production which is consis- I 
tently topping Hal Wallis' previaus Technicolor release which had 
the same 2 leading stars. - . 

And now comes Paramount's 4th consecutive release which is topping com- 
parable previous pictures. Film Daily called it "Ladd's best since *Two Years 
Before The Mast'" and now the boxoffice is proving that 



ANOTHER GREAT 
ENTERTAINMENT FROM 




^«intt^ii March 10, 1948 




21 




TGROSSING LADD'S 
TWO PREVIOUS SHOWS... 

with these reports from first dates: Hartford— to^^td. both; New 
Haven— bigger than "Wild Harvest" and. within a few dollars of 
"Calcutta's" giant holiday week; topped "Calcutta" and 

comparably stronger than "Harvest" at another house; Detroit— 
comparably bigger than both at another house with similar seat* 
ing capacity; San Francisco— bigger than "Calcutta" at same house 
and rivalling the figures of "Harvest" at a house with douMe the 
seating capacity; Rochester-bigger than "Calcutta" and "Harvest," 



22 



PICTVBBS 



W«dnesd9y, March 10, 1948 



Him Reviews 



; Continued from page 10 



So Evil My l^ve 

been photographed wuii such skill 
and sympathetic understanding. 
Camera work throughout is remark- 
Sbly fine, and other assets are the 
splendid musical score and art work. 

Story begins with the return to 
England, from Jamaica of Olivia Har- 
wood, widow oi: a missionary, and 
Mark Bellis, charming cmmmal ot 
many aliases, wanted by the police 
oi many countries. Durintc an out- 
break of malaria on the boat .she 
nurses him, and he calls on her when 
she takes up residence in her subur- 
ban London viUa where she keeps 
lodgers. Bellis moves In, sponges on 
her generosity, and pretends to faU 
for her. 

Olivia renews acquaintance with 
Susan Courtney, her old school 
friend} who had sent Olivia some m 
discreet "letters before her marriage 
tt> a rich, Stuffy lawyer. This is too 
good an opportunity for Bellis to 
missi and soon Olivia is installed to a 
luxurious, home indulging in .a little 
blackmail. By now she \$ deeply in 
love with IHe worthless Bellis. and 
climax comes when Susan's husband 
gets, the lowdown on Bellia.. Olivia 
puts a liberal dose .ot antimony in 
the husband's 'medielne, arranges for 
the wile to administer it, and has 
just a qualm or two when the wife 
is. arrested for murder. 

Bellis toy. now is really.in love with 
Olivia. The criminal pair decides to 
go abroad, arranges a rendezvous, 
and as Olivia is getting ready to 
leave she is visited by a ffame of Bel- 
lis. Sh^ learns of his infidelity, keeps 
the rendezvous,, and 'in the «ab ptabs 
him. Then she drives tio tJw aeafest 
police station. 

It's not'eitheir principal's fault that 
the emotions are barely toubhed. The 
story gives, .scope foK horror, pity, 
disgust and terror, and director 
Lewis Allen must share the blame 
•with the wordy, scripwriters. Style 
and' atmospheric detail are no com- 
pensation for suspense, and if it is to, 
fee a psychological study of a good 
woman ruined by her Jove for a bad 
J man, then Ann Todd should have 
- been given a chance to harrow the 
soul.- Within the scope of the story 
she gives a fine performance and the 
same goes for KayMilland, but im- 
pression remains that the emotional 
scenes ace, phoney. 

Geraldiiie- Fitzgerald gives a com- 
petent performance as the 'unha|)Dy 
• and freightened dipsomaniac wife; 
Raymond Huntley is suitatily stuffy 
as tiie ' husband, but Martita Hunt, 
the spiteful mother-in-law who 
looms lacge in the original novel, is 
wasted ', m .a; iiny part. Raymond 
Tiovell -and I*o G. Carroll contribute 
twQ, excellent chiffaetec studies. 

' • Cane. 

Smart Woman 

Hollywood, -March 6. 

. Mnnoferam CAIilcil ArtlsUi) rtlcase of Hal 
E. (Chester profluotion. Stars Brian Alicrne, 
Constance Bennett, Bari-y SulUvan; features 

- Michaol. O'Kbpa, Jumps GleaHon, Otto 
Ki-uBer. Ulrcc!te<l by IMWard A.' Blatt, 
I3tu't!enplay, AVvah Hewie. Louin Movheliiv 
Herbert-^art^QliK; a<1aptatlOD, Adclo; Uoi^&ri 
St. Johti.s; orltiinal, Lf^on Gutterman, Edwin 
V. Wtialruto; ciiniera, Stanley Cortea; 
jniisic, J.oiiia Gi'iu-uberg; editor, FmnK 
Gross. PrcvlC!\vcd March 4, "48, Runniris 

■ time, 03 SUNS, 

Itoberl: loarrimorei'. ........ vfivlad Aherne 

. Paula llosers, Constance- Bennett 

Prank MM!oy Barry Sullivan 

.Tfllmny Salmons. ....... .....Michael (>',Sliea 

f;nm . Jatnes Crleason 

niNt. Att. Wayne... ...... .Otto, KruBW 

Mrs. Roi;«rs * . . . . . fsob^l Klsoiti 

KuHty. , . . .'Richard Lyon 

W-rs. Was'ije. ... .Seleiia Roylo 

.Tfr, Ja.sper. .Taylor Holmea 

Clark . ..ToUn Lltel 

Patty Waji-ne. NIta Hunter 

Jt)e Jjee Bonnell 

8oh Sinter. , ...Iris Adrian 

Povt« Willie Best 

IjeXly Horace McMulion 



the cast meas^^r^ng up to demands. 
Stanley Cortea makes effective use 
of his camera in displaying players 
and settings. Louis Gruenbcrg? 
iscore add.s to unfoldraent. Miss Ben- 
nett has been smartly gowned by 
Adrian. 



IMbldonns of tjhe B«eierl: 

Hollywood, Msi'oh 5. 
neuuWlo ,1-eloaM'ot StepUea'AuW mpauc- 

Don Castlls Sheldon r>««'n'^v 'e^*™^i|l?& 
lluint. Roy Jifttcmn. Pttol nunlv»e«*5, 
Blythe. PJrSeted'bJr G«orge. Blair. ^*««>g' 
play. AUwrt tteJUWml! Priglnal atsW ■ Frtn* 
wiabar; canierft, ' Jflta- WaoBuiW*; _«iattor, 
Harry Kelltr. ■pi«irt*w«4- >Ia*clt. .Sr *S- 
Running time. M MINS. ' 

Monica Dale '^fv""', J*?^,-™ 

Tony rr<jnch DotuHd Barry 

.ToB-SttllnuB B'^n ' 

Kick Julian; .Sheldon Leonard 



psoductlon is lavish. But to make sin 
entertaining by showinjf, it, as the 
pastime of the ari.stocratic is a job 
-.'at experts, Catie. 

Thelriof^n Kid 

(SONGS) 

Kagle Lion release ot Jerry Thomoa mo- 
iluctlon, HiavK Eddie Dean; teaLurca Uo». 
coo AtM, JeunlKT Ilolt, Dennla Moora. 1)1- 

eeted hy Ray Taylor. Heveenploy, I«d Karl 
RepP! eaniera, KmiB MlUer; soilK* .DeMi>, 
Johnny Bond, Poti- fiatea, Lew s I'oHer, 
Robert Tanaey; editor, Hush Winn, I'l'S' 
viewed In N. r., March ■*, 
time, M .MINS, 
mdiHe. . . .....••,.».*« », 




Bsngtir Captain, 



reto <?onuorS,;«,,v,, 



.Paul Hurst 



Bucit Keaton , R"? BarcMtt 

Hank navenport ,S"fi'^ 

Mrs. Brown. Hetty Blythe 

Mama Ihirawni "■ .Gr.-«!n ^are^ll•^ 

Papa Baravelli ...Martin OarralaBa 

Pcppo ..Fi-anlt YaconeUl 

Mra. viiquale..,.; Maria Genardl 

Miirla BHravelll V.''^'"""'/- ilHini 

Knrico . .Vernvp Canalno 

Neat, cleancut melodrama that 
will hold up well in tl^e programmer 
market. "Madonna of the Desert' 
plot is slightly off the beaten path, 
the pace is good and " interest sus- 
tainecli ■ , " : . • 

Action contained in this one makes 
the title seem misleading but it is 
apt to the plotting, which concerns 
a statue of the Madonna to which is 
attributed miraculous powers. Statue 
is owned by rancher Don Castle and 
intrigue enters when two sets of 
crooks decide to steal the miracle 
lady.- Sheldon Leonard smoothly 
heads up one group, which employs 
Lynne Roberts, to do the job, while 
Donald Barry properly enacts the 
other crook. 

George Blair's direction of the Al- 
bert DeMond script, from an original 
by Frank Wisbar,, keeps the story 
continually on the move and makes 
the several apparent" mirat;Jes that 
occur seem convincing. Through her 
powers, the good lady of .the desert 
reforms the femme crook., and' hasf 
the others killing, themselves off. 

Leads are uniformly good and sev,^ 
exal character parts, .headed by t>aul 
Rarst, cfHne off" excellently. Produ& 
tion values obtained by-* StepheQ- 
Auer on a smaU budget are expert 
Camera work by' John MacBumie, 
art direction and other technical 
contributions, are good in shaping 
this one "for neat playoff in its mar- 



ket. 



Bro0. 



Idol oif Paris 

(bmnsH-MADE) 

liOndon, Feb. 



26. 



Bunnlns 



.,„.^]*llo Doaii 
.....BiM'coo Ates 
Eddie Dean 
...Jennlte.v Ttolt 
. Dennis 'itqovR 
, ... .Leo Wonnett 
, ...Bill Fawt'ctt 
. . .Kiiaiii Pai'lter 
.Bob Wooilwartr 
Ijoals.,J. Oorliatt 
Terry Ii'roet 



The Tioga Kid," newest fiddie 
Dean •western, shows sharp improve- 
ment' over some of its immediate 
predecessors. Production and enter- 
tainment values are good. On the 
overall, fihn rates as okay fodder for 
the action dualera and Saturday 
matinee kid trade. ■ • , 
Yam has Dean taking on a dual 
role, that of a Texas Hanger as well 
as a notorious outlaw, "The Tioga 
Kid." Latter's a lone wolf who at- 
tempts to muscle in on a band of 
rustlers led by Dennis Moore. 
Henchmen of the outlaw Chieftain 
prey on horses of ranch owner Jen- 
nifer Holt and ,climax their crimes 
toy stealing a federal psyroll. 

As the Texas Ranger, Dean credi- 
bly foils the bandits amid ample six- 
shooting and hand-to-hand combat 
His portrayal of the "Tioga Kid," 
who's killed in the fadeout battle, is 
average thesping. Miss Holt handles 
her lines with finesse in the lone 
femme role. Moore scores as the 
rustlers' leader. Comedy, per usual, 
is furnished by Roscoe Ates. 

Picture is helped by some ap- 
parently fresh scenery; 'frontier 
own, in particular, has- a seemingly 
marked difference compared to the 
standard buildings and street em^ 
ployed in other Dean oatuners. Some 
hree vocal numbers supply the 
musical , background. , Ernie Miller's 
lensing is good as is Ray Taylor's 
direction. 



clientele. Pic ha5 an uneven dramatic 
quality with several dull stretches 
but opens and closes with such a 
bang- that the sagging center will be 
forgiven. 

Yarn kicks off in deadpan histori- 
cal style as Henry IV, German em- 
peror circa the 11th century, is 
shown plotting war with his coun- 
cillors against the Pope. Suddenly, 
with a violent directorial stroke, tlie- 
film is wrenched out of its medieval 
framework into a modern setting, 
with Henry IV being revealed as a 
rich, modern-day count who's as 
mad as a hatter. His flunkeys :(irere 
only pretending to be historic figures 
.in , order to humor him. 

After this startling jiwitch, this pic 
partially collapses mttt a conven- 
tional flashback story of a triangular 
love affair with an elusive fllle de 
joie at the apex. In a joust between 
the two suitors, the count gets a 
knock oh the head which results in ' 
his insanity. Yarn revives Interest 
at the windup with the count regain- 
ing his senses 20 years later, stab- 
bing his opponent and then relapsing 
into insanity as a matter of con- 
venityace to «void the' consequences. 

Without the extraordinary bravura 
thesping of Osvatdo Valenti, as the 
mad nobleman, this offering mifht 
have badly mis&red into farce, 
Valenti, however, carries the whole 
burden with a passionate and com- 
pelling performance fuU.ot wild, yet 
controlled, expression. Rest of the 
cast rates dimly by conv>arison, al- 
though sound portrayab.are turned 
in by Clara Caluoai^ as the woman; 
Luigi Pavcse, as the rival suitor; and 
Lauro Gazzolo, as.^e count's faith- 
ful retainer. 

Film is marked by 'flrstrate 
>hotography and smooth editing. 
Snglish titles, however, are too 
sparse, leaving too much crucial 
dialog completely untranslated. 

ff erm. . 



Warner Bros, releaae of Premier t.Maurl. 
Oatrer) Production. Featurea Michael, llm, 
nie, (.Christine. iNonlen. Beryl Baxter. Di- 
rected by Leslie ArliBS. Adaptt d from Al- 
fred ychirokaucr's book. "Palva, <.Jweon of 
'Love"; sorceaplay by Norman Lee. Stafford 
Dickens. Harry Ostrer. MukS<. i;y Mlscha 
SpoliaoHky; lUm editor. A. .s. Bates; (tarn- 
era. Jack Con. At 'istudio One. Kunainc 
time, MW MINS; 



Tiie Tiiree Weird Sisters 

(BSmsqi-MADE) 

Iiondoi^ Feb. 26, 

Patlie Pictures release ot BrtilSh National 
proauvtlon. Staw Malnp Clwrf, Mary Mer- 
tall, Nancy Pricp.' DUected by DUn Blrt. 
Screenplay hy Ionise pirl, Dylan Thomas 
fr<un novel by ChaHottA Armslranst adapt- 
ed by David Bvans; editor, Monica Klmlcb; 
camera, Emeat l"aUn»r, Morlay Grants At 
Studio One. Kunninic time, IS MINS. 

Gertrude Morgan-VBUKhan Knncy Price 

Maude Morsan-VauKhan . , . Mary Clare^ 

ISobBi MorBan-Vauehan.j". ...Mary Jtorrull 

Olalit Prentiss. Nova I'llbeon* 

Diivirt Davles. Anthony Hulme 

Owen Morgan- Vaughan , . . .Raymond I.rf)vell 

Thomaa. Klwyn BrooK-Iones 

Waldo. . . . .. .I'Mward BiBby 

Mabli HuKlic*. HUffli Criftith 

Beattle Marie Ault 

Police Hci-Keant...... . ..... . .David Davies 

Minister. , ...... MuBh l*rya« 

Solicitor. . . . . . ... . .liloyd .Pearson 

M«. Probart. ........... .Doreen Jtichacds 



RKO's Mochrie 



Conttniied from pace U i 



Ad 'Chiseling' 

Contlnuett from pace 11 = 



"Smart Woman" has been given 
smart production garb, good story 
and playing to merit okay attention- 
in smallfer firstruns. An Allied 
Artists release through Monogram, 
picture fits into that distribution 
Bracket neatly. Cast names aren't 
too hefty, iboxoffice-wise, but are 
familiar. ■ 

Script adds some new twists to old 
formula and JSdward "A. Blatt's di- 
rection uses' good story-telling -tech- 
nique to hold interest, ttal E. Ches- 
ter's producer guidance gets top 
values for budget expenditure, giv^ 
ing film a dress that is expertly pol- 
ished. 

Constaiice Bennett, plays, the title 
role as a smart femme lawyer, earn- 
ing an excellent credit. Opposite is 
Brian Ahei ne as a crusading q[iecial 
prosecutor who locks professional 
horns with Mis.s Bennett while carry- 
ing on an off-duty romance with the 
femme. Both do well by the assign- 
ments, as do Barry Sullivan, rack- 
eteer; Michael- 0'Shea» reporter; 
James Gleason, Aherne's aide, and 
Otto Kruger. crooked d.a. 

Scripters Alvah Bessie, Louis Mor- 
heim and Herbert Margolis framed 
plot ingredients for best. values, even 
giving the oft-used murder trial cli- 
max a new twist for dramatic em- 
phasis. Finale ha.s Miss Bennett, de- 
fen'ding Sullivan .against a murder 
charge, revealing that he is her for- 
mer husband although admission may 
hurt her son and ruin her romantic 
future with Aherne. 

Young Richard Lyon is good as the 
Bon. Isobel F'som, Selena Royle, John 
Ijtel, Nita Hunter are others among 



Hertz. 

Th,-rosa 

«'ora, l.'earl, . . . , . . 
Offf-Hliach. ......... 

■Ajltoin-?. ... . . , . ... . 

b*i-}nce Niehol'ia. - . . 

15 mpi^ror Napoleon . 

i^mprf aa lAugenle. . 

Bf-lIanKer. . . . *.».... 

TJat-aoci. .■. , . i , . . , 

Laohmaii 

-Mi's. 1 jarhman ..... 

Count ij'aiva. 

tjeurge ,Treivif?r. 



.. ... .Michael ReaniB 

. .Beryl liaxter 
....... Chrlatlne Norden 

. . . . .Miles- MalleHvm 

...Andrew Oaborn 
..Andrew (IJruu-kshank 
...... . .. .Koncth Kent 

...... Mar^areltn Scott 

,..^,.....Patti Morgan 

....... t^enino Graliam 

Henry Oscar 

........ ..Sybilla Binder 

Tjt-Mlie Ppvrins 

.('aniyliell <'()tt.s 



tirtorg© Tiremer. .fr. ......... . iJohn Penroae 

('ountcsK (le Molney.. . ....... .April Stride 



•This dates back 30 years when 
melodramatic saccharine and cos- 
tume operas were the fashion. 
Maurice Ostrer, once producer for 
Gainborough, forgot that recent suc- 
cessful mellers leaned on stars for 
clicks with this 'first independent 
production. He boasts that the team 
that made his "Wicked Lady" has 
turned out this picture, but he has 
no James Mason and no Margaret 
LockwQod to carry the burden of an 
ill- written, corny script. , Instead, 
he has comparative newcomers, who 
unfortunately do not merit leads in 
an ambitious picture. Ita boxoffice 
prospects are dim. It would be a 
waste to export it to America. 

Set in Russia and Eirance of the 
186'()'s ;Lhe story tells how Beryl 
Baxter rose from a drab poverty- 
stricken, home, to become the toast of 
Paris, to acquire a reputation as,- the 
notorious ..demi-mondailie of her day, 
wealthy and powerful enough' to 
snub the Emperor. 

' It was.-'.*,'v;tpugh assignment ,for 
young ai^iEits to cope with such a 
tedious mixiture. ".Theresa, the new 
deini-mondaine of Paris, is quite out- 
side the present scope of Beryl 
Baxter, who makes her screen debut 
in a I'olc that -would Imvc taxed any 
star. Christine Nordcn as Cora, the- 
early "queen of the half world," is 
unconvincing in speech and action. 
The part of Hertzj one ot the lovers, 
is as unsuitable as any could be for 
Michael Rennie. 

Only good professionals like Miles 
Ivlalleson, whose Offenbach is quite a 
:-tudy, and Andrew ©shorn and Mar- 
ui'ctta Scott give superior reading to 
their lines. The music by MLscha 
Spoliansky is good enough to be 
worthy of a better film while the 



There is more than the usual stock 
ingredients in this horror story. The 
dark doings in a rackety Welsh man- 
sion are told intelligently and with 
suspense. There is a cumulative 
effect about it and the film is simple 
and satisfying in scriptmg and char- 
acterization. Although there is lit- 
tle marquee value, it may appeal to 
those who enjoy the macabre. As 
a.dualer, it should provide a nice 
program here. Prospects ift the U.S. 
are .slight. 

"Weird" is a mild word for the 
three mentally-befogged elderly 
Morgan-Vaughan spinster sisters. 
The eldest is blind and lusts for 
power, another is twisted physically 
and bitter, while the third is deaf 
and sly. To help them in a large 
house they cannot afford to keep up, 
is the idiotic Elwyn Brook-Jones' and 
his tormented mother. They try to 
maintain appearances and pose as 
benefactors on an- overdraft supplied 
by a half-brother Owen. Then the 
story develops into a sinister mur- 
der mystery. 

The cast has been fairly well 
chosen, and the story is told nicely 
by three veterans, Nancy Price, 
Mary Clare and Mary Merrall. Ray- 
mond Lovell is good as the weak 
half-brother and Nova Pilbeam and 
Anthony Hulme do well with re- 
strained romance as two of the few 
normal. people in this film. 

His first fictional assignment, Dan 
Birt shows directorial promise. 

. ,' , Cane. 



made film with English narration, 
starring Maurice Chevalier; "Mourn- 
ing Becomes Electra," long and grim 
re-enactment of the Eugene O'NeiU 
play; "The Pearl," arty Mexican^ 
made with native actors from « 
story by, John Steinbeck, and "The 
Fugitive," made In Mexico with 
Henry Fonda a]nd Dolores Del Rio 
starred.". ■ ■ ■ 

Fugitive," according to distribu- 
tion chief Robert Mochrie, will, give 
little —if' any — trouble to the sales 
department. It has heavy Catholic 
support and has been held back by 
RKO during Lent to get full advan- 
tage of this; It's being sold on the 
regular policy, the star names, the 
John Ford imprimateur and the 
Catholic backing being figured to 
give it sufficient sendoff. ' . . 

thevalier film, iviiich did rather 
poorly in its preem at .ilie Bijou,^ 
N. Y., is being pitched mbre-or-less 
exclusively at art houses. Its origi- 
nal French title, "IjC Silence d'Or,,'? 
is being billed ahead of the tag, 
"Man About Town," which it was 
given for American showing. Latter 
was top-billed in New York, 

"Electra," which also got off to a 
somewhat disappointing start in its 
preem, at the Golden, N. Y., is being 
sold strictly on a roadshow basis. 
It has played Los Angeles, San 
Francisco, : Milwaukee and Toronto, 
in addition to Broadway, at a $1.80 
top, two-a-day. Esdiibition is along 
the pattern set by United Artists on 
"Henry V," which, like "Electra," 
is being sold initially in those cities 
where Theatre Guild subscription 
lists give it a helpful teeofl. Guild 
gets a percentage from UA and RKO 
for cooperation. • 

"Pearl" is currently playing its 
first date at the Sutton, smart east 
side 57th street house in Manhattan. 
It started off with a- smash $13,000 
for the first frame in the 560-seater 
and is now in its fburth week, hold- 
ing up well. No sales policy has been 
set yet, Mochrie stating that it hasn't 
been determined whether the film 
will be aimed at regular theatres or 
art and selected houses. 



"We're doing the national advcrtis- 
ing and we expect theatres to open 
alms with fair day-and-date adver- 
tising. With every company finding 
it tough to get back negative costs, 
the least an exhibitor can do is give 
the film a decent break in th? news- 
papers" 

Even the circuits are only spend- 
ing ZVfe% of the gross where they 
should lay out 6%, the peeve goes. 
The chiseling never was accom- 
plished directly but rather by a 
lateral attack, it's said, Exhibs' in- 
direct approach prevented a knoek- 
#wh. Battle «t «oy time but distrlbs 
ace now iptistiti|: that the whole 
question tc jROihg to be put to the 
test. -■-■■'■■Vi'::':-.-'i:':: y\-r \V 

Diiitribs' picture ot how the out' 
lays reached the present parlous low 
is as follows: Initially, standard 
spending was 6%. Then exhibs split 
the percentage 5% and 1% with the 
lower figure going to radio «d8. 
Later, -the 1% was absorbed in the 
5%. Following this coup, esihibs be- : 
gan deducting trailer expenses and 
art dept. expcndiiurei from the 5%. 
When this 'wa» successfully accom- 
plished, those expenses were ab- 
sorbed in a lower percentage along 
with outlays for thtowaways, pos- 
ters/etc;", ■ • 

Wrought Up over the whittling 
process, one distrib. is now consider- 
ing a proposal ' to ,-tonflne all- its 
newspaper spending to IS key cities. 
Great Bulk of the iocome, estimated 
at 80% comes from these big urban 
centers, if« argued, so . the money 
should t)e spent there. It's .abp' con- 
sidered a choice 'way of effecting re- 
prisal on'theatre ops In other locales. 
Without major company support, it's 
figured, the.exhib will have to up his 
budget or tefce a beating M ihe box- 
office. 

Revamping of ad-spreading goes 
further. Several majors are study- 
ing^the idea of dropping all radio 
adve^rtisingt 



'Raintree' Incdiiie 



Centinoed from pate 2 , 



ever, mentioned his "mental fatigue," 
leading his friends to believe the , 
suicide was a last minute decii$ion 
formed in a mood of _ extreme mental 
depression. Author' was to have 
come to New York late this, month 
at the iRvitatioi^ of Houghton-Miff- 
lin, his publi-shers, for several guest 
appearances to hypo sales of 
"County." 

When the book first won the 
Metro prize-novel contest, Lockridge 
was reportedly anxious that the film 
adaptation foUow the book as closely 
as possible. He drove out to, the : 
Coast last winter, conseqviently, but 
after remaining fn a trailer camp 
there for several weeks through his 
inability to find a place to live, he 
returned to Bloomington. He thence- 
forth decided to have nothing to do 
with the picture, agreeing to leave 
it entirely in the hands of Wilson. 

Lockridge was found dead in his 
locked garage Saturday night and 
Bloomington authorities announced 
he had been killed by carbon mon- 
oxide , poisoning. They could find no 
motive for the suicide. Lockridge 
started his novel seven years ago 
while teaching at Simmons College, 
Bo.ston, and was frequently down to 
his last cent during the time he took 
to write it. He's survived by his 
father, Ross Lockridge, Sr., now re- 
tired from the Indiana Univ. faculty; 
his wife, and tour children. 



Chi Hearings 

Continued trmu 



ings 

pate 11 sasal 



" llnnry IV ,- 

' '' JtlTAIdAN-MADE) 

Superflim releaso: of M-infrva Pilins produc- 
tion. Stars Osvaldo Valenti. Directed by 
(ilorgitf Pttittlnfi. - Krreeqplay. Pasiina, 
Febrissla^amanli Sltifano KAndl, V.^Brnn- 
cati: bawd' lit) pLay by /.utKl Pirandello; 
camera, ('arjo llontouri. Previewed in 
N. Y.,\M'.irt'b a, '48. Itunnini; time, S% 
.MINK. 

Count Bnrjeo dl NoJli (Henri IV)...... 

O.svalcio \*ia«nti 



Frlda Kidn'a . . . . . . 

Hftli-veili, 

l*rofe.sKor (lenonl. 
Mr.s. (Triotio. i . . . , 

Uiovanni. 

Tjundoifo. ........ 

Vioiante 

Arialdo . ... ....... 

BcrtaUii).. .■ . .. 



, . ; .t 'lava I'alama 
.'. ... .T.algi i>nvpHe 
. ., . ,.VMia Blliotti 
nubi.0'.Uina 

.. . .I.aUl'O OnK'.iOlo 

, A.iiffu.''to Marcacci 
...Ori Monteverdi 
. .Ciiiirgitt Piuniontl 
. . .('li''C(:o , KifJ.'jone 



(In Italian; Ennlish Titles) 
"Henry IV," a pre-war Italian film 
based on a popular play by Luigi 
Pirandello, is an unusual psycho- 
meller that'll impress the art-house 




20th Chi Bids 

Continued from page U s± 

He noted that the original plan 
didn't even include the Jackiion 
Park theatre, declaring the idea was 
merely to solve the intricate clear- 
ance problem inherent in the exces- 
sively competitive Chi territory. JP 
theatre got a chance to bid on the 
la.st film released in the area. Smith 
added, because the theatre's attor- 
neys claimed the house wasn't get- 
ting; a break .on 20th product. . : 

Twentieth sales chief indicated the 
bidding system might be^ extended 
to other cities and territories if a 
need was felt for it. This too, how- 
ever, would depend on the Supreme 
Court's ruling on the decree. 



ance to Balaban & Katz while grant- 
ing it to indie houses. Tom McCon- 
ncU, plaintiff's- counsel, followed 
through with a demand that the 
ma.i6rs post a $1,000,000 bond to 
guarantee compliance with the de- 
cree for the next year.' 

Defense attorneys countered with 
the assertion that the distribs acted 
in good faith. If errors of judgment 
were made, the defense pitch went, 
it was not too late to make the 
necessary corrections. The mere 
fact, it was said, that Barney and 
John Balaban, Louis Phillips and 
Walter Immerman^.were officials or 
B & K was not sufficient to convict 
them of wrongdoing. 

AH denied conspiracy and price 
fixing. To which. Judge Igoe inter- 
jected on Tliursday (4), "apparently 
your position is that if the conspiracy 
is broken up, the element of evii 
can contuiue individually, whicn 
was quite apparent from final evi- 
dence," 



History was made at Loew's Yonkers Theatre wheij 
an SRO Preview audience welcomed the comedy hit 
that's headed for the box-office headlines! In a scien- 
tific survey by the Motion Picture Research Bureau, 
i!^ registered the highest "will recommend" rating in 
years. There are few real belly-laugh comedies on 
♦he market. The public wants to laugh and here's 
your chance to give them the funniest film in 10 years! 



Dipnt, New D.C Arty, May Ignore 
Racial Segregation Precedent 



Washington, March 9. - 
Dupont, 400-seat arty, lights here 
March 19. It's the third such loca. 
house, with a fourth being readied 
by Ilya Lop»rt.' " . 

Dupont is on Dupont Circle, on 
the fringe of Embassy Row, a top 
spot for this type house. The exist- 
ing two; Miller's Little and Lusts 
Hippodrome, converted grind thea- 
tres in the heart of D. C.'s tender- 
loin, are thriving despite their loca- 
tion. The new Lopiert house, still in 
the building stage, is on 15th Street, 
in town's financial section. 

Figuted Ukely that the Dupont 
will break all local precedent by 
quietly dropping the traditional 
color line and admitting negi'oes. Al- 
though this policy has not yet been 
definitely decided on, theatre's gen^- 
eral manager, Clark Forenptam, of the 
Southern Conference for Human 
■Welfare, is a noted exponent of 
racial equality. 

Foreman will be assisted by Eric 
Shinkel, formerly of the Little Thea 
tre. Owners are the F. W. Mann 
Corp., group of local businessmen 
debuting in pix biz. 



ICMsion's New 8«6-Seaier 

Houston, March 9. 

New bouse will be built here by 
the OK C%ceuit, the •seventh local 
theatre tor the group. It will cost 
about $100,000 and seat 800. 

The J. G. Long Circuit will start 
Immediate reconstruction of the 
Show Boat theatre, Texas City, which 
was destroyed In the disaster which' 
struck here last ApriL Cost will be 
about 1200,000, 



Otctt Woatls, Grnse rt,,. Mieb. 

Detroit, SDarch 9. 

The new Woods, tTnited Detroit 
l%eatres Corp. house has been 
Opened. "Crossjirtf' and 'Xittle Io- 
dine" were the inaugural features. 
The Grosse Point house has k 2.500 
seating' capacity. 



■ M'palic Bbk Senewed 

M&meapolis, Mareh 9. 
After lifting » ' 12'j'ear "no new 
thealtres" .'policy long eoou^ to is- 
sue a singled neighborhood theatre 
permit, the city council here has 
again put down the clamps on ad- 
ditional- local showhouse construc- 
tion. 

By a vote' of 32 to 4 it rejected the 
appUeation of ' Boy Secrest for a 
new neighborhood license, despite 
the fact that a $1,000,000 building 
project was involved and the pro- 
ject had organized labor's backing. 
Another application from a property 
owner who has been trying unsuc- 
' cessfuUy for 12 years to get a li- 
cense has been buried by the coun- 
cil licmse committee. 

The council's action and attitude 
represent a victory for North Cen- 
tral Allied, which has been opposing 
all new theatre building here on the 
grounds that the city is overseated, 
although there haven't been any ad- 
ditional showhouses biiilt within the 
city limits for nearly IS years. 

John .A, Goldie, easmsA for Se- 
crest, who baft charged that estab- 
lished independent exbibttois are 
trying to create a monopoly in the- 
atre operating here, says that despite 
the council turndown, further efforts 
-will be made to obtain the license. 



tinue operattag at the 1946 and '47 
gross levels." 

Herman Becker, veeptpe of the 
Rugoff-Beckev circuit, echoed Brandt 
in pointing out that .the public gen- 
eraUy "is either sold or not sold on 
how a picture does on its Broadway 
run." Biz in his circuit has been off 
from last year, which he attributed 
to poor platures. "Only a real pic- 
ture," he said, "can still do good 
business." Similar sentiment was ex- 
pressed by officials of the Century 
circuit. Who declared that most of; 
the trouble after Christmas could 
be attributed to bad weather and 
poor pictures. Now that the weather 
has Cleared up, the only factor re- 
maining to dent grosses is the qual- 
ity of fihns. Century, too, expects 
grosses to pick up, with their spokes- 
men noting that business is "not off 
too much" over last yealw ■ ' 

Admissims 

Most of the , circuit .chiefs ques- 
tioned, meanwhile, expressed strong 
determination against any increase 
in admission prices. Brandt was the 
only one to envision such a move, 
declaring that "if costs keep on 
mounting, the only way out is to 
raise prices." He conceded that this 
might mean a drop- in attendance, 
but argued that "if you're going to 
pay out $5 in dperating costs, you 
must take in $5 fi> stay in business." 
Century admitted to raising prices 
at several of its houses, but only 
to bring them up to a level witii 
competitors. In one house, where 
the Century scale was higher than 
a neighboring competitor. Century 
lowered its prices^ 
' Of the Broadway houses, Iioew'is 
State is the only - one to boost its 
admission tab. Theatre recently 
raised its opening price from ^c. 
to SSc. to bring it in line with the 
neighboring Paramount theatre, 
w^ch has been charging 55c. froai 
opening until 1 p.m. 



Accent on *Unipn' 

As the first step' in teeing ott 
its ad-»ubliclty campaign on 
"State of the Union," Metro bis 
leased theatres throughout the 
country for special tradescreen- 
ings of the film on or about 
March 22. M-G expects "State ' 
to be its biggest grosser for the 
year and, following the policy 
established last year on^Year- 
• Jing,'' Will invite civic and politi- 
cal leaders. newspapeS publish- 
ers, etc., to the special advance 
screenings. . . . ' 

Specific merchandising plans 
for the picture are expected to 
be set within the next few weelw 
during huddles on the Coast 
among sales veepee WiUiam F. 
Rodgers and studio executives. 
Slight probability exists that the 
film may be sold at advanced ad- 
mission prices but it's doubtful 
that policy will be followed, in 
view of Rodgers' known opposi- 
tion to increased scales. Film 
will preem in Philadelphia be--, 
fore the political convention 
open in that city in June, and 
will be given saturation booking 
treatment throughout the coun- 
try. 




Metro Releases 



Continved from paf« ^ 



DETROIT 

(Continued f rbm page> IS) 
I (Indie) and "Foreign Correspondent" 
(Indie)~ (reissues) .about same. 
Downtown (Balaban (2,683: 70-05) 
-"If Winter Comes" (M-G) and 
"Blondie In Dough" (Col), J/im 
$7,500. Last week, "Gone With Wind" 
(M-G) (reissue) (3d wk),good$7,0«). 
Fox (Fox-Michigan) (5,100; 70-95) 
.-"C^U Northside" (2Qth) <2d wk). 
Lively $22,000 after strong $31,000 

rsirfrfsan (U-D) (4,039; 70-95)- 
"If "^u Knw Susie" (RKO) and 
"The Main Street Kid" (Rep). Fine 
$18,000. Last week, "Miracle Can 
Happen" (UA), passable $16,000. 

F^lms (U-D) (2,976; 70-95)-"T- 
Men" (ES.) and "Lmda. Be Goc^ 
(EL) (2d wk). Slipping to $16,000 
nftpr creat $24,000 opener. 

United Artists (U-^ (2.976; 70-95) 
_"V6ice of Turtle" (WB) «mA "Thfe 
Flame" (Rep). Okay $15.00* after 
[ rousing $21,000 last w eek. . 

'Saig4»' Strong mM 

Seattle, March 9. 
A brace of newcomers are helping 
to improve the biz tone here, this 



Open New Astor, Ckartotte < 

Charlotte, March 9, 
The new Astor theatre opened 
here last week. The 446-seat house is 
owned and operated by the Colonial 
Theatres Corp. of -Valdese, N. C, of 
which Sam Hinson,^of Charlotte, is 
general manager. House manager is 
W. A. Taylor. 

Carl W. Queen, of Hickory, N. G.. 
and Herman 'H. Kleppel,^ of New- 
ton, N.C., will soon open a new 
drive-in theatre near Shelby, N.C. It 
will cost $50,000 and accommodate 
400 cars. 



Upcoming Pix 

i Vontfauea from page 7 s 



name. According to Beade, the film 
companies are to be congratulated 
on their "vaUant efforts to cut costs 
and still turn out good pictures." 
Grosses in his theatres, he said, were 
off tremendously from Thanksgiving 
until Washington's Birthday, but the 
latter date broke the ice and biz is 
now on the upbeat. Reade expressed 
particular optimism for his boxof- 
flees for the next 90 days because 
of the potentially good pictures up- 
coming, adding that "I'm one ex- 
hibitor who doesn't expect to con- 



Feb. B.O. Champs 

"l i ' I Contlaved from iMi(e-7 i-j-— ! 

pictures- unveUed during the month'. 

"Gentleman's Agreement" (20th), 
which seems sure of being one of the 
top grossers of 1948, copped seventh 
position on basis of its showing in 
i^e kes^ last month. Film was sixth 
in national ratings in January, and 
teas several months has been among 
the leaders although playing only in 
a limited number of spots. 

"Three Daring Daughters" (M-G) 
finished eighth, nosing out "Meant 
For Me" (20th), which placed ninth. 
'Sfeant For Me" surpri.sed by the 
way it dipped the second week the 
picture was out around key spots, 
being classed as thin to nice that 
session after a strong teeoff. 

"T-Men" tEL) finished 10th for 
the second month in a row. Showing 
was made despite the fact, that it had 
no affiliated circuit playdates. 

"If You Knew Susie" (RKO) 
wound up in 11th place although out 
in the keys only three weeks. Initial 
week that this Eddie Cantor comedy 
reaUy had a batch of playdates it 
fell into the mild to sock category. 
"To Ends of Earth" (Col) won 12th 
place, theatres reporting big open- 
ing weeks, but a rather sharp dip in 
second stanzas. 

Facing the runners-up for Febru^ 
ary are "The Fugitive" (RKO), "Al- 
buquerque" (Par), "High Wall" 
(M-G) and "Intrigue" (UA). "Be-, 
lentless" (Col) recorded some nice 
business but was not too strong 
nationwide. "Night Song" (RKO) 
was very spotty and on the disap- 
pointing side in February, carriage- 
trade apparently not being enough 
to make this a big b.o. winner. 

Major disappointments of the 
month were "Miracle Can Happen" 
(UAT and "WEy Girl Tisa" JWB), 
Latter never seemed to get going, 
with crix taking delight in dragging 
it over the coals. "Miracle" was no 
boxoffice miracle in spots played 
thus far, being particularly thin in 
N. Y. Outside of Manhattan, it reg-r 
istered nice trade in several keys, 
"KiUer McCoy" (M-G), .which was 
seventh in January, did not wind up 
among the winners last month. 
However; the Mickey Rooney opus 
landed three highly profitable weeks 
atN. Y. State, first two weeks being 
particularly socko. 

Of the new entries not yet around 
the keys to any great extent, "Knew 
Susie" (RKO) and "Double Life" 
(U), which is now out on pop-scale 
dateSi show the biggest promise. 



year. Company, in addition, nas passably good at Fifth Avenue 

cither signed deals or is negotiating g.^^ election and Lent are hurt- 
with Hal Roach. Horizon Fihns (Sam j^g most spots. 

TnfSonil rJ that none «d^ 777'; (^^^^^ 

their productions are ,^ JiooO-I^^^^ ^^^L,) 

the releases untU August |S'd^'Pa^c Adventure" (Col) (2d 

that Metro is getting its own product ^jooQ in 5 days, 

out first and "Wffl hold the latter f^tlb Avemie (H-E) (2.349; 45-80) 

until some time later in the year. -*'t)ouble,Lae'' (in and '^^^ 

No Brtding Back ous Yeats" (20th). Mild *9i000. Last 

That fact was pointed up' by « 6 3W Wd^y ' 

statement accompanying t^e re ease wW^^i« $6.300^m 6 Jfy^.^^, _ 

schedule by sates veepee "Albuauerque" (Par) and "Wreck ot 

F Rodgers. "Followhig the estab- g^gp^Jy^j.. (c^v). Big $12,000, Last 

lished policy of Metra not to hold ^,,^^1^ "Ends of Earth'' (Col) and 

back its most outstanding product "Blondie's Anniversary" (Col) (3d 

^'eS^^n;4se«o;?t"tL°k^^^ «00; 45-80) ^ 

S "we have decided. l"Jez.bel» (WB) and "Slight Case_ of 



Bodgers said, "we "ave «i«^u=u. ^j-^^^^., (reissues). Sad 

after screenmg all available Metro „ qqq ^asj "Secret Beyond 

Product, to place these pictures in [jyoox" (U) and *'Killeit at large" 



the hantls of exhibitors at the earli- (bl), $3,400. 
est possible moment. The entire in- Maaic H»n (H-E) (2,200; «-80) 
iqii<!trv needs outstanding product "Intrigue" (UA) and Hobin Hood 

°E rrract^*^^". b2^r«s^J;^'"^M^^- ^ 

effort be made to attract at least a "g^j- « 

^--j J.; ^-i,^^- MMfa than l^^J' uiB, ♦J)''™. 



good percentage of .jthe. mora than 
50,000,000 Americans who do not 

regularly go to the theatre.'^ 

Topping the new releases for 
April will be "State of the Union,' 
'B. F.'s Daughter" and '.'Summer 
Holiday" (color). May will see 
"Homecoming" and "The Pirate 
(color). June releases include "Big 
City," and "On An Island With You" 



Orpheuw (H«E) (2,600; 45-80) 
"Voice of TurUe" (WB) and '-'Al- 
ways Together" (WB) (2d wk) 
SoUd $9,000 after sWell $13,400 
opener. 

PalMuar (Sterling) (1,350; 4S-80) 
"High WaU" (M-G) and "Black' 
mail" (Rep) (3d wlr). Okay $5,500. 
Last weeic, so-so $6,100. 

ParsBoant (H-E) (3,039; 40-80) 
"Saigon" (Par) and "Bury Me 



(color), while July will feature | Dead" (EL). Strong $12,000. Last 
"Easter Parade" (color) and "Date week, "Black Bart" (U) and "Up 
With Judy." New schedule winds | turnj^ GlMs'^^W 
up in August with ''Julia Misbe^ 



haves" and "A Southern Yankee. 
No new reissues are contemplated 
yet lor the next five months, al- 
though "CJone With the Wind" and 
"Philadelphia Story" will continue 
in release. In addition, "The Search," 
produced in Switzerland for Metro 
by Lazar Wechsler, will get special 
pot bookings in key .lituations. 



, Boesevelt (Sterling) (800; 45-80)— 
"10th Ave. .Angel" (M-G) and."Gin- 
g<s" (Mono) (reissues). Good $4,000. 
Last we«^ "Out ffiC Blue" (EL) and 
"Trei«a«s«[* fBep), (2d wk), geed 

$4,ooo; 



Wrtters-€omposers 



; ContlmieA frem page 3 ; 



KANSAS CITY 

I' 

((continued from page 14) 
Genevieve" (Col). Modest $12,000. 
[Last weeIc, "Cass Timberlane!' (M- 
G) (2d wk), nifty $15,000 but didn't 
stay for expected third week. 

Orpheum (RKO) (1,900; 45-65)— 
I "Bishop's Wife" (RKO) and "Des- 
perate" (RKO) (2d wk). Holding 



'Saifon' Sngging Crack 
Bafto Coin, Lusty 18G; 

Baltimore. Match 9, 
Fairly steady biz is being regis- 
tered at most spots this weelc with 
best response seen for' *"'A Double 
Life" at Loew's Century and "Sai- 
I son" at the Stanley. "An Ideal 
Husband" at the New is only fairish 
"If You ICnew Susie" with "Gay 
Nineties" as new stagebiU is solid 
on second Hipp week. 

Estimatmi tor This Week 
Century (I^oew's-UA) (3,000; 20- 
D— "Double Life" (U). Drawing 
well at $16,000 or near. Last week. 
"Intrigue" (UA), fair $12,400. 

Hippodrome (Rappaport) (2,240' 
20-70)— "If You Knew Susie" (RKO) 
(2d wk) plus "Gay Nineties" unit 
on stage. Holding well at $13,000 
after big $20,600 opener. 

Keitlilt (Schaniberger) (2,460; 20- 
60)— "Black Bart" (U). Opens today 
(Tues.) after' week of "Tenth Ave. 
Angel" (M-G) at mild $8,200. In 
ahead, "Jassy" (U), thfn $6,000. 

Mayfair (Hicks) (080; 25-5S)— 
"Sligiit Case of Murder" (WB) (re- 
issue). Not much at $4,000. Last 
week, "Frieda" (U). $4,800. 
New (Mfechanic) (1,800; 20-00)— 
Weal Husband" (20th). B'airish 
$11,000. Last week, tliird of "Call 
Northside" (20th), solid $8,800. 

Staaley (WB) (3,280; 25-75)— 
"Saigon" (Par). Topping town with 
sturdy $18,000. Last week, "Inter- 
meizo" (WB) (reissue), dull $6,600. 
Tewn (RappapOrt) (1,500; 35-65)— > 
Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (3d wk). 
Maintaining all right pace with 
$10,000 after healthy second round 
at $13,300. 

'Sa«m'Fat$ll^,Port 

Portland, Ore., March 10. 
Downtown houses are loaded with 
holdovers this week, but still getting 
nice coin. "Saigon," at Paramount, 
looks big, to pace new entries. "The 
(jangster" shapes solid at the May* 
fair. 

EtHmates fer 1%ls Week 
Broadway (Parker) (1,832; 50-SS) 
—"Sleep, My Love" (UA) and 
"Hoppy's HoUday" (UA) (2d wk). 
Only. $4,800 in S di^s. liast week, 
strong $10,800. 

Msytelr (Parker) (1J500; 50-85)— 
"This Gangster" (Mono) and "Blonde 
Savage" (EL). SoUd $6,200, Last 
week, "Girl Tisa" (WB) and "San 
Antonio" (WB) (reissue), thin $3,800. 

Mwie Itok (H-E) (1,000; 50-85)— 
"CaU- Northside" (20th) and "Riff- 
Raff" (HKO) . (m.o.). Fine $4,000. 
Last Jweefc "Meant for Me" (20th) 
and "Lost Moment" (U) (6 days) 
(3d wk) (m.o.), okay $1,800. 

Oriental (H-E) (2,000; 50-85)— 
"Voice ot Turtle" (WB) and "Wilis- 
pering City" (EL), day-date with 
Orpheum (2d wk). Strong $5,700. 
Last week, big $6,000. 

Oivlteinn (H-E) (1,750; 50-85)— 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) and "Whis- 
pering Ciis" (EL) (2d wk). Strong 
$8,500. Last week, big $10,300. 

Parameuot (H-E) (3,400; 90-85)— 
"Saigon" (Par) and "Caged Fury" 
(Par). Big $11,500. Last week, 
^'«eaU Northside" (20th), sock $11,000. 

PUylMWie (H-E) (1,200; 50-85)— 
"Lost Weekend" (Par) and "To Each 
His Own" (JPar) (reissues). Oke 
$1,500. Last week, "Relentless" (Col) 
and "Mary Lou" (Col) (m.o.), $1,800. 

UnMed ArtMs (Parker) (895; 50- 
65>— "High Wall" (M-G) (2d wk). 
Fair $4,500. Last week, nice $6,400. 

Gpild (Parker) (427; 50-85)— "Sen- 
atoi' Indiscreet" (U) and "Hat Box 
Mystery" (Indie) (m.o.) (2d wk). 
Ciood $1,000 in 3 days. La.st week, 
nice |2,S00. 



which touches 81% on sums in ex- P^^^ best second week 

% ■t^nimn ^ ^ house has had m months; third week 

cess 01 $/0,000. 1 , likely. Last week, film great $15,000. 

In proportion to the monetary loss paramount (Par) (1.900; 45-65)— 

to the Government, Speiser con- "i -^alk Alone" (Par) (2d wk). Okay 

tended, passage of the bills would $9,000 with sneak preview thrown in 



be "adding to the culture of the 
country" by providing" greater in- 
centive to professional people to 
create. He also revealed that Sen. 
Joseph W. Martin (Pa.) may intro- 
duce the measures in the Senate 
very shortly. Meanwhile, the attor- 
ney has supplied various authors' 
organizations with copies of the bills 
with a view to worlcing out a gen- 
eral rally in support of the proposed 
amendments. 



Quality Can Lick Foreign 
Competition, Sez Ungar 

Hollywood, March 9. 

As long as Hollywood prdducers 
turn out quality entertainment they 
have nothing to fear from foreign 
competition. That wa,s the declara- 
tion of Arth^jr Ungar, editor of Dah.-* 
Varieiy, as a guest speaker on 
"Here's Hollywood" at ABC. 

Entertainment is the keynote of 
successful pictures, he said, and Hol- 
lywood has the know-how and the 
talent' to continue its long leader- 
ship on the screen, Ungar stated. 



Friday night. Last week film good 
$11,000. 

Roxy (Durwood) (900; 45-65)— 
"The Smugglers" (EL). Midwest pre- 
mier, topping average at $4,000. Last 
week, "Topper" (Indie) and "Turn- 
about" (Indie) (reissues), $3v500. 

Tower-lTptown-Fairway (Fox Mid- 
west) (2,100, 2,043, 700; 45-85)— 
"Black Bart" (U). About average at 
$12,000. Last week, "Call Northside" 
(20th), good $15,000 and earned a 
moveover. 



Roy Rogers Doesa't Say 
Nay to Rep's Wooing 

Hollywood, March 9. 

Any differences that may have 
existed between 'Republic and its 
boss opera star, Roy Rogers, have 
been amicably adjusted, according to 
a studio announcement today. 

Rogers' next fihn will be "Eyes of 
Texas" which goes before the 
cameras March 23. Scheduled to be 
made in Trucolor, picture will have 
Edward White as its associate pro- 
.ducer, . * .'..t ^ : 



SAN FRANCISCO 

(Continued from page 14) 
Sturdy $3,500. Last week, "Hungry 
Hill" (U) (2d wk), nice $2,700, 

Clay (Roesner) (400; 65-85)— 
"Beauty and Beast" (Indie) (2d wk). 
Husky $3,500 or near. Last week. 
$4,000. „„ 
United Nations (PWC) (1,149; 60- 
85)--"(3aU Northside" (20th). Oke 
$3,500. Last week, "Gentleman's 
Agreement" (-20th) (6th wk), $5,!i0p. 

esquire (Blumenfeid) (952; 55-85) 
—"To Ends of Earth" (Col). Fancy 
$14,000: Last week, "Smugglers 
(EL), big $10,200. 

SUte (Par) (2,133; 60-85)-"You 
Only Live Once" (FF) (reissue). 
Good $10,000. Last week, "Bctrayett 
(Mono) (reissue), $8,000. 

Geary (1,550; 90-$1.80) — "Mourn- 
ing Becomes Electra" (RKO) <3d 
wk), Down to $5,500 on final week. 
Last week, modest $6 ,500. 

SuesRobtCummings 

Los Angeles, March 9. 
Anthony J. Owen, film producer* 
filed suit for $100,000 again.sl Robert 
Cummings, charging breach of con- 
Plaintiff declares the actor refused 
to go through with an agreement 
signed two years ago calling for ma 
services in three pictures. 



25 



Continued from page 2 j 



«*rrii EmiB« Carus, Juliet, Elsie Janis, Fannie Brice, Irene Bordoni, 
CunninSham, Louise Dresser, Ruth Ettlng, Irene Franldln, Trixie 
fciMBza ' Charlotte Greenwood, Gertrude Hottman, Nan Halperln, Grace 
Kives Anna Held, Dorothy Jardon, Annette Kellerman, Grace LaBue, 
Aitee tloyd, Vesta. Victoria, Ruby Norton, Yvette, Ruth Roye, Aunt 
Ywmima Adeie RoWlapd, Blanche Ring, Kate Smith, Alleen Stanley, 
fc^issom' Seeley, Rae Samuels, Prances White, Ethel Waters, Bee Palmer, 
hflda Grey, Frances Williams and of course the great Eva Tanguay and 
IhP oerewial Sophie Tucker, 

■ llie Mosconi Bros, played the Palace about 40 times. * They not only 
niaved It with their own acts but with Bessie Clayton and others that 
%eM held over tor weelts. The dam of memory breaks and you can't 
write about the Palace unless you mention greats like Van Hoven, Van Si 
fichenck Clarlt & Bergman, Whiting & Burt, The Castles, Bunny Gran- 
ville Ja'clc Pearl, J. C. Nugent, William Gaxton, Buck & Bubbles, John 
fiteei Collins & Hart, Jack Osterman, Ben Bernie ("the old Maestro"), 
Bert'& Betty Wheeler, Phil Baker, Paul Whiteman, Vincent Lopez, Gus 
Edwards, Johnny Burke, Jimmy Savo, Ted Healy, Clark ft Verdi, Sena- 
tor Eord'» Joe Browning, Gallagher & Shean. . . .and Jack Norworth and 
Emma Adelphl. 

N.e*t HDofers... 

And the i»rmy of hoofers: Doyle & Dixon, Buster West, Ross Wyse, Jr., 
Harriet Hoctor, Bill Holbrook, Adelaide St Hughes, Slate Bros., King, King 
1 King, Rose and Moon, Snow & Columbus, Four Fords, Tom Dingle^ Jack 
Donahue, Bennet & Richards, Ray Bolgef, Ben Blue, Billy Seabury, Sammy 
White, Lou Cl&yton, Rags Leighton, Willie ISdlar, Ida May Chadwick, Need- 
ham & Kelly, Pat Booney, Ann Pennington, George White, Fred & Adele 
Astaire, Roscoe Ails & Kate PuUman, Biggs & Withie, 6 American Dancers, 
Bankofl & Girlie, Boyle & Brazil, Lulu Beeson, Laddie Cliff, Pour Dia- 
monds, Dotson, Mile. Dazie, Fields Bros., the one and only Barney Pagan, 
Eddie Leonard, Flanagan & Edwards, Foley Boys, Genaro & Bailey, Guiran 
& Margurite, 7 Honey Boys, Danny Healy, Keno & Green. The Kemps, 
Emily Lea, Marvelous Millers, Norton & Lee, Tim & Kitty O'Meara, Harry 
pilceP, Ritz Bros., Hal Skelly, Ruth St. Denis, Sully Family, Templeton 
Bros., Maurice & Florence Walton,' De Marcos, and of course, the Great Jim 
Barton and Bill Robinson. 

The only agent to ever book a complete show of his own acts in the 
Palace was Charlie Morrison in 1928^ the first and only time it ever hap- 
pened. The great Boswells of the Palace were W. R. Sill, Will Page, Walter 
KiWIIsleyr M** Jjuescher and John Pollock. 

The Palace played all the great newspapermen that tried to be actors, 
Winchell, Bellinger, Broun, Floyd Gibbons — they packed 'em in. 

The Palace played very few freak acts, although in 1916 it did have 
an act called the 12 Speed Maniacs, who asisembled a Ford in two minutes. 
The Palace also had country store night, the same as the smaller Palace.? 
in Kokomo, Kankakee and Keokuk. It al.'so placed an electric piano in 
the lobby in 1928— it wasn't long after that when even an electric piano 
couldn't help get 'em in. 

Masters «f Ceremotttes 

You can't write about the Palace without telling about the great Masters 
of Ceremonies who worked there. Frank Fay was the tops. But there 
were many others who did great. Florence Moore was the first Mistress of 
Ceremony. Fred Allen with his "jolce cemetery" drop— and as Allen & 
York,' would introduce acts, addressing themselves as Mr. Fink and Mr. 
Smith, Jack Benny emceed in 1927. Benny Rubin, Jack Donahue, Bert 

. Hanlon, Taylor Holmes, Julias Tannen, Ken Murray (when he was with 
Barry Carroll) and a few more also m.c.'d at the Palace. Milton Berle 
had a run there.'as m.c. but came later when the Palace ran a "New Faces 
Weelc," Another new face was in on that tooc Bing Crosby with the Three 
Rhythm Boys. . , 

It was at this same Palace that a young comic by the name of Bob Hope 
tvas discouraged and wanted to leave the bill, but got a pep talk from 
Harry Rershfield, and stayed. Hate to think if Bob ever left the show biz 

' then we would'nt have so much fun no-^. Wilkie Bard, the great English 
comedian, flopped at the Palace and quit, but after a long talk with Sime 
Went back on the bill and wa.s a great success. 

You must remember the boys back sta,!i!e, old Bill Clark and Bob 
Altman, and the two elevator boys who knew more showfolks than anyone 
in the country. "Dr." Coolc and Morris — two great characters. And how 
about the runs by Lou Holtz, Eddie Cantor, Georgie Jessel— it was a stock 
company— they broke records, But it wasn't real vaudeville, the. spark 

-..waS' gone.-' . ■ 

Tbree Wiiio Never PUyed the Palace ■ 

■ "And don't let anyone tell you that Al Jolson, Will Rogers or George M. 
Cohan ever played the Palace. They didn't. In fact quite a number of 
standard acts didn't want to play the Palace; they would duck it because 
it took too much energy, they wouldn't take the chance of a flop — and it 
took everybody a long time to forget a flop at the Palace. 

There was a cute trick that booker Eddie Darling would play on the 
lady headliners at the Palace. Sometime.'; there were two and three who 
rated the downstairs dressing room. So to get away from trouble Darling 
Would have the stage manager put pails, brushes an* ladders in that 
particular room,: t^ll the headliners -that the rooms were b&ig painted 
.and they would all take an upstairs dressing room (which were roomier 
and better) and never make a howl. It was just a case of "as long as 
nobody else gete the downstairs room." 

Yop— you can write B book about the old Palace. And now it is 35 years 
old. It must give the old Palace a great deal o,t .satisEaction to see its 
children pass the door on their way to radio, pictures, drama, musical 
comedy and— television. 

Who knows, maybe television will be the Palace of tomorrow? Anyway- 
Happy birthday, dear Palace of golden memories! 

IWe are swre j/om- name teas in hawie's artivXe hid . . i we just had 
to cwt ttnlew we gave Lavrie the entire issue— FaI] 



LiHieHa Parsofis Dinner 



Continued from page 6 



visited in five or six years since an 
Academy award, was as entrancing 
as ever. Many of those on hand 
were folks who had attended the 
Srand premiere of the Grove back 
w 1921 and seemed happy again to 
enjoy— surrounded by the palms 
and cocQanuts that have been insti- 
lutional since the days of Abo 
layman— the music of Freddy Mar- 
wn and his superb band. Terpsichore 
was out, due to the large Attendance, 
ftf ''"nes were the order 

oi_tiio eveningw 

\ '''"'^"'■■"^ speakers, while Lolly 
umil u theirs down 

T 1 '^^P'^'-'t guidance of George 
twn K ° ^'o' a remarkable ta.'^k in 
"T" hours 01 bringing .celebs forth 
d, and humorous intro- 

Thl toastmasler. 
Jfir. c , speaker!!, who included 
Warn;f ''S>*=''' Goldwyn, Jack 

C ft^j""^^ Zanuck.' LouLs B. 
' Hope and Jack Beutiy, 



Gov. Warren and Mayor Bowron all 
took their hair down a bit, humor- 
ously kidded the guest of the eve- 
ning on her inability to hit the right 
keys on the typewriter in spelling; 
a name, but all eulogized her as a 
great roportcr and friend of the in- 
dustry and its people. The eulogies 
were terrific and not a laudable 
plu-a.-ie ever hoard in commending a 
person was missing. 

David Hearst, publisher ol the Los 
Angeles Examiner who represented 
his father, who was unable to attend, 
presented Miss Parsons witli a gold 
plaque, a replica of a letter W. R. 
had written her, marking the 27 
years of loyalty to the Hearst Empire 
in faithfully recording the progress 
of a great art and industry. 

Louella then took over by saying 
this was a moment pi humllilyj re- 
viewint; her life, insisting She \yas 
not teilinfj her age, and thanked 



those -who g»ve h«r tha dinner find 

thosa attending. 

It WW far beyond the inidnii^t 
hour when Eddie Cantor took over 
hi«~ stint of emceeing the entertain- 
ment portion of the show. 

As the evening wound newsboys 
burst into the room shouting extra 
and distributed the Examiner which 
had three pages of text by Hearst 
editors and associates paying their 
tribute to Louella. - 



750 Boothneii in 120 Leadiiig N. Y. 
Cinemas Patch M Via 15% Tilt 



Sorreil Testifies 



'Ctfntbraed Croim page < ; 



studio strike, Sorreil said that it was 
no jurisdictional fight until the 
^'producers with the cooperation of 
the lA turned into jurisdictional dis- 
pute for the public benefit. It was a 
strike for wages, hours and a con-i 
tract." Sorreil declared that no CSU 
union has had a contract since 1942. 

Last week's sessions were high- 
lighted by (1) an abortive effort of 
the House Committee to find out 
whether Sorrell's fingerprints had 
been imprinted on the Communist 
Party membership card of "Herbert 
istewai-t"; (2) Sorrell's charges that 
the present leadership of I A (Richard 
Walsh and Roy Brewer) operates, on 
"exactly the same lines as followed 
by Bioff and Browne"; and (3) a de- 
tailed denial • by Sorreil of charges 
that he is or was a Commy. 

The idea of sending the "Herbert 
Stewart" card to the "FBI, with a re- 
quest that the agency seek old Herb 
SorreU fingerprints, came'from chair- 
man (llarroU Kearns on- Thursday. 
The Card, allegedly Sorrell's, was 
sent to the G-Man laboratory but, by 
Satui-day (6), it was already on its 
way back to the conunittee witli the 
explanation that, due to the lapse of 
time, it would be impossible to deter, 
mine if SorreU had handled the card 
in 1937 — the year in which it was 
issued. Card belongs to Matthew 
Levy, I ATSE attorney, who brought 
it to the hearings. .Some handwriting 
experts in L. A. have testified before 
the Teflney* Committee that the sig- 
nature on the card is in the penman- 
ship of Sorreil. 

Other developments: 

Rep. Kearns said that labor leaders 
must settle their jurisdictional strike 
problem themselves; otherwise Con- 
gress wiil step in . and do "it through 
new legislation. 

This brought a heated telegram to 
the House committee from Walsh 
who had gone oft to Pittsburgh for 
an lA general executive board meet- 
ing. He notified the committee: 

"I have just been informed that 
Herbert K. SorreU, the discredited 
iTead of the defunct Hollywood Con- 
ference of Studio Unions charged be- 
fore your committee that I have acr 
cepted money from film producers 
and that George E. Browne and 
Willie BiofC exerted influence in the 
affairs of the lATSE. I brand this for 
what it is ^ . : a vicious lie. 



Selznicf^ Eyssetl 



continiied tcom page 7 



Selznick anyway because of reports 
that the producer was making a d<ial 
with City Investing Co. for exclusive 
use of the Victoria on Broadway. The 
M. H. topper was under the impres- 
sion that he had an agreement with 
Selznick tiiut would give him fust 
caU on SRO product. 

Aside from "Blandings," Eyssell 
was more or less counting on "Por- 
trait of Jennie" for the Hall later 
in the year/ Selznick told the press 
Thursday (4) that he is figuring on 
"Jennie" to initiate his tenure at the 
Victoria, if the deal with. City In-^ 
vesting goes through. 

This changes the M. H. product sit- 
uation and EysseU headed for the 
Coast at the end of last week to view 
films and make deals assuring the 
Radio Cilv institution pictures for 
the vear. The Hall's managing 
director generally makes his once- 
ywrly trip to the Coast in the fall. 

An odd angle of the Victoria deal 
and the "Bland ing-s" booking, inci- 
dentally, is the bitter fight , Selznick 
and CI were engaged in last winter 
ovei- SBO's efforts to hold the Astor 
for "Duel in the Sun." At that time. 
Selznick and Samuel . Goldwyn 
shared tlio booking, of the Aator. Last 
Selzniclc pic in the. house was •"Spell- 
bound," which holds the top-money 
record for 21 weeks, which was the 
length of its run. It was topped 
overall on gross by the; 38-week 
stand of "Best Years of Our Lives." 

SRO's release of "Blandings" is a 
result of a deal with RKO last year 
when Selznick gave up. Doro 
Sehary's contract to allow him to 
become RKO production chief. Be- 
cause of this and various other in- 
terests Selznick holds in "Blandings," 
he owns a total of 60 Of it 



' 306 Eyes 16ni Booths 

Sparked into action by .the in- 
creasing number of IBm sereen*. 
ings in the New Yolrk metropoU-^ ■ 
tan area, projectionists* Local 
306 has set up a subsidiary out- 
fit to organize the narrow-gauge 
field. Known as 306-B, local is , 
gunning after film exhibitions 
conducted by various Y's, col- 
leges, social organizations arid 
community groups, many of 
which chai'ge admission fees. 

Charles Kielhurn, b u s i n e s s 
manager of the new 16m projec* 
tion department, said union was 
specially concerned at the cur- 
rent time over 18m because of a 
new arc lamp which permitted a 
125-foot throw onto a 10-foot 
screen by substandard equip- 
ment. Use of the new equipment 
would practically equal the 
screenings potential of regular 
39m projectors in smaller audi- 
toriums. 



Japan's Major Pk Cos. 



Apart From Exhib Setup 

Tokyo, March 2. 

Big five of Japan's film industry — 
Shochiku, Daiei. Toho. Nikkatsu 
and Tokyo — were dealt a major 
blow last week when the nation's 
Economic Power Deconcentration 
Board declared they must reorgan- 
ize themselves to keep production 
apart from exhibition. The five com- 
panies have doiie distribution and 
exhibition of films and stage shows 
as well as film production. 

Toho, Shochiku and Daiei have 
been labeled "kings of new yen- 
earners" but the true story is that 
they're burdened with costly pro- 
ductions. Topgrade picture . today 
costs the producing studio ' around 
$200,000, which is; five times as much 
as pre-war. 

Deficits accruing from these pix 
have been barely covered by the 
otlicr branches of the film biz. For 
a production company to be sepa- 
rated from destribution and exhibi- 
tion likely will mean xb will have 
to resoi-t to cheaper films. 

Shoehikii is a good example. If it 
must divorce its various divisions, 
this will mean splitting into two 
organizations, one producing and 
distributing, with a third for exhibi-i 
tion and stage shows. 

Daiei heads say if they ; have to 
stay in production and distribution 
alone, they wili have to raise $2,600,- 
000 to continue operations. This is 
a real money-raising project in 
Japan today. 



■f Staving off chaos in 120 leading 
New York theatres, execs of the 
major metropolitan chains and of 
projectionists' Local 306 neared 
toward a final ■ settlement of their 
hectic 10-month contract dispute. 
Development stemmed from a last- 
minute, peace formula hammered 
out by the contending camps last' 
Friday morning (5) which brought 
an end to three-days of topsy-turvy 
screening of films in ' several nabe 
theatres. Clinching the verbal "for- 
mula into written form, lawyers for 
both sides are slated to present a 
new two-year pact before 750 booth- 
men tomorrow (Thurs.) morning for 
union membership ratification in 
N. Y. 

Agreement .will include a 15% 
'wage tilt, retroactive to Sept. 1, 
1947, which raise 'the hourly wages 
in the nabes from $2.72 to $3.13 and 
in the Broadway houses from $4.30 
to .$4.94. It's understood the new 
pact will maintain the status quo as 
far as general working conditions 
are concerned. At last Friday's 
session, companies agreed to with- 
draw their proposal to take control 
over the projectionists' daily work- 
ing schedules and vacation place- 
ments, which was the chief irritant 
in the negotiations. 
- , ; ;.■ ' - ■ ''Sabotage'-.' 

Long-standing conflict between the 
circuits and the union was climaxed 
last week in ■& series (jf "aecidental" 
breakdOT^ns in .theatre booths, caus- 
ing temporary shuttering, of severit. 
RKO and Loew hou-sc.s. Companies 
strongly attacked Local 306 for in- 
spiring the- shenanigans' which in- 
cluded stich w.k, "trade practices" 



TEARLING/ 'JOLSON' 
PACE BUENOS AIRES 

Buenos Aires, March 2. 
"Jolson Story" (Col) ended its run 
at the Ambassador on Feb. 12 after 
eight weeks and now is being set 
for another extended playdate at 
the Luxor. Another big boxoffice 
favorite currently is "The Yearling" 
(M-Gi which is breaking records 
after nine weeks second-run at the 
ideal. It also was nice at the Opera. 
"Bachelor and Bobby-Soxer" (RKO) 
now in third week at Gran Rex. is 
playing to record biz for this dull 
summer period' of year. "Song of 
Love" (M-G) wound up its run at 
Premier after five Weeks, also 
second run. 

"Stairway to Heaven" (U). preemed 
earlier at Mai* del Plata, is due on 
the Broadway screen March 3, while 
other releases skedded for the month 
are RKO's "Night Song" due at the 
Ambassador. "Kiss of Death" wiU 
open at Gran Rex March 11 and 
20t.h-Fox will release "Captain from 
Castile" in an exclusive long-term 
run at the Luxor March 24. The 
preepi is to be a benefit performance 
to aid tlie Argentine Movie Assn. 
This unique gesture has been set by 
mutual consent between Spyros' 
Skouras, 20th-Fox prexy, and Joa- 
quin Lautaret, head of the chain 
which operates the Rex. . 

"Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap" 
(U) released at the Ocean and "Co- 
pocabana" at the Metropolitan, are 
two Hollywood pix whicli did not go 
so well with Argentine patr6ns. 
They had to be taken of! after a 
week's- run. "Copacabana" was con- 
sidered not too flattering to Latino- 
Americanos, 



'Bidding' Angle 

Fear that the affiliated cir- 
cuits may be put at a competi- 
tive disadvantage in bidding for 
product against the indies has 
keyed a trick, clause in their 
new impending pact with N.Y, 
projectionists' Local 306. Saving 
clause provides for the reopen- 
ing of wage scales if the U.S. Su* 
preme Court knocks out cur- 
rent booking practices by up- 
holding competitive bidding. 

Indies now pay boothmen 
wage scales based on number»of 
seats per bouse while the majors 
pay a flat rate for all houses, 
except for the Broadway delux- 
ers. Fact that the majors are 
now second-runs enable them to 
pay the higher wage nut but 
with competitive bidding, there 
will be no assurance that this 
condition will continue. 



as running films upside down, de- 
synchronizing the sound track, and: 
causing so much flicker that , cus- 
tomers were made nauseous. Union . 
leaders, however, contended the 
rank-and-file had gotten out-of-hand 
in a revolt against alleged "staUiiig" ; 
by the circuits. 

Union's major beef stemmed from 
the circuits/ jjroposal to amend the 
old contract ( by giving them sole 
control over vacation replacements. 
According to Herman ; Gelber„ 308 
prez, the union rejected .this since it 
would destroy plans to distribute 
work fairly among some 400 unem- 
ployed members. 

Theatre execs' of RKO, Loew's, 
Paramount and Warner Bros., headed 
by RKO's labor relations chief Major 
Leslie R. Thompson, contended that 
the issue in dispute was "who shall 
run the theatres — ^Local 306 or the 
management." Burned by - alleged 
attempt of Local 306 leaders to 
'fthrow their weight around" by pro- 
voking booth accidents, circuit execs 
threatened to fire projectionists who 
failed to deliver their .services prop- 
erly. Showdown, however, was 
avoided- at the 20-hour negotiations 
session which began at 1 p.m. Thurs- 
day Hi) and wound up at 9 a jn. th*' 
next morning, ; ' i :, ', 



Roach's Tele Deal 

Hollywood, March 9. 

Hal Roach has made a deal with 
Regal Television Pictures, N. Y., 
for tele distribution of 32 Roach 
pix, with the producer sharing in 
earnings. ^ 

Pix are 14 features and 18 stream- 
liners (f our - reelers) previously 
made ,for United Artists release dur- 
ing 1937-41. Fix are outside th» 
AFM music ban, having been made 
prior to union nix of sound track 
for video. 



WtAwsB^Yi Magch 10, X948 



27 



fjlike US. Pix nood 

I ' — ^=a ai-ii»ii ' " Continwied ' from page 3 ssmsssisi 



osked more as a result of Communist 
SSi^i than any effect of HoUy- 
S product on French filmmaking. 
Shev point out that even under the 
nrlEinal agreement, French pro- 
Sra have never turned out sm- 
fiiertt pictures to fill native houses 
for four weeks oat of 13, so that the 
seven out pt i3 U pointless trom any 
st«n4poJnt but propaganda- 

Whatever the real reason back of 
the situation in France, however, it 
anpefa'S certain to many U. S. In- 



dustryites that the present- uncon- 
trolled burst of product-«ood and 
bad-will bring jpfanUar crippling re- 
strictions on TJ. S. pix iO other coun- 
tries. K a claropdown doesn't come 
Iroin the effected nations themselves, 
.good' possibility is seett of JVashing- 
tiin slammtog the brakes on the 
drain of exchange from Europe for 
iihns. . . ' ■ ' 

Situation resqlte from a frantic 
Bcramhle fw «tollarii by both majors 
and Indies. Arid it's a scramble that 
is autoAiatically building, since the 
SAm Men Icnow that the more dollars 
they «xt»act, the closer they are to 



local distribs. United Arti.tls a few 
weeks ago ttnis parted with its Mex- 
ican subsid, as it had done previ- 
ously in Spain. Spain did the same 
thing in Greece last year, and it is 
expected t^at there wJOil be con- 
siderably more moves in that (direc- 
tion. 

Large amount of coin U obtained 
legally fropi Italy via tieups made 
with the Vatican. BoUavs collected 
in. parishes throughout the U. S. for 
support of the Papal establislunent 
are bought toy American companies 
with frozen Ika credits they hold in 
Italy. Vatican is glad to make the 
sale.s, since the film companies give 
it a lavorable break on the exchange 
rate. Same thing is done on a lesser 
scale with Jewish and other relief 
organizations which collect coin for 
aid of llalian. nationals. 



One Way to View It 

Pavid O. Selznick on audience 
rctearch poUs: 

"They ask me why I give $60,- 
000 a year to the Gallup people. 
That's easy, So I have something 
to confirm my opinions when 
the research results agree with 
what 1 already think." 



Techni Net 

Continued from paee t 



a stop-order. Product thef are turn- 
ing into .the countries — there are six 
currently involved— is out of the 
backlog that was ptled 'up during 
the war. 

indlea Broke Banka 

Refusal of aome top indies— Sam- 
, uel Goldwyn, David O. Selznick and 
Walt Disney among them— to go 
along with an unwritten agreement 
among the majors is charged by some 
of the companiea with being the cause 
of the present situation. Action of the 
indies was followed by two of the 
weaker majors— desperate "for dol- 
lars— also breaking away from the 
pact. The other, majors then, feeling 
it had become an every-man-f or' 
himself situation, considered them- 
selves obligated to adopt tactics on 
which they frankly frown. 

As a result, as soon as the pact 
concerning each country, expired, 
they started to go far beyond the 
restrictions they had previously im- 
posed upon themselves on quantity 
and , quality of product. In most 
cases it means selling pictures to 
local distribs on flat deals. The pic- 
tures are in addition to those which 
are handled by each company's own 
distributing organization in the par- 
ticular territory. 

In most of the countries, France 
included, there are legal restrictions 
on sending dollars out, but continu- 
ally appearing on the scene are 
mj^terious characters who have 
way* aijwl means of exporting ad- 
ditional exchange.' 

The operations, so far as the U.S. 
companies are concerned, are always 
100% legal since the money can only 
l>e exported upon presenting certifli- 
cates and approvals which these lo- 
calites have a bafltog ability to ob- 
tain. 

Difficulty of any one company in 
not going along with the practice of 
selling all possible product, when 
other companies do, is that it finds 
all available playing time has been 
booked with product of other dis 
tribs and it can't get dates even for 
its normal flow of pictures. It was 
this chewing up of playing time by 
the indies, the majors claim, that 
led to the original break. 

First breach of the tacit holdback 
arrangement came in Holland and 
Belgium last summer. That was 
followed in Italy more recently and 
then Denmark, Norway and France 
in the past few weeks. In Italy, each 
company had agreed to distribute no 
wore than 2S fihns. They're still 
slicking to that number for pix 
going through their own organiza- 
tion, but are making additional flat 
sales to local distributors. Since 
there's such a large backlog in Italy, 
quite a few of the companies have 
found it still possible lo maintain a 
high standard of selectivity. The 
^*^«.>s_not true in other countries 
and, if it keeps up, some execs ex- 
pect the U. S. Dept. of State to step 
in, in addition to native exchange 
officials. . 

A sidelight of the practice of sell- 
to local distribs, instead of a com- 
pany handling its product through 
po ''ranches, is the move re- 
cently toward disposing of foreign 
All product is then sold to 



duce the call for color pix with a 
resultant dip in orders. Regardless, 
Dr. Kalmus predicted that Techni 
would reach a volume of approxi- 
mately 320,000,000 feet yearly of 
positive prints toy the end of '48 or 
early '49. 

Company is now plugging to re 
duce the excessive backlog on print 
orders and expects to approach nor- 
mal before 1948 is over, Techni top- 
per said. New Technicolor three- 
strip cameras being built as part of 
expansion program will begin com' 
ing off the line in September of this 
year. Proxy also noted that 10-15 
competitive processes are now in ex- 
istence, "some of which are doing a 
substantial volume of business." "It 
should help to hasten the day when 
our customers will want only color," 
he added. 

Per-share earnings for the year 
were $1.55 against 48c in '46. Cur- 
rent assets amounted to $9,123,002 
and liabilities to $4,024,646. Cash and 
U. S. Government bonds come to 
$7,036,256. Report noted that 
$2,500,000 bank credit wag created 
some three years ago but to date 
none has been used-. 



A Proj. Room Hit 

RKO's trade screening of "I 
Remember Mama" at the Nor- 
mandie theatre, N.Y., Monday (8) 
was almo.st snafued by an arith- 
metical miscalculation, . About 
twice as many invitations as 
seats were apparently -mailed 
out and everybody showed up, 
The crush was so fierce that the 
fireman on duty refused to let 
th e pic begin until the rear 
foyer was cleared,,, 

Soothing the rtxCfled tampers, 
of about 300 locked-out free 
loaders, another screening was 
quickly scheduled to follow the 
first. 



Yk Biz Control by Itafian Govt 
Held Unlikely Udess Reds Win 



Bonifaces Fend 



Continued ! from pas« 1 



Olympics Boycott 

L— , Continued from page 1 j^_J i 

stands and later developed into com- 
mercial films. 

Rank has exclusive rights, the 
Brundage letter declared, but added 
that it's understood American com- 
panies wUl be able to buy clips at a 
price which would give the Britisher 
a reasonable profit, American news- 
reel execs, plenty riled over the 
freezeout, vhich they consider is a 
breach of faith, now see no other 
alternative to a boycott which would 
dramatize their objections to the pro- 
cedure. It's likely that action will 
be taken in huddles coming up. 

Brundage argues in his letter that 
too many cameras permitted on the 
grounds would clutter up" things. 
The reels, in turn, scout this argu- 
ment, since it overlooks long-ran^e 
lens which would x>ermit filming to 
be taken from the stands. Camera- 
men, they say, don't have, to crowd 
around the contestapts, but could be 
stationed at a sufficient distance to 
keep the line of vision ctear for au- 
diences. 



rent at the Carnival, which has now 
closed the main room and is operat- 
ing the bar only,, Nicky Blair has 
been at odds with: the money man, 
believed to be Qus Rubinsteine, a 
costume jewelry manufacturer. The 
pair are reported to have had some 
bitter tiffs on the. operation of the 
spot. 

During the b.o. decline, the Latin 
Quarter combination hasn't been im- 
mune to the fights that crop up 
among the owners. Lou Walters and 
E. M, Loew, New England theatre 
owner, have been at odds at various 
times, but there's no Immediate like" 
lihood of any splitup. "Walters was 
originally in on the operation of 
the across-the-street Harem, but 
problems arising from the operation 
of competing spots forced that dis- 
solution. 

However, not all partners are mad 
at each other. Where business is 
good all is sweetness and light. For 
example, the Versailles' Nick 
Prounis Arnold - Bossfield . and 
John Boggiano are - chummy. 
Max Gordon and Herbert Ja- 
coby have no partnership troubles in 
the operation of the Blue Angel, 
and the spot to be opened early 
April on the site of -Cafe Society 
Uptown, 



Det. Exhib a TV Sponsoir 

Detroit, March 0. 

The motion picture industry using 
television as an advertising medium 
has finally occurred in Detroit. 

Paul Broder, head of a local chain 
of film houses, is now sponsoring a 
15-minute weekly television jshow at 
7:15 p.m. Tuesday, on WWJ-TV to 
advertise his .films. He is the first 
local exhibitor to enter the field. 



Schwartz Back in N. Y. 

Sol A. Schwartz, v.p. and general 
manager of RKO Theatres, planes 
into New York today (Wednesday) 
from the Coast, with his wife. He 
has been away three weeks, -during 
which time he visited RKO houses 
in Chicago, San Francisco and Los 
Angeles, and viewed new product 
at RKO and other studios in Holly- 
wood. 

Theatre exec wound up bis visit 
with a short vacation at Palm 
Springs. 



Rome, March . 2. 
Possible nationalization of Italian 
film industry, often reportedly in 
the wind, is unlikely to materialize, 
according to opinions expressed by 
most picture toppers here.-^ Pointed 
out- that even if the IRI (Industrial 
Reconstruction Institute), takes over 
most Italian industries, the.^ film 
business hardly would fit into its 
complex seizure program because of 
its small scope. 

However, three companies are 
still under State control which au- 
tomatically would result in their 
absorption by the IRL These in- 
clude the Cinecitta Studios, the 
ENIC circuit of about' 80 houses and 
Istuto LUCE. Their takeover, it's 
felt, would only be a mere formality 
and not mean the government tar- 
tends seizure of alt cinema activities. ' 

Indications are that should the 
forthcoming May elections be favor- 
able to the Communists, complete 
government conttol of pictures 
would be inevitable. Meanwhile, , 
the tendency is to grant full sway 
tb private initiative. 

At two recent meetings of the 
Consultative Committee at Cinema 
Office, the affairs of the three State- 
dominated firms were set as fol- 
lows: 

1. Board of directors of Cine- 
citta will be renewed under the 
presidency of an exhibitor, Tito 
Marconi, to be assisted by a work-« 
ers' representative, Emilit) Fenocchl. 
Studios will be rebuilt and reequip- 
ped with some films to be produced 
by private capital. : 

2. ENIC's board will be renewed 
with Alfredo Guarini and Eitel . 
Monaco appointed as e?tperts- in 
order to expand and improve the 
circuit. 

3. Liquidation of Instuto ; LUCE, 
already started, will be carried out 
and a more modest studio for pro- . 
duction of shorts and newsreels will 
be set up. Private capital also prob- 
ably tdll finance these. 



9 ouf oF lO Screen 
use "tliis care -fc 



Offices, 




'My Lux Soap fociols leove skin 
softer, smoother 

says this famous star 

Here'8 a proved complexion care! In recent tests of Lux 
Toilet Soap by sWn specialists, 3 out of 4 complejdons 
became lovelier in a short time! "I work the fragrant 
lather well in," says Susan Peters. "As I rinse and pat 
with a towel to dry, skin takes on fresh new "beauty !" Don't 
let neglect cheat you of romance. Take Hollywood's tip I 



STARRING IN COLUMBIA PICTURES; 

' ""THE SIGN OF THE RAM« 




W by JESSE L USXY and WALTER MacEWEN • toted liy IRVING PICHEL- Smn Pby liy BEN HEU and QUENTIN REDID!; 



1 i?#*i!*'Mi' 



Wednissdgytr Mafch 10, 1948 



PICTURE 



29 



Pel Goodnan Re^ as E Saks 
Shiitfle CiHitiDues; Exdiaoiie News 



nesiiaping of Eagle Lion's sales 4 
ctiff by WWiam J. Hememan, dis- 
tribution veepee, was pushed further 
this week with the resignation of 
nd' Goodman as west coast division 
Vnanager. Heineman, recently tak- 
ihs over the top spot, is aimmg to 
hike the company's average book- 
ings to 12,000 per picture. One of 
+he steps is the elimination of divi- 
siMi managers and substitution of 
district chiefs ruling smaller areas. 

Goodman's resignation is effective 
immediately. Instead,. a Pacific Coast 
district head to supervise exchanges 
iii ios Angeles, San Francisco, Seat- 
tle and PortIan;d, will be announced 
shortly. With Goodman's resigna- 
tion Heineman. named Sam Milner 
as' Los Angeles branch manager 
and C. T. Charack as sales manager. 
Reshuffling of district territories is 
also under way. 

Slotted for southern district man- 
ager Grover Parsons' supervision 
will be the New Orleans, Atlanta, 
Charlotte and Memphis exchanges. 
Claire Hilgers, southwestern district 
chief, will henceforth handl.e Okla- 
homa City, Dallas, St. Louis, Des 
Moiiies and Omaha. Kdward Heiber's 
north-central district . will include 
Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Mil- 
waukee and Minneapolis, 

H^eman, this week, also upped 
William Efelfl ttt branch manager in 
■ St. -Louis. Benjamin ■ Lander was 
named as head booker and office 
matiager of the Minneapolis ex- 
change, whiler Alex Cooperman was 
taken on aa bo oker in Los Angeles. 

• MoTKtai's Faf Shorts ^tteh 

bsear Morgan, Paramount's shorts 
gubject sales chief, shoves off Satur- 
day <13) on a threemonth swing 
through the country. He will visit 
ev.ery one of Par's 31 exchanges. 

Par has lined up 70 one-reel sub- 
' jects and 104 issues of its newsreel 
for the 1846-49 season. Cartoon series 
arji being boosted to 30 pix while 
Pacemakers have been upped to 12. 
CompBti^ is dropping Its two-reel 
mtt^cals because of "a definite trend 
i^:oiie-reel subjects and away from 
longer pix." 

Jirvlni; Mills froai Mono to SnO 

Minneapolis. 
Irviag Mills has resigned from the 
Monogram sales staff to join Selznick 
B^easlng Organization branch here, 
succeeding Casper Chouinard. who 
quit to return to United Artists. At 



ESQUIRE 
PROFILES 



a 



mugg named 

ABEL GREEN 



...tndiiitlie time Issue 
read JOE LAURIE, Jr., 
on stage mothers 



■ see the April 
now on sale 




^ Now Specialitin% 
, in Re/resJtnsent 
rConcmions for 
IBlVE^tH THEATRES, 

SPORTSrilVICE. 



THERE'S ONIV ONE 




MIAMI lEACH 

OCCAN FDOHt • Wlh U 4M SU. 




United Arti!5ts Chouinard replaces 
Eddie Stoller, promoted to branch 
mana{>er to succeed Ralph Cramblet, 
advanced to district manager. 

Another sales staff switch finds 
Stan Soderberg qvitting Film Clas- 
sics here to go with Columbia, Des 
Moines. 

A number of the talesmen who 
were let out here in the. economy 
drive have caught on elsewhere. Ben 
Meshbesher, dropped by Warners, 
has rejoined the same company in 
Des Moines. Harold Lundquist, let 
out by 20th-Fox, has signed with 
SRO, as has Dick Dynes, formerly 
with RKO. 



ASCAP-TOA All Set 

ASCAP's board this week 
approved final form of contracts 
which include the new seat rates 
reached by the society .and 
Theatre Owners of America re- 
cently. .Contract forms, provid- 
ing for licensing up to 10 years 
will be sent out shortly. 

New rates go into effect Mon- 
day (15) under the TOA-ASCAP 
agreement. It spells an average 
tilt of 20%, instead of the 300% 
ASCAP originally demanded. 



A Ws Head Tositive' 



SRO Makes 5 Sales Ghangrcs 
Five recent changes in Selznick 
Releasing Organization's sales staff 
include the appointment of Herbert 
A. Kaufman western district man- 
ager, Fred Gulbransem sales rep in 
the San Francisco branch, replacing 
H. H. Hirasaker. 

A1.SO. Max A. Hadfield replaces 
James L. Walsh as sales rep in tlie 
Seattle branch, with. John N, Mc- 
Keehan named booker. 



George Soseoc Beads Col, .Atlanta 

Atlanta. 

George Roscoe, Charlotte branch 
manager for Columbia, named man- 
ager of Atlanta exchange; R. D. Wil- 
liamson, salesman, succeeds him in 
the Charlotte post. 



Sells Key, Clarkton, Mo. 

St. Louis. 

Harrison Keys has sold his 200- 
seat Key, Clarkton, Mo. C. Warren 
continues as manager. 

George Y. Jaynor opens a 300-seat 
at Equality, lU., May 1, on the site 
of the old Strand. 

Howard Griffin, now manager of. 
the State, Jefferson City, Mo., suc- 
ceeding Robert Howards Raymond 
Spencer succeeds Griffin at the 
Roxy in the same town. 



Harry Mandell Shifts to EL, Chi 
Chicago. 

Harry Mandell, former Chi b.m. 
for Eagle Lion^ joins Selznick Re- 
leasing Organization as local district 
manager. Joe Joelman left Republic 
to join SRO sales staff. 

Herman Jensen, manager of the 
North Center and with the Essaness 
circuit since 1928, retires. Louis De 
Wolf succeeds. 

Film exchajoge B-4$ union was 
granted 15%- Inerease by Henri El- 
man, 

Henry Schoenstadt & Sons (17 
theatres) has joined AUied Theatres 
of Illinois. 



Shntne in Indplx. Exchanfes 

* Indianapolis. 
Herman Morgan, Republic sales- 
man, succeeded Sam Osbry, of Uni- 
versal, when, latter was transferred 
to Atlanta as sales manager. Carl 
Kemp left Eagle Lion to take Mor- 
gan's place at Republic 6nd> Gordon 
Graddock stepped into Kemp's va- 
cated iK>st .branch Btanager. 

Loewc ilnits Goldwyn f or Ei<« Dallas 
Dalla.'!. 

Winston Loewe, formerly with 
Samuel Goldwyn, named manager cf 
local Eagle Lion exchange. succ<« •- 
ing Clair Hilgers, who was pfom ■r, '-. 
to district manager lor the f.A'. s. 
Oklahoma City and New O itans 
area. 

I. B. Adelman Theatres taking 
back the Debijan, Tulsa, built orig- 
inally by Adelman, but leased sev- 
eral years ago by Ralph Talbot. 

Louis Charninsky back as man- 
ager of the Capitol after some 
months spent as manage?' of two 
new Interstate suburban*, the Es- 
quire and Circle. Carl GuUum, who 
was manager of the CapltOl/ is man- 
ager of Circle. 

C. J. Tetts has sold the Pix, Ft. 
Worth, to L. R. Robertson, who al- 
ready co-owns the Ervay here. 

J. B. Scale has leased his Plains, 
at Lockney, to Hiram Parks, of 
Brownfield. Scale has been ill and 
is retiring, at least temporarily. 

Orville Grouch to Clcve 

Cleveland. 

Orville Crouch, former assistant 
to Carter Barron, divisional mana- 
ger of Loew's Eastern area housG.s, 
has been transferred to Cleveland 
to take over division- managership of 
chain's houses in Northern Ohio, 

Charles R&:^m6rid; " who ' handled 
the Cleveland spoke for eight years, 
has been shifted to Washington 
stepping into post Crouch formerly 
held.-' -'^ 



Bearmg to K.O. ASCAP 

Washington, March 9. 
American Society of Composers, 
Authors and Publishers was out- 
lawed in two decisions by the U. S. 
Supreme Court, Monday (8), claims 
Abram Myers, board chairman of 
the Allied States Assn. of Motion 
Picture Exhibitors. Myers claims 
that .-the decisions handed down in 
the Gypsum case and that of fhe 
electrical companies makes ASCAP 
illegal. 

Myers sifted, ''to the Gypsum ease 
the Court ruled that the tying in 
of a group ot patents into one li- 
censing agreenieni, under which the 
patent holdei^ and the licensed com- 
panies agreed to a schedule of prices 
was a violation of the anti-trust 
laws which forbid price fixing in 
restraint of trade. 

'In the case of the electrical com- 
pany, the court held that the patent 
rights do not extend to a cross-li- 
censing agreement by competing 
companies who ex<^ange patents 
with, each other to maintain agreed 
prices for patented product. 

"These decisions, Myers declared, 
'have an important bearing on the 
legality of ASCAP. Just read 'copy- 
right' instead of 'patent- in the first 
and second paragraph and it will 
be clear that the court has dealt a 
blow to the music trust. The de- 
cision should be of greatest com- 
fort to Bennie Berger (Minneapolis), 
the Brandt interests in Nl Y., and 
others now fighting ASCAP.. It ap- 
pears certain that under these rul- 
ings that a great copyright pool as- 
si^^ng licenses at aici imfair rate 
amounts to a price-fixing conspiracy, 
when film moving in interstate com- 
merce is burdened by that con- 
spiracy, this application of the Sher- 
man act becomes apparent." 

Myers added that AUied has re- 
mained aloof from a price-fixing 
deal with ASCAP. He apparently 
referred to the Theatre Owners of 
Americsu which recent^ concluded 
a deal with ASCAP. 



liN.Y. Indies Snii^ ASCAP as Music 
Mntopoly; Trial in Its Foivth Day 



Goodman-Barbee Join 

Charlotte. 
. R, A. Goodman, operator of the 
Mae, at Oakboro, N. C, and the 
Norwood, at Norwood, N. C„ will 
build a drive-in on the Charlotte 
property of R. W. Barbee, who will 
be associated in the construction and 
Operation. 

H. A, Anderson, operator of a 
chain of theati-es in the two Caro- 
lins; S. C, and one in Conway but 
his Anderson in the same town will 
cotttiftue... ■ ■ 



TO* Meet 

1^ Coatinued from page 3 

ranged by its officials with ASCAP 
on the proi»Qsed seat tax boost. ! In 
conjunction with that, tOA will 
very likely ebmie out against the 
Lewis Bill which is supported by 
National Allied. That proposed bill 
would compel ASCAP to clear its 
mu.fic rights with producers while 
barring collection of license fees 
from theatres. 

Television question is also hot A 
pronouncement in favor of exhibs 
going into the tele field before that's 
grabbed off by others is being 
pushed by a number of top TOAers. 
Very likely, that recommendation 
will be forthcoming; 

Television 

Herman Levy, TOA's general 
counsel, discussed the legal aspect.s 
of television. Levy noted that no one 
really knows what will happen since 
the law on that comparatively new 
field is still in doubt. Legalite de- 
clared TOA will fight the present 
Federal taxes. Decision on the Gov- 
ernment anti-trust case, no matter 
which way it goes, will pose a thou- 
sand problems for exhibs, Levy said. 

Gamble spoke on the general biisi- 
<ness outlook, expressing optimism 
for the film biz. Particularly for the 
next few years, he said, the public 
v/ill have more money than ever 
through their savings bonds., 

A. Julian Brylawski, Warner Bros, 
exec, is set to give a, legislative 
resume on Washington activities. 
Session will also be spotlighted by 
the appearance of Abe Lastfogel, 
head of the William Morris agency; 
George Murphy, actor; and Y. Frank 
Freeman, Paramount studio veepee, 
to pitch for a special project to con- 
tinue eritert&nment for wounded 
vets in Government hospitals. 



Monopoly suit brought against the 
American Society of Composers, 
Authors and Publishers by Alden- 
Hochelle, Inc., and some 160 other 
exhibitors affiliated with the Inde- 
pendent Theatre Owners Assn., of 
New York, loUei) into its fourth day 
of trial yesterday (Tues.) before 
N. Y.. Federal Judge Vincent L. 
Leiboll without a jury. ASCAP 
publisher-members, most of whom 
were subpoenaed, testified yesterday 
that they had vested public per- 
formance rights to their music in the 
Society. As a result of this, the the- 
atre men claimed, there is no com- 
petition in the sale of these rights. 

Among the witnesses was Harry 
Fox, music publishers' trustee and 
representative for them in the sale of 
various licensing rights. Asked if he 
had ever sold public performance 
rights to a film producer, he had 
never done so in the 12 years he had 
been in the business. Under cross- 
examination by ASCAP counsel, ! 
Louis Frohlich, Fox said that he also 
acted as agenf for BMI and SESAC 
for which he sold their synchroniza- 
tion and performing rights. Re- 
cently, however, BMI. had In- 
augurated its . own performance 
licensing. 

In repping for ASCAP publishers, 
Fox testified, he had never found a 
publisher-member who had refused 
to do business with a producer. He 
admitted that there had been much 
bargaining between film companies 
and the puba over synchronization 
rights -during the past three years. 
Others on the stand through the day 
wei'e Jack Mills, prexy of Mills 
Music; Richard Murray, ASCAP 
assistant general manager, and Her- 
man Greenberg, another ASCAP 
exec. Their testimony showed that 
publishers turn over the public per- 
formance rights to their . music to 
ASCAP v;hose "board fixes the price 
to be paid by exhibitors. 

Frohlicli's Contention 
Earlier in the trial, ASCAP coun- 
sel Louis Frohlich contended that 
since a prpdue^r does , not publicly 
pCTfonn music received through 
punibase of s^chronization rights,: 
an exhtb must come to ASCAF for 
; licenses to use its works. His ar« 
gument was an effort to offset the 
plaintiffs' charge • that public per- 
formance rights be sold to the pro- 
ducer rather than forcing theatre- 
men, to pay for thetn. Other previ- 
ous tesHnSoni' related to techm"cal 
matters regeur^qg ASCAP contracts, 
how it licensed its songs,; etc. 

On Monday (8>, a consent decree 
that ASCAF entered into in 1940 
with the Government was submitted 
by the Society as evidence that part 
of the document protected the or- 
ganization by preventing its rtiemt- 



ber-writers, or composers from as- 
signing performance rights to any 
other music group.- It was also 
brought out that any author or com- 
poser may sell his. own 'performing 
rights, but with the approval of the 
ASCAP board. However, there's 
been no instance of anyone ever : 
doing this..^ 

Besides charging ASCAP with 
monopoly, the exhibs are seeking 
damages as well its asking an in- 
junction to restrain the society 
from imposing a seat tax for use 
of its music. Milton C. Weisman is 
legality for the plaintiffs. 



O'S 16M SUBSID AHAINS 
OK PROFIT IN 1ST YEAR 

Universal emerged with a healthy 
profit from its first year of large- 
scale 16m .operations via its subsid. 
United World Films. U's equity in 
the profits of UWF totalled $143,974 
for the fiscal year ended Nov. 1, 1947, 
it's been learned. UWF, following 
absorption of Castle Films and pur- 
chase of Bell & Howell's Filrasound 
library, is the largest narrow-gauge 
distrib in the country. 

Net was raclted up in the course 
of organizing the company 'and get- 
tmg it on its way. It's also, been 
learned that U arranged refinancing 
of UWF's Castle and B & H deals by 
securing and guaranteeing a loan of 
$2,500,000 to the 16m outfit. Sum was 
-advanced by U's own bankers, First 
National Bank of Boston, Manhattan 
Co. and the Guaranty Trust Co. of 
New York. 

UWF's loan is due Aug, 1, 1949. It 
calls for interest payments of 2%% 
as does a $7,500,000 advance which 
Universal borrowed for its own op* 
erations. So far U's Moan is con- 
cerned, interest payments bike to 
3% on May 1, 1952. It's been drawn 
on available credits of $15,000,(M)0 
open to the company. ■ 



Complefc new atpiiiHiiMf fai! tuioli 
Ori«e-lii TiMMlrt* «s lour at 
$2,975.00. Also MiurfimMit for 
large '-Brlvo-llii,, iHcliHUag Deluxe 
All - Cart Alamhwiii lni * 4h*«Car 
SpcaheN «hhI eeMpiei* tewett. 
Free. odintM^ wrAsm. WrH* t«Mtar 
for Iheiwtiirti 

THEATIE E9UinieNT CO. 
m MieWsiMi S».. TelMia 2. OUo 



H&H yQfk Thecifres 



"THE ADVENTBRES 
OP ROMfl HOOD" 

color by Tochnioolor 
Rs-Released by Warner Bros. Pictures 

StarrliiK 

Errol FirNN • Olivia De HAVIUAND 

with 

Basil KATHBONE • Claude RAINS 
iiiMl A1»n n»U* • ]<j«^en4^ J'allette 
Oirccteil by Michaol Curtiz and Win. Kolgbley 

WARNER THEATRE 

Bnmdnmy at Slat fUiect 



-itADIO CITV MUSIC HAU — — ~ 

Y rtockercller Center f. 

LIRENE OUNNE in Georgo stovono* Prod. •) 

\ "I REMEMBER MAMA" | 

f Barbara Guar Philip? 

[BEL GEDDES • HOMOLKA « DOKH^ 
r Proiluceif by HARRIET PARSOMS I 
k Music Hall's Great Caster Slave Sh«w \ 



BING CROSBY 

BOI^HOFE 
DOROTHY LAMeURi 



TMEANDKElvSfSrsnERS 



No Tax on Mex Pic Scripteis 
Mexico City, March 2. 

Seemingly sold on the idea that 
the story's the thing in pix, Presi- 
dent Miguel Aleman has ordered 
the profits made by iilm' scripters 
exempt from the profits tax. 

New tax law had hilted the writ- 
ers' profits tax to 12% of gross. It 
was^.4%. . 



"THE FIGHTING 69TH" 

Re-M«awd hy WWHor Bra. Pleturm 

JAMES CAGNEY • PAT O-BiUEN 
DENNIS MORGAN 

With cieoise samxe • aiub vmjp. 

Vlr^etm iff wnu»n> KelsMW 
In .PtasM^USS MORGAN 
Olid Wt Music tit the Morgan Manner 

M 47fh Stmt STRAND 




EMMECmtM-JWMMVB 

CMMIES niKLE.BOnr DRRCOU 



■ iq r«s#wn 

TEXlENEU 

AH* mi OXCIIESTRA 

MARTiN k LEWIS 




SOlbSI. 



so 



WedxieBday, Matrcli 10, 194^ 



Free & Peters' Undercuttiiig' For 
Westinghouse Spot Biz Defended 
By FeUow Reps; NBC Hits Edib 



Heport that Free & Peters had-^ 
1aken over the representation of the 
■Vfeslinghouse stations on a compen- 
sation basis of 6%% became a topic 
of vartB^a' comment in spot time 
circles last week. Agency time buy- 
ers expressed surprise at the rela- 
tively low figure. NBC Spot Sales, 
Which loses the business at the «nd 
of the year, waxed sarcastic but 
strictly informally, and at a meet- 
ing Friday (SB) of the executive 
board of .the National Assn. 

..of Radio Station Representatives it 
was suggested that F&P be officially 
commended for getting the business, 
The proposal was not acted on. 

The off-the-cuff wisecracks from 
NBC quarters had the effect of caus- 
ing fellow reps, regardless of what 

■ may have been their personal re- 
actions to the deal, to come to Free 
& Peters' defense. A high NBC ex- 
ecutive wanted to know how the 

NBC on k Spot Foray 

Reports have been current in. 
the station re]&. field for some 
tim^ that NBC. had weeks ago 
written off the Westinghouse 
spot alliance and was. making a 
- drive to acquire the national 
spot representation of several of 
its affiliated stations. Those 
named as having received pitch- 
es were KFI, Los Angeles, 
WBAL, Baltimore, and KOMO, 
Seattle. The forniei: operate at 
50,000 watts; white KOMO has a 
SO-kilowatt construction permit. - 
Niles Trammell, NBC prexy, 
- is said to have been quite ac- 
tive in this quest for additions • 
to the network's Spot Sales list. 



CBS Script Editors To 
Diwy Up Landry's Exec 



in 

Following last week's appointment 
of Robert J. Landry to the role of 
Secretary of the CBS Program 
Board, the status of his former divi- 
sion, Program Writing, came - up. 
Huhbell Robinson called in the three 
editors of the -division and gave 
them assurances, in the light of 
rumors in., the brganization. Elwood 
C. Hoffman continues as script edi- 
tor and Charles Si Monroe and Mor- 
timer Frankel'^as associate script 
editors. 

They will divide the executive 
work of Landry while Lan- 
dry's main burden of late, the super- 
.vision of "Studio One," will be as- 
sumed by Harry Ackerman. " Landry' 
will not be replaced and the title of 
division director will lapse. 




rep association could reconcile this 
undercutting from the 15% Spot 
Sales collects from Westinghouse 
with some of the aims the associa- 
tion ihad voiced, when it organized 
test summer. 

The NARSP, the NBCite . recalled, 
had at the time announced th^t it 
proposed (o raise the standards of 
the businiess. The NBC exec in- 
quired whether the acceptance of 
6%% was compatible with this aim, 
particularly in light",of the. fact, that 
it costs, ,NBC better than 8% to 
handle its spot business. 

Taking up the cudgels for Free & 
Peters,*the head flf a rep firm which 
had competed for the Westinghouse 
account; said that' it was none of- 
NBC's business on what terms . F&P 
had made the deal. F&P, hfe pointed 



Larry Puck Into 
ABC Program Spot 

Larry Puck, who exited CBS re- 
cently in the program department's 
exec revamp, moves over to ABC 
Network on April 1 as executive 
producer under Charles (Bud) 
Barry, program veepee. Puck's title 
and duties suggest the adoption at 
ABC of an executive format similar 
to that created at CBS, when Hub- 
bell Robinson brought in, Harry 
Ackerman from Young & Rubicam 
as executive producer, same title as 
that bestowed' on Puck at ABC. 

Apponntment was made Thursday 
(4) as Barry left for the Coast. He'll 
spend a couple weeks there double- 
o'ing the web's program operation, 
setting summer replacements and 
blueprinting the fall program lineup. 



KLZ Program Dir«ctor> 

CHARLES ROBERTS 

With his carefully chosen staff of 
announcers, writers, production and' 
talent people, Charles Roberts has 
made listening to KLZ an ever 
more popular habit in the Rooky 
Mountain region. ■ ; . 

KUZ, DENVER, 



TERRY CLYNE IN DEAL 
TO MANAGE WCKY 



Tucker Auto Prexy 
ToDoOwnComIs 



Something new is being added in 
commercials. ABC wrapped up a 
deal with Tucker autos yesterday 
(Tues.) under which Preston Tucker 
himself, prex^ of the new car outfit 
'will deliver the commercials on a 
IS-minute Sunday afternoon show 
starting April 4, The plugs will be 
waxed in advance. 

Another unusual angle of the pro 
gram Is that it will give away a new 
Tucker '48 car each week to a listen- 
er, starting with the first show, de- 
spite the Jact that Tuckers won't hit 
the markeit until at least next Octo- 
ber. First Tuckers off the production 
line thus wiU be giveaways. 

Program, called "Speak Up, 
America," will have John B. "Ken- 
nedy conducting a brief forum .on a 
topic selected weekly by the spon- 
sor's agency, Roy Durstine. Kennedy 
will quote from newspaper editorials 
on the subject, present a name guest 
speaker, and a recorded interview 
with a man-ln-the-street. ' Tuckers 
will be given away on the basis of 
listeners' pro and con letters on the 
topic. 

"It's a 52-week deal,' with 85 sta- 
tions in major markets in the lineup. 
Sale is the fourth new account 
pacted by ABC in a space of two 
weeks, at a time when the webs in 
general aren't g e 1 1 i n g bilUngs 
through the transom. 



Sonthem Senators, Protestii^ MBS' 
Civil R^ts Show, Get Equal fnne 



, Terry Clyne, account executive on 
Bulova in the Biow agency, is work- 
ing out the details of a deal with 
L. B. Wilson, president -of WCKY, 
/■out, had an ^ti;raHgement with all its Cincinnati, that will make Clyne v.p. 



stations '-^tiereby the- percentage of 
commission goes down as the bill- 
ings go up and F&P could have es- 
timated that tin the basis of West- 
inghouse's annual spot turnover 
(last year it was $2,500,000) the 
commission Would eventually be 
reduced to .6%%; 

This tep also denied that the as- 
sociation . had been organized with 
the intent of establishing standards 
of practices or ethics. That would, 
he said, constitute too delicate an 
undertaking, practically and legally. 
The switch of the Westinghouse spot 
business, however, has been a source 
of glee among indie station reps, as 
their organization into an- associa- 
tion came shortly after the CBS 
subsid, Badio Sales, announced its 
expansion into the spot representa-r 
tion field and added ,WRVA, Rich- 
mond 50,000-wdtter to its list. The 
spot split between Westinghouse and 
NBC has been the first instance 
since then of the pendulum swinging 
the other way. 



and general manager of the statioh. 
Wilson himself has been holding the 
latter title. I 

Clyne was formerly with Free & 
Peters, 



Wick- Crider's Coast 0.0, 

Wick Crider, of B.B.D.&O.'s radio 
department, left for Hollywood last 
week on the dual errand of exploring 
a deal for the Fannie Brice -show, 
which goes off for General Food at 
the end of May, and- to look in on 
the "Sam Spade" pr<kgram (Wild- 

TOot). ■ ■ 



Mickey Rooney Comedy 
Format Still in Flux; 
No Starting Date Set 

CBS's costly forthcoming sustain- 
ing package, the Mickey Rooney 30- 
minute dramatic show, which wilU 
have a $10,000 sponsorship price tag, 
is still giving the web cause for 
concern. It's reported that the net's 
program execs have ordered a new 
audition record cut and the opera- 
tion is getting the personal o.o. of 
Frank Stanton, CBS prexy, currently 
vacationing on the Coast. 

Rooney show is scheduled to take 
over the 10 p. m. Sunday period, cur- 
rently, occupied by th^ "Escape" 
sustainer. N'o definite starting date 
is set Now that the network has 
the sponsorship hooks out for the 
three half -hour cream Sunday pe- 
riods (9 to 10:30, all -vacant) it's 
shooting strictly for - a bigtime pro- 
gram lineup,, and recognizees that 
when it brings in the Rooney pro- 
gram it has to have solid comedy 
impact. 

Lou Cowan Exec 
Staff in Revamp 

Lou Cowan Productions staff in 
N. Y, is in the midst of a major re- 
shuffle, with five of the key per- 
sonnel including a veepee checking 
out, another transferred to a new 
assignment, and one new staffer 
added." - ■ 

Ed Rosenwald, yeppeie on live net- 
work sales, and Bill Ensign, sales- 
man under him,' are exiting as result 
of a decision that it is "economically 
unsound" for the agency to main- 
tain a network sales department, ac- 
cording to exec yeepee Al HoUan 
der. 

Hal Halpern, who did promotion 
and publicity on the Tommy Dorsey 
Show; Bud Paganucci, who scripted 
it, and Leonard Feather, who worked 
on the programming end, all' are off 
the payroll — although Hollander 
says Feather merely is on a leave to 
write a book on Dizzy Gillespie. 
Maggie O'Flaherty, formerly on pro- 
duction of the "Quiz Kids" show for 
Cowan, has been brought in from 
Chicago to produce and do some of 



4 The Southern senators who don't 
like anti-lynohing and equal rights 
provisions of the President's Com- 
mittee on Civil Rights ' report are 
going to get their chance to reply .to 
Mutual's current documentary series 
on the subject. The web offered 
them last night's (Tues.) time, which 
had been set aside for the third 
broadcast In the lour-part "series, but 
the senators weren't ready. The 
civil rights program went on as 
scheduled. 

Sen. Richard D. Russell (D., Ga,), 
spearhead of the "nearly solid South'* 
bloc .protesting and Mutual airers, 
received word Monday (8) ol his 
mother's Olness in" Georgia and flew 
there, delaying arrangements for the 
answering broadcast. 

Abe Schechter, Mutual veepee 
over news and special events, said 1% 



Mutual's 



Miss. Miss 



Mutual has been informed by' 
a listener that its Jackson, Miss., 
affiliate, WRBC, went off the air 
at approximately 9;12 p.m. the 
night of Tuesday, Feb, 24, "owing 
to technical difficulties," and re- 
turned to the air just aftor 9:30. 

Initial' broadcast of Mutual's 
civil rights series was on the 
web that night frpm » to Q:30. 



the writing on the Dorsey Stdiiza. 
Eleanor Block has beien hired to take 
over : Halpern's public . relations 
duties. ■ 



Ace, Hiken to Hang Out 
Package Shingle; Stang 
Show First on Agenda 

Now that he's got his 0wn show 
("Mr. Ace & Jane") launched on 
CBS, Goodman Ace is. going into the 
comedy jk^ckage business with Nat 
Hiken. Latter is script writer on the 
Milton Eerie show and in previous 
years was chief writer for Fred 
Allen. 

First on the package agenda is a 
half -hour show built around, Arnold 
Stang, who is currently Henry 
Morgan's principal stooge. He'll con- 
tinue in that capacity if and when 
the "Arnold Stang . Show" hits the 
air. Proposed 30-.minute situation 
comedy will be built around a flock 
of Brooklyn characters. . - ^ 



nADlO EDITORS' QUALITY RATING 



WEEK OF FEB, 27-MABCH S 



was possible the web would grant 
the senatqirs more than one-half 
hour, provided they stuck to the' 
issues in question. He said the plans 
for the reply, up to the point they'd 
been discussed with Russell, called 
merely for a talk by the senator and 
one by a southern governor. 

Format the aired replies take will 
be up to the senators, Schechter said, 
and Mutual won't edit or possibly 
even preview the scripts beforehand. 
The senators will be expected, how- 
ever, not to stray afield from the 
issues in question. 

Regarding possible presentation of 
the reply in the form MBS is pre- 
senting the committee report. 
Schechter said: "If they want to get 
up a report, we'll read it for , them." 
The web veepee pointed out that 
Mutual more than a month ago in- 
formed the southern governors' con- 
ference that time to reply to the 
civil rights series would be available 
if requested. 

Twenty Dixie senators (not in- 
cluding Sen.'. Claude Pepper, Fla.), 
in revolt aganst President Truman's 
civil rights proposals, kicked up the 
front-page fuss over Mutual's series 
late last week. Their protest against 
anti-Jim Crow provisions of the 
committee report declared that 
"definition of what constitutes a 
civil right or where the alleged 
right of one citizen invades the right 
of another is highly controversiaL 
In the present circumstances, this is 
a political issue." 

Not all of the committee report, of 
course; is aimed at the South and its 
Negro problem. Last night's sequence 
dealt with the section on Com- 
munism and the loyalty tests. The 
final airer, scheduled next Tuesday. 
(16) but possibly to be postponed il 
the senators are ready to take the 
air, will deal with equality of op- 
portunity. 



As Compdled ExclusivelY for Variety by Dick Mootisfield, 
Freelance Researcher 

(A compo.?ife ewmatjon p/ prosrams hy ihe nation's leading radio editors, rated Upon the follow- 
ing points: Script, Performance, Production, Advertising, Music, Originality. 'Rating system allouis for 
a possible high of 30 points, as follows: Outstanding, AA or 30; A plus or 25— Excellent, A or 22; B pJus 



or 19— Good, B or 16; Fair, C of 13; Poor, D or 10.) 

Previous 
Rating 

(2) I. Bing Crosby 24.6 

4 2, CBS Is There 24.2 

3. Amos 'n' Andy 23.6 

4. Ozzie & Harriet , , , . 23»2 

5. Fibber & Molly ...... 23.0 

6. Theatre Guild of Air 22;8 

7. Fred Waring . 22.4 

8. Jack Benny . 22.0 



( 

(13 
(6 



Of the 65 critics polled, 38 responded in this report. 

frcWoHf, 
Rating 

(8 
10 
J4 
12 

42 



9. 


Lux Radio Theatre 


21.5 


10. 


Fred Allen. ..... 


. 21.2 


II. 


Duffy's Tavern 


21.0 


12. 


Edgar Bergen 


20.7 


13. 


Percy Faith ..... 


, 20.3 


14. 


Henry Morgan 


, . , , 19.6 


15. 


Godfrey's Talent 


Scouts 19.2 



EDITORS' Recommended listening 

Candid Mike ABC 

Ford Theatfe ; NBC 

Living— 1948 NBC 



| l|Tl» l |. ! l 



Gillette Playback Won't 
Mean Boxers Will Have 
To Do a Coast Repeat 

ABC has won Gillette's consent to 
a recorded late-evening playback ol 
the razor outfit's Friday night boxing 
bouts on the'ABC Paciflc Coast hook- 
up starting next month in order to 
protect the ratings of other spon- 
sored stanzas in the Friday night se- 
quence. 

.Gillette fights from Madison 
Square Garden, N. Y., currently tail 
off the web's Friday night .schedule 
in the east, starting at 10 (EST), but 
hit the Coast hookup at 6:30 tPST), 
with the result that the odd-time 
signoffs of the bouts often require 
program fills or even cancellation ol 
thfc succeeding show. Effect is to 
give the rest of the Friday night 
lineup — "Fat Man," "Your FBI," 
■ Break the Bank" and "Famous Jury 
Trials"— an irregular and often poor 
audience buildup. ■ 

Switch-around will put the Gillette 
bouts on the Pacific .skein at 9-10 
<PST), following rather than pre- 
ceding the other commercials. Lat- 
ter's exact sequencing, however, is 
yet to be worked out; Starling dale 
fot.the new sk(!4.JlS(.AB>;il 8. .., . . 



UTcdnggtloy^ Match 10, 194B 



BADIO 



31 



NETWORKS GET AN FM HOTFOOT 



All Ibe News Urat s Fit to leak' 

J^^itibnal Assn. of Broadcasters found itself on an embarrassing pan, 
in front of industry execs and everybody, Monday (8) at its Waldorf, 
l5r.y„ luncheon to unveil the NORC public opinion study. Full results 
of the study had appeared that morning in a trade publication and 
N.Y. Times radio editor Jack Gould demanded, to know how-come 
the favoritism? "It happens all the time," he foeefed. Gould charged 
that release data was violated. 

NAB prexy Justin Miller, obviously uneasy, attributed the whole 
thing to "leaks!' and suggested the Times might get an even break by 
stationing a man fulltime at KAB Headquarters in Washington. 

For the trade press in general, it was just an old story— but finally 
out in the open- 





'Spaniiig of the Mfltons Comes 
To End as Blow Kayoes Berle 



After several weeks of indecision 
during which he obtained an exten-- 
sion on the option, Milton Blow over 
the weekend finally gave notice that 
he was cancelling out the 'Philip 
MorriStMilton Berle -Tuesday night 

'show on NBC at the end of April. 
Biow previously Had tried to ef- 

' feet a switch in the Philip Morris 
NBC-CBS programming in a bid to 
move Berle over to CBS and put 
the new Dinah Shore-Harry James 
musical, currently heard Fridays on 

- CBS, into the Berle Tuesday time. 
NBC nixed the idea; said it wanted 
a comedy show in the Tuesday at 8 
slot, although Berle himself was 
partial to the moveover, which 
Would have bracketed him back-to- 
biath with the Ozzle & Harriet show. 

The "Sparring of the Miltons," as 

■ some in the trade had come to label 
it, goes back almost to the comedy 
show^ inception, with each 13-week 
option time invariably creating the 

- same indecision on renewal. Many 
in the trade go along with NBC in 
expre.wing the belief that, for the 
first time, the Berle comedic pattern 
In radio has begun to take definite 
shape and on that, basis the show" 
should stay put. 

■ Latest Hooper gives Berle a rating 
of 10.2, as compared with the 14.3 
for' the opposition show on CBS' 
"Big Town,-' Understood Biow is 
mulling' moving the' Horace Heidt 
Philip MwiS show into the Tuesday 
time from its present Sunday night 
10:30-11 niche. Client is also inter- 
ested in Fannie Brice. 



In the Public Interest 

Fort Worth, March 0. 
Lullaby Diaper Service here 
has asked the FCC for authority 
to experiment with two-way ra- 
dio communication between its 
central laundry and its cruising 
truclts. 

Object: Fast dispatching of 
baby's most essential lingerie. 

Lullaby 'assured the PCC Its 
proposed service would be "in 
the public interest, . convenience 
and necessity." 



AceConedy Shew 
6))ti»iied by & 

General Foods, which la.st week 
announced it was cancelling out the 
Friday night Fannie Brice show on 
CBS in a general reallocation of the 
GF programming budget, has taken 
ail option on- the new Goodman and 
Jane Ace comedy series. Latter is 
currently heard Saturday nights 
7-7:30, under a temporary tieup with 
Air Force recruiting, pending reg- 
ular commercial sponsorship. 

With the $15,000 weekly talent nut 
on the Brice show the chief factor 
in GF's cancellation move, the Ace 
show would practically cut in half 
the client's bankroll tab and it's re- 
ported that Young & Rubicam, 
*'Seacy on the GF account, looks 
With favor on the Ace pickup to 
tenant the Brice segment in the fall, 
ivuss Brice checks out in May. 

The "trir. ace & JANE" program, 
though on the air less' than a month, 
^ currently riding the CBS Satur- 
ojy night Hooper crest, with an 8.7 
lor the first quarter and 9.4 for the 
-second 15-minute period. Show has 
rnml been kudosed as the prize 
enu- t '^'^'^'^'^^^ among the season's 



Qyeaways Hit 
By SMuMing 
OflfesnryCoo^ 

The .snowballing of heavy goods 
prizes as has featured "Truth or 
Consequences," "Queen for a Day" 
and the Art Linklettfer show is mak- 
ing it tough for the producers of 
"little" giveaway programs. It's not 
the audience competition but rather 
the fact that the sponsors of 'the 
"little" giveaway show now de- 
manding to know why their pro- 
ducers can't also promote airplanes, 
prefabricated hou.ses, auto-trailers 
and the like as prizes. 

One such complaining sponsor last 
week notified his agency that he was 
tired of his show's offering only 
watches, flat silverware' and elec- 
trical appliances'. There was no 
reason.- he said, why his show 
couldn't give away a cruiser like "T 
or C." The, a.gency tactfully re- 
frained from comparing the rating 
of "Consequence" with his show. 

Meanwhile the firms who promote 
prizes for the giveaway programs are 
reaping a harvest, with more and 
more of these go-betweeners popping 
up into the field each month. 



DiLICftllON' IS 
fli 

By GEOB<p^,j|ta3EN 

It's been six weeks since James C. 
Petrillo gave the go-ahead to the 
networks for duplication of bigtime 
AM programming on FM stations, 
but on the basis of what's been 
happening, the webs are more than 
a little disheartened over the whole 
picture, "Messy" was the way a few 
of the network execs described the 
situation^ and if what's been tran- 
spiring in the initial few weeks is 
an indication of the pattern to come^ 
they're now wondering w"hether it 
was worth all the fuss and worry. 

Actually it's been a hit-or-miss 
case right down the line, they com- 
plain, with no definite policies for- 
mulated as yet by web affiliates on 
the question of duplication. The 
fact that the networks are insistent 
that the affiliates "take all or none" 
of the commercially - sponsored 
shows for FM pickup apparently 
cuts no ice with, the- stations." A lot 
'of them are bothering to pick up 
only sustainers. Others are merely 
duplicating sponsored shows on FM 
in cases where it fits into their. 
FM programming pattern, so as not 
to- disturb previously-made commit- 
ments for local FM sponsorship. It 
appea'rs they don't want to incur 
ill feeling among local sponsors and 
are simply ignoring network spon* 
sored shows. 

(At NBC, for example, 27 af- 
filiates-are duplicating either sus- 
taining or sponsored shows on their 
auxiliary FM outlets, out of a po- 
tential of 63 stations now in the 
FM picture. CBS has " 34 stations 
duplicating out of a potential of 48). 

Webs Frankly Disturbed ' 

Lack of any definite policy on FM 
duplication is attributed in some 
quarters to the tact that Petrillo's 
okay was only on an interim basis, 
pending completion of negotiations 
between the networks and the- 
American Federation of Musicians 
on new contracts. But the webs are 
frankly disturbed over the way 

(Continued on page 39) 



Charles Ayres to ABC 

Charles Ayres joined ABC Monday 
(8) as an account executive, taking 
the spot -Which was left vacant when 
Morgan Ryan was shifted to program 
sales recently. 

Ayres was formerly business man- 
ager of Ruthrauft & Ryan's radio de- 
partment. 



Edwards' 31.7 
Sets Season High 

The question of how much a run- 
ning stunt can be made to pay off in 
audience accumulation had an 
answer, this week. Last Saturday 
night's (6) "Trutli or Consequences,'' 
with its Walking Man (Jack Benny) 
windup, clocked a 31.7 Hooper, the 
season's highest rating, topping even 
the previous week's Al Jolson's 
showing (.30.5) in the "Lux Radio, 
Theatre" dramatization of the "Jol- 
son Story." - , . 

It left no doubt that the contest 
craze, on which "T. or C." previously 
cashed in via its Miss Hush affair, is 
the surest rating copper in current 
kilocycle showmanshiR. Brace of 
running guess-who contests has kept 
the Ralph Edwards stanza in Hoop- 
er's Top 15 brackets ' most of the 
'Season." ■ 



NABs Sodal Researcher on Its 
Tveryys-Happy-About-Radio' 
Survey Invites Jitters at Unveifii^ 



Blessed NBC 

Another one of those curi- 
ously-timed fades cropped up 
on NBC last Thursday (4> when 
the Robert L. Ripley co-op show 
was left dangling in mid-kilo- 
cycle. 

Fadeout continuity ran like 
this: 

Ripley:. "As his (Gandhi's) son 
walked three -times, around the 
funeral pyre of sandalwood' and 
roses and applied the torch to 
the fire that consumed the body 
of his father, he recited the 
beautiful Hindu blessing, which 
I would like to say to you 
now—" 

Announcer: "This is the Na- 
tional Broadcasting Co." 



Kent and Johnson 
Decide to Go Own 
DistinguishedWays 

Alan Rent and Austin Herbert 
Croom Croom-Johnson, the "how- 
distinguished - can - you - get'.''I boys 
who parlayed jingle writing into a 
$150,000 annual business, dissolved 
their firm last week after a nine- 
year association. Kent has become 
vecpee and eastern representative 
for Bonded Television Corp., John- 
son has partnered with Mike Levin, 
Down Beat columnist and contrib- 
utor to Look mag jn a management 
and production Concern tabbed 
Croom-Johnson, Inc. Parting is 
amicable. 

Both concerns will concentrate on 
video, with Kent slated to start pro- 
ducing on the Coast next week 'with 
An.son Bond, -BTC prexy, who pro- 
duced Army pictures during the war. 
Johnson and Levin expect to sign as 
video consultants next week with a 
network and an ad agency. 

At various times, Kent-Johnson 
handled 50 national accounts, in ad- 
dition to doing the.all-night program 
on WJZ, N. Y. The jingle which 
brought them into prominence was 
the Pepsi-Cola tune, which has been 
going since 1939. Curiously enough, 
(Continued on page 4?) 



'CANTOR SHOW SANS^ 
CANTOR FOR SUMMER? 

Hollywood, March 9. 

Eddie Cantor has offered Pabst 
beer an Eddie Cantor summer show 
without Cantol'. It would be similar 
to the hiatus fill-in stanzas he's sold 
to his sponsors in the past, using 
the balance of his regular winter 
airer. and with frequent script men- 
tions of the absent star. 

The account is also mulling a 
straight musical replacement. 



The National Assn. of Broadcasters 
on Monday (8) happily brought forth 
more evidence to prove that "an im- 
pressive majority of the American, 
people approves of the way radio it 
doing its job." At the same instant, 
however, NAB found itself unex- 
pectedly and uncomfortably saddled 
with sobering, thoughtful criticism 
from the very articulate social re-, 
searcher it had chosen to analyze its 
radio's-all-right findings. The devel- 
opment, catching NAB'ers slightly 
off guard, had them squirming «, 
little, self-consciously. 

It happened at NAB's -Hotel Wal- 
dorf-Astoria, N.Y., luncheon toshov;- 
ca.se for, industry reps and trade 
press, the results of a second "Peo» 
pie Look at Radio" nationwide sur- 
vey by the National Opinioij Re- 
search Center of the Univ. of 
Chicago (formerly at the Univ. 
of Denver), NAB, prexy Jus* 
tin Miller, in a happy vein, in«- 
troed Dr. Paul F. Lazarsfeld. Colum- 
bia Univ. social science prof and 
longtime radio researcher, who .had 
again penned an analysis of NORG?s 
public opinion poll. . 

NAB,. Judge Miller pointed out, 
had financed the second sui'vey, as 
it had the first, at a cost in excess of 
$15,000. A "scientific sample" of 
3,529 persons were interviewed, 70% 
of them agreeing that radio in their , 
communities is doing an excellent or 
good job. A majority also was found 
to oppose government control of 
broadcasting. Dr. Lazarsfeld would ' 
elaborate on his analysis of the poll, 
Judge' Miller said. 

Dr. Lazarsfeld, "with tongue in ' 
cheek"'" ^md figures on paper,'* con- 
fessed that, true as the NORC figures 
(Continued on page 42) • 



Spots Now Ride Where 
Fred Alien Once Tread 

it,^!!!"?"'^ ^™»i<Js has expanded 
^LT^:. ^"louncement commitments, 
hi,Vi« ^ a^ong the heaviest in the 
caml-'' *° eight-week 
in ? • °" ^'"6 Bonnet Margarine 
for!^ .V^'''"' O'^'o and New York, 
to ini^ starting April 5. It's 

thi. "^^ " package. That's 
torn Alleh plugged be- 

over to Ford. 
, "d Baio.^ is the agency/ • • 



15th Annual 
Survey of Showmanagement 

To Be Published 
In Next Week's Issue oi 



CBS Rcwancing 
U.S. Steel Show 



Behind-the-scenes battle for U. S. 
Steel's "Theatre Guild on the Air" 
is quietly going on between ABC 
and CBS. 

It now develops that "Guild" is at 
least one of the "bigger thingp" CBS' 
had in mind to shoot for wifh the , 
opening up of the full hour 9 to 10 
Sunday night, effective Mai-ch 28, 
with Campbell Soup's dropping of 
"Corliss Archer." (Checkout of 
"Texaco Star Theatre" vac-ated the 
other half hour.) 

Gulf, unhappy with "We, the Peo- ■. 
pie's" competttion Tuesday ■ nights 
from "Amos 'n' Andy." has put in a 
bid for, the "Corliss" slot, but CBS 
.is withholding commitment of the 
time in order to woo the fat U. 'S. 
Steel billing. Prestige of the "Guild" 
series as well as its .strong rating 
pa.vofl' (currently topphig every 
thing in CBS' Sabbath lineup-except 
"Sam Spade") would, of course, 
greatly bolster the web's Sunday 
sequence. 

ABC. on getting Wind 'of , the com- 
petitive bid. lost no time mpving in 
to defend the lucrative a'ccount. A 
presentation has been whipped up 
to show Steel why the hour-long 
"Guild" should, stay in its pr^esent 
9:30 Sunday spot. At least one of 
the arguments versus the CBS pitch 
is that ■ the latter net is offering a 
segment pitting the "Guild" against 
ABC's topratcd Walter Winchell. 



KATZ VICE WILSON IN 
CBS RESEARCH POST 

Oscar Katz has been • appointed 
director of research for CBS, effect 
tive April 1. For the past two and 
a half years he has served as associ- 
ate director. ' 

Katz succeeds Elmo C. 'Wilson, who 
is resigning to become proxy of In- 
ternational Public Opinion Research, 
outfit formed two years ago by Elmo 
Roper and Joshua B, Po wers. Wilson 
had been CBS director since July, 
.1948. 



S2 



RABIO 



(US w Quest of Qick Formula 
f • For C(M)p Shows Via Hayes Survey 



"CBS has inaugurated on thtfq.t. a-f 
project designed to translate its co- 
op programming into a bigtime sales 
operation. -Networlc is launciiing a 
survey, being masterminded by 
Artliur Hull Hayes, manager of the 
web's New York flagsliip station, 
WCBS, and inspired by the convic- 
tion of CBS board chairman William 
S. Paley that the real answer to 
co-op programming lies in ''station 
thinking" rather .than "network 
thinking" and that the real problems 
cant be solved by sitting at a net- 
work desk. 

The network, recognizing the im^ 
pact of the co-op program sales 
technique a.5 an important operation 
today and channeling more and 
wore of its shows iftto the operation, 
("Pays to Be Ignorant" is the latest), 
has been wondering why it hasn't 
paid off with* better - results. It de- 
cided that the station men knew the 
answers better than the network 
and thus decided on appointment of 
HSyes, as a station operator, to sift 
and analyze the whole picture for 
the web. Hayes, in turn, has ap- 
pointed Sulard Johnson,- of KMOX, 
St. Louis, as Held representative. 
Iiatter will spend considerable time 
traveling, Hayes himself may take 
to the road later, timing a cross- 
country ■ trek "to wind up at ttie 
NAB convention in Los Angeles in- 
May. 

CBS currently co-ops the follow- 
ing shows: Joan Davis and '"Pays 
to Be Ignorant" Saturday nights; 
the cross-the-board World . News 
Roundup); the Ave - times - a » yreek 
CBS News- tof America; the Hadie 
Harris cross-the-board afternoon 
program; "Winner Take. AU" cross- 
the-board quiz; Bill Hsnry and- the 
"News, and The World Tonight pro-' 
gram. World News Roundup ha& 

- the largest station . pickup, - 43, with 
Joan Davis next highest, 31. Net- 
work figures that successful .co-op 
programming ^must pay off a lot 

. better than that. 



WARK^oldforl32G 

Hagerstovirn, Md., March 9. ■ 
Station WARK, ABC afflllate here, 
has been sold, subject to FCC ap- 
proval, to R. J. ^unkhouser, news- 
paper publisher and industrialist, of 
Charlestown, W. Va., for $132,000. 

One of the principal owners Of 
WARK who negotiated the, deal is 
Dan Weinberg, prexy of Bedford 
Theatres, Inc., a Virginia circuit, ■ 

Authors, Critics Doing 
The 'Tome Time' Circuit 
On Manhattan Stations 

Radio in New York has its coun- 
terpart of the old vaude Pantages 
time, at least as far' as the authors 
and critics are concerned. ■ 

There's what amounts to 'a regular 
GoihanT circuit for the booking of 
the bigtime novelists and crix, who 
make a week-to-week swing of such 
^ook shows as WNBC's "Author 
Meets the Critics," WHN's "Books 
On Trial," WNEW's "Let's Balance 
the Books," WEVD's "Author's 
Roundtable" and WNYC's "Reader's 
Almanac." In addition, they're- 
doubling into the WNBT video ver- 
sion of "Author Meets the- Critic" 
and invariably appear on Mary Mar- 
garet- McBride's WNTBC and/or 
Martha Dean's WOR gab shows. 

Because the .programs outnumber 
the provocative book* coming off the 
press, the authors and crix have a 
buyers' market, and they're hoppiog 
from one show to anbther. 



' . 'MBS -Drops' - Johngfth Co.-«p 
Co-op heavy MututiI-f-20 ol- 'em 
at the latest count— is going. to be 
lighter by one comes th0 end* of 
March. The •"Erskine Johnson In 
Hollywood" strip at 4-.p,ip! is.b.eing 
checked off. Replacement stanza 
iasn't been decided upon. ■ • 
Johnson won't be off Mutual's air 
entirely, yfeb receptly , signed him 
lor- a 15-min'ute weekly Hollywood 
gossip -and interview stint Thurs- 
days at 8:1$ p.m. 



Radio's Clew Throat 

■ 'At tfi'e A'. J.' DuVont ■ ra^To" 
ayirards dinner Monday night (B), 
fit the Hotel St. Regis, N. Y., 
Which Deke Aylesworth stages 
annually, ABC prexy .Mark 
Woods again officiated, in part. • 
In sketching the progress of 
broadcasting he observed, "Radio 
has cleared its throat with FM.' 

He touched on "this niodern 
miracle called Television;" ac- 
cented that only those commen- 
tators "with the best showman- 
ship" can survive (Winchell is 
an ABC star). 

•Ed Murrow,*ln winning the 
announcer comra^sntator's award, 
.stressed the greater difficulties 
of today's radio opinionating, the 
dangers of bejng inhibited by 
"weighted words," etc. 
■ Station WBBM, Chicago, won 
the annual award for a large 
station, and WFIL, Philadelphia, 
the citation for a small one. The 
awards,, including Murrow'S, are 
each accompanied by $1,000 cash. 
Les Atlass accepted for WBBM, 
and Walter Annenbcrg for 
WFIL. 



GROUCHO QUIZZES WAY 
INTO A FALL PICKUP 

Hollywood, March 9; 

Groucho. -Marx' quizzer,. "You Bet 
Yotjr TCjife," one 'of top Hooperated 
ABC shows, closes its current series 
ifor .Elgin- American (compacts) on 
April 21, by which tinie the sponsor 
must decide on a fiall renewal. It's 
reportedly verbally coihmitted. 

Season closes out flVe weeks 
earlier than planned, according to 
John Guedel, packager, because of 
an unexpected sales increase that 
put too heavy a tax on production.. 
The current Hooperating of 1.1.4 is 
paying off better than three, to one. 



French Tourist Office 
Back in Radio in Bid 

. ... It,-:, 

To Lure Travelers' Coin 

By .- sponsoring Jacques Fray, 
WQXR, N.'Y., "disque jacquey" in 
a series.' of half-hour 'shows starting 
tonight (Wed.) in the 7:30 slot. 
French National Tourist Office and 
the French Line are buying their 
first r^dib ' time since before the 
war. • 

Pirograms are described as "long 
bob, rather than long hair." Bank- 
roUers hope to hypo the tourist 
trade to ' France. Fray, who years 
ago was half of the two-piano team 
of Fray and Braggioti, also has a 
similar WQXR stint on Mopday eve- 
»nings. ■ - ■ y 



'SUSPENSF LOOKS SET 
WITH MONTGOMERY OUT 

Deal for Auto-Lite to take over 
sponsorship of "Suspense" in a half- 
hour version, -as replacement for the 
Dick Haymes show, now looks vir- 
tually set.' However, it'll be witho{)t 
the services of Robert Montgomery, 
who has been narrator and lead 
character in the weekly dramatiza- 
tions under its present format as a 
60-minute sustainer. 

CBS and Montgomery couldn't 
come to terms on coin, the web flg- 
ui-ing that if it paid the kind of 
money the film star was demanding, 
it would be a losing proposition for 
CBS, which owns the show. 



UTAH OIL'S BALLCAST'DEAI 

■ Salt Lake City, March 9. . 
KALL has clo.sed a deal tor part 
eponsorship of all Salt Ijake Bp.es 
baseball games with tlie "Utah Oil 

Utah Oil will loot the tab for 
•very other game, home or away, 
with home games carried live, and 
<>ut of town games recreated. 



WNEW's Spring Greeter 

WNEW's (N.Y.) Special Events de- 
partment is readying a novel show 
to kiss off - the winter and greet 
spring. Tongue-iin-cheek special 
event will be done in musical revue 
style under the ta,g, '"It's -Spring 
Again!" on Sunday, March -21, as . a 
lialf-hour stanza. 

' Gene Rayburn and Dee Pinch, disk 
jockeys of WNEW's early morning 
"Anything Goes" daily strip will 
preside over the spring jamboree. 
Shelley Dobbins, staff writer, is do- 
ing script and special ly-''ios. Dick 
Pack is producing. 



ABCCoi^toOiase 
Sat Night Robbers 

Summertime hypoing of- ABC's 
Saturday night program sequence as 
a virtually all-whounit evening is in 
the works as a result of General 
Mills' agreement to a 7:30-8:30 
bracketing of its "Green Hornet" 
and "Famous Jury Trials" stanzas 
starting the week of June 1. Shift 
will create what the web hopes to 
sell agencies on as a hot time- avail- 
ability, 8:30^9, midway between the 
two GM mysteries and the ' Gang- 
busters"-"Murder and Mr. Malone" 
combo. " 

It'll mean a solid two and a half 
hours of cops-and-robbers fare if 
the midway segment can be peddled 
for whodunit bankrolling. (It's pos- 
sible, 'sh'ould there^be no sale, that 
"The Clock" will be slotted in this 
period.) Web isn't adverse to selling 
the time, however, for another type 
of show and is known to be wooing 
Cemel's in a bid for its CBS Vaughn 
Monroe stanza into the, Saturday 
night spot. . 

Profit reaped by General Mills in 
back-to-backing of its two shows is 
that the company will get the hour 
rate instead of paying two half-hour 
rates (at 60% of the full-hour tab), 
"Green Hornet" currently occupies 
the 7:30 Tuesday period, vyith."Jury 
Trials" in at 8: 30 Saturdays, i ' 
yVeb's reasoning is that, despite a 
small sacrifice in time billings as a 
result of the GM program bracket- 
ing, the mood sequencing should pay 
off ratingwise and cinch sale of an- 
other 30-minute block. : 



FC6 Nixes LeM# Reii^ 

For Use of Qmd k Chcf 



dmmtt to KC6C Top Post 

Des Moines, March 9. 

Allan Curnutt, a.ssociate'd with 
KCBC, Des Moines, since last June, 
has been named general manager of 
the station, 

■ Curnutt had previously been gen- 
eral manager, WOSH, Oshkosh, and 
associated with other Wisconsiii ra- 
dio stations for about 10 years.,' 



CBS Carrington-Toni 
Deal Washes Out in Soap 
Opera, Shampoo Mixup 

Before making its d'ecision to 
move its "Nora Drake" serial over 
from NBC to the 2:30-2:45 CBS after- 
noon time, Toni Co. was setting up a 
deal to bankroll the new Elaine Car- 
rington serial, "Marriage for. Two," 
present occupant of the CBS period. 

However, someone recalled that 
Toni w.as going to plug its shampoo 
product, which would be in competi- 
tion with Procter & Gamble. Since 
P, & G. is the principal source of 
Mi^ Carrington's income (via her 
other soap operas), the whole thing 
was quickly forgotten. As result, 
CBS plans opening the 5:30 afterr- 
rfBon' niche for the Carrington opus, 
and has already set its sights on a 
non^competitive bankroller. ; > 

TONI NIXES THOTOG' 
WANTS ITS OWN SHOW 

Toni Permanent Hair Set has 
turned down CBS' offer of 'ICrime 
Photographer': ' but it's okayed <ithe, 
transfer of the "This Is Nora Drake" 
opera to that network ' fronrr NBC. 
Serial wilt run 'simultaneously on the 
two networks starting ■ April 12 for 
tour weeks, with CBS doing it on a 
gratis during that period to allow 
for a warmup. Toni will pick up the 
CBS time bill as of May 10. 

The hairwaver has plans for a 
nighttime half hour but it would pre- 
fer one of its own ownetEhip ("Crime 
Photog': is a CBS package) and in a 
lower'-price bracketi It will prob- 
ably be a mystery show. 

"Photography" moves; off the An- 
chor Hocking payroll in three weeks. 



Washington, March 9. ' 
Presidential radio advisor J. 
Leonard Keinsch was the loser here 
Friday (6) In a final Federal Com- 
munications Convnissio'n decision re- 
solving a three-way scrap for use of 
the 630 kc channel in the Cincinnati 
area. 

FCC nixed bids of Reinsch's Queen 
City^ Broadcasting Co. and the 
Scrlpps-Howard . station WCPO to 
use the , channel in Cincinnati, and 
favored, t^ie appUeaticin of; Gilmore 
Nunn's WLAP, Lexington, Ky., to 
boo.st power on the same slot. 
SReinsch was bidding for a' new sta-" 
tion and WCPO wanted to improve 
its service in Cincy. 
" Commission majority concluded 
that grant of either Cincy request 
W0U14- raise interference problems, 
While the WLAP switch would en- 
able that- station to provide 'better 
service to the rural fireas outside 
Lexington. GOP Commissioners 
Robert R. Jones and Rosel Hyde cast 
dissenting votes for the Queen City 
Co, 



Lyn Murray's Eye Op 

Lyn Murray,' who had an eye op- 
eration last Frldiay (5),' will be rje- 
leased from Doctor's hospital, N-. Y., 
-in the next couple of days, possibly 
in time to direct the music for Sun- 
day's (14) broadcast of the "Ford 
Theatre" series on NBC. 

Howard Barlow has been doing 
a stand-fn on the a.ssignmont. 



Dick Gilbert Files 

For Arizona Station 

Phoenix, , March 9. 
Application for a:250-watt station 
here was filed with the FCC last 
week by Radio Corp. of Arizona, 
Inc?, headed by Dick Gilbert, local 
disk jockey, as president and treas- 
urer. 

Outfit is incorporated for $60,000. 

Gilbert, who was formerly as.soci- 
ated with WNEW, WOV and WHN, 
in New York, h'as conducted a rec- 
ord program over KRUX, Glendale. 
.since la.st .September. 



Breakdown of 4 Webs' Night4)y-Night Rating Average 

C. E. -Hnctper quietly introed'\everal nsiu raCtng features in his Feb. .15^21 Pocfcetpi'ece, out lost 
week; Here tre two of thern: • , ' 

(Average Bating of AU Rated Sponsored Programs) 

EVENING 

■■V: ■■■, ..■:■;' X6-nP,^. N.Y.T.) 



.Total Evenings 
6:00-11 P.M. 



Sun. Afternoon 
(12:00-6. P.JM. 



Network 


Siin. 


::SIOIl, 


• .Tiles. 


Wed. 


Thurs, 


Fri, 


Sal. 


N.y.T.) 


N.Y.T.) 


ABC 


11.5 


7.5 


5.8 


9.9 


6.2 


ll.l 


9.2 


».s 


4.9 


CBS 


8.7 


16,9 


9.9 


7.7 , 


10.0 


9.1 


6.1 


10.2 


4,9 


MBS 


5.5 


4.6 


4.6 


4.6 


3.9 


4.4 


• 6.1 


4.8 


6.2 


NBC 


17.3 


8.6 


17.2 


13.5 


14.1 


. 9.7 


16.0' 


13.8 


7.1 



'Avero^e Roting by Program Types 

EVENING PROGRAMS 



1948 
1947 



1948 
1947 



Audienoe* 
Variety Participation Plays 



14.3 
14.4 



Serial 
Drama 

5,7 
5.6 



11,8 
■11,3 



11.3 
■10.1 



Situation 
Comedy Mystery 
, 13.3 11.4 
13.6 , 11,6 



News.A 
Popular Radio Corn- 
Music Columnists mcrit'rs 
9.1 8,1 5.6 

10.8 10.2 6,2 



DAYTIME PROGRAMS 

(Monday tMOM^h Friday) 

; News & Andidnce* 
Itemmentators 



3.5 
3,9 



Fartioipation 

6.7 
5.5 



Popular 
MuNio 

3.1 

5.» 



Concert Miscel- 
Musiclaiteous 
8.3 5.9 
7.0 5.9 



Mfiscellameous 
4.4 
3,3 



* Includes Quiz. 



Syracuse 'Sneak' Set 
For ABCs 'Stop Music'; 
Bert Parks to Emcee 

ABC continued last week 'its do- 
or-die campaign to put its new Sim- 
day .light hour-long "Stop the Mu- 
sic" show over in a big way. The 
web (1) Mad^ the quarter^hour tabs , 
more attractive to prospective bank- 
rollers by lopping $500 off the week- 
ly talent cost; (2)' set up arrange- 
ments to "sneak preview" the show 
next Sunday (14) via WAGE, Syra- 
cuse, where a 1,300-family listener 
panel maintained by BBD&O agency 
will be utilized to pass criticism on 
the stanza; (3) cut a series" of pro- 
motion spots, 20 seconds to one min- 
ute in length, a capella with Cliff 
Edwards and a quartet on the vocal, 
which will hit the web, ^starting to- 
day (Wed) with "saturation" in- 
tensity as a buildup for "Stop the 
Music's" March 21 preem; (4) select- • 
ed Bert Parks, emcee of "Break the 
B^k,'' as the stanza's master of 
ceremonies. 

While there isn't a sponsor order 
yet in for one of the new show's 
segments, the net's sales department 
is still of the belief that one or, Jnore 
bankroUers will be on the line .when 
the program debuts. . »,-;^.j> 

Web was able to trim its quarter" 
hour "talent" tab from $3,315 to 
$2,792.50 after finding it was not 
going to^ be nece.ssary to earmaj k"'. 
as much as $900 per segment t/or ' 
giveaway prizes. Breakdown of the 
tab 'now is: $1,950, plus $292,50 for 
agency commis.sion, pli^s $550 far 
prize money (which is not com- 
missionable). 

Syracuse test Will originate live 
in New York and be piped to WAGE 
in the regular time slot the show 
will occupj^, Sundays 8 to 9 p.m., 
with all phone calls placed during 
the trial airing being pulled at ran- 
dom from the Syracuse exchange 
list. Five-page que.stionnaires have 
been mailed to the BBD&O li.stener 
panel. As a follbwup, ABC will 
send several interviewers to Syra- 
cuse to gather additional reactions 
to the show. ^ 



JUDITH ABBOTT INTO 
BESSIE MACK'S POST 

Judith Abbott, actress - producer 
daughter Of George Abbott, succeeds 
the late Bessie Mack as director of 
talent auditions for the Arthur God- 
frey "Talent Scouts" series on CBS, 
for Lipton. The appointment . was 
made yesterday ''(Tues.) afternoon 
by Harry Ackerman, CBS executive 
•producer. 

Miss Abbott, besides appearances 
in various legit and radio:shovvs.,as a 
legit co-producer, in partnership 
with Mary Mason. She's al.so b^en a 
production and casting assistant for 
her father and other legit producers 
and .stagers. ■ ■ , • 

Miss Mack died about two weeks 
ago, . 



B&K launches Chi FMer 

Chicago, March -9. 
Balaban & Katz, operator.'? of Chi 
video station WBKB, launched iul 
FMer, WBIK, here Monday (81. New 
statiop u.ses the sariie ahtenha as . 
WBKS and temporarily will f^hare 
studios. Program structure, with 
poiisible duplications, will he worked 
out this week. 



RAmo 





TELE DILEMMA 



Scratch Sheet on Editorializiiig 

Washington, Match 0. 
■ . • irestlmony by some 30 witnesses at FCC's. editorial hearings here last 

Vi^eVi. Ijreaks down generally into three principal points of view. 
' ' A half dozen spokesmen went all out for .burying the Mayflower ban 
from start to finish. A large group, including reps of over 20 stations, 
vpantcd the licensee to have the right to ,air his own views over the 
inike but insisted on a requirement for equal time for contrary views. 
A third faction, including most of the broadcast unions and "special 
f interest" users of radio, wanted the editorial ban upheld or in some 
' cases strengthened. Second) group muddied .the waters- soniewhat by 
laying down several "ifs, ands, and buts" -cnrbing excessive editorial- 
■ MtSik-ot expression of views by certain classes of .licensees. A few in 
this category suggested the broadcaster* have an "affirmative obliga- 
tsJm" to recruit speakers and talent to represent opposing viewpoints. 

Here's 9 Bcr«tch sheet on the way opinion lined up; 
^ 1, OPPOSING THE BAN ON ALL COUNTS: CBS, NBC, ABC; Ad- 
vertising Federation of America; American Council of Christian 
Churches. Statements filed, but no testimony given, by Eric Johns- 
ton and WCFL, Chicago. 

• FAIR PLAY FOR ALL POINTS OF VIEW, INCLUDING THOSE 
_.0P THE LICENSEE: National Farmers Union; Eric Barnouw, Na- 
tional JBadio Writers Guild; Eafl McGill for the National Radio Direc- 
tors Guild; GommLssioner of Education John Studebaker; Keith Tyler, 
Ohio IT.; Morris Novik, radio consultant: Nathan Straus, WMCA, N.Y,; 
Hobert ■ Cushman, WHCU, Ithaca; attorney , Morris Ernst; National 
AFL; and! Hep. Emmanuel Celler (D. N.Y.); statements filed by Dr. 
Bobert D. Leigh; Hunter College President George Sh'uster; Joint 
Bettgious Radio Committee and the Religious Radio Association. 

• Testimony by attorney W. Theodore Pierson on behalf of the fol- 
lowing stations:' WIND, WLOL, KGLO. WTAD, WWDC, WHTR, 
KOB, WGPA, WKWK, WBNY, KLZ, KUTA, KVOR, WJLS, WKNA, 
WDEF, WKY and WKEV. 

3. FOB STRICT ENFORCEMENT OF THE PRESENT BAN: Political 
Action Committee; American Civil Liberties Union; American Jewi.sh 
Congress; National CIO; Voice of Freedom Committee; The Communica- 
tions Workers of America; Oliver Nicoll for the A.ssociation of Broad- 
cast Unions and Guilds; national AFRA; AFM local 802; J. R, McCon- 
nell, NABET; and Committee of Women for the National Council of 
American Soviet-Friend.ship; New York local. 1212, IBEW. 



NAB Cracks Down on Cuif o Time 
Demands as Stations Squawk 



s[[ mm 




Washington, March 9, 4 
The National Assn. of Broadcaat- 
»it8 moved last week to clamp down 
.on demands for free handouts of 
rsdio time by commercial organi- 
zations. The move followed nu- 
merous complaints from ftatioris 
throughout the country that well- 
iheeled outfits who spend thousands 
jot dollars in other media are in- 
sitting on free time from the broad- 
■ casters. ■ ■■ ■■.■„■■ 

A unanimously-adopted NAB re.so- 
lution declares: "The NAB regards 
any "'effort on the part of any or- 
' ganizatiort or interest which seeks 
'commercial advantage through the 
free* use' of a station's facilities as 
being un.sound, unwarranted-, and 
contrary to the best interest of the 
country." An NBC exec said pri- 
vately the 'FCC's Blue Book may 
hav^ been responsible for many of 
these demands. 

Concurrently, the NAB Small 
Market Stations Division wrote the 
Washington State Fruit Commission 
at Yakima, enclosing the NAB reso- 
, lution, in answer to a reque.st that 
Washington state stations use gratis 
'lOflt-Word commercial spots plugging 
' the Commission. Letter pointed out 
that broadcasters air some 2,600,000 
public service spots in behalf of 
veterans and nationwide charity or 
health campaigns annually but don't 
intend to support private causes, 
except at .stations' quoted card rate.s. 

Similar letter was sent to other 
Outfits, including the National As,s-n. 
of Margarine Manufacturers, and the 
I)etro}eum industry , associations. 



Pat Griffith hto NAB 



. Washington, March 9. 

Pat Griffith has _ moved over to 
succeed Dorothy Lewis as director 
of women's activities, the National 
Assn. of Broadcasters announced 
this weelc. 

Mi.ss Griffith will operate from 
Washington as part of NAB's Pub- 
lic Relations Department setup. 



We% Hartley In 
WOV Bid Vs. Bess 



NAME COMICS TO EC. 
EIGEN'S FIRST ANNI 

Fred Allen, Milton Berle. Phil 
Silvers, Sid Caesar and other come- 
dians win help celebrate Jack 
Eigen's first anniver.sary April 22 
at the Copacabana, N. Y. nitery, by 
handling the mike in order to give 
the all-night disk jockey an oppor- 
tunity to circulate with the regular 
cust«mers. 

When Loew's booker, Sid Piermont, 
•walked into the Cot)a last Saturday 
mght (6) and saw the extraordinary 
biisine.ss he wanted to know "whafs 
the name o£ the picture." Eigen 
. cracked he's open for offers aikl will 
probably do a guestor at, the Cap. 

Allen, an ardent Eigen fan, has 
oeen plugging the jock on hi.s la.sl 
^5 programs, chiefly because, as he 
put it, he respects "originality" in 
show bii. 



Washington, March 9. 

ECG has been advised that a com 
petitive bid for WOV, N. Y., bilingual 
indie, .will be filed shortly by a com- 
pany being formed by two present 
execs of. the. station and the head of 
a N. Y. lithographing company. 

The principals are Ralph Weil and 
Arnold Hartley, general manager 
and. pKOgram .director,' respectively, 
of Bulova-owned WOV, and N. J. 
Leigh, . .chairman of , the board of 
Kinson-Freeman, Inc. FCfl was in- 
formed the money was being put up 
by Leigh, a longtime resident of. Great 
Neck, L. I., whose net worth is esti- 
mated at $500,000. 

Weil, and' an (Attorney representing 
the group called Monday i8) on FCC 
chairman Wayne Coy 'to a.sk for a 
oomrnkssion' delay in approving, with- 
out AVCO- procedure, the purcha.se 
iipplicalion of General Broadcasting 
Corp.. headed by Herman Bess, 



By BEN BODEC 

Station reps are complaining that 
television has taken such a hold on 
the consciousness of their outlets 
that they can't get them worked up 
any more about the problems of the 
radio bu.siness. It's got so that when 
a station man comes calling in his 
rep's New York office, run the 
plaint, all he wants to talk about 
nowadays is the TV application: he 
has filed and the competition he's 
getting from other applicants for the 
specified channel. 

These reps express themselves as 
amazed over the sudden surge of ex- 
citement over video among station 
men who only a month or so ago 
were almost indifferent to the whole 
thing and remarking that fhey were- 
going tO' wait and let others get the 
medium going. 

The reps credit much of the excite- 
ment to network activity in pressur- 
ing affiliates about their TV plans 
and cite as . a specific case in point 
CBS' invitation to it.s affiliates for a 
tele clinic in New York March ill 
Incidentally, CBS has had but three 
turndowns on this conclave. 

NBC Spot Competition 
The pother has tended to create 
no little uneasiness among some of 
the reps, For one thing, they've been 
told that the selling of television will 
call for a reconditioning of approach 
and practice, with a knowledge of 
programming being paramount to 
that of peddling availabilities of 
1 time. And on the other hand there's 
I a. growing suspicion among them 
that NBC, especially, has ambitions 
of representing a TV affiliate not 
merely on hookup sales but as re- 
gards national spot and with the net- 
work in the dual role of film pro- 
gram purveyor in the latter instance. 

The suspicion hE.s been aggravated 
by the report that NBC has indicated 
that it proposes to work out arrange- 
nients with affiliates whereby it will 
feed them with celluloid program 
fare until such time as relay facili- 
ties become available. . 

With the reps the uneasiness is not 
one stemming from a fear of sud- 
denly finding their income sharply 
reduced but rather from a feeling 
that the business techniques of the 
new medium could take such turn 
as to imperil their eventual .stake in 
it. Recognition of this possibility has 
produced such a disturbing dilemma 
of a rep With an AM station having 
16' stand by covetously while a com- 
petitor snags a video plum in the 
same market. , , ' 

The average rep's appraisal of tele- 
vision is founded on the thesis that 
the basic cause for radio's tremen- 
dous success as an advertising me- 
(Continued on page 42) 



NAB TutsGh'Charged at Fa Hearing; 
Ruling on Mayflower Law Meanii^ Due 
Even If Status Quo Is Maintained 



CHI'S 5-YEAR LEASE 
ON NAB CONVENTIONS 

; Hollywood, March 9. 
Ruling out further hassling over 
sites, the NAB has decided that 



Washington. March 9. 
. Th e , Federal ' ^ Corhmunications ' 
Commission will have to. qjarify its, 
seven-year-oia Mayflower.;^ 
ning radip -ieditsria^^^^ 
cides t6 niaintaini the stitus. '<^a; 6t 
requiriftg lair l pliy frir 
after its Coast meet on May 16 .to 20 i controversial issues, .This is the con- 
the next five years- will see th'^ con- ! ^„«"''"^ of observers who sat through 
ventions. in Chicago. ' i ^^'^^ hearings on the 1941 

C. E. Arney, NAB secretary-treas- i ''"^'"f ^^^f, ^^^^ week. Se.s.^ions re- 
urer, has been authorized to make I ^.f;''?.^.. .^""^'Y ..^"^1","^,^ 
a deal with the Hilton hotel chain 
for that period. 

Chicago is figured as the most cen- 
trally located town lor a national 
converging. 



rWashington April 19, with National 
I As.sn. of Broadcasters prexy Ju.stin 
I Miller , skedded to take the stand. 

Big question in witnesses' minds, it 
seems, was whether the Mayflower 
ruling intended to muzzle the licen- 
.see himself or merely to require 
equal treatment of opposing points 
ot view. Most believed it does bo(;h, 
as now written. Spoke.=!men for 
.some 20 broadcaster.s parted com- 
pany with NAB's Miller and the net- 
works who want a blank ch«ck on 
editorializing with no strings at" 
tached and told the FCC they wouldi: 
.«ettle for equal treatment of issues . 



Denny Overhauk 
N.Y.TownHaO 

A shakeup in key personnel is 
under way at Town Hall, N. Y. I 't, ,. ... 

James Lambie, who until recently''^. licensee himself is allowed 



headed up a project called Reada. 
bility Associates, specializing in pre- 
paring reports, has been brought in 



free speech on the air." Several of 
the witnesses demanded swift clari- 
fication of this point, > if po.ssiblc in 



as executive assistant to George V. f.f'yance of upcommg national po- 
Denny, pre.xy and moderator of ' ''^i^/^ campaigns. 
"America's Town Meeting of the ■ Meanwhile, quizzmg of witnesses 
Air" (ABC). William Steinhoff, TH ' "p.^ /'''^ ''^^f*' five FCC- members left 
veepee and controller, is checking I '""^ T'"''^ obsery- 

out and won't be replaced, his duties i ""'^ ^as no mtention 

in the main being taken over by i °^ capitulating to the NAB-network 
Lambie position. ( Commissioner Robert F. 

Also ' exiting,' the end of this i '^°"«'^ ^o""^ "° P"'"' ^^^el Hyde 
month, is Paul Sheldon, who handles 1 P*''* cross-examination.) 
publicity on "Town ■ Meeting." His concern of the questioners ap. 



functions, as well as overall Town 
Hall publicity, will be taken over by 



peared to be framing of any general 
regulation which would 'insure con- 



Richard Pleasant, with title of direc- ^^^""'^ an absolutely equal 

tor of public delations and fund- ! ^^^'^ "Uh licensees, 
raising. Pleasant, recently with ai These were .the .other develop- 
tdlent outfit, was Army officer-in- ments: .«..■. . . • 

Miller's <Fe»niit Wa|con Whistle* 
Spokesmen for "radio listeners,'! 
unions and other so-called liberal 
groups charged that the NA6-wfeb 
putsch against the Mayflower de- 
cision was a blind to win their fight 
to. throw off all FdC controls out- 
side the technical field. Saul Carson^ 
p sale that amounts to a ! °^ ^ew Republic,. 

iContinued on page 42) 



Petrillo, Webs in Solid 
'No Comment' Front As 



WILDROOT TO CANCEL 
KING COLE NBC SHOW 

Wildroot ls set to cancel its King 
Cole Trio quarter-hour on NBC Sat^ 
urdavs at .'5:45 p.m. Web dispatched 
a couple of -sales reps to Bufl'alo late 
la.st week in an attempt to salvage 
the biz. Hiiir tonic outfit is said to 
want 16 reallocate this part of il.s 
radio ad coin to a .stepped-up mer- 
chandl.sing campaign. 

Company i.s reported aJ.so to be 
ca.sting about for olher W«ys to trim 
its ad sails, which could spell troiji^e 
for the sponsor's "Sam Spade" series 
on CBS. li's known that another net 
plans a pilch to Wildroot to .shift 
"Spade" as « time-eosl. saving move. 



James C. Petrillo has the web 
execs hushed for the final go- 
around. 

The American Federation of Mu- 
sieiahs boss ■ reported Ty hJis been 
irked by ''leaks" to the trade press 
of the trend of his talks with the 
four - networks. He is 's.aid .to have 
commented on these leaks in a hud- 
dle with the we'bbcr.s, saying, "Now 
I'm not talking, so don't you talk.". 

Solid front of "no comi-neilt" si- 
lence resulted when negotiation.s. re- 
sumed at Petrillo's N. Y. office last 
Monday afternoon <«) following a 
five-week cooling-off -spell, broke up 
after a couple of hours' elosed-door 
discussion. Custom ot calling in -the 
press following the huddles. al.Ho has 
been di.scontinued. 
' Next meeting is scheduled ■tornor'' 
row (Thiii'.s. i at 3 p.m.. 

Now faces at Monday '.« huddle in- 
cluded Lcs Atla-ss, CBS veepee over 
the Central Division. Chicago, and 
Robert Kintner, ABC exec veepee, 
accompanying proxy Mark Woods. 
NBC was reppcd by exes veepoe 
Frank Mullen and gemTa) coun.sel 
Charles R. Denny; Mutual by Theo- 
dore Streibert, WOR picz and MBS 
board member. 



charge of overseas civilian entertain; 
ment during the last two years of 
the.war. 

COAL CO;S250G COOP 
'GANGBUSTERS' DEAL 

A 

miniature web deal, representing, 
it's said, the largest single time pur- 
chase in the history of co-op pro- 
gramming, has been set by ABC 
with .the Philadelphia & Reading 
Coal & Iron Co., of Philly. Outfit 
will sponsor "Gangbusters" on 22 
stations in the novtlieast and eastern 
central sections of the country start- 
ing Saturday (13). It's a .$2.'i0,000 
time^and-tadnt tab, -placed Via the 
McKee & "Albright agency. 
"Gangbusters" is being 



EDWIN C. HILL SIGNED; 
FORNASHKELVINAtOR 



Edwin C. Hill, %et »coihmehtator ; 
who faded from the air wiaves a 
couple of years ago, seems to be trod- 
ding .the comeback trail. Recently 
-signed on as narrator of the Coast 
co-oped i Guard-.sponsored "This Is Adven- 
oulside the 62-station hookup on i ture" series on ABC, the gabber' now 
which- it's being bankrolled by ! has been inked by Na.sh-Kelvinator 
Procter & Gamble's Tide. Borden's . for its forthcoming five-minute even- 
Pioneer Ice Cream has bought the ! ing cross-the-board news show on 
Phillips Lord stanza on WJZ, N, Y., |the'same net. . 
effective this weekend. ■ i Although the stanza won't fee oft 

I Cities, covered by the coal and I u„til Apri't'^6, N-K already has aug- 
iron company's; dear are; . Albany, I mented its initial order,' increasing 
Baltimore, Bridgeport, Buffalo. Hart-. 'the number of outlets.from 100 to 
I ford, Lawrence, .Mass.; Manchester,: r 132, which' boosts the. time .billing 
:n. H.; New Bedford, Hyannis, Mass.; I over the !f800,000 mark. Show-will 
I New Haven, Norfolk, Suffolk, Philly, be bracketed with the ■? p.m. "Head- 
; Pittsburgh. Portland, Me.; Pi'ovi- jjne Edition," latter being trimmed 
j dence, Rochester, Syracuse, Wash- ' fmni 1.5 to 10 minutes. 
; inglon, Waterbury, Wilmington and Hill had a weekly stint sponsored 

by Johnson & Johnson on CBS just 
prior to his air fade severar seasons 
back. ,■ 



Worchester. 

i. 



Sherman Dryer Packages 



Baruch 'Man About Town' i LucMe Wall Recovers 

Sherman H. Dryer i.s auditioning . From Skull (Fracture 



a new- situation comedy series, ' Lucille, Wall, one of the best known 
"Man About Town," with Andre I (he.'--ps in the soap opera field, is' -still 

hospitalized, but recovering from a 



Baruch- in the lead. Audition plat- 
ter will be cut tomorrow < 11' at 
the WOR- Guild theatre. N. Y. 

Dryer has surrounded Baruch 
With a supporting cast including 
Mercedes McCambridge, Cameron 
Andrews ••aiid- Nelson Ca.se ..-as.' 'an'-'. 



i:kiill fracture and severe concu.ssion 
iiufferSd'Feb. 27 in fall in her Man- 
hattan apartment.- 

The actress has been the star of 
"Portia Faces Life" since its first air- 
ing in April," 1940. and also has 



'noinicer. He- will use two team,'; of ■ played the femme lead in "Lorenzo. 
I writers, one tor ba.'iic plot and an- | Jones" since it"; preera. Her role in 
'other for comedy dialog. He has '•Portia" is being filled by Anne Sey- 
brought Stanley Burns and Ray Al- mour, while her "Joness" role lor 



len from the Coast to supervise the 
gag writing chore. 



the pre.sent is being taken by Bess 
Johnfon. 



$4 



Tele Fadities' Scoreboard 

roUowtng is a city-by-cify brcakdoiori of the complete television station 
picture as it lines up in the V. S. today. On the dote comviXeA, there 
tuei-e 19 stations operatinff (includtmg one .sf ill an an experiviental basis); 
70 construction permits granted, and 144 appXicaiions pending. There are 
«(iU some 172 chownels not t/ef applied /or in oil ports o/ the coutitrj;. 
;Sinole Mtei-istc (*) in cnort refers to tentative communitw channels, as 
differentiated from metropoliton chonncls; double osterisJc (♦*) indicofes 
ihose Paramomt or DiiMont applications that are being withheld pending 
m FCC decision on Par's holdings in DuMoni; triple asterisk (** *) indi- 
cates channel No. X, which the FCC may take wny Jrom video broad- 
casters to hand to other broadcastirip scruiccs. 



ALABAMA 

Birminghain 

(Three, cftonnelsotiatl- 
aI>l0-~IVos. 4, 9. 13) 



CAUL 
ItTTERS 



OWNBB 
STATIONS OPERAMNO 



CHANNEL 
NO. 



CONSTBUCTION PEBMITS 
WlSEC Birmingham B'castiug Corp. . 4 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 
WAJ'I Voice of Alabama, Inc. , . . . . . 13 



CITV 
FLORIDA 

Miami 

(Four channels, ouoilr' 
able— Wojf. 2, 4, 5, 7) 



St. Petersburg 

(Pour clmnnels avail- 
able) 



mmm' 



owmcs 



CHANNEIi 
NO. 



SVATIONS OPERAtlNQ 



CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

WTVJ.,,... SOi Radio & Tele Equip. Co. 4 

APPUCATIONS, PENDING 

, . . , , , . , Fort Industry , . B 

„ .' Isle ot Dfeams B'eaating Corp. 5 

A, Frank Katzentme,, 7 

Miami Herald..: 6 



STATIONS OPERATING 



CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

' APPLrcATIONS PKNlilNG 

, Sunshine Telcvi-sioit Corp^ . 



GEORGIA 

Atlanta 

(Four channels avaii- 
able—Wos. 2. S, 8, 11) 



STATIONS OPERATING 



CALIFORNIA 

Los Angeles 

{Seven channels avail* 
able— Nos. 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 
11, 13) 



Riverside 



San Diego 

(Four channets avail- 
aUihrms. 3, 6, 8, 10) 



KTLA. ... 
\f6XAO., 

KEC.4-TV. 
KFI-TV... 
KNBH... 
KLAC-TV. 
KTTV. . . . 



STATIONS OPERATING 

. Television Productions (Par). 5 
i Don ' {ie<^ ,(£3;perimental) , ... 2 
CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

. ABC 7 

Earle C. Anthony; Inc. ....... 9 

NBC 4 

. N. y. Post 13 

. h. A; Times-Mirror. . . ....... . 11 



CONSTRUCTION PERA|ITS 

WSB-TV Atlanta Journal Co.) 8 

•WCON-TV.. Atlanta Constitution 2 

WAGA-TV. . Liberty B'casting (Ft. Indus.) 5 
APPLICATIONS PENDING 

Ga. School of Technolosy .... ll 

Eurith D. Rivers, Jr 8 

....... . General B'casting Co...»,. ... 13 

Mike Benton 13 



KARO*. 



' STATIONS OPERATING 

CONSTBUCTION PERMiTS 

B'casting Corp. of America , . 



S'TA'nONS Ol^EBATING 



CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

KFMB-TV. Jacli Gross B'casting Co 8 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 

Balboa Radio Corp. (KLIK).. 3 

San Diego Journal............ .6 

...viii .. . . . . Airfan Hadio" Cpi'p 10 

San Diego Union-Tribune Sun 10 

Television B'casting Co 10 

..1 Video JBfcasting Co 3 



San Francisco- 
Oakland 
(Shared Channdfe) 

(Shi channel* available 
— N0.t. Z, 4, 5, 7, 9, U) 



STATIONS OPERATING 



CONSTRUCTION PEKMiTS 

,KGO-TV... ABC 7 

KWIS. , . . Associated B'casters, Inc. . .... 5 

KKON-TV. S:m Francisco Chronicle 4 

KFRC Don Lee. 2 

KSAN P. H. Patterson 9 

Television Productions (Par)** 9 

KROW-. .... KROW, Inc 11 

Leian Holyer 11 



San Jose 

' (One channel avail- 

able— If q„ 13) 



STATIONS OPEBATING 



CONSTKUCTION PERMITS 

APPLICA'boNS PENDING 

. Video B'casting Co. 13 



San Luis Obispo 



STATIONS OPERATING 
CONSTBUCTION PERMITS 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 

. Valley Electric Co 



COIflSfECTICUT 
Bridgeport 

P (pnechannel avoiloble . 



STATIONS OPERATING 
t'(>NSTEUCT10N PEBMITS 



WICC. 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 

. Yankee Network 10 



Hartford-New 

Britain 
(SiiJU'e& Channels) 

(Two chojijiels avoEl- 
aBIe^A'OS. 8; 10) 



STATIONS OPERATING 



CONSTBUCTION PERMITS 



APPLICATIONS FENDING 

Connecticut. B'casting Co;. . . . 

Hartford Times, Inc. ....... 

Travelers B'casting Service. . 
. New Britain B'casting Co. .. . 



New Haven 

(One channel available)' 



STATIONS OPEBATING 



CONSTBUCTION PEBMITS 
WNHC ..... Elm City B'casting Corp. .... 6 
APPLICATIONS PENDING 



Waterbury 

(One channel available 
—No. 12) 



STATIONS OPEBATING 



ILLINOIS 

Chicago . 

(Seven' channels a vait- 



able— iVos. 2, 
11, 13) 



7. 9. 



STATIONS. OPERATING 
WBRB Balaban & Katz (Paramount) 4 

CONSTRUCTIOI^- PERMITS 

WENB-TV.. ABC 7 

WNBY NBC 5 

WGN-TV... Chicago Tribune 0 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 

;,. CBS 11 

Jbhnson-Kennedy Radio 

(CJhi Daily News), 2 

Chi Sun & Titties Co 13 



INDIANA 

Bloomington 

(One cltannet ovailable.) 



Indianapolis 
(Five channels avail- 
able— Nos. », 6, 8. 10, 12) 



STATIONS OPERATING 



South Bend 

(One channel avail- 
able)* 



WTTV 


CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 


in 


APPLICAtnONS PENDING 


STATIONS OPERATING 


WWHB 


CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

. . William H. Bloclt Co. 


3 




.. WFBM, Inc. 






APPLICATIONS PENDING 






. . . Indianapolis B'casting 

... Capitol Ei'casting Corp 


. 8 




... WIBC, Inc.........: ....... 


. 12 



STATIONS OPERATING 
CONSTBUC'i'ibN PEBMI^^^ 

■ 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 
WSB'T...... South Bend Tribune (WSBT) 13 



IOWA 

■ Ames I 

■ (One clianncl avail-'' 
able)* 

Des Moines 

(Four channels avail- 
flblC^Woff. 2, 4,; 5,^9) 



STA'nONS OPERATING 



- CONSTRUCTION PEBMITS 

WOI TV . , . . Iowa State Col. bt Agriculture 4 



STATIONS OP¥ra"T1NG~ 



Iowa City 

(]yon-co7n7nercial 
channels) 



CONSTBUCTION PEBMITS 

APPLICATioNS PENDING 

. Independent B'casting Co. 

(KlOA) 5 
. Cowles B'casting-Des Moines 

Register (KRNT), 9 

. Cen tral B'castinfj (WHOM)... 9 



STATIONS operating" 



CONSTBUCTION PEBMITS 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 
. Iowa State Univ u 



KANSAS 

Topeka 



STATIONS OPEBATING 
CONSTRijCTION PEItMITS 



KENTUCKY 

Louisville 

( Two channels avail- 
able— Nos. 5, 9) 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 

. Midland B'casting Co 



11 



STATIONS OPEBATING 



WBBY. 



WATR. 



CONSTBUCTION PERMITS 

APPLicATIONS PENDING 

. Waterbury Rep lib.- American. 12 

. Fairfield B'casting Co 12 

, WATR. Inc...,' 12 



CONSTBUCTION PEBMITS 
WHAS-TV. . Courier-Journal & L'vilJe 

Times . ... , . , . , . , g 
WAVE WAVE, Inc....... 5 

APPLICATIONS PENliiNG 



First Intl 
Web Seen 
By French 

Paris, March 9. 
French television officials plan to 
establish the first international tele 
network. Belgium and Holland will 
probably be the first two countries 
to join the web, with plans for an 
exchange oi show.H- among the three 
countries already in the talking 
stagfe. 

Authorities hope that BBC tele- 
vision in London will also tie- 6nto 
the network, but that's considered 
doubtful. Link with Belgium and 
Holland must await the establith- 
ment of equal line standards among 
the three countries. Paris lias been 
experimenting with an BOO.'lino pic- 
ture and hopes the net will operate' 
on that policy. BfiC, however, nbw 
transmits a 405-line picture and con- 
templates no Immediate switch to 
the higher standard. (U. S. tele 
operates on a 525-Une standard.) 

French tele offlcials, meanwhile, , 
are sinking all available money into 
studio and transmitting equipment 
and have devised some new gear that 
they believe may make the Ameri- 
can networks sit up and take.,notjce 
Two Paris studios each measure 
about 100x250 feet, with one of them 
containing a -water pool for under- 
water shots. Lightbankg are not 
stationary as in U. S. studios but 
track back and forth. Engineers 
can throw three 250k w banlcs any- 
where in the studio merely by press- . 
ing a button. 

Most outstanding French develop- 
ment-is a new studio camera. In- 
stead of standing behind tbe lens, the 
cameraman sits in an armchair and 
follows the action through a 'view- 
flnder, while the lens itself is perched 
over liis head. Studio floor is en- 
tirely clear of all unnecessary equip- 
ment, since the doily tracks for the 
cameras run across the ceiling. 

French transmitter is located atop 
the Eiflel Tower,_ which makes it 
possible to cover the entire metro- 
politan area. Link with BBC, it's 
believed, 'could be effected either by 
stringing coaxial cable across the 
English Channel or by utilizing an 
adaptation of the proposed "strato- . 
vision." By means of the latter, a 
single plane circling above the Chan- ' 
nel coiild pick up the French sig- 
nal and relay it to the English coast. 

JAMES' EXPLORATORY 
TY FORAY FOR SnmiE 

K. P. Hi (Jimmy) James, Mutual 
veepee over ' research, promotion 
and advertising, shoved oft for Chi- ■ 
cage, Monday (8) on the first of 
three exploratory trips he expects 
1 to make within the next couple of 
months to lay groundwork for 
Mutual's television network plan- 
ning. • , 

Beginning with the Chicago 
Tribune's WGN-XV, which is Set to 
go on the air April 4, James said 
he'll look in on MBS affiliates in 
many parts of the country, including 
Don Lee in Los Angeles, which have 
or will have tele stations, to deter- 
mine the extent of their current 
program planning, whJit they would 
want in the way of network .service, 
how^much they could spend for it, 
etc. 

Cities he will definitely visit on the 
trips include Cleveland^ 'Pittsburgh. 
Washington and Indianapolis. • He's I 
scheduled to address the latter city's 
ad club April 1. He. al.so is calcn- ■ 
dared 'to speak before the Albany ; 
radio and ad club March 22. ' 



DELAWARE 

Wilmington 
(One channel available) 



STATIONS OPEBATING 



CONSTBUCTION PERMITS 

W0EL-TV.. WDEL, Inc.. 7 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 



DISTRICT OF 
COLUMBIA 

Washington 

(Four channel.^ avail- 
able— Kos. 4, 5, 7, 9) 



STATIONS OPEBATING 
WMAL-TV . Wash. Evening Star .......... 7 

WNBW... .. NBC .... 4 

WTTG DuMont 5 

CONSTBUCTION PERMITS 
WOIC Bamberger •. g 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 



LOUISIANA 

New Orleans 

( Fi re channels ovail- 
ablc— Wos. a, 4, 6. 7, 10) 



STATIONS OPERATING 



CONSTRUCTION PEBMITS 

WRTV. ..... Maison Blanche Co. 4 

WDSU-TV,. Stephens B'casting Co... ' 6 

tVTPS-CP,. Times-Picayune Pub Co. ' 7 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 

Mississippi Valley B'casting. ,. 10 

Loyola Univ jq 



MARYLAND 

Baltimore 

(Tliree channels avail- 
oble— Wos. 2. n, 13) 



WMAR-TV 
WBAL-TV. 



WAAM, 



STATIONS OPERATING 

Baltimore Sun . , 2 

. Hearst Radio-Balto. 

News-Post ....... . II 

CONSTRUCTION PEBMI'IS 
. Radio-Televi.<!ion of Ballo.... 13 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 



(Continued- 01^ pag« 36) 



Dojjgers Front-and-Back 
Tele Spots Sold Out 

Everything, around the Brookl.vn* 
Dodgers play-by-play telecasts on 
WCBS-TV for the coming season has 
been completely sold out. It involves 
three spot accounts. / 

Bulova wil} have a time signal 
preceding the games, which Old 
Gold has underwritten, with Schaeter 
beer taking the five minutes 'before 
the signal and Ronson lighter a 
blurb in front of Schaofer. Excep- 
tion for the latter two will be Wed- 
nesdays because of the prior "Missus 
Goes A Shopping" commitment, 

DallaiH- City-owned statioii WRR 
will apply for a television license, 
tays station manager Dale A. Drake. 
Application to the -FCC is being 
readied now. 



W<sdneBday< Mgrch 10, 1948 



TBUBmSION 



3S 



ANYBODY WANT A TV CHANNE? 



Mullen Convinced Film Attendance 
Will Be Upped Via Video Promotion 



' ■ Major film executives, although 
fitill wary of television, are gradu- 
aily realizing that tele will prove to 
be the best advertising medium 
they've ever had. That's the impres- 
sion reported by NBC exec veepee 
Frank E. MuUen, who returned last 
week to his homeofflce after talking 
up tele to film officials on the Coast. 
■ jtiuUen expressed conviction that 
the film companies will utilize video 
to promote better attendance at 
their theatres, citing statistics to 
show that only one out of every 20 
people in the U, S. is an habitual 
filmgoer. He also declared that the 
film studios cati find a large market 
in television for their product. This 

' doesn't include feature pix, though, 
wnicht he said are too long for tele's 
MOgramroiftg. Hour-long video show, 
Jie'said, will be the exception, with 
most shows running to 10, 20 or 30- 
minute lengths. 
NBG tele chief revealed that a 

' meeting of reps of 31 affiliate sta- 
tions now planning video operations 
would be held in N'. Y. Friday (12). 
Group will discuss with web execs 
proposed network operations and 
contracts and also the type of serv- 
ice NBC can render to them. Mullen 
admitted that no cut-and-dried con- 
tract yet existed among NBC and 

■ the' affiliates now comprising its 
east coast network, explaining that- 
all were tied in through so-called- 
working agreements. Each NBC 
sound broadcasting affiliate, how- 
ever, who»goes into video, has first 
refusal rights at joining' the NBC 
tele web; 

Points To Advances 
MuUen conceded that present tele 
programming is none too good but 
noted the number of "significant 
tilings" constantly being done and 
expressed confidence that program- 
ming will improve steadily, Imply- 
ing'tfaat the video audience shouldn't 

. expect perfection at this - stage of 
development, he declared that most 
of the audience had been "spoiled" 
to a point where they expect enter- 
tainment to be' equally as good as 
the long-established film and radio 

^ industries offer. ' 

forthcoming political conventions 
in, Philadelphia and the second 
Louis-Walcott heavyweight fight, he 
said, should be the two big hypos to 
• tele this year. He pointed up the 

. similarity to early radio, when it 
was coverage of the Cox-Harding 
political campaign and the Dempsey- 
Carpentier fight that started sound 
(Continued on page 42) 

Buff.-to-St. too Tele 
Network to Preem In 
Tiine for Grid Season 

^ , St. Louis, -March 9. 

A tele network will link Buffalo, 
N. Y. and St. Louis before the next 
. football season begins, it's announced 
by the American Telephone & Tele- 
graph Co. Approximately 2,000 miles 
of cable, will connect the two cities. 
The company also announced a 
speedup for a midwest network, 
which will create two tele channels 
to, connect Cleveland, Toledo, Chi- 
cago and St. Louis. The midwest 
net will be linked with the present 
east coast web through a coaxial 
cable between Philadelphia and 

■ Cleveland. 

_ The St. Louis Star-Times Piiblish- 
"ig Co., owner and operator of 
KXOK, has applied to FCC for a tele 
station permit on channel No. 4. 
KSD, owned and operated by the St. 
Louis Post-Displach (Pulitzer) is 
now the only tele station in St. Louis 
or immediate vicinity.. 

Install TeieSetsTn 27 
Hub Cocktail Lounges 

■ „ Boston, March 9. 

e-heraton chain of 27 hotels with 
headquarters in Boston signed up 

■ tnis week for video sets in all cock- 
tail lounges in the chain having 
proximity to video broadcasts. Con- 
tact going to RCA Victor equip- 
™nt, IS in neighborhood of $20,000. 

. jn the Hub, area contract affects the 
V?P«y Plaza, Sheraton, Myles Stan- 
^^""•j^Beaconsfield and Continental 



How to Lose a Client 

Top N. Yi ad agency recently 
tried to interest a client, one of 
the largest corporations in the 
U. S., to bankroll a television 
show. Idea finally readied the 
corporation's board chairman, 
who declared he'd never seen: a 
tele show and wanted to get an 
Idea of the medium before okay- 
ing the program. Agency, conse- 
quently, promised to have a set 
installed in his home. 

Corporation chief waited sev- 
eral months for the set to no 
avail, with his constant inquiries 
to the agency bringing promises 
of immediate action but nothing 
else. In desperation, he finally 
sought the advice of one of the 
network toppers, a personal 
friend. Web exec, with a sharp 
eye peeled for future business, 
ordered a set and' had it installed 
the same day. Client has now 
okayed the tele show but wheth- 
er it will- be handled by the 
same agency is questionable. 



Legit Still Tops 
On BBC Video ; 
Stn£o Size Cited 



■With all signs pointing to the emer- 
gence of dramatic shows as the best 
type of television programming, 
American broadcasters would be 
wise to make 'certain their studios 
are big enough for the multiplicity 
of sets that will be needed. That's 
the advice of Eric Fawcett, BBC 
television staff director who's cur- 
rently in the U. S. for a look at 
American video shows. 

BBC, Fawcett said, is concentrat- 
ing its efforts now on legiters and 
has discovered that its two studios, 
each measuring 70x30 feet, are too 
small. ' Despite - that, BBC operates 
one studio with four cameras and 
the other with three and has aired 
shows using as many as 12 different 
sets. Now on the air about 34 hours 
weekly, BBC presents two-three 
plays a week, each running one-and- 
a-half to two hours. Rest of the time 
is given over to light entertainment, 
such as variety shows, educational 
programs and kid shows. 

Each legiter, according to Fawcett, 
is presented twice. Evening per- 
formance is followed the next day 
with a matinee, so that retail set 
dealers may take advantage' of the 
best in programming to demonstrate 
their receivers. Plays run the gt^mut 
from Shakespeare to modern com- 
edy. "Hamlet" was staged only last 
week, Fawcett said, noting that BBC 
has also presented "Mr. Mergen 
(Continued on page 39) 



WBAL-TV (19TH ON AIR) 
m FOR COMl PREEM 

Baltimore, March 9. 

'WBAL-T'Vj owned and operated 
by the Hearst syndicate, becomes the 
nation's 19th television station when 
it takes the air with regular commer-, 
cial iprogramming Thursday (11). 

Station will also be the fifth mem- 
ber of NBC's east coast video net- 
work and the web plans to mark the 
occasion by opening the Baltimore- 
Philadelphia linlj Of its 0.&0. micro- 
wave relay link, to air. a special 
salute from the station over the en- 
tire circuit. 'WNBT, NBC's N. Y. 
outlet, will carry a special program 
from WBAL-TV Thursday night 
from 8 to 8:30, w.ith the show being 
piped in over the link through 
Philly to N. Y. 

Initial show will feature Maryland 
governor William Pro.slon Lane and 
Balto mayor Thomas Dalesandro. 
Show will feature scenes of the sta- 
tion's transmitter and studios. Sta- 
tion is managed by Harold C. Burke, 
local manager for Hearst radio in- 
.te^ests. ' , ■ ; !■ 



1/2UPF0nELE 

STILL GO mm 

Although would-be television sta- 
tion operators have been hopping on 
the video bandwagon in droves dur.- 
ing the last several months, the num- 
ber of available tele channels going 
begging almost equals those al- 
ready assigned or applied for. Fact 
that there are still plenty of chan- 
nels for the asking, consequently, is:, 
probably one of the most significant 
ob.servations to be drawn from a 
nationwide survey of tele facilities. 
(See city-by-city breakdown of 
channels in this section.) 

To date there are 19 video stations 
in operation, with 70 construction 
permits granted by the FCC and 
144 applications still pending. 
A g a i n s t these, ' , there are 172 
channels as yet unasked for. Public 
in only 33 states can expect to have 
regular tele programs during the 
next year. And, although it's ex- 
pected that tele ^signals will blanket 
two-thirds of the nation's population 
within the next two years via net- 
work facilities, operators in only 92 
cities have ejcpressed interest in tele 
to date. m 

As was to be expected, the current 
city-by-city lineup has closely fol- 
lowed the pattern established by 
radio. With commercial advertisers 
expected to foot the bill for tele as 
they did for radio, most of the inter- 
est in video has centered in the more 
densely populated and therefore the 
larger market areas. As a result, the 
thinly-populated states in northern 
new England, the midwest, south- 
west and Pacific northwest have 
been virtually neglected. Similarly, 
little interest has been shown in the 
deep south, perhaps because of the 
low-income level in those states. 

Number of available channels -has 
been completely exhausted in only 
six cities. These > include Los 
Angeles, the San Francisco-Oakland 
area, Washington, Louisville, Balti- 
more and New York. Chicago, the 
nation's second largest city, still has 
three channels unassigned, although 
applications have been filed for all 
three of them and currently await 
only an FCC hearing. » 
' Boston Bidder-Heavy 
Philadelphia, third largest- city, has 
one channel open, with two appli- 
cations .pending for it. In Detroit, 
there are two applicants fighting for 
one ■ remaining channel; Cleveland 
has five applicants bidding for two 
open channels, and Pittsburgh has 
three channels open, with six bid- 
ders interested.. St. Louis, with one 
station on the air, has four remain- 
ing channels and four bidders, 
while Seattle has no bidders for 
three remaining channels. 

Biggest fight for channels, for 
some reason, has cropped up in Bos- 
ton. Two of the five channels avail- 
able have been assigned, one to 
Westinghouse and one to the Yankee 
network. For the remaining three 
channels, eight different outfits have 
put in bids. Situation is expected to 
develop into a knock-down-drag-out 
affair when the FCC opens hearings 
in the Hub city soon. 

Besides CBS (through WEED 
being pitted against ABC (via 
WCOP), Boston fight will feature 
the first scuffle between two. major 
film interests for a video station. 
Twentieth-Fox has chosen Boston to 
enter its first bid for a contemplated 
fiVe-station network, while Para- 
mount, through the New England 
theatres, has had an application 
pending for more than a year. 

While channels in most of the 
ma.ior market areas have been as- 
signed or are 'on call, anyone in- 
terested in opening a station still 
has plenty of cities from which to 
choose. Those in which all chan- 
nels are still open include Augusta, 
Ga.; Cedar Rapids, Denver, El Paso, 
Fresno, Galveston, Jacksonville, 
Knoxville, Little Rock, Mobile. 
Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Portland 
( Me. ), San Antonio and Spokane. 

IT'S NOW "WNBtt 

Chicago; March 9. 
Call letters of NBC's Chi video 
venture have been switched from 
WNBY to 'WNBQ. Change was 
rtiade to avoid phonetic similarity 
with WMBI, call letters of the 
Moody Bible Institute's AM station 
bete, 



C^ Nixes WPIX 'Alphonse-Gaston' 
Bid on Sports Films; NBC Sez Okay 



How Hooper Rates TV 

Television Hooperating of 46.8 
has caused considerable confu- 
sion in the trade- as to its exact 
meaning. Figure signifies that 
46.8% of the television homes 
called during the hours of 6:30- 
8:30 p.m., Feb. 8, reported they 
were' looking at the Major 
Bowes Amateur show on the 
DuMont web. It's exactly the 
same as a radio rating, conse- 
quently, in which a 30 figure 
means that 30% of. the homes 
called report listening to a cer- 
tain show. ■ ■ 

Of special interest to the 
trade, Mncidentally, is the Hoo- 
per report on how tele has af- 
fected radio. If any of the tele 
homes called were not tuned in 
to their video sets, ' they were 
asked what radio show^ they 
were listening to. Highest rating 
received by any radio show dur- 
ing the six ■ hours in which 
calls were made to tele homes 
was a 6, racked up by .the Jack 
Benny show. : That means that 
6% of the liomes called were 
listening to the Benny show. 
Same show in the regular radio 
ratings placed fourth, with a 
25.6 listing; 



Sunday Looming 
Large in Video; 
No 'Best Time' Set 



Top rating of 46.8 rung up by 
the Major Bowes Artiateur Show in 
the first Hooper television survey 
of New York shows indicates that 
Sundays may be among the top 
video nights, same as in radio. • 

Quick scan of tele program 
logs in relation to the best Hoop- 
erated radio shows, however, re- 
veals that tele so far has not estab- 
lished any "best times" for sponsor 
buys, such as now exist in radio. 

There are- no solid blocks of top- 
rated shows on tele, for example, 
such as the clean sweeps hung up 
consistently by NBC , radio shows 
on Sunday nights from 7 to 9 and 
Tuesday nights from 9 to 10:30. Most 
of the bankrolled time on video 
currently is spread out across all 
seven nights in the week, indicating 
that advertisers, while they may be 
seeking to sew up time franchises, 
have yet to come up with a . pat 
formula for determining cream 
video time. 

Rating on the Bowes show, which 
is aired on the DuMont web Sun- 
(Continued on page 39) 



Mutual back-scratching routine al- 
ready indulged in by several of the 
top television broadcasters ' has 
cropped up in a new version. It's 
the. permission granted by stations 
owning exclusive video rights to 
certain sports events for other sta- 
tions to film those events for subse- 
quent transmission. In return, the 
first station is granted the same 
privilege 'by its competitors. : 

Situation was brought into the 
open this week : via pitches made to 
the various N. Y. broadcasters by 
WPIX, the N. Y. Daily News station 
now under construction. . With a 
four-man. film crew working f uU- 
time in N. Y, in an effort to build 
up a complete library of stock and 
feature film shots, the News re- 
quested permission from both CBS. 
and NBC to take films of the sports 
events aired on an exclusive basis 
by those two webs. 
» NBC has reportedly okayed the 
request, Vith the "stipulation that 
the films be of a certain minimum 
length. "In return, the web will be 
given the same film rights to any 
live video^ broadcasts Jhat WPIX 
may negotiate in the future. CBS, , 
on the other hand, is reported to 
have turned down the Daily News, 
on the assumption that WPIX, when 
it hits thf air, will be in direct com- 
petition -with «WCBS-TV, its N. Y. 
video outlet. That means that. While 
WPIX may lens the boxing matches 
staged in Madison Sq. Garden, N. Y., 
which are aired by NBC, 1* will be 
cut off from all other sports events 
in the Garden, to which exclusive 
video rights are possessed by CBS. 

Situation points up the possibility 
that sports promoters soon may 
separate their live tele rights from 
film t?le rights. Thus, they may sell 
the live rights to one broadcaster 
but reserve the film rights for an- 
other one, thereby derivbig revenue 
from two different sources. Any 
attempt by a broadcaster to seek 
film rights to an event already sold 
live to another broadcaster will 
probably have to be settled in court. 

WPIX 'film crew, meanwhile, is 
working daily, collecting its stock 
shots and attempting dry runs on 
newsreel techniques. Station has 
purchased a Houston rapid-speed ' 
developer, which is said to. be able 
to develop and print ^ roll of film in 
20 minutes. With an hour^and-a- 
half necessary for editing and writ- 
ing a narration, it's possible that the 
News may be able to get spot news 
events on the air via film within 
two hours after they occur. 



PHILCO BOWOUT NO 
DETERRENT TO KTLA 

Hollywood, March 9. 
in an feftort to keep faith with tele- 
vision set buyers, Paramount's KTLA 
here and indie producer Larry Fin- 
ley made an unprecedented coopera- 
tive deal to save the day for video 
programming. 

Contract und'erwrites •a major 
chunk of the shows dropped by 
i Philco and will hypo KTLA with 
continued new programs beginning 
Monday: (15). Finley is to pay the 
production costs, with KTLA ante- 
tng up the time, Some shows are 
being pared for tightness, with three! 
being dropped and. four new ones 
coming in. 



LuckiesBuysTues.at7 
On WCBS-TV for New 
'Tonight on B'way' Show 

Lucky Strike has blocked off the 
Tuesday. 7 to 7;.30 p.m. tieriod on : 
WCBS-TV for the Martin Gosch 
package "Tonight on Broadway." 
The starting date is not set. 

After Gosch has completed ar- 
rangements with the producers of 
the Broadway shows from which 
excerpts will be televised, engineers 
will have to step into the picture to 
determinp what houses are geared 
tor visual pickups and which shows 
will have to be done from the stu- 
dios. 

Foote, Cone & Belding is the 
agency. ■ 



Fred Weber Gets TV Okay 

New Orlean-s, March 9. 

Fred Weber, general manager Of 
WDSU, said Thursday (4) that the 
FCC has approved his application for 
a television permit. ' 

Work will start immediately to 
provide video transmitting of 12- 
kilowatt visual, and 'lO-kilowatt oral 
broai^casti^ oy^r fl ?50-foot antenna. 



LARRY FINLEY 'CASTING' 
FOR TEE STOCK CO. 

Hollywood, March 9., 
Larry Finley Productions, plan- 
ning formation. Of a television stoclc 
company, has issued a call for free- 
lance film players ■vifho'U be used in 
live and filmed productions. 

Move, according to Finley, stems 
from the successful use of film person- 
alities on his transcribed radio 
shows. System, inaugurated last 
summer, has been expanded until 
^now several such players are reg* 
ulars on Finley shows. He feels that 
film actors are especially useful for 
video, since they're already visually 
acceptable. . . 



WeJncBtlay, Mar«h 10, 1948 



Tele Facilities' SGoreboarii 



■ crnr 
MASSACHUSETTS 
Boston 

(Five channels o»all-> 
BWe"Wos, 2, 4, 7, 9, 13) 



Continued fr«m page 34 a 

CALL ■ ■ , 
LETTERS OWNEB 



CHANNEL 
NO. 



STATIONS OriSaATING 



CITir 

Atlantic City 

(,, channett available) 



(CAW. CHANNBi; 
MSTTBICS OWNK» NO. 
STAXrONK OPERATING ' 



CONSTKVCTION PEBIWITS 

' ApirLicATioNS PENDING 

, l^Ieptuue B' casting Co 

, Atlantic City World 

, A. C. Tele B'fttsUng Co..,, 



CONSTKCCTION PERMITS 

WBZ-TV . . . Wcstinghouse Radio 

WNAfc-TV.. Yankee Network 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 
WN AC-TV. , . (Applied to switch to 

Channel No. 13).. 

■ , E. Anthony & Sons, Inc 

Bos. Metropolitan Television. 

CBS -(WEED 

, Mass. B'casting Corp. (WCOP) 

, Boston Herald & Traveler 

(WHDH) 

. , . , . . . , New- England Television Co, 

, . , New England Theatres 

■'• (Paramount)** 

; 20th Century-Fox 



I 



Fall River-New 

Bedford 
(Shared Channels) 

(One cbonnet available) 



Springfield-Holyoke 
(Shared Channel^) 

(Two channels nvail* 
o{>Ie^Woi>,. 1, $) 



STATIONS OPERATING 
CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

APPUCAIXONS PENBING 

. Tall River IJersld News 

(WSAR) 8 

. New England' Television Co. 8 
, E. Anthony-New Bedford 

. Standard-Times—:....,,.,, 1** 



NEW YORK 

Binghamton 

(One ehonnel avail- 
able—No. li) 



Buffalo-Niagara 
(Shared Channels) 

(Four channels avail- 
able— Nos. 4, 7, 9, IS) 



STATIONS OPERATING 

CONsinVt^ION PERMITS 

WNBF C^rk Associates, Inc. ...... 

APPLICATIONS PENMNO 



12 



STATIONS OPBBATING 

CONSTOWGitON PEisBHTS " 

WBEN-TV . Buffalo Evening News 4 

APPLICATION'S PENDING 

B'casting Foundation, Inc. 

' CWBOEtW) .'. » 

,,, Buffalo Couripr-Expresft 

(WEBR) 7 

New England Television Co. 9 

WGR, Inc g 



SXAmONS OPERA«DNG 

' coi^STBtiCTioiir permits 



APPLICATIONS PENDING , 

, New England Television Co. i 
. Yankee Network. .. , .. 3 



Waltham, 

(One ^hamtel avail- 
able**** 



Worcester 

■ {One channel avail* 
oble— No: 5) 



STATIONS OPERATING 

' CONSTRDCnON PE»Mrrs 

Raytheon Mianufacturing Co. 
APPLICATIONS PENDING 



STATIONS OPERATING 
'• CONSTBIJCITION PEliftMITS 



APPU0ATIONS PENDING 

. New England Televisiorr Co! 5 
. WTAG, Inc ; 5 



Rochester , 

(Three channels avail- 
able— Nos, 2, 6, 11) ■ 



Schenectady- 
Albany-'n-oy 

(Five channels avatl- 
oble— Nos. 2, 4, 7, 9, U) 



STAINS OnERATlNG 



CONSTRUCTION PEBMn'» 

fVHAM StTomberg-Carlsoa Co. , 6 

APPUCATIOKS PENNNG 

WARC, Inc 11 



STATIONS OPERATING 
WRGB. .... General ^Electric 4 

• coNsmvcnoN nanoTs 

APPUCA'nbNS PENDING 



NEW MEXICO 

Albuquerque 

. (0>ne channel avaftable) 



STATIONS OPERATING 



CONSTRUCTION PERMDCTS 
KQB-TV...'. Albaguerque B'casting Co.. 

APPLICATIONS PENIHNO 



NOBTBCAltOLINA 

Charlotte 

(Three channels avail" 
able->^Nos, 3, 9, 11) 



STATIONS OPEBATINO 



MICHIGAN 

Detroit 

(Foitt" channels avatl- 
(rtrU^Nos. 2, 4, 5, 7) 



STATIONS OPEBATING 

WWJ-TV... Detroit News. ...... 4 

- CONSTBVCnONf PERMITS \ . 

WWO: Fort Industry ' 2- 

WDLT;,;,.., King-Trendle B'casting 7 

APPUCATIONS PIENDING- 
>'!.•.<../.;.... United Detroit Theatres 

. (Paramount)** 5 

; WJH , 5 



Flint-; ■ •' ■ .' - 

. (Onei cluiiinel avail* 
■ able,--JV«, 11). ■ 



STATIOP^S OPERATING 

coNsimiicTioN piBRMiis.' 



APPUCATIONS PENDING 

, Advertiser; Press:. . ..... 11 



MINNESOTA 

Minneapolis-St. 

Paul 
(jShared Channels) 

■ (Five chotmeis ovatl' 
Obie—JCos, 2, i, S, 7, «) - • 



STATIONS OPERATING 



WTCN-TV, 
KSTP-TV. 



CDNSTKCCTION PERMITS 

. St. Paul Dispatch & Pioneer 
Press . ... ............ . . .■. , 

. .KSTP, Inc 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 

. M'polis Tribune-Star Journal 



CONSTRUimON PEBBmS 
WBT. ...... Jefferson Stand. B'casting, Co. 3 

APPLICATIONS PENDING '' 

WSOC, IsMj. 9 

, Inter-C3ty Adv. Co .....11 



OHIO 

Akron 

(One ehannel avail- 
able—No. 11) V 



Canton 

(One channel ovait- 
able-rNO. I)*** 



Cincinnati 

(Four, channels attoH- 
Otne— Nos. 2, 4, X 11) 



Cleveland 

(Five channcl.t avail- 
able— Nos. 2, 4, 5, 7; 9) 



STATIONS OPEBAnNG 

' coNsimvcinoN' PraonTs 



AFPUCATIONS PENDING 

Allen T. Simmons,., 11 

. Summit Radio Corp. ......... U 



STATIONS OPERATING 
' CONSTRDCnON PlbutlTS 



APFIilCATaOlfS PENDING 

. Canton Bepositoiy.... 7 



WlftlN B'casting Co 2. 



MISSOURI . 
Kansas City, Mo.- 
. K..C,, Kansas. 
- (Shared Channels) 

: (Four channels avails 
able— Nils, 2, 4, S, 9) 



St, Louis 

' (Five channels avail- 
able— Nos. 4, S, 7, », 13) 



STATIONS OPEBATING 



CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

WD AF....,, Kansas City Star... 4 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 

KCMO B'casting Corp 5 

Midland B'casting Co. 

(KMBC) 9 

New England Television Co. 5 

.............. WHB, Inc 

Capper Publications (KCKN). 2 



STATIONS OPERATING 

KSD-TV. ... St Louis Post-Dispatch 5 

CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 

. New England Television Co. 4 

St. Louis University (WEW) 7 

... . ..... .... Globe-Democrat , . . , i , , . . . , J3 

Star-Times 4 



NEBRASKA 
Omaha 

(Three channels avail- 
able) 



STATIONS OPERATING 
CONSTRUCTION PEliittiTS 

APPLIOATIONS PENDING 

. May B'casting Co. (KMA). 



NEW JERSEY 
N.E. New Jersey- 
New York City 
(Shared Channels) 

(Seven channels avail- 
able— Nos. 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 
11. 13) 



STATIONS OPEBATING 

WABD...^, DuMont 5 

WCBS-TV. . CBS , 2 

WNBT.. NBC 4 

CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

WATV 

(Newark) Bremer B'casting Corp. ....... .13 

WJZ-XV.,.. ABC .............. .... 7 

WOB-XV... Bamberger B'casting , 9 

WPIX ^ N, -W, Daily News 11 

'APPLICATIONS PENDING 



Columbus 

(Four channels avttil- 
oble— Nos, 3, 6, 8, 10) 



Dayton 

(Two channels avail- 
able-^N<»s. B, 18) 



Steubenville 

(One channel avail- 
able) • 



Toledo 

(One channel ovaiU 
: able-^No. 13) 



SXimONS OPEBATING 

WLWT Crostey^ B'casting. ... 4 

CONSTROCTtON PEBBtrrs 

Wl(BC-TV. . Cincy Times-Star .\ 11 

Scripps-Howard (Cincy Post) 7 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 
. ........... DuMont** 2 

STATIONS OPERATING 
WEWS Scripips-Howard (Cleve. Press) fi 

GONSTBUCKtOM PERMITS 

WXEL , lEhnpire Coil Co. 9 

WNBK NBC 4 

APPLICA-nONS PENDING 

DuMont** 2 

.i... Cleveland B'casting. Co..... . . 2 

. , . . . ; . i . . . . United B'caiitlng (Plain 

- Dealer) .... 7 

............ WGAR B'casting Co.. 7 

............ WJW,"Inc 2 



STATIONS OPEBATING 



CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

WLWC Crosley B'casjting Co. 3 

APPLICATIONS PENIHNG 

Picture Waves, Inc 6 

Columbus Dispatch 6 



>»!K«jjgME ir TOirVB OBAtnit «HIS 

C»l Thiney; Tea Brnntf mk**) 
Prodwoer; Ira Skiltvh. 
» Mlnri.; Thursday, « p,m>. 
StisiltiiitnK 
WNBT-NBC. N. T, 

Here's another example of » radio 
snow transferred to television with 
msiiilficient dressing to make it a 
good visual presentation. "Stop Me 
If You've Heard This Orie;' preemed 
as a radio show last fall over the 
Mpiual web and NBC tele has taken 
it ton with exactly the same format 
and personnel. As staged, it has 
cteunite video potentialities but only 
if it's revised to take the camera 
more into account. This would in- 
clude giving the panel at comedians 
more to do than sit and mug at a 
table, and also construction of a 
better set. . ■ 

_ When the show preemed'cin radio, 
it was coinparea to the estabUshed 
"Can- You Top This?" and the simi- 
larity 13 even more appai-ent in its 
video version. Viewers send in jokes, 
which are read to the panel by emcee 
Ted Brown. As soon as one of the 
comic thinks he knows the loke, he 
finishes it. Each joke read gives th» 
sender $5. Each time one <tf the 
panel misses, the ending, another $1 
is added. «. 

Since this was the initial tele per. 
formance, the jokes used were ap- 
parently not sent In by videoglers. 
They sounded as though' they might 
have come from the radio andience, 
since many were from m^dwestem 
towns outside the present range of 
NBC's transmitter. Panel, comprising 
Lew Lcbr, Morey Amsterdam and 
Cal Tinney, looks, okay before the 
cameras. Lehr, and especially Am- 
sterdam, lend needed impetus to the 
show via their constant mugging, but 
Tinney, overworking the hiUbUIy 
routine, slows things down too much. 

Set is the same used by NBC for 
too. many oJ^ its shows. That dia* 
mOiQd-etctacd. backdrop can get 
plenty monotonous after a &yr 
months. StM. 

BlTCnEN KLVB 

With Mrs. Cktherine Beek> Bejb Her' 

■ 'ryasSD' , , 

3t Mins., Mom-thni-frLv S >.aL 
Atcv Corp. 
WLWT, GlMsUliuU 

(Roy S: Durstine) 
Initial strip account on WLWT, 
"Kitchen Klub," merits high rating 
lor smooth presentation. Teaming of 
Bob Merryman, an announcer on 
WI/W iot the past eight years, with 
Mxs. Catherine Beck, home econo- 
mist for AVCO's Crosley division, is 
smart and entirely new for cookery 
demonstrations hereabouts. The ^an 
and woman combo idea builds in- 
terest in more ways than one. 

Shows originate in the tele sta- 
tion's new studios, where a fully- 
equipped Crostey kitchea is ,a per^ 
manent prop. Programs open with 
viewing of the sponsor's refrigera- 
tor, range and other appliances and 
explanatory remarks by Mrs. Beck 
on their performances. Merryman 
sets up for .the day's recipe or rec- 
ipes during this preliminary plug- 
ging, which he eases by asking ques- 
tions and creating natural routine, 
his role being that of a hubby 
helper. 

For viewers who want to copy the 
featured recipe, it is displayed in 
typed form. Printed copies of all 
recipes ' used on the- programs are 
mailed free to those who request 
them. 

The Beck-Men^an personalities 
are pleasant and their step-by-step 
processing, informally harmonious, 
makes for ready understanding. 

Finished, dishes are shown and 
sampled by Mrs. Beck and Merriman 
at show's close, those requiring more 
time for completion than allowed 
by the program's half-hour being 
duplicated in advance. 



WLWD. 



STATIONS OPERATING 

XONSTRUCTlbN PERMITS " 

. Crosley B'casting C!o , js 

> Miami B'casting (Daily News) 13 



STATIONS OPERATING 



CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 

. Valley B'casting Corp 12 

. John L aux (WSTV) 12 



STATIONS OPERATING 



13 



Youngstown 

(One chanwl mail' 
able— No. 13) 



i CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

WTVT Fort Industry 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 

• . • • Community B'ca.sting Co,, , . . 10 

MaUmee Valley B'casting Co. 11 

Toledo Blade Co 10 

■ . ...... , Unity Corp.. Inc...,,...,.... 11 



STATIONS OPERATING 
CONSTRUCTION PJERMITS 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 

Mansfield Radio Co. 

. Vindicator Printing Co 

. WKBW .B'casting Corp. ..... 



13 
13 
13 



(Continued on page'38) 



i«%>'l*.i«'>«.Alitef.^tt. %;M«.y-lK'ai#«ii^tn#Dr ^m,*.^^m-M>^^tH 



MAN ON TBE STREET 

With Paul Bodies 

30 Mins: Tues,-thru-Sst. S:3e pjn. 

Sustaining 

WEWS-TV, Cleveland 

The old standby, the man-in-the 
street intei-view, is as good as the 
man doing the interview. In Paul 
Hodges, WEWS has quite a boy both 
for visual and audio purposes. 

Quick of tongue, sharp of wit, 
affable and knowinr the better 
gimmicks of the screen, Hodges 
gives quite a showmanship fillip. 
Among the flavors to his show is 
Hodges' use of -a different hat each 
day , and his ability to switch hats, 
with his , interviews, a la Tom 
Breneman. • , 

Hodges plants no star.s to aid him, 
but takes the man on the street as 
he passes. By doing his interviews 
in front of the .station he also helps 
plug studio'si location and makes 
engineering easier. Matk, 

Cincinnati— Stepping up personnel 
for its WLWT tele operations, the 
Crosley Broadcasting Corp. has re- 
engaged Rikel Kent, producer. He 
was a WLW staffer for many years 
and produced some of the daytime 
serials which originated on t\ie Cros- 
ley 50,000-Watter in the '30s. 



^ifk Tmm (ot/^t^ ^p^(A^ 

Spots broadcast on WCAU . . . with its 30^000 Watts extending in all directions . . . 
reacli more people than any other Philadelphia station.''' That's why time buyers select 
WCAU first for their SPOTS in the Philadelphia market. 

WCAU 

S0,0«0 WATTS -tr CBS AFFfLIATE 
"llinbr*li.c««r.«.'' PHlLAUiLPHIA'S LEADING RAOm INSTITUTION 

* Hooper 

f^be $f)iUlsrlpt)ta iSuHetttt notation 




88 



Wednesday, Mardi 10, 1948. 



IBA Asks FCC for Graded Weekly 
Propain Vice 28-Hr. Mgnmum 



' Washington, March 9. * 
The Television Broadcasters Assn. 
last weeir Ur^ged the TCC Vb adopt a 
new rule calling for a uniform grad* 
uation of the -weekly program hours 
required of video licensees. -The TBA 
petition was suggested to supplant a 
present PCC requirement that tele 
stations program a minimum of 28 
hours a week as soon as they take 
to the ether. 

The FCC rule has been waived for 
the past two .years at quarterly in- 
tervals and ihe latest reprieve ex- 
pires April 1. FCC spokesmen in- 
dicated they would give "favorable 
consideration" to at least a part of 
the TBA request. 

The TBA recommendations call for 
the video licensee to maintain a reg- 
ular schedule of not less than two 
hours a day In any five days of the 
' week 'Snd not less than a total of 12 
hours a week during his first 18 
months on the air. This would be 
stepped up to 16^ 20 and 24 hours a 
week respectively at the end of each 
six months' additional time on the 
air. The jpresent Za^hour-S-week re- 
QUirement would tie ^reached 36 
months after a station is licensed, 
paucity- of sets and talent in some 
areas and the difficulties of main- 
taining an inflexible schedule in the 
early montiis of operation were ar- 
guments cited in the TBA petition. 

Id dKS i^ance 

CBS* 'Station velaliQQs' .department 
expects -to dose within the week a 
contract making WMAB-TVj which 
will be operated by "the Baltimore 
Sunpapers, the network's Ifo. 2 tele- 
vision affiliate. Other deal already 
set is with WCAO-TV, PhiBy. . 

Baltimore alliance .Represents the 
first case .of a web. aligning itseU 
with., fi: local vide(o>>n^ap wbicb Isi 
not owned t>y its locsd AM Ai^Iiates. 
CBS'. AM link iii Biiltimore is 
WCAO, which as yet has made no 
attempt to get a TV grant. - 

Columbia hasn't to date arrived at 
a formula for its contract with video 
affiliates. It -find^ -that it^has to Start 
from' ^cratcK-' "in. Aeyolyfeg swch an 
agreeip^nt, 'although it .«xpects<to 
.lollbWiVlhe 'am ~ {irrangesnents :aa. 
fiwagping So many Jibujra.'oi video' 
su'stftining'-programs for optipnal. lut- 
eal time. 

CBS may get into the Washington 
area, if only temporarily, through 
WMAIi-TV, the Evening Star outlet, 
whose AM operation :i$- affiliated 
with. ABC, Tbft ^e»l would. «aa tat 
Columbia <.to maintain . an . aQQiate 
relatidittship until such'tifiie'as ABC 
putsf -its' own video web • into the 
field. 



Price Continues Drive 
For Free TV Into Hbsps 

When Georgie Price opens at the 
Glass Hat of the Hotel Belmont 
Plaza, N. Y., March 25; for ■ four 
weeks, he will revi-ve the Sunday 
brunches which spark' his li'ives for 
free television sets into non-secta- 
rian hospitals. General Electric : has 
been most cooperative with the', 
comedian on four different occasions, 
as result of similar collections when 
he played Cleveland and Baltimore. 

GE gives him the absolute whole- 
sale rate of $400 for a set costing 
nearly $800 (combination video-FM- 
phonograph), and in addition pro- 
vides free installations. 



HAAS NAMED PROGRAM 
DIRECTOR FOR W JR-TY 

. Detroit, March 9. 
WJH has taken another step for- 
ward in its plans to enter the video 
field -with appointment of Mark Haas, 
educational director, as television 
program director. 

Announcement wa^ made Friday 
(S). by Harry Wismeri assistant to 
President d. A. Itichards. 

Iiast Ifovembec the' station an- 
nputtced. an sppropriatien of 1^0,000 
for televi^PQ, JFM tostaHations .and' 
station remodeling. 

Under direction of Iticbaids, Haas 
has -supervised presentations that 
have brought WJR many national 
awards for public service program' 
'ming.. ,, • ■ . . . 



Detraii^Keith McKenne y h as 
been named program chief of WWJ- 
TV, Detroit News television outlet. 
Bobert Bitter has joined.the produc- 
tion staff as a special events pro-^ 
ducer.. ' 



Tele Is News 

Unprecedented scheduling of 
television su^lenients and feax 
tures by the nation's newsif>apers 
and magazines is cited as addi- 
tional evidence of video's emer- 
gence into the bigtime. Upoom* 
ing are extensive supplements 
in the following dailies: Chicago 
Tribune, New "york Sun, Sche- 
nectady Union-Star, Buffalo 
News and Louisville Courier- 
Journal. 

Mags currently propping TV 
Splurges include Fortune, Life, 
Time, Liberty, This Week, Cor- 
onet, Pageani Saturday Evening 
Post, Country Gentleman, True 
and Look. Time and Look each 
has two video features sched- 
uled between now and M;iy. 



WNBW (D. C.) PREEMS 
VIDEO'S FIRST CO-OP 

Washington, March 9. 
NBC tele outlet WNBW preemed 
last week^what is being plugged as 
tiie first -video cop-op sHow in town 
and '^perhaps the first co-op spot 
program in television." 

Show, called "NBC Television, 
Magazine," is emceed by BCA Victor' 
recording artist JohitAy Bradford, 
and will be . seen five-tfmes--'weefcly 
Tuesday through Saturday in the 
7:05-7:^5 pjn. period, 

Format calls for five-minute fea- 
tures, ranging from .songs by Brad- 
ford, fashions, sports, interviews, 
book ..reviews, travel and musical 
film shorts to newscast televised on 
teletype. Bradford opeqs„each segJ- 
ment 'with a fade taota. a magazine 
page appropriately titled for -the up- 
coming feature. 



CITV 

Beading 

(One cUarmti maH- 
able—No. 6>, 



Wilfces-Barrfr. 

Scranton 
(Shared Channels) 

(Two choTmels ooeil- 
able— IVos. % n)**» 



«At.Ii OHANNiei, 
STATIONS. OrSBAtlNQ 



Am,iCATIONS PENDING 
, Stntern Radio Corp. (WHUM) 5 
,• Hawley'B'castlng-Beadipg 
Ba gle 5 

■ S1^AfioNS^oPE»AlBei^i■'■■ 



Yorlc 

(One ohan-nel ouflil- 
able-^No. !)•*• 



CONSTRUCTION rEBMITS 

APPUCATIONS rENTONG 
. LouLs G. Baltimore (WBBE) 11 
. Wyoming Valley B'casting 
( WILK) ....^ n 

m»!m»m operating" 



CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 



RHODE ISLAND 

Providence 

(One channel ovail- 
Obte— No. 11> 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 

Susquch&nna B'casting 

(WSBA) 8 

. Triangle Publications 

(Philly Inquirer) 8 

. Helm Coal Co g 



STAXIONS (DERATING 



CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 
WJAB-TV'. . Outlet Co. (WJAR) . ...11 

APPLICATIONS PENOING 

, Cherry & Webb B'casting 

(WPRC)) -. 13 



TENNESSEE 

Memphis 

(Five channels ooail- 
. able— No*. 2, «, S. 7, 9) 



STATIONS OPEBA'HNG ' 

• . CONsisUCnON PEiftMITS 
WMCT,.,.. Memphis Commercial Appeal 4 

. APPLICATIONS PENOING 

Bluff City B'casting Co. 

(WDIA) 5 



Ricca's Tele Package 

Ernest Bicca, director of the 
"Helen Trent" and "Evelyn Win- 
ters" radio* serials, is putting to* 
gether a television package show 
starring Balph Bell and his wife, 
Pert Kelton. 

- It's to be a variety show : With a 
tour-of-the-cafies format, using guest 
names. ' » 



Tele Faeilities' Scoreboard 



CMtlllwA f riim page 'St ; 



CHI CUBS, WHITE SOX 
iGN-TV SIR^WCASE 

Chicago, March 9. 

WOlf-TV will telecast both Cubs 
and White Sox home games this 
season, a total of 154 programs, in- 
cluding 21 under floodlights. Sta- 
tion will' have exclusive Chi show- 
ings of Sox games, but, as reported 
earlier,^ the Cubs sked also will be 
carried 'by WBKB and any others 
that, take advantage of owner Phil 
Wrigley's open-to-all-comers policy. 

li'ormal teeoff of WGN-TV is set 
for April 4, but thu station broke 
the ice last Friday (5) by lensing 
Intercity Golden (51ove bouts. Sta- 
tion's baseball coverage begins April 
18 when the Cubs and Sox play the 
first of three games in their annual 
spring series. 



cmr 
OREGON 

Portland 

'{five channels. ovatl- 



cau >-. - 

LETTERS 



OWNER 



CHANNEL 
NO. 



.. STATIONS OPERATING 

' CONSTRUCTION PEIMflTS . 



APPLICATIONS PENimtG ■ 

. Video B'casting Co 3 



Rube Goldberg Package 
Makes Agency Rounds 

New television audience participa- 
tion show» featuring cartoonist Bube 
Goldberg as emcee, is being peddled 
around the ad agencies by the Wil- 
liam Morris office. Half-liour pro- 
grams titled "Rube Goldberg's Dra-iv- 
Ing Game," is being offered at 
$1,000 weekly on a commercial 
basis, ot $300 sustaining, 

Show, packaged by indie producer 
Kerrtit Schafer, follows the charade 
format, with participants to draw 
cartoons suggested by charades on 
popular song titles. Final details are 
now in preparation, following Gold- 
berg's return to N. Y, from the Coast 
laSt-Wfe'6k. 'vJiiiS; - ■• 



Pi^SlTLVilNIA 

- AUehtown-Beth- 
• lehem-Easton 
(^ha]%d Channels) 

(One channel ooail- 
able— No. 8) 



Erie 

(One channel acail- 
> able— No. 12> 



Harrisburg 

(One charinel avail- 
able— No. ■8), 



Johnstown 

(One cJianjiBl auatl- 
able— JVo. 13) ''■ 

Lancaster 

(One cltoTi7icl avail- 
oble-^Wo. 4) 



STAnONS OPERATING 



CONSTRUCTION PEBIMUTS 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 
, Lehigh Valley B'castmg Coip. 8 
(Allentorwn) 

. Philco .., ,. S 

(Betiilehem) 
. Easton Publishing Co. 8 



STA-nONS OPERAtING 



CONSTRUCTION PratBHTS 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 

. Dispatch-Herald, 'Inc 12 

"STATIONS OPERATING 



CONSTRUCTION PERjMITS 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 

. Harold O. Bishop.; 



STATIONS OPERATING 



CONSTKCCnON PERMITS 
WJAC-TV. . Johnstown Tribune 13 



TEXAS 

AmariUo 



Austin 



STATIONS OPEBATING 
CONSTKVCTION PERMITS 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 

Ainarillo Tele. Co. ........... 



STATIONS OPERATING 



CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 

Austin Tele. Co 8 



Dallas 

(Three channels 4Vail<- 
able-^No*. 4, », i2> 



STATIONS OPERATING 



Forth Worth 

(Three chaTmels ava'A- 
Obte~Nos. 3, 5, 10) 



Lubbock 



Houston 

{Four clmnneU nuail- 
obie— Was. 2, 4, 9, 7) 



CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

KRLd-TV.. Dallas Timei-Herald 4 

KBTV. ..... Lacy-Potter Television 

B'casting . 8 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 

. . : Dallas Morning News (WFAA) 12 

............ Texas Television ,.10 

Irtcretate Circuit (Par)*« 3' 

Variety B'casting (KIXL).... 2 

'C;ty o f Dallas . . . . ■ 10 

STATIONS OPEiSTlNG"" ~~ 

. " CONSTRDCrnON PERMITS 
WBAP-TV.. Ft. Worth Star-Tele (WBAP) 5 
APPLICATIONS PENDING 



STATIONS OPERATING 
CONSTRUCTioN PERMiirS 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 

. Lubbock Tele. Co.. 6 



STATIONS OPERATING 



KLEE. 



Waco 

\Tou,r chaunelis avaiU 
able) 



CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

W. Albert Lee 2 

APPLICATION^ PENDING 

, Texas Television (KTHT) .... 7 

. Houston Poet (KPBO 4 

. Harris County B'casting 5 

, llouston Chronicle (KTBH).. 5 

. Shamrock B'casting ,. 7 

, Texas B'casters (KATD 5 

. Fred Weber Associates. ..... . 5 



STATIONS OPERATING 
CONSTRVCnnbN PERi«ri'S 



STATIONS OPERATING 



CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

WGAL-TV.. Lanca.ster New Era 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 



Philadelphia 

(Four cimiinels auail- 
able— No». 3, 6, 10, .12) 



Pittsburgh 

(Fowr chniiuels (luoil- 
oble^Noi!. 8i 6, 8, 10) 



STATIONS OPERATING 

WFIL-TV. . . PIvilly . Inquirer. . ,' 6 

WPTZ Philco 3 

CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 
WC AC-TV.. Philly Record 10 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 

Philly Daily News 12 

WI P— G imbcls 12 

STATIONS" OPERATING 

CONSTBUCTioN PERMITS 

WDTV DuMont 3 

APPLKJATIONS PENDING 

............. Allegheny B'casting Co. 8 

United B'ca.sting Corp 10 

WCAE-Pitt. Sun-Telegraph.. 10 

Westinghouse Radio (KDKAJ » 

WPIT, Inc 10 

WWSW-.Pitt Post^Paiette.,, 10 

,■■ *iitv Radii* SuDVilr* miJB^».>.tWi, 



UTAH 

Salt Lake City 

{Five channels nnofl- 
oble— Nos. 2, 4, S, 7, 9) 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 

Waco Television Co . ... . , . . . . 6 



STATIONS OPEBATING 



CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 
KOYL-TV. . Intermountatn B'casting., 

(KDYL) 2 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 



VIRGINIA 

Richmond 

(Four ejianflel.<) avail- 
able— Nos. 3, 6, 8, 10) 



STATIONS OPERATING 



CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

WTVR Havens & Martin (WMBG).. '6 

APPLICATIONS PENDING 



WASHINGTON 

Seattle 

(Four channels avaii- 
aWe—Nos.Z. S, 7, 11) 



STATIONS OPERATING 



CONSTRUCTION PER.MITS 
KRSC-TV.. Radio Sale.'? Corp. (KRSC) 
APPLICATIONS PENDING 



WrSCONSIN 

Madison 

(One channel avail'- 
able— No, 9) 



STATIONS OPEBATING 
CONSTRUCTION PEKIWl'TS 



APPLICATIONS PENDING 
, Badger B'casting ..f.. 



WedoHdMy, Mareh 10, 1948 



Sunday Looms Large on Tele 



Continued from page SS ; 



d«ys frpw 7 *o 8 P "-' 9"*'' 
figure release* by Hooper, who is 
still try^n^ ^^''^ subscriptions for 
tele surveys. Audience fo|p other 
top tele shows, consequently, .re- 
mains a trade secret. Fact that NBC 
schedules both its Theatre Guild 
legiters and American National The- 
atre and Academy shows on Sunday 
nights, however, indicates that that 
web) at least, is convinced of the 
value of Sunday night time on video, 
even though both shows are still 
sustaining. 

Haphazwd Tele Logxinr 

Haphazard tele logging In rela- 
tion to the top Hooperated radio 
Shows Is evident in the amount of 
open. tele time available in the best 
jlQOp'er radio hours. Lux Kadio The- 
. 8tre, alr«d by CBS Mondays from 
jB -lo 10 p.m., is No. 1 in the latest 
Hoopers. NBC tele is the only sta- 
tion operating in New York at that 
time, when "it broadcasts boxing 
from St. Nicholas Arena. Time is 
sustaining until 10 p.m., when Gil- 
lette takes over sponsorship of the 
nidin, event. 

"Fibber and MoUy" ranks second 
in the Hpoperatings in the NBC 9 
to 9:30 p.m. slot Tuesdays. CBS tele., 
vision is off the air at that time, and 
NBC. carries wrestling on -a sustain- 
ing basis, leaving BuMont with the 



only sponsored time for its boxing 
matches from Park Arena. Third 
best radio rating goes to the Bob 
Hope showj: aired Tuesdays from 
10 to 10:30 p.n). on NBC. Tele sta- 
tions at that time operate on the 
same policy as the earlier Tuesday 
night slot. 

First correlation of tele and radio 
listeners, consequently, doesn't occur 
until the fourth best Hooper time; 
the 7 to 7:30 p.m. segment Sundays. 
Jack Benny holds the No. 4 Hoope^ 
rated radio niche, with DuMont's 
amateur show riding the crest of 
the tele Hooperatings at that time. 
CBS is sustaining in that slot, with 
NBC off the air. 

Non-similarity between sponsored 
video time and the remaining 11 of 
the top Hooper 15 on radio fol- 
lows down the line after that single 
Sunday night link. Fact that the 
Hooper organization is still sitting 
tight on its findings of how the tele 
audience has cut into the radio au- 
dience leaves the question of how 
video has affected the radio Hoopers 
still up in the air. 



BBC 

: Continued from page 35 



thwirker's Lobblies," a play that pre- 
em'ed on NBC television last year, 
. BBC gained access to the show 
through th^ efforts of NBC tele 
veepee John F. Royal. 

Unlike video broadcasters in the 
U. S., BBC is not cut oflE from the 
u^e of either film stars or George 
Bernard Shaw's plays. For example 
Fawcett pointed out, Slargaret Xock^ 
wood, under contract to the J. 
..Arftur ■ Bank studios, recently 
sitarred in a tele version of Shaw's 
"Pygmalion." Stars on the video 
shows may receive a high of $2,500 
for the two performances, although 
the average salary is about $250. 
Each full-length play is budgeted at 
about $5,000, he said. 

Fawcett noted that BBC has ex 
perimented. with airing shows 
directly from a theatre but expressed 
disatlsfaction with the results. Pic 
ture can't compare with that ob- 
tatned in a studio show, he said, 
since it's impossible to use backlight- 
ing in a theatre. It's still difficult 
for BBC to get much film, Fawcett 
said, since "Wardour street doesn't 
like television." English video is 
also cut oR from all professional 
sports events, since the promoters 
still ' fear tele's inroads on their 
gate receipts. 

Fawcett expects to spend most of 
his time in U. S. scouting tele shows 
in N. "Y. He flies back to England 
next Monday (15). 



FLOCK OF UJS. SPONSORS 
ON EAST AFRICA RADIO 

Johannesburg, March 3i 
The Lourenco Marques radio sta- 
tion in Portuguese East Africa oper- 
ating administratively from Johan- 
nesburg has lined up quite an im- 
posing list of American radio clients 
since the station passed to its present 
concessionaires, Davenp'ort & Meyer, 
Ltd., and the latter imported Frank 
Lamping as- chief executive. Latter 
is the former assistant general man- 
ager out of London for prcr-war 
Hadio Normandie. He served there 
under Richard Meyer, who estab.^ 
lished in various South African 
enterprises some four years ago. 

American advertisers using the 
Lourenco Marques station include 
Colgate Dental Cream, Frigidaire, 
Ingram's Shaving Cream, Ipana, 
Klim Powdered Milk, iiisterine, 
Longine Watches, Lux Soap, Oval- 
tine, Palmolive, Pepsodent, Sheaffer 
and Vitalis. 



CIRCUNfi THE KILOCYCLES 



Baltimore — Robert Davis, until 
recently a freelancer in New York 
radio, stage and commercial films, 
lias joined WBAL as an announcer- 
commentator for its AM and tele- 
vision outlets. 



Boston— Station' WMUR, Manches- 
ter, N. H,, has signed a contract 
with the American Federation, of 
Radio Artists. It has an AFRA- 
shop clause and provides for raises 
for the staff. ; 



Detroit — "Old Bobo — Baseball's 
Hobo" is the title for a new tran- 
scription series of interviews of 
baseball's great announced by Rich- 
ard E. Jones of GKLW. Jones de^ 
Glared that Bobo Newsom, the pitch- 
ing .star, will do the interviewing' 
and that the series will be released 
three times weekly for; 26 weeks, 
starting April 8. Platters spin 16 
minutes. 



Prince Albert, Sask.— CKBI here 
will conduct its second annual 
drama festival of the air April 15 
to 25. 



Pittsburgh — Pierre Paulin, who 
left KDKA announcing staff to man- 
age a new station in Charleroi, Pa., 
has resigned his post there. Bob 



Clayton, newest announcer on 
WJAS staff, won the audition to put 
tl. J Spike Jones network broadcast 
on the air from here. Marie Wilk, 
of WWSW staff, is the new voice of 
Aunt Hannah on that station's week- 
ly Kiddie Show. 



Kansas City— Tom Rucker, who 
has been promotion and publicity 
chief of KMBC-KFRM, leaves here 
about April li He goes' back to his 
native haunts to become secretary- 
manager of the Oklahoma Press 
Assn., with headquarters in Okla- 
homa City. He formerly was with 
the Daily Oklahoman and came to 
KMBC to fill a spot vacated by Ed 
Shurick about a year ago. 



Lynchburg— rPresented the Jack 
Armstrong award for having the 
largest number of winners per ra- 
dio family in the nation in that 
show's contest, WLVA immediately 
turned the $125 check over to Vir- 
ginia Society for Crippled Children, 
which is currently conducting a drive. 



FM Hotfoot 



□ 

31 I !| 



B Continued from pag« 

things have been shaping up the 
last six weeks. 

The real anxiety, however, among 
those who saw in FM the needed 
stimulant to "radio's second chance" 
is the record to date among the 
FM boys when staclced up against 
their promises. It's now asked: 
"What about those promises filed 
With their FCC applications to utilize 
their FM stations for development 
of talent on ' a local level? How 
about hiring musicians? What has 
happened to those provocative news 
shows that were to take the place of 
UP and AP ticker stuff? Where are 
those educational and cultural fo- 
rums? And what about the talk of 
giving labor unions a chance to 
sound off?" 

General complaint is that the 
average FM station owner wants to 
cut a pie right away, instead of 
pouring some coin into the opera- 
tion. The majority, it's argued, 
fiave failed to live up to their prom- 
wes to the FCC. They ignore talent 
development, call it quits after ap- 
pointing a manager and a chief en- 
gineer and by-pass a program di- 
rector completely. 

"H that's FM, and if network 
flUplication is the answer," com- 
plained one industry exec, "perhaps 
we better start limiting our thinking 
w television." ■ 




40 



wuam wKviEws 



PSBSBffff 



AKONX zoo CALUMO 

VritU Harriet Bwt, wnBMW. BridfM 

jPndveer: Frwk Kmii, «sdbt«A. ky 

GHenther tAwreaee 
Sapervlmr: Sejrmnur Slegel 
8« Mlns.; Mm. <8), *:1S v.mi 
Swatelniac 
WNYe, N. T. 

It's A pretty tough job to give a 
word picture »f 8 «oo, particularly 
on an impromptu basis, with all sorts 
of animal and bird noises and simdry 
voices for background "color." This, 
though, is what the City College 
course on documentary radio broad- 
casting undertook as its first produc- 
tion nn municipal-owned WNYC. 

The result was considerably too 
unrehearsed and unprofessional to 
make for intriguing listening. Con- 
scientious as the effort probably was. 
it suffered from too many pleasantries 
between the principals on their 
rounds of the cages and too much 
reliance on "That's wonderful!", "It's 
beautiful!", etc., in the effort to de- 
scribe the surrounding;. 

At one point an aviary keeper de- 
•Bcribed the ingredients of "formula" 
prepared for humming birds and 
how they're fed. Later, a woman 
leeeper related her experience in 
rescuing a small monkey from a 
cage of wildcats. More, of this sort 
of fare would have brightened the 
etama.' ■ 

Whole' thing proved it takes more 
than a tape reieorder to make^ radio 
production. OOaik, 




"Ihe Texas Rangets tnuiscrip- 
tioas of' wesmn songs faavie 
what it takes! Tfaejr Jbkiuld 
audieiKcs , . . they build sal». 
The price is ri^t—scaled to 
- die size of die market and 
station, bigj>jr Mtde, Standard 
or FM. And The Tcxai 
Rangers tansctipdoos have 
quaGtjr, plus a programming 




DB. I. a., m ■ ^ 

Witk Lew Valsnilna, J»kn HoHmiin, 
Henry C**k«, CtMrc* Stone, Nor- 
man' BitHry; Allea C. Anthony, »n- 

nounoer 
riredHcer: JMiAt K, Kem 
3f Mina.^ Silt< 4 RJB. <OST) . 
MABS 

NBC, from Chloaca 

(Grant) 

As the title indicates, this is the 
nighttime quizier in short pants. 
Questions, are slanted for grade- 
school kid.s, the silver dollars have 
been trimmed down to shiny dimes, 
and Oiere's Mr. Snickers' Treasure 
Chest to pull moppet mail. Other- 
wise it's the same half-houv that's 
kept the doctor supplied with non- 
plussed ladies in balconies for, lo, 
these many option cycles. 

Kiddo quizzer maintains the ma- 
chine-gun pace of the senior show. 
Youngsters are up to it, however, 
and the doctor got fast answers to' 
most of the 19 questions he tossed on 
the preem (6). Queries were nicely 
cuedi to the age of each kid heard. 
Audience acquitted itself well and, 
although shiny dimes can be a temp- 
tation, there was only one reply that 
indicated prompting. 

Show had a brisk business-like 
approach and nobody 'gushed over 
bright young bread-snatchers. Lit- 
tle red schoolhouse folderol was by- 
passed, along with any pretense that 
the program is a great force in edu- 
cation. It was straight cash and 
candy all the way. , 

Lew Valentine, as Dr. I. Q., 
handled the q.'s and a.'s with his 
usual facility, and at several points 
discarded hoke joviality for the real 
thing. Four assistants were alert 
and deft. Commercials crunched 
through all the yummy gustatory 
adjectives right down to the soft 
nougat center. 

In addition to a bio writ^-in for 
$50 prizes, Mr. Snickers' Treasure 
Chest oSers bikes an^ encyclopedias 
weekly, .to the boy .and' girl who 
locate Mr. S's whereabouls on the 
basis ' of ■ three geograpj^icel clues. 
Winners" also have to provide "best 
descriprtions" of Mr. S, which should 
be plenty tou^, since the -announcer 
blithely said "we don't know what 
he looks like." 

Double mail magnets ^ould build 
up the right audience in short order. 
Sk)w hits the road after three more 
originations from NBC's Chi studios. 
Junior and senior sessions are slated 
to play separate locations, which 
should k«t3p the doctor hopping. 

Bcuct 



ACOENX .ON TOII^H 
^ith BMban. Wflken, Boh Bond, 

Larene JF'eteiC'i cb»rils, FMl lAvMe 

Orch . 
Writer: jMe Sbtrrls 
I'rwaacer-BireetDr: Erie Howlett 
3* ABos;; Sat, 4 p. m. 
CBS, from Detroit 

Originating out of a teen-age 
choral project organized two .yjears 
ago by WJR, Detroit's CBS outlet, 
"Accent on Youth" is being given a 
well-deserved tryout on the net- 
work after slicking locally for the 
past year. It's a clean-cut musical 
session stacked with a pop orchestra, 
chorus and group of young soloists 
whose aggregate talent can be rated 
fairly by top professional standards. 
Besides their firstrate vocal equip- 
ment, the kids bring..other qualities 
sometimes sadly lacking from some 
variety airers^nthusiasm and sin- 
cerity..' 

The kids, however, could make 
their network debut an occasion for 
hosannahs if they experimented 
more freely with a novel format. 
As it is, the program is. confined 
within the stale confines of a rou- 
tine that's aheady a rut for their 
elders. If the accent is on youth, 
then it ought to be daring one. 

The network preem (6) was strung 
together by a loose continuity. It 
opened with a choral arrangement 
of "Reggy O'Neil," and followed 
with quart«t's rendition of "Wrap 
Your Troubles In Dreams." Barbara 
Wilken, soprano, delivered excel- 
lently on "Softly As in the Morning 
Sunrise," and was matched by Bob 
Hunds crooning of "Golden Ear- 
rings. 'Group of other oldies were 
sung by varied choral groups with 
expert backing by Paul Lavoie's 
orch. If the arrangement of num- 
ber* was not too startling^ the pace 
at least was snappy. Helm. 



jrOEL HEKKON OKCH 

rrailneer: Bay Kali 

Bir«et«r: MIHm B. Knye 

15 Mon:-rrL, t'ASi pJH. » 

Snst«lMbi« 

WBW, N. X. 

Joel Herron, WHN's musical direc- 
tor, who has achieved a considerable 
rep as a maestro in top niteries ihes 
currently at the Plaza. N. Y.. h<itel), 
is being given a 15-miaute daily 
slwwcasing in the time previously 
aUotted Ruth Etting, 

Show constitutes a session of rest- 
ful music played with top showman- 
ship and proerammed in good taste. 
Herron expresses some interesting 
musical ideas, such as his transfer- 
ence of "Manhattan" into a bach-like 
fugue, and the color which he gives 
to "Rhumba Rhapsody." The orches- 
tra, while used mainly for a back- 
ground to Herron's keyboaiding, is 
similarly capable of providing hsten- 
able moments. 

Show is a flve-a-week feature, and 
has a suflficiently high quality to at- 
tract a steady set of listeners 

Jose. 



; Follow-up Gouineiiti; 



»»♦ » ♦♦»»* »**«»•*♦*»* 



afaurice ChevMier guested on Ra- 
die Harris* five-minute CBS spot 
Monday (8) in what may have been 
a fascinating interview for all any- 
body knows. However, the vet show- 
man'^ speaking voice boomed over 
the airlanes like a basso profundo 
with an unpenetrable French ac- 
cent. It was impossible to under- 
stand although, to Chevalier's credit, 
it sounded charming anyway. He 
did sa^ that he intended to write his 
autobiography but, then again, may- 
be he didn't. Miss Harris plied her 
queries in a snappy and intelligible 
style. • 

"Call (or Mnsle," the vew Dinah 
Shore-Harry James-Johnny Mercer 
series for Philip Morris, devoted last 
Friday night's (5) broadcast to a 
plug for the Broadway musical com- 
edy, "Look, Ma, I'm Dancin'." As 
with the program's recent premiere, 
it was moderately entertaining, 
chiefly because of the talents and 
personalities of the- three stars. 

By no coincidence, Jerome Law- 
rence and Robert E; Lee, who write 
and produce the radio series, also 
authored the book of "Look, Ma, I'm 
Dancin'," a fact that gave a curious 
flavor to the elaborate compliments 
Miss Shore and James and Mercer 
expressed over the .air. Also, one 
little matter naturally not mentioned 
was that the major credit for the 
boxoffice success of "Look, Ma," is 
Nancy Walker's rowdy comedy per- 
formance as star, not the show's 
book, or evm its music or daneesi.. 

"The Clock," ABC crime series ac- 
centing a time-runs-out angle,' took 
on the masterly handling' of William 
Spier as producer-director with last 
week's (4) airing. Intriguing twists 
of a yarn ("Nicky" by Lawrence 
Klee), about a murderer ^who con- 
trived to escape the hot seat's scorch 
in order to spend the remaining 
hours 'til dawn with his inoU, were 
played to the hilt by Elliott Lewis, 
Cathy Lewis, Wally Maher and Hans 
Conried, under Spier's knowing di- 
rection. It was, incidentally, the first 
Coast origination of the stanza, with 
Ken Manson assisting in the pro- 
duction, Bill Conrad narrating, Basil 
Adlam handling the music, and 
Owen James announcing. 



T.M.«SG. Arf.FOa 

LOU HOiTZ LAUGH CLUB 

FIRST of an excluave s eries of 
S-minute' radio transcriptions by 
America's Greatest Comedians. 

Dittributcd by 

STAR TRANSCRIPTIONS 

444 Madison Avehoe • New York 22, N. Y. 
Murray Hill 7-2842 



STUDENTS SAFETY FOBDM 
With ' Kay Bates, Thomas A. MeShaue 

and Guests . 
SO Mins.; Sun., 3 pjn. 
AM£iUCAN MUTUAL LIABILITY 
- INSUBANCE CO. 
WROW, Albany 

Laudable is this new safety edu- 
cational in which .students from 
Albany area high schools compete 
for a $1,000 scholarship and other 
prizes. It has moments of draggi- 
ness, some of them inherent in the 
format and others due to over-script- 
ing and insufficient showmanship. 
The message of safety is vitally im- 
portant, but too much stress on cold 
statistics and prepared comment may 
tire the listener and thu$ defeat the 
program's purpose. 

More informality and .spontaneity 
by tjuizmistress Bates, Albany Safety 
Council director McSbane and the 
other regular participants would 
help. A section devoted to students' 
ideas about safety would give the 
haif-hour greater punch, even if the 
.rating of such opinions, for the 
\ final score, mi^ht be a little difl'i- 
cult: Show is now divided into three 
parts: one, straight quest.ions: second, 
true 01- fal.se queries: third, .spotting 
of .safety deficiencies in photographs 
placed before each contestant, 
i ;Mis.s Bate.s, who travels to various 
j citje.s for the insurance-- company, 
poKscsKcs a pleasant voice and a 
friendly manner. She sticks too 
closely to .Script, When McShane, 
who also has a good voice, reads 
comment at the end of the rosppnsu, 
the canned effect becomes too ob- 
vious. Bob Snyder handles the plugs 
well despite a tendency to boom 



I 



The winner of each shot .shoni'f be 



individualized. 



Joco. 



Memphis— George Fauldcr is the 
new chief announcer at WMPS, 
promoted from the regular staff of 
spielers. 



CnnicSb^^AeAir 

Maybe the comic strips arw't funny, but thay furnished the niat«« 
rial for one of the best sinili-idtot comedy sessions In recent times 
on ABC's "America's Town Ueeting of tJh» Ai»^ last week <J) n 
was ft gory joust of wits over "What's Wrong With the Gothics"' be> 
tweta drama critic John Mason Brown and Al Capp, creator of "Li'l 
Abner," with some subsidiary deadpan contributions from novelist 
Mairya Mannes arid George J. Hecfat. a comte mag publisher. 

No holds were barred in this contest; the epigrams were brass* 
knuckled; the verbal stilettos were thrust home and then ttvjsted, 
and personal insults ran riot. Whatever this show's Hooperating, 
temperature cracked the thermometer. ' 

Bnown shoved off his attack on the comics like William Lloyd 
Garrison attacking slavery. "T*iey are worse thsn bad. I regret them 
I deplore them. And — to continue the understatement^! abhor Wem '* 
His peroration should be investigated by the House . Un-American 
Activities Committee no matter how accurate it is: "The mind is the 
most unused muscle in ftia United .StfttelS,^ Admitting that he makes 
use of the comics with his own kids, IBrown said, "I don't sq much dis* 
tribute comics as I administer them—much as a barkeep would pour 
out a Mickey Finn or a doctor employ a hypodermic," Slapphtg Capp 
on the noggin, he compared "U'l Abner" to Mark Twain's "HUck 
Finn" as a cave-drawing to tt real book. 

While Blown virtually screamed his barbs into the mike, Capp 
veiled his punches behind an unruffled southern drawl. "If Mr, Brown 
regrets that I'm not Mark Twain, then I'm sorry he's not George Jean 
Nathan," he countered, ducking into a description of a typical Amer- 
ican family at the evening fireside. "Supper is over, and seated in the 
living room are Mr, and Mrs. Kinsey and their ll-year old son, Kings- 
blood." The parents are discussing the newspaper headlines, full of 
atomic war threats, prtee fights, divorce cases and other assorted 
items of civilized life. Mrs. Kinsey glances over her shoulder at the 
child and yells to Mr. Kinsey: "Look at what your child is reading.'* 
"It's only Dick Gravy," Kingsblood replies. But the parents, fright- 
ened by modern psychiatric opinion, wind up destroying not only the 
comics but a library', of Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, 
Shakespeare and the Bible. They were too full of. "murder, crime, 
violence and s-e-x," Capp explained. 

Miss Mannes, defending Brown's viewpoint, also flayed the comics 
with some adult and perceptive but slightly over-serious comments. 
Hecht, however, was dropped over the ropes, incapable of defending 
his business except to say that everybody read the comic strips. In 
the fi«e-for-all discussion following the formal gab. Brown took a 
nasty swipe at Hecht when the latter made a bad gramniatical slip. 
"This is what comes of reading the comics," he said. (Did reading 
the classics teach you such manners. Mr, Brown?) Henn. 



COUKANT COMICS 

With Cneie Ed 

SS Mim.; Sun. 1S:3S p,M. 

Snstaintnc 

WCCC, Hartferd 

Reading of the funnies over WCCC 
serves a double, edged purpose, It 
helps promote the sale of tiie Sun- 
day Hartford Courant and gets a kid 
and parent listening audience for 
the station, a newcomer to the Hart- 
ford market. Uncle Ed. who reads 
the comics and does a dramatically 
good job, is known to be a promo- 
tion man for the Courant. 

Following the practice of several 
disk' jockeys of reading loames of 
listeners who desire certain tunes 
and then playing the melodies^ Uncle 
Ed reads names of yoimgsters and 
comics desired by them. That is, if 
the comics are in the Sunday Hart- 
ford Courant. It's a good pitch. How- 
ever, he doesn't read all the comics, 
but in succeeding Sundays keeps 
alternating them. He manages to 
bring in the names of practically all 
of the comics dished out by the 
newspaper, interweaving this into 
his reading of the funnies. 
. Church objection to an early read- 
ing on the grounds of kid attendance 
drop, plus fact that Courant didn't 
want a reading too early in the a.m. 
that would affect sales, caused sta- 
tion settlement for. midday airing of 
comics. Mck, 



PBESS CONFEBENCE 
With Leo W. O'Brien, Onests 
Producer: dren Rand 

30 Mins., Tues., 7 p.m. 
Su.stalninff 
WOKO, Albany 

Local application of B successful 
network ° programming idea needs 
sharpening, accelerating, tightening— 
on the basis of two broadcasts 
caught. O'Brien, International News 
Service correspondent, acts as mod- 
erator of discussions in which four 
Capitol Hill writers questiou legis- 
lative leaders or other State officials. 
Assembly Speaker Oswald D. Heck 
guested on the initial shot; Sen. 
Francis J. Mahoney, of New York on 
the second, and Sen. Pred H. Young, 
of Lowville. on the third. 

Stanza with Senator Mahoney con- 
cerned the study of and plans for a 
state university — an informative 
rather than a controversial subject. 
Senator Mahoney handled himself 
quite well, de.spite a jNfew Yorkese 
accent. Speaker identification fre- 
quently failed. Emmett O'Brien,, of 
Gannett News Service, and Larry 
Murray, of the Schenectady Gazette 
registered best. joco 



••THERE'S PIENTY 
•BUSINESS IN ^ 



OF 

< 



Gel Your 
Shore By 
If s i n fl . . . 



.WEED & CO. National lt« presenlQlhret 




UNITED KKx nncG CO. 

Wnlnsdday, NIlC, 10:3« I'.M., K.S.T. 
H-«-1H— "Ob Oir Islulid Wltll \<M" 
"THIS Tine FOB KEEPS" 
Mtt.: LOU CLAYTON 



TOMMY LYMAN 

At 

The Leslie House 

New York 

iAfter Theatre 



"41 



An JSx citing Promise ig 
Now an Actual Service 



to Baiti 



more 



omeg... 



1 



IS ON THE AIR WITH 





NBC AFFILIATE--- 
CHANNEL 11 



HAROLD C* BURKE . . Geueral Manager 

HAROLD P, SEE , . . . ... . Director ef Televisio» 

JOHN J. DICKMAN * . Program Manager 

KENNETH L. CARTER Sales Manager 

DR. DAVID E. WEGLEIN . . . . . . Publk Service Counselor 

DR. ALLAN DASH Music and Choral Director 

MICHAEL NICHOLOFF Ballet Counselor 

NICK CAMPOFREDA ......... Sports Director^ 

JAMES McMURRAY . ... . . . . Production Manager 

GEORGE JACOBS Video Operations Engineer 

RICHARD S. DUNCAN . . . . . . Chief Transmitfer Engineer 



WBAL-TV • 2610 N. Ctarles Street • Baltimore 18, Maryland 



4a 



WwiitcBibyy IMiwch 10, 1948 



From tbe Production Centres 



m ISEW YORK CITY ... 

Lou Cowan, recovering from illness in Chicago, joins his family in 
Phoenix for a week. . , . ABC prexy Marie Woods planmng to .desert subuvbia 
(Short Hills. N.J.) in favor o£ a Manhattan abode. .. .Bobette Ryan ot 
Kenyon & Eckhardt engaged to William P. McSherry of ABC. No date 
set....Kolynos has bought eight spots a week, on a 52-week basis, on 
WHAM WOR's FM affiliate. It's the first postwar sale on WBAM, which 
made FM history in '41 when it sold time signals to Longines... Frank 
Cooper office reports renewed interest in its Jackie Kelk package and is 
looking for a writer who can "come uf) with the proper ahgle". . . .WNBC s 
Ben Kaplan elected proxy of the Univ. of Texas Alumm Assn. of NYC. . . . 
Nelson Case decided not to go to the Coast with the Carnation Program, 
so, he's continuing as announcer for Lowell Thomas. .. .Johanna DeWitt, 
former freelance scripter, now on CBS' staff under her married name, 
Johanna Johnston. .. .Ted Pearson, "Cavalcade" narrator, rounding out 
his 22nd year as an air gabber. . . .Actress Gertrude Rozan now in an exec 
capacity with the American Theatre Group, newly-formed producing unit. 
Group plans early Broadway production of a new play, "Grandma's Diary, 
by Al Barker, former "Terry arid the Pirates" scVipter. . 

Doris Paterson, Jim Gaines' secretary, engaged to Bill MacCallum, man- 
ager of ABC's Vanderbilt theatre. .. .Dick Hyman's new tome, "Dont 
Snore in Bed," tabbed for Duell, Sloan & Pearoe release in August.... 
Igor Gorin "Voice of Firestone" baritone, Gotham vacationing for 10 days 
Garry Moore to do four "Take It Or Leave It" sessions froni- N.Y. in 
April American Council on Rheumatic fever getting proceeds of Paul 
Whiteman's current "Memory Tune" contest. ;.. .New mag for disk jockeys 
and program managers, called RPM and published by Neil Harrison, makes 
its debut May 1. . . .Eversharp-Schick has picked up a three-a-week tab on 
WNBC's 8 a.m. news with Clyde Kittell, 
Kay Campbell added to "Katie's Daughter" cast. . . .Gfertyude Warner 

with "Our Gal Sunday" Leora Thatcher new to "Lora Lawton" 

Kermit Murcwck, Sidaey Smith and Frank Readick cast in "Rose of My 
Dreams".,. -.Arline Joyce arid Lon Clarke with "Young WiBder Brown" 
. .WOR thinking of moving its "Ladies Man" (Tiny Ruffner) into a hotel 
dining room and hypoing the stanza via a giveaway gimmick. . . .Mutual's 
"Mysterious Traveler" comintg fiut in comic-book form, and possibly also 
as a daily cartoon strip. 

Walter Framer, producer of "Strike It Rich,'" planed to the Coast Monday 
(8) to run off an audition of Frank Cooper's new quiz package, "Holiday 
At Home," starring Harry von Zell..-.A11 four bankrollers renewed on 
Paul Whiteman's ABC: disk strip. .. .James H. Knox, recently out of the 
Marines,- has' jwined Young & Rubicam's flack staff. He's working on 
Time mag's special "Future of Television" symposium due tot origina- 
tion April 14-17 irom New Orleans. .. .Mrs. Viola Burns, Y&K radio di- 
rector, in Woman's Hospital for an operation. 

■Som Velotta, ABC news veepee, will* gp in place of web prexy Mark 
Woods on that Hadiodtffiusion francai'se junket t» Paris March 20 — ABC 
sales veepee Fred Thrower ain't superstitious— but he's had a golden horse- 
shoe nailed on the door of his department Martin Magner, formerly di- 
rector of "Lone Journey,", now with Wynn Wright Associates. . . .Clarence 
Worden of 'CBS Press Info named director of special features and public 
' service for WCBS, succeeding Henry Untermeyer. Latter jomed WCBS 

sales staff Jo-Carroll Dennison, former Miss America and now the wife 

of comedian Phil Silvers, has been written into this Sat\irday evening's 
CBS program, "Mr. Ace &' Jane." This will be her radio debut. 

IJV HOLLYWOOD ... 



Percy Faith, Spike Jones 
To Entertain Coke jfottlers 

■ Atlantic City, March 9. 

Performers on network broadcasts 
presented by Coca-Cola will come 
here tomorrow night (Wed.) to en- 
tertain 6,000 persons from all. parts 
of the U. S. and foreign countries 
for the annual four-day Coca-Cola 
bottlers' convention. *, 

Show will include "Pause That 
Refreshes," with Percy Faith and his 
4S-piece ' orch; "SpotligM Revue," 
with Spike Jones and his City Slick- 
ers. Dorothy Shay and Morton 
Downey. 



NAB Researcher 

r= cantinued from page 31 s= 



Ue Stuff-Radio 

Naming last week of Ed Frisby to direct the radio pha.se of Henry 
Wallace's Third Party campaign made an all-NBC alumni affair out ot 
the air electioneering setups of at least three political parties in the '48 
race. Frisby, who has taken up headquarters at 39 Park ave., N. Y., was 
with NBC news and- special events for a couple of years during the war. 
Earlier he was with the San Francisco Chronicle and S. F. Examiner. 

Kenneth Fry, named recently to direct the Democrats' radio campaign 
was formerly director of news in NBC'e Central Division, while Ed Ingle' 
heading up the air plans of the Repybllcans, once worked in NBC's press 
department, 

Frisby said! the Third Party's radio plans were in a formative stage at 
this point, but, in keeping with general plans to pitch the Wallace cam- 
paign strongly on a community level, probably will concentrate on efforts 
to help local Wallace . committees get time on individual station^. Some 
transcriptions may also be used, Frisby indicated. 



Helen Murray Hall is now manager of NBC's western division sales 
promotion and advertising, having acted in that capacity since Bob Mc- 
Andrews sashayed over to Young & Rubicam. General supervision of the 
department parses to Frank "Bud" Berend, division sales chief. . . Garry 
Moore got'oVer his eye shingles after a week's treatment — Nelson Eddy 
warming up his tonsils for another summer stint by. concert-touring 37 
cities which wUl keep him on the move for two months — Bill Cunning- 
ham, Mutual's sports commentator, can now believe what the comics say 
about Los Angeles drivers. Enroute to his hotel after detraining, his cab 
Was smacked but he got off with a shaking up — Morris Goff mended from 
his major operation in Lexington, Ky., and returned to his Lum and Abner 
program. During.bis eijforced layoff of several weeks his Abner character 
was written out*i*nd tli|^':i)dia4;$frried by Chet Lauck and Clarence Hartzell 
, .. .Lew' Weiss audi hisf' Dion 'tee crew tossed a feed for the Wade agency 
and its Alka-Seltzer newscast crew to mark 14 consecutive years of airing 
on 'his network. Glenn Hardy has been doing the reporting nearly all the 
way. . . .William E. Forbes, former Coaster (with CBS) and now heading 
■up Young & Rubicam's television operation, looking around to see how it's 
done out this way. He's also interested in the adaptability of his firm's 
programs to video.... Lou Crosby replaced' Murray-Wagner as announcer 
on Walter O'Keefe's "Double or Nothing". .. .Jack Benny was given a set 
o£ gold recordings Of this season's first broadcast by Don Belding of Foote, 
Cone .&. That's a switch for the comic; who lavishes gold gifts (clips 
anci links) on fellow workers and ceremonial celebrants. 

D6h McNeill was on the town for a week and started a few studios 
talking about filming his "Breakfast Club".... Don Lee, Inc., became 
Thomas E. Lee Enterprises, Inc., to avoid double payment of city license 
tax . . Hay McClinton made a delayed return to New York, his wife 
having sufficiently recovered from her pneumonia siege. .Too 'many 
agents signed too many contracts so "Club 15" loses The Pied Pipers to the 
Revere Camera show on Thursdays. . . .Sam Cherr, .who can coupt off 
more than 20 years with Young & Rubicam, around' for a few days to talk 
merchandising with the agency's Coast clients..,. Bob Howard named 
western manager of ^BG spot sales by James McConnellj national director, 
who has been around soaking up the sunshine. . . .Bob Wolfe arrived frorii 
New York to assume his duties as head of the Kenyon & Eckhardt Holly 
wood office... Meredith Willson's quaint humor and lush music has been 
put under lock and key by Young & Rubicam. 

fiV CHICAGO ... 

Bill Seymour, former WBBM announcer, has returned to the station as 
latest addition to its production staff. During the last nine months he's 
been program director of WTPS. . , Breakfast Clubbers hie off to Bir 
mingham April 13 for a p.a. under aaspices of the local Civitan dub. . . 
Canary cast of Mutual's "American Radio Warblers" will be heard in a 
forthcoming record album cut by Columbia, . i .Fran Harris, R&R's video 
chief, skedded for a tele talk before the National League of Pen Women 
March 11. . . ."Hint Hunt" set to originate in Charleston, W. Va., next week 
(15-19).... Sprague Vonier, former asst. sec, of Milwaukee's Mayor Bohn 
has been added to WTMJ's promotion staff. ; . .Each "Terry and the Piratfes' 
script gets a pre-broadcast dramatization by Paul Barnes before an audi 

ence of Shcr'.man *t Marquette execs, who wield the blue pencil Work 

shop meetings for NBC's midwest affiliates get underway next week 
■Three-day session on promotion, publicity, engineering and programming 
will be attended by some 100 stationeers. 

When Dick Baker returned from his recent vacation he had to stay 
away from home two weeks while his son nursed an attack of mumps 
Hiilf-hour "Radio Telephone Game" that bowed on WGN Wednesday (10) 
has Bob Cunningham doing the emcee turn. . . .North Western Railway 
has renewed Norman Ross' six-a-week "400 Hour". . . ; Caesar Petrillo, 
WBBM's music director, vacationing in Florida, .Vaughn Monroe to 
salute vets at Hines Hospital when his CBS shpw originates from here 
Saturday (13>.,.iNumbfir of tele sets in Chi area passed the 15,000 mark 
Idst week. , „.i ■ .O') 1 1 .- 



might be, he personally was "one ot 
the minority who picks bones with 
radio." It now seems certain that po 
more than .one-third of the people 
objects to. radio advertising, he said, 
and "it doesn't make sense discuss 
it further." 

He was happy to find that the 
number of people who want serious 
programs seems to have been under- 
estimated by the broadcasters. "One- 
fourth of the population wants only 
entertainment, but one-fifth feels ra- 
dib could go further with serious 
programs." 

Dr. Lazarsfeld was not surfe, how- 
ever, that people "kndw what they're 
talking about in opposing govern- 
ment regulation." He felt that, "by 
and large, people approve of, the 
status quo." People in 'this country 
haven't had any experience with 
government activity" in this line, he 
said. Turning to Judge Miller, the 
researcher concluded, though, that 
"the people approve of your, strong 
stress of an anti-government stand." 

Pursuing- his tempering of NAB 
joy. Dr. Lazarsfeld expressed < belief 
that public opinion polls aren't the 
only pillar "upon which the final 
evhluation of. radio should be based." 
In fac^ he continued, public opinion 
is only one of three criteria, the 
others being (1) "whether the prod- 
uct lives up to a high standard", by 
expert appraisal and (2) whether 
radio is measuring up to its "social 
implications." ' 

The analyst said he hoped "to show 
that radio still has a very serious 
task to perform," but that he had 
not had time to incorporate these ar 
guments in his analysis of the second 
survey. He'd work these, he said, 
into his final overall report on 'the 
two NOBC studies. (This report ,is 
expected to - be submitted to NAB 
in May.) 

MUIer and other NAB'ers present 
let their analyst have his full say, 
but the NAB prexy took occasion 
afterward, with reference to Dr. 
Lazarsfeld's remarks on government 
control, to declare that "FCC is an 
arm of the government operating 
under very definite limited powers 
—and we intend to keep- it that way. 

Dr. Lazarsfeld, smoothing down 
the fur he had raised, replied that 
he favored "our system of checks 
and balances," as represented in this 
case by the FCC and NAia. 



NAB 'Putsch' 

: Continued from page 33 ; 



Frank Morgan didn't make any friends at the Lennen & Mitchell agency 
when "he went AWOL from the Old Gold show last Friday. Give^^ a three- 
week breather from his picture work at Metro,, Morgan decided to take 
a trip south and' so advised the agency, even going so far as to pick his 
own substitute, Jimmy Durante,. When Mann Holiner, in New York at 
the time, heard about it he ordered Frank Woodruff', in the Hollywood 
office, to "talk him out of it" but Morgan declined to change his plans. 
Although the Old. Gold show has 16 weeks to go on its eurrent 39-week 
contract, no decision has been reached on a renewal despite reports that 
the show is on the verge of cancellation. Morgan's personal guest-book- 
ing of Durante was thi© result ot a shot The Schnois owed him while he 
was. away from his show for sutgery. 



Mutual deal to co-op Canada's "Happy Gang" variety show as a cross- 
the-board half-hour starting next Monday (15) marks the first time a 
CBC program has been piped simultaneously over a U.S. network as a 
commercial offering. Ten-year-old "Happy Gang," which is owned by its 
emcee, Bert Pearl, has been sold to. stations throughout the U.S. for the 
past two. years, however, as a 26-week open-end e.t. series. Show, to 
which Garry J. (garter, Inc., of Toronto, has world rights outside Canada, 
also is aired in South Africa, under Colgate sponsorship. CBC gets no 
coin out' of the MBS deal, which was set directly with Pearl via Carter 
and the latter's N.Y. rep, Charles Michaelson. Show will be fed to the 
Mutual web by CKLW, Detroit-Windsor. .Sale of "Gang" as an e.t. series 
will be halted in the U.S. 

Ohio State's Institute for Education by Radio is sticking by its no-reso- 
lutions ftuns, reports I. Keith Tyler, director. Some months ago the In- 
stitute's program committee decided on a poll on the question and sent" 
postcard queries to 1,260 lay and radio people who attended the 1947 ses- 
sion. Response was negligible and inconclusive. Additionally, the pro- 
gram committee decided last week, abolition of the rule against resolu- 
tions might have the effect of "alienating certain groups who attend the 
Institute." So the long-standing ban stays, 
This year's Institute, incidentally, opens April 30. 



Edgar Bergen's refusal to submit to Metro an outline of how Edward 
Arnold was to be used in the guest spot resulted in cancellation of the 
actor by the studio on last Sunday's Charlie McCarthy show. Metro de- 
mands a script or outline 48 hours in advance of the broadcast and 
Arnold isn't the first player yanked because of such policy breach. Bergen 
stuck to his guns and substituted Olga San Juan. 
' — ■■ — — " — — 



the AFM local 802, New York, and 
George Heller, executive secretary 
of AFRA, plugged for continuing the 
Mayflower ban intact "with no . mod- 
ifications Whatever." NlcoU ispoke 
for associations of Union locals iri 
New York, Hollywood, Chicago, 
Frisco and Pittsburgh. He offered 
assistance of his group to advise FCC 
on programs and public interest 
niatters. Eric Barnouw, for the Na- 
tional Radio Writers Guild, and Earl 
McGill, prexy of the Radio Directors 
Guild, modified their positions to 
permit licensees to plug causes but 
insisted on the principle of fair play. 
Same view was expressed by Boris 
Shisken for AFL headquarters in 
contrast to the national CIO which 
opposed any licensee participation. 
The Chicago Federation of Labor 
station WCFL, Chicago, was the 
only labor voice to plug all-out ed- 
itorializing. Shiskin testified the 
statement was made only by the 
station management and had not 
been cleared with the Chicago 
Federation. 



said if the ban were lifted Miller 
could claim to have PCC's sanction 
for his -contention that radio should' 
be as free as the press. In that event, 
he warned FCC would be no more 
than "the whistle on Justin Miller's 
peanut wagon." Same:- point was 
headlined by James Lawrence Fly, 
Charles Siepmann, Henry Fleischer 
of the CIO and radio union reps. 

2. The FCC was told that Congress 
always intended equal treatment of 
controversial issues and had made 
its intent clear by specifically call- 
ing for political candidates to get 
equal acce.ss to the mike. Rep. 
Emanuel Celler (D., N.Y.), Morris 
Novik, radio consultant, and Charles 
Siepmann punched home their con- 
viction that the Congressional de- 
bates on the radio act left no doubt 
on this, point. 

'False Application' Charge 

3. The FCC was told by Novik, 
attorney Morris Ernst and several 
union reps that stations have been 
ducking their responsibilities to air 
controversial issues in a "false ap- 
plication" of the Mayflower ruling. 
-Milton Stewart for the American 
Jewish Congress, Henry Fleischer 
of CIO headquarters, and most radio 
spokesmen charged that stations are 
already editorializing and demanded 
a stricter enforcement of the ban. 

4. Oliver Niceil, chairman of the 
Assni of Broadcast Unions and 
Guilds; Ray Wood of the New York 
local of JBEW; flic)ifircl,jilcq:aiwi of 



Mullen 

Continued from . p^ee 3S 



Kent & Johnson 

ss Continued from page 31 s= 



broadcasting off on the right foot. 
Mullen said that NBC's Los Angeles 
station would take the air in the 
fall and would be tied into a re 
gional net with San Francisco's 
KRON-TV, recently-pacted affiliate 
owned by the S. F. Chronicle, within 
18 months. Bell System' link between 
N. Y, and L. A. should be completed 
at about the same time, he said. ' 

Mullen reiterated' his contention 
that tele will eventually replace 
sound broadcasting completely^ In 
answer to questions ot the available 
audience for' day .' 'Tie tele shows, he 
noted the way the ^-esent entertain- 
ment audience is split up among so 
many different types of show biz 
and declared there "will always be 
enough people at any one time to 
support a television show." Holly- 
wood, he said, will probably assume 
the same programming importance 
in tele as it holds in radio since it's 
a talent centre. There's a good 
chance, however, for other cities to 
be more important to tele than they 
have been to radio as origination 
points. , 



it was the least lucrative jingle 
they've written. They sold It out- 
right for $1,000. Since then, they 
leased their material. 

The duo were also responsible for 
the jingles on the Prince George 
hotel, N. Y., and Mission Bell wine, 
both of which were enlarged into 
best-selling tunes, The wine jingle 
became "Just the Other Day" and 
the hotel tune wound up as "No One 
But You." 

The pair were one of the most 
publicized teams in the business, be- 
cause of their zanyisms. They 
achieved a considerable amount of 
prominence with a spot pnnounce-- 
ment which featured 30 seconds of 
silence — the rarest commodity in 
radio. Witliin a month prior to their 
split they were featured in several 
ma? stories and Robert C. Ruark did 
tw ocolumns on them. 

However, their greatest publicity 
coup was. the result of their ad in 
Variety which satirized the Calvert 
men of distinction series with the 
caption, "How distinguished can you 
get?" Reproduction in Life, Time, 
Newsweek and other national mags 
followed. 



Station Reps 

Continued from page 33 { 



Odessa, Tex.— Robert E. Rives has 
been named commercial manager for 
KRIG here. . , .. r. 



dium should serve as assurance that 
radio will continue to operate on the 
same massive scale. Radio for the 
most part, they point out, has al- 
ways been and still is a $5 and $10 
business. What supports the medium 
is not the move derived from net- ■■ 
work programming or even the sale 
of larger segments of local time but 
rather the $5 and $10-pieces that 
come from spot announcements, 

Radio, the reps further point out, 
has, like other mass industries, been 
built on the principle of multiple 
users and small units, and as such is 
much safer economically than a busi- 
ness whose dollar volume may be 
the same but draws from a limited 
number of participants. They fore- 
see video being perforce limited to 
far fewer users than radio not 
merely because of operational and 
program costs but because of limited 
channels an4tjkm«,iCacUitieG .- 



Wvineiti»ri March 10, 1948 



RCA Aims to One-Night Longhair 
Tronpe Ml Red Seal FronotioB Trek 



RCA-Victor, apparently spurred* 
bV the pifO'Wotio'n&l attention that 
• Columbia Record Corp. has been 
oouring upon dealerB, will this fall 
embark Robert Merrill and the en- 
tire troupe of its NBC Sunday mat- 
inee program on a one^nighter tour 
across the country. That the project 
Is strictly promotional is obviovis 
sine* Victor figures to take a loss of 
$20 000 a week on the tour. This does 
not' include the added cost of eman- 
ating the NBC broadcast from the 
various stops on the road. 

Plan as mapped out by Victor is 
to put an admission top of ^1 on the 
concert dates arid to highlight the 
iitogle that the concert is being given 
under the auspices of the local 
dealer Qt dealers. All publicity and 
advertising on each stand will, be 
phrased as to pose the retailer of 
HCA's tied Seal records as host to 
his fellowtownsmen. . ■ 

Troupe will include a full .sym» 
phonic orchestra conducted by the- 
Sunday show's maestro, Russ Case, 
-who is also Victor's musical director, 
and a . mixed choir. Merrill rates as 
topdrawcr in the current concert- 
world. Idea at present is to keep the 
tour going for three months, but this 
' may be extended. 

It is no' secret in the longhair 
recording field that Columbia's 
masterworks as a result of new 
works and artists, aggressive ad 
caittpaigns and dealer relations, has 
hMn cutting sharply into a field 
that Victor has for years had pretty 
well sewed up. 

Before the war Victor did some- 
i thing like this in the pop field. It 
touredi but without an adini.ssion 
price attached, various of its nanne 
bands on the Victor and Bluebird 
labels, including Tommy Oorsey, 
Shep Fields and tiarry Clinton, stag- 
ing its top attendance event of the 
series at Madison Square Garden, 
N. Y,, with tlie former two orches- 
' tras alternating with dance music. 
Tickets were distributed by local 
.dealers. 

Qlk^Coui^'t 
TakeltWithHb 

Dizzy Gillespie's orchestra boarded 
a ship in France Yesterday (Tues- 
day) to return to New York after a 
financial fiasco on his Continental 
concert tour. Band required the 
cabling of $6,500 by Moe Gale for re- 

. turn transportation. Billy Shaw, 
Gale's partner and Gillespie's hand- 
ler, returned to N. Y., Sunday (7) by 
air after making a hurried trip three 
weeks ago to attempt to straighten 
out the tangled affair. 

There are many confusing angles 
to the story. Fiasco, however, ap- 
parently was based on the fact that 

. coin Gillespie is supposed to' have 
brought into the b.o. in Sweden and 
.on other dates allegedly disappeared 
along with certain promoters, and 
this affair reached the point Where 
Gillespie's musicians didn't even 
have enough to pay for their food. 

Shaw asserts that the coin clue 
Gjllespie will be paid at a later date. 
He claims to have endorsements by 
prominent Swedish business men to 
cover Gillespie's cut of his b.o. in- 
come. 



Ask Ban Ease to Disk 
Song for Heart Fund 

James C. Petrillo, prez of the 
American S'ederation of Musicians, 
is being asked to lift his recording 
ban for one day to permit the cut- 
ting of a tunc designed to further 
the fund being pyramided by the 
New York Heart Assn. Grand Music, 
publishing a tune called "Open Your 
Heart," which has been cited as the 
"official ■ heart song," is the one 
seeking Petrillo's permission. 

Petrillo so far has given no answer 
to the request. Ervin Drake, Jimmy 
Shirl and Van Smith are the 
writers. ■■■ 



Pat Kennedy Can't Get 
It Out of His System 

Pittsburgh, March 9. 

Pat Kennedy, one of late Ben Ber-» 
nie's featured vocalists a dozen years 
ago, is planning a comeback in show 
business. He's getting in shape again 
and expects to break in some club 
dates here in the near future; 

For last decade, Kennedy has 
been in the trucking trade in town 
with hi.<i father-in-law, having i-e- 
tired from the .spotlight in late 
'thirties when he married Connie 
Callahan, a Pittsburgh model. Her 
rather controls Exhibitors Service 
in this district. 



$100 Guarantees 
For Disking By 
45-Piece Units! 



Indie recording companies that 
have been cutting new masters with 
string bands, such as the Mummer 
outfits in Philadelphia, have been 
paying as low as .flOO guarantees for 
anywhere from 20 to 49 musicians. 
In short, they liave been rislcing 
nothing except the future wrath of 
the American Federation of Musi- 
cians for violating its disk ban — and 
with non-union musicians. 

In Philadelphia, for example, vir- 
tually any of the Mummer string 
bands available can be recorded for 
a guarantee of $100 against a royalty. 
The $100 covers the salaries of any- 
where from 20 to 45 men. If the disk 
clicks the band gets paid off, if it 
doesn't, nobody's the loser. If a disk 
isn't a hit, there's always enough 
sales in the Philly area alone to re- 
imburse the disk company for its 
$100 outlay. 

Mummer bands are peculiar in 
Philadelphia. They perform at ball 
parks, various social functions, etc. 
There is quite a .number of them 
within the area.' New Year's Day 
seems to be their big moment; all 
march "in a huge parade. 



SATCHMO SHATTERS 
PARIS B.O. RECORD 

Paris, March 9. 
. Louis Armstrong's six-piece group, 
including Jack Teagarden, Barney 
Bigard, Earl HUies, etc., cracked the 
Mile Pleyel (comparable to N. Y.'s 
^arnegie Hall) boxoffice record here 
Jast week. In two concerts (2-3), 
Armstrong drew a gross of 2,900,000 
Wanes (about $17,500 at 214 francs to 
ihe dollar). First night was absolute 
capacity, but no standing room al- 
lowed; second night standees were 
and the take jumped over 
40,000 francs. 

,„*™'pong headed for the U. S. 
immediately following his final date 
« expected to return to Europe 
« August or September. Joe Glaser, 
nis booker, who Was here with the 
trumpeter, received offers for the 
oand from virtually evelry country in 



Burden take CMino, near Troy, 
i ' booked Hay Eberle's or- 
v,fc!! » '^arch 12; Sonny Dun- 
nara, March 10, and Johnny Long's 
unit. March .2«i <aa»fer Sunday ). ' - 



Bobbysoxers, Booze 
Can't Mix But Pitt Club 
Op Solves Problem 

Pittsburgh, March 9. 

Because Frankie Laine's such a 
bobbysox fave, Len Litman had to 
Icill a couple of birds with one stone 
yesterday (Mon.) , when singer 
came here to help open the new 
Club Gopa. Litman was faced with 
the problem of seeking attention to 
the newest nitery downtown, but 
he also had to make sure of that 
youngsters wouldn't storm his place 
because they couldn't be admitted 
to a booze joint anyway. 

Litman Solved it all by presenting 
Laine in a free concert for the 
bobbysoxers at 3,.'")00-seat Soldiers 
and Sailors Memorial Hall. To do 
that, he lied up with WWSW and 
its disc jock. Art Pallan, with latter 
offering free tickets. Capacity was 
exhausted in few days but WWSW 
kept on plugging Laine just , the 
same, plus the new Club Copa. Lit- 
man plans to do the same thing 
with Vic Damone, who . follows 
Laine.'. • ■ 



ORCHESl'itAS.IIfVSIC 



43 



Fox Digs Up $46,000 
In Un^id Royalties 

. Hollywood, March 9. 

Harry Fox. general manager of the 
IMUsic Publishers Protective Assn^t 
ahd music pub rep in mechanical 
royalty collectionSi headed east last 
week after having dug up a total of 
$48,000 worth of unpaid coin owed 
publishers by local indie disk man- 
ufacturers. Some $23,000 of the coin 
was paid to Fox immediately, and 
the remainder, said to have been un- 
earthed from the books of one com- 
pany, will soon be forthcoming. 

Fox had had auditors out here for 
weeks going over the accounts of lo- 
cal companies lo check royalty state- 
ments. ' - 



n* I 



BMI, Paramount 
forBVHb 
M<Hri$ Deal Sffiig 

Hollywood, March 9. 

Negotiations between songwriters 
Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van 
Heusen with Edwin H. (Buddy) 
Morris over a new contract have not 
progressed very far since the expira- 
tion of their publishing deal last Feb. 
28. Meanwhile, BVH has had offers 
from three different competitive puh- 
lishers, and it's quite -possible that 
they may take one of these rather 
than remain with Morris under a 
different setup than the one recently 
concluded. 

Broadcast Music, Inc., and Para- 
mount Pictures are said to have of- 
fered the writers a deal, and the 
third bidder for a'pact with them is 
undisclosed. Paramount has talked 
with the pair in the past about a 
publishing deal. Film company has 
the pair under contract to write the 
scores of all Biiig Crosby films, and 
a venture with them into the pub- 
lishing .end would sjeem a natural 
adjunct. 

BVH and Morris, however, are 
still negotiating. Sydney Kornheiser, 
who was general manager of the 
BVH firm financed by' Morris, with 
Crosby as a silent partner, i.«( still 
here discussing things withi Morris 
and the writers. And if they do not 
get along together, and BVH align 
themselves elsewhere, it's likely 
Kornheiser will remain with the 
writers. * 

Meanwhile, the BVH firm with 
Morris has become inactive. Its staff 
was folded two weeks ago and the 
score of Crosby's current "Road to 
Rio" has been transferred to the 
Morris staff for exploitation. If a 
distinct cleavage with Morris is 
reached, the score and other copy- 
rights in the BVH firm wiU have to 
be split, or Morris' interest in; it 
bought out by whoever BVH do bus- 
iness with. 



Kapp, Tracey End 
Talks, Re Ma je^ 

Discussions between Jack Kapp, 
president of Decca Records, and 
Eugene Tracey, head of Majestic, 
concerning the possibility of Decca 
taking over the di.sk division of Ma- 
jestic Radio & Television, have 
ended. Decca will not buy, asserted- 
ly due to Majcstic's refusal to sell 
at the terms offered by Kapp. 

Majestic, which has been awaiting 
the approval of reorganization 
plans filed under Chapter 11 of the 
Chandler act in Chicago federal 
court, has unofficially told music 
publisher creditors that it intends to 
pay in full the royalty sums they 
are due. It's a.sserted by the com- 
pany's executives that its disk di- 
vision is in sound shape, and that 
as soon as the court allows it to 
proceed this will be proven. 

Meanwhile, Majestic's Newark 
pressing plant is again in operation, 
under forced draught to make up 
back orders lor Eddy Howard and 
Hose Murphy disks. It's claimed that 
a total of 28,000 disks are being 
turned out daily. According to a 
Majestic .statement, 60% of these are 
Howard disks. He . is their biggest 
:.selleiv , .-, 



Majestic Gets More Time 

ChicagOj March 9. 
Majestic Records, operating under 
Chapter 11 of the Chandler Act, was 
given a time extension until April 1 
by Judge Phillip Sullivan in Chi 
federal court; to file a list of liabili- 
ties and assets. B. C. Schiff, attorney, 
asked for extension beyond March 
8i on grounds it was impossible to 
comjtl*!t6f taBVBiat16B in time. * 3 



Berlin Company Can t Handle 'Em All, 
So Farms Out I Pic Tni^s to Feist, 
Recovering Ownership in l^/i Years 



Jinnny Joy Quits Baton 
For Mus-Art Spot 

Dallas, March 9. 
Bandleader Jimmy Joy has broken 
up his orchestra, recently at Club 
Martinique, Chicago, to settle per- 
manently in his home town, Dallas, 
as part of the Mus-Art booking 
agency. 

Joy joins Chick Scoggin, band 
leader and night club owner, in the 
Ft. Worth-Dallas area, who beads 
the agency's branch. He already has 
organized a local orchestra which he 
will book for engagements in nearby 
towns..'. .' . 



BBCMPubs 
Propose Severe 
Payc^Penalti^ 

London, March 5; 
British music publishers and band- 
leaders have drawn, up an agree- 
ment which will give BBC the an- 
swer long sought to end song plug- 
ging problems. Publishers propose 
to end the pay-for-plugs system by 
introducing severe p«ialties for in- 
fringement of the code now being 
completed by Valentine Holmes 
(King's counsel) on behalf of the 
BBC. 

Proposals state that any publisher 
or leader known to; give or accept 
money or any- other inducement, 
thereby committing a breach of the 
Bribery and Corruption' Acts, should 
be banned from the air for two 
years. In the case of publishers, the 
ban would apply to his entire song 
catalog. Publishers state enforce- 
ment of the rules- will save them at 
least $4^000 on every song. 

Further meeting of pubs and lead- 
ers to discuss: the agreement is being 
held Monday (8). . 



Chi Theatre Op Puts 
Heat on Jocks For 
Sloppy Guest Shows 

ChicagOi March fl. 

In a meeting with local' disk 
jockeys, Edwin Silverman, head of 
the Essaness theatre chain, asked for 
a better break from platter pilots 
for the Oriental theatre during guest 
interviews. 

Silverman feels that these appear- 
ances were unsatisfactory to the lis- 
t(ming audience, the disk jockey, 
and usually unflattering to the artist 
and offereil his -staff to assist in writ- 
ing scripts for the shows. 

Silverman said that in the past, 
Oriental stage names were whisked 
through 15 or 20 disk programs, all 
dull because of repetition and un- 
suitability. His idea is to distribute 
the'se appearances fairly, matching 
performers and show types. That 
these should be limited and jocks 
should herald a guest at least a 
week in advance. 

Disk jocks in . attendance were 
satisfied with suggestions, but were 
doubtful of stations' acceptance to 
abundance of free plug;;. It was 
suggested that if the Oriental is 
willing to reciprocate by pre- 
senting trailer announcements, sta- 
tions might be more eager to. permit 
free publicity,, ■ 

Silverman may follow the sug- 
gestion..' 



Mooney May Have New 
Hit With 'Baby Face' 

Art Mooney may have a success- 
ful sequel to his "Four Leaf Clover" 
disk hit in the version of "Baby 
Face," which M-G-M- records re- 
leased recently. M-G-M execs assert 
the second , disk, which is done in 
I the same style as "Clover," including 
banjo, has gone 250,000 copies 
(shipped and on order, that is). • 
Mooney's "Clover" disk, his first 
hit and M-G-M"s first big sales hit; 
isn't too far from the 1,000,000 mark. 



Irving Berlin and M-G-M have ar- 
ranged a unique deal involving two 
songs from the score of Berlin's 
forthcoming Metro production^ 
'"Easter Parade." Two of the new 
melodies the composer penned for 
the film, for which he is drawing an 
overall $600(000, are being turned 
over to Feist, one of the publishing 
houses which make up the Big S, 
owned by the film company. Two 
tunes are "Better Luclc Next Time," 
a rhythm piece, and "I'm a Fella 
With An Umbrella." 

Berlin's deal calls for him to re* 
cover ownership of the copyrights 
after two-and-a-half years. Mean- 
while, he will receive from Feist 10c 
per copy royalty, on sheet music and 
75% of the mechanical income 
earned by Uie songs, an almost un^ 
heard of coin agreement in such a 
situation. They are fully recorded, 
having been available to di.sk manu- 
facturers prior to the Jan. 1 disk 
ban imposed by the American Fed- 
eration of Musicians. 

Arrangement giving Feist the two 
tunes resulted ix<m the fact that 
there are five new tunes in the pic- 
ture plus a group of Berlin stand- 
ards, and his own publishing house 
will not be able to handle them all. 
Farming out tunes to other pub- 
lishers is . not new, but it's rarely 
done when the two principals in- 
volved are ot major rank. And for 
Metro's publishing subsids to be 
exploiting copyrights they do not 
own, or will not control completely, 
is unprecedented. The Only angle, 
obviously, is for stimulus of boxoffilce 
which is naturally a plus- for the 
film company, ; . 



Horrb Eei^s 
ASCAPCanp^ 

Edwin H. (Buddy) Morxis has re- 
newed his long-fought' bid tat in- 
creased availability ratings for his 
Morris, Melrose and Mayfair music 
catalogs. Lee Eastman, Morris' at- 
torney, appeared before the pub- 
lishers classification committee of 
the American Society of Composers, 
Authors and Publishers last week to 
outline Morris? reasons for believing 
that ea'ch of the three firms is 9 
candidate for a raise. 

At present, Melrose Is valued . tit 
900 points, Mayfair 800 imd Morris 
750. Couple years back the Society's 
appeals board had given each of the 
firms^ small raises and the board of 
directors muUified the jumps, knock- 
ing them down to their original 
position, where they are now. Fol- 
lowing that Morris signified his in- 
tention to launch legal action to 
achieve his ends,, and :prepaFation of 
papers in the ca.se actually was be- 
gun by Eastman last year. Later he 
halted work ' awaiting the revalua- 
tion of all catalogs by the classifica- 
tion coriimittee. Now Morris has de^ 
cided to go through the proper pro- 
cedure again to secure raises. 

Meanwhile, the classification com- 
mittee is still working at measuring 
all catalogs anew. It has' been meet- 
ing almost weekly for close to a 
year. Job the committee has laid 
out for itself is a tedious task and 
probably won't be completed for 
months, and even then will be open 
to argument. 



UNIVERSAL BUYS 30 
GENE AUSTIN MASTERS 

Chicago, March 9. 

Universal Records has completed 
negotiations ior the purchase of 
masters independently made by Gene 
Austin before the disk ban. Th^re 
are 30 sides in all. First one will be 
released March 15. Les Paul Ls ac- 
comp on all disks which includes 
many Austin originals plus his lat- 
est tune, "Gala-California." Disks 
were cut about six months ago. 

Austin, who is retired from the 
music business, now owns and op* 
epates the "My Blue Heaven" nitery 
in ■L'as Vegas. 

' Universal has almost completed a 
deal with Roy Abernathy to take 
over five masters by the Homeland 
I Harmony Quartet, now on the .White 
Cluirch laheL ' 



IN 



0 

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ORCHESTRAS-nfUSIC 



4S 



Jocks, Juices an d Disks 



By Ben Bodlec 



nlnilt Sb«r«-<-"Cryine iE'or Joy," day ior the full orchestra, but the 
^little White )U«s" <Coluinbia>. Miss vocal output doesn't sum up as 
IShOT* Inluscs "Crying" with such 
line phrasing and melodic oomph 
that the item might restore her pres- 
ttee. It sounds as though she got 
nui^ .a Icick out ot doing it. Vo- 
MUy, the Walter Donaldson staple 
Oti the other side confines its appeal 
to a catchy interlude which features 
piano and an accordion. 

Harry James — "Beyond the Sea," 
,"AU the Way" (Columbia). Not 
much to get excited about in this 
version of the European import out* 
side of flashy trumpeting, but the 
$wingsters 'iviU get a lift, and a 



Week's Bellringers 

(Code; T'o'' J«Jce#; tJocIcK; $Snles), 
"Crying lar Joy" (Dinah Shore) *t$ 
"Bine H»w»>an Bos*" (Freddy 
Martin) 't 

"jUI Uie Way" (Haror Jamcs)*t 
' ^VtooUe Q«ll«" (Andrews Sister8)t$ 
• "Bobiq's IVest" (Claude Thom- 



hefty one, from the drive of the 
•strictly instrumental, "All the "Way." 
James and Ray Conniff eoauthored 
it and the latter's arrangement per- 
mits piano, clarinet^ trumpet and 
tenor sax to rock with solo flights. 
•'Way" is a faluebanner piece tor 
juke and jock. 

Claude Thornbill — ".Tu-st About 
This Time Last Night," "Robin's 
'" West" ((^lumbia). Ballad side pro- 
vides ThomhiU with opportunity to 
>teeup one of his ivory reveries and 
Fran Warren to overemote on the 
•lyric, but with "Nest" the bandraan's 
rep for imaginative and distinctive 
interpretation reasserts itself and 
the result is as ta.sty a bit as he 
has grooved in some time. Echo-' 
. chamber effect and a duet -between 
. clarinet and sax stand out in the 
conception. 

Xavler Cu(rat-:-"It B^an in Ha- 
vana," "It's Easy When You Know 
" How" (Columbia). "Havana" is of 
bluechip persuasion. Rich in melody 
arid rhythm and with a catchlness 
that the strings and marimba ex- 
ploit to the fullest the plattcring is 
super-Cugat. Bob Graham's vocal is 
, "well contrived. There's also lilt and 
. musical gusto to the coupling, penned 
by the leader himself. Buddy Clark 
navigates the lyric on this one with 
much spark. 

Aftdy Klrk-p"Doggin* Man Blues," 
"Alabama Bound" (Decca). An 
average brace of Bea Booze dixie- 
doodles. Her "Blues" sounds a little 
washed out, but she and Xirfc man- 
, age to raise a lively beat and Vocal 
come-on. with "Alabama." Even then 
the only impressive passage is her 
bebop crossftre with the sax. 
^ Miocolis Sisters— "Boogie Yodel," 
"Nighttime Is the Time to Make 
5 'Love" (DeLuxe). This harmony trio 
has a personality and style tliat 
should lake them places. What Ihey 
need more than anything else is the 
wght song. Disk demonstrates a 
good feel for mood, versatility and 
f knack for making good mu.iic. 
. Tony MarfB— "What's Good About 
. Gopclbye,'' "For Every Man There's 
a Woman"; "it Was Written in the 
Stars,' "Hooray for Love" (Victor). 
Ballad sides of the two platters don't 
cpme off so forle, excepting "Every 
Man." Martin gets an infectious lilt 
mto that one and builds up "Hooray" 
into a crack specimen of commercial 
■ tunemaking. 
^Freddy Martin— "Blue Hawaiian 
Hose, "Feathery Feeling" (Victor), 
m the tropical-mood piece, with its 
suave strings and celeste obbligalo. 
inere arc all the earmarks of a hit. 
Wde Rogers' byplay with the words 
IS good. "Feathery" also strikes a 
^.^y^^f chord, A muted trumpet car- 
« Ai "*«l«dy most of the *ay. 
"Mtlay Allen demonstrates some 
w 3L phrasing and Glen 

wughes and the Martin Men, earvt; 
out a bright lyric. 

Buss Morran Orch, with Monica 
i.ewIs~"True," "Crying for Joy" 
iJJccca). Melodically attractive in 
me instrumental departmcnl.s and 
W^nsowe peddling of the lyrics, 
^nese two dustcd-offi numbers have 
a timeless quality and the treat- 
ments here might do much toward 
jeviving one or both of them in even 
the sheet iharts. 
■ ^.y,""*'*" MoBroe— "IVie Loveliness 
01 You "Completely Your.s" (Vic- 
4m 1 ^"''"''nce of his~ "Ballerina" 
smash IS apparent in Monroe's choice 
w scripts for this platter. It's a Aeld 



upper-drawer Monroeing. 

Jimmy Dorsey Or«li.~"ril Always 
Be in Love with You," "The iSame 
Little Chapel" (Decca). Standout bit 
in "Always" is Dorsey's clarinet .solo. 
Dee Parker's voice sounds froggier 
than usual. Bob Carroll fares much 
better in chanting the Meredith 
Willson ballad. 

Gordon MacBae — "Matinee," "That 
Feathery Feeling" (Capitol). Back- 
ing on "Matinee," probably intended 
as Ultra-modernistic stuff, stigma- 
tized what might have been an effec- 
tive vocal. Mate makes a better im- 
pression. MacRac cap t u res the 
rhythmic roll of "Feathery" and puts 
is over Hvritb finesse and meaning. 

Martlia Tiiton ^"I'm Not So 
Bright," "That's Gratitude" (Capi- 
tol)^ Platter is the first since her re- 
turn to this label. Notes corner hjird 
on "Bright" and the timing is not 
so hot, but "Gratitude" has the ring 
of something superior. Her treat- 
ment of the novelty is so free and 
easy that the lyric not only rocks 
with a catchy lilt but it registers as 
quite funny. 

VAaV. Haymes — "What's Good 
About Goodbye," "It Was Written in 
the Stars" (Decca). About the most 
listenable version of the "Casbah" 
twins that has stemmed so far from 
the crobner contingent. It's a slick 



:: Disk Jockey Review ;: 



»♦♦♦♦♦ ♦»♦♦♦» 

FAVL DIXON 

Man. thru Sat., 9:30-11:30 a.m.; 3-5 

p.m.. , ■ 
ParticipatinjT 
WCPO, Cincinnati 

Request tunes, painless commer- 
cials, plus personality, 2stabli.shcd 
Paul Dixon here. His wax opry 
buildup started last fall on a Satur- 
day, night 10:30 to 2 a.m. plus two- 
hour sessions morning and afternoon 
six days a week. His iron -man sched- 
ule is furthered by a 15-minute man- 
on-the-street series at 12:45 p.m. 
Monday thru Saturday, and a weekly 
4S-minute program for teenage plat- 
ter spinners. 

Bixon's shows have the flavor of 
one big pjirty with himself enjoying 
it as much as listeners. Artists of all 
recordings used are paid due recog- 
nition along with brief comments on 
their numbers. Keeping his band- 
wagon filling and rolling, Dixon 
identifies requesters and their selec- 
tions and passes along Congrats when 
anniversary celebrations are men- 
tioned, or well wishes for shutins. 

Proceedings are enlivened by ad- 
herence to the station's policy of 
news on the hour and headlines on 
the half-hour, also by flash sports 
reports. When available, name sing- 
ers and maestros are guests. Dixon 
adds to his popularity with juve and 
other groups by accepting their invi- 
tations, as time permits, for visits to 
social affairs and at dansanls. doing 
platter spinning at most of them. 

Koil. 



My Favorite Five 

Tom Mome 

WNOX, Knoxviile 

'•Marie" (Tommy Dorsey ) 
"South" (Benny Moten) 
"Twilight TTime" (Three Suns) 
"Cocoanut Grove" (Harry 
Owens) 

"My Blye Heaven'' (Gene 
Austin) 



matching of melody and mood and 
a special nod is due maestro Gor- 
don Jenkins for a lush and colorful 
accompo. _ ^ 

Franl(ie Xaine— "I've Only Myself 
to Blame." "But Beautiful" ((Mer- 
cury). Performed in the more re- 
strained Laine veins pegging both 
among the singularly provocative 
pieces he has grooved. Phrasing on 
"Beautiful" is relaxed and insinuat- 
ing. 

Hazel Scott — "Dancing on the 
Ceiling," "Mary Lou" (Columbia). 
(Continued on -page 48) 



Songmen Who Secured 
Pre-Ban Disks of Own 
in 



Songwriters Who just prior to the 
American Federations of Musicians' 
ban rushed in to make masters of 
their unplaced tunes are now finding 
themselves caught between- two 
ball-tossing factors. The publishers 
they contact tell 'em that it wouldn't 
be worth their while handling any- 
thing that isn't recorded and the re- 
cording companies that distribute in- 
dependently-produced disks say they 
don't like to accept such wares un- 
le.'is the numbers will be plugged by 
some publisher. 

Where these writers are encounter- 
ing the least encouragement are the 
major publishing houses. The latter 
explain , that they're loaded ior 
months to' come with-plug commit- 
ments made to the big recording 
companies during the period of mas- 
ter stockpiling. 



AFM Polk Barnet From Non-Union 
Mardi te Schoder Wl Ban 



Disk Boxscore 

Folioiuinfli is the totaXxzed vovnX 
rating /or the rccordinji com- 
panies listed among the Top 10 
in Variety's "Retail Disfc Best 
Sellers" stirney for the month o/ 
Februariy, with 10 points ac- 
corded /or the No. i record, 9 
points /or the No. 2 record, etc. 

Capitol 69 

Victor 44 

M-G-M 42 

London , , ; .1 ; ... . 32 
Decca .... . .. . , ... i . . . 21 

Columbia ..t.... 12 

Mercury .... 6 



Ciiuck: -Foster reopens the newly 
decorated Boulevard Room of the 
Stevens, Chicago, March 27, in place 
of Skitch Hendersen, who was an- 
nounced originally. . 



Mercury Completes 
Takeover of Keynote 
Via Albums Purchase 

Chicago, March 9. 
Mercury Records tliia week com- 
pleted acquisition of Keynote Rec- 
ords by the purchase of 32,000 al- 
bums. Majority of the ' disks are 
jazz and race classics, many not yet 
released. Artists represented in- 
clude Coleman Hawkins, Count 
Basic, Teddy Wilson, Bud Freemah, 
Paul RobesoJf- and Johnny Guaniari, 
Disks aliready on market will be re- 
released ' with a Mercury-Keynote 
label. 

Previously, Mercury purchased 
the Keynote classical library and its 
Czechoslovakian and other Euro- 
pean masters. 

Mercury Records is bankrolling a 
series of 11 concert dates, by Mer- 
ciury . Arlusts, • headed toy Frankie 
Laine. Norman Granz is in charge 
of the caravan; concerts will begin 
March 31 at the MuraA theatre, In- 
, dianapolis. Dates have also been 
iset for Detroit. Cleveland, Cincin- 
nati, .Toledo, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, 
I Columbus, Erie, Pa., and Chicago.' 
j Top disk jockey in each town will 
! be used as emcee. Admission will 
be charged, of course. 

Laine, who receiives a : guaranteed 
percentage of the overall take, -will 
be backed by Jan August, Helen 
Humes and Carl Fischer's orches- 
tra, featuring Flip Phillips and Rud- 
dy Morrow. A second show is in 
preparation for Vic Damone, and 
others, probably a race unit to tour 
the south,' and a hillbilly unit, are 
being set up. 

Local date will be played April 
6 at the Civic Opera House, with a 
possible tiein with the Chi Herald- 
American, for the veterans' fund. 



10 Best SeBers on GNii-Machines 



Week of Mar. 6 



, , 1. NOW IS Tffe HOUR («) (Lc«ds) 



. , C. BEG ¥OVR PARDON (3) (RObbins) 
7. SABRE DANCX (2) (Leeds) ..... 



le. I'LL DANCE AT WEDDINiG («) (Simon) 



FOUR LEAF CLOVER (7) (Remick) 

MAN ANA (S) (Barboar-Lee) 

SEBENADE; of the BEIXS (O) (Morris) 



t. GOLDEN EARRINGS (11) (Paramount) 



8. BALLERINA (IC) (Jefreison) 



•. HOW SOON (15) (Supreme) 



IGracie Fields............ . .London 

■ ( Bing Croslm.' ............. -Decco 

\ Art Mooney M-G-M 

■). Uptown String Ba-nd .Mercury 

■. Peggy Lee Capitol 

j Jo Stafford. Copifol 

■ ( Sammy Kaye Victor 
I Peggy Lee. Copitoi 

' ] Dinah Shore. ; ......... .Colu-mbia 

( Kroncis Graifli.. .Bullet 

■ I Frankie' Carle. Columbia 

( MttCfclin Marrotu. . . .M-O-M 

'\ Freddj/ Martin. ..... . .. . - . . .Victor 

) Voughn Monroe ............ Victor 

■ I Jimmi/ Dorses. ...... ... •• . .M-G-M 

I Bi-ng Crosbu- . . •• ... i.. ^ . Decca 

'1 Jack Owens. . . . . ......... . .Totucr 

[Glark-Noble ..ColmAbiu 

(Tony Mortin Victor 



Coming Up 



\ Andrews SiS'Haymes. . ... . . .Decco; 

' V Vic Damone . . ........... . Mercury 

Bing Crosby .Decca 

Dicfc Haymes . . .Decca 

Perry Como. .Victor 
Franlcie LoinCi . ......... , Mercury 



TERESA (Duchess) ••• 

but: BEAUTIFUL (Burkc-VH) .. 

LITTLE WHITE LIES (BVC) 

BECAUSE (Cliappcll) 

SHINB (Slwpiro-B) ., . . ..... .. .,..;......,>....... ........ 

MT OLD FLAME (Famous) .............. . - ............ Spike Jones. ...... Victor 

\ Vaughn Monroe, . .Victor 

IN LITTLE BOOK SHOP (BVC) |Ctta Lombardo Decca 

) Perrjy Como Victor -'1 ■ 
. . . . . . ..... . . .. .. .. . ■ ' •? I giiddy C^larfc. . , . , ... . . . .-Columbia 

( Jo Stafford Copitoi 

, ... • ' ■ ' • • ■ "I Dinah Shore. , . . . .Columbio 

\ Voughn Monroe Victor 

... ... ...... .... • ' ■ ••■^f'Tanfc iStnttt'*..^?...'. .;. 

{ Loui.'i Prima. Victor 

. .. . • . .. r*' ■ V' ■ ' r ljohnmi/ Mei^ .. . - iCapitol 

.i i . . .:. . . .. . V Vaughrtr Monroe. i.. . .Victor 

.... ......... . . > , . Cla.rk-(?ugat Columbifl 

( ToiiH; Pastor. Columbio 

UONJtTA GET A GIRL (Miller) ^ Benn« GrOodmAn . ..Capitol 

{Figures t» porenfteses ttidtcat* r.umber of weeks song has been in the Top 10.] . 



PIANISSIMO (Santly-Joy) 

BEST THINGS IN LIFE (Crawford) . 
STABS WILL REMEMBER (Harms) .... 
THOUSAND ISLANDS SONG (Morris) . 

MATINEE (Morris) 

MADB rok EACH OTHER tfiauMWB) 



Hollywood, March 9. 
Harry Schooler, operator of the 
M,irdi-Gras ballroom here crossed 
trails with the American Federation 
of Musicians twice last week-~-once 
when the AFM ordered the union 
band Charlie Barnet is fronting out 
of the spot because the latter in* 
tends employing non-union mu- 
sicians and again when he made re- 
cordings with non-union crews. 

Barnet deal is the one that really • 
counts. He opened at the Mardi 
Gras (nee Meadowbrook) a couple 
weeks back at the head of a group 
of - musicians contracted for by 
Schooler. Local 47 of AFM didn't 
do anything about it at the time ex- 
cept relay the news that the Mardi 
Gras - was joining two other of 
Schooler's ballrooms in the use of 
non-union bands when Barnct's run 
expired. However, Long Beaoh Lo- 
cal 353 beefed to the AFM and the 
latter went after 47 to pull Barnet. 

As for the recordings, Schooler is 
flatly defying the AFM, but he can 
record with non-union men under the 
Taft-Hartley law. He made eight 
sides with Charlie Gates' 14-pieCe 
group and a band under the obvious 
pseudonym of "Lionel Goodman;" 
Boh Burderre, said to have been a 
former mixer at KHJ here, handled 
controls, : 

A quartet working this area under 
Gene Keene, refused a bid by 
Schooler to cut for him. ' He would 
have had to resign from the union 
to. do the date. 



er 



lore 



Hollywood, March 9. 
Standard Transcriptions, which is 
trying to blow the top oft James Ci 
Petrillo's ban on recording, got an 
additional snub when Ike Carpen- 
ter's^ orchestra, which had 'been 
ordered by Standard to disk regard- 
less of musicians' union edict, re- 
ceived word from the AFM's legal 
battery in New York that musicians 
are not obligated to record despite 
contract Standard holds with Car- 
penter and other bands. ' 

Word was relayed to Carpenter 
through Phil Fischer, recording-biz 
contact for Local 47 here. Since 
Carpenter was put on spot by Stand* 
ard he has been plaguing Petrillo 
for- direction, and heretofore has 
been merely a#vised, indirectly, to 
•J£it tight." 

Standard- prex^ Jerry King, mean- 
while, denied that his firm contacted 
Stillman Pond, non-union band- 
boolcer. requesting information on 
Pond's bands for waxing purposes, 
Pond, who heads two agencies, one 
being: strictly union (Metro Artists), 
and one non-union (U.S. Artists),' 
asserted Standard approached him 
for a band to record but that deal 
had not been inked as yet. King 
.stated that though he has not spoken ' 
to Pond, he would not hesitate to 
do so if it became necessary and a 
non-union group could be found 
that satisfied him. At th« moment, 
Standard is not in need of sides. 

Standard is stiU demanding that 
Petrillo name a date for a Collective 
bargaining session with waxery, in. 
accordance with Taft-Hartley law 
stipulations. 'Union chieftain has 
until March 22 to meet with Stand- 
ard reps and if he fails to, Standard 
will petition the National Ijabor 
Relations Board, charging the union 
with failure to . bargain. King as- 
serted that he would fight to the 
finish with Petrillo and if - no word 
is received from the union as re- 
gard,? their ultimatuin on a bar- 
gaining meet, he is prepared to fol* 
low through. 



Ex-Wife's Judgment 

Vs. Jordan .Lowered 

A judgment against Louis Jordan 
for )SO^00O, seciH-ed some time ago 
in N. 'if. supreme court by Ida Fields. ' 
former wife of the maestro, was up- 
set by the appellate division last 
week and the award reduced to 
$20,000. Miss Fields had contended 
fraud by Jordan due to the claim 
that he married, her while he was. 
still wed to another. 

L«e JBastman, who was not con- 
cerned with the supreme court trial 
of the suiti handled the appeal. 



Lonis Dreyltts, head of Chappell 
Ltd., returned to London after « 
two-montii iday In Mew York. 



46 



ORCHESTRAS-MIISIC 



'Iffsdnesdny, MarcK 10, 1948 



Cobobia Records-Morris Time Deal 
May Indicate Publishing Arrangement 



Columbia Records and Edwin H.-t 
MMris iilusic have completed pre- 
liminary Arrangements on what may 
well turn out to bfe a lull-blown deal 
Via iKfhiob Morris will publish most 
of the songs Columbia has been 
gathering in its Columbia Music cat- 
alog. Record company has amassed 
close to 150 copyrights under the 
masthead, of the dormant music flfm 
title it registered in New York state 
several years ago, and a handful of 
them, including the recently released, 
^'Peculiar," as recorded by Buddy 
Clark, have been, turned over toi 
Morris under a royalty arrangement. 
During the past few weeks, Co- 
^umbi?i has ' been reported on the 
verge of. making a deal with a major 
Iiublisher to handle its material. 
But even if the Morris negotiations 
go full-scale, it isn,'t,Jlikely that that 
firm will be tha resting placfe *or all 
. of the, copyrights Columbia owns. 
Some' ot . the, Junes are by writers 
itOiUAted with Broadcast Music, Inc., 
which means that their songs would 
have to go either to BMI's own pub- 
lishing setup or a catalog affiliated 
with the radio-owned performance 
■ organization. Columbia is' ■ also, .in- 
clined to feel that lodging all its 
American Society of ComposerSj 
Authors and Publishers-affiliated 
stfftg^ wit>»J«owi». would antagonize 
too many, people,, Rftd as a Tesult a 
portion -of them may - be spread 
around. - ■ 

Decca is at the moment the only 
major recording conjpany with pub- 
lishing subsidiaries. It operates Sun 
•Music itself, land ir in partnership 
with Columbia Pictures and Shapiro- 
Bernstein in Mood Music, and with 
firegjrisrirVOcco-Conn in Supreme 
Music,- which published "Near You" 
and ."How Soon" 



Barry Gray's New Deal 

Miami Beach, March 8. 

Barry Gray, who's been conduct' 
ing the WKAT airshows in the Copa- 
cabana Loung?, Miami Beach, has 
been renewed for an additional year, 
at a , salary, re-pprted, , to be $500 
weekly .during, .the, .sumriler months 
and. j$i,ODO weelcly, for. the period 
from, DecepniberjftQ, March. Deal also 
calls tor a perce.hiag'e .of the room's 
gross beypn.d. $4,500., . 

Gray,, who left, .for a Newi York 
vacation, said he may also do a 
commentary for WKAT and is cur- 
rently negotiating- with Jack Cohn 
of Columbia Pictures for a series of 
shorts. , ■ ' . ■ 



YALDES CONTRACTED 
T03DIFF1£RENTMGTS. 

. Hollywood, March 9. 
. Miguelitb Valdes is in the unique 
position of being at the moment tied 
to three different management 
agency contracts. He's under con- 
tract to William Morris, shifts in* 
July to the new Continental agency 
of Hollywood, and in July, 1949, re- 
turns to Morris for three years. 

Unique situation' came about thus- 
ly: Milt Deutsch, one of Continen- 
tal's founders, formerly was Valdes' 
personal manager. 'With • 'Valdes' 
Morris pact expiring in July, he' got 
the maestro to sign with Continental 
for one year. Mprris agency's Cress 
Courtney then induced 'Valdes to 
sign a three-year deal beginning 
July, 1949, when the Continental 
pact runs out. 



Vernon Duke Due Back In 
U.S. After Year in Paris 

Paris, Feb. 24. 
Vernon Duke, American wrifer- 
coniposer who's been in Europe lor 
the pest year, is scheduled to return 
to the U S. March 12 aboard the 
America. During his stay here he 
saw his ballet, "Le Bal des Blan- 
chisseuses," produced at the Champs 
Elysees theatre in December, 1946, 
and last Oct. 10 his third symphony 
had its world' preem in Brussels 
where it was conducted by Daniel 
Sterneteld. 

Last spring Duke handled his own 
radio show on a Ideal station tagged, 
"Broadway-Champs Elysees," X^ich 
featured himself as well as Claude 
Alphand and- American socialite 
chanteuse, Ann Francine. Due to 
her return to the States, . the pro- 
gram was not renewed but the com., 
poser continued to appear on t|ie 
air via guest shots on Other shows. 

Duke has been endeavoring to ar- 
range production of his operetta, 
"En Valsant," ,but his efforts to date 
have not resulted in anything def-^ 
inite. He feels that the fact that he's 
not a French citizen and hence not 
entitled to a government subsidy 
may be the reason why "producers 
are unwilling to risk an important 
musical venturie,^' in the words of 
the composer. Operetta's book, \xii 
cidentally, is by the late Francis de 
Croisset with lyrics by Albert 
Willemetz. 



VaDon-Goldfarb Sue Hennan in NX 
For lOG Pins on Reneged Pacts 



Inside (hrchestras-Mu»c 

Les Paul's Capitol recordings of "Brazil" and "Lover," backed up, are 
those he made himself in Hollywood before January and on which he 
plays all eight instruments. Suice both' sides appear to be on their way 
to hitdom, tradespeople are waiting to see what he'U do in the eyent they 
grow to the point where he would be in demand (or. theatre work. Under 
■such ciTCumstances, the artist is, of course, expected to perform the song 
or songs that brought him to attention. In Paul's case he'd have to .be 
Superman to duplicate either side. He could, however, have seven of 
the. instruments cut onto a fresh disk, which could be fed into a house 
ip,a. system while he performed on the eighth out front. 

Paul accomplisherf the unusual blending of instruments one at a time, 
a process used many times before by recording companies, but never to 
the same extent^He did it by cutting one part, playing it back vie ear- 
phones so as to blend with the second, and so on until all parts were ready 
to be blended onto a master. Krts tads was prodigious considering that he 
was listening to tfne part and at the sarhe thne performing another. Com- 
pared to the practice many recording companies used prior to ttie disk- 
ban of cutting musical background's and later inserting vocals, the latter 
was child's play. 

Clothes designer Ray Driscoll who's noted for his annual lists of the 
10 best, and 10 worst dressed stars popped up last week with a compila^ 
tiori' of "America's 10-best dressed records" and the ensemble each wax- 
ing suggests. Hollywood branch of Saks Fifth Avenue bUilt a window 
display around the selections. 

In respective order DriscoU's golden 10 are "Golden Earrings" (Crosby 
Decca), "But Beautiful" (Whiting-Capitol), "Too Tat" Polka" (Andrews 
Sis-Dfecca)-; "It's Written in the Stars" (Hiymes-Decc'a), "Best Things 
in Life Are Free" (Lunceford-Decca), "Civilization" (Andrews' Sis-Decca) 
"Gentleman Friend (Haymes-Decca), "Papa Won't You Dance With Me' 
(Lbfflbardo-Decca), "All Dressed Up With a Broken Heart" (Clark-Co- 
lumbia) and "St. Louis Blues" (Home). .... 



When Art Mooney's hit M-G-M disking of "Four-Leaf Clover" hit the 
jackpot weeks back all other recording companies either cut new masters 
of the tune or dug into their flies for old ones. Latter procedure was 
natural in some cases since Moouey's cutting of the tune was based on a 
Style popular when the song was first written more than 20 years ago, 
Columbia, for example, reissued Tiny Hill's record of it, made for its 
Okeh label some years ago. It ?wasn*t juntil last week,; however, that, the 
company found out it had a cutting of the tune made by an orchestra 
under the direction of Ben Selvin, currently assistant to Manie Sachs, 
Columbia's artists .and repertoire head. Selvin had made the disk for the 
Brunswick label in 1924 and' had c6mpletely forgotten it. 



Woody Herman and the Palladium Ballroom, Hollywood, have not as 
yet reached a conclusion on what percentage of ' the spot's dinner busi 
ness will accrue to the leader on his guarantee and- -percentage of the 
gross deal. Issue is being left until Herman completes, his run and will 
then be threshed! out. And his portion of the restaurant revenue may go 
to him in'-the form of a bonus. ~ 

Herman's deal' called for approximately $2,800 'fii' guarantee plus 50% 
of gross over $8,900. Palladium, however, grants free dance flobr admis- 
sion to dinner patrons, who pay $2.50 per plate.- Leader iigur,es that a 
part Df this at least' should figure in- his percentage 



Jimmy Dorsey will be in the unusual position of .competing with him 
self when Feist starts to work on "I Understand.!'. .T,une is a hold-over 
from the radio- American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers 
fight in 1940, and Dorsey at that time recorded' it for Decca with Bob 
'Eberle. Just before the recent disk ban he recorded the same melody for 
M-G-Jl, his current affiliation, and both disks are to be -marketed, pecca 
reissuing, the older xrersion when S'eist is ready to promote the tune. 



- Pittsburgh band of Billy LeRoy is practically, a tradition now at U, 
, of Pitt's Military Ball. • Affair is being resumed jPridajr . (1?) after a war- 
time lapse of six years and LeHoy will play.it again for fifth time, this 
time along with Vaughn Monroe. In. 1942, LeBoy, was ,co-feature,d with 
Frajjkie Masters ancl.Bemiie punimins; in 1941, with Benjiy Goodman; in 
19^, With Buss' Morgan, and in 19S8, with Artie Shaw. 



Woody Herman's spilt late last 
year with Michael Vallon and Her- 
man (Chubby) Goldfarb, his mana- 
gers and attorneys over the past 
seven years, has resulted in a court 
fight. Vallon and Goldfarb filed suit 
a couple months ago in N. Y. su- 
preme court asking for almost $10,- 
000 they claim Herman still owes 
them, plus an accounting of his 
earnings since March 21, 1947 to 
date. Suit came to -Jight when they 
moved to examine the maestro be- 
fore trial. 

Herman split with Vallon and 
Goldfarb last Aug. 27. They claim 
that their first dealings with the 
leader was hi 1941,, when he inked 
a three-year contract with them. 
This was replaced Ifl 1941 by a five- 
year deal calling for them to re-i 



CRC Won't Look 
Abroad for Ifits 
tlAkss Hey Rate 

Columbia Records, which also gpt 
caught short of a recording of 
"Manana," hit tune written by Peggy 
Lee and her husband, Dave Barbour, 
has been checking into the possi 
bility of releasing in the U. S. ver 
sion of the tune made by its English 
affiliate, EMI, on a Columbia label. 
Columbia's execs, ■ however, have 
given .orders -that Engli^ recordings 
of tunes that might be needed here 
should jiot be released in this coun-. 
try unless they measure up to the 
competition. There is to be no 
transferring of EngliiSh masters to 
Columbia here unless that require- 
ment is met. 

"Manana" was withheld from the 
recording market by Miss Lee and 
Barb'our so as to forestall any pos- 
sibility of rival companies getting 
hold of it before the Jan. 1 disk ban 
and ptoviding too much competition 
for their own disk, which they an- 
ticipated would be a hit. Mills Bro!>. 
somehow got a copy /bf the tune and 
made it for Deccaj but MO other out- 
fit has it. 



STEVENS CO. COMEBACK 
AWAITS CREDITOR DEAL 

Stevens Music, which passed into 
limbo last fall due to its inability to 
keep up with debts, will be reacti- 
vated by Jack Osfeld if a deal to 
satisfy creditors goes through. Os- 
feld has the backing of an undesig- 
nated major music publisher in his 
efforts to resume and is offering a 
25c-on-the-dollar settlement to cred- 
itors. It's claimed 95% of the cred- 
itors have okayed the arrangement. 

Stevens Music is a Broadcast Mu- 
sic, Inc., affiliate. 'When the catalog 
was deactivated last'.year, Osfeld 
went to California as a rep of and 
shareholder inf Jack Johnstone's new 
BMI firm, Johnstone Music. He re- 
turned to N. Y.' last week to set 
about renewing Stevens. Inci- 
dentally, the latter name is not 
likely to be retained. 

Maestro Charlie Splvak, associated 
with Osfeld in the' original deal, will 
not be in the revised picture. 



ceive 10% of the Herman band's ■ 
profits. It's claimed that $4,870 is due 
them on this pact though it was 
agaift replaced in March, 1947, by 
another five-yeSr deal calling for 
them to receive 10% of - Herman's 
earnings in the entertainment field 
exclusive of maestro chores, and 5% 
of his gross as a bandleader. It's 
claimed that $1,060 is due on this 
agreement. 

In addition, Vallon and Goldfarb 
allege that an oral agreement called 
for Herman to pay them an addi- 
tional $10,000 annually for legal fees, 
$5,000 of which is still in arrears. 

Herman admits to the 'contracts 
but filed several defenses. He claims 
they conducted a theatrical employ- 
ment agency without a N, Y. license, 
hence his pacts with them contrary 
to N. Y. state laws; he contends that 
each of his earlier agreements with 
them were wiped out by the final 
arrangement. He also asserts that 
the plaintiffs violated their obliga- 
tions to him by failing to act for 
him but more for their own Inter- 
ests; that, they failed^o keep an ac- 
curate account Qf his. earnings; re- 
fused him permission to examine 
books and antagonized potential 
buyers and radio sponsors. 

Herman requests rescession of the 
last contract between him and the 
plaintiffs, and an accQUnting...Latter 
deny all his allegations. 

At the time Herman split with 
Vallon and Goldfarb he also failed 
to renew his contract with General 
Artists Corp. He's now handled by 
the new Continental Agency, set up 
on the Coast by Milt peutsch, Abe 
Turchin and Jack Archer. Archer 
and Deutsch had been former road 
managers of his band and Turchin 
handler those chores currently;, Her* - 
man's band i^ at the Palladium Ball-; 
room, Hollywood, but is due in N. Y. 
next month for a run at the Com>^ 
modore hotel. 



Victor's British 'Teresa,' 'Manana' 
Hollywood, March 9. 

EC A- Victor is preparing ^o release 
versions of "Teresa" and "Manana" 
in this "country which were made in 
England by the HM'V label (RCA- 
Victor English disks) and the cir- 
cumstEince has led to the belief here 
that Victor is going overseas to make 
disks of new tunes. "Teresa" was 
available to Victor i;j the U.S. be- 
fore the Jan. 1 disk -ban, but it was 
overlooked in the- hustle of stocking 
up mastei's; "Manana" written by 
Peggy Lee and her husband, Dave 
Barbour, was held away from rival 
recording companies (they cut for 
Capitol), but Decca managed to get 
it done by the Mills Bros. : 

Joe Loss' orchestra made the two 
tunes for HMV ;and they're to be re- 
leased here within the next few 
Weelcs. ' 



Victor's Stance 

. Victor's headquarters in New York 
.ridicule the thought that because it 
hadn't recorded either' song before 
the Jan. 1. ban that it had instigated 
the cutting of them by its British 
brancli. It's pointed out. .that since 
the London label has been shipping 
material into the U.S. the English 
disk market and sheet sales marlcet 
has been working on U.S. songs 
virtually at the same time that their 
U.S. publishers have. In other words, 
-Victor asserts that HMS picked up 
the songs in the normal course o£ 
events and; as it has done countless 
•times in the past, is- marketing them 
here. It's admitted now even that the 
lack of " masters' of the tunes involved 
speeded .u pthe transte;r .of the Eng- 
lish versions here once it was known 
HMVhiadthem. . ; 



:; ■ .. ■ *■ - ■ 

I Songs With Lai^est Radio Antee \ 

The top 32 sonars, o/ the week, based on (he copyrighted Audience 
Coverage Index Survey of Popular Mustc Broadcast Over Radio 
Networks, Published by the Office of Resedrch, Inc.. Dr. John, O.. 
Peatman, Director, ■ 

Survey Week of February S7-niarcIi 4, 1948 

Ballerina ...............1.....*...,....... ..........Jefferson 

Beg Your Pardon,. ....... ....,;•............,...'... ..Bobbins 

Big Brass Band' From Brazil— '*"Angel In the Wings". Morris 

But Beautiful— f'Road To Rio" ; Burke-'VH 

Don't Call It Love— t"I Walk Alone" Famous 

Fool That 1 Am Mutual 

Golden Earrings^f'Golden Earrings" Paramount , 

Ho-.v ^iUcky You Are ..Maurice 

I Never Loved Anyone Dreyer 

I'll Dance At Your Wedding...... .....Simon 

I'm Comin' a Courtln' Corabelle ........ ...a, ...... Dreyer 

I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover ...... i ..... . . . Remick 

In a Little Bookshop .....Triangle ' ' 

It's Easy When You Know How . . . . . . . . . .... ........ Pemora 

I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling Santly-Joy 

Let's Be Sweethearts Again ...,......,..,...........C-P 

Lone Star Moon . . . , ... . . . . ..... Advanced 

Manana ,. ,Barbour-Lee 

My Cousin Louella Shapiro-B 

'.MOW Is the Hour..../.,.,...,. Leeds 

Pianissimo .... ....... . . ..... .Santly -Joy 

Sabre Dance ....Leeds 

Saturday Date t.. . Southern 

Sat. Night Central Park— ♦"Make Mine Manhattan". . . .T. B. Harms 

Serenade Of the Bells .... .. Melrose 

Shauny O'Shay— *"Look Ma, I'm Dancing" ......... t. Chnppell 

The Stars Will Remember .. , .Harms 

Thoughtless ....... , .-. .j ....'.... . Feist 

What'll I Do....... ............ . Berlin 

With a Hey and a Hi and a Ho Ho Ho Bourne 

You Ttirned the Tables on Me ■ Fox 

You- Were Meant For Me— t"You Were Meant For Me"MiUer 



The remaining 18 songs of the week, based on the copyrighted 
Audience Coverage Index Survey of Popular Music Broadcast Over 
Radio Networks, Published by the Office of Reseftreh, Inc., Dr. John 
G. Peatman, Director » 

A Fellow Needs a Girl— '"'"Allegro" . . . ... . V. . . . i . . . - Williamson 

A Tune For Humming ', Paramount 

All Dressed Up With Broken Heart Marks 

An Old Sombrero . . Shapiro-B 

Best Things Are Free— t"Good News" Crawford 

Dickey-Bird Song— 1"3 Daring Daughters" ........... Robbins 

Haunted Heart— ♦"Inside U.S.A." Williamson 

How. Soon i . ..Supreme 

I'm My Own Grandpaw General 

Love Is So Terriffic Mellin 

Oooh Look-a There, Ain't She Pretty ............ ....Leeds 

Pass the Peace Pipe— t"Good News" Crawford 

Passing Fancy ....................................... .BMI 

Tell Me a Story Laurel 

Teresa Duchess 

Treasure Sierra Madre— t"Trea8Ure of Sierra Madre". , Remick 
• ' You Don't Have To Know the Language— t"Road Rio'. Burke- VH 
You've Change^ .Melody liane 

I'Fitmusical. ' *Le0it MusicaL . 



Wedite»4«y* Munch 10, . 1948 




Basie Band latest 



Carnegie Hall. N. Y., apparently 
has become the prestige foooking tov 
]ftas-tyi)e bands as well as for classical 
' artists. During recent months, when 
(0 many bands liave seriously bejjun 
doing one-night concerts, ivorlting 
Carnegie has become a "must" to 
Strengthen out-of-town billing. To 
tbcm and the fleld they're getting 
into it seems tt> l>e equally as •.im- 
portant as dlitfee *pr dartce-style 
bands at the Pennsylvania hotel, 
;^stor hotel, N, Y.J the Meadolwbrook 
Ju Cedar Grove, N. J., and Holly- 
wod Palladium ballroom. 

Count Ba.<iie'>is the latest to hit the 
concert fleld. He'll kick off a string 
of 24 dates next month with a mid- 
night concert April 24 at Carnegie. 
Basie has played the longhair em- 
porium before, a couple years ago. 
Ernie Anderson is promoting him. In 
recent months, Lionel Hampton, 
Dizzy Gillespie,' Duke' Ellington, Stan 
Jtenton and others have played the 
; -spot. ■■■■■ 

OiUespie Dater May 8 

Dizzy : GiUespie will take advan- 
tage of whatever b.o. prestige is 
added to his name via the. European 
tour he's now conjpleting with his 
band, by doing a second Carnegie 
Hall, New York, concert May 8. 
Band played its first date at Carne- 
i;ie Jan. 7 last to a full house. 

Leonard Feather, who promoted 
the first Carnegie booldng, is also- 
in back o£ the repeat. 



DAncBTER u, wm 

PLAYS wnnOUr CARLE 

, Philadelphia, March 9. 
Frankie Carle's orchestra resumed 
work without him here Friday (6) 
night at the U. of Pennsylvania, and 
the band also played Ray Harten- 
stein's Sunnytorook Ballroom, Potts- 
town, Pa.. Saturday (6) without the 
pianist, who's still on the Coast with 
his ailing daughter, Marjorie Hughes 
who formerly worked as tha band 
vocalist. 

GAC which books Carle;, got to- 
gether with the Penn music com- 
mittee and HartenstDin and revised 
the financial aspects of the contracts 
to make up for Carle's absence, 

Carle, it was said by hLs men, is 
expected back from his daughter's 
bedside later this week. Dates have 
been cancelled ; at Holyoke and 
Lowell, Mass., but Carle may return 
in time to play a date in Providence 
Friday (12), He quit the band last 
week in Columbia, S. C, to fly west, 
and all dates up to the Penn book- 
ing were drbpped. 



«»€liGSlVitAiS-Mi7Sl€ 47 



Carle to.Precm New Mpls. Spot 

MlnneapolLs, March 9. 

Frankie Carle's orchestra haa been 
bought to debut the new club which 
will occupy the site of the Happy 
Hour, which burned to the ground 
last fall. Work is still proceeding 
oh the construction of the spot, 
which" hasn't yet been named, but 
Carle is booked for one week, 'start- 
ing April 8. 

New spot will have a capacity of 
about 650. 



Bands at Hotel B.O/s 



Bitail Hotel riuyed 

Eniil CoJemah'.i. Waldorf (400; $2) ......... . 22 

Dick Jurgens. .... Pennsylvania (500; $1-$1,50) , , . . .... 2 

6hep.Field&*......New Yorker .(400; $1-$1.50J!. ........ 2 

Johnny Pineapple .Lexington (300; $1-$1.50) 69 

, Ouy Lombardo. . . .Roosevelt (400! $l-$i:50) 21 

\Eddy Howard.... Commodore (400; $l-$1.5p) 8 

. *I>ucienne Bover at Waldorf; Ice Show at New Yorker. 



Coven 
Part 
Week 

2.100 
1,500 
1,150 
7S0 
2,375 
1,150 



Totat 
Coven 
QnDate 

49,425 
3,125 
■ 8,075 
62,160 
46,850 
10,475 



'-"Chicago' ."■'.'.'■'.■ 

Chicago, March 9. 

. Murray Arnold (Empire Room, Palmer House; 550: min. $3.50-$l cover). 
Three day snowfall stilled most downtown spots. Kaye Ballard and Arnold 
:\pkay. at 2^400, however. . 

' Sfcitch .Henderson (Boiflevard Room; Stevens: 6^6: $3.50 min.-$l cover). 
/Becoratora displaced entertainment Sunday (7). Room reopens March 
. 27, with dhuck fey>ster. Passable 2,300; ' 

; John Kirby Sextet and Barbosa's Quintet. (College Inn, Serman; 050; 
|2-$3.SO nitai.). Ray' English iii Friday (5). Mildred Bailey d^eparted on 
«ad 1,800 tab note. 

' Bay Morton (Mayfair Rooihi Blackstone) 300;' $3.50 min.-$l eover). 

Jimmy Savo's bow Monday (l) kept room filled. Great 2,200. • 
• CtMfce Oben (Marine Room, Edgewater ^Beach; 700; |l.S0-$!i.S0 mill.). 

Managing nicely despite «torm; 3,100. 

Los Angsles 

Freddy Martin (Amhassadort 800 $1.50-$2.). Good 2,200 tab» (closed 
to public fViday (4) for Louella Parsons IMnner). 
jr«n Oarber (Biltmore; 900; $l-$1.50)j' BoflCo 2,825 covers. 

Location Joiis, Not in Hotels 

(Cfticooo) 

Tommy Carlyn (Trianon; $1-$1.15 adm.). Proving good draw. Handsome 
ai,200. 

Del Courtney (Aragon; $1-$1.1S adtn.). Hovering around 11,900, n.s.g. 

Marty Gould (Chez Paree; 850; $3.50 min.); Ray Bolger on top,. Okay 
1,000. 

Art Kassel (Blackhawk; 500; $2.50 min.). Another mild 1,900. 

Buddy Shaw (Latin Quarter; lOO; $2.50. Sonny Mars and Jackie HiUiard 
opened Friday (5), atid firslt night put a little life in place. Much hetter 
2,000. 



' (Los- 'Anoelesi) "' 

Woody Hcrnsn (Palladium B. Hollywood 5th wk.). Strong 12,700 ad- 
missions,' - 




THE 
DIGKEY-BIRD 
SONG 



R*3BBINS music" CORPORATION 



LONDON DISKS WORK 
FAST ON U.S. PRESSINGS 

London Recoras U utilizing plenty 
ot speed in getting recordings of 
new tunes into the U. S. from its 
"-Ent^lish recording studios and press- 
ing plants. U. S. counterpart of the 
British Decca company took a song 
titled "More Than Ever Before" from 
United Music, its U. S. publishers, 
about two weeks ago and expects thp 
first pressings of the tune to arrive 
in N. Y. froui England this Friday 
(12). That's almost as fast as any. 
major U. S. di*k company does un- 
der pressure. 

London apparently applied tlie ac- 
celerator to United's song in antici- 
pation of the fast disk growth that 
caused its own recording to be made. 
This disk, ciit by Metrotone label; in- 
die outfit, with Don Reid, has been 
showing up well in Pittsburgh. Reid 
is also the tune's writer. , . 




Lyrks and Mvsk by 

INEZ JAMES Mi SIDNEY MIUER 

WHAT DO I HAVE ID DO 

(TO MAKE YOU lOVE ME?) 

RAV noble (Columbia) • DICK HAYMES tOecco} 
VAUGHN MONROE (Victor) • ANDY RUSSaKCopHol) 
SHEP FIELDS (Muslcraft).* SNOOKY LANSON (Meiciiry) 

(IT ONLY TAKES) 

A LITRE IMAGINATION 

RAY NOBLE (Columbia) • DICK HAYMES (Decca) 
VAUGHN MONROE (Victor) • SUNSET TRIO (Capitol) 
PHIL BRITO (Mvsicraft) 

DADDY SDRPRISE ME! 

DINAH SHORE (Corumbfo) • FOUR MUS-ETTES (Musicraft) 

II LOOKING FOR A 
PRINCE OF A FELLA 





.'OOlin t>'i>i '-i .-i' 



48 



ORCHBSTBAS-IHIIJSIC 



Vedneflday, March 10, 1948 



Listen io 

The ANDREWS 




Mktgh MU Beeords For Stt/^soSh 
Singing Speed i^he^'jin^S 
inirodnee tike excitini^^Siifto 



SABRE 




Not one niilb Mmd been ciiangedl 
Hoi ojae note |pas lieen OMtdiiedS 




KbacXiaiuKimk 
* al noie ior noiei 



"7" SABRE OANCe 

^ Words by Allan Roberts and UsterUe 

Zing, Z ngl Zig-i'-. ^«'»' 
Z,g.i-dee, ting- » p j,. 

ey'ry tim. Ihey P'°y 

Wh-n I heoi; trun>p«»s Waring, 
r^con l.ei odvon,«J. 

, in Vn.ooa . c-n-. «P.0.". 

Th.r. in » 9»''""„''rlrtderf«'l 

WoiH my • 

Hold m« «'9''» ... 
All through »h« 

MviiO loV« «»•. 
Don't fortoko ">•' 
l«l me b* » 

>'*'^S.H.-"?;"*j:t?ou.o.«on»roK^^ 
Whirling. »w'r>'»9.' .. 
that mu.le drive. m«*™J' 
EV,y thing b«pm.. w y^^,,,, ,^„,„g, 

i«„ when 1 9«« T ' 

tike 0 star that'. Wlixg . 
Toppling! Twi.tin9» Tumblingl 
Ana down, end down ond down ond^ own. 

And roun', ond down. 
And down, end down ""f ^nTi »wnce, 



RETAIL DISK BEST SELLERS 









a 

O 








1 : 


1 ^ 
















Survey 0/ retail disk best 
sellers, based on reports ob- 
tained from leading stores in 
11 cities, and showing com- 
parative sales rating for this 
and last week. 




JS 
M 

u 

•a 

a 


o 

K 
1 

a 


tn 


6 

.1 

w 

■ft. 


& 
o 

1 

. to 


1 

1 

m 
ja 
ro 


6 

i 


■tt 

i 


6 
' (1) 

1: 

oi 

w 

i 

5 
a 
»4 


r\ 
X 

a 

1 


& 


T 
0 

■ T 

.'•..A 


National 
Ratins 

•Sbia Last 
wk. wk. 


VUpph Endinn 
n i; vift Jbiiiiiiigi . 

Mar fi 

Artist, liabei. Title 




! New York— (libf 


0 , 
■a 

i 
I 

f 

"3 

o 


Oi 

.4 

O'; 
' ' 'In.' 
ti» 
*> 

Q : 


Kansas City— (Je 


1 

0 

w ■ 

i- 

-to 

z 

kg 
B 
< 

a' 


San Francisco^d 


1 
T 

El 

1 

O' 

aa 


ft 

"3 
J 

s 


Seattle— (Shermati 


< 

T 
ill 

1 
1 


P 

o 

1 

N 
T 
S 


1 1 




..... 


2 


I 


2 


1 


3 


t 


4 


4 




2 


3 


87 


2 2- 


PEGGV LEE (Capitol) 




1 


2 


6 


3 




2 


5 


3 


3 


3 


S 


77 


3 » 3 


GRACIE FIELDS (Ijondon) 




S 




1 




1 


•• 


1 


•• 


• v'V 


' 


1 


46 


4 5 


VAUQHN WiONBOE tVlCtor> 
"Ballerina" •.. 





3 




3 


7 


6 


.■»„.■ 




# * 


■V r' 


6 


10 


37 


5 6 


■ BING CROSBY (Uecca) 
"Now Is the Hour" 





•• 


4 




2 




3 






' 


.1' 


f * 


34 


6 . 10 


FRANCES CRAIG (Bullet) 






5 


9 


4 5 


■ 




.. • 


9 


. .■ 


2 


32 


7 7 


JO STAFFORD (Capitol) 






•• 


7 


8 




8 






4 \ 


4;,- 




24 


8 4 


PEGGY LEE (Capitol) 
"Golden Earrings" 




9 


•• 


5 


5 


8 


6 








.. 




21 


9A 10 


LES PAUL (Capitol) 
■ "Lover" 




•'■ 


3 


•• 








• • 


viv: ! 


>■■•■ 


... 


.. 


18 


9B 10 


FRANKIE LAINE (Mercury) 








f 4. 
















6 


18 


10 .. 


MACKLIN MARROW (M-G'-M) 
"Sabre Dance".. . . ... . 


* k . 


f ■■ 






4 




2 




1 ■ 




. . 


16 


U 


BING CROSBY (Decca) 
"How Soo«",. 






10 


•■ 


6 


7 






.* 




7 




14 


12 9 


FRANKIE CARLE (Columbia) ; 
"Beg Your Pardoner . . . . . ; . . ... . : . , , . 






•• 






4 


•• 


6 


■ 






12 


13 .. 


FBAN&IE LAINE (Mercury) 
"But Beadtitur.. 




6 . 




.. 








• «■ 


... 


5 . 






11 


14 .. 


R1ISS MORGAN (Decca) 








• b 


• » 






• • 


* • . ' 










15A . .. 


VAUGHN MONROE (Victor) 






7 










6 




■ 




• • 


« 


ISB 10 


FBANK'-StNATRA (Columbia) 
"^ut B^ntiful' 




V. 


..■ 




2 














9 


15C .. 


- PERKY COMO (Victor) 
"Because" 






'•■»';.' 


. ■. , ■ 










2 








9 


1.5D .. 


BEN LIGHT (Tempo) 

"I Cried for. Yon" 




















2 






0 


16A 


ART LUND (M-G-M) 

"But" Beavtifar. 




> ■ 


*■ . 










3 










8 


16B 


ABTHUB GODFREY (Columbia) 
■ ■"Mioi^iil .■Isiianij". i , . , . , . .■...^.V;-.. 












^ * 






6 




8 


8 


17A .. 


ARTHVUr'GODFRtrY (Columbia) 
"Slap Her Down Again, Paw". . . . . i . 














• * ■ 


8 






7 


7 


17B ' 


WALTER SOLIK (Harraonia) 
-''Jnlame Polka" 
























4 


7 



FIVE TOP 
AtBUMS 



"GOOD NEWS" 
Grig. Ca>t 
M-G-M 



"PARK AVENUE 

HILLBILLY" 
. Dorothy Shay 

Columbia 



"ST. PATRICK'S 
DAY" 
Ring Croiby 

Decca 



"MASTERPIECES'' 
6len Miller 

Victor 



Al JOISON 

Album No. 1 

Decca 



Jocks & Jukes 

S Continued from page 4S s 



J'iss Scott strictly on the chanteuse 
side. Record may not stir up a 
clamor but for ttie laithf ul this 
clever talent has fashioned the 
Kodgers-Hart revival into a haunt- 
ing lament. 

Mary Ann McCall— ."Trouble • Is 
Man," "I Want a Butter and Egff 
Man" (Capitol). Woody Herman's 
staff chirper steps out, with some 
i^well orchestral , counterpointing by 
Ralph Burns, and- demonstrates that 
She can be as adept with tricky 
i-hythm licks aii with the Alec 
Wilder's fanciEuI blues. Hers is a 
voice that isn't strong on volume 
or range but she makes up for thi.<i 
with a keen feel for the mood and 
stylistic phrasing. 

Tommy Dorsey Orch.— "Sentimen- 
tal Journey," , "You Can't Make 
Money Dreaming" (Victor). The 
mRch-used "^Journey," rolls out vel- 
vety smo,0th, in aj'^dic finish anS 
dipped in sentiment 'that's as sticky' 
as molas-sea. Audrey Young handles 
the vocal. Perlcier "Dreamin"' par- 
cels out the word a.ssignment to 
Harry Prime and the Clark Sisters. 

Andrew Si'^ters — "Toolie Oolie 
Doolie (the Yodel Polka," "I Hate to 
Lose You" (Decca). Sisters holiday 
from, their dynamic bent and pitch 
a: combination of yodel and polka 
crowded with harmony, accordion 
obbligatos and echo-chamber effects 
"Toolie's" a natural for the clientele 
that favors harmony-milting on the 
sweet and subdued side. Ditto for 
the other side's oldie, where the 
rhythm is bright, Patti's solo engag- 



ing and the ivory interluding smart- 
Four Sportsmen — "My Wife Has 
Gone and Left Me," "Helen Polka" 
(Capitol). Jack Benny's commercial 
connivers could Itave in the "Wife" 
.saga one of thoiie zany things that 
tor unchartable reasons . beconie a 
big hit. Piece starts off in a serious 
veia, switches to looney lyrics and 
winds up with hysterical laughter. 
It's. worth a juke test. The polka 
item,- blend of rich harmony and 
rhythmic vitality, should better than 
make the grade where the polka is 
strong.^ 

Larf'y Clinton— "Dreamy Lullaby," 
"Worry, Worry, Worry" (Decca). 
There's a big enough chunk of the 
old Clinton touch to .make both 
sides quite danceable as well as 
Ifstenable. The woodwinds do much 
to mold the mood of the Ben-jamin- 
Weiss-Carle opus, while "Worry" 
turns out quits a romp (or tfie brass 
section. Helen Lee does capably by 
the "Lullaby" lyric but it'.s the male 
group that accounts for the lively 
sendoBE for the backing's vocal. 

.Tommy Dorsey makes ingratiatinf! 
dansaption out of "My Gal Is Mine 
Once More" (Victor) without losing 
the spirited western flavor of the 
Arthur Schwartz composition, ' and 
hi.s vocal troupe, headed by Audrey 
Young, exploits Howard Dietz' lyrics 
in a quality manner. "Starlight 
Rendezvous" coupling is super slow 
in tempo and extra thick in cake- 
icing, but the faithful will jubilate 
over that trombone chorus. 

Dick Rogers (Apollo) should 
garner himself no little attention i 
trom the novelty-buying crowd via 
hia "Do You Need Money?" Wit 
deftjly handled nonsense. "There's 
Only One Matilda" la<(lKs the punch 
of' its mate. 
HhiH Sisters (Victor) have » 



couple of harmony nifties in "Teach. 
Me, Baby" and "Money, Money, 
Money," specials by Sid Teppen and 
Roy Brodsky. There's individuality 
and solid irouping about the girls' 
work, with the calypso-style 
"Money" having the flavor of tiptop 
jukebox. 

Tex Beneke (Victor) goes on « 
sentimental spree with "Old Som- 
bero" and "Dream Lullaby." Piano 
reverie In the latter rendition is 
especially ple&sant. 

Moreyl Amsterdam (Apollo) offers 
a pair of novelty ditties of his own 
authorship that may get quite a rise 
out of the comedy-inclined trade. 
"■iruk-a-Puk" has the sharper verses 
and "No Money," the catchier 
melody. 



WANTED 

SONGS 

FROM WAY BACK WHEH! 

IVflL BUY AUTHORS OR 
PUBllSHfRS RIGHTS. IN OlDKS 
FOR INStANCf 

"DEARie." "VALE OF DREAMS" 
"DREAMING/' "RED ilOSE RAG" 
"MY GAL IRENE," Etc. 

MlfST BE A BARGAIN 
ED. COLLINS 

FIRST NATIONAL BANK BLD6. 

CHICAGO 3. ILL. 



Wiiditceday. M«rcli 10, 1948 



ORC1IESTRAS.M17SIC 



49 



Bebop vs. phaelano Stii^ Freiidi_ 
]m Festival; Satohmo s (kar 



By ERNEST 

Nice, March 1. 
,Tbe Internationsl Jazz Festival at. 
Nice presented »s , a tourist stunt 
bv. «ic City of Nice, with support 
from the French radio network and 
Susical supervision by jazz pootaah 
Hucues Panassie, came to an end 
Feb 28 with the presentation to 
Louis Armstrong of a Sevres Oscar 
bv the President of Fmcc, Conspla- 
tion prizes in the form of em- 
broidered sillt banners werp hand- 
ed to the other seven bandleaders 
nresent— Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow 
-(USA.). Rex Stewart (U.S.A.) De- 
reli Neville (U.K.), Claude Luter 
(France), Django Reinhardt 
(France), Jean Leclere (Belgium) 
and Francis Burger (Switzerland), 
The entire procedures of the Grande 
jjuit de Jazz, which wound up the 
festival, were broadcast all over 
France, making ' generally known 
vrhat had already become ohvious 
•to the musicians and visiting pres.s- 
loefi at the first day of the jazz- 
week: that the idea of the Festival 
was line, but the execution more 
than a little haphazard. 

No one had bothered to tell 
Satchmo or any of the other band- 
leaders that a presentation wasi in 
the offing. Thus the sudden an- 
nouncement of the presentation 
caught the entire cast of leaders and 
jidemen decidedly on the oflbeat. 
' While fiizzoner, the Prez of France, 
was Kepi waiting, frantic call.«t went 
out to find King Louis, Organizer 
Pttnassie and manager Joe Glaser 
exchanged bitter expletives, while 
radio listeners all over France set 
on their hands, and guests at the 
Buper-duper five - grand - a - throw 
banquet got restless at their lobster 
and pink champagne. Clarinetist 
Bjiroey Bigard, ex-Ellington stdr 
'and deputy leader of the Armstrong 
band, urged to accept the prize in 
Armstrong's absence, conscientiously 
refused to deputise, and pianist Earl 
(Father) Hines, . ex-bandleader him- 
self, would accept only the banner 
tut not the cup. Traced at long 
last in his room upstairs on the top 
floor of the hotel, Arnistrong made 
V tt,]sst-mindte 'appearance and saved 
X the situation with his 'usual tact and 
j^ood nature. 

. .\.Last minute rescues of this sort 

' In demand throughout the 

week at the sunny Cote d'Azur, 
^ctn tbe first day that carried trea- 
sonable snow jnto the palm tree 
branches, to the last one, that saw 
half the musicians miss their plane. 
There were protests, partly justified, 
against the employment of foreign 
AkUSicians at a time of severe unem- 
ployment in the French mu^c biz. 
There were tumblings of unhappi- 
ness among some of the musicians, 
who felt that the U.S. stars were 
housed, fed and paid better than 
the- Europeans. And there were con- 
crete problems of economics for all 

. WOse bands who had come for the 
prestige of the thing and found that 
their invitation, covered only hotel 
. estpeoses, meals and fares, but not 
drinks, taxis, tijbs, and all- the other 
extras that are almost inevitable ■ in 

■ a musician's life. With blocked cur- 
rencies preventing the boys from 
Paying their own way, even if they 
Mould have so desired, there were 
fcomc broken hearts and hungry 
mouths along the blue Mediterrane- 
an snore. ' 

Add to this the fact that siich a1- 
tJactions as Erskine Hawkins, Sid- 
'Sechct. Flip Phillips. Howard 
McGhee and J. C. Heaid had failed 
w) make their appearance, and you 




UUREL MUSIC CO. 

1619 Bro«gdway 
^ Kew York 

TOMMY VALANDO 



B0RN6MAN 

have quite a situation on hand. 
Much of the situation could- have 
been saved with good press rela- 
tions, but in the absence of a proper 
press relations officer, newsmen 
found themselves unable to get ac- 
cess to the Grande Nuit de Nice 
or even to the hotel lobbies and thus 
W0re unable to stem the wave of 
jsriticism that arose among the mu.* 
sicians when the management threat- 
ened to cut the wages or fares of 
those leaders or sidemen who were 
found jamming or sitting in with 
local bands. Since the ideg of sit- 
ting, in with musicians from other 
countries had been the main attrac- 
tion for the musicians themselves, 
the whole- purpose of the festival 
seemed lost at this point. However, 
after newsmen like Max Jones, froii 
the English danceband trade mag. 
Melody Maker, had been twice fired 
from the lobby of the Hotel Ne- 
gresco, the management began to see 
sense, and- during the later days of 
the festival, as in the earlier days 
before the ban against sitting in 
was put up. sweetness and light be- 
gan to reign once . more. 

Mezz' and Luter's Clicks 

Although the Swiss and the Bel- 
gian units, as well as some of the 
U.S. sidemen like Vernon Storey 
from Rex Stewart's band, were more 
closely interested in bebop than in 
the more traditional forms of jazz, 
the whole tenor of the festival was 
largely anti-bop and pro-New Or- 
leans. At a typical broadcast, band- 
leader Mezz Mezzrow. spoke of "the 
obnoxious bebop which has the 
flavor of a man using baby talk," 
and in the course of the festival it 
was the Dixieland outfits like Mez- 
zrow's aijd Luter's which got the 
applause. Performances were " held 
nightly at the Municipal Opera 
House and the tOAunicipal Casino, 
the former for concerts, the latter 
for dances. After a jam session on 
the plane over from New York to 
Paris, relayed by radio to France 
and the U.S., other jam session fol- 
lowed despite the ban in most of 
the local boites, including one in 
which Daily Mail correspondent 
Wally Fawkes iamined successfully 
with Jack Teagarden on trombone, 
Rex Stewart pn corntet and the sen- 
sational French house pianist at the 
Queen's Club, Bernard Pfeifter, on 
piano. Other memorable sessions 
took place at Charlie's Bar, the Ha- 
vana and the Monte Cristo, with 
such' men as Lucky Thompson, who 
liad reached Paris as a 'solo act; Ted 
Curry from Rfex Stewart's band, 
Arvel Shaw from Armstrong's unit, 
Humphrey Lyttleton, the --excellent 
cornet player from Derek Neville's 
English orchestra, Stephane Grap- 
pelly, the French fiddle star, Earl 
Hines, Rex Stewart, Sidney Catlett 
and mos-t of the other musicians, in 
town,.'- . 

Present among the prominent jazz 
critics were Boris Vian / (Paris), 
Emiiio Funagalh (Milan), Yanick 
Brunoghe (Belgium), Johnny Sim- 
men (Switzerland). Max Jones (Lon- 
don), not to mention the representa- 
tives of the va.st and mysterious net- 
work- of Hot Clubs, Jazz Clubs and 
Rhythm Clubs that somehow regu- 
lates European dance music. Ap- 
plauded by them and uncompre- 
hendingly viewed by the general 
public, the jaz-/men dec-ided to. have 
at least another stab at Europe. 
AriTist,i-ong has already gone home 
to New York but expects to get 
back to Europe later this year; Mez- 
zrow is going on to France, Italy, 
Tunisia, Belgium and Holland; Stew- 
art, possibly, with a slightly leoi- 
ganized . band,, expects to follow 
roughly the same route; Gillespie 
meanwhile may come back south 
to Cannes, alter the end of his Pans 
concerts; Chubby Jaclcson's little be-^ 
bop group is slaying on in Scandi- 
navhi, and With a good deal ot luck 
France may still get lainiliar enough' 
with jazzmen, and their habits to 
give? them a tree hand in their after- 
houivs enterprises, and an ample 
budget for their small extra ex- 
penses. This, paired, with the won- 
derful charm and hospitality of the 
^French' at their, best,, should make 
H)4f) a belter year for a Jazz Fes- 
tival than the first tryout might 
lead the parlicipanls to expect. 



ooT Of we som, ,,wo cmr artistsi 



ERNEST 
TUBB 

His Mest hit-- 

A WOMAN WRECKED 

MANY A GOOD MAN 
A LONEI.Y HEART KNOWS 

Decca Record ijl4611S 

Mch for hisMW Mt- 

SEAMAN'S BLUES 
WAITIN' FOR A TRAIN 

D«cca Racord }fi46119 

GET HIS ALBUM NO. 529! 

RED 
FOLEY 

A great spiriMl number^ 

EVERYBODY'S QONNA HAVE 
A WONDERFULTIME UP THERE 

(Gospel Boogie) 
RIDE ON KING JESUS 

Pecca Re^ord |4eilS 

A great country song- 

BACK TO TENNESSEE 
EASY TO PLEASE 

Dccca Record 1^46081 





STAR OF "GRAND OLE OPRY" 



Eullcl Revurds has opened a press- 
ing plant in Nashville which it es- 
timates will be able to turn out 
10,000 disks daily at full-scale opera- 
tion by midsummer. Leonard Mat- 
son is supcrvisoi of the plant 




N 



s 



50 



ORCnBSmAS-MITSIC 



WedneBflay, March 10, 194$ 



Od die Upbeat 



New York 

PhB Harris recorded, for RCA- 
Victor on Coast' Monday (8), fitting 
lyric? t6 backgrounds recorded be- 
fore the disk ban... Van H. Sills 
named head ot new Decca South- 
east Distributing Division, headquar- 
tered at Charlotte, N. C... Harry 
James probably will conae east for 
dates in September. . .Tex Beneke 
sol for two weeks at Ea?twood 
Gardens, Detroit,. opening July 16... 
Lawrence Welk band into Roosevelt 
Grill, JSr. y., Monday- (15) .. .Colum- 
bia Records plugging Easter disks as 
seasonal sellers. ..Decca Records de- 
clared regular 25c. per share quar- 
terly dividend on capital stock.-, 
Beasley Smith in from Memphis. He's 
co-writer with Francis Craig of "Beg 
Your Pardon". Andrews Sisters to 
perform new "Saber Dance" lyric by 
Lester Lee and Alan Roberts on air 
this Week. ..Glen Gray still resting 
at Plymouth, Mass*, home; no plans 
for reorganization as yet. . .Murray 
Wolfe took over as. United Music 
contact man on Coast. . .Tommy 
Dorsey renamed 9(5-foot yacht May- 
flower as Sentimentalist. 

Jimmy Lunceforfl band led by: Ed- 
die Wilcox and Joe Thomas moves 
Into Royal' Roost, N; Y., tomorrow 

(Thurs.)" . . . Ken Kennedy, fprraer 

emcee, now with Hal Munro's band 

at Band Box, Chicago. 



Chicago 

Chuck Foster reopens Boulevard 
Room of Stevens hotel, March 27, 
after refurbishing. . . John Kirby does 
four weeks at Stage. Doorj Milwau- 
kee, March 29, . .Chick Kardale, for- 
mer rep for Burke-VH, 'joined the 
Morris staif here. . Saxie Dowell 
deserted bandleadii^g to - do contact 
work for T. B. Harms. . .Mercury re- 
leasing Caravan album, with Frankie 
liaine,''Helen Humes, Jan August- and 
Carl Fischer's All-Stars, in connec- 
tion ii^ith the&r coining concert tour 
... Johnny Botbwell at Tin Pan 



Alley dub.,. Mike • Reilly, writer 
"Music Goes Round and Round," at 
Brass Rail since Monday (7), and co- 
author Red. Hodgson, currently at 
the Airliner. , .Aragon ballroom up- 
ping ticket prices from $1.15 to $2.00 
for Vaughn Monroe one-nightev, 
March 13. Monroe will do his CBS 
broadcast direct" from- ballroom... 
Michael Douglas left Central Book- 
ing for Associated. Now at CHrley*s 
Theatre Cafe, Minneapolis. ..Mildred 
BaUey opens at the Paradise Club, 
Peoria, March 8.. Eddie South into 
the Club Silhouette, March 16 for 
three weeks. . Annual Tin Pan Alley 
Ball set for May 24 at the Terrace 
Room, Morrison hotel, with Mort 
Schafler, Erwin Barg and Al Bilen, 
Co-chairmen. ' 

Pittsburgh 

George Wells' orchestra in '.o An- 
kara when spot reopens on March 
23 ..Roy Eldridge begins return 
run at Carnival Lounge Monday 
(15).... Option of Tom Trimarkie, 
Pat McCauley and- Bill Bickle picked 
tip at Roosevelt hotel Fiesta Room. 

for three months more Mildred 

Don has- quit singing with Billy 
Gatizone band at William P«nn ho- 
tel's Terrace Room, and there'll be 

no replacement Wayne Gregg's 

band (Old Jack McClean outfit, 
with which Gregg used to sirig) stays 
at Bill Green's through March 20 
.....Tommy Carlyn band goes on 
nine weeks o£ one-nighters follow- 
ing current return date at Trianon, 
Chicago, which Will bring hand 
right up to its opening at 'Kenny- 
Wood Park June 7.... Larry Lane 
and his Melomen open two weeks 
Monday (15) at Mercur's Music Bar 
....Art Farrar has Jeanie Birdseye 
singing with him on job dates in tri- 

state district Whitey Scharbo, 

trumpeter for^,years with Etzi Co- 
vato and Mark Lane bands at old 
Villa Madrid; back at same spot, 
now the Club Copa, with Al Ere- 
mont outfit. 



PixV«.ASCAP 

An exhibitor-sponsored bar- 
rage against ASCAP is covered 
in the film section of this issue. " 

Monopoly suit against ASCAP 
brought by 160 N. Y. indepen- 
dent theatre owners moved into 
the fourth day of its trial in 
N. Y. federal court yesterday 
(TueS,) while National Allied 
general counsel Abram Myers 
interpreted two price-fixing de- 
cisions, handed down by the 
V. S. Supreme Court, as a 
"blow" to the legality of ASCAP. 



»♦♦♦♦ ♦ » . » t*** * *** * ******^***** * * **** ** *** 



A Beautiful BdHad 



PIANISSIMO 



Santly-Joy, fnc. ' 
Eddie Joy, Oen. Pro. Mgr. 



Mggmr Song Hit In 
PHIL SPITALNyS 

"To My MoHiw" 

Sc<on1 Albmn 

A BEAUTIFUL BALLAD 

My mother's 
BwSABY 

WuMt tor <0<!lWT becuratt! 

MILLS MUSIC. Inc. 
1619 Broadway ' New York 19 



Music Notes 



Murray Baker Suggests 

rM IN 

THE MOOD 
FOR LOVE 

Music hy,,, 
JIMMir McmOH 

ftOWMNS • 



Fletcher Henderson signed with 
Ethel Waters as arranger and con- 
ductor. . .Ray Gilbert, whose "Zip-A- 
Dee-Do-Dah" was nominated for 
Academy Award, is penning new 
legit musical for Carmen Miranda. 
GUbert dickering with Walt Disney 
for right to, use song title as show 
title . Red Ingles' comedy band set 
by Universal-International for musi- 
cal short . . .. Ambassadorables into 
Cocoanut Grove yesterday (9) with 
Joe Reichman. Group consists of four 
violinists and accordionist to fill in 
termis.sions ... Nicky Campbell, of 
Campbell-Pcirgie, back from Chicago 
. . .Frank Palma, of Palma Music, in 

Returns from ballots enclosed in 
Phil Spitalny's Charm Records' al- 
bum, "To My Mother," requesting 
purchasers to fill in fave tunes, put 
"My Mother's Rosary,'' a 1915 oldie 
out in front. Song was written by 
Sam M. Lewis and George W; Meyer 
. . . Mills Music's British import, 
"Concerto in Jazz," has its American 
preem by the Air Force orch on 
Mutual- net March 21. An eight- 
minute work, the number was au- 
thored by English pianist-composer 
Donald Phillips. 

Leith • Stevens recently finished 
scoring U-I's "AH My Sons," and is 
se.tting ' up South American concert 
tour for May with gue.st-couducting 
dates .slated so far in Mexico City, 
Rio do Janeiro, Buenos Aires and 
Santiago. . ..Pete Johnston trio reop- 
tioned at- Brass Rail, Glendale, for 
four weeks. . . Al Gallico; proL bead 
of Leeds Music in from New York for 
confab with. Lou Levy. . .Kathryn 
Grayson recording "Tomorrow. 
Means- Romance," Nacio -Herb 
Brown-Billy Katz tune, for "The 
Ki.ssini; Bandit" in which she co- 
stars with Franic Sinatra. . .Mischa 
Balcaloinikoff scoring, Columbia 
serial, "Superman", . .Dmitri Tiom- 
■kin's 'Score for "The Tenderfoot" set 
for publishing as "Tone Poem" for 
full ork. 



Chi HeraU American's 
Nate Gross ReportsOft 
Music Matters in S.A. 

■t Chicago, .March J. 
Editor, Variety; 

Trip took approximately four 
weeks during which time w^ flew 
direct from New York to Rio and 
then Montevideo, . Buenos Aires, 
Santiago (Chae> and Lima (Peru). 
The first lap of the trip was 30 con- 
tinuous hours via ; Pan-Americaij 
Airlinesr It wasn't tiresome at all, 
despite the length of time it took. 
In fact, time passed very quickly. 
Panagra Airlines took over at B. A. 
and delivered us safely up the west 
coast to Miami, where I kneijir .1 
was in the United States because 
when I stepped outside the airport 
we saw pickets walking up and 
down. . 

Brazil, just prior to the carnival, 
where We heard those wonderful 
sambas that are written each year 
especially for the big, event, is a 
highlight. Everybody dances and 
sings and confetti flows every night 
in the Golden Room of the Copa 
cabana Palace, which was strenuous 
enough without waiting for the car- 
nival to begin:- (Juitandinha, , about 
an hour and half from Rio, near the 
town of Petropolis, is! where' we saw 
the most fabulous hostelry in the 
world. We had King Carol's suite 
which was ab<Wit the size, Of the 
Grand Central Statioji lobby, with 
fancy plumbing. 

There was a lad there who tised 
the name Of Joe Lensky, a Dutch 
refugee, and his wife Malonhoney, 
a refugee from Belgium, whom I 
dubbed the Dutch Harry James and 
Belgium's Hildegarde. Very talented. 
They're heading for the U. S., where 
they've never been before. Never- 
theless he plays a trumpet like 
Harry James, sings like Woody Her- 
man and you'd think he spent a lot 
of time arounrf .Harlero, the way he 
handles his instrument. He also 
'writes musicOt course I loused up 
the joint by", making them all sing 
and play cowboy songs, thus per- 
petuating-the spirit' of my own High 
Dresser Ranch. We sang the songs 
of Brazil all through South America. 
Nothing else seemed to make much 
of an impression. 

In Montevideo, Buenos Aires and 
Santiago they played a lot of tangos 
which were deary, sad, and slow. 
Each orchestra is made up of at 
least two concertinas, two fiddles 
and a piano. They all play melody. 
Nobody plays rhythm. However, 
in Santiago I ran into a new high 
in lyrics. A Chilean girl sang- the 
blues and it came out like this: 
"I have curves 
The sun comes out 
The moon comes out 
He will not take me - * 
Long live Chile." , 



Best British Sheet Sellers 

(Vifeek jindinff ]Peh. 26) . " 

Londofi, Feb. 27. 

Tree In a' Meadow , ; Connolly 

Neair You B. Wood 

I Wonder Who's Kiii.sing Her Kow>.. , Feldmaii 

Peg O* My Heart — — Ascherberg 

Shoemaker's Serenade : Kassner 

I'll Make Op For Everything Maurice 

Apple Blossom Wedding .'. . .. , Connelly 

Coffee Song Southern' 

Serenade of the Bells , Morris 

When You Were Sweet Sixteen Darew.ski 

Civilisation . . . , , , .Morris 

tittle Old Mill Dash 

Secom/ 12 

Once Upon a Wintertime. . . . ; , ..................... Cincphotiic 

I'm Happy Right Here Unit 

And Mimi Connelly 

Sorrento .... ...... ..... . ....... Ricoi^li 

Darby and Joan. i. . Box & Cox 

South America Feldman 

Girl That 1 Marry Berlin 

Garden in the Rain Connelly 

Happy Go Lucl^y You Dash 

I Never Loved Anyone , Yale 

Now Is the Hour K. Prowse 

Anniversary Song , • • • ■ .Connelly 



Petrillo Good-Willing 

Hollywood, March 9. 

James C. Petrillo. head of the 
American Federation of Musi- 
cians, is going to take orders for 
a change. 

AFM has hired the Harold 
Lyshom agency to handle pub- 
lic relations for Petrillo and the 
AFM, but terms of the , deal call 
for Petrillo to adhere to the 
agency's advice concerning pub- 
lic statements and speechesi 



"THE MEXICAN SHUFFLE" 

..at'Ftotnrtidl.. by-. , 

XAVIER CUOAT 

on Columbia Raeerdf 

PEMORA MUSIC' CO., INC 
UM li««dlw«v. Now Ywrk 1« 



Band Reviews 



Everybody in South America 
plays jazz or at least tries to. Stan 
Kenton is the one they emulate. In 
Brazil, however, they haven't heard 
any real American jazz since Joe 
Bushkin and Bijd Freeman came 
down there to play at the Copa- 
cabana Palace, All in all, the hot 
spots in Rio are very tame. mo.stly 
because there has been a taboo on 
gambling for some time. In B.A. we 
hit the midst of summer so that, too, 
was tame from the night-life stand- 
point. In Lima a visiting band from 
Cuba was the sensation of the town, 
but after we left Rio everything else 
was anti-climactic. 

American songs about Brazil have 
been late in arriving. They have 
never heard of "Thwe's an Awful 
Lot of Coffee in Brazil. " "What Do 
They Do on a Rainy Night in Rio" 
may be old stuff to us but in Brazil 
one bandleader said he had heard of 
it. However, during our two weeks 
in Rio It never rained so we Wouldn't 
check on the vcraci^ir of . the aong. 

* Wote Gross. 



AL WALLACE ORCH (7) 
Hoose of Harris, San FraneiMM 

Unique makeup Of ■ Wallace's 
troupe gives his outfit a wide scope 
of appeal. His. combo of piano, bass, 
accordion, drums, two trumpets, 
one of which doubles on ^luitar and 
clarinet, and his own violin, pro- 
vides easy to listen to sweet-corn as. 
well as torrid Latin tempos which 
are favorites on the local scene. 

Wallace's orchestra boasts long, 
successful history as a dance band 
in S. F. and his^, handling of show 
cliores is a credit to him. 

Material offered by Wallace is 
almost ev«ily divided between cur- 
rent hits and old time favorites. 
Appearance is good and personality 
ea^ to" take. Ted. 

DICK JURGENS OltCH. (19) 
With Jack 'lEaion, Jfrnuy Castle, Al 
Galanle 

Pennsylvania hotel, New York 

Perhaps the briefest and clearest 
way to dcscrii>e the Dick Jurgens 
orchestra would be to say that it's 
a good musical band with a person- 
ality. And that personality starts 
with Jurgens himself and spreads 
throughout the remainder in varying 
b.o. grooves from the smart appear- 
ance it malces to the unusually 
imaginative, sometimes downright 
screwy arrangements it employs. 

Jurgens is playing his first loca- 
tion date of any kind in New York 
on this longrdeferred date at the 
Cafe Rouge (he was due in last year, 
but both he and Jimmy McCabe, 
Penn managing director, felt the 
time was not propitious). He worked 
the Strand theatre, N. Y. back be- 
fore the war and a date at Frank 
Dailey's Meadpwbrook thereafter, 
but. has never been in the city proper 
on a dance bpoldng. 

This circumstance bothered Jur- 
gens, McCabe and Mu.sic Corp. of 
America. New Yorkers do not or- 
dinarily go ■ for bands of Jurgens' 
type, which can be ex)>ected to <lo 
almost anything to garner attention 
from listeners. They don't rush up 
around the bandstand in the way 
midwesterner.s- do to close-up on 
novelties. Kay Kyser for example^ 
has never been very succes!»ful in 
N, Y. for that reason. 

Be that a.s it may, Jurgen.s' is veiT 
likely to run into a successful run at 
the Cafe Rouge. He employs reams 
of novelty arrangements, almost all 
ba.sed on vocal ideas and all con 
structed upon a musical base that 
evidence."? long rehearsals. Each is 
a carefully thought out script which 
may bring half the band down front 
for choral work at the mike inter- 
spersed' with comedy touches, or 
have the • .entire band chorusing a 
lyric. Or there may be an.ywherc 
from one to three guys hammering 
a novelty into the mike. It's impos- 
sible to detail what goes on. It's 
sufficient to say that the combo 
makes a blanket approach to the job 
of entertaining— it covers everything. 
Musically, from sedate dinner music 
to Latin tempoes. and from the novel 
to the outlandisli in ideas aimed to 
koep heads turned toward the band- 
stand. 

In other words, while Jurgens is 
comparatiyely unknown in . K. Y., 



and his material will take many 
Penn patrons by surprise, they'll go 
away veiy satisfied and come again 
another day. 

Jurgens uses three <vOcaiisls up 
front (no femme) two of which are 
musicians Jack Eaton is a straiglit 
chanter. He's olcay, 'but is surpassed 
in the ballad division by Jinuny 
Castle, a sax tooter. Al Gafante docs 
moiit of the novelties or participates 
in them and proves a good man, 
Jurgens does nothing but run the 
whole shebang like a well-oiled 
maehine, set a completely unin- 
hibited pace for his men and glad- 
hand the customers. Once in a while 
he plays trumpet, but the way the 
band business is travelling currently 
the latter, means nothing. Leaders 
'"ho are virtuosos are a dime a 
dozen. Wood. 



Tfte Np. I Folk fteeorif 
of Me Notion 

T. TEXAS TYLER'S 

"DECK OF 
CARDS" 

four Sinr Hrrnril 1%'iK 

AMERICAN MUSIC. INC. 

BlOn Siinurt IIIvO.. <>iir<*l Itoinrri) 
lloIbtvtMiil 40. (ill. liilwj. N. V. 



4 NEW FIRM.' 

•4 NEW HIT' 

"SLAP 'ER 
DOWN AGIN, 
PAW" 

CHOICE MUSIC. INC. 

tinnit Itltml-ro, J'rnl. Mer. 
»I0)» Siinfirt Itlvfl. I,'i7ft IcnHitlwiLi 
ilullymMMl 4«. <'«l. New York, S. V. 
<'Ki-Htvl«lU' l-6a0.| OOllIMilMllt 



! OPERATORS! 

"A 'Billboord' Must" 
Capitol No. 15042 

Martha Tilton's 

NEW RELEASE 

JUKE J4CKFOTS: 

HELEN POLKA 

'." Dam)' 2002 
DOMINO fOLKA 

Dana 2010. 
I LO¥E JULIDA 

Dana 2014 
EVENING KLLS 
MY IRISH COLLEEN 
20M 



DANA 



2M Wm A«a 
Now Yofk 1. N«w Toik 



WcdncBdiay^ March XO, 1949 



oncnESTft^UffiTsic 



51 



I64nch, Eight'T4)ne 
Platters lor Jocks 
Tried by Mercury 

Chicago, March 9. 

Mercury^ Records is trying a new 
approach to the problem of keeping 
disk jockeys supplied with copies of 
„ew releases, It has developed a 
J6.1nch vinylite platter inscribed 
with eight tunes, all dubbed from 
nSasters oi forthcoming releases. In 
this way. Mercury hopes^o package 
fufi programs to aid jocks. 

Each disk will carry paced shows 
by varying artists and with varying 
tunes and tempos. If the idea is 
favorably received it will perman- 
ently replace the idea of servicing 
disk-spinners vHth regular lO-inch 
rfeleases of new material. It will also 
save the company production and 
sbippins costs of the regular issues. 

Northern Pipes Piracy 
Charge at *Love You' Song 

Piracy ol its unpublished song, 
"Tonight He Sailed Again," In "I 
Love You, Yes- I Do," written by 
Eslly Nix and Henry B. Glover, was 
charged last week by Northern Mu- 
sic in an infringement suit filed in 
Hew York federal court. Named as. 
deleiidants are Miss Nix, Glover, 
liois Music t>ublishing Co,,' King 
Becord Distributing Co,, Loew's 
(M^Q'M Becords), De tiuxe Record 
Go.( Broadcast Music Incorporated, 
EGA-Victor, RCA Distributing Corp. 
and Mercury Records. 

Northern claims that in 1944 Ed- 
die ' Seller, Sol Marcus and Guy 
Wood wrote "Tonight." Complaint 
fitates< that Miss Nix and Glover 
had access to a copy of "Tonight" 
in 194G and "copied a sub.'Stantial 
part" of the song to incorporate in 
"1 Love You," subsequently pub- 
lished by Lois. An injunction, ac- 
counting and damages is sought from 
both Lois and various recording 
companies which pressed "I Love 
Yotf." 



RETAIL SHEET BEST SELLERS 



































Swuej/ of Tetoil sheet music 
sales, based on reports obtained 

. irom lea^Xng stores in 11 cities, 
and showing comparative sales . 
rating for this and last week. . 




mer, Inc 






MuMc Co. 


Los Angeles, Morse M., Ef eeman 


s Coast Music Co. 


til • 


'in 


Supply Co. ■ 


d 

u 


n Music Co. 


T 
O 
T 


Week Ending 

National , . ■■ . 

Bating Mar. 6 

This, Last , , 
wk. wk. Title Publisher 


New York, G. Schiri 


Chicago, Lyon & Hea 


Detroit, Grinnell's 


Kansas City, Jenkins 


San Francisco, Paclfii 


Boston, H. N. Homey< 


Indianapolis, Pearsor 


St. Louis, S. L. Music 


Seattle, Capitol Musi( 


San Antonio, Souther 


.A 
L 

P 
O 

N 
T 

■ s. 


-1 


1 "Now Is the Hour" Leeds. ,, 




1 


2 


1 


1 


2 


1 


2. 


1 




1 


1 


107 


2 


2 "Four-Lcai Clover" Remick. 




2 


1 


2 


2 


X 


2 


\ 








2 


102 


3 


6 "Beg Your Pardon". .. . Robbins, ... 


3 


3 


3 


\ 


5 


3 


8 


4 




5 


6 


66 


4 


■ y 5 "Serenade of the Bells". Morris,. 




6 


4 


10 


3 


6 


6 


5 


3 


3 


8 


4 


63 


5 




5 


7 


4- 


„: 4.. 


4 


5 


6 






10 


5 


55 


6 




4 


9 


8 


9 


7 


4 








3 


3 


4» 


'-''I' 




8 


5 


G 


3 


V 


4 


10 


10 




■'B 


42 


8, 








6 






9 


9 


f! 


7 


4.; 




25 


9 


11- "But Beautiful".. ....... Burke- VH. . 


9 


6 






8 






7 


6 






19 


10 


8 'Til Dance at We4dine» . Simon . . 




8 


■If- 




7 










8 




7 


18 


11 


12 "The Stars Kemember". Harms. . 








9 




10 






5 


9 






15 


12 










7 








3 


9 








14 


13 


10 "Best Things Are Free". Crawford. . . 




S 






9 










0 




10 


14A . . "Treasure Sierra Madre".Bemick. 


















8 






9 


r 
























6 




. s 



Japan's Columbia Disks 
Tapped for Back Taxes 

Tokyo, March 1. 
Japanese Finance Ministry author- 
ities, seeking to complete the collec- 
tion of taxes in. arrears by the end 
of March, have attached the property 
of the Columbia Becorjding - Co., 
which has defaulted 20,000,000 yen 
($400,000) in back taxes. 

Company has asked for one 
month's grace so it can cash in on 
records now in stock and can collect 
money due on past credit sales. . 



Timely Theme Song 

Income tax deadline next Mon^- 
day (15) and its resulting finan- 
cial headache has prompted Vic- 
tor to launch a bally campaign 
on its Halls Sisters calypso ver- 
sion of "Money, Money, Money." 
As part of the promotional ef- 
forts, the firm is passing out 
stage money to disk jocks and ' 
dealers. 

Some platter pilots . already 
have added a subtitle^ "The Tax- 
payers' Lament." 



Cracked Arm No Bar 
To Drummer Buddy Rich 

Buddy Rich, whose boxoffice value 
lies in his ability as a drummer,' 
broke his left elbow in three places, 
his wrist and one finger a fortnight 
ago when he slipped and fell. But 
he has continued to work. He'll go 
into the Paramount theatre, New 
York, March 22 with his arm in a 
sling and will hammer his drums 
with one hand. 

Rich has been fuliilling other thea- 
tre dates with the cracked arm and 
has not suffered at the b.o. because 

■Of-it. ■ ..- ■ 



SPA Proviso Delays 
. Barton Co. Solution 
In Financial Tangle 

Clau.se contained in the Song- 
wi iters Protective Assn. contract 
with mufiic publishers, which is 
rarely called into play by tunemen, 
is delaying the final settlement of 
the Barton Music afltair. This clause 
allows a SPA songwriter-member to 
demand the return of a copyright 
from a publisher in the event the 
latter does not pay accrued royalties 
on the proper due date. Feb, 15 last 
was payoff time.- 

Moe Jaffe, writer of "If You Are 
But a Dream," has ii.voked the rule 
in Barton's case. He's owed about 
$600 on the tune and is demanding 
feturn of the copyright, Other 
writers with songs in the Barton 
catalog are of the same mind, but 
apparently have not officially ex- 
pressed themselves. 

This move by Jaffe is delaying the 
creditors' committee from straight- 
ening the firm's affairs to the extent 
that the catalog can be sold to Jewel 
Music, which has been seeking to 
buy it and pay off all creditors at 
75c. on the dollar. . 

• — — — 
Leeds Wins Point In 

'Saber Dance' Suit 

Leeds Music won a minor decision 
Monday (8 ) in N. Y. supreme court 
in its action to secure an injunction 
vs United Music over "Saber Dance." 
United, which had already' secured 
one delay of hearing on the applica- 
tion for the injunction, requested a 
second adjournment of two weeks. 
Justice Irving Levy denied the delay, 
ordering United's attorneys to be 
ready with their case by tomorrow 
(Thursday). 

Leeds, which represents Russian 
Music in the U. S, via a deal with 
Am-Rus, Russ publisher, is seeking 
to prevent United from cashing in 
on the increasing popularity of 
"Saber Dance" by marketing itt 
own arrangement of the tune. There 
is no reciprocal copyright deal be- 
tween the U. S. and Russia, and 
United maintains that the music, 
from Khachaturian's "Gayne Ballet," 
is in the jpublic domain in this coun- 
■try. , : ■ .. 



ROS and his orchestra 




VAi»i:vii.iJi 



Miami Mapiniig Slashes in Prices 
For Next Year as Middle-Class Lure 



Miami Beach, March 9. — — ~~ ' , 

Struggling through a hangover f WO NcW Orleans NiteriCS 



from the war boom times, plans are 
currently being mapped by civic 
leaders to build Miami into a mid^ 
dle-^class year-'round vacationland. 

It's an admitted fact that most of 
the leased hotels here are way off 
in rentals as a result of excessive 
charges paid for the leases in the 
first place. Niteries also are .suifer- 
ing from an intense competltioD in 
getting high-priced acts at salaries 
not equalled anywhere else. Only 
the legitimate operators figure to 
wind up solvent next season. 

Typical optimistic reaction as to 
the future is voiced by Miami Beach 
Mayor Marcie Liberman, who bases 
his predictions on something more 
than the usual civic ballyhoo. He, 
points out that the town is under- 
going a heavy building boom at 
present and that the area is being 
geared tor an increasing number of 
visitors and residents. But he cau- 
ticned business that all inflated ideas 
about prices lAust be reduced to 
common-sense levels gauged to the 
average family. 

On next year's nitery sittiation, 
Ned Schuyler, Beachcomber opera- 
tor, insists he will a4here to the 
big-name policy as long as rival 
,«lubs do SO. He, too, would like to 
go to a one-name show poUcy with 
BUPPOtting acts. But as long as the 
bids must run from $5,000 to $10,000 
per act, with two and sometimes 
three bookings in the same salary 
class, the tariffs must remain sui- 
cidally high in these days of nitery 
shoppers, he asserted, ■ 

»ltt« Soph 

Sophie Tucker, headlined at the 
Beachcomber for eight weeks, also 
insists ihat the return to' a one-star 

■ 'jjoliey is'the only^nanner in which 
the cafe i»iz here can prove profit- 
ible for operators. "Now that the 
war-year money and patronage is 
gone, the cafe business will die as 
surel^ as vaudeville did if present 
tariffs are kept up," she said. 

Actually, the cafe situation is 
paced here by .the Beachcomber, 

. Copacabana, Colonial . Inn and, in 
some instances, the Brook Club. The 
sans-gambliniT spots, the Copa and 
Beachcomber, cannqt compete with 
the casinos (Colonial Inn and the 
Brook) for acts, Yet they try, and 
they^ll have to try again next, year 
when the state and national elections 
(Continued on page 56) 



Tagged for Tax Coin 

New Orleans, March 9. 
Tax liens were filed in federal 
district court here Thurstlay (4) 
against two niteries, alleging that 
the establishments owe the govern- 
meht a total of $3,844.73. 

CoUeetor of Internal Revenue 
Charles A, Donnelly filed one lien 
for $1,767.32 against Joseph Gleason, 
owner of the Gat and Fiddle, for 
withholding and employment taxe* 
for 1947. The other action was lor 
$2,007.41 against the Dreamland. The 
amount represents cabaret, taxes lor 
1947. 



K&A, Pushed Ont of 0& J, 
Paid Off for 6 Wks. at $500 

Xrondon, March 6. 
Keaton and Armfleld, brought 
here by Bernard Delfont for six 
weeks at the Casino with Olsen and 
Johnson, sailed lor U, S. yesterday 
(4). Act was crowded out alter 
opening night due to length of show 
and was paid oft six weeks' salary 
at $500 per, . 

Also returning is Ben Dova, after 
eight weeks in vaude here, : 



Fauhy Warrant 
Stays Shelvey's 
Extraction to Ga. 



Foriier Vauders Wm't Rmme Shows 
Until Musidans Relax on Standbys 



mm 



TEX 
BEN£KE 

AND HIS 011CHBT»A 

Extends! Etiga?*"*"* 
CAPITOL THEATRS 

YORK cir 



HARRY A. ROMM 

38 t 57"- N.- .v ■^oii< ^ V 



Cops' Crackdown On 
Georgia Sothem Puts 
Strippers Under Wraps 

New York's 52d street, currently 
-dergoing transformation Irom the 
Swing Street of crew haircuts, to a 
haven for the baldheads that used' 
to attend . the. Minsliy displays, re- 
ceived a. .jolt last, week from the 
police dept. 

: Cops craclied down last week 
and revoked Georgia Sothern's per- 
former permit on charges of bump- 
ing and grinding, also working with 
little rosette where a G-string 
ouglit to be. She denied doing such 
things during her engagement . at 
the Club Samoa and consequently 
succeeded in having 'her permit re- 
stored in court. 

The incident, however, proved 
that the bonifaces can't fight the 
cops. After the couri cleared Miss 
Sothern, police penalized the Club 
Samoa with a temporary suspen- 
sion of its entertainment permit. 
Club is currently operating ' sans 
shows and music. 

The Sothern incident has made 
other bonifaces on the street wary 
ot a burlesque type of operation. 
The cafes along that street operat' 
ing with the strip policy, have gone 
modest in ads'-and lobby displays, 
and performers have been warned 
to do routines sans bumps, grinds 
and wear sufficient garb to minimize 
police objections. 

During the past few months the 
street's business has pecked up con> 
siderably with the attempted come 
back of burlesque. Main portion of 
the patronage 't^ich. used to- be the 
college Idds and swing aficionados, 
has l>een changed to middle-aged 
gents and kids in the age-group just 
eligible to buy 'drinks. The policy 
has proven successful, and clubs, 
if let alone by the police dept., ex- 
pect to bring back wartime grosses. 
However, the majority of- bonifaces 
are extremely doubtful that the boom 
grosses will continue now that the 
gals have to cover up and cavort 
in a more restrained manner. 



COMEDY BARGAIMS! 

PARODIES, SPECIAL SONGS, BITS, ttc. 

•At l^ni'frest Bolcction in HliowbiK! . . 

i( 10.18 CA.TAI.OG I'KISE! 

^ ISxclnslve material «ut «|)«<*In1ty! 



J. & H. KLEiNMAN 



ttSSfK No. lIn>nsoii 
flOI'X'VWOOD 28, OAUr. 



Tel. 
61. ISM 



Matt Shelvey, deposed national 
administrator of the American Guild 
of Variety Artists, last week escaped 
extradition' to Georgia oft a techiU- i 
cality, Shelvey is under indictment' 
in Atlanta on two counts of allegedly 
converting $20,000 given by the 
Henry Grady hotel, Atlanta, as a 
contribution to the AGVA welfare 
fund, in return for. permission 1^ 
play matinee shows in its fatadise 
foom. 

A't the extradition hearing held 
last Wednesday (3) in Harrisburg, 
Pa., Thomas. McCabe, Philadelphia 
attorney, argued that the extradition 
papers were faultily drawn and con- 
sequently no action could be takeii 
at that time. Contention was upheld. 
New papers have been di-awn up 
and a deputy is now reported en- 
route to serve Shelvey. 

However, even if Pennsylvania 
recommends extradition, no early 
resolution of the case is seen. It' 
expected that Shelvey may seek 
further delays via habeas corpus 
vvrits. Arthur Kaye, former AGVA 
regioijial director in Miami and Los 
Angeles, is co-defendant with Shel- 
vey on these counts. Kaye surren- 
dered earlier and is imder $5,000 
bail. - 

Meanwhile^ Shelvey is seeking to 
recapture control of AGVA, and has 
set up his own organization. A series 
of nomination meetings are slated to 
be held throughout the country; 
prior to the convention slated tot 
April 30 at the Sherman hotel, Chi- 
cago. 

The regular AGVA organization 
has also started its nomination meet^ 
ings. Meet in N. Y. will be held tOi- 
morrow (Thurs) at Town HalL 



Mostel, Howard, Stone 
Set for Cleve. M.H. Show 

Hollywood, March 9. 

Zero Mostel plays a two-day stand 
(five performances) March 26-27 at 
the Cleveland MUsic Hall, sharing a 
vaude bill with Willie Howard and 
Harvey Stone. He's getting $2,750 for 
the dale. Ken Robey is producing 
the show. 

Having completed an engagement 
last week at El Rancho, Las Vegas, 
Mostel is vacationing at the home 
of Edward G. Robinson here, shar- 
ing a guest house with actor Sam 
JaUe. The guest house was built by 
Robin.son especially lor Jaflfe to use 
during his Coast visits. 

Jones^ Newark 'Concert' 
Rings in Kitchen -Sink 
Too, Bnt It's BoxoffiCe 



Series of Mishaps Cause 
Joe Howard to Cancel Tour 

Joe E. Howard, vet performer 
composer, is convalescing from 
series of mishaps that caused him to 
cancel pA. tour in conjunction with 
his biopic, "I Wonder Who's Kissing 
Her NOW" (20th). 

Howard, who is nearing his 82d 
year, was struck by a hit and run 
driver some weeks ago in San Fran- 
cisco, while appearing at the Golden 
date theatre. Upon, recovery he 
proceeded to appear with the film in 
Cincinnati, where he collapsed again 
and suffered a fractured ankle. He's 
now resting comfortably in his suite 
at the Lincoln hotel, N. Y. How- 
ever, it's uncertain when- and if he 
can resume the > vaude tour. * 



Shelveyltes In Mlamt Impass^' 

Miami Beach, March 9. 
Meeting here at Floi-idian hotel (3) 
resulted in no decision by assembled 
performers on Matt Shelvey faction's 
.side of the dispute with the four A's 
on AGVA autonomy, outside of 
unanimous lavor of motion that a 
test be made for the good ol "smaU 
performers." 

The motion, presented by Patsy 
Sliaw, comedienne, asked that the 
Shelvey group be upheld "at pres- 
ent" until "we know what- we're 
gonna get." 

The 87 attendees listened to talks 
by A. W. Cowan, attorney repping 
Shelvey, Henry Cross amd Dunn and 
Miss Shaw. Cowan addressed the 
group for almost an hour. Dunn, 
labelled by a Shelveyite as "opposi- 
tion" asked lor "an actor's union 
whei-o the actor tells a delegate what 
to do, and not the delegate^ the 
actor." ' 

The 4A's faction, repped by Jerry 
Hirsch, will stage a meeting at the 
Lord Tarleton tomorrow (10), 




Opening March 12 
NATIONAL THEATRE 



Mlgtt4*.Gal« Agency, Inc. 
48 W«>r 4Sl1i New York 



'Ice-Capades' Boff 

$111,000 in 9, St, Paul 

St. Paul, March 9. 

Playing its annual engagement at 
the St. Paul Auditorium Arena, 
"Ice-Capades"- copped terrific .$111,- 
000 for nine p'erfonnances. This was 
only a few thousands less than last 
season's record take. 

Show preceded '"Ice Follies," 
which plays the Arena there April 
6-May 9. 



Thursday's (4) lobby display at the 
Mosque theatre, Newark, listed its 
coining attractions, Arthur Rubin- 
stein, Ijly I?ons— tonight Spike Jones. 
Wanna bet on. who'grosses most? 

Spilce Jones and his City Slickers 
attracted a near capacity house at> 
a $3,60 top, proving that Corn Is a 
major commodity in the entertain- 
ment marts. It's an item as readily 
understood in the backwoods as it 
is in the metropolitan centers, and 
Jones, as the head mahatma of maize, 
has projected this form of entertain- 
ment into the top boxoif ice brackets, 

The lantern-jawed gum-chewing 
maestro has catapulted a washboard, 
some odd plumbing fixtures, etc., into 
a considerable fortune with his musi- 
cal depreciation sesdons. 

Jones xirovides a musical tour-de- . 
force of ^'Hellzapoppin' 7' proportions. 
His symphonies are punctuated with 

revolver blasts, tinkle of cowbells 
and an anything lor a laugli bits of 
business that usually attain its goal 
Probablyv the weirdest number in 
his catalog, which incidentally made 
a top-selling disk, is "Cocktails lor 
Two." During its rendition, there's a 
bedlam of jugglers, dancers, some 
expert horseplay to contrast with the 
pseudo-serious moments. It's a 
masterpiece ol lusing the diverse 
amateams of mayhem and music that 
makes it a standout piece of its type. 

Throughout the eiktire proceedings, 
Jones is the most collected character 
ol all, . His manner lH bUind and 
nothing disturbs even rhythm ol his 
gum-chewmg. Others can take this 
bedlam with an equal amount ol 
equilibrium. There's one chai-acter 
on stage who does little else but read 
a paper, and another occasionally 
does some knitting. 

There are other items that induce 
abdominal exercises, such as the 
seriijTis soprano trying to make her- 
sdt heard above the din, the .juggler 
that runs on and off the stage, the 
cavorting of midget and a giant, 
Jones' maestroing with a drain- 
plunger and the single plucking Irom 
the guitarlet, an instrument re- 
sembling a lyre constructed from 
bathroom woodwork. 

Aside from a series ol -unbilled 
characters, Jones carries a retinue of 
singers and dancers, who are brought 
in so that there's never a surfeit of 
band shennanigans. Also in the crew 
is Doodles Weaver, who is given a 
spot of bis own, but the efforts of arty 
comic would be anti-climactic m re- 
lation to the Jones' offerings. • 

However, to classity the Jones 
recital as an exhibit of corn only is 
erroneous. His concert can be con- 
strued as satirizing the backwoods 
musicales, which, probably explains 
liis appeal to hep audiences. At any 
rate, try, and find a hotter attraction 
tof^ay. Jose. 



Several houses throughout the 
country are awaiting settlement of 
the standby issue before putting in 
stageshows. Since passage ol the 
Taft-Hartley bijl last year, theatre 
managements have been chafing «t 
the idea of paying two sets of fees 
in order to use musicians. 

The Earle theatre, Philadelphia,- 
Stanley theatre, Pittsburgh; Circle, 
Indianapolis, and the Palace, Akron, 
are among those holding off bit 
stageshows until the issue is settled. 

It's claimed that because of the 
Alms situation, these houses could 
use stageshows in order to bolster 
grosses. However, with the lack ol 
suitable name attractions and the 
high price' of bands, managements 
are unwilling to- take chances on 
resumption of vaude until the ex- 
pense of standby fees are eliminated. 
The Taft-Hartley law, forbidding 
featherbedding practices, has been 
disregarded by many locals of the 
American Federation of Musicians, 
With the exception ol New York's 
Local 802, mo-st locals are demanding 
the standby fees. 

James C. Petrillo, APM head, has 
given various locals autonomy in 
iliis matter, consequently, they're 
still attempting to get additional lo- 
cal employment 61 local musicians. 
Theatre operators, on the othet 
hand, are unwilling to take legal 
action or institute a test case, fear- 
ing the expense and possible retalia> 
tion by the union. 



£<th Piaf to Paris 

Edith Piaf aftd the Compagnons de 
la Chanson are slated to return to 
Europe next week to Open at Les 
Ambassadeurs,- Paris, March 25. Both 
acts were imported early this season 
by Clifford C. Fischer for a variety 
revue. Miss Piaf subsequently 
worked at the Versailles, while the 
Compagnons Worked the Latin 
Quarters, N. Y., arid Miami. 

Miss Piaf has been re-signed for 
the Versailles and will return in 
time lor an October opening. 



BERNSTEIN TAKING OVER 
EMBASSY CLUB, N. Y. 

The Embassy club, N. Y., was sold' 
last week to Joe Bernstein. Final 
pact is being held up pending trans- 
fer of the liquor license. So far, 
there's been- no okay. Embassy, this 
year, had difficulty getting . started - 
because of inability to get its license. 
No trouble is anticipated in the cur- . 
rent transfer. 

Embassy was started two years 
ago by Bill Miller, who subsequently 
sold oi)t to Sam Marcus, present 
operator. Spot has been attempting 
various policies and recently latched 
onto rhumba band attractions. Mar- 
cus, in a promotion two weeks ago 
in which he invited the N. Y. 
rhumba teachers, claimed he picked 
up $300 in cuffo tabs that night, . 



DON COSIELO 

Currently 

Jaragua Hotel 

Dominican Republic 



EDDY 




"HslfBti of the 
h«rmon!c«." 

RAINBOW 
Ri^OltDS 

Margery Wellet at the Piano 
M^.: >CR Lipiat 



M 

A 
N 
S 
0 
N 



Smart Draiier on stag* and off, alto 
•upport kind methar^n-law. 

L O U 

SEILER 

. Will not ui« di$pctraging ramarkl to 
l>ad audiences. Jwit give n» an 
audience. 

' Scheduled.for- : 
HIPPODROME THEATRE, N, Y. 

When no* enrouta— Forcil ledge— 1028 Strong £s.— Sthsnectady 7, N. Y., II.S.A. 



T>iromuh Tsilaarru* 
(Spelled on the bias) 
Surrealifl Humorist 

SEILER 

Original Material copyrighted by Pure 
Food Act. Wa welcome inveillgation. 
Available lor Show Buiinen-. 
Salary No Ob|ect. 



Wwin*wfay< March 10, 1949 



IF WHAT THEY SAY IS TRUE, HOW 
COME I'M NOT IN PICTURES??? 



"At the Copacabana . . . I found myself 
laughing — ^laughing like I haven't laughed on 
Broadway for a long time. Thanks to the in» 
spired pencil of a young writer named Danny 
Shapiro, YOJJNGMAN has a new routine — 
glib, giddy, topical and hep.'* : ; 

"Pitching Horseshoes" by BILLY ROSE. 

"At the Copacabana . . . he was a much 
• bigger hit than we'd even hoped ... from now 
on HENISY YOVJSGMAIS should climb, for 
when the golden moment came he won and 
golden moments like that are redeemable." 

EARL WILSON, /Vew York Post Syndicate 

''HEI\NY YOVNGMAIS'S tiew stuff is 
hilarious at the Copacabana ... A laugh tiot." 

LEE MORTIMER, New York Mirror 

"At the Copacabana .-. .his material' was 
completely new. His laughs were caused by 
modern, 'Streamlined humor ... finally had 
to beg off ... caused the brightest ructions to 
happen in the saloon belt since the last fresh 
young comic arrived — Peter Lind Hayes." 

JACK O'BRIAN, Associated Press 



"At the Copacabana . . . YOIISCMAN has 
made good on his bid for the taller coin . . . 
with proper handling of his new born oppor- 
tunity, he's in line to become a name of top 





dimensions.' 



Variety 



"HENDIY YOVNGMAN at the Copacabana 
piles up the laughs . . . he's introduced a 
new act . . . and irs his best to date . . . Danny 
Shapiro has cooked up a batch of material 
and YOVNGMAN should be able to take it 
around lop levels of the cafe circuit with^good 
results." , , . . 

: ■■ ■ ■ Billboard . ■ . 

"Tops in Town: HENINY YOUNGMAN'S 
drolleries at the Copacabana." 

DOROTHY KILGALLEN, , 
Broadway ^Cohmnist 



HENNY YOUNGMAN 



STAR OF 



STAGED scREEM («-« RADIO In™' TELEVISION *^::::::;;* 

Working Like Mad to Pay My Writer 

DANNY SHAPIRO 



Direction: 
WILLIAM MORRIS AGENCY, Inc. 
New York Chicogo . Beverly Hill* 



Publicity: 
MILTON RUBIN 
And Thanx to LES ZIMMERMAN of WMA 



Personal Manager: 
TED ASHLEY 
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York 



54 



VAIJIIi;VIE.t.E 



mmm. 



Wedmesdliy, Mwrch 10, 1948 



Dusting the Attic 



(For no other tfion nostalgic rea- 
sons tlicje Paloce bills will be re- 
printed each mek, and for the cor- 
responding week, as they originally 
appeared in VAmm 25 years ago.) 

PALACE, N, Y. 

(March 8, 1983) , 
■ The interest of vaudevillians in 
the current Palace program is the 
booking of it. This is the initial 
veelc for B. F. Keith's Palace, New 
York, to be booked by the B. F. 
Keith's booking office. For years, 
Hhd since the Palace opened as the 
kingpin of all vaudeville, the Or- 
pheum circuit's New York office, 
per George Gottleib, did the book- 
ing. With shift, merely a' natural 
one in the course of events (and 
long delayed in expectation) arrived, 
the bookings in the Keith office for 
5ie Palace- were placed with Eddie 
Darling,' who lines up the shows 
for the most important of the Keith 
tiig timers in and around New York, 
Presumably the Palace is an easy 
house to book, because it has first 
call. But to book it as an 'isolsited 
tiieatre on a group with the others 
over 1,000 miles, removed, ts Gott-, 
leib did, made it a job. Darling 
meanwhile suffered in the bookings 
ot the other Keith's bouses. .He had 
to surrender ,to the Palace, which 
may have jammed his own shows at 
times, while often,' with the big 
Palace competing with tbt other 
Keith houses, all imder two booking 
heads, there were frequent clashes 
(not unfriendly) in bills and a con- 
tinuity which will be probably 
•voided under the present system. 

Expense of shows is another item 
tor the Palace (ff any other house. 
Notwithstanding the superlativeness 
of the Palace in locaton, structure 
.tnd bills, Palace bills do run up. 
^o weeks ago the Palace displayed 
What it could do by itself and with. 
Out a headliner. ' Carroll & Segal 



GOWNS Its EllNESTO 




HELENE and HOWARD 

'Comeiiy Dane* Antlei! 
POX. ATLANTA, GA. 

Dir.: MATTY ROSEN 



COMEDY PAHER 

For All BraiKhcs ef Theotriealt 

FUN-MASTER 

"Tiw Show Bii Gag File" 

Nos. 1 to22at$1.00ea. 
lOr PAHODIES for $10.00 
"How to Be an Emcee" 

$3.00 Including 2 Gag Files 
Sena for Ust at matcrtatl, |wrodie». 
comedr songs, ntoatml .bit»— HaCk- 
mits. skits, et«, 

SO COJD^' 

f AULA SMRH 

.800 Siih St, VUm Vttk. » 



fell out t>f the top position by rea- 
son, it was said, that Vivienne Se- 
gal, not so long in vaudeville, sensi- 
bly did not believe it advisable to 
return to the house in so brief a 
time. Unable to rig up a new routine 
on short notice, Harry Carroll with- 
drew the act. Running withowt a 
feature or a "name" of consequence, 
the Palace did its capacity twice 
daily, and may have missed perhaps 
1,000 standees during the week a 
"big" name could have added. While 
that possibly would not recur on 
successive weeks, it proved the Pal- 
ace pulls by the Palace if a good 
show is there. 

Big-time bookers book with in- 
dividuality. Each has his own ideas 
and each likes to carry them out. 
Some bookers on the big time can 
so gather and frame what is looked 
upon as an inexpensive show that it 
plays to much better advantage than 
a high-salaried, unwieldy program 
tliat can't blend. Gottleib booked 
the Palace when it had to be started, 
and that, wa.n no light task. He 
booked it after it was a success, and 
Gottleib, through his conscientious- 
ness, made his booking labor then 
just as hard. Darling, always a dili- 
gent booker and digger of acts, will 
display his style as he proceeds. The 
first Darling show is :not altogether 
a true example of his yioik, since 
some cd! the acts on H were probably 

filled in" before Gottleib turned 
over his book. That may be true 
for some weeks; yet, but the main 
steni of the shows will be Darling's. 

' It any small-time bookers should 
stop long enough to read this they 
might digest that individuality in 
booking. It won't do them or the 
small time a bit of harm if they 
try it. Most small-time bills around 
New York look like a lot of junk 
taken out of a grab-bag. . 

The hit at the Palace this week is 
the Duncan Sisters, with the best 
turn they have ever given: to vaude- 
ville, Their one number, new, 
"JTuanita," a Spanish burlesque, is 
an act in itself for the girls. And 
they do it right. A couple of new 
songs are well selected and also 
help, while their opening introduc- 
tory is so self-explanatory it might 
be replaced. Let the girls forget 
their foreign trip. It almost ruined 
them as an American act. When 
they returned they were doing Eng-: 
lish without knowing it, unless they 
were careless, thinking they would 
be in the new Harris: show by this 
time, Anyway, they braced. Up, and 
what they are now doing is worth 
the brief lap.se. 

Monday night at the Palace a six- 
pound lollypop (made by Loft) was 
handed over the footlights to the 
Sirls by John Mulhall,' the Palace's 
chief usher. It was a laugh on sight, 
looking like a signal light on the 
Pennsylvania. 

Another new act on the bill is 
"Silks, Satins, Calico, Sags," said 
to have been suggested for Yaleska 
Suratt, its principal, by Pat Rooney, 
with its idea reduced to script form 
by Edgar Allan Woolf. It's another 
episodic turn on the program. The 
other is the Ben All Haggin Tab- 
leaux production staged hy lied 
Wayburn. , 

Vaudeville patrons who know Miss 
Suratt as "Suratt," she at the clothes^ 



will be pwaJy«ed' when seeing her 

in this playlet,. taking the character 
of a middle-aged woman M^ith a son 
of 18, and also with Valeska wearing 
rags and ginghams. They don't be- 
come her, not at all; she is Valeska 
of the glad rags, not the plain ones. 
It's doubtful if any one will want 
to see her in anything else: In the 
Silks and Satins eps' she looks Su- 
ratt; in the final ones, Calico and 
!^s, she looks anybody but. 
This skit may carry hei- along, 
and for once, but it. should bo short- 
ened. One episode may be deleted^ 
any one almost; anything to cut the 
time; and anything out won't be 
missed or injui-e this mistaken hy- 
brid almost-morality piece that is 
always in the air but made possible 
for vaudeville through the fuUsome 
comedy interjected into it by Wil- 
liam Howard as a butler. Mr. How- 
ard must have padded, fattened, 
built up and played up that butler 
Until he has made it so strong Miss 
Suratt is compelled, it appears, to 
take him with her before the curtain 
for the bows, he of the entire com- 
pany that includes Jack Ti'ainor as 
elderly lover, who does well 




enough but is lost alongside of How- 
ard's Work. The others in support 
are Victor Harrison as the juvenile 
and 'Belva McKay as the ingenue. 
Miss McKay may pass through; Har- 
rison needs plenty Of instruction. 

The production is a shame. Were 
it required to make the strip changes 
to save the time, that might be an 
excusci but scenic men say ii could 
have been arrived at in other ways. 
The same set with panels stripped 
off, leaving nothing to- be admired 
in either set cannot be overlooked. 
To quickly set the idea it may be- 
stated the same table for the phone- 
in the same position was .' held 
throughout the four episodes, while 
everything else in the sets may have 
been changed. 

It was a mistake for Valeska Su- 
ratt to undertake to hold up any- 
thing that removed her dressy ward- 
robe; wardrobes mean more to her 
than the best sketch she has ever 
had, and this Xs far from the best. 

Still another new turn for the 
Palace is the California Ramblers, 
another band, thouglit good enotigh 
by wise restaurant men to replace 
Paul Whiteman's at the Palais Royal 
while- Whiteman went on tour for 
two weeks. The Callfornians as ai 
band is a dance orchestra' of the 
.straight jazzing kind. They attested 
to that when playing "Lovin" Sam" 
in 'the jazz; way, probably better 
than any band so far at the Palace 
could have done it, but it would not 
be difficult for any of the others 
to run away from the Ramblers^ on 
the remainder of their routine. But 
it got just as much as any of the 
others and its leader had to: beg off, 
so there you are. :. 

One thing stage orchestras majr 
do; they may oblige house orchestras 
to hustle a bit and become real 
vaudeville orchestras; they may 
even bring to the attention of vaude- 
ville managers how sadly and badly 
they have neglected the matter of 
the orchestra in tiieir theatre.s, espe- 
cially the number of pieces. 

-A sudden shifting between mati- 
nee and night Monday forced the 
Jc-ck Wilson company into the clos- 
ing spot. That left WUson without 
time to reform his routine, obliging 
his two assistants, man and woman, 
to start songs. When the tenor com- 
menced his ballad it was almost 
good night; and when the girl start- 
ed, that finished the evening, with 
Wilson unable to stop anything witli 
his talk in between. Tuesday after- 
noon Wilson cut out the songs and 
by Tuesday night it was quite likely 
the band had been sent to clo.Se, with 
the Duncans walking into the turn; 
while the posing act, shifted to open 
after intermission, might halve been 
moved to No. 3., The posing sict as 
the Monday matinee closing the 
show was too quiet for the spot,, 
just the same as the position was 
too hard for Wilson's talking skit. 

Morton & Glass in the second part 
have worked out their "April" skit 
into new laughs, but they couldn't 
get their prop cues to work right 
Monday evening. It wouldn't .rain 
steady and didn't thunder on time, 
while even the phone foell forgot to 
ring. Paul Morton may have been 
annoyed, but h3 didn't vent it on the 
stage, like the good performer he is. 
That iri-esistible double dance for 
the finale with the new climax light 
effect in the diiitance capped them 
as a distinct hit. 

Opening, Barbette got much when 
disclosing himself, and the DuFor 
brothers danced neatly to nice re- 
turn ,No. 2, with their tangled talk 
drawing a little. 

Claude & Marion, No, 4, remained 
for 19 minutes, with Mi.ss MariOii 
making the most of it- with her low 



Piamst Held in Shooting 
Of Nitery Singer Partner 

Toronto, March 9. 
Margaret (Mickey) Meredith, ,23, 
former WAC torch singer in the 
Canadian Army Show, has a 50-60 
chance of recovery after being shot 
by her piano-playing partner, I^eslie 
Davidson, 29, when she left their 
table in the City Grill here- to take 
a phone call, 

Davidson, according to witnesses, 
then backed out after menacing 
other customers with the gun but 
was picked up by police later in the 
evening while playing -piano at the 
Elm Grove Club, Ironically, he was 
playing "Mickey" when, police 
walked in alter he had phoned his 
wife that "Mickey Meredith has 
been shot," Itevidson is. charged with 
attempted murder, with jealousy as 
the motive. 

Bullet was removed from girl's 
head but doctors claim that, should 
she recover con,sciousness, she will, 
be paralyzed down the left side. 
Meredith girl, after the war, had 
worked up a singing act, with 
Davidson at the piano. She had by 
then been divorced by her husband 
and Davidson was estranged from 
his wife. ' ■ ^ 



Tieadiers' W Jkont 
to $1141 



BVay-Captol, Det^ 

Sets Stageshow Policy 

The Broadway-Capitol, Detroit, 
will play stageshowa on a spot basis 
starting May 7. Initial bill will have 
Stan Kenton, King Cole Trio and 
June Chri.sty. 

Harry Levine, of Paramount book- 
ing office, which sets talent for the 
house, said that he'll have stage- 
Shows there whenever suitable at- 
tractions are available. 



Minneapolis, March 9. 
. That amusements are still boom- 
ing hereabouts was demonstrated 
again^last week when the Shrinerij' 
annual Indoor Circus at' the Audi- 
torium set a new all-time high mark, 
grossing $114,000, entirely from ad- 
missions, tor 13 performances. There 
were six each night and matinee 
performances and an additional Sat- 
urday morning show, all complete 
se^l-outs and many turned away. 

Show had a higher top, being 
scaled at $2, instead of the previous 
$r.6U, and got a break as a result of 
the teachers' strilte which has closed 
the schools and necessitated purchase 
of tickets by kiddies at the boxoff ice 
at a higher price than special rate 
usually allowed schools. 

The $114,000 take, of couriie, wak 
considerably swelled by concessions 
and program advertising receipts. 
Hany Hirsch and Harold Kaplan, 
veteran showmen, again were chair- 
man and co-chairman, respectively^ 
of the general committee. 



SannacLalie 

By Happy Benway 

Saranac Lake,- N. Y., March 9. 
Members of the Bobsled team who 
represented the United States in 
Switzerland were given a blowout 
by the Village fathers at Durgans 
nitery. 

Helen Pelechowicz, recently 
handed a good clinic, elated over 
•gift of a new radio. 

Andrew Grainger, former theatre 
manager, in and out of the general 
hospital after mastering the thoraco- 
pla.sty operation. 

Inez Delores Liverpool, nitery en- 
tertainer who took eight months to 
beat the rap, left for home last week. 

The Dancijig Knights (Guerney & 
Tessie) in for winter sports vacation, 
stopped off to visit the gang at the 
Rogers. 

Joseph Vaughey, author and press- 
agent, back home after- three weeks 
of hospitalization in Denver. ; 

Margie Regan elated over her 
upped weight and nifty, clinic report. 

Alice Dudley upped for meals and 
exercise. 

Janny Montana shot in from K.Y.C. 
to Visit her brother. Dr. Francis 
Montana, who recently licked the 
"Rib" operation. 

Mae Taft walking around flashing 
a good clinic report. 
(Write to those who are ill.) 



Rossi-Glenn Paris Bill 

Paris, March 9; 

Cynda Glenn is slated to open 
April 23 at the ABC theatre, here o» 
the bill with, Tino Ro.s.si. Sl-iow, pro- 
duced by Mitty Goldin, is set for 
four weeks, but is expected to run 
for an additional four because of tlie 
American comedienne's past clicks 
in the "Polies Bergeres." 

In another booking for a Paris 
.engagement^ Cbaz' Chase has been 
set for 12 weeks at the Club Lido, 
starting lat^ May; 



comedy, but four minutes oft will 
help immeasurably. There is a sag 
around the ballad .moment that 
needs to be filled in even if the 
ballad goes out, which wouldn't be 
so bad since it is straight, and there 
should be nothing straight in this 
turn. They had no complaint,, how- 
ever, and no encore evidently pre- 
pared. Shne. 



PHIL FOSTER 

Nit*-Uf*'s N*w«>l taff-Scmation 



JAMES CAGNEY and I 
ttpen ot tKe Strand Thea- 
tre, Now York, March 
12th. 



"fmavnA by" 
SOL TEPCER, MCO Mdg., N.w Yoih 30 



tha Exclailve oad Amatinf 




LAURgmandCLYMAS 



-DANeilMOKISTS" 

Sth K«taiB ICDcacenimit 
HOtmT KOXAI. 1H»TJ«. 
Kontiml, Canudn 
Now To* KeP.s Chlmno KfP.,: 

JACK run. xvititnu. 



AMERICA'S Td^ HEADLINE SINGING GROUP 



Currently 
LARRY POHER'S 
SUPPER CLUI 
Hollywood, Cal. 



All Alii,f<>r Nntworfcn, 
Theatre* and Oliibn, 
C. B. and Canada 




Perxonul llireetion — BD KIOKBBt 
JtKO nnlldins, Mevr Vurk SO, N. V. 



MAXINE 

SULLIVAN 

CURRENTLY 
VILLAGE VANGUARD, New York 
RADIO: Sundays. 3-3:15 P.M.. WNEW 

'Dircetioa: 
MUSIC CORP, OF AMERICA 



WeAwidnyv March 3.0, 1948 



NIGHT CLUB REVIKWS 



Night Qiib Reviews 



Copiieiibiina, JN. Y. 

umi Letter, Carl Ravazza, b'vln- 
/in h Vanya, Jeffrey Clay^ Jet Mac- 
•t^M Susan Graves, dopa Girls 
yrtt'chflel Durso Orch Fernanda 
Alvarez Orch; minimum, $3 and $4. 

•sffekinfi to the payoff formula of 
the previous show, the Copa con- 
Iiniips to hit the nitery trade with a 
notent layout in the three basic 
&ons of comedy, singing and 
Sancing. In format, show remains 
SfrfMallv intact with Jerry Lester 
Zving'into Henny Yqungman's spot 
nnd Carl Havazza being held . oyer 
Bffpr proving himself an mdis- 
Sle click in this club. D'Angelo 
and Vanya round out the bill with 
a flrstrate balWoom exhibit (New 

■^On'his way up into the topline 
romic ranks, I^ester bills himself as 
"the world's second greatest come- 
dian" (he's ready to let the others 
fight it .out for first place). Mebbe 
so He's stocked with a full larder 
of* gags and delivers them with fast, 
short jabs that hammer out the 
yocks without any trouble. He can 
also mug, mimic, juggle and sing, 
making for a rapid change of pace 
in his attack. His routine, however, 
can still use some sharpening. That 
bit about his schooldays in Chicago 
is slightly forced, for instance. -But 
he warms up into being a very funny 
gent with his satirical takeoff on 
.Jolson that should end all takeoffs. 
His impression of Harry Richman 
is a surprising succession of vaude 
tricks and random gags that winds 
the act to a begoff hand. 

Ravazza remains with his same 
routine of stylized crooning of pop 
and novelty tunes. Using that sure- 
fire selling technique of kidding the 
number.*, he does his Pedro song, 
•'Civilization," "Bessie Couldn't Help 
It," and another calypso number, 
''Always Marry, a Woman That's 
Uglier Than You." Ravazza al.so 
has to stick around for a couple bf 
encores before the customers let go. 

Three production numbers, featur- 
ing the Copa girls with vocals by 
Jeff Clay and Jet MacDonald and 
solo terping by Susan Graves, are 
' iiandled in routine style for only a 
sbrso impression. Michael Durso's 
orch cuts the show okay and Fer- 
nando Alvarez, crack chile combo, 
.uorttinu^s to dish out the rhumba 
rhythms for customer hoofing. 
. Monte Proser is still listed as the 
Gopa boniface tout the new billing at 
the spot indicates there's been a 
diminuendo on Proser's publicity re- 
garding production. Hertn. 

Bf affair Room, €hl 

<BLA,CKSTONE HOTEL) 

I Chtcaoo, March 1. 
Jimmy Sauo, Ray Morion Orch 
(8); $3.50 minimum, $1 cover. 

Plush restraint of this room makes 
a. choice setting for Jimmy Savo's 
adroit foolery. Atmosphere is one 
in which whimsy doesn't have to 
'.battle Against grog, Saturday night 
brings some who want razzle-dazzle, 
but on other evenings patrons don't 
race their motors. All of which is to 
Savo's advantage. 

Comic does his familiar panto 
routines with the sticky strip of 
-paper, the snufE box and as a juggler. 
He clowns the lyrics of "B.lack 
Magic," then draws good applause 
With the woeful ballad about the 
husband of a G-stringer. Seguing 
With stories that fetch ready yocks, 
he scores with "Honey" and gently 
needles fortissimo baritones in "Road 
• ; to Mandalay." 

" . Shift to ringside has him in puck- 
ish byplay with tableholder.s as lead- 
in for his mug bit with a snatched- 
up drink. Tried - and - true "One 
Meat Ball" takes him off to .salvos. 
In return he chants" variations on 
"The Girl That I Marry," tosses off 
a _ story about a mother kangaroo 
With hiccups, and clinches satisfying 
sesh with "River Stay 'Way from 
My Door." , 

Beyond skillful blending of diverse 
comic elements, ranging from prop 
laughs and panto to slapstick and 
animstl stories, Savo projects ji cpy, 
ehUd-like simplicity that holds at- 
tention from the start. 

Ray .Morton orch gives deft back- 
ing- for Savo vocals and crowds the 
Blow for the dance sets. Baxt. 



routine from his earlier in the sea- 
son stint at the Colonial Inn, the vet 
comic hits the risibilities constantly 
with his deft clowning and assort- 
ment of top special material. Stand- 
out is his plea to film-actress wife, 
Martha Stewart, "Martha, Won't 
You Please Come Home," and a 
lyrical takeoff on "Ballerina." Fol- 
lows with a long, and oftimes funny 
dissertation on movie plots, "I'm 
Allergic to the Best Things in Life" 
and the sock repeater, the Phil Har- 
ris satirization- "That's What I Like 
About the North." Austin Mack 
rates bows for his slick accomps to 
Lewis' gag and song weavings. 

Of begoft proportions was the 
so'mewhat abbreviated stint of Miss 
Tucker. Tees off with her standard 
"I'm Living and I Like It," follows 
with the yocker "Don't Let the Same 
Dog Bite You Twice" winds into 
"Life Begins at Forty'' and finishes 
with "Red Hot Momma." She paces 
the show, and in that opening spot, 
gets the house from walkon to bow 
off. Ted Shapiro aids with, his as- 
sured piano backgrounds. \, 

Riehman, in the middle slot, 
soun'ds off with a walk on number 
that sets him solidly. Titled "I'm 
Glad That I'm An Actor" it inter- 
weaves the hits he's been identified 
with, with the lyrics pointing to the 
continued resurgence of the vets (a 
la Jolson and. Tucker), and subtle 
pointing , out that though his voice 
isn't as potent as in bygone years,' 
he can still stand up and sing. Stint 
also includes his pianoings and med- 
ley of oldtimers and requests, of 
which "Shake Hands With a Mil- 
lionaire" is the highlight. 

Trio combine for the hilarious 
finale they introed year.s ago at Ben 
Marden's Riviera in New Jersey, 
with the old time bathing siiit cos- 
tuming and the horseplay getting 
yocks and steady mitting. 

Production numbers are brief and 
.well handled by the June Taylor 
girls, all lookers and capable dancers. 
Ray Arnett holds down the solo 
song-dance production spot neatly. 
Dave Tyler'.s orch impress as one of 
the better show-dance imits around 
town. Lary. 

El If oroceo, M ont'l 

Montrcol, Feb. 27. 
Joey Adams, Tony Canzoneri & 
Mark Plant, Ruth • Daye, Buddy 
Clarke Orch; minimmn $2. 



Beaeheomber, Miami II. 

Miami Beach, March 6. 
Joe E. Leiois, with Austin Mock; 
ftppBje TMcfcer with Ted Shopiro; 
Harry Ricliman with Ken Jones; Ray 
Arnett, June Taylor Girls i7), Dave 
lyier Orch; no minimum or cover. 

Reunion of Joe E. Lewis!, Sophie 
iuoker and Harry Richman In this 
JrS.SPot is an entertainment parlay 
. .Wat should bring out the tourists 
?"° locals. The no minimum policy 
i^^slled to attract the post-season 
?■ spenders and the name value 
01 the trio should pay off. Only 
Zni ''"^^'^^ may militate against 
ri r!^ crowds is the long tenure of 
«i Tucker (8 weeks) and Richman 
a4 weeks). 

As currently setup, both Miss 
iucker and Richmap have cut their 
full , ^^'ow Lewis to turn in his 
j;"",sesn of comedy. It'.s a .'iS-minute 
■■'nS»W.?'F"ngs plenty of laughs, 
wing aif alhidsrcomplete chVhge oT 



The fagt team of Joey Adams, Tony 
Canzoneri and Mark Plant is the 
best unit of comedy to play this 
spot. Lads really are sensational 
thanks to Adams' personality and 
wit, Canzoneri's very good sense of 
comedy and Plant's excellent sup- 
port. Trio is aided in its final num- 
ber, by bandleader Buddy Clarke, 
who stooges for them and helps 
along the merriment. 

Adams' delivery is still the trio's 
biggest asset. Canzoneri, now a smart 
performer, and Plant add perfectly 
to the antics. Canzoneri's imitation 
of Edward G. Robinson goes over 
with a sock while the diction lesson 
Ad'ams gives him is also lively fun. 
Plant does neat job on vocals of 
"It's A Wonderful World You Live 
In." "I'll Be Seeing You," a medley 
from "Porgy and Be.ss," etc. His 
stint with Adams on "Sonny Boy" 
continues a potent howl getter. Trio 
is a winning combination all the way. 

Tap dancer Ruth Daye does two 
solos, a short stint with Adams and 
closes with a neat boogie, solidly 
backed by Clarke's smart orchestra. 

Marc. 



Balinose Room, Boston 

(SOMERSET HOICEt) 

. Boston, March 5. ; 
Woble & Kino; Sammi/ Eisen Orch 
(6); $2 ttiinimum, $1 couer after 9:30 
p.m. 

Noble and King came in for a 
month- back in January and have, 
been held until April 1 as result 
of plenty of favor in these parts, 
where they first clicked several 
years ago. Not only being held over, 
but picked up a three-a-week radio 
slot on WBZ from 12:15 to 12:30 
under Barcolene sponsorship. 

Offer six or eight songs intimately 
styled to create a mood, with Noble 
seeming to improvise accompani- 
mental embroidery at the piano. 
They do "If This Isn't Love,' 
"Flamingo," "Something Sort of 
Grand," "The Best Things in Life 
Are Free," "Come to -Me" and "No 
Businesi! Like Show Bu,siness," but 
repertoirt is virtually limitless so 
they seldom repeat numbers from 
show to show unless requested. 
Often spot romantic tunes composed 
by Noble, plenty of which have 
caught on with these society au- 
diences. 

Act employs unique lighting .sys- 
tem devised Iry Noble, which blends 
softer spots on the couple during a 
song to enhance the mood. Done by 
means of a row of buttons on the 
keyboard, like organ stops. Often 
use dialogue to music to intro the 
numbers, a technic they've devel- 
oped for their air slot, usually min- 
iature operelta.s. Act has charm and 
manages to keep the audience plenty 
iEfttentive. both at the dinner and the 
supper shows. Shrewd and knowing 
accompaniment is, supplied by .Sam- 
ray Eisen's small but- accomplished 
band. Room specializcjs in top cui- 
sine saylish .served and was wgU at- 
teiitWWft^'ieaugbt; . ' Blie. 



Blue Angel, N. Y. 

Douglas Byng, Alice Penrce & 
Marc Lauirencej Delta Rhythm Boys 
(8), Jay MorthoU, JBlli* LorJcin Trio, 
Hnl Cooke; $3.50 minimum. 

Any opening that causes Gertrude 
Lawrence to rush over: immediately 
upon completion of her chores in the 
legiter "Tonight at 8:30" and brings 
out Noel Coward- and others in the 
ultra crowd, should have pronounced 
boxofflice value on the eastside. 

Occasion for the scurrying of New 
York's British colony -was the open- 
ing of Douglas fiyng, delight of the 
English sophisticates, who's making 
his first appearance here since 1932. 
He's a w.k. performer in London 
legits, and he's known to an esoteric 
group in this -country via record- 
ings. (More of him under New Acts. ) 

Any performer who hasn't been 
in this country; for more than a dec- 
ade naturally constitutes a gamble 
for a boniface. Con.sequently, Her- 
bert Jacoby and Max Gordon have 
surrounded Byng with a show made- 
up of some of the better components 
of the Blue Angel stock company. - 

For example, Alice Pearce and 
Marc Lawrence, former doubling 
from "Look, Ma, I'm Dancing," who 
has been projected into star propor- 
tions for the eastside: trade, top the 
supporting talent. Miss Pearce is an 
extremely clever girl, whose comedy 
burlesques never fail to excite max- 
imum risibilities. She's gained con- 
siderable stature since her opening 
here last year, and perhaps shelll be 
no risk if she ventures into a cafe 
west of Park avenue. Lawrence pro- 
vides solid backing at the piano, and 
occasionally chimes in with song. 
They've added a pair of numbers for 
this occasion, one of them a satire 
of college songs and other a bit on 
France. Both are good. 

The Delta Rhythm Boys are sim- 
ilarly sock in this spot, their trick 
harmonies and assured delivery giv- 
ing them reason to work overtime. 
They do a variety of tunes ranging 
from "Black Magic," ''Dry Bones" 
and "She Told Him Emphatically 
No" for hearty salvos.' 

Opening night (8) had to be pro- 
longed in order to save Byng's preem 
until the after-theatre crowd arrived. 
Consequently, Jay Marshall was held 
over for an additional night, and,, as 
usual, he socked across his magic 
satires for mob acclaim. 

The Ellis Larkin Trio provides the 
musical sessions, while Hal Cooke 
does the intro work and plays the 
lull-time piano. Jose. 

Raleigil Room, N. Y. 

(WARWICK HOTEL) 

Three Suns, Alan McPaige Trio; 
$1.50 coiMJcrt. , . 

The staidly decorated Raleigh 
room of the 'Warwick hotel is seek- 
ing to recapture its bid for mass 
appeal with the booking of .'the 
Three Suns, who have achieved a 
rep via recordings and airings as 
one of. the top -instrumental three- 
somes in the business. Holding over 
on this bill is the Alan McPaige Trio, 
who are making headway with the 
accordion, bass and guitar instru- 
mental offerings. 

The Suns, for many years a fix- 
ture at the Piccadilly hotel, N. Y., 
provide standout musical sessions. 
Their offerings have pace, variety, 
smart presentation and indicate solid 
musicianship. 

The trio's instrumentation of elec- 
tric organ, accordian and guitar, pro- 
vides colorful renditions, • gopd 
shadings, and full bodied presenta- 
tion. It's evident in such pieces as 
"Clair de Lune," "J'Alousie," "Dar- 
denella" among others. Their pieces 
are easy for the laymen to follow, 
being void of- complicated jazz-' 
passages that go far afield from the 
usual melodic line. 

At times, their presentations are 
too full for this small room, but it's 
a matter of adjusting the volume 
controls of their instruments. 

Jan August will replace them 
Thursday (l(i). Jose. 

Utile <:ai»ino, Y. 

Garlond Wilson, Moe Bor«es, Nora 
Tate, Jimmy Daniels; $2 minimum, 

This intime Greenwich Village 
spot seems to have hit upon a profit- 
able formula with its current sepia 
layout, projected more in the format 
of a concert than a regulation nitery 
floorshow. 

Spot, which has a capacity of 
about 100, depends mainly upon 
after-theatre trade from uptown and 
Stay-up-lates. Consequently enter- 
tainment docs not go on until 11 p.m., 
although bar and restaurant opens 
earlier: Under new policy spot has 
been doing .splendia biz. However, 
much of this is due to the popularity 
and following the current quartet of 
talent has built up on previous 
forays in Harlem spots and 52d 
street bistros. 

Show is done on continuous sched- 
ule, with Garland Wilson, pianist- 
composer, pacing with pleasant 
piano interlude, weaving his own 
compositons into current hit para- 
ders, .semi-classics and hit tunes 
from Broadway musicals. Whatever 
he does is top-drawer. He later 
teams on the twin pianos with Nora 
Tate, an accomplished pianiste, who 

I also gives out with occasional vocals. 
She's solid in both departments. 

I Mae Barnes, hefty and husky 
songstress, clicks with ribald ditties 



and ballads such as "Marie," "Can't 
Pull the Wool Over My Eyes," "Lazi- 
est Gal in Town'* and "They TooK; 
Everybody But Me." Gal has 
plenty animation and a comedic 
touch that enhances her work and 
makes her an especially good bet for 
this spot. ' 

Jimmy Daniels, personable bari- 
tone, does neatly on "Strange New 
Rhythm in My Heart," "Without 
Love," "Just One of Those Things" 
and other ballads for nice audience 
appreciation^ Edha. 

Clover CInb, Ptiand,Ore. 

■ Portland, Ore., March 4. 
Glorio LeRoj/, Houjard Slavin, 
Woods & Bray, Russ Graham Orch 
(5); 90 c couer tueeJcdojys, $1,50 
Saturdays. 

New layout here has plenty of 
variety. Gloria LeRoy, tall, curvace- 
ous blond, gets things under way in 
good style with her high-kick 
comedy work. Starts with a SOng 
about "Sugar and Spice," then goes 
into her comedy stuff that wins nice 
applause. 

Woods and Bray contrib standard 
waltz and tango routines. Guy 
handles femme partner with ease in 
spins and lifts, winding with a sock 
adagio. 

Howard Slavin handles emcee 
chore in top fashion. After some 
fast patter, he segues into mimicry. 
Best of latter are Bogart, Lorre, 
Greenstreet and Gary Grant. 

Russ Graham Orch backgrounds 
neatly and keeps floor , crowded for 
dance sessions. 



Mermaid Room, Y. 

(PARK CENTRAL HOTEL) 

Smoothies (3), Tune Toppers (4>, 
Brenda Carr, Marti Bayne; Saturday 
night minimum, $3.50. 

Since the Park Central hotel aban- 
doned its big talent operation in the 
Gocoanut Grove, some years ago, the 
inn has been relying on its cocktail 
lounge the Mermaid room. The Mer- 
maid room with its no cover, no 
minimum policy on -week nights, is a 
haven for the transient trade in the 
section. The room is sufficiently 
tricky to attract the tourist, and the 
musical and song talent there are 
top lounge acts. 

For the performers, it's a hard 
room to work in. The spot is built 
around the irregularly shaped bar 
with the talent holding forth on a 
revolving elevated stage atop the 
bar. It's not the type of layout that 
keeps the drinking trade interested,, 
inasmuch as no sooner than an im- 
pression is made on one group of 
listeners, then the act has to start 
working to new patrons. 

For this type of 'operation, the 
Mermaid Room has a set of okay 
turns with the Smoothies and the 
Four Ttine Toppers, both excellent 
cocktail room acts that have been 
around in theatres as well. 

The Smoothies provide a pleasing 
blenfi of vocalistics. They're a nicely 
groomed and youthful trio consisting 
of Babs Mason and the Ryan Bros. 
In their 15-minute turn.s atop the 
bar, they contribute a lot of music, 
most of which shows their skilled 
craftsmanship. Songs such as "Civil- 
ization," "Ballerina" and "Now is the 
Hour" are carefully worked out and 
produce the desired vocal effects. 
However, they attempt vocal impres- 
sions, majority of which are un- 
evenly performed. If they're at- 
tempting to kid the impressionists, 
idea doesn't get across. Unless these 
routines are tightened up, they 
should be eliminated. 

The Tune Toppers ar« old hands 
at working the lounges. It's an es- 
tablished musical and vocal group 
which knows how to play to custom- 
ers at the bar. Outfit rides the stand- 
ards nicely with full-bodied arrange- 
ments. Instrumentation of accordion, 
trumpet, bass and guitar is capable 
of interesting effects. Vocals are 
competently handled by bassist and 
windjammer. 

Brenda Carr vocalizing to her own 
piano accomps, gets over neatly. 
Marti Bayne doing vari-typed songs 
impresses as having a better chance 
of Selling in a smaller room. Jose. 

La Martinique, N. Y. 

■ : (FOLLOWCP) 

An interim layout at La Mar- 
tinique, prior to the opening of its 
big spring talent splurge, has Dane's 
cafe displaying a comparatively 
small show, fdatured by the return 
of Lenny Kent, who's playing his 
first N. Y. nitery stand in some time. 

Kent has achieved some stature 
since he first came to attention some 
years ago at the old La Conga. His 
delivery and much of his material( 
has improved to a great degree, but 
somehow this room has the effect of 
scaring him. Instead of being forth- 
right in his delivery, there's a fuz?i- 
ness of projection, which dissipates 
the value of his efforts. 

On night caught, he worked under 
a considerable handicap.; A. stew 
patron insisted on doing the act with 
him from a ringside table. The un- 
billed stooge didn't do a brilliant job 
of heckling,, just enough to throw 
the comic off base. Kent handled 
the character gingerly, • 

Prior to that incident, Kent was 
making headway with the audience 
with a bit of hep material, both old 
and new. He's the type of comic 
that has to grow on audiences, con- 
• " XCOfttlnued' di! We 66) " 



New Acts 



PAVLA DRAKE 

Comedy - . 

'IS'Mins. 

VUlage Vanguard. N. T. 

Paula Drake debuted in New York 
at Leon & Eddie's six years ago as 
a straight thrush. Since then, she's 
been working on the Coast, where 
She switched to comedy and, by so 
doing, established quite a rep for 
herself. Switch was a wise one; since 
Miss Drake demonstrates via her 
new Manhattan preem at the Village 
Vanguard that she's one of th« 
brightest new comediennes to appear 
on the scene in some time: 

A tall, attractive brunet. Miss 
Drake has all the requisites for mov- 
ing uptown last to the plushier east- 
side boites, Her class is easily ap-^ 
parent and her material is excellent. 
Delivery and timing are neatly 
handled and, while she sells her 
comedy best now through facial ex- 
pressions, she also has a good enough 
voice for musical comedy work. 
Some of her material is blue to just 
the right extent and she gives it 
added punch through her naive, 
innocent stare. 

She opens slowly with a straight 
rendition of "Money Isn't Every- 
thing" but gets rolling with an ex- 
aggerated satire on a catty femme 
Iriend. Best routine is takeoff on 
folk tunes, in which she works in a 
zither with fine - results. Parody on 
"Just One of Those Things" is good 
and she closes with a straight inter- 
pretation of "You Cain 't Get a Man- 
With a Gun," which 'points up her 
legit potentialities. Sfal. : 



OOVGLAS BTN6 

Songs 
20 Mlns. 

Blue Angel, N. Y. 

Douglas Byng is fondly remem- 
bered by vet eastside cafegoers due 
to his U. S. appearances in 1932. 
Since, then, he's been a staple in 
London legit shows and has achieved 
a' reputation in Mayfair as one of 
the ultra performers. Byng's appeal 
in the U. S. will similarly be for 
the chichi and esoteric elements, and 
he'll venture at his own peiil to 
spots on the slum side of N, Y.'e 
Park avenue. 

Byng is a cross between a femme 
impersonator and. a singing comic. 
Much of his material, satirizing -fe- 
male characters, is delivered in prop 
femme garb. He occasionally goes 
into falsetto .to prove his point' and 
does some coine.dy dance steps to 
punch up his material. 

Most of his tunes have a slight 
indigo touch, which he puts over 
without offense. Numbers such as 
"Doris, Goddess of Wind,'' "Mont- 
martre," "Lulu of Peru," "May. Day 
in the Village Green" and "Flora 
MacDonald" hit the crowd nicply. ' 
Several of his numbers, while well 
liked by Britons and record col- 
lectors, fail to have sufficient "punch 
lines to be entirely, acceptable' to 
American audiences.. ' ' ., 

At any rate, he'll attract trade, 
especially from the ueincilled eye- 
brow set. Jose, 



D'ANGELO & VANIA 
Ballroom Dancing 
12 Mins. 

Copac'abana, Vl. 1, 

D'Angelo and Vanya are a hand- 
some looking couple with a class 
balli;oomology exhibit that's a good 
bet for the chichi cafes. Around for 
several years on the nitery belt, 
team has evolved a smooth routine 
accenting intricate stepping and 
wisely minimizing the stock aoro» 
turns of most such acts. Vanya is 
a cool blonde wearing an attractive 
scarlet gown while her partner is 
decked out in standard tails and 
white tie. 

Team gives a fillip to the act by 
introducing a polite Apache mood 
into their routines. It's not over- 
sexy but there's just enough of it to 
supply a kick. Team also has a 
pleasantly informal style, dropping 
a couple of words with nearby cus- 
tomers and stopping at one point for 
a drink of water. It's a good gim- 
mick to show they're something 
more than dancing marionettes. 

, ■■. ■ -Hertn*- 

RUTH HART ~" 
Ballet 

8 Mlns. 

La Martinique, N. T. 

Ruth Hart, at this stage of her 
nitery career, would do better in 
ballet sequences of piroduction- nunb- 
bers. She's yet to get a set of rou- 
tines to sustain interest. Neverthe- 
less, she displays a thorough ground- 
ing in the toe-terp line, executing a 
good portion of the ballet's catalog 
of positions' and steps, and doing 
them charmingly. 

However, it's just a question of 
routining them . properly. Further 
knowledge of cafe routines should 
make her a good bet ior class 
niteries. - Josei 



Schall With Romm 

Max Schall has joined the Harry 
Romm agency as assistant to Romm. 
Both left for the Coast last week, 
where Romm will produce two pic- 
tures for Columbia release. First 
will be "Ladies of the Chorus." 

Schall was - former . manager of 
Lbuls I'rima'; bSiiidleader; 



: W»Mm9A3 fi. ■Wbm^ Hi.' Mil 



flHse Rewiews 



Capitol, as. Y. 

Tex Beneke Orch (28) with. Cvn/ 
Steven*, l>e«it WUrfai lk Jerry Leieis; 
"The Nmked CUiT fff-D reviewed in 
Vaanxr, Jon. 21, *4(. 



The current Capitol show brings 
into sharp focus « problem that's 
long heen a conjeetaval point with 
boofcers and talent agencies. Shioe 
it's admitted that pictures ate the 
primary draw in the Broadway de- 
luxers, poser is wlutlier it's advasable 
to put in a stagebill that would oom- 
plement the fifan, or have a live lay- 
out that would attempt to bring in 
a different type audience, and tbesre- 
Jore increase grasses. - 

Ibe problem is all too evident with 
the new Capitol staeediow which ac- 
..coropanies "The Naked City." The 
action picture devotees being lured 
by the lato Mark HcUinger^s produc- 
tion, probably isnt appreciative of 
the smooth, subtlie and smart offer- 
ings oC Tex Benejke's band. . 

Beneke is among tiie last of the 
major orchestras to cany a large 
crew, liaving an instrumentation of 
XB pieces, including 10 strings. Ar- 
lai^ements, conseqiiiaitly, are iluid, 
AiII ioif subtle shadiliBt and modeUed 
for literate lifitening. Ihelr ariange- 
jnent ol 'ISabre Dance" is probaldy 
the b^ of its kind around, hiihing 
out Ibe classic flavor of tlie Kha- 
tacbatarian oomporalaon. Beneke, 
lun^lf, talce$ case of most of the 
vocals, doing a good job on them. 
Other pieces that merit attention are 
"Gal in Kaianiazoo," "Golden Ear, 
rings" and "Rambling Along." 
There's sufficient variety and sidlled 
musicianship to get acclaim, but \m- 
fortunately. these offerings aren't 
built for the land of audience at- 
tracted by Vss maa. Because «! the 
time element, services of vocalist 
Gary Stevens aren't used, 

Other half of the bill is devoted to 
Dean Martin and Jerry 3LewiSk whose 
comeappance during the past two 
Tears has been considerable. These 
lads -who first bowed as a team to 
New York audiences at the Havana 
.Madrjd,-^4iave firmly e^hlished 
themselves as one «f the jaare prom- 
ising teams to be developed in recent 
'Tears. Thpy may .hit name propor- 
tions iiTilh their date at the Copaca- 
bana, N. Y,. nsrt month. Theirs is 
the igrpe of act ^t throws cvery- 
fhlng at the audience, from imper- 
'sonaliims, low comedy to straight 
sitting. They're fresh and stuff is 
frequently original. They_ do not 
• wear out their welcome in the 25 
mifflutts of their stint. 

With a 30-minute siagesdbow and 
moderate length film, there's a quick 
turnover for this bouset, and they're 
able to knock oC five and six shows 
■a.day«. ■ jTose, 



Louis Prima Orch., Dicic & Dot 
Remy, Jimmy Vincent. Im & Jimmy 
Dell, Oithv AHeiv "Road to Rio ' 

■ IPary, reeiewed in Vamety, J?o» 12, 
M7. 

Louis Prima, on his third lap of 
.what looks'like at least a five-week 
ride, could hardly wish for a more 
malleable class of patron than is his 
lot here. With this stand music al- 
most takes on the aspect of an at ter- 

■ thought iEven thoc^ they rate as 
upper-bracket jazz compounders 
Prima and his gang operate on the 
theory that you can slay 'em casier 
With a Idck in the pants than an 
arpeggio on the saxophone, and 
thafs just what the Prima troupe 
does— slay 'em — ^tluroughout the 40- 
odd minutes they're on that stage. 

When the gravei-tonsiled Prima 
does turn the proceedings to music 
the choice travels °a familar groove; 
numbers that he has recorded for 
Victor and that create a steady din 
from jukeboxes. But cdmedy being 
his long suit in that department as 
well the vocal repertoire runs ex- 
clusively, excepting Cathy Allen's 
two ballads, to material which al^ 
lows the gang to cut zany cap^. 
It's good old family vaudeville, with' 
the little lads pushing and falling 
all over one another, sporting funny 
hats, needling the headman, pulling 
off Italian dialect routines and 
polishing up. many a venerable slaP' 
stick device. And the payoil- is a 
consistent round of laughs. 

The stage load is the Prima 
bunch's with' but the few minutes 
conti-ibuted by Dick and Dot Hemy, 
whose forte is Ihnber acrobatics. The 
highpoint of this act is riot so mucli 
What it does but the fact that one 
so hefty and rotund as the girl can 
perform splits, flips and handstands 
with such ease and agility. The 
male side of the act. after garnering 
some mirth with a crocodile waddie 
a la handstand, uses the , foreshort- 
ened stage to demonstrate a some- 
• what different wrinlde in performing 
somersaults. Hemy runs 'em off with 
a skate in either hand. The stunt 
makes a snappy fidish to a bright 
novelty. 

Spotlighted in the Prima menage 
for clowning are Junmy Vincent, the 
di-ummer, and the Dell Bros., Lu and 
Jrimmy. The latter are teamed for 
a rough«and-tumbl6 treatmient of a 
ditty with laU's foghorn voice- and 
Jimmy's trombone the chief props. 
While Vincent chants the "Sheik of 
Araby" to tht timing of Ws own 



drumsticks. Neither Vincent iwr the 
"Sheik" 'come out of the tussle any 
the worse. ■ . 

Prima even .extends the prop 
equipjriing of the att to bis Koodlook- 
ing vocalist. The props collect the 
intended reaction and attention from 
out front but they tend at the same 
time to distract tise appreciation. 
Hiss Allen is one of fhe better bal- 
lad singers on current record re- 
leases and the odds of her demon- 
strating it before an audtence are 
pretty much , against her ^hen she 
has to compete with someitliing that's 
geared to reap the whistles. Odcc. 

AptMtt, If. V. 

Nat Towtet fiolid (14) lottb Prince 
Afoss, Iffidcs tt Berrv, Hde Ckiddy, 
JocQuelme Hurley, King Odum 4, 
Spider Bruce t Co., Cootie WiUianu 

Band n) ; "Dragnet" (SG). 

This sepia vauder coraes up with 
another solid layout to keep audi- 
ence more than generously rcgaied 
with hep instrumentation and chirp- 
ing. Consequently "what might be 
figured a plethora of sameness in 
oSier places^ince four of tlie seven 
acts give out with the hot licks and 
sultry tunes— it's plenty okay for the 
ApoOo clientelle. 

Nat Towles'Band, back from a suc- 
cessful western swing since last here, 
paces proceedings with hep arrange- 
ments, plenty lust7 and loud to 
keep file audience happy. Combo 
comprises three rhythm, five saxes, 
Uiree trombones and three trumpets 
'Which give a < torrid workout on 
"Swinging on file Bend" to warm 
things up for Prince Moss' baritoning 
of a brace of ballads. Hides and 
Becity, mixed team, click in slick tap- 
.stecing routines; Band then takxs 
over for ^'Nafs .Boogie," which spot- 
lights several of the sidcmcn. 

.iLlae Caddy, sultry songstress, does 
cicely on "You Do" and 'Tm 
Through \^th Iavc^ to -win ptenty 
patty cakes. Spider Bruce & Co., 
house comics, gamer laughs in a 
satire on third degree methods of 
cops. Payoff is that when innocent 
suspect admits crime to stave oit 
further punishment, he is rewarded | 
instead of heihg thrown into the ' 
pokey. . 

King Odum Four ^ve' out with 
harmony vocals to accompaniment 
on bass and guitar; best of which are 
"Four Leaf Ctover," "We WiU Meet 
Again Some Day" and "You've Got 
That Twinkle." Off to solid salvos. 
Jacqu.eh"ae Hurley, attractive blonde 
and only ofay act on the bill, scores 
with her nifty oantortioii and con- 
trol work. 

Cootie WiUiams band provides 
more sizzling syncopation in closing 
slot. Fronted by Will&ms on trum- 
pet, combo consists of three rhythm, 
trumpet and sax, with some of the 
lads doubling on instruments. 
They're plenty torrid and really 
cook on 'Typhooa,'"'Echoes of Har- 
lem" and ''House of Joy" for plenty 
salvos. £dba, 

OlympiK, Miami 

i^iaroi March 5. 
Phil Brito, Sammy Walsh. Bedell & 
Itfatson, GtUete & RicJuxTds, Jack & 
Charlie Brick, hes Rhode Home 
Orch; "This Time for Keeps" (Af-G) . 

Current package plays well most 
of the way to earn healthy returns 
with the toplming Phil Brito and 
emcee^^coraic .Sammy Walsh main- 
spriru^s for aud receptivity, and 
Bedell and Matson right behind. 

Brito does a. well balanced routine 
I of croon-swoon stiifT. Purveys "You 
Do." Now Is the Hour" and "Sor- 
rento" for solid, returns. Then mixes 
with customers in a hand-mike bit 
on "If I Could Be With You," to 
wrap things up. 

Walsh makes an>affable cmccc and 
has fresh series of gags and numbers, 
with the lampooing of "Oi' Man 
River" the topper, to make for a 
.steady laugh session. 

Panto team of Bedell and Matsori 
turn in an artfully timed .series to 
recording backgrounds. It's stands 
ard -stuil, but earns the palming via 
smart presentetion and staging. 

Trampoline team of Jan and Char- 
lie Brick do okay with their twists 
and tumbles. Gillete and Richards 
turn in a somewhat broad sesh of 
hoofery and songs, to garner fair 
measure of laughs. Lary. 



eter, is l!Mitaicd ja wed 4E>ot for • 
cUdc doiB£ oldte "Tfuat ^Uwed v» 
ia coaacdy lyrioL Band toaHOr 
auaber ."St. JTamiei iDdBnnary" ■hows 
much BlidEer fags than maiqr « ao- 
called comedy band offem 

Band soagstresj^ June Ch£i8i^. one 
of few with the style and voice to 
blend with the band's aound, does 
five songs among them "How Hi;^ 
the Moon." 1 Told You I iMwSi 
YauT and "VH Bemember AprU" to 
slay the h«^ iBUdienoe. Kenton could 
have featured his own piano play- 
ing more but was too busy emceeing 
and conducting, doing both adeptly. 

Between band numbers Meribetti 
Old docs a terrif turn of acrolMttics 
and contortions for pToity of ap- 
plause. Other standard is Pat Hen- 
ning. whose capsule impres^as and 
zany takeolfs of flicker mordens of 
Bogart, Bobinson and Cagney earn 
sock iMwoff. 

Biz fabulous at opener and should 
hold for near-record isand take. 

iElte. 



HaliOflUkl, L^viHe 

' Lotuicilte, March 5. 

Tiny Hill Orch (11), Rafe Davis, 
Bahby Breen, Texas Tommy & Baby 
Doll; "Three on Ticket" <PRC). 

Tiny Hill currently going along 
with the trend for cowboy bands, 
has assembled an 11-pieoe crew, 
which is quite versatile. Several of 
the sidemen double on various in- 
stnunents, and a novel touch is 
added by the magician trombonist. 

Hill strolls on and off noncludant- 
ly, taking care of vocal chores and 
introes. Doesn't extend himself 
much to sei) his snngs,. whidi are 
tunes he has recorded for Mercury 
label; Uses banjo prominently for 
"Four lieaf Clover," and gets good 
backing for *!Hed Wing," another 
oldie. Band boys diinte m on "Steel 
Guitar Bag." Nice nostalgic touch 
is added with "Alexander's Ragtime 
Band," with a quartet comprised of 
two sax. clarinet and trombone. This 
registers solidly. Hill's other vocals, 
all plenty olcay, are "Who's Sorry 
Now," "Keep On Lovin' You" and 
"Angry." Hill's own novelty, "Livin' 
On The Fat Of The Land" gamers 
laughs. 

i^bby Breen loses no time launch- 
ing into his routine of tunes. Gets 
over nicely with "Wrap Your 
Troubles in Dreams." "When You're 
In Love" and "Dance At Your-Wcd- 
ding." Encores with "Molly Malone" 
for additional salvos. 

Texas Tommy brings on a small 
pooch, then his ponv "Baby Doll." 
Swell turn for the kid.s. 

Bucolic comic. Rufe Davis, in his 
now familiar foutine of imitations, 
interspersed with snorts, and all 
types of sound impressions, gets 
plenty lauehs. Guv has own stvle 
of. singing "Sow Sons," "Sioux City 
Sue" and "Mama Don't Allow" for 
neat applause. 

House wa.s well filled at show 
cauj'hl Friday (5) . Mold. 



RKO, BoHlon 

Boston, M<irch 5. 
Staii Kenton Orch (20), Jutie 
Christy, Meribeth Old. Pal Hewninjr; 
"Periious Waters" (Atono). 



Carrying 20 men including a 
bongo player, little seen outside 
Latin bands. Stan Kenton wows the 
house with every number in this 
layout 

Band only does three strictly in- 
strumental numbers, ''Artistry 
Jump," "GoUab<>ration" and "Peanut 
Vendor," but tho.se are flawlessly 
played in solid arrangements with 
accent very heavy on brass. Hard 
to tell which makes more noi.se, the 
band or the audience responding 
n^th cheers and applause. 

Several sidemen are spotted 
throughout, with bassist Safranski 
drawing solo spot and scoring with 
"SafranKsi;" • Bay Wetzel, ' tnmijJ- 



Ritery Reviews 



•iVflwIety-'' Bills 




- wMk Ulb liciMir ladicaU tmegimt d» at 



tnittcalwi irimMK: to _ 



SKW VOW Cm 

VwlM (U It 
Tex J3an«9>« Ore 
I>eiu> JI«.rtja 

JlMdc naU U>- 11 

Paul JHsalum 
Slepliaiiin Am)* 

A Andree * Bunnie 
B«llAk «b ISIaiva 
Koc'kettoa 
Corps de Ballet 
aiM Club 
aym Ore 

I>Bnwi«uiit (r) IB 

Dick A Dot IXemi 

Bwr (■> )• 

Art Moonry Ore 
GalH Six 
Bfitly Brmw • 
Salli-1 l>ui>pet« 
A] Bertile 

Strain! (W) It 
Rush M«i'«'an Ore 
Phil roeXvr 
Ana RnvixU 
T.A11 Wills Jr 

WiB«tiiir (1) Vt-U 
Al Norman 
H Chrlnlonlier 
Jim Wonj; Troave 
TliF noufftitniiii 
Caiid^ St«T<»H» Co 

BKOOKLTN 
llatlHikb (1) It-M 
7, Bentnnfl 
AI - ScJiemc . ■ 
Berk «s HiOUow 

(two to mn 

Jiuiuitrat (D I»-1S 
Vani^ Steppers 
rnnsy, Ui« Horse 
Jimmy lUalr 



Xvonna I>eC!arIa 
JarJc T^eoaartl 
Cart Sand* Oro 

coi.v)WinjK 

nOaw <M> »-U 

Jaer Anlaina 
Key* Lvice 
Jolinny Coy 
'WMrlwinila 
San. Abb mcCalM 
RABVVORW 

mmt^ m 

JolntTif iMrm Ota 
Jtihanf Matwaii 

HOI.TOKS! 
VaOer Araaai (I) 14 

IB lAurence Ore 
Alaii Kiac t 
Skallus Slaclu 
Burton ft Ka.ve 
Har I>orey 
{^yitil novrman 
Don ...If enrjT' A 

auAm 

OI.Tniiiia <jr> M) 

■IJewey .Sla ■ 
imi Rich 

Tvette 

Arthnr Blake 
Debonairvti 

:s'KirAKK 

Adanui II) It 

Claude TtiornbiU O 
4 Kvans ' 
TVeat «; Ijeilns 
Budtlir idnnt.t 

MiUeftle O) «1-M 

GH!m nclUiiff Co 
MDton Froine 
C Frcdrriclia Co 
31 arria tc Iti'an 
A J Andera 

m-n 

RAM Norman 
Oina TfewiiiaH 



PAUL RICH 

NOW At. 

OtYINPlA. MIAMI 



=; Contin«ea from jage 5S ssi 

■Em MartiniiiHP., IS. IT. 

sequently his full effectiveness wasn't 
evident 

atiguelito" AfaldfS. the holdover 
singer heading a rhtunba crew, con- 
tinues to entice the Xiatin mob, which 
apparently never tires of his rendi- 
tions of the CastiUian tongi«e-twist- 
ers and Iiis magnumopus "Babalu." 
His band provides some exciting 
rhythms to complete a good aQ 
around job. 

Other act on this display is Ruth 
Hart (New Acts), wiiose ballet work 
has a good deal of charm. Ralph 
Font's Latin crew is also a good 
draw for the rhumba fans. Jose. 



(ST. MOKITZ HOTEL) 

Alfred Menconi Orch (5), Hot At- 
kinson; $3.50 viinimum. 



IJespite his s m all unit, Alfred 
Menconi achieves the effect of a 
much larger band in this plushy, in- 
timate spot facing Central Park. 
Basically a sweet ensemble, the- 
group comprises the leader's piano 
plus trumpe^ bass, sax and skins. 
Repertoire sticks to the usual stand- 
ards, an occasional pop and Latin 
number. 

Vocals are handlcHl by sax player 
Ben Grisafi. He baritones "Begin 
the Beguine" displaying promising 
pipes. Encores with ''WhifTenpoof 
Song" for fair returns from the 
small audience. Drummer Jules 
Mellson moves off the podium to 
contrib some tepid gags as well' as 
takeoffs on Jimmy Durante, Ned 
SlMirks. Ted Lewis, et al. Routines 
are adequate enough here, but 
mimicking is only fairish. 

Menconi, . who' opnned recently 
for a return date at the St. Moritz 
having done a stint at its rool last 
-s u m m e r, is a • personable leader. 
Handles his boys with verve and 
does an effortless job on the ivories. 
Other sidemen arc trumpeter Larry 
Kennedy, who does the arrange- 
ments v.'hile Henry Scnick strums 
the string bass. On the Whole, orch 
is okay entertainment for . a clieh- 
tejle that appears to be composed 
chiefly of ca.sual mixed trade with 
a sorinkling of out-of-town buyers. 
Mailre-d' is "Robert," an ingratiat- 
mg host. 

Hal Atkinson pedals the Ham- 
mond brgan twixt sets. Gilb. 



Anson Sia 
Uartoii & Ilrody 

Boblty Winston ■ 
(two to tiU) 

.\TI_*>TA 
I'ox (!■) U 
Sammy Kaye Ore 
li*'Jom' & H«"iv»rd 
t5eor(?i<* Kay 

KA>.TI.«UR]<: 
IfipiHMlroane <1> II 
M«i Bowes RIiow 
SInIr (I) 11-13 
I'aul 3ilH.K<ui 
Utirton 

Krajililin Twins 
Daeaj 5 

u-n ■ ■ ... 

I-HA-ofn<, l^ Jon 
COrr! & KlKa 
Kianlt'y Biinia 

lUtSTON 
ItONton (K> 11 
Until?! ilahiplon O 
j^lini & Sweets 
Hfflti & Cavley 
ilara Kim 

CAMDKN 
I'aireni <l) IS-lt 
Jordan A- l*orviR 
3f* & ^^u>y >lnck ■ 
C4)u»in Ma 
1(«?iiiiy 3>lerntT 
II & M Norman 

riiK'Aun 

Siatr-iUthe »■) 1^ 

,Kiln KiliKPniid 
M**1 Tornie 
3 Tones 

Herli rields Ore 
Oriental (l> 11 
Kine Cole I 



D & D'a Cats 

Alan Kln« 
KlBhuril.AiliHr Drd 
PlillAIMa.l'IIIA 
(^urataa (I) 11 

Tiii^t .Foataljii'ii 
Marty RarrcU 
.tdlinny iiytnnit 
Tlio Warrctla 

Knjali (I> 11-13 

Wella & 4 Fays 
Olive While 
Alartin ICroH 
Wally Ward Co 
Hiliti Di-<>« 

ROCKl'WKn 
Falaee (IJf U 
"Star Spaneletl 

Glamour* 
Vnn it Vaneuarda 
AinaninB Mr. TayTr 
vie nyrte 

Itamona Jt IluKlies 
I'atil Wallior Ore 
3 KIa.mlatm 

tiPRiNcsnKr.ii 

Coari 8q <l> 11-14 

FitxKilibons 
Grace Jobnaton 
Ih'ohuii & Dnrpca 
Son' & Soniij. 
Jucgline .lewola 
The Tunpt-'itllers 

Capital (14 11 

Hornrc llpUl t <»r.c. 
WOONHOCKKT 
ra|>ilul (I) 14 

'Steve KvaiiM 
Lady Francen 
1{ourt)on & 1'!h1ti 
Bosh Mao1<ean 



BEITAIN 



NlUt Croft 

Hcrt Murr«,y 

Imvliol JWnrrtcn 
■Jin UuTickloy 
inMUi .Vr KiUi 
KuniUtoii Kubins 
Sidnoy Tnrveljmn 
VUnia I>e H(H»r 

lieaton'H 12 Juvea 
CUlKU'Ifli 
Kniplk-i- (S) It 
Hip Jilti lloo Kuy 

Kmpire {»} 8 

Kockj- Mill Rliy*m 
Bill OainTtb«]1 
V aliilinn & PetB 

lVt»^r Itjiynor 
Syd MitUin 
-Sbok Hen All 
Tliti ^faidoB 
8 Ace Girls 

rtiltiri* <S) ft 

.liiiiiiiy ,1niru'i< 
riarbson Rohp 
UudclMTt' & }Uy 
A F»iil*»ilHy Co 

CliirkKom Ko»ebudt< 

itili H: llil 

LONDON 

HUM m ( 

KtavH on lee 



Fill Indium 
Danny Kiiye 

Olson -r^ 3<ihnson 
8 PltcJtinu'n 
Gloria. Gllbf'rt 

MANTUKSTKR 
Ilippoflronie <H) K 
Good !l SihotiB 
Itoiiulil Frank«,u 
Sonny JeulcH 
JacU .Stanford 
Joan T>MvJ(*a 
Joy Hnydftn 
Snioddic iir(i» 
llosumund Jttdmore 
Aiccr Tounf; 2 
Siuart pearvc 
BraemHr Vippvm 
Tiller Glrla 
Terry Juvvitilett 

smcpn^Ros m m 

BwHif.*r Shavff 
OHve 

licoriye /fe nitrbard 
MorriH A Cowley 

CoHlt>ion A BroPB 

Hurry S^^coinbe 

Ufisvleya 

I>oiiv*'r» 
WOOO OltKKN 
. Kmplrc <S) S 

Harry Hoy 

H HrooklynH : 

Hilda HfNith 

TJobf rto <^hl<>t*n Co 

Norinan Ividdtf^ 

Bi*n >\Vti»»in Trp 



Cabaret BOIs 



HEW TOBS CITY 



Basalclic 

Dorothy Roiia 
Bloe AbkvI 

Doufrlaa HynK 
Alii.:(» . J*carc« 
Marc JjtiwTpnee 
Delta Itliythin Ityj 
KlUa r..ai'kln 3 
)lul CooUe 
raf« Soclclj 
(nowatowii) 
Hal Shci'inun 



Oiiinie J'owoU 
Fats Pichon 
Cliir ';1ar1t8aD 
ffidmund Uall Ore 

Uilm Moll 
Katharine Clian« 
.lack Soo 
Laurie Lons 
3 Ciiutona 
Matt Tack 
Nora :tlii>r»ie9 . , 
J Vtam ' 



Jerry Xteittaf 
Car] lUtViuttw'.' 
irA.iic«lo * Vmnya 
Smxi. OravM 
Ulirlam I« Tell* 
SvoMiu On 



BttSA Vea.th 
C A F sinuMtoa 
Qlnsec KInnc; 
Ben Xtlbble On 
JiKclc RIplej'. Una 
V. Hald JNHhb 
Tommy RtsnS Oro 

sr« 1 vmii Av* 

JToan Catdo 
Hat Uaekett 
Ilaxe] 'Webater 
Downey * ironriito 
lTa<«l IMnl-naxa 
Carloa Itaimrei 
Knrlca tfc Kovello 
isadie Stone Ore 
Maebito Ore 

natd ItillMimi 
IdHTj'y Gr»a Ore 
C Tureearao OrJ 
Botd CoanrMHlara 
Bady Boward Orz 

Hates LeziaKten 
PIneappn) On! 
llo#el Kcw ITMlwr 
Shrp TieMa On 
Slaralia! BeanI 
Phil Roinayna • 
Terry Brent 
Jay Martin 
lU.urlc1 Ptti'lt 
Janice 'llaintlion 
Bald riFmwiyl'niiiia 
J>tcb JurKenH Ore 

lintel Vltm 
Ninji Nova 
Oljfo 

Van Smith Ore 
Chaa Readier Orr 
JMawaiMi nwiwMflne 
Mala * liaii 
Choial Oetti 
It Saiulirr Oro 
Alverea M(*ra 
Jnenirer Bniiel Line 

Datol riasa 
Uiadoffardo 
Joci llerran Ore 
SalTatore Gioe 

n«f«1 Konaereit 
Guy Lomhanlo O 

Betel St Mwlti 
Vtenooni Ore 

Hotel Bt Reela 
T>a.vo Apollon 
Hal SaunHero Ore 
Kvalyn ^^ner 
TCosallnd Courtriifht 
tiascio Peplto 
Bvtel r»R 
Vincent T.oi>er. Ore 
f^liorllft t>rew 
.Ten" Clay 

Ulcliaei Durso Ore 
F^manrlo Alvarez O 

F Del Monte 
Victoria Bareelo 
Hita & Itoxltio 
TjOh Pancltos 

IiluibnNN.v 
Ca88 Franklin 



JWoiilca Moan 
a Vbaaem 
Flahar «s -Wliit* 
I^atila 'Varaaa Ore 
Jow Certea Or« 

Ha real 
Hartlia ](«,}•• 
Chandra-Kaly Den 
KUaaa Jayiia 
Jla«iu«line Itnrler 
■loim KlUot 
Nevada SintCla 
Faaato Cnrhell* O 
Art Bomaji o 

'.Havaaa^MiU' 
Locttona CuVn 
J13iiri'ancou 

Bate] Warwwk 
Alan Hcl-aisa t 
Jan Ausust 

Tjenny Kent 
31 Vatdes Om 
Ralph Font Oro 
Lander «: Ilollana 
iMtx ft JCddieni 
Kddic Da\-is 
Art Waner Ore 
Sherry Bi:iUon 
NJJx * Na.<3yna 
Willie Danvilla 
l'e«(fy Valmer 
IMnny 3a1livao 
Shepard Line 



Sadie Banka 
I>ontannen 
Bella Binan 
Joe LaPorte Om ' 
XVAcinlla Ore 

JBm«K llaaaa .. 
Biirin Kent Or* 

Latin Qanrtor 
Fraaic Lifauso 
Niek Lone ■fr , 
Marion Ma.nneT« 
Radio Acetf 
Patricia; Adair 
C * T Valdei 
ArlUnr X«ureat' 
Bon Vivams 
Vincent Travera O 

Knlnra Rlea 
Connie Sawyer 
lAay. Dawn, Duak 
Muriel Oalnea 
Mormann Paris t 
TVally niaclter 
Bj>lvy*a 

Snlvy 

Diane Courtney 
Hnyeti Gordon 
Venmnies 
Cart ItiiHson 
Bob Grant Drs 
PaueUto Ore 

VlTIiine Bam 
Pluto I>e(e ■ 
Kay Canle 
Cordnno As CoriaAa 
Poimlairea 
BHCcfWiecTP Ore 
Vlllaice VaB|;aard 
Paula 1>ral<e 
Max Knmln&ky • 
Don li'rye 

WaldorT-ABluTia 
Itunaid UiclianlB 
l^'iinourot' 
T^lmil Coleman Oro 
^Mixiha Borr One 



CHICAGO 



ttlaeitluivk 

Art ICaasel 
Olorln Han 
P Ka> *: i> N'ardo 
Mimi Waltera 

CheE i^rea 
Marty Gould On 
.Ray Bolffer 
Ijurrf Itarvla 
B Kraft Bancera 
Joe- Kirvae Orch 
Chea AdorableH ,.12 
Kileon O'Dare 
TInlel BInrhNtane 
nn.v Morton Ore 
.linimy Savo 

Hotel tHKanrb 
J 8ot1y Ore . 
Beniio Delson O 
Trai-y SlHtera (S) 
l.(eonore 
GenrKie ao1>el 
Paulena iii 

° Belalac* 
Al Morfran 
Bill Chandler Ore 



lioward BrooUa 
1'liyllla Feany 
H liilsewntcr liecrh 
George Oisen Oro 
RoUy Rolla 
B oy Foy 

Luclenne & Ashotlr 

Marion .Fedelo 

» Bild Danrra (It) 

Hotel Shemnaa 
J.ihn Kirby Or^ 
Mildred Bailey 
The Garbosaa 
Carl Umrx 

Latin Qaaric* : 
Sonny Mara 
Oomex Rhumba Or 
.lackle Hiniard 
Winn Seeley 

Orimer Bmm 
K<W Ballard _ 
Murray Arnold Or 
Andrpa Adajrio Trio 
Itiidy Ciirdcnao 



Miami Mapping 

£ CQBtinned from page SZ a 



are over and the gambling lid comes 
off. 

Even with the town pretty well 
iiHed and Tropical Park recording 
its first $1,000,000 day in history, the 
cafes, with all casinos closed, had 
only a fair weekend Inst week due 
to ballooning prices. 

As for the hotelSi most are adopt- 
ing a "wait-and-see" policy. Gros- 
singer-Pancoast. for example, one of 
the tew hotels on the American plan, 
is considering reduction Of rates lor 
next year based on what happens to 
food and labor costs. Among the 
middle-rate group. Jack Salomon, of 
the Blackstone, insists he'll go along 
oti that basis, too. Walter Jacobs, of 
the luxury Lord Tarleton, is also 
typical. He intends reducing rates 
some 15 to 20% for next season. 
Abe AUenberg, of the Boulevard 
hotel, is another who says his rates 
must be adjusted downwards. 

One vet Wlery op points put that 
the acts tliat will come back for fan- 
coin will get the work. Most of the 
acts have been seen here too much, 
anyway, he said. There aren t 
enough new ones to replace them 
but perhap.? we'll just book in the 
smaller acts, or the new laces,_and 
take a chance, he opined. At least 
then we'll be able to charge less and 
have a chance to make some dough, 
he said. 

It all adtls up to one conclusion: 
this big coin is gone. 



HINTERLAND HOT FOR mY 



at Swii^liiaiia^ Sera 
hTu Probe of IMed Partnodqis 



^n^Mfnl- tbsws fcy the limited-part- 
nership tnethod. which has deVel- 
noed tai. tAcent «asoas, is aa order 
tTiieveimft agent* of the Treasury 
tusnt ten fnvtsstieate income tax re- 
ifaSna- itf oil paitttershiBS, including- 
JSJJjge pf theatrical enterprises. In- 
alHictions have come from tiae Ih- 
ietofkl Kevenue conwmssioner, ruling 
faeit« tb*t att limited partnerships 
^ull be classified the same as aver- 
. ' eorp<u^*tions, . . 

lnteipreteti<tn of the ruling is that 
jmneral partners in prodiuctions, 
■Kho rarely pirt mowey in their 
fbms, are to be held responsible 
just the same as indn^tHalL corpora- 
tion officers. Investor* are now ex- 
]KCtcdi to file tax retuim. as mcm- 
«f a cerpffinttion, St the rtilinK 
i$ upheld, those who re^d their 
li^vestaiCIlt IB shows as a gamhie, 
charge off all losses on tax re- 
fmng; Wiffit not be permitted to do 
beiiu; ^Btitedl to a deduction of 
fi,QW per show per year. 

If the Interpretatioa is upheJd 
many proditctioMi may be unable to 
secure financinif, and it wo«!d pose 
a aiajoE problem to pcoduceris, pos- 
ttblr reducing the nuntber of shows 
fttseotta. seaBonaJly.. Na.meation. 
la made of an investor aecountine 
profits firotn shctws. which iiii$bt 
iStssty backers in the . same cate- 
KOEX as iodividuals who ore sap- 
IMHed to aecount for all winnings on 
fftfitiSag. but vet BOt permitted to 
ebarge off losses. 

While there was indiscriminate 
limited-partnersbip setups for pro- 
ductions attemptcdt during the last 
several seasons, the trend has bcem 
fltt- more conservative groups ot isi- 
Kestors. Those who wsed the Uinttcd- 
partneiship aarstem as somekhuis of 
« -xadcet and poofited even when 
iAows flcpiied, are not in evidence 

Reliably reported new order would 
be retroactive to 1944. Understood 
, that a SQtmd et revenue agents is 
Mekinc waivers frum investors in 
shows within the last four years, 
80 that they may be IfaWe for taxes 
it the new ruling is substantiated:. 
Tlix claims are invalid after four 
sears in such instances and baclters 
Who may refuse to sign waivers, in 
cases where suttstantial losses were 
charged oft on tbeatiicaL losses inai; 
hem. actioa by the XceasuQr. 

Le^ te Anssif 
ToiirKard20iiiPerQi 

Syda^, Feh. 25. 
Sir Lanrcace Olivier, Vivien 
IfSgti and the Old Vie Co. win ar- 
»lve in Perth from London March 
it, debuting: at the Capital there on 
SHarch W, most likely ia "Richard 
m.** The Capitol is run by tlie- 
I^tOers and is presently pljaying pi^c. 
Old Vie Co. win most iikeiy play the 
Stejestic, Adelaide, tlso a Fuller 
totiner pic house; the Pi-incess, Mel- 
hoarner operated by the CarroU- 
J^Ier interests, and in Sydney at 
the Tivolt formes vaude house on 
wage flrom the David K. Martin 
TOOK loop. 

With only one legit house in Syd- 

■ njy proper, the R6ya.\, run by J. C, 
• Wdliamson, get for a long span witii 

we esasely Conrtaeidge show, "Un- 
«ar the Counter," a deal had to be 
»ade with Martni to house the unit, 
miert own Mayfair is on lease to 
^oyts tat pix, with lease expiring tn 
April. It's understood, however, that 
noyts wont move out of this one. 

Oi''' Cov is touriiig under 
«Mwa«:e'6if the British Arts Codflca, 
.. with the EuHerSv headed by Sir Ben 

■ , *^ flitting, into the picture, as i« 

WesMitly the case with the BaBet 
nambcEt, how drawing .capacity biz 

« Ifti'^''^*''^' ^ Winiamaom 
•""■t. fit in new sho.-w?i at the moment 
!!«auae of the terrifift elicits ot 
Get Your Gm'" at His Ma- 
. {«*ys, Melbourne," aJ^d "UndS the 
J-Winter" in Sydney. Actors,' Equity 
™ > hkely tiow to snarl the impor- 
tation of Old Vit despite eai'lier 



Shuberts, Baitsch At 
Odds Again on. 'Maytime' 

The Shuberts and Hans Bartsch, 
playbroker specializing in ' foreign 
works, are again at edds over "Slay- 
time," operetta that dates back to 
laiT. 

In a court action some years ago 
Bartsch was declared the owner of 
the musical's rights^ his arrangement 
with the authors calling for payment 
to them of 80% of the royalties. 
Shuberts, through their Select 
Theatres Coip., ekaijn such royalties 
on the ground that they bought the 
royalty rights from tiie authors in 
1934. Claim is in excess of $5,000 for 
presentations here and in Canada 
since that date. 

Respondent di.ic1aims the sdlega- 
tions on' basis of the six-year statute 
of limitatifHBSL 



CRITICS' in 




INIEHESI Muskats^New Dramaslhiiiiecteii 



B'wayWrii^OBtdieCiyiiigTewek; 



Up Rate Dres^e^^ 

Prodycers liaye been aidirfced Etf aii 
ihcreas*' iffi the ■. rate iott drfessera-' at 
the rTatibnal^ Washington. There is 
such a union there hut none cjtists 
in'STew York or :.elscwhere. ■ 

Theatres have no responsibility lor 
waidrobe- expense but majoagers aC 
attractions,' do supply dressers to 
tsome players.- On Broadwasy dressers 
fare paid .$4 per show, rale being $5.50» 

fo"r thelnflm ol t^rtieV" For 1^°'^ Sundays. In Washington the new 
lor toe mnira oi crmcs. for r^^^^ dressers" ia $7 per 

ptuiori!)!iance,.$5 for aH. Otheia:',^ 

Few straight plays, . ever caU for 
the use ot dressers, and players In 
the attractions only occasionally 
require, that aid. 



(rivyd6?es 
. mipper' Notice 

After two more weeks> oa Broad- 
way John Garfield will withdraw 
from "Skipper Next to God,"' con- 
tinuation of which after an expi^ri- 
mental showi,ng, is credited to his 
apEiearamce in the cast. Actor witll 
return to Hollywood. It's proposed 
to have a number of name players 
froDDt there replace Garfield, each to 
play fiHr limited periods. ISrock 
Pemberton is credited with originat- 
ing the idea, namely a profession 
of ieads for ''Harvey,'* starting with 
James Stewart, who replaces! Frank 
Fay at the 48th Street March 39. 

Fact that bosiness; for "Skipper" 
tapered at the Flaafhousev where it 
moved from the Elliott (Eitperimcn- 
fal Theatre's headquarters), is 
claimed not to have been a factor in 
Garfield's withdrawal. Profit.'i Oif 
"Skipper" go to the American Ka- 
itional Theatre and Academy, whidi 
.sponsors ET and assumes the possi- 
;ble red. ANTA. was expected to get 
a net of between $4.(K)tt and ^SviWa 
weekly out of "Sikippcs" but tiie 
profits' have been less than $2,000, 
altUoiigh the grosses Itettued $15,000 
weekly, vmtiL last week's general 
isluntp. 

1 Uniao BtVctcaccs, 

i Dritfercnces wtth the unions, after 
"Skipper" went, on a regtitar emm- 
mercial basis, tiave he&a annoying: 
to ASfFTA and tlie actors, except 
Garfield, who is getting a compara- 
tively tolten salairy ot $250. Actor 
and other UtoioBi demands lowered 
the profits. Players who appeared 
in "Shipper"^ ori^aiany for $10 per 
performance have since insisted on 
regular salajries. which were claimed 
to be tip: to $SOth weekly.. In addi- 
tion, the eXltas with the tilay de- 
manded and are getting $50 weekly, 
as against Hqtiity's scsle of $2.'} for 
such appearances. Tliere a.'-e U ex- 
tras, and while the total for them 
is not large, it is cJaimed fiiat the 
"Skipper" crew took advantage of 
the situation, which ET does not 
propose to permit., 

ETs nest attraetSon, 'Temporary 
Island," will be presented for eight 
performances starting Sffnday (141. 
Scenery for the play cost lM,68tli 
w;itboiit ,pro)5t to the seeaebtiilder, 
an sicm considered too liigh for the 
brief eBgagemCTt. Flans are being 
made to change the formula for 
scenic investiture but they may not 
apply tmtil next season. Idea calls 
,fc- a unit setting, useable for all ET 
plays, with panels or smaller scenes 
to be changed for each attraction, a 
leading designer advised ET tfiat it 
will be patactieal. ■ 

Contacted as. possible replace- 
ments for Garfield in "Sltipper"' an* 
Burgess Meredith,. Gregory Peck, 
Franchot Tone, Douglas Fairbanks, 
Jr., Tyrone Power, Van Hettin, Dana 
Andrew and Joseph Cotten. 



National interest in Broadway 
legit shows a marked increase this 
season. One speci&c indication of 
the out-of-town interest in Broad- 
way is the unusually large number 
of key-city drama critics visiting 
New York this season to see and 
cover the shows for their papers. 
Another is the increased volume of 
advance mail orders for tickets from 
remote locales. Still more evidence 
is the increased, use of syndicated 
material about 3Ehroa.d way legit." 

There are figured to be 
reasons for the influx of critics, jrur f , 
one thing, it is geiierally agreed ttiat r 
there has been an unusual percent- 
age of hits this season, supplement- 
ing the list of outstanding successes 
continuing from previoas seasons, 
some of which the critics probably 
hadn't seen. Another factor is the 
compairative sltortage of new diows- 
OB; tour this season. 

While many, ox even: most, of the 
revivals or repeats are good giossers, 
they ofler the critics relatively little 
basis for comment, so tfie reviewers, 
are coming to Broadway for cotumm 
materiah 

Another helpful factor tn arousing 
national interest in Braadwafy IB 
believed to be the increased cover- 
age being given to Nerr York show 
business by syndicated cohmtnists, 
Pofislbly the outstanding instaxce of 
this is the daBy Billy Rose piece, 
which includes, an unusually large 
amount oi tbieatrical feature matc^ 
rial and has extensive syndication^ 
Agents all agree that a cdluntn men- 
tion fagr Boae brings irauncdiate and 
heavy national respomse:. 

Jack O'Brian's weekly AP theatre 
i coverage is also getting greater 
I pUkvip than in previous seasons. A 
, similar situatioii exists with Jack 
: Gavop's pieces for UP, Lawrence 
! Perry's, st«Hies for NANA and Mel 
Heimer's columns for King Fteatuarca. 



Pli^pKtolliark 
RY.CaideaSle 



Helen Sloan Stetson, whose "Dip- 
per Over Gimbel'.s" was rceontly 
given' a Coast tryout by Mary Ijaaise 
Elltins, working on a new play. 



Wire Tkpe Aagie . . 

A minor factor at the moment, 
hut which may liecome an hnportant 
exploitatun outlet for Broadway Cas 
well as a eompCicaticm. for agents, 
producers, stars; ete..> is the ninnher 
o£ oat-ofr'town radio stations sending 
staff men "to New York toe wire- 
recorded interviews to be hroadcasl: 
locally later. 

It's' believed that the American 
National llieatre and Academy, 
throu^ its contacts with theatre 
people and theatregoers throughout 
tile country, is also creating national 
interest in Broadway as well _ as 
touting shows and local compoDieK., 

Belativdy few new shows Itave 
seen touring this aeasoa for the aoA- 
of-town cx:itiG& to eoiver, "Ewo fd, 
them, "All ISSy Sons" and "Another 
Part of the Forest," closed after only 
a lew weeks on the road. But, ex- 
c^t fojr sBjart pre-Broadway tryouts 
coveriB.g the eastcm k^ cities the. 
others have been few and infre- 
quent. The new (to the road) shows 
have imciuded "Carousel,*' "O Mis- 
tress Mine." "Anni* Get Your Gun,". 
"An Inspector CaBs"* and "The Fatal 
Weakness'-**-,.: 

Revivals have inchided "Bur- 
leseiue," "Siow Boat," "Sweethearts," 
"Tlic Bed MiH," "The Choeolaie Sol- 
'dier," "BfEossom' Time," "Student 
iPrin*^,*' "Merry Widtow,** "lady 
lAViudermeres Fto," "Ttotight at 
8:30"' ('Which had never been done 
us a real road show, but has' been 
produced practically everywhere by 
; little theatre groups) i -Wid-.'^lMvate 
'Lives." , , 

The touring companies playing 
mostly repeat dates ( or stands where 
the show had recently been done by 
another troupej have inctoded "I 
Remember Mama," "OkJahonja," 
"Song of Norway," "Hanrey" and 
"Glass Me^nagerie." 

Indicating the unprecedented num- 
ber of out-of-town reviewers. «some 
of whom have brought photograph- 
ers, : tQOi> ' Who. have come ta New 
Yoa:k to cover the shows, is the list 
that has seen "The Heiress." since 
its opening at the BUtmoie, N. Y., 
last October. ( A more er less, simi- 
lar coveiaige has been true of the 
other established liits^l List numbers 
over 35 scribes, fromi as. far as T^aus, 
Toronto, Lbs Angeles and Seattle. , 



InstaUatina, of a {mmxe 
marking the site ot the Stage Boor 
Canteen, on 44tb. street west ei 
BtoaiSway, will be held this spring. 
The. exact date for the ceremony has. 
mot been set. ' Platjue wiH, be iiv- 
atailed in the granite wail, oif the 
ll-story esttension. of tiie 1^. Y. 
Times, wliich is. nearing completioii, 
uppea' floors already iieiug oce<apied 
jby various puhlicatica departments. 
Arthur H^^s Salzhereer, the TiitKis 
{publisher, volunteered tlie commjcm- 
iorative marker when it was neces- 
sary for the Canteezi to move be- 
.'cause of excavations; for tlie new 
'building several years ago. 
I Addition to the Times plant is. the 
'site of the razed 44th Street theatre, 
i which housed "Winged Victory" dur- 
ing; the vtar. the TSsaa outbui- 
ding .the Sbahexts to purchase the 
property. Theatre basement, a oner- 
time ni^t club, was converted into 
the Canteen, thse, m.«ist popular rec- 
reation ;^&t^ In IS. Y. for mea im 
uniform thfaughout the war. Its 
operation, was an. aH-show business, 
service project cemlunedi Virithia the 
AmericaB Theatre 'Wun^ 



4- After the bigh-grossinig finale of , 
February, efimaxed by the six days 

starting with Washington's IKuihdajra:' 
the violent drop in Broadway busi- 
ness last 'week brought out the cry- 
ing towels. Attendance was e:xpected 
to decSiftie atter the holiday ' period 
hu' mot to the extent shown by tl^ 
iin^ 'COvits. I>rop, was experienoed ' 
not only at the boxoflices but in Ulae . 
ticket agencies.; ' N^^her.''nm)i>iagerat'': 
nor brokers could put the finger on 
the slmnip's eausfc, ■ 

Most of the newer musicals were , 
ttnailected, same ^ing fornewdratiist' 
istandouts, but the takings lor a niffln- 
ber in both classificatiMis. were ': ,;. 
lowest since cqiemng. One hit mnsi- 
eal, diviEd nearly $lffl,G(Mt ' and- an- 
other saw the gross off . around 
$7,500 from the taking; cd the previ-,;. 
ons week. It was conceded that mo-:,,' 
sical9 ' were ' rinniing, $3,500, h^tbtd.',- 
nightlgr -.until. Friday and:- Saliir^i^'':: 
(5-£> laot oouM. not, then reennpi, : 
Straight shows slipped ftom $3JtllKi t0 
■$5,5I«*.' ' 

Amosig the faetairs contributory tit 
the sharp dipi in hqsiness are in- , 
elndcd: SBteial'. business o^aditions. 
and stock masfeet fluctnaticHi^ which 
brouj^t many winter vacationers , 
bade to town <but not to see the 
shows). KieoRi* bat time has always 
affected show business for at least 
two weeks prior to the Federal 
deadline March 15. tent, too, may 
be a deterrent this .«3son for there 
has been an upturn in <Siurehi at* - 
tendance. ' . 

Another deterrent is widespreadi . 
ilhicss. BoxoSSce men repoxted an. 
exccptioital namfaer ot patcMis hw« 
exchanged tickets for ftifure per-: 
[formancEs. because of iUness,. StBI ' , 
: another factev is weather, this being:,: 
the, nmost severe winter in genera- '■ 
ItiocKs. Last 'Week variations id' leni'^ ' 
perature ranged from seven degrees : 
above xera iota ' tfie 36% and with 
snow and rain are not conducive to 



ledea'Rcswes After 
ZfWeek Layoff Dik 
Tt AMkm Unss 

"SSedeav," which drew hig money 
at the Nationat, N. Y., and also at 
the Boyaitei where it moved, re- 
sumed UiEcKuday (S) after a layoff of 
two and one haH weeks: because the 
Greek tragedy's star, Jwdith Ander- 
snh, was ill. ot anemia. Slbe had been' 
oast. Of the play twice pitviously, 
there having bccra a total of 25 can- 
celled perf onnanccsy ' tnainiageffliMnt 
ing protected: b(S am. imsjaraniee 
poilicj; ea Bliss Andezseii's liealth. . 

F&licy calls for damages of $IJSS0 
fee !each pcr$oiriniance missed through 
illne^ such benefits to become, ];taiy- 
able after the third consecutive can- 
criilation. f igured that $2»,50tt is doe 
for !& of the skipped performances. 

'Pnder: Kiauii^ rides the suppo.tt- 
ing pls^rers whiose: sailary is. $181® peit 
weik ' get ■■ $lJft', "daily 'fj^r-: t&« Brst, 
we<^ :0<C the laytfB, half the liontiac- 
tuai salaries for all except the star 
being dUe: fOir 'the second '.audi 'thffid 
wieeksi ^ ■ ■, ■ 



Niegative receptunk o£ recent pre- 
mieres may liead to' a number of 
daL'k tliealires Uiis. sprmg. Including! 
the block on 45th street west eC 
Broadway, auj^iosed to be-the mest 
favorable in Times S(iuaie'r Two ar- 
rivals oa that thoTOUgbfare last 
week were hadtpaamed, . oae being 
yanlsed whMe the other is a dodbb- 
fid. stayer. SititaititMk is quite differ- 
ent &(mi other sesuons when 'it wa* 
moire or Icsai drtQeuitt to obtain: bocfer^ '* 
ings between Labor Day and the 
txui Mxy. 

Ihere are noi oftdDingit tlus week 
and 6Hily. thcee <« four shows-, aicf ,'; 
due diusing the halanee &i ilffiaccli^ ,' 
but th«re aore tfidit a &nen incomhiK- ; 
possituUt^cs during' April. The spring: 

ly, .c«dtaitttF^ iime:..'aei -'flian a - .^f)^ - 

ago..- ■ - , - ■ ■ ■ 



WRECORIfLOC^SEI 
FOR GOOD SYDNEY RUN 

Syitoey, Feb. 25. 

The lam Hay-St«5)hcn Kfisg-HaU 
British comedy, "Off the Bteeord,** 
got a'iisay to a good start here FtehL 
23 at the Minerva far 'Whitehall 
Praduetionsv Good performances^ 
were tuvncd in bgr Joha Sykes, 
Jessica Noad, Jete Wood, Richard 
Parry and John Tate. First aet needs 
a more speedQr tempo to keep the 
comedy rolling. Sykts alsa produced 
the shfl.w.'', 

Gui'reiit show is, one Of the beat 
staged by the Minerva setup and 
may be held over few the lushi Easter 
traffic. 



EQUIIT SANCnON 

^uity has been holding, down the 
number o£ casting agents for quite 
some time but has okayed permits: 
fittr ffve new casters, acting upon rec- 
ommendations received from actors 
and some managers. HTumber of 
agents now totals 48^ including one 
iTEmstatement. The list is larger than 
in years, jfiqjoity's rule limills eon^ 
mission for Tegit engagements to 5% : 
hut under certain conditions 18% i» 
pa;yahle. 

Permits have been Issued to Jule* 
iZiegler, formerly with Louis- Shurr 
I'and last season with the Music Corp. 
irot America; Dora Wcissataa,. foirmeir- 
' ly of the- Yiddish stage,- Huntington 
! Hartford agency, with W'iDiiam B. 
i.Deerfng executive head;, Gloria Sailer 
"and Pteter-Wit*. ': : - :,.-■,„ ! '■:- - '■ ' 
John Oairroiw was reinstated' after 
being ott tloe aeeitedited' agency list 
for nine mQnitl)&. His agency collectedi 
lO'o coramissiQn, from an actor 
althotrijli the ralies forhade it in that 
engagement.-. 



lCraK<l-9fGr. «f VCJ>. Aui ., 
New Orleans, March 9. 
wmiami A. Coker is: the new maiii- 
ager oi .tbcMittticipat auditeriumL 

He sitcGccds Millard U. Schindler, 
who 4iesigned alter holding the iali 
for 17 months. 



Equity Stock Rnles in Sharp Revk 
As Three Thorny Provisos Go Out 



■ Equity's new regulations for sum-i- 
mev stock theatres, which have 
Aroused opposition amoag strawhat 
managements, were drastically re- 
vised yestetday (Tues.) by the 
■union's council. The revisions fol- 
lowed a series of meetings between 
the Equity stock committee and a 
■group representing the stdck mana- 
gers... . , V .; , • 

The three most s\yeepmg of the 
proposed new rules tossed out yes- 
terday were (a) , that at least 75% 
of every stock' cast must be Equity, 
(b) that appteatices may not qualify 
ior Equity membership on the basis 
of stock engagements and (c) that 
"package" shows must be all-Equity. 
The old regulation, that at least six 
members, of each cast must be 
Equity mem^jers, was' revived, the 
former setup permitting apprentices 
to qualify for Equity membership 
was reinstated and the previous okay 
on "package" companies was. re- 
tainedig> 

Th«*.-\Vere various other revisions 
of the recently-enSctecl stock regu- 
lations, though none as sweeping as 
the abovei However, the. council re- 
instated the . old rehearsal fee of 
$20 a week and the regular stock 
salary minimum ol $50. It was de- 
cided to have- Equity representatives 
cover the various strawhat spots 
this summer to checic conditions, and 
to hire a clerical force to tabuUiJe 
■ tlie data as a basis for possible new 
stock rules next season. ' 

Earlier in the meeting the coun- 
cil ftamed Philip Ober, Ralph Bel- 
lam^ apd Frank M. Thomas as its 
representatives ■ on the nominating 
committee for the annual elections, 
with Veta ' Allen, Philip. Bourneuf 
and^ Jose Ferrer as alternates. Ober 
•will be chairman. The six member- 
iship representatives on the commit- 
tee ^11 be chosen, at the qt^arterly 
membership meeting March 22 at 
the .Astor hotel, N. Y. 



Carnegie Tops' Will Tee 
Off May Hinder Anderson 

The Carnegie "Pop" Concerts will 
launch its third year at Carnegie 
Hall, N. Y., May 1 under, the new 
general managership of Ernest .An- 
derson, jazz Impresario, Daniel 
Rybb, founder of the series, Will 
continue in his regular spot as musi- 
cal director. 

Series will comprise 36 concerts 
running to June 6.. According to 
tentative plans, jazz recitals are be- 
ing scheduled for each Monday 
night. New sales pitch is being 
pushed by Anderson via special 
rates tor theatre partie?. 



Stolz Rushing Viennese 
Operetta. Assignments To 
Ready Concert Tour 

ViennS, Inarch 1. 

Robert .Stolz is busy; winding up 
his many engagements here, to ready 
an extensive U. S. concert tour. Stolz, 
who signed a contract with Excelsion 
Film Co., is writing the score for its 
next production, "Spring in Vienna." 
Pic will star. Patil Hoerbiger aijtd 
Maria Andergast, with stoiry by F. 
Koselka' and Lilian Belmont, and di- 
rection by. E. W. Emo. 

The Auge Gottes theatre is re- 
hearsing one of Stolz's greatest suc- 
cesses, "Sky High" (Der Tanz ins 
Glueck." Composer is also putting 
'finishing touches on his latest oper- 
etta "Spring in the Prater," to book 
by Erbst Marischka, scheduled for 
the Raimund theatre late next fall. 

Another operetta, "Ball Musette," 
with book by Johannes Brandt, will 
be composed by Stolz for production 
here; In additiouv he sighed a con- 
tract with the IFF Coj in Paris to 
write the score for "Our Lo-te ShaU 
Never Die," to be produced there in 
June. ./ , ■;'■!■ '.■ 



WILDE, WlFf EYEING 
EXPERIMENTAL PLAYS 

Cornel Wilde and his wife, Pa- 
tricia Knight, have offered to ap- 
pear in two Experimental Theatre 
productions on Broadway next sea- 
son at the regular $80-a-week mini- 
rnunl' for such engagements. One 
of the plays might be the H. S. 
Kraft-Sinclair Lewis adaptation of 
the latter's ftovel, "Klngsblood 
Royal." The other play is said to 
be still merely in outline form, the 
author's identity undisclosed, 

Wilde would like to do a regular 
Broadway show next 'season^ but 
figures he has little chance of get- 
ting one, as he's allowed only six 
months off, under the terms of his 
contract with 20th-Fox. During his 
recent stay in New Y^rk, the actor 
discussed possible legit appearances 
for various managements, but Max 
Gordon expressed the general atti- 
tude when he said he wouldn't do a! 
productioft with a star available for 
only six months (including re- 
hearsals, out-of-town tryout and 
-Broadway run). 

Since that was the general reaction 
of all the legit managements, Wilde 
tried to arrange a deal to take over 
the leading part in the Whitehead- 
Rae production of "Crime and Pun- 
ishment," succeeding John Gielgud. 
He figured that he could get several 
other film names tot play it for a 
short run on Broadway and then 
take it on tour. However, the 20th- 
Fox execs in Hollywood refused per- 
mission, on the ground that it might 
injure his prestige with the public 
to follow another actor in a show, 
particularly an unsuccessful one. 

Wilde was called back to the Coast 
last week for his next picture, 
"Roadbouse." . 



Wis. U/s Haresfoot Club 
Maps SOth Anni Tour 

Madison, March 9. 

Haresfoot Club, Univ. of Wiscon- 
sin dramatic club, will celebrate its 
Both anniversary this year by going 
an tour with its 1948 musical pro- 
duction, "Big As Life." Two week 
midwest tour, including a one^ 
night stand April ...22: at Eighth 
Street theatre, Chicago, -f^ill be fol- 
lowed by a five-day stand at the 
university. 

Paul Rutledge is director and 
Kathryn Hubbard dance director of 
the current production; \ 



PhiUy's Met Opera House 
Badly Damaged in Fire 

Philadelphia, March 9. 
. Metiropolitan Opera House, famed 
ii.usical and stage auditorium, was 
badly damaged last Friday (5) in a 
four-alarm fire that swept the in- 
terior of the 40-year-old structure. 

The Opera House was built on the 
site of the old Darrah Mansion by 
the late Oscar Hammerstein after 
his break with the Metropolitan 
Opera Assn. of New York. It was 
©pened Nov, 17, 1908, with a pres- 
entation of "Carmw<" -1$ 



G. B. Shaw Defied 

Minneapolis, March 9. 

Minneapolis Civic; Theatre defied 
George Bernard Shaw and provided 
a happy ending for "PygmaUon," 
which it presented With Philip 
Huston as guest star. 

The Minneapolis Tribune cabled 
Shaw: "'Pygmalion' opens here 
Feb. 25 . , . Controversy rages over 
ending. Should they use Mrs. Patrick 
Campbell's version and make .vil- 
lagers happy or should they leave 
them in Shavian suspension?" 

Shaw's sizzling reply came the 
next day! "I absolutely forbid the 
Campbell Interpolation or any sug- 
gestion that the middle-aged bully 
and the girl of 1» are lovers." 

Hoping it wouldn't "get back" 
to Shaw, the Civic Theatre decided 
to disregard his ultimatum and use 
the happy endi ng; 

Authors, Agents Mulling 
Changes in Guild Terms 
CoYering Stock Fees 

Committee representing the Dra- 
matists Guild 'and the authors' 
agents are discussing possible modi-, 
fications in the Guild's new terms 
covering stock fees for "plays. Two 
groups held their first confab Fri- 
day (5) and .-will meet again some 
time next week. Howard Lindsayj 
Jerome Chodorov and Luise Sillcox 
are the Guild spokesmen and Gus 
Diehl (Century Play Co.), and Wil- 
ham Koppelmari (Brandt & Brandt) 
are repping the percenters. 

Agents claim that the Guild new 
fee setup is inequitable to some of 
the middle-class stock spots, and 
that there should be some difference 
in the terins for new and old plays. 
In the latter connection, they note 
that in Some cases stars bring back 
successful scripts of many seasons 
ago, which would otherwise remain 
inactive. As an mstance, they cite 
Edward Everett Horton's revival of 
Benn W. Levy's "Springtime for 
Henry,'' which has given the show 
a new life and brought big returns 
to the author; There should be more 
lenietJt terms for such scripts, the 
agents contend. 

The whole matter of terms for 
stock engagements was raised by the 
agents recently in a letter to the 
Guild, requesting a reduction in 
royalties to compensate for the de- 
crease in stock activity and the re- 
sulting lower agent margin on such 
deals. Instead of cutting commis- 
sions, the Guild council replied that 
the agents should set higher terms 
if they wanted to get more coin 
from stock dates. New regulations 
were imposed, setting, a minimum 
fee (based on the location, capacity, 
and boxoflice scale of the stock out- 
fit) and royalties over .a certain 
gross (also to be determined fiMr 
each spot). 



VediiCBday, Mareh 10, 1948. 

hside Stnlf -461^ 

William Harris, Jr., who died in 1946, was regarded as independently 
wealthy but the value of his estate was only $10,000, It was revealed last 
week. He was virtually inactive for 10 years prior to his demise at the 
age of 62, but in the 1920's he generally produced a show each season. 
Under his banner were such standouts as "East Is West" (Fay Bainter)i 
"Fair and Warmer," "Abraham Lincoln" (written by John Drinkwater 
and a hit in England, too), "Outward Bojiftd" (cast included Katharine 
Cornell), "The Greeks Had a Word For It," "In Love With Love" (in 
which Lynn Pontanne scored), "The Thirteenth Chair," "Robert E. Lee" 
and "The Outsider." He produced a number of comedies by Vincent 
Lawrence, last of which was "Silk Hat Harry" (1943), put on in Holly, 
wood but not Broadway. 

One of his intimates was Arthur Caesar and for years they frequently 
devoted hours planning practical jokes. For a time the duo drove about 
in an ancient open Packard, stopping people indiscriminately to asic which 
of the duo was the homeliest, the "winner" paying the "loser" five bucks. 
Caesar usually copped. 

The expressed antipathy for New York by J. B. Priestley, one of Eng- 
land's most prolific dramatists,, possibly lies in the fact that none of at 
least eight plays authored by him have scored a real hit on Broadway. 
Withdrawal of his "The Linden Tree" at the Music Box Saturday (6) was 
perhaps his fastest flop (less than a week). "An Inspector Calls," now on 
tour after three months on Broadway (Booth) this season, is drawing spotty 
business and It's not certain to earn back the cost of production. "Tree" 
has played 30 weeks to date at the 400-scat Duchess in London, with Dame 
Sybil Thorndike credited with' at least some, of the draw, 

"Dangerous Corner," presented on Broadway in 1932, stayed 26 weeks, 
longest of all Priestley dramas over here, cutrate tickets figuring in that 
engagement. In 1935 his "Laburnum Grove" was rather well received 
but lasted only three and a hglf months. Other plays by him offered on 
Broadway included "I Have Been Here Before'" and "Time and The Con- 
ways." The others; "The Good Companions" and "Eden's End." 



Coast bookings of "Annie Get Your Gun," with Mary Martin, and "Sweet- 
hearts," with Bobby Clark, are under a guarantee arrangement between 
the producers of the two shows and Edwin Lester. The latter represents 
the Los Angeles and San Francisco Civic Light Opera Assns., which are 
underwriting the engagements for the shows in those two cities. 

As a twin part of the setup, Lester will bring the organizations' two 
forthcoming productions to Broadway in the fall, after Coast engagements, 
as he did with the previous "Song of Norway." Productions will be a 
revival of Victor Herbert's "Naughty Marietta," with Susanna Foster and 
Wilbur Evans, and a new operetta; VMagdalena," with a score by Brazilian 
composer Heitor Villa^Xiobos, Dorothy SartiofI and John Raitt will be 
starred. . 

Lou Wilson has returned to London after o.o.ing the Broadway scene 
on behalf of Prince Littler who (ibntrols many of the topflight West End 
theatres in the British capital. Wilson also looked in on the "Brigadoon" 
production which .is slated for London next fall. Littler is analogous to 
the Shuberts, being theatre landlords, and Wilson's chore is to keep au 
courant with all types of shows, particularly the Broadway hits, which 
eventually may come to London, He can thus gauge which type shows 
fit which type theatres under Prince Littler's direction. Latter, unlike his 
brother, Emile Littler, who is the producer, merely concerns himself with 
renting the four walls to other producers. 



TamOy' Falling Out 

London, March 9. . 
Local version of the American hit, 
"I Remember Mama," opened at the 
Aldwych theatre last Tuesday (2) 
and was splendidly received. Mady 
Christians was acclaimed both for 
her acting and production while 
Helen Backlin scored as the narrat- 
ing daughter. Play has an even 
change of success despite the lack of 
marquee names. In general, the 
press warmly praised the piece com- 
mending its naive simplicity in par- 
ticular. 

. Much postponed revue. "Four, 
Five, Six," is finally due to bow at 
the Yorks theatre Thursday (11). 
Illness of its star, Sonnie Hale, held 
up the preem: Replacement of Hale 
by Bobby Howes also caused delay 
due to necessary script revisions. 
Elsewhere, "Family Portrait" is 
scheduled to close a five week run 
at the Strand March 20. Play caused 
a controversy over its Scriptural 
authenticity. 



'Sons' in Spades 

Pittsburgh, March 9. 

Town^s going to gel a load of Ar- 
thur Miller's N. Y. Critics Circle 
prize play, "All 'My Sons," in next 
couple of weeks. Drama opens a 
run at the Playhouse on Friday (12), 
and while it's running there, same 
show will be presented few blocks 
away by University of Pittsburgh 
Players for three nights. 

"Sons" had originally been booked 
for engagement at Nixon, the local 
legit site, but never got here, show 
folding prematurely in Chicago after 
few losing weeks on the road. 



Paris 'Hamlet' Too Real 

Paris, March 2. 

During a performance of "Hamlet" 
at the Sarah Bernhardt theatre, pro- 
duced and. acted by the Jean Meyer 
class of the Students Assn,, Gerard 
Guillaumat, doing Hamlet, stabbed 
Jean Heraud, acting Claudius, too 
realistically. 

The dagger went in and Heraud 
now is hospitalized for a week. 



Maurice Evans devoted around two years to preparing the revival of 
"Man and Superman'.' (Hudsonj N.Y,), one of the season's top hits, which 
he produced and is starring in, but his presentation of "The Linden Tree" 
was comparatively speedy. English drama which opened and closed last 
week after seven performances at the Music Box, represented an invest- 
ment by the actor-manager and his associates of over $50,000. Detailed 
setting for "Tree" was designed by Peter Wolf, Yale grad, well regarded 
among the newcomers. Wolf, who designed the settings for "Sweethearts" 
last season, will be in charge of the stage decor for the summer operetta 
season at Dallas during the coming summer. : *' 



Broadway critical reversal of out-of-town opinion was again sharply 
evidenced last week in the case of "The Hallams." The new ROse.Franken 
drama at the Booth drew , but two favorable notices out of nine in the 
Manhattan dailies, whereas it was generally commended by Boston re- 
viewers and those on Cleveland and Buffalo tryouts. 

There are many backers of the "Hallams" but, following the adverse 
press, the author received offers of financial support, if needed) from first 
nighters who are not investors in the show. There was a 20% '^overcall" 
on the backers just before the opening. 



Current London Shows 

London; March 9. 
(Figure shows weeks of run) 
"AH This Ended," St. Jas. (5). 
"Anna Lucasta," Majesty's (19). 
"Annie Get Gun," Col's'm (40). 
"Bless the Bride," Adelphi (46). 
"Blind Goddess," Apollo (14), 
"Burlesque/' Princes (2).\ 
"Chiltern Hundreds," Vaude (28). 
"Cockpit," Playhouse (4). 
"Diamond LU," Wales (7). 
"Edward My Son," Lyric (41 >. 
"Family Portrait," Strand (4). 
"Gather, Storm," St. Mart (4). 
'■Gorbalg Story," Garrick (4). 
"Hidden Years," Fortune (7). 
"I Remember Mama," Aid. (1). ' 
"Indiff. Shepherd," Crit. (5). 
"Life With Father," Savoy (40). 
"Linden Tree," Duchess (30). 
"Mountsciii Air," Comedy (6). 
"Never Can Tell," Wyn (23). 
"Oif Becard," Piccadilly (41), 
"Oklahoma!" Drury Lane (45). 
"Outrageous," W. Garden (45). 
"Present Lauehter," H'ymkt (47). 
"Relapse," Phoenix (6). 
"Starlleht Roof," Hipp. (17). 
"Sweetest Lowest," Ambass. (97). 
"Together Again," Vic Pal. (47). 
"Tuppence," Globe (22). 
"Worm's View," Whitehall (45). 



Madeline "Penny" Sack, who wed Jeffrey fotter last Saturday (6), is 
an inve.stor in Theatre; Inc., her father having been a Providence mil- 
lionaire. Miss Sack is currently appearing in "Macbeth," trying out in 
Canada, show being due on Broadway in two weeks. Beatrice Straight, 
another wealthy member of Theatre, Inc., is also in the cast. Potter and 
Miss Sack intend entering the production field. He was assistant stage 
manager of "Pygmalion" last season, similarly being connected with 
"Crhne and Punishment" and "Eastward in Eden" this season. * 



Mail Orders Flood 
Pitt for Martin-Ue' 

Pittsburgh, March 9. 

Only second-balcony tickets were 
left for two- week engagement of 
Mary Martin in "Annie Get Yovir 
Gun," when window sale opened at 
Nixon theatre in Pittsburgh Mon- 
day (8). Run begins next Monday 
(15). Everything else was grabbed 
up by mail orders. 

First day after Nixon announced 
it was accepting mail orders, around 
8,000 pieces of mail came in, and it 
kept building day by day. Capacity 
at $4 top (it amounts to $5.20 with 
20% federal and 10% city tax) for 
"Annie" will be around .$48,000 
weeldy, which won't give attraction 
much of a profit since it's a rather 
costly show. Nixon is smallest place 
show's playing on tour; elsewhere 
it's being' housed in auditoriums and 
music halls. 



Shows in Rehearsal 

"The Play's the Thing" (revival)— 
Gilbert Miller, James Russo and 
Michael Ellis. 

"The Cup of Trembling!' Paul 
Czinner. 

♦"Inside V. S. A." — Arthur 
Schwartz. 

•"Hold. It"— Sammy Lambert. 

"Temporary Island" — Experi- 
mental Theatre, 



•Musical. 



2 FIREMEN STATIONED 
AT B'WAY PREMIERES. 

Starting last week, two firemen 
were stationed at Broadway legit 
openings in the rear of each theatre 
foyer leading to the exists, to pre- 
vent possible infractions of the no- 
smoking rule. One fireman is on 
hand at all performances, generally 
stationed baclcstage, but complaints 
that flrstnighters have frequently 
violated the rule received attention 
from flre chief William Murphy at 
the request of James F. Reilly ofthe 
League of New York theatres fol- 
lowing publicity, given the matter. 

Murphy . ordered a lieutenant to 
sujjijlement the regular fireman 
since the former has the authority 
to serve summonses, but none was 
reported to have been issued. Of- 
fenders have been noticed at pre- 
mieres principally. Order for tinro 
men is expected to continue indefi- 
nitely for premieres. 

'Matter has no connection with the 
bill introduced in Albany last week 
which would place two firemen 
within all theatres that would pay 
for the services, .which legislation 
aroused prompt protests from legit 
and picture managers, j 

John Chapman, drama critic of 
the N.Y. Daily News, made an issue 
of patrons lighting cigarets inside; 
the National at the recent prAniere 
of "Tonight at 8:30," request for 
more protection then being made to 
the Fire Department. 



'iow Boat' $31^00, 1st Week, Chi; 
'Job^$lm 'Sweetheam' 



Chicago, March 0. ♦ 
S-OW, sleet and rain affected the 
hrwnewhat last week, but except 
Srf^Bed Min," all closing shows 
ISiroved on tW final weeks. Of 
KSwrs. "Show Boat" drew good 
SrtlJ^M ""^ first e^ht per- 

K*nccs saw excellent business. 
^SSieHt Off" opened Sunday (7) 
rf: ^ Blackstone and Bert lahr m 
'^(Mesaue" took over th* ,Selwyn. 
^^SW (Mon->- "Sweet- 
■j?*nbows out next week, nothing 
s set to come in durinfi Mariai. 
auMVV^, AprU wUl bring in Kath- 
JSn« CorneiVa revival of "Antony 
£d Cleopatra^ and Thomas jKtchell 
IS; "The Inspector Calls." Also on 
he Arture Kt are "Mary Had a 
llttfle" a"'' Remember Mama." 
, E^Hinato* for liaat WMk 
maiUmiw," Selwyn (1,000; -$4.33). 
yesten>*y with fine 

ibtte'rtne Sunluun, Studebaker 
<5ttiweek> (1,246; $3.71). Closed 
Katurdnr (6); $19,000 for the final. 

l»Te« Mtoy." .Harris (^ 
week) (1,000; $3.71). Doing fine \Vith 

^^•o'Mlsli'e'w Mhie," TSelwyn (17Ui 
week) (1,000; $4.33). Lunts closed 
«nttfh 17-wcek engagement Satur- 
flav bte $21,000 for final week. 

Ml»," Blackstone (6th week) 
(135*; i4-*0). Operetta concluded 
xetnm visit Saturday; flnal week's 
Hlkt wa eased ofi to $18,000. 
^^•w Boat," Shubert (1st week) 
flM; $4.94). Kxcellent $31,500 for 
the first eight pfa-formances. 

"SIMP It Off." Blackstone (1,358; 
iBJIO). FMce bowed Sunday (7), 
wKn ^ckie Cooper, Ann Corio and 
Vince Barneft 

»|Swt«t>>eart%" Erlangcr (2d week) 
(1,^ $4.33). On the light side, 
|1«^ •■ 



'Burlesque' Fair $7,000, 
4 Perfommnces, Indpls. 

Indianapolis, March 0. 
Locals gave Bert Lahr in "Bur^ 
lesque" a mild reception in four per> 
formances at the English last Mon- 
day-Wednesday (1-3). Nights were 
good, but Wednesday matinee was 
bad: House recessed last half of the 
week, but is almost full thig week. 
'^Student Prince" returns for two 
days only, tonight and tomorrow 
■(Tues.-Wed.), due to previous con- 
cert booking for Monday night (8), 
and "Mary Had a liittle," another 
returnee, takes over ■ Thursday- 
Saturday (11-13). 

eatinuite for Last Week 
"Burlesane." English (four per- 
formances) (1,900; $3.60). Des|iite 
plenty of advance notice, the take 
was only a fair $7,000. 

!^'6ig$m 

tteiroit, March 9. 
Civic Light Opera's "The Gay 
Divorcee" took a leap last week. 
"Two Hearts in Three-Quarter Time" 
is current, Tallulah Bankhcad in 
"Private Lives" also showed a gain; 
as did Edmund Lowe in "Mary Had 
a Little." 

"An Inspector Calls" is currfflit at 
the Cass and "Therfr Goes the Bride" 
is at the Lafayette. 

EsiiniBtea for XiBSt Week 
"The Gay : Divorcee," Masonic 
Auditorium (single week) (5,000; 
$.1,60). Marked improvement over 
previous show; $43,000. 

"Mtsry Had a Little," Shubert- 
Lafayette (2d week) (1,950; $3.60) 
Comedy, with Edmund Lowe, Im- 
proved to $13,000. 

"Private Lives,:' Ca.ss »2d week) 
(1,4.S2: $3.60). Tallulah- Bankhead 
pulled 'em in for $18,500. 



CnrreiitRoadSlHKW^ 



-Cass, Det. 



'&i«isel' $4^ 
'g'lnaiiceZSG.M 

Boston, March 9. 
T^o shows arrived last night 
(Monj), "Joy to' the World" at the 
Mymouth and "The Bod Mill" at the 
Shubert. "Hold It" opens Maich 29 
at the Shubert and Metropolitan 
Qtitera arrives March IS at the Opera 
HoUtse for a one-week stand. Ballet 
Susse de Monte Carlo follows iii 

Estimates for Last Week 

*'C«r«tyielr'' Opera House (first 
week) (3,00«J; $4v20). Return long- 
awaited, with nearly solid sellout 
befare curtain; wow $43,000; current 
wc^ la final. 

"Ifj>, SoiuaiMe." Shubert (^d week) 
(1,700; $4.20). Sleeper gained each 
i»«ek to $28,000 flnal; closed Satur- 
day (6). 

Ifttdermere' Wow 3HG 
For Twb-Cities Week 

Minneapolis, March 9. . „' —,- ,„ . . , 
Near-capacity business was puUcd JMilwaukee (8-13); Lyric, Mpls 
last 'Week by "Lady .W&idermere's 20). 
JEaa.™ Second of New York Theatre 
■ Guild ■ subscription season .shows, 
it'lsan into bad snowstorm last two 
days, but total stacked up as highly 
respectable. 

Estimate for Last Week 
"Lady Windermere's Vm," Ly- 
ceum (7 performances) (1,900; $3.60). 
For five nights and two matinees 
pulled an excellent $21,009; critics 
praised cast -and production, but 
panned Wilde play. 



UBGITIMATB 



59* 



Wolf it Modest $5,800, 
3 Perfs, Portland, Ore. 

Portland, Ore., March 9. 

Donald Wolfit brought his Shake- 
spearean company- here- for three 
performances last week with presen- 
tations of f'Macbeth," "Twelfth 
Night" and "The Merchant of Ven- 
ice," but the engagement was dis- 
appointing. 

Estimate tor I,ast Week 

Donald Wolfit, Mayfair (three per- 
formances) (1,900; $3.60), Shake- 
spearean company drew only $5;800 
for two nights and a matinet. 



B'way B.O. Takes Pi^^Hoyay SIdd; 
Tonight' QHits, lolly' OK $lim 
'HallaM' Pamed/LiiideD' Closes 



'Windermern' tWzd, St. Paul. 

.* ■ St. Paul, March 9. 

Sec9nd of the Theatre Guild sub- 
Mnptien season otierings and spon- 
sored by local Retail Merchants 
•Assn., ''Lady Windermere's Fan- 
came through nicely last week in 
«je face of a bad weather break, 
onow garnered good notices. 
Estimate fa« Last Week 

'Lady Windermere's Fan," Audi- 
wii!?' J3 -performances) (2,801; 
ja.«0). Two nights and a matinee 
yi^ded excellent $10,300; lower floor 
«na balcony well populated at all 
performances. 



Dark Last Week, 
^k-Up Girl' Current 

w ,, .. Baltimore, March 9. 
li^?™wmg a dark week, "Pick-Up 
i;„i' with PegRy Ann, Garner, is 
n^fflf."' Ford's. Katharine Cor- 
MonL, Cleopatra" opens 

A^t^ 1^5^- with "M» Romance" 
•"•jiMareh 29. 

Calhr3*^>,l*»« Thing." with Louis 
April ? ^* Emerson, arrives 



'Joan' r»r Pla. Players 

Gainesville, Fla., March 9. 
nt to, *'l<'"'ia Players of the Univ. 
V„ *'»»"<da will present Maxwell 
j^noorson's "Joan of Lorraine" at the 
18-^ auditorium here March 



(March 8-20) 
"An Inspector CaHs'^- 
(8-20). . 

"Annie Get Your GlUi"-.-Aud., 
Rochester, N. Y. (8-13); Nixon, Pitt. 
(15-20). 

"Blackouts of 1948''— El Capitan, 
Hollywood (8-20). 

"Bfatssom Time"— 'Shubert, Philly 
(8-13); Lyric. Harrisburg (15); Aud., 
Lancaster (16); Lyric, Allentown 
(17); Temple, BinEhamton (18); Erie, 
Schenectady (19-20). 
"Buriesipnie"— Selwyn, Chi, (8-20). 
"Carousel"— Opera Mse., Bost (8- 
13); Shubert, N. Haven (15-20). 

"Chocolate Soldier"— Natl., Wash. 
(8-13); 

"Deep Are the Boots"-^eary, 

Frisco (15-20). 

"Harvey"— Tower, Atlanta (8-13); 
Poche, N. Orleans (15-20). 
"I Scmember Mama"'r-.-Davidson 

■ - - - 

20.. 

".Tohn tovea Mary"— Harris, Gni- 
(8-13). 

"Soy to the World"— Plymouth, 
Bost. "(8-13). 

"Lady Windermere's Fan"— KHNT. 
Dcs Moines (9); Music Hall, K. C. 
(10-13): American, St. Louis (15-20). 

"Mary Had a Little"- Hartman, 
Col. (8-10); English, Indpls, (11-13); 
Hanna, Cleve. (15-20). 
"Macbeth"— Royal Alex., Toronto 

fl5-20). , „, .„ 

"My Il«mance"^Forrest, Philly 

(15-20). 

"O- Mistress Mine"— American, St. 
Louis i8rl3 ); Broadway. Denver 
(15-20). 

- "Oklahoma!"— Curran, Fi isco (8- 
20). 

"Fiek Up Girl"— Ford's, Bnlto. (8- 
13); Virginia, Wheeling (15); Aud., 
Newark (16); Weller, ZancsviUc 
(17); Town Hall, Toledo (18-20). 

"Privirte Lives"— Cox, Cincy (8- 
13); Erlanjfer, Buff. (15-18); Aud., 
Hoch. (19-20). . , „ 

San Carlo Opera Co.— Aud., San 
Jose (8); Opera H.se.. Frisco (9-13). 

"Show Boat" — Shubert, Chi. (15- 

20). „ . 

"Sleep It Off"~BlackstDne, Chi. 
(8-20). ' ^ ^ 

"Song at Norway"— Orpheum, 
Waterloo (8)! lowa, Cedar Rapids 
(0); Orpheum. Davenport (lOJ; 
Parkway, Madison (12-13); Aud., 
Cincy (15-20). , , , , 

"Student Prince"— E'.iglish, Indpls. 
(9-10)- Coliseum, Evan-sville (11); 
Aud., Nashville (12); Aud., Memphis 
(13); Conv. Hall, Tul.sa (15); Forum, 
Wichita (16); Music Hall, K, C. (17- 
20) 

"Sweethearts"— Erlonger, Clii. (8- 

20). • ■ • , ■ ■ , 

"The Glass Menaseric"— LDCu.st, 

Philly (8-20). ^ „ . 

"The Red Mill"— ShUbeit, BpSt. 
(8-13); Studebaker. Chi. (15-20). 
: "There Goes the Brid.e"— Shubeft- 
Lafaycttc, Det. (8-20). , , , . 

"Vou Never Can Tell"— Walnut, 
PhUly (8-13). 



'Teir OK %\m, 

'Blossom' $18J 
'Joy' Mm 

Philadelphia, March 9. 

Legit biz was offish again last 
week, witii all four regular houses 
open. Theatre Guild revival of Shaw's 
"You Never Can Tell" had a spotty 
hut generally profitable first week 
at the Walnut. Also doing business 
was "Blossom Time" in the first of 
two sessions at- the Shubert. "Joy 
to the World" wound up a weak fort- 
night'.s stay at the Forrest, and 
"Pick-Up Girl'' never did get. really 
Started at the liocust. 

"IsHy Romance" • opened a three 
weelcs' stay at the Forrest last night 
(Mon.). Advance sale was big. '"The 
Glass Menagerie," return at the Lo- 
cust, also opened last night. 

"Harvey," with Frank Fay. makes 
its local bow, probably March 27. at 
the Locust, for an extended run. "In- 
side U.S.A." preems March 29 at the 
Shubert for three weeks, and Kath- 
arine Cornell brings her "Antony 
and Cleopatra" revival to the For- 
rest the same nijjht for two weeks. 
Only other booking is "Hold It," 
April 12, at. the Forrest. 

Estimates fisr Last Week 

"Joy' to tbe Worliv" Forre.st (2d 
week) (1,786; $.3.90). This tryout 
comedy drew only $7,500 la.st week. 
"My Romance" is current at the 
house. 

"Blossom Time," Shubert (1st 
week) (1,877; $3.25). Strong $18,000, 
very good for this old repeat, at the 

"You Never Cam Tell," Walnut (1st 
week) (1,340: $3.90). Good notices 
and good, though spotty, biz; $16,500 
on ATS subscription. 

"Pick-Up Girl," Locust (2d week ) 
(1,580; $3.25). Not Pbilly's type show; 
$4,066. "Glass Menagerie'' is in this 
week for a return date. 



mmi mw! rat, 

'lllENAeERr$P00,LA. 

Los Angeles, March 9. 

William T. Tilden's flr.st play, "New 
Shoes." came a-cropper 1a.st week, 
the only dark spot in the otherwise 
bright and healthy L.A. legit pic- 
ture. Ex-tenhis champ's comedy drew 
an anemic $2,000, but was dragged 
through last niglit (Mon.) to give it. 
a full week at El Patio. House re- 
kindles Thursday (11), when Lionrl 
Stander's production of "Brooklyn, 
U.S.A." moves over from the tiny 
Holly town. . ,. .,„ 

Sole newcomer this week is "Vigil, 
which opens at the Coronet tomor- 
row (Wed.). 

Estimates for L.tst Week , 

"Blackouts of 1948v" EI Capitan 
(298th week) (1,142; $2.40). Again 
$17,000. , , 

"Deep Are the Roots," Belasco 
(7th week) ( 1,061: 1S2.40). Bi-op in 
price from $3 ton accounted for «ross 
slump to $13.00(1. .still very good. 

"Now Shoes," El Patio (1st week) 
(798; $3.60). Opened Tuesday (2) 
and got nowhere; folded last nif?ht 
with miserable «2.000. 

"The Glffits Menagerie," Las Pal- 
mas (3d week) (388; $3). Another 
SRO .$6,000^ 

'Sokfier' Fair (17,^ 
F«rFiist Week, Wash. 

Washington. March 9. 
Recent deluge of musicals may 
account in part for failure o£ Choc- 
olate Soldier" to click here. Biz wa,s 
satisfactory, but not up to the sea- 
son's standard for the National. 
Spike .Tones' "Musical Depreciation 
Revue" opens Sunday (14) for 12 
days. 

Estimate for Last Week ^ 
"CliocoUte Soldier," National (1st 
week) (l,(i80: $3.60). Even fancy 
preem with the distaff side of the 
Truman family attending and Oscar 
Straus in the pit for a brief inter-- 
lude failed to brina VhLS into the 
upper register, but satisfactory 
.$17,000 for initial stanza. 

'HAHVEY' 18G IH 3, MEMPHIS 

Memphis, March 9. 

Joe E. Brown's road company of 
"Harvey" played six performances 
at Ellis auditorium here Wednesday 
through Saturday (3-6) to a whop- 
ping gross of $18,000. 

Press and public reaction wa.* ex- 
cellent. ' ' " : 



The boxofSce slump on Broadway 
last, week was greater than had been 
anticipated for the week after Wash- 
ington's Birthday. Run productions 
Were naturally more affected than 
the newer successes, but even some 
of the latter contingent slipped-. He- 
ports from out of town indicated 
dropping grosses there also. 

Two entrants last week were both 
thumbed-down, "The Linden Tree," 
withdrawn Saturday (6), and "The 
Hallams." Latter got a slightly 
better press but nothing in com- 
parison to tryout reception. "Antony 
and' Cleopatra" -ends its Broadway 
engagement this week after estab- 
lishing a new record for the number 
of performances of the Shakespear- 
ean tragedy. "Happy Birthday" ends 
its liong stay on Siwiirday (13) also 
and so does 'Tonight at 8:30," ahead 
of schedule. 

Estimates for Last Week 

Kw: C (Comedy), D (Dranva), 
CD (Comedy-Drama), R (Re»«e), 
M (Musical), O (Operetta). 

"AllesEO," Majestic (21st week) 
(M-1,695; $6). Advance sales and 
theatre parties protected some shows 
last week; gross here, how e v e r, 
Slddded under $38,000. 

"Aiisjel- in the Winffs," Coronet 
(13th week) (R-a98; $4.80). One of 
the newer, shows that reflected the 
downward., trend; around $29,000, 
plenty okay tor this one. 

"Annie Get Tour Gun," Imperial 
(95th week) (M-1,472; $6.60). Alter 
jumping to capacity during the holi- 
day week, fcross dropped to around 
$35,500. : ' ■ - 

"Born Yesterday,," I^ceum (109th 
week) (C-993; $4.80). Dipped about 
as much as other straight play stay- 
ers last week; rated bit over $15,0()0. 

"Btigadoan." Ziegfeld (52d week) 
(M-1,628;' $4.80). As it complettis 
year's run, business is .still proiitaMe, 
but the gross slipped to .around 
$32,000 last week. 

"Command Decision," Fulton (23d 
week) (D-a68; S4.80). Although war 
play should continue into warm 
weather, it dropped to around $16,060 
level. 

"Finian's Rainbow," 46th Street 
(61.st week) (M-1,319; $6). Like 
other run musicals, it skidded last 
week to approximately $35,000. 

"For Love or Money," Miller (13tb 
week) (C-940; $4.20). Enters fifth 
month and still operating profitably; 
eased off to around $i;).000. ' 

"Happy Birthday," Plymouth (C- 
1,063; $4.80). Final and 72d week; 
dropped to around $14,000; next at- 
traction will be "Joy to the World." 

"Harvey," 4«th St. (176th week) 
(C-902; $4.20). Another long-run 
show, that was affected last week 
when gross dropped to low mark of 
engagement; $12,000. 

"Rich Bntton Sboes," Shubert (2.3d 
week) (M-1,.387; $6). Approaching 
half-year and still faring excellently; 
last week to standees again around 
$38,000. 

"loetime of ms-," Center (41st 
week) (H-2,«94; $2.40). Fluctuates 
when theatre attendance in general 
drops; ice revue rated around $30,000 
last week. 

"Look Ma, I'm Danttin'," Adelphi 
(6th week) (Mrl,434; $4:80). Little 
aflfected, doubtless because of musi- 
cal's comparative newness; rated 
around $.37,500. 

"Malce Mine Manhattan," Broad- 
hurst (Bth week) (R-1,160: $6). An- 
other musical that stood up among 
season's best firo.«.sing musicals; 
around $.35,000 estimated. 

/•Me and Molly," Belasco (2d week) 
(C-t,077; $4.20). First full .week ap- 
proximated $11,000; advance sale 
building; Sunday performances 
.should also' be popular for dialect 
comedy. 

"Mister Kabei'ts," Alvin (3d week) 
(CD- 1,331; $4.80). General condi- 
tions won't affect SRO of .?mash. 
which is getting all house will hold; 
cloii© to $33,500. 

"Oklahomai", St, James (265th 
week) (M-1,505; $4.80), No excep- 
tion to other run musicals; slipped 
to around $18,500. 



press for English drama; house dark. 

"The WIttslow Boy," Empire (19th 
week) (D.1,101; $4.80). Affected as 
was most of the field, but English 
drama better than most of its type; ■ 
around $11,000; lowest mark to date; 
same for others. ,^: 
Revivals 

"Antony and Cleopatra," Beck 
{D-1,214; $4.80). Final and 16th week; 
lays oS until March 22, then opens 
on road; $21,000; "You Never Can 
Tell" replaces next week. 

D'Oyly Carte Opera Coi, Century 
(10th week) (.0-1,670; $4:80). "Pirates 
of Penzance" and "Trial By Jury" 
currently repeating; "The Gon- 
doliers" drew lowest gross since Brit- 
ishers opened; under $23-,000. 

"Man and Supermaa;" Hudson . 
(22d week) (CD-1,057; $4.80). Dipped 
as expected last week, when takings 
approximated $20,000; slated through . 
spring. , 

"Medea," Hoyale (D-1,025; $4.80). 
Relighted Monday (8) after liiyirg 
off two and one half weeks; was in 
18th week when performances 
suspended because of Judith Ander.. 
son's Ulness. 

'Tonight. at i:30," National (1,064; 
$4.80). Closes Saturday (13) after 
three weeks and three performances; 
takings dropped^ under $17,000; red 
operation for Noel Coward playlets. : 
Added 

"The Bespectfni Prostitute," and 
"Ctauroh Street," New Stages. l.atter 
short play being replaced, by "Thfe 
Happy Journey;" "Prostie" has been 
capacity draw; bill moves to Broad- 
way (Cort) next week. 

Maurice Chevalier, Golden. Second 
week for one-man show, which 
opened in skimp period quoted 
around $16,000 which was consider* 
ably.imd«: eepeetation?. 

Bi).Re€oriOe¥e. 

Cleveland, March. 9, 
Mary Martin company of "Annie 
Get Your Gun" set the all-time legit 
record here .in eight performances 
at the Music Hall. Musical sold out 
before opening, pulling 24,000 at- 
tendance, in the 3;000-J5eat house. The 
only stage .show that ever rivaled 
"Annie" hare was Max: Beinhardtfs ' 
"Miracle," which, reputedly ocHed 
$61,000 in 1925, 

Estimate for Last Week 
"Annie Get Yasw Gaav" Music Hall 
(sinKle week) (3(000; $4.36). Mary. . 
Martin was a boxolUGe smash in the 
Irving Berlin ■ musicomedy, .getting, 
an absolute capacity $64,000 for tbft 
eight perforitiances. 

'OKLA;REC0Rir?75,OOa, 
m 10 SHOWS, DMER 

, Denver, March 9. 
"Oklahomai" got record $75,000 
last week for 10 shows (seven nights 
and three matinees) in the ' 3,271« 
seat Auditorium with a $4.20 top. 
More than $15,000 in mail orders 
wa£ retiirnttd and more than 10,000 
people were turned down on ticket 
requests. Every seat was sold in 
advance. 

Arthur M. Oberfelder is bringing 
Diana Barrymore in "Joan of Lor- 
raine," tomorrow (Wed.) and Thurs- 
day (11), and Alfred Lunt and Lynn 
Fontanne in "O Mistress 'Mine,'* 
March 13-18. They will play the 
Broadway. >' 

Inspector' $12,5W©, St. L. ; 
Liutt» Current, Seliottt 



St. Louis, March 0. 
Crix liked "Ah Inspector Calls" 
last week, but the public didn't and 
tho piece wound up its one-week 
stand Saturday (6) with a so-so b.Ok' 
Skipper Next to God," Playhouse I record. It's a different story for "O 
f8th wk) (D-865; $4.20). Also eased I Mistress Mine.," starring Lunt and 



oif last week when the count approx- 
imated $14,000 which is profitable. 

"Stranee Be^feUews," Marosco 
(8th week) (C-935; $4.80). Business 
dipped here and the count was 
quoted around $13,500, but slated 
into spring. 

"Streetcar Named BesJre," Barry- 
more (14th week) (D-1,064; $4.80). 
Liiiiit of standees (40) claimed f<)r 
every performance since dramatic 
smash opened; $2.7,500. 

—She Hallama," Booth (1st Week) 
(D-712; $4.80).. Drew two favorable 
notices out of nine, but word of 
mouth may help; provisional notice 
posted. 

"The Heiresa," Biltmore (23d 
week) (D-920; $4.80). Dented as 
much as others; figured around 
$18,000 but good operating profit at 
that level. . „ 

"The WiMlen Tree," Music Box. 
Withdrawn la.st Saturday (6) after 
soven performances; unfavorable 



Fontanne, which opened a week's 
engagement last night (Mon.). 
There's SHO biz for the entire eifht 
performances, at $4n45 top. The third, 
balcony is open for one of the few 
times this seasoiu 

Estinutte for Last We«k: 
"An Inapeetar Calls," American 
(single week) (1,700; $3.81). Even 
the Playgoers subscription list shied 
away from this on«t and eight pet* 
foimances grossed only $12,900; , 



Buffalo, .March 9. 

"Student Prince," back again last 
week for at least the 20th time, hung 
up one of the biggest grosses in the 
history of its local engagements. 
Standing room marked all four per- 
formances. 

At $3 top, the Shubert perennial 
piled up nearly $11)000. • - ' 



46854^ 



60 



iUBC;iTI9fATB 



WedncMlay, Mtirch 10, 1948 



Plays m Broadway 



The Hallams 

•WlUlam Brawn Meloney procHietlou ot 
drama In thre^ actB (two «o»nest bj Kosb 
I'lRiiken. Staged by HUtliov; settinsra, fluy- 
jiKiiKi Sovey. Openea at Boniii, N. v., 
JUiu-cli 4, 'iSt W.sa top. 

Mrs. HnMam... Kthcl riiMues 

Kltin Hnllam. ...!........ MlWi'etl Dimnock 

Paul Hallalii Tt»y»l l^o'il 

Crace HallRW.. June WalkeV 

Helen HallaW. • ■MUdvOd VtM 

Vii'tor Hailani.,....,....,. Aliin Bnxlor 

Walter Hnllam Halt Hi'igss 

Han-y llallam Ki-.mk M. Thomas 

Mr. llallnm Mm M<'lve<! 

.Tej-rv Hallam.,. ...Dean Novtnn 

Kenat-lck Hallara ...... ... . . Katharine Bard 



is an elderly 
in Jolin van 



What begins as a promising com- 
edy turns out to be a serious play, 
adding to thfe volume' of the season's 
sombre plavvvrigliting. That Rose 
Franken's "The Hallaras" will ap- 
proach; the popularity of her "An- 
other Language," whose characters 
are the . people of the new play, is 
hardly likely, much less "being on a 
par writh her 'standout "Claudia." 

There is an excellent group of ac- 
tors portraying. likable pebple who, 
however, have little chance to be 
gay this time. Three generations of 
the" Hallams are participants, with" 

.- the dominant mother again head of 
the clan, along with her now-feeble 
husband. The sons are middleaged, 
a$ are their' wives, and while the 
•women are in good health, not all 
the men are free of ailments. Only 
one grandson appears, and he's very 

. ill, while an unseen granddaughter 
is mentioned caustically because she 
has just suddenly married a Jewish 
doctor. 

Etta Hallam's son Jerry was a- 
patient- at Saranac Lake but the fam- 
■oily is surprised when he joins grand- 
' ma's birthday party accompanied by 
his bride, Kendrick, whom he had 
met while at a sanatorium. She is 
a radio program specialist, well 
aware ,'of Jerry's condition, having 
been cured of a similar respiratory 
trouble in tha Adirondacks. 

'Soon there is another family 
gathering this time- in Ken^s attrac- 
tive apartment, to celebrate Jerry's 
, birtbday. The bride Is confident he 
•will recover' with the proper care 
tut" Jerry becomes exuberant and 
strains himself when lifting his 
bride. Result is an offstage spasm 
and Jerry is removed to a hospital, 
where he expires under an oxygen 
tent. 

Jerry's, mother, Etta, is always on 
the verge of reading a Christian 
Science book, and although that re 
ligion is not mentioned by name, the 
Inference was emphasized when the 
play tried out in Buffalo and Cleve- 
land, but complaints by misinformed 
C.S. followers, not substantiated. 
One of the Hallam sons has 
been examined by specialist.'!, 
diagnosis disclosing an incur- 
able malady. He plans going , "to 
• . Chicago" indefinitely, which arouses 
wifely suspicions, a lighter moment, 
His wife is a prototype of the 
grape-eater in "Another Language," 
but the part is not as comic by any 
means, one of the men nibbling at 
a few grapes, the bit probably being 
written in for good luck. Play was 
evidently ' revised out-of-town, for 
comedy interludes reported then 
were out at the N. Y. premiere. 

E'thel GriflEies, whose sharp tongue 
lightened "The Druid Circle" this 
season, plays the elder Mrs. Hallam 
but gets little chance to inject humor 
after tha„early portion of the play. 
Mildred Dunnook, June Walker and 
Mildred Wall are the daughters-in- 
law, the latter being more spirited 
than the others. Katharine Bard 
stands out as Ken, as does Dean 
Norton, as the unfortunate Jerry. 
The husbands aU give good perform- 
ances—Royal Beal, Frank M. Thomas 
and Matt Briggs. • Ibee. 

The Linden Tree 

Maurice Evans production ot drama. In 
two acts (one scene> by J. B. Priestley 
Stars Boris Karloft; fealiirea Barbara Kver- 
est, Una O'Connor, Viola Kent.si ati<l fatli- 
leen Cordell. Staged by George Scliapffer; 

"^^'o"- Opened at Music Box, 
INT. Y., Peb. 2, '48; $00 top. 



principal ' character 
college professor, as „ . , 

Druten's unsuccessful "The Druid 
Circle" (played by Leo G. Carroll), 
seen on Broadway earlier this sea- 
son. . ■■ . 

"Tree" introduces Boris Karloff in 
a straight part on Broadway, which 
last saw him as the sinister horni- 
cidal specialist of "Arsenic and Old 
Lace." As Professor Linden in the 
new play he gives a thoroughly be- 
lievable and likable characterization. 

Locale is his study at an English, 
university. He has reached the age 
of 65, his birthday being the occa- 
sion for the visit of two growm 
daughters and a son, latter prosper- 
ing in London. The Regents board 
ijecid'es on his retirement, which he 
resists, and then his wife insists on 
leaving the college town to reside 
in London but the old boy elects to 
remain with their yeungest daughter 
who is becoming a musician. 

One daughter is happily wed and 
says religion has been her salvation. 
Another is bent on medical research, 
while the son is* a successful trader 
in securities. The professor has 
much to sav about England's proh' 
lems, including rationing, and there 
are several references to devastation 
that will come with atom bombs. 
End finds Mrs. Linden and the elder 
kin leaving the professor at work at 
his desk, only the adolescent girl 
and the housekeeper remaining with 
him. 

There are some tighter interludes 
which come from Una O'Connor as 
the housekeeper but the new play 
is no stronger in comedy than it is 
in dra'ma, being more a conversation 
piece without enough diversion. 
Barbara Everest, better known in 
England than here, plays Mrs. Lin- 
den acceptably, that, too, going for 
Viola JCeats and Cathleen Cordell, 
as the -elder daughters, 'and Halli- 
well Hobbes, Jr., who plays the son. 
Marilyn Erskine, one of the few in 
the cast not from the British stage, 
attracts favorable attention as the 
young 'daughter. ' tbee. 

(Closed SattiTday (6) after seven 
performances.) 



Sherek's British Legit 
Version of Svensk Pic 

London, March 9. 
Produced by Henry Sfierek and 
written by Peter Ustinov, legit ver* 
sion of the hit Swedisji film, "Tor- 
ment," opened in Newcastle last 
week and is scheduled to bow here 
some time in April. Play .'is labeled 
"Frenzy." 

Author Ustinov ha.'S the role cre- 
ated on celluloid by Alt Kjellin, 
while Joan Greenwood play^; the 
part Mai Zetterling had in the film. 
Piece, it's understood, may preem at 
the Garrick. - 



Plays Alvoad 



Coelqplt 

London, Feb. 20. 

I^iondon Mask Theatriit>.proau«tl«>n (In Ha- 
Hutiliillun with ArtH Councl]) Dt iww play . in 
two ttcis liy Brldset BolnniJ. Directed l»y 
Michael Mucowan. At Pl«y)iauii«. 
t'laudla.. • . ..\>..>,i>.t... ..Phyllis Maudw 

Heboi-fa. , . , Lilly Mninar 

Anna JarusloV...., 'riilliina l.leven 

Jaruslav Ju's Clewes 

Keiwant Barnes .....Aiihur Itambliuir 

CaptalA Kidley losepli O't'onor 

Biiiier. . , i i , , ,,1.. . . .. I.. > . . . .Duilloy .loncs 

.Ilrl. , ................... « . * .l*aiil llanUniiilh 

'I'he i'rutesBovi...., (Ipoflroy Dunn 

D'uval. . . i. . . ... . . .Marin»l i^ont-in 

Marie. ... . ..,.»'.,'. .... i ... . , . . DUiiia Uraves 

Peter. . , . ..... .Peter Drurj" 

MtloMli. i . .. . .. .. . .Julian UaTHiall 

Draja H a rry J.iii.' It e 



Norway's Legit 
On Real Upbeat 

Oslo, March 2. . 

Interest in legit is far greater in 
Norwa'y than in Sweden, according 
to Swedish playwright-author, Vil- 
helm Moberg, w1:io recently returned 
to Stockholm after studying Norwe- 
gian theatre lite here. He pointed 
out in particular that serious, 
dramatic works are espeeially popu-; 
lar there. 

Among the current Oslo produc- 
tions are a Russian play by Gogol 
and a French piece by Mauriac, said 
Moberg. Proposed plays include a 
new version of "Peer Gynt" which 
Hans Jacob Nielsen is readying. It 
will be minus Grieg's music. 



Play Oat of Town 



New Shoes 

Hollywood, March 10. 

John Q'Harrls production' of f-omedy- 
dramy in three ACt.4 (tour Bcene.s) by Wil- 
liam T. Tllden. Features Helen WitJlnec 
and Larry Nunn. Directed by l^owell Hil- 
more; settings, Jack lienrdtiley. Opened at 
EI Patio theatre, Hollywood, March », '48: 
*S.«0 lop. 

David Marshall........!.... .James Broifn 

Sylvia <l'horndyke. .Virginia Belmont 

Charles Thorndyke. ., ........... .Alex Gerry 

John Barker.. .. . ...'^. ..... .James Graven 

Bobby Thornd.vke. .Larry Nunn 

Helen 'fiforndyke ^. .Helen WalUiee 

Algernon STwitohell,;.. ., ...Art?>ui: liovejoy 
Spike Murphy. . . i . .... . . . * . .Kett Lundy 



The iSorlmls Story 

London, Feb* 20 

S,*'"*" "P,'* Buchanan pruil'uc. 

Hon oi: GlasBow Unity Theatre ulav Iti thie» 
ads by Robert. MoLelsh. Direilieit 1? Uoii! 
ert Mitchell. At Qnrrlck, London. 

PeKarle. Heiiy Hendersoo 

Heolor, a baker,, Hoddy McMiVinn 

ivm,"'": JI*""'!"' ''aWsboy..IluBaell Hunter 

Wllllum Murrle Howard t'onnell 

.Tean Muvrle Mar.lurle Thonipsan 

Ahmed Aiitliiiiiy furfle 

M«Kdalene, n cleaner. - - ' 

Mrs. illlmour. 

Pcler rtellly 

.Mr.'i. Kellly 

Norah .Rellly.. 
l''runcle Potter, . ,. i . . , 



Mrs. C<-tton..' 
Alfred Lopkhart., 
Mrs. Linden. . . , , , 
Box Linden , . . . , , 
Jean Linden.."... 
Marlon Linden... 
Jldlth 'Westmote.-, 
Binali; Ijinden. ... 
Professor Linden , 
Bernard I'awcett 



. .I'na O'Connor 
......... . ..Noel Leslie 

. . . . ... .Barbara Kverest 

. .Halllwell Hohbes, Jr, 

.-^ Viola XCeais 

....... .OaUiIecii C'nrflell 

■ . . . I . - Mary Kinilier 
.......Marilyn Kr.'fktne 

..Boris KarlofC 

. . . . . ..Hlmmett RORers 



J. B. Priestley, one of Britain's 
best known dramatists, has not been 
especially successful on Broadway, 
and his "The Linden Tree," a Lon- 
don hit, likewise hardly figures to 
land in the money here. 

Maurice Evans, who's, flourishing 
on Broadway in a revival of Shaw's 
Man and Superman," which he 
also produced, added to his man- 
agerial chores , to presient "Tree," a 
loquacious two-acter which is splen- 
didly mounted and excellently writ- 
ten but tries to cover too much ter- 
.ritpry. Its comments are doubtless 
more pertinent to English than 
American audiences. Curiously the 



William T. "Big BilV Tilden, one- 
time tennis champ, has served a 
"net ball" itt his first attempt as a 
playwright. It doesn't go over. 

The basic premise isn't .too bad, 
but it gets bogged down in bad lines 
and - telegraphed situations. Story 
concerns a millionaire's family and 
the sudden return of a son, kid- 
napped 14 y.ears earlier. He's been 
a street urchin and served time, and 
the family has to start a re-educa- 
tion process. There's an onstage 
shooting and a suggestion of incest 
but Tilden manages to arrive at a 
happy ending although psychologists 
might not agree with the character 
development. 

Play has a chance as a aim if the 
sapolio is earnestly applied, but it 
offers nothing for legit in its pres.- 
ent form. 

■Lowell Gilmore did about as well 
as he could with the staging. Of the 
cast, Helen . Wallace as the mother, 
Larry Nunn as the son, Alex Gerry 
as the father, "Virginia Belmont as 
the daughter and Ken Lundy in a 
bit as a onetime pal of the kid's, 
give credible performances. Kap. 



Rhys Williams Options 
Play for Coast Tryout 

Hollywood, March 9. 

Hhys Williams bought an option 
on "The Breaking Point," legiter 
authored by Norman Foster and 
Denis McCarthy, for staging here 
with hopes of Broadway. 

Williams will produce, with Ar- 
thur Kennedy and himself in the 
top roles. 



THEATRE 'NAMES' AID 
NEW HUB REP TROUPE 

Boston, March 9. 

Boston Repertory Assn. is getting 
set to present series of 10 produc- 
tions in the Hub beginning in Octo- 
ber; Copley theatre is currently 
planned as base ot operations, but 
outfit i^ working on a deal to get the 
newly renovated Majestic downtown, 
in the heart of the rialto district. - 

Figure to do four shows in reper; 
tory, with angeling by wide group oif 
local theatregoers along a subscrip- 
tion idea rather than a few well- 
heeled individuals, and will offer 
stock ownership. This has been tried 
before, but not with' such a flock of 
theatre names behind it as this -one 
has. 

Board of directors, for example, 
consists of Clarence Derwent, Equity 
prexy; Gerald' Savory, playwright 
and director; Mrs. Osgood -Perkins, 
former director of Boston Stage 
Door Canteen; Nathaniel Saltonstall, 
former prexy and current trustee of 
the Boston Institute of Contemporary 
Art; Harry Levin, professor of Eng- 
lish at Harvard; Howard LeSourd, 
dean of B. U.'s school of public re- 
lations, and Michael Linenthal, pro- 
•duce'r and director of the Woodstock, 
N. Y. strawhatter. 



Original and soundly presented 
drama of problems confronting army 
authorities in the British Zone ot 
Germany, this deals with the hous- 
ing and dispersal of displaced per- 
sons. Intelligently handled, play is 
timely balanced.and should draw its 
own audience almost anywhere in 
the theatre loving world. As a film it 
would make a good tolerance sub- 
ject. ■^. ■■. .'■ 

Setting is a German theatre, which 
is a clearing house for all national- 
ities awaiting repatriation. The Brit- 
ish ofticer, young and conscientious, 
has to emulate the wisdom of Solo- 
mon in settling disputes and pacify- 
ing hotheads. Newly arrived, he re- 
gards the work in hand as simple. 
But this doesn't , work out. Pole ver- 
sus Russian, Yugoslav Partisan ver- 
sus 'Chetnik, opposing political ad- 
herents of the same countries all at 
each other's throats — Jewish out- 
casts against them all. A riot is 
averted through the suspected pres- 
ence of bubonic plague. French re- 
sistance fighter versus collobarator, 
Jew and Gentile, Pole and Russian 
all sink .their differences in the com- 
mon need. Knots of men act as 
guards to prevent panic-stricken ref- 
ugees dashing out and perhaps in- 
fecting the whole country. Jeal- 
ously guarded personal food hoards 
are all voluntarily pooled for the 
common good, and hysteria is stayed 
by the coaxing into song of a former 
prima donna. . ^ 

The moment the British Medical 
Officer arrives and states the diagno" 
sis of plague was wrong, the whole 
community reverts to aggression and 
terror once more. Play ends with 
the young officer pleading with 
them to settle down peaceably among 
themselves saying: "I have failed 
but you can see it can l?e done— y on 
have proved it," v ,. . ^ 

Novelty in the production is that 
part of the cast emerges from vari- 
ous sections of the house. Acting is 
excellent, with different types and 
personalities splendidly portrayed. 
Arthur Hambling stands out as an 
old-time sergeant; Tatiana Lieven, as 
a devoted Polish wife who had fol- 
lowed her husband even to the gas 
chamber; Marcel Poncin; as a French 
larmer indignantly denying he was a 
collaborator who murders his com- 
patriot (well' contrasted by Diana 
Graves) to prevent her informing 
against him. Dudley Jones turns in 
a good cameo of the stage manager 
pottering around his own terrain 
and Joseph OlConor gives an effort- 
less delineation of a harassed, be- 
wildered officer striving to adjust 
the scales of justice. 

From every angle a commendable 
piece of work. Clem. 



• •t'yliil. Thoinaon 
. . . .BcrKnH <'ooper 

, . . „Tacl£ .Stewart 
. .Kvelino ({(irralt 
..Belly Mctiregor 
.I'orl Williamson 



This community theatre company 
achieved such local success with 
this play that Jack Hylton and Jack, 
Buchanan decided it deserved a 
season in London. It is a drab, plot- 
le.s.s story set in the worst slum dis- ■ 
trict of Glasgow. Its appeal is ud«'' 
likely to range beyond Scot exiles. 

A tenement is peopled by groups 
ot odd characters, and the whole 
theme runs on the confined living 
conditions and de.sperate couples 
seeking a roof over their heads. 
There is a newsboy, a baker's boy, 
a "woman of uncertain occupation,'' 
an Indian street-trader, a cleaner 
and an elderly bickering couple (the 
husband intermittently drunk), 
mostly all bqjng idle and. filling in 
football pools. 

Irish neighbors from the next 
fioor pop in, there is a budding 
romance between the youthful 
colleen and the newsboy, blighted 
by the irate father suspecting seduc- 
tion, which causes the boy to, go on 
his first bat and to seek consolation 
from the expert across the hall. The 
Indian is accepted a^ » husband by 
the cleaner; the workshy man hears 
his forecast on the football is cor- 
rect—only he had not sent in the 
coupon. Humor and tragedy check 
to cheek, and all perfectly inter- 
preted by this talented company. 

Play was -warmly received mainly 
because of the acting. Success wiu 
depend on its artistic appeal. Clem. 



Heep Are the Rooitst 

■ Budapest. 
Kuvesz iSzinhaz produeiion oC rtriima by 
.lamea Gow and Arnaud d'Usseuu. Trans^ 
Inttid by Klara Fclekl .Kovacs. Ulret Led by 
Imrc Apathy. Set by lioltau I'Mlop. At 
MuvesK. Budapest. 

Hen. Kllsworth 'Lan8?dO:n. . . .Lasj^Io Foldenyl 
Alice Langdon.. .. vi. . .Vera .Senayel 

(linevra. I^anKdon V6i-a Hzeniere 

Howard Merrick. .. i ...... .Zoltan Varkonyl 

Urelt C'luirles. Sandur ij/.abo 

Bella Charles, .Kila Oumbai,/oBi 

Honoy. i .....w . . . .'Noeml Apor' 

Koy Afexwell. , ..... . . . ... . I . .Sandor Pecsl 



II o T K L It o <i M s:: 

IN THK HISAKT OXr TlMKS SQ. 
Bdom, bath and shower, Telopliouc, Kroin t'. 
single and $3. no d oitible. 

Ri>30ff*S 

Restairr^dfl!. . 



HOTEL ROSOFF 

147 W, 43ril St. 
(«t B'way), BR. 9.5400 



Ft. Monmouth Takes Time 
For *Spring Gleaning* 

Ft. Monmouth, N. J., March 9. 

"Spring Cleaning," variety show 
featuring Penny Frankel, Dorothy 
Toland and talent from the Officers' 
Reereati.on Class of Special Services 
School and Signal • 'Training Regi- 
ment Theatre Guild, will be pre- 
sented tomorrow (Wed.) and Thurs- 
day (11) nights at Theatre Two here. 

It will contain two songs by Har- 
old J. Rome, who wrote the music 
for "Call Me' Mister" and several 
other Broadway shows. CWO Ever- 
ett D. Rupert will conduct the or- 
chestra. . 



N. Y. Opera Recruits 

New to N. Y. City Opera Co., 
roster this spring will' be Marie 
Powers, lead in "The Medium" on 
Broadway last season; Adelaide 
Bishop, who toured in "The Red 
Mill" and "Blossom Time"; Beltc 
Dubro, who was featured soloist un- 
der the name ot Gloria on the "Hour 
of Charm" air serias; Walter Gas- 
sell, radio sitigeri and Andrew Gai- 
iiey, regular on WCAU and KYW 
in Philadelphia. 



France Ups Theatre Pay 

Paris, March 2. 
The spiraling cost of living is hit- 
ting the show business, latest being 
a government ukase ordering a raise 
of 19c per day for all theatre per- 
.sonnel paid less ' than $5 a day.- 
Boost is retroactive to Jan. 1. Thea'? 
tre operators who did not anticipate 
this tilt must toot the bill anyway. 
Theatre owners have made no at- 
tempt to make up the boost via a 
new tilt in admis.sions so far. 
, Shows at revue theatres and niter- 
ies, with lines and many stagehand.?, 
suffer the most under the edict. 



In 



K. M. Xabratlor 

('Petticoat Fever') 

Paris. 

Yvonne Prlntempfi production of comedy 
four acts by .lar'ques Deval, based on 
Mark Heed's "Pettie.oat Fever." Staj's 
t:}erard .t^liiiittpe, (,'laude Genia, Karin Ven., 
Kay. Directed by .Deval." Set by Deahays. 
At Michodiere, Paris. 

Ha I iilri ' Brltton Gerard Ph ii i |)pe 

DlKijy Curtis JttOKer "'revllle 

Kiiito ..... . . ».;.... l.eun llerton 

Le P.isteur Top>r......vi... Albert Therval 

Le Caiiitalne Winter. Henri Chauvet 

Spotty , ..Tean HelvcL 

Muriel .Dickson., ...('i.-iude Clenia 

Clara Hobart Karin Vengay 

Nisuniak. ,Ma I.i Teni; 



Miss Skinner's Book 

Minneapolis, March 9. 

Playing here in "Lady Winder- 
mere's Fan." Cornelia Otis Skinner 
revealed that she has started work 
on a new book, tentatively titled 
"Family Biography." 

It will deal with the lives of her 
parents. Actor Otis Skinner was her 
faUier, ■ ■■. 



This can't be called a mere adapta-' 
tion of "Petticoat Fever." Jacques 
Deval. who knows his Paris and what 
it likes, starts his play like the Mark 
Reed comedy, then switches with a 
different third act, and adds a fourth 
entirely his own. His treatment of 
the idea adds up to a legit smash, and 
an excellent -screen bet. A, very 
strong caiit is a factor. 

Like the original, the play opens 
with Gerard Philippe as radio 
weather man in an isolated Arctic 
outpost, where he suffers from lack 
of feminine society. Enter an indus- 
triali.st and his fiancee, brought there 
by a forced airplane landing. Girl 
falls tor the boy, but leaves when 
fiance does, Girl comes back, as does 
an old flame of the hoy. Then as- 
sorted things happen. 

Philippe makes the comedy busi- 
ness as funny as can be without fall- 
ing into slapstick. Claude Genia, as 
the .society girl who falls for the boy 
heavily and shakes herself from a 
previously-arranged marriage, builds 
up her part in a* very subtle way, 
also paiticipating in the comedy. She 
clicks, as does Karin Vengay as the 
old flame. 

Roger Trevillo, as the jealous 
fiance, is excellent support. So is 
Albert Therval as a genial parson. 
Leon Berton is good as the, Eskimo 
servant. Set by Deshays is very fine. 
Yvonne Prifitemps has given the play 
a proper production. Maxi. 



Strong racial drama is one of 
great legit successes of the season. 
Fine acting plus strong, continuous 
action make for a perfect perforirt- 
ance. 

Director Imre Apathy handled the 
play with extraordinary skill and 
built up a fascinating drama. Theme 
itself has great appeal here and 
leftist organs particularly have ac- 
cepted it with great applause. 

Sandor Szabo, as ex-Lieut. Brett_ 
Charles, the mistreated American 
Negro officer, gives one of his best 
performances. His character is 
humanly and never violently drawn. 
Comedienne Ella Gombaszogi, as 
Bella, Brett's mother, proves a sur- 
prise in a fine portrayal of the tragic 
role. Noemi Apor, as Honey, is a 
sure success, too. 

, Laszlo Foldenyi, playing Senator 
Langdon, gives a perfect cbaractej- 
ization of an old, conservative 
Southern gentleman. Vera Sennyei, 
as his daughter Alice, is very good 
though sometimes not dramatic 
enough. 'Vera Szemere, as her sis^ 
ter Ginevra, also shows great Im- 
provement, giving a touchingly hu- 
man and dramatic portrayal as the 
while girl in love with her onetime 
Negro boy friend. Zoltan Varkonyt, 
as Howard, plays a somewhat pas- 
sive role, and an excellent character 
role is drawn by Sandor Pecsi. 

Set by Zoltan Fulop and transla- 
tion of Klara Feleki Kovacs are both 
good. Gaah 



lie Reionr 

(The Beturn) 

Paris. 

Mis. Paul Rolle produclioh of drama ia 
fcui- aclM by Pierre-'Ma.wrlce .Richard, Di- 
rected by Mrs. .KuUe. Set by iKerses Barlnu. 
At Theatre du OyinnaaCi I'arla. 
Marc Hrehhrd . ... . . . .Pierre Itlcliarcl-W'illMi 

Itnljert t'assal.... ..Jean Oallaad 

KllHaheth Cazai..,., Helene Perdvlere 

Louise Gabrlelle Boany 

V So much water has gone over the 
•dam since the war ended that any- 
thing based on it, even the return 
from Germany of a prisoner of war, 
looks somewhat dated. Also, the 
play at times is very slow paced. 
Despite this, good direction and act- 
ing make the few highlights stand 
out and there are chances ot a run. 

Direction by Mrs. Paul Rolle gets 
full value out of the .sciipt. Portra.yal 
by Helene Perdriere of a wonian who 
feels lonely and fights her loneliness 
by having an affair, is of hignest 
order. As the lover, Pierre Richard- 
Willm is okay while Jean Galla'id 
gives a standout perforinance as! t 'c 
husband who is betrayed but who 
can't bring himself to shake the 
woman off. Gabrielle Rosny has only 
a bit part. , . ■ 

It's a sure scfefn bet hero, but >" 
need of considerable rescript'i;'? t<"^ 
export. J^^"**- 



Litet^ati 



Time Mwrcbes On To 25lli~Xnnt 
Quarier-ceftturyoW Time mag, 
aUU scrappy, unsedate, marks its 
l5th milestone with an 11-pkge self- 
evaluation in current (March 8) 
Issue. Meticulous, thorough, objec- 
tive staffers peer down mag's gullet 
to tell readers how it ticks; cover 
birth, operation, credo of thci mag; 
lists its achievements, flop^, where 
It succeeded, where it lailed.. 

Time editors laud Time's news- 
gathering organization, its research 
and checking system, stress fact it 
first to tell news as a narrative 
jtory. Admitting impartiality is im- 
possible in news reportage, editors 
claim they strive towards fairness. 
Times change and Time with them; 
out has gone the short, clipped, in- 
verted writing style of adjectives 
before names. "Gone are the days 
when Time's pages were exclusively 
inhabited by a jut-jawed, buckr 
toothed, moose-tall, haystack-haired 
.jiace," 

• Written "for the busy man," at 
editorial cost of $1.48 a word, mag 
iiolds Managing Editor T. S. Mathuws 
responsible for every word in the 
sheet. Senior editor Whittaker 
Chambers is special "literary doctor." 
At apex of organization stands tall, 
gaunt; glum Henry B. Luce, "who 
^nds responsible, along with 
liathews^ for whatever Time says," 

t'- ■ ■ ■■'■'v' ■■■ •■■'^'^''^ '■■ ■■■'/■■ 

But Sfttevepost for $MO,«M 

. Saturday Evening Post has been 
dapped with' a $400,000 damage suit 
in Washington for a recent article 

' OttD;C. cabs called "Never Give the 
Passenger an Even Break." Suit for 

"libel- was brought by Thomas W. 
i'owler, owner of Columbia Cab Co., 
and Charles B. Howery, a driver, 
who is suing in behalf of 59 other 
Columbia drivers. Named as co- 
defendant is James J. Brennan. 
Piece is illustrated by a pictOre of 

* Columbia Cab. Complaint in the 
suit is. that the Columbia Co. has 

: i}66h. damagi^ by the photograph. 
■ f'bwler asks $100,000 and Howery 
wants $800,000. 



Lionel Shapiro's Encore 

Uonel Shapiro, Canadian war cor- 
Vespondent whose best'sclling novel, 
"S^led Verdict," has just been 
filmed by Paramount, is working on 
another which has picture companies 
bidding. Untitled as yet and still in 
rough draft form, the 25,000-word 
novelette concerns postwar Italy. 

Par has first crack at the new one 
as' result of the ''Sd^ied Verdict" pur- 
chase. Eleanor Kennedy of. Music 
Corp. of America is agenting. 



three times on the grounds thaj^^ 
helped "organize" the SCHW. ' ? 

It seems strange to Martin, "par- 
ticularly in view of the fact that he 
has been an outspotcen foe of Com^ 
munism. 



Mystery Writers' Policies 

National officers, national board 
members and policy committee 
members of the Mystery .Writers of 
America, "having a special respon- 
sibility, are therefore obligated to 
discu-ss" their book contracts with 
the national board before signing 
them. That was resolved at the 
organization's first annual Conven- 
tion, held recently in New "Vork. 

It was also resolved to pursue a 
policy of cooperation with the Au- 
thors League of America and its va- 
rious guilds <with whom no xela'- 
tions exist), to. continue efforts to 
get royalties for authors and pub<- 
llshers from lending libraries, to 
fight for the MWA basic book con- 
tract "in its entirety." to support the 
aims of and cooperate with the true- 
crime writers in the pulp section of 
the Authors ■ Guild and assist them 
in contract negotiations. 

The treasurer's annual report 
showed 12 months' total receipts of 
$4,268.27 and expenditures of $5,- 
570.06, with a cash balance of $277.19 
as of last Feb. 1, compared with a 
balance of $1,578.98 the previous 
year. However, it was noted that 
there were more than $1,000 in 
royalties due and shortly payable 
for reprints of the MWA's two an- 
thologies. 

It was reported that the new of- 
ficers of the .midwest chapter are 
Alviui E. Rose (Allan Pruitt) , le- 
gional vecpee; Milton K. Ozaki, 
treasurer, and Miriam S. Allen, sec- 
retary; and ' of the San Francisco 
chapter are Gary Lucas, prez; Flor- 
ence Faulkner, treasurer, and Vir- 
ginia Rath, secretary. The next 
meeting of the Frisco chapter will 
be March 17 and of the midwest 
chapter March 22. 



fourth annu^a detective short story 
contest with, prizes totalling $6,000. 
Deadline for entries is Oct. 20. 

Cass Canficid . iHarper's) and 
James T. FarrcU r'Studs Loirigan" 
and "The Fate of Writing in Amer- 
ica" ) will discuss "Freedom of Press 
in Book Publishing" Friday niyht 
(12) at the New School for Social 
Research, N. Y. 

H. Allen Smith and his wife mo- 
toring March 15 to sojourn with Jim 
Street in Chapel Hill, N. C; to spiel 
at book author luncheon in Charles- 
ton, W. Va., March 20. Smith ju.st 
sold a piece on vaudeville's Doc 
Rockwell to True mag. 

Ashton Stevens' fine .salute to two 
Loop expatriates, Hecht & MacAr- 
thur, in the Chi Herald American, 
on pcea.sion of Gilbert Gabriel be- 
coming drama critic for Theatre Arts 
monthly, which Mac Arthur will edit. 
Post had originally been ofl'ercd 
Stevens. . 

Justin Gray's "I Joined the Ameri- 
can Legion," on which Reynal & 
Hitchcock paid advance royalties 
and then rejected fos publication, 
has been rewritten by Victor Ber- 
stein. PM feature writer,, and is 
slated for late spring release by 
Boni & Gacr. 

Members of the American Book 
Publishers Council are now offered 
group insuritnce against libel, plag- 
iarism, invasion of privacy and 
copyright infringement suits, up to 
$50,000 a year. Similar policies have 
been available to radio sponsors and 
advertising agencies for years. 

Philip Stack, 47. who contributed 
verse to Walter Winchell's column 
under the pseudonym Don Wahn. 
and occasionally (in pretended re- 
ply) Donna Wanda, jumped to his 
death Feb. 4 from his studio in New 
York. He left a note explaining that 
he was. incurably ill, and leaving 
everything to His wife. 

Englisti rights to "Murder by Ex- 
perts," the 1947 anthoVogy of Mys- 
tery Writers of America, have been 
sold to the London publishing firm 
of Sampson Low. The deal calls for 



i SCUXLY*S SCRAPBOOK i 

By Frank Scully ♦♦♦♦ ♦ ♦♦♦♦ MM »» t 



Income, Texij, March 8. 

To those constant readers likely to be caught a little short by March 15, 
I throw this rope of hope. How would you like to turn an honest buck into: 
$15,000? If an actor did it, could you do loss? 

You don't have to be on the inside of commodity futures or foreign ex- 
change. All you have to do is to get an editor to believe this story so . 
much that he not only buys the story but the rug, . - 

The rug is a hand woven reproduction of One Dollar Bill Number 
H8568.5068A; In fact, if you have that particular buck in your pocket you 
can make $250 on the deal right now. 

Eugene Linder brought the woven buck to Bedside Manor the other, 
day. It is 6 ft 2 inches long and 3 ft. 2.inches wide. It took a year for 
tour expert rugmakers to reproduce it, and Grant and Lincoln come out', 
better than I've seen them in years. . 

Will It Boy . a Sc Cigar? 

The tapestry is 172 times larger than the dollar bills now circuljating, 
which are,: as you know, -so small and of such little buying power that 
nobody could get much publicity these days even lighting cigars with, thenu 

I had' an idea that the Government stopped all this sort, of things years 
ago. In fact I remember, and others must too, that Dolan's, the first o£ the 
all-night hcaneries on Park Row, used to display a work of art called "A 
Barrel of Money." And despite the fact that the proprietor often spent 
the night at the White House with Teddy Roosevelt there was talk thai 
the thing would have to come down off the wall because it was too great 
an inspiration to counterfeiters. 

Gene Linder's handwoven giant-size one-dollar bill has been through 
much the isame wringer. But from documents he supplied me it appears 
now that the Secret Service and the U. S. attorney's office have decided it 
could hardly be passed for fiat money. 

It is Gene Linder's idea that the story of this unique eft'ort to combine 
art and money should . have some editor sitting on the ed!ge of his chair. 
In fact he' told me that one of the biggest weeklies assured him it was a 
positive "must" for a rivaL 

I laughed, too, at this Utopian touch, but maybe editors have changed a 
lot since we were reporters and nqw spend their lives hunting out ex^ 
clusives for their rivals, - . 

It Happened In Paris 
Thiis woven buck has a peculiar patriotic origin. It was dreamed up by 
Max Linder in Paris. He was known in my time as the Charlie Chaplin of 
France. Besides being an actor. Max Linder was successful as a motion 
picture producer. He had a great deal ^6f admiration for the United States 
of America. He also liked the rug-maJdng skill of such oldtimers in the 
field as Persia, China, India and France. 

He first thought he could hire the best of these to reproduce a tapestry 
of the U. S. Constitution. But that seemed too big a job. Next he tried 



Hopkins' 'Reference' 

Samuel French is publishing "Ref- 
erence Point," by Arthur Hopkins, 
tome being due late this month. 

Book is based on the. showman's 
talks on the theatre to clas.^es at 
Fordham' Univ., N. Y., during, last 
summer's semester, when Hopkins 
was special instructor and director, 
of college plays. 



Iievris Gannett; on Censorship 
In B column la.st Thursday (4) in 
the N, Y. Herald Tribune on the 
baiwing of the novels,' ^Gentleman's 
Agreement" and "Focus" from New 
York City high school libraries. 
1-ewiS Gannett revealed that in t 
taUc to a group of high school mag- 

. azine editors shortly after the ban- 
ning of Howard East's "Citizen, Tom 
Ptttoe" about a year ago, he di.scov- 
9t6& that nearly all had read and re. 
viewed the book, many having 

- bought it with their own money. 

' When he talks to another .such group 
this week,' the Herald Trib bterary 
critic added, he expects the Laura 

. Hobson and Arthur Miller novels 
Will head the list of books read and 

" reviewed. 

In the concluding paragraph of the 
column, Gannett wrote, "If 'Gentle- 
man's Agreement' and 'Focus' arc to 
be barred, as some odd characters 
close to the (school) board are urg- 

■ ing, the whole list should^ be recon- 
sidered. If such a task of censorship 
W to be performed, however, I think 

* it would be healthier to cut out much 
of the stultifying sap and tripe at 
present clogging the 'approved' lists 
•nd let the children read the thought- 
provoking hooks which,, in or out ol 
school, they are sure to discover." 



Dr. Leo Handet, .Uterrogntor 

March issue of Blue Boot^ mag 
features a story titled "The Interro'- 
gators," built around actual combat 
'experiences in Italy of Dr. Leo 
Handel, now director of Metro's 
audience research bureau. 

Story was written by lb Melchior, 
who served with Handel in the in- 
telligence service during the war and 
is now setting, up an indie film pro- 
duction outfit. : 



Harry Martin's Spot 

Harry Martin, president of the 
American Newspaper Guild, amuse- 
ment editor of the Memphis Com- 
mercial-Appeal and Vahietv mugg 
>h Memphis, says he has been barred 
' from attending a Geneva conference 
on freedom of information because, 
some years ago, he made a donation 
JO the Southern Conference for 
Human Welfare. 

In a phone conversation with a 
Washington reporter, Martin said he 
hadn't applied for a passport, but 
wat several people" in the State 
J^epartment thought" be ought to be 
Wcluded in the American delegation 
jO the Geneva parley and one of 
w«« who sought to have his name 
Vm on th^ list has been turned down 



an advance of .1200 ($804) and j the Declaration of Independence. But the rugweavers weren't very good 
royalties, being 10% on the first 2,500 | at spelling. He even considered their weaving a miniature reproduction of 
copies, 15% from 2,500 to 5,000 copies | the Statue of Liberiy. Then somebody suggested that the rugwesivers 
and 20% on all o.ver 5,000. reproduce a $10,000 bill. 



The Authors League of America 
has invited representatives of Scrib- 
ner, Doubleday, Harper, Houghton- 
Mifflin, Random House and Knopf to 
meet its committee consisting of 
Oscar Hammerstein, 2d, John Her- 
sey, Christopher La Farge, Erik 
Barnouw and Luise SiHcox on the 
question of book censorship. Other 
publishing houses will be asked to 
send spokesmen to later session. 



Truman Hooper 



CUATTEIB 

Lotte Lchmann's "My Many Lives" 
will be issued March 20 by .Boosey 
& Hawkes. 

Newsweek's Sam Halper to the 
Coast this week to do some Holly- 
wood pieces. 

Harry Scherman, Book-of-the- 
Month prexy, seeing fUm production 
in Hollywood. 

Thornton Delehanty to Mexico 
City to do newspaper yarn on the 
film industry there. 

Frank Neill succeeded Milt Bar- 
ker as columnist and head of the 
INS bureau in Hollywood, J, 

The Newspaper Guild of N. Y. 
will hold its annual Page One ball 
May 5 at Manhattan Center, N. Y. 

Norman Lewis' new book, "How 
to. Speak- .Better , English," wi,ll be 
published next • Tuesday (16) by 
Crnwoll. 

Miix Steiner, composer of film 
scores, finished his book. "My Way 
of Scoring," for fall publication by 
Doubleday. 

"Passing Through to Broadway." 
by Elinor Hughes. Boston Herald 
drama critic, will be published 
March 31 by Waverly House. ' 

Walter W. Wrifigins, formerly with 
Brentana's, joined George T. Bye lit- 
erary agency, as office manager, suc- 
ceeding the late Jasper Spock. 

An omnibus Clarence Dsiy volume, 
"The Best of Clarence Day," to be 
published by Knopf. It's Book-of- 
the-Month dividend for April and 
May. 

The Australian and New Zealand 
rights to Charles O'ConncU's "The 
Other Side of the Record" have 
been sold by Knopf to Invincible 
P CSS, Sydney. 

American Mercury, in cooperation 
With Liitte, Brown, has. lavnched.its cool for comfort. 



Continoed from page Z 

mitments. Sholem A-sch passed 
through for a quick look at the 
island. Regular.s are philosopher 
John Dewey and dancer Sally Rand, 
both of whom have homes here. 
Thelma Strabel, author of "Reap the 
Wild Wind." had a home on the 
island for several ydars and news- 
papennan- Bob Allen still has. 

Biggest b.o. attraction Is Ernest 
Hemingway's home, a $50,000 show- 
place (now owned by a former wife) 
which he bought for $3,600 in back 
taxes during the depression. Hem- 
ingway still drops in from Cuba for 
an occa-sional lookin at his favorite 
Key West bars. Many of the pro- 
vincial Conks haven't forgiven him 
for his treatment of some of the town 
characters in "To Have and To Have 
Not" and get livid at mere mention 
of - his name. Audubon, the bird 
man, who lived here in the last 
years of his life, is pretty much the 
local hero. : 

WKWF Goes li Alone 
WKWP, a iiOO-watt fuUtime outlet, 
is the town'.s only station. It has to 
compete with Miami airers and even 
more with a score of Havana trans- 
mitters which hog the Cuban audience 
here. Key West's population is about 
evenly divided between Cubans and 
Americans, which doesn't help 
WKWF's -sales -staff. Cuban govern- 
ment, incidentally, is much in evi- 
dence, runs an art school and con- j 
ducts free Span i-sh le-ssons here. | 

The uptown Concha liotel and 
dozens of beachside motels shelter 
mo.st of the tr.insients. The Ocean 
View, which combines hotel and 
cottage rentals, is managed by Sarah 
Gibney, onetime Broadway actress, 
Fashionwi-se, the new look hasn't 
hit Key West and living, outside the 
plush Casa Marina hotel with its 
Waldorf prices, is extremely simple. 
Presidential adviser Les Biffle al- 
legedly has an interest in the Casa, 
vvhich i-sn't hanging out SRO signs 
by any means despite a fairly good 
.season. Miamians rush to the Casa 
when the weather there, jets too 



While the owning of one of these seemed to be the ambition of most 
Americans at the time (and practically all foreigners) Max Linder de- 
cided that few people ever saw one and, 'besides, he personalj^ favored 
the reproduction of a currency more commonly used by the common 

people... ■ ■■■ 

Rtst' UN- Front Money? . ■ 

So he tossed a handful of francs in the Paris bourse and came home with a 
(J. S. .silver certificate of one dollar denomination bearing the authentic 
signature of U. S. Treasurer Frank White. He then had the bill blown 
up 115 times its normal size and after that he put to work the rugweavers 
division of what must have been the first front-money for the United 
Nations. 

Max Linder figured that the tapestry job in French francs cost him 
around a half a million, and even today, what with' the bouncing and 
jouncing of foreign currencies and the inflating and deflating of our own, 
the rug is worth over $15,009. 

Eugene Linder came into possession of it by inheritance. Max Linder 
was his uncle and Max willed it to Gene when he died. But there 9 , 
lot of difficulty with the French government before the work. of . art. could ' 
be cleared. Gene had to make several 'trips to France to. get Ms magic 
carpet oft the hook and ride it hom6 to Los Angeles.- 

It met a lot of obstacles getting into the U. S. too, but was finally passed 
as a "counterfeit de luxe." The T-men, however, advised it to be kept 
under wraps. 

And so it was until the War Bond drives in 1942 when it was decided 
'hat displaying it might stimulate patriotic thrift rather than the printing 
and passing of counterfeit money. Thereafter it was displayed in store 
windows, put on exhibition by art dealers, and even Mike Romanoff, the 
prince of royal counterfeiters, showed it in his deluxe, restaurant 

RobinsonrGianninl Nix Buy 

Edward G. Robinson spent a half hour trying not to buy it. A great 
art lover, he finally decided that as beautiful as it was as a work of rug- 
art, he'd' get pretty tired after a year or two of hearing variations of the 
gag that "'Robinson loves money so much he hangs it on the wall." 

A place where such a criticism could hardly tbc lev^lJed (without, peril 
of the critic joining, the unemployed) was the banks. So Gene Linder 
next headed for them. He remembered that A. P. Giannini not only 
financed motion pictures but used to get paid annually with a dollar check 
for his services as chairman of the board of directors of : the Bank of 
America. 

On A. P.'s retirement Linder thought it would be cute if the various 
officers gave the retiring head of the bank this beautiful reproduction of 
a dollar bill instead of a final one dollar check. But the scheme fell tlVough 
because A. P.'s, appreciation of the art of engraving Stopped with the work 
turiied out by the U..S. Mint. 

After that the rug wove its way in and out of bankwindows, department 
stores, chain store-s, radio programs, theatre lobbies and bathing oeauty : 
contests, ..' 

Assigned To Treasury 
Practically everywhere it .sent some biusybody to the police. The in- 
formers remembered the law against reproducing money and putting 
same on pviblie display. Tliis happened so often that the Treasury Depart- 
ment and the Department of Justice combined their efforts to give Linder 
a clean bill of health. 

There must be a great deal of salesmanship in the guy, however, for in 
Washington while trying to get these clearances he almost sold the rug 
to the administration for the Secretary of the Trea.sury's inner sanctum. 
What finally blocked the deal was the realization that Congress would, 
have to be brought in sooner or later, and the fact that the rug had orig- 
inated in a foreign country would set, it was felt, every member of the 
Un-American Activities Committee baying like a hound at a foxhunt. 

The only hope now for such a consummation is for some art lover fwho 
Ls also a patriot) to buy it and present jt to the Treasury Department. 

Meanwhile, with the hope of stimulating this solution of GeneUndt/s 
hot buck I am offering my cut in the rug to any rug-cutter who can get 
me off Linder's hook. AH I want for myself is all rights of these beau- 
tifully woven words about a unique pit-ce of tapestry. If you'd give $15,000 
to see what a dollar looks like, take it up direct witii Gene Linder. I'm 
1 busy On my Income tiqt 



«2 



Murdock P em b e r t o n nursing 
: abingles. 

Bob MiUord had leg operation at 
FoIycUnic: 

Ploreiice Rapport rejolrimg Ameri- 
can Theatre Wing on its exec staff. 

Meyer Davis to Montego Bay, 
Jamaica, Friday (5) for two weeks. 

Edith Gresham has replaced Ruth 
Wes(ton in "Oklahoma" at the St. 
James. 

Theron Bamberger has resigned as 
company manager toi Experimental 
Theatre. 

Th'omas B. Howell now flacking 
ior Chappell Music and its associ- 
ated ftnps. 

Jules Levey sailing 'for Britain 
next Tuesday (16) aboard- the 
Nieuw Amsterdam. 

SOFEG is celebrating recent arbi- 
tration decision with party-dance at 
Capitol hotel Friday (12). 

Personal Parcel Service founded 
by Gertrude Lawrence has sent 5,000 
food packages to England. 

Barrister Ed Raftery to the Coast 
this weekend on soma Frisco litiga- 
tion involving his client, UA., 

Mary and Jock' Lawrence's new 
Park avenue apartment on a lucky 
''swap" with an aviation man called 
away from n; Y. : 

Bernard ■ Estes, showbiz publicity 
ftgent, working on a book abbu);' lli'e 
film industry, tentatively titled "The 
Cycle' of Dilemmas." ' 

George Stevens, director-producer, 
And Harriet Parsons, producer of 
'Remember Mama^' due in from 
Coast today (Wed.). 

"Danny Goes to Hell," by Howard. 
Richardson and William Berney, to 
be presented at the Masters Institute 
next Wednesday' (17). 

A. W. Schwalberg, iassistant to 
Charles Reagan, Parampunt's dis- 
tribution veepee, confined past ,two 
weeks with ailing back. 

Sardi's 21st anni - in its present 
location last Friday (21), simul- 
taneously ' with ' chapeau-checker 
Benee Carroll's birthday. 

Theatrical attorney Henry Jaffe, 
convalescing . from pneumonia, 
couldn't take -Connecticut, and went 
to Florida for two weeks. ' - 

Oscar Doob, Loew's' homeoffiice 
theatre exec, nursing a burned hand 
as result of a short circuit in an 
electric wall plug in his home. 

Harry Woods, composer of "I'm 
Looking Over- a' Four-Leaf Clover," 
returned td his home in Arizona last 
week after a ivisit to JNcw York.' 
■ 'Ted Kupfe'rman,. of WB 'legal de- 
partmeilt, appointed law secretary to 
' Justice Peck, {^residing justice, of the 
'-.Appellate Division of the Supreme 
• Court. 

Facade of ■ the . Barrymore ("A 
Streetcar Named Desire") illumi- 
nated continuously at night by 
canopy floodUghts At expense- at 
traction, 

Noel Meadow co-sponsoring the 
new French import, "Jenny Lamour" 
("Quai Des Orfevces"), at the Little 
Carnefiie, and d&ftfibuted by his Vog 
Film Co. ^ 

Joe Sard!, 24-year-old owner of Da 
Cinta' eatery on West 46th, virho will 
be married next month, will stage 
the wedding celebration in bis own 
restaurant. 

Playwright Robert E. Sherwood 
became a grandfather last week with 
the birth of a son to his daughter,: 
Mrs. Edgar Stillman, Jr., in Pitts* 
field. Mass. ■ ' 

Carrie and A. J. Balaban are 
Vpouring" next Sunday (14) at a 
pre-nuptial tea for their daughter, 
Cherry, at the Balaban penthouse 
in the Dorset. 

Jeanne Cagney in from the Coast, 
following her appearance in .brothers 
Jimmy and Bill's "Time of Your 
Life" filmization. She's vacationing 
and seeing the plays. 

IVIyrqn (Mike) Eichler was the ac- 
tual editor of the special souvenir 
magazine-program for the Heart 
campaijfn's Capitol theatre gala in 
connection with "Naked City." 

Philliips, Nizer, Benjamin & Krim, 
w.k. showbiz lawiirm, prepping an 
expansion of offices, taking over en- 
tire 23d floov if the Paramount Bldg., 
in additio! 'i^ present 25th floor. 

Charley ;hlaifer, 20th-Fox ad- 
publicity uiaef. back at' his desk after 
several weeks huddles with studio 
execs and with exhibitors en route 
back to the homeoflice from the 
Coast. 

Gertrude Lawrence,vstar, and Noel 
Coward, author, will toss a backstage 
party for the cast and staff of "To- 
night at 8:30" after the closing per- 
formance Saturday night' (13) at the 
National. 

Althea Murphy guested last week 
in- the Columbia Univ, Theatre As- 
sociates production of "The Bing 
Bang Bush," adapted by Irving 
Phillips from Myna Lockwood's 
•hort storjr. 

Judith Evelyn sought for title part 
of Queen Elizabeth in Lawton 
Campbell's "The Bachelor Queen" 
lor ifall. Production .setup for the 
shov/ is indefinite, but financing is 
understood already available. 

While he's suckering for the gin 
rummy hounds down in Florida on 
his vacation^ sculptural works and 
paintings ot Joe Maharam are on ex- 
hibition a: couple of blocks from the 
theatrical-fabric house ' that he 
operates. 

Marian Winters will represent the 
American National Theatre & 
Academy at the Southern Speech 
Teacherg*. Conference, attended by 
drama Instructors from cQlIeges and 
•jhpols all flver the south, April « 
At Nartivllle. 

Jack Seaaii;- Columbia Pictures In-" 
ternatlonal ' vlce^-prexy',. brld6. 



leave for an extended honeymoon in 
Europe at the end of March. They're 
currently vacationing at Palm Beach 
foUoWing the marriage ceremony 
there last Friday (8), 

Louis Sobol due back- in N. Y. to- 
day (Wedi) in -'the only town that 
count?" (as he puts it) after a Coast 
sojourn. Journal American columnist 
Observes "Hollywood is a swell town 
if you're vacationing. . .but for real 
work there's more peace and quiet 
in lil ole N. Y." 

Indicating sizeable interest in 
foreign-language films among key 
city citizens, a new "Foreign Films 
Movie Club'" will tee off operations 
in N. Y. soon with a 10,000 member" 
ship— all recruited through the one- 
time insertion of a single ad in the 
Sunday Herald Tribune. 

Bob Taplinger set that deal for 
"Miami Beach Story," which Enter- 
prise will produce next fall, while 
in the Florida resort for Ent's "Arch 
of Triumph" preem. It's the yarn 
about Carl Fisher, Miami Beach's 
founder, adapted from "The Fabulous 
Hoosier," written by Fisher's widow. 



' By Eric Xiorrick 

Syd Albright,' 20th-Fox chief, and 
wife leaving for Frisco April 4. 

Neville Saner, of Sydney StOth-Fox 
office, and wife planed to San' Fran- 
cisco last week. 

. Les Andrews, Metro branch man- 
ager, quit films to join staff of radio 
station in Brisbane. 

E. J, Tait, former J. C. Williamson 
Theatres head, who died last year, 
left an estate valued at |180,000. 

Arthur Collins, indie producer, 
expects to.put.his local film, "Strong 
Is the Seed," into the cans this 
month. . ■■ 

Oracle Fields is doing a weekly 
air stint via the "Macquarie commer- 
cial network over -2y.GB, Sydney. 
It's waxed in London/ 

Looks like pix will swing back to 
the Cremorne, Brisbane, no.w that 
vaude has exited under the indie 
Harry Wren management. 

Australian Religious Film Society 
formed here to , produce religious 
films for church screenings. Product 
will also come from the Rank; unit. 
■ Charles Chauvel expects, to put 
"Sons of Matthew" into the cans 
soon. Only other production ac- 
tivity here'at the moment is Ealing's 
"Eureka Stockade." 

Mayne Lynton is . presenting a 
series of Shakespearean matinees at 
the Royal, Sydney, via deal with 
Williamsoh-Tait. First is "Midsum- 
mer Night's Dream." 

Joe Joel, Columbia's ad chief, 
voted president of the . Aussie 47- 
Club. ' Club, composed of ad men, 
does great work aiding distressed 
members' of film indEustry, ' ' 



By Les Bees 

Univ. of Minnesota Theatre offer- 
ing "Macbeth." ; 

Edyth Bush's Little Theatre pre- 
senting "Angel Street."- ' 

Hotel Radisson Flame Room has 
Nancy Donovan and Bob Hopkins. 

Mischa Einian' -here for concert 
with Minneapolis Symphony orches- 
tra. 

W, R. , Frank, film producer and 
independent circuit owner, in from 
Hollywood. 

Minneapolis Civic Theatre has 
Sidney Blackmer and Lois Wi]son as 
guest stars in *'Chicken Every Sun- 
day." -1^ . 
> M-G-M here is giving considera- 
tion to shorter clearance for Twin 
City , neighborhood and suburban 
houses. 

Florence Desmond and Jo Anne 
Whitney into- Hotel Nicollet JMinne-' 
sota Terrace, with Cecil Golly or- 
chestra. ' 

Joe Flynn replaced A. J. Clark as 
advance man for "Sleep It Off," 
with John J. Garrity, Jr., company 
manager. 

Chaplin's-"Verdoux" finally spotted 
into Century here March 12; the St; 
Paul Riviera, April 2, and Duluth 
Garriok, April 22; 

Minnesota Amusement Co. (Para- 
mount circuit) renewing application 
to Federal Housing Expediter to re- 
model Colonial theatre, Watertown, 
S. D., to replace State, destroyed by 
fire. 



Pittsbiirgli 

By Hal Cohen 

The George Heids expect their 
fourth child in August. 

Jackie Miles booked into Carousel, 
March 22, following Bill Robinson. 

: Frank Smith has moved to Beaver 
Falls, where he'll start building a 
new radio station. 

Sam Handelsmati named company 
manager for summer opera at Pitt 
Stadium this season. 

Bert Stearn to the Coast for a few 
days to get his new indie picture 
before the cameras. 

Dorothy Scott and Nat Elbaum 
picked for leads in next Playhouse 
show, "All My Sons." 

James Mason and his wife, Pamela 
Kellino, will be here this week to 
autograph her new book. 

Aileen Stanley, Jr., ex-Randy 
Brooks- vocalist, heading new Ter- 
race Room show getting under way 
Monday. (15). 

James Stewart, Joan Tetzel and 
John Conte come here April 4 to 
hroadcast "Philadelphia Story" for 
thestre Guild. ' . . • ■ . 



Albert Sandler has to take two 
months" rest on doctor's advice. • 

Mary Morris on vacation in Nor- 
way as guest of ■ dramatist Helge 
Krog. 

Anthony Parker to direct new 
play, "Sweet Sorrow," by QUbett 
Wakefield. ' 

Denis WAldock and Lewis Gilbert 
scripting "Made in Heaven'.' for 
Sydney Box. 

Gertie Giana in vaudeville return, 
after 10 years, at the Empress, Brix- 
ton, March' 

Shirl C<?nway and Bjjl Johnson's 
apartment robbed, with couple losing 
furs, jewels and lingerie. 

Norman Ginsbury and Bernard 
Grun adapting Sil 'Vara's play, "Girl- 
hood of a Queen," as k musical. 
• Mr. and Mrs. John Abbptt bound 
for South Africa, mainly on a busit 
ness , looksee for Francis, Day & 
Hunter. 

■ Danny Kaye retarding : his de- 
parture home by -one day to enable 
him to entertain the Bi^tish troops 
in Germany. 

Gina Arbib, managing director of 
Anglo-American Artistes, joined 
Jack Hylton (International) Ltd., as 
director ancT general manager. 

Anthony Hawtrey planning fall 
production at Embassy theatre of 
new play by Norman Ginsbury, "The 
King, Could Not Sleep." 

Olive Harding, of the Myron Selz- 
nick agency here, readying a trek 
to New York this month and also 
will visit friends in Canada. 

Glady.s Cooper's daughter, Sally, 
took over the role of Edward's wife 
in "Edward, My Son" at the Lyric, 
replacing Elizabeth Melville. 

George King bought film rights of 
"The Crime of Margaret Foley," fol- 
lowing its eight months' run at the 
Comedy. Deal set by Eris Glass. 

Marcel Hellman, producer of the 
Excelsior film, "This Was .a Woman," 
Which opened at the Empire last 
week, left for the TJ. S. Sunday (7), 

Astoria reviving two film comedies, 
whose stars are currently appearing 
on the West End^stage, Mae West , in 
,'My Little Chickadee" and Olsen 
and Johnson in "Crazy House." 

Will Hay's granddaughter, Avril 
Hay, who .recently appeared at a 
concert for ex-servicemen, is >to 
make her early vaudeville debut as 
a ventriloquist at th^ age of 15. 



Riome 



Ruggero Ruggeri, Evi MaltagliatI, 
Luigi Cimara, Emma Gramatica, 
Giulio Donadio; Aldo Febrizi and 
other legit stars to sail with" their 
companies for South America. 

Legit-screeki^actress Lea Padovanl 
resuming suit against her former 
prodticer Macario, revue and screen 
star, for personal injuries. Action 
at first was withdrawn for pojiticat 
amnesty. 

Radio-revue singer Luisa Poselli 
suing Mario Ruccione, songwriter- 
producer, for 50,000 liras ($100), 
claimed diie as balance on her ap- 
pearance in Ruccione's revue "In- 
ternational Cabaret." 

Anna Magnani's next starring 
vehicle will be directed by IVIario 
Camerini. Titled "Tahti sogni per le 
strade" ("Many Dreams Along the 
Streets"). Picture will bejtroduced 
by Dino De Laurentis for- Luk Film 
release. i 

Classical performances to be re- 
sumed May 15 to 23 at the Syracusan 
Greek, Theatre, with a revival of 
Aeschylus' "Orestiades." Actors set 
are Sarah Ferrati, Daniela Palmer, 
Giovanna iScotto, Annibale Ninchi 
and Salvo Randone. 

Lux Film's "Gioventu Perduta" 
("Misled Youth") has. finally been 
okayed by censors after some re^ 
touches. Pletro Germi directed. 
Players are Carla del Poggio, Mas- 
simp Girotti, Jacques Sernas, Nando 
Bruno and Diana Borghose. 



Paris 



Opera Comique manager Henry 
Malherbe resigning. 

Frank McCarthy bedded with flu 
on his return from America. 

Theatre . de I'Etoile, which tried 
legit revues, to return to vaude. 

Grand Ballet de Monte Carlo to 
play a return engagement at Theatre 
Champs Elysees. 

_ Jean Sablon to give a recital in 
Paris before going to the Palladium, 
London, for two weeks. 

Noel Jacquemart,; editor of Echo 
de la Presde, writing book on French 
press during German occupation. 

'Bataille de I'eau Lourde," epic of 
the sabotage of the German chem- 
ical works in Norway, presented at 
■the Grand Opera. 

Ex-member of the Academic Pran- 
caise, Abel Hermant, 87, sentenced 
to life for collaboration, pardoned 
and now out of jail. 

Louis Jouvet taking his company 
on a four-month tour to give French 
plays in Egypt, Italy, Poland, Czecho- 
slovakia, Austria and Germany. 

Offices for 600 United Nations 
personnel, and three restaurants 
prepping in the Palais de Chaillot, 
entailing closing of the 3,000-seater! 

Dodo Pelton returned from Lon- 
don with more English chorus girls 
and advising the British consul on 
the reopening of an English Girls 
hotel in Paris. 

Jacques Haik getting some of his 
houses back from the SOGEC gov- 
ernment chain. Latter is made up of 
properties seized from German con- 
trol at libeftttlon. 

Georges Vitaly and Andre Rebaz 



h^ive turned a large bookstore in thi; 
Latin quarter into a 100-seater wherb 
they'll do plays with a stock com- 
pany called Myrmidons. • ' * 

Barbara Ann Scott packing, the 
Palais des Sports in Paris on her 
return from the Oympics, and 
James Crogan, 15^ American skater, 
also getting a big hand for his skat- 
ing display. 

Andre Haguet prepping two 
Franco-British pix, one a comedy 
taking place on both sides of the 
Channel, the other an avla^tion film 
with RAF and French Air F6rce 
cooperation. 



Lois Andrews studying television 
technique at WBKB. 

Harold Paul, of the Essaness chain, 
seriously ill in Hines hospital. 

James' Coston, WB circuit manage- 
ment -head, planed to Hollywood. 

AFRA Antics set for April 24 at 
the' Grand ballroom of the Drake, 

Si»encer Tracy convalescing here, 
after undergoing a minor operation. 

Mrs. Walter immerman, 'Wife of 
B&K veepee, seriovisly ill in local 
hospital. 

Benefit for Patricia "Satira*' 
Schmidt, given by AGVA, raised 
almost $7,000. . • 

Arthur Willi, RKO talent depart- 
ment, here for casting possibilities 
for ' "Serenade." • 

Gloria' Swanson, who recently 
formed her own. model agency, will 
open a branch here in May. 

Joe Friedman, Eagle Lion sales- 
man, recuppinf! from operation at 
Norwegian-American hospital, . 

The Uptown Players marked their 
25th- anniversary with presentation 
of "The Man Who Came to Dinner," 

Merriel Abbott dancers returning 
to Empire Room of the Palmer 
House, for the summer revue, some- 
time in June. 



yienna 



Joseph Marx elected President of 
Austrian Mozart Society. ■> 

Theatre in Wiener,, bombed out 
during war; reconstructed. 

Paul Barney, received license for 
the 1948-49 season on the Volks. 
theatre. ' 

After 14 years "Flower Corso''' 
again is slated to play in Prater On 
June 5. ' ■ 

U. S. Pianist Robert Wallenborn 
gave successful concert in Musik- 
verein Hall. 

Szoeke Szakalls comedy, "Streich 
quartett," produced .here in Kleine 
Konzerthaussaal. 

Closing hour for bars and cafes 
extended by city council from mid- 
night until 2 a.m. 

Eric Rowton, of New York City 
Opera, sang here in "Aida" and was 
given good previews. 

Susan Poster, U. S. film player, ex 
pected here to make picture at 
Sievering studios (American zone). 

Though running here in Pldtten 
Kmo only, "Random Harvest" (M-G) 
brokfe. all records. The 200,000th 
pation. got a present. ^ 

Hubert Marischka, ■ operetta star 
before the war, returns to stage in 
his own operetta, "Love Night On 
Woerther Lake" in Buergsrtheatre. , 

City of Vienna, together with Ar- 
tists Union, planning to take over 
Volkstheatre and Raimund thieatre. 
Paul Barnay slated as manager of 
the pair. 

Austrian Broadcasting System an- 
nounced that the" number of listeners 
greatly increased in 1947. Now one 
out of every seven people in coun- 
try hear the radio. 



nod 

Lea Goreeys divorcing. 
^^SJdhey L. Bernstein down with 

risy!'*'^"^ Pomerant? Ill- with pleu- 

Br^okf ctt"'* 

Eu^rS^'^a*;i'')„?k'er' ««« 

SJgrld Gurie- fiUnig divorce action 
against Dr. Lawrence Spangard, 
, Sonja Henie cheeked in from her 
skating tour to resume film work. 

Barbara Hale booked for a whfrl 
of summer stock in New England 
William Begg shifted from the 

f HaMrg'."*"'*'''' 

Erich Wolfgang Korngold joined 
the faculty of the Fine Arts Con- 
servatory of Music. 

John .Calvert "east on a nine-city 
*5W with his,, magic act, opening 
March 18 in .Baltimore. " 

James MerriU Herd In from New 
York to scan scripts and talent for 
Broadway legit financing. ' 
. Hugh French out of the "Gay In- 
truders" cast with a leg fra(^ure. 
sustained in a fall at his home. 

Dwight Long left for Tahiti to sur- 
vey locations for three South Seas 
pictures to be made by Argosy. 

Ray Milland readying a flight to 
Lima, Peru, where Paramount Inter* 
national is opening a new theatre. 



San Francisco 

By Ted Friend 

Alan Jones into Cafe Society. 

Local nitery biz is on the skids. 
. Eric Wilson, Blumenfeld exec, ail- 
ing. , 

■ Jane Pickens at the Paramount 
hotel. 

Marion Kitchen new p.a. at Palace 
hotel. 

Bal Tabarin may shutter for the 
summer months. 

Barry Wood and Collefte Lyons 
are at Cafe Society. 

■John Thoinpson, KNBC news man- 
ager, will conduct a course on jour- 
nalism at Stanford. 



Detroit 



By Stan Worris 

Vocalist Ethel Howe ill with bron- 
chitis. 

Al White, pianist, now at Clique 
Lounge Bar. 

• Marilyn and Anita McHaney head: 
ed for Las Vegas dance lines. 

Dancer Paula Hayes back at the 
Avenue after stay in hospital, 

Don Jeffries, brother of recording 
artist. Herb Jeffries leaves for 
Hollywood to resume film work this 
week. ■ ■ ■ . ■ 

Pete Parker preemed his new 
theatrical restaurant Friday (5), in 
Fort Wayne hotel, adjoining his 
Cafe Burgandy. 

Irv .Jaffee, formerly publisher of 
Detroit Night Life, opened a down- 
town show lounge, with Joe Cole 
and singer Helen Henderson on the 
opening bill. 

- John C. Wilson dropped Jh at 
Cass theatre to o.o. "Private Lives" 
and chat, with Tallulah Bankhead, 
Company manager Charles IWtulli- 
ftan was 111 two days with bursitis. : 

f 4 '■'•I- . . ¥i • 'iif 1 • • 



By Larry SoIIO'Wav 

Embassy Club reopens Friday (12). 
Billy Vine into Copacabana March 
17. 

Jan Murray held over at Copa- 
cabana. 

Maurice Schwartz at Charles hotel 
for vacash. 

Vivian Blaine vacashing after local 
nitery stint. 

Joyce Ayres added to Mother 
Kelly's show. ' 

Roney Plaza bookie setup raided 
by local police. 

Brook Club and Latin Quarter 
closed last weekend. 

Lou Saxon in for limited engage> ' 
ment at the Paddock. 

Mickey Michaels, managing direc- 
tor of Caddilac, ailing. 

Joe E. Lewis heads for the Coast 
after Beachcomber datai 

Gracie Barrie and the Vagabonds 
held over at Clover Club.' 

Tommy Dorsey and Dean Hudson 
in town malting the rounds. ■ 

Havana-Madrid newest nitery in 
Miami, on site of former Fiesta. 
» Harry Richman prepping new 
songs for Harem (N, Y.) engagement. 

The Mervyn LeRoys still at Boca 
Raton. . Been at the swank resort all 
season. 

Noah Braunstein, theatrical at- 
torney, left for New York, after ex- 
tended stay at Roney. 

Club 22 sold and will undergo 
change to former tag. El Chico, with 
all-Latin ■policy retained. 
. Sophie Tucker will rest here for 
several weeks after current stint, 
then head for London engagement. 

Babe Didrickson signed by Jennie 
Grossinger to act as playing pro for 
Grossinger's (Femdale, N. Y.) this 
season. 

Havana ^iz offish, with tourists 
from the Miamis neglecting their 
usual weekend visits to the Cuban 
capital. 

John Berry, who directed "Cas- 
bah," while in town with Tony Mar.f 
tin. optioned Julie Wilson, Mother 
Kelly's thrush for next pic. 

Copacabana and Beachcomber 
planning to remain open through 
spring, as are Mother Kelly's, Black- 
amoor, Clover Club and Paddock. 

High winds led to fears for safety 
of Gregory Peck, Leslie Charteris 
and wives, fishing in Guifstream, but 
all reported safe at Keys anchorage. 

Beacon Players, only legit stock 
group in area, setting up weekly 
presentations on Beach at McFadden 
Deauville. Home base is in Coral 
Gables. 

Miami Herald and Daily News 
leveling continued series of blasts 
on Beach "criminal element'' with 
Hotel Assn. up in arms over the 
stories. _ ■ ■ ; 

Barry Gray due back today (10) 
after week's vacash. to resume 
broadcast from Cooa Lounge. Dick 
Stern, local WKAT featured staffer, 
pinch hit for him. 

Spring and Summer bookings for 
hot^s here show heavy reservations 
by Latin trade from the South 
Americas and the Caribbean coun- 
tries, with more hotels expected to 
remain open than last year. 



Dublin 



By Maxwell Sweeney 
When tenor Josef Locke collapsed 
while singing in a "Sing As We Go^ 
broadcast from Belfast la.st 
week, conductor Douglas Armstrong 
stepped down from the podium to 
the mike and continued jthe song 
without interrupting the show. Arm- 
strong ■ is- conductor of Northern 
Ireland Choral Society. 

Kenneth Reddin's "Another Shore" 
will be filmed in Ireland for Ealing 
Studios this summer. Director 
Charles Crichton; art director. Baker 
Smith; cameraman, Douglas Slo- 
combe; associate producer, Ivor 
Montague, and unit manager, Shm 
Hand, are here looking over loca- 
tions and will start shooting in April. 



WedneMlay, March 10, 194» 




63 



FETTZI VON BUSING 

JFrilzi von Busing. ,84, fbrmer act- 
iedl died March' 6 ' in Iteabx ffiU 
hospital. N. Y„ .aitw a Mngering iU- 

"*The daughter of a Viennese vio- 
linist, she was born at Nyack, N. Y., 
and at the age of 15 made her Brst 
stage appearani&e , at the Berlin 
' Opera Bouse lif repertoire* Return- 
ing to America, she spent several 
'years with the Castle Square 'Opera 
Cc> in Boston and played in Weber 
pnd Fields' "Great White Way" at 
the 44th Street theatre, N. Y., soon 
after it was erected, . 

Slie was in the original produc- 
tion of "Chocolate Soldier," "The 
Wedding Trip," "Hie Merry Coun- 
tess," "Alone At I.ast" and With Al 
, Jolison in "Bambo." In recent years 

• she was a member of the St. I^ouis 
Municipal Opera and played several 
summer seasons with Aborn Opera 
Co. - 

net husband, actor and opera 
'singer Forrest Huff, died last 

SAYRE CRAWLEY 

Sayre Crawley, veteran character 
actor, died March 7 in New York. 
Born in England, he began htis stage 
Career in London many years ago 
-iitrith' $ir Beerfaohm ° Tree and later 
-appeared in companies of Johnston 

• I^rbes Roberl^n and Sit Philip Ben 
Oreet. 

He came to this country to appear 
in Ben Greet productions, knd- later 
played five seasons of Shalcespear- 
ean repertoire with E. H. Soth^rn 
■'and JuUa Marlowe' and also appeared 
'In^^support of Jane CowL He was 
' dne (lit the founders of Eva Le Gal- 
lienne's Civic Repertory Theatre, 
H. X., in which he acted for seven 
;■ years. His most recent Broadway 
appearances were with Ethel Barry- 
inore in "The Corn is Green," sev- 
',ei'al seasons back, and "The Late 
"dtibi^ge Apley." 

Wife, Mary Ward, a legit press- 
agent, survives. 

JOHN MAVBICE BENAS 
'(john Maurice Benas, 40, assistant 
to George P. Skouras, of the Skou- 
■raSiTheatreH circuit, died March 7 
in New York. He was chief film 
' biiyet for the chain. " . 

„ iPenas was associated with " the 
SJcbqjras organization for the last 
'10 years. Before that he was film 
'. buyer for the Rosenblatt & Welt cir- 
■"cuit, which -operated 'a chain of 
houses in New Jersey. He was in 
the steamship business liefbce ]g(oing 
■ into. film work. 

• T • Wife, mother, two daughters and 
' « sister survive. 



Feb. 29 at his home in- Hollywood 
after a heart attack. A graduate ol 
CGHisle and a member of the Blaek- 
loot tribe, Hazlett performed in. wild 
west shows and rodeod before enter- 
ing filhjs.' He was a member of the 
board of directors of the Screen Ex- 
tras Guild, 



tt. GUY KNEEDLEK 

R. Guy Kneedler, 75, tormisr ex- 
hibitor in southern Illinois, died 
March 1 in St. Mary's hospital. West 
Palm Beach. A resident of Collins- 
ville. 111,, for .many years, Kneedler 
opened the first film theatre there in 
the early 1900s. He subsequently op- 
erated the Capitol, Effingham, 111., 
and another in Matloon, 111. 



CHICK FARB 

Chick Farr, of the Farr & Farland 
variety team, died Feb. 28 in his 
sleep at his home in Streatham, Lon- 
don. When , liis partnership with 
Farland ended he teamed up with 
Eswald Waller and later with Ham- 
ilton-Robins as a music hall act, and 
also toured with ENSA during the 
war. 



WILLIAM J. RYAN, JR. 
William J. Ryan, Jr., 42, theatre 
manager in / W-orcester, Mass., died 
March t in Los Angeles, after a 
heart attack. He was a former as- 
sistant manager of the Roxy theatre, 
N. Y, While at the Roxy he married 
Jackie Keith, a dancer in the house 
line. She survives. 



Turkey - Trot )',\ 'Ragtime Violin' 
around the same time, and '1 Wanna 
Go Back to Michigan' in 1915 and 
'International Rag' in 1913. As 
recently as 1920 I had still another 
called 'Nobody Knows (And Nobody 
Seems to Care)' and that, too, sold 
a million; but do you know some- 
thing — I value my 'There's No Busi- 
ness ..Like Show Business' much 
higher. Why? Because it's the type 
of 'important' songs that I think real- 
iy counts. The entire score of . 'Annie' 
Get Your Gun,' for- eJcahiple has yet 
to hit 1,000,000, and as for 'Show 
Business' by actual count it , sold a 
meagre 8,349. sheets of ihusic. Yet 
to me that one song alone is worth 
10 others, ol' mine, each, of which 
might have .sold over 500,000 copies." 

Berlin's point is that sales alone 
don't often reflect the; real values. 
The backbones of all the major 
catalogs are replete with solid com- 
positions v}hieh have yet to see a 
million but' are steady sellers year 
alter year. It's no secret that Kern, 
Herbert, Rodgers & Hammerstein, 
et al., have few smash sellers but 
their works are worth more than the 
flash-in-the-pan big seller which is 
a vague memory a few weeks Jater. 
The smash "Show Boat'' and "Porgy" 
scores probably each have yet to 
see 1,000,000 copies of sheet music 
in toto. But there is no gainsaying 
their great value for, ncstalgic pur- 
poses, durable both instrumentally 
and vocally for almost any type of 
program. 



WILLTAH JAMES EDWARDS, SR. 

William James Edwards, 'Sr., 82, 
former film exhibitor, died Feb. 28 
in Los AAgeles, His son, William 
James lldwards, Jr., independent 
circuit operator, sui-vives. 



2 Berlin Anni Tie-Ins 

Metro is tying in . its iorthcoming 
"Easter Parade" fihnusical; by, Irving 
Berlin with the latter's 6Qth and 40th 
anniversaries. On May 11 he be- 
comes 60. The 40th milestone is? 
linked to the first song he ever 
wrote. "Marie from Sunny Italy/' 
published ul 1908. 

There are other galas of a musical, 
radio and allied exploitive and sen- 
timental nature which will be 
hooked to the film, 
hooked 9nto the film. 



Leroy C. Davidge, 54, former head 
of 'Davldge Film Laboratories, died 
March 6 in a fire tliat destroyed his 
home in Santa Monica. His labora- 
tory developed prints for many of 
the early Holly wood pictures. He liad 
been in retirement 13 years. 



D 



Foreign Marts 

Conttatuefl.frdm page I s 



Public Dims Star Twinlcle 



Continued from' page 1 j 



thinking, in the industry itself that 
keeps the illusory stellar names 
,workingy according to Selznick. Sales 
forces .(including his own), DOS as- 
serted, are so in the habit of selling 
marquee names thf^t they refuse to 
put real effort behind a picture that 
doesn't bill familiar playeni, Thie'' 
reason, Selznick insisted,, is fhat 
from long experience they Icnow 
they'll ' have a terrific battle with 
exhibs to get good terms or A play- 
ing time for -a starless picture, no 
matter how good it is. - 

trhus the star system retains con- 
siderable vah)e,-but a value that is 
definitely shrinking with increased 
exhibitor > awareness, witbin the past 
few months 'that the prices they are 
paying for stars in films is too in-: 



Those A.K. Stars 

Following letter, received thiS' 
week from Dallas, may be a 
straw-iii-the-wind: . 

"I have just been reading in 
the Dallas Morning News that 
Holly Wood' has to cut eosts. This ■ 
is good news' to me' if it means 
we can get some new, young 
. stars to look at in the. place of 
such old ones as (names deleted) j 
and I can't think of . all th'e 
others. 

"I am 37 years old and that's 
bad enough, but if I have to go 
to a show, and see someone as 
old as me on the screen, well^ 
I'd just as soon stay at home. I 
love to go to the show, and I go 
from three to four times a week, 
but I like to see something that 
make me forget getting old and 
all those old stars that we've 
been looking at for years cer- 
tainly don't help any." 

Mrs. -A. A. Gregory. ' 



DAVID ROSENGABTEN , 

,, David Rosengarten, 65, former film 
distributor in New York, died March 
5 at Miami Beach after a heart 'at-^ 
■ tack; He entered the motion picture 
• business in its early days and during 
his 25-year career was sales mana- 
ger for the Pox Film .Corp.,. later for 
M-G-M and chairman 'of the Film 
Board of Trade, where he was cijed- 
ited with introducing arbitration 
clauses into distrib-exhib contracts. 

■Since his retirement he lived in 
Brooklyn, but had a winter home in 
, Florida. 



Father, 64, of Herbert Renwith co- 
producer of the legit production, 
"Me and Molly," died Feb. 29 at 
his home, in Jersey City. In addition 
to his son, wife and two daughters 
survive. 



Rose.Perlbei-g, 87,'a theatrical dress 
designer at the turn of . the century, 
died Mai^ 5, in Chicago: A son, 
Jonas, former theatre operator, a 
daughter and another son survive. ' 



Helen Inelee, 29, formerly with 20th 
Century-Fox, died March 2 in Will 
Rogers hospital, Saranac I,ake, after 
a lingering illness. She was a native 
of Washington. 



Harry T. Loper, 87, former owner 
of the Kimbark theatre, Chicago, 
died March 1 in that city. Daughter 
and two sons survive. 



BOB ADAMS 

Bob Adam.s, 74, former vaudeville 
singer, died Feb. 29 at his home in 
Maidenhead", Eng. Adams and 
his partner. Bob Alden, first ap- 
peared in London as the .Two Bobs, 
after being song pluggcrs for Sol 
'Bloom in Chicago. At the Tivoli in 
1908 they became headliners, tour- 
ing -the country and being oncj, of 
the featured acts which inaugurated 
vaudeville at the Palladium in 1910. 
Adams opened and ran a riverside 
spot, Sonnjr's Club, some years ago. 



RICHARD MONTEB 

Rieliard Monter, 45, partner in the 
Monter-Gray Agency, died March 8 
Ml Hollywood following a kidney op- 
eratloni : He was in show business 
Since X931,*when he went to Holly- 
wood as Francis Lederer's personal 
manager. 

' Brother, Rudy Monter, a film pro- 
"ueer, and son, daughter, father and 
stepmother survive. 



, ' CHESTER 3. BELL 

Chester J. (Cbet) BeU, 50, former 
paramount branch manager in -Los 
Angeles and Denver, died March 8 
n Burbank following major surgery. 
«e was with Par for 25 years, start- 
•>ng as salesman fai Detroit in 1023. 



CniEP MANY TREATIES 

'•\vk™'iJ''™ Hazlett, '73, known, pn the 
Stieeft to'Chief Many' treaties, died 



Robert 'Wilson. 48, Paramount 
slltdio projectionist, died Feb. 27: at 
the Sawtelle Veterans 'hospital, Los 
Angeles. 



Mrs. Victor Sutker, 50, wife of 
Columbia casting director and si.ster 
of producer Edward Small, died 

March 2 in Hollywood. 



Father, 6,5, of Gar.son and Mi- 
chael Kanin. film producers,, died 

March 2 in Hollywood. 



Charles L. Berry, 45, special effects 
cameraman, died March I at his 
home in Hollywood. " 



Berlin Waxes 

Continued from page 1 i 



songs, and while he points to such 
1,000,000-copy hits of liis own as "AH 
Alone," "Remembei," "Whatll I 
Do'?;" "Always,"' "White Christmas," 
"God Bless America" and "Blue 
Skies," Ihe significance lies only 
perhaps in the I'act thai they made 
money. "Because," says Berlin, "I 
think sucli sonss of mine as 'A Pretty 
Girl Is Like a Melody,' 'Say It With 
Music,' 'Easter Parade,' 'How Deep 
Is the Ocean,' 'Russiian Lullaby' and 
even s song like 'Soft Lights and 
Sweet Musie,' which sold maybe 
300,000 or 400,000 copies only, has 
greater value and significance to my 
or any . other .songwriter or pub- 
lisher's catalog. 

"Here's how I'll prove it. ,1 had 
a l,600,000-coDy hit in 1912 caUed 
'•fiverylDody's ftoing It i Doing What? 



zenship) Borrah Minevitch Rascals 
and the Merry Macs. Subsequent 
layouts 'Will include Martha Raye,- 
Carmen Miranda, and " the- Arnaut 
Bros. Deal is also in the' works for 
Larry Adler and Paul Draper, but 
hasn't been finalized as yet 
British Repeats ' ' 

One' of the reasons', for the bofi 
boxoflice of American names is the 
fact that- duriri^ the war years many 
British acts have , been flayed : and 
re-played until they're no . longer 
drawing.. Another factor .is 'the 
paucity of U. S. fllnas because of the 
75% tax. Many theatres would like 
to install stageshowfe because of the 
picture scarcity, ljut haven't been 
able to do so becaiise of inability to 
install stage facilities. . 

Another factor is the inability of 
Britons to buy necessary staples. The; 
money might ordinarily be going to 
buy refrigeratcRBit. r.adib5, and even 
clothing (latter being severely ra- 
tioned) is going into entertainment. 
Whether the terrific theatre grosses 
will continue once these goods be- 
come available, is problematical. 

Whether Britain will contixiue to 
pay out these huge sums in dollars 
for an indefinite time is also prob- 
lematical^ but it's expected that 
there will be no change in the cur- 
rent money exchange situation un- 
less undue restrictions are placed on 
British perfformers working in the 
U. S. Many sources feel that in the 
free talent exchange between both 
countries, England gets a larger 
amount, mainly because of their 
legit activities. Such , troupes as the 
D'Oyly Carte Co., "The Winslow 
Boy" and the Old Vic troupe made 
healthy amounts. In addition, there 
have been a considerable number of 
British vaude acts working theatres 
here. 



'Birthday' 

Continued from nage I 



really no sacrifice to those named. 
Miss Loos, for example, averaginji 
SL.'JOO in royalties, whereas a straight 
10% of the gross would have meant 
several . hundred dollars more, but 
the run would not have been as long. 
Later R. & H. insisted the star re- 
ceive the full guarantee in the con- 
tract. 

Miss Hayes' performance and the 
staging by Logan were generally 
credited with "Birthday's" success. 
She will not be with the play if it 
is sent to the road next season, when 
MLss Hayes will $tar in "Speak to 
M? of Love," play by S. N..Behrman 
io be produced by the'TKeWre Guild. 



the calibre of names that exhibs 
know. ; 

That's true, of course, not only 
with former B picture players, but 
doubly so of the names on the Iqng 
boxofiice poison lists. A considera- 
ble exodus back tb New York to 
"'do pla'ys," can thus be anticipated. 

The big trend to "semi-documen- 
taries" now is but an expression of 
the change which has taken plaoo- in- 
appraising values. ■ This type pic 
merely represents the substitution of 
the values of a good story, location 
shooting and purported authenticity 
for a marquee name.' It's selectivity 
(hat has grown up in the public 
since the end of the war that has 
resulted in a demand for other 
showmanship values, ' rather than 
just *'any picture in which Tillie 
Glotz appears." With the cutoff of 
foreign markets and diminution of 
the domestic b.o., producers have be- 
come extra-sensitive to these taste 
changes and are_ grabbing at them 
as .a means toward reduced budgets 
and more profitable operation. 



frequently being reflected at the b.o. 
Until that realization has more com-* 
pletely hit home — or there's a re- 
verse trend in the present public 
apathy— 'the star system will con- 
tinue aliv'e if for no other reason 
than that it pays a producer to use 
names to con exhibs and his own 
salesmen. ' 

Money Differential 
Selznick pointed out, for instance, 
that a film without marquee bait, 
even if it is only illusory, has vir- 
tually no chance of ^getting top feat- 
ure position on the Loew's and RKO 
circuits in New York. The film on 
the bottom half of these bills gets 
a flat rental:of $18,000 fdr the long 
portion of the week, while the pic 
on. top . plays percentage and can 
possibly make up to $300,000. It's 
obvious, therefore, Selznick declared, 
that If the film has sufficient other 
values, it may well be profitable to 
pay $150,000 or $250,000 for stars, 
based on New York circuit returns 
alone,. whish represent only 5% of 
the -tountry'a gross. 

Selztdck pointed out, too, . that in 
addition to getting better terms and 
better playing time, the star names 
result frequently in getting higher 
advertising and promotion budgets 
from exhibs. Without such names, 
he declared, it is next to impossible 
to get a theatreman to spend money 
on a campaign. 

What's worse than the public's 
lack of enthusiasm regarding cer- 
tain players, exhibs have found, is 
that the "boxoffice. poison" list, 
which started such a ruckus, when 
published by an exhibitor .organiza- 
tion a few years back, . has now 
grown longer than-a con man's line. 
In other words, plenty of so-called 
star names actually' keep custoi'ners 
away. 

This growing negative attitude on 
players outside of the l^g. 25 may be 
expected to .have a tremendous ef- 
fect on production costs. As Selz- 
nick stated, in a viewpoint that 
finds much agreement among other 
producers, while the per-pic price 
tags of the few real marquee names 
may be expected to go even , higher 
than now, the fees for other players 
— some of whom have been asking 
as much as $250,000 per film-7-^are 
going to plummet. 

The "B" Brushoff 
Another aspect of exhib attitudes 
is responsible for depressing salaries 
of B pic players. A salesman with 
a lop picture, if it has a former 
B name in it, is immediately re- 
buffed by exhibs when he wants top 
terms or playing time. The response 
at once is: "No, sir. He's a B picture 
player." Some companies are there- 
fore coming to the conclusion that it 
is more profitable to use almost en- 
tirely ufiknown names in a film with 
other gbod values than to.takej^ja 
chance on having it 'categorized" by 



MARRIAGES 

Margaret Olscheske' to Marty Fa- 
loon, Pittsburgh, Felb, 23. He's a 
guitarist with' dance bands. " 

Shirley • Edelman ' to Jack Segal, 
Palm "Beach, March 5# He's Colum- 
bia Pictures vice-prexy. 

Marion Miller to ' Eddie Hyman, 
San Antonio, Mar. . 6. He's an an- 
nouncer f^r KYPM there. 

Adeline Hanson to Don Miller, 
Riverside, Cal.,' Mar. 8. Bride is * 
disk.jockey. ' 

Madeleine, Pennelope Sack to Jef- 
frey Potter, New York, March 6. 
Bride is with Theatre, Inc.; he's a 
stage manager. 

Pamela Matthews .to Lorenzo Chio- 
venda, Xiondon, recently. Bride is a 
Rank starlet* he's an Italian film 
producer. . - ; ' ' 

Jane, Perry Vandtoreook to John 
Gniither, CSiicago, March S. . Bride is 
a DueU, Sloan & Pearce editor and 
former wife of authorrbroadcaster 
John Vandercook; he's author ("In- 
side 0. S. A.," etc.), correspondent 
and commentator. 

Anne Curtis-Brown to John Nixon 
Brooks,' Jr., New York, March fi. 
Bride is with'-N., Y. office of Curtis 
Bro'wn agency, established by hei^ 
late grandfather; he was with Time 
mag until recently. ; 
' Anne Jackson .to FUi Wallach, 
N. Y., March 5. She's a legit actress; 
he's an actor currently with "Antony 
and Cleopatra." 

Evelyn Nugent to Earl Garpenteii 
jNew York, March 7. He'is a. band- 
leader. . , ■ 



BIRTHS 

Mr, and Mrs. Frankie Ray, son, 
New. York, Feb. 29.- Father is 
teamed with Don Nakdo in act 
known; as .The Iml>res5lonaires.' ' 

We.' and Mis. Norman N4>yeg, 
daughter, Los Angeles, ^et), 28; 
Father is. a radio -executive, • 

Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Montague, 
son, London, Feb. 23. Mother stages 
ballets; father is producer, his -pan- 
tomime, "Babes '. in Wood;'' having 
just completed run at Prince's, Lon- 

, . '. ',','>•' ■ 

Mr. and: Mrs, Led Heriier, son, 
New York, March 3. Father is with . 
Columbia Pictures International. 

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Moore, son. 
El Paso, Feb; 15. ■ Father is assistant 
manager of Wigwam there. 
' Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Chinich, son, 
Salt ;Lake City, Feb. 29. Father is 
booker, for Intermountain Theatres, 
Inc. - .4 ■ 

Mr. and Mrs. James Brown, daugh- 
ter, Chicago, Feb. 27. Father is sales- 
man with station 'WBBM there. 

Mr. and Mrs,- George Creech, 
daughter, Chicago, March 2. Father 
is national spot sales traffic manager 
of NBC's Central division. ' 

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Crawford, 
son, Kansas City, Feb. 8. Father is 
film salesman Asrith 20th-rox ex- 
change.- " ■ ' ■ . . 

Mr. and Mrs. Delmar Nuetzman, 
daughter, Jackson Heights, .,N. Y., 
March 2. Father is aa actor,' 

Mr. and Mrs. Bert Friedlob,- daugh- 
ter, Hollywood, March 7. Father's a 
producer; mother is Eleanor Parker, 
Warner star. 

Mi. and Mrs. Milton Sperling, 
dfughter, Hollywood, March 8. 
Father is proxy- of United States 
Pictures; mother is the daughter of 
Harry M.. Warner. , ' ' 

Mr. and Mr£. Ellroy, .son, Holly- 
wood, March 4, Father is Columbia 
Pictures business manager. 

Mr, and Mra^- Ted Ka-vanaugh, sen, 
New York, Father is publicity' head 
for Curtis, Pub. Co. in\N..Y;; Mother 
is in .the editorial dept. of the Sat^. 
'evbpost; * 




AND HIS ORCHESTRA 

eoNTtNuio wmm tchir 

RKO BOSTON sUiifing MftROH II ( 

fo biMlowii km 
PALACE, Oolmnbii • MLAGE, Olevdmiil 
PARADISE, D«iroit • HOWARD, WasMngliiR 
ROYAL, BalHinbrt • APOLIjO^ NiwI^ 

• DECCA RECORDS • 




EXCLUSIVE MANAGEMENT 

ASSOCBATED BOOKING CORPORATION 

JOE GLASER, President 

NEW YORK . N. Y. 745 FIFTH AVE. PL. 5-5572 CHICAGO, ill. 54 W. Randolph St. 






Publlehej], Weekly at 164 West teth Street, New York 19, N. T., Iiy Variety, Inc. Annual subscription, 119, Sinsle colileiij SB cents. 
Bntered w>' second olas» matter December 22, 1906, at the Poat Office fit New TEork, N, T„ under tlie act ol Wareb S, IS79. 

COPXBICIHT, U4B. VS VABIETV, VgC. BIGlHTS KBSEKTED 






NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 1948 


PRICE 25 CENTS 




[ CHOSBY DISKS 
; (MCLEN.Y. 
CLOCK 

■■"."■•,^■1 - V • ^ 

, Bing Crosby can be described as 
. the only singer who follows the 
Jfew York metropolitan listener 
V (jirotmd the clock. 
' ' A CutiBihg .from the amount of 
,^^;iliihel'devoted to programs made 
' '-iip exclusively of his own record- 
- ^gs;-. there's hardly a quarter-hour 
toiiig.'the day or night, Monday 
&t;6ugh Saturday, that some sta- 
tion ifi the metropolitan area isn't 
broadcasting the Bing's voice. 
: Excluding the four network sta- 
tions, the number of quarter-hours 
of airj^d C^toSby records almost 
tpatelies the number of quarter 
>. hotirs that l^e average metropoli- 
'■ tan station consumes in broadcast- 
■ Ing. The airing time of the 15 
• ftoU'Web stations in and around 
New York averages 11 hours a 
. weekday. This figures out 44 quar- 
ter-Jlnours a day, whereas Crosby 
< records have an aggregate schedule 
;x Of 3Sr quarter^hours. 

There isn't 6ne of the 19 metro- 
!!.,'»' > (Continued on page 63) 



^Variety's' New Look ' 

With this Issue Vabiet*- 
trots out its new Easter bonnet 
^a new face type, to be ex- 
plicit. • 

It's a larger type that's de- 
signed to make It easier on the 

orbs. 



Army Bans Rank 
fdesthte' Neutral Film 



er 



r 



, , London, March 12. 

J • British Army Commanders have 
';^rftantted the exhibition to British 

- servicemen of the film "Palestine" 
w. produced in "This Modem Age" 

- serlfes by the J, Arthur Hank Or- 
ganization. 

Army authorities allege that the 
>j ' film shows bias and that the sub- 
' ject may offend the susceptibilities 
' Of the British soldier both here and 
^ jforoad. It is now officially accused 
. »I presenting a false picture of the 
f, fresent day Palestine problem be- 
, pause of new developments. 

, . Bank Organization stated March 
il that "the film was originally 
seeA by High Commissioner Sir 
Alan Cunningham and other high 
Ptticirs of government and service 
departments. It was highly praised 
!or ifS'Objectivity. There have been 

- Wmpljalnts from Arab and Jewish 
(. Sifljrces' but only because we had 
. wVored neither, side unduly." 

L.j^rounds given for ban are (1) 
. Or no effort is made in the 

« V° ^^"^"^ extent to which 

we British administration of Pales- 
t 2?!! "88 benefited the country both 
• ™terially and from the point of 

i^V^ maintenance of law and 

I " ^^ort js made to show the 

i' V^*"^ yiew or to bring out 

Arabs, Jews and Christians 
(Continue on page 71) 



Top Names Prefer 
Anonpity in Pic 
Push for Wallace 



Pulling away in first position 
from the presidential campaign 
barrier, Henry Wallace's plan to 
use pix extensively in the election 
race Is already in the works with 
production started on several one 
and two-reelers. Notion by the 
Democratic and Republican party 
chiefs to follow suit with a series 
of propaganda films is Still being 
considered but action is hanging 
fire until the nomination conven* 
tions name the major party stand- 
ard-bearers in Jun«. 

With the Progressive Citizens ,of 
America footing the bill, the pro 
Wallace pix are being produced in 
several indie studios in the east. 
Writing and directing talent are 
being enlisted on a cuffoed 
basis from sympathizers, many of 
them being top names in radio and 
documentary film circles. At the 
present time, however, they pre- 
fer to remain anonymous due to 
the political climate. Several union 
technicians are also donatmg their 
labor. 

At the present time, PCA is 
readying for distribution a docu- 
mentary titled "Wallace and the 
(Continued on page 63) 



35,^89 TELE SETS IN 
FEB. HITS NEW PEAK 

Washington, March 16. 

Peak production of 35,889 video 
sets in February brings total tele 
receiver output past the 250,000 
mark, the Radio Manufacturers 
Assn. reported here yesterday (15). 
' The February figure represents 
an annual production rate of 430,- 
000 video units a year. Continuing 
an earlier trend, over two-thirds 
of the February output were table 
video sets. 

The boom in tele production 
contrasted to a lagging output of 
FM sets. The 140,629 FM receivers 
manufactured In February was 
well under the monthly average 
for the last quarter of '47. 



BUT iST FEEL 
TUX PEICE E 

British tax settlement last week 
has created heated disagreement 
among U. S. film industry ob- 
servers as to whether the new ac- 
cord is favorable to Hollywood or 
whether the Americans have been 
"out-traded and out-maneuvered" 
by the British. Most widely held 
opinion by top execs is that the 
pact is certainly not all that could 
be wished for, but is by far the 
best that could be eJcpected under 
the circumstances; 

Those who believe the- agreement 
was a mistake are of the opinion 
that by just sitting by and waiting 
the British out, theatre business 
and production there would- have 
suffered so in fight months to a 
year from now that the cries of the 
public, film- workers and exfilbs 
would have forced a capitulation 
(Continued on page 9) 



Kaye's London Hit 
Sock Hypo to His 
Films in England 

Success scored, by Danny Kaye 
in his six-week run' at the Palla- 
dium in London has renewed at- 
tention by British filmgoers in the 
American comedian's early pic^ 
tures. According to Robert Wolff, 
RKO's managing director in Bri- 
tain who arrived in New York last 
week, a reissue of Kaye's "Up in 
Arms" at the New Gallery theatre, 
London, has resulted in "fantastic" 
b.o. 

Business is all the more gratify- 
ing since it was originally felt that 
ICaye was strictly an American 
commodity with little appeal to 
Britons. In making his farewell to 
Palladium audiences last week, the 
Comic remained onstage for more, 
than two' hours before a capacity 
house of some 3,000 patrons. He's 
said to be *he "most sensational" 
hit London has ever had. 

With Kaye departing for Paris 
and Germany to entertain Ameri- 
(Continued on page 63) 



RKO's Johnny Broderick 
Biopic for Bob Mitchiim 

Hollywood. March 16. 

Johnny Broderick, vet New York 
detective noted for uncompromis- 
ing tactics against hoodlums on his 
Broadway beat, will be subject of 
a film biog to be made at RKO. 
Broderick also will act as technical 
adviser on tlie film. He retired 
about six months ago. 

Paul Small agented the deal 
Which is being set as a top budget- 
er at BKO. Robert Mitchum is 
slated to portray Broderick. 



Johnston's Bally 

Washington, -Marcii 16. 

Eric Johnston, Motion Pic- 
ture Assn. of America prexy, 
will explain the Anglo-Ameri- 
can film agreement to the pub- 
lic via a quarter-hour broad- 
cast over NBC. Saturday (20) 
from Washington at 5:30 p.m. 

Program will tee off an 
MPAA public relations drive 
to point up that quality of 
Hollywood films has not' been 
impaired despite foreifin mar- 
ke{ diiliculUcB recently. 



Avid Interest 
By British In 
New Yank Films 

Major film companies' home- 
office publicity staffs were flopded 
with queries last week from New 
York correspondents of the Lon- 
don newspapers on which pictures 
would be sent over to England im- 
mediately.- While most of the Brit- 
ish press was none too kind to 
American films during the 'time 
the 75% tax was in effect, interest 
shown by their N. Y. reps now that 
the tax has been settled is believed 
to indicate the enthusiasm of the 
general British public for Ameri- 
can product. 

While the majors are averse to 
flooding the British market now, 
they're not missing a -bet in keep- 
ing the appetite of the British for 
U. S. films whetted. Most of them 
are already planning on 'shipping 
trailers to England as soon as pos- 
sible to ballyhoo their forthcoming 
product and have started their ad- 
publicity wheels rolling at top 
speed again in - England. Metro's 
Sam Eckman, Jr., managing direc- 
tor in England, kept his hand in 
while tlie tax was still in effect by 
showing trailers on new product 
at special tradescreenings. 



MARCHES FILE SUIT 
FOR COMMIE LABEL 

Fredric March and his wife, Flo- 
rence Eldridge, yesterday (Tues.) 
filed a $250,000 damage suit in 
N. Y. supreme court charging 
defamation and libel, against 
American Business Consultants, 
Inc., publisher of Counter Attack, 
a mag devoted to exposing Commu^ 
nism. March and his wife charge 
that the sheet labeled them Com- 
munists and fellow-travelers. 

It's charged that the Jan. 30 
issue Counter Attack declared that 
the U. Si Steel Corp. doesn't care 
whether its money goes to Commut 
nists and fellow-travelers. In that 
issue sheet labeled Millard Lam- 
pell, Gene KeUy, Alfred Drake, 
Lillian Hellman and the Marches 
(Continued on page 63) 



MUSIC PUZZLER: 
SHEEKOE 
DISKS BIG 

While the - phonograph record 
field doesn't even show any signs 
of leveling off, music publisliers 
are complaining that sheet sales 
have taken a sharp dip. The sud- 
den reversal of the trend has them^ 
greatly. puzzled. They can't xesovi 
to the old explanation, Lent, be-i 
cause of the way things are going ' 
for records. 

Publishers of the tunes on 
smash hit records have made the 
discovery that sheet sales no longer 
parallel the trend, of disk sales. 
The sheet version may start off 
with a roar but the bottom can 
abruptly fall out of sales, while • 
the song's big-selUbg record main- 
tains as strong' a turnover as ever. 

Cited as a case in point is "Bal- 
lerina;" which gave evidences of 
becommg a 1,000,000-sheet selleir 
but instead petered out at 300,000 r 
copies, v/hile Vaughn Monroe's 
record continued to sell in large 
quantities, reaqhing the 1,750,000- 
mark. 



N* Y. Papers to Follow 
Chi's Publisking Pattern 
If and When Strike Conies 

New .York daily newspapers, 14 
in all, confronted with a printers' 
strike on or after April 1, have 
submitted complete Instructions to 
their advertisers and all ad agen- 
cies on how to cope with the situa- 
tion should the strike force a shut- 
down of their normal printing and 
photo-engraving facilities. This 
goes for amusement advertising 
along with others. 

Noting pessimistically that the 
strike has already hit Chicago and 
a dozen other cities, the news- 
papers have expressed their de- 
termination to continue publica- 
tion. Substitute equipment, how- 
ever, will have to be used for lino- 
type machines and other compos- 
ing room equipment. To meet the 
situation, the newspapers have de- 
cided to follow the Chicago pat- 
tern, where papers haye been able 
to publish since November despite 
the strike. 

"W}e plan to engrave page paste- 
ups of typed material," the N. Y. 
papers declare. "Otherwise our 
process will be as usual. The re- 
sult will be a finished newspaper 
turned out in a slower-than-normal 
manner. Emergency regulations 
will have to govern everything that 
goes into the paper, Deadlines for 
advertising as w^l as for news will 
have to be advanced sharply. At 
(Continued on page 63 > 



15th Annual variety survey of showmanagement 

■' Pages 25 to 30 



■p 



2 



PICTURES 



Divrying That $17,0i,iO Already 
hmm 'SoDK Fan' iw IIS. Majors 



The real fun. as far as the newf 
Anglo-American film agreement is 
concerned, is expected to come 
when the U. S. companies sit down 
to work out the divvy of their in- 
come. ; Pact contemplates that all 
the coin available, including the 
$17,000,000 basic sum, goes ipto a 
pool, from which all American 
distribs will draw in accordance 
with a formula to be worked out 
among themselves. 

That last "to be worked out 
among themselves," of course, is 
the joker that's going to cause the 
headaches. Since quite a large sum 
of money will be involved, for each 
company, it can be expected that 
the agreement won't be worked out 
without plenty of give-and-take. 

In general, the formula will pro- 
vide for a diwy in direct propor- 
tion to each company's earnings in 
the United Kingdom. It's aU not so 
simp^te as that sounds, however, 
since each company has special 
circumstances surrounding its exr 
ports, plus the fact that some com- 
panies have interest? in theatres 
and studios in Britain. 

- A|i agreement was - worked out 
among the companies to cover all 
freeze situations when the Austral- 
ians pulled their 30% tieup on 
U. S. funds last fall. However, 
every time they have attempted to 
apply the Australian formula to 



Has Tux, Will Trav€l? 

Louis Sobol, in bis CQlaniit> . 
observes: 

"Many Broadwayites expect 
to see the following -.as tin 
Variety next D ,e c e b e r : 
'Available for dinners, social 
functions, etc. — ex-President 
who plays piano. Also daugh- 
ter who sings. Plenty sweet, ■ 
plenty hot'." 



Dr. Raok, Dr. Skouras Join 
Dr. (kllup and Dr. Samoff 
In Boston Univ, Honors 

Boston, March 16. 
J. Arthur Rank, here to accept 
an honorary doctor's degree in let- 
ters from Boston University, dur- 
ing its two-day Founders Day In- 
stitute built around its ne^ School 
of Public Relations, stated the 
British government would not at- 
tempt to socialize its motioiji pic- 
ture production. ' 

Claimed he was opposed to the 



British tax on American films, and 

other countries, such as Chile and lhad.no official or unofficial capaci- 



: Denmark, the cry of "special cir- 
cumstances" has .come up, so the 
formula fass neyefr been used -else- 
wliere. In England th^ sitifation is 
particularly ^fficnlt. ^ 

IMore Problems' 

Among the myriad of questions 
presented by the pact and which 
will enter into4he size of the pool 
is wheth«^ eandngs in fhe tr.. S. 
of American compatdes* pix pro- 
duced- in Britain are classed -as 
English films or American ' fibns. 
Which they are, determines wheth- 
■ er their earnings go to the in'- 
dividual company or into the pool. 

In- reverse, when these same 
films play in the U.K,. is income 
from them included or excluded 
from the $17,000,000. which the 
' Bii^sh permit to be remitted for 
American -films? 

I Still another problem which af- 
fe<£ts the size of the pool is whether 
earhicgs of British pix here go 
into the pool in toto (that is, film 
rentals, minus distribution, prints 
and advertising) or all that coimts 
is what is actually remitted to Eng- 
land, In the latter event, it makes 
little difference to the British gov- 
ernment how much of ftie coin is 
spent in this country by the Eng- 
lish producers for whose account 
it is .collected. Thus, J. Arthur 
Eank and Sir Alexander Korda, 
ioX instance, might start a tremen- 
dous advertising - publicity cam- 
paign, or migBt even begin buying 
theatre chains, at the expense of 
the American industry.- 

All these points — and hundreds 
of others-^ must be worked out' 
with the British. 



Whp Buys From Whom Seen 
In Paris Couturier List 

Paris, March 10. 

With the couturiers* openings 
practically over, it's now possible 
to determine who buys from whom. 

Christian Dior claims Rita Hay- 
wprth and Annabella, as well as 
Marlene Dietrich, who also buys 
from Desses. Fath goes more for 
. socialities, including Princess Faiza 
of Egypt, Princess Troubetzkoy 
(Barbara Hutton), Mrs. Pa u 1 
Auriol, daughter-in-law of the 
President of France, and Maria 
Montez, who also buys from Bal- 
main, 

;I.anvin caters more to the 
French, such as Yvonne Prin- 
temps, Hugette Dufios, Valentine 
Tessier and Denise Bourdet, as 
well as Lady Diana/ Cooper. Maggy 
Rouff V has Alice Cocea and Lana 
Marconi i Sacha Guitry's latest), 
while Mrs. Marcel Achard buys 
from Bruyere, Balmain has Jen- 
nifer Jones and Elsa Triolet. Edith 
Piaf buys from Jacques Heim. 

Other celebs ai'e Michele Mor- 
gan dressed by Germaine Lecomte 
<she once went to Schiaparelli) and 
Bdwige Feuillere dressed by Mar- 
cel Donnoy and Piguet. Josephine 
Biker dresses at Desses. Balen- 
ciago, who is doing well, mostly 
dresses socialities such as the 
Duchess of Windsor and a host of 
the French who's who. 



ty in setting up the tax program. 
Said he thought the .situation 
"could have been straightened out 
months ago'' if Eric Johnston had 
"gone over to England to talk it 
over." He couldn't understand the 
delay (-apparently overlooking that 
Johnston had gone ;,over last sum- 
mer to fo^stall the tax).. ' 

Figures present setup is an im- 
provement but Rank still holds 
personally to .the opinion that free 
competition would be far more to 
the point. He - said it was his 
opinion that only by means of open 
competition for all film producers 
of all countri^es could the product 
be improved, and that discrimina- 
tory tax' tactics or . freezes were 
contrary td all his {irindptes.' 

Cited as proof . of his point of 
view that while the Rank organi- 
zation Only released five films in^ 
the U. S. three years ago, this year 
they'd release about 30, all first- 
line products. - He plans to give 
"Hamlet" its first American run, 
in Boston because "Henry V" had 
such a long and profitable run here 
(about $300,000 in -24 weeks). 
Rank expressed confidence that 
British films could eventually pay- 
off above the $17,000,000 bracket 
necessary in- current ruling to re- 
mit additional American earnings 
in Britain to the U. S. 

It's 0r. Skonras Now 

Simultaneously honored by B.U. 
with an honorary degree in laws 
was Spyros Skouras, prexy of 20th- 
century Fox. Skoiuras didn't de- 
liver any oration, but chairmaned 
a forum on films in education. His- 
vealed, however, he plans to . use' 
the frozen ^assets in London to 
make Fox pictures on studio prop- 
erty bombed out during the war. 
Figures to begin rebuilding the 
studio immediately and produce 
films with mixed American and 
British stars. 

Institute's, film awards for best 
commercial public relations film 
shown in New England went to 
the Sinclair Refining Co., of N. Y. 
for its "The Miracle in Paradise 
Valley." Second and third awards, 
announced by Malcom Kingsberg, 
president of BKO Theatres, Inc., 
went to Swift & Co. for "The Red 
Wagon" and to Ford for "Pueblo 
Bay." Honorable mention to "The 
World Is Rich," sponsored by Brit- 
ish Information Services. 

Taking honorary degrees trith 
Skouras and Rank were Dr. George 
Gallup, of the Gallup poll, David 
Sarnoff, brigadier-general -head of 
RCA; Justin Miller, president of 
the National Assn. of Broadcasters; 
Grove Patterson, editor of the To- 
ledo Blade; Raymond Rubicam, 
Glenn Griswold of Public Rela- 
tions News, and EaM Newsome, 
public relations counsel. 

Sarnoff, speaking at the Foun- 
ders Day banquet at which Rank 
was the principal speaker, pre- 
dicted atomic energy wrist-watch 
video sets, two-way radios, and 
Ultrafax radio newspapers trans- 
mitting a million words a minute. 
Didu't say when, but he made it 
sound fairly soon. 




'Agreonent,' Ri^s^ Coban 
Seal Copping Top Oscar Awards 



300th WEEK! 
KEN MURRAY'S 

".BLACKOUTS OF 19W 
El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood, Cal. 
Ntillniul Releane EftHtcr Week 
"BILL AND COO" 

Relea.sed Through Kepuljllo Pictures 
" 'Bill and Coo' ia the greatest pic- 
ture of its kind I have ever seen." 
. . Louella O. Parson*. 



C<pey-IIA Peace 
Off'n'onAgiuii 

Peace between United Artists 
and JVilUam Cagney, announced 
with a fanfare by UA in Qollywood 
last week, did a quick on-again, 
olf-again switch over the weekend. 
UA proxy Grad Sears flew to the 
Coast from Kew York last Satur- 
day (13) to sign the agreement 
he had made with Cagney via 
long distance phone» only to find 
that the producer was no longer 
agreeable. . - 

Scheduled to go into court in 
Los Angeles Monday (15 ) on Cag- 
ney's suit for a declaratory judg- 
ment' to let bins out' of his UA 
pact, the parties asked for an ad- 
journment until today (Wednes^ 
day). In the meantimei Sears and 
Cagney got together again and, 
according to latest - reports last 
night, peace, might again prevail 
before court time today. 

UA board met in a special ses- 
sion Friday to arm Sears with au- 
thority to ink a deal with Cagney. 
As okayed by the directors, it 
called for investment of $250,000 
by UA in Cagney's now-completed 
"Time of Your Life" in return for 
a 15% participation. Cagney also 
was to pay a distribution fee of 
25% for the U. S. and 30% for 
foreign, instead of his original con- 
tract foK 25% to $800,000 and 10% 
over that. 

Apparently the agreement wasn't 
satisfactory to the producer, how- 
ever, and followingr more negotia- 
tions in filollywood, each of the 
board members received a tele- 
gram outlining a new deal. They 
were asked to wire their approval 
or disapproval. Setup in the new 
deal is pretty much the same as 
before, except UA gets a large 
participation but defers receipt 
of it. • 

Under the original agreement 
with Cagney announced last week, 
he is to deliver "Life" to UA, then 
can make a picture for an out- 
side producer, and then make a 
second for UA. 

UA board last week also dis- 
cussed its plans for production of 
sfeven films a year inHhe United 
Kingdom for the next five years. 
Idea entails building studios in 
Dublin, with financing to be pro- 
vided by a group of Irish bankers 
not before ti^d up with films. 

BORRAH MBiEYITCffS 
PIC PLANS IN PARIS 

Parts, March 10. 

Boi-rah Minevitch is getting in 
the pix business here via his pur- 
chase of American rights to a pic- 
ture titled "Jours de Fete" ("Holi- 
days"). .Pictiure was produced bv 
Fred Orate. 

Minevitch has now .founded a 
producUon company in partnership 
with Grain and actor Jack Tatti 
to make the next Tatti pic. Grain 
and Minevitch are planning an- 
otlier picture titled "Solitude." 

Peck as Stratton 

Hollywood, March 16. 
^ Gregory Peck is up for the 
Monty Stratton role in Metro's 
biog of the pitcher who lost his leg, 
following Van Johnson's bowout 
Peek was a pitcher during his col- 
lege days at U, of California, and 
he owes M-G a picture, 
Illness forced out Johnson. 



Smutsy Stuff, Pix 

Cape Town, March 6. 

Field Marshal Jan Smuts,' 
speaking at Jgoy .Scout func- 
tion, urged children to avoid 
"cinemas and other hoirible 
things" and lead otitdoor life. 

Speech causing controversy 
in newspapers. 



Rapport Towards Pix 



• Where only a couple of years 
ago relations between exhibs and 
the pix public in the smaller towns 
were eitiier nil or negative, coop- 
eration on a community level is 
currently making giant strides for-^ 
ward. This was the finding of Duke 
Hickey, community relations divi- 
sion field coordinator of the Mo- 
'tion Picture Aissn. of America, who 
just returned to New 'S'ork after a 
four-year survey of aU key centers 
between Minneapolis- and San 
Fvancisco. 

Boxoffice value of an intimate 
tieup between theatres and com- 
mimity groups has become so evi- 
dent that several theatre chains 
are now using paid liaison agents 
to establish contact with local or- 
ganizations and sound out their 
reaction to pic programming. Sev- 
eral indies still haven't seen the 
light on engaging in community 
tieups but. Hickey sftid they were 
a vanishing type. f:<- 

Biggest boost in the film indus- 
try's public relations drive resulted 
from the MP AA's< 'formation of a 
children's "film library last year 
and the recent MPAA suggestion 
to' producers to soft-pedal crime 
and sex themes in pix. Parent- 
teachers associations, in particular, 
have been making -wide use of the 
kid films which each major, com- 
pany has put at their disposal 
through prints in each exchange 
area. > 

Hickey said that where Holly- 
wood and local exhibs indicated a 
willingness to cooperate on pix 
programs on a local level, com- 
munity groups indicafed a 100% 
positive reaction. Many such 
groups have set up reviewmg 
boards which attempt to appraise 
the value of films but without act- 
ing as censor boards. Hickey said 
that the hinterlands reveal a bet- 
ter understanding of Hollywood 
problems than do the metropolitan 
press and sophisticated mags. 

AL SMITH FILM BIOG 
MAY BE SET SHORTLY 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Deal for a biofilm of the late 
N. Y. Governor Alfred E. Smith 
is reported near completion. Jo- 
seph T. P. SuUivan, N. Y. attorney 
representing Smith's widow, has 
been huddling with Metro, War- 
ners and several indie producers. 

Sullivan indicated that he prob- 
ably will close with a company 
before retuming east in about one 
week. 



»y ARTHUR TOfGAR 
- -„u „„„ Hollywood, March 16.' 

Ihe 20th annual awards of the 
Academy of Motion Picture Arts 
and Sciences, to be held Saturday 
night (20) at the Shrine Audito- 
rium, narrows down to just a few 
outfits due to get the honors. 

Metro, Bairamount, Warners and 
Columbia do not figure in the run- 
ning. The battle pretty mucli lies 
between 20th-Fox, RKO, Sam Gold- • 
wyn and Universal-International, 
with indications that the organiza- 
tion headed by Darryl Zanuck will . 
come on top in the garnering of 
the gold Oscars. 

The zest and interest usual with 
the Osciying has been lacking this 
year, with nominations being actu- 
ally a three-cornered fray; it was 
more wide open in the past. Mem- 
bers, from poll by Vabietv of then? 
choices, in many instances passed 
up lot of the smaller awai^ls by just * 
not voting on th»n. 

It's been pretty much a word-of- 
mouth thing for the top candidates, 
(Continued on page 15) 



Scrap on Dnnant Biopic, 
Play Riles Sardou Hars 

Paris, March 10. 

Biopic of Henri Dunant, Swiss 
founder of the Red Cress, is turn- 
ing into a bone of contention with 
some of the heirs dissatisfied with 
the way the picturization will be 
handled. Yves Dunant, grand- 
nephew of the social worker, has- 
-lermitted the production while an- 
other relative. A, Dunant, who had 
also.skedded a similar picture to 
be titled "The Flag of Suffering," 
had written a different script. 

Disagreements between heirs are 
not confined to biopix but extend 
also to adaptation for former 
plays. The Victorien Sardou com- 
edy, "Madame Sans Gene," now 
turned into a musical at' the 
Chatelet, is raising protests from 
some of Sardou's heirs. There are 
three sons and a daughter and 
most were for refusing permission 
to revamp the original, but French 
law provides that where some 
property is held in common, and 
the owners don't agree they must 
sell, which permitted the one 
brother who wanted, to sell to get 
his own way. 4 



OnMarcli29onPlan 
For Self-Censorsbip 

Washington, March 16. 
. Special meslia sub-committee, to 
consider voluntary censorship for 
the press, radio and films, met here 
yesterday (15) to shape a plan. 
Group is expected to report to the 
lull media committee March 29. 

Plan is being>kept under wraps 
until the full committee hears it. 
The sub-committee was selected at 
the recent session called by Secrer 
tary of Defense James Forre.<ital. 
It was to make a recommendation 
for Media cooperation to prevent 
national defense secrets from leak- 
ing. 

Present for the' newsreels was 
Walton' C. Ament, general manager 
■of Warner-Pathe News. He is the 
sole rep for the film industry on 
the committee. 



Forbstein's Heart Attack 
Calls in Ray Heindorf 

Hollywood, March 16. 
Ray Heindorf wUl conduct the 
Oscar orch Saturday night i20), 
replacing Leo Forbstein, Warners', 
musical director, who was stricken 
with a heart attack and is now re- 
cuperating at Cedars of Lebanon 
hospital. 

Heindorf is chairman of the Mu- 
.sic Awards Committee of the Acad- 
emy of Motion Picture Arts and 
Sciences, which on Saturday will 
make its annual awards for film^ 
dom's 1947 "bests." 



Rebman, Wolff West 

RKO foreign sales veepee Phil 
Reisman and Robert Wolff, the 
company's managing director in 
Great Britain, leave "for the Coast 
at the end of next week to look 
over new product at the studios. 
Duo will also huddle there with J, 
Arthur Rank on the possibility of 
turning out more films in England 
under a co-financing setup, such 
as they did on ""So Well Remem- 
bered." 

They return to the homeoffite 
sometime in April, with Wolff 
scheduled to leave soon aftei-wards 
lor his post in London. 



DeMille's AFRA Appeal 

• Washington, March 16. 
Cecil B. DeMille filed in U. S. 
Supreme Court today (Tucs.i a 
writ of certiorari in ■ the long 
dragged-out American Federation 
of Radio Artists case. He has lost 
the case in every one of the lower 
courts. 

It involves the actor-director's 
refusal to pay a $1 asses-sment 
which the union levied to oppo.se 
an "open shop" measure in the 
California elections several years 
ago. 



Greta Gynt's V. S. Personals 
Greta Gynt, British film actress, 
planed in to New York this week 
from. London on her first visit to 
the U. S. Among other Uimgs, 
Miss Gynt will probably do per- 
sonal appearances in conjunction 
wiib opening dates of "Take My 
Life" and "Dear Murderer." 

She stars in both pix which we.rc 
iensed by the J. Arthur Bank or- 
ganization with Uniyersal releas- 
ing in this countiy<< 



Wednesday, Marcli 17, 1948 





SPURS FILM 




Qrcoits Bookiiig As in Pab Cited 
ByAHiedasmat'sWrongWithPix' 



Trio of douWe feature bookings 
Into New Jersey affiliates and large 
chain theatres is currently taking 
wiHe circujarization treatment by 
Allied exhib groups as a claimed 
example of "what's, wrong with the 
industry." Producers can econo 
niize to the bone and past, the Al 
lied chorus goes, but there'll be no 
profits for distribs if expensive pix 
i!0ntinue being booked in pairs. It's 
to make ufffor this sort of deal, Al- 
lied argues^, that distribs ar0 sharp- 
ening the rental bite on indie 
houses. 

Allied finger-pointing is aimed at 
booking of "The Swordsman" (Co- 
lumbia) and "Cass Timberlane" 
{Metro) into the Capitol, Newark; 
<':ftrcoon" (BKO) and "Good News" 
W-Gt) into Fabian, Hoboken; and 
•^ftfcoon" and "iJaisy Kenyon" 
<20th*Fox) into Regent, Paterson. 
These duals were screened last 
month. 

. Bookings were particularly criti- 
cised because they were made in 
key-runs. In each instance, it's 
noted,, the films piidred were top- 
budget productions which would 
ordinarl^ be combined with B's or 
lower-bracket A's for key-run play- 
ing. 

Allied is dlso making political 
capital out of' the incidents, claim- 
btgtiiaC^ey prove anew favoritism 
fdr the large chains as against the 
indies. Subsequent^runs, it's said 
are forced to pay a minimum of 
25% for each of these films. Since 
that's so, it's argued by Allied the 
conclusion is inevitable that the 
chains, for first-runs, are getting 
these pix at the same terms or less. 

What's more, it's said, total play- 
ing time of two such features along 
Urith newsreels, trailers, etc., 
atnounts to four hours. That's I'e- 
sulting in a smaller turnover of 
audiences— another reason for the 
distribs' tapering profits. 



FILM CLUB GIMMICK 
: FOR W SCREENINGS 

In move to dodge New York 
state censorship regulations, the 
ultra-arty Greenwich Village pix 
outfit, Cinema 16, has organized 
a "film society"' which will pre- 
sent to its members films that can- 
not be shown publicly. Member- 
ship in the club Is open to anyone 
paying an annual fee "of $10,. but 
the screenings are termed "private 
performances," thus bringing them 
V^t of reach of censorship and 
commercial regulations. Outfit 
operates in the Provincetown 
Playhouse, N. Y. 

Step was taken after Cinema 16 
was banned from showing a film 
on the birth of a kitten on grounds 
of "mdeceney." ^ 



PetrUlo's London Threat 
Via Frozen Film Income 

Inclusion in the British-Ameri- 
can film pact last week of the 
"*«2"«cture of phonograph re- 
^^ui u^I as one of the ways in 
Which frozen U. S. dollars can be 
^P^fiS seen as an eitort by the 
!° advantage of the 
«?uwent American waxing ban. 

unless American Federation of 
Musicians' topper James C, Petril- 
w, Who has ordered the stoppage 
dnm„TA'"« here, finds a way of 
auuing American film companies' 
™*M«asm they might realize 
in Ti?«i*''^*, making disks 

w London for distribution in the 

Another Film Fesl? 

_ Paris, March 16. 

. pi®''^ is still some talk here of 
hut fUfu Festival this year, 
nor T^l'ul ^'^ case of Cannes. 
ZnH„f?^* of Brussels, have ap- 
Me thn made and both 

%*^?»8ht unlikely to take place. 
VhiT^ »nly festival for 

iiitf t« been forthcom- 

have hfj**®' definite rules 

invitatfe published and where 
Sioufc«*'*'7® been Issued. 
ttSde vii" decision has been 
«nderat„„i ^^f'^^^ (iistrlfes are 
"^erstood likely to participate. 



Majors' Film Divvies 
Reach $54,600,000 
Alltime Peak in '47 

Washington, March 16. 
Cash dividend disbursements of 
the major film companies in 1947 
hit an alltime high of $54,600,000, 
according to revised figures issued 
by the Dept. of Commerce today 
(Tues.). Sum represents boost of 
$7,900,000 over the previous record 
outlay of $46,700,000 chalked tip 
in 1946 and includes , divvies re- 
sulting from production, distribu- 
tion as well as exhibition, 

Despite the greater total set la.st 
year, checks mailed stockholders 
tapered off in the last quarter of 
1947 compared to < the similar 
period in. 1946. Dividends for the 
final three months of 19 48 
amounted to $15,200,000 while this 
sum slumped to only $12,000,000 
paid out in Oct.-Dec; the following 
year. " 
Indication of cautiousness by 
(Continued on page 18) 






L 



Hollywood; March 16. 

While the British film tax com- 
promise was greeted with varying 
degrees of optimism by major 
Hollywood producers, the agree- 
ment will definitely Hypo produc- 
tion by indie filmmakers ' in this 
country and by the majors them- 
selves in England. ' 

Indie producers. In fact, hailed 
the compromise as a ray of sun- 
shine in the financial gloom. Em- 
bargo on the shipment of U. S. 
films to England had virtually cut 
the indies off |rom their margin of 
profit aqd had'thus made it increas- 
ingly diificult for them to obtain 
"second money" financing. News 
of the British settlement, conse- 
quently, -resulted in a flurry of ac- 
tivity on the Coast by the indies 
to rent stage space. Demands for 
rental lots surged to an abnormal 
peak immediately after the news 
came from London. 

Besttmption of British produc- 
tion by the majors is expected to 
result from the cbmpromise pro- 
viso that most of the earnings of 
U. S. films in England are to re- 
(Continued on page 71) 



Rank Thinks Yank Distribs hytx 
DidTheir'Best'toSenHisPixinUi. 



Wallis-Hazen Winding 
Par Bislrih Pact With 
12 ProA; EL Talks? 

Hal Wallis Productions, which 
has been releasing through Para- 
mount since 1944, has made no 
definite decision as to future plans. 
Wallis and Joseph H. Hazen, part- 
ners in the indie unit, feel that 
their course hinges partly on the 
U. S. Supreme Court decision in 
the industry anti->trust case. 

Wallis and Hazen are understood 
to feel that if the court orders 
theatre divorcement, it won't mat- 
ter much whether or not they dis- 
tribute through one of the com- 
panies that now owns a circuits 
They have been approached by 
several distribs but they have not 
discussed anything seriously.' 
Eagle Lion is one of the ' distribs 
interested. 

Unit has two more films to make 
under its contract to turn out 12 
in four years for Pai\ Going into 
(Contmued on page 22) 



The British Tax ^Settlement' 



+ strong implication that the 
American film industry has never ■ 
yet tried to do its best with his 
films was given by J. Artlmr Rank 
in an exclusive interview with 
Vamety in New York Monday 
(15). Gauging the effects of the 
new Anglo-American film pact* 
British film topper said in more 
ways than one that "it's up to the 
Americans to sell my films." 

"No one's yet taken his coat oflf," 
Rank declared, "and really gotten 
to work for these films. When they 
do, they'll make real progress— ► 
but not until then." 

Obviously primed with enthu- 
siasm for his new product. Rank 
said: "I've the finest program of 
any company in the world. And 
When I say program, I mean actu- 
ally shot, not planned for the 
future only. It's your (American 
distribs) interest now to sell them, 
and it's your problem. I've gotten 
along without this market so far 
and I can contisue to, if it need 
be. If the Americans want dollars, 
they now have to take their' coats- 
off and work for them. 

"K the Americans get behind 
these pictures, they'd get as many 
dollars from them as from any 
American film," Hank flatly de- 
clared. "These films, in every 
(Continued on page 22) 



It's going to take some time for both the 
British and the American film industry to digest 
that 75% tax settlement which Eric Johnston ne- 
gotiated, with Jim Mulvey's help, in London. It 
may take as long as two years. 

After the first flush of optimism, a reappraisal 
sees the "settlement" in not so halcyon a light. 
Fundamentally, of course, it must be figured on 
the basis of dollars and cents. Whether or not the 
British "have again out-traded us Americans," 
as is a currently captious cry by some, there are 
intangible plus'factors which must not be over- 
looked. They may be as long-range as Britain's 
long-sighted approach to its own motion picture 
problem. 

It has been frankly aired in in-the-know 
circles that the British industry is virtually 
linked to 10 Downing street as a potential for fu- • 
ture round-the-world trade and diplomatic value. 
That may be partly true. It is no secret that the 
film industry in almost every European nation 
has the diplomatic as well as the commercial 
blessing of its foreign service. Hollywood only re- 
cently got meagriB support from its own State De- 
partment, at Johnston's insistence, that the Mar- 
shall Plan, somehow, be tied into the British 
impasse.. 

It is also true, from the American long-range 
viewpoint, that this settleiiient, even at dollar 
loss, achieves two immediate salients. One, it 
kayos the threat of other nations following the 
sterling countries' precedent with a similar stiff 
tax, generally labeled "confiscatory." The other 
achievement is the preservation of American film 
dominance in British markets— and elsewhere. 
The longer we stayed out, the greater the likeli- 
hood of the British film fans becoming attuned ■ 
either to their own product or to other foreign 
product (French, Italian, etc.) which, having 
rarely enjoyed British entree, might conceivably 
sacrifice that 75% in order to get a look-in. 

The American dissidents with the "settle- 
ment," on the other hand, have an equally con- 
vincing series of arguments. One is that the fear 
of a British, Gallic or Latin dominance fihn-wise 
never asserted itself in the few months Holly- 
wood stopped shipping product,- hence there is 
nothing to fear on that score. 

Money-wise, the weight of the evidence is even 
greater in favor of the American film industry's 
cause fot dissatisfaction. Johnston, in cabled dis- 
patches as he embarked at Southampton early 
this week, brushed it off by observing he has.al- 
ready heard comments of disappointment from 
his American colleagues because of "economic" 
reasons. 

Fundamentally, of course, the entire issue is 
economic. Britain predicated its entire 75% tax. 
claim on a dollar-shortage basis. Now Hollywood 
foresees itself short-changed and Britain's posi- 
tion advanced o» two fronts. It relieves the prod- 
uct shortage for England, and coincldentally re- 
duces the dollar remittances to a basic $17,000,000 
per annum. Hollywood argues that, despite a 
75 ?d embargo on new Imports, it at least had a 
free flow of dollair remittances on U. S, pix al- 



ready in England. Some figure this could have 
totalled twice that $17,000,000. In other words, in 
the six months from June 14 — ^when the new de- 
cree goes into effect — until Dec. 31, it is expected 
that enough dollar remittances will be frozen to 
make up the initial two-year test period. 

Oonjecturftl as it may be, statistics give the 
CJ.S. distributors' arguments much credence. Un- 
like the winter of '47, which was extradrdinarily 
cold and the summer inordinately hot, this past 
winter in England has beeii mild, and that augurs 
an equally mild summer, all of which indicate 
better boxolQce. This doesn't include the poten- 
tials of improved product. Fact is, British film 
boxoffice is good despite shortages, reissues, etc. 
American distribs aver/ in short, that while the 
$17,000,000 was based on a theoretical peak year 
of 1946, with its $68,000,000 in British remittances, 
indications point to a bullish year in '48 re- 
gardless. 

The downbeat talk, of course, doesn!t overlook 
still another grave issue, that of using frozen 
American dollars to further help build an uncer- 
tain British film production industry. Since 
Americans can reinvest the frozen residue in 
England, the obvious and natural evolution en- 
visions production collaboration with J. Arthur 
Rank and Sir .Alexander Korda. 

Hollywood points to the fact that, even with 
new Yank imports denied the British film public, 
the two dominant native British production 
dynasties not only didn't capitalize on the situa- 
tion but retrogressed. American oldies and reis- 
sues, along with whatever backed-up product 
that . beat the last Aug> 1 deadline,' did better than 
the native productions. 

As for America building up that $17,000,000 by 
appreciating the revenues of British films play- 
dated on American screens, that, too, is already 
largely discounted. It's apparent that any Thurs- 
day-to-Sunday "long weekend" booking of a 
British film in affiliated, or other large-chain 
theatres, can only mean the displacement of an 
American film which, with its better-known mar- 
quee values^ perhaps would have earned even 
more than the imported film. 

One thing is certain— speaking of production — 
the eastern end has nothing to fear that "Holly- 
wood will go berserk again," as has been a com- 
mon captious comment from the eastern (finan- 
cial) end as regards the Coast's production prof- 
ligacy. Hollywood quickly concedes that the Coast 
wants to wait and "see what the settlement 
really ineans." 

It's apparent, certainly for the rest of the year, 
when the new Anglo-Americstn film accord really 
becomes operative, that new values will assert 
themselves. Indeed, a leisurely digestive period 
may truly shape the real results. 

Psychologically, however, the settlement 
should clarify the celluloid atmosphere. It kayos 
a dangerous standard for the rest of Hollywood's 
foreign markets. Above all, in this era of highly 
sensitized international relations, it lifts a cloud 
between the two dominant English-speaking na- 
tions. And that^s worth plenty. Abel 



Par Picked Up $9,600,000 
Of Its Own Stock in Feb. 

Paramount ■ picked up an addi- 
tional 32,000 shares of its own 
common stock in February in a 
continuation of its policy of using 
sui^Ius funds for that purpose. 
Par, at the close of the month, had • 
a total of 476,233 shares in its 
treasury. At present market prices, ; 
the stock is worth some $9,600,000'. 

Stock-purchasing plan was ini- 
tiated over a year ago with the 
avowed intention \of devoting the 
shares to buying out theatre part- > 
ners if the partial divorcement 
provision of the anti-trust decree ' 
becomes law. It's also been used . 
for absorbing indie producing out- 
fits such as Liberty Films and 
Rainbow Productions. 




TfaSe 'Mark Regrstered 
FOUNDED BY SIME SIIjVERMAW 
rabUsheil Weekly by VAHIKTY, Inc. 

' Sid Silverman. President , ■ 
161 West 46th St., New Torlt 19, N. T. 
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, SUBSCRIPTION 

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Vol. 170 



No. 2 



INDEX 

Bills 63 

Chatter ,...■..>........, .70 

Concert ........... 66 

Disk Jockey Reviews 51 

Film Reviews . ...... .. . . . . 8 

House Reviews ......... 24 

Inside Legit. ...... .... . .66 

Inside Pictures 17 

Inside Television . . . « . . . .34 
Legitimate 64 

Literati 69 

Music :. . . . .■. . . . . ........ .49 

New Acts 63 

Night Club Reviews 62 

Obituaries ;.. ...71 

Orchestras .49 

Pictures- 2 

Pre-Production News . . . ■ 7 

Radio 25 

Radio Reviews . . . . ; . ; 39 

Records . . . , . ........ .51 

Frank Scully 69 

Television ..... ... .34 

Vaudeville . . ... . ... ; . ; , .39 

(Published in HoUyw6od by . 
Daily Variety, l.td.) 
Its ft Y«4tt>-^30 K^otelgn 



Britisiim'U^Tabe%$6MM^ 
11 H wood Fix for ii^Iish Market 



The yearly $17,000,000 which the' ■ 
Pritish government is permitting 
to make the east-Ui-west crossfate 
as part of the tax setUememt will 
ie supplemented by no more than 
$5,000,000-$6,000,000 from the 
eaiTiings of British pix in the U.S., 
optimistic repoEt* from both sides 
o£ the Atlantic notwithstanding. 
At least, that should be the figures 
Jo* the first year's operation of the 
new Angto-American accord, con- 
sessus ei informed opinion holds. 
It's made with a recognition of the 
tremendoas dilEiculties which Brit- 
ish pix face in the U. S., tax set- 
'tlement or no settiemeat. 

In setting the comparatively low 
toSai o£ remuttanccs, past per- 
iormances of Anglo imports arc 
cited. With all the hiiUabloo raised 
over J. Arthur BankTs product 
since the posttntr resttrgMice of 
British jUmmaikang, his film's gar- 
nered uBdec $^90(^,600 in earnings^ 
with actual remittances around $^1^- 
400,000 in 1947, film pundits note. 
A boost o£ 100^200% in that total 
daring the next 12 montiis, even 
with Sir" Alex Korda's large-scale 
entry into the American miurket 
would represent terrific ^pn^gress 
over conlinning exbib resastanee. 

(Optimistic estimates emaimrtiwe 
loth from Loudon and New York. 
lt*« said, which fix the imposed 
total at $8,a(iO,00ft41Or00O,00Q 
during IMSMIS are based on an 
ertnneons ISili rendttaiKC total of 
$ft.OeOiO0{». Actiulbr, British pix 
hami bad much niiighn sleddSng 
than is eenerally known and dis- 
tribution costs hanre taknt a 50% 
ebimk oat 'o£ xcxtfal totals. 
. *£si»eeUtlaai^ For Example 
"Great Expectations," tcqNSi-'oss- 
ing Pritish film in '47, for instance, 
win only do around $1,000,000 
when an retunts are in. SInmg as 
,the pic .proved in many" iStaafions, 
tContinued on paee XS> 

a mBWYM EXECS WEST 
m m OSCAR FEtE 

^Erio of Gtoldwyn execs take off 
l^r air for the Coast fr<mi.N. Y. 
Triday (19) to attend the Academy 
dnmer Sat. (20) and transact atli«r 
bB«oess. They are James A. Kfut- 
vesr, prm of tfoldwyn l*Et»diictions, 
wha arrtves in New York tconorrow 
(Thursday) from-' iMtitm; Lynn 
Fanmrt, publicity-adTertising dfiief, 
and Alfred Ctown, fweign topper. 

Mtrlvey will make a first-hand 
report to Goldwyn on the British 
tax uc^tiations and impart fur- 
ther details to members of the So- 
ciety of Indepoiident Qfotion Pic- 
' lure Prodneeis^- wbidht he repre- 
sented in working out tbe new fihn 
agreemenL Crown will cmtfab with 
Goldwyn and Kotv^m details of 
Goldwyn selling ts A result of the 
new pact. 

Famo! is slated to see "A So«ig 
Is; 'Bom" new DaniQr Kaye starrer. 
He'll start preparation of the cam- 
paign on the film, wfaicb is set for 
rele<ise' in the falL 



With a backlog of some 130 filftis 
that haven't yet been released in 
England, one of l*e chief problems 
fanng the 17. S. film conaipaiaes. 
now that the British tax agreement 
has been reached, is whether to 
resiane distribution with J^st year's 
prodnet or to tee off 'with titte films 
most recently released in- the U.3- 
Distribs have agreed among them- 
selves not to let go more than five 
pictures during the first two weeks 
after the taat is liftetf, but most of 
them have yet to work out a list 
of titles on those five films. 

Under present arrangements, Ihe 
U. S. companies will be able to 
start distribnting films again in 
En^and as sooa as the tax is re- 
pealed, date for which has been set 
for sonte time after Easter, From 
then, unta the time the agreement 
goes into effect June 14, it wUl be a 
"f^' period, with the American 
firms permitted to take out all 
eaxnines atKrued during the 8-10 
weeks. Fact that British houses 
book well in advance, however, has 
removed the necessity for speed. 

Foteiga managers of the maior 
companies and indies, meeting in 
tbe MotiffiB Picture Assn. of 
America office*' Monday (15), 
agreed on the fiive fitans per coi»- 
pany limit, during the first two 
weeks to avoid flooding the 
British market as soon as the tax 
is repealed. Twentieth-Fox jumped 
(Continued on page 20> 



Jack GoUsteiiv 

Going 10% With K*ne 

Holt3fwood, Sla£eh ISl, 
Jack aoldsteih, N. Y, rep lor 
RKO the last two years, has be- 
come partnered in tbe Walt» Kane 
Agency. 

Plans are being worked out for a 
new agency that will be repped in 
Loiodlott by nitt lUi^H T^'^^r *^ 
in "iT. by a new office, 

-Betofre' RKO, GoWstein wa» east- 
ern pub-ad director for Davfd O. 
SelzniQk.- and before that K. Y. 
publitity chief of I^Oth-FoiS. 



Jbdge Sftt£es Cole Sait 
For M-G Rebtstatemenl 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Federal Judge LeMt Yaskwich 
took under advisement Lester 
Cole's suit to force Metro to give 
him back his writing Job. Cole, 
stispended after being cited by 
Congress for. contempt in the 
Commy probe, denied -any contract 
Elation. 

Bis attorueySs headed by Robert 
Vf. Kenny and Charles Katar, said 
he was suspended under a con- 
tract clause forfaiddiBg atKiivity 
that *'wauld shock or offend com- 
munity or injure the film indus- 
try." They contend he merely 
stood on his constitutional rights 
in refusing to answer the $64 ques- 
tion. Cole declared his refusal 
hadn't hurt the industry or shocked 
the community. 

Attorneys complained he can't 
£!et another job while his Metro 
contract, at $1,800 weekly, is still 
in force. 



Release %sfigii' 1^ 

iDesire to avoid j^ttdhg up> bis 
distribution macbkiery is back of 
the decisioit by I>avid O. Selanick 
last week to p6st]|oiie release ot 
"The;.'I>&rMiine'';Ca$e''^:three. 'wr tomt 
moQtJ%..tfi«: 'pieoS^iO; .tS^^^i^f^ in 
ffeW' ' Yojdt' ' 'thijiVvi^ti^ '^Piaiadiiiie". 
had ptaiyed/'three./da^es,::.in' £{ew 
York/^Miand Betdii ' An- 
geles,^ all rather 'sac^ssfulliy, wbe»; 
the deeisioiii to pull it was m&de; 

]n additioa to a desire to get 
"Mr. BlaiBdings. Builds. His .Dfeaw 
House"' into release first,. - itOS' 
stated,' .he ' alffi»\' feels '^Paradiine"- 
witi' .gain throuiitt. having -its stapf, 
AMar VaQi, be »e«k fizdi ite WiOf-s 
Ifitsicle oC tfa» BiOls^r' wMNb 
.i$. ' cii»eniitly ''going 'into' 'release.' 
"Paradine" was the Italiaii srtar'* 
initial film fia this comitijF and 
".Belisf' her second, '^t^s 'Onidlur 
contract .to S^ooiek:. . ' ' '. '.'. 

Prodiu^, who has "Ilitc^ in tbe 
Sun" currn>tl;y ga&ig into regntar 
distribution, said he didBt .want 
his Sehmicfc Releasingr Orgmiiza^ 
tion jammed with thcee lilins^ at 
l a time. lie \yant& "BiaBdih^ out 
c before "ParEutlfaie,'* he explafnedl, 
I because an extensive national ex- 

, -i^^^ w it «t tP^"**''*'^'"''^ campaign, tied in with 
An early deemon by the tf. S. ^^^^^ building of model homes m 

cities across the eooiilty, is al- 



hCiovLSrit 



h»Aej ml Payoff 

■ '4 ' London,' Miftrcsll ' 16 ' ' 

UnHsmal »sp*«* «l ft* pact' made ■with the AmcricaM SBdustm- 
last we^ was iRsistenc*! oC the Brltfsft governawnt that the pi- 
SOO.OSfr pernritted f* be- fwihested outaMe the fOm hwftatry te 
of the two-year periodis, he expeeased pouadit and not in dcdiu^ 
Americans wanted the clause to read -$1Q,00Q,000, which is the 
approximate equivalent of tbe £2y500>00» «t the CHrrealf rat*> 
exchaai^ of $4,0* to the doUar. • *"«x««c rate of 

Refusal of the British gowwiment to aceepD this wa* taRen- a* » 
hint that the threatened pound devaluation may be carried throush 
irs been suggested— and denied— that ChanceUor of the Kxcheower 
Sir Staffwd CrfjMpjBhw been consitHeirhig mbiction.Qt the pwmd 
to avoMindl. $8.14. wouW eat tbe valw Af fhe £2,5110 JQO0 tn- 

little more than $5,jOOO,000. ' ^^,3Wfti3v to 

British, early in the negwtiationav b«wt aSuh » i« tn»**stood!. tried 
to express the $17JW)©,<IOO permitted to be remftted as «4,250ew 
Eric Jidtiitston, repvesentSttg the Ameriean iiwi««rthry, was ad!*m»i»i' 
however, that the sum be put down m dollars, not nonods The 
British finany agreed whei the wmproEnise Was Made en thf 
£ 2,5Wt,fm Sgart. 



HkcktMik liMiteB-Bouiid 

Pcodiicer-diEeetar AUred Sitcb- 
coek aiadl Ms wife arrive in New 
York from the Coast next Tuesdsiy 
(23), prior to sailing fo£ Kugtand 
tfck the Queea Elizabeth March 27. 
His partuflc in the l^ansatlantie 
infiie pvoductioa limit, Stdaney 
Bernstein, will head foic LiMidoBi 
the f oilowia^ we^ Fair are mak- 
ing "Under Csvrieonk" thcve with 
Ingrid Bergman firir Wamtx Bros, 
release. 

Bitehcmfc wlU apfear oo the 
Bdgar Bergen radio simm next 
Sunday «2.t> and oa "fwfornwriifam 
Please" Uiarch 2C to idiq; Xram- 
atlantic'« latest SbOj, ''Bopr,"' 



Supreme Court, possibly in April, 
on the Gowemment's anti-trust 
aetio^ i& now bemg predicted in 
industiy legal circles. A fast rul- 
ing and one which may settle the 
biggest unknown ifaetw now con- 
franliiig the film biz is being freely 
forecast because of a sharp slump 
in ai^ieals, before tbe high court. 
The nine judges, eossecjiiiently, are 
now having more &ee tlpae for 
moiling of, cases than they previ- 
ons^ had in many yeai«. 

There are 150> or.so less eases on 
file for the 194S texm than there 
was last year: Instead of taking a 
full five days, last week, as is cus- 
tomary to -hear arguments, court 
recessed Wednesday' tlQ>> until tlte 
coming; MtKtday (151 when, it meets 
to read decisibns from the bench. 
It'll recess again on Monday until 
March 29^ witiMMit hearing any fiir'^ 
ther 'arguments. 

Court got out of the way II opin- 
ions last week which were handed 
down, as usual, on Monday. The 
fast turnover on decisions is 
ascribed to the fact that the added 
4 time now available out of court 
gives the judges that much laaore 
opportunity to knock out rulings 
on cases already argued. 
* Film anti-trust case was argued 
Feb. 9, 10 and 11. It T/as then 
thought that no decision was likely 
for 120 days— that is until early 
June, ' ■ 



Frisco's Anti-Trust Suit 
Bottnd Over Until July 6 

San Francisco, March 16. 

Trial of the $250,(KtO treble^ 
damage, anti^trust suit of Thcatco 
Corp., operator of the Empire 
here, against the majors. Golden 
State circuit and Fox-We.st Coast 
theatres, has been set for July 6. 
Federal Judge Leon Yankwich Of 
Los Angeles is coming here to pn- 
side at the hearings. 

Judge . Yankwich is being 
brought in because of crowded 
eoui-t condltioos and the fact that 
the case is expected to last four 
months. Tbeatco wants day-and- 
date bookings with the El Key and 
Parkside, houses owned by Fox and 
C;otden State. 



IKeterie's Seven-Year Pact 

Holfywood, March 16. \ 
Hal' WalKs Productions last week 
signed William Dieterle to direct ! 
oae picture a year for seven years 



Rank Att'y Back to Eng. 

G. I. Woodham - Smith, chief 
legal aide to J. Arthm- Rank, ena- 
bai-ks for England Saturday i20) 
aboard the Queen Maiy. He's the 
sole Rank exec to have accom- 
panied the British magnate on hi» 
currentU. S. visit 

Understood Woodham - Smith 



beginning with "Accused." Wallis ! made tbe crossing to help Rank in 
md Dieterle have frequently been ■ negotiations with 20th-Fox for lat- 



teanied in the past, having made 
together "Love Letters," "Pasteur" 
md "£uule Zola." 



ter's approval of the Odeon-Gau 
moot British circuits' consolida- 
tion. 



ready under way and caat be post- 
poned. '' ' ■ 

Since no eoia has been spent on 
a national ad campaign on "Para- 
dine," Selznick deelared he 
thought he cotdd OalyeriQ throng 
delaying the film's release^ His 
aim, he said, is to hav« SBO< re- 
lease one pic about every three 
moHths, which, he declared, tie 
tftinks is the strength of such aa 
organkation. 

I^e expects to remafn in New 
Yoi^ another t^ we^ 



OmtlBN 10 EQKOB£ 

Margaret O'Brien:, acconapanied 
br her mother, arnves from the 
Coast next Wedtoesday (.24> i«ier 
to sailiap aboard the Qneesi BUautr 
beth three days later for Europe. 

Trip is strictly a vacation, with 
the moppet star slated to Visit her 
grandmother in Ireland. 



Jolittsim Reports Thnrs. 

Top execs of major and in- 
die companies will waste no 
time in getting details of the - 
new British film paiei first- 
hand. Eric Joanstoo and James 
Molvey, who negotiated the 
agreement for the Amejiean 
industry, arrive in New York 
on the Queen Mary tomor- 
i-ow (Thursdaiy) moroing and 
tfaer«> will be a fnll-dress ses^ 
sion with U. S. fifai toppers at 
the MotiOQ Picture Asaan. of 
America offices In the after- 
noon..' ... ' . 

Industry leaders are primed 
with hundreds of questitma; to 
which they'll seek the answers. 
Language of the pact is vasue 
or incomplete on • virtually 
every pmnt and compaBy top' 
pers are anxious to get. inter- 
IMretations as quickly as poer 
sible to aid them in plotting 
their future. 

Everyone arriving back in 
the U.S., who had anythbsg at 
all to do with the negotiations 
has agreed to make no public 
statement until Johnston re- 
ports officially. Those coming 
in include Joyce. fXHara, 
MPAA chiefs exec assistant, 
and Allen W. Dulles, John- 
ston's .special counsel on for- 
eign iTUktters. Also arriving to- 
morrow, but on the America, 
arc Nate Blumberg, Joe Seidfei- 
man and Charles Prutzman, off 
Universal, who bad been 
abroad lor conferences with 
J. Arthur Bank. U board 
chairman J. Cheevcr Cowdin, ' 
who had been in London with 
them, ftew into New York 
Monday (15> night and Ifte- 
wise i-ef ujscd comment. 



UnifenalPa 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Universail Pictures has filed here 
for tbe Uoiveirsal T<dEevisiOB Is 
Radift Co.„ Inc., tbxooi^ its at- 
torneys, Loeb & Loelk. Itehittd that 
label, which the attorneys wfD not 
elaborate upmi, tmevpt to iRty ifs 
to protect the title, appears to be a 
move on XFs, part toward video. 

This was further indieated a 
couple of weeks ago when the fitm 
company, through an out-of-court 
.wttlentent, had ^EMversal Bread- 
eastini!; CO., and Uhivvssal Beenrd- 
ers, «hrop tbe wofd "VWmsoal"' 
Jrom their titteK. Afc thakt time it 
wa« ' siiMwd :^t|M■| Vi»it:,mMttk :Wiim^ 
brought to eliminate confusiMl 



U Bd. B^ameiB Qffienns,, 
YoCes 2Se Stock Divvy 

Universal board, meetiBg: at the 
homeoifiee yesterday (Ttae!rfay>, re- 
elected aB offieera oi tbe campony 
for another year. Board also voted 
' a Quarter^ diwy <i£ 25e per share 
on common stock, payable April 3t> 
to stockholders of record April 15. 

.All direelors of UmiTersal were 
reelected for another year at the 
company's annual stockholders' 
meet last week in Wilmington, Del. 
Bfeectors hwrfdSng ovei; are Robert 
S. Beoifamia, liate- J. Nmnberr, 
Paul G. Bnnm, X Cbeefcr Gbwdm 
(current chairman>, Preston Davie, 
Matty Fox. William.' J. Gemam, 
John J. O'Connor, Ottavio. Provhet. 
Charles D. Prutiman, .L Arthur 
Rank. Budd Rogers,, Daniel M. 
Sfaeaffer and G. I, 'Vfoodham- 
Smith. 

0"Cio»oor, vccttee of IT, pnsldcd 
at . the meet. .In respouse to a 
stodeholder que^lioo of theatre 
televisioft, cyConnor diselofied that 
the directors had a two-iuuur 
huddfe, day before, devoted entire- 
iiy to a discussioct of video possi- 
toitities. All film eompaniesv he 
said, "are groping for a proper ap- 
proach to televiskHk" 

^ RY. to Europe 

John Byram 
Richard Davis 
Jolics. Levey 

Harry Martin ) ' 

Euro|>e to Y. 

Pierre ABais 

Nate Bltumberg 

J. Cheever Cowdin ' 

Al Daft 
Vernon Duke 

Allen W. Dtiilles ■ ; ' • . 

.iatf^es Fath 

Diizzy Gillespie' 

David Golding : 

Mike Havais ^. 

Eric Johnston 

James A. Mulvey 

.Joyce O'Hara 

Pierre Pellizaa ' 

Charles I>. Pnitsmtas 

Joseph B, Seldehaav 



H'woodDisiiis 
Stiff M B; 
Aig. Tactics 

still consfderable agita- 
tion ui the Argentme nationalist 
press against importation of for- 
eign pictures, although sanerr ele-' 
ments hare been ptmttine etrt wy 
eareftiHy that so 6ir the only coon- 
tries wfalcdi have oiqjosed biterfeni 
to Argenliine phr haxe been tbe two 
which aire tardy attacked by tbe 
natioRalists: Le., Spoca and Mexico. 
They htgHi^t that aMhough the 
V. Sv, for' vexy obviou& language 
rcosoas, bays little or no Argen- 
tine pix, no actual barriers hare 
ever been raKcd to prevent their 
eafcy. and it is up to Argcattne 
j producers themselves to malce 
jtbetr attEWffere enqu^ to 
Icmtte a teuuaA for tbcm abcaadL . 
I These. sam£ and more batanecd. 
j views; notwithxtaDdabag, the agSta- 
;tMa now spceading into a catn- 
Ipaigo against the system eC drs- 
'tribntuMii followed by HdUywoud 
; distrilkSy who for many years Ivave 
' paeted deals, with tlie mace p^-ooai- 
nent eshibktBES which assure tbm 
{ ^Coothuted oBi pagie MX 



JACK EI&ES'S FIC STINT 
Jack Vfgftt's disk-jock^ stiot kt 
the Copa LooBCe^ N-'Y^- has been 
Almiaed' M: SkikI «C' 'CMhnabia'9. ''I . 
Smmmlkt: 'BMar," A' csBBerA^etew; ' 
did the. shooting at tbe Copa Mon- 
day (ISl with part of the shooting 
devoted to SSi/ax dohir inter-; 
view with bandleader Franki* 
Carte. 

Gloria Jean and David Street ai-e 

the Bha's^ leads.' 



L. A. to N. Y, 

Eddie Aawoa 
Neil Agnew . 
KatheriRe Alextncber 
Labile BaQ 
Mrs. Bd Begley 
Walter Bernstein 
Forfanio Bonanorx 
Gene BcccSr 
Donald Bmka 
Frankie Carle 
Tom Carpsle 
.Foao ChatndlcK 
John Dan 
Bert D'Asumid 
Boh Dyer 
Buddy ISbeen. 
Ken EngluBd 
Ed Fisbraan 
Glenn Ford 
Kairl Henog 
Alfred Hitchcock. 
U-vii«g HofErnam 
Bemie Kamins 
Hope Laiidin 
.lessw L. Lasky 
■Peter Lyoo 
Bobert Magw 
dande McChe 
':Fa»l'lMleNara 
Margaret tmacii 
Donald O'Connor 
Ron BandeB 
Hal Boach 
Win. F. Hodgers 
Jose plx M. Schenck 
.James Stewart 
Ifoward StricHEng 
JfaiTTM. Warner 

N.Y. to L.A- 

Balph Cobot . . 
/ Alfred Crown . ' 
Lynni Famol 
Alan Kent 
Jean Benoit L«vy 
Jerry Lewis 
Gemge Baft 
John O.. Jleber 
Hid Wallis 

Robert Wour 



.KTiiidnewJajr, Mareli 17, 1948 



mm THE BLOES HIIRTS AT B.O. 



j^le Lion Wants as Good a Share 
; Of Rank Product for U.S. as U Gets 



J Arthur Rank is huddling with 
offlciaU d£ Kagle Lion and Univer- 
sal- in an attempt to work out a 
sati«fa<!torjr division of his product 
between the two companies. The 
meetings have been spelled by a 
request which El dropped into his 
lap that henceforth all Anglo prod- 
uct from the Rank studios be split 
down the middle. Before Rank re- 
turns to England, he must work out 
a solution which will keep U hap- 
py while overcoming BL's gripes 
that they've gotten the short end 

.of -the lineup so far. 

EL wants the general principle 
established that for every big pic- 
ture turned over to U, it gets an 
opus of equal weight. El top brass 

■ Is dissatisfied over last year's re- 
sults which netted U top-grossing 
British pix such as "Great Ex- 

:pectations," and "Odd Man Oujt" 
while relegating lesser product to 
the n#wer outfit. Hence, as part 
of its current pitch, EL is asking 
that "Oliver Twist," filmizaUon of 
the Charles Dickens novel, or the 
Laurence Olivier version of "Ham- 
let" be grooved to it for U. S. 
handling. 

. At the same time, EL manage- 
ment is ready to concede that last 
season's results were partly due to 
factors outside of control of - the 
parties involved. Company only 
got really moving early in 1947 and 
by then U had already snared most 
of the promising Rank product. 
Choice was made by U's biggies in 
a visit to England late in '46 with 
' many of the pix earmarked for 
Universal before, reaching ttie can. 

As part of its argument for an 
even break EL toppers, it*^ under- 
stood, are quoting rental totals on 
. (Continued on page 18) 

Reade-RKO Compromise 
Protracted Court Fight 
Over 10 Jersey Houses 

Protracted legal bombardment 
which Walter Reade, w.k. circuit 
operator, levelled at RKO in the 
past few years in an attempt to up- 
set the letter's management of the 
ip-theatre Trenton-New Brunswick 
circuit has ended in a Mexican 
standoff. A compromise was 
reached this week which creates a 
Jomt operating committee consist- 
ing of Sol Schwartz, Walter Reade, 
Jr., and Frank Hirst. Schwartz and 
Hirst were elected veepees of the 
circuit which Malcolm Kingsberg, 
Prexy of RKO Theatres, heads, 
while Reade takes over his father's 
job as director and secretary; 

In the course of the legal skir- 
mishing which led to the settle- 
ment, Reade had pushed an appeal 
tolhe N. Y. court Of appeals, high- 
est tribunal in the state, in a fight 
to win a ruling declaring the nian- 
fSement pact illegal. Reade won 
mat battle but still remained sty- 
m'® * , ^•'"'■t held that the agree- 
ment handing over supervision of 
the circuit to RKO was invalid be- 
cause by inking such a deal the di- 
rectors had deprived themselves of 
wie power to manage their own 
t-onipany for 19 years. 
.J.^s'Je found himself in peculiar 
minculties despite his victory be- 
Rvn had no way of voting 
«KOevs out of the top offices in 
in Authorized capital stock 

^heatre chain is equally 
mv ded betAv,een Reade and RKO. 
„""^-..t"e management pact was 
tho J!i W3s still prexy of 

r^^MU ^'"'^"New Brunswick as a 
anH original agreement 

h"" ®"y ensuing election would 
wm.u'!!.^^"* « stalemate which 
top ^J^^aintain the RKOer in the 

InufJ"/'*^ of huddles thereupon were 
initidted which ended in the cur- 

agempn7^'"'"^*- Reade-RKO man- 
Si! i contract was made in 
fuTnl ^942, and gave RKO 
no ''ook product and set 

Si"^ theatres. Reade, re- 
Rlcn'.X' dissatisfied with 

l^B.?.***"''."'8 methods, 
tal Pni ^ involved are the Capi- 

Trenin • ^^"l^ »»<^ Brunswick in 
and Albany. RivoU 

State in New Brunswick. 



UA's 'Cisco' Series 

United Artists yesterday (Tues- 
day) closed a deal with indie pro- 
ducer Phil Krasne for a series of 
"Cisco Kid" westerns. Contract 
calls for 24 films, with options on 
another 24. . 

Under terms of the 4eal, UA is 
to* get a straight 35% distribution 
fee. Contract was inked yesterday 
after having been okayed Friday 
(12) by the UA board. Krasne for- 
merly produced the "Charlie Chan" 
series for Monogram release. 



Tele, Reissues, 
Personal Pacts 
UpforSAGStudy 

Hollywood, March 16. 
Television, reissues and personal 
contracts are to be the first issues 
up for study as the Screen Actors 
Guild and major companies open 
negotiations on a new basic agree- 
ment. 

Producers* attitude, on reissues 
is that the studio owns the films, 
so can send them into any market 
whenever it sees fit. Actors claim 
that re-release holds down produc- 
tion of new pictures, keeping tal- 
ent out of work. 

SAGt was told at the first meet- 
ing that reissues are not profitable, 
being given an example of . one 
company that re-released six, of 
which only two were good grossers. 
Television - rights question was 
passed up as being too indefinite 
now for positive action, but will be 
taken up later. 

Groups also discussed whether 
actors would live up to' personal 
contracts in event of strike. 



PIX BIZ PITCHES IN TO 
SAVE WILL ROGERS SAN 

The Will Rogers sanatorium at 
Saranac laake, N. Y., has been 
hauled out of current financial 
straits by an agreement made last 
week among film industry biggies 
and major companies to guarantee 
payment of all expenses through 
April. Meanwhile, permanent oper^ 
ations for the hospital will be en^- 
sured by a program for raising 
funds which a committee of exhibs 
is currently formulating. Under 
j that program, tlieatre and distribu- 
i tion wings of the industry will 
j split all future expenses, 
i All coin raised on the permanent 
plan will be by contribution and 
subscription. Operating costs of 
the hospital amount to $10,000 
monthly. 

Financial diflicultles of Saranac 
were disclosed at last week's Coast 
1 board meet of the Theatre Owners 
I of America. Matter was brought to 
, the floor by Martin Thalheimer, 
I head of tiie Neighborhood thea- 
tres, Richmond, Va. While not act- 
ing officially, TOA agreed to join 
in the plan for temporary relief 
and to fui-ther the permanent 
splitting of costs between exhibi- 
tion and distribution. 



COLUMBIA WILL FILM 
'AMERICAN COMMUNIST' 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Columbia bought filming rights 
to the controversial story, "Por- 
trait of an American Communist,'- 
published in Life mag under the 
authorship of John McPartland. 
Studio announced that the yam 
will be produced in documentary 
style with one of the season's high- 
est budgets. 

David Dortroit, novelist, and 
McPartland will collaborate on the 
screenplay. Both ,are newcomers 
to the film business. 



BIZ SELLS ITSELF 
T- 





Ted Gamble, prexy of Theatre 
Owners of America, wants Holly- 
wood "to stop crying the blues" 
to clear the atmosphere for his out- 
fit's new, ambitious public rela- 
tions campaign. He also wants the 
publicity on economy in filmmak- 
ing soft-pedaled because the pa- 
trons, TOA 's directors are now re- 
porting, read that sort of thing and 
then believe that pictures aren't 
good any more. He thinks all air- 
ing of reduced film budgets should 
be turned off, forthwith. 

Gamble is now in New York to 
prepare the war chest for TOA's 
publicity drive which is aimed at 
convincing the public that "movies 
are as good as ever.*' His special 
committee, set up at TOA's Coast 
board meet last week, will submit 
the budget to the board for ap- 
proval. It's his understanding that 
the sky's the limit on amount — 
anything required by way of coin 
will be backed by the board. 

A special fuUtime staff will be 
taken on to get the campaign mov- 
ing, Gamble said. Additionally, 
there'll be a number of volunteers, 
including some of the top exhibs 
in the country. Committee plans 
special trailers, material for in- 
stitutional ads, mass junkets to 
Hollywood and ^i pitch to distribs 
and producers to be more careful 
in their publicity and advertising 
programs, 

"People do nof? realize that 
though the cost of films has been 
reduced a lot, they still cost 
plenty," TOA topper declared. 
"Fact that a picture now costing 
$1,500,000 couldn't be made for 
less than $2,500,000 a year ago has 
the public fooled. It thinks films 
have deteriorated because . the nut 
is lower. We must overcome that 
feelingv" 

Gamble cited a number of ar- 
ticles in national weekly mags and 
big-city newspapers which have 
furthered the impression that films 
are on the downgrade. "That's not 
true, of course, but we must act 
immediately to counteract the bad 
publicity," Gamble said. TOA, 
with that in mind, has selected 20 
films being released this year 
"which are as^good as the top prod- 
uct last year or five years ago." 
He wants to group those films in 
institutional ad^ and get the idea 
across to the public. 

A good part of the trouble comes 
(Continued on'page 22) 



MPAAWnding U-S. Theatre Survey; 
Indicates 183 Houses in 31 Keys 



Van Upp Learn CoL 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Virginia Van Upp, one of the 
few femme producer-writers in 
Hollywood, tossed up her job "by 
mutual consent" after five years at 
Columbia. 

Her *last chore at that studio 
was the screenplay for "The Loves 
of Carmen." 



Vaudimers Hit 
Hardest by New 
ASCAPRateTdts 

ASCAP board of : directors last 
weel* approved the contract foi-m 
of the new licensing schedule for 
houses playing live entertain- 
ment. While the new system of es- 
tablishing two distinct rates for 
combination houses affects but a 
dozen operations, it does involve 
an increase of from 300 to 500%. 

Under the old system, a com- 
bination theatre was subject to the 
same rates as a straight film house, 
paying from 10 to 20c a seat; Spots 
playing both pictures and stage 
shows for four to seven days a 
week are now required to pay not 
only the new seat tax, which 
ranges from 10 to 25c, but an ad- 
ditional per-seat fee which starts 
at 50c and ends at $1', 

Following are the formulas that 
go into effect this week: 

Sirais^ht Picture Houses 
Seats . Per seat 

1-499 . 10c 

500-799 12V^c 

800-1599 ; . . 19c 

1600 plus 25c 

Live Talent Houses 
1-799 ........ .r...... 50c 

800-1599 . . 79c 

1600 plus $1 

As an example of how thi«- dual 
seat tax would work, Radio City 
Music Hall, which seats 5,945, will 
pay $6,431.25, as compared to the 
$1,188 it has been paying ASCAP, 
or a tilt of 445%.. Broken down, 
the $6,431.25 .figure represents an 
$1,188 taxation as . a film, seater, 
and a fee of $6,431.25 as a stage 
show house. 



^ Nearing the windup of the first 
authoritative survey of the exhibi- 
tion end of the film industry. Mo- 
tion Picture Assn, of America's 
series of directories on the coun- 
try's 31 exchange areas points to a 
total of 18,500 theatres currently 
in operation in.the U, S. Compiled 
under the direction of MPAA's 
research chief Robert Chambers, 
the surveys issued to date cover 
29 territories less only the New 
York and Boston exchange direc- 
tories.' 

In the 29 exchange areas covered 
by the MP AA, the exact number 
ot theatres in operation " is 16,452 
with an aggregate seating capacity 
of 9,B24,512. According to reliable 
estimates, the New York and 
Boston area contain just over 2,000 
theatres with a total seating ca- 
pacity in the neighborhood of 2,- 
000,000; In addition MPAA direc- 
tories show a total of 675 theatres 
shuttered for one reason or another 
with a capacity of 285,787 seats. 
The number of .closed theatres in 
the New York and Boston areas is 
about 500 with a seating capacity 
of about 30,000. ■ 

Pointing to fact that film exhibi- 
tion is still a "small man's" busi- 
ness, 29 directories reveal that of 
the total number of theatres, the 
indies own and operate 9,272 while 
the circuits operate 7,855. MPAA 
defines ■ an lndi6 exhibitor as one 
operating thr6e or less houses. . 
Chains Greater No. of Seats 
Balance shifts in favor of the 
circuits, however, in the number 
of big-seaters controlled by them. 
While operating a minority of 
houses, the circuits control a total 
of 5,672,690 seats as agaiqst 4>060,- 
652 seats for the indies. The avePr 
age seating capacity of the circuit- 
owned houses is -700 while the 
average seating capacity of houses 
owned by Indies is only 420. Con- 
centration of control is further 
indicated by the fact that, the 
(Continued on page 18) 



National Boxoffice Survey 

Biz Stays Spotty Pre-Holy Week — 'Saigon/ 'Earth/ 
'Naked/ 'Bishop's/ 'Northside' Big Coin-Makers 



1 of 2 Current Long-Run 
Pix onB'way Bowmg-Out; 
'Gent' Awaits Acad Hypo 

Unique situation of two ^mpet* 
ing pictures bolding the imtsesat 
Bftradway 

plaj^ng across the street f torn each 
other comes to a close B'riday (19), 
when "Body and Soul" winds up 
its 19th, Week at Brandt's Globe. 
Its competitor and co-title-holder, 
"Gentleman's Agreement," : eon*' 
tinues at the Ma^rfair, wheire it 
started its 19th V(reek yestertlay 
(Tuei?d«*). Two iBlms togethier have 
done i» boxoffice gross of some 
230,000 since they opened almost 
day-and-date last November. 

"Body," with a. gross , of about 
$510,000, will return approximate- 
ly $285,000 to Enterprise, its. pro- 
ducers, and United Artists, which 
is releasing it in the U. S. , liiehtal 
is based on a special deal worked 
out with the Brandt outfit on the . 
film, which g;ives the Ent-UA" In- 
terests each week 25% of the first 
$12,000, 75% of the gross between 
$12,000 - $22,000, 85% between 
$22,000, $32,000 and 90% over 
that. Ent-UA paid, all ad-publicity 
costs. ■ Vi 

"Agr^ement'^ has returned soiioie 
$432,iM0 to 20thTF6x on a gross 
of appf-okimately $723300 for the 
18 weeks ending Monday (15) 
I night. Brandt also worked out a 
big on first week at N. Y. Music | special deal v^ith 20th for "Agree- 
Hall. "Alias" looks pleasing in i ment," which differs slightly from 
Cincinnati and Okay in K. C. "Sit- that on "Body." Under terms of 
(ivP kov fitie. this week "Naked I Pretty in Boston and big ! the contract, 20th gets 25% of the 
tive Icoy cities this weeK, JNakea , ^ ^^^^ "Panhandle" ; first $16,000 each week, then 75% 



Income tax payment deadline, 
Lenten season and some new 
storms are slashing grosses gener- 
ally this week in key cities; Many 
exhibitors are juggling their bills 
around so as to come up with , 
strong fai-e for Easter week. In 
many instances, theatres are mark- 
ing time with current pictures, i, . ^i.. i 
fully realizing that Holy Week lesser-eoin group this stanza. 



on extended-run or moveover in 
most keys. Sixth position is held 
by "Albuquerque" (Par), seventh 
by "Knew Susie" (RKO) and 
eighth by "Sign of Ram" (Col). 

Best of runner-up class are 
"Ca-ss Timberlane" (M-G), "Dou- 
ble Life" (U) and "Voice of Tur- 
tle" (WB), but all three are in 



(starting March 21) likely will 
mean a major dip in trade prior to 
Easter Sunday. Current session is 
notable for the number of differ- 
ent films playing in top theatres. 

Leading the top grossers will be 
"Saigon" (Par) with okay to giant 
returns in some 11 keys covered 
by Variety.. Not far behind is 
"Ends of Earth" (Col), which is 
mild to' solid in about 10 spotS; Al- i 
though only in a few representa- | 



New pictures showing possibili- 
ties are "Remember Mama" 
(RKO), "Sitting Pretty" (20th), 
"Panhandle" (Mono), "Mating of 
Millie" (Col), "Alias a Gentle- 
man" (M-G) and "Scudda Hoo" 
(20th). Last-named is big in Seat- 
tle, fancy in K. C, fine in St. Louis 
and big in Omaha. "Mama" is very 



City" (U) is displaying such 
strength that it is snagging third 
place. The Mark Hellinger opus is 
liitting a new record on second 
«tanza in N. Y., is leader in In- 
dianapolis with a big week, and 
will top L. A. with sock returns. 
It's also beating the business done 
by "Egg and I" (U) in two Miami 
spots. ■ 

"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) is down 
in fourth slot from second place 
in previous week. Last week's 
leader, "Call Northside" (20th), is 



finishing in fifth place since now ■page 12-13.) 



looks trim in Washington and oke 
in Chicago. 

"Ideal Husband" (20th) is defi- 
nitely disappointing excepting in 
Buffalo this week. Reissue of 
"Robin Hood" (WB) is surprising- 
ly strong both in N. Y. and L. A. 
New bookings on "Verdoux" (UA) 
are no great shakes except in Mont- 
real where it's top film. 

"Fabulous Texan" (Rep) looks 
good in Philadelphia, 

{Complete Boxogicit Reports on 



of anything between $16,000-$26,- 
000, 85% of the next $10,000 and 
90% of all over that. Twentieth, 
too, pays all ad^publicity expenses. 

Boxoffice gross on "Agreement" 
has tumbled drastically during the 
last several weeks, dipping from 
$40,400 in the 15th frame to $21,- 
000 in the 17th. With the film 
listed among the top contenders 
for the Academy Award, However, 
20th will hold the picture for an- 
other few weeks, hoping an Acad- 
emy citation will boost the rentals 
into the top-money bracket dgain. 



j 



We«t!neB<liiy, M«t«h 17, 19i8 



National Ad Rate for FAns, Which 
Means It's Ifigher, Ires Pix Admen 



PublicityadvGitising chiefs 
the major distribs are burning, as 
result of suspicion that film com- 
panies «re toeing made the patsy 
tor « commission-building scheme 
by a few ad agencies and national 
newspaper advertising re^s. They 
maintain that it is at th4 instigar 
tion of the agencies and reps ttat 
several papers recently have ruled 
they'll accept film advertising only 
at the national lineage rate. 
■ National rate is generally hii^er 
than the. local rate; on which 
much of the space had been bought 
before via having theatres place 
the copy instead of agencies. 
Kational rate,, however, is the only 
one that gets the^ 15% commish 
for the agencies and 10% for the 
reps, whose business is the- solici- 
tation of national advertising. 

Agencies and repS, the pub*ad 
chiefs claim, have also been mak- 
ing pitches to papers throughout 
the country to "equalize" their 
national-local rates for film ad- 
vertismg so as to discourage place- 
niient by theatres, which got ad- 
vantage of the lower scale on the 
basis that they were- local business 
enterpi'ises. • 

Film men maintain that papers 
whiiih make the chuiga will be do- 
ing themselves' no good, since budg- 
ets; are set for each picture and no 
additional, coin will be- spent by 
reason of a rate increase. All that 
will happen is- a contraction of the 
space boui^t. Besult is that a 
paper, instead of gettinethe entire 
$600 allotted, for instance, will get 
only $450 of that amount, the other 
25% going into commissions. 

.Only^ three papers have heeded 
the agencies' and reps' impreca- 
tions' to date, and the film admen 
are fighting hard to stay the i^n's 
call so far as the othm are con- 
cerned. Sheets so far affected are 
ttav Atlanta Joomal and Constitu- 
tion and the Washington (D. C.) 
Star.- 

The Journal formerly took ads 
at the 31c local rate, when the 
national was 39c per line. At the 
same timci however; that it classed 
all film ads as national, it jumped 
its national rate, to 43c. The Con- 
stitution's local price was 27^c 
and national 34c. All film adver- 
tising now comes under the upped 
national' rate of 38c.' That means 
a jumik for the distribs, who. usual- 
ly use the papers in combination, 
of from 58^c a line to 81c. 

In Washington, the Star's local 
rate is 41c and national 45c. Other 
D. C. papers wouldn't go along 
with it on shitting all films to 
national. 



Bncluiian's CoL Indie 

HolLvwood, March 16. 
Sidney Buchman's new indie 
producing unit. Sidney B.uchman 
Bnterprise», closed a deali ^Vinate 
four pictures for Columbia re- 
lease. • ■ ■ . 

Program, including- three filmusi- 
cals, will be financed .partially by 
Columbia. 



Looks Like UWF WiU 
Now Distrib Olpipic 
Pix, Ind TV, in-U.S. 

Deal for an -American syndicate 
to take over television rights from 
J. Arthiu: Rank to films- of the sum- 
mer Olympic games in England 
has been dumped. Syndicate was 
to have paid $50,000 for televising- 
all clips and sequences of the 
nes with the idea of hawking, 
them for commercial sponsorship 
in this country. 

Since the proposition has fallen 
through. United World Films, Uni- 
versal's 16m subsid, will automati- 
cally acquire not only video but 
also all theatrical and non-theatri- 
cal rights on a: percentage bacis: 
Bank has exclusive lielisks to film- 
ing the Olympics, .which he picked 
up at a reported price of f600,000. 

British magnate plans to make.a 
Tedbnicolor feature of the sports 
events: Tliere's precedent for his 
move since the Olympics held in 
Berlin 12 years ago. Hitler, at that 
time, granted rights to one of his 
fave actresses, Lent Riefenstal, and 
the films ' taken by her were ulti- 
mately pieced together into a fea- 
ture. 



mff AT m MARKS 
END OF UPPED B.O. CYCLE 

United Artists will ask straight 
50% rental terms for Enterprise's 
"Arch of Triumph," it was decided 
at the end of last week, concur- 
rently with the decision to drop 
plans for seelcing upped admission 
prices. Film now goes out at the 
regular b.o. tap, with the New York 
preem slated for after Easter at 
tiie Globe. 

Striaight 50% terms put "Arch" 
in the top bracket on the score of 
rentals, although David O. Selznick 
last year was asking 60% for "Duel 
in, the Sun?' , and Samuel Goldwyn 
70% for "Best Yeai-s of Our Lives." 
Paramount has been selling "Un- 
conquered" for 50%, but most 
companies on big pix are using a 
sliding scale that will take them 
that high only if business warrants 
it. 

Decision to dump the upped ad- 
missions idea on "Arch" marks 
pretty much the finis of a short- 
lived era that saw the b.o. hikes 
come in with "Best Years" a little 
more than a year ago and then be 
emulated by so many other films 
that great exhib and public resent- 
ment grew up. As a result, scheme 
has been dropped with one after 
another of recent pix for which it 
has been annonnced. Only film 
left now on the "maybe" list for 
tilted tap selling is "Universal's 
"All My Sons." 

"Arch", has played its first en- 
gagements at a number of situa- 
tions in Florida during the pa.st 
month, with b.o. results good, but 
not considered strong enough to 
merit the price increase^ . .■ 



'ASSISr PIC SNARLED BY 
VATICAN WBROGUO 

, Borne, March 16. 

Production of Ocean B'lims's first 
Technicolor picture, a bio pi c 
tagged "St. Francis of Assisi," has 
been placed in jeopardy with the 
arrest ' of Msgr. Edoardo Cippico- 
Prettner on a charge of embezzle- 
ment. An unfrocked priest, he is 
Ocean's largest stockholder with an 
Interest of 11,000,000 lire in the 
company- out of a total capitaliza- 
tion of 12,000,000 lire. 

Prettner, who formerly held an 
important post with the Vatican's 
Secretariat of State, reportedly was 
eased out to -further investigations 
of the Italian police into his al- 
leged financial manipulations. His 
operations have already resulted in 
the resignation of Msgr. Giulio 
Guidetti, an official in charge of 
administration of Vatican property 
He is said to be linked with Prett- 
ner in the disappearance of more 
than $450,000. 



Sheehan's $70,500 -h 
* Estate to Widow 

Los Angeles, March 16. it 
Estate of the late Wii)field Shee- 
ban, amounting to $70,500, was 
turned over to his widow, Maria 
Jeritza, by Judge Newcomb Condee 
in L. A. superior court. 

Claims and administration ex- 
penses had reduced the estate 
from. $127,612. 

Frendh Pix Prod. 
Looms in Canada 

Montreal, March 16. 
Now in Province of Quebec to 
mull production of a feature pic 
next fall, French producer Maurice 
de Canonge claimed France didn't 
need a heavy tax on American pro; 
ductionsi According to him, the 
French public is gradually staying 
away from Bollywood pix, which 
they consider not up to their tastes. 
The French producer blamed this 
trend on many Hollywood produc- 
tions being too standardized. 

Films coming from smaller pro- 
ducing- companies, especially the 
gangster or actions pictures, give a 
headache to intelligent French pa- 
trons, he charged. De Canonge re- 
vealed that 99% of the French, pro- 
ducers were taking advantage- of 
the French government's help via 
loans for half of their budgets; He 
said he was definitely set upon pro- 
ducing in Canada, and has a script 
ready on "Maricm des Neigesj" 

Understood here that Marcel 
Pagnol and Quebec Productions 
Corp. m^ produce here. Rene 
Gennain, president of Q. P. C, is 
going to France to confer vtrith the 
producer and director of "Baker's 
Wife" on the possibility of making. 
French^language pix for French, 
Canadian and international mar- 
kets. Pagnol and 'the Q. P. C 
oiiicials feel that the Quebec mar- 
ket can help by bringiog back the 
cost of a feature produced here, 
since French pix are very popular 
in Quebec province. Latter's pop^ 
ulation of over 3,000,000 represents 
one-third of all Canada's populace. 



Goldman Asks Rejeedon 
By Sup. Ct. of Suit Appeal 

Washington, March 16. 

A brief, urging the Supreme 
Court hear an appeal on the Gold- 
man case decision, was filed here 
last week by the William Goldman 
Theatres of Philadelphia. 

In Philadelphia Goldman won a 
verdict of $375,000 in treble dam- 
ages, plus $60,000 in lawyers' fees, 
The losers recently asked the 
Supreme Court for a writ of cer 
tiorari, on the ground that "this 
decision, if unreversed, may well 
spell. the ruin of the motion picture 
industry." The majors contended 
the decision would open Aha way 
to a flood of treble damage suits, 
and pointed out that Goldman is 
already suing for another 
$8,000,000. 

The Goldman brief declared: 
"We submit that' to correct existing 
abuses is not to ruin but to restore 
the health of the industry. The 
case was correctly decided below 
and involves no conflict of de- 
cisions or important question of 
law." 



PX. hvbe Mo Hollywood Labor 
Tinged WiAPkM^^^ 



fim' BECOME m' 

FOR U AFTER 3 YRS. 

"Fanny By Gaslight," British- 
made James Mason starrer, which 
United Artists has held on its shelf 
for almost three years, is finally 
heading for release. Going out un- 
der the title, "Man of Evil," it will 
open at the Winter Garden, N. Y., 
March 25. 

Film was made by the Gains- 
borough unit for J. Arthur Rank, 
preceding Hank's distribution deal 
with Universal and Eagle Lion. 
It was produced by -Edward Black 
and directed by Anthony Asquith, 
with PhyUis Calvert and Stewart 
Granger starred, as well t^i Mason. 



Pallos Yens Hollywood 
Names for His Brit. Pic 

British producer Stephen Pallos 
left New York for Hollywood Sun- 
day (14) for a fortnight's stay. He's 
aiming to set a couple name play- 
ers to star in "Venetian Masque," 
Rafael Sabatini yaruy which is next 
on his production slate. He expects 
to send it before the cameras in 
London next August. 

Former American rep for Sir 
Alexander Korda, Pallos has com- 
pleted two films since he went into 
production on his own. Neither 
has been released .in the U. S. as 
yet. 

Pallos returns to England in 
about five weeks. 



Erlaager, Fhilly, Shutter* 
Philadelphia, March 16. 
The Erlanger, one of Philly's 
largest film theatres, was dosed 
Monday (IS) due to the 
inability of its operator, 
Goldman Theatres, to oTitain suit 
able motion pictures. 



UA's 3 Title Changes 
' OnaPixWidiin T Days 

United Artists set something of 
a record last week by changing the 
titles on three pictures in one 
seven-day period. Switches ar^ on 
Benedict Bogeaus' "Miracle Can 
Happen," which became "Along 
Came Baby"; Harry Sherman's 
"They Passed This Way," which is 
now "Four Paces West"; and Sey- 
mour Nebenzal's "Atlantis;" which 
is being tested, under the moniker 
of "Siren of Atlantis.' 

Nebenzal's "Heaven Only 
Knows" may also have its title 
switched for the rest of its play- 
dates. Bogeaus' decision to change 
handle on his film resulted from 
his feeling that preponderance of 
asserted | tags with the word "Miracle" in 
William them now may have partially ac- 
counted for poor biz in recent New 
York run. ' 



Asks Montez Suit Exit 

Los: Angeles, March 16. 
Charles 'R. Rogers entered a de- 
murrer in L.A. superior court, 
asking dismissal of the breach^of-, 
contract «uit. filed against him by 
Maria Montez. 

Actress demands $400,000 dam- 
ages, charging the producer broke 
an agreement to star her in "The 
Scarlet Feath ^." 

Italo FihrHnakers Form 
New Program to Aid Pix; 
Anti-UJS. Feeling Grows 

Rome^ March 11. 
A nation wide program to aid 
Italian films has been Issued by 
Italian producers, directors, writ- 
ers, actors, critics and technicians. 

It calls for (1) enforcement of 
the quota law requiring all theatres 
to play native product a minimum 
of 20 days during each three-month 
period; (2) a dubbing tax in order 
to limit imports and help domes- 
tic product by the tax income; <3) 
retention by the state of its own 
film concerns (Cinecitta Studios, 
ENIC Circuit and Istituto LUCE); 
(4) an increase of the government 
share >in the' working capital of the 
Motioh Picture Financial Section 
of the Baaca-Kadonale del Lavoro 
(National Work Bank) ; (5) a re> 
duction of amusement tax; (6) a 
ddhocratie reform of the Censor- 
ship Board, granting greater free- 
dom. • 

Feeling' against American com- 
panies is increasing here, especial- 
ly since it's been known that even 
the biggest of them has got into 
the habit of selling its oldest B 
films to local importers: This hap- 
pens generally in Switzerland, and 
every film is paid for in dollars. 

Antonio German!, an indepen- 
dent-exhibitor, owner of the first- 
run Ffontana di Trevi in Rome and 
Supercinema in Florence, has been 
expelled from, the AGIS (Italian 
General Assn. of Showmen), hav- 
ing played Paramount's "For 
Whom the Bell Tolls" at 60% 
rental. Also because he eluded 
the quota and closed an Italian 
film Comirafl's "I Fratelli Kara- 
mazov" ("The Brothers Karama- 
zov" ) , before its grosses fell below 
the minimum fixed by law. 

DE ROCHEMONT'S TIE 
WITH READER'S DIGEST 

New outfit for the production of 
feature-length documentaries has 
been incorporated by Louis de 
Rochemont under the name of 
"RD-DR Corp." Title means 
"Readers Digest-de Rochemont," 
since all films made by the com- 
pany are to be based on material 
contained in the Digest's "Drama 
of Everyday Life" series. 

Films to be turned out by de 
Rochemont under the new setup 
will have no connection with the 
deal now pending between the pro- 
ducer- and Metro. Under th.it 
agreement, which is noW in the 
contractdrawing stage, de Roche- 
mont will produce "Lost Bound- 
aries" and "Murder at Smutty 
Nose" for M-G distribution! Two 
films will be lensed as part of the 
new documentary setup at Metro. 

Distribution for films produced 
under the "RD-DB" banner hasn't 
yet been set De Rochemont ex- 
pects to film most of these features 
in the east, where he prefers to 
work, or on the actual locale of 
each story. Associated with him in 
the new venture; which was in- 
corporated in Albany, Monday. 
(15), are Bernard J. Reis, New 
York certified public accountant, 
and Borden Mace, whom de Roche- 
mont recently named as his produc- 
tion assistant. • 



Washington, March 16. ' 
The issue that the House labor 
subcommittee didn't want to dis- 
cuss — Conununiism — ^is completely' - 
dominating the stage as the hear- 
ings wind up this week. jSucces- 
»lon of. witnesses from, the ranks 
«f. producers- and International Al- 
liance of Theatrical Stage Em- 
ployees have taken the stand to. 
day (Tues.) to pour "red" chwges 
on their chief target, Herbert K, 
Sorrell. prexy of the Conference of 
Studio Unions. Sorrell, after tak- 
ing his licks last week, left for 
Hollywood. 

Matthew Levy, lATSE attorney, 
flatly denied that Richard P. Walsh, 
lATSE prexy, and lA ofiicers were- 
involved in shady financial manip- 
ulations of iinion funds, as charged 
by Sorrell. Levy said the charges 
were an "old chestnut" which had 
been blasted in 1945. He intro- 
duced stories of Daily VAmETV 
from that year in which Walsh was 
quoted as denying identical 
charges made against him then. 
Levy said that Walsh was com- 
pletely investigated by Federal 
authorities at the time of the 
Browne-Btoff trial and found- inno- 
cent' 

Walsh is slated to take the stand 
tomorrow (Wednesday) to give a 
detailed reply to Sorrell 's - accusa- 
tions, 

A surprise witness was spnmg 
against Sorrell today in the- person 
of John R. Robinson, member of 
the strike- committee in the- 11)37 
studio imbroglio. Bobinson as* 
serted that Sorrell showed him his 
Communist Party membership 
card and defended their philoso- 
phy. Witness said he was appear- 
ing- voluntarily: before the Com- 
mittee after reading fin the papers 
that Sorrell had denied ever being- 
% party member. 

Following, last week's report by 
the FBI that Sorrell'S handwriting 
checked with that appearing on 
two alleged Communist Party 
cards, subcommittee chairman Bep. 
Carroll Kearns stated that no 
charges of perjury will be brought 
against Sorrell until all the evi- 
dence is in and a report has been 
filed with the full committee. Sor- 
rell, from HoUywood, said "he 
didn't intend to get sidetracked at 
this time into any controversy over 
that fake Communist party card. 
If anybody wants to take me to 
court, I'll meet the charge there." 
FBI's Report on Sorrell 
In its report to the House Labor 
Committee, the FBI declared that, 
as the result of its examination, 
"it was concluded that the 'Herb 
Stewart' signature on Ql and all 
the handwriting on the face of Q2 
(the two cards) were written by 
Herbert K. Sorrell, whose known 
handvtriting for comparison con- 
sists of Kl (sample obtained l)y 
the House Labor Committee) and 
other known handwriting- obtained 
by the FBL" 
It was the first indication that 
(Continued on page 20) 



FBIBCO OEATS 'FUBIA' 

San Francisco, March 16. 
"Furia," Italian-language film re- 
cently banned by San Francisco 
city authorities, was okayed yes- 
terday by the city circuit board. 
Film was immediately booked into 
the Larkin theatre to open Friday 
(19). 

"Euria" is being distributed by 
Film Classics. 



COL'S 6-MOMH NET 
OFF m TO $725,000 

Columbia Picture's 6-month 
profits dipped 50% with the com- 
pany netting an estimated $725,000 
for the period ended Dec. 27, 1047, 
against $1,560,000 for same stretch 
of the year before. Second-quarter 
take came to' $355,000 against 
$370,000 for the first quarter. 

Operating profit, in all, totaled 
$1,175,000. It compares With $2,- 
480,000 for the half-year ending 
Dec. 28, 1946. Ciirrent Federal 
tax comes to $450,000 against 
$920,000 for the previous compara- 
tive period. 

Equivalent earnings on the 638,- 
352 shares of common outstanding 
equals 90c per share. It was $2.20 
in the first six months of fiscal '46. 

Columbia Pictures has declared 
a stock dividend of 2^^% on all 
outstanding common stock. Diwy 
is payable May 14 with stock- 
holders of record April 30 sharmg' 
in the cut. ' . 

' Fractional shares are to be paid 
in cash. 



SDG Negotiates 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Screen Directors Guild contract 
expired yesterday (15) and Pro- 
ducers Labor Committee set March 
23 as opening date for negotiations. 

Pact has been in eftect $ince 
1939. 



SPECIAL BOOKINGS FOR DRIVE-INS 



fibn Biz Wont Deal With French 
Until Needing Stops; State Dept OK's 



• Awetican industry will not nego-* 
tiate with the French government 
{in its request for reopening the 
Blum-Byrnes agreement while the. 
French persist In their needling 
-tactics against U. S. films. Stand 
has been officially communicated 
't<> the government In Paris by the 
State Dept., which is backing up 
the American industry. 

feeneh are aiming for a revision 
•of the accord, made in 1946, which 
^s^rves four out of 13 weeks of 
:(!ach theatre's playing time for 
locally-made films. They want to 
raise it to seven weeks per quar- 
ter or 30 weeks a year. Since the 
French themselves aren't making 
Enough films to keep houses alight 
even four weeks and exhibs are 
' lorced to break "the rule, American 
Him inen are not too worried. 
They'll agree to some increase in 
the quota, but bot while they're 
being blocked at every turn by 
pointless regulations and discrim 
Ination, 

., First thing the U. S. industry 
yrtrnts lifted is the two-year dub- 
llbt&'irute. This provides that pic 
•iufes more than two years old 
CMfiot be dubbed in France. And 
$ti)Ce undubbed films can be shown 
jU' only 15 situations, it virtually 
'|[$eps off the market many excel 



Accord Pleases French 

Paris, March 16. 
End of the British-Ameri- 
can film deadlock has drawn 
much pleased comment from 
French producers. They feel 
that with the Americans get- 
ting Aiin from England, they'll 
be in a better position to go 
easy in their demands on the 
• French and other territories. 
Sanguine localites are hope- 
ful that the British pdct will 
mean agreement by the U. S. 
industry to a reopening of the 
Blum-Byrnes accord to get 
French producers a seven- 
week per quarter quota, inr 
stead of the' present four. 




Tasting' Writers in Proper Scripts 
Important in RKO s Prod. Economies 



Evansville, Ind., Film 
Editor, Thinks Pix Biz 
Slights Smalltown Fans 



Film industry, now inapping a 
nationvvide public relations cam- 
paign, may be missing the boat by 
pitching to the key city populace 

nwr" " - J *° almost total exclusion of the 

lent pictures which it was impos- 1 medium and smaller-sized towns. 



Sible to release during the war. 
Dubbing and Rawstock 

■ Second item that the U. S. Em 
bassy has informed the French in- 
dustry wants eased is this ukase 
that English versions subtitled in 
French can't play more than 15 
ihouscs. Final point is that discrim- 
ination agai[nst American com- 
'panies on rawstock cease. 

■ 'Companies have their prints 
m^de-'in France, since they can 
u|e blocked currency for this pur- 
pose. But. the French keep telling 
them there is insufficient stock, 
while, the Americans claim, it is 
finding its way oA<«the black market 
to Spain, Italy and Belgium and 
Jhe Frenclj are storing up twice 
.what they consume of their plenti- 
;ful production. 

- French producers want the 
quota lengthened on the plea that 
U. S. pix are swamping the market. 
.Major companies until recently 
Jinilted themselves voluntarily, to 
^4 imports a year (15 for each 
distrib except Metro, which was 
■allowed 19), but • French govern- 
ment says this has not been suffici- 
ent, , since French distribs have 
bought on the side some 250 U.S. 
iridic films in the past yean 

Americans claim that the quota 
,is not the solution for the French 
producers. What they need to do, 
it is said, is join together to form 
decent-sized companies with facili- 
ties for production and distribution 
and for getting bank financing. As 
it stands now, virtually every 
French producer is an independent 
and, while there's much talent 



That's the opinion of Ed Klingler, 
for the last 20 years film editor of 
the £vensville, Ind., Press, Who 
warned in a letter to Loew's thea- 
tres publicity chief Ernest Emer- 
ling, that the • "most • productive 
area in your public relations pro- 
gram remains untapped." 

Too many of the studio and 
homeoffice publicity toppers, ac- 
cording to Klingler, forget that in 
a city the size of Evansville there 
aren't "500 so-called 'discriminat- 
ing' movie patrons," . For that rea- 
son, he believes, "reviewing a mo- 
tion picture is a "job for a reporter 
' — 'not a critic." According to 
Klingler, films are reviewed for his 
paper "from the standpoint of 
whether or not they meet the re- 
quirements of Joe Doakes-— the 
man who pays the freight." He 
adds: 

■"In this connection, 1 would like 
to make one other observation. It 
bears directly on the promotional 
(Continued on page 63) 



For the first time in the fiHh in- 
dustry's history, the major dis- 
tribution companies are mapping 
special plans to book films into 
drive-in theatres. With the ap- 
proach of warm weather, signify- 
ing the resumption of operations 
by most of the 250-odd outObor 
theatres in the country, the majors 
have been swamped with applica- 
tions for product and have thus 
found it necessary to issue instruc- 
tions to their branch managers on 
how to deal, with the new type 
theatres.- 

(Consensus of the sales chiefs is 
that each drive-in is to be treated 
like a subsequent-run theatre. That 
means they'll be restricted to sec- 
ond run, or older, product. With 
most of the majors still accepting 
bids for pictures in certain ter- 
ritories, the possibility exists that 
a drive-in could tag ,onto first-run 
product by proving it's in direct 
competition with another first-run 
house in the same territory and 
tfhen outbidding, the regular house. 
Most of the salesmanagers dis- 
count that possibility, though, de- 
claring the exhibition of first-run 
product isn't the drive-in's func- 
tion. ■ 

Majors will set their terms on 
all film's booked to the drive-ins on 
(Continued on page 18) 



A 1492 Trailer 

Maybe the stunt will delay 
the picture a yfear or so taut it 
should pay off in publicity. 
Two replicas of Christopher 
Columbus' original three-rship 
flotilla are currently under 
construction at Barbados, West 
Indies. The two ships, take- 
offs of the Maria and Pinta; 
will sail May 15 for England 
where they'll be the props 
for the J. Arthur Rank 
pic, "Christopher Columbus," 
which Sidney Box will pro- 
duce. 

Rank office has made p 
tieup with the American 
Grocers Assn. and that org 
will stock the ships with Yank 
foodstuffs. Who'll command 
the quarterdeck hasn't been 
decided yet. 



MULL LITERARY PITCH 
TO SELL FIX ON RADIO 

As part of, its public relations 
campaign, ftlni execs are currently 
mulling a plaii to sell pix via ra- 
dio along the pattern of such book 
programs as "Author Meets the 
Critics" . 'and "Books on Trial." 
Idea, origihated by Rosalind Mia 
Copping, Metro's consultant on 

^„., foreign language books and plays, 

among them, 'there's norsufficlent i "s being considered by the Motion 
Rl'MhtH'rdtjAM £qj, them to make ^'''**"'''* As«n nf America's nub-ad 



Dutch Free Pk 
Market by Sept 

Holland will become a free film 
market by next September, accord- 
ing to Dutch circuit owner J. J. ter 
Linden, who recently arrived in 
the U. S. on his first trip to Amer- 
ica. While the Motion Picture Ex- 
port Assn. at present distributes 
the bulk of American product in 
the Netherlands, the exhib hesi- 
tated to predict just how the 
MPEA will be affected in the 
event of a free market. 

Ter Linden pointed out in New 
York last week that American 
films constitute the exhibitors' 
product backbone by far, with 
some 120 U. S. pix screened 
yearly. Runnersup are British 
films with about 50 to 60 features 
released per year. A playing time 
quota makes 32 weeks of the year 
available to American pix while 
the remaining weeks are allotted 
to European-<produced features. 

Practically all foreign imports 
are released with Dutch titles. 
Dubbing is eschewed inasmuch as 
the average cost of dubbing a pic 
runs in the neighborhood of $6,000 
to $7,000. Dutch film production, 
((continued on page 20) 



Only Thing Hot on Rep 
Agenda Is Possible Sale 
Of Its Plastics Subsid 

Republic stockholders meeting, 
slated for April 6, promises to be 
a tame affair compared with last 
year, when a minority group, 
headed by Harry M. Goetz, threat- 
ened to upset the regime of proxy 
Herbert J. Yates. Major item on 
the agenda, according to the proxy 
statement sent to stockholders last 
week, is a vote on the plan of 
Rep's board to sell its wholly- 
owned suDsid, Consolidated Molded 
Products Corp. 

Directors have an offer — ^via a 
broker for & mysterious purchaser 
who refuses to disclose his identity 
— of $850,000 for the Molded stock. 
It's carried on Republic's books at 
$1,108,621. Rep has owned the 
company since it was organized in 
1936 as a subsid of Yates' Consoli- 
dated Film Industries. 

Mysterious buyer is in no way 
relatpd to ' any officer or director 
of R5p', directorii have been as- 
sured. Company won't sell to any 
such person, according to the 
proxy. Money received from the 
(Continued on page 181 



Yal Lewton Exits Par 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Val Lewton ankles Paramount 
this week at termination of his 
producer contract. Producer, who 
swung over from RKO about 18 
months agOi turned out "My Own 
True Love" last year and latterly 
has been prepping "A Mask for 
Lucretia." ' ' 

Also worked on several other 
properties following windup of 
"Love." 



stabilization 
satisfactory deals. 



GMG'S U. S. VISIT 
TO FLACK FOR KORDA 

David Golding, of Sir Alexander 
Jiorda's London press department, 
arrived in New York over the 
weekend for a five-week campaign 
ot special publicity. He'll work on 
Anna Karenina," "Man About the 
House' and "JVIine Own Execu- 
vioner," which 20th-Fox will re- 
lease m this country for Korda. 

Golding handles the contacts 
wtJi the U. s. press for the Korda 
studio in London and acts as spe- 
cial rep of Morris Helprin, liead of 
ine producer's organization in M»is 
country. 



Picture Assn. of America's pub-ad 
directors committee. 

Original proposal %as based on 
the majors jointly sponsoring such 
a program. This was nixed, how- 
ever, because of the film comr- 
panies' reluctance to leave them- 
selves open for an anti-trust rap. 
Under the present plan, four com- 
panies will be asked to take IZ 
weeks apiece with no more llian 
one company being plugged on a 
single program. Tentative format 
of show calls for a roundtable dis- 
cussion of a specific film with crit- 
ics, directors, stars and writers 
chipping in their opinions. 



• Briefs From the Lots 



Slash in RKO production costs 
via a "triple play"— more careful 
story selection, better Script prep- 
aration and eciOnomies in lensing 
— ^is the aim of studio chief Dore 
Schary. That was disclosed by his 
executive assistant, William Fadi- 
mah,.in New York this week. Fadi- 
man, returns to the Coast today 
(Wednesday), following a 10-day 
visit to renew contacts with agents 
and publishers, see plays and be at 
the preem of RKO's "I Remember 
Mama" at the. Music Hall. 

On the matter of story selection, 
Fadiman declared that Schary's 
policy was "not to buy any proper- 
ty hi^stiFy or recklessly merely 
through fear that the other fellow, 
will buy it first." He added: "We 
only buy properties in which we 
have a fundamental belief, which 
have definite star potentialities 
and which can be put on our pro- 
gram in the foreseeable future. 
We 'dop't buy for the shelf ." 

A bWc reason for waste, ac- 
cording to the RKO exec, stems 
from efforts by the studios to licfc 
stories which they shouldn't have 
bought in the first place. Effort of" 
the RKO regime, he declared, is to 
avoid scripts which must be aban- 
doned after it's discovered they 
won't jell, they can't be slanted 
for the bdxoffices or they are too 
censorable. 

Along this line; Fadiman said the 
studio in the past had started up 
to 70 projects (a "project" is "start- 
ed" the minute money is spent on 
a story, writer or idea) to make 40 
films. Schary's aim is . to reduce 
below 10% the number of unconi<» 
pleted projects. 

"A corollary of this," Fadjtoian 
state^, "is that RKO has completed 
scripts on its entire 1948 program 
and almost all of 1949." Studio ' 
vnM make 12 A pix this year and 
about the same next year. This 
doesn't count those from indies, 
such as Goldwyn and Disney, ' 

On the matter of script prepara- 
tion, Fadiman emphasized the care 
being taken to "cast** wMtersl 
Every time a writer fails to cottie 
through with a satisfactory joB, he 
said, Schary and he charge it off 
as their own mistake. 

'Writers must be cast," he as- 
serted, "in terms of their skill, 
their enthusiasm for the project 
and their ability to work harmoni- 
ously with the producer. Although 
a writer and- producer individually 
might each be topnotch, it is eco- 
nomically unwise to put them to?- 
gether unless you're sure they'll 
work harmoniously." ' 

To effect economies in physical 
production. Schary has created a 
department exclusively for the 
study of budgets "scene-by-scene, 
set-by-set and background-by-back- 
ground," according to Fadiman. 
Jack Gross has been named to bead 
the unit. 

Fadiman prophesied that results 
of the new "triple-play" policy will 
be evident in production quality 
and cost In about three monthSr 



^ 15 JOIN N. J. TOA 

New .Jersey chapter of Theatre 
owners of America, headed by 
iviaury Miller, has taken on 1!5 new 
ineatres as members. Trenton-New 
in!« j^?.'^'^ circuit of 12 houses has 
joined the exhib unit, 
B,,!,"'"*-'^. theatres of the Rapf & 
jJedl" cucuit has also taken the 



Burger's European 0.0. 

Loew's International sales chief 
Samuel N. Burger is slated to leave 
today (Wednesday) for Oslo on the 
first leg of a three-month flying 
survey of Metro offices in Europe. 

After a tour around the Scan- 
dinavian countries, Burner will fly 
to Germany to o.o. film conditions 
there. He then heads to Paris for 
huddles with David Lewis. M-G 
regional director of continental 
Europe, North Africa and the 
Middle East. He returns to the 
homeoffice about June 15. 



Hollywood, March 16. 

Hal Wallis bought "Obsession," 
mag yarn by Gertrude Schweitzer, 
as a future starrer for Barbara 
Stanwyck . . Henry Kessler was 
signed as associate producer on 
"Knock on Any Door," the Hum- 
phrey Bogart-Robert Lord-Morgan 
Marec production for Columbia 
release . . . Phil Ford Will direct 
"Colorado Thorobreds,'' the Monte 
Hale starrer at Republic . . . Andy 
Devine and the Sons of the 
Pioneers slated for "Eyes of 
Texa,s" at Republic . . : Seton I. 
Miller completed the screenplay 
for "Fighter Squadron," which he 
will produce for Warners as the 
first job under his writer-producer 
contract. 

Richard Haydin, stage and screen 
actor, made his bow as a film di- 
rector in "The Tatlock Millions" 
at Paramount . . . Yakima Canutt, 
oldtime stunter, directed "The 
Thrill Man," a tale of film stunt- 
men, and washed it up in 10 days, 
in line with the new Republic 
speed policy . . . Carley Harriman 
cliecked out as production manager 



for Benedict Bogeaus and started 
his own indie unit on the General 
Service lot, with his first picture 
slated to start early in June . . . 
Life of Helen Morgan goes into 
work .Tune 1 at Enterprise, with 
Dorothy Lamour starring for 
Carthay Productions, owned by 
Joe Biskin, Leonard Hoffman and 
Greg Bautzer. 

Bill Deming resigned from Gi- 
braltar Pictures to form a new 
indie unit in association with Art 
Leonard, and is readying "Second 
Sight" as the first venture at Gen- 
eral Service . . . Robert Shayne 
drew a support role in "Let's Live 
a Little" at Eagle Lion . . . Eight 
of the 14 films on the Film Classics 
releasing program this year will 
be made in Cinecolor. 

First of Metro's new series of 
documentaries will be "Bread on 
the Waters," to be produced by 
Sam Marx . . . James B. Williams, 
British writer, checked in at 
Metro to script "The Forsyte 
Saga." . . . Arthur Wimperis signed 
With Metro to screenplay "Vespers 
in Vienna," a Cary Wilson produc- 
tion. 



TALKS ANEW FOR A NX 
VARIETY CLUB TENT 

With drumbeating already start- 
ed for the Variety Club interna- 
tional banquet in Miami next 
month, movement for the estab^ 
lishment of a Variety tent in New 
York has sprung up anew. 

City is one of the few keys in 
the country with no Variety club 
chapter. Attempts made in th^ 
past to initiate a tent have always 
fallen by the wayside. Plans would 
have the club headquarters at the 
Hotel Astor. 



CHI TKUST SUrt.EXTMSlON 

Chicago, March 16. 
Attornejis for the Rivoli-Rockne 
last week were granted until April 
1 to file briefs in their $900,000 
triple d a m a g e anti-trust suit 
against the major distributors, 
Balaban & Katz and Essaness thea- 
tres. 

Loew's, RKO, 20th, Columbia, 
Universal, United Artists, Eagle 
Lion, Republic and theatre circuits 
were 1^0 granted extensions. 



FILM RKVIKWS 



Wdlncedjiy, Mat^Ii 17, l!ik4JI 



(OOLOK-MUSICAL) 

ICUro nthHise of Artbiu Ft'ccd production. 
■Uum Hlekcr RMoey. Olorta Seilsvcn. 
tlWter Boston, Fiunk Morg«n; fwtmc* 
Butcb J»B)tli>», Marilyn Mawell. Jkgrww 
]i«archi>«d, atlem Iloyle. Dlrec-ted by 
HoUlMtt MlUttOuIbitt.. Adai)t«<l by Ivvlng 
Br*eher onrt Jrnn Il(illi)vvn.v, trum wicen- 
■*ln,y by Fvoiites (Joixiiioh anil Albci-t H»i'lf- 
bases on EBfreno O'Nctir" piny, "An, 
Wilderness!" Songa, Harry Warrcti, Ralpll 
Blane; muBlcal dii-eclion, Loiiiilo Jltiyton; 
orfliCBttsMtnlB. Coni-»a SHHng»r; ^^llnc(■s, 
Orarli'H WnUrns; vaincra (Tevhiiiuolor), 
Ohiirles SrbiMnbRuni; editor, Alb«rt Aitst. 
Tradcshown, N, Y., March 3, '^S. IHmnlng 



tlnif. »« MISS, 
Kichiird Miller.. 

Hariri 

f?ut Mlll*r 

irnclo Sid 

Tommy 

Belle 

Counin Mly, . . . , 

Mi-s. Miller 

Arthur Miller.. 

Mild ml. - 

Wint.. 

Ktsle Itiind 

Mr. Mi'Comber. 
Miiia Hfiwley 



. ....MlPkey Rooney 

. , . ,Cilori> DeHcven 
. .. ..VViUec Huitton 

. .'. , iKrwnk Moryiin 
...... Butch jenlslna 

...M,Trilyn Maxwell 
. . . A«ne.s Alo(«-Phea(l 
...v.. .Selena Uoyle 
.....Mlehael KUby 

. Shirley Ji'hna 
Hal Iliu'kett 
...... . . A.on F^TaKela 

... .John ,\lexander 

. Virfdnia Brifisac 



Lore." providea a bdght moment. 
The film editing is exceptional in 
that it compresses the scenes and 
cuts them just as the? seem about 
to drag. Which Is sufficient reason 
why the 92 minutes jmnning Ume 
is a pleasure. ■ Hob*. 

WL»xmrd ' 

Hollywood, March 12. 

Paramount cel«««» of Mel Kp-stitln ure- 
ductton. st«r« Puulotte Goildard, Mat^don- 
md Carey; (eatureo IVed Clark; Stanley 
Clemeuts, Frank Faylen, Miixle, Kusfn- 
bloorii. Directed by Oebigo Marshall. 
Scre«ri>lay, Arthur Kheekiiiaii, Roy Chaus- 
l«r; bared on novel by t'Uaii»lor; vamera, 
I>anlrl Ij. Fai>i>: (icore, Frank Skinnw; edi- 
tor. Avthnr PobmWt. Piivdeishown Mareb 
R, '48. liunnlng time, 9-1 MiNS> . 

KUeu ("i-uxi. . . i ..... .I'auletto aoddiird 

,T. D. Storm MitcdouaM fNirt?y 

Loiinic Burns Frpil (.'lark 

Job (HHlhup) SlaiUe* Clerainis 

"Truck IJrtveTj .Marlft Bosenldoofn 

......Isimea MHiton 

. . .Perciy Hettott 
;. , . ,,iT>iirle« Mc<ira;w 
....... ..... .Frank Faylen 



Ifr reabody.. .. ,. llovvan! I'ltteman 

lirs. MiS<:omber Aliue MaeKenaie 

C»TBt»I ■ , Ruth Brady 



Koufienian. 
Beady, . , 
(hlolr.; . . . . 
Ose*r...... 



Producer Arthur Freed has fol- 
lowed the example of Broadway in 
mat^g a strai^t play success the 
basis for a period musical. And as 
director for the assignment he 
shrewdly pieked Bfouben Mamou- 
lian, who staged the plays-into- 
musicals, "Porgy and Bess," "Okla- 
homa!" and "Carousel." In this 
instance it is Eugene O'Neiirs only 
comedy, "Ah, WUdemess!" which 
has hecn made into an; entertaining 
musical. It Is a pleasant picture 
with few weak spots, and it should 
do welL Note the running time. 

"Ah, Wilderness!" was originally 
produced by the Theatre Guild in 
the 1933-34 season, wifti George M. 
Gohan as the wise, kindly news- 
paper publisher, subsequently 
played by Will Rogers and Harry 
Carey. It was filmed by Metro in 
1936, with Lionel Barrymore in the 
same part, Wallace Beery as tipsy 
Uncle Sid, Mickey .Rooney as play- 
iol young Tommy and Eric Linden 
as the painfully adolescent son, 
Richard. Rooney is also in this 
musical remake, but now plays 
Richard. Frances Goodrich and Al- 
bert Hackctt wrote the screenplay 
of the 1936 picture, from which 
Irving Brecber and Jean Holloway 
have adapted "Summer Holiday." 

The O'Neill play, wiUi' its ac- 
count .of a turn-of-the-century 
smalltown New England family, 
provides admirable setting, story, 
color and mood for the musical 
numbers and script. The muS.cal 
niunbers, tastefully chosen and 
ddllf ttlly staged, are not spotted 
arbitrarily, but stem naturally 
from the situations. For example, 
the lUm is introduced by a song 
called "It's Our Home Town." 
Walter Huston sings the first 
chorus, as the newspaper puUisher, 
i$ith the other characters taking it 
iro.to identify themselves and plant 
the (general story line. 

Some of the tunes may have 
limited popularity, as they are evi- 
. dently tailored to fit and advance 
the story. But at least a couple of 
the songs among "Afraid to Fall in 
Love," "All Hail Dannville High," 
■ "Stanley Steamer," "It's Independ- 
ence Day" and "I Think You're the 
Sweetest Kid I've Ever Known," 
Ithoald be heard around. 

The :[picture has tone and atmos- 
phere m keeping with its back- 
ground. That is true of the pic- 
' turesque, Connecticut exteriors, the 
costumes and such stylized se- 
quences as the high school com- 
mencement, the youngsters' sleep- 
shattering July 4 celebration and 
the holiday picnids. And there are 
various diverting touches, such as 
tableaux imitating several of Grant 
Wood's period paintings. 

For obvious taoxoSice reasons the 
story emphasizes the puppyvlove ro- 
mance between the publisher's son 
and girl across the street. Respec- 
tively Rooney and Gloria DeHaven 
Except for some laughable ni.ugg- 
ing by the former, they make an 
appealing pair, and their musical 
numbers are nicely done. In sev- 
eral scenes Booney is quite effec- 
tive as the bumptious teen-ager 
bitten by Omar Khayyam, Swin- 
burne and Carlisle. 

Huston is line as the understand- 
ing Nat Miller, the boy's father 
Frank' Morgan achieves a nice 
blend of comedy and pathos as 
Uncle Sid, while Selena Royle and 
Agnes Moorebead are expert as 
Mrs. Miller and the pathetic spin- 
ster. Cousin Lily. 

Butch Jenkins is amusing with- 
out being over-precocious as the 
moppet. Tommy, but Marilyn Max- 
well overdoes the sinister strumpet. 
Belle, and does the "Sweetest Kid" 
tune as too much of a "number." 
Howard Freeman registers in the 
bit of a fatuous banker and John 
Alexander is believable as the 
Stuffy father of the girl. Virginia 
Brissac is good as the proud school 
prihcipal. 

Mamoulian's direction has style, 
Is well paced and, without sacrific- 
ing story credibility, malsas the 
songs stand out. The two real pro" 
duction numbers, "Stanley Steam- 
er" and "Independence Day," are 
effectively done, and the only 
dance routine, to "Afraid to Fall in 



"Haaard" cloaks its melodra- 
matics with a broad comedy treat- 
ment that entertains. There's a 
lively air about it that augurs well 
for audience reception. Returns 
should please in majority of gen- 
eral situations. Material has been 
backed with good prodnctiott 
values by., Mel Epstein, assuring 
top playing time. 

Story of a girl driv«i to desper- 
ate gambling through a psycho- 
logical quirk is never permitted to 
take itself seriously under George 
Marshall's raigr direction. He 
plays it broadly and strictly for 
fun, which is the proper treatment 
for psycho basis ui the present film 
market. Arthur Sheekman and 
Roy Chanslor, scripting from novel 
by Chanslor, have kept the dialog 
flip and the Situations broad, even 
slapstickish at times. 

Paulette Goddard, adapts herself 
to comedy aims easily as the gal 
wfaoU do anything fOr a chance to 
gamble. The yen was brought on 
by guilt complex over the death, 
of a lover lost in the war. When 
gal loses a bet to a gambler she 
takes to her heels rather than go 
through with marriage to him. 
Private detective Macdonald Carey 
is hired to bring her back and the 
cross-country chase' and the situa- 
tions it brings about are good for 
some solid laughs." Carey gets bis 
woman, both professionally and for 
the finale clinch, and while doing 
so demonstrates smooth talent that 
expertly values the role. 

Fred Clark's interpretation of 
the gambler is smart and the bits 
of business given him by director 
Marshall reach broadly for good 
laughs. Stanley Clemrats injects 
a ^b and pointed performance as 
the bellboy of whom Miss Goddard 
takes advantage in Chicago daring 
the cross-country trek. Standing 
out sharply is the character ctf 
Beady as played by Percy Helton. 
Frank Faylen, Maxie ' RoscnblOont 
and -others deliver capably. 

Action is backed by Frank Skin- 
ner's competent music score and 
the lenabig by Daniel L. Fapp. 
Other technical credits are expert. 

Brog. 



Mniatm'e Reviets 

"Summer UoKday'* (Color- 
Musical) (M-G). Amusing mu- 
sical based on the play, "Ah, 
Wildeme^!" Fair numes; 
good, boxoffice. 

"Hasard" (Par), Broad 
melodramatic comedy with 
Paulette Goddard. Macdonald 
Carey pacing good cast 

"Are Y« WIOi It?" (Musi- 
.cal) <U). Screen version of the 
Broadway musical comedy 
slated for good retinms. 

"Contidar Mlrrars" (GFD) 
(British-Made). Disa{q[Kiint- 
ing mystery made by new in- 
die pr^udns firm. 

"D«da «t New Orleani^' 
(Mono). Below<«v«Eage pn))" 
grammer In the Charlie Cfaaa 
series, 

"Die Fledermans" (Musical- 
Color) ( Artkino). Strajiss 
operetta in German, done in 
nice color^ for arfy spQt& 

"Devll'k Cargtt" {Film^ Cl«s- 
sics), So«o detective yam 
with John Culvert and Ro- 
chelle Hudsmt. 



Are With II? 

(MUSICAL) 

Hollywood, March 13. 

Universal release of Kolwrt Arrhur pro- 
duction. SiarH. Dojiald O'Connor. Olis^l San 
Jrran, Martha Stewart. Lew Parker; £ea- 
tm-es Walter Catlett, Fat Sane. Ulrevtnl 
by .Jack Btvely. .Screenplay, Oscir Brud- 
ney ; based on oiuslral ooxnedy by Sam Fer- 
rin and Georife B*lzer: camera; Mnory 
UertKroan; stmgn, Sidney Miller, Inea 
Janies; uiualo. Walter .Schui-I; daucfitt, 
I.ouis Da Pran; eilitor, Ku.ssell Kflwjen- 
sarth. Previewed Alareh 9, '-IS. Hunnlngr 
tinie. »9 Minn. 

M'iltOTi Hafikins. ......... .PbnaUl 0*Corinor 

Vivian ReiUy. 01^*^1 .Sun Juii.n 

ISunny Ija Fleur. .. .....Martha Stewart 

Golilie MeeoldrU*. .U'Av I»arker 

Jason Carter, .............. Waltf'r Catlett 

Sally. , . , , , , , Pat Ilane 

Mr, Rrxby, , , Ransom Sherman 

Bartender, .I'lOuls Da, r*r*on 

Terry ,, ., r,.Noel NelU 

-Ann. . ..................... . ....Julie GibAoa 

TUn^ter Oearge O'Hanlou 

Hfirinnn Boget. , ; .', , , v. <.....; ; ISddIc Parks 
Mr, Miipleton . . . . . . .'. . ... .Raymond Ijorway 

Mr.<!. ITenkle Jody (Jilbert 

IGd KeNuutfhton. . * , . ..... . .Howard i-Se^ley 

Itarfcer t'Thjirh'S Bedell 

Universal has given the Broad- 
way musical, ".Are You With It?", 
good screen treatment and playoff 
should show pleasant returns all 
down the line. Best reception 
likely will come from smaller first- 
runs and in family trade situations. 



Meet Me at Dawn 

"Meet Me at Dawn," made 
in Britain by Marcel Hell- 
mian's Excelsior Films for 20th- 
Fox release, was reviewed by 
VARiET'ir from London Jan. 15, 
1947. It was tradeshown in 
New York Friday (12). For 
American distribution the 
print has been cut from its 
original 99 minutes to 89. Pic- 
ture stars William Bythe and 
Hazel Court. 

In appraising "Dawn," 
Variety's reviewer opined 
that this airy, romantic comedy 
is good entertainment. To have 
t>een more than this would 
have needed the finest roman- 
tic couple, and Eythe and Miss 
Court are not yet in the Lunt- 
Fontanne class «s artists," 



Donald O'Connor sparks the fun. 
delivering in both soa^ and 
dancing with talent that will rate 
neat response. Carnival back- 
ground adds color and exploitation 
factors that are easily adapted to 
plugging this one to pep business. 
- Picture has been given an en- 
tirely new score )qr Sidney Miller 
and Inez JameK Six tunes are 
strongly sold by O'Connor, Martha 
Stewart and Olga San Juan. Lis- 
tening best are "Daddy, Surprise 
Me" and "What Do I Have to Do?" 
Two others, "I'm* Looldng for a 
Prince of a Fella" and "A Little 
Imagination" are combined in 
finale production number that is 
good but too elaborate for the 
eai-ny locale. "Daddy" gets more 
fitting production treatment, as 
does "Down at Baba's Alley." 

Jack Hively. in his first d&ecting 
job since before the war, main- 
tains a lively pace and capably 
combines the music with comedy. 
Oscar Biodney scripted the Sam 
Perrin-George Balzer stage musi- 
cal of a brainy young man who 
leaves the insurance business to 
adapt his mathematical genius to 
the carnival. Antics are strung on 
a thin plot thread which concerns 
efforts of a pair of conniv«s to 
.^eal the camy rally to be bested 
by the hero. Sawdust expressions 
pepper the dialog, even the title 
bemg a camy term " 

Lew Parker repeats his stage 
role in the film, adding consider- 
able to the laughs as glib carnival 
man. He worics in dance routines 
with O'Connor, as does Louis Da 
Pron, ako dance director on pic- 
ture. Miss San Juan shares ro- 
mantic angles with O'Connor while 
Martha Stewart is teamed with 
Parker. Pat Dane is a femme men- 
ace.. Walter Catlett registers as 
the carnival owner. Noel Neill and 
Julie Gibson please the eye as a 
couple of camy lookers. 

Robert Arthur's production su- 
pervision has measured the physi- 
cal values exeelleatly to dress up 
the show. Mu^eal supervision by 
Milton Schwarzwald and. music ar- 
rangement and direction by Walter 
Scharf are valuable assists. Maury 
Gertsman lensed and Russell 
Schoengarth contributed concise 
editing. Brog. 

Corriioir M Mtmtvm 

(BRmSH-MADB) 

London, March U. 

General FUm I>J«itrlbotora relrono «C 
Apollo Films Cai'tter-Komney prnductlnn. 
.Stars Erie Fortman, Kdnna Komney. Di- 
reeJietf by Terence Voani;:. Sereenplay by 
Rudolph Cartler. Romney. inaprlrod l)y novel 
by Chrfs M.Tssie. ITusle, Cjeorsefl Auric: 
editor, Douglas M-yeis; pairiera. Andre 
'fhunvaa. At Odeon. [yondon, Mart'h M>, '48. 
RunninK time, 105 JUN8. 

Pavil Msiigin . . . . . . . . Brie Pori.man 

.MKann-y Conway. ......... .i&lana Romney 

raroiiiie Hart........... ..Joan Maude 

Veronica ..Barbara Mullen 

Edsar Orsen a1»b Wheatley 

Sir Uavjlil CoBwayi...,. ..Rruce BelfraKe- 

Mortirner LeKlip Westm 

Owen Rhys..- Hush Siiu-lair 

Bins! HtiBb U-itlmer 

. Defense . (Juunael Vjiiemine Dyall 

tmogene , I.oIk Maxwell 

Katw , , Ma.vi.s ViUIevs 

Psyi'hlati'tet' . , . . . . . .Noel Hovvlctt 

rjiarle.i ..... .(fhristuplier r.eo 

tejnid .... i .i. ...J,, .John INinrose 

l'rusei.-ulor ....Gordon Maeleoa- 

Old Wiini.in..^ Thora HM 



dmmctcr. But the lavish produc- 
tion and the noivelettialt story may 
draw its Quota of patrons. It will 
be hard going to earn its cost in 
spite of~aa intensive campaign to 
popularize Miss Bonrney, who is 
wife of John Woolf, iohit-hianagbig 
director of General, distributopsi of 
the film. An abbreviated vdoiiaa 
might find a limited public in 
America, 

With a desire to be sensual but 
clean, story -syT^matlcaUy sbcouds 
itself with myistecy and then pro* 
ceeds cliche by cliche to unravel a 
disappointing yam. Becoming ob- 
sessed in Italy by the 400-year-old 
painting of a girl, Paul Mangin be- 
lieves he is the reincarnation of the 
girl's lover and that somewhere is 
the r^Qcamation of the girl. 

Meeting Mifanwy, a -judge's 
daughter, at a nightclub, Paul de- 
cides she- is the reincarnation for 
whom he has been searching. She 
comes under Paul's spell, enjoys 
dressing up in period costume in 
the corridor of mirrors, accepts 
priceless gifts, but leaves when 
Veronica, the housekeeper, tells 
her Paul is a Bluebeard. Involved 
situations ensue. 

Although South African Miss 
Romney; trained here, displays no 
Impressive talents in her first 
major test, she does reveal latent 
abiUty coupled with a handsome 
presence. As the day-dreaming 
nardssist in love with his so-called 
renaissance incarnation, Portman 
moves around Hke a pan-faced 
actor in search of a part 

Remainder of the. acting calls for 
no special comment, although Hugh 
Sinclair, one of the few male men 
in the iie, deserves sympathy for 
being so neglected. Former vnriter 
Terence Young makes his debut as 
director and has done quite wCll 
with his material. Cane. 



DwcIks qt New Orle«BH 

Monostam rcleaae of Jamea S. Ilurketl 
prodnctlon. Features Bolnnd Winters, Vir- 
einia -Dsle, MantBD 3tarr)Bnil. Directetl by 
Derwln Abratuims. Screenplay, W. Seolt 
Darltni;; omem, William (ilelnier; muBie, 
Kdwsrd .1. Kay-; editor.- Aee nerman. At 
New York theatre, U. T., week Maceb 9, 
'48. Rnnnliis tinUi «7 mriftll, 

Charlie Chun.. ......Roland Wlntera 

Tonamy .....VMor .Sen 'YOunis 

Birmingham... Mantan Mureland-- 

Capt. SIcNnlly jolin Gallaudet 

Rene .Virginia Dale 

I.afoatalne .Boyd Irwin 

Nita Aguirre Carol Formaii' 

Pareanx. , , . ,. .IToward Neelt'y 

(Jroek. , ., , . . .DooKlas rowtey 

Ifnnrl Coatemaro..... Kinmett Vogan 
Swendetmn... ........ ......Harry Slayden 

'Chomveon.... .Rocy MalliMon 

Von Stiberbe. . . .. . ,,,v.,. .^.Stanley Andrews 

DaraMtter...;.... . .if eoree J'. Txiwls 

Mr*. iSwe«>detr«n......,....Dlan Fnnulelle 

Dr. notfhle.... ..*,.,........ .Ferris Taylor 

Mol>i1<e -I . , ,. .Haywood Jones 

iJntler. Brie WiUoe 

Ueteetlve. .Forrest Matthcwa 

f-^uffenr , .'Wally 'W'aTkcr- 

Doctor T^arrr Bieers 

I>. A. Man.. ............. .... ..Paul Cicm-ad 

Sergennt.. , , . .Frank Stephenii 

Armed Goara. ... Fred Miller 



It's the current fashion in Briti.sh 
studios to have at least one murder 
in a picture, succeeded by the in- 
evitable trial scene. And so this 
new company, having waited four 
I years for the financial baclung to 
produce this film, made in the old 
I Buttcs-Ghaumont studios in Paris 
I — there was no space here at the 
t time — use the old ingredients none 
i too skillfully. If any bouquets are 
! to be handed out they should go to 
the art d-irector, director of photog- 
raphy, and Georges Auric for a fine 
musical score. 

There is little marquee value 
with Edana Romney, a newcomer, 
and Eric Portman, losing favor 
through repetitive playing in a 
series of pix of practically one 



An implausible plot and medi- 
oore acting wont help "Docks of 
New Orleans" at tlie wicket. Latest 
in Monogram's Charlie Chan series 
sliapes up as below average pro- 
gram filler with little to recom- 
mend it. Production values are 
meagre. 

Yara traces a complicated pat- 
tern liberally sprinkled with the 
standard Chinese philosophy of 
Chan, the famed Oriental detec- 
tive. Latter is fab-ly well pw- 
trayed by Roland Winters, but the 
balance of the cast is relatively 
undistinguished. Better scripting 
by W. Scott Darling might have 
drawn the plot's loose ends to- 
gether into a more logical tale. 

Case which Winters tackles in- 
volves the shipment of chemicals 
from the New Orleans docks. Tliere 
are the usual cliches about various 
individuals receiving threats from 
nhkowR parties. Several killings 
result and the copist are baffled how 
these murders were accomplished. 
Out of a welter of suspects, includ- 
ing a chap who claims be was 
swindled out a "secret" formula 
by the head of the chemical firm. 
Winters gets his man, 

Mantan Moreland and Victor 
Sen Young supply the comedy re- 
lief. Virginia Dale has little to do 
as secretary to Boyd Irwin, her 
uncle and chemical firm exec. 
Story incorporates too many char- 
acters in the footage and as a re- 
sult no one has a chance to dem- 
onstrate thesping aiblity. Title it- 
self is a misnomer as action on 
the waterfront is negligible. 

Direction of Derwin Aterahams 
is only fair in this James S. Bur- 
kett production. William Sickner's 
camerawork is average while other 
production credits reflect the low 
budget. 



AttUlno releaaa el DEFA (Berlin) urodnn- 
tion. Jf*«|ures Wini Fi'ttteh, M;urte tffiS 

*»? Ilohranr. A*vi)ted tnm plS? 
"1.0 Beveillfta," bjr .JteWuio aitd. luSevf- 
imd based on operetta ot same title bv Til 
hatm StrauBB; mmHool acranKeitiettti 

i.';^'"tK:-s,iikir'"'^*-"^»- 

RnwllBdH. BlaawKiMa, . ; Mari-,e Harell 

5 n ''Jr^?*'??*?*'" JB*«nne« Beestrrs 

Melaer, the !ryw Himo JlraueewT-t™; 

Adele, the MaW;....... D«tit KieySet 

growh. the-«w*d. Joseph KjSSS 

Pi Jnco Oirlovaky SclKriod IJi-eSor 

(In German; English Titles) 

Odd; spectacle of Artkino, Bus- 
sta's ofSclal distributor in the U. S 
releashaig this German-made pics 
ture is explained by the fact that 
It is a picture seized by the Rus- 
sians when they got into Berlin 
dmring the war. Its' release under 
aegis of the Russian dlstrib agency 
appears smart business duce "Die 
Fledermaus" looks Uke a real 
money-maker. - 

Geza von Bolvary, who directed 
"Two Hearts in Walta Time," has 
done a good job. Jbhann Sti-auss' 
fine music, coupled with the fact 
that this is one of the first German 
pictures using the Afga color film 
process to be been in the U. S., is 
good showmanship. While not ap- 
pearing to be quite up to Tecbni- 
coloi^ standards, tinting is eiSective 
and never tends to detract from 
the plot or the immortal score. 

Aside from Willi Dohm's suave 
portrayal of The Bat, laurels are 
copped by Marte Harell and Dorit 
Kreysler, two comely blondes. Miss 
Harell, as the flirtatious wife, is 
fascinating in scenes where she's 
supposedly dyed her hair to be- 
come a redhead. Miss Kreysler, 
while apparently assigned to lesser 
role, is particulariy appealing^and 
has an excellent voice. She and 
Hans Brausewetter, as the tenor, 
contribute most of vocalizing. 

Willi Fritsch, young vet of many 
German films, does nicely vrith the 
part of Warden while Johannes 
Heesters is okay as the husband 
with a roving eye. Joseph Egger 
elicks with the subordinated role 
of prison guard. Support is headed 
by SeigCried Breuer, as the prince 

Some of the cast had a collabora< 
tionistic cloud but the Russians 
took over the film, gave it a new 
tag and are salvaging on the lavish 
production. Wear, 

La K«tikii»ie 

(Tile Heavy Water Battle) 
(rmSNCH-MABE) 

Faris, March 3. 

Trtdeiit-Fyeneh rctewie of Trident and 
Ilero-FU^ imducttea. Dtre«ted by TItue 
Wlbe.'M-aller. (KorwcKlan.) Supervised by 
Jean; IJreville: Scrip*, .lean Marin; sereen- 
play and dSiloir, Jean .Drcftlie, Marin, A. 
li'elborK, HobertBon, ICui-t Haukelld, I'oul" 
sen. Commentary by Unrln and Pierre f^a- 
ro^-hc. Mu^c, Gnnnar So»#rHtevold. Cam- 
eta, Bladh, Marvel Welsa. Previewed la 
FarlH. RanninK time, MINS. 



Picture, which depicts the sabo- 
tage of the Norwegian heavy water 
works on which Hitler depended 
to make atomic researches, has 
been made in several versions spo- 
ken in Norwegian, English and 
French, according to which coun- 
try is to be played. Tl),ough it's 
meant to be an action picture, like 
"Battle of the Bail," it boils djjwn 
to a big documentary. Though 
there is some action in, it, it al- 
ways remains rather static. 

Pic has been gi-ven a lot of pub- 
licity, especirlly because it is a 
war picture, backed by all sorts of 
Resistance organization.s, but for 
America it locdcs Uke a dualer un- 
less stripped down to the strictly 
action scenes as a documentary. 

Out-of-door scenes, and some of 
the studio work, have been re- 
enacted by the men who actually 
took part in the action during the 
1 war. Not being actors, they fre- 
' quently look less autttentic than if 
their parts had been handled by 
screen talent. 

Picture, besides the actual war 
episode, includes several sequences 
by scientists explaining tlie atomic 
value of heavy water and why it 
was desirable not to let the (5er- 
mans use it. Maxi. 



Harriet Parsons' Pvod. 

Vahiety's revievf of "I Re- 
member Mama" last week in- 
advertently omitted Harriet 
Parsons, the pie's producer, 
from the credit lineup. Offi- 
cial billing lists Miss Parsons 
as producer, and CJeorge 
Stevens is executive producer 
and director. 

Pic's exact rfinning time, in- 
cidentally, is 134 mimttes. 



Devil's €»rpie 

^■"llrti. I^lasalea reWase ot FSIi-on (rtilHl) 
Krusue) produetion'. Stars John <-iUvert: 
featMres- Ili5<TheIle Hudson. R{in<-()'' TCfU-nw, 
Directed by John F. Wnk. ',S<Teenplay, Won 
Martla. .from original by Holjert 'I'aUinan 
and Jasiin. JamcM; mmcra. Walter .'^IranBe, 
editor, Asa Olarlt. Prevleweri N'. r., Miii*<'n 
11. .Knnnine time, M MI-Wv , , "-; 

MU'liael Warinc, . , , , , . . . ..Ii'Un < alvei t 

Marno. , Rdr-lu'll'.' ■Ilnilsiin 

Ueuteoiint H.irdy ...liiw-ep Kama 

.Worello, , , , , 

S'ViKa..,.,,, ...... 

fi(-riilis : 

•I'nni .Million.-. 

llftiniin BelKado , . 



. . l.sie T-jllKit 

Tnm K-eiiiii-ily 

Paul IK Stan 
'I'beixioi'c vmi l'-l.l>' 
...... PiMiI ,vlurio» 



A lightweight whodunit, "Devil s 
Cargo" is passable cntertainracnt, 
John Calvert and RoeheUe Hudson 
head the cast of this low budgeter, 
obviou.sly primed for the douwe 
bill neld. ' , " 

Appearing as the Fa'^on,, 
based upon the character creaieo 

tContinued on page 18) 



PICTURES 



m LoBdoii 'Out-Trade' H'wood? 



Contlnnied from v^ge 1 
entirely on the American industrj-'s 



in a number of companies) must be 
spread over fewer films, This cuts 
coasidenibl; from the potential 
profit of films made abroad. 

Still another factor presented by 
the downbeaters is that the play- 
ing time in American theatres used 
by British films is taken from 
Hollywood product. Therefore, the 
income , from British films accru- 
ing to the 12. S. dollar pool is not 
all the profit it appears to be. 
Furthermone, It is. painted out, in 
the case of the major companies 
with affiliated bouses, when they 
play British films they .are gettmg 
only a small perceUtage of the in- 
come, since the coin is going into 
the pool to be divided among not 
only themselves, but the indies and 
minors.' 

Major point of the Gloomy Gus 
arguments, however, is that the 
American industry will be re- 
creating the competitive threat 
once constituted by Rank and Sir 
Alexander Korda. By giving tbem 
playing time in U. S. theatres and 
making blocked pound credits 
available to them, their position 
will be greatly strengthened. A 
year ago, it's said, the American 
industry greatly feared the com- 
petition of Rank. Now, these 
sources aver, the fear has been dis- 
sipated because Bank has proved 
he cannot compete witli Holly- 
wood's output in the U. S. or else- 
where in the world. . The new 
agreement gives him a strong sec- 
ond chance. 

To all this, most American execs 
raise the cry of "unfair criticism." 
Their belief is that the tJ, S. film 
industry in the present day of one 
world cannot any more live in a 
vacuum than can the U. S, itself. 
They feel that the British deserve 
a break and, anyway, "you can't 
get blood from a stone," 



terffls. : " . : 

•Their stand is that the British 
kftw taken an exeeedbvsly long- 
viewpoint of toe whole 
Stter and are vSag the Ameri- 
Sm, to huild op theibr industry. 
J:^»v«e decUied: "The only way 

Shich we are aissured is in toect 

SS^portion to the extent we build 

fc<r Briiish industry," 
. fffej rther viewpoints and the 

mm gciieraUy accepted on6--is 

tihat the settiement is favorable 

because it gives Uie^ American in- 

Jhistiy « *««Wy percentage of 
•itTesHiiine in -ftitain, it removes 

the Intolerable principle of a tax 

which other nations were copying 

and it allows . fnaen coin to be 

g^^Sted in a widM variety of ways, 
the matter of financial 

jBBtnras, » is thought by some very 

jmtimistic observers that they 

^ght reach 75% or more of what 

Ute industry can expect to take out 

of En^and in 1948. General view. 

Itowever, is that the amount ' is 

likely t» he aroimd 50% or 60%. 

fo most people that looks very 

good. Here's the way it's figured: 

IT. a faceme Cram Caglaad 

■. V. " S. income - from ' England, 
ClianceUor of the Exchequer Sir 
Stafford Cripps said in answer to 
questions in Parllabient last Feb. 
34,-^W>s $l%OO0l.flOO for the three- 
month period from Nov. 1, 1947, 
until Jan. 31, 1&48. That would be 
«t the rate of $48,000,000 a year. 
Cripps stated on Feb. 10 in a 
"white paper" on the British eco- 
nomic situation, that U. S. remit- 
tances in,1947 were $52,000,000 and 
|68i000i,000 in 1946. With a plenti- 
ful supply of new product and 
eood weather, it is thought earn- 

<Ittgs for 1948 thus might total 
uoimd $55,000,000. 
• First off, the XT. S. industry is 
guwanteed. $17,000,000 of that 
under the agreement In addition, 
it gets the equivalent of British pic 
-earnings in the V. S., its .posses- 

- sions, Cenbral and South America, 
associated American territories and 
the fhaippiaes. ^Ounugh earmngs 

' last.imr in the U. S. were under 
$2,500,QC» (actual remittances were 
only ^1,400,000), Motion Pictures 
Assn. of Am(^iKa prexy Eric Johns- 
ton, who nagotiated the British 
pact, has lurivately estimated that 
this year's Inconke might be $5,- 
000,000 to $6,000,000. 

Calealatieni 

Using the lower figure— and a 
lot of American execs won't agree 
that it will be even that high- 
total assured income would be 
$22,000,000. That's exactly 40% of 
the anticipated $55,000,000 earn- 
ings. In addition, the agreement 
permits such wide latitude of 
uses of the frozen coin as produc- 
tion in England, manufacture ot 
costumes or sets for shipment to 
Hollywood, purchase of stories and 
plays, theatre buying, etc., plus 
investment outside the picture in- 
dustry ol up to £2,500,000 pounds; 
each two years. 

The doubters point out that the 
agreement hedges all these poten- 
tial uses with the restriction that 
they must be agreed 'on by a joint 
Anglo-American committee and /or 
the British Board of Trade. They 
think that many of the 27 potential 
uses listed in the agreement will 
prove to be a mirage. If not, and 
. ■ the U. s. industry can realize $-10,- 
000,000 from its British production 
and assorted investments, the eam- 
mgs received, would amount to 
60% of the potential. 

Cramped Studio Space 

On the matter of producing in 
' England, it's pointed out that a 
great shortage of $tudio space ex- 
>sts, although there's some excess 
space at tlie moment as a result of 
the tax. Some American companies 
nave their own plants, but those 
Without them may have a tough 
ume making a deal in the sudden 
■ r^^,"^^^ there. tJ. Arthur Rank 
told Vabheiy in jjew York Monday 
|io) his space was all occupied and 
ne hadn't xmuA interest in a part- 
nership arrangement with Ameri- 
can companies.] 

t.^"?ther downbeat opinion is 
witi IT "^'^^ England, even 
U. S. stars, directors, writers ; 
lu-oduccrs, still have "that for- 
n«t f,"-''" have proved in the , 
product'''^ can't equal Hollywood , 

h«,,iq_4. income. Still more im- 1 coiisiuranon, ami u nu iVKn:i:iin.-iJi i.- 

4 * liowever, it is stated, is", roaoliecl .six months alter .Tune 14, 19.>(). 

inat every nictnre mnHp niiicitlp oi' I balsuice is to be di.sjjosed of by tvan.'.- 
i«>-ture maae ouisioe oi , ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ,^ j^,,,^ 

(3) .Such transacHotts are iwt iinpose 



All Pix Shipping licenses 
To Britain Now Cleared 

Washington, March 16. 
Every film company shipping 
film to Britain had its Bept. 
of Commerce shipping licenses 
cleared by Friday or Saturday, 
Nathan D. Golden, Commerce 
Dept. motion picture specialist, re- 
veals;.' : ■ 

The licenses provided footage 
for a period ending July 1, so that 
there is no indication how much 
film has been sent since the sign- 
ing of the new British deal. How- 
ever, some films were cleared and 
flown abroad Friday. Golden said 
the companies had been authorized 
to send several miUion feet of pic- 
tures, the biggest staigle license for 
England going to ZOth-Fox, which 
was okayed for 450,000 feet. 



MW BRFDSH lUMTRE 
BLDG.OUT-LARRYKENT 

PossibiU^ of American film 
companies investing their frozen 
pounds in new theatre construe 
tion in Britain is decidedly nmote; 
opines Lawrence R. Kent, 20th- 
Fox's rep on the, Gauraont-British 
circuit board. He arrived in New 
York last week, his first visit in 
tliree years. 

Kent revealed that Gaumont 
long has been considering . theatre 
expansion, but the chain's plans 
must be : held in abeyance for at 
least five years due to the acute 
need of housing. Film industry, he 
said, has a low building priority 
and has difficulty in getting repair 
materials fbr. existing theatres lct> 
alone new ones. 



m 

As Regards Own 50^ Tax 

Sydney, March 16 
Pending further advice from the 
British government, the Australian 
government is holding off any -of fi' 
ciai statement on revision of its 
own coin freeze of 50% on foreign 
film earnings. Industry leaders, 
however, are certain Uiat the gov- 
ernment will ei&er cut the presoat 
freeze in half or wipe it out com- 
pletely. 

According to major execs, re' 
moval of the British tax snarl will 
immediately see an upbeat in Aus- 
tralian produ£i»Hi. Kibosh was puir 
on domesltic studio acUidty after 
the British closed the door on 
Aussie pix with the 75% tax. 



Sop to Cripps Is That 
'Arts and Charity' Clause 

London, March 16. 
Sir Stafford Cripps, Chancellor 
of the Exchequer, tetcktracked 
plenty in the pact made with the 
American film industry last week. 
Cripps had been adaniant since 
the 75% tax was invoked last Aug. 
1 that the government would 
neither allow to be remitted more 
than $16,000,000 nor permit a 
&eeze which would pile up U, 
coin in Britain, 
points in the 
reached. 

Sop to Cripps is seen in the 
stipulation of the agreement that 
any coin for which previous dis- 
position has not been determined, 
at the end of the four-year agree- 
ment, will go to "charitable or 
public uses, including encourage- 
ment of arts and sciences." It is 
understood that Cripps has a par- 
ticular interest in a cultural estab- 
lishment on the Thames and it is 
contemplated that the unused coin 
will go in that dii-ection. 



Brit Off eredOnly $16,000,000 

Review of How Harmon Rounded Up Top Film 
Execs^in the U. S. 



Who's Kidding Whom? 

Employees of the Motion 
Picture Assn. of America have 
kiddingly nicknamed Francis 
Harmon, v.p. in charge of the 
New York office, "Hatrack 
Harmon." ' ■ 

Prior to the meeting last 
week of company execs to hear 
the terms of the British pact, 
as phoned from England by 
Eric Johnston, Harmon was 
extra-anxious that newsmam 
not fcnow the session was being 
held. A hatrack in the corri- 
dor outside the MPAA board 
room always tips the meetings 
off when it's loaded with the 
coats and chapeaux of those 
attending. So, in an opera 
bouffe move for secrecy. Har- 
mon tiptoed out and himself 
carried the well-laden hatrack 
into the board room; 

P,S.: He was caught tiptoe- 
tag..'.' 



He lost on both 
pact as .finally 



Mono Revives Co-Proi 
Deal With Brit Patbe 
With K.O. of the 75% Tax 

Joint film-making arrangement 
bet\veai Monogram and Pathe Pic- 
tures, Ltd., of England, originally 
announced last October, but later 
shelved, will be revived now that 
Britain's 75% tax has been wiped 
off. Mono prexy Steve Broidy, who 
arrived in New York over the 
weekend, pointed out Monday (15 » 
that everything was in readiness 
for an early resumption of the 
companies' reciprocal production 
plans. 

, Broidy said that several scripts 
had been held asUto lor British 
prbdaciian during the long tax im- 
passe. Among stories proposed last 
fall for shooting were two yarns, 
"The Maze" and "The Highway'' 
man," which Mono producers Jef- 
frey Bemerd and James Burkett 
were to handle in Britain. 

Plan, which called for Mono and 
Pathe to set un mutually owned 
producing subsidiaries in the V. S. 
and Britain, provided for 50% of 
the new American firm's profits to 
accrue to Pathe in dollars while 
revenues of the British counterpart 
would be split in pounds. Broidy 
revealed that Pathe managing di- 
rector William Moffat, who inked 
the reciprocal production deal for 
his -company, may visit the U. S. 
some time this spring. Meanwhile, 
the Mono chief disclosed, his firm 
has tal;cn on a number of Pathe 
films for distribution in the U. S. 



Provbions of Anglo-D.S. Film Pact 



Loudon, March 16. 

Provisions of the Anglo-Ameri- 
cim film pact governing the remit- 
tances of dollars and disposal of 
the uhremittablc portion of coin is 
detailed as follows: 

In each, of the two annual pe- 
riods after June 14, the Treasury 
will remit film earnings in dollars 
at cuiTent exchange rates by de- 
livering (1) $17,000,000 per annum 
in equal monthly installments, and 
(2) dollars, payable quarterly, equal 
to British film revenues in the 
U. S., Central and South America, 
Associated American territories, 
U. S. possessions and the Philip- 
pines.- 

American revenues in excess of 
the above amounts will be han- 
dled as follows: • 

(1) Schedule of Permitted Vfcs: 1o 
encompas.<; uses within tlie lilm indus- 
try in the sterling area without limit 
an to amount. 

■ (2) U.ses outside the fflm industry in 
llie U. K' liitiited to 2,500,000 pounds 
sterling during the first two yearis. 

(3> Temporar.v Investment,'; wJiich 
are not permanent use or disposal oC 
funds. 

U, S. oonipanics are also entitled to 
ap)>lv to the Board o£ Trade to use 
tlieir earninss for other purpose.'!. Ma- 
cliiner.v will bo set up by both sides 
lo pass upon applications of llic above 
sciiedules. 

Unused Balance of Earnings 

Unused balance of U. S. earninfts will 
be handled under the followins terms: 

(1) H aijreement is extended to sec- 
ond two .v-ears, 50')h or 2,000,000 pound!!, 
whichever is .sSreater, will be carried 
forward into tiie second period. 

(2) Kcmainder will be sub.iecl to 
cohsultation, and if no aRrccment is 



irnm^n- .,051. 
'Studio overhead (above 50'."* 



.strain on V. %. dollar position or give 
rise to any future claim on sterling. 
Charitable, scientific >and artistic insti- 
tutions may oe the recipients. 

<4) H ai^reement is not extended 
beyond 1950, partie: reserve full free- 
dom of action, except that unexpended 
residue may be used as set forth in 
schedules for a two-year periods except 
that purchases of foreign rights to Brit- 
ish films are forbidden. 

(Principles and Definitions: New 
York Company Is U. S. distributor 
whose films are distributed in Britain 
on commercial basis. Agreement Com- 
pany is one entitled to receive funds 
J'oi- account of N. Y. company. Asso- 
ciated company is company in sterling 
area, except Agreement Company, con- 
trolled by N. Y. company.) 

Disbursements * ' 

Sterling funds of Agreement Com- 
pany are to be treated as follows: 

(1) In payment oj: n4>niud stcrlinf! 
expenditure without restrictions; (2) 
in providing sterling equivalent of dol- 
lars to be remitted to N. Y. companies; 
(3) payment of Brlti.sh producers for 
dollar earnings from distribution ot 
pictures in dollar area; (4) unrcrait- 
lable balance subject to Permitted 
Use.s", listed above. 

In addition to specific uses listed be- 
low, Agreement companies may u.se 
unremittable sterling for any trans- 
.iction with approval of the BOT and 
Treasury. 

Pei mitted Uses of miremittable ster- 
ling include; payment of any obligation 
of N. Y. company or Associated com- 
pany incurred prior to date to be 
agreed upon (probably date of agree- 
ment) ; purchase of real estate: lease, 
con.-struction or renovation of buildings, 
including studios and equipment; if 
acquired by N, Y. company, latter must 
hold title; acquisition of theatres or in- 
terest in theatres subject to prior ap- 
proval of EOT and Treasury. 

Also, for purchase or license of lit- 
erary, dramatic, musical, radio, tele- 
visio'n rights, and payment of royal- 
ties; patent rights and other film In- 
du.Mtry rights. ' 

Also, payment of distribution and 
production, in particular- payments for 
domestic or foreign rights to sterling 
area films, via outrigltt purchaise or 
financial participation; payments for 



prints without regard to origin with 
BOT agreeing to permit importation of 
raw stock for this purpose. 

Also, payments iEor all film advertjS' 
Ing and radio transcriptions with Brit- 
ain agreeing to grant exemptloip fimm 
Excliange Control Act of IMT to permit 

Also, payments for personal services 
in sterling area; for pension funds for 
eniplo.vecs of Agreement or Associated 
companici: for payment of British 
taxes by N. Y. or Aissociated companies. 

Production 

Also payment for production costs 
required Jpy N. Y. companies in pro- 
duction of films; payment to charities, 
etc.; tor acquisition and publication of 
film periodicals; travel, living expenses 
in sterling area ot employees and loca- 
tion units of N. V. companies, and to 
shipping companies and travel agencies 
ill sterling area; freight and shipping 
charges, cable charges. 

Also, payment to effect internal ad- 
justments among Agreement com- 
panies; pa.yment of capital sterling 
debts, including mortgages, . etc.; pur- 
chase of all securities, except such in- 
terests cannot be disposed of to other 
than British subjects. 

Also, loans, credit to sterling area 
companies in which Agreement or 
N. Y. companies are financially inter- 
ested; loans to U. K. companies or in- 
dividuals in film industry; payment of 
obli'Sations owed by N. Y. companies 
to Briti.sh subjects or corporaUons, in- 
cluding dividends; acquisition of Brit- 
i.sh niniR in dollar area; amounts due 
to British production personnel em- 
ployed by U. S. companies in any part 
of the world; acquisition, redemption 
or retirement of stocks, etCi, ol N, Y, 
Agreement or Associated companies 
held by British subjects. 

Also. pa}>ments to Associated com- 
panies as allowed under Permitted 
Uses; payments to indie U. S, producers 
wltose films pre distributed by Ameri- 
can companies as permitted by the 
agreement; security, deposit or collat- 
eral payments for loans by N.Y. Agree- 
ment or Associated companies, wltliin 
sterling area. 

Also, pavmenl to promote mereban- 
di;:n u.Niports fi om tlie IT. S. and sterling 
»r*as to dollar markets, under condi- 
tions appi'ovod by Treasury and BOT. 



British negotiators in the agrjje- 
ment reached with the American 
industry last week were insistent 
up to tiie last hotu: that the sum 
for remittance to the U. S. be 
$16,000,000. not the $17,000,000 
finally agreed upon, it has been 
learned. 

It was actually only an hour 
b^ore Eric Johnston, Motion Pic- 
ture Assn. of America president, 
was to call his membership in New 
York that Board of Trade prexy 
Harold Wilson came around to his 
way of thinking. Johnston had in- 
sisted that the American industry 
might reject the agreement alto- 
gether if the British failed to come 
through with the ejctra $1,000,000. 

The terms of the agreeinent 
were phoned to New York by 
Johnston last Wednesday (10) 
morning, the . day before Wilson 
was to go l)cfore Parliament to 
make a report on the negotiations. 
Wilson told Johnston that he was 
going to make the Parliamentary 
appearance whether or not an 
agreement was reached. He said 
that if he went before the House: 
without being able to offer it a 
fait accompli, the American indus- 
try took a chance on the whole 
agreement's being subjected to 
Parliamentary debate. Wilson as- 
sured Johnston the results could 
hardly hif as favorable as an agree- 
ment they reached privately. He 
wanted Johnston to have the okay 
or the nix of the British industry 
before he went on the floor the 
following morning. 

Johnston Phones the Deal 
Thus, with the necessity of 
speed, Johnston read the terms 
over the phone to Francis Harmon/ 
v.p. of the MPAA in New York, 
while a secretary copied it down. 
Incidentally, her error in tran- 
scribing "inside the U. S." to "out- 
side the U. S." confounded and 
lengthily delayed the meeting of 
American execs held later that day 
to consider the agreement. They 
had no inkling, incidentally, until 
jTafanston's call, what shape the 
iMgotiations were taking. 

As soon as Harmon was off the 
phone, he called all the execs he 
could get in New York for a meet- 
ing at the MPAA offices that 
afternoon. Only a few company 
presidents were in town, but v.p.s, • 
foreign chiefs and others were 
gathered together. At the same 
time a series of calls started to 
other prexies in Hollywood, Palm 
Beach. Palm Springs and Miami 
Beach to get their approval. Every- 
one was reached without too much 
trouble except Barney- Balaban, 
whom Harmon finally got on the 
phone at about 6 p.m. 

New York confab went on from 
3 p.m. until about 7:30 in the even- 
ing, when a call was made to 
Johnston in London to impart the 
okay to him. However, there were 
still .many reservations and ques- 
tions; The phone call took one 
hour and 40 minutes. Everything 
was ihially agreed to and Johnston 
then was able to so inform Wilson 
that night. 

MPAA prexy ' reportedly told 
colleagues on phone the day after 
the details of the pact were re- 
leased that he was very disap- 
pointed in the American industry's 
reactiop. He apparently was ex- 
pecting (Nithusiastlc praise, which 
was not altogether forthcoming, 
although there was general ap- 
proval/ 



SOUTH AFRICA TEAROOM 
BATTLES CINEMA TAX 

Cape Town March 6. 
Tax battle which may affect 
many cinema tearooms is being 
fought in supreme court, where 
Elstree Cinema Tearoom (African 
Caterers, Ltd.) is being sued by 
tax authorities for £11,000 (.S44,- 
100) entei-tainraent tax for 1944- 
1948. 

Cinema tearooms have always 
paid a flat rate of one penny per 
head, but it's now claimed that 
tax of 33i&% is leviable if admis- 
sions are collected in advance even 
though rcfresliments are provided 
for this charge. African Caterers' 
case is that it's impossible to as- 
sess how much of admission is for 
refreshments and how much for 
enierlaimnent. 




^^QflBSSBO 60/-QFf/C£ P/C. 




BARRY FITZGERALD 

HOWARD DUU • DOROTHY HART • DON TAYLOR 
ftrecNby JULES DAf.SIN P>od«r-d by MARK HCLLINGFR 

A UNIVf RSAL-INTIRNATIONAL HI LLASL "^^^^ 




12 



PICT1JRB GROSSBS 



WedneBdgy^ Mnrch 17, 194ft 



Rains, Daylight Time FaO to Keep 
'Naked Qty from Big rnmU; 
'Husband' 27y2a%rtlisi(ie'44G, 2(1 



Los Angeles,' March 16. 
Weekend rains and start of day- 
light saving time htere ate tttiling 
to slow tile fast pace of "jSTalced. 
City," playing i|ii . five theailxes; 
mostly small'Seaters. Looks to clock 
big $64,00Q in initial week. Re- 
issue of "Robin Hood", also is in 
the blue chips with $57t000 likely, 
three houses, unusually strong for 
an oldie. "Furia," foreign-made,, is 
very good $6;000 in. the smaill 
Laurel.' 

"Ideal Husband" is way oft at 
$27,500 in five sithations. Third and 
final week of "Call Nprthside" 
looks solid $44,000:6* five spots. It 
makes way March 19 for pop-scale 
run of "Gentleman's Agreement." 
Second frame of VThree Daugh- 
ters" will be average .$31,500 in 
three houses.' "Saigon'f is off .in, 
second stanza, at .two 'PaWftiojunt 
theatres with $25,000i but. sljll 
plenty healthy. Holds- Ajthird., 
Estimates for Tiil9'.W(!e1i:' . - 
Belmont (FWC) <i i532; m^U 
"Ideal Hu.sband" (20th). and "Half 
Past Midnight" (aoth). ; Li6ht. $4, 
000. Last week, ■"Panhandle' 
(Mono) and "LOHistaa?" (Mono), 
$3,500. . 

Beverly Hills Music Hall (G&l§ 
Blumenfeld) (826; 65-$l) — "In- 
trigue" (UA> (2d wk). Scant $2,500. 
' Last week, didn't live up to hopes, 
dark $3,400. 

Carthay Circle (1,518; 60-$l)— 
"Call Northside" (20th) and "Live 
Again" (20th) (2d wk). Near-$6,000. 
Last week, okay $7,800. 

Chinese (Grauman-WC) (2,048; 
«0-$l)— "Noirthside" (20th) (3d wk). 
Okay $8,500. Last week, neat $12,- 
700. 

Culver (FWC) (1,145; 60-$l)— 
"Ideal Husband" (20th), and "Half 
Past Midnight" (20th). Thin $4,000. 
. Last week, "Panhandle" ■- (Mono) 
and "Louisianal' (Mono), same. 

Downtown (VVB) (i;800; 60-$l)— 
"Robin Hood" (WB7 (reissue). Nifty 
$20,00.0- Last week, "Voice Turtle" 
IWB) (3d wk), $11,000.- '■ 
■ Oowiitown Music Hall (Blumen- 
feld) (872; 60-$l)— "Intrigue" (UA) 
(2d wk). Slow $8,000.~ Last week, 
$11,300. . 

Egyptian (FWC) (1,538;. 60-$l)— 
"Three Daring Daughters" (M-G) 
(2d wk). Average $8,500. Last 
week, good $13,700. 

El Rey (FWC) (861; e0-$l)— 
"Ideal Husband" (20th) and "Half 
. Past Midnight" (20th). Fair $4,500. 
Last week, "Panhandle" (Mono) 
and "Louisiana" (20th), dull $2,800. 

Esquire (Rosener) (685; 85-$1.20) 
• —"Nicholas Nickleby" (U) (3d wk). 
Oke $2,500. Last week, nice $3,100. 

Four Star (UA-WC) (900; $1.20- 
$1.80) — "Mourning . Becomes Elec- 
tra" (RKO) (12th wk). Near $3,000. 
Last week, thin $3,100. 

Guild (FWC) (968; 60-$l)— ' 
"Naked City" (U). Husky $8,500. 
Last week. "Black Bart" (U) and 
"Jiggs, Maggie in Society" (Mono) 
(2d wk-8 days), $1,900. . 

Hawaii (G&S-Blumenfeld) (1,106; 
^ 60-$l)— "Intrigue" (UA) (2d wk). 
Down to .fS.OOO or near. Last week, 
below liopes at okay $3,700. 

Hollywood (WB) (2,756; 60-$l)— • 
"Robin Hood" (WB) (reissue). 
Fast $19,000. Last week. "Voice 
Turtle" (WB) (3d wk), good $9,600., 

Hollywood Music Hall (Blumen- 
feld) (475; 60-85)— "Intrigue"' (UA) 
(2d wk). Slow $2,500, Last week, 
$3,500. 

Iris (FWC) (828: ■ 60-85) — 
"Naked City" (U). Bright $S?000 
or better. Last week, "Black Bart" 
(U) (2d wk-8days), $1,900. 

Laurel (Rosener) (890; 85) — 
"Furia" (FC). Good $6,«00. Last 
week, "Caravan" (EL), slow $1,900. 

Loew's State (Loew-WC) (2.404; I 
60-$l)— "Northside" (20th) and! 
"Live Again" (20th) (3d wk). Good ! 
$16,000. Last week, trim $20,500. : 
Los Angeles (D'town-WC) (2,- , 
097; 60-$!)— "Daughters" (M-G) ! 
(2d wk). Down to $15,000. Last 
week, okay $23,000. | 
• Loyola (FWC) (1,248; 60-$l)— | 
"Northside" i20lh) (3d wk). Trim ; 
$6..500. La.st week, $8,300. i 

Orphcum, (D'town-WC) 
60-$l) — "Ideal Hu.sband" 
and "Half Past Midnight" 
Dull $9,500. Last week, 



Broadway Grosses 



Estimated Total Gross 
This Week $719,800 

(Baaed on 23 theatres) 
Last Year. . , , , . . , $712,000 
(Based oti 18 theatres) 



'Earth' Torrid 
m St Loo 

St. liOUis, March 16,: 
With only two Of the ihaihstem; 
cinemas- offering frei5,h screen fod- 
der "Scudda Hoo, Sciidda Hay" ap- 
pears to have a slight edge over 
"Ends of Earth," though latter is 
in a smaller house. Grosses were> 
Clipped last ■ week by a 25-hour 
show storm, heaviest of winter and 
a drop of the-mercury to -near zero. 
But spring-like weather now is on 
tap. 

' Esttmate> for This.Week 
Ambassador (F&M) (3,000; 50-75) 
—"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (2d wk). 
Neat $18,000 after big $21,060 initial 
week. 

Fox (F&M) (5,000; 50-75) — 
"Scudda Hoo, Scudda Hay" (20th) 
and "Perilous Waters" (Mono). 
Fine $24,000. Last week, "Naked 
City" (U) and "Dangerous Venture" 
(UA), $18,000. 

Loew's (Loew) (3,172; 50-75)— 
"Ends of Earth" (Col) and "Fabu- 
lous Joe" (UA), Big $22,000. Last 
(Continued on page 20) 



'Saigon' Best Buff. Bet, 
Big $19,000; 'Winter' lOG 

Buffalo, March 16. 
Best bet here this stanza will be 
"Saigon," big at Great Lakes. 
"Sign of Ram" loote fairly nice at 
Lafayette. • • ■ - 

Estimates for This Week 
Buffalo (Shea) (3,500; 40-70)— "If 
Winter Gomes" (M-G) and "Cap- 
tains Courageous" (M-G) (reissue). 
Not much over veiy thin $10,000. 
Last we^kii "Meant for Me" (20th) 
and "The Challenge" (Mono), solid 
$18,000. 

, Great Lakes (Shea) (3,400; 40-70) 
—"Saigon" (Par) and "Mr. Reck- 
les.s" (20th). Big $19,000. Last 
we'ek. "Gentleman's Agreement" 
(20th) (2d wk), $11,000. 

Hipp (Shea) (2,l(j0; 40-70)— "Ideal 
Husband" (20th) and "Tender 
Years" (20th). Nice $5,500. Last 
week,- "Call Northside" (20th) and 
"Dangerous Years" (20th) (m.o.), 
great $9,500. • 
. Teck (Shea) (1,400; 40-70)— 
"Meant for Me" (20th) and "Tlie 
Challenge'' (Mono) (m.o.). Good 
$4,500. Last week, "Congorilla" 
(Indie) and "Borneo" (Indie) (re- 
Lssues), $4,700. 

Lafayette (Basil) (3,000; 40-70)— 
"Sign of Ram" (Col) and "Return 
of Whistler" (Col). Nice $14,000 or 
near. Last week, "Double Life'' 
(U) and "Lone Wolf London" (Col), 
$13,000. 

20th Century (20th Cent.) (3.000;- 
40-70)— "Bishop's Wile" (RKd) (3d 
wk). Rugged $7,000 in 5 days. Last 
week, $12,000. / 



Chaplin Hot 16G, Monti 

; Montreal, March 16. 
Lent is slowing up biz currently 
In most houses. "Monsieur Ver- 
doux" looks week's best bet at the 
Pulace with strong wssioii in pros- 
pect. • ' 
. - Estimates for Thl« Week 
Loew;a (C. T.) (3,115; 35-47-147)— 
"Captain Castile'* <20th) (2d *k). 
<Jood ''$15,<)00. LAst week, «'mash 
$23,500. > ^ 
Capitol (C. T.) (2,610; 30-45-62)— 
"Nightmare Alley" (20th). Okay 
$14,500. - Last, week, "The Exile" 
(U) (2d Wk). thin $5,500. 
^Falace (C. T.) (2,578; 30-45-62)— 
'%ons. Verdouk" (UA). Smart 
$1(1,000. Last week, TWoman's 
Vengeance" (U). dull $10,000. - 

Princess (C. T.) (2,270; 30-40-53) 
—"I Love Trouble" (Col) and 
"Glamor Girl" (Col). Only $5,000. 
Last week, "Tender Years" (20th) 
and "When Girl's BeaujtiM" (CoD, 
$4,500.. 

Imperial (C. T.) (1,916: 30-40-50) 
—"Driftwood" (Rep) arid "Spanish 
Trail" (U). Routine $4,500. Last 
week, "1,001 Nights" (Col) and "To- 
night, Every Night" (Col) (reis- 
sues), $4,000. 

Orpheum (C. T.) (1,119; 30-40-60) 
— "Camllle" (M-G). (2d wk). Nice 
$4,500. Last weekr spM $6,000. 

Heidt Dps 'Angel' 
Huskym,D.C. 

Washington, March 16. 

- Standout in a dull week here is 
"Tenth Ave. Angel," at Capitol, 
which Is being pulled out front by 
the draw of Horace Heidt's band 
and revue show On. stage. Other- 
wise most spots seem to have dug 
themselves in to sit out the pre- 
holiday slump. However, ''Saigon" 
shapes nice at the Warner. 

Estimates for This Week 
Capitol (Loew's) (2,434; 44-80)— 
"10th Ave. Angel" (M-G) with 
Horace Heidt's orch on stage. 
Husky $30,000, thanks to stage- 
show, and special broadcast Sun- 
day performance, latter being sell- 
out at.-$1.50 uniform price. Last 
week, "Alias Gentleman" (M-G) 
plus vaude, okay $21,000. 

Columbia (Loew's) (1,263; 44-70) 
— "Song Bernadette" (M-G) (re- 
issue). Blah $3,000 in 5 days, and 
yanked in midweek. Last week, 
"Capt. Castile" (20th) (2d run), 
satisfactory $7,000. ^ 
Keith's (RKO) (1,939; 44-80) — 
Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (4th wk). 
Fine $11,000 after $13,000 for. third 
week. ■ 

Metropolitan (WB) (1,163: 44-70) 

— "Panhandle" (Mono). Trim 
.$9,000. Last week, "Black Nar- 
cissus" (U), hot $12,000. • 

Palace (Loew's (2,370; 44-74) — 
"Sleep, My Love" (UA). Dull $15,- 
000. Last week. "Double Life" 
(U), disappointing $17,000. 

Warner (WB) (2,154; 44-74) — 
"Saigon".- (Par). .Nice $17,000. 
Last week, "T-Men" (EL)i, $15,000, 
a bit below expectations. 



Lent Still Sknighing Detroit Albeit 
'Albuquerque' 22G, Husband' Dim 18G 



Key Cit|r Grosses 

Estimated Total Gross 
This Week . , $2,808,000 

(Based on 23 citie* 221 thea- 
tres, chief to first run*, incluo- 
ing N. y.) 

Total-Groilii Same Week 
La«tTear $3,107,000 

( Based on 21 cities 198 theo- 

,.tres. ) ■ 



i^owl^psQeve^ 
'Earth' Hefty % 

Cleveland, March 16. 
Despite a traffic-stopping snow- 
storm at start. "To Ends of Earth" 
is punching out a strong-voltage 
gross for the Palace. "Girl Tisa" 
at Hipp is very dull but State's 
"Saigon" is fancy. "Double Life" 
is mild at Ohio, v 
Estimates for This Week 
'Allen, (RKO) (3,000; 55-70)— 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO). Smart 
$13,500 for fourth week after 
$15,000 last lap. 

Hipp (Warners) (3,700; 55-l'0)— 
"Girl Tisa" (WB). Very thin $13,000. 
Last week, "Gentleman's Agree- 
ment" (20th) (2d wk), unexpectedly 
dropped to $16,000, but still oke. 

Lake (Warner) (800- 55-70)— 
"Gentleman's Agreement" (20th) 
(m.o.): Satsifying $4,200. Last week, 
"Bambi" (RKO) (reissue), $3,000. 

Lower Mall (Community) (570; 
55-70)— "Furia" (Indie). Warmed 
up to $5,500; and may hold. Last 
week,' "Song , of Heart" (Mono), 
$5,000. 

Ohio (Loew's) (1,200; 55-70-^ 
"Double Life" (U). Not too hot at' 
$6,000. Last week, "Three Daring 
Oauehters" (M-G), lively $7,000 for 
third round. 

Palace (RKO) (3,300; 55-70)— 
"To Ends Of Earth" (Col). Lots of 
vitality here at $22,000. Last week, 
"Call Northside" (20th) (2d wk), 
very satisfying $16,500. 

State (Loew's) (3,450; 55-70)— 
"Saigon" (Par). Strong $20,000. 
Last week, "Double Life" (U), way 
off at $14,500. 

Stillman (Loew's) (2,700; 95-70— 
"Smugglers" (ED, Rugged going 
at $8,000. Last week, "Philadelphia 
Story" (M-G) (reissue), bright 
$7,500. 



T.u.v ». March 16. 

The boKOffiee slump continues 
in all picture theaUes here, with 
grosses hitting discouraging level* 
because of., continued Lenten intZ 
^^''"^"^^3?^'! "^""""s as best' 
at the Palms, with biE.session, "An 
Heal Husband," at'Fox, is very 

; - "High Wall" shapes sock at the 
Downtown. . - 



(2,210; 
(20th) 
'f20th). 
"Pan- 



handle" (Mono) and"Louisiana" 
(Mono), fair $13,200. 

Pantasres (Pan) (2,812; 50-$!)— 
"Knew Susie" (RKO) and "Tracy 
•Meets Gruesome" (RKO) (2d.wk). 
" Modest $8,500. Last Week, $14,800. 
Paramount (F&M) (3,398; 60-$l) 
■—"Saigon" (Par) and "Mr. Reck- 
less" (Par) (2d wk). Oke $15,000, 
, Last week, solid $26,300. 

Paramount Hollywood (F&M) 
(1,451; eO-$l)— "Saigon" (Par) and 
"Mr. Reckless" (Par) (2d wk). Nice 
$10,000, Last week, $13,900. 

RKO Hlllstreet (RKO) (2,890; 60- 
80)— "Knew Susie" *RKO) and 



"Dick Tracy" (RKO) (2d wk). Slight 
$10,000. Last week, $15,800. 

Bitz (FWC) (1,370; 60-$l)— 
"Naked City" (U). Great $13,500. 
Last week. "Black Bart" (U) {2d 
Wk-8 days), thin $3,100. 

Studio City (FWC) (880; 60-$l) — 
"Naked City" (U). Fancy $8,500. 
Last week, "Black Bart" (U) (2d 
wk-8 days), $2,600. 

United Artists (UA) (2-.100; 60- 
.$1)— "Naked City" (U). Big $24.- 
."500. Lasit week, "Black Bart" (U) 
and ".liggs and Maggie" (Mono) 
(2d wk), slow $6,200. 

Uptown (PWC) -(1,719; '60-$l)— 
"Northside" (20th) and "Live 
Again" (20th) (3d wk). Good $7,- 
000. Last week, .$9,200. 

Vogue (FWC) (885; 60-85)— 
"Ideal Husband" (20th) and "Half 
Past Midnight" (20th). Fair $5,500. 
Last week, "Panhandle'' (Mono) 
and "Louisiana"* (Mono), slow $3,- 
600.. 

Wilshire (FWC) (2.296; 60-$l)— 
"Daughters" (M-G) (2d wk). Neat 
$8,000. Last week, $13,400. 

Wiltern (WB) (2.300; 60-$l)— 
"Robin Hood" (WB) (reis.sue). Solid 
$18,000, Last week, "Voice Turtle" 
(WB) (3d wk), very good $10,900. 



Reissues Cheer Up Pitt; 
Un Hood' Lusty 17G, 
life' Stout With 14iG 

Pittsburgh, March 16. 

The reissue, "Adventures of 
Robin Hood," is out in- front by a 
wide Margin at the Stanley this 
week. Picture 'opened terrific on 
Saturday (13) and may even get a 
moveover to the Warner. Next best 
is "A Double Life" at Harris, doing 
big on strength of rave -reviews. 
Another reissue, "Philadelphia 
Story," at Penn, is not doing well 
at Stanley, but this may be due to 
its hurried booking. Moveovers' of 
"Call Northside 777" at Senator 
and "Saigon" at Ritz are solid. 
Estimates for This Week 

Fulton (Shea) (1,700; 44-76)— 
"The Flame" (Repl. Lucky to wind 
up with $4,500. Last week, "Bish- 
op's Wife" (RKO), liice $6,000 
fifth week. 

Harris (Harris) (2,200; 44-76)— 
"Double Life" (U). Glowing notices 
are turning the trick lor this one. 
Strong $14,500 or near. La.st week, 
second of "Call Northside" (20th) 
fine $11,000. 

Penn (LoCw's-UA) (3,300; 44-76) 
—"Philadelphia Story" (M-G) (re- 
issue). Stuck in on short notice 
when pop-priced date on "Duel In 
Sun" (SRO) fell through as result 
of differences between Loew's and 
Selznick. The $13,000 likely on 
this is something of a disappoint- 
ment: Last week, "Saigon" (Par), 
strong $19,000. 

Ritz (Loew's) (800; 44-76)— "Sai- 
gon" (Par) (m.o.). Nice $3, .500. Last 
week, second of "3 Daring Daugli- 
ters" (M-G). healthy $3„500. 

Senator (Harris) (1,7.50) — "Call 
North.side" (20th) (ni.o.). Continu- 
(Continued on page 20) 



LADD LUSTY $17,000, 
DENVER; 'EARTH' 24G 

Denver, .March 16, 
"To Ends of Earth'" will land top 
coin this week- via day-dating in 
three spots. But "Saigon" looks 
relatively stronger with smash 
week at Denham. It is holding. 
Estimates for This Week 
Aladdin (Fox) (1,400; 3.5-74)— 
"Call Northside" (20tn) and "Head- 
ing for Heaven" (EL), after week 
at Denver, Esquire, Webber, Rialto. 
Nice $4,500. Last week, "Life of 
Henry VIH" (FC), fair $4,000., 

Denham (Cockrjll) (1,750; 35-74) 
—"Saigon" (Par). Big $17,000. 
Holds. Last week, "Albuquerqui?" 
(Pan (2d wk) and "Caged Fury" 
(Par), nice $14,500. 

Denver (Fox) (2,525; 35-74)— 
"Ends of Earth" (Col) and "Let's 1 
Live Again" (20th), day-date with 
Esquire, Webber. Fine $18,000. 
Last week, "Black Bart" (U) and 
"Challenge" (20th), good $16,000. 

Esquire (Fox) (742; 3.'j-74)— 
"Ends of Earth" (Col) and "Let's 
Live Again" (20th), also Denver, 
Webber. Nice $3,000. Last week, 
"Voice of Turtle" iWB) (2d vyk) 
(m.o.) and ''A I w a y s. Together" 
(WB), $2,000, 

Orphenm (RKO) (2,600; 35-741— 
"Knew Susie ' (RKO) and "Frieda" 
(U), Okay $14,000. Last week, 
»n I "Killer McCoy" (M-G) and "Cara- 
I van" (EL), good $16,000. 
I Paramount (Fox) (2,200; 3.5-74)— 
I "Ideal Hu,sband " (20th) and "Drift- 
;wood" (Rep). Fair $11,000. LaSt 
(week, "Girl Tisa" (WB) and "Al- 
jways Together" (WB), thin .$9,000. 

Bialto (Fox) (878; 35-74)— "Black 
IBart" (U) and "Challenge" (20th), 
! after week at Denver, Webber. 
Mild $4,000. Last week, "Call 
Northside" i20lh) and "Heading for 
Heaven" (EL) (m.o ), fine $5,500. 

Tabor (Fox) (1,967; 3.5-74)— "In- 
visible Man" (Indie) and "Invisible 
Man Returns " ( Indie). Oke $9i000. 
Last week, "Pittsburgh" (indie) 
and "Green Hell" (Indie), good 
$11,000. 

Webber (Fox) (750; 35-74)— 
"Ends of Earth" fCoD and "Let's 
Live Again" (20th)i also Denver, 
Esquire. Fair $3,000. Last week, 
"Bl.ick Ban." (U^ and "Challenge" 
(20th), $3,200. 



Estimates for This Week 

..Adams (Balaban) (1,746; 70-95)— 

■i^^f Ml"^*"*.*." wk). 
Fair $8,000 after satisfactory 
$10,000 last week. ' 

Art Cinema (Marten) (250; 60-90) ■ 
''Beauty and Beast" (Indie) (2d wk) 
Satisfactoiy $1,200 after big $1,500 
last week. , « ^ , v 

^ (United - De- 

troit) (3,309; 70-95)-,"T-,Men" (EL) 
and ' Linda Be Good" (EL) (3d wk) 
Sagging to $12,000, after nice $16: 
000 second stanza. 

Downtown (Balaban) (2,683 ; 70- 
95)— "High Wall" (M-G) and "An- 
gels Alley" (Mono). Sock $12,000. 
Last weeit, "I£ Winter Comes" 
M-G)^and "BlOUdle in Dough" 
(Col), $7,500. 

Fox (Fox-Michigan) (5,100; 70-95) 
— 'Ideal Hvsband" (20th) and 
' Woman's Vengeance" (U). Dull 
$18,000. Last week. "Call North- 
side" (20th), lively $22,000. 

Michigan (U-D) (4,089; 70-95) — 
"Knew Susie" (RKO) and "Main 
Street Kid" (Rep) (2d wk). Easy 
$15,000 after fancy $18,000 last 
week. 

Palms (U-D) (2,976; 70-95)— "Al- 
buquerque" (Par) and "Always 
Together" (WB). Swell $22,000. 
Last week, "T-Men" (EL) and 
"Linda Be Good" (EL), $16,000. 

United Artists (U-D) (2,976; 70- 
95) — "Sign of Ram" (Col) and 
"Campus. Honeymoon"' (Rep), Dis- 
appointing $8,000,-' Last week, 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) and "The 
Flame" (Rep), sturdy $15,000. , 

Lent 0ents L'ville But 
Tycoon' Stvks Upstream 
To 14G; life' Doiri2G 

Louisville, March 16. 
Business is on the slow side this 
week, no doubt reflecting Lenten 
season. Only two houses, Rialto 
with "Tycoon" and National with 
the Ink Spots and Lucky Millinder 
band plus "Vance Returns" are 
causing any commotion at the 
wicket. Spring-like week-end 
weather lured patrons outdoors. 
"Henry V" is playing .second date 
here at the Scoop, with $5,000 or 
over likely. 

Estimates for This Week 
Brown (Fourth Avenue) (1,200; 
45-65)— "Meant for Me" (20lh) and 
"Half Past Midnight" (20lh) (m.o ). 
Satisfactory $5,000. La.st wct'k, 
"Walk Alone" (Par) (m.o.), modest 
$4,000. 

Kentucky (Switow) (1.200: 30-40) 
—"Wistful Widow" (U) and "AI- 
wa,vs Together" (WB). Okay fptJ.SOO. 
Last week, "Wild Irish Rose" iVVB) 
and "Exile" (U), $3,500. 

Mary Anderson (Peoplc'.s) (1.100; 
45-65.)- "Girl Tisa" (WB). Critics 
were not complinienlary. Slow 
$7,000. Last week, "Voice of Tur- 
tle" (WB) (3d wk), trim .$6,000. 

National (Standard) (2.400; 6.5-85) 
— "Philo Vance Returns ' ( KL) with: 
Ink Spots, Lucky Millinder orch, 
others, on stage. Nice $20,000. hut 
Lent is hurting. Last week. "Three 
on Ticket" (EL) and Tiny Mill orch, 
Qlhers, on stage, brislc .'61 4,000- 

Riiilto (FA) (3,400; 4,^-(i5)— "Ty- 
coon" (RKO). Doing best <ilm bi-i 
on main stem; neat $14,000. Last 
week, "Meant for Me" i20th) and 
"Half Past Midnight" (20th), good 
$16,000. 

Scoop (L'ville Theatres) (-700: !)0- 
$1.80)— "Henry V" (UA). RiKish 



import garnering moderate $5,000. 
La.st week. "Nicholas Nickellw" 
(U), nice ,$2,800. 

State (Loew's) (3,000; 4.3-(i,-i)— 
"Double Life" (U) and "Chiin Chi- 
neW Ring" (Mono). Going (o .$12.- 
000, on disappointing side. La.-st 
I week. "Ends of Earth" (Col) and 
; "High Tide" (Mono), about .'iame. 
1 Strand (FA) (1,000; 4.5-(i.'i)— 
1 "Louisiana" (Mono) and "Fighting 
! Mad" (Mono). Dull $4,500 ;irtt>r 
, last week's "Grapes of ,Wnilh 
(20thrand "Tobacco Road' i2()th) 
(reissues), hit sock .$8,.5()0. > 



Philly Bla/* Routs «00 
Philadelptiia, March 16. 
A back-firing heater filled Ihe 
Roval theatre with heavy ('oiioh 
of .smoke last Friday (-12). rodlinK 
some 600 patrons and I'orciiiK' <•«"' 
cellatlon of the (wo night shows. 
"Body and Soul" was held over 
another day at thiy nalJe house 
because of blaze, ■ 



17, i «M 



IS 



SnvHstmi Hurls Oi Bnt lertoii' 

SinI45CI Aided by Torme; 'Cass' 35G 



• Chicago, March 16. + 
Ictudk iMtiowstortn and sharp 
«HttS*Swtt mid-week biz, but the 
!dv3t ml •ood new films are giv- 
ing wShwiM* to trade. State-Lake 
iumwSrSTof the red via "Merton 
if^5£«ie^ and quartet of local 
aikJ^ «n stagebill plus Mel 
vSiwM^ ^a Fitzgerald. Looks 
ISkS^io. "Cass Timberlane," 
wSSTpromlses giant $35,000. 

is fejactly that, with 
*harir*W,«O0 sighted at the Mon- 
of Kam" has United 
Artid;^ to line for liandsome 
fiM OM. "Pianhandle" is okay ?14,- 
fifto' at Giawd. "Bambi" on reissue 
at prf«« aJwuld do neat $19,000. 

Of bSlorers. "Killer wfcCoy" at 
'the Oraetttal in third frame with 
Yvomw UCCarlo and King Cole 
Trio «n stage is reaching potent 
$50 OM *'C Walk Atone" in second 
Irame at Oie Chicago is okay $30,- 
000. *iMJwqua«f?' i« iieoafid 
week JKt %»osevelt 1<hAb «i»Dd al 
$18,0I«. 
' iMIaurtes for Ihis Week 
■^ffOm lOB&K) «M<»: fl.28)— 
''OeiriOeaaan's Agicenwnt" dSOth') 
<l»th «*). Mild $8^0. Last week, 
$8,000. 

Ctfea^ (B&K) (3,900; 98)— 
"WaBc Ali«"i(Psr) (2d wk). Okay 
$30,0«il. l«st week, fancy $38,000. 

Cnwl 3(liKO) (1,500; 98)— "Pan- 
handle'' Oaono). Okay $14,000. 
Last weeii "'Captain Boyioott" <CJJ, 
• $13,5tMv 

MMne (Indie) (l,Oi»: M)— 
"GoodiNewas" (M-G). ExceU«Bt$19,- 
000. IjxA, week, "Desire Me" (M- 
O) (3d wfe), $7,000. 

Oiiniatl <(Kssaness) (3,409^ SSi^ 
"KilksraScCoy" (M-G) wiUa Ywcmne 
DeCarSo aad King Cole Tir^ tm 
stage «l3d -mis.). Hep $50J0(». Last 
\veek, ^ $62,000. 

pSjh* «(RKO) (2,5(»; M)— 
"Baiflln" -(KKO) (reissue). Neat 
$19,000. JLast week, "Bladk BatC", 
OJ) lad $14,000. 

ReWMctt (B&K) (1,506: «8')— 
"AlbBdiierque" (Par) iffld wk). 
Keen StS,O00. Last week, solid 
$2O,0ML 

State-lddBe (B&K) (2,700; 98t— 
"Melton of Movies" (M-G) with 
Mel Ijonne and Ella Fitzgerald on 
stage, qniamping $45,000. La-st 
week, "'Asaelo. Affair" (MtG) (2d 
wk) with fSiil Regan and Hoosier 
Hot sabots on stage, only $19,000. 
' Uidied ilrtists (B&K) (1,700; 98) 
— "SijSW of JRani" (Col). Nifty $24,- 
000. iast *eek, "Were Meant for 
Me" «2fflai) t2nd wk). 

WMMb (Essaness) (1,073; 98i— 
"Casii Haaberlane" (M-G). Looks 
to reaidi sodc $35,000 or close. Last 
week, -"Sisliop's Wife" (KKO) (9lh 
wk),Mg$H,000, 

. W«rii HBdie) (587; 77i— "Shoe- 
ShiMT awtte) (6th wk). Firm $4,- 
000. I«id;iKek, $4,500. ' 

'Suae' k the Prov.Kiow 
AtPciiy$lXOO(h,W 
Ri^ed 15G, 'R»' 12G 

Providence, Manch IS. 
Albee's "If You Knew Susie" is 
the town topper this week, witto 
Majestic's "A Double LiftT sot Sar 
behind. "Sign of Bam" sha^ only 
fairly nice. 

fistteites for This Week 
Alfcee -(EKO) (2,200; 4*^)— 
"Knew Sasie" (RKO) and "Green 
for Uangei" (RKO). Peppy $19,«a9. 
Last week, -"Bishop's Wife" ^EKO) 
and Vance's Gamble tRKO) 

(2d wkJ. fast $14,000. 

Caritmi i(Fay-Loew) (1,'4(W; 44-' 
65)— "Cau Northside" (20th) and 
DamgenMiB Years" (20th) (2d run). 
Fairly good $5,000. Last weeJi. 
Voice of Tturtle" (WB) and "Trail 
2* Mttimties" (WB) (2d run), oke 

_ Fay*« (Fay) (1,400; 44-65)— 
..Andhpr's Aweigh" (M-G) (reissue) 
and vaude on stage. Nice $6,800. 
Last week, "The Cliallenge" (20th) 
and \^«iide on stage, $7,000. 
MajcsKc (Fay) (2,200; 44-65)— 
Double UTe" (U) and "Case of 
(U). Fairly smart 
iIa^- . *^St week, "Call NortJi- 
f9mA*S?S'> and "Dangerous Yeare" 
(^OtW <2d wk), strong $15,(»0e. 
■»-™«*Io»Iitan (Snider) (34«); 44- 
li^'^-.'BMck Privates" (U) and 
o??™h„of Tahiti" (U) (teSsswcs). 
a^ow $6^<joo. Last week, "History 
at Might" (Indie) Jfteisswe) 

cJJ '^nly Live Once" (Mono), 

so-so 58,500. 

'<irt*i''*.i'^ew) (3,200; (44-65)— 
i.ndBof Barth" (Col) and "CurHey" 
fivl Mild $12,000 iot 

sn5.";''*-^^*ol<lover. First scsh, 

(SilvetmuiJ SB^JieO; 44^ni) 



Estimates Are Net 

Film gross estimates, as re- 
ported herewith from the vari- 
ous key cities, are net, i.e., 
without the 20% tax. Distribu- 
tors share on net take, when 
playing percentage, hence the' 
estimated figures are net in- 
come. 

The parenthetic admission 
prices, however, as indicated, 
incliido the U> S. amuseiaeat 



'Sitting' Pretty 
. Hnb Ace 




Oo.ston, March 16. ^ 
^Sitting Freitly'^ Hooks smash 
standout at the. Met tiiis weiric, 
catching best take tlinne iii some 
tigne. Lionel ICamptoa toaad p3ns 
"I Became Criminar at EKO a^ 
is solid, with "Black Bart" <rfcay; 
at the Memorial. "T« liads of 
Earth," at .^late and OiijJjeMnii, , 
shapes so-so on second iroiuid. 
" - ' ■ 'GeUauttes tms IXvk Week 

Astor ■(Emfie'^ — 
'"BaslM«)'s WiCe'" i(EKO) t(12lth «•%:). 
S(3ll mSSxn: at fUJMQ alter $12,r 
'OOO iDEir last. 

BwtoB >(KKO/) a7KH);*30-$1.10) 
—"I Betauiae Cztebul'''* plios 
lioael Hampton ordh, otheais, on 
sla^ iNwse $2S.O0O. Last -wvck, 
"PeailkMis Waters" (Mono) p9us 
Stan Ken ton ordh, otbers, on :^tage. 
930.000. 

. -mgeter CIiBdie» t(l^; ^73^ — : 
'lOvpt VXssetMr m') CZd wk). Okay 
$^Sm afiler $?jOOa in ficst. 

'X::a1ll Nortfadde'" mm and '"Sir. 
Reckless" aOCh) i(in.o.). Solid 
Last -week; '^igoa'" KPar). 
and "Let's Live Again" <lndiej, 
$10,500 in 9 days. 

Kenmorc (Indie) (906; 4O-S0) — 
"Panic" (FR) (5th wk). Fine $3,000 
after $4,000 for last Stai^. 

Memorial (RKO) (3,000; 40-80)— 
"Black Bart" (Col) and -"Caravan"' 
(EIJ. So-so $24,000. Last week, 
"Woman's Vengeance!* and 
"Ideal Husband" (20thi», 

Metropolitan (M-P) (4,367; 4®- 
80)— "Sitting Pretty" <200j) and 
"Docks New Orleans^' i(Mono<), 
Best in town at wow $3S.O0O. Las* 
week, "Call Northside" <20Uj) andi 
"Mr. Reckless" (20th» <3d Wki). 
$23,000. I 
Old South (Siritzky) (706;; ^IWO)! 
— ■"Idifflf" 41>laige9 and "Don Juan" j 
'(rnsnie) ((2d wk). ' Oke $2,OG0.; 
Latst mdc, $3.,20O, ' 
' Of>»n— CLofewD !(3j000; 40-80V: 
— '"TV} JBnds Eartb" '(Col) and 
^JDewil Slup'" <Coi!) K3d wk). ^air. 
$30,000 tSlasc $S6,000 for last ses- 
sion. 

ranaaMut IM-P) <t,700; 
—"Call KToiVbside'* (ZOth') and "Mr. 
JMdess'" ^Sasm ^tau9.^. Veiy ing 
$l«Mil®B. 'Ijb* -week,' '^Saigoa" 
<Par!) and "JLet^ Uve Agsfin" (fa- 
die), sodi $21,500 in S days. 

State ilaew* OJSfflO; 40-SO) — 
-"Ends of Baitb" <(Col) and "Devil 
'Sldn'" ((Col) ISA wk). ' Medium 
$10,000 aftef $13,000 f«r first 

^cdbia' 113,000, (b»ha 

I Omaha, iliarch 16- 

Boxoffice Is up genendll.v het>e 
witli warmer weather b e 1 p i n g- 
"Scudda Hoo, Scudda Hay" looks 
strong at Paramount. ■"Personal 
Column" also shapes good at llse 
Oi'pheum. • 

Estimates for This We^*: 
Paramount (Tristates) (2J800; 16- 
651— "Scudda HoO, Scudda Hay^'i 
(20th). Big at $J3,000. Last week. 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB), fine $11,- 
000. 

Brawlics (RKO) (1.500; 16-6S)— 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO 1 and "Wi-eck 
Ifespenns" (Col) (2d wk). Healthy 
m$m. First week, nice $7,200. 

Oi-pheum (Tristntes) (3,000; 16- 
eS'WPersonal Column" (UA) and 
"Time Out of Mind" (Ui. Good 
.$30400. Last week. "Campus 
Honeymoon" iRep) with Cl.vde Mc- 
Coy orcli. Harmonicats, on stage. 
Stsiongr^CSOO at 20c-80c scale. 

Omaha (Tristates) (2,100: 16-65> 
—"Voice of Turtle" (WB) and 
."Trespasser" (Rep) (m.o.i. Trim 
$9,000. Last week, "Body and Soul" 
(UA) and "Smart Politics" (Mono* 
(m.o.). $8,000. 
^atc (Goldbei-g) (S65; 16-65 1— 
Tcnlb Ave. Angel" ai-G) and 



Wiireiy 18,000, Port 

BtMbnal. Oa^e,. Ataich IS, 
Soxollice tain at downtown 
houses showing new pictures are 
getting rough competition from 
downtown holdover ' spots this 
week. "To Ends .of Earth" at Para- 
mount and Oriental and "Albu- 
querque" at Orpheum look best 
newcomers. *1Ehwble Ofe" at 
Uniled Artu^ also is <^y. 

EstiMMiM Mr Thte Week ' 
Siwadway (Parker) < 1,832; 50-85 
— ^^'f^buloas Texan" <Eep) and 
"Slippy McGee" iCSep). Oke.:9^«00. 
Last week, "Sleep, 3dy t«ve"':'(0A) 
and -Hoppy's,. Roiiday" 
days^iad'ssatXJHiJW. ' 
- :-]i*»e.'8o]c IH-E) <1.006: .50.33)—' 
"KToiibsade TVT' <20tli) and "Bin- 
Haff" -(KKO) (Zd wk) imxi^. Fine 
Last week, $4,009. 
Orientta (H-E) <2,080; 50-S5)— 
"Ends of Earth" <Col) and "Woman 
.fi<om Tanker" <Col). day-date with 
Ftaraiaooat. Okay I^JOOO or near. 
■Ijtet- *^«ii5e 'Of '(WB) 
and "Whispering --City" <EL) (2d 
^), strong $5,70®. 

Oridiewa <H-£) (1,750; 50^)— 
■"Albuepienjae" (Par) and "Danger- 
ous Yeais" (aoth). Nice $8,0»0. 
Last week, "Vmce dt T^rtie" j(WS) 
and "'Whispering CSty" <EL,) (2d 
wk), strong {^,500. 
' PanuBwnt a,4>(N); 50-^)— 
"Ends of Earih" iGdX> and "Woman 
from Tangier" (CoB, also Oriental. 
Fine $9^000. \J»A week, "Saigon" 
«ft»r5 and *'0®ed ^mf - '(ParK, big 

Haylwiise '(1J2IM); S9^)^ 

Voice of Turtle'" <WB) and 't^ut 
oC PASt" (BKO) <!nu».t EsseUeat 
$4.iO!»0. Last week, "Lost Weekend" 
(Par) and *1Badi His Own" <Par) 
(reissues), $lj600. 

Vn£be« Jlrtists (Paricer) (895; 50- 
«5)— -"Double life' (U). Okay 
j^,t)00. Last WedE, "High Wail" 
(M-G) '.(2d vikA, Ssax $!U9ea. 



N.Y.ReMiiilieis1liaiiia't«te 

Big WM\ 'Sittii^'-Moooey Preity 
$107,000; IBells' Jingles Beaucoup Bi). 



'Jisn of Bam" !((CSol) and "Giawj- ' "Bo\wry BuckajMJOs" <Monoi. Solid 



our Gari"<Colj, Eaiity juce $12^». 
i.asl ^wpek^ "Albuquerque" .<Par) 



and 
Wk) 



3ie Town 

',000. 



Dark" (Par) (2d 



$5,50© or ne«. Holds. Last week, 
"Pittsburgh" (Indie) and "Green 
Hell" (Indie), .split with "Odd Man 
Out" (U), fair $4,000. 



'Senator' a Leadbr 

Fhiiadelpfaia. March 16. 

Bijc' shades on miSd scale 4j9is 
week.' wiUi .lienten season and 
pleUton oi holdovers blamed. De- 
spite tbis, "lluee Daring^Daugb- 
ters," at Goldman, and '^Senator 
Was Indiscreet," at Aldine. are 
soeko. '''^Saigon,'" "Gentleman's 
Agi^ement," and "Bisbop's Wife" 
all shape £airiy well on boldover or 
eictendicMlHraB sessaUms. 

' BsUnulea far. Ws Week 

AlAse nUTB) <l,3a3; 50^)— 
-"Senator Indiscreet" <Cr). Neat 
«ie,500. Last wedc, ""Black Nar-' 
issws" m\ dd wic», (Ae ^jSm. 

Arcadia <(SftS) ¥700; 58^)— 
HSsh Wall" iM-C) <2d nin4. Good i 
,•(6^. LasA weeac, "I Walk Alone" 
(Par) KZd runK fMOD. 

*mSA CWB) 50-S4)— 
"Double Life" OT) <3d wki. Down 
to $lS,fi09 alter okay .$20,000 last 

* Earie AHm «,7(»; SO-94)— "Sai- 
Son" <Par) <2d wit). • Trim $20,000 
after sodc $29,500 opener. 

EitaBcer ((Gioldnum) <LS0O; 50- 
iMr^'^Cass Tunberiaae" <M-G) (7tU 
wk>. Off at $9,000 in final- 5 days 
after pleasing $12;000 last week. 

■ Fox mm a,asO: so^)— ""Gen- 

tlenian^s Agneement" (20th) 
wk). Hef^ $23,000. Last week, big 
$34.«00; ; 

GeUman (Goldman) (1,300; 50-1 
S4,)_'^iiee Daring Daagiiters" [ 
(M-G). Wow'$29j000. Last week,; 
"It .Winter' <5«BK(^..i;if-G-1i; i(4lih wk), \ 
dull $10,0(K). I 

Kariten <Goldinan) <1,O0S; 50-94) ; 
—"Bishop's Wife" (KKO) <5Ui wk). j 
Trim $11,000 afliisr solid $14,500 ] 
3ast session. 

Keiflr's {Goldman) (1..350; 56-94) ; 
—"Voice of Tnrtie" <WB) *3A nan), j 
Slow $5,000. ilAst week, "W6nian's ; 
Vengeance" TO, $3,500. ! 

Mastbanm (WB) (4,360; 50-94)— 
U You Knew Susie7 <RKOi (2d 
wk). TijiB $17^ after mUd $25,- 
©«(» opener. 

Ms (Cummins) (500; 50-94)— 
"Oallaw" (UA) (711i wk). Surpris- 
ingb' line $7,500 after $8,000 last 
week. 

Stanley (WB) (2,950; 50^ t— 
"Duel in Sun" (SBO) <2d wU). 
Aloderate $17,000 or over. Last 
week, bright $23,500. 

Stanton (WB) <1.475; 50-94)— 
"Fabulous Texan" (Rep). Good 
$] 0,000 or near- Last week. "Fugi- 
tive from Chain Gang" (WB) and 
"Slight Case of- Murder" (WB) (re- 
issues), about^ame. 

Fire Guts BAckford, lU., House 
Chicago, March 16. 
Slate theatre, 635-seater in 
Rot'kford, 111.* was damaged la-st 
week when fire swept the down- 
town section of that city. 

Full extent of damages done to 
llie house are not known yet, but 
owners say that reconstruction will 
start at once. 



Milder weather most of week 
and five new bills are tending to 
overcome.' in part at least, tiie in- 
fluence of Lent and income tax 
day <Marcb. IS) at Broadway first- 
runs this stanza.' Esdended runs 
are not sliowing much vitaiitj' cur- 
rently, many just mariring time 
until Ea^%r wedc pictures can be 
brought in. %ain yesterday (Tties.) 
did not Ust long enou^ to do a 
great deal of 'ixaim to bu^ness. 

"1 i^emcmber Mama," mtb 
^'Gloiy of Easter" pageant heading 
the stagebill is climlHng to vezy 
big $142,(000 on its JSost «!eek at the 
Music Hall, IKctare was handi- 
capped somewhat by having to tee 
olf in tlie slect-rain last Thursday 
but soared to capacity proportions 
over tbe weekend. Fact tbat tbe 
fibn runs over two hoars is dipping 
turnover at the Hall where lengthy 
pictures always trim severe (thou- 
sands from tbe week's total. 

"Sitting Pretty," -witb stagesbow 
topped by Art Momtey bnid, AI 
Bemie and Betty Bmce, looks to 
bit big $107,(MM in initial- week sU: 
the Rosy. Both -fitting", and 
"Mama" were belped by high crix 
praise. Both Warner operations, 
Sti-and and Warner, are using re- 
nes tiiis stanza. "Hobin Hood" 
at the latter stands to strike sock 
S29,000 in first roand, best tbe 
Warner has had in recent weeks. 
-"Fighting egth," tfae other ol^e, is 
being va^ly - helped by Kuss Mor- 
gan's band tmpading (be stage lay- 
out at the Strand, iidiere a remark- 
ably strong ^8,000 or close is likely 
in the fiist we^ endiiig' tomorrow. 

Fifth new bill Is at Qie State, 
where 'Mating of Millie" wijl wind 
up the first five days with m«* $14,- 
<MJO. Hoose ended its business 
Ai-cek last (Tues.) lught, so as to get 
iHick to usual Wednesday opening. 
Film bolds over a full week start- 
ing today (Wednesday). "Jifiracle 
of Bells" started yesterday fTues.) 
in sock fashion at the fiivoli after 
bigbly profitable run of iom- weeks 
and five days with "Ends of Eartb." 
"Bells" looks to bit $8,000 on open- 
ing' day. 

Ace boldover is '^aked City" 
plus Tex Beneke band, Jerry Lewis 
and Dean Martin topping stage- 
sbow, wbich looks to hit a colossal 
$125,000 or better in its second 
week at tbe CapitoL .This second 
week total beats the old high for 
an initial session at the Cap. 
"l\3aked" cracked the 2fr3?ear hi^ 
at tbe house oiKning week with 
$147,000, a fait mve hopesL 

Also contuudng in Uw diips is 
"Boad to Wo" «nth Loids PrimaL 
band heading stagebill at Para- 
mount. Combo looks sturdy $70,- 
000 or better in fourth week ended 
last (Tues.) night. Same bill holds 
two more stanzas to take it into 
Easter week. 

"Adventures <rf Casanova" comes 
into the Globe nest Saturday <20) 
after 19 great weeks wifli "Body 
and SouL" All. theatres with tiieir 
current weeks taking in today 
'(Wed.) 4are eounting on a nice up- 
beat in trade from St Patrick's day 
crowds. 

Estimates for This Week 
Ambassador (Siritzky) (1,200; 70- 
$1.50?— -'Volpone" <Indie) <l2th 
wk). Current session ending to- 
morrow (Thurs.) holding to $9,000, 
big, Mfter $9,200 last week. Stays 
on. 

Art (fRugoff-Becker) (570; 95- 
$1.10)— 'Farrebique" <SiritzSy3 <4th 
wk.). Third £rame ending last Sun- 
day (14) held in fine fashion at $5,- 
SOO a£ter $6,^)0 in second week. 

Astor (Gty Inv.) (1,300; 80-$l.a0) 
—"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) <15th wk). 
The 14tii stanza ending last (Tues.) 
nis^t was down to $^,000 after 
$27,000 for 13th session. Stays a 
few days past 15th luund, with' 
"Mr. Blandings" (SRO) opening 
March 25. . ■- , 

Bijou (City Inv.) (650; 85-$1.50) 
—"Beauty and Beast" (Indie) (13th 
wk). Down to $4,000 in 12th week 
ended Monday (15) after $4,500 for 
nth stanza. "Mr. Orchid" (Indie) 
opens March 27. 

Capitol (Loew's) (4,820; 90-$2.20) 
-"Naked City" jsith Tex Benelce 
oi'cli, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin 
heading stagebill (2d wk). Looks 
to beat old house record again in 
second stanza ending today (Wed.) 
with giant $125,000 or over; first 
was $147,000, all-time record for 
28-year operation of house. Now 
getting $1.80!-$2.2O top only on 
Saturday and Sunday. 

Criterion (Loew's) (1.700; 60- 
S1.25)— "Relentless" (Col) (2d wk). 
Initial holdover session ending 
next Friday (19) is way down to 
$12,000 or less after $16,000 opcper, 
both very mild.. "All My Sons" (U) 
set to open March 27. 

Globe (Brandt) (1,500; 70-.$J.20) 
—"Body and Soul" (UA) (19th-fmal 



wk). Perking a bit this session to 
$14,000 after $12,000 in 18th wec^. 
"Adventures of Casanova" (EL) 
opens next' Saturday (20). 

Elysee (Siritzky) (750; 8S^1^> 
—"Fanny" (Siritzky) (5th wlO. FifCh 
round being concluded tradagr 
(Wed.) looks still in chips wiih5$7,- 
000 after sturdy $8,000 In ftwoUk, 
Holds again. 

Little Carnegie (Indie) (4€0; 9S- 
$1.20)— -"Jenny Lamour" (Vog) <3d 
wk). First holdover round ending 
next Friday (19) topping iirst wecSc 
at sock $9,000 after $8,200 opening 
session. Continues indef, with 13t« 
week run assured. 

Mayfair (Brandt) (1,736;. 70-$150) 
—"Gentleman's Agreement" '(20Hi) 
a9Ui wk). For 18th stanza ended 
last Monday (15) night, tliis held 
■^vell at $21,000 after $21,4tH} fw 

Palaee (BKO) (1,700; 60-?1.20>— 
"Knew Susie" (RKO) (4tb 
Fourth frame ending next Friday 
(19) likely will dip down to $13,000 
or a iHt better after okay $n^00& 
forthird. < 

Panmwai (Par) (3,664; 55-$!.^) 
— "Koad to Rio" (Par) witli Louis 
Prima ordi heading stagebill (SUi 
wic). 1?VHirth weelc ended Iznst 
<'irues.) ni£^ was $70,000 or over, 
stIU strong for this stage of im; 
third session was solid $&S,0(iD. 
Stays lasdh week to take in Easter. 

Kuk Avenue (U) (583; $1:^- 
$1.50i— '^ng of Heart" (Mono) 
<.2d wk». Still okay at $5,500 in anv 
rent session ending today fWedL> 
after Jrim $6,500 opener. Likely to 
stay a third week. 

Radio City Music Hall (Etocke- . 
feUers ) (5,945 ; 70 - $2.40 )— -"Be- - 
member Mama" (RKO) and stage- 
sbow including "Glory of Ea.stei^ 
pageant. Soaring to smash $142,000 
in first week despite rain and sleet 
opening dajr. Length of film , is 
holding down total. Holds, natdh! 
Last.weK^ jthird.of "Double Ufe" 
(U) and stageshow was Didsc 
$103,000; thin, and way below 
hopes. 

Xialto (Mayer) (594; 35-85)— "Fu- 
ria" (PC) (9th wk). Doing okay 
$7,090 in eighth stanza ending .yes- 
terday VXwes. ) after. $7,300 in sev- 
enth. Stays until March 27, when 
'"Smugglers" (EL) is set to open; 

Kivoli (0AT-Par) (2,092; iS»< 
$1.25)— -"Miracle of Bells" (RKO-K 
Opened in sock fashion yestcrdagr 
(Tues.) being *aided by pn-St 
Patrick's Day crowds at ni^L Ua 
ahead, "Ends of Earth" -.(CoU (Stli 
wk-5 flays), down to $14,000 after 
fine $SS3j00O in fourth week 

Kwcy (SOth) (5,886; 80-$1..SO^-^ 
"Sitting Pretty" (20th) and stage- 
show topped by Art Mooney orch. 
Al Bemie, Betty Bruce, Salici Pup- 
pets (2d wk). First week ended 
last, djucs,.)) night was fairly Sig 
$107,000 vec ne-ir. In ahead, "Call 
Nortbside" (20th) with Basel 
Scott, Baye & Naldi, Gil Lanil^ 
otheis. on stage (3d wk), Ksy 
good $71,000. 

State (Loew's) (3,450l 43-$IJi» 
—"MaUng (tf Millie" (CffD.Inficst > 
five days ended last (Tues.) night 
hit nice $14,000 despite some rou^ 
treatment from some crix. Holds « 
full week starting today (Wed.). 
In ahead, ^'Sign of Ram" «:k»l>, 
$22,400 for nine days endii^ luc 
(Thurs:') night. "C.F.'s Daughtei" 
(M-G) opeiDS March 24. - 

Stzrand (WB) (2,756; 75-$1.50>— 
"Fighting 69th" (,WB) (reissneJ 
with Suss Morgan orch head jug ■ 
stagebilL For initial week endius 
tomorrow (Thurs.) this is doing 
nicely for oldie with strong stage 
layout at ^0,000 or near. In abeadw 
third week of "Girl Tisa" (WBJ 
and Vaughn Monroe orch toppinc 
stageshow was $42,000. "April 
Showers" ( WB ) opens March 26. 

Sutton (Rugoff -Becker) (561; 
$1.25)— "The Pearl" (RKO) (5tk 
wk). Fourth session ended Last 
Monday (15) held up nicely adt 
$8,000, afte): $8,700 for third week. 
C!©ntimies. 

Victoria (City Inv.) (720: 70^ 
$1.50) — "Albuquerque" (Par) "(Sd 
wk). Third round ending next Fri-^ 
day (19) likely .will be $12,000. 
okay, and stays four days more. 
Second was $13,000. "The Search" 
(M-G) opens March 24. 

Warner (WB) (1,499; 90-$1.50V— 
"Robin Hood" (WB) (reissue). 
First week ended yesterday 
(Tues.) was surprisingly big USt. 
$29,000i best here in some time. 
"Winter Meeting" (WB) set t» 
open March 27. In ahead, "Mira- 
cle Can Happen" (UA ) , only $5,00(1 
in 8 days of fifth week. 

Whiter Garden (UA) (1,312; SD- 
$1.20)— "Black Bart" (U> {3d wk). 
/Initial holdover stanza ended last 
(Tues.) night dipped to $18,(HMI 
after $24,000 for opener. Holds i 
third, with nothing set to supplant 
as yet. ' 



14 



Wtednaadgy, Mai-eh 17, 1948 




I 



New York— The longest-run 
record in the entire history of 
20th Century-Fox! 



In Chicago— Boston— Cincinnati- 
Cleveland— Philadelphia- 
Son Francisco and Los Angeles 



Boxoffice Barometer reports that 
of the 40 top pictures in current 
release it is the industry's No. 1 

attraction— fopp/;/o the next top lUt l>y ()4":n! 



one/... Already Rebooked for 
Repeat First-Runs Los Angeles 
and Pittsburgh! 





CiNrURY.4FOX 



359 Key-City Dates Easter Week! 



iiiii 



1 



' PICTURES 



15 



Osar Awards 



Continued from page I ; 



• with sejitiment being a prevailing 

• arflomcnt. This will crop up pietly 
much >n the voUng of the leading 

, itidications are that the top pie- 
iui-e award for the year will go to 
onfh for "Gentlemen's Agree- 
ment" with "Great Expectations" 
ihe ruimerup, and "Miracle of 34th 
Street " another 20th entry, in the 
show spot- Though it was believed 
SLf "Crossfire" would make a 
stowing, it's believed that because 
<he producer - (Adrian Scott) and 
director (Edward Dmytryk), are 
under political fire", even the "lib- 
Pials" here have shied aWay from 
r istins their ballots in this direc- 
tion-Bishop's Wife," the Gold- 
Wn' entry via RKO release, is not 
fiSurcd to be anywhere m the race 
with tlie top thi-ee despite the pub- 
lioitS' given the pic. 

For the best actors, sentiment 
seem.s to rule the roost. Proga- 
canda around is that Ronald Col- 
man has been in the biz for 36 
years, never been really recognized 
and that his performance in "A 
Double Life" should be the win- 
ner. The propaganda has worked. 
Sentiment has been swung his way, 
and it looks as tliough he will beat 
Gregory Peck of "Gentlemen's 
■ Agreement" by a small margin." 
William Powell, for bis "lafe 
With Father," looms No. 3, and 
Jolm Garfield of "Body and Soul" 
jmd Michael Redgrave in "Mourn- 
ing Becomes Electra" as contend- 
ers. > 

l^aUnd Russell Favored 
> In the line of best actresses, sen- 
timent again ci:eeps up, favoring 
Bisalind Russell, who was nosed 
out last year for "Sister Kenny," 
so may get it this year for "Mourn- 
ing Becomes Electra." Miss Rus- 
sell is quite a favorite with the 
ranic and file of the Screen Actors 
Guild group, and voting for her 
has been made almost en masse. 

Buhnerup here should be Doro- 
thy McGuire for "Gentleman's 
Agreement," and next in line is 
Joan Crawford for "Possessed," 
with Loretta Young trailing on the 
"Farmer's Daughter" performance. 

When it comes to the best sup- 
porUng actor it loo^ as though 
Bdmund Gwenn has the field all to 
himself for his performance in the 
"Miracle of 34th Street." while 
Richard Widmark, for his support 
in "Kiss of Death," will be several 
lengths behihd for the place spot. 
Charles Bickford, for "Farmer's 
Daughter"; Robert Ryan," "Cross- 
fire," and laiBSaas Gomez, "Ride 
the Vm. H«iss(6,'V are just in the 
race for exercise. 

Gelestfe 'Holm looks to be the 
front rvfnner in Best Supporting 
Actress division for her perfom-, 
ance in "Gentlemen's Agreement" 
by quite a margin, with Marjorie 
Main ("The Egg and I") se^nd 
choice, < £Ui6l Bandore, "The 
Pai-adlne Case" t9»try, shapes up as 
just a sentimental show spot, and 
Anne Revere, "Qentlenien's Agree- 
ment," suffering from the Celeste 
Holm balloting, having an edge 
over Gloria Grahame in "Cross- 
fire." 

There is question as to whether 
the Irving Thalberg Award will be" 
made this ^rear. It will not be voted 
on until late this week; should 
tliere be any, it looks Close be- 
tween Zanuck for "Gentlemen's 
Agreement" and Dore Schary for 
"Grosafiro," both pictures treating 
tile same subject matter, but with 
different angles. The Thalberg 
Award was passed up on two other 
occasions in the past, and the se- 
lect group of the Board of Govor- 
nor.s may feel, that, in view ol' the 
subject matter, it be pas.sed up 
again. 

Kazan Top Director 

Feeling pretty much leans in the 
onection of EUa Kazan to get the 
plum for "Gentlemen's Agree- 
ment," with George Ciikor a close 
i:unnerup for "A Double Life" and 
"avid Lean in the trey spot on 

A-'reat Expectations." 

• t»eoi-ge Seaton gives evidence of 
srabbmg the kudos for the best 
wuten screenplay with his "Mir- 
acle of 34th Street" task, whicli he 
5'''*",,"'»ected, with Moss Hart be- 
the runnerup on "Gentlemen's 
ARieeraent," followed by John 
T r V"''" "CJrossfire," with David 

f Ronald Neame and Anthony 
ii^yelofk-Allen for "Gieat Kxj)ec- 
h'l and Richard Murphy, 
^^"oomerang," finishing in that or- 

In tlie cij,^.. ^^^^ original 

(. ,1 "ooks like a very 

.' 'r '"ssle between Rutli Gordon 
i',',, ^'ajson Kanin's "A Double 
'*«• and Sidney Sheldon's "The 



Bachelor and the Bobby Soxcr," 
with possibility that the duo entry 
might nose out the singletonian by 
a very narrow margin. Other con- 
tenders who do not look to be 
close threats are Charles Chaplin 
for "Monsieur Verdoux," Abraham 
Polansky, "Body and Soul," and 
the quartet who wrote "Shoe 
Shine," an Italian entry, 

'liUracie' Best Original 
On best original film story, 
"Miracle of 34th Street" again ha.s 
the edge, with the Oscar pointed 
in the direction of Valentine 
Davies for this chore. The place 
spot is pretty close between 
Georges Chaperot and B.,enee 
Wheeler for "A Cage of NightiB- 
gales,"'a French output, and Her- 
bert Clyde Lewis and Frederick 
Stephani, who labored on Roy Del- 
Ruth's "It Happened .on FifOi Ave- 
nue." Eleazar lapsky's "Kiss of 
Death" entry and Dorothy Parker's 
and Frank Cavett's "Smash-Up" 
trail. 

Art Direction awai^ (black and 
white) , looks ■ headed for "The 
Foxelj of Harrow" over "Great Ex- 
pectations," whose art work was 
contributed by John Bryan. 

In the color division the art-di- 
rection honors should reach Robert 
Haas for "liife With Father" over 
Aflfred Junge, who did the job on 
"Black Narcissus," for J. Arthur 
Rank. 

. Caauva 

George Polsey, who has been 
nominated near]^ every year, but 
never taken' home an- Oscar, looks 
like the topper this year for the 
best black and white photography 
chore on "Green dolphin 
Street," over Guy Green, who 
photoed ''Great Expectations," and 
Charles Lang, Jr., who cranked 
"Tlie Ghost and Mrs. Muir." 

The color photography award 
appears headed toward Peverell 
Marlcy and William V. Skall, for 
"Life With Father," with the other 
contenders distantly being Jack 
Cardiff, "Black Narcissus," and 
Harry Jackson, "Mother Wore 
Tights." 

Metro has the chance of grab- 
bing the sound-recording award, 
nothing new for Douglas Shearer, 
on "Green Dolphin Street," and 
likewise the special effects for the. 
chore on the same picture by Ced- 
ric Gibbons and his department. 

The editing jobs narrow 4own to 
a three-way 'competition, vrtth in- 
dication that Monica ColUngvvood 
will get the edge on "Bishop's 
Wife," over Harmon Jones, who 
edited "Gentlemen's Agreement," 
and Fergus McDonnell, who chored 
on^'Odd Man Out." Tlie other en- 
tries arc George White, "Green 
Dolphin Street," and Frimcis Lyon 
and Robert Parrish, "fiody aiid 
Soul." . • 
Music f 

Award for scoring a musical pic- 
ture likely will reach John Green 
for Metro's "Fiesta," with the clos- 
est contestant being Alfred New- 
man on "Mother Wore Tights," 
Max Steiner and Ray Heindorl's 
'■My Wild Irish Rose" being in 
the show spot. Others in the race 
but not counted threats are Rob- 
ert Emmett Dolan, "Road to Rio," 
and Daniele Amfltheatrof and Paul 
Smith, "Song of the SouOi." 

On non-musical pictures Nevir- 
man again has the edge on the. 
scoring of "Captain of Castile" 
over David Raskin of the same 
I .sindlo. who did the task on ".For- 
ever Amber." and Max Steiner's 
work on "Life With Father." The 
others voted on are Hugo Fried- 
hofcr, "The Bi.shop'K Wile." and 
Miklos Ro'zsa. "A Double Ijile." 

It's a throe-way race in the class 
of best original s«»g; with Mack 
Gordon and Josef Myrow having 
the edge with "You Do." from 
"Mother Wore Tights." over Ar- 
thui- Schwartz and Leo Robin, who 
I lined 'Gal in Calico," for 
"The Time, the Place, and the 
Girl," and Riilph Blane, Hugh Mar- 
tin and Roger Edens' "Pass That 
Peace Pipe." from "Good News." 
and Frank Loesser's "I Wish I 
Didn't Love You So" from "Perils 
of Pauline." Other entry is ADie 
Wi-bbel and Ray Gilbert, who 
tailored "Zipa-Dee-Doo-Dah" for 
"Song of tlie Souths" 

In the cartoon short subject divi- 
si(m. George Pal seems to hav the 
edge With his "Tubby the Tuba," 
pi'oditced foi- .Paramount, over Ed- 
wafrd Seizer's "Tweetie Pie" (War- 
ners). 

Xl'.s almost nip and tuck between 
Goj-don Ilollingshead. who has 
collie home every year for Wamet-fi 
I with an award, iuid Pete Smith. 
I Tiu' Ilollingshead opu.s is a one- 
Ireeler, "So You Want to Be in 



Ex-Winners as Presenters 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Olivia De Havilland and 
Fredric March, winners of last 
year's Academy Awards for 
acting,, will present the Oscars 
to this year's winners in the 
top thesping division, with.. 
Miss De Havilland handing out 
the male prize and Miarch 
functioning on the distaff side. 

Other thcfsps lined up to hand 
out awards are Ann Baxter. 
Robert Montgomery, Shirley- 
Temple, David Niven, iMclc . 
Powell, George Murpbyv ftii^;.. 
Dinah Shore. r'S-o v 



Now I s fte Angle-American W 
(hi Olppic Reelage Bang Settled 



Pictures," with Smith's "Now You 
See It." 

Tlie documentary feature award 
looks to be headed for RKO pro- 
ducer Sid Rogell's "Design for 
Death," made by Theron Warth 
and Richard O. Fleisher, over the 
U. S. State Department's "Journey 
Into Medicine" and British Infor- 
mation Service's "The World Is 
Rich." 

"Passport to Nowhere" made by 
Fred Ullman, Jr., for RKO, is out 
in front in the documentary shorts 
field, over "First Steps," made by 
the U. S. Visual Information De- 
partment, ^d "School in the Mail- 
box," turned out by the Austi-alian 
News and Information Bureau, 



Rotating Emcees 

For Oscar Derby 

Hollywood, March 16. 

All-star cast of emcees is being 
lined up by Delmer DaveSj pro- 
gram chairman of the Oscar Perbyr 
for the annual doings at Shrine 
Auditorium Saturday night (20>. In 
previous years one emcee handled 
the entire show but this time the 
job will be split half a dozen ways. 

Leo Forbstein will direct the 
musical program, consisting of 
"The Star Spangled Banner" and 
a medley of former Derby winning 
tunes. Voting closed Saturday at 
midnight. 



Nix5.7ifJaxCiitBifl 

Washington, March 16. 

Show . biz high earners would 
have .had their 1948 income taxes 
reduced by from 5 to lVi% under 
the proposed new tax bill voted 
out last week .by thie Senate Fi- 
nance Committee. -Committee rec- 
ommended a $4,700,000,000 tax-re- 
duction measure, scaled down from 
the $6,500,000,000 reduction voted 
by the House. The Senate scaled 
down the reduction percentages 
which the House had provided but 
kept the same general approach to 
tax reduction. 

The bill made no provision for 
reducing the 20% admission tax 
nor the 20% bite on nitery tabSi 
This virtually made certain that 
the 20% rate will remaui un- 
changed for some time. , 

In the highest individual brack- 
ets — those who pay taxes of $100,- 
000 or more — the reduction rate 
was slashed to '5%, instead of the 
10% which the House voted for 
the high brackets. Those who pay 
taxes of from $400 to $100,000 a 
year would have had reductions 
of 7.4% under the Senate meSsure. 



Geo. Raft Back.to Coast 
From morocco' Safari 

With shooting of exterior ser 
quences practically completed in 
North Africa on the Sam Bischoff 
production of "Outpost in Mo- 
rocco," picture's stw George Baft 
returned to New York, Sunday 
( 14 ) and trained to the Coast the 
next day. Film rolls again in 
April, he said, ori the United 
Artists lot when a camera crew is 
due back &om the desert. 

Raft declared the location shoot- 
ing was financed by Patlie Cinema 
of France. Whether he and 
Bischoffi will undertake similar 
joint film-making ventures in the 
future with Pathe depends upon 
how this one turns out, he said. 
Actor opined 'i'Oiii^jOst," which is 
.for UA release, will be completed 
about August 1. 

Committee to Handle L.A. 
Exchanges Wage Demands 

Committee representing sales- 
managers of major companies is 
to be named this week by Robert 
Mochrie, of RKO, to handle nego- 
tiations with Los Angeles exchange 
workers. Latter's contract runs out 
April 1 and dentitnds are being 
made for wage increases and other 
improvements. 

Sales toppers met last week at 
the- call of Mochrie. who is chair- 
man of the salesmanagers commit- 
tee of the Motion Picture As.sn. of 
America. Discus.sion of-L. A. ex- 
chiinge negotiations was top item 
on the agenda. 

L. A. exchanges and some of 
those in New York are the only 
ones hot under the International 
Alliance of Theatrical Stage Em- 
ployes banner. All the lATSE 
locals recently won a 15% wage 
increase which is also guaranteed 
to the other locals, organized by 
the ClO's Screen Office & Profes- 
sional Employes Guild. L: A. work-^ 
ei-s are understood to be demand- 
ing hikes beyond the 15%. 



Okay 2B-Seati^ 
For Long IslanA 

U. S. housing authorities okayed 
construction of a 2,200-seat thea- 
tre at Fresh Meadow, L. I., by the 
N. Y. Life Insurance Co. at a cost 
of $838,000. Theatre will be part 
of a 12-acre shopping center in 
connection with the .veterans' hous- 
ing project the insurance company 
is erecting. 

Wliole operation, including hous- 
ing for 3,000 families, is figured 
to be completed this year. 



Rank Opens Odeon, Victoria, B. C. 

Victoria, B. C. 

Newest house to be opened by 
J. Arthur Rank's Canadian chain 
Odeon Theatres is the new 1,400- 
seat Odeon here. House, whjteh 
cost over $600,000, Will be Odeoii's 
first-run showcase here. 

A new 750-seater was opened 
recently in suburban West Van- 
couver by Odeon Theatres. It cost 
more than .$250,t00. 



International tiff over the right 
of Amcsrican newsreel companies to 
shoot the summer Olympic games 
in England now appears heading 
towards the exit as result of a 
meeting held yesterday (Tues.> be- 
tween reel execs and J. Arthur 
Rank,' Brttish film topper. The 
Yanks believe they've impressed 
their point — the right to partici- 
pate in a jpooling arrangement with 
British newsreels shooting the 
sports events. Rauk, who has ex- 
clu.sive filming franchise to the 
Olympic games, indicated that he 
won't seek a profit from the reels. 

Rank cleared the air, it's re- 
ported, by stating that there had 
been- a misunderstanding over the 
profits question. He hopes to gar- 
ner a healthy profit on the Techni- 
color feature which he'll make on 
the Olympics but has no intention 
of making money from the Ameri- 
can reels^ via charges for clips of 
the matches. 

Yank newsreels had previously 
been led to believe that they'd be 
barred from the games and be 
forced to buy all film from the 
British magnate. G. I, Woodham- 
Smith, Rank's top legal aide who's 
now in this country, will discuss 
the revamped proposals with the 
British Newsreel Assn; on his .re- 
turn to England. He boards the 
Queen Mary Saturday (20). 
■ " Rank told newsreel execs that he 
was not acquainted with the full 
details of his deal for the Olympics 
franchise but was very much in- 
terested in obtaining , tlie views of 
Oie American committee. Once he 
had heard lliem out, he indicated 
his sympathy with their position. 

Besides Rank, meet was attended 
by Woodham-Smith and Jock Law- 
rence, veepee of Rank's VI . S. or- 
ganization. Newsreel execs attend- 
ing were Albert Richard, commit- _ 
tee chairman, and Ted Genock, ' 
both of Paramount; Jack Haney of 
Movietonews; Michael Clofine, 
News-of-the-Day; Al Butterfield, 
Warner Pathe; and Tom Meade, 
UniversaL 



New House in HnmbodIt 

Regina; Sask. . 
At Humboldt, SaglE,, F. G. JBailey 
arid son,. George,. have opehed the 
new, 480-seat Lux theatre. Bailpy 
has. be^n in the theatre business 
,40,:yedrs,-^..;.; - : 



1,000-Car Drive-ln for Atlanta 

Atlanta. 

Dixie Drive-In Theatres. Harris 
Robinson, president, will begin 
immediate construction of new 
1,000-car theatre on 20-acre tract 
here. It will be the firm's second 
local drive-in. 



Mpls. In New Drlve-In Scrap 
Minneapolis. 

Battling to keep "outside in- 
terests" out Of the Twin City area, 
established exhibitors have another 
D live-In scrap on their hands with 
the application of Sid Balman, 
manager of Bloomington Drive-In, 
opened last season hare by Dave 
Flexer of Memphis, for a new 
Drive-ln license in Brooklyn Cen- 
ter, Minneapolis suburb. Minneso 
ta Entertainment Enterprises, 
gi-oup of Twin City indies formed 
to keep outsiders away from Min- 
,rieapo|ia-St. Paul area, is starting 
work on a Drive-ln midway be- 
tween the two cltiest 



Brandon Films Wins Suit 

Federal Judge William Bondy 
last week dismissed the $200,000 
copyright infringment suit brought 
by London Film Productions and 

lliecuba Corp. against Brandon 
Film.s in the N.Y. district court. 

I Dismissal wa.s handed down before 

' trial. 

Complaint had charged Brandon 
^^•itIl dealing in 24 films belonging 
to the plaintiffs without first secur- 
ing copyright clearance from the 
owners, Costs and counsel fees 
were awarded defendant, 



Tbeatre 'Unsafe/ Mgr. Held 

Troy, N. Y., March 16. 
I State police arrested Morris 
I KofVsky. 40. manager of the Casino 
i in Watcrford, and ordered 250 
j patrons from the theatre Sunday 

afternoon (14). because of alleged 
; unsafe conditions they discovered 
I during an inspection. 

•Troopers H. M. Murray and K. 1. 
I Gleason reported that tliree exit 
I doors were so blocked by snow 
' they could not be opened; that the 
i decorations and drapes were of 

infiammabic material, and that the 

covering on the stairs was in poor 

condition. 



Warners Sets Notaro 
As Manager for Cuk 

Philadelphia, March 16« 
Pat R. Notaro, manager of the 
BronUey theatre here, has beeii 
named by Warners as its managing 
director for Cuba, and hell super- 
vise establishment of a Warner ch:- 
cuit in the West Indies in con- 
junction With the South American 
Broadcasting Co. 

He leaves March 25 for Havana 
Where wiU open an office. He 
will manage the recently opened 
Warner theatre and the Prado 
there, and book American and C«- 
ban talent for their stage shows. 

Notaro began liis career with 
Warners as an usher in PittsbuBgh 
18" years ago. He also has managed 
theatres in California, Pittsburgh, 
Albany and New York. 

Music Hall Gets 'Union' 
Ahead of PMlly Convs. 

, Metro'-s "State of the Union." 
originally stshednled to preem in 
Philadelphia in advance of the 
political conventions in that city, 
will bow in New York instead. 

Film was definitely set yester- 
day (Tues.) to play N. Y. Music 
Hall right after the current "I 
Remember Mama." Latter opened 
to strong biz last Thursday (11) 
and is' expected to play six weeks 
in conjunction with the Hall's an- 
nual Easter pageant. That would 
bring "Union" in about April 29. 

Metro's* '^Homecoming," new 
Clark Gable ' starrer, meanwhile, 
has been set to follow the current 
"Naked City" at the Broadway 
Capitol. 

Paramount film, for the first- 
time in many years, has been 
booked into the Hall. Par'$ 
entry is "The Emperor Waltz," 
Teclinicolor opus, tUmcd in the Ca-*- 
nadian Rockies, starring Bing 
Crosby and Joan Fontaine. It'll 
preem at the Hall in the middle of 
May. 

General release date for "Em- 
peror" has been set for June. Par's 
big pix, ordinarily, have their New 
York opening date at the Rivoll, 
showcase operated by the United 
Artists Theatre circuit, where the 
company has first call on playing 
time. 









AS THE MAN WHO SOLD HIMSELF TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER 

DENNIS 
MORGAN 

THE GIRL WHO BOUGHT Hia HONOR BACK WITH SOILED MONEY 

VIVECA 

iiNDrons 

THE NEW STAR FROM SWEDEN -1948's MOST IMPORTANT DEBUT! 



HIE 



I 




TRADE SCREEMINGS 





VICTOIl FMNCEN • BRIICE BENNETT • DOROTHr MAIONE • TOM D'ANOREA • DELif fe • JERIILD 



Produced by 



with 



Written by 
Ricfiard Broal($ 



Wednesday," March 17, 1948 



picTunes 



17 



Inside Stuff-Pictures 

Novelty publicity stunt set by 20th-Fox on "Call Northside 777" is 
currently getting good play in a number of newspapers throughout the 
country. Stunt features a direct newspaper plant at no charge to ex- 
hibitors, which ties in each paper's classified ad section with the film, 
stony of which is based on an ad that ran in the Chicago Times. 

.'[liree-'CDlumn inat, included in 20th's pressbook on "Northside," 
tees off with the slogan, "want ads bring results," and follow^ with a 
cut showing' the original Chi Times ad which started the Joe Majczck 
case arbjmd which the film revolves. It also includes the name of the 
local theatre and date of the opening, followed' by a pitch for the 
jpapes's classified section. 

! Incidentally, a voluntary $1 contribution by a Time reader for a 
jfoe' MaJezek Fund may snowball that Into a sizable sum, The Time 
t!(6nor thought that 20th-Fox's $1,000 fee for the Majczek story rights 
^as inadequate Kence this gesture. . 

' More than SCO. delegates from film councils throughout the country 
are slated to convene in New York tomorrow (Thursday) for the 39th 
anniversary conference of the Natipnal Board of Review at the Hotel 
McAlpin. With the "motioii picture in public dffalrs" siet as the theme 
of the meet, the group will huddle on bow films can help educate the 
public on the consequences of atomic- energy; 

Playwright Lillian Hellmah is slated to speak on "A Fi?ee Screen" 
and Joseph Lilly, assistant to Skouras theatres chief C^eprge P. Sko\iras, 
will discuss the film theatre in'co.mmunity affairs. Martin Quigley, 
Jn,' author of the newly-published "Magic Shadows," is to review the 
Industry's year end director Victor Vicas will discuss the international 
documentary. CBS commentator -Quincy Howe, who's prez of the Na- 
tional Board, and exec director Richard Griffith will preside, at the 
Meet. 

Nevv source of exhib-distrib. friction is expected to stem from a new 
habit of theatre owners in which they're slicing all picture credits from 
the prints except for the title. Practice started in the south and is 
'Spreading rapidly in small-town theatres as a step towards cutting 
'dowti running time of programs. Situation may lead to a tangle be^ 
tweett the talent aitQ technical guilds and the studios over screen bill- 
ing credits which are guaranteed in their contracts. In any case, distribs 
point out that the practice is a clear, violation of exhibition agreements 
IWrhioh state that "the exhibitor 'Shall exhibit the pictures in the form 
delivered, without any alterations other than those which are consented 
to. in writing by the distributor." 



* tynn Famol's. recently-adopted technique of letter writing to mo- 
tion picture editors of daily papers paid off on Sunday (14) with profuse 
space in both The New York Times and the Herald Tribune film sec- 
tions. Samuel Goldwyn pub-ad chlelE wrote of his recent cross-country 
tour fot The Times, while the Trib rewrote into story form a letter he 
has been sending to editors recently explaining the addition of the 
words "Cary and" to the title of "The Bishop's Wife." Tiriies' letter 
merely mentioned the Goldwyn films incidentalljK 



• Prewar whaling scenes, nearly 20,000 feet in all, will be used by 20th- 
Fox in the filming of *'Down to the Sea in Ships,'' slated to start April 
15.. Shots were made by the late Otto Brower on an ancient whaling 
^Mp in Mexican waters eight years ago. At that time production was 
delayed by story difficulties. Then the war came, on and the picture 
was : shelved. ' 



New N.Y. Law Allows Gties, Counties 
df Over 25,0i to Tax Theatres 5% 



Albany, March 16. 

Additional special taxes, for 
general revenue purposes,' may be 
levied by cities and counties of 
mpre than 25^000 population, un- 
A4r terms of a bill passed by the 
state legislature. The measure in- 
cludes a permissive levy of 5% on 
admissions at places of amusement. 
New bill will permit an admission 
levy starting May 1. 

The ATA and other exhibitor 
units unsuccessfully opposed the 
1947 enactment. Theatre interests 
did not favor this year's great ex- 
tension of taxing powers, but felt 
futile to battle it since having 
Governor Dewey's backing. Show 
business can now make a fight of 
the 5% tax bite when proposed 
locally. 

, The new tax law- does not take' 
. In race tracks, boxing, sparring or 
wrestling matches or exhibitions 
and coin operated amusement de- 
vices. The tax on Vending ma- 
chines and s i m i la r 'devices is 
broadened and enlarged. It's 
termed a privilege rather than a 
hcense tax. This is at a rale not to 
exceed .$25 a year for each device 
as against $10 per annum as at 



unanimous, ignoring contentions by 
exhibitors that it would place an 
unfair" burden on their business. 



Lauds St. Paul Tax Defeat 

. Minneapolis, March 16.. 
Decisive defeat of the proposed 
St. Paul 5% admission tax at a 
referendum will take the sails out 
of proponents in other Minnesota 
communities which have been con- 
sidering such imposts, S. D. Kane, 
North Central Allied counsel, de- 
clares. Kane called the result "a 
victory for theatre, owners every- 
where," and pointed out it will save 
$150,000 annually for St. Paul 
independent theatre patrons. The 
issue is considered dead for St. 
Paul. 



Harrlsburg, Pa., 8% Tax Rap 

. Harrisburg, Pa., March 16. 

Pnee of film theatre tickets here 
was advanced an average of 5c. 
Mst week when the city's amuse- 
jnenl tax ordinance became efec- 
twe. Cliildren's tickets were not 
Jnected, but adult tickets rose 
irom 44 to 50 cents at matinees 
and from 60 to 65 cents after 5:30 
V'tn, The city tax levy is about 
Wo. 



Upper Darby, Pa., 4% Tax 
Philadelphia, March 16. 
„ respite protests of reps of the 
community's filming biz the neigh- 
s«il ? Upper Darby Township 
scnool board last week imposed a 
^0 amusement tax to get added 
«venue. The board action was 



Col. Follows Collarites' 
Wage Pattern, $6-10 Tilts 

Conforming to pattern set in re- 
cent series of wage tilt arbitration 
awards to white coUaritiss in the 
Ne\v York film offices, 298 office 
workers at Columbia Pictures have 
received increases ranging from 
$6 to $10 per week. Wage hike is 
retroactive. to Sept. 27, 1947 under 
a reopening clause in the com- 
pany's pact with the Screen Office 
& Professional Employees Guild. 
Additional arbitration proceedings 
involving both SOPEG and the 
Screen Publicists Guild are cur- 
rently being readied at all major 
companies. 

Meanwhile, SOPEG's campaign 
to reinstate 50 employees laid oft 
at Paramount during the economy 
wave last fall was broken by a N. Y. 
supreme court decision. Under 
ruling Of Justice Morris Edeir, 
Paramount was granted an injunc- 
tion staying SQPEG from bringing 
the cases to arbitration, after find- 
ing no violation of the contract. 
Company *ight to discharg for 
economy reasons is not arbitrable 
under the pact, the judge ruled. 



When Will Censors Find 
Boston Unfit for Boston ? 

Boston, March 16. 

Having worked out every other 
kind of censorship deal, Hub cen- 
sors pulled a new one this week in 
a ruling that children could not at- 
tend "Mourning Becomes Electra" 
when the film is shown in Boston. 
Hasn't been booked yet, but will 
probably go into the Memorial 
after Academy Awards come out 
Whether it makes the grade with 
honors or not. 

Censors have banned films, cut 
them up, and ruled them unfit for 
Sunday consumption, but liavten't 
ruled pn children befot^, haven't 
decided which ages will be banned. 

Loew's Int'l Records 
Native Voices on Tape 
For Foreign Patrons 

Continuing to hunt a formula 
that will give its pictures the 
greatest possible audience abroad, 
Loew's International has sent tech- 
nicians frofti New York to make 
tape recordings of narrations for 
its films in China, Egypt, Siam. 
Brazil and India. Narrations by 
w.k. native actors, are being ex- 
perimented with in place of titles 
and dubbing to expand audience 
potential of the films. 

Tape-recording is a new wrinkle. 
After actors are hired to put the 
narration — actually an explanation 
of what's going on in the picture 
for pati-ons who can't understand 
the English dialog — on the tape, it 
is brought to New York to be re- 
corded on the film. Object of mak- 
ing the tape in the country . itself 
Is not to save coin, according to 
William Zimmerman, chief of 
Loew's International narrated and 
titled films department, but. to get 
the best possible voices. 

Tests with the new technique 
have not proved decisive as yet, in 
all countries, as the pix haven't 
been sufficient in number and 
results have varied. In Brazil it 
has been definitely deterinined that' 
the 35m narrations are not success- 
ful, but the i6m are. Principal 
reason, it is thought, are the very 
poor sound systems in most of the 
hinterland Brazilian theatres. (Big- 
city audiences, it has long since 
been established, prefer titled ver- 
sions.) Sound is satisfactory with 
16m projection, since the equip- 
ment is generally more modern, en- 
abling easy understanding of the 
narration track. 

In Siam, the three 35m test pic- 
tures have all proved successful. 
They were "Lost in a Harem," 
"Two Girls arid a Sailor" and "Tar- 
zan's New York Adventure." Wheth- 
er Metro will continue the narrated 
versions in the country will hinge' 
on success of the experiment in 
China, as thp plan will be applied 
to the whole Far East or none of it. 
Reception in China so far has only 
been fair, although it is hoped that 
results will be better with a new 
batch of pix going over in the next 
few weeks. They include "Good 
Earth" and "Tarzan Finds His 
Son." They were narrated by 
China's biggest-name players. 

Chas.Skouras Leaves Self 
Open to Suit Vs. 20th 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Charles Skpuras plans to attend 
an exec committee meeting of the 
Theatre Owners of America, Majrch 
23, meaning he'll accept service in 
a stockholders' suit against 20th- 
Fox. He hasn't been in N. Y. since 
suit was brought several months 
ago and his entry into the state 
subjects him to its jurisdiction. 

Skouras is now on swing of Na- 
tional Theatres (20th-rox) divi- 
sions, propping annual spring 
drive, and heads for N, Y., Thurs- 
day (18), from Chicago. 

During his eastern junket, 
Skouras will push the National 
Youth Month program in which 
Theatre Owners of America is 
working closely with U. S. At- 
torney General Tom Clark. 
Skouras, who heads the TOA com- 
mittee, will trek to New York this 
coming weekend to set up h.q. for 
the drive. He'll stick around New 
York until the program is well 
under way. 

Skouras is donating a half-dozen 
of his own NT staffers to do full- 
time . chores on the campaigjj. 
Additionally, Leonard Goldenson, 
Paramount's theatre veeptfe, is 
sending over five of his key tiiea- 
tremen to chip in With cross- 
country touring aimed at enlisting 
wide cooperation from exhibs. 



TOA to Champion ASCAP in Open ; 
Battle vs. Allied's Attack on So& 



UA's Foreign ReshnfQe 

. Ih a reshuffle of foreign division 
personnel,.. Arthur W. Kelly, United 
Artists exec viee-prexy, made sev- 
eral key appointments in the com- 
pany's European and Latin-Ameri- 
can setup. Michael Green, formerly 
traveling auditor In London, has 
been named sales supervisor and 
auditor for continental Europe 
with headquarters in London. 

Henry Ronge, former Puerto 
Rico manager, has been switched 
to managership of Panama, suc- 
ceeding Guy C. Smith. Latter has 
been promoted to head UA's serv- 
ice bureau in Paris. Other Latin- 
American changes include appoint- 
ment of Marco Drukaroffi as 
branch manager, of Barranquilla, 
Colombia, and Armando to head 
company's office in Call, Colombia. 

20th's Good Breaks On 
'Gentleman's' for Easter, 
Iron Curtain' for Timing 

Taking advantage of its com- 
petitors' inability to get their 
Eagter-grooved. films out on time, 
20th-Fox has obtained 359 book- 
ings throughout the country during 
Easter Week for "Gentleman's 
Agreement." Mass campaign will 
shove into use avery available 
print on the film, x 

RKO had originally hoped to get 
Miracle of the Bells" into gen- 
eral Easter release. Film opened 
yesterday (Tuesday)' at the Broad- 
way Rivoli but further pre-Easter 
bookings on it are limited. Metro 
was also shooting for the holiday 
season on "Easter Parade" but was 
stymied by the Technicolor log- 
jam and forced to delay release on 
the film until July. Twentieth 
salesmen, meanwhile, went out to 
sell "Agreement'* as an Faster- 
type picture and came up with the 
mass bookings. 

Saturation openings on "Agree- 
ment," incidentally, .will follow by 
a week the Academy Award pre- 
sentations. Film is up for the top 
picture of the year citation. If it 
cops the award, 20th hopes to move 
in with high-pressure publicity on 
each of the 359 bookings to'' come 
up with one of the highest-gros- 
sings weeks in its . history for a 
singis film. 

Another fortuitous break on 
timing is "Iron Curtain," the atom 
bomb spy scare in Canada last 
year, which has been set for mid- 
May release. Twentieth will not 
attempt to' gain saturation booking 
on the film, according to assistant 
sales chief William C. Gehring, but 
will seek 'engagements in as many 
key cities as possible With popula- 
tions over 100,000, - 

Company is out to get mass book- 
ings on the film, it's believed, to 
take advantage of the' publicity 
given "Curtain" via opposition 
raised to the film's release by such 
organizations as the National Coun- 
cil for American-Soviet Friend- 
ship. Film publicity, of course, 
ties in spontaneously with the re- 
cent Soviet moves ou the ihterna- 
tional scene. 

"Agreement" was named the best 
picture of the year by the Ameri- 
can Foreign Language Press Film 
Critics' Circle covering over 100 
papers. Charles Schlaifer, 20th's 
pub-ad director, received the 
award in behalf of the company 
and Darryl F, Zanuck at a WNYC 
broadcast last Thursday (11) in 
N. Y, . • ' 

"Great Expectations," J. Arthur 
Rank-Cineguild production, was 
selected as the British film, and 
the' Italian picture, "Shoe Shine," 
won accolades as the best foreign 
language film, 



Weitmitn's Free Feed 

Robert M. Weitman, managing 
director of the Paramount theatre 
(N. Y.) and retiring prez of B'nai 
B'rith's Cinema Lodge, will be 
honor guest at a Hotel Astor dinner 
tendered April 14. Lodge's new 
prexy, yet to be elected, will be 
inducted at the affair. 

Dinner committee named are 
Harry Levine, Robert K. Shapiro, 
Albert A. Senft, S. Arthur Glixon, 
Malvin T. Davidson, Milton Living- 
ston and Marvin Kirsch. 



National , Board of Theatre 
Owners of America has decided to 
take on National Allied in an open 
battle over the Lewis Bill, pro- 
posed Federal legislation which 
would compel ASCAP to clear it» 
theatre licensing through film pro* 
ducers instead of exhibs. Follovr- 
ing through oh the fight vote, Ted 
Gamble, TOA's prexy, A. Julian 
Brylawski, board member and 
Washington rep for Warner Bi'os., 
and possibly other TOAers will 
testify against the bill at- D. C. 
Congressional hearings set to start 
Monday (22). 

Their appearance spells a head* 
on clash with Allied officials, in- 
cluding Abram F.^Myers, general, 
counsel, since Allied is supporting 
the bill and will send reps to 
testify in its favor. It's the first 
time that biggies from the rival 
exhib groups will* face each other 
in vis-a-vis jousting. 

TOA, according to Gamble, wlU 
set forth six grounds lor opposing 
the bill and asking its defeat. 
Those are: ^' 

1. Right to negotiate their own 
terms should not be taken away 
from exhibs. Where thousands of 
theatremen have political and 
economic strength to fight agabist 
rate boosts, a dozen or, so produ«^ 
ing companies can much more 
easily be coerced into granting 
hikes in ASCAP's theatre take. 

2. Provision compelling clear- 
ance through producers won't re- 
duce the actual bill paid by exhibs. 
Costs would merely be passed on 
via rentals with a greater expense 
since producers' administrative 
costs for handling charges would 
also be tacked on. 

3. Theatres would have inade- 
quate protection under the bill 
since exhibs would have no way of 
telling what music had b^en 
cleared at the source. ASCAP 
would have to hire a large police 
force to watch theatres > whidb 
means more expenses passed on to 
exhibs. 

4. Would be an improper man- 
date to producers since many of 
them own interests directly In 
ASCAP via subsid music publish- 
ing houses. TOA doesn't want- 
part-owners representing the thea-' 
tres in negotiations since their in- 
terests are different. Exhibs, on 
the other hand, have an undimin- 
ished objective in keeping the 
price down. ' 

5. TOA believes the present 
rates, negotiated by it, are fair. 
Some charge should be made by 
ASCAP and the present one is not 
exorbitant. 

6. It has an antipathy to un- 
necessary interference by Govern- 
ment in business. There's no need 
for it in the present instance^ 



Music Hall's Easter Week 
Res'd Seats Again SRO 

Keeping pace with its record of 
recent years. Radio City Music 
Hall, N. Y., has posted the SRO 
sign for its entire reserved seat 
section fgr all shows during Easter 
Week (March 28-April 3). Reason 
for the boff advance sale, of course, . 
is the Hall's annual Easter pageant 
on stage, since most seats were 
sold long before the film ("I Re- 
member Mama") was announced. 

Deluxe showcaser luts been sell- 
ing out in advance for both its 
Christmas and Easter, stage presen- 
tations since before the war; 
Orders for the Christmas show and ' 
for New Year's Eve usually start 
rolling in about Jan. 2 each year. 
In addition, several thousand ad- 
vance orders for othei; shows can 
always be counted on, Soats are 
put on sale four weeks in advance, 
with the demand contingent on 
both the attraction and the season. 

Hall has retained its subscrip- 
tion list, which was smarted during 
the war, but has clamped down on 
adding any more names to it. List 
now includes enough to fill about 
half the reserved seat section for 
each show during the first week of 
an engagement. Most of the sub- 
scribers are native New Yorkers or 
suburbanites, with the tourists, 
who always give the Hall a heavy 
play, preferring regular seats. 

Despite the business done in re- 
served seats, the arrangement has 
one drawback. Since the Hall runs 
on a continuous policy it's usually 
possible to have only three or foue 
turnovers daily in the special sec- 
tion, whereas the rest of the house 
usually turns over iova to five 
times daily. 



IS 



nin Reviews 



0«htintie4 frow 8 



by Michael Arien. magician John 
Calvert racks up a iair perform- 
ance. Besides making like a de- 
tecUve he also works ia some occa- 
giosal sleight-of-liand via pidling 
ducks out of liats, etc. 

Story is familiar stuff. Paul 
Marion supposedlj' lias killed a 
raeetcack ojs.erator in a dispute 
over the, foraier's v/ife, Bochelle 
Hudson. The slayer enlists the aid 
of Calvert prior to surrendering 
to tlic cops. Later he dies of poi- 
soning in his cell. MeaMwhile a 



likelv to be pretty heavy going for 
U. S. audiences, except for = the 
lew who understand the .Bussian 
language and can presumably ap- 
preciate tlie comedy dialog (which, 
audibly amused a minority ak the 
show caught). To HJiOst spectators, 
the film will seem. ovfeirJoi>g» .-ire- 
' quently tedioUs and o^te iweasioa- 
ally diverting. .The sctljit iattd.i»ii- 
sical numbers are thei-*aii Holly* 
wood outgrew a Ms^M-ki^-^ WWWi 
the ■ score,. per4S(^rtflf«te'..a«w)V|NC^ 
duetion are undisUtigUJistaed. ' ''-".y^ 
Spring" is a j^wmantlc yarn 



ic MiiLi Hv a hnmh mJanted based on a hackneyed version of 
larUe^'»^"^ri^.^^a^^ ftoe mistaken identity sihjattim. 
eralTusSects ia the various J»Hr- an ein»iient Soviet sctentost 

ders including Miss Bfadson. How- and '^^^^ 
ever, the Fateon nabs his maa in resemblfis hia:. The scientist is a 
a climax that most filmgoas -won't 
)BBd^ toe difficult to anticipate. 

Acting' is' ^lerally uninspired. 
Jliss-HadstHi aatomatically raidows 
the footage with her TiatUKil 
charms but her delineation of the 
■feasune lead is a medtenical inter- 
prctalion. Roseoe Kama is a stands 



chilly article ~w-ith glasses, no 
mdkeup and no time for a per- 
sonal life, while the dancer is a 
pert dish and a taste for .adventure. 
When a film studio, planning a 
screen .bic^ of the s«entist, casts 
the dancer to play the i>art, the 
identity misjips begin, with iHie, 



Scfamid in the opening scenes as 
the girl. She gives, a remarkable 
proof of dramatic talent. Ifein/. 
Moog, in the role of Baron Onody, 
the arch-anti-^mite, is too ex- 
aggerated and plays the viUaia in 
the good, old "shouting" way. " 

One of the most positive points 
ofUiis i»ctuxe is its fight on anti- 
Seniitisni, which, more thajs evi^, 
appears one of today's niest deli- 
cate problems. Mew. 

tA,ftep l«ve) 

paiis, Feb. 26. 

-Atom. i^ia-ecnpjar W iWi BmuiinI - iJm'. 
Teum i he I'loi jw ^V«in-U*Jni'l Uuvornalji 
*Ay. IMTPctiixl \>y "Mswlre Toumeur. fifara 
S'lfrre Blnnriur, Sinume Rtauin aaxl <!iaell« 
V'lsuui. r>iaS4]£, J^u^uEv Nu't.iAUHon: musU*. 
AlMJT I.,«n3^anJ cainfra, A. Triruwl. .^t 
M;iri.vrui3u l^«ri». itunn4nff iiim-, Oil MINH. 
K!';iruH>i.s :si<i»n«lp. .I'M-im* ril«nt'haj' 

<iorma iwo. , , .GJf«rfl» i^aacal 

Ktnivnioi'. ..I«Yr»aiui .li'abrft 

( "jitjiu . .I'talM'lf He Fonl im 

aisi'ST .^inafne Xadoyt'i) 



pretauuu. ™wIp Thin.: stereotype, emotional conseqnenccsL 

<ard There^. endless fooUge of mu- 

doreVon-EaizisokaarastheJieavy. . , __nJ,,,.ii_„ „h,fF ?iiTvnn<:p>iiv 

Marian is acceptable as a J vtho ! J™""/,*^, ^^^f^^ 
BiMmes the rap for. murder com* 
mltted by another. , 
Occasional drags in. ti» action 

S^^jTv^talttwI^h^v^ scenes. VirtuaUy all of it is in the 
•faster laacmg. Producer Philip..J«. 
Kiasnte evidently held a close xcio, 
«D ceets; wbilc l«isiiag of Wa^r 
Strange is good, G%m, 



backstage at the, Bolslwty theatre, 
numerous shots iS. ^^hnified scien- 
1 riftc laboratoiy mumfoo-junibO', and 
more llian enough picture sbidio 



. -■■wms' Wsam - 

Paris. Feb. 26. 

irkaiK, J™»1 A»!aj»tea by Jean Coc- 

tMU tratix Vitmr 11bs"'s .dram*. Jifawted 
by I'ifi'rf ISHlmr afKsic.' byOeoiges-- Aurw!. 

Qmieii .iMnteJte Bavricwr 

K«y BJa«...... J«w jMaralfl. 

Jim Slintwt*. MarMl IJcnr.infl 

«ifn1atrlM>)t>a AifaMmdie VtiisausSi 

Biujhess ^ . .polB-ieao »0T7.iat 

San** OntJ! ; Vanl Aim«t 

DnJaa nt .*JIk< ; tSilles Qsafsajit 

i^astikto.. , ..-lone .:4alia3n,a 

<?H<jvjintii <Jiw*Mi Cnrilflii 

MSniirtti-.-..' Chjiries Ijanontln- 

ArfWsisti"!' ' i-'i?'*?."" 

Miiiisfvi- • J, Berlwx 

WiBteteir......... Masww 



exaggerated idiom of musicai com- 
edy, and many of tlie dance pro- 
duction' numbers are shot from- 
various odd angles (as was a vo£^e 
in Hollywood once), but some of 
the song numbers show- at least the 
rudiments of staging sMU. 

l«bov Orlova is acceptable ia 
the dwsd'-part of the scientist and 
actress, and Nikolai Konovalov is 
worth a- smile as 'the dimwit as- 
sistant film dlreetor, but the t^Hiers 
are merely standard. Hobe. 



■mis Cloak-and-dagger epic of 
Vim century Spain cant miss heife. 
The- popular classic, Jean Oocr 
teau's rep, and the marquee, draw 
,«f the^stars . w(»tld suifice m any 
case, it's A feir. bet for export. 

Picture has been wdl cast, and 
the adapter "has kept it moving 
aloiig at a tcmi^ xmusiial here. 
The "Wakhevitch sets are excel- 
lent, filmbation having taken place 
in ttie Epinay studios near Paris, 
witSh location sequences made in 
Italy. But the Spanish atmosphere 
has been well rendered, 

MiiR Marais plays a diMtble part, 
that of a nobleman turned b^ulit, 
■and a young stadait. £De handles 
the double role • very well, both 
in the love scenes, which are very 
. restrained as tietits the strictness 
of the Spanish court, and in the 
action sequences. 

Oantelle Darrieux, as the 'qneen, 
expresses her feelings \sts coiii- 
mendabte unde;rplay, and stages a 
i%al sc3%eii comeback. She is ac- 
eompanied ' by a lady . in waiting, 
lone Saliqas, who is woith watch- 
ing, Maxfxl Herrand gives a -very 
good inipersonation of the unscru- 
pulous politician who would com- 

Eromise the queen rather 4han lose 
a job, while GiUes Queant does j it cannot- be denied ttot "The 
very well as the Dnke Of Alto, i Trial," despite several faults and 
As ttae mauiteuwr of cqnrt tradi- racaggerations. is unusual. Pab&; 
tifins, Gabnelie Dorziat is suitably Us .stal 3 film expert Several se- 



(The Trial> 

Zurich,. March 6. 

(i. W. Paiwft Msioamt't3(Qn. directed liy 
PaJjsl. iM-od>i<*d by Oesten-eicWm-lM! 
ejjssftaiu & FilrnvrortaiKtiiina AAJ., J. A. 
JIu^.^il'PT-KaTila £c Oo. <pradurtpr, J. W. 
JJeytT. ficinMiipJay. ItMAulI BriinnshiJiM-, 

(liwrfton, Alois Melk-liar-, <«iiMfra, Onkar 
.SfhBOT-h, Holiiultli Kloclwr-Aslwly; fililor, 
Anux HwHfring; o»s)atant airwluirs. 0«or«. 
Keulhcr. Hennann Ijamuke. Wmtrr M«- 
t»rs. WovM jufjaipre, Mwfh *, *4S. Sola 
("inen«s(, KfaSri. 

»r.. Bq«*«HB».,......,, EwaW Batow 

.Si*ar( .. KoMSt OeUiWwti 

Mm-iiz Ail>Brt Tiuhy 

fSnraA ■ <*n«ay . . : ; . . . IWm: Mnog 

Mrs. S«plr>JM>iH....... , Maria Eia 

ErMliPr .•. . : Afflaja. Si'tenld 

Jferft-S-V Ivsm l>tnjv-11:i* 

3i«tli— , .... ..,.<Jllstilv DifBsi 

.naly, ..,.Jf^^»wi^ AJficj-mi 

Ksil«lti(fii ^-liwanl. . . .tjji^ifi3!t«s MoiT{jen!^tenn 

Wallonr .1. , . .Ktuat HValODrimB 

Pwja-to- S-mnt piaimijer 

RMKky,. . ..ijeoiMjld llutoll 

Rtrfaui- ; . ..... , . . iicnnan : Hiimfe 

f>«Jsi!ian. . ....Mttti: Srii)OMieh> 

nr. Hkwtviwft' Flsnifc.MarlHniM' ^vhuemsxr 

a *«* ., Max ISwd 

.UiU'ii. . , KluvjunaHa^^ctla 

World preem of controversia' 
Pabst pic, with its ritual murder 
theme, to^ pkice in Zurich before 
release in Austria. Public rieadian 
at the preiniere seemed favorable 
but the press comment in local 
papers- ranged from mediocre to 
bad. Critics say that the picture is 
too direct in spreading^ its ttafeis 
against anti-Semitism and too the- 
atrical-like, >vhieh, in certain se- 
quences of the film, is quite true. 
One -[Japer compared it to "Cross- 
iSre," due to have its Swiss preem 
soon, opining that the American 
treatment cff practically the same 
problem is much more convincing.' 
It cannot- be denied ttot 



Maurice Tourneur, who is now 
72 and has had plenty of Holly- 
wood experKBce, enjoys ttie rdore 
iJistinctioB among French directors 
of never having one ^of his nu- 
merous piiitures turn anjrthing but 
a handsome profit to the producer. 
He is still the safest and soundest 
French director, and without going 
ifi fm SalbxMe^ stnnts, makes 
e^kdioid a i>ayiBg iavestnunt. 

This is wliat makes Uiis very 
modest budgeter wcl! -ivortihy of 
notice, bccatuse at a time when 
French producers as a body claim 
they are stymied \ss spiraling costs 
and can't operate anymore, this 
sure local grosser was made in 
five and a half weeks, under sched- 
ule, for 25.000.000 francs <($83,- 
000^. at less than original budget. 
Tounieiir's name is hardly visible 
on some of the publicity and 
doesn't even appear on the theatre 
front, which, leaves him indifferent 
The 1900 style of story shows 
Pierre Blanchar as a literary mo- 
gul getting a Nobel prize. He has 
a -wife CSimone Reaant) -vrtlom he 
kiiows has cheated on him for a 
long time with a worthless news- 
paperman (Femand Fabi-e). He 
also Iiad a mistress, long dead, 
done by Giselle PascaL 

When the wife discoveis tliat 
l^ h<@band has anotUrar menage, 
with a child about the same afie 
as hers, and that one of her' sisters 
(Germaine Ledoyen)" is taJdng 
care of the kid, she finally agrees 
to. let her husband take him home. 
She'll mother him as well as her 
own, never realising untU the end 
that long ago the husband sub- 
stituted one of the kids for the 
other, and that she is really tak- 
ing home her own child-. 

Picture is the mu^, hackneyed 
type of story that the French pro- 
letariat loves. It may not have 
international appeal, but Tourneur 
pi^ed safe, and it's money in the 
.baijk from J'reiich-s^ealdng ferri- 
tones. . MeuA. 



$6,000,000 ¥ik€ 



Cfflrihnied ttma- ssage 4 , 



stiffnecked and handles hier part 
very commendably. 

Neither direction nor technique 
are standouts, Isit the j^tiue de- 
pends on stpry, action, atmosphere, 
supported by excellent sets, and 
stars. As such, it's one of the 
better French pix. Moxi. 



■ (M0SICA1,) . '■• ■ 
• (SOVJBT-MABE) 

iMMteliji; m(»Kl(', Dunavpv.?ky; l.vji^-a ; I"* "nauy SHCCee^ tO 

Vasjuii U'tw-dffv-Koinath; oamera, ' Yuri ! wm the trial, showing incontest- 
-mei-hik. At .staiiiMT, Maroi r.:. ' able proof that the chai-ge has not 

I'tibov oriovn I justified. Based on the his- 
..uuiKiv ortuv., jtonc trial, the scfieenplay by Aus» 



quences are potent amd magniS- 
cently photographed. Unfortu- 
nately the closing scene is rather 
tasteless, showing some angels in 
white gowns singing hymns. 

The story: In 1882, a young Hun- 
garian peasant girl commits sui- 
cide. The inhabitants get the idea 
that the girl has been the victim 
of a ritual murdfflr and they arrest 
all the Jews and arrange a jgreat 
trial a^inst ttieih ivhich stirs up 
the entire world. A liberal lawyer 
who fights for justice and unity of 
all religions takes the defense for 



Tfceatit Siray 



Irilui KikiUna... 



iii^M'<'^aisai,liM'v\ tvia,n writer EutJfa|ty©rwtiHgr4ber 

^ «^ very apt, wl&:4'liotogri^ is 



, Corim lie rfcitli'l of llic Bolshoy Then I re. 



(In Riissian; English Titles) 
"Spring" is another frivolous 
musical comedy from the Soviet 
studios, which used to be noted 
for heavy dramas. And as usual 
nowadays, this picture is practi- 
cally devoid of propaganda, wliere- 
j»s Iffo$cow prodnctioiis of several 
years ago were often almost buried 
under their "message." 

For all its emphasis on pure en* 
tertaittmenti however, "Spring" is 



excellent, also tfte score by Alois 
Melichar, using several old .rewish 
melodies, one of which, in the 
synagog, is beautifully sung by 
famed Hungarian cantor Ladislaus 
Morg£»istem. 

The cast is well picked in gen- 
eral, but Ernst Oeutsch, as the 
main defendant among the .lews, 
and the w.k. stage actor of the 
Burgtheater Vienna Ewald BaJser 
are by far the best Femme parts 
are rather Inferior, featuring Burg- 
theater actress Maria Eis as the 
dead girl's mother who initiates 
tlte pursuit of the Jews, aad Aglaja 



circuits affiliated witii the major 
producers control about 3.500 thea'- 
tres vrith a boxof fice weight heavier 
than all the other thcatt-es com- 
bined. 

.179 Drive-ins 

In a separate category, the sur- 
veys h'st a total of 179 drive-ins 
currently in operation with a car 
capacity of 68,900. In tbis relatively 
new branch of the industry, 17 
drive-ins, with a capacity of 8,366 
cars, are reported as closed down. 

Chambers, appointed to the 
MPAA post two years ago, began 
the theatre survey at the instiga- 
tion of Eric Johnston shortly after 
the latter came in as' prexy. Johns- 
ton then stated that the film in- 
dustry knew less about itself than 
any other busihesss in the country 
and instructed Chambers to bring 
the industry oat of the dark. 

A parallel series of directories 
is being issued On the world theatre 
situation, Due to difficulty in col- 
lecting data in overseas territories, 
only surveys on Cuba and Alex- 
andria, Egypt, have been published 
thus far. 



,;t vnu able to corral only 9,000 
bookings against an 'average total 
of 12,000-14,000 for the ruK-of- 
the-mUl Vank film distributed by 
one of the Big Five. 0£ that $1,- 
000,000, possibly $750,000 will 
ultimately fiad its way back to 
British coffers. 

"Caesar and Cleopatra," Rank's 
expensive opus which hit Amer- 
ican theatres in hiid-IS4S, was good 
for $2,000,000 in rentals but proved 
of mitior help to doUar-statved 
Britain. It's estimated that only 
$500,000 from "Caesar" reached 
England after Technicolor print 
CDists, distribution fees and a 
whadcing fSOO.tXM) and more for 
advertising expenses w«re de- 
ducted: "Caesar"' has copped top 
bookings to date, a total of 10,000 
Uiroughout the country. 

"Caesar" and "Expeetatiote" are 
no examples of the correitt. book- 
ing problem. For any otber Brit- 
isli pic, 7,500 playdates represent 
a top. Some films which lacked 
boxoffice punch played a few scat- 
tered spots and then laded out. 
Bilauy more of'^the Bank imports 
were sfielved either before break- 
ing into' any Yank iUckeries at all 
or aft» a few test runs. Pact re- 
mains that unless a British pie 
packl; real 1><o, waUop, ejdiibs shy 
away. 

THiere QuT Bi£ 5 Figures 

The Big Five with their hold 
on loey situatitms, hmKiwac, can 
help plenty. If$ the belfef of execs 
lieddling British pix that returns 
for these films can be boosted 
100% by slotting . the films into 
better houses and granting them 
extended and preferred run.<i. 
That's despite the fact that tlie 
ainUatps to date have been playing 
along with the British unports 
much more wholeheartedly tiian 
the indies. 

There's no assurance, however, 
film cirdes say tteit jthe Big Five 
will go all but even though it 
would mean more British coin. On 
this score, if s noted that for every 
de luxe house booldng of an Anglo 
pic and every preferreii run means 
the go-by for a Hollywood can- 
didate for the same house and 
time. Certainly, the theatre-own- 
ing companies are not going to 
sidetraKk their own product to in- 
ferior hon^ and dates SvK & frac- 
tional cut in Increased Brifiali 
monies. What's more, it's unlikely 
that Big Five theatre execs vsrill 
take on a ^riti^ film with lower 
grossing power for ide in the Eng- 
lish sky. 

If the affiliates don't go big for 
British films, it's a cinch that the 
indie exhib isn't going to extend 
himself for the imports. So far 
as tb^ indie is concerned and will 
so coatiime, Biitisb pix will have 
to prove themselves -via better box- 
office returns before he signs a 
licensing contract Nonetheless, 
his attitude- will be friendlier, it's 
thought, since tax settlement has 
gone through. 

Execs who've sold British films 
are stressing the better houses and 
playdate angle. So far as actual 
bookings are concerned, they fee! 
a 2S% boost in the number is all 
that can reasonably be expected. 
That would be the number of iKHjk- 
ings whidi, they think, are cur- 
rently being withheld because of a 
prejudice against British pix as 
such. 



CompeHtiv^ Booking 
Bk Bided Not filegai 

Suit brought by tlie Island Thea- 
tre Circuit. N. Y.. agaaast three of 
Its former employees, chargins 
Ihem with a breach of fiduciarv 
trust by soliciting the circuit's ac- 
counts, was dismissed last week im 
N. Y. Supreme Court Justice Aron 
Steuer after a thrce-cby tiial 
Court held that the. defendants" 
Jules Liggett, Effle Weisbereer 
and Norma Fallenbeig, liad the 
nglit to leave Island last July and 
set up a similar business. 
; A buybug and booking combine 
Lslaad had sougbt an injuncUon 
restraining its fonner employees 
from servichig and soliciting its 
customei-s which at one time num- 
bered some 55 houses." It was also 
claimed that the defendants had 
taken advantage of a "corpoimte" 
oppoxtunity in acquiring a smaller 
combine operated by Sam Sticfel 
for themselves instead of for their 
employer. 

In deciding this point Justice 
Stewsr ruled that "it is found the 
offer • as made contemplated ac- 
ceptonce by laggett personally and 
that his subsequent acceptance of 
at was no breach of any duty to 
the plaintiff." To charges that the 
defendants had lifted and soUcitcd 
Island's accounts, the coux-t held 
this practice to have been in ' bad 
taste" but not joecessarily faul 
since under the dxeumstances im- 
proper solicitation does not appear 
to hav« bem used. „ > 



r.'CMiiimeltl'. fruBi;: P^e ' 3v.as 
boards Of the majors in declarjng 
melon cuts during December, 1947 
was reflected in that month's 
figure of $8,000,000, ofl: $2,80Q,0Oe 
from the equivalent period of 1946. 
Year's end also usually accounts 
for a number of cash extras voted, 
and the fact that 1947 disburse- 
ments were off show ..-d wariness by 
directors in committing company 
earnings, due to shrinking foreign 
revenues and generally unsettled 
econoniic coaditionst in the in- 
dustry. , -■■ ■ 



IL-Maiik-O 

C«|itiiMied fMin page S 



the Britlsb films handled recently 
by it which they claim are pro- 
portionately as large as those 
turned in by U. The proportion, 
it's said, is equal when considera-: 
tion is given to the difference in 
grossing-potential between a James 
Mason pic or "Expectatioas" 
against "Bedelia" or "The Adven- 
turess," two of EL's Anglo films. 

Beported^, . no change in the 
method of bracketing pix for either 
of the companies! is sought Nor is 
a svyiteh in personnel of the board 
making deslgnatioiis requested. 
Rather, it's recognition of a prin- 
ciple which would henceforth 
guide tlie board in its action. Board 
currently includes Robert Benja- 
min, prexy of Rank's U. S. organi- 
zation; N. J. Blumberg, U's prez; 
William Scully, U's sales chief; 
Arthur Krim. EL's prexy;- and Wil- 
liam J. Heiaeman, EL's distribu- 
tion veepee. 



Rep. Agenda 

Centinne* fram pag« 7 



sale, it's said, will be used to re- 
duce Bep's bank loans. 

Despite a fair return on Molded 
since 1940 (profit vras* $83,967 last 
year and $100;i€7 in 1946), JRep di^ 
rectors desire to sell since .large 
additional amonut of vrorking. cap- ' 
ital would be required becau.se of 
the competitiveness now Of the 
plastics industry and because 
Molded has no connection wbatso- 
ever with the film industry. 

Yates is listed as receiving $175,- 
140 in salary and expenses (except 
traveling) diffing the past fiscal 
year. Other officers and directors 
listed are James R. Grainger, exec 
v.p.. $78;i20; Edwawl L. Walton, 
soisistant general salesmanager. 
$26^760: Riehard W, Altschuicr, 
prez of Rep International, $17,500; 
Frederic E. Ryan, attorney, $7,740 
and Albeit W. Lind, stockbroker, 
$260. Receiving $26,080 was Goetz, 
who hold his interest in Rep to 
Yates following bis minority revolt 
last year. ■ 

Five dlredors up for re-election 
to three-year terms are Yates, 
Grainger, Lind, Kyan and Alt- 
scfauler. Altschuler became a direc- 
tor last January for the first time. 



Drive-liis 

Coatinaed Xrom page 7 



the basis of each tiieatre's poten- 
tial gross and rental returns. Thus, 
one with a large car capacity and 
a eonsequent large grossing pfli- 
tentiality may buy product on per- 
centage terms. Most of them, how- 
ever, settling for second'run prod- 
uct, will be able to buy on flat 
rental terms. According to the 
sales chief of one of the ma.toi-s, 
the drive-in will take its place In 
the norniatjclearance cliahnel, get- 
ting product ih tuen, according to 
its availability on the run schedule. 

Most of the driVe-tns today are 
franchised by Drive-Ih Theatres, 
Inc., which is headed lip by Wil- 
liam W. Smith and B. M. Hol- 
lingshead, Jr., who tirst conceived 
•the idea, Under terms of each li- 
cense agreement, the applicant, 
upon approval of these two, pa.vs 
$1,000 for the franchise, plu.s Sl u';^ 
of his net gross each year. Smith 
expects at least 50 more drive-ms 
will be built this year at aa ap- 
proximate Investment of $8,750,- 
000. Length of their operating sea- 
son is determined by the weather, 
with most of them shutting shop 
when the temperature falls I0 40 
degrees or lower. iMost of them 
average 33 weeks of opeyal'on 
yeaJ:ly. 



Last work of the young Spanish 
poet, Federico Garcia Lorca, 
•House of Bemarda Alba," will be 
filmed in Basle next winter by 
French director Roger Leenhardt 
for a French company. 




Remember what we say here! And remember that it is still 
early in the year and there are many other M-G-M Big Ones 

to come! That's why there's a new industry slogan: 

M G'M GREAT IN '48' 



PICTUIIES 



Picture Grosses 



ST. LOUIS 

(Continued from page 12) 
week "Secret Beyond Door" 



(U), 



and "Black Narcissus" lU), $16,000 
Missouri (F&M) (3,500; 50-75)— 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) and "Call 
Northside" (20th) (2d wk). Oke 
$10,000 f«*liIowing $13,000 first, ses>- 
eion. . 

Orpheuai (Loew) (2,000; 50^75)— 
"Pittsburgh" (SG) and "Greea 
Hell" (SG) (reissues). Fine $9^. 
Last week, "Cass Timbertane" (MG) 
(m.o.). ?8,000. 

St. Louis (F&M) (4,000; 50-75)— 
"Saigon" (Par) and "Mr. Reckless" 
(Par) (2d wk). Trim $11,000 alter 
fine $13,000. first session. 

Shubert (Ind) (1,500; 40-60)— 
"Belle Staw" (aOfch) aodl "Frontier 
Marshal" (2CRh) (reissues) (2d wk). 
Okay $3,600 fc®!lowing $4,000 
opener, ■ , 



Turtle' Snappy $17,000, 
K.C. Despite Big Bliz; 
'Scudda' Fancy ^20»000 

. Kansas City^ Maidt I8i 
TEovra has two hits which are 
more than holding their own de- 
spite roughest March weather on, 
record. yScudda Hoo, Scudda 
Hay" in Hie Tower-Uptown-Falr- 
way looks 'fancy ailte£ preem send- 
olf with personal appeiurances-by 
Lon McAUister, CoUeen Town- 
send, Betty Ann Lynn> and Lou- 
anqe Hogan taaa the ZOtb-Fox 
studio. - "Voice of Turtle" at 
Paranktwttt. is even .stmnger hgr 
comparisoa and .holds. March's 
worst snowstorm and Uizzard hit 
in middle of week, denting both 
closiQie runs and oiE«iung days. 
Esti|Mrt«s for This Wei£ 
Ec^pdre (Fox Ilidwest) (82S;. 4^ 
65)^"L>t|y in « Ssm'* (Indie) and 
"Lady from Chtyenne" (Indie) 
(reissueis)': So-so $3,500. Last 
week, "Call Nocthside" {20th> 
(m.«,K nice $4,500. 

MMbUMi (Loew's) (2^; 45-65)— 
"Alias a Gentleman" (M.-G) and 
"Return d£ Whistler" (Col). Good 
$12,000. Last week. "^Ends of 
Earth" iCm, $15,009. 

Oqpkewit (RKO> iljm; 4545)— 
"Bisihcq^'s Wife". (QKO) (3d wjk). 
I Fine #8,jD60. Last week, $11,600. 
I PSKawtutt (Par) (1,900; 45-65)— 
! "Voice «£ Turtle" CWB>. Opened 
■in .aoowstorm but got geing on 
weekend, witit -big $17,^000 likely. 
Holds. Last week^ "I Walk Alone" 
(Par) (2d wk), nuld $9,000. 

Bexy (Durwood) (SOO; 45-05) — 
"Bittett Minds Baby" (U) and 
"Ti^t Shoes" (V) (reissues) split 
with "Let Vs Uve" (Col) and 
"Couldnt Take It" (Col) (reissues). 
Mild $4,000. Lafet week/ "The 
Smugglers'-' (EL), okay $5,000. 

Tower - Uptown - Fairway (Fox 
Midwest) (2,100; 2,043; 700; 45-65) 
— "Scudda Hoo, Scudda Hay" 
(20th). So-called world preem 
. kicked, off with p.a.'s of four 
JloUywood players "Thursday night. 
Fancy $20,000^ despite adverse 
weather. Cinch tioldover. Last 
week, "Black Bart" (tO, slowest in 
months $8,500. 



Jim" (FC) (refasiicsK. C*ay $«,000. 
Last week, "High WMT m-G) md 
"Blackmail" (Rep) (2d wk), good 

$5,000. 

Paramount (H-E) (3,(B9r 45-80)— 
"Saigon" (Par) and "Busy Me 
Dead" (EL) (Zd wk). Off sharp]^ ta 
$5,000 after fine $11,700 in opener. 

Rooserelt (Sterling) (800; <&-80) 
—"10th Ave. Angel" (M-G) and 
"Ginger" (M-G) (2d *k). Solid 
$4,000. Last week, nice $4,800. 

CHAPLIN DULL $5,500, 
CINCY; 'EARTH' $18,000 

' Cincinnati, March 16. 
Business of major stands this 
round is slightly better .than last 
week but only at a medium level, 
Top grosser currently is "To Ends 
of Earth," hotsy at Albee and far 
ahead of three other new bills. 
"Albuquerque" is next strongest, 
and stout at Palace. "Monsieur 
Verdoux" is slow. "Bishop's Wife" 
will lead the holdovers. 

Estimates for This Week 
Atbee (RKO) (3,100; 50-75)— 
"Ends of Earth" (Col). Hotsy $18,- 
000. Last week, "BishCp's Wif6" 
(RKO), corpulent $19,000. 

Capitol (RKO) (2,000; 50-75)— 
"Alias a Gentleman" (M-G). Pleas- 
ing $8,000. Last week, "Three 
Daring Daughters" (M-G) (2d wk), 
lively $8,500. 

Grand (BKO) (1,400; 50-75)^ 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (m.o.>. So* 
$121,500. Last week, "GenCteman's 
Agreement" (20th) (m.o-) (3d wk), 
vAUiy $6,000. 

KeKb's (City Xttv^.) (1,542; 50-75) 
—"Mobs. Verdoux" (UA). Below 
par at $5,500. Last week, "Black 
Narcissus" (U), okay $8,000. 



Mpls. Digs Out; 'Saigon' 
Paces Field at $17,000, 
'Verdoux' Fair $7,500 

Minneapolis, March 16, 
After t stretch of 27-below 
weather that again dented grosses 
plus ttie'inqome tax adverse ioBtt- 
enee, more favocable factors are 
gettittg in some healthy licks at the 
bSKOlTice: this session. Fir!>t pleas- 
ant weekend in more than a nficwtth 
got "Saigon"^ and "Monsieur Ver>- 
doux." only major newcomers, off 
to good starts. : 

' Estimates for This Week 
Century (Par) (1,600; 50-70)— 
"Mons. Verdoux" (UA). Fair $7,500. 
Last week, "Meant for Me" 
(20th) (2d wk), hurt , by coldest 
March weather m Tocal history, 27- 
below, and sagged to $5,000. 

Gopher (Par) (1,000; 44)— "Dar- 
ing Young Man" (Col) and "Swiss 
Miss" iFC) (reissues). GJood $4,500. 
Last week, "Green Heil" (Indie) 
and "Pittsburgh" (Indie) (reissues), 
$3,200. 

Lyric (Par) (1,000; 50-70)— "Voice 
of Turtle" (WB) (4th wk). Winding 
up at respectable $5i000. Last 
week, big $5,500. 

Iftdio City (Par) (4,400; 50-70)— 
"Cass Timberlane" (M-G) (2d wk). 
One of the real boxoifice champs 
here. Still virile at $14,000 after 
smash $22,000 opener. - 

RKO-Orph«um (RKO) (2,800; 30- 
70)— "To Ends of Earth" (Col) (2d 
wk). Swift $10,000 on top of cork- 
ing $13,000 first stanza. 

RKO-Pan (RKO) (1,600; 50-70)— 
"House Across Bay" (Indie) and 
"Stand Jn" (Indie) (refesiies). 
Modest $7,000. Last week," "Bish- 
op's Wife" (RKO) (3d wk), fine 
$7,000. 

State (Par) (2,300; 50-70)— "Sai- 
gon" (Par). Terrific $17,000. Last 
week, "Pirates Monterey" (U), 
$7,000. 

1 Uptown (Par) (1,000; 44-60)—- 
" Walk Alone" (Par). First nabe 



Rank's Good .Timinf: 

J , Arthtnr's B|mk's arrival la 
the United States last week, £t 
was remarked, ' could have? 
liardly been better limed. 
He arrived aboard the Qaeen 
Elistabeth the litii^t the Brtt- 
-isb- American niCgatiAt(»K ift 
London reached «etil«ttent of 
the tax impasse tatA jtist about , 
12 hqurs before- it vnut an- 
nounced. 

Cocktail party previously 
arranged by JAR's H.- S. press 
rep, Jock, Lawrence, at his new 
Park avenue, N. Y., apartment, 
for the day following Bank's 
arrival, was appropriately 
turned into a celebration-of- 
the-peace paet.' 



ithT 1 showing. Fair $4,000. Last week. 



World (Mann) (35Ch, 50-85) 
Bishop's Wife" (BKO) (m,o.). 
-Hefty $2,500. Last week, "Daisy 
Kenyon" (20th) (2d wk), light 
$1,800. 



Seattle Spotty Albeit 
'SeudcIa'mHay^$ia,000 

Seattle, March 16. 

Biz 'is as mixed as 'the weather 
this week.. "Scudda Hoo" i^apes as 
standout with a big session, at the' 
Ornheum. Holdovers are especially 
hard hit. 

Estimates fer This Week 

Blue Mouse (H-E) (800; 45-80) — 
"Double Life (U) and "Dangerous 
Years" (20th) fm.o.). Fair $3,500 in 
6 days. Last week, "Nortfaside" 
(20th) and "Lone Woif London" 
(Col) (3d wk), okay $5^000 in 10 
days. 

Fifth Avenne (H-E) (2,349; 45-80) 
—"Night Song" (RKO) and "Vio- 
lence" (Mono). Mild $8,000. Last 
week, "Double Life" (U) and "Dan- 
gerous Years" (20th), good $10,500 
in 10 days. 

Liberty (J & VH) (1,650; 45-80)— 
"Albuquerque" (Par) and "Wreck 
Hesperus" (Col) (2d Wk). Oke 
$7,000. Last week, fine $10,600. 

Music Box (H-E) (850; 45-80)— 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) and "Dan- 
gerous Yeai-s" (WB) (m.o.). Fancy 
$5,000. Last week, "Jezebel" (WB) 
and "Slight Case Murder" (WB) 
(reissues), thin .$3,000. 

Music Hall (H-E) r2,200; 4.V80i— 
"Gang.ster" (Mono) and "Angel's 
Alley" (Mono). Mild $5,500. La.st 
week, "Intrigue" (UA) and "Robin 
Hood of Monterey" (Mono), .$4,100. 

Orpheum (H-E) (2,600; 45-80)— 
"Scudda Hoo, Scudda Hay" (20th) 
and "Adventureiss" (EL). Big 
$13,000. Last week, "Voice of 
Turtle" (WB) and "Dangerous 
Years" (WB), $10,000 in 8 days. 

Palomar (Sterling) (1,350; 45-70) 
—"Spoilers" (FC) and "Diamond 



Lyric (BKO) (1,400 
"Guadalcanal Diary" (2«th) and , ij„„„,, p., 

"Purple Heart" (20th) (reissues). ! ^od News_ (M:G), $4,20(L 
Normal $5,000. Last week, "CaU 
Nortbside" (20th) (m.o.), sturdy 
£7.000. 

"iraaaee (BKO) (2,6(10; SOr-75)— 
"Attmquerque" (ParK- Stout $12,- 
000. Last week, "Sleen My Love^ 
^UA), mild $930. • 

Skubert. (RKO) (2,100; 50^75>— 
"Call Northside" (20th). Second 
moveover for third downtown 
stanza: Trija $4,500. Last wedt, 
"Meant for Me" (20th) -Xm.©.), 
$5,0(H». 



Labor Probe 

, Continued from page C 



Pii Second to St Patrick 
b Frisco; Itam' $14000 

ISan F^eanciscp, March 16. 
.Film theatre bttsiness eante ouf 
second best here against St. Pat- 
rick's. Day parade headed by Eamcm 
de Valera plus the arrival of the 
Freedom Train. City is overloaded 
with holdovers and many new en- 
tries are not doing well. "Sign of 
Ram" and "Meant For Me" are 
faring okay. Top holdover is 
"Bishop's Wife." "Adventures of 
Casanova" looks mildish $13,000 
at-Psraratount. 

- Estimates for This Week 
.Golden Gate (RKO) (2,844; 60- 
85K— "Bishop's Wife" (BKO) (2d 
wk). Husky $25,000, Last week, 
sock $31,000. 

Fox (FWC) (4,651; 60-95) — 
"Pittsburgh" (FC) and "Green 
HeB" (FC) (reissues). PaHid $11,- 
500. Last week, "Call Northside"-. 
(2Qth) (2d wk), 6 days, $12,500. 

Warfirid (FWC) (2;656; 60-85)— 
"Meant For Me" (2Qth). Sturdy 
$18,000. Last week, "Voice of 
Turtle" (WB) (m.o.) (3d wk>, mild 
$3,((0O in 4 days. 

Paramewit (Par) (2,646; 60-85) 
-"Adventures of Casanova" (ELK 
Pale $13,000 or over. Last week, 
"Girl Tisa" (WE), $11,000. 

St. Francis (Par) (1,400; 60-85)— 
"Saigon" (Par) (Zi wk). Okay 
$11,500. Last week solid $18,000. 

Orpheum (Blumenfeld) (2,448; 
5,5-85)— "Etads of Earth" (Col) (2d 
wk). Nice $13,500. Last week, 
sock $21,000. 

United Artists (Blumenfeld) 
(1,207; 55-85)— ^"Sign of Bam" 
(Col). Fine $14,000. Last week, 
"Double Life" (U) (3d wk), 
way down to $7,500. 

Stagredoor (Ackerman) (350i 60- 
85)— "Ninotchka" .(M-G) (reissue) 
(2d wk). Mild .$2',500 ok close. 
Last week, sturdy $3,500. 

Clay (Roesner)' (400; 65-85)— 
"Beauty and Beast" .(Indie) (Sdwk). 
Down to $3,000, still fancy. Last 
week, great .$3,400. 

United Nations (PWC) (1,149; 60- 
85)— "Call Northside" (20th) (2d 
wk). Oke $3,500. Last week, 
$4,500 

Esquire (Blumenfeld) (9.52; 5!>- 
85)— "Buck Privates" (FC) and 
"South Tahiti" (FC) (roissMe.s). 
Tall S5,500. Last week, "Ends ol 
Earth" (Col), terrif $14,000. 

State (Par) (2,133; 60-85) — "You 
Only Live Once" (Indie) (reissue) 
(2d wk). Mild $2,000 in 4 days. 
Last week, oke $10,000. 



Med City' Qotiied 
With $16,000 in Indpls. 

Indianajpolis; March IS. 
Deluxers started this stanza in 
the teeth of winter's worst bliz- 
zard, with spotty results. "Naked 
City" is big at Indiana to lead town. 
Mid "Night Song" looks better than 
aVcrage at Circle. But "Woman's 
Vengeance" at Lyric is slow, while 
"Three Daring Daugh,ters" is only 
fair in holdover at Loew's. 
Estimates for This Week 
Circle (Gamble-DoUe) (2,800; 44- 
65)— "Night Song" (RKO) and 
"Half Pa.st Midnight" (20th). Nice 
$11,000. Last week, "Double Life" 
(U). sluggish $8,000. 

Indiana (G-D> (3,300; 44-65)— 
"Naked City" (U). SizzUng $16,00(> 
or oyer. Best here in months. Last 
week, "Meant for Me" (20th). and 
"For You I Die" (FC), fair $11,000 
Keith's (G-D> (1500; 44-65)— 
"Flame" (Rep) and "Years Be- 
tween" (U). Thin $3,000. Last 
week, "Flame New Orleans" (U) 
and "Broadway" (II) '(reissues), 
$4,000. 

Loew's (Loew's) (2,450; 44-65) — 
"Three Daring Daugbter.s" (M-G) 
and "Wreck Hesperus" (Col) (2d 
wk). Oke $9,000 after solid $17,000 
first week- 
Lyric (G-D) (1,600;' 44-65)— 
"Woman's Vengeance" (U) and 
"Mr. Reckless" (Par). Tepid $3.- 
,500. Last week, "Ride Pink Horse" 
(U) and "Green for Danger" (EL), 
$5,500. 



the FBI had a file on SotreU or, 
at least, sampled <rf hiit handwrit- 
ing. 

Observers here peiat. out that 
Rep. Carroll Keamsi has been left 
pretty high and dry hy the devel- 
opments of the four weeks of hear- 
ings. 

In his opening statement, he an- 
nounced that unless the producers 
could talk him out of it, he, was 
going to find that the producers 
and lATSE had entered into a con- 
spiracy to freeze the Conference of 
Studio Unions out of the studios. 

There have been ehqrges of this 
at the hearing, but very little of 
what might be called "proof." 

Also Kearns had refused to per- 
mit any mention, of Communism 
to come into the bearings. It was. 
forced in by Matthew Levy. lA 
counsel. When Keams: aeugkt to 
bar it, othw members of the' Labor 
Committee went to bat with Rep, 
Fred A. Hartley, ehairman of the 
full committee. Hartley ordered 
the hearings opened up wide and 
also placed four others on the 
Kearns subcommittee to - outvote 
him if necessary. 

KCfuriis told newsmen last Fri- 
day tKat he was. not prepared to 
make a statement Oik wh^er the 
FBI- findings wouM alfect his open- 
ing announcement. 

The hearings will suspend until 
May 17, when they will resume 
primarily to give all whose nasaes 
were taken in vain up to now ta 
come and defend themselves. 

First witness will be State Sen- 
ator Jack B. Tenney, of California, 
chairman of that state's Un-Ameri- 
can Activities Committee. Tenney 
wired, requesting permission to 
testify. . 

On May 25 Westbrook ■ Peglcr Is 
slated to testify. 



Chi lA Wants Walsh 

To Rebuttal Sorrell 

Chicago, March 16. 
Stirred by allegations made by 
.Herbert Sorrell, Conference ol! 
Studio UnioBa chief, against lead- 
. ership of their tmioit, local union 
i chiefs of the Intexnaticmal AHianiGe 
of Theatre Stage EmtOoyees are 
urging lA prexy Richard F. Walsh 
to make a strong rebuttaL Before 
the House Labor subcommittee last 
week. Sorrell charged Walsh and 
other lA execs with pocketing 
sums of money obtained from vari- 
ous unauthorized sources. 

lAT^E exec board, meanwhile, 
has picked Clev^and for next 
convention site witli date set for 
AUg. 16. 



PITTSBURGH 

(Continued from page 12) 
ing sock at $6,000. Last week, 
"Wedding Night" (UA) and "Un- 
holy Garden" (UA) (reissues), about 
$3,000 in 6 days. 

Stanley (WB) (3,800; 44-76)-- 
"Robin Hood" (WB) (reis.sue). No 
doubt now about what kind of pie- 
tures llioy like Enroll Flynn in. 
gfj^j I This oldie looks sizzling $17,000. 
iLast week, "Albuquerque" (Par) 
I $12,500. ^ 
i Warner (WB) (2,000; 44-76) 
,"Girl Ti.sa" (WB) and "I Became A 
[Criminal" (WB). Not -much on tap 
[ for this twinner at barelv $6,000. 
iLast week, "Knew Susie" (RKO) 



Arg. Tactics 

ConMnued from page 4 



im.o.), $7,000. 



SASK, £&I|S KABLOfF OLDIE 

Regina, Sask., March IC. 
1 A (Urn board of appeal ba.s 
I banned the Karloff oldie. "The 
'Man They Couldn't Hang," from 
showing in Saskatchewan thcutrcs. 

Tlie ban followed within two 
weeks a clamp on Universal's 
'"Brute Force." "The Man They 
j Couldn't Hang" was described here 
I as. "owned by Alliance Films, Ltd., 
I Winnipeg." 



firstrun preference in the xaoj» 
important deluxe theatres. The 
aJI-powerful Entertainment Board, 
headed by nationalist dramatist 
Claudio Martinez. Paiva. has taken 
' a hand in this regard and is trying 
I to force exhibitors to book Argen- 
; tine pix to fill in the gaps made by 
I the delays which foreign pic dis- 
tributors experience in trying to 
get their pix pa,ssed by the Enter- 
tainment Board and municipal 
cen.sors. 

The "delaying tactics" campaign 
i has even reached the point of tr> 
I ing to hamper exhibitors in. the job 
jof getting their daily bills signed 
. and approved. Formerly they 
'could .send these in to the respec- 
jUve municipal office at any time 
iof the working day, between nine 
a.m. and six p.m. They are now 
given a bare two hours, between 
,12 and two a.m.. in which i.o got 
r through this job. and as govern- 
ment offices cu.stomarUy work at 
.slow motion time, it's often im- 
possible to get the job through be- 
fore closing time. 



i 



ContfnueA 



the gm by flying over nine firnw 
Friday (12) bttit jdl are te bond and 
only five wiH ftt released^ It wag 
also agreed not ta puldieixe the 
^hipBients, since #it«ew doh't 
want to create bsdpqiilfc relations, 
which would restdfe temt any in- 
dications of flooding the market. 

Technicolor In Sctuenee 

Distribs also agreed that British 
Technicolor will make prints on 
U. S. films in England in tlie same 
order as t^y were made in the 
U. S. TEuieUf "iniCQiiu^red" were 
printed t^r fbe Teebai outfit in this 
countiijir bef^ "Waller Mitty," the 
same ordier & to prevail in England. 
It's believed that the British labo- 
ratories wilt follow the same pro- 
cedure in processing prints of 
black-and-white films, wtilch would 
again remove the necessity for 
speed (n shipments,' Decisnm on 
the latter factor, however, hasn't 
yet been reached. ■ 

Metr6 is the oidy comvany yei 
to decade on its five films, with, the 
list in^^cating tlie company will 
tee off with its current releases. 
M-G group, which will be shipped 
immediately, includes "Cass Tim- 
berlane," "Body and Soul" (En- 
terprise), "Green Dolphin Street," 
"High Wall" and "This Time for 
Keeps," Only the latter is in Tech- 
nicolor. According to Loew's In- 
terntaionai spokesmen, releases 
won't necessarily be in chronolog- 
ical order but will depend ou each 
picture's merits. 

Warners, with a backtog of 
some 13 pictures from wbich to 
choose-, expects to tee off with a 
group comprising "My Wild Irish 
Rose" (color) "Escape Me Never," 
"Voice of the Turtle," "Life With 
Father" (color) "Treasure of Sierra 
Madre." Listing isn't definite, how- 
ever,' and other pictures may be 
substituted before . they are 
shioped. Paramount hasn't yet 
made up its mind but has less of a 
backlog than the others^,, since 
many Par films that haven't yet 
been released in the U. S., or that 
went out recently, got in under 
the wire in England before the tax 
was imposed last August. These 
<inchide» among others, "Road to 
Riov" "Unconquered," "I Walk 
Alone," "Big Clock." "SiM8»n." 
"Variety Girt" and "So Evil My 
Love," 

Twentieth list ii^cludes such top 
If. S. grossers as "Forever AmlKir." 
"Captain from Castile," "Call 
Northside 777" and "Sitting 
Pretty." United Artists won't hjive . 
much trouble in deciding, since 
the company had 17 unreleascd 
pix in England by August and 
hasn't received many new films for 
release since then. David Coplan, 
UA's- managing director in Eng- 
land, is now at the' home oH'ice 
and: expects to work out a listing 
with homeoifice execs within the 
next few days. 

First group of RKO films 
grooved for England includes ''Fort 
Apache" (Argosy), "Bishop's Wife" 
(Samuel Goldwyn), "Secret Life of 
Walter Mitty" (Goldwyn), "I Re- 
m«nber Mama" and "Miracl« of 
'the Bells" (Lasky-MacEwen). Eagle 
Lion has set for shipment "Out of 
the BAie," "Love from a Stranger," 
"T-Men," and "Adventures of Casa- 
nova." 

Republic has a backlog of about 
4l films from which to choose but 
won't be prepared to announce its 
decision for another week. Selz- \ 
nick Releasing Organization has 
only one film ready, "Paradine 
Case." "Duel in the Sun" was in 
England under the wire and "J'or- 
trait of Jenny" and "Mr. Blandings 
Builds His Dream House" are still 
in various stages of completion. 



Dutch Market 

ConUnued trom page 7 : 



ter Linden revealed, is negligible. 
Studios- in The Hague wore 
bombed out during the war iind 
, facilities in Amsterdam wpre ;ilso 
I badly -damaged. However, he 
I added, a Dutch film association 
I known as the Bioscoop Bond i.s rc- 
constructing the Am.sterdam l()t 
I and its anticipated the plant wiH 
! be ready. Within three or lour 
months for rental to indie lih"- 
makers. \ 

Admi.s.sion 1 a x e s present a 
thorny problem for exhibitors, (er 
I IJnden noted. Imposts vary (n- 
cording to the policy of dil'tc-rent 
municipalities, but in .some in- 
stances the bite goes as high 
l50';«). • 



21 




6ARBAM BEL GEDDES 
OSCAR UOMOLM 
PHILIP DOBJJ 



Sir Cediic Hardwidie • Edear Berp • Rudy Vidlee • BaFbani O'Neil 






Exccuttvt Prnduew aDdDiraCMll . 

GEORGE STEVENS 

frtetuccd by HARRIET PARSONS 

Scram Pliyby DcWITT BODEEN 
HM» Up«n Ibt Pliy Iw JOHN VAN DRUTfl 



S2 ' 



jayco(^, iSlpatrick SeU hterests 
h^M (jrcnit^^Otber X^^KNie Nms 



Boston. 4- 
Peculiar theatre-sv/apping trans- 
action has been put through by the 
Aldbn Theatre Corp. of New 
iTersey and Donald Jacocka- and A. 
C. Kilpatrick ot B. Ss Q. Theatres 
ef Boston. B. & Q. has sold its 14 
houses, all located in New England, 
tO 'Mdon and in return has. acquired 
jMdon's 10 houses located In New 
Jersey. - 

Cross-purchasing was made so 
that Jacocks- and Kilpatrick could 
consolidate their Jersey holdings 
Into one greater circuit. The duo, 
however, still retain their interest 
In the Astor,3oston, ^owcase in 
which Samuel Goldwya recently 
acquired a 25% interest. 

Reportedly, Daniel Finn, New 
England divisioii cMcf, will step 
out of tVamers to act as general 
manager of the Aldon-owned 
houses. He.'s acq.«iiied an interest 
In the theatres. 

Kealart Vlda ik. Loo Reps 
St. Louis. 
IJ^Bnnan Gorelick and' George 
PhilUps acquired the Bealart fran- 
ebJolt^bere. Fhrm, which specializes 
ia issues, now faMr a^ nation-wide 
ftKum» bold^ x^^st^ . of eK-: 

•itwaifiaviUe MtoTca To, EBRO. 

'Hcnqphis: 
Babe. Bounsaville xesitned as 
Eail^nrLiim salemnui lieFC> tor rev 
XDSMtt Sehinick Ril«Mliig^ Orgaai- 
■zatiott in the mid>aouth. 



San Diego, Miirch .16, 
Film censorship goeS;into.efl£ect 
here April 10 uttdei^ a'^iipw ordjn* 
ance empowcripig' the <;Jty's :s9Cl8l 
welfare director to suspend li- 
censes of theatres ,or other places 
of amusement. . ' ' 

Censot's authority is limited to 
films without the seal of the Mo- 
tion Picture Assn. of America or 
the National Board of Review reg- 
istration number. He has the 
power to inspect film advertising 
a&dv to regulate burlesque houses^ 
caficdvalSf cabarets and other com- 
mcjFcial amuaewHsmt places. 



EUftiiStat'a Bertb 
Ir?ini»I^ EiMostat has-been ap- 
ptiiti^&jSBmt xmamter of" Century 
cimiit'» hiuneofflee id .N. V, Pre- 
viously, he had served £i>r 15 years, 
. f&sld accountant suparvisor with 
Warner Bim 



. FWC Uv« JitttKunte 

' - ■ LbsiAngeleSi 
James;. Bunte upged to didioibt 
HMQager. of .th£ Vwuk district is 
Morthem Califoraia- by Eox-West 



MmO THEJBkTRE 

CMiif»l«M atw a q li i l i nat for hhoU 
Diive-lti TiMWIrM m. Iwf. «» 
$2,t7S.M. Also sqaipHMt f«r 
lorff! Orlv«-las, ImIimHik, Dtfiiiic 
AtloCott AliMiIaiiM la-tiM'-C 
SpMktrs Mil coM|il«t« towers. 
Fr*« oMiory ttrvlc*. Writ* todwy. 
hr lil«raiiir«. 

THfATKE E9UirMENT CO. 
10^ Mlchlgoa S»„ Toledo £. OMa 



Coast Theatres, with headquarters 
in Sacramento.- He has be«i yiitk 
FWC for 15' years. .Fred Glaas^suc- 
ceeds Runte as head of .Southern 
California District No. 2. 



|100,«()« CbaiHhifte HMMse SoUl 

Charlotte; N. C. 
Purchase of Manor theatre, unit 
ot Providence Road Center, by 
Fark Place theatres. Inc., has been 
announced by T. A. Little; a stocks 
holder in the corpuwation. Manor 
is: one of Charlotte'^' newest iUm 
houses and was sold by. H. Bi 
Iteisclman.- The $100,000 house- 
began operations in .^pcU, 1947: 

G«aU Qnltir Far to Be EaUk 

Cbicaap. 
Art GouH former pju-amount 
salesman, now operating the Verdi 
on South Sidei 

Max Herschmanu Joined Film- 
ack Trailers, as eastern sales man- 



Anae:s, west side! wiImh holdbtg 
'barber of SeviUe^^for ftnirth 
weeic, record sho\^g for subse- 
quent-run. 

United Artists will release "The 
QuUaw" as second feature on fiat 
rental bookings, Aj^il S, day-and- 
date: in 12 theatres. 

Arch Treblow, B te K pm'cbas- 
iuK agent, in N. T. m loan Para- 
mount' homeoff ice 

"<xree;n Dolpliin Street'? broke 
ditty-and-date in nine .nabe houses 
last week. 



FC Promotes Jules Cltapman 
Completiitg organization setup 
to. handle Film Classic's ..expanded 
prodnction and sales iictivity, B. G. 
Kranze, FC saleschief, has named 
Jules K. Chapman -assistant gen-, 
eral sales manager. Other appoint- 
ments include Ted Bimbaum, exec 
assistant to Kranze; Arthur Rei- 
man, director of exchange opera- 



Popcorn Silencers 

' Hollywood, March 16. 

Noiseless popcorn containers 
have resulted in hypoing sales 
of the crimchies in Fox^West 
Coast houses by about 20% in 
the past six wceloi, Chain 
recentlktr- Introduced a light 
cardboard box as a replace- 
ment for the cqstAmary bag 
which continually crackled and 
tatfiied. 

S^ent package was designed 
to eliminate criticism aimed 
at patrons who like to chew as- 
^ey view. Appai'ently the in- 
novation has attracted buyers 
who previously were reluctant 
to arouse critical glances from 
nearby seatholders.- Sales in- 
crease move than oiSsets cost 
of the new container. 



New York Theatres 



tions; Arthur Beiman, contract ap- 
proval head, and Louis Bernhard, 
head of playdate dept. 

Jack Flex Quits Locw's 

Syracuse, N. Y. 
Jack Flex, raaaager of RKO 
Keitli's theatre for eight years, has 
resigned, the spot being-filled tem- 
porarily by George Maxwell, as- 
sistant manager. Flex said he will 
go to Hot.Springs, Ya., for a vaca- 
tion. He had been with Loew thea- 
tres-as manager for 13 years. 

'" ■ ■ « 

Stoller Succeeds Rosensweig for EL 
Pittsburgh. 
Aaron (Twig J Rosensweig has 
resigned Eagle Lion sales:- and is 
being replaced in the .Erie terri- 
tory by •Sianey .StoUer, previously 
a- traveling auditor for the com- 
pany^ 

Glen Floyd and Joe Hnsxar have 
named Warner Ziegler managM- of- 
their Roxy theatre, in Monaca: 
Zieitfer used to be connected witb- 
tiie West -Virginia Tfaestre Enter- 
pEisMF, Wlieeling; 

Irving. Levinson, formerly with 
WB exeliange in Pittsburgh, im 
now a booker in the company's In- 
dianapolis oCCice. 

Leonard Bilintz, salesman from 
Philadelphia oiXice^ is manager of 
the UA exchange- here, succeeding 
Dave Leff, resigned^ 

Louis Averbach, Par city sales- 
man, upped to assistant to Earle 
W. Sweigert,. company's Eastern 
division sales manager, succeed'- 
ing. Herman Lorber, ire^gned. 

Newt Williams, National Theatre 
Supply manager here, has named 
■Haixy Russell salesman for the 
'W<e5t Virginia area. He has been 
clerk and. store- manager at NTS 
for several years. 

Gust. Marakas, ConneUsville ex- 
hib, has retired irom the industry. 
He's: succeeded as manager' of the 
Orpheum there by . Wesley Lundi 
former Aliquippa theatre manager 
and son of Jesse Lund, Aliquippa 
city manager for Altoona-Publix. 

George Tice, Columbia city sales- 
man, elected president of local 
chapter of Colosseum of Motion 
Picture Salesmen. He succeeds 
Paul Krumenacker of Warners, 
Jack Judd, is v.p.; Floyd Klingen- 
smith, secretary, and Maurice Sil- 
verberg, treasurer. 



"THE FtGHTmG 69TH" 

De-RtlMtoil ty Wanur Brot. Pleturro 
Starriiii 

JAMES CACNEV • PAT O'BRIfN 
DENNIS MORGAN 
With ««ars« HRBKT • Alan HAI.B 
.IKirt'RKV MNN • »1CK lOJMN 
Uir«:t«d by WllUnn KeUtliley 

la Parton— RUSS MOKGAN 

.wid' Hit Mu«lc In th* iWargaii Manner 
Bmadwar WAKNEB BKOR 

At 4«tii Street STRAND 



PALACE 



MViS 



I EDDIE CANTOR 

cHAHitsmwtti-mwiiMcm. Y 




"THE ADVENTUKES 
OF ROfeIN HOOD" 

Ctlor. by Tnhiiiultr 
Re-Rclcated by Warner Bros. Pictures 

Staiting 

Errol FLYNN • Olivia Oe HAVIILAND 
with 

Bajiil RATHBONE • Claude RAINS 

anil Ainu Ifale « Eujrvnn I'aUettf 
Dlreeted by Mieliael Curtiz mi Wm. KellWay 

WARNER THEATRE 

finrndway «t $tHt-8tni«; 



— RADIO cm MUSIC HAU ^ 

itacltefeller Crmer ♦ 

ijnENf DUNNr ie HMTf* (tncm' Prm. nX 

: "i REMEMKR MAMA" t 

Berbxni 04Mr- pgllta^ 

• EL «EDDE8 « HOMOLKA « OoSS ^ 
Pntmtt ty HARRtET PARSONS t 
Muil* lltli'i ertal cuiw Stan Shaw X 



Rank-Bistrrbs 



.Continued from page 3 ; 



country in ibe world except the 
UnitM States, will gross as snjicK 
and more than American- films. 
Some day we'll disclose tlieso 
figures and -they'll amaze yqu. I 
realize that thec&'a a greater prob- 
lem hei-^ in selllugiBritisli pictures 
since the American public for 30 
years has- been trained to see only 
American pictures. 'But the job 
still can be donei" 

Intent on stressing : his British 
declaration of -independence while, 
still playing up the need for reci- 
procity between Yank and British 
pix industries, Rank went fiuther: 
"I would have caiTied on with my 
cinemas undler any conditions but 
I wouldn't have carried on nearly 
so well witiiout American Alms." 
The same situation now holds for 
the Yanks, Hank asserted. They 
can get along, without British prod- 
uct even under the tax settlement 
but they won't do nearly as well 
as -with it. 

Won't Oppose ;!IOth on Pool 

Commenting on reports that he's 
seeking 20th-Fox board approval 
for tlie proposed pooling of tho 
Odeon and British-Gaumont cir- 
cuits, Rank said that he won't go 
aliead with the project if 20th re- 
fuses its consent. That company 
is. an associate of his (in B-G), and. 
he has no intention of making , a 
move against its wishes-. However, 
Rank foeUeveS'that an okay will be 
forthcoming. 

He scouted persistent reports 
that the Rank interests are em- 



' No More Theatre* 

J, Arthur Rank has called 
a halt to his tremendous thea- 
tre expansion program. Rank 
said that he's finished 
with gigantic theatre acquisi- 
tions juid Js now (Hogaged in 
consolidating his geias. He's 
still wiilint^ to buy theatcea if 
gf really good proposition 
comes along taut he is not ac- 
tively looking for more prop- 
erties. 

Total of Rank holdings 
throughout the world comes 
close to 2,000 theatres either 
owned 'or operated. Most of 
these acquisitions were made 
within the past few years. - 



Dave Leff to Buff, For UA 
PittsbiU"gh. 

Dave Leff, former local exbtb 
who came back to town to manage 
UA exchange, has returned to his 
old city salesman's berth with same 
company in Buffalo, Leff was re- 
placed here by Leonard Mintz, 
from PhUadelpliia branch. 

Col isn't replacing Sid Goldberg 
for tlic present and his West Vir- 
ginia territory is' being covered 
l^i- Jack Judd and Leo Isaacs, main 
line and north area sales reps. 

William Brooks, Par hooker, 
made city salesman, succeeding 
Louis Averbach, recently upped to 
Rarle Sweigert's' assistant mideast- 
em division manager. 

Jim Laux, pilot of Whitehall, 
temporarily moved to Memorial in 
McKeespoi-t to replace ailing Lou 
Fordan. 

Lou Hanna named film buyer- 
booker' for Butler^ Pa., Drive-ln 
and the outdoor l^yline in New 
Castle. 



SeU Clinton, Bochester,^ N.Y. 

Rochester, N. Y. 
Clinton theatre, 700-seater nabe; 
has been sold by George Caffery 
to Morris Slotnick; who operates 
houses in Caledonia, Webster and 
Sodus. Price was reported up- 
wards: of $25,000. 



Stewart Heads Kans., Mo., Allied 

Kansas City. 
Jack Stewart has resigned as 
general manager of Allied of Micli- 
igan to take a similar assignment 
with Allied Independent Theatre 
Owners of Kansas and Missouri. 



Tom HalUgan lipped 

Williamsburg, Va. 
Thomas Halligan, with the Wil- 
Uamsburg theatre since 1933, be- 
comes manager of the house, re- 
placing Fay P. LeGompte, resigned. 



broiled in a dispute with 20th on 
the subject or that 20th has de- 
manded that it have the right to 
designate its man to share man- 
agement of the- pooled circuits. 
There was no truth to these 
rumors, he said, and there was no 
intention on his part to ride rough- 
shod over either shareholders or 
associates. 

Rank was chary of predictions 
on whether American companies 
would be able to find studio space 
for future British Hlmmaking with 
frozen pounds. His own studios 
would be operating at capacity 
until 1949 and he has no plans for 
deals with Yank companies to make 
his lots available to them. How- 
ever, that's stating the proposition 
tentatively since he would wait 
until his return to England before 
giving the matter real attention. 

British magnate, noted, however, 
that 17 stages in other companies 
were vacant about the time he left 
for the U. S. American producers 
could very likely secure space in 
these studios, he said. 

Own Theatres Well Booked 
Rank threw cold water on the 
possibility of American films se- 
curing extensive bookings in his 
houses during the l^ee period be- 
tween now and June 14, date the 
new pact goes into effect. His 
theatres are booked solid for the 
next six months. "I have contracts 
and commitments and I certainly 
can't tear them up/' Rank said. 
Hence, there'd be little" room for 
Yank films rushed to Ent^and for 
free- coin. 

There won't be as much future 
tb yjng time available in his cir- 
cuits, anyway. Hank thinks because 
of his upped production selicdirie. 
He must make room for his own 
films of which there'll be 40 this 
year as against, 28 last year and 19 
in 1946. At that, his houses ordi- 
narily use 104 pix annually which 
would leave open time £br some 60 
Yank or outside JBritish produc- 
tions. 

Eric JdhnMon, Motion Picture 
Assn. of Ametica prexy, did "a 
wonderful job in getting rid of the 



tax," Rank believes. ';if he hadn't 
done so, the tax principle might 
have spread. to many other coun- 
tries; It was a jttnart iwd tatst^lTd 



ss Contunted from page 3 ss 

pi'Oduclion shortly will be "Ac- 
cused," starring Loretta Young 
Wendell Corey and Robert Cum- 
mings and directed by WiUiam 
Dieterle. Final film, "Rope of 
Sand," Willi Bart Lancaster in the 
lead, goes before the cameras in 
the £101. 

Pair Joined Pat when the. hidie 
boom was just - beginning- .to 
flourish. Since then, studio has 
added to its own staff, tht'ough ' 
stock trades, the -members of the 
Liberty FUm setup (William Wyler, 
Frank Capra, George Stevens and 
Sam Briskin) and Leo MeCarey, 
who headed the Rainbow miit. 

Wallis heads for the Coast Fri- 
day (19), 



Crying th« Blues 



Continued from page S.sss 

from "irresponsible statements on 
the state of the industry," TOA 
biggie declared. He'll ask the dis- 
tribs to cooperate with TOA by 
prepping special trailers which 
would group each company's best 
forthcoming product in « one- 
reeler or so with the slogan that 
Hollywood isn't slipping. 

TOA member& and other theatre 
ops will be approached to join 
bandS'in each locality for joint in- 
stitutional ads. Committee intends 
prepping mats and special material 
for distribution to local exhibs. 
There are also tentative plans to 
bring newspapermen and column- 
ists to Hollywood in^ droves- to im* 
press them with. Hollywood activ- 
ity and ingenuity. 




Now 

at yoiir MMnrtei 

ri¥l STAR 
PIACtHIPS 



Pbail* HAv«iii*y*r ft-MM ' 
•r ymur 

Tickm OITicas : Aiitlau Ttmittol • RockMhr 
Cenfer • Ho(e/ New Vcrter • 120 ffroodwoy 
HWerSf. 

AMEMCAN 

AiRums 



FOR RENT 

ITollywood lliUstde home coiniili-i'lv 
(in-nlKheil ; S bertroomB, ! biilliw: 
1)^ month; available 6 iixmilKi <ii' 
inQrr. 

1052 No. Carcl Brive. L A. 




lioncestions /o«' 



DRIVE-IN THEATRESif 



THESE'S ONIV 0N£ 




'MIAMI BEACH 

OCtAN fItONT • 40* W m «■•■ 




WwlncMay? MawTh 17> 1948 





.HI 



H' -'4 ^ 




* itJ 






















Through him... West meets East 



ACROSS his "front page" the world 
parades . . . before the eyes of movie- 
goers on Main Street. There, West 
and East do meet — through the high- 
ly specialized efforts of the newsreel 
editor. 

He sifts the facts and foibles of the 
world . . . and presents in one short 
reel the significant, the human, and 
the odd — the news that helps the 
world to know itself. 



To his objectivity . . . his sense of 
the newsworthy . . . his feeling for 
concise and graphic storytelling . . , 
the newsreel owes its unique place 
in American journalism. 

Yet the newsreel editor would be 
the first to give due credit to his 
staff of cameramen ... and to the 
jEastman motion picture films which 
help them cover the news — and help 
him present it so effectively. * 



EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY 

ROCHESTER 4, N. Y. 

i. E. BRULATOUR, INC., DISTRIBUTORS 
FORT LEE * CHICAGO • HOLLYWOOD ^ 




HOUSK BUVIEWS 



noxy, N. Y. 

Aft Uoonum- Ordk tei^.GilU 

'^^Uim»i Btf& Bie«s; SI Bwftwfe Sot" 
lici JP«pJ»eli», Bettif Bruce, Boosjf 
ertea, Hoarsr cftoml ciwewtote; Sw- 
tiuff FrrttM" tZOth), rcBieieed tit 
Vaibsty, Feb. 25, '^ft. , 



It apparently takes more than a 
hit reeord for the customers here 
to warm up to an »et. Booked m 
white his "-rm LexAiBg Owr a 
FowJ^teolt ClBver" (M-G-M) is 
fitiia in tint hcstseUer tarackets. Art 
Moooejr fin<ls himself in a curious 
paradois. Tbe <w»t-4ronters ffve tlMS 
impressioit o£ lakewarin mterest 
in his smash pJatter (be prefaces 
the; perfeanaiance of the number 
■with an. announcemettt that it has 
gone 1,500,080 c»pies>. bat they 
do show soBie excitement over a 
current release of his "Babjr Face/ 
whieh in ahnost emy facet *s cat 
to nFiBurlie**^'* paittero. 

What doselsr ansoaBts to a chiB 
In the case «tf *XSo!»wr may be 
credited to the cerastant dtnning 
tlic ttme has bad from disk jockeys 
tlie past BtoBth or sa, Althoudfi he 
and bis head have been aranttd nir 
some time, esieciaQy as ai fixture 
at the Uneelit botet, Moo- 
itejF^ asmmk to natinoal'neiitice on 
an nnderseaircd scale demres team 
tha* eme BBinher, wbaSL the moste 
trade has dnhhed a feK*. M 
"Baiw i>tec^ pvcmres that Inehlmag 
can sfttite twice in the saine place. 
Moiwiey may pww tiot loply the 
progenitor a£ a trend badk to a 
dancchaod idiom t£ daphands 
melocBc des£n hut at potent attrae- 
tioHr paxtieidarly out among the 
less hedlieiMd Mmt Streets; of 
thecooMtry. 

' ' aiowMS' dK^es mA good eciter'- 
taiiHtNft and he laxakes a iikeahEe 
TingraKdlcr. "Ehe Gadftl Sisters 
'ltaine:a-!njBd wgr .ai^sentoe' tlwir 
' ' 'Voetf 'wamianil.at^ ipite «l .heme 
at ■pieBB^- 'nieWp-mi^i^^^ oC 
coinedy wiicn deede4« niift 
spoKtiae of * MKreKly Bauther. Bod 
Brecsv the Staff cMMMier,. packs lefs 
«f sensitisiiyfnrarwaaiitiebanadL 
The tes»4[hw4iirlMitent, Ecspanse 
that the troape gets here cmdd be 
credited to a sect o£ reswre. Moo- 
re y EE Blew to them,, axtd it's posax- 
ble- that he's encawBtecmg an atti" 

your hai; what e3w in«« yau eak^" 
. Stranee as: it lhasF mmm, 'the Bnaaa 
her in the hand's repexUire that 
got the matt oat dC the payees at 
the pccfHnBanee.esB^ was f sen- 
timcittal piece„ "Btoebird oC Bap- 
pinem,"' caee^^ae 'ihe- sexviees m 
all the Tocalndis m the tnwpe and 
McmmKy hhaaelC in a hit of po^ie 
' revnciew the »stm; spadkaljw ina 
. di^feel BWwBataa*, nrarZftRC and' 
: :th« '.haaimk '.iMaKlK..'iBNdiidi^ ' the 
unnKapaUble *^ber Damce." Alto- 
getfece a saeety csotpilied and hat- 

"Xfee Meeoaey boaeh ai£so has tbe 
chore of playing' for the others' 
en the bill and It^s handy support 
• the combination purveys, especial- 
ly in following the intricate dance 
patterns that come with Betty 
Bmce's turn. This niftily-stacked 
tapster, whose main stem has been 
Broadway musicals, may not be a 
brilliant technician jvith the cleats 
but what she does Is of showmanly 
composition and excitrais to watch.. 
Her blendine of the! pirouette iirto 
the' buck-aiMlwins^ is carried off 
%vith Ihuch skill and mounting tern' 
po. The sendDff she gets is big. 

S4» are the returna for the re- 
mainiiig' itass;. M B^nie's coQce- 
tion of gags rarely depart from the 
f amaiiar, aiud it is qjaite likely that> 
this has Itste to da with the qnick 
and solid laaghter that greets 
them. When caught Bernl-e had 
'em worked up to a pitch where 
they drew hiim hack for two exit- 
cores. Salici's' Puppets prance 
through their usually distinctive 
And artful routine of dancing; acro^ 
batics, pianistics and carvling. 

The> hMtse ehcnr in apolted at 
the teeoff for an ear-ticking ar- 
rangement of a spcing song, wltile 
th.' Hoxyettes and the Escorts get 
their big jiurodluction inning ittir 
mediatery tfreres5?ler in a dsance 
conception that's both colorful and 
clever. . Odec, 



bones and four saxesy with Basic 
alternating on piano and Ham- 
mond organ. m«intain a .solid beat 
and give plenty zest to the sixzling 
arrangements. After torrid intro- 
ductory. Bob Baitey takes over for 
sUck bariioBing o£ "Stany Night," 
with band foUowing with a reprise 
of its Victor disk, "HoMn's Nest," 
with the maestro spotlighted on 
{uano, for sidid recepliOQ. Side- 
men are also givm Innings on this 
one. and measture up wcli, espe- 
cially alta and tenor saxes. 

Lewis and White, male teanir 
click in their comedy routine. Al- 
though they utiiize tbe stooge-in- 
the-box fornnila for inteo, they 
give it a new twist and, with suc- 
cessive crossfire gab and nifty tap- 
steriog in their batoB-twiriing fin- 
ish, walk oif to boff applause. Prae- 
tically showstoppcrs when caught 
Ftiday (121^ ni^. 

Jimnde Bushing, rotund comic 
aitd other l^d 'Koealist,. maintains 
the comedy tnottf wdth ~Doat Yoa 
Wanna Man LilEe Me" and "1^, 
Btye, Baby." Stump and Stumpy 
ring the' bel£ as usual with .their' 
standard foolery and clever hoof- 
ing.. The lads Icnock themsebres 
out' to please and are amply re- 
warded. Basle's organ treatment 
of "Paradise Jump" is also a palm 
arooser. Band then takes mmr, 
vidth emyhbdsF^ aa for .the notous: 
fittaie tft Boake a gioodciiuciier. 

EdlMt. ■ 



Nat iMwi» t'vllle 

LamamUe, March 12. 
Ink Speis, Lwcfej; MtHSatier Oreh 
leitih BhR Moose Jaekstm, 
EnwRttisr Atlew„ Mitehell Is Gibf- 
aow; Omllhn 4 Xee; '^Pkila Vmce 



' : ■ A|SOll.«, M. .ir, . 

Count Basie Band (16) with Bob 
Baircy, Jinimic Runhing, Stwnm tc 
Stumpy, Lewis & While, Ztggy 
Johnson Sc Broionskin Chorus (12 ) ; 
"Slippy McGee" I Rep). 

Count Ba.sie Band and allrsepia 
revue, currently playing its annual 

stand at this Harlem vauder, has,-— „,„,.c„.^ii 

em hand-beatmg and stompin' in ' by guitaar and bass fiddle. After , 
a manner that presages a profit- ' new tones "Java Jive," 'It's All 



Itfs the Ink Spots drawing the 
a<a£id business this week, but tbe 
Lucky DUiiinte- Oreh and fine 
i!^p«eiait(es are giving the customers 
a sbMr. "Ihe jnmping^-jack leader 
ttums out a swcB Unenp of varied 
Bwaie and dancing acts that at- 
mott make the Ink Spots turn an 
anis'dimas, althoiigh tlie top eot- 
ored quaitet deliver their usual 
wwkmahlike job of barmw»i»iwg. 
. Fcnow! voodist, Ernestine AI- 
iatf fees off fte list of sinsKSy 
waarhling to nice retninsr'''*I>anee 
at Tour Wed^ug" and "Let It 
RoK." Band backs the gal up with. 
. glee dab effect ~and she .cops 
iriice aMdatwe. 

Fair of &sf hooeer^ IBfeheli ft 
iCShsaa, neatir decked oot in foil 
ideas togSy step off a fast nutjEae 
oC'.iajK, iq>»»dBng. t»'» .aacfc- fimsfc 
Wjiit'«»l«iitt ftMr-J^tras.' :.Lads 
woric bard and gset ample mitl&Bg. 
. MSBinder 'show caixies a msde 
vtocalist, Paul Bccckenridge, ihr 
I trued as baiFing bccM a soloist with 
I tbe "Wings .0««r: Jatdan" radio 
pragram; . .Bh> a .^fteaOde votce,, 
rszEgBEg Snuai bat i ttmfc to 
;£adsetto tenor. GSamers nice re- 
ception for Ms high tenor piping 
of "Lonesome Road" and "Trees" 
and to a slight degree taking, the 
edge from Bill Kenney's subse- 
quent vocalistics. 

Pair of knockabout comics, Col- 
lins & Lee, have fun with their 
zany roughhouse pushing around. 
Guys get down to work near the 
close, of their turn, with some fast 
aero bao&ng, for nice hand.' 

IMBilinder is gencxoas Im. aUot- 
irrg pfenty of time to Bull Moose 
Jackson, vocalist and baritone sax 
player; Jackson hits town with a 
rep m recofds, and had the iHHise 
jumping with his chirping of 
"Sneaky Pete," aided by the Buf- 
iafo Bear Cats, sax trio. Gets 
slightly sentimental with "I Love 
Yaa, Yes I Do," backed by tenor 
sax,, barif one sasr and tmmpet, ami 
follows up with "All My Love Be- 
Itmgs; to Too" and "Tou Know I 
Love You So." Guy lias far from 
nHEiaiiitie- appearance, but really 
turiis on the appeal in his voice. 
Had the CTstomers yelping for 
more after his; blue version of 
"Bowlegged Woman." 

SliUirader has toned down bis 
leaping from the leader's box, etc., 
but still hops aroond to do a swell 
fronting Job. DoeSnt play an in- 
stniment, but works all the way 
to ke«-p the show moving at a fstA 
clip. Brought the show to a nice 
dose, with a gestore to King Rec- 
ords exec, who was in the house, 
with tlte ork giving out a swell 
symphonic arrsingement of "Piano 
Concerto No. 2" by Rachmaninoff, 
featuring Bill Mann at the piano. 
Customers like it. 

Ink Spots, with Bill Kenhey .still 
standing out vocally, score with | 
their harmony work, accompanied 



Mnste n«ll, Y. 

"Glom of Boater," proditced bjt 
Leos Lfimdoff; Andre, Andree,t 
Bomne, Beilofc Ic Elaine, Paul Haa- 
kon toitfc Stephanie Antte, Lucille 
Cummiitgs, Glee Cbtb, Rockette*. 
Corps de Ba!let, Syrtrphtrnf Or- 
chestra (jAlecander SHiallem, cmt- 
tfitctor); "t Remember' 94«m«," 
(BKO), reciewed tw VAamxr, 
^circh IS, '48. 

Music Batl's annitat pwsentatioa 
of the veligioas spectacle, "Glory 
ci Kasier," toplinea^tbe Badio pty 
li^hBWcase's layout this sUnsa m a 
perfect match with **! Remember 
Bfama" to line up the family trade. 
Built up into an institution over 
tbe passing yean, this item has 
become as typical a. part of tbe 
Kew York sitting entertainment 
landscape as tbe circtis. And. like 
the big top, it doesnt Change but 
continues to hold its app«d for 
this theatre's cUentele. 

As nsual, Leon Leonidoff sboofte 
the works in this theatrical version 
of church ritual. It's a calcniated 
assault upon every sensory nerve, 
producins awe and astonishment 
not by its devout air so much as 
by the magic oC stage effects. The 
bmunotts hackdstm resembling an 
exqfoisite stainediU>ss window, tbe 
masses of peofSto arrayed on the 
stage,, tbe renderfng of ''Kamoaoi 
Ostrow'* bgr sotoist Lucile Cnmr 
mings against a throbbing synt- 
phoaie and organ background, the 
varied soft Itghttwe— ewarything is 
scientific-ally timed to enAe that' 
elimaetic reaction as the BodMttcs; 
form the human crass at tiie wind- 
ap. "Gtaty «f Ekster^ remains s»- 
pcalaltintie sbmmuniadU^ 

Rest, et the bin is in an enthtely 
diffwent mood hut without dasb- 
iog. Andre, Andree and Bonwie 
(two gals and a gnr> di^i^day a 
topnoteh dancing routine. It opens 
with a sodk in a I^fth avenue dis- 
play windov, wilb the two Ccmme 
dancers gradnallF coming tn life 
after posing as dnnuny models.. 
Rest cf the nwitine is a-sBght let- 
down after this fancy opener but 
tbe trio liadKS an infrieale aera- 
batie style of taping for sarefiie 
resultsL ' 

Remaining item is an nnosaai 
vaude present atioo: of two ping- 
pong ebampioes^ B^lak. and 
Elaine, who give a remarfcalde cx- 
hilKtioK of txicdt shotx. Fkir wind 
up by placing a regular seven- 
. point gaoM- -mldb ' cwtBMintaaesr % 
[Joe Wallace wbn descxibes 'tbe 
I fine poiuts. 

' Geared t9 the qpriqg season mo- 
tit. pnMbictioB BBmben inmlKbig 
tbe Rockettcs, baDct corps and 
giee dub give a takeoff <m "The 
BPew Lock" and a ramantie nom- 
hfa- titled "April Sbowent'* Both 
measnie up to BXusie Hjall's higb 
pradnctioa standards. In the 
Sisale. Paul Haakon and Stephame 
Antle turn in a standout IwDct 
mwnber, wrappnig np the whole 
session in a pleasant glow.Hcrm. 



Williams, tenor specializing in 
operetta, numbers; Ilarold Pedc. 
jHoUywwtd tcrper of mote than 
avenge abiUtsr. and lijttmie Wmr 
daU, » n«wo addttfut who doe» a 
brief and ttnunprcssive ballroom 
terpinU; bit with Heidi, Anotber 
newcomur, and not sret a pcmut- 
neut member ot tbe teami, is Jency 
Rothan, who doubles on the drums 
and a pair of zg^IophaBes. Of tbe 
local talODit on first diow, RajF 
Haw4t seems most tikely candidate. 
Tenor is siiife^ but iiss a viace aC 
genuine dMth and. sweetness. Also 
on the local agenda was Jobor Re3r- 
nolds, an ev^ty cnthusiastie blocs 
singer, and Stewart Gocdoa, pian- 
ist. 

Keynote stratgbt ordt numbers 
is novdty, with a toy symphony get- 
ting top boBO*?. A round«ibitt 
sort of affair, "How the Ladies Get 
the rieathns for Their Bats,** 
creates cmfue effects it aims for, 
and the "Gnus Grows Round and 
Round." with band members 
clowning all over stage, also gar- 
nets laughs. Finale, a take-off on 
the enrrcnt hamper crop of presi- 
dential candidates, resembles some- 
thing wfaiiqped up Iflr the sopfa»- 



HKwe daai of a hi|^ scbooi. It's ^''S: ^ahmg as 

a pajHiMHind of evnythin^ iodnd. iJSSS" 



Capitol^ Wash. 

WoA-hington, March 11. 
Horace Heidt Orch (18) tcith 
Dick Contini, Richard Valeri, Har- 
old Paar, Grant Williams, Harold 
Peck, Jerry Rothan, Ray Hawk, 
Stewart Gatdom and Joby Rey- 
nolds; rPewtb Avemtte Avael 
(M-GI. 



ing Gen. Myers, Oaie Booth Xwe 
^l^aycd hgr Mrs. XlddfD and Maip- 
gaiet Tkumau. Haybe it's the capi- 
tal flavor which gives it a better 
receptiOR than it deserves^ Seems 
more Uku^F, however, that at the 
bom's end, payees have that well 
satisfied, mtmass' weB-qpcnt feding. 
and go for almost anything. AH 
in aU, it's a wbumg show. Lowe. 

• $iiit»««kc^ CM' 

Cbieogm, Mmrch 12. 
EUm ntigermtd, Mel Torrme. 
Herbw Field!* Orch Lee 
Moatfs TwTowes 14%, BKct« Gsrro- 
wt«, Erwte S%«ton, Ltnn Bltrtow. 
CUdie Ehtbbmni, Aeiwry Bntadoa 
Oreft; "Mettm of the Moeies^ 



able week for the house. 

Band, solid as ever, has ac- 
quired a "new look" this trip via 
the addition of Ziggy Johnson's 
Brownskins, 12-girl line fronted by 
Johnson, that lend flash and color 
to proceedings. Lino's "Harlem 
on Parade," "Ballerina" and fast- 
fitepping finale, flanked by otiier 

acts on the show, are worked up 

for a sizzling and satisfying finish 

W- the 60-minute show. 
jBajsie's combo, comprising four 

ibythm, five trumpets, four trom- 



Over But the Crying," "I Woke 
Up With a Teardrop in Itfy Eye" 
and of course the .standard and in- 
evitable. "If I Didn't Care." 

Business was big at ]a,st show 
.Friday (12). Hold. 

HUET IN FALL 

Chicago, March 16. 
Peter Ivanov, aerialist, suffered 
a skull fracture at the Shrine Cir- 
cus here last week when he 
plunged 20 feet from a swing. 



Horace Heidt and his troupe of 
young!!ters seems to be doing a 
good |«b filling the niche left by 
the late Major BOww. In fact, the 
pattern is being followed even to 
tbe point of estabfisMng off-shoot 
units to travel the circuit. Still in 
the talking stage, this espansion 
should soon be a reality. 

Current layout, an almost exact 
replica of llefiftnf Hiiiip Morris 
airer, brings out the best in the 
pagieesL The natural human urge 
to cheer on the young is millced 
dry, with the audience getting a 
bigger kick out of it than most of 
the nei-vous novices. TtMuxks to 
Heidt's skinful, snuatbly deft on 
ceeing, it all adds up to slick show- 
inansfeip, with .some real talent 
worth throwing into the show biz 
hopper. Heidt gives impression of 
standing aside in faror of his new- 
comers, yet he remains the stair of 
the .show, aitire package is bci|^, 
well paced, with appeal for almost 
any type audience.. 

Standout amongst the Heidt 
finds" is still Dick Contini, the 
18-year old accordionist who was 
champ of the first heat in the 
Heidt radio contest. Lad is a 
.skilled musician, with good looks 
and a flare for showmanship which 
has already paved his way towards 
the bigtime. Out of the running 
now by the rules oj the contest, 
Contini will continue to travel with 
the show and keep a spot on the 
air. 

. Hichard Valeri topped even Con- 
tini in returns, stopping the show 
with his routine of vocal imita- 
tions, A slightly built youngster, 
he surprises with a big voice and 
a good one, plus excellent timing 
and a gift for mimicry. 

Others in the troupe are Harold 
Paar; blind baritone, who registers 
with his sentimental ballads; Grant 



For the aw r sge •'gaade. cBStwier 
this hoi is a bit too nmcb on the 
jaix concert idea. Hnwevov for the 
disic akddiets and Jaaz devotees;, it's 
a treat at bugabi prices. Only 
danger here is tbe younger set 
hoUSng onto tbdr seats and re- 
[ducing; Ihfe tonwv^. 
! Fwmat is twdit around four lead- 
ing disk: tm t u e is intaroduelng pjlal- 
ttr penaaalillies. 'l.ads have been 
pinning the bill for the posC 
monlb «v«r their pmgiaBiis and 
|itfs cvldeofl that mmet mt- iMuHe- 
enee caoM; to see tfaem pdaaxBg^ 
They, bt themselves; add little to 
the stage fare and, in most easesw 
keep wisely is tbe backgraandL. 

Linn BurtoB, first Joeiny, intm- 
dnces the Tla-Tanes^ two anancdi^ 
ons, bass and gniSar, who thnmp 
ant *nco TSco," •tadaatniwiC ndl 
"Vtmrp Fofla." AenmeoaEst ]ICa- 
rio Lozer does neat carbon of Rose 
Murphy's "Chi Chi." 

Dave Garroway, another jock, in- 
troes Ella Fitzgerald, who after 
making slow and "unceirtaua start 
with pop, "Gentleman fii A Dope," 
swings into her mediunti and irueks 
'em with "1 Love to BeBop.'*^ Flol- 
lows with "Lador Be Good" su _ 
"A-Tisket, A-Taaket'' fiar aofid ap- 
plause. 

' Rerbie Fields and bis ttnintet 
open with "JeaSo«Rgr," featuring 
Fields on clarinet and Fred Rad^ 
clifTe on drums. BranaBcr sets fine 
tempo for the hand in aE their 
nrnnbers. Brustied-np cddie, "Ilas>- 
danena," gets niee piano ioterpee- 
tatioa by Joe Gatto. Fields bits 
some eTctraacdinary high aotes on 
the sax as group rides fast, and 
fitrious thiougb donng nantber. 
"Flying Home." 

Ernie Simon, c«Bie p$i|itter turo- 
er, does the boOdtqp for Mel 
Torme. Young crooner ofEws 
"Yoti Otight to Be in Pictures^" 
Then does an abrupt change to a 
dramatic mood, winich doesn't 
come off too well, in "Best Thine* 
m Life Are Free." Singer gets back 
into his pace with "Pass the Peace 
Pipe." Essentially a bistro personr 
ality heretofore, crooner socks 
bobby-sox contingent with hep ad- 
Iibfaing, backed with an obvious 
enjoyment in Ins work. His "Do 
It Again" is slightly blue-trnged, 
buf he erases the effect by his 
clowning. Closer is spccirf, "I 
Want to Beat a Drum." Tonx% rolls 
out his own set of druEns to get 
in a few licks. 

Henry Brandon, iww house «a-eh 
leader, has nice personality and 
voice. Does excellent ra.c., also 
a stint at the piano. Otstside ot 
Lou Breese, fimnner leader, 'rest 
of the sidemen remain, Eddie' Hub- 
bard, platter tamer, was oot be- 
cause of illness at show caught. 

■ ■ • ZeOm, ■ ■ 

Price's Nitery BookiugSr 

Georgie Price set for, March 25 
at the Glass Hat of the Belmont 
Plaza hotel, N. Y., will follow up 
witli the Mount Royal Iiotel, Mon- 
treal, June 4. 

Price is also set to go into Bill 
Miller's Kiyiera, Ft. Lefi, N. J., in 
July. ■ ':•■ ■ . 



gBBwi to gracaes in the tow^ 
bwdcrts, coaseqoctttly hasn't nn^ 

the Vietuve with bighn^eS 
nwnes; What ft hw dmS^SSti. 

i^p. Of tbe three ads «m the 
so^.tw comprise perionners 
new to Broadway presentation 
hwe*. One «^ them walks off the 
stage a distlw^ hit, indicating that 
hell be a regular in Stem ptayine 
time. . ■ " ■ 

Phil Foster, viitually a vet per- 
fonner, having played minor time 
hefoare tbe war, started stepping UD 
upon h» d^haree ijeom service 
With cafe dates. His Broadwav 
presentatiiMi debut is. simiBarlv 
auaqfKtoiomL 

' Fbstec's bmoor is based upon 
lecoguiabie types. Taking as his 
Ibone. "the gang at the 
comer." be treats these ehararter- 
natioos of near-miscreants with 
gentle humor that in a way might 
recaU tame of tbe experiences of 
maniy in the audience; And he gets 
ovcrhistsnpcstotfaeraobL Soone of 
his ddfimT needs considerable 
sfaarpcnfaotK, bed. nondbeless, he 
gets two encnces and a begoff . 

Other new pctsonality is Anne 
TbcMBMs mew Ads), who does a 
pasiabie job here. 

Lou Wills, Jr., taints care of the 
tttp-sedicHi of the bill with a per- 
sonable blend of genuine iiooling 
ability and sprightly aero work. 

Rnss aHoigan's eccw has a few 
moments; bat gneiaBr, the music 
fails to generale aiqr major excite- 
ment He's taifecn the trend to corn 
too sctibusly in some sections, 
namdr sdunalbtsf. renditions of 
TlRsaed Vp WfUh a Bnften Heart" 
and "Bare-Bye Bhbckbird." It's a 
different story, however, when he 
takes oa a hunHBTOus assignment, 
He knows bow to get gags across. 
Ob the straii^t tnatrumental por- 
tions of bis recital, "^Ktght Must 
Fan" gets a respectful and pleasing 
rendStiOft as do his sdo piano ef- 
forts of bis own eocnpasitiotts. His 
hoke of "Warsaw CoMnto" doesn't 
hit toe well. 

His vocalist. Ftat Laird, is a win- 
.jmrne teSsSi, but (Saesatt tme tbe vo- - 
eal sawy lor faiglinte. Projection 
is toQ.unantbnntaiise. Bertumat 
tHjdng is Bkewiae too unnraies- 
siaaalfflrBcaadwacr. •J^ose- 



. . .Blosl(M,M«rd^ 12. 

' liosel Bmmtitam Omh «20!)>, Ro- 
'taadi BaoFtom, Wiai Bramm, Jlfara 
Bi»k SSm tk Svuxt^ Beis^.t Cwrkv; 

Betmne m CrimmeV <WB>. 



Most frantic layout ever to hit 
this house, Lionel Hampton's show 
i opens with aa instrumental num- 
ber named, for want of something 
better, "New Look" Features 
tenor, baritone saoe player and 
sbriefcing trampets to preview 
wiiat is coming later. 

Fur coBtacast vocalist Roland 
BuBton, backed h« the Hamptoaes, 
not too soUAfn "Golden EaETings."''* 
Wini Brawn, hitsliy voiecd band 
songstress, is ntore suceessful do- 
ing "Gone Again" and "1 Believe." 
Bats iiHaarw is featnred in another 
roolbaster, 'nffiaias ' Fhsgers?' get- 
tin;; robust stipport from band. 

Hamptere daiiiees, mugs; hops 
around and keeps everything 
jumping at a fevcxiHt pitrit„ hardly 
slowing down to grab feature spot 
platying vihcaliarp. For finale, band 
marches off stage up one aisle and 
down another, tbe musicians 
breaking loose to outblaw one an- 
other. Climax is Hampton j.uinp- 
iiiig tip..a{id down ett .bis drum. ,: 

Standard ads woven between 
bond numbers include- Mara Kim, 
"jiviog China doM" doing, fast terp 
chore. Siiixt and Swcds catch a 
beg band with zany terp routine,' 
the "Romeo" cwsttune of Slim 
drawing plenty of laitghs. Beds 
and Curley eliek with ixiiore tcrp- 
ittg and gags, winding with a solid 
bit of drtiininnig. 

Show wows the. jitterb«g_audi- 
ence..'. 



Mkani, SSemreh 12. 
Yvette,. Avthm Bls)tc. Beh&nairs, 
Paul RicK Beweif Sisters, hcs 
Rhode House Oreh; "I Walk 



Lineup of ads this week are on 
the more sophisticated side, de- 
parting from the usual standard 
vaude and novelty timts, with re- 
sults satisfying to tlie stuhholUcrs. 

Yvette is a regular here, coming 
back annually with her softly pro- 
jected versions of ballads, mu.si- 
comedy tunes and pops. Clicks 
again with her charm and poi.scd 
delivery. Includes a medley which 
parades hit songs through the 
years, sets solidly with "Body and 
(.Continued on page 63) 



15th ANNUAL 



SURVEY OF 















By GEOBGE BOSCN 



To 



To each its own — ^yet altogether they sound out 
radio in our home, our town and our country. 

Ea«h station called its own tune, flavored it with 
its own tempo, sent it forth to its own locale, yet 
tiirough the length and breadth of the land all of 
the sending towers gave out with a diversity of ex- 
pression that was Americana — our particular 
l)rand of fun and humor, entertainment and views, 
thoughts and ideals. 

It was almost as though the stations had as- 
sembled in caucus and decided that, over and above 
the regular programs Uiat the listener had by now 
grown to expect, Radio in 1947 called for an extra 
push. All of a sudden nothing was more important 
than expanding radio's social usefulness, promot- 
ing international understanding, fostering racial 
goodwill, or fulfilling its responsibility to the com- 
munity. These jobs seemed to intrude, to poke in 
on the regular operations. And somehow in the 
small town that had no place for its childieu to 
play, the station just naturally knew it was its job 
to pitch in and help the community get a place. Or 
a station that put emphasis on a series that in- 
terpreted world affairs in terms of the average 
American family, just felt that this was their con- 
tribution toward furthering the peace. And when, 
in the wake of the Big Snow, a little 260-watter 
on the outskirts of Manhattan was instrumental 
by its expose in forcing an investigation of the 
Long Island Railroad bi*feakdown that paved the 
way for correction of abuses, that seemed a regu- 
lar part of radio's job. 

The pattern slowly but unmistakably shaped 
itself. Radio now belonged, without question, as 
an integral part of the town, the community, the 



Its Own 



city, each station formatting its opei^ation for its 
own listeners. And if there was a constant striv- 
ing in the hinterlands to emulate the 50>0O0-3((iratt 
big- sisters, they still did it in terms of their own 
needs. 

So there it was. Radio judged itself. The sta- 
tions said, 'This is important'*; they created their 
own categories. They themselves set the theme, 
blueprinted the course that molded the character 
of Variety's 1947 Survey of Showjnanagement. 
Yes, the stations can well say that they "wrote the 
book" for Variety, but only because the book they 
wrote was one that filled the needs in their ovm 
communities and of the bigger community that is 
America. 

For 15 years it has been Variety's pleasure to 
vox pop the men who run America's radio stations. 
For a decade and a half the annual Survey of 
Shovsrmanagement has recorded the progi'ess and 
. achievements of tHe stations, big and small, estab-. 
lishing a permjanent archive of an industry's giant 
strides in showmanship, business acumen and 
public service. In a country of rugged individ- 
ualists, 1947 found the usual percentage of "isola- 
tionists" whose chief interests lay in the profit 
sheets. 

This year's survey shows a positive trend — an 
acknowledgement of greater public responsibility. 
Greater competition among an increasing number 
of stations may force the hand of the "isolation" 
boys to follow in the same pattern. For 1947 
called the tune, and a large enough number of sta- 
tions answered— and answered well. The people 
heard, liked what they heard. It made them fed 
-that radio spoke for them. 



S6 



Wcdneatlay, March 17, 194« 



Citations: 1947 ^itowmanageineiit Review 



How to Run A 
Radio Station 

WSM, Nashville 
WIVB4:, ]\«iv York 

WNEW, America's Razzle Dazzle 
Station, could have sat back on its 
fat billings (luring 1947, basking 
In the distinction of being the most- 
copied operation in the land. But 
the parlaying lOf Bernice Judis' 
fiihrevifdness and aggressiveness with 
mted Cott's flair tor showmanship paid 
off in '47 better than ever. It wasn't 
«rily a case.' of WNEW winding up 
■with $2,500,000 in bijlings, highesit in 
the station's history and top indie, 
grosser in the country, but the 
station went On to find new ways, 
tetter ways, smarter ways of doing 
.: things. 

The Cott-Judis combo, (with no 
mean assist from Dick Pack, whose 
Oiyri ingenious flair for off-the-beat- 
«)1 path ideas is peculiarly adapted to 
the Operation) struck it rich on tlie 
showmaniship front: Before the year 
■was out WNEW, beseiged with bids 
from 183 dillerent stations for aid 
on "how to run a radio station," was 
f{)ced with ' the alternative of either 
establishing the post of Vice-Presi- 
dent in Charge of Station Relations, 
or nix categorically the multiple 
SOS requests. WNEW chose the 
latter^ .It's probfble that without 
a Cott to go with each blueprint, 
duplication of the WNEW program 
pattern iust wouldn't hold up. 

-How the station sold democracy 
!n a bla way with its. "Little - Songs 
About Big Subjects." which it made 
• available to 583 other stations; how 
it projected Canada Lee as the year's 
most- unique disk jockey; how it 
■wr&pped up top comedians (at $19 
a show) for its "Play It Straight" 
dramatic series; how it perpetuated 
the" American Heritage in a Freedom 
■ Train series; maneuvered a change 
' d{' pace with 'a' musical version of 
''Christmas Carol," and developed 
good, free program sources like 

ICBC's "It's a Legend" and the "BBC 
Showcase"-T-here was only part of a 
fabulous story about a fabulous op- 
ieration. 



motion of interracial understanding; 
the inauguration of inter-faith 
round-tables to fight bigotry; the 
"Room 416" provocative commentary 
on the Gotham scene; the new con- 
cept of block programming for 
kiddies'* shows all reflected Gaines' 
capacity to extract maximum show- 
manship and service in. -the, public 
interest from his operation. 



1 



WSM 



•In these days of tightened pur.se- 
strings and heightened competition 
for billings, many are the stations 
inclined to let a network feed them, 

. filling in their local periods with a 
couple of disk jockeys and a big 
stack of records. Not so Nashville's 
WSM. In a city of only 17.5,000, thi^ 
■"air castle of the South" maintains 
an amazing total of 200 entertainers 
cn its talent stafl'—- a policy which it 
has made to pay off in a score of 

((■ways, not the least of which is an 
enviable roster of public service pro- 
gramming. As a result of its 
gamble; the station 6an boast that ,its 
vast stable of live talent nof'only 
is supporting itself, but is available 
for a spread of public service airers, 
the like of which few stations could 
duplicate. . WSM's special dish is 
corri-^hillbilly, cowboy, folk music. 
The folks down Tennessee way love 
It, and WSM gives it to them, not 
from e.t.'s, but live, through such 
favorites as Roy Acuff, Red Foley, 
Francis CraiS, Cowboy Copas, Min- 
nie Pearl, Snoolty fcanson, etc. 

To inject real life into its public 
aervice projects, the station has but 
to pluck from this roster. WSM, for 
imtance, plugged farm safety for a 
solid year, using live dramatic stan- 
zas. Currently, the station is doing 
a 52- week series on the Freedom 
Train and America's heritage. 
WSM's 90-minute midday .sequence 
for the farmers (and not a minute 
«f it is for sale), gets full-fashioned 
talent treatment. Ditto the station's 
kiddie shows. Station has cashed 
in on the hit-tune popularity of 
"Near You," eomppsed by its own 
disk jockey Francis Craig; Acuff and 
other WSM staffers are well up 
front among record faves in their 
field. WSM originates eight NBC 
shows. It regularly airs waxed BBC 
shows, in turn sends its own folk 
Jnusic to Britain, It all adds up to 
a bright example of how to run a 
radio .station, 

Jim Gaines' know-how * was 
again demonstrated in ' 1947 as 
the key NBC station continued 
tO: maintain leadership. The 
tibildrcn's progranns .aimed at pro- 



Expanding Radio's :: 
\ Soeial Usefulness I 

WCHS, Charleston, 

;^:■:;:::•vr■:w.s^^,/:^::^^^■■:■■■•^^ 

KRLD, Dallas 

A little more thaq a year ago the 
Yankee Network, of which WNAC 
is key station, : introduced a new 
feature called the Yankee Network 
Institute. The aim was to bring to 
YN's listeners the foremost men of 
New England in the fields of art. 
Science, law, medicine, social welfare 
and edvtoationi and guide them in 
discussions offering an understanding 
of current problems and a guide to 
better living. Initial series was an 
American Bar Assn. roundtable, 
using the cream of New England's 
legal minds to explain various law 
questions in laymen's language. Suc- 
cess of this venture led to inaugura- 
tion, in turn, of ^a "Journal of the 
Air," a "Medical Center of the Air," 
and finally, a "Wellesley Summer 
Theatre and School" series, the 
latter the first of its kind, with plays, 
panel talks, lectures and gueststar 
interviews being piped out of Welles- 
ley's campus. By the end of 1947 the 
Institute had presented 490 leaders 
from fields of law, medicine, educa- 
tion, etc.. in 150 broadcasts on a total 
.of 190 subjects, ranging. from "The 
Function of the Police," "Experiences 
of a Woman Minister," "What Makes 
the". Human Body Tick?" to "Stage 
Lighting." 

In its overall concept, aimed at 
unfolding the thinking of an his- 
torically great region in the direct 
tion of deeper understanding and 
appreciation - of the significant and 
Interesting things in New England- 
ers' • daily living, the Yankee Net- 
work Institute is truly fulfilling one 
of radio's promises of contributing 
to_ the enlightment of our people. 



KRLD, heard the talk and immedi- 
afely put his station's full resourijes 
to work in behalf of the project, "rhe 
result was a series of dramatic 
shows, spotted^ in cream evening 
tirne,' in which the Padre's Gremlin 
Club, .boys enacted true-experience 
stories spotlighting the causes of de- 
linquency. lA four n:tontbs the- drive 
captured so 'much local attentiort 
and national recognition that Mac- 
miilan bought iEi.book the Padre was 
writing • about his (Jremlins and a 
Hollywood producer bought film 
rights, the two contracts providing 
a sizeable nest egg for the Town 
House; Dallas businessmen under- 
wrote the Kids' World Ranch; dona- 
tions poured in from all parts of the 
country; ithe War Dept.- asked for 
scripts of the KRLD programs for 
airing in occupied countries, and the 
Army asked Dallas' Padre to make 
a survey of juvenile delinquency in 
Germany. Overall, it was a brUliant 
manife;station on KRLD's part of 
radio-s power for £ood, and supplied, 
as a newspaper put it, proof that 
"radio has an answer to the hack- 
neyed charge that it makes criminals 
out of youth." 



facilities were mobilized to make' 
the series ^ station landmark, , 



KNOE 



■» ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ ♦ ♦ 

■t" • ' ■ -1- 

:; Responsibility To 
The Community 



-»tt»»*t«»t ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ t ♦ t < « ♦ » 



•WCHS 



Like oil and water, state solons and 
higher education don't mix too well. 
Maybe WCHS, energetic 5-kw'er in 
West Virginia's capital, doesn't be- 
lieve in chemistry. Regardless, the 



KXOK, St. \jmA» 
WMCil, BTew York 
KjVOE, Monroe, I^. 
WBBM, €hlea}{o 
WHLI, Hempsf Rail, I.. I. 

Through its "Wake Up, St. Louis" 
weekly forum, aired at a peak eve- 
ning listening hour, KXOK. not only 
is demonstrating radio in the public 
interest at its best, but is contribut- 
ing in a very positive way to the 
freedom of expression which is the 
heritage of our deniocracy. In scope 
End concept; "Wake Up, St. Louis" 
is truly and peculiarly American. 
St. Louis' only regularly scheduled 
local radio forum, the program 
tackles directly and forcefully vital, 
current, local issues. Are the local 
schools adequate? .Should St. Louis 
have a rent controMaw? Should air- 
ports be located within the city 
limits? Should St. Louis hav^a city- 
owned transit system? To debate 
theiie and other issues, all with an 
accent on developing .St. Louis as a 
well informed and progressive com- 
munity, KXOK has been bringing in 
the best authorities -available and let 
them argue it out. The St. Louis 
Junior Chamber and the St. Louis 
Bar Assn. cooperate. The forum is 



One of those little war-borne 
"coffee 'pots", (established in Octo- 
ber, 1944), .KNOE really demon- 
strated how 250 watts can be used 
as a' commutjity force. Open gam- 
bling had already existed in Monroe, 
La., and its surrounding Ouachita 
Parish for a number of years when 
a committee of local clergymen, at 
the behest of an' incfitjsed citizenry, 
approached KNOE! late last year and 
asked air time to expo.se gambling 
and moral conditions.' The station 
not only gave the ministers a go- 
ahead, opening up two cro,ss-thc- 
board time periods for the campaign, 
but went out and bought newspi'.per 
space to focus attention on the clean- 
up. (The local papers offered neither 
editorial nor news-column support). 
Five days letter one of the partici- 
pating clergymen was attacked by 
unknown assailants. But a week 
after that) 'the Monroe grand jury 
called a special session to investi- 
gate the KNOE-aired charges. The 
."tation kept pounding away, its "mo- 
ral crusade" becoming the talk of <ihe 
town. The upshot: Within two 
months, 16 true bills were returned 
by the grand jury, 12 persons' were 
indicted, 11 pleaded guilty, got fines 
and- .sentences; open gambling wa.s 
knocked out, well-known operators 
fled the parish, and KNOE won de- 
served plaudits from the grand 'jury, 
the townspeople and newspaper!!. 

For being unafraid to stand up 
and fight for its community's wel- 
fare, VARrisTV's hat is off to KNOE. 



WBBM 



Charleston station does place a high 

premium on learning. Results: West I not for sale to any sponsor. The sta 
Virginia University's revolving door } tion insists that the forum's topics 
for its faculty is gone. i be current and of widest possible in- 



It took 6,000,000 taxpayers' dollars 
to do the trick— thanks to WCHS. 
Station learned the faculty was 
deserting in droves (70 out of 334 
had already left, 25 more slated to 
go) because of meager pay checks. 
The state-owned ivy halls in Mor- 
gantown, 200 miles away from the 
capital, was a forgotten stepchild 
when it came to budgetary earmark- 
ing. 

Harry Brawley, alumnus and 
WCHS Public Service Director, made 
a two-we6k survey on the campus, 
interviewing profs and students. He 
came back loaded' for bear and 
blasted away in a series of six 
broadcasts with a salvo of prelimi- 
nary newspaper ads to hypo listener- 
.ship, invitations to all the lawmakers 
to tune in and, in a final broadside, 
made scripts and transcripts avail- 
able gratis to every other West 
Virginia station. Timing was perfect; 
WCHS broadcasts kicked ofl' in last 
week of legislative session^ Feb.. '47, 
booting a commercial off the air for 
prime 6:30 slot. 

Happy ending: The West Virginia 
Slate Legislature pa.sKed an appro- 
priation Of $6,000,000 for the U., 
greatest in school hi.story; six other 
state-owned institutions requested- 
that WCHS case them for the next 
l egislature. 



terest.. As proof of the program's 
stature, three local newspapers feel 
compelled to cover every broadca.st 
because of its, news value. In this 
project KXOK has found a genuine 
avenue for promoting American 
ideals of frefe speech a.s well as per- 
forming a prime service to the, com- 
munity it serves. 



WMCA 



The Big Noise in Chicago during 
1047 was WBBM's 13-week documen- 
tary serie.s, ''Report Uncensored." 
Here was; a show worth talking 
about, and Chicago talked. Through 
this notable "series of public service 
programs, CBS' midwest station took 
a long iitep toward meeting and .solv- 
ing the challenge of Chicago's most 
pressing social problem, juvenile de- 
linquency. For five months before 
airtime, and three months on the 
air, "Report Uncensored" repre- 
sented the most intense and consci" 
entious expenditure of time, talent 
and facilities ever made by WBBM. 
It's a tribute to the people of Chi- 
cago who, recognizing such meritori- 
ous achievement, demanded a con- 
tinuance of the.se documentaries dur* 
ing the current 1948 season. 



Putting itself out on an editorial 
limb, WMCA, the Nathan Straus- 
owned indie, attacked the ever- 
mounting New York housing crisis 
head-on. Getting the facts; in an 
all-out effort to get homes built for 
the city's homeless, it let the blame 
fall where it might. Designed as a 
community enterprise, the statioh'.s 
housing campaign sought to enli.st 
the aid of the radio audience and 
interested civic gr#jps. 
- The rest is history, with WMCA 
winning hands down in the fight to 
pressure Mayor O'Dwyer into a pub- 
lic housing campaign. Just two 
■weeks after the station launched its 
"A Home to Live In" series, urging j 
listeners to bombard City Hall with | I 
letters, the Mayor announced that a ' 
flind of $250,000,000 would be ear-, 
marked for building during the next 
t^wo years. Mail resulting from the 
program totalled 10,000 after the first 



Hats off to Elias Godofsky and his 
new 2,'iO-watt daytime operation. In 
its brief-career since fir.st blowing a 
whiff of fresh air into the small com- 
munity of Hempstead it has fought 
the good fight with telling results. 
Recognizing that there are more than 
20 stations in the Metropolitan New 
York area; WHLI "put all its pro- 
gramming eggs into the local com- 
munity basket. 

Because it regards the Long Island 
Railroad as a local institution, it 
went to work after the Big Snow of 
December and trained its guns on an 
investigation of the railroad's break- 
down, whipped up commuter senti- 
ment, came up with some sought-for 
evidence which it forwarded ta the 
Public Service Commission, and, as 
a rousing finale put on its now 
memorable "Operations ' Snafu" 
.series of .shows (two documentaries 
and one Gilbert & Sullivan-motifed 
satirical blasst). The good Hemp- 
stead town.sfolk now say that if you 
listen closely, the wheels of the 
purged LIRR cars can be heard 1o 
sing out the refrains Of the G & S 
parodies. As a fitting tribute, the 
GUfford Evan.s-Rhoda Cantor-^ 
scripted G & S presentation will 
.soon get a full-blown stage produc- 
tion in Mineola, the county Seat— a 
fitting memorial to WHLI's succe.ss- 
ful campaign. - 



^ two programs of the cro.ss-the-board 

The dream' of ' an Episcopalian i It was a contribution unique 

"padre." the Rev. Vern Swartsfager, ■ Public service radio-a show that 
of establishing a niillion^dollai' i •''^'^'•'''1'^ conqrete , goals, and 
Kids' World Town House and a ' ^"-'•^'^^'^d them. 

$100,000 Kid's World R,anch to fight I WMCA gave the .series maximum 
juvenile dftlinquency in the Dal]a.s I showmanship values, to interpret the 
area, is being realized as a result o£ j crisis in human, dramatic terms, as 
a luncheon club talk he had given | reflected in the Michael Sklar scripts 
last May. Clyde Rembert, manager land again in the Mitchell Grayson 

of the Dallas Times-Heralds SOkw production. And all the staliofi'scontribute. under the station's in- 



Promoting Int'l 
Understanding 



WHO, Des Moines 
KXBil, San rran«;iseo 

Because the powers-th&t-be at 
WHO felt that a clear channel radio 
station must do more than pay lip 
service , to public welfare activities, 
they got to thinking how the pri- 
mary part of WHO'S audience (in 
the World's Food Bowl) could best 



.spiratlon, toward forging a link in 
the chain of world-wide understand- 
ing. A tail order, certainly, but not 
too tall for WHO. to do something 
about it. Since the listeners in the 
WHO area are well paid in casli lor 
their produce which is helping to 
feed a hungry world, the station de, 
cidedi to exert its influence to elicit 
their voluntary participation in to- 
day's No. 1 Project in the public in- 
terest— World Peace. It a.sked its 
listeners to participate in interna- 
tional relief for other than mone- 
tary rewards by providing gifts of 
food and clothing to destitute pcqple^ 
they have never seen. The re.st is 
Des Moines (and for that maUor; 
world) history. The WHO European 
Relief Project inaugurated last Oc- 
tober has paid off to date with 
14,731 radio families in 40 states antl 
Canada (11,000 of them from all 99 
counties in Iowa) participating, a 
total of 40,000 food and clothing par- 
cels, weighing in excess of 400,000 
pounds (200 tons) has already been 
shipped to Norway, Holland, France, 
Czechslovakia and Greece. " And 
when a station can enlist 2,271 com- 
munity groups' from 30 states tor 
such a project, its power for good is 
incalculable. To WHO, for forging 
an unbreakable link in the chain of 
humanitarian assistance, Vahiet'? 
doffs its bat. 



KNBC 



NBC's Frisco operation, formerly 
known as KPO, under the adroit 
management of- John W. Elwood,' 
distinguished itself in ihe, field of 
Public Affairs and Educational Ac- 
tivities. Its "World Affairs Are Your 
Affairs" series of programs, designed 
to show the relationship between the 
world problems and' the operation of 
the average Amerjcan household, 
was outstanding radio, tapping the 
intellectual resources of the commu- 
nity. 

While alert to the functions- of 
every radio station, i.e., to provide 
entertainment, relaxation, culture 
and information, KNBC chose to put 
the accent on one all-out endeavor—* ■ 
to employ its unique facilities of en- 
tertainment and dissemination of in- 
formation in the service of World 
Affairs, National Affairs, the com- 
munity of Northern California and 
the City of San Francisco. Variety 
salutes Elwood's aggressiveness and 
leadership on the Co9st'> 

♦♦»♦»♦♦»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦»»• 



Fostering Racial 
Understanding 

WCCO, MtnneapoliN 

In its "Neither Free Nor Equal" 
.series of six programs designed to 
combat racial and religious intoler- 
ance, WCCO geared its usefulness to 
meet specific northwest problems. 
Taking its cue from the statement 
by Carey McWilliams, ex-California 
Immigration Commissioner, that "In 
almost every walk of life 'an iron- 
curtain' separates Jews from non- 
Jews in Minneapolis," the station 
made a singularly effective contribu- 
tion. For the fact-fllledi programs 
were designed to: 1) Bring home to 
Northwest residents the fact that 
such intolerance was not a theo- 
retical, remote problem but one that 
was of extreme importance to the 
community; 2) Convince WCCO lis- 
teners that discrimination was a 
matter of personal concern not only 
to those groups that might feel its 
effect most directly, but to the en- 
tire community; 3) Make every 
thinking listener realize that his in- 
dividual actions were of extreme 
importance in defeating discrimina- 
tion and intolerance; 4) Present 
practical, workable suggestions for 
solving this problem in a .specific- 
area. 

On another count, WCCO had a 
job to 'do, and il; did it with glow- 
mg results. As the culmination of 
a year-long drive carried on a.gainst 
juvenile delinquency, WCCO did its ■ 
laudable "As the Twig Is Bent" se- 
ries to arouse the citizenry to full 
support of the newly-enacted Min-, 
nesota State Youth Con.servalion 
Commission. Opposition to the leg- 
islative bill ran high, for it waS 
felt that creation of such a. Commis- 
sion would interfere with the han- 
dling of local problems. Public .sup- 
port for pas.«;age of the bill was vital, 
arfd WCCO undertook the job of en- 
listing such support, winning pa.ss- 
agc of the ^easure and then, 
through a. series of documentaries, 

• (Continued on page 30) 



4i:rriittnff**"*** *** * t* **ft'^*****^*''M'tttttt t ttfftf*'*'''ff Tilt titttitt *********** *****'t* * ******** 

JCiiiitiiHis: 1047 Showmanai^eiiieBt Heview i 




How To Run A Radio Station 

WNEW, New York WSM, Nashville 

WNBC, New York 



Expan^ng Radio's Social Usefnlness 

WNAC, Boston KRLD, Dallas 

WCHS, Charleston, W. Va. 



Responsibility To Tim Conununity 

KXOK, St. Louis KNOE, AAonroe, La. 

WMCA, New York WBBM, Chicago 

WHLI, Hempstead, L L 



Promoting International Understanding 

WHO, Des Moines KNBC, San Francisco 

Fostering Racial Undmrsttinding 

WCCO, Minneapolis 



Outstanding Service To The Fanner 

wow, Omaha 



Imagination In Promotion 

WOV, New York 



28 



Wednesday, Mareh 17, 15148 



♦♦> MMMM»MMMMMMM » M » M.» » Mt < . > MM » M.».MV »»»»*»» M i MM *4 



Highliglits: 1947 Show^iaimgeiiieiit Review 



KLZ,' Denver: Hufih Terry's ag- 
Sres6iveness was once more demon - 
atrated by the manner in which 
iCLZ mantalned its leadership. Par- 
ticularly in the sphere o£ social 
usefulness, and his boys went 
to Work and ca«»e up with 
« four-pronged job of ac- 
CorttpUshment as the statiott dissected 

froblems peculiar to its own area, 
he station felt, for example, that 
something should be done about the 
Denver divorce situation, which 
iound 51% of all marriages winding 
up in the divorce courts. Again it 
tackled the minority problem, . with 
its evidence of Spanish-Americans, 
Jews, Japanese • Americans and 
Negroes, being denied enual job 
opportunities; it explored Golorado's 
political unrest, and waged an ef- 
fective Campaign to reduce fatalities 
among school children. On the 
Kocky Mountain front, Terry was 
consistently out in front. 



room biz 
pleased, 



fell, but PTA's were 



WGAY, Silver Sprincit, Md.: For- 
mer Interior Secretary Harold L. 
Ickes was asked why he singled put 
WGAY to begin his commercial ,,*ir 
stints. He replied," "Fpr tfte iamt. 
reason a girl gets mairled. TViey- 
asked me first." Which' indexes the 
enterprising nature of WGAY, new 
1,000-WBtt daytime indie in Silver 



of Nashville's underprivileged chil- 
dren, and through efitective program- 
ming secured funds to provide rec- 
reational activities and employment, 
for kids who might easily have bee» 
led into trouble. 



WaVB> Lott|8v(lle: Because Ken^ 
tucky-.ss K Stat*! is StiU « "border 
phenomenon" that's neither north, 
south, east or west, but rather a 
synthesis Of the . "American" view- 



timore's public schools , superinten- 
dent for 21 years, as fulltime public 
service counselor. And by insti- 
tuUng'a weekly "WBAL Radio Fo- 
rum" under his guidance. Mayor 
proclaimed a "WBAL Monti)" in 
hoiior of opening of the station's 
fine "New World of Tomorrow" stu- 
dios. 



KWi^C, Mu»c«Une, U.: -This day- 
time-only postwar baby, just a year 



WGARj Cleveland: With a "More 
Power to You" slogan, energetic 
John Patt really got rolling- with his 
SO,000-watt licensed station, the 
1947 operation in fields of forums, 
public service programming, com- 
iriercial know-how and down-to- 
earth entertainment reflecting 
imagination and hard work; Patt 
and his aggresiiive' crew were all 
■ over the lot In promoting the upped- 
v/atlage station and the payoJJ was 
considerable. 



WOR, New York: Expanded its an- 
nual Christmas Fund to cover 17 
N. Y. hospitals with children's wards 
end, via heavy air plugging, got 
8,841 listeners to contribute more 
than. 4,000 Yule gifU to sick kiddies. 
iban.$12,D00 for distribution of more 



: "iWEEl, Boston: Aired notably ef- 
fective series on food conservation 
«nd jobs-f or-vets to highlight a year 
in which smart innovations in local 
programming pushed WEEI out front 
In the local rating picture (29 firsts 
In 31 quarter-hours of local week- 
day shows). Station's "Job Center of 
the Air'' picked off more than 2,QpO 
positions for vets. 

KVORi Colorado Springs: In its 

23d .year of operation for' the Pikes 
Peak" 'Region, this 1,000-watt station 
in a relatively small community and 
iri a somewh'at peculiar market met 
Vis responsibility and obligations in 
commendable fashion, Particularly 
aotewoirthy was the work carried on 
by the station's personnel on the 
€>ut.side, apart from their jobs at the 
station. v 



TELEVISION AWARDS 

NATIONAL. iBBOADCASTING CO. 

( Ind«i9Ary^I^«dePship ) 



For general leadership of the video Indus- 
try in 19«, "VARIETY bestows a SHOW- 
MAN AGHIV|IE:NT aceolade on .NBp. It was a 
leadership that was reflected in the presen- 
tation of adult, dcamatic theatre, such as the 
Sunday night theatre Guild shows and 
the . American National Theatre, and 
Academy productions. It was a yeac which 
saw NlkC project a four-station network on 
the east coast coaxial cable, despite .lack of 
any clear-cut affiliations yet in tele, and 
feed, much of its exclusive film material to 
stations in Detroit and St. Louis, thereby, 
giving it the Jreadership in net operations. 



They talked up television big around 
NBC, and among its affiliates, reshuffling 
its executive format to vest the TV opera- 
tion with solid braintrusters^ It snared the 
lion's share ,of national sponsors, including 
General Foods, Gulf, RCA, Kraft, Swift, ^ 
Camels, U. S. Rubber, Gillette, etc. It was 
the first to launch a major commercial news- 
Mel, under its recent pact with Fox Movie- 
tone and Camels. And it girabbed the spot- 
light in its promotion of tele, through its 
recent fnsertion of full-page ads in the na- 
tion's consumer press and tbtrough the oft- 
quoted statements of its No. 1 tele man, 
Frank Mullen. 



COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTKM 



WCAE, Pittsburgh: With its accent 
on the business part of the show 
business which is radio, this' ABC 
fiMliale jumped: on thei promotional 
bandwagon to leave a favorable im- 
pression with the advertisers. ' 



WENR, Chicago: Chi° station threw 
the 1947 .spotlight on the plight of 
the house-hunter, enlisting the aid 
of its listening public in a forceful 
and productive series titled "Wanted: 
A Place To Live." 



KTUL, Tulsa: Vera Croft's- "Home- 
tnakers Correspondent" series carried 
by KTUL arid -its sister station 
KOMA in Oklahoma City gave 
listeners the wisdom of one • of 
America's top authorities on the 
problems of the retailer, wholesaler, 
^jnanufacturer and distributor in the 
"food field. Her common-sense sug- 
gestions, won the station a bigger 
following than ever. " . 



WMPS, Memphis: Did a smart job 
ef promoting its boost in power and 
.switch to 680 kc by getting practical^ 
ly every store in town to,,plug "68." 
Highlight was a 68-cent sale at Sears 
Roebuck during which station all 
but took over the store. 



To the remote crew of WCBS-TV, Colum- 
bia's New York television outlet, goes the 
credit for setting the pace in remote airings 
of sports shows on video. With exclusive 
video rights to all events staged in Madison 
Square Garden, except the Friday night 
boxing matches, CBS in 1947 successfully 
developed a formula and technique for pro- 
viding a clear, showmanly presentation of 
all sports televised, including hockey, 
basketball and track. The way CBS cap- 
tured Gil Dodds' record '^mile run was big- 
time tele, a credit to the crew that was also 



responsible for CBS' neat job on baseball 
and football last year. 

Underlying the good work, primarily, was 
the teamwork established between remote 
director Herbert Bayard Swope, Jr., and his 
cameramen and various announcers. And 
lending a maximum of added color and in-' 
terest has been the idea of having an ex- 
pert on each sport share the announcing job 
with the play-by-play caller. That all the 
Garden remotes are currently sponsored is 
a tribute to the CBS know-how In the realm 
of sports. 



KRAFT TEL«:VII§»ION THEATRE 

(Drama) 



KOA, Denver: Continued to turn 
in an all-Hround, heads-up perform- 
ance, with accent on special events 
coverage of a public service nature. 
This 50 kilowatter is especially hep 
promotionwjse and never misses a 
bet when it comes to hopping on 
anything that concerns Colorado 
life. 



WCOP, Boston: The accent was on 
youth in '47 for WCOP, Cowlfes sta- 
tion in Boston. Via its airwaves 
came anti-juve delinquenc.y pro- 
•^rams that gave youngsters solid en- 
tfertaiiiment in their own homes, 
•Vidience pa^ticipaliihg shows like 
.**Jf.immy Allen Flying Club," with 
mnembership badge's, model plane in- 
Wtruction and pilot lessons. Pool 



Kraft Television i?heatre, having already 
marked its first anniversary, has won for 
itself something of a "first" in video. For it 

has successfully established a pattern for 
we^k-to-week dramatic presentations, on a 
level of general excellence, that has a pecu- 
liar video flavor all its own. Whereas most 
dramatic shows on television are niore "the- 
atre" than ''video," there's a happy blend* 
ing of the two media on Kraft. 

Confronted with the usual scarcity of 



original t^e scripts, Kraft Theatre con- 
sistently has come up with entertaining 
dramas, running the. gamut from whodun- 
its to tragedies to farce comedies. It's also 
one of the first to adapt the motion picture 
technique of presenting credits successfully 
to television. - Commercials on the show 
have also been good. 

Credit is due mainly to the J, Walter 
Thompson agency personnel on the show-r- 
producers Harry Herrmann and Stan 
Quinn, and script chief Ed Rice. , 



AMERICAN Tobacco co. 

( t.'o]nm«r«$ial8 ) 



There's little doubt but that American 
Tobacco Co. (Lucky Strike) has come 
forth vt'ith the best commercial on tele- 
vision to .date. True, it's the same ^ trip- 
hammered LS/MFT technique that applies 
to radio, yet the readaptation of the slo- 
gans and format for the visual medium 
serves to heighten its showmanship values. 
As an entertaining video ad message,*^ 



which relies entirely on film, it parlays 
maximum commercial impact with a tried- 
and-tested sales appeal that's paid off' in 
radio, magazines and newspapers. 

Foote, Cone & Belding and N. W. Ayer 
agencies, who have devised the plugs, rate 
bows for integrating into sight-and-sonnd 
the showmanship technique evolved by the 
late George Washington Bill. 



Springs, liop, skip and .lump from 
metropolitan Washington. With 
sr^all budget and limited staff, it 
breezed into public .service work a la 
big time, from "Serving Democracy" 
series to one-shot "Is Flying Di.sk 
Real?''; from interfaith weeklies to 
Easter egg-rolling. 



and "bandleader keychains" for local ' 
schoolkids. Station also has its pro- 
grams piped into local theatre sound 
sy-stems for pickup between shows. 

W SB, Atlanta: Cut through the 
clever lively promotion and there's 
good nourishing meat of accomplish- 
ment—plenty of it, too. Its arteries 
are still supple after 25 years. Wit- 
ness a farm service that encouraged ■ 
contour-plowing, planting of cover 
crops, sheep raising and Federal' 
land loans; live-wire broadcasts of ' 
the post-Talmadge battle for the 
Governor's chair; sponsoring long- 
hair music interest and not loading 
the air with indigenous folk tunes; 
a blood donor appeal for the RH- 
negative type that took an 18-year- 
pld boy off the critical list; station 
engineers building a know-how for 
FM and TV. And a special bow for 
this deep South station which 
pledges among other things: "To 
fight for a man's right to worship; ; 
regardless of his creed ... To help 
every man be a citizen, regardless 
of his color . . . To expose the little - 
Hitlers who seek to fashion a gov- ' 
ernment It) their own ends or coun- 
ter to American ideals." This is talk 
Variety like.s. 



KMPC, Los Angeles: News and 
special events are the "blue-plate 
specials"— and tasty dishes they are. 
Getting a leg up on the ink-Mained 
journalists mas.sed at the Overell 
murder trial by broadcasting right 
out of the Santa Ana courtioom took 
enterprise. Ditto for the scoop on 
Douglas Aircraft's jet-propelled Sky- 
streak record-breaking speed run 
and the mercy mission flight to para- . 
chute food into destitute Navajo 
Indian reservation. 



WHOH. Boston: Stations are like the 
people who man them. Talce WHDH 
and ' its manager. Bill McGrath, 
friastance. The two-year (under 
new management) indie is bright as> 
a new dollar; Mr. McG. is still bat- 
ting a thousand at its helm. The 
1947 audience skyrocketed; gro.ss 
billings were doubled; proRrams 
were smartly cut to fit — not only 
public taste, but public need. In a 
highly competitive market this lone 
free-enterpriser is giving its net- 
work-fed rivals a good fight. 



WCAU, Phlla: The Career Forum 
continued its level-headed vocational 
guidance for ^uths pondering the 
.$64 question: "What Shall I Do With 
My Life?" Down-to-earth replies 
came from top-ranking executives 
in -widely varied fields. 



WHB, Kansas City: Came up with 
one of the year's unique .stunts, de- 
signating its own Man of the Moiith 
among Kansas Citians making the 
out.standing contributions to com- 
munity life. Plus its sock Swing- 
Magazine promotion, which has 
garnered as many readers in L.A., 
N.Y. and Chi as In Kansas City. 



WCPO, Cincinnati: Hero's a .stulion 
that went about its job of news 
gathering and broadcasting as a 
sincere civic responsibility; its on- 
the-spot coverage of the March 11 
building collapse di.saster made 
Cincy radio history and intrepid 
Paul Dixon, who ri.'fked hi.s life to 
get the stor.y, covered himself with 
glory and national recognition. 



WLAM, Lewiston-Auburn, Me.: 

Newborn WLAM marked its entry 
on the kilocycles with an intelligent 
"This Is Your Cit./" series, pre- 
senting its ■ Lewiiiton-Auburn, Me.,' 
listeners with the make-up, functions 
and problems of their respective 
charter-council ■ and city : . manager 
forms of local government! 



point, station originated a l.l-minute i old in .Tanuar.v, valuably a.s,«iisl,s a 



weekly documentary, "The Ameri 
c..,n Story," for the purpose of re-, 
stating for that significant area an 
affirmation of faith in our system of 
free enterprise and government in 
the United States. ■ 



WLAC, Nashville; Station put all 
its efforts behind "Youth, Inc.," an 
organizittion of apjtroximately 750 



WRXW, Louisville: FM station 
owned by WAVE has patterned its 
programming to ' meet selective 
needs, with emphasis on serious mu- 
sic. ■ Seven -.of Louisville's largest 
companies were persuaded to spon- 
sor a longhair music program as a 
setting for talks on the "American 
Story" documentary created by par- 
ent station. ; 



WBAL, Baltimore: Accented if« 
public service mindedness by an- 
nexing Dr. DKvid £. Weglein, Bal- 



recenlly-established rural Are fight- 
ing department by breaking in on; 
any program to call farmers to help 
when blazes spring up in surround- 
ing farm-belt -sections. Alert to local 
interest in sports, station copped 
wide attention by chartering planes 
for fans to attend Iowa U, basket- 
ball games as far away as Minne- 
apolis.- 



WCSI, Columbus, Ind.: In an all- 
out campaign to make southern 
Indiana FM-conscious, this 71.000- 
watter FM station, on the air less 
than a year, has utilized every pro- 
motional device from full-page news- 
paper ads,- car stickers, tnatchbooks 
tuid window cards to laimdry-bag 
inserts, film trailers, regional disk 
jockey roundtables and "I" shirts 



WNOX, KWoxville: Platter jockeys' 
press agents should turn eiivy-green 
at this one. WNOX parlayed its (ii.sk- 
Spinner into a pop airdraw by turn- 
ing his affected Kentucky hillbilly 
isms into a raging "Battle of Uncle 
Tom's Crabbin' " that hit front piiges 
of the local press. Sotto voce for 
aforementioned p.a.'s: Don't take it 
too hard, boys; its a Scripps-Howaid 
newspaper station; just have your, 
client buy a" printing press. 

WT;>:M, Cleveland: Station's "Ohio 
Story" series was a meritorious 
achievement, as was its cancer scrie.s, 
"That These May Live." 



WGH, Norfolk: ABC afi'iliate put 
its -year's program accent on youth 
and came up with an admirable job 
of entertaining polio pat;ients; .S)on- 
soring juve delinquency shows; the 
Golden' 'Glovcis tQurnanicut, «nd 
capped it all by a mammoth Yule 
festival for kid.Sj 



I WttOL, KnoxvIHe: How this 5,000- 
I watt station succeeded not only 
holding its listeners but in captur- 
ing new ones in a year of i""''"!'"'* 
competition will remain as a memo- 
rial to the late " Frank Gow, the .'■ta- ' 
(Continued on page 30) 



For «xoeuting the new "Accent On Youth" facelift within the NBC 
«cpimzatioii during 1947, "Variety" scdntes the network's president. 
In fti9 iretdigninent of executive iunciians wMch gave NBC a new 
stfeanolined iorniat, and dhook the cobwebs out of network thinking. 
Txammell pnjected Into &e iq»ffight a more courageous element who 
liad waved fteir. roUed-sleeves Tegimes, to help jehope poBcies and 
lid tlw iM»b of oulnaoded taboos. 

On arrenil counts Transnell emerged as an industry kingpin, par- 
ticularly exemplified by his initiative at last fall's NAB convention is 
Atlantic City, where be spearheaded the ill-iated campcdgn to fpve 
Out industiY n hand-bitting Code of cmnmm^cial standoids. 

ROBjEftT P. wasMJLwn 

To fiobert P. Heller, chirf of the CBS Documentory Unit, goes the 
accolade of "Fotber of the Documentaries." Q for no other reason 
than be played Ute key role in helping establish tiie radio pattern for 
the most dfective postwar technique in presenting vital issues. Heller 
sutes IHslingiil^hed Merit. 

One bos dbSy to lecoU sudh progrccms as "The Eagle's Brood," "Fear 
Begins At 40." flie aaemorable "Empty Noese." or to realize the po- 
tentialities of the projected documentaries on the Henry Luce dynasty 
and the film industry to realize Heller's contiibutian to the scope and 
stature oi radio. He has the necesscffy courage to face issues, and 
once diose issues ore chosen he probes deei^y. honestly and in- 
tensively. A/mi presents in a dramatic form that Is alive and 
wnden rt ondabte to all fisteners. 



IIR£W PEARSON 

Lost October, in one 'ol his Sunday night ABC broadcasts. Drew 
Pearson iint iwoposed The Friendship Train. The idea quickly caught 
on. PwnOs turgcooizations. fe^era! offidcds, governors and mayors, 
roih-oods and steamship lines iSl lined up behind Pearson. He adroitly 
promoted las idea in his JMWadcasts and i^ayed o ma}or part in arous- 
ing people everywhere to help, throwing into Ids campaign all &e 
dn-e,wd sense oi showmanship that has always marked his news 
^omm^iaries. 

It "Was tins exercise of radio showmanship, in a field oi radio pro- 
graomaiag wberie showmazudiip is often less esteemed, that paid off 
lor tlw •taornng children of western Europe with more than 700 car- 
loads oi iood and substantitd donations of cash. Tangible value xA 
fliese gUts is estimated dt $12,000,000. 

Far tins ond ior the intangible values in terms of friendship for the 
American people, and in terms of strengthening the foundations ior 
world peace, "Variety" salutes Drew Pearson. 



DOORWAY TO MFK 

CBS. flnough Hus honest, forthright weekly series, shows how 
aixoiaa problems can be presented accurately, scientifically and ad- 
'vaniogeously — and still make for good drama. When, last Summer. 
*he network's "Doorway To Life" show was first unveiled, under the 
meticulous production reins of William N. Robson, it represented a far- 
feocfaing step, it offered conclusive proof that radio is fully equipped 
to deal in biaiest, fearless terms with the problems of adolescence. In 
place of &e distortions and pretentions cJ the daytime serial. "Door- 
To Life" actually has the subsfaxice cS. life. Its drama, scripted 
by William iUlond and Virginia Mullen, is bimest and decent. And in 
ite ccaelul week-to-week dissecting <rf tbe thematic "the doorway 
to life is a happy childhood," it has cast off many of radio's taboos in 
its subject matter treatment 



ARNOLD PERI. 

In Arnold Perl radio found one ol its most vigorous, forceful voices 
in .1947. Time ond. again, in bis multiple scripting chores throughout 
the year, Perl revealed a capacity for warmth and understanding, 
a mature cmd intelligent approach to vital themes. And above all 
there was the inspiration that changes a trained script writer into 
cm artist.. • ■;■ 

The talent that was discernible back in the immediate postwar days 
wben he was writing the CBS "Assignment Home" series bore fruition 
in '47 in Perl's commendable "War Babies" series on Mutual; again 
on Jus "Feor Begins At 40" CBS documentary, in Us "Eternal lagbt" 
script contributiMis. and in fais freelance commercial oirers, tfius 
proving thcrt meaningful radio can pay off at the boxoffice. * 

Perl's unique grasp of dnnnatic themes, which reveals a depth 
and an understanding of human characters, his crystal-clear approach 
to thematic values, portend even greater contributions to^come in the 
field of radio viraiting. 



R.F.R. AMERICA 

It remained for "fi,F.D. America," the Mutual Network Thursday night 
show, to present a neVv pcrttem in farm radio shows. For here is a 
program that taies to picture die modem iarmer as he really is — an 
intelligent, alert, well-informed member of the American conununity, 
active in local and national organizations, with as great a concern 
for domestic and world problems as his city cousin has. A shcop con- 
trast, indeed, to the heretofore radio-perpetafxied conception of As 
farmer as a straw-chewing hayseed. 

As a sort of rural "Information Please." with its weeldy paneL it par- 
lays grass-roots thinking on such subjects as desirabihty of the Mcoshall 
Plan, with such technical vox-popping as trace elements in. the soil and 
how to choose a good milk cow. 

"R.F.D. America" is heightened' by an appreciation of showman- 
ship values, as reflected in its urban audience appetA. but basioaUy 
"Variety" kudoses this Louis Cowan-packaged program lor a worthy 
job in bringing about a better understanding between farm and city 
groups. ■■ , 



mSTITVTE FOR REMOCRATIC 
EOIJCATION 

Discarding the usual brotherhood-and-goodwill platitudes, the In- 
stitute for Democratic Education during 1S47 tackled the problem of 
intergroup tendons with a forthrighiness Aat made the organization's- 
work unique in the realm of broadcasting aimed at tnoss education 
on democratic principles^ . 

Culminating an eight-year period of achievement in mebilizing 
public opinion on a local community level in the fight against prejudice 
and discrimination, the. Institute in '47 attained a high-water mark in 
its "American Dream" series of transcribed programs. Through the 
facilities of 500 stations ccorying the 13-week series, the bustitute 
managed to strike a telling.'blow against un*demot»atic excrescences 
on the American landscape as it stimuktted conununity action on 
problems of prejudice. 

Similarly in its nationwide distribution of the "littte Songs On Big 
Subjects" tolerance tunes, and its foreign language programs dis- 
tributed in Hungarian, Polish, ItaHan cmd Spanish, the histitute made 
a unique contribution in perpetuating the ideals of democracy. 



$0 



7iiiitnt* MMtMttttitftt«ttnt*f M ■' **•••*■ * •*• • >* * >*!> » ♦♦♦♦ 



^ighli|Sllts: 1947 Ji^hownianageiiient Review 



(Continued from page 28) 
tion's manager, who died in Oct., 
J947. His organized promotion ac- 
tivities and showmanship flair to 
serve East Tennessee are still re- 
membered. ' 



KMOX, St, liOuls: CBS station 
maintained a high standard of show- 
manship and it was a consistent day- 
in-day-out service to listeners 
throughout mid-America, as re- 
flected in its Teachers' Workshop, 
the Advent Programs, participation 
Jn Conservation Field Day, State 
Fairs, etc. 



KVOO, Tulsa: Station can really 
take a bow as Oklahoma's pride, for 
Its "Forty-Seven" Story is one of 
service to the community; good, 
BoKd. entertainment, promotion and 
an fionest pledge to democracy as 
imrticularly revealed In its public 
service programming designed to 
perpetuate Freedom of Speech. Us 
documentary on tornado-stricken 
Woodward was one of its year's 
Standouts. 

WOBSi Iffiiami: Traditional SiOUth- 
einJiospitality spelled out d-e-m-o-c- 
f-a-c-y for this Florida station. Mak- 
ing' "foreign" residents share in the 
local government was its self-as- 
signed chore. When a'knockdown- 
dragouti developed over the city 
managership, it made the mike a 
. non-exclusive platform. Every group 
had its say; confidence was restored 
to the municipal regime. 

tVTCN> St. Paul: This station kept 
Its eye on the FM balj, advancing it 
b^eyond the dual-broadcast phase. 
Promotion hypoed public interest In 
the static-free mediuni- Station fol- 
lowed through by selling FM time, 
indulging In merryandrew hoopla 
(i.e^; street-cat wired tot sound and 
iwo announcers with pack transmit- 
ters on a ferris wheel). Now they're 
geared for a tv push. 

CKWS, Kingston, Ont.! Took ad- 
vantage of the fact that Kingston is 
one of the leading educational cen- 
ters of Canttda, worldng^in close co- 
operation with education media; 
contributed toward safety education 
|ind played a prominent part in pro- 
moting the International Hockey 
Ball of ' Fame. 



4-Vet FM Parlay 

WFRS, Grand Rapids, a year- 
Old FM'er, owned and ljuilt, lit- 
erally by hand, by four ex- Array 
buddies, is showing spectacular 
fruit of hard work. Staff of 
■ seven, including the four found- 
ers, has kept the station airing 
15 hours daily, seven days a 
week. By year's end, WFRS had 
152 sponsors, some of them 
wooed from local AM outlets. 
Number of FM sets, in the sta- 
tion's primary area meantime 
has skyrocketed from 1,000 to , 
50,000. 

Not bad for four vets who 
couldn't even afford a Washing- 
ton lawyer to fill out their FCC 
application. . 



outlet), has paid off from scratch in 
local audience acceptance, as proven 
by the <^imb in WNEB's Hoopers. 

WFBM:, Indianapolli: Took note of 
the need for reducing accidents on 
dairy farms and waged a Dairy 
Safety Contest for Indiana 4-H Club 
members. The Indiana Farm Safety 
Conimittee feels WFBM did such an 
effective job the contest sh«uld be 
an annual competition. 



WK7, Oklahoma City: Five 
pronged dedication to public service 
radio brought suqh commen(iable 
pi:o]ects in '47 as furthering racial 
tolerance; discussion of marital is- 
sues; tackling mental health prob- 
lems, translating editorial comment 
from state papers into eilective radio 
production, ^nd perpetuating free- 
dom of religion. 



radio journalism a worthwhile trick 
or two. Imitating the noblest press 
tradition— getting there fustest with 
the mostest, this 5,000-watter. regis- 
tered a highly creditable year for 
reportage. Standout jobs were in- 
formation-packed coverage of the 
June floods and the organized labor 
march on' the Iowa Statehouse. 



ColumbUi Paoiflo Network; For 

years the people of the we^t coast' 
have- been gullible victims of medi- 
cal fakers who offer "miraculous 
cures" to those whose pairf has 
driven them to accept any treatment 
at any cost. The Columbia Paciflo 
Network went to work on exposing 
-I these charlatans in a hard-hitting 



1,500 UN Hours 

Seymour Siegel's' astute guid- 
ance of WNYC, the New York 
City-owned indie, was reflected 
in the station's on-the-ball serv- 
ice to thfe citizenry during the 
subway hearings, the smallpox 
threat and the Blg .iSnow. 

But foremost was its unparal- 
leled coverage (1.500 hours in 
'47) of United Nations sessions. 
It scored critical acclaim in the 
airing of five BBC transcribed 
"World Theatre" dramas. 



WliAC, Nashville: A crisp gar- 
denia to WLAC in mid-Tennessee 
for making that area's press lords 
see less of ^ evil and more of virtue 
in this new-fangled medium of wire- 
less. The psychological gambit was 
—and still is— the station's' weekly 
"What's Happening" broad-cast = en- 
capsulating the news from some 65 
county journals. It's a two-way 
payoff with press-radio relations up- 
graded and the listening public 
charmed. 



WWDC-WWDC-FM, Washington: 
D.C.: Time-frayed ideas went to 
work and delivered a good job via 
press to supplement station plugging 
of its FM outlet. Contest called 
"Who Is lie. FM?" avialanched $5,500 
in prizes on surprised FBI employee 
who guessed it was Petef Donald's 
voice. If the payoff is in clippings, 
the contest was a success.' 



series called "Menace in White." As 
a starkly authentic documentary, it 
spoke in terms seldom before heard 
on the air. 



(Univ. of Penn.), WBMC (Bryn 
Mftwr), WSRN (Swarthmore) and 
WHRC (Haverford) for exchange of 
programs with WPEN, and enlisted 
BBC cooperation in an "Interna- 
tional Quiz" pitting students of the 
four U. S. schools against English 
collegians. Overseas broadcasts were 
aired monthly. ' ■■• ■ 



Europe by Gil Kingsbury, WLW's 
Washington bureau chief, on post' 
war economic conditions abroad 
was one of '47 highlights In the con- 
tmuing overall topnotch operation 
of Crosley's Clncy giant. For WLW'i 
vast farmer following, Roy BatUes. 
the station's hard-working farm 
program boss, still turns out a hard* 
to-beat aggie agenda. 



WCBS, New York: On the premise 
that freedom of the press and free- 
dom of radio are inseparable and 
that interchange of objective criti- 
cism between radio and the press 
would produce mutual benefits in 
terms of higher profession^ stand- 
ards of work and integrity, WCBS 
put on its hard-hitting -"CBS Views 
The Press" in one of the notable 
radio series Of the year. The City 
Government series on Bill Leonard's 
"This Is New York" was also a 
meritorious achievement. 



KAKE, Wlohttai Since first hitting 
the air last September, has gone a 
long way toward winning listener 
acceptance via an all-around heads- 
up effort to serve the community. 

WXIC, Hartford: Its "Yale In- 
terprets the News," piped ii> Sunday 
eves from New Haven and now 
rounding out' its sixth year of airing, 
has become the most popular Item 
oh Connecticut's ether at this hour, 
outrating even topranking web 
shows. ' 



KLIX, Twin Falls, Idaho: A lot of 
showmanship went into this opera- 
tion in a strictly agricultural market, 
aimed at the farm folks and the city 
people vWiose roots go back to the 
farm. Manager Frank Mclntyre 
thought in terms of bigtime opera- 
tion and came up with a program- 
ming formula that had' .the home 
folks talking. 



KYWi Ifhila.: Even a weight-lift- 
ing' contest made public interest 
programming as KYW took the 
people's pulse in^ terms of mass- 
turnout stunts. Smart promotion for 
broadcasts not only delivered a lis- 
tening audience but made the turn- 
stiles click. 



WEAM, Arlington, Va.: Howard 
Stanley's operation did an effective 
three-ply job on forums, music and 
religion that augurs well for the 
station's future. Its "Educational 
News and Views" series was par- 
ticularly effective; 

WTOM, Bloomington, Ind.: Know- 
ing the folks in the home town of 
Indiana U. love their basketball, this 
100-watler, on the air only since last 
July, endeared itself in short order 
by airing basket-by-basket coverage 
of 93 college &nd high school cage 
games during the past season. 

WJfNC, Ja«ksonvllle: Accented its 
attention to local affairs to counter- 
act' the booming voices of bigger 
watters in the vicinity. 



WHOM, New York: Generoso 
P'.pe's station put the emphasis on 
Americanization and Naturalization 
programs, filling a long-felt need 
among foreign language-accented 
operations, and readapted the sta- 
tion's format to make use of each 
foreign group's cultural patterns. It 
was a year that saw Pope translate 
promise into performance. 

WHN, New York: Station's "Books 
On Trial" tackled "hot potato" is- 
sues. Its "50 Years— City of All Na- 
tions" show was a credit to coordi- 
nator Ranson, the station's flack. 



V/RC, Washington, D. C: Spe- 
•ciflcally designed to expose to view 
many of the basic causes of juvenile 
delinquency and to show the pro- 
gressive development of the juve 
delinquent from childhood to crimi- 
nal adulthood, WRC's "Lost Sheep" 
series of shows was presented in an 
honest. Straightforward manner and 
didn't pull punches. Where authentic 
cases indicated that parents and in- 
stitutions were to blame for de- 
linquency, that blame was assigned 
for highlighting on "Lost Sheep." 



WBT. Charlot|e: This CBS station 
.settled down in '47 to a steady week- 
in-week-out job of programming, 
delivering audience for community 
projects and network shows and 
moving forward on the technical 
front with its FM operation and pav- 
ing the way for tv. 



KPKA, Pittsburgh: Emphasis here 
Vras on promotion* publicizing its 
programs to the' hilt and' partici- 
pating, in a flock of events that of- 
fered rare promotional opportunities; 



KBNT, Des 
pappy) the 



Moines: 

can 



Its 
still 



aging 
teach 



KSEIi, Lubbock, Tex.r Another 
postwar baby, gave its voice lib- 
erally to West Texas* pitching ear- 
nestly to help put over such com- 
munity causes as a bond issue for a 
new library. 



WTAB, Norfolk: Toted, its public 
service in '47 to 4,150 programs anS 
6,929 announcements, consuming a 
total of 1,133 hours of air time. 



WNEB, Worcester: Year-old, 250 
watt indie appears to have achieved 
one of the best getaways 'of any 
postwar baby of its size. All-around 
Intelligent operation, with a constant 
eye to integrating its small but 
alert voice into community life as 
"Worcester's Own Station" (versus 
a well-established newspaper-owned 



WSYB, Syracuse: Col. Harry 
Wilder's on-the-beam promotion de- 
partment kept the town jumpin' 
most of the year with stunts and 
special events keyed" to WSYR's 
Silver Jubilee celebration. Station 
also established a news-exchange 
tleup with 35 weekly papers in its 
area which resulted in a 40% jump 
in space given WS'SfR in the papers. 



KRIO, McAlIen. Tex.! Eight^month 
old Rio Grande Valley indie, stuck 
with a small shack for a studio be 
cause of building restrictions, went 
out and did a production job of spe- 
cial events coverage, really giving its 
Texas folks on-the-spot service. 



IVJTN, Jamestown, N. Y.: Spot- 
lighted education as the basis for 
American democracy by getting the 
local board of education to coop- 
erate in airing 26 half-hour programs 
on "Three R's," plus a "Radio Class, 
room" series throughout the school 
year which students listened to dur 
ing school hours. 



WPEN, Philadelphia: Set up 

college network comprised of 'WXPN 



KDLR, Devils Lake, N.D.: Tape 
recording of Kiddies Christmas Show 
ongmatlng in town's department 
store was one of station's highlights. 
Also put tape recorder to use for 
other on-the-spot showmanship tie- 
ups, 

KOSA, Odessa, Tex.: Did a good 
job on behalf of the Friendship 
Train and accented youth program- 
roingi 



KMBC, Kansas CUy; In the words 
of Arthur Church himself, KMBC 
was really "cooking with gas" when 
it set about the task of launching 
Its KFBM auxiliary outlet in north 
central Kansas. Station poured all 
its promotional eggs into the KFRM 
basket and came' up with one of the 
year's live-wire jobs to demonstrate 
how a two-station teamup can pro- 
vide livestock and grain market 
reports, farm, home and school in- 
formational programs and entertain- 
ment to the entire Kansas City 
trading area. « 



WNJB, Newark, N. J.: On the air 

since November, '47, station's format 
has been designed to meet needs of 
North Jersey listeners. Rathei; than 
compete with the networks or New 
York City station operations, the 
accent has been on Jersey. Its North 
Jersey Repertory Theatre is a good 
example of its established policy. 



KFBI, Wichita: "Story Lady'! 
series shunned the blood-and-thun- 
der stuff iff favor of cultural and 
educational values for the kiddies. 



WILS, Lansing: In its brief year 
span, this Mutual affiliate came up 
with some good public service pro-* 
gramming .in a determined bid to 
meet its obligations to the com* 
munity. 

KOLA. Pine Bluff. Ark.: When the 
tornado struck Pine Bluff last June, 
station realized it had a job to do in 
administering aid and recruiting 
volunteer rescuers and, as. a fund* 
raising collection agency, rendered 
a distinct contribution. 



KMA, Shenandoah, la: In order 
to give its listeners an honest pic- 
ture Of how agricultural conditions 
in the world will affect American 
farmers, KMA, "Authentic Voice of 
the Corn Country," sents its enter- 
prising farm director, Merrill Lang- 
fitt, to Europe* with one of the last 
of the > Livestock Relief Shipments. 
The contribution demonstrated anew 
KMA's on-the-ball service to its 
rural listeners. 



KBKI, Alice, Tex.: Parlayed its 
C h r i si: m a s Project (including a 
mammoth parade), into banner sales 
charts for the sponsor, Alice Tire & 
Battery Co. Sponsor has already 
signed up for this year's repeat per- 
formance. 



WLAW. Lawrence. Mass.: In eight 
weeks last fall, on a Sponsored 
weekly program, "Round the Town'* 
raised $17,000 from, open-hearted 
listeners to build a home for a per- 
manently paralyzed vet and estab-» 
lish a trust fund -for maintenance ^of 
the property. 



WLOW, Norfolk: An Indie in a 
town with four network affiliates 
and three competing newspaper- 
owned stations, through fast footwork 
and an alert eye tor showmanship, 
copped itself plenty of gratis news 
space and lots of gratifying atten- 
tion from the Tidewater folks. 



WLW. Cincinnati: Outstanding 
sisries of e^ewitn^ss reports from 



KCMC, Texarkana: Station de- 
cided to do something about juve- 
nile delinquency, and did it in a 
unique way. Its weekly quarter- 
hour "Home Folks Game of Life" 
show. Was the answer. Hundreds of 
kinds now play the radio-inspired 
games at home; have fun as they 
help themselves to better citizen- 
ship. 



WKYW, Louisville: Captured 
space on nearly every*f);',ont page in 
the land as well as in leading mags 
with its novel sale of 12 hours of 
silence nightly (station is a day-- 
timer) to a mattress manufacturer. 
Also dreamed up a gimmick in pub- 
lic service promotion, ''billing" re- 
cipients of public service time same 
as regular advertisers, but with the 
bill stamped "paid in the interests 
of the community in which we 
serve." 



WDBJ, Roanoke: Landed jobs for 
hundreds of workers through a 
weekly "Radio Job Mart" aired in 
cooperation with the Virginia State 
Employment Service. Another com- 
munity service series, "Let's Edu- 
cate," pointed up public education's 
current crisis and did much^o pro- 
personnel and the generaUBpNM^ , 
mote better relations between school 



Citations 

(Continued from page 26) 
demonstrated how participation by 
district officials and community 
representatives could render ,the 
Commission effective. 

'♦ ♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ ♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦»»♦» 



litiaginalion 
In Promotion 



WOV, New YorU 

Through a year-round series of 
trade press advertisements, Ralph 
Well, 'WOV's enterprising manager, 
captured the imagination of the in- 
dustry in presenting to the buyers 



of radio time the station's story of 
Audited! Audiences. The year's 
campaign on Specific Market Infor- 
mation was designed to "take the 
guess out of buying" and Weil gave 
it maximum shftwmanship for a 
healthy payoff at the kilocycle box- 
office. As the clincher 'to this ef- 
fectiveness of the Audited Audi- 
ences, Weil inaugurated an off-the- 
air "Time Buyer's Quiz" for a check 
on penetration in agencies, with a 
daily giveaway prize. Tli'e time buy- 
ers knew the answers, the station's 
giveaway coin poured freely, but it 
came back many fold in added bill- 
ings. ; 

Equally effective on the public 
service front was the station's 
"American Family" series, a pioneer 
job dedicated to strengthening and 
preserving the foundation of the 
family and the home. Under Arnold 



Hartley's expert supervision and 
with Virginia Momand as author- 
producer-directoi:, it tackled fear- 
lessly and honestly such issues as 
"Do Divorces Do. Us Part," "Ado- 
lescence: Seedtime for Divorce," 
"Sex Education in the Schools," "In- 
fertility: No Cause for Divorce," etc. 

♦ ♦ ♦ » ♦ ♦ » ^ ♦ f ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ » ♦ 



Ouistanding 
Servico To 

The Farmer 

♦♦»♦♦<«♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 



wow, Omnlia 

wow followed up with the same 
double-edged, fllm-and-radio tech' 



niqiie it .so successfully employed in 
1046 on its ''Operation Big Muddy." 
Wise to the interests of the cornbelt 
it serves, the station went to town 
last year on a soil conservation 
project, cleverly dubbed "Regiment- 
ed Raindrops," and had the folks 
talking in five states. Convinced of 
a pressing need for farmers to strive 
for more efficient use of their land, 
WOW farm service director Mai 
Hansen traveled : 6,000 miles through 
agricultural areas reached by his 
5-kw NBC affiliate to gather ma- 
teria], for 24 broadcasts and to film, 
in l^m color, the story he was out 
to put over. The story of man's ef- 
forts to harness water and anchor 
the soili as Hansen unfolded it in 
talk the farmer understood, caught 
the imagination of the whole corn- 
belt. So many requests poured in 



for showings of the color film that 
it had 600 screenings before clubs, 
schools, etc., before the, year was 
out, 11 prints are. now in constant 
circulation, and a prominent conser- 
vationist estimates it should be 
"good for another 10 years." A lis- , 
tener check indicated 82% of the 
farmers in WOW's area heard Han- 
sen's straight-talk and the station 
deservedly chalked up such kudos as 
rcsolutiotui of commendation by the 
Iowa state legislature. WOW can 
feel proud that the project greatly 
stimulated thinking and actual ac- 
tivity along soil conservation lines. 

In addition to Its farm activities, 
WOW also demonstrated anew its 
public service attributes as it con- 
tinued on a lofty plane to serve its 

community, 



Wr<1neKlay, Mbreh 17, 194S 




,WNB€Teiislts 

M'NBC, the NBC flagship in N.Y., is going to promote itself via 
■'" virfco, Novel reversal of the current trend developed as a result 
■ of WNBC (N.T.) inanager_ Jim Gaines' promotional idea for a 
' closcd-circttit television showcase of the station's 1947 achieve- 

■ ments. . 

Then it was decided the tele presentatiim, via WNBT, N.Y;, might 
as well be broadcast as a WNBC promotion. Strange deveiopment 
since then is that several affiliates of NBC's tele network, hungry 

■ for prograuMfting, have expressed interest in picking np the WNBC 
showcase, which will be aired this Friday (19), 1:45-2:30 p.m. Tbe 

' network feed was not definite, however, as of yesterday (Tues.). 
Stanza, titled "This Is Our Story," will be emceed by John K. M. 
McCafrery,.the other partieiiiants including Mary Cooke, his secre- 
tary; Ben Grauer, Ted Higgins, who appeared in WNBC's "Hous- 
ing" documentaries; Bob Smith, Frank Luther, Tex and Jinx 
-McCi'ary, and Mayor Silas S. Claris o< White Plains, N.Y., wto ap- 
' peared on WNBCs "Satale" to his. city. 

It'll be a tele documentary, comboing narrative, re-enactment of 
fi radio show, film, blowups of scripts, details of WNBC's policies, 
public service features, kid shows, special events coverage, etc. 
Fred Coe is prodiiciiig, with Ira Skutch as director and William 
Alcine as writer. Overall Supervision is ondcir WNBC's assistant 
' manager, Tom McEadden. 

Interesting angle is tbe fact that most of WNBC's regular stars 
who'll participate are already video vets. Tex - and Jinx McCcary 
' have the Swift Show; McCaffery is m "Author Meets the Critics" 
and "Screen Magazine," and Bob Smith has three liouF-limg ^ows 

■ weekly in bis "Puppet Playhouse." 



Solb'^Dined IIS 'Qpmt^t,' 
Si^^ Battered, Finafly Ddbots 



Washington, March 16. 

After several false starts, Mu- 
tual's new fdSrnm-type sustainer 
"C^roion-Aire" will make its offi- 
dal debat on the Mutual ether to- 
morrow (Wed.) night at 10 p.m., 
bttt qnestion among webroen here 
is whether it's worth the mi- 
graine it has caused th«n. Show 
was due to preem March 3 to. re- 
place Ted Granik's 20^year-old 
American Forum of the Air, but 
ran into troublcf almost at once. 

Format of the showi pre-tested 
..by Mutual over a year, ago, has 
drawn refusals frowi a' score of 
Capitol hilf solons and other big- 
gies appi-oached to appear on it, 
and even more serious charges by 
CIO and AFL officials that the 
telephone listeners poll tacked to 
the end of the program is un- 
scioitific and capable of being rig-- 
ged. 

First pi'otests came in Novem- 
bci', 1946, when Dr. K. L. Rayhawk, 
public opinion analyst of Sullivan 
& Rayhawk, tagged a telephone 
poll of the end of ' an American 
Foram show discussing the pros 
and cons of the closed shop. He 
promptly put his foot in it with the 
labort. men by editorializing bis 
findings as foUows: "Fittsburghers 
have just successfully overcome 
appalling dlfficuUiei 
have discouraged, a less courageous 
city during ' a recent electrical 
power strike by an independent 
union wiiich was seeking among 
otiier tilings a closed slibp." 
(Pitlsburghers had just voted five- 
(Continued on page 44) 



Eye Capp as Gdbber 

Cartoonist Al Capp, "Lil Abner" 
creator, is being submitted as 
summer radio replacemient for 
I9rew Pearson. Weintraub agency 
is currently mulling the proposi- 
tion, which has been submitted by 
Music Corp. of America. 

Capp's entrance into the ranks 
of prosgpective air commentators 
is the result iaf a recent "Town 
Hall Meeting of the Ah-" stanza 
which discussed comic strips. Bc- 
ptaccment show plans to have 
Capp do a humorous version of 
the week's events. 



Horvhz Beefs 
MbyFCC 



STRIP PEE TO 
MEET ALL WLi 

Hollywood, Marth 16. 

Comedy shows with name stars 
are not for ^10 co-op sales, the 
comics now agree. 

It takes too many to ■ pay them 
off and that's making $10 the hard 
way. 

Trial and error— or what can 
you lose but a million dollars.? — , 
has not been a popular pastime 
with the MIg radio spendcars but 
occasionaJly some daring chance- 
taker wins his point and the cliips 
move to table center. Exigencies 
often dictate .such prodigal gam- 
bling and the shoe is not always 
on the foot of the guy who's used 
to puttuog it forward — toward the 
bank vaults. 

Noble experimentei's who dared 
the Same and got their tootsies 
singed'are, of all people, the peT- 
f Miners themselves. With them it 
was more oC aA^boice than a chsnee 
and that they bet on the wrong 
iMHFse is both excnsabie and 
chargeable— 4o experience. Yon 
can never know bow far a frog 
can jump until you've given it the 
physical impetus. That they were 
badly advised is not to be ruled 
oict in ex^ation of their bad jndg- 
mient. 

It's the co-op, or 100 sponsors is 
better than one. that threw them 
for l>ath doHar and pivstige loss. 



Joan D&vis^ Scram 

Hollywood, March iS. 
Joan Davis is reported .leav- 
ing CBS when her current co- 
op contract expires in June. 
William Morris agency is said 
to have a spopsor lined tg) for 
next season, on another net- 
work. 

Under her co-op setup, it's 
understood the comedieime has 
less than 20 participating 
sponsors.' •■ . , 



Vkblssue&iark 




Washingtmt, March 16. 
FCC took aiaother swing yester- 
that would i day (15) at two Ohio publishers 
it lias labeled unfit to run radio 
stations. The FCC denied a peti- 
tion from S. A. and Isadoee Horvitz. 
publishers of the Mansfield , and 
Lorain, 6., .iournals, to reftise J!M 
stations to Edward Lamb's ITnity 
Corp. and Bichland, Inc., in Mans- 
field. Neither, said FCG, of the 
Horvitse Br«W; WB»e gosilifietf li- 
censees. 

FCC had ali-eady okayed a per- 
mit for Hlchland, Inc., and yester- 
day all commissioners except Rob- 
ni II ert F. Jones, approved FM perniits 
I <j|||rc for Vnity Corp;; in Mansfield and 
l~tlllav Springfield. O. CieKnmiSsoti also 
rejected other requests in the Hor- 
Thomy inroblem .of musicians' I vitz petition, including one ior oral 
employment ' in television is still I argument before deciding the 
the chief stumbling block -in the i Mansfield contest, 
network-Petrillo huddles. Weiis i In January, the FCC criticized 
and musicians union bosses met at tire publishers sharply for "sup- 
James C. Petrillo's N. Y. offici* last j pressing competition" in news dis- 
Thursday (11), again Monday i semination and insisting on excln- 
t)5>, and again yesterday (Tucs. ) sive ad contracts to the detri- 
aflernoon. ment of Mansfield's only station. 

' Stepped-up tempo of the sessions WMAN. Commission concluded 
I'eflected a growing eageriaess on they Could not be given either 
th^ part of both sideS to get the AM or FM stations in Mansfield 
whole affair cleared up, if at all and Lorain. 

Possible, before the 60-day contracrt 

ewension runs out March 31. Tlie 1 . , ^ ■» n n 

aX^^o^nS teZni,^^^ \ ^^^^^^ ObIs MiiBs Rogcrs 
iw^nrter^^^^^^^^^ As mters' ReiJacement 

concern in current operations are 
holding out for full settlement of 
t'>e Video issues, permitting all- 
around use of musicians in AM, FM 
antl tele, before going on to any 
o'ocr points, such as wage in- 
J-»ea.ses, employment quotas, etc. 
leeiinj; is. however, that once the 
nl„ f?™at is set, the rest of the 
negotiations will be fairly simple. 



A Roy Rogers show is being 
mulled as replacement for "Those 
Webslers" on Mutual for Quaker 
Oats. Tentative plans cadi iov. a 
big merchandising tieup in which 
kids would vie for variows Roy 
Rogers cowboy gimmicte, 

QO account recently moved from 
Ruthrauff & Ryan agency to Sher- 
man ^ MarQiidto 



Their backs up on price, they 
played bacd-to-get and got ignored 
for their pains. It's no trade secret 
that such co-op disraples as Joan 
Davis. Abbott and Costello and 
Parkyakarktis haven't made a 
c^itarter for themselves or the net- 
works that carry their comicalities. 
That they'll be back in tite single 
sponsor list next fall, more hum- 
ble and dollar-shy, is more factual 
than siJecu.lative. . 

It's an ill wind, etc.. but the good 
will be blown client-ward and fan- 
cy price tags will be sealed down 
as much as a third of last season's 
asking figurc.-Of that the trade has 
no doubt and making its possibility 
even more expectant is the emer- 
gence into a dire threat of tele- 
visfon, definitely armtnd the cor- 
ner and on the march. - 

Stumbling blocks are stepping 
stoneS' so the casnallies of the co- 
op oft'shoot have leai'ned a bitter 
lesson and wont . make the same 
mistake twice. 

One of the multi-sponsored 
(Continued on page 44) 



FCC May Moye to Rekx or hk 
AVCO (^n-B^drng Rule as Static 
Transfer Bids Htt AH-Time Fd[ 



No Waiver on WOV 

Washington. March . 16. 
Although tbe FCC is dicker- 
ing with the idea of softening 
its AVCO rules on stations up 
for sale, it has every intention 
of processing the conftpetitivc 
bids for radio properties now 
before it. This much is clear 
from two FCC actioiis last 
week. 

One such ruling refused to 
waive the AVCO procedure to 
approve a sale of Bulova- 
owned WOV, New York City, 
to jrainfflrity stockholder Rich- 
ard ODea and tbe General 
Broadcasting Co. Tbe second 
set Mardi 29 as date of an, 
AVCO hearing on competing 
bids of H. M. Bitncrs Grand- 
wood Broadcasting Co. and the 
Liberty Broadcasting Co. to 
buy ABC-owned WOOD, 
Grand Bapids, for approxi- 
mately $«5O,00O. All seven 
FCC Commissiwtwis will sit on 
the latter hearing to' speed a 
deci»mi «b the case W Jwly 
1. when A^Cs sales cfwriuract 
exiHres. 



.'Washington, March . . : . ' 
A move is qtiietly under way 
here to modify or possibly to junk 
aItogetb«' the Federal Commnni- 
cations: Commission's 17>monfhi>eid : 
AVCO procedure Which dills for 
competitive bidding on all stations 
up for sale, The latest impetus 
comes from a quarter least eispect*; 
•ed— the. FCC, itself. 
.■■,The.V'CbiBndssion;^;.stalI,.^'b,as '.been 
atdeted tb study 'iieliixation of , the . 
AVCO open-hiddiiBg rules, accwd- 
ing to reliable reports here, and 
Chaimian Wayne Coy is allegedly 
one pf those on the FCC bench 
ready to see the procedure waived 
on some, if not all, station ti^ns- 
fers. Befmre cmtiing to the FCC, 

' imf aiv0CatId]r^'On . the^A 

■'Tlie..uinnl>ec:.'i^^ to'triUistor;.: 
; stattoi " |K(9Cx0es 'is "'now ''''atiaEU^V* - 
time peidc ai^ is still mouuting. In 
the six nmnths frmn June fo'jOe^ 
eembex more sales bids were iSieA- 
with FCC than in the entire 12 , 
mcwtths preceding. Despite this 
floodlit of transfer apptieatioits, 
less than a d(^n cMnpeting bayaea 
have enfeHted the iae«- tO' innp^te- 
the^:A¥CO';iir6cedcu;€. ■ ■ 

Since Jan. t, 145 sales ap* 
plications have reached FCC, with 
otdy a handfiil of staffers on the^' 
pa^'oll to process them. Approxi- 
mately 330 transfers of one land 
or another were received in the 
IS-month period ending Dec. 31, 
1947. 

IM Transfers Pending 
It's no^cret that new competi- 
tion and an uncertain future finr 
.broadesStORii .'in ntaiiy' .towns will^ 
contiiiiie to note in #il unjireee- 
I dented turnover in station owner- 
So much smoke that there has to Isliip. For th^ first time in its his- 
■be a fire somewhere, billowed up I t«Bry, the Cbnnnission is faced with 
this week around the radio bajok- jrcrquests to transfer almost 100 
rolling of two ciggie outfits, Philip ; cvnstruetion permits. Most of 
Morris and Raleigh. Lat^ on tfiitL <C4witinucd on page 46y 
PM front, where Milton Berle was | ' 
axed last Week, was that outfit 
might cut loose Mutual's ' Queen 
for a bay" and "Heart's Desire." 
Philip Morris sponsors a q«»arter- 
hotir segment of eadi strip. 

Report persists, meantime, that 
Fannie Brice is in the running as 
replacement for Berle, a report 
cuing speculation as to how PM ex- 
pects to sell cigs with a kid diar- 
acter, aiqieaiing in consideralitte 
part at least to juvenile listeoers. 

Soine of the PM smoke is at- 
tributed to rivalry between the two 
agencies, Biow and Cecil & Preii- 



bts of Ci^ 
Sbws Shroud 
kSmob&rteH 



Midnal lo ffixie: 
3{w AeSbw 



AFRA.Net Huddle 
0nCost-of4in 




A meeting to set up negotiations 
for a cost-of-living pay increase 
will be held tomorrow; (Tburs.) by 
representatives of the American 
Federation of Radio Artists and 
the four major networks. The 
union last week called on the webs 
lo negotiate the boost, as provided 
in the network code. 

The AFRA bid followed release 
of the Bureau of Labor index for 
laiit Jan. 15. showing a cost-of-liv- 
ing ri'se of 10.79i. over that of Nov. 
\5, 1946. the date of the first index 
since the present code became, ef- 
fective. If the union and networks 
tail Lo agree on an appropriate 
hike in scales under the code, the 
i-qucstiora will {{a to arUtrartioB. 



Mutual's making dead certain 
the soothmirars have no sqaaiR^ 
coming over their equalTtime ^ 
mands to answer the web's eivit 
rights S(»ies. The Dixie cnqwd 
a^d 1 or lolir hadfrhoors*.^^ ; 

a^euuEa, — , the full CR snies — but settled tMs 

bry. sharing tlie Philip Morris tell- ^-^e^ three after the netpmntt 
ings. C4P irfaces the two Mutual , ^ ^ tj^^. one of the broadcasts, . 
daytiraers, claims its 52-week cam- j dealing with COmmnnLsts and Cov- 
paign via the audience participa- ; ernment loyaltv tests, had .Hoibing 
tion stamsas has been succ^ssnu, ; ^j, do with the Soutb's 

qvecific problems. 

The civil lighls s^rie« wound up 
last ■i'S^:y::)m&, the Saotl^ 
aEiSiK9r$ 'win;;be. aj»Kd. inltbe .saiiie- 
tbne ^tifeot, 10 {Moa. 'tiiesdays,' start- 
ing next week 123 ). Grcwp •c^f 
Dixie senatmrs headed by Sen: 
Richard Russell '(D.. Ga.) will do 
two of tbe airers, the third being 
turned over to tltc confeicence 'of 
sputhera governors. 



and that chances, are good PM 
won't pull out. Renewal dates for 
the two shows fall within the com- 
ing week. 

Raleigh is reported ready to 
dump either Red Skelton or 'Peo- 
ple Are Funny," or both, but it's 
believed likely the latter show wilt 
be the only casualty, and that at 
tlie season's end, inasmuch as Skel- 
ton has a two-year contract wliich 
has another season to go. . 

Meantime. Camels is understood 
to be dissatisfied with its Saluirday 
night slot on CBS ^nd giving an 
ear to an ABC bid to spot the 
Vaughn Monroe Show midway in 
a new ' wimdnnlt seqiience the same 
night on ABO. 



Ayer Gets Oectrie Sab 
In Eairiy, Facting Carle 

Ayer agency got into the early 
summei'-roplacemcnt s w i ni, last 
week by pacting FranUie Carle for 
the "Summer Electric Hour." Elec- 
tric companies will ring down the 
curtain on Phil Spitalny and his 
all-girl . orch May 2 and install 
Carle, with vocal group, two solo- 
ists and orch, from Hollywood the 
lollowing Sunday. 



CeS IN CORNER ON TONI 

mim mm mw 

Toni Home Permanent iiad a 
sudden, change of mind last Friday 
(1^> and gave in to CBS' pres.smre 
to pick up "Casey, Crime Photog- 
rapher." Earlier, the hom«waver 
had nixed the web package, which 
.\nchor-Hocking Gla.ss is dropping' 
March 23, indicating preference it>e 
a cheaper stanza of its own owner- 
sliip. Deal was in the works for 
a mystery sericst to star Van Hefiin. 

Sale of "Photographer" gives 
CBS a corner on Toni billings £fxr 
'48, what with tlie bomewavcr's 
"Nora Drake" soaper moving over 
from NBC in the next month and 
"Give and Take," a CBS package, 
iilready flying Toni's banner. Home- 
waver's only non-CBS tabs now are 



.Duration of Qirle's sliawliat stint i its quarter-hour sega^ts of ABC« 
isn't definite, inasmuch as Spitalny j "Ladies Be Seated" and "Breakfast 
has aotbeeace-fiignedfw- next iaU. Club.*^ 



3S$ 



RADIO 



Wedtfesday, Mardi 17, 1948 



KMPC Newsmen s Cbrge Hiat 
Richards Ordered Them to Stir Up 
Religious Hatred Faces FCC Probe 



Washfngton, March 16. 4' 
Strong possibility exists that the 
Federal Communications Commis- 
»ion will call for testimony from 
the three radio newsmen who Ijave 
publicly accused C. A. "Dick" 
Bichards, owner of 50-kilowatter 
KMPC, Hollywood, of ordering 
them to slant the news, when hear- 
ings on the Mayflower rule ban- 
ning radio editorials resume here 
Apfll 19. • 
.This possibility was strength- 
ened last week When the American 



Jewish Congress carried the ball 
for the former KMPC newsmen by 
calling on FCC to revoke the 
license of KMPC. Richards also 
«wn8 WGAR, Cleveland, and WJR, 
Detroit, both 50-kw outlets. -FCC 
may dig into the charges of "Edi- 
torializing" when hearings on 
Kicbards' video applications for 
Cleveland «(nd- Deti?<)it opeij later 
this month. 

The AJC petition cited charges 
aired earlier by former KMPC. 
aewsmen Clete Roberts, George 
Xiewin tind Maurice Starrels but 
based its protest solely on the 
charge that Richards had ordered 
KMPC newscasts slanted so as to 
"stir up religious and racial hatred 
against 'the Jews." Sworn state- 
anents by . the newsmen had also 
claimed that Richards ordered 
special Republican Presidential, 
candidates favored and only news 
Items unfavorable to .Henty-^Wal- 
Uce aired on KMPC facilities. 

Meanwhile, some observers here, 
both inside and outside the FCC, 
regard the intervention of the 
.Jewish Congress as "unfortunate" 
since it focuses attention on only 
a small segment of the larger issue 
of station editorializing. These ob 
servers are 'plugging for airing of 
the overall KMPC battle within 
the scppe of the editorial hearings 
rather than in the license revoca- 
tion proceeding demanded by the 
AJC. The AJC petition, inciden- 
tally, Will pit attorney Will Maslow 
once more against veteran radio 
lawyer Louis Caldwell, who repre- 
sents the Richards stations. Mas- 
low and Caldwell were the pro- 
tagonists in the AJC battle with 
the New York Daily News, in the 
Kew York FM cases. 

Meanwhile, the AJC's bill of 
particulars against Richards in- 
cluded: 

1. A charge that Maurice Star- 
rels, one time news editor of 
KMPC, was ordered to emphasize 
that a murdered gangster "Bugsy 
Siegel" was Jewish and to couple 
this story with items on Russia and 
Communism. Starrels was also told 
to emphasize the religion and for- 
eign extraction of David Lilienthal 
in covering hearings on his ap- 
pointment as chairman of the 
Atomic Energy Commission and 
"to give prominence to the scandal 
involving Gen. Bennett E. Meyers 
. ^ . to make it appear falsely that 
he was Jewish.''- 

2. Claim that Starrels and 
George Lewin had been ordered 
not to publicize the Palestine situ- 
ation since this "would give aid 
.and comfort to Jews and Commu- 
nists." Lewin, according to the AJC 
petition, was also instructed gen- 
erally "to keep hammering at the 
Jews." 



Corn Edges Out Concert 
In KMOX Poll; HOlbilly 
Strains Sottflie^St Loo 

St. Louis, March 16, 
Com has the edge over concert 
m the first two contest type polls 
conducted by KMOX, local CBS 
station In a weekly series of music 
designed to determine whether the 
hillbilly strains or the longhair 
stuff is the more popular, in the 
area .covered by the station. With 
600 letters received in the weekly 
contest for which two $25 cash 
awards are made for the best let- 
ters on the subject, the mountain 
tunes lead with 59% to 41% for 
tlic clsssicSi 

Al Blandi the station's program 
director who conceived the idea, 
reports that those who preferred 
the com music produced by the 
station hillbilly tooters feel it is 
easier to understand, easy to sing, 
danceable .anid more cheerful. Ex- 
ponents of the symph strain (re- 
cordings) of the New York Phil- 
harmonic opine that symph music 
is more soothing, expressive and 
stirring. 

After the initial program, during 
which the hillbillies vociferously 
applauded miusic of their own clan 
to the detriment of the recordings, 
Which had no palmpoimders. 
Bland put the kibosh on the live 
talent support and now both types 
of music 'are concluded in silence. 




KLZ's Public Servics Dir«ctor 

MACK SWITZER 

Swltaer directs- and coordinates 
KLZ's public service proBrams: 
writes and emoees two current KLZ 
programsi one on minority srroup 
problems, another on safety for 
children, KLZ, DENVER. 



T 



34-Station Web 
ToAir€arUs 



Net Ike Sade^ for Webs, Statimis 
Up 5.6% m '47, But kome Drop 



— 4- 



Woo^ Lays Down 
Law w FM For 
ABC Affiliates 



Chicago, March 16, 
If ABC affiliates nix FM dupli- 
cation, the net eventually will seek 
FM ties withvother stations in the 
same markets. Such is the tough 
policy laid down by Mark Woods, 
ABC prez, at« meet of Central Di- 
vision affiliates in Chi last Wednes- 
day (10). ■ 

Obviously irked by the cagey 
wait-and-see attitude of some sta- 
tioneers, Woods urged all affiliates 
to- hop aboard the FM bandwagon 
but fast. The net wants a husky 
FM arm in short order, he indi- 
cated, and laggards might find 
(Continued on page 42) i ' 



St. Louis, March 16. 
.Oscar Zahner, v.p. of Ruttirauff 
& Ryan's local office, has lined up 
a five-state 34-station web to carry 
the play-by-play of all games 
played by the St Lou|s Cardinals 
during the forthcoming season. 
Additional stations may be added 
before the season gets under way. 
Sponsor is Griesedieck Bros. Brew- 
ery Co., which has the local b.b. 
broadcast field to itself < at this 
writing, as Flastaff Brewing Co. 
dropped its sponsorship of games 
played by the Bro'wns after the dis- 
astrous season last year. 

Cardinals' road games will be 
broadcast through ticker service 
but all games, night and day, will 
be aired by Harry Caray, doing the 
play-by-play, and Charles "Gabby" 
Street, former big lieague manager, 
doing the first and second guessing. 
Pair teamed ttSgether for the last 
several seasons and has developed 
a large following in the Mississippi 
Valley. 

The^ broadcasts will originate 
over WEW for day games and 
WTMV, East St. Louis, for the 
nocturnal contests, and fed to the 
other stations, some of which have 
FM permits in addition to AM. 
Cities that will carry the b.b. stuff 
are Hannibal, Jefferson City, Co- 
lumbia, Kirksville, Sedalia, Flat 
River, Cape Girardeau, Poplar 
Bluff, Sikeston, Rolla, Lebanon, 
Carthage, West Plains, Springfield, 
and Kennett in Missoiu-i; Cairo, 
Tuscola, H e r ri n , Mt. Vernon, 
Quincy, Harrisburg, Decatur, Jack-' 
sonville, Peoria and Bloomington 
in Illinois; BlyfheviUe, Jonesboro, 
Paragould and Ft.. Smith in 
Arkansas; two stations in Paducah, 
Ky. ; and' one in Paris, Tenn. 



Only 112 Stations Out Of 
1,052 Took 6.0. Beating 
In '46JCC Study Shows 

Washington, March 16. 
Stations currently operating In 
the red may get some light on 
their chances of climbing into the 
black from info released here by 
the Federal Communications Com- 
mission last week. 

FCC's comprehensive financial 
reports showed that only 112 sta- 
tions out of a total of 1,025 chalked 
up -losses in 1946. (The total is 
probably somewhat higher for '47, 
FCC estimates). Of this number, 
69 held network contracts and' 43 
were indies. 

Biggest batch of Josers (76) were 
fulltime Ibcal-watters while nine 
fuUtimfe and 20 parttime regional 
stations were in the same fix. 
Losses for all 112 losing stations 
totaled $1,778,160 before Federal 
income taxes. 

Reflecting added competition via 
new stations after V-J Day, 70 of 
the 112 losers reported losses for 
the first time in 1946. Eighteen 
other stations hifd been in the red 
for two or three years hut only 
three had been chalking up deficits 
for as many as seven or eight years. 



ffiring k Up, 
Wages Even, 
Survey Shows 

Washington.'March 16. 
Employment in broadcasting con- 
tinued to rise in 1947 but average 
weekly wages changed only 
slightly, the FCC revealed here last 
week. 

On a comparative check of em- 
ployment and wages for sample 
weeks in February and October, 
1947« FCC found that the number 
of stations moved up 27%° (from 
924 to 1^260) in this eight-month 
period, total employment increased 
15% and aggregate income paid 
fulltime staffers rose 17%. A total 
of 34,720 fulltime broadcast em- 
ployees were earning an aggregate 
of $2,508,000 as of October. Just 
over l.OOO stations, the networks 
and their m. and o. outlets . em- 
ployed another 8,353 part-time 
workers wlio earned a total of 
$373,774. 

There were 710 fewer part-time 
program people employed by nets 
(Continued on page 42) 



John Guedel Explains 
Linkletter's Link letters 
With a Doff to Edwards 

Hollywood. 

M&itoT, Vabiety: 

Here are some additional im- 
portant facts re your item on "Peo- 
ple Are Funny" versus "Truth or 
Consequences," in the March 3rd 
Issue: 

Item stated we were injecting "a 
contest idea." This "idea" is the 
11th Raleigh riddle in a continu- 
ous series we have been running 
for two yearSi We have always 
used the phone call device but un- 
like Edwards, we have conducted 
the calls off-stage during the pro' 
gram. (Mail count over a million 
In last four months.) So, 'you see, 
we've been doing this contest idea 
for a long time and have estab- 
lished a right to phone calls and 
use of the Raleigh Riddle, a right 
(Continued ott page 44) 



RADIO EDITORS' QUALITY RATING 

Week of .Mjiroh 6-13 : 



As Compiled Exclusively for Variety by Dick Mcmsfielcl 
Freelance Researcher ' 

(A composite ewolitation o/ programs bi; the nation's leadiw rAdio editors, rated upon the fol- 
lowing points; Script, Pcr/ormonce, Production, Advertising, Music, OriqinaUty, Rating system 
allows for a possible high of ZO points, as follows: Outstanding, AA or 30; pltts or 25-^iSa;celIeiit, 
A or 22; B pltts or 19— Good, B or 16; Foir, C or 13; Poor, D or 10.) Of the 65 critics polled, 39 re- 
sponded im tfiis report. - ' 

Previous, 
Rating 

(14) 



(5 
(4 
(2 
(3 
(8 
(6 



(. Henry Morgan 24.5 

2. Town Meeting of Air, 24.1 

3. Fibber & Molly 23.8 

4. Ozzie & Harriet 23.5 

5. CBS Is There 23.0 

6. Amos 'n' Andy 22.7 

7. Jack Bemny 22.4 

8. Theatre Guild of Air. , 22.2 



Previous ' 
Rotlnci 

(7) 
(I) 
(13) 
(9) 

(10) 



9. Fred Waring , 22,0 

10. Bing Cr.osby 21.5 

1 1. Percy Faith 21.2 

12. Lux RadioTheotre. . . . 20.8 

13. Eddie Cantor 20.5 

14. Fred Allen 20.1 

15. Candid Mike 19.4 



EDITORS' RECOMMENDED LISTENING 

Living— 1948 NBC 

Quiet Please '. •. MBS 

Danny Thomas.......................................... .CBS _ 



Washington, March .16. J 
Net.time sales of standard broad- 
cast webs . and stations showed a 
hike of 5.6% in 1947 over 1946, the 
Federal Communications Commis- 
sion reported last week on the ba- 
sis Of preliminary returns. (Fig- 
uws on income will be released 
later and are expected to show a 
drop from 1946 earnings which in 
turn were down 8% from the peak - 
year of '45.) i 

For purposes of comparison the 
FCC figures cover only reports of 
the four major.webs and their'lO 
key stations, three regional nets 
and 821 stations who were oper- 
ating in both '46 and. '47. Separate 
figures were given on tiie time 
sales of the 343 new outlets li- 
censed in '47. 

Net sales of the four major 
webs and their key stations 
amounted to $72,352,636— a hike of 
3%, over '46. The three regional 
Webs showed only a 1% inccease in 
time sales. 

Due largely to hypoed sales of 
non-network time, the 821 itide' 
pendently-owned stations chalked 
up an Increase of 6.7% in time 
sales over 1946. (Sale of non-net 
time moved up 7.6% while sales 
of station time to the chains 
dropped 3.6% and commissions to 
a g e n c i e s, representatives, etc, 
slouged off 9%). The stations also 
showed a healthy increase of 6.6% 
in total broadcast revenues, which 
includes sale of talent, etc. 
' Non-aSillated' outlets showed a 
hike bf 13% in net time sales 
while net affiliates chalked up a 
5.7% boost. Local day and part- 
time outlets showel the biggest 
percentage Increase (20%) in time ■ 
sales while the 41 ' clear-channel 
operators had the least (4.5%). 
This figure is not too significant, 
however, inasmuch as the wee- 
waiters started out with a much 
lo^^e^ revnue base. . 

Newcomers' $5|900 Monthly 
Tentative., figures for the 343 
newcomers on the air in '47 show 
total broadcast revenues of $15,- 
261,819 and average monthly rev- 
enues of about $5,900. 

In a separate tabulation, the 
FCC released complete break- 
downs on broadcast income in 
1946 (preliminary figures have 
been reported earlier) together 
with new and unique info on prof- 
itability of stations, losing stations, 
expenses and costs of AM plant 
and investment. 
These were the findings: 

1. Aggregate broadcast income 
(before Federal income taxes) for 
all nets and stations was $76,466,- 
246 in '46, or a drop of 8% under 
45. 

2. Broadcast expenses for all 
nets and stations rose in '46 to 
total about 79.2% of gross reve- 
nues as compared to 75.6% in '45. ' 

3. All webs 'and stations showed 
median income ratios of 116% as 
based on the depreciated value of 
their plant. Unlimited time clears 
earned a median of 283% in in- 
come, net affiliates 135% and in- 
dependents, 52%. .. 

Crenesse New U.S. Head 
Of French Radio; 200 
Stations Get Service 

Pierre Crenesse, 29, described as 
France's most popular radio com- 
mentator, made his bow in New 
York last Friday (12) as the French 
Broadcasting System's new direc- 
tor in the U. S. He succeeds Robert 
Lange, who recently returned to 
France, but is continuing as direc- 
tor of FBS' North American Serv- 
ice in Paris. . : 

Crenesse made his first official 
appearance in his new capacity at 
a Plaza hotel luncheon honoring 
six American broadcasters who 
Will take off next Saturday (20) on 
a 10-day junket to Paris as guests 
of FBS (Radiodiffusion Francaise) 
and Air France. The six are Fred- 
erick Bate, NBC; William Fine- 
shriber, CBS; . Thomas Velotta, 
ABC; Robert Swezey, Mutual! 
John S. Hayes, WINX, Washing- 
ton, Chairman of the American Ad- 
visory Board of FBS; and A. D- 
(Jess) Willard, Jr., National Assn. 
of . Broadcasters. 

Prime reason for the trip, 
Crenesse explained* is to get U. b. 
and French radio execs together'to 
discuss v/ayB and means of improv- 
ing and expanding the exchange/Oi 
(Contfaiued on -page 44) 



Wednegday, March 17, 1948 




BADMp 



33 




DX.'s Audience-Sponsored Show SRO 

Washington, March 16. 
What is plugged here as the first U.S. i^dio jshow to be Spon- 
sored entirely by listeners has been sold out for six months in ad- 
vance and closed to audifcnce subscriptions for the time being, 
WQQW) town's "fine music" indie disclosed here last week. Sta- 
tion lili^e most other daytimers is far from rolling in dough in the 
Srea*.ln its overall operations but hit the jackpot with a two-hour 
' noon' to 2 p.m. Sunday airing of symphonic music which was opened 
. for voluntary subscriptions from listeners beginning in January. 
According to AVQQW manager M. Robert Rogers, enough money 
has been received to carry the show for six -months and listeners 
have been urged to keep their dollars for the nonce. Rogers said 
hft originally suggested on the air that music-lovers who wanted 
'io hear' two hours of uninterrupted symphonic music send in a 
dollar to help buy the Sunday period. The average subscription^ 
he said, has been a little 'less than $3 and the largest single dona- 
tion, $26. 

Rogers said the station neither plans nor desires to . support more 
than this particular show through voluntary subscriptions. Station, 
which specializes in classic jazz and symphony fare, at one point 
last summer was up for a distress sale but its board of directors 
put up- more coin to keep it going under new management. - 




Pepsodent s 300G Sat. Plum Helps 
CBS Escape From Miliate Kickback 



Tempest in a teapot was brewed 
up this week by a CBS affiliate, 
WHP of Harrisburg, Pa., over the 
web's airing of "Escape"— which 
the station termed a "gruesome" 
show *^ immediately following 
"Let's Pretend" Saturday morn- 
ings. But the network, while un- 
able to deny the validity of WHp's 
claim, had a handy answer, by 
coincidence. The argument's acB" 
demic how, said CBS, because the 
"jgscape". time, 11:30-12, was sold 
over the -weekend to Lever Bros., 
wbich'U put a family-type airer in 
the Segment. 

Purchase of the time, a $300,000 
annual billing, represents a three- 
way agency deal on behalf of Lev- 
er's Pepsodent Division. Agencies 
represented are Ruthrauff & Ryan 
(Rinso and Lifebuoy), Foote; Cone 
& Belding (Pepsodent paste)^ and 
Needham, Louis & Brorby (Pepso- 
dent powder). 

Stanza to get the time, effective 
(Continued on page 44) 



Most-Oscared 
Gabber-Murrow 

CBS' Edward R. Murrow copped 
one of the Overseas Press Club's 
awards at the organization's an- 
nual dinner last night (Tues.) at 
the Waldorf, N. Y., making Mur- 
• row the most-Oscared gabber of the 
year, (Last week he won the Du- 
Pont commentator citation.) It's 
been learned that he's also in line 
lor an upcoming Headliners Award 
JfojSS with Mutual's Al Warner and 
NBC's Morgan Beatty. 
, Murrow, who shoves off shortly 
lor Rome to cover Italy's mid-April 
general elections, won the OPC 
award for "best interpretation of 
joreign affairs by radio." Cita- 
won for best reporting of foreign 
abroad by radio went 
JJ.^BC's Merrill (Red) Mueller. 
^Jther awards went to Anne O'Hare 
McCormick, N. Y. Times, for best 
ntepretation of foreign affairs in 
m1^^^!S' A. T. Steele, N. Y. 

Barbasol Picks Up Tab 
On BiUy Rose Show 
As Musterole Scrams 

„,??';''»sol shave cream, which 
teltr^J^"^^ Gabriel Heatter, is 
Th,„."i"S to radio as Tuesday- 
five.m?5. sponsor pf Billy Rose's 
cross-the-board gab on 

bv^MiIL^^'^^'''y ta^. now carried 
that ou fi^ A • being dropped by 
moving . ' .^P*"*" 8, with Barbasol 
biiffA*" April 13. That keeps the 
Whirtf ^»'^vin Wasey agency, 

XJ?' both accounts as 



as «!o.v,i""''' accounts as well 

on Sl^r,' ^biph pays ,the freight 

">e week 



Faster Gallup Needed 

There was extreme unhappiness 
in certain NBC quarters when CBS 
recently popped its public^apinion 
airer featuring pollster Elmo 
Roper. Seems NBC had the same 
idea, with a Roper rival, George 
Gallup, doing the vox popping. 
Audition platter had been cut and 
a tentative time slot set. 

When CBS whipped out Roper, 
on short notice, NBC, wanting no 
copycat tag, just shelved the 
Gallup item.. 



NBC Revamps 
Its Public Affairs 
Personnel Setup 

NBC shook up its public affairs 
and education department during 
the past week in a move seen cued 
to the organizational facelift now 
underway for months. Net brass 
officially offered no reasons for the 
realignment. 

In the reshuffle, Dwight B. Hcr- 
rick stepped down as manager of 
the department and was replaced 
by Sterling Fisher, who has been 
adviser to the web on public affairs 
and education. Fisher has directed 
NBC's "University of the Air" and 
supervised the NBOUnited Nations 
pro.iect. 

Reports that Herrick would leave 
NBC altogether were denied both 
by Herrick and the net, the latter 
saying a new assignment would be 
found for him. 

Program veepee Ken Dyke's an- 
nouncement of Fisher's appoint- 
ment was followed in three days 
by announcement by Fisher of new 
titles for. three women members of 
his department. 

' Margaret Giithbert, manager of 
the department's organization divi- 
sion, was named director of public 
art'airs; Doris Corwith, manager of 
the talks division, was appointed 
director of talks and religious 
broadcasts, and Jane Tiffany Wag-- 
ner, assistant manager of the or- 
ganization division, was upped to 
director of education.' 

Titles have tones in keeping with 
NBC's efforts of recent months to 
streamline its personnel setup. 
Overtone of the whole department 
reorganization is one reflecting the 
web's apparently heightened pub^ 
lie affairs consciousness. 



Easfs 'Breakfast' in West 

Hollywood, March 16, 
Polly (Mrs. Ed) . East has re- 
joined her husband in a regional 
show over CBS here. Its a 
7:45 a.m. stanza similar to the 
"Breakfast in Bedlam" chatter 
series they did several years ago 
in New York, . 

Meanwhile. East is ni.c. of the 
"Meet the Missus" program here 
and also has his ownTtranscription- 
making service. 



By GEORGE ROSEN 

Havana, March 16. 

Cuba radio' hit the bigtime last 
week. Goar Mestre, the 35-year- 
old operator of CMQ, the Big 
Noise in Havana radio and key sta- 
tion of a seven-outlet network dot- 
ting the black-<beaned island, offi- 
cially preemed his new $3,000,000 
Radio City on Friday (12). Hafoan- 
ans never dreamed there could be 
such splendor in their manana. 

Opening of the Radiocentro 
project, a 1 1 e n d e d ; by .a kleig- 
lighted, glamor-studded HpUywopd 
showcasing for ithe pi^emiere, with 
a flock of U: 1^., South Ai>Uii^<!an 
and Mexican representatives ' on 
hand, culminates a five-year ca- 
reer in radio foi: Mestre. 

The Cuban-born, Yale-taught 
showman of the Sombrero Circuit, 
who with his two -older brothers, 
Abel and Luis Agusta, have par- 
layed their multiple operations info 
a sizeable chunk of the Cuban 
pesos now in circulation^ has prac- 
tically stood the city on its sun- 
tanned ears. For it's, likely that, 
with the exception of its New 
York Radio City counterpart in 
Rockefeller- Center, there's noth- 
ing in the states to match this Cu- 
bano enterprise. 

It's a tribute to Mestre's ingeni- 
ous flair for showmansbip, in 
adapting the best in U. S. and 
Mexican programming and opera- 
tional techniques to fit into the 
Cubano pattern — a showmanship 
and business acumen. that has 
spiraled station billings from less 
than $400,000 to nearly $1,500,000 
in less than five years and has 
given CMQ a strangehold on 'a 
majority of the Cuban radio audi- 
ence. . 

In his brief regime as a radio 
man, Mestre has taken undisputed 
possession of Cuba's "Mr. Radio" 
title, and on the basis of what he's 
already achieved with the Cuban 
frequencies and his blueprinted 
plans for the future, U. S. broad- 
casters could learn a lot about 
economics and show business. 

Mestre's Radio Clock 

In addition to converting CMQ 
into a bigtime radio operation, 
feeding 18 hours of programming 
a day (17 of them live)- into vari- 
ous parts of the island via the 
seven-station pickut>, Mestre has 
grabbed himself a couple of other 
independent station operations' in 
Havana. On the premise that all 
radio will eventually adapt a new 
format of channeling specific pro- 
gramming over a single outlet, he 
bought the 250-watter CMBF about 
six months ago for $15,000 and 
turned it into. Radio Clock. 

Mestre borrowed the idea from 
the Mexico City's XEQK, which 
gives the time each minute and 
runs commercials in between. 
Mestre, however, went one step 
further, and set up a format of a 
time announcement each minute, 
followed by twg commercials of 
five seconds each, then 30 seconds 
of news, two sppt commercials, the 
time announcement, and so on 
around the clocky for 18 hours. 
That original $15,000 investment 
already brings in a net profit of 
$3,500 a month, with each block ot 
135 announcements per day fetch- 
ing $297 in client coin a month. 
Station, lifted from obscurity, now 
ranks No. 7 in audience pull among 
Havana's 33 stations. 

Mestre's third Havana outlet, 
now in process of getting set, is 
for music fans. It's the kind of 
stuff he'd like to get on CMQ, but 
the bigtime station is loaded down 
with dramatic fare (the Cubanos 
prefer that to anything else). 

CMQ has a talent roster of 350 
persons, all professionals and all 
guaranteed a minimum of work 
and pay a month. Mestre believes 
in talent development, and since 
the Radiocentro project includes a 
new 1,650-seat film house which 
has been leased to Warner Bros., 
he himself runs the stageshows, 
utilizing his radio talent exclusively 
for the presentation house and get- 
ting a percentage of the week's 
(Continued on page 3S) 



Femme B'casters, with Flock Of 
Grievances, Threaten to Break 
Loose from NAB, Form Own Assn 



Bing's Gag 'Guesters' 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Ducat holders to Bing Cros- 
by's disk cuttings for Philco 
just don't know what to make 
of The Groaner. Here they sit 
in a studio and hear with tiieir 
own ears that next week's 
guest will be Walter Winchell 
and Joe Stalin and what hap- 
pens when they hear the pro- 
gram on their home sets weeks 
later? They're not on at all 
and the guestar is some bloke 
named Giroucho.Marx. Wbat 
they don't know is that a pair 
of pixies by the names of Cros- 
by and Bill Morrow, the pro- 
ducer-writer, . must have their 
little joke even if it startles 
the sitters-in. It's an odd de- 
vice they've hit on when the 
guestar for the following 
week's cutting it still unset. 

Impossible combinations of 
names are tossed into the cut- 
ting but later dubbed out by 
the ABC record spotters. One 
week it was Westbrook Pegler 
and Henry Wallace. 



Sponsor-Bait 
Rooney Show 
Penciled In 



CBS got the kbiks ironed out of 
the projected high-budgeted 
Mickey Rooney show sufficiently 
this week to pencil in the.preem 
for March 28. The web, however, 
pulled . a switch in • its ^slotting 
plans, pegging the Rooney series 
for 9:30-10 Sundays, the spot 
vacated by Texaco "Star Theatre," 
rather than the 10 o'clock period 
now occupied by "Escape." 

Shift puts the costly ($10,000) 
new series in the middle of the 9- 
10:30 segment now open Sunday 
nights, idea apparently being to 
heighten the value of the other 
two cream half-hours by sandwich- 
ing the sponsor-bait between them. 

What sort of fare is going into 
the two open periods-v-whether 
"Escape," for instance, will stay 
in the 10 o'clock spot— is yet to be 
decided. It's known CBS has 
romanced U. S. Steel to move 
"Theatre Guild" from ABC to the 
9-10 segment on CBS, but the slot- 
ting -of Rooney at 9:30 would seem 
to indicate Steel evidenced no dis- 
position to move. 

Production crew for the "Shorty 
Bell" shows, in which Rooney will 
portray an adventure-seeking 
newspaperman, has taken shape. 
William N. Robson, who has a 
couple of Peabody awards on his 
wall, will direct, with an assist 
from Norman MacDonnell.. Series 
will be scripted by two film writers, 
Frederick Hazlitt Brennan and 
Richard Carroll, both ex-news-- 
papermen. (Brennan authored 
Rooney's latest film, "Killer Mc- 
Coy.") Music will be under the 
baton of Cy Feuer, who also scores 
"Escape." 



CHRISTIAN SCIENCE TO 
SPREAD SERIES ON MBS 

Christian Science Church is set- 
ting a deal with Mutual to air a 
15-minute transcribed religious 
show over 116 stations Saturdays at 
4:45 p.m., starting April 3. Same 
program already is being aired, via 
the H. B. Humphrey ad agency, 
over about 250 individual stations, 
many of which are Mutual af- 
filiates. Latter, under the MBS 
deal, wiU take a net feed on the 
show rather than originating it 
locally. 

Deal doesn't affect the ABC 
stanza, "The Christian Science 
Monitor Views the NewSf" also 
placed via Humphrey. 



The airwaves' femmes are in bit- 
ter revolt against the National 
Assn. ' of Broadcasters, over its 
high-handed treatment of their 
Assn. of Women Broadcasters, and 
there are maneuvers quietly afoot 
aimed at setting up an independ- 
ent organization which wouldn't be 
a "step-sister" to the NAB. 

Meantime— and very belatedly, , 
say 'rebellious members of AWB — 
A.D. (Jess) Willard, Jr., NAB exec 
secretary, has called an AWB comr 
mittee headed by new prexy Ruth 
Crane; of WMAL, Washington, to 
a meeting in Washington April 9 
to meet Pat Griffith, who W9s 
named by NAB last week to. suc- 
ceed Dorothy Lewis as director of 
women's activities. 

As of now, the AWB'ers are fit 
to show up at the parley with fire 
in their eyes. They don't know 
anything about the new appointee, 
they say, but, worst of all, AWB 
wasn't consulted in any manner 
on the selection of Miss- Lewis' 
successor. 

This last, however, is only an:' 
other in a mounting list of griev- 
ances, the femmes are nursing. The 
mood to shake loose from^. NAB 
really began to take hold when 
AWB's annual convention took 
place in Washington late in Janu- 
ary. Miss Lewis had been "un- 
graciously . bouncQd," as one net- 
work AWB^er puts it, and the New. 
York NAB office, where I^iss 
Lewis held forth, had been shut- 
tered. 

The confab turned out a ropkid' 
of social functions, with the only 
business session scheduled on Sun- 
day morning when most of the 
women had to head for home. 
What really burned the femmes 
up, bowever, was the word that 
got; around that NAB wanted to 
keep control of AWB in Wasb> 
ington, where it could foe van oyec 
the luncheon table. 

As AWB'ers recount it, the cap- 
per was Willard's talk to them in 

(Continued on page 38) 



ABC's $im 

For 1st Quarter 

ABC expects to top by $1,000>00(» 

last year's first -quarter billings 
when gross time sales for the first 
three months of 1948 are toted up. 
If so, the web will be off tp a fly- 
ing start toward topping' X947's 
peak total of $43,548,057, which 
was up 7.2% over the previous 
year. , ' . 

Sales totalled > $3,898,648 in 
January, $3,739,923 in February, 
and are expected to reach $3,994,- 
341 this month, producing a quar- 
ter total of $11,632,912. Figure for 
the same period last year was 
$10,387,004. 

Semler-Block Fizzle, 



April 9 will be a glpomy Friday 
at Mutual. Burl Ives will sing his 
swan ballad for Philco that bight, 
and Martin Blocl? will do his last 
commercial for his one and only 
sponsor, Semler, that afternoon. 
With both shows, it's apparently 
the old story of too little Hooper. 

Ives, whose waxed 15-minute 
folksong airer teed off on MBS for 
Philco .in the fall of 1946, at the 
same time the radio manufacturer 
planted Bing Crosby on ABC, has 
almost consistently ridden in last 
place in the Hooper stakes, despite 
efforts of the Hutchins ad agency 
to hypo the stanza via guestars, 
added vocalists, etc. Show, which 
Hutchins put together, hair a 
weekly tab of about $1,500. 
Philco is said to have no Imme- 
(Continued on page 44) 



84 



TKUBVISION 



Ms Free-and-Easy Days Over; 
Oh s Nations Now Cadi-Cany 



' . Chicago, 'March 16. -f 

WBKB, Chi's pioneer video ven- 
ture, is .at long last quietly putting 
together a talent staff. Station in 
the past has relied on freelancers 
for commercial shows, while sus" 
tainers have been manned by vol- 
unteer tialent paid oiT in "expe- 
rience." ' 

Several weeks ago Jack Brick- 
house, WBICB sportscaster, was 
named sports service: manager of 
WGN-TV, Chi Tribune tele Station. 
His loss crystallized the talent 
. iwoUcm WBSSB. will £H<ie when net- 
^liated -video staltions get going 
here in fall. At such time AFRA' 
also can :be «xifected to be less, 
lenient about pay-<oi&s in "expe-: 
rience." 

Following the Brickhouse exit,. 
Capt. Bill £ddy, director of WBKB;. 
called in several of his top free-- 
lancers and toM tbem to sign ck-! 
clusives or etee. Verbil agn^, 
XdiHits obtained at that time will 
be, inked when Sady returns from; 
the Coast, where fae^s worfciitg out! 
.« new system of tele oovera^^ of 
Cu^s games. < 

,£lddy also faces a tough prob-, 
lem -in li^ainiitg production staff-, 
ers wiiose stipends- by current: 
standards are less than hefty.. 
WGrN-TV already has hired ,away 
twq veteran 'WBKB producers, <and' 
It^s no secret that several of those 
nctte Temain jtre -serionsly weigh- 
ing '.{^tractive offers from other 
•ources. 

. Anticipatuig losses when rival 
stations take to tele here, WBKB 
last DeeenAer inaugurated a tradn- 
ing pirograra. The program hasn't 
oaSt its amuninced ol^ective of 
baiting personnel raids, hnt It has 
«Babled WBKB to plug-iSome ^ps 
in its own setups 

AU in all it loids/as iX OA ^le 
has passed the free-and-easy, nen- 
Iffofessional and almost Tton-ssda- 
Tied phase of tele's dev^opment 



WeUesley ^rawhatters 
In Yankee Net TV Pact 

Boston, Mucch 16. 
Yankee network signed lasit 
week for video rights on all pito- 
grams and dramatic productions nt 
the Wellesley Summer theatre, ex- 
perimental outfit begun last sum- 
mer by WcUesley College wliich 
clicked plenty In its first season. 
The net, throueh its Institute, tied 
up with the school and theatre and ; 
gave it a solid boost during its first 
.brief season. 

Strawhatter opens July 5 for a 
fiye-week session with Slldon Wiak- 
ler returning as executive director 
•of a stafE of directors and profes- 
sors from Yale, Dartmouth, Am- 
herst and the UaiversSty of Texas. 

Yaidcee Sigures to he on ^ wlOi 
video by Juite 1. 



Telefision Revievf 



f «r Des Moines 



Wxeta here on in it's ca^ md 
carry plus competition. 



Hoflprood fiasdball Tele 
To Be Free to All Comers 

Hollywood, March 16. 
liooks like Chicago has set its 
*rst video trend. Like the Windy 
City's baseball, HoHywood-Los 
Angeles will be free to all stations. 
So say the aida of P. K. Wrigley, 
Cubs owner, who holds ihe radio- 
tele franchise for the Angels and 
Stars. 

Last year Paramount's KTLA 
claimed an "exclusive" — ^but even 
then it was for iree and exclusive 
only because there Avas no one else 
«a tije <»ir, presumably. And at the 
moment it looks like Bar will go 
through the summer sans comp^ 
tion anyway unless Don Lee gets 
FCC approval for commercializa- 
tion that will open up the opera- 
tion greatly. 

Meanwhile, the Pacific Coast 
League is attempting to make Coast 
mil a League matter and eliminate 
Individual .club deals in other lo- 
cales. 



"Washington, March 16. 
A piK-^fffliated television bid — 
the 12th from theatre folic to reach 
JFCC^led a' parade of 11 new video 
applicants who entered the, fold 
tbis-weelb 

Tri-States Meredith Broadcast- 
ing Co., applying for channel 2. 
Des Moines, is half-owned hy Tri- 
States Theatres and by the Mere- 
dith Publishing Co:, pubUsh^ <of 
Better Homes and Gardens. TW- 
States JExhibltors is also a 50%- 
owiied Paramount subsidiary which 
would slve Par a fourth interest .in 
the tele apiilication. Second Des 
Moines bid 'from the MurjAiy 
Broadcasting Co., also for channel 
Z, will require FCC hearing there. 

Other bids of the week: Radio 
Diablo, Inc. (KSBR), channel i3, 
Frisco, with a record power of 
SSOkw. proposed ' for the visual 
transndtter; -Don Lee Broadcasting 
.Syst«n, diannel i6. La Jolla; Tamtm 
Tribune (WFLA), channel 4, 
Tampa; Topeka Broadcasters Assn 
(Sen» Arthur Capper's WIOW), 
channel 7, Topeka; Midland Broad- 
icasthig Co. (KMBC), channel 13, 
St. Joseph, Mo.', WOAI, channel 4, 
San Anionio; WCAO, channel 6, 
Baltimore; WLOL, channel 7 
Minneapolis and New (Means 
Television Co., channel 2, New 
Orleans. 

• Also on the telefront, FCC 
awarded channel 9 in Minneapolis 
to the Oowies Publishing Co., puib- 
lishers of the Minneapolis Tribune 
and Star-Journal. Skedded March 
18 hearing on five video bids for 
Cleveland was postponed to May 1 
and a hearing on two bids for 
Wilfces-Barre, was pushed back 
from March 16 to Aprfl 1. 



WTVJR Throws Philco 
Party to Aid Set Sales 

Richmond, March 16. 

WTVR, which- is slated to go on 
the air shortly, last week hosted 
around 100 Philco officials and 
dealers at a special meeting to help 
promote the sale of video sets in 
the area. Other get-togethers in- 
volvmg other brand receivers are 
planned. 

Wilbur M. Havens, WTVR gen. 
mgr., welcomed the Philcoites to 
the meeting and spoke of his work 
in tele for the past eight years. 
The Richmond News Leader put 
out a "Philco Television Extra" to 
escploit the event. 



WLWC Selects Site 

Cincinnati, March 16, 
Eight-acre site in Clinton Town- 
Miip, just outside Columbus, has 
been taken under option for 
WLWC, television station which 
Crosley Broadcasting will erect 
this year to serve central Ohio. 
Location must be approved by the 
Civil Aeronautics Authority before 
consti'uction of an antenna can 
begin. 

First Crosley video station, 
WLWT, is now operating in Cincin- 
nati. Another, WLWD, is scheduled 
for construction in Dayton tiiis 
year, 



TELEVISION SCBEI^ WtmJ^' 
■2INE 

With Xohn K. M. McCaffrey, MU- 
licent Fenwiok, . Edward Lueas, 
Victor Soholer; Ray Forrest, «n- 
nonnoer > 
Prodaoer: Fnedej^ok Cm 
30 nDas.; lOiurs^ ak:M »jm. 
SnstafailnK 
WNBT-NBC, N. Y. 

Idea "beMnd this pronwnn — a 
group of "magazine editors" dis- 
cussing various topics to £o.into 
an issue, and eitlier debating or 
dramatizliog these topics^is a good 
one. Initial program Thursday 
(11), however, was too hodgCTpoclgy 
<and stagcgr t6 be successful. A 
couple of angles brought in from 
radio — siuAx as the inquiring re- 
porter picking up comment from: 
pedestrians on streetGaiuers— 4iad: 
the same, ttull faults of ra^o, to 
further deaden and slow up ijhoi 
program. Format, though, is in-, 
iierently good and can be devel- 
oped satisfactorily. 

John K. M. McCaffery and Mil- . 
licKit Fenwick, as the phantom 
mag editors, discussed juveidle 
crime, the new fashions and a 
Danish pianist, Victor Schoier, las 
chief subjects, for their next, 
issue." EAward liUcas, of the 
Society of Biwefttion of Crime, 
dropped in to discusB an aitide he 
would xk) on arresting ctime by 
attacking the pre-tecn^e inflences. 

Monotony of photogra{)bin«'; 
faces in the ^discussions was hroksB 
up by a Danish Sim Bhowing the- 
pianist in a performance ca Tttie 
Tchaikovsky Concerto <with a- sym- 
phony orahestra, and was further 
alleviated hy dramatic flashback 
bits in r^atlon to .titte Jove de- 
linquency problem. Dialog was 
crisp, informal and the "mafaBlne 
Office" seemed authentic 

Matter-of-&K!t way the material 
was thrown «t one, however, mar- 
red the program, as did simie tof 
the more obvious' segues. MeCaf- 
fety posed toe much in his role as 
editor," as Lf be were a nuitiDee 
idol. Brm. 



EdPdIqrfflBii 



Washington, March 16. 
Edwin W. Paoligr of Beveifly 
iEEUls, t3al., fornter tJ. S. repaiia- 
tions commissiimer, ffled wUh the 
FCC for television channel 9 Sn 
San Francisco today (IB) in hehalf 
of Television, Cal. Firm is a part- 
nership, Pauley stated, in which he 
has put $360,000. Other prin- 
cipals are Ross H. Chamberlain, 
contractor, who put up $25,000, 
and Victor E. Breedon, investment 
banker, who posted $1S>>'OQO. Cham- 
herlidn and Breedon one £an Fran- 
ciscans. 

It's believed Paidey and his a»- 
sociates may also seek channels in 
other California cities. They'll 
have to compete .against ^ other 
applicants, includins Paramount^ 
for the two remainhig S.F. chan- 
nels. 

CBS today also filed for Channel 
9 in S. F. 



Inside Televyon 



The American National Theatre & Academy is looking for original 
scripts for its Sunday niglit dramaUe video series on WNBS', New York. 
It pays $50 for a 30-ininute script, setting omly single performsmce 
rights for that price, with the author retshiing all repeat .and other 
nghts.' . 

Of the seven shows done on the series so far, two have been orig- 
inals—Noel Jordan's "Outside of Time" and the third act of "The 
Bachelor Queen," Lawton Campbell's falHength play about Queen 
'^"i^Sf»?/ Harrity is the co-producer of the series for ANTA, 

and William Matthews is assistant in charge of script and casting. 

Question of whether theatres will be able to charge for exclusive 
television programs that won't he available on home receiving sets was 
temporarily settled recently in the negative, when the FCC refused to 
allocate any video channels speoiecally for theatre tele. Commission 
granted permission only to retain the status quo, which allows experi- 
mentation below the 960-mc band on the spectrum. 

Commission declared in its decision that the needs of theatre tele 
have not yet been clarified, adding that if and when channels ane 
handed out, they will probably be on a common-carrier basis. That 
would indicate the FCC's determination not to grant exclusive channels 



WBKB, Chis pioneer tele station, lately has been badgered by per- 
sistent rumors it will suspend operations when the Chi Tribune's WGN- 
l\ tees off in April. Rumors are without foundation and WBKB 
spokesmen are at a loss to account how they may have been started 
One set owner reported that a nabe retailer told him the Balahan & 
Katz station would shortly bow out. WBKB says it's in biz on a perma- 



St. Pad's KSTP^WBecMMsMBC 



First Tormaf fuke Net Affiiiat 



e 



ZeiHtli MovttgFist 
To Catch Up on Sets 

Chicago, March 16. 

Zenith Radio, lart of the major 
manufaotnrecs to enter television, 
is expected to start rolUng its lirot 
video xcocivers off the pFOdudtiion 
line in the near future,' 

Zenith vM nportediy we tiie 
same chxEEis as .<Shat endiodisd In 
the V. B. Television l<0^nch table 
model under a licensing agreement 
wdth UST. Chassis will be designed 
into * specially-built Zenith catiinet 
for fikb&c table models or cansole' 
sets. With the UST table model 
selling for $375, it's expected that 
Zenith wUl at least equal that 
price. 

PalFii^Foppet 
fhs Via Ykb 

Hollywood, Maich 16. 

George is jgoinie into televi- 
sion on a curved iipproach. He'll 
make combination live .action .and 
puppet reels as an initial experi- 
ment in video -while, incidentally, 
also using them on the air 
to plug home consumption sale of 
» iplsuied 16m antes vi puiipet 
iUms. The vldita ceels tdll, in 
effect, he leasers, containing scone 
of the puppet material to .be foaad 
in coRQilete over-the-counter reels. 

Hope is to sell home projectian 
pix via a national drug idiain with 
the chain also sponsoring availafalle 
video time. Reels would be used as 
a lure to encourage other sales, a 
standaid emporium practise, as 
well , as for their ttum coin -value. 

Footage peddled will have bo 
connection with the stuff Bai ma&ef 
for Paramount tinder the "Pum*- 
toon" tag. They will he culled from 
a reported lar^e libcary of films 
Pal previously made in £^rope. 
phis possible new ones. Ointen 
Staidey, until recently with Finley 
Productions on video, wiU produce 
with Fal. Latter's staff is already 
pr^ping brocbares, etc, with 
which to pitch possible sponsors. 



♦ NBC television is exnectiwi ♦« 

^^^Jil,?^ fomali^ed ta 
the estabUdimeat of its video*wo2 
today (WMneaday) hy inw ff^ 



Tele to €et Going Or«r 
From fress at Fonun 

Television industry in genecal 
will get its ears pinned back by 
the trade press at a forum meet- 
ing of the American Television 
So<aety at the Hdtel Victoria, N. Y., 
tomoixow (Thurs.) night 

Speakmg out in a roundtable 
discussion on "What's Wrong with 
Television" will be Jerry Franfcen, 
Billboard; Fred Kugel, Television; 
Jim Owens, Radio Daily; Bruce 
fiobertson, Broadcastbig; Irwin 
Shane, Televisor, and Bob Stahl, 
Vahiety. .NBC staffer Ed Sobol, 
chairman of the ATS evening 
foi-am committee, wall serve as 
moderator; 



KSTP-TV. Stanley Hubbai-d tZ 
^Sil"* «>««tructlon il 

Move la Hie direct result of th« 
NBC affiliates meet, held in N Y 
last Friday (12i. Hubbard, general 

*S*^2:,,"'.«^*^P' remained in 
it JWtowdng the meet for fur" 
th«r kuMhem with NBC toppers 
and was all set yesterday (Tues- 
day) to ««lx his signature to the 
contract Statldn -will thus becomte 
the 'Stxt fonnaUy to join the NBC 
video web. stoce all others now 
linked to NBC are tied in only 
through temporary "workinu 
agreements." ^ 

Meet Wiiich was attended bv 
representatives of NBC's 31 AM 
affiliates who are either operating 
video stations now or expect to 
tate the air before the end of the 
year, shoved farther into oblivion 
the loag-discussed plans lor the 
estabUshment of a petwork of 
newapaper-owned trie stations, 
j All .-31 reportedly agreed to 
;ioin the NBC video web. Major 
.question, ia-faet, was not the set- 
ting <iip oi*;S(iif«lileall^atiott conr 
tract but xtlther one of hew soon 
networking service could be ex* 
tended to the different cities. Most 
of the 'delegates, expressing com- 
pk*e optimism, reportedly tried to 
push the web tc^ipenc to get N. Y.- 
originated shows out to thou as 
soon as possible. 

Meet was given over mostly to 
thrashing out coidract terms, «bout 
which NBC is remaining quiet for 
the time being. It was repoited,* 
however, that all station leps 
agreed to the basic formula as laid 
dawn by exec veepee Frank E, 
Mullen and video chief Noran E. 
Kersta. Fact that the meet was at- 
tended by reps of 'WWJ-TV. De- 
troit News' outlet, and KSD-TV, 
owned<an4KveF^ed by the St 
Louis BostSlsiMtdi, indicates that 
those statimis, amom! others, will, 
continue to ride the NBC tele web; 
instead of cutting over to the siill- 
nebulous newspaper chain. 

CBS, meanwhile, will hold its af- 
JBliates meet March 31, with reps 
of some 100 different stations 
throughout the country expected 
to attend. CBS huddles will re- 
volve more about tele operation 
than affiliation, although the sta- 
tions' reps will also huddle on that 
question with network toppers. 
Other points to be discussed are 
networking services, costs of sta- 
tion operation, programming, etc., 
with CBS homeoffice chiefs ready 
to fundidi a(fvice to tele new- 
comers on the basis of e.vperience 
gained in their H^. Y. video oper- 
ation. 



s 

Philadelphia, March 16. 
Television sets are being in- 
stalled in the Philly area at the 
rate of 2,000 a month, a survey 
made hy the Electrical Assn. of 
Philadelphia shows. 

There were some 18,500 video 
receivers in the area as of Dec. 31, 
the EAJ> said. 

At the same time, WFIL-TV, 
Philly, has revised for the first 
time, its original rate card. New 
rates sire based on a charge of $30(0 
an hour for live telecasts and $150 
an hour for film programs, subject 
to the usual discounts. 



Idea of newspapers with TV station organi-zing their own network 
apparently seems to have been laid to rest. Progenitors of the project 
h.y,f,.-?."?w A^?*'^ n^wspapMs who already have network affiliaiions 
thiough their AM stations prefer to maintain that connection iu video 
ds well- They feel that networks, because of experience and gener^ 
knowhow, will be in a better position to take care of whoever pro- 
grams are needed along with local orighiations and film material, ' 



Young to WPIX Flackery 

Frank Young, former member of 
the N. Y. Daily News broadcasting 
staff, has been named publicity 
chief for WPIX, News' television 
station now under construction. He 
had previously flacked for several 
radio shows. 

News, meanwhile, continues its 
personnel raiding on other stations. 
Latest coup was the signing of Otis 
S. Freeman, former chief operating 
engineer for WABD (DuMont, N. 
Y.), as operations assistant WPIX 

is ^Heduledto so'ifti the air June 

15 ....... . . » 



FmoQi Bad M for tele 
station in Charlotte, N. C. 

Raleigh. March 16. 

Surety Broadcasting Co., oper- 
ator of FM station WIST, Char- 
lotte, has applied 1to the FCC for 
permission to operate a cmnmer- 
cial tele station at Charlotte. 
When the station is in operation it 
\ will use part of the facilities of 
WIST, including the tower on the 
roof of the Liberty Life BMg. 
Much equipment, including mobile 
units for televising sports and 
other public service events, will 
be necessary. 

Application is the fourth to be 
made for a tele station at Char- 
lotte. VfBT has alrea^br been grant- 
ed a construction pennit and ap- 
plications went on file a few weeks 
ago by "WSOC and Inter-City Adv. 
Co. The FCC has .-dlotted tlu-ee 
stations to Charlotte but more may 
be allowed later. Surety Broad- 
casting Co. has also made appU- . 
cation for a 5,000 watt .standard 
radio station. 



WBB's Dallas Tele Bid 

Dallas, March 16. 

An application by city-owned 
WRR £or a television outlet has 
been filed with the FCC. The ap- 
plication is the fourth filed with 
the FCC for three remaininR f<>le- 
vision chamiels allot U'd to the 
Dallas-Fort Worth area. OthWS 
have been filed by WFAA, KIXU 
and Leo Corrigan. 

A hearing on the applieatioris is 
scheduled to be held here on Apru 
13 and 16. 



TELEVISIOIV 



S5 



Vlf s ^700 a Month for Microwave 
Use No EbNTgaioliaseiiert Deal 



• Washington, March 16. 
Ijce of Western Union's new 
Btterowave relay system to network 

irtit PhiUy won't be taaea, if »By, 
SSer on the noiietatwetat af tele 
^Bsees than tbe-phMie compimy's 
Muditf cahle between thesfr points, 
leew^ng to proposed rates which 
wr disclosed here last week. 

Western tfti»on applied for Six 
rtass 2 experimental tmnsmitters 
to wrffwidfe- a two-way revessible 
L]M between New Yoilt and 
tSSy. witii expcctatt«)inE o£.»^g 
ft iaopeeation In tlipe to ease the 
Laror. tale eovesage of the Xtemo' 
BBct ©.OJ*. conventions In the- lat- 
tar cl^. Company *aid it woifld 
aoedfr (in tarfffs to be filled laterV 
awite of $4,7TO a month for video 
use of the relay between 4-to-12 
«ddnifiht sewn-daj-s a-week Extra 
time outsde the 4rto-12 o'doclt 
neriod would be cbaxged at the 
^ o£ $340 an hotir with a 9at 
SZS Itor overthMe use beyond five 
l^tes. No rate was quoted for 
occasional or part-ttme use. 

As a result, unless WU pemits 
several licensees t» share the eight- 
haur-a-day charge, the tele boys 
win still be payinff tbtouij^ the 
nose for network shows; Boosters 
of microwave relic's, including. 
Phiica and Diunont, have been 
plugging them as cteaper sdS 
capaUe of producing Mfther tpial- 
ity images than is possilile on a 
W megacycle cable. 
. A. T. & T„ meanwhile, is ex- 
pected tfr file new tariffs for Its cO' 
« between New York and Wash- 
IuEt<m by April 1. specgying rates 
"subtly under" the $4(H>er-dr- 
cait-fflile monthly charge sabnat^ 
led and witbdiawa lait nimraer. 
Those rates would, have cost a D.G. 
(taticn more than $10,000 a monthi 
for -an eightli^hour-a-day hnokup 
■vritii Hew York. HoweYec WVs rate 
for the same distance would not 
be undercutting the phone com- 
pany's by much if any dough since 
the ^$4,700 a monthr pays for the 
&6-mile circuit between. PhiUy a»d 
New Yoik. And Washington is 
anather husky 141 mDtes from 
l»WMy. WU hopes to cwi^dete the 
NX-Philly loop by June 1. 
. (A proposed radio relay cn:- 
cuit, projected on paper to FCC 
.by Duniont research director T. T. 
Goldsmith, Jr. last June called for 
two-way service between N. Y- 
Pliilly and Washington with stat- 
tions paying an average cost-per- 
hour of ^5.15 for 28-hour>a-wedt 
hookups, GoMsiattb'i- blueprint 
called for tiae^as swvice te five 
othcsF pointsr->Tc«nton„ Beadmg, 
Lancaster, WiSmiinigtOB and Balti- 

Meanwliile, A.T. & T. last week 
applied at FCC for permits to link 
Toledo-Detroit and Chicago-Mil- 
waukee by radio relay for tele net- 
works. Company apparently had 
a change of beai-t in favor of the 
microwave system since as- of No- 
vember '47 it planned to use cable 
to tie these points together. No 
rates were proposed foe the phone 
company tele relay. 

Mh Filmcnift Stadio, 
Recently Up for Sale, 
Ma; Beeome Tele Plant 

Reported several weeks, ago to 
be on the block, Filmcraft Studio 
in the Bronx, N. Y., has attracted 
a flock of prospective buyers in- 
cluding television producer Jerry 
Fairbanks, among others. Plant, 
consisting of two sound stages plus 
Mitchell camera equipment and 
RCA sound apparatus, lighting 
facilities, etc., is being disposed of 
by Soundies Films, Inc., a sub- 
sidiary, of the Mills Novelty Co. 

According to J. A. Tanney, 
Prexy of S.O.S. Cinema Supply 
J-orp., who is handling the sale for 
the Mills mterests,. IBmcraft has 
oeen used by Soundies^ on a long- 
term lease for more than eight 
years for production of some 1,500 
"ions there for eidilbition in Mills 
•ranoram coin projector machines, 
^ce sale of these gadgets has 
discontinued, it is said to be 
no further need for the studio. 

Jim Fumess to WFIL-TV 
, PhUadelphla, March 16. 
\?rR«^'m, ^"mess, Attached to 
Aftp.„"^7, «>d formerly with 
li„„ 'L television department in 
''as been appointed a 
W|mber ef WFlL-TVs producUon 



Term-Touchy James 

Chicago, March 16. 

E. P. H, James, -Mutual vee- 
pee in Chi last week to case 
the tele setup of WGN-TV, 
warned against the use of 
"telephone terminology" in 
describing video. According 
to him the term "network tele- 
vision" is at this time a flat 
misnmner stemming from ra- 
dio's phone hookups. 

As he sees it, tele stations 
eventually vrlU be linked by 
film, corax cable and relay 
transmitters!, Best term to 
cover this combination, he 
says, is not "network" but 
"national television service." 



Chi NBC Snags Motorola 

Chicago, March 16. 

NBC's tele sales department 
liere liroke the ice last week by 
getting Motorola on the dotted line 
ftn: as weeks. Firm will bankroU 
15-miaute "Nature of Things" on 
NBC's five station eastesn net, be- 
ginning Apvil 1. 

Show will be spotted Thursdayst 
with Dr. Roy Marshall of the 
Frankliia. Institute giving visual 
lectures on scientific subjects, 
Gonrfain-Cobb is the agency. 



MCs Statbns 




Be on Air Dec. I 



Hollywood, March 16. 
"We'll bwe pictures flying 
thpoagh. the air. by Dec. 1 and our 
televisiMt network on the Coast 
will be anchored at two points." 
That's how ABC's tele prospects 
shaped up to Charles C. "Bud" 
Barry, v.p. in. charge of programs 
and video. .The two anchor paints 
are Los Angeles and San Fran- 
cisco, and by that winter date he 
believes the net will be on its 
megacycle with 2ft hours of pro- 
grams weekly. 

Personnel for .the two .stations 
wiU be gradually engaged starting 
in September, and Barry estimate^ 
that the two new operations wiH 
require 50 engineers and as many 
in other departmental operations 
at each site; 

It wasn't all tele, however, that 
brought Barry to the Coast. While 
he's making a study of the net's 
Hollywood originations as to their 
adaptability to video, he also took 
time out to shop around for new 
broadclast programs. / He's afteir 
two quarter-hour daytime strips for 
co-op clienting and a nighttime 
show for around $4,000 that'll 
bridge the gap between a whodunit 
and drama. If a good comedy show 
;is around and loose he said he 
would be willing to take a gamble 
with it. 

Accompanied here from New 
York by Robert Hinckley, ABC 
vcepee in charge of the Washing- 
ton office, they moved on to Frisco 
before returning east. 



Ayer&iamNew 
LodoesT^Acd 



TV Film Tr<ulers \1a Industry-Wide 
WeeUjr Sei^ oh Cbsch Agenda 



N. W. Ayer ad agency came 
through with another coup this 
week by copping more of American } 
Tobacco's television budget from I 
,the Foote, Gone & Belding agieney. I 
Ayer tagged Lucldes for bank- 1 
rolling of a new half -hour mystery [ 
adventure series^ which is set to 
tee off at the. end of April over an 
as yet- undesignated video web. 

F. C. & B. has long had the entire 
Lucky Strike radiO' budget and was 
expected to handle aU the ac- 
count's tele progi'amming. Ayer 
. came through last fall, however, to 
ink the tobacco firm for a series of 
east coast football games and now, 
in addition to the new mystery 
series, is seeking, to \^ap up 
Luckies on sponsorship of more 
football, games, next fall. 

New seriesv .titled "Barney Blake, 
Police R^orter," is to be pro- 
duced by Ayer in cooperation with 
Wynn Wright Associates. Plans 
call for each, week's show to be a 
complete story in itseH. Eacii 
show will featuEC a cast o£ 10;. with 
Blake and bis -guel-fnehd .the only 
twor permanent members. Giene 
O'Donnell bas been set for the title 
sole. Part of bss glri-fsiend hasn't 
yet been fiUed. 

Ayer is out. aftor the top iradioi 
and tele writers: to'script the' series. 
First has been penned by Max Elu'- 
lich. Hector Chevigny has also 
submitted <a couple of 'outlines and 
is. expected to draw down a writing; 
assignment on at least one .show 



Santa Video 

Used to be a case- of liquor, 
or a Capehart, or something 
like tliat, when a show busi- 
ness personality wanted to pay 
off for a favor. 

Now they giwc each other 
television sets. It's particu- 
larly the vogue in Hollywood 
where, if there's one m the 
house, there is always room 
for another in the playroom or 
upstairs for the children. Lat- 
ter rate among the No. I video 
fans. 



DUDLEY PIC TRAVELOGS 
SET FOR VIDEO BOW 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Carl Dudley has peddled a 
travekjg serira to? NBC, produced 
long before any deal was started. 
Filmer is culling the 26 weeks of 
film from his "This Land of Ours" 
and "This World of Ours" series, a 
number of which Warners has re- 
leased for theatres. Video bow is 
slated for May on a once-weekly, 
quarter-hour basis. 

Producer plans shaping all his 
future travelogs toward video also, 
patterning them for quarter-hour 
shows to which commercials may 
be added. Aim is to steer dear of 
long shots, etc., and they will be 
made With two tracks)— -one for 
music and the other for soimd ef- 
fects and narration only, with an 
eye peeled PetrtUo-watd. Dudley 
and aides go to Europe May 15 for 
more footage. 



Set Sale in Ckcy Ar^ 
On Sbarp Upbeat; Reds' 
Baileasts Big Factor 



Set;SciaydeFor 
Mapr Reels Seen 

Current stress teing laid op the 
development of - a; top hewsre^ 
<acftw by WPIX, fiirthcom^ tele-^ 
vialdn station of thesN. Y. Daily 
News, is expected to result in stfflF, 
fcOmpetition for the major tele reels 
now on the air, at least as far as 
local coverage is. coneernedl WPIX 
station manager Robert L.. Coe de^* 
clared last week that hiss program- 
ming wguidn't be "nesvs-heavy," 
but exjperience of the newspaper in 
its daily Work is expeeted ta give^ 
it an edge over cmnpeting statkms 
newswise. 

Formal organization of the 
WPIX film department, whteh in- 
cludes the newsreel operatien, was 
set this week, with Coe assigning 
James S. PolIad^ former esifec with 
several of the major film eompan^ 
ies, to head up the department.'. 
Comprising the film rdiatibns de- 
partment, newsreel editing and lo- 
cal newsreel, the new setup wi^ 
cover all phases of film operations, 
; procurement 6t flltfi, leasing' and 
processing of newsteels and rela- 
tions with all picture prochiction 
outfits. 

E. T. Woodruflf, former DuMont 
film manager, takes over the film 
relations department. Local news- 
i-eel setup is to be- supervised by 
Walter Engels, member of the 
Cincinnati, March 16. News picture staff for 14 years. 
Sales of television sets in the ' J^inies Frezzollni, former elec- 
Cincy area, which have increased i tiofjjcs engineer with the N. Y. 
smce Feb. 9 when Crosley's ^ai'^ Mirror, assisting. Depart 



WJL.WT, the onis video station 
&ere, switched front «3(perimental 
to conunereial operation, are gain- 
ing additional momentum because 
of the subsequent announcement 
that 34 of the Reds' baseball games 
are to be televised this season. 
Many of the new buyers are keep- 
ers of taverns. Apother important 
factor in the upswing is that deal- 
ers are now able to obtain receiv- 
ers in quantities sufficient for im- 
mediate installation, the manufac- 
turers getting ahead on production. 

Still further boosts of sales are 
expected after April 1 when 
WLWT jumps its power from 500 
to 50,OM> watts via transfer of 
transmission from the old experi- 
mental setup atop Carew Tower in 
the downtown section to a high- 
gain antenna on a 571-foot tower 
in a hilltop location overlooking 
the basin of the city. 

Justin R. Duncan, acting direc- 
tor of television operations for the 
Crosley Broadcasting Corp., main- 
tains a progressive score on tele- 
vision sets installed in a 40-mile 
area serviced by WLWT. Names 
and addresses of owners are fur- 
nished by dealers and also by the 
owners direct to the station for 
free service on mailing of a week's 
daily program schedules. 



ment, including seven newsreel 
photogs, is to- be; responsible lor' 
newsreel coverage in the N. Y. 
area Fact that the -News has made 
no arrangements to date for na- 
tional and foreign coverage- indi- 
cates the station will depend on 
outside sources for that material. 

Chief of the newsreel editing de- 
partment has not yet been named. 
Setup so far includes Paul Keough, 
an editor, and Agnes Moss; cutter. 



Southland Industries' 
400G Texas TV Bid 

San Antonio, March 16-. 
Southland Industries, Inc., own- 
ers and operators of WOAI and 
WOAI-FM have filed application 
witii the FCC tor construction of a 
television outlet here. It would 
liave an eftective radiation power 
of 25,000 watts and would service 
an area 60 miles radius of this 
city. 

Application calls for a construc- 
tion expenditure of $400,000. 



NBC WRAPS UP GOLF 
TEERIGHTSF0R5YRS. 

NBC last week wrapped up ex- 
clusive radio- and television rights 
for the next five years to all events 
spoiisored by the U.S. Golf Assn. 
First event to be covered under the 
pact is the National Open, sched- 
uled for June 10-12 in Los Angeles, 
with Bill Stern handling the narra- 
tion. 

Events will be filmed for tele- 
vision pending e.vtending of cur- 
rent networking facilities to their 
sites,, all of which are how be- 
yond the reach of NBC'S east coast 
web. 



CHI TRIBUNE IN PACT 
WITH lATSE ON TELE 

Chicago, March 16. 

Pact between the Chicago Trib- 
une tele station, WGN-TV, and 
Local 110 of the- International Al- 
liance of Theatre and Stage Em- 
ployees was inked here last week. 
Contract, which goes in effect 
March 22, calls for hiring one 
motion picture operator at $132 
for a five-day week. 

Pact with the cameramen's un- 
ion. Local 666 of lATSE, is still 
pending. WGN-TV last month an- 
nounced that Chicago Tribune staff 
photogs would be assigned to news- 
reel coverage. Staffers have no af- 
filiation with Local 666, which has 
jurisdiction over newsreels. 

WBKB, pioneer tele station in 
Chi, has long-standing contracts 
with both Local 110 and 666. WGN- 
TV is set for its formal bow early 
in April. 



Concerted pitch for film produ* 
cec&to trailerfze their product over , 
television in a> weekly series, of ; 
shoiws' on an industry-wide level 
will be made soon by indie pack-*,, 
age producer Martin Gosch. With , 
a few details left to wrap up before 
teeing off his "Tonight on Bi-oadr , 
way" series, which trailersizes tlie 
legit stage, Gosch declared last 
week that he would head for the 
Coast as soon as "Tonight", takes . 
ttie air to show the film prodHceni . 
how the same format can be 
adapted 'for their needs. 

"Tonight," meanwhile, is slated 
to tee off April 6 on the CBS web 
under American Tobacco* (Lucldes) 
sponsorship. Deal, set through the 
Foote, Cone &. Belding agency, 
calls for tlie first in the series to 
feature actual seenes and inter- 
views with the cast, producers ami : 
director of "Mr, Roberts" direct ' 
from the Alvin theatre, N. Y. Chief 
obstacle remaining in Gosch's path 
is the setting of an agreement with 
the International Alliance of The- 
atrical Stage Employees on wage 
scales for the stageiiands. Settle- 
ment of the problem is expected te 
set a pattern for the entire lA- 
scales for all futm-e tele opera- 
tions.. »■ 

Special waiver on Actor Equity's 
ruling of cliarging a full week's pay 
for any show televised directly 
from a theatre was granted to 
Gosch. AU Equity members, taking .' 
part in the "Tonight". series are to- 
receive $'75y whicA ineUid!es> the 
half-hour air time and two hours 
of rehearsal, plus $6 per hour for 
any time osver tiiat. "It is: the 
opinion of the (Equity) council," 
according to Equity prez Clarence 
Derwent, "that the nature of this 
program warrants special consid- 
eratum, since it i& 'Oibvibua that 
Equity members and the tiheatre as 
a whole have much to gain arMs' 
■tically and economically from this 
merging of the two great mediunts 
lof entertainment." 

Gosch declared the budgets on 
each show vwuld be elastic, adding 
that there are no big program 
profits involved, since most of the 
money would go into union fees^ 
and scales. Format also is elastic, 
with Gosch hoping to expand the- 
program to encompass all the fac- 
tors "which make- up Broadwayt" 
Thus, the show eventually may 
take in out-of-4own legit openings, 
summer strawhatters, the drama 
critics' award dinner, etc, Gosch 
believes tiie show, by whetting the 
public's appetite for legit, will lure 
new theaixe-gQ'ers and also bring . 
back; those who have dropped out 
since the war's end. It will also 
further an interest in the legit the- 
atre, since the show is to be carried 
over pSS' four-station web. 

CBS, incidentally, also came 
through with a waiver to make the 
new series possible. Web has- long 
had a strict ruling against any 
show on atdouble-'commercial basis. 
Since "Tbnight" will plug both 
Lucldes and the legit plays, it 
would fail in that category. CBS 
set aside the rule, though, on tlie 
assumption that this show "may 
well prove one of the more signifi- 
cant milestones" in tele's history. 



Racket-Busting Video 

New 15-minute television show 
titled "Rackets Are My Racket" is 
being whipped into shape by pro- 
ducers of "Television Fashions on 
Parade," currently aired Friday 
nights over the DuMont web. 

New series is . to feature police 
sergeant Ardrey Walsh of Rldge- 
field Park, N. J., in a dramatized 
expose .of card sharks, dice 'games, 
etc. Show will bow in over WABD 
(DuMont, N. Y.) starting next 
month. 



Twin Video-AM Pitch On 
O'Hanlon hy B. L. Schuhert 
Points Up the New Trend 

Indicating the extent to which 
television has caught the fancy 
of radio executives, Radio Artists 
Corp., indie package outfit headed 
by Bernard L. Schubert, Is now 
auditioning shows with a twin 
video'AM pitch. 

• Schubert returned from the ■ 
Coast last week with an audition 
platter for radio cut by Georg» 
O'Hanlon, star of the Joe Mc- 
Doakes series of Warner Brosv 
shorts titled "Behind the Eight 
Ball." With two of the. shorts re- 
duced to l'6in film, the prospective 
sponsor will be shown a typical 
McDoakes film so that he' can see 
the possibilities, of O'Hanlon for 
tele. Immediately after the film is 
screened, the platter is run so- 
that O'Hanlon can be-^ heard in*-* 
direct radio audition. 

Series of shorts have' been pro^ 
duced . by Warners since'^ 1942. 
Eighteen have been turned ■ out so ' 
far and one of them has been nom- 
inated for an Academy Award this, 
year. 



3 vote ! 



Here's a revolutionary notion— letting thig listeners, of people, 
get into the act of medal-pinning in Radio. But there it is— Radio 
Mirror magazine has (ust done it— in the first nation-wide listener's 
poll. And it turns out that Radio's most intense fans, who listen to 
Radio most devotedly, and who love it best— jump by the thou- 
sands at a chance to vote for their ffiivorites. 



And they vote CBS 



Thirteen "firsts"—as many as for ali other nefworks puf together 
—went to CBS^programs or personaiifies. 

' And here they are-the PEOPLE'S choicet 



FAVORITE RADIO PRQGRAMt ARTHUR GODFREY ' 
-for iwo show* —both CBS-creofed Poclcog* Progroni* 
-Gorffroy'c ChesferfieM Show and "Talent Scoutt" (Upton) 

FAVORITE NEW PROGRAM FOR 1947: "MY FRIEND 1RMA" 
—again a CBS-cr«at*d Poclcago Show (Swan Soop) 

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER; VIC DAMONE 

-fir^t notionoffy spof/ighfed by CBS on "Talent Scouts" 
"now starring on "Saturday Night Serenade" (Pet ^Ailk) 

FAVORITE DRAMATIC PROGRAM: LUX RADIO THEATRE 

FAVORITE COMiDIENNE: JOAN DAVIS (CBS Co-op) 

FAVORITE HUSBAND-VVIFE TEAM: OZZIE AND HARRIET 
(/ntornationa/ SiYycrJ 

FAVORITE FEMAU VOCALISTt DINAH SHORE (Phifip Morris) 

FAVORITE SHbV^ FOR CHILDREN: "LET'S PRETEND" 
-anofhcr CBS Package (Cream of Wheat) 

FAVORITE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM: THE CBS AMERICAN 
SCHOOL OF THE AIR-CBS-creafed, now in its l»th year 

FAVORITE COMMENTATOR: LOWELL THOMAS (ivory Soap) 

FAVORITE DAYTIME SERIAL ACTOR: KARL SWENSON 
-of "Our Gal Sunday" (Anacin). Also appears on NBC 

FAVORITE DAYTIME SERIAL ACTRESS: BETTY WINKLER 
"* of "/Jo»tmary" (Ivory Snowj 



Looks like more proof of CBS' winning ways 

. . . in programs that please most (CBS-created and produced 
Godfrey Shows, Irma, mr.ace and JANE, Suspense, Abe Burrows, 
Studio One, Hoagy Carmichael ... all evidence of CBS' comr 
manding lead in creative programming) 

...in programs that deliver most (CBS leads all networkr in 
size of audience delivered for each advertising dollar spent for 
time and talent) 

... in programs that serve mbst , . . the great CBS documentaries^ 
the unmatched CBS news service, the powerful lineup of .public 
affairs broadcasts . . . all have helped win for CBS such recog- 
nition as that of the New York Times, which has labelled CBS 
programming "far and oway the leader" 

Columbia Broadcasting System 



38 



RADIO 



Code Ud Be Giudepost Not Cop, 
B. I). h^sMn h Told in Hot Se^ 



Boston, March '16. 

Signiflcancff of tbe Stitncrai-ds of 
Practice set up in the new NAB 
■code came under plenty of scrutiny 
here last week at Founder's Day 
Institute of BostffiD Univ. Consen- 
sus seemed to be "it should apply 
to everybody but me." 

Session was presided over by 
Justin Miller, NAB prexy, in a 
roundtable discussion as part of 
the Institute's four-way series, of 
panels on public relations^ journal- 
ism, radio and films. Programs 
were presented by B. Xr.'s new 
school of public, relations. The 
NAB code discussion (teEered Har- 
old £. F6II0VIS, '^geneial' Tnaiiager of 
W^EI; Craig Lawceuee', general 
manager of WCOP, and Ted Cott, 
manager of WK&W. 

Cott told' of the kdije's battle to 
Ket iiito the NAB idatform, c^agnl- 
ally drafted, .without the indier 
viewpoint at all. He complained!' 
the indies slitl don't have enough 
time to sell their time buyer's 
products, the 20-secbnd NAB ree- 
ommendatioa being too little time 
for rural inffies^ whifch have differ- 
ent audiences : at)d> >diS'e]renf; j^db- 
lems. Claimed tltejr Beeiied.«t least 
a minute. " 

Lawrence said much ' the same 
tiling, stressing the need tor flexi- 



bility in tbe code. Standard alloiv- 
anccs were impractical, he said, 
and the code should be a guide> 
post, not a cop. 

Fellows, a member of the 
ScreeniiMS Committee^ outliBed 
difficulties of preparing a code; 
and said a new proposed documeiXt 
being readied for consideration at 
the NAB convention in Los An- 
geles in May, is a detailed . guide 
fbr broadcasters; in specific areas. 
He said it incorporates the major- 
ity suggestions and criticisms of 
originaUy propctsed standards. Tliis 
will be published at least 30 days 
before tite eonvention. 



Pop Program Ffller 

I^nidetttiat Insurance Co. is con- 
sidering a pop music show this 
year as summer replacement for 
its regular '^Fanuly Hour." It'll 
give tbe idea a tayont, with Joan- 
Edwards as guest star for the 
April 18 broadcast. Previously, 
the account has sponsored light- 
classic music over the summers, 
as^aiwarm. weather change of paee 
fttHB its semirconcert format .of 
the regular season. 

Benton. & Bowles is the agency. 



Army Disks-Cue WNEW 
Series to Hypo y^est 
h Foreigi LaHgiiages 

Novel half-hour series to try to 
interest Listeners in learning for- 
eign languages is the latest pro- 
gram idea at WNEW, N.Y. indie. 
Shows will be built around records 
used by the Arrpy during the war 
to supplement "Spoken Language" 
ins.truction books for troops going 
'Overseas^ ' 

WNEW program veepee Ted Cott 
went to the Ameriean Council a£ 
Learned Societieii to jiet air rights 
to the records. Olenry Holt pub- 
lishing house reeeAtly brought out 
postwar editiotts of. the "Spoken 
Language" manuals.) Both records 
and books were prepared for the 
Army by I>r. Henry Lee Smith, 
now head of the State Dept.'s for- 
eign language division, who, when 
he was at Brown Univ. in the eariy 
'40*8, emceed a Mutual' show called 
"Where 1 Are Yon FrMn?" 

WNEW series wont be auned at 
actually teaching languages via air, 
but rather at exciting enough in- 
terest to lead listeners to pursue 
study of various tongues. A name 
guestar will be brought in each 
week as "guest student" to parlez- 
vous with the emcee of tfie pro- 
gram. Station: probably will invite 
Ksleners' to vote on which' lan- 
gosges they're most interested in, 
and follow througli with a 13-week 
series on each language. 





WLWT, Crosky Broadcasting Cor- 
ponfion's television - service for 
Cincinnati, began commercial 
operation on February 9 and on 
f-ebruary I S a-^spei^al T-Day cele- 
bration was observect throughout 
the Queen City. - 

Tefevisfon is not nev/ to Crosley 
or Cincinnati. We est abVished one 
of the first -television stations in 
the United States in April. 1939, 
under the call letters W8XCT. Ex- 
perimenlat teievisIoR faMtadeasting 
has been conducted continuously 
since t-hat date, interrupted only 
by the war. ' 

Now, after years of experimen- 
tation — ^training personnel de^^ 
oping programming and technical 
teclmiquesH-we are ready to pro- 
vide Greater Cincinnati with the 
finest television service posable< 
under an expanded^ commercial 
operation. 

The newest, most modern tele- 
vision transmission equipment 



available witt, within a few weelcs, 
be sending the-sigHt-and-sound of 
WLWT. This new transmitter plant 
will deliver one- of the strongest 
effective radiated television sig« 
nals in the worldi assuring an 
even finer, more dependable 
service. 

The Crosley Broadcasting Cor- 
poration is proud to have estab- 
lished the first television service in 
Ohio and Cincinnati. We believe 
televisioA ' inevitably will become 
the world's greate&t medium for 
mass commurricatipn. And not only 
can it be expected to provide the 
greatest and most effective ad- 
vertising medium yet conceived, 
it must also contribute immeasur- 
ably to the broad fields of enter- 
tainment, education and religion 
within the' home. 

WLWT Rate Card No. 1. and 

we believe television's most un- 
usual rate card, is now avaitabfe 
upon recfuest.^ 




TELEVISION SERVICE OF THE NATION'S STATION 



Radici Mr the Sombrero 



Coatinnea tfm face S3 



gross. Later averages about $17,- 
000, with a'eohtlnuous-run policy. 

The Cubanos are suckers for 
soap operas — ^bot of the more emo- 
tional, Latino type, with adultery, 
as tbe chief «oi|>eon In Story con- 
tinuity. Todt^ iKtarly 60% of 
CMQ networic. programming iS; 
dramatic fare, mostly cross-the- 
lioard soap opera stuff. Wben he 
first took over the station in 1943 
Mestre tried adapting into Spanish 
the Americano serials for the 
Cuban audience, but it was no dice 
from the start. Listeners com- 
plained it was dull. As Slestrie 
says: "Tbey lik« it dean,, btit 
thexe's 'isot to be plenty M xdid- 
tery." Thvy havent caught up. 
witti disk jockf^ as yet down 
here. . 

Colgate, General Foods and 
Procter & Gamble are among 
U. S. bankroUers splurging in 
Cuban radio, but 60% of the total 
billings comes from local spots. 
As he woos more jmd more listen- 
ers into the CMQ fold, Hestre has 
hiked bis rate card nine times 
during his regime. But you can 
still bu.v a half-hour time segment 
for $136. That permits the client 
two minutes of commercials. 

One of the major ripleys of 
Cuban radio is the fact that its 
5QO;000 radio homra soinport 8$ 
statimns, 33^ of tiiem in Havana, 
with its 9(HK<)00 popolatiott. (That 
compared with New Tozlc- metro- 
politan axea^ 28 stations.) 

With CMQ and its top rival, 
BHC, grabbing off 90% of tlie 
Cuban audience; the other 70 sta-< 
tions; share the remaining 10%. 
In contrast fvith CMQ (a 25kw 
station) running tbe .show in- 
Havana, a* majority of the 33 
Havana stations -are .strictly 100* 
250 watt a3BE>4«-crind politico out- 
lets operating el||^t„ nine- or 10 
boors a day and utilized far 
propaganda purposes. .-Hooper's 
noii!«fficial . covmtcrpart on the' 
island claims that many of these 
stations play strictly to- an audience 
comprised ol the owner's family 
-and circle of friends. 

Down here tliey editorialiic all 
over the lot, take positions on 
electiona,. etc. The only Commu- 
nist Party station in North Amer- 
ica is located here. It's Radio 
Milledias. 

Stormy Petrel Chibas 

UnAitcstionably . the most color- 
ful mike personalis on the island 
is Sen. Eduardo Chibas, who does 
a weekly Sunday night broadcast 
over CMQ. Parlay Henry Morgan, 
ex-Mayor LaGuardia and Huey 
Ijong— 'and you've got Chibas, who 
boasts a Sunday night audience 
compai-able to Winchell-s in the 
states. He'll challenge his ene^ 
mies to duels. He questions the 
virility of bis <qiponents. No 
charges can be too . spectacular. 
Last year he was all for President 
Grau. Today he has no iime for 
liim; calls him effeminate. 

Grau, incidentally, was among 
the notables who attended Friday's 
official opening, on the day that 
CMQ became 15 years old. <Mestre 
and his brothers own two-thirds 
of the station, witli Arturo Combo, 
one of the original- founders,, hold- 
ing the remaining third.) Cttbans 
say that the President's hour-long 
speech was reminiscent of 200 
others he's adlibbed on the mike, 
all around the central theme that 
"Cuba-ism is love." For CMQ he 
threw in an addenda; the Radio- 
centro is symbolic of all progress 
in Cuba. 

The building is the last word in 
ultra-modernity, even in terms of 
XJ. S. architectural, last-word-in- 
equipment standards. In addition 
to the 11-studio station Itself, 
there's a lO-stoi-y office building, 
tlie Warner-leased theatre, restau- 
rants, a nightclub on the roof, 
shops and promenades. And it's 
strictly a Mestre Bros, "package 
deal" with Abel and Luis moving 
their- assorted enterprises (drug 
business, advertising agency, man- 
ufacturers repres^tative and food 
manufacturing business) into the 
edifice. The *3.00f0.000 financing 
was done principally by Luis and 
Abel, "among Cuban investors," 
tliey add. There's talk Oiat a lot 
of the- coin came from NBC, with 
which CMQ is affiliated, but 
mostly on a goodwill basis, sinCe 
mere are only occasional shortwave 
pickups. However. NBC execs in 
attendance for the opening say 
"•faint so," that a»far as financing 
goes, it's strictly « Cuban enter- 
prise. 

New^ station hadn't even opened 



before Goar Mestre got his initial 
payoff. A Havana brewer, spends 
ing $75,000 a year on the rival 
KMC, went into a tailspin when h^ 
gandeted the client's booth in the 
**Ji«2J?^'*, studios. If you bankroU 
a CMQ show, it automaticaUy per- 
mits yoa, to bring your famUy and 
friendst into the booth to watch 
the program. Brewer thought that 
was swell. So he switched his 
business over to CMQ. 



Fenme f 'casters 



ContintHKI from page » 



whi<^ he said in substance : "Been 
hearing a lot of talk about you 
gals being dissatisfied with your 
role in NAB. You've been want- 
ing to get out on your own, wor- 
ried about money, etc. Now. if you 
gals wfll set up a committee to 
work with ns. . , ." 

In. a retaliatory mood, the 
femmes kudosed Miss Lewis, nam- 
ing her an honorary lifetime AWB 
officer; then, to stymie any con- 
centration of control in WasWng- 
tott, elected officials representing 
various . gcograplifcal areas. A 
li.Jsan committee, as suggested by 
Willard, was chosen on a similar 
basis. NAB was. advised of the 
elections, but weeks went by witli- 
out acknowledgment. The meet- 
ing call this week was tbe first 
the liaison committee had heard- 
firom NAB. 

Fcoumes: Polled 

Meantime.^ some district veepees 
of AWB. on their own, had begun 
polIing^ femmes o£ their respective 
areas_pii their feeling About pull- 
ing out at NAB. As it.stands, they 
pointed out, AWB is doing nothing. 
Women of non-NAB stations can't 
belong to AWB. Closing of tlie- 
Nv Y. office has cut the fenune 
broadcasters tOt ttom many con^ 
tacts. 

AWB has associate membeis 
among women in organizations 
using radio, such as the Red Cross 
and YWCA, industries such as tlie 
grocery manufacturers, and in ad 
agencies. Under the old setup, as- 
sociate members, before making a 
trip, could call on Miss Lewis in 
N. Y. and ask, "Who are the wom- 
en in Central New York radio?." 
for instance, get a list and take off. 
Meaiktime. Miss Lewis wrote these 
women broadcasters, adviiied them 
so«and-so would be in their city 
on such a date, etc. It was. in the 
AWB'ers' estimation, a prime liai- 
son anA most effective. 

Typical of the stories passing 
among the AVm'ere is one about 
a newly elected veepee who, at 
some trouble, managed'to get hold 
of a copy of the AWB constitution, 
which she found larded with such 
nifties as: "NAB must appoint «r 
fill the office of second vice presi- 
dent." 

Typical apparently of the senti- 
ments of many AWB'ers is that of 
a key network exec, who said this 
week; "I'll never attend .another 
AWB meeting unto, they sti^* treat- 
ing us like step>children." 



JERSEY Wmim VOTE 
FOR RAIHO INSTITUTE 

An annual Radio Institute pat- 
terned after the New Jersey News- 
paper Institute at Rutgers- (state 
university) was voted by the newly- 
formed N. J. Broadcasters Assn. at 
its annual spring meeting in 
Asbury Park, N. J., on Saturday 
"(13). W. C. Moreland, assistant to 
Rutgers' prexy. in presenting tlie 
plan, pointed out such a program 
would provide an effective sound- 
ing board' for the radio business in 
getting its ideas ajpross to sesidents 
of the state. 

He also cited that it would serve 
an educational purpoise in training 
Rutgers undecgrads interested in 
radio as a career. 



WJBE's Hockey VlajaS Scoop 
Detroit, March 10. 

WJBK has grabbed off the De- 
troit franchise to air 1948 Stanley 
Cup hockey playoffs of Detroit Red 
Wings, tentatively set for March 
23. Pact also cinche.s 1948-49 sea- 
son hockey broadcast for this sta- 
tion. ■■■ 'y." ■ 

Sponsored by Dodge Dealers of 
Greater Detroit, the account was 
handled by local Buthrauif Si RyaA 
office. 



W«siaMI«ff, Mart* 17, 194« 



BABIO BBVIEWS 



39 



RKVERK ALL-STAB EEVUE 
With Andy Rassell, Marion Hutton, 
the Pled Pipers, Ray Sinatra's 
ocoh; Tobe Reed, announcer 
Writer-Director-Produeer: Myron 
. Dutton 

15 MIns.: Thurs,, 8 t.m. (EST) 

J8bvere camera 

flataal, ftom Hollywood 

(Rocfie,Willitt7ns & Cleary) 
Successor to the Jan August 
•how this merry little musical 
vAckage got away to a start last 
week (11) which had the earmarks 
of t<»grade "supper club" fare. It's 
bv far the classiest pop musical in- 
terlude to bit the MBS slcein re- 
cently, and the web needs such 

"^Arldy RUHtell teed oft . the voeal- 
feing with the oldie, "Best Things 
In Life Are Free," with an assist 
from the Pied Pipers, and swung 
Into an easy duo with Marion Hut- 
ton on "Gimmie a Pttle Kiss" After 
she'd piped "But Beautiful" in nice 
form. In a second number, she sold 
"Manana" niftily with some origi- 
nal verses. Signoff, immediately 
following,, cleverly worked show 
Credits and closing commercial into 
"Manana" tempo. 

one of the pleasant added fea- 
tures of the stanza, in fact, is its 
eoucliing of much of the song« 
bridging talk in versified chatter. 
Chatter on shows of this tspe is 
apt to be pretty inane, anyway, and 
lt:s more digestible gigged up in 
rhyme. Mid-commercial , easy to 
take, was in 1iii£- vein, too, with a 
"To malce it clear, you want a Re- 
vere" catchline and a musical tag. 

All toldv a pleasing dish. Doan. 



BOATING FOR FUN 
With U. E. Jamison 
IS Mins., Tliur., 10:15 pan. 
BftTANTS MARINA 
KIBO, Seattle 

Back on the air with shhownian- 
like stories on the beauties of 
small-boating in Puget Sound wa- 
4ers, H. E. Jamison, locally w.k. 
Wateiiront Beporter, does a fine 
j0b in delineating the joys and 
scenes that are available to boat 
owners in the Pacific Nortliwest, 

Jamison knows whereof he 
speaks and Ms yams hold inter- 
est right from the start. A rich 
voice, plenty of good materia', and 
nice pacing add up to a quarter- 
hour that is right down the alley 
in. an area where small-boatmen, 
both commercial and amateur, are 
41$ thick as clams on a Hood Ciinal 
■hftach. Rei;cl. 



ADVENTURES IN READING 
With Edwin H. Bronner, Edwin 

Fadiman, Jr., Robert Knhn 
Producer: Bronner 
15 Mins.; Fri., 8:15 p,m. 
Sustaining 
WEVD, N. Y. 

Idea behind this new package 
assertedly is to "present a top au- 
thor, editor, critic, et al., each 
week to discuss and read an ex- 
cerpt from his favorite forgotten 
book"— a bookt. that should have 
been widely read but somehow 
wasn't. Guesting for the show's 
second stanza was author Robert 
Kuhn. 

Analysis of such a topic un- 
doubtedly provides excellent raw 
material for sparking Ustener in- 
terest and its only natural for a 
flood of words to pour from the 
studio discussions. Therefore^ if 
the identity of the individual par- 
ticipants were more carefully 
pointed out to the dialer it would 
considerably clarify just who is 
doing the commenting. 

Kuhn's "forgotten" tome was 
Stella Benson's "The Faraway 
Bride.'* As one of the trio meta- 
phorically recalled, "she dredged 
the words fitan her heart and left 
them bleeding on her desk^" It's 
a story of a young boy living in 
China, Kuhn explained, but added 
that essentially it's a book of char- 
acterizations rather than plot. He 
read a brief extract with feeling, 

Writer-pubUcist Edwin Bronner, 
who owns the paclcage, observed 
that the book had good notices' but 
somehow failed to click. In 
weighing the pros and cons of 
these volumes each week- it might 
be more interesting to dwell a bit 
more on just why these "forgot- 
ten" books were forgotten. Joint- 
moderator of the program is Ed- 
win Fadiman, Jr., book reviewer 
for a number of publications. 



Thanks From An A.M. Listener 



■ By JOE LAURIE, JR.' 



BEAT THE BRAIN 
With Jack Douglas 
30 Mins., Mtonday, 8:3A i^m. 
BENDIX RADIO 
KRSC, Seattle 

Tbis newest of local quiz shows 
has a good format in the contest 
l>etween the audience and "The 
Brain," who was Emmet Watson, 
local sportswriter, on the show 
caught. Jack Douglas, owner of 
the idea, handles the quips and 
questions in nice fashion. 

Chief appeal lies in the sports- 
manlike' manner in whicli show is 



Must report a very pleasant couple of hours (which seemed like 15 
minutes) Saturday night (13) on WOR when Jack Lescoulie interviewed 
Howard Lindsay. For here was a little something out of the- ordinary 
for listeners, Have heard hundreds of interviews; if you don't believe 
me I can show you the marks on my radio dials where I turned them 
off. But here was something different, a hep platter-jockey who knows 
his stage, interviewing a- very hep and successful playwright, actor, 
producer, manager, director and radio narratSr, Howard Lindsay. He 
didn't tell you how great he was, or what's wrong with the stage and 
pictures and radio. He didn't tell you how smart he was because he 
happens to-be a very rich man via the theatre. He didn't spend half 
the interview telling about his new play and his future plans. 

Instead he told Lescoulie that he was really a very bad actor for a 
long time after he started and realized it. He told about taking up 
stage managing, then doing a bit of scribbling, then going back to 
acting because he had to make a liying. He stated that it was his 
fault that Damon Runyon's "Slight Case of Murder" wasn't a hit. He 
told about his partner and collaborator Russell Croi(se arguing out 
lines that should go into a show when they are writing and that the 
argument is never carried further when the line is rejected or put in. 
He told about how in "Life With Father," he and his talented wife, 
Dorothy Stickney, many times had to fight off the filing to just play 
for laughs — something so dear to any actor's heart, and instead play 
so the audience would believe.them. . 

"If you can't ainuse them, convince- them," is a hunk of sage advise 
from this veteran. He gave the radio actors a boost and told how 
! amazed he is at them when they just walk in and sink their teeth in 
a characterization so quickly. True, maybo legit actnirs get a deeper 
characterization through four weeks rehearsals, but still he takes 
nothing away from the radio actor's ability. 

He gave good sound advise to beginners, not as a sage but as an 
honest guy aiid lover of the- theatre. He dropped a gem 'that many 
actors could use, "Stop before- they want you io!" - ; 

In other words, here was a guy who certainly has made good, finan- 
cially and artistically, just talking-^- sense, He -didn't put on a "modest 
act',' — he- just spoke from the heart, a simple- honest man, a gentle- 
man who doesn't wave his bankbooks and hits over the air. A great 
dieal of credit is due Lescoulie for making his guests feel at ease and 
at home; he is a homey guy and comes over the air that way. My ears 
are still thanldng him and Lindsay both for an early morning treat! 



bandied, with contest clearly be- 
tween the "Brain? and the entire 
audience. Questions ate limited 
to non-technical oneSt an ob- 
viously necessary limitation, and 
those fired at the "Brain" were 
chiefly on sports, Watson did a 
good job, answering about half of 
^e questions, some of which were 
pretty tough. 

The "Brain" gets a chance for 
a comeback at the windup Of the 



program when he asks a "revenge 
question" of the winners. Ques- 
tion was, "who was the first base- 
ball player to become famous for 
hitting home runs?" Answer was: 
Home Run Baker; but the winners 
all muffed it. 

Show is held, at Blue Mouse 
theatre, and looks as though it 
would be a big help in packing 
the house on Monday nights. 

Reed, 



MOVIE STARR DUST . 
With Martin Starr; Fred! Darwin, 

announcer 
Producer: Russ Ambruster 
15 Mins.; Mon., Wed., Fri.. 1 p.m,. 
Sustainine 

WINS, N. y. ^ ^. , * 

Martin Starr, one of radio's vet 
show biz reporters, returns to the 
local airlanes with a snappy, highly 
listenable session of news about 
films and film personalities. A 
colorful gabber, Starr has made a 
wise decision, in eschewing the 
peep-hole style of commentary 
which seems to afflict air reporters 
whenever Hollywood is their beat. 
He's sticking to straight facts about 
Hollywood plus some critical com- 
ments about the latest film releases 
on Broadway. It should appeal to 
film fans even though it hasn't that 
"fan mag" touch. 

On his kickoff- session (15), Starr 
ranged over the pix field covering 
Greta Garbo's future plans to the 
recently concluded Anglo-U. S. 
film agreement. He rang the bell 
for BKO's "I Remember Mama" 
with a rave notice. His windup 
item was a human interest touch. 
He queried Winthrop Rockefeller 
on his plans to counteract the sen- T 
sational exploitation which some 
indie distributors are reportedly 
mapping for the old films in which 
his wife, the former Barbara Sears, 
appeared. 'U«rm. 

LET'S TALK IT OVER 
I With Victor A. ShoUsi' guests 
' .10 Mins., Sun., 9 p,m. 
i Sustainine. 
I WHAS, Louisville 

This Sunday night airing, at a 
choice time, is devoted to a dis- 
cussion of topics of vital interest, 
and at airing caught the subject 
was "Cancer— ^How Far Should 
Radio Go in Discussing It?" Vic- 
tor A. Sholis, station director, was 
the moderator. He explained that 
he received a letter from a woman 
out in the state, complaining that 
the station emphasized "cancer" 
too much, and instilled a "fear 
complex" in listeners. Sholis said 
that radio can't be all things to all 
causes, but the light on cancer was 
important enough to talk about it. 
Incidentally, in years past the very 
word "cancer" was taboo on this 
same station. 

Guests were a local woman who 
wrote a magazine article for the 
Ladies Home Journal titled, "Can-, 
cer— I've Had It," Panel was also 
I (Continued «n page 46). 



the question is: 



WHY SHOULD 
I BUY 



THE ANSWER MAN ?" 




answer: 

Xm During an average week, people in 1,070,612 homes listen 
avidly to the evenhig ''Answer Man." 

2. It's so effective, no sponsor has ever failed to renew it. 

3. It has been on the air in New York for 11 years straight. 

4. It's so popular, it now does noon-and-night duly on WOR. 

5. It's been rated the second most popular IS-minute local 
daytime show. 

6b It's a low-cost show that brings big-time returns. • 

heard toy the most people where the most peopio are 



XO WITS "The Answer Man" answers some 6,000 ques- 
tions a week! Everybody from Board Chairmen to baffled children 
toss queries at him. "The Ansv%er Man" is really a big research 
organization with 10,000 volumes and a list of 20^000 authorities 
to consult. Everybody gets an answer (unless the question is 
unethical). The colorful questions go on the air, the rest are 
answered by mail. The service slices The Answer Man's bankroll 
but pays off in goodwill for you in extra promotion. YOU can 
cash in on that good will, by phoning LOngacre 4-8000 now. 



WOR 



mutual 



by RADIO SALES, Radio Stations Representative ... A Division of CBS— New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, San Francisco, Memphis. 



Wedniewby, Bbuirli 17« 1948 



ANTA Clears Decks (or Bigtime 
Coml Packages; Molls 'Playhouse' 



The American National Theatre 
& Academy is mulling a number 
of propositions for sponsored 
ANTA radio programs. However, 
tlie entire matter is in tl\e hands 
of C. Lawton Campbell, ANTA 
board chairman and former Gen- 
eral Foods advertising v. p. and 
Ruthrauir & Ryan official, so noth- 
ing will be decided until his re- 
turn from vacation in the south. 

There are three principal ideas 
for ANTA shows, any or all of. 
which could go on the air. In addi- 
tion, ANTA is considering the ap- 
pointment of someone from the 
radio business to.taHe over full- 
time operation of its radio activi- 
ties, on a paid basis. Earle McGill, 
freelance director who has done 
numerous leading programs, is a 
possibility for such an assignment. 
Ho would probably work with 
Howard Teichmann, scripter and 
cuM'ently editor of the "Ford The- 
atre" series Sundays on NBC. 

One of the suggested programs 
would be an "ANTA Playhouse," , a 
half'hour weeMy series originating 
in New York and using freelancfe. 
originals and adaptations; War- 
wick & Lpgler has approached 
ANTA with such a deal, supposed- 
ly representing a cosmetic account. 
According to the proposed terms, 
ANTA would produce the show, 
getting, a stipulated profit starting 
at $5,000 a , week on the package. 
ANTA woufd be expected to sup- 
ply guest stars for the series. This 
angles is understood to have al- 
ready been cleared with the Ameri- 
can Federation of Radio Artists. 

A second proposed series would 
also consist of half -hour dramas, 
but would originate from different 
pities each week. "Wiis would pre- 
sent little theatre, community the- 
atre and college theatre groups, 
and would be m.c.'d by a name 
performer, via remote pickup from 



New York. Such spots as the The- 
atre '48 in Dallas; Barter theatre, 
Abingdon, Va.; Cleveland Play- 
house; Minneapolis Civic Theatre; 
Dock Street, Charleston, S. C, and 
Pasadena Playhouse, would be 
among those aired. 

The idea in this case is that the 
theatre groups would present their 
Iryout productions of new scripts; 
Benton & Bowles is one of several 
agencies reported to have ex- 
pressed interest in siich a series.' 
This proposition, too, would prob- 
ably require an AFRA okay, as the 
local groups would mostly be ama- 
teur. However, this angle is also 
understood already cleared. 

The third general format sug- 
gested would be a sort of experi- 
mental theatre series, to present 
radio versions of scripts submitted 
to the Experimental Theatre, Inc., 
for possible legit . production. It's 
figured such a series would be rel- 
atively inexpensive to put on the 
air. and would pay $l,000-$6,000 
to ANTA. 

ANTA now has a television se- 
ries, which NBC presents intermit- 
tently as a sustainer Sunday nights 
on WNBT, New York; and for 
which it *pays AIWA $300 a week. 



area," Duplication, he explained, 
doesn't require stations- to FM net 
commercials that don't provide 
them with AM revenue. "H your 
station isn't bought for AM," he ad- 
vked, "don't give away your FM." 

Switching to tele, the ABC prez 
urged rapid development of vide 
facilities in markets of 250,000 and 
over. WENU-TV in Chi, he said, 
would.be the net's first 0-&-0 tele 
operation. Present plans call for 
the station to tee off by Sept. 1. 

Dissatisfaction with the web's 
daytime programming was ex- 
pressed by some stationeers, along 
with criticism of the current rash 
of contests and giveaways. Woodfi, 
in outlining the net's progress, re- 
ported that the overall average- 
Hoopcrating in 1944 was 5.9 as 
compared to 7.6 in 1947. 

One-day meet attended by more 
than 100 stationeers from 95 affili- 
ates follows similar sessions in 
Atlanta and New York. Fourth and 
final of the series will be held on 
the Coast in May. 



ft***'** iift tttMl H HOM^ 

Fran the Prodoctioii Centres 



Hiring is Up 

Coiitiniicd from. pii$e 32 



Woods 



^ Continued from page 32 

thetilsif^lves on the outside looking 

in: , ■ ■ . 

Woods described FM as "the 
rubber tire on the steel rim of the 
old buggy wheel." And although 
it's now plusage for advertisers, he 
said that FM rate ' structures will 
go in effect when warranted by the 
growth of facilities. At present, he 
disclosed, 78 of ABC's 265 stations 
have FM. 

Asked what the net planned to 
do if a station failed to duplicate. 
Woods shot back "then we will look 
for a° new FM affiliation in tltat 



and stations in-- October than in 
Pebruajy, '47. More than 10% of 
the fuUtime staffers on 544 "small" 
stations (employing less than 15 
persons per outlet) were doubling 
in brass "and pei-forming duties in 
two or more departments" of their 
stations. 

Average weekly pay for all em- 
ployees in October was $72.40 as 
against $71.50 in February. For 
non-supervisoi'y staffers, the Octo-^ 
ber average was $62.50 and $61 In 
February. A barely perCftptible in- 
crease in the average work week 
was noted from 39.1 hours in 
February to 39.4 in Octolier for 
non-executive employees. 

FCC said, it would shortly pub- 
lish more detailed breakdowns on 
employment and salaries paid on 
the basis of class of station, geo- 
graphic region, size of city, etc. 
Figures, on employment at indie 
FM and for the FM portions of 
joint AM-FM operations will be ii\- 
cluded. 




PoMl W. Merdncy. Vice-Pres — Gen. Mgr. Wglter Johnion. Assitlont Gaa. Mgr.— Sli. Mgr. 

' WTIC''» 50.000 wiatM r«p^ 



lis ISEJF YORK CITY ... 

Al Schacht plattered his WOR sports gab show for the next two Sat- 
urdays so he could take off Monday (15) for St. Petersburg to interview 
N. Y. Yankee players , . . C. E. Hooper off to Arizona to ride a hoss for 
the next three weeks . , . , Pillsbury Mills picked up tab on Bob Trout's 
five minutes of Sunday news on NBC, effective April 4 . . . . Charley Hay, 
wood, assistant music pfof at- Queens ' College who sings in a dozen 

languages, tapped for permanent spot on ABC's "Stop the Music" 

Tucker auto show preeming on ABO shortly is a $218,000 annual time 
billing — George Maynard to produce a new package owned by Qene 
Hamilton called "Music Lovers, Inc." 

Blanche Gaines is agenting a tele sports show created by Don Mankle- 
wicz, N. Y. writer-son of playwright-scenarist Herman Mankiewicz .... 
Young &.Rubicam, for the second time in a few months, has been re- - 
numbered by the phone company. Now it's MU. 9-5000, . . Ernest Sax, 
Vvho's producing the new Cliff Edwards "Jiminy Cricket", package, wag 
severely beaten and robbed on a midtown street corner last Saturday 
(13) midnight.. He-collapsed the following morning after producing a 
couple of State Dept. shortwave shows, and is now in Polyclinic hos- 
pital . . . Mike Jablons again pitching for- the Greater N. Y. Fund as 
radio and special events director, 

Peter Lyon, Radio Writers Guild -exec, due back today (Wed.) from 

the Coast Ed Kbbak postaling* MutuaUtes from Jamaica, B.W.L 

He's due back in his office next Monday (22) .... Allan Stevenson into 
the "Front Page Farrell" cast. , . Sid Rcznick pacted as scripter for the 
new -Jim Backus "Talent Hunt" show on Mutual. , . Jim Cassidy, of 
WL.W, Cincy, in for a few days with his actress frau . . . .Landl trio an . 
addititm to the Bob Hawk show. 

Sid Caesar, of "Make Mine Manhattan" musical legiter, appears on 
Jack Eigen tele show via WABD tonight (17) Susan Peters, wheel- 
chair-confined film actress, east for "StUdio One" presentation, of "One 
More Spring," from the Robert Nathan film story of several seasons ago. 
Walter Huston will guestar in Agnes Eckhardt's adaptation of "Babbitt," 
by Sinclair Lewis, on the March 30 broadcast of the same CBS scries 
. . . .Therese Lewis (Mrs. Hubbell Robinson) back from month's vacation 
in Tucson and adapting the Alice Duerr Miller yarn, "Manslaughter," 
also for "Studro One." Don Ettinger and the scripting team of Norman 
Tokar and Ed Jurist will write the audition for "Our Miss Brooks," 
the Shirley Booth show being readied by CBS/ 

Stanley Burns, announcer on WINS' "Night Club of the Air." fea- 
tured in a newsreel short about the Bronx WMCV prexy Nathan 

Straus carried his story favoring limited editorializing by radio to the - 
Press, Ad and Radio chapter, AVC, last night (Tues.). . . . 
Luther Wood, research director of Sullivan, Stauffer, ColwcU & Uayles, 
sporting a new veepee title. . . Frank Zuzulo, M6S' assistant publicity 
director, papa of a girl born Thurfjday (11) in Bronxville, . . CBS' "Ad- 
ventures in Science" marks its 18th anni March 27 with a talk by Dr. 
Warren S. Thompson, population researcher of Miaiuj. Univ. (Oxford,. 
O.). who was the stanza's first speaker in 1930. 

Ronald Dawson Associates has lined up International Editors Co., 
Buenos Aires, as South American rep. Dr. Hugo Lif ezis of BA outfit 
will translate Dawson's Mystery Series into Portuguese and Spanish . . . 
Jim Sauler showing oft a President's Certificate of Merit, awarded him 
at Governor's Island last week, for his many-faceted wartime enter- 
tainment activities / i . Carl .lampel, scripter of "Archie Andrews" for 
the past three years, negotiated a new 10-year pact with NBC at a sub- 
stantial pay hike. . . Lillian (Supove) Blake, WNYC's news and special 
events director, teaching a radio workshop cla.ss at CCNY. Last 
week's Vaiiikty "Scratch Sheet" on the Mayflower hearings should have 
listed Earle McGill. Radio Director.s Guild prexy, and Ei-ic Barnouw, 
Radio Writers Guild prez, with those favoring "strict enforcement of 
the present ban." 

: New Whittlesey House tome, "How to Be a Successful Advertising 
Woman," edited by Mary Margaret McBride, hit bookstalls yesterday 
(Tues.) , . Jules Alberti, producer of "Patterns in Melody" on WNBC, 
ankling the chore in pi-otest over handling of talent by the sponsor's 
(Maytag) agency. B^rd. Richard & Pound . . Alan MacAteer and Muriel 
Starr into the "Lora Lawton" cast . Abby Lewis. liddie Wragge and 
Henry Neely added to "Young Widder IJrown" .... Don't look for kick- 
off of CBS' radar listening measurement tests until at least June. 

lis HOLLYWOOD ... 

Beryl Wallace, who has spark-plugged Earl Carroll's Vanities for its 
10 Hollywood years, jstarted her own television quizzer.. "Sky's the 
Limit." on KTLA . . Cy Howard, creator and producer of "My Friend 
Irma," wouldn't let himself forget' that he was once "big. stud" in New 
York legit so when Ire heard that Radio Mirrbr had an award for "Irma" 
as "the favorite new show of 1947" he insisted on making the accept- 
ance speech on. his program ... Bing Crosby and Bill Morrow head 
eastward around mid-April so Cros can be on hand when his Pittsburgli 
Pirates open the season. They'll do their last four platters f'oi' PhiUo 
in Big Town to wind up the season. On guest call will be Fred Allen, 
Ethel Merman. Henry Fonda and Alec Templeton . . It's astounding 
to most producers that Bob Redd, director of the Jack Carson show, 
needed an NBC page for a bit and actually hired an NBC page for the 
part Bert Gordon, Ihe "mad Russian" of the Cantor foam-Ja lowers, 
had his own show previewed on KFWB last week. It's a mad comedy 
(hat broadly burlesques whodunits. , . Dennis Day takes his show to 
Washington March 31 to kick-off American Cancer Society s drive for 
funds. . Bill Eddy, Chicago's television pundit, in town to"scoul" 
the Cubs and pick up a little footage oii their training capers NBC'fi 
Mr. Moneybags, John MacDonald. around for a few days of fiscal pow- 
wowing with Sid Strotz on budgets, building expansion, etc Kay 
Kyser has asked the War Department for a month's route of service 
liospitals aiound the country where he'll originate his quiz campus 
Contracts have been drawn for Nelson Eddy to again have the sum- 
mer run of Kraft Music Hall while Al .lolson takes a well deserved 
! rest. . . .lack Benny and his writers won the trade's applause loi- their 
fast rewrite of the show after the "walking man" contest blowoll. 
Tlicy wojked through the night and the following moriiinR ancl came 
up with one of their season's best . . "Corny" .fackson and Ihe frau, 
Gail Patrick, planed down to the Dominican Republic where the 
Thompson Hollywood boss will work out with the Dodgers. Leo 
Durocher, his pal, will have him fitted out in a monkey suit . (ieorge 
Brent moves in as permanent emcee of Mutual's "Leave '11 to the 
Girls", and Binnie Barnes becomes a panel regular .. Walter I.iino 
sampled about everything that's loo.sc and hustled back to Neu Vork 
with about as complete" an index <m programs, people and ideas as 
you'll find in any agency . . It some punster refers to A(iC as "(he 
Mormon Network." it's because tlicre are more than a dozen luembcj-s 
of that faith in liigli positions with ihe web . Da'rlinii of the AKRANS 
is Fjrank, Danzig, who rarely uhcs the same people twice on his xhows 
and bdleves that new faee» in radio are as Important as new faces 
on itie screen. 



ABC's newest program idea 
Sundays 8-9:00 pm est 

Tune in this SundaY Night -Manh 21 

STOP THE MUSIC is a fast, fabulous 
full-hour that's got EVERYTHING 1 It's a 
home audience participation program 
with lively, tuneful music . . . excitement and 
suspense . . . and out-of-this-world 
prizes that will have listeners weak in the 
knees from Winter Haven to Walla Walla. 

Here's the line-up : Bert Parks (of 
Break the Bank fame) is m.c. Plus Harry Salter 
and his 26-piece orchestra and vocalists. 
Plus a top guest star each week who picks the 
telephone numbers to be called. 

As each call goes through, Bert stops the 
music. If the listener identifies the tune, he wins a valuable 
prize— AND a crack at the giant "mystery tune" 
jackpot. Swell fun, swell music, a swell time fctr everyone 
in the family. . . and a swell vehicle for selling goods. 
What more do you want for a sure-fire Sunday night show? 



Noteworthy News for Advertisers! 

STOP THE MUSIC Is available for sponsorship, w/wh 
or in parts! Yaa can get in on a quarter, a half,- 
three quarters or ALL of this Hg new Sunday night 
fun-fest on ABC . . » pfo\aded, of course, you get in 
early! For full detaifs, reach for the phone right 
now. The number in New York is Circle 7-5700— 
Bud Barry's extension: 504. 



ABC 



PROGRAM DEPARTMENT 
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York 



'Opinion-lire' 



CouUnned from page 31 



to-one on Rayhawk's telephone 
poll against the closed shop). 

Boris Shlskin, AFL economist, 
who had appeared on the Novem- 
ber '46 Forum show, formally pro- 
tested airing of "Opinion-Aire" 
with the Rayhawk poll to Mutual 
last week. Shiskin's letter claimed 
Raybawk assumed telephones were 
evenly divided among workers, 
residents, middle and upper 
classes; his poll did not tell how 
many people voted but gave per- 
centages only; it was based on 
opinions expressed before the pro- 
gi'am was over and both sides had 
been heard. Twenty-five telephone 

■ calls from personal friends of an 
"Opinion-Aire" participant could 
throw the poll olT, it was'claimed. 
CIO assistant publicity chief Heni'y 
I'leishej: and Sec.-Treas. Jim Carey 
voiced oral protests on the format 
of the show. 

Rayhawk On Pftn 
Tomorrow night's program is the 
more surprising therefore since it 
will pit CIO attorney, Frank Don- 
,ner, against Ray, Smethurst, gen- 

. eral counsel of the National Assn. 
of Manufacturers, in a discussion 



their backers to phones in Uiose 
towns, a fact which won't «it well 
with the already vo6»l critics of 
the poll technique. These critics 
say the Rayhawk method is okay 
in a popularity or talent contest, 
but is no way to acclurately repre- 
sent cross-section of public opin- 
ion. ' ^ 

Mutual's headaches began in 
earnest when it fixed on a disctis- 
sion of the pros and cons of the 
"Kiirty Party for the sliow's abor- 
tive March 3 prMsn, ScHue 20 per- 
sonages, inctndiag veesbyte Sm. 
Charles St«M|is OD., *Os».), fomM* 
Miimeapolis Mayor Hubert HurupS*- 
reys, Leon Henderson, P*nl Porter 
and several other VlP's, sUff- 
arnied invit«! to mix with Sen. 
Glenn Taylior (D., Idaho), Heniy 
Wallace's v-p. candidate. And Tay- 
lor only agreed to a^iear, it was 
i reported, if he coiild . pick the 
towns to be polled hjj^Rayhawk. 
After two wedks of frantic phon- 
ing. Mutual producer Hotlip Sea- 
vey dropped the Third Piarty issue 
as a forum topic. 

Another obvious reason for .the 
reluctance of public men to ap- 
pear on "Opinion -Aire" is the 
courtroom technique in wMdi 



N.Y. STUNliS HUDDLE 
ON CflfCERfW DRIVE 

Wrapphug up plans ,l6i^ *a un- 
precedented radio promotion in be- 
half of the New York chapter of 
the American Cancer Society, 17 
station managers of N. Y. indies 
and network flagships are meeting 
today (Wednesday) to finalize de- 
tails of their participation. Ses- 
sion, which will also include all lo- 
cal television and FM stations, will 
be addressed by General John 
Reed Kllpatrick, head of IjM; <>n- 
cer Sodety. 

XSnOac curreat pnqpfBisal, alt local 
stations will devote aU available 
time "to the cancer food drive on 
the kidniff day, April ,4. Although 
not unnsoal for individual stations, 
it'll be, the first time that every 
station inll be pulling together on 
the same day for a private organi- 
zation. Plan was; spark-plugged by 
George "Wolf, Foote, Coae & Beld- 
ing fladk who is volunteer chair- 
man o£ the cancer xttS&o commit- 
tee. ' 



of the Taft-Hartley Act. As a con- | speakers have their own oppoamg 



dition of appearing, however, both 
sides are reported to have asked for 
and apparently are due to get from 
Mutiial a list of the cities Ray- 
hawk intends to poll. And both 
protagonists probably intend to get 



m/O'S JHRILUHG 
HALF -HOUR TRANSCRIBED 
DETECT I l/E SHOW! 



"BOSTON 

Railio's greatest point-per-dollar buy! 



attorneys, and must submit to nN^ : 
orous cross-examination witlv u** 
holds barred. The poll is the final 
stsaw which keeps the solons off 
in droves. 

However, Mutual is reported 
considering slapping a suit against 
a New York tele outfit which re- 
putedly lias lifted much of the 
"Opinion-Aire" format whole cloth 
for video. Apparently, the net feels 
the show ""may not he good'^ut it's 
my own." . 



Senler^Bltek 

auHSmati from pise 31 



3 




IN NEW YORK 

C. E, HOOftR MAY.JUNE, 1947 

tjMisbtanlly Btaft All Comptlilion 
on SraOens F/om CoaiMa*Coasl> 



WRITE 




diate plans for replacing the Ives 
show. (Agency, incidentadly, points 
out thatt IliilcOv did not recently 
buy four flattered series produted 
by Fisacy Productions, Hollywood, 
as repoxied, but mer^'^^proved" 
these dMiws for bantaolling by 
Philco distributors on mdividual 
stations.) 

Semler (for Kreml hair tonic) 
has been riding along as a quarter- 
hour sponsor, on Block's 60-minute 
daily. dlsk-<and-gab stint since last 
falL Xbe Imikrolla- has several 
times repoitedly been m veige 
of canodl&ig, one dissattsfactanh 
being that. Until a few weeks 



OLSEH, PMtT OWNER, 
TOHELPFREEMWKOW 

Johnny Olsen is flying to Madi- 
son, Wis., Saturday (20) to par- 
ticipate as a performer on the in- 
augural program service of a sta- 
tion in which he is part owner and 
a board member. It's the 10,000- 
watter WKOW. Olsen started in 
radio in that town 20 yesrrs ago. 
He now emcees Mutual's"Movie 
Matinee." 

The station is feeding an hour's 
program that night to Mutual, with 
Olsen as m.c. and the talent roster, 
including also Eddie Peabody, the 
Honeydrcamers, the University of 
Wisconsin choir arid a 20-piece 
dance band. 



Gue^el 

— Continued from pa(* U sbss 

recognized by NBC when they 
granted us permission to add a new 
type of letter feature that to our 
kQowtedge has never been .done 
before. , : , 

Hcretofim, a million people 
spent hours laboring over a con- 
test entry; ««« are a few win- 
ners, and the rest of the letters 
go in the wastebasket— 3,000,000 
nun boon wasted! 

in imac ®ew contejrt, every letter 
does some good and every letter 
goes to an anlortunate-family over- 
seas to giw them the 'hope and 
encourage0»ent they so 4«iP«)r*tely... 
need— "tanklctters"— , IfaWng the 
average Asiexican citizen imth the 
average Bme^ean. A padbet of 10 
or 15 lettera goes with esdi food 
package ■eat overseas, enailating 
the sayii«, "A gift witltowt the 
giver is iMoe.'" 

So the riddle and the phone 
calls aiad Wg prizes have been es- 
tablished for two years — and the 
letter is different. The only thing 
left is tlie idea of asking for dona- 
tions for CARE packages. Unf* 
ISbe "T or C," we'll »dmit, but alsw 
lilDe dozens of other programs. '39ie 
only thing. we've taken from "t oc 
C" is someUdng Edwards slxmld; 
be proud tS, He's done a loft of 
good for*" lot of people in a big 
way. That inspires ours and a lot 
of other programs to help worthy 
causes. , 

If Edwards knew all the above 
facts lieforehand. I'm sure lie 
wouldn't have complained to HBC, 
who, by the way, has not restricted 
us from further use of the riddle 
or phoning listener's.. 

Just thought you'd like to imow 
1M wiii>ie-«toio^.'." ' > 

Joltn OHedel. 



WWJ, Detroit, Ordered 
To Reinstate Announcer 
As AFRA Wins Victory 

Detroit, March 16. ' 

The American Federation of 
Radio Artists gained an arbitra- 
tion victory Friday (12) when an 
impartial referee ruled in favor 
of Zock Hill, radio announcer, who 
was 'fired from the staft' of WW J 
on Jan. 30 on the bAsis of a claim 
that he was "too inflexiblesi!^ 

An imthediate appeal to Boaze 
Siegel, executive secretary and 
attorney for AFRA brought, swift 
action. When the. station manage- 
ment stood pat on the issue a de- 
mand was made for arbitration. 
Sessions were held Feb. 27 and 
March 12, with David Wolff as um- 
pire. Wolff is also impartial arbi- 
trator In Clirysler-UAW (QIO) af- 
fairs. , 

After heating both sides of the 
case WoMf ruled that the an- 
nouncer should be reinstated and 
that the station pay him his back 
salary in full. 



Co-ops 

Cotttinued from paee 31 



WOR W. YJ was innble to dear 
the'fflodc show owing to the dhdc 
pinner's coDtractual oMigations to 
N. Y. indie, WNEW. 

tHuni^g Block leaves Sraider 
with no «^ bankrolling other than 
the . Mon.-^ed.-Fri. tab on Billy 
Rose's five-tninute gab stint. 

Mutual, despite its tough luck 
in landing bankrolling for the 
Block hour,, claims the show won't 
be dropped for the time being. 
Remains to be seen, of course, 
whether Block, in the wake of 
Semler's pullout, vill renew a re-, 
ported recent efllort to get out of 
the MBS deal. 

Block's Pacific Hooperaiing 
sagged on the latest r^Mt to a 
new loti^ 0^ His top "web rating 
is 2.6. , , 



Holly wo'od 



Woodruff on Old Gold 
Show as Exec Producer 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Frank L; Woodniif, who pro- 
duced and directed "This Is Holly- 
wood" on CBS last season; but ha? 
been doing picture work lately, 
has joined Lennen & Mitchell 
agency here as assistant to radio 
veepee Mann Holiner. He'll move 
in as executive producer on the 
Old Gold Show. 

Woodruff produced such stanzas 
as "Lux Radio Theatre" and 
"Kraft Music Hall" for J. Walter 
Thompson agency in prewar days. 




CoutfanMd Ii'om paKe 33 



April 3, isn't definitely set, but may 
be a revival of "Junior Miss," the 
show Procter & Gamble bank- 
rolled serend seasons ago with 
Shirley Temple. This time, how- 
ever, she woidd not be in the cast. 

Nailing of the Lever billing gives 
CBS a completefSellout of the Sat- 
urday morning sequence save for 
a five-minute news niche at 11 a.m. 
and a Johnson Family Singers 
quarter-hour at 10:15. 

WHP made an issue of the "Let's 
Pretend"-"Escape" sequencing by 
switching off the latter and an- 
nouncing to listeners that "WHP 
feels that the type of story pre- 
sented on 'Escape' should not be 
heard immediately following the 
children's pro^m, 'Let's Pretend.' 
We are, therefom, cutting out of 
the network for the next hall- 
hour." 

In a squawk to the net, the Ilar- 
risburg outlet OHnplained, "Awhile 
back there -was a lot of talk about 
steering tfje more gruesome stories 
away from the Idd audience (a 
campaign which we .thought went 
to ridiculous extremes), but now 
CBS tops anything we've ever 
heard in tlus latest move." 

Web, which also airs an "Escape" 
sequence Sundays at 10 p.m. (this 
one WHP continued carrying), 
hasn't decided whether to slot the 
Saturday ayem edition in a new 
time or drop it. 



Raleigh— Charles 11. Slate, for- 
merly associated with ABBB at 
Burlington, has been named man- 
ager of WILX in North Wilkes- 
boro, N. C. Slate worked with 
WBIG ill Greensboro, N. C, before 
the war. After his discharge he 
worked with WBBB and at Leaks- 
ville, where he was program direc- 
tor of WLOE. 



Crenesse 

s CSMMnued from vac« 32 ss 

inwgrams begun last' year. U. S. 
viators will be received by the 
3^tench president and minister of 
foreign aiSairs, and will be guests 
of leading Frendli cultural and in- 
dustrial groups at various func- 
tions, the FBS director said. 

Reporting on progress of the 
program exchange, begun not quite 
a year ago, Crenesse said the FBS 
Kbrth American Service now is 
supplying one or more shows reg- 
ularly to npore than 200 stations in 
46 states, Alaska, the Philippines, 
Panama and Canada. An indication 
of the popularity of American pro- 
grams aired by the French, radio,, 
he reported, is turning up on FBS' 
newest network, called Paris Inter 
and devoted primarily to airing of 
musia Hlgliest percentage of re- 
quests from listeners aie lor 
American pop music. 

Crenesse said that Edward Grus- 
kin, who was.brcNigbt to Paris last 
April to write and direct exchange 
shows, and ultimately was made 
program director of the N. A. 
Serwce, has biec» ratumedtoKT. 
where he is coidinoing as program 
director, but expanding his activi- 
ties. Working with him in the 
N. Y. office are Alice Lewitin, as 
assistant director of the NAS, and 
Marie Pertdiuk, editor-in-chief 
and in charge of promotion. Ben 
Smith has been placed in charge 
of production in the Paris office 
since Gm^han's departure. 



comics recently complained, "my 
shows have been better than ever 
but I have nothing to show for it 
in my tax return." Agents sensing 
the depressed market for next fall 
are already sending out feelers ' 
and the price tags read like some-, 
thing out of Macy's > basement. 
Price and prejudice are waste balls 
instead of the main pitches and 
anyone with an offer had better 
put up the ropes. 

Tlie co-op craze started with 
commentators, audience participa- , 
tion shows and any other exhibit 
that fell within a price range of 
$2,500 and once the gold-plated in- 
truders are given the shag tliat's 
where the device will take up its 
stance once more. 

Mebbe it was woslh the gamble 
but it's the sponsor this time who's 
having the last laugh. The shoe 
was on the other foot and the 
wearer is limping badly. 



San Antonio — A new quarter- 
hour program tilled "Musical - 
Bouquets" is being heard each 
Thursday over KTSA. Airings are 
sponsored by the Kelly-Scherrer 
Flower Shop. 




UNITED BKXAI,!. DIWG 00. 
WraniiHdny, NBC, 10:S0 IMtl., K.N.T. 
•M-U-II— "On tli« iNlnna With Vuu" 
•THIS TIME FOR KEEPS" 
■ft: IMU CLAYTAM 



RADIO OPPORTUNITVIll— COMEDIANS— TER- 
RIFIC PROFESSIONAL Oag WriUrt PERSONAL 
■BtM Fill— and III writing Comedy tor RADIO 
•Mi STAGE Stanlll ALPHABETICALLY IN- 
DEXED 10 you can INSTANTLY locato wantoil 
Cometly on ANY lubject from "A" Actors to "Z" 
ZljPMTs. Not cheap printed sheets iicddletl by tlia 
tInilnMla. EXCLUSIVE Area RrglitsI Comitlets 
Ilk, vt will be sold in Sections. Foll« of 2011 
Samples $2.00, plus our proposition, WIRE or 
WRITE TODAY, WITHOUT FAIL! N. POST, 
Box 2S. iACKSON HEIGHTS, N. Y. 



GEORGE GIVOT 
mE-SCRIPTIONS, INC 

fA\mom Hom 

ATQP NOB HILL 

SAN Francisco; caiiit. 

(YUlcon «-l 003) 
proudly presents 

''aiVOT FOR 
FIFTEEN 
MINUTES" 

A HAPPY QUARTER-HOUR OF 
SONGS. AND DIALKT 
STARRIN© 
THE INtMITASUE 

GEORGE 
• GIVOT 

52 fiflsen-MImifo Open End 
Transcrlptlont With • Top Moteh 
Mall Ktch — Da(i9imd io Appoaj 
to Every Member of 'the Family 
A PERFECT SUMMER SHOW. 
Write, wire, or phone far 
Ire* awdifioii disc 




Wi!an«!Bd»y, March 17, 1949 




Friends, Romans, Advertising Men.., 



DON'T MISS THESE TWO IMPORTANT 



PAGES IN THE CURRENT (FEB. 15-2t 



'48 A. D.) HOOPER POCKET P^ECE: 



Page 



and 




REACH INTO THE POCKET OF YOUR TOGA and pgll out your " 
current Hooper Pocket Piece. 

Turn to page IX. Read carefully. 

Now turn to page XI. Again read carefully. : . 

Now take what you've read on pages IX and XI and put it all together. 
What does it add up to? Just this: 

Rome wasn't built in a day— and neither are radio networks. But 
Great Caesar's Ghost, have you noticed the strides ONE network 
has made since last year's Ides of March? Qn average Hooper* 
atings it's now in first place on Frigga's Day nights ... in second 
place. Sun Day, Woden's Day and Saturn's Day nights. And on 
page XI, note that ABC is the only network whose stations show 
a substantial increase over '47 A. D. in Minutes of Listening per 
Evening Hour. 

For further details, don't go roman around : call the ABC Sales Depart- 
ment. CI VII VDCC, (For you non-Romans, that's Chrcle 7-57001) 



ABC 



American Broadcasting Company 



441 



FOC Mav Junk AVCO Rule 



Continued from page 31 



these sales — ^made even before the 
stations get on the air— are sought 
by neophyte radio men who thought 
in prewar terms of spending only 
$2S-50,000 to get their stations 
built. They now find themselves 
in financial difficulties and either 
seek additional capital through 
sale of minority interests or give 
lip the' fight entirely and apply to 
unload their investments outright. 
As it now stands, the AVCO 60-day 
waiting period for competing bids 
is invoked on sales of permits as 
well as licenses. 

In the case of losing stations, 
it is argued that the AVCO rules 
work a real hardship on both sell- 
ers and buyers. Several requests 
for relief from such operatoi-s have 
been recorded here. 

FCC men reported that strato- 
spheric sales tickets on radio prop- 
erties are becoming pretty much 
a thing of the past, although pur- 
chase prices of long-'estahlished 
stations are still way above prewar 
figures. 

Relaxation of the AVCO rules 
Would win FCC friends both in the 
radio industry aM on Capitol Hill. 
Senator Wallace H. White's pro- 
posed new radio bill specifically 
denied FCC the right to .call for 
competing bids or to refuse a sale 
to &nyone qualified to become a 
radio licensee. This section of the 
bill was acclaimed by NAB, the 
networks and industry spokesmen 
generally. 

Actual experience with the 
AVCO rules shows it has bf ^ In- 
voked in only a baU-dozen cAses. 
Competing bids werS filed on the 
sale of KSTP, St. Paul! WBRK, 
Pittsfteld, Mass.; KROY, Sacra- 
mento: KMED. Medford, Ore., and 
WABW, an FM station in Indian- 
apolis. In the last three in- 
stances only, FCC preferred the 
second bidder to the original pur- 
Chaser. JUUther Gibson; fejecsted 
purchasei* «f both and 
KMEDr has Openly challenged the 
legality of the" AVCO procedure. 

In the KMED sale, the present 
owner was anwilling to sell to the 
purchaser of FCC's choosing which 
brings up another feature of the 
AVCO rules in unnecessarily de- 
laying station sales. Although the 
present licensee has the option, of 
keeping the station rathei: than 
sell to the FCC-approved buyer, he 
cannot make this decision , until 
hearings haye been held, and the 



Commission opinion has been 
made final— a procfednre normally 
requiring many months delay. In 
the interim period, the station's 
time sales usually suffer so that 
the licensee is apt to go along with 
whatever choice the Commission 
makes. 



Austrafia Radio 
In Red for 264G 



Sydney, March 3. 
Non-commercial Australian 
Bi-oadcasting Commission hit the 
red to the tune of $264,000 at the 
end of the 1947 financial year, ac- 
coi'ding to a statement issued from 
headquarters in Canberra. 

Expenditure for the fiscal year 
ran to over $4,000,000. Loss was 
made up by the Aussie govern- 
ment from consolidated revenue. 

ABC receives about $3 from 
every license fee costing the fans 
,$4 yearly. ABC has nixed entering 
the advertising field in competition 
with commercials. It's run strictly 
along BBC lines. Commercials do 
not receive any cut from that li- 
cense fee. • ■ 

ABC managements aver the red 
was brought about throu^ the es- 
tablishment of symphony orches- 
tras in Sydney and Brisbahe, basic 
waga increase, introduction of an 
in(Ke news service, additional con- 
cert coverages, upping of equ^ 
,ment cost and 40-hour worldng 
week. ■ , 

Jt bad been suggested in Parlla- 
mpnt that the ABC op«'ate in two 
section^; one for non-^ommercial, 
the otiier taking sponsored biz in 
open competition with the local 
commercial s e t u p.' Suggestion, 
however; was given the redlight. 
Preference still is for that BBC 
style of operfition, this irrespective 
of i^Upping continuously into the 
red. ' ' ' 



Pooh*EaK Banghart 

NBC's newest ''iwm man" 
is gabber Ken Banghart, ilor 
whom 26 regular shows a week 
WBsn^t too much, so he's now 
doing a 27th, as temporary an- 
nouncer on "Telephone Hour." 
Of his regular shows, 24 are 
commercial, including "Ford 
Theatre," "RCA Victor Show," 
"Katie's Daughter," "Lora 
Lawton" and "When A Girl 
Marries." Sixteen are network, 
11 local, the latter including 
WNBC's (N. Y.) 6 p.m. news 
for Peter Paul and 11 p.m. 
news for Shell Oil. 

Just to fill in his spare time, 
Banghart, who was brought up 
from. Washington in April, 
1945, is doing transcribed 
spots, a series of educational 
Alms and a series of industrial 
film shorts. 



Radio Reviews 

— continued from pase 39 iss 

made up of an industrialist who 
had tlie disease and was cored, a 
doctor head of the Cancer Society, 
and other doctor who is interested 
in aiding tlie public through the 
medium of a Cancermobile. 

Gist- of the discussion, which 
was handled in good taste, was 
that individuals should be on the 
lookout for symptoms and go im- 
mediately to their doctor. Discus- 
sion brought out fact that booklets 
are being distributed and an in- 
tensive campaign is being con- 
ducted throttghout the state of 
Kentucky. 

While the subject matter of the 
discussion would seem to be dis- 
tasteful to some people, the airing 
was packed with vital facts which 
should find ready listening to the' 
thoughtful. Statistics anent the 
number of deaths from cancer in 
the state of Kentucky and city of 
Louisville wei'e given, and point 
was hammered home that frank 
and open discussion was the only 
way to combat the dread disease. 

Airing was an excellent example 
of radio in the public -service. 

Hold. 



ROAD NEXT MONTH 

Toni's "Give and Take" (CBS) 
will be making its bow before audi- 
ences on the road next month. 
The show is slated.to be picked up 
from Evansville, Ind., April 3 and 
from Roanoke, Va., April 24. 

The account is confining the out- 
of-New York stands to tieups witli 
charity organizations, and spacing 
such dates once in every three 
weeks. In addition to the broad- 
cast the participationer will give 
two admission performances, one 
the night before the CBS pickup 
and the other the following night. 
"Give" iS; aired Saturday matinees. 



THE MARKET BASKEf 

With Dick Hatton 

15 Mins., fo4S a.ni.; Hon. thru Frl. 

FISHER BiROS. 

WJW, Cleveland 

Fifteenr minutes of easy to take 
records with pleasant commercials 
and time notes make this a neat 
package for the listener. 

Music is all in the smooth vein, 
not too jivey and tied in neatly 
with no smart talk or puns. The 
disks are merely spun and the mu- 
sic comes out. Even names of re 
cordings are forgotten. 

Commercials are not too hard 
or too "■ frequent, but carry the 
sponsor's message. Hatton fits 
into the general smooth pattern, 
Mark. 



Radio listening Ljea<ls 

In MiimesQbi Sor?eK 
Neadbf OodPixCitdi 

Minneapolis, March 16. 

Minnesota poll by Star St Tri- 
bune new,<!papers, with a cross- 
section taken of people 21 years 
of age and older throughout the 
state, -shows that radio listening 
leads among the things that they 
like to do most in their spare time. 
"Going to films" landed third place 
behind reaiJing tor the Mirincso-- 
tans interviewed. 

The winning percentage for ra- 
dio was W/o, with women going 
for the air programs to the extent 
of 54;% and men 42%. The films' 
percentage was 25%, women again 
showing this preference to a great- 
er degree then men, tlie percent- 
ages being 30 and 21, respecttvely. 

City residents' principal interests 
were found to be reading; radio 
listening and film-going, in that 
order. In reply to the question as 
to what they think is their com- 
munity's biggest recreational need 
at this time 2% of those queried 
declared "good films." 

m LICMSE PERieD 
£XTENDEi)T03¥RS. 

Washington, March 16. 
FM stations get an even break 
with AM operators under a Federal 
Communications Commission de- 
cision here last Thursday (11) ex- 
tenfling the normal license period 
for commercial and educational 
FM outlets from one to Uie statu- 
tory limit of three years. Both tM. 
Assn. and the National hsm. Of 
Broadcasters had tepested the 
change:' 

tGC noted that * todc AH -sts* 
tiona 16 years to win approval for 
three-year licenses but added: "the 
Commission recognized the rapid 
development of FM as meriting the 
Statutory maximum license period." 

Three-year terms will become 
effective May 1, but the Commis- 
sion will continue its. present pro 
cedure of staggering expiration 
dates of FM outlets, according to 
frequeniQ', so as to relieve FCC 
staffers of the burden of processhig 
the entilre WL spectrum at one 
■thne.-' 



The Frost on ABC 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Let comics make light of frost 
warnings on network stations but 
in this agricultural section of the 
country it's migthy serious busi- 
ness as ABC was to learn last week 
when it lost its affiliates in Indio 
and Brawley, Cal. 

Network commitments conflicted 
with services vital to farmers and 
ranchers so the web contracts 
weren't renewed. 




i follow-up Comment I 

' ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ -t-»-»-»-4-»-«-*-«-»»^ « 

Eddie Cantor's kidding routine 
of "We Want Cantor" may as.sume 
serious proportions in a presiden- 
tial election year. In any case, 
Cantor threw his hat into the ring 
last Thursday (11) with a serious 
statement of his foreign policy. It 
was an open letter to Stalin titled 
"Are You Listening, .Toe?" A ,15- 
minute symphonic jazz number 
with Cantor singing the principal 
part supported by a chorus, the 
letter was a slightly bellicose plea 
for peace. 

The number was a melange of 
current history, patriotic feeling 
and internationalist idealsr- deliv- 
ered with the vet comic's top brand 
of showmanship. The lyric, writ- 
ten by Vic Knight, could have been 
far more effective, however, if it 
avoided such cliched rhymes as 
"Kremlin" and "gremlin." How 
much Cantor contributed to quiet- 
ing the present world situation is 
not known. But certainly it's an 
ominous sign of the times when a 
comedy show takes a long time 
out to discuss the situation at all. 



Two New Cooper Sliows 
Flattered for Sinnmer 

Hollywood, March 16. 
Frank Cooper will have twO new 
shows on wax for the summer tra'de 
before the week Is out. First to liit 
the wax was Comedy Writers 
Show with Jim Backus as mod- 
erator and a panel compiLsing 
Hugh Wedlock, Leonard Stem, 
Stanley Adams and Sidney Fields. 
Foiinat calls for listeners to write 
in a hrief outline of any. type show 
they'd Uke put into script form 
while the program is on the air. 
Writers work off the cuff. 

"Holiday at Home," an audience 
participation show with Harry Von 
Zell as emcee, carries a top prize 
of $2,000 to be used by the weekly 
winners for a trip back to the old 
home town, in or out of this coun- 
try. Cooper, with Tom Stix. ac- 
quired radio rights to John Guth- 
er's "Inside U.S.A." and have put 
Will Glickman „ to work on the 
.script in New York. 



CokeVRefresfaing 
Paiise 1^ tile Sea 

Aflantic City, March 16. 
Coca-Cola Co. put together one 
of the costliest radio packages ever 
assembled nnder on* roof at its 
annual bottlers' convention here 
last week. On Wed. night (10) some 
6,000 conventioneers assembled at 
A. C.'s Convention Hall to see "in 
person" simulated broadcasts by 
Percy Faith's orchestra. (45) and 
chorus with Jane Froman present- 
ing their Sunday CBS "Pause That 
Refreshes"; The CBS "Spotlight 
Revue" with Spike Jones, Dorothy 
Shay and, guest Jan August, and 
"Songs by Morton Downev" with 
Carmen Mastren's music. 

In addition, bottlers witnessed a 
15-minute film version of "Clau- 
dia," the daytime serial heard via 
platters on some 265 stations con- 
tacted for by local Coca-Cola dis- 
tributors throughout the U. S. 
Canada and Hawaii. 

Figuring talent, time costs (on 
an annual network basis), plus 
transportation, special sets and 
other details the coke show, it's 
estimated, could be classed as a. 
$10,000,000 production. Special 
sets for each program were de- 
signed, built and inst{aied under 
direction of Arthur Knorr, Roxy 
Theatre (N. Y.) art director. 

Roger Pryor and Morton Downey 
emceed the performance whlcii 
featured specialty encores by Miss 
Froman, the Faith ensemble, 
Downey, Dorothy Shay and tlie 
Spike Jones troupe. In addition, 
Paul Crabtree, featured on the 
"Claudia" series, made a personal 
appesamee to conjunction with 
iJie luni showing of his vehicle. 



ittdidi Lawton's WJBK Exit 

Detroit, March 16, 
Judith Lawton, former film; 
radio and night club singer and 
radio programming counsellor, has 
resigned as program director for 
WJBK. Announcement was made 
Wednesday. (10 1 by Bob Anthony, 
publicity director. 

No explanation was offered and 
Miss Lawton refused comment. Her 
plans as of Wednesday were in- 
definite. 

Station only recently became a 
hot bed of contiwersy when Mi.ss 
Lawton was brought in to set up 
an an-En.!?i)sh format, will) foreign 
language clieiils given ilie hmwv. 




'Tomorrow we start trainin' for a return bout- 
tbis time with plenty of Wheatiest" 



While the nervous system takes 
a terrific beating on any "Inner 
Sanctum" se.ssion, Monday's (15) 
airer provided more than the usual 
case of whammies with the tale of 
a Broadway hack driver who mur- 
dered his wife lor a $40.,000 insur- 
ance jackpot. Writer John Roe- 
burt built up a harrowing case of 
the cabbie purpsued by his con- 
science for seven years, only to 
break down just as he's about to 
collect the coin. Roeburt. however, 
cho.se to persjonify his conscience 
by depicting him a.s an insurance 
investigator. 

Show captured the meaty talk of 
the cabbies, provided good motiva- 
tions and crammed the half-hour 
show with a good assortment of 
situations. 



EDWIN FRANKO GOLDMAN 

Dean of American .Baud Masters 



America's 



Conducting . 

Number 
Concert Band 



One 



THE GOLDMAN BAND 



I'KKSONAI. AND 
CONCKliX M/VNAGKR 
KONA Jr. CURRAN 
I DNIVEIRSrav ipL., H. r. 



ttADIO TEl.EVISlON 
AND MOVIES 
DON lANGAN 
475 FIFTH AVB., N. I.. C. 



WCAU-TV, the Philadelphia Bulletin television station, is now in 
operation on Channel Ten, the first high-frequency, high-fidelity 
Channel in Philadelphia. 

With a tower 737 feet above the street, the highest struc- 
ture in the city, WCAU-TV has a combination of supreme height 
and power thus assuring advertisers top reception for their 
sales messages in America's third largest market. 

WCAU-TV IS REPRESENTED NATIONALLY BY RADIO SALES 
' ;■. . DIVISION OF CBS. CONSULT THEM ABOUT PUTTING 

THIS GREAT NEW SELLING FORCE TO WORK FOR YOU: 

WCAU-TV 

CHANNEL 10 




4» 



VcdhcBdpy, Mnidh 17, 1948 



CIRGUIG IVE mUGYGLES 



KaMHU caiT— KCMO has recent-] department and is !Ksin| replaced 
lvaSj<*nColeandHartyGun- by Grace Goldbadi of stetions 
ly auifsu ovuu „ „ ^ u„.^„„.i^v.n»M! stenographic staff. Skim 



Kef ^e^^rrfnanSe^- Jfaf IS SSt^nd his A Wdcats ar^ 
CoTe ^^ith ^e news stiff he tor- now being heard, w. (heir tran- 
merly was a newspaper reporter | scrlptions, 
a n d recently a neviwcasiter 



at 



over 415 stations in 
U. S;. South America and Canada. 



KFRU, Columbia, Mo. , 

Guntheroff comeS in from 
KOME. TuLsa, as an announcer. He 
formerly was with KWON, Bart- 
lesviUCj Olda, 

Baleish— FCC has granted con- 
struction permits for FM broadcast 
stations to Henderson Itadio Corp., 
Henderson, and Western Carolina 
Radio Corp;, Shelby- 
New application for cojnmfcrcial 
television station was received 
from Inter-City. Advertising Co., 
Charlotte. WGAI at EUzabetii Cits 
asked authority to change from 
daytime to unlimited operations, 
using 500 watts at night and one 
kilowatt days. 

GrecBsbaro, N. C— WBIG wUl 
revive its "On the Scene" reports 
for the Ckeat«r Greensboro Open 
Goll "tournament (Blarch 19-21> 
with siKirts director Mike Brooks 
in charge. Airings are sponsored 
by local business -interests. 

Tournament, one of the two 
spring meets slated for North 
GaroMna, is a $10,000 event, at- 
tracting a record field headed by 
Bobby Locke. 

Detaritt— -Donald S. Cordray, vet 
newscaster and sgpecial events an- 
nouncer, has j<dned WJR staff. He 
comes from -WASB. Akron. 



Denver— Series o£. talks on "The 
Marshall Plan" is l>eing featured 
by KLZ, Wednesday lughts, 7:30, 
with Lawrence C. &!foiti|i, associate 
editor of the Denver Post, in tJie 
speaker's role. 

Emcee for the program is Mack 
Switzer. KLZ puolic service direc- 
tor. 



WEBS' EARS ON mrs 



Des Moines — Tri-States Mere- 
dith Broadcasting Co., Des Moines, 
has ffled application for a commer- 
cial tetevijdtMi statitm perMt Com- 
pany recently pwtidiased KSO In 
Des Moines, subject to approval of 
the FCC. 



Salt Lake City— American Buiv 
lington Bus lines has jacked up 
its coverage on KALL by taking 
on two more , programs, Fulton 
Lewis, Jr., and a five^inutc news 
shot seven mornings a week at 
6:30 a.m. 



Raleish — Preliminary plans for 
a program designed to improve 
religious radio broadcasts through- 
out the state were mapped at a 
meeting at Durham, March 9, of 
the executive committees on Badio 
Ministry of the Nbrili Carolina; 
Council eS 13mt&tss. 

Comndttee is headed by Rev. W. 
D. Hclnnis of Henderson.- chair- 
man; Rev. Fred Eutsler of Baleigii; 
Rev. Ralph Bridges of Bocking- 
ham; and Rev. Bmest J. Arnold of 
Durham, executive secretary of 
the Nortii Carolina CouncU of 
Churches, ex-officio. 



AtlWBS, (3&r— Radio Athens, Int^, 
made up of local business men, has 
received constmction .pemdt-for 
radio station, to operate wiQi day- 
time power of 1,000 watts. Call 
letters will be WRPC. 

L, H. Christian is gen. mgr., 
Claude Williams,' commercial mgr., 
Charles A. McClure,. promotion 
mgr.. Miss Sue Parks, program di- 
rector. 



Shrevepoii— Bob Draike, veteran 
entertainer who has tnHq!«d with 
show headliners like Eddie Cantor 
and the late Will Rogers, has re^ 
signed from KENT, Iiere to go <m 
the road with the Clyde Beatty 
Circus. Drake, billed as "man with 
1^000 voio^," had two shows on 
KENT. 



Spedai AwarikVia 



Raleigh- Fire of an undeter- 
mined origin gutted the transmitter 
equipment building of WGTM 
March 11, causing a loss estimated 
$t .$60,000.- The iMtilding, located 
neai- Rock Ridge, was in the proc- 
ess of complett<m at the time. 



Seattle ^ New announcers at 
KING are Bob Harris and Russell 
Norman. Bill Ward, who has been 
doing Pictsweet radio scripts in 
San Francisco, is back jn town. 
Betty Mason is now traffic manager 
at KIRO, replacing Frances Braid, 
resigned. ■ , 

, Bill Apple is back at KXA and 
handlmg "Stay-Up Stan" midnight 
disk stint. New announcers at 
KIRO are Richard C. Ross, for- 
merly WHFC, Cicero; Don Court- 
ney, from KALL, Salt Lake City, 
and 'David Page from KIMA, 
Yakima. 



Fort Wayne — Carl O. Wyman, 
technical supervisor at KYW, 
Philadelphia, for. past two years, 
has taken a similar post with 
WOWO, Westin^ouse station. Sam 
Gifford has riesigned as news edi- 
tor of 'WOWO to join American 
Steel Dredge Co. 



Cleveland— WGAK has teamed 
up with Western Reserve Univer- 
sity to conduct a speech tournament 
among 412 schools in 22 Northern 
Ohio counties. The winner will get 
both a four-year scholarsliip at the 
school and part-time employment 
at the station. 



llouston-^For the second consec- 
utive year, KATL will air all base- 
ball games, at home as well as 
when the team is on the road, of 
the Houston Buffs. The outlet paid 
tlie largest price ever negotiated 
locally for the broadcast contract. 



Pittsbureh— Carol Dayton, for 
mer thrush with Lee Kelton's .staff 
band on WJAS, has started her own 
song pi-ogi'am over WLOA. It airs 
eveiy Saturday afternoon under 
label of "A Saturday Date With 
Carol." 

Marion Abdou, recently maMed, 
has resigned from KDKA publicity 



Boston, March 16. 
New awards exclusively for New 
England radio statiiais was an- 
nounced at Boston Univ. founder's 
Day banquet to be known as "Bos- 
ton University-Daniel L. Mawh 
Awards." They'll consist of plaques 
in five classifications. 

Awards are for "the New Eng- 
land radio station which best ex- 
emplifies the democratic spirit in 
America by its emphasis upon 
human relations, inteigroup under- 
standing, commwdty growth and 
progress and the devation of the 
moral tone of the community 
through the program policies it 
initiates." 

Classifications are for stations of 
5,000 watts or over, major network- 
owned or affiliated stations of 1,000 
watts, indies of 1,000 watts, nets or 
affiliated stations under 1,000 and 
indies under 1,000. Runs June 1, 
1948 through June 1, 1949, with 
winners announced in October. 
1949. 



Italy's crudal Md-April general 
election looks to get a h«iivy «wn- 
centration ef tJ. S. network cov- 
erage. At leaa* two web veepees, 
IJavidson Taylor of CBS and 
Thomas Velotta of ABC, will check 
in at Home personally in advance 
of the baUoting to oversee prepara- 
tions for the coverage. 

Vestcrday (TucsJ Winston Bur- 
dette, who has been in CBS' Wash- 
ington office for the past two 
years, was slated to shove off for 
Rome to become chief of the \(?eb's 
staff in Italy. CBS' Ed liurrow wUl 
head for Italy shortly, doing his 
cross-the-board Campbell Soup 
show- via shortwave. In addition to 
Burdette and Murrow, CBS wiU 
have Howard K. Smith, its Euro- 
pean news chief, and John Sec- 
ondari, who has been acting CBS 
news chief in Rome, on the scene 
for the Italian voting. 

Who'll succeed Burdette as mod- 
erator of CBS' "Open Hearing" 
airers hasn't been decided. The 
stanza is being suspended for a 
couple of weeks- 

Coiiimerdal Radio 1^1 
Mioiis for Sooth Africa 
Though Report Soon Doe 

Johannesburg, March 6. 
A commission has been sitting 
for the past couple of years or so 
to decide whether there should l>e 
commercial radio in South Africa. 
Its much delayed report has not yet 
been issued, but it's announced 
unofficially that it wont he de- 
layed mutdi longer. However, 
judging by past expedience, too 
much faith cannot be placed in tliis 
report. . 

It Is still a question as to 
whether commercial radio should 
be introduced into the Union and, 
if so, who is to handle it. Hnere 
are two schools of ttumi^ MMtSb 
lean to handling by the South Afri 
can Broadcasting Corp. or by 
number of iHdvate comp'anies re 
spectivcly. Whatever the report re 
veals it Will imdoubtedly be some 
time before tiiere is commercial 
radio here, and this is. especially 
true if it is turned over ^o private 
enterprij^, as the sel$cti<m of sites, 
erection of transmitters and stu- 
dios, to say nothing of being able 
to oj^ain the actual gear, eant be 
done overnight. 

Furthermore, new legislation 
will be necessary, and as a Par- 
liamentary election is scheduled 
for later in the year, nothing .much 
is likely to happen until that 
over and done with. 



I Soi^s inlh Largest RaioAailie^ 

The top Si aonoa of the ikoeefc based on the copyrighted Audi- 
- • ence Coverage Index Survev of Popular Music Sroodcott Over 
* Radio Networks. Published by the Office of Remsfch, tne.. Dr. 
John G. Peottmm, Director. 

Survey Week ^ MMeh Ml, t94S. 

AU Dressed Up With a Broken Heart Marks 

An Old Sombrero Shapiro-B 

Ballerina Jefferson 

Beg Your Pardoni • Bobbins 

But Beautiful— t"Boad to Rio" .Motris 

Don't Call It Love— t"I Walk Alone" Famous 

Gentleman Is a Dope— ♦"AUegro", , WilUanuson 

Golden Earrings— f'Goldcn Eanlngsf" Paramount 

Hooray For Love— fCasbah" . , Melrose 

How Ludcy You Ai» . , Maurice 

How Soon • Supreme 

I'm a Comin' a Couftin' Corabelle Dreyer 

I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover Remick 

I'm My Own Grandpaw General 

I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling Santly-Joy 

Let's Be Sweethearts Again: .Campbell-P 

Love Is So Teniflc , Mdlin 

Manana Barbour-L 

Now Is the Hour Leeds 

Passing Fancy ., • . ■ . ..... Broadcast M 

Pianissimo Santly-Joy 

Sabre Dance Leeds 

Saturday Date Southern 

Saturday Night Central Park — *"Make Mine Man." , Harms 

Serenade Of the Bells. , Melrose 

Tell Me a Stoi-y Laurel 

What'UI Do BerUn 

When You're SmUhig Mills 

Whiff enpoof Song Miller 

Don't Have To Know Language — f'Road to Rio" Morris 

You Were Meant For Me— 1 "You Were Meant". . . . Miller 
You're Gonna Get My Letter ,.,.<, .... , London 



The rewaining 18 sojigs of the toeek, baaed on the copyrighted 
Atidiettce Covera0e Index Survey of Popular Music Broadcast ' > 
0«er Radio JVetworfcs. Published by the Office of Research, tnc., ; ; 
Dr, John G. Pcatnum, Director, 

A Few More Kisses Patmar 

Almost Like Being In Love^'^"Brigadoon" Fox 

At the Candlelight Cafe Witmark 

Brass Band From Bnufl— ^"Aaagel In the Wings". . .Morris 

Bye Bye Blackbird Remick 

Feathery Feelin' Beverly 

Haunted Heart— *"Inside USA" WilUamson 

I Wish I Knew the Name Leeds 

I'll Dance At Your Wedding .*.G Simon 

In a LitUe Book Shop Triangle 

Oooh Look-a There, Ain't She Pretty Leeds 

Shauny O'Shay— *"Look, Ma, I'm Dancing".. Chappell 

Teresa -' Duchess 

Toolie Oolie Oolie Southern 

Treasiure Sierra Madre Remick 

What's Good About Goodbye— t"Casbah" Melroise 

Who Put That Dream In Your Eyes Stuart 

WiGh a Hey and a and a Ho Ho Ho Bourne 



ff^lmwsical. •Legit JWusicaT. 



Wendell Roams Cleve 

Cleveland, March 16. 
Bud Wendell, who started liis 
disk jockey career by giving him- 
self away as first prize, in a con- 
test, has left WHK to begin a new 
series at WJMO. ' Wendell has now 
worked on four of Cleveland's five 
stations. 

Together, with Howie Lund, 
Wendell will make his "Wendell's 
Wax Works" a portion of WJMO's 
afternoon block programming set- 
up. : 



Fdmii^toB's (N.C) WGNI 
Gmsat Haids for 55G 

Raleigh, March 16. 

Sale of WGNI, Wilmington, to 
the New Hanover Broadcasting 
Corp. by General Newspapers, Inc., 
for $55,000, has been recorded at 
Wilmington. Sale is subject to ap- 
proval of FCC. 

J, C. Brody of Kinston is presi- 
dent of the corporation, and other 
officers include Leo Brody and 
Charlotte Brody, both of Kinston. 
The family owns a large Kinston 
department store. According to 
previous announced plans, the sta- 
tion, a Mutual affiliate, will join 
the Tobacco Network and Manager 
Gu.'; .Tones will remain in charge. 



Nielsen Radio Index-Top I^t & Day Shows 



NIGHTTIME 

TOTAL AVDIENCE> 



(Weefc Feb. 1-7) 



DAYTIME 



Cur. 


Vttv. 


Rank 


Bank 


1 


1 


2 


. 2 


3 


6 


4 


10 • 


5 


4 


6 


3 


7 


14 


8 


11 


9 


7 


10 


. 12 


11 


5 


12 


8 


13 


18 


14 


15 


15 


NR 


16 


16 


17 


20 


18 


13 


19 


NR 


20 


17 


NR- 


Not rs 



Proeram 



Fitch Bandwagon 



Mr. District Attorney. 
Kraft Music Hall . . . . 



Burns & Allen 



Cur. 


Points 


Cur. 


Prev. 




Chance 


Bank Bank 




0.0 


1 


9. ] 


. .33.1 


-f2.9 


2 


4 


29.7 


+1.9 


,3 


1 




■f2,9 


4 : 


3 


, 27.4 


—0.9 


5 


14 


26.2 


—2.6 


6 


NR 


26.2 


+ 1.6 


■7 


11 


..26.1 


+0.1 


8 


NR 


25.7 


—1.5 


9 


5 


, ,25.4 


—0.3 


10 


8 


, ,25.2 


—2.9 


11 


NR 




—2.0 


12 


10 ' 


..24.8 


+1.1 


13 


13 


.,24.7 


+02 


14 


NR 


. 24.6 


+1.3 


15 


7 


23.7 


—0.8 






23.7 


+0.2 








—2.1 






. 23.4 


+0.2 






..22.6 


—1.5 







TOTAL AUDIENCE 

.', Cur. 

Program Bating 

Backstat'e Wife 12.7 

Right to Happiness 12.4 

Arthur Godfrey • 12.3 

Our Gal, Sunday 12.2 

Stella Dallas ....... .;.12.2 

Young Widder Brown . .11.9 
When Girl Marries . . . . il.7 

Lorenzo Jones ...... . . .11.3 

Helen Trent....... .11.0 

Big Sisiter 11.0 

Pepper Young 11.0 

Ma Perkins (CBS) .10.9 

Portia Paces Life 10.7 

Road of Lite 10.7 

My True Story 10.0 



P0lDt.S 

Change 
+ 1.7 
+0.9 
—0.6 
+0.7 

, ;+2.i 

+2.2 
+ 1.3 
+2.3 
—0.1 
0.0 
+ 1.3 
—0.1 
+0.4 
+0.9 
—0.6 



Includes only once-a-week .shows, 15-60 Mins. 



((;ni>.vriKl><. IW8. A. V. NI»Ih<m> Ca.) 



WN6C PULLS SWITCH, 
SETS TV SHOW ON AM 

In a switch on the usuitl pr'oce* 
dure of adapting radio shows to 
television, WNBC, key station of 
the NBC radio web, is considering 
the possibility of adapting the 
"Americana Quiz" video show ior 
a regular weekly AM series. Show 
is packaged by Martin Stone, 

With an "Information, Please'' 
format, "Americana" has a panel 
of experts who are fed questions 
dealing with U. S. history and m- 
stitutions by emcee Ben Grauer, 
who recently took over the job 
from John Mason Brown, us 
believed the same format and cast 
will be carried over for the radio 
version. Tele show is now au-ed 
Wednesday nights on the NBt/ 
web. 

Harry Butcher Heading 
Cal State Broadcasters 

Holly wc^d, March 16. 

Newlv formed California State 
Broadcasters Assn. elected its first 
regular board and officers at a 
meeting here March 12, with Harry 
Butcher, of KIST, Santa Barbara, 
named prexy. C. L. McCarthy, of 
KQW, San Francisco, and cai 
Smith, KFAC, Los Angeles, were 
named veepees, and Paul Bartlctt, 
KFRB, Fresno, was elected secre- 
tary-treasurer. , ii, •„ 

Named to the board, and their 
respective stale districts, were: 
William SmuUin, KIEM, Eureka, 
one; Art Westlund, KRE, Berkeley, 
and C. L. McCarthy, two; Paul 
BarUett, and William Bates, KI KB. 
Modesto, three; Bill Ryan, Kl'l. 
Los Angeles, and Cal Smith, lour, 
and Thomas Sharp, KFSD, ban 
Diego, and Harry Butcher, five. 

Group went on record as sup- 
porting the pre-.season, powersav- 
ing daylight savings bill for tlie 
state which went into effect bun-, 
dav (14), and is considering 8 
membership -meeting immediatelj 
prior to the NAB fconvention here 
in May. 



49 



JOCKS' 1-NIGHT CONCERT BONANZA 



Pkttorl^mini^B^Biz 

Intent to. which disk jockeying bas become lug industry In the 
Kew Tork. area idone is disclosed by a compilation of personnel, 
prognni titles and station logs made by Harry Fromkes, head of 
fy^boVr Biecwd!s, for distribution to the trade. 

/rhe <catalOg' shows there are 03 persons employed in spinning 
records on stations, in the metropolitan area, there are 106 such 
listed programs and that about 1,600 quarter-hours are consumed 
tcr week by record playing on these 19 stations. 

This "Disk Jockey Almanac" reveals WMCA, WNEW and WHN 
as the three biggest schedulers of platter programs, and'even WOR, 
local Mutual key, logging as many as 105 quarter hours of disking 
« week, with this not including its post-midnight run. 



ASCAP INrectorate Hopes for Pact 
With TdevisHHi Statioiis by June 



By BBN BODEC *• 
ASCAP ^Titers and publishers 
will shortly have an opportunity to 
enmine the terms of the contract 
that their television committee has 
devised for the operators of video 
stations. The members will be fur- 
Bislied with a copy of the proposed 
Ucenidng agreement and asked to 
state their objections and com- 
ments. The Society's board of di- 
rectors hopes to be in a position to 
make ttai« agreement, the first of 
fts kind for the new medium, 
aYaijiable to the TV trade by.JFune 1. 

inieTding to the requests of tele- 
casters, the committee has jilso 
come up with a system for licens- 
ing dramatic rights along with per- 
forming rights. It is a question 
BOW whether the 14 or 16 leading 
Ittodttctioa writers on ASCAJP's 
toBs will agree to such a setup. 
Ibeise writers' have been leery 
about having ASCAP handling the 
- dramatic rights to their works, but 
the lawyers for television interests 
have asked to have it this way, and 
the ASCAP directorate seems de- 
termined to go along with them. 
A Society 'First' 
It wiU be the tirst-time that the 
Society has dealt in anything but 
performing rights. Under this sys- 
tem a special division of ASCAP 
irtK serve as agent between the 
owners of the dramatic rights and 
telecasters. ASCAP will, on receiv- 
ing an application for a dramatic 
usage, contact the rights owner for 
the price and issue license direct, 
tSur^g a special fee fof 'the serv- 
■tt«L 

b radio this function has always 
Jwen performed by the owners 
(Continued on page 58 ) 



CRC Wo^^ 
Pub Affiliate 

. Columbia Record Corp. will per- 
baifs decide tomorrow (Thursday) 
on a publishing house alliance at 
a ijneeting in the company's Bridge- 
port offices. Ben Selvin, CHC re- 
cording exec, will submit at that 
«me propositions received from 
we publishers on the proposed 
tienp. 

What Columbia would like to do 
» not to enter the publishing busi- 
ness but rather go in with an es- 
tablished firm on- an arrangement 
wbereby unpublished numbers that 
{we- been recorded under the 
l-RC label could be registered and 
clfeared for b»>adcast. Of course, 
jne company would benefit from, 
we profits derived from sheet 
music and other exploitation of 
the material. 

.. Some of the .submitted proposi- 
nons involve Columbia's buying in- 
•?»catalog, while others are based 
«nttly on a profit arrangement. 
*wong the pubs interested are 
Melrose Music (Buddy Morris), 
Plymouth Music (Corky O'Keefe) 
«>d Shapiro-Bernstein. 

Vennti's New Combo 

, - , Hollywood, March 16. 
in, u ^*'"uti, who has been inac- 

W t»f ^"""^ ^^'^ tossed 
j"8ether a new seven-piece com- 
Jkwt-?* signed with General 
*tJSts Corp. 

Combo wiU break-in with stand 
li on*"® C*ty, May 11, with dates 
JS-^oUfege Inn, Chicago, and Edi- 
Hotel, New York, following. 



Cooley Grabbing Top Coin 
In Coast Oatune Gig Tour 

Hollywood, March 16. 
Spade Cooley oatune - orchestra, 
currently zig-zagging on one-niters, 
has been doing strong biz. On his 
first five dates, upcoast, Cooley, 
getting guarantee of $850 against 
60% oi each gate, went into per- 
centage three times. Grosses were 
over ,^,50O at Reno, $2,902 at Sac- 
ramento, $2,200 at Klamath Falls, 
Ore. 

This, first tour of Cooley out of 
far west, will terminate with May 
20 cactus - chant concert at Car- 
negie Hall, N. Y. He will then re-^ 
turn here and span summer at the 
Santa Monica ballroom, which 
leader operates on a lease. 

In£es Cut Disks 
De^teAFMBan 

Indie recording companies ap- 
parently have proceeded to cut 
new disks' with musicians,- as most 
said they would, regardless of the 
American Federation of Musicians 
recording ban. For example: On 
Dec. 27, Leeds Music took pubUca- 
ti<Mi ri^ts to a tune titled, "Heart- 
breaker." That was four days be- 
fore the ban (Jan. 1) and only two 
disks were then known to have 
been made of the song, one by Co- 
lumbia Records with the Dell Trio, 
and another by the Palda label of 
Philadelphia with the Ferko String 
Band. 

There are now some seven or 
eight versions of it on wax, the ma- 
jority Of which assertedly were 
made before Jan. 1. Universal, Na- 
tional, DeLuxe, Rainbow, Click, 
Ki-anz and several others have an- 
nounced releases of the tune. 



JAZZ PROillQNS 
IN BIG PAYOFFS 

Disk jockeydom, exploiting its 
phenomenal rise to power on the 
airlanes during the past two yeai-s, 
has recently branched out into 
one-night jazz concerts to establish 
a virtual stranglehold in that field. 
Stretching across the country in 
every metropolitan center, the 
jocks have been instrumental in 
promoting top name vaude and 
musical shows in their home towns 
with spectacular payoffs to all 
hands concerned. 

Besides picking up the extra 
scratch stemming from their extra- 
curricular activity, the platter- 
spinners have been able to give 
[proof positive- of their potency in 
[ drawing dialers to plunk down hard 
cash at the boxoflice. Latter detail 
; has been used as a lever by the 
jockeys against station managers 
and advertising sponsors, for latter 
coin consideration. ' , 

The jockeys have adopted sev- 
eral techniques in getting into the 
one-niter field. Several of them, 
such as Fred Bobbins in New York 
and Dave Garroway in Chicaj^Oi 
have taken a direct hand in or- 
ganizing concerts in a. SOrSO deal 
with regular promoters. Bulk of 
the jocks, however, have come in 
by the back door by getting a per- 
centage payoff from promoters to 
plug their shows on the air. 

In some cases, jazz .impresarios 
buy regular time from local sta- 
tions to publicize upcoming en- 
gagements. Many jocks, however, 
get paid off in a closet behind the 
back of the station for their serv 
ices. To jazz concert promoters, co- 
operation from local jockeys is a 
matter of life and death. As for 
station managers, they're willing t» 
wink at the jocks' undeMhe- 
(Continued on page 58) 



Major IKskers Reconciled to'Baii 
But Unlikely to Be 'Surprised If 
Petiillo Makes Summer Overtures 



BMI, Peer File N.Y.Sttit 
Vs. Carnival Nitery 
For Infringements 

Nicky Blair's Carnival nitery, 
N. Y., was hit with an infringement 
suit last week in N. Y. federal 
court by Broadcast Music, Inc., 
Peer International Corp. and an- 
other Peer firm, Proraotora His- 
pano America de Mussica, Ltd. 
Plaintiffs claim that during last 
January and various other times 
the nitery infringed upon their 
copyrighted songs by giving pub- 
lic performances of the numbers 
without a license. 

Carnival was sued under its cor- 
porate title. Metropolitan Catering 
Corp. An injunction and damages 
of not less than $250 for each 
violation are sought. Spot is 
charged with illegal use of some 
seven songs, including "You Be- 
long to My .Heart" and "Besame 
Mucho," among others. 
■ Action is part of a current drive 
by BMI to bring niteries unlicensed 
to use its music into the £old. 

Distrib Names lerry 

Joseph Terry has taken over as 
promotion mgr. of Exclusive Rec- 
ords Distributors* eastern division. 
. Joe Sasso is his assistant 



Towers in Distr3) 
Deal for Bullet 
In AD Britain 



Towers of London, Ltd^, inter- 
national transcription distributor 
with headquarters in London, con- 
cluded a deal this week with Jim 
Bulleit, proxy of Bullet Secords, 
for pressing, and distribution of 
Bullet platters in England, Austra- 
lia and other parts of the British 
empire. 

First disk to be pressed under 
the pact is Francis Craig's "Near 
You," which is ciurrently in the 
pop brackets in England. Tower.s 
has tieups with pressing factories 
in, London and Sydney, Australia. 

Deal with Bullet was negotiated 
through Oliver W. Nicoll, Towers 
veepee and U. S. representative. 



SPIRA QUITS WITMARK, 
FREEUNG TAKING OVER 

Sj'lvan Spira has resigned as 
professional manager of the Wit- 
mark catalog in the Warner Bros.' 
publishing group and Nat Freeling 
is being moved over from the 
Remick division to take his place- 
Resignation b e c 0 ra e s effective 
March 22. 

Freeling has been with the same 
Remick catalog for 22 years, which 
is four years before WB took over. 



Pitt*s Disk Jocks Picking 
Up Side-Line Club Coin 

Pittsburgh, March 16. 

Town's disk jocks are steadily 
climbing into the higher brackets 
locally, with couple of more op- 
portunities being tossed their way 
to pick up some extra change. 

Lenny Litman's new CHub Copa 
is using spinners to m.c. his floor 
shows, rotating them on a weekly 
basis. Since Copa has flock of rec- 
ord personalities booked, starting 
with Frankie Laine and continuing 
through Vic Damone, Joe Mooney 
Quartet and Page Cavanaugh trio, 
he figured the jocks would be just 
the boys to introduce them. In that 
way he's assui^d a double plug, 
too, since the spinners will be 
more likely inclined as a result to 
feature the waxings of the current 
Copa stars. 

Hollywood Show Bar has thought 
up a new gimmick to use the jocks 
as an idea in building up . dinner 
biz. Spinners rotate here weekly, 
too, and the stunt is for them to 
interview patrons, the conversa- 
tion being recorded on wax. Then 
the records are presented to the 
customers for a souvenir. 



Au£tionI^ 
GetPetriBoOK 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Union.'musicians have been '.given 
the green li^t by James C. Petril- 
lo to make audition disks with 
stiplation they be specifically for 
solicitation on live radio shows. 

Reciuest was sent American Fed- 
eration of Musicians by Local 47 
when Jack Nye asked' permission 
to wax for auditipn purposes only. 



Kaye Winds Chi Offices 
Of World, Rep. Firms 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Sammy Kaye clo.sed down the 
ChicaKo ofTiee.s of his World and 
Republic Music firms. Reasons for 
shuttering, as reported here, are 
solely economic. 

Vic Argle, Chi rep for both firms 
(World is ASCAP and Republic, 
BMI), will take over the Coast 
office from Don Wallmark, who 
joined the Kaye setup when Jose 
Granson left about six months ago. 



Tie-in Si^olarsliip 
Deal for School Kid& 

Philadelphia, March 16. 

Philadelphia's Music Machine 
Operators Assn. in cooperation 
with Frank Palumbo, operator of 
Click and other niteries heare, is 
expanding its public relations pro- 
gram to set up a college scholarship 
fund for local higt^hool gradu- 
ates., • • ; . ■ • 

Designed to continue friendly re^ 
lationships between the music in- 
dustry and jukebox-isupporting 
youngsters, the scholarship fund 
will be a "thank you" for the kids' 
support of the recording industry 
and its artists. 

The deal works this way: Pa- 
lumbo this week began circularizing 
all disk jockeys throughout the na- 
tion for the three most popular 
dance bands among their, listeners. 
With all entries tabulated, jockeys 
will be asked to guess the names of 
top bands selectcdi 

The vanning jockey will receive 
a cash award and an all-expense 
paid trip to Philly to emcee a pub- 
lic dance to be held at mammoth 
Convention Hall. The band se- 
lected as the most popular, vrill be 
hired for the/ dance, with all pro- 
ceeds set aside to provide as many 
free scholarships as possible. 
I The record contest also ties in 
i with a promotion of Palumbo's 
i w e e k 1 y Click-Tune-of-the-Month 
I program, broadcast Saturday morn- 
ings from his nitery. 



Assi^ed to Decca Sales Post 

Charlotte, N.C. March 16-. 
Van H. Sills of Charlotte has 
been named manager of the newly 
created southeast division for 
I Decca. . y 



Despite the various columnist 
fanfare about James C. Petrillo 
preparing to lift the ban on record- 
ing, the heads of the major disk 
companies are reconciled to going 
along under the status quo for at 
least another five months. They 
wouldn't be surprised if the Amerir 
can Federation of Musicians prez 
did make some overture toward a 
settlement during the early part of 
the summer, but, as they see it, 
any final agreement wouldn't be 
consummated until September. ; 

Within these top manufacturing 
circles the resumption of studio 
operations is expected . to be pre- 
ceded by long drawnout negotia- 
tion!?. The companies will want 
time' to study Petrilla's proposals 
and come up with counter suggesr- 
tions. Talks may be deferred be- 
cause nf vacation abisence of a 
spokesman for one of the record- 
ing companies, or by the time com- 
ipany reps are-aU available for a 
meeting Petrillo may have decided 
, to repair for the rest of the sunt- 
mer to his place in Geneva, Wis. 

The big companies are viewing 
tfae immediate future with conf 
' plete composure. Thus far nothi- 
ing Fias come up that could cause 
: them to be jittery about the cut- 
ting shutdown. They say they are 
aware of the ' recording going on 
among small independents but 
they don't think this activity wiQ 
prove of any consequence until 
the publishers come up with a 
series of smash hits wbieb had not 
been made available to the recordl- 
ing trade prior to Jan. 1. 

The current sharp drop in sheet 
music business could upset the big 
recorders' applecarts. Kven he- 
tore the sheet business stacted to 
slide there vfia cooiplaint irom the 
manufacturers that sonie publish- 
ers weren't living up to their con»- 
mitments to get behind stipulated 
numbers for network drives on 
pre-arranged release dates. 

With their businesses off, the 
publishers, out of desperation, may 
be disposed to disregard such com- 
mitments mote and morcf and turn 
to concentrating on more newly 
acquired scripts that seem ta them 
to have better sheet-sales possibili- 
ties. If this line «f action were to 
become comnion among publishers 
the major waxers would in due 
time find themselves' at a cont- 
petitive disadvantage. The little 
indies would bave no companctioB 
about grooving such , tunes, while 
the biggies, mindful of their union 
situations, would bave no alternar 
tive but to swallow their frustra- 
tion. 



DbkersRevaUng 
Tafent kpact 

At least one of the naajar record- 
ing companies is on the verge of 
shaking up its talent roster and 
chucking unprofitable deals witb 
artists, and another has within tbe 
past week been rumored taking a 
similar courset 

Company bent on a shakeup will 
soon liberate a band that it went to 
considerable trouble to sign, before 
the war. Second outfit is in the 
throes oi re^■evaluating its disk 
names from top to bottom and 
measuring their reputatinus against 
actual sales. , 



Selvm's Col. Bally 

Ben Selvin, assistant to Manie 
Sachs, artists and repertoire head 
of Columbia Records, has also 
turned his attention to recording 
exploitation and promotion since 
the' disk ban eas^d tbe disk-exec 
pace. He's been making sales talks 
to staffs of Columbia distributors 
and otherwise stepping into the 
promotion picture. 

Eli Oberstein, head of BCA-Vic- 
tor's a & t division, has been filling 
such a role for the past several 
weeks. .'. 



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JockSf Jukes and Disks 



By Ben Bod«e 



Doroihy ■ Shay — "The Sample 
Soiui" "Two-Gun Harry from Tu- 
oumcari" tCoHuinWai). StricUy low- 
er-drawer Dowithy Shay. The clev- 
erness, the IndtylduaUty or the 
tune which spiraled her up there 
in neither number. "Sample" 
Munds pretty potatless. while 
"Htrry," something tossed off be- 
tween herself and Bobby Worth, 
flnires as a lively and catchy mel- 
ody dragged down -by a uedioere 
get of verses about « hombre who 
'Hhrew bis lassoo around aiy 
heart." 

Betty Rhodes— "Long After To- 
taiitt" "I Remember Mama" (Vic- 
tor). It could be the turning point 



My Favontc Five 

. Itg MCK EIXSWORTB 
(WBIfiCi Providence) 

"the» Song^^ U You" (Frank 
' Sinatra) 

"lieam To Croon" <Bing 
: Crosby) 

"Gone Wth What Wind" 
(Benpy Goodman) 

"I'm Gettin' Sentimental 
Over You" ({Tack Leonard) 
; . "Flirtation Walk" (Dick 
;#«rwell) 



lb A hii-4H;(HriiDg way for Miss 
IHiodes with "Long, After Tonight" 
Tb&' mellownesc of her tones, the 
chMW and ease of her phrasing, 
and the skilled projection of the 
«pntfK mood peg thetside as worthy 
ttt an aU-«ut build-up. The coupling 
not otdy retains the mood of Its 
mate' but onderscoies fkt latt^s- 
ibjupmndion in every wi^. 

'Kenny . GoMbnaa — ^"Give Me 
Those Good Old Days," "You 
Turned the Tables on Me" (Capi- 
tol). A strain of the unpredict- 
able, if not tiie pixyisb, seems to 
run through Goodman's more re- 
«nt groovings. There appears to 
be no limit to the range of his 
iooods, musical types, orchestral 
jtlSteS' and whatnot. His latest va- 
gary suggests an urge to show that 
Art Mooney isn't the only one who 
can reach back into the robust 
musical manners of a yesteryear 
aad.come up with » hit. While he 
doesn't, like Mooney, toss in the 
\mi», Goodman, ddes Yesort to the 
otdfashioned backroom piano and 
a bai-bershop quartet to zing things 
up with "Good Old Days." It's 
suggested that his ivory wizard, 
Mel Powell, may have cooked up. 
tt}e whole mess as a satire on 
the current trend of reachhig back 
for the old tune, and, if so, the 
thing could click handsomely. 
'Tables" has a nice easy flow of 
rhythm, and Emma. Lou Welch 
provides a likeable vocal. 

Marten HnttMi;— "My Brooklyn 
Love Song," "Little White Mice" 
(M-G-M). Miss Button steps out 
with her best and winsomest foot 
forward m this her debut on the 
M-C-M label. Instead of pitching 
herself a moony ballad, she latches 
on to the type of ditty wWch shows 
up her talent and personalis at its 
Mightest As clever a»her sister 
Betty, when it comes to whipping 
out a hoydenish set of lyrics, Mar- 
lon had niade an ingratiating 
novelty out of "Love Song." Her 
breehpetnt" accent is not over- 
done «d the spirited tang she 
jemis to the item .spots it as a good 
jiAeboxer. "White Mice" comes 
Off a htUe too cute but stiH catchy. 

Art Mooney — ^"Baby Face," "En- 
core Cheri" (M-G-M). The melody 
S ■ Uttle different and everything 
JJSe is a carbon of "I'm Looking 
"Ver a Four-Leaf Clover," includ- 
SS***® Pmgatore's banjomg. Ad- 
J«*we reports indicate there are 
sections of the country that haven't 
f J yf* caught up with "Clover" and 
are latching on to "Baby Face" as a 
nappy substitute. The dreamy 
in '"i* "Encore" is sympathetic- 
?! y «eatt both tostrumentally and 
oy Bud Brees' ingratiating vocal. 
«Vn,?*^ ©orsey— "My Guitar." 

the Tables on Me" 
Looks as though the 
leeuy side of the Dorsey family 
lari,,^ attention-catcher, particu- 
larly, m "Guitar." The band paces 
a"„ '"f odic rhumba with a sharp 
S?*^Jat»on for its. smoothing 
nn« BUI Lawrence delivers 

Thl , ""Ore effective vocals, 
akn th* warerse side is 

^bL^^^ Its beat and rhythm 
VereflS^uif*^' and thete's lots of 
S^^* ^ vocaliring of 

«.-.****' * heweomer. 
Ki«!!I" *.„ "A Few More 
Kisses," "If It Were Easy to Do" 



'(Victor)^ Either side will give an 
aural lift to Day's fans, but the 
chances are that they'll .find 
"Kisses" the more melodic and di- 
gestible. Whatever the choice the 
qualify is satisfying. 

Jack Kdwards— "I Wish I Knew 
the Name," "My Fair Lady" 
(M-G-M). It may be that this band- 
leadcr-vocaUst is M-<3-M's answer 
to Victor and its Vaughn Monroe. 
Edwards, who made his debut here 
for that label, has been playing 
with his band around Boston for 
the past several months. He, like 
Monroe, to a certain degree, has 
also muscles in his larynx and no 
minor touch of the nasal. As a 
vocal technician Edwards has pro- 
nounced limitations but there's 
enough s.a. about his timbre and 
style to suggest him as a coming 
candidate for the bobbysox sweep- 
stakes, providing he gets enou^ 
of a hearing. The band is decided- 
'ly on. the sweet ^de and quite 
dancewortiiy. 

Art Loud— "What's Good About 
(Joodfaye," "It Was Written in tlie 
Stars" (M-G-M). Lund has a mass 
of competition on these two num- 
bersi but his version of "(Soodbye," 
especially, stacks, up with the best 
of them. Johnny Thomjison's rich 
string baclung earns tlie maestro 
a big. pat of approval 

Tommy Roberts^" Julie," "The 
Bluest Kind of Blues" (M-G-M). 
Vormer vocalist with Sy Oliver 
who makes his entry here as the 
central figure. ■ A lower register 
Billy Eckstine, Roberts, requires a 
lot of room for the sweep of his 
sentimental Uues. H^s- got a 
vibrato that rumbles like a Chevvy 
with a Cadillac motor but never- 
theless he's as natural a singer as 
they come, and his tender nurtur- 
ing of the "Julie^' lyrics and emo- 
tional styling of the other side 
add up to much promise. 

Ray McKinley Orch — "Cincin- 
nati," "Airizay" (Victor). For a 
change of style and flavor in novrf.- 
ties, McKinley's- got 'em in thi.s 
brace. "Cincinnati" chums With a 
zippy, claphands rhythm in the in- 
strumental department and a 
bright sample of novelty lyric 
selling by the leaderman himself. 
Also solid dansapation is the com- 
panion novelty, whose title de- 
rived from the Bayou« country 
means "Arise." It's apparently .an 
adaptation of a Copchon ditty. 

Tony Pastor— "Who Killed 'Er," 
"At a Sidewalk Penny - Arcade" 
(Continued on page SS) 



OKCHESTIIAS-IMIIJSie 



51 



Leyiews :: 
-♦ » ■»'». » »♦■»» ' ♦>♦* » »♦ ♦ ♦ » ♦ » ♦ 



PARADE OF HITS 
Jack l<iregelUs 
'rhursday, 9 p.m., 30 Mins. 
RHODES DEPT. STORE 
KJR, Seattle 

Jack Tregellis really has some- 
thing in his "Parade of Hits," built 
around the seven top tunes of each 
week. His use of musical bridges, 
particularly harp music back- 
ground for comments aiid intros, 
dresses up the half -hour so that it 
compares favorably with a big- 
money live talent production. 

Seven toppers, taken from 
Vabdsty Ustings, are bolstered by 
two all-time oldtimers, and intro- 
ductions and buildup for each 
number are aptly timed and paced 
so that the show moves right along. 

Tregellis began his production 
of such "Hit Parade" programs 
while on CKMO, Vancouver, and 
his technique and timing are just 
■about perfect for such a platter 
session. He htmdies commercials 
also, and gets them across in a 
pleasant manner, tying the plugs 
into the pro0:am and making 
them easy to take. Reed. 



JAKE AND LENA 
With Gene Carroll 
2 hours; Mon-thni-Sat.. 7:30-9:30 

ajn. • ■ 
Sustaining 
WJMO, Cleveland 

Gene. Carroll of Jake and Lena, 
and Fibber McGee fame spins the 
platters, reads the commercials, 
ehats and clowns for two hours, 
taking time out only for newscasts. 

His shows are the- usual type of 
disk Stanzas. But on Saturdio^s at 
9, he concentrates on the kiddies, 
his- latest bid b«ng a series of 
singing animal records: He's cre^ 
ated such characters., as Johnny the 
Mud Turtle, Sude the SquiEEti, 
Clara the Cat, and Pete the Pen^ 
guin. 

There wiU be other voices — Hen- 
rietta the Hen, Fred the Frog, and 
Charlie the- Chipmunk. The voices 
have a tendency to be unclear at 
times, .overlooldng the fact that 
for kiddies words must be spoken 
clearly; distinctly and slowly. Fur- 
thermore the thought ' must be 
there so that the clilld's mind won't 
be taxed. 

Carroll plans to branch out, 
using moral records on safiefy, 
Americanism, etc. If he gets tiiese 
ideas across, he'll chalk up a ma< 
jor accomplishment. Mark, 



Coa^ ASCAP Writers Snowball 
Mve for l^k as President 



U-I Pays Chappell lOG 
For Pic Use of Feudin" 

Hollywood, March 16. 

Universal-International is paying 
Chappell Music $10,000 for the title 
and unlimited synchronization use 
of the song, "Feudin' and Fightin'."' 
Title will be appUed to "That Won- 
derful Race at Rimrock," already 
in production starring Marjorie 
Main and Donald O'Connor. Deal 
was completed late last week 
through Harry Fox. 

Deal gives U-I a two-year ex- 
clu.sive on the tune, but the film 
must be released before the end of 
this'year. 



Stewart Seymour has joined the 
contact staff of T. B. Harms. He 
was previously with Joe Glaser's 
Associated Booking Agency. 



Pro-and'Con On 
Taylor Defense 
OfMywoodlO' 

Some of tiie more extreme right- 
wingers' on the writer roster of the 
American S oc iet y of Composers, 
Authors and Publishers are mur- 
muring junong. themselves an«at 
Deems Tayjlor% alignment with the 
comml1±ees fbrmed to collect funds 
to defmd tiie 10 Holljwood writers 
indicted as the result xtt hearings' 
by the House Un-American Activi- 
ties Committee. 

This critical element feels that 
the ASCAP proxy's- participation in 
the defense group will be inter- 
preted as representing the view of 
the Society and'hot merely of him- 
self as an indivlduaL However, 
there is no indication that these ob- 
jectors will take their plaint to the 
-writer segment on the ASCAP 
board.. 

Other ASCAP writers point out 
that Taylor ranked a nationally- 
known personality long before he 
headed ASCAP and that he had a 
reputation as a "liberal" away back 
in his newspaper-writing days. His 
expressed views outside of ASCAP 
■matters, they add, will no more be 
regarded as a blanket commitment 
of the Society's writers than if he 
had -taken a position against the 
same 10 film scriptists. 



- • «. SABRE DANCE (3) (Leeds) 



10 Best SeDers on Cm-Machmes *' '^'^^:*'"!*.^,^ 



2. 
3. 



NOW IS THE HOUR (7)( Leeds) {f^f cS*:.-.V.V.-.V.-.''dcS ^ 



MANANA (6) (Barbour-Lee) 

FOUR LEAF CLOVER (8) (Remick>. 



4. BEG YOUR PARDON (4) (Bobbins). 



5. SERENADE OF THE BELLS (10) (Morris). 



; 7. GOLDEN EARRINGS <12) (Paramount) 

: 8. BUT BEAUTIFUL (1) (Morris) 

9. BALLERINA (17) (Jefferson) 

\ 10. LITTLE WHITE LIES (1) (BVC) 

Coming Up 

TERESTA (Duches-s) 

MATINEE (Morris) • • • 

THOUSAND ISLANDS SONG (Morris) 

BECAUSE (Chappell) 

SHINE (Shapiro-B) • ■ • 

MY OLD FLAME (Famous) - 

IN LITTLE BOOK SHOP (BVC) 



Peggy Lee. Canitol 

(Art Mooney M-G-M 

■ ( Uptown String Band ... Mercury 
( Francis Craig Bullet 

' \ Frankie Carle Columbia 

f Jo Stafford Capitol 

' \ Saminy Kaye . Victor 

I Wood-!/ Herman Columbia 

' ' \ Freddy Martin Victor 

( Peggy Lee. Capitol 

■ \ Dinah Shore ..Columbia 

, . Bi'Bfl.Crosbi/ Decco 

{Vaughn Monroe Victor 
Jimmy Dorsey:. ..... . . . .M.-G-M 

,-. Dick Haymes < , . i . . . . y . . .Decco 



PIANISSIMO (Santly-JOy) 



; BEST THINGS IN LIFE (Crawford) 

STARS WILL REMEMBER (Harms) 

MADE FOR EACH OTHER (Southern) Clark-Cugat Columbio t 



{ Andrews Sis-Hoymes: . . Decca 

\ Vic- Damme ; .Mercttry 

Vaughn Monroe . . ; . . . . . , Victor 

I Louis. Primfli. . ......... . . Victor 

{ Johnny Mercer. . . . . . . . . Capitol 

. Perry Como. .......... . ^Victor 

Frankie Laine ......... Mercury 

Spike Jones. .... , , ..... . .Victor 

( Vo-ajrhn JWonroc .......... Victor 

) Guy Lombardo. . , , . . ... . Decca 

1 Perry Conw. . . , , . . . . . . . .Victor 

I Buddy Clorlc. , ...... . Columbia 

SJo Stafford......... ... Capitol 

(Dinoh Shore Coltt-nibio 

j Vaughn Monroe. .... . . . . Victor 

IFrank Sinatra . . . ... . . Colu-nibio 



'rHOUGUTLESS' (Feisi) 

HAUNTED HEART (Williamson) 



I 



Btiddy mi/e . . , . . . . . . . . . M-G-M 

I Perry Como. . , Victor 
( Jo Staff&rd. ... . .Cipttdl 

„^ . , , ( Freddy Mortin. ......... '.Victor 

DICKEY BIRD SONG (Rebblns) | Lorry Clinton Decco 

BIG BRASS BAND FROM BRAKIL (Morris) Art Mooney M-G-M 

EASTER PARADE (BerUn) Gui/ Lombardo Decco 

[Figjtres in parentlieses i7idicatc number of meks song has been in the Top 10.1 



Hollywood, March IS. 
Boom for Gene Buck to resume 
the presidency Of the American 
Society of Composers, Authors and 
Publishers seems to be gaining 
headway among ASCAP writers 
h e r e, despite Buck's expressed 
preference to remain just a direc-* 
tor. Included in the committee 
doing the campaigning in Buck's 
behalf are L. Wolfe Gilbert, Jimmy 
McHugh, Harold Adamson* and 
Rudolf Friml. 

The committee appears convinced 
that all the writi^ memliers. of 
ASCAP board will automatically 
support Buck for the post and that 
it's just a matter of winning over 
enough publisher directors to get' 
Buck the required votes. Buck's 
backers explain that their activities . 
ai-e qualified by the supposition 
that Deems Taywr wiU exit from 
the presidency April- 1, when his 
present term expires. Taylor suc- 
ceeded Buck some years ago, but 
it wasn't until two years ago that 
he was voted an annual salary of 
.$3,000. 

When Buck left ofHce he was 
given it 19-year contract at .|^5,000 
a year to serve as an adviser, but 
in an unofficial way,- As a double 
B writer he alsqr collects about 
$10,000 a year. Thus* the question 
arises as to whether Buck would 
take the job even if he's assured of 
it The drive- gained- more in^etus 
after Oscar Hammerstein U said 
that' in view of his- presid^u^ in 
the Dramatists. Guild and numer- 
ous- Broadway activities he could 
not cmisider theproposdtioB of suc- 
ceeding Tayl<tf.,itt ASCAP's' top 
post. 

Taylor's: SnceeM^on Hiiooi 

Whether Taylor can .succeed 
himself as ASCAP president is still 
a moot point The ASCAP board 
about a year ago passed a. resolu- 
tion barring a president from hold- 
ing two successive terms but there's 
a question asito whetlier the resolu- 
tion was su!epos«d to cover the in- 
cumbent, namely, Ti^rlor. 

Some pub directors say that, 
even if the residution coilld apply 
to Taylor, he'll probably succeed 
himself by default, since the 6nly 
other candidate that the publishers 
on the board' are inclined to- favor 
is HammersteioL The board con- 
sists of 12 writers and 12 publish- 
ers, and a two^thitds vote is re- 
quired fbr. election to th0 presi- 
dency. : ■■■ ■ 



wail BOSSTTER NOW 81 

Chicago, March 16. 

Will Rossiter, oldest music pub- 
lisher in the country, is celebrat- 
ing. bis $lst birthday ^is Week. 

Rossiter has been m the publish- 
ing business for the last 58 years. 




JIMMIE LUNCEFORD ORCH 
Royai Roost, N. Y. 

Continuation of a band after the 
demise of its leader is at best a 
precarious proposition. However, 
several have made the grade, such 
as Tex Beneke with his guidance 
of the Glenn Miller organization, 
and it's likely that the late- Jimmie 
Luneeford's crew under the helm 
of pianist Eddie Wilcox and tenor 
saxist Joe Thomas have a good 
chance of staying in the upper 
brackets. 

The crew current at Broadway's 
Royal. Roost hasn't gone far from 
the original line established by 
Us late maestro. The rhythms are 
still compellingi the presentations 
have color and variety, while their 
catalog has- workmanlike arrange- 
ments. 

The instrumentation of six brass, 
five reeds, four riiythms is wisely 
held in restraint volumewise, thus 
enabling them to hold dovm the 
post in a small room such as their 
present stand. But despite this 
restraint, no musical qualities are 
lost Their work is such that it en- 
tices a good quota of dancers and 
provides interesting listening. 

Band, however, could use a more 
colorful -personality in front Wil- 
cox, who handles the ' batoning 
chores, is a capable leader who is 
able to control the sidemen from 
his post at the piano, but fails to 
spark any visual interest. On the 
other hand, Thomas is a sprightly 
worker who is excellent for sight 
as well as musical values. . 

There's no doubt that the late 
leader is sorely missed by the crew, 
but the new handlers have been 
able to retain most of the band's 
values. Jose, 



ASCAP, in Dismissal Move, Asks Why 
Govt. Excludes BMI from Cartel Action 



Broadcast Music, Inc., was 
dragged into the Governments 
cartel litigation against the, Ameri- 
can Society of Composers, Authors 
and Publishers when the latter 
filed its answer in N. Y. federal 
court Monday (15). In rejecting 
the' Department of Justices 
charges, Entered last June, that it 
was engaged in a world-wide con- 
spiracy' to monopolize musif per- 
forming rights, the Society wanted- 
to know why similar steps weren't 
being taken against BMI, 

ASCAP's position, as enunciated 
In its answer, is that it operates as 
a free enterprise and non-profit 
organization in the interests of its 
members and for the convenience 
of music-users, whereas BMI came 
into existence to crush this free 
enterprise and now threatens by 
the "same tactics td embrace the 
entire world." Also "to destroy" all 
associations of composers and 
authors of the world and mi|ke 
them "subservient to the American 
broadcasting industry." 

Continuing in this vein, the an- 
swer States that BMI seeks to pre- 
vent a competitive system where 
"each work rises to its natural 
level" and offers instead a "con- 
trolled market itttder whicB those 
•who yield tfli the American broad- 
casting industry will have . their 
works brought to the attention of 
the American public," and those 
"Who refuse to yield will submit 
to the disappearance of their works 
from the American scene,'.' The 
answer ridicules what;itf',<li»s<!;ribes 
as BMr& styling itself a ."competi- 
tor" of ASCAP, When BMI is actu- 
ally the "creature of an .industry 
fradio) on which authors, com- 
posers and publishers must xely 
for their existence." 

The answer also reviews the bat- 
tle between ASCAP and the broad- 
eastm eight ^'^ars .ago and recites 
how the latter "foiled" BMI on 
the public and created a nine- 
month music monopoly. Included 
is an outline of the existing eon- 
tracts betweffli ASCAP and the 
radio industry. 
•BMI declined yesterday (Tues- 



day) to comment officially on 
ASCAP's posted answer but broad- 
caster sources did remark on what 
seemed to them a paradoxical posi- 
tion. ASCAP, it was pointed out, 
makes the charge, on the one hand, 
that BMI is likewise engaged in 
the very practices that the; Gov- 
ernment ascribes to ASCAP, and 
4hus should be made a joint He- 
fendant, and then goes on to peti- 
tion the court to dismiss the com- 
plaint. Cracked this source, 
"ASCAP apparently wantjj BMI 
hauled in as a fellow sinner but it 
doesn't want BMI prosecuted." 

BURNHAM QUITS MORRIS; 
TO BOOK HOTEL CHAIN 

Bill Burnham last week resigned 
as band booker at the William 
Morris Agency to become talent 
booker for the Realty Hotels chain, 
which includes the Biltmore, N. Y, 
Edgewater Beach, Carlton and 
Wardman Park hotels, Chicago, 
though not members of the Realty 
chain, will also be, booked by Burn- 
ham. 

AH the above spots are impor- 
tant music users. 

Burnham will headquarter at the 
Biltmore. He joined the Morris 
agency in 1943, from Consolidated 
Radio Artists, where he had been a 
veepee. ThB !^orris office tendered 
Burnham a luncheon at the War- 
wick hotel, isr.<Y., Pi^ay (12). 

Sablon*« Special Pic Job 

London, March 16! 

Jean Sablon, playing the London 
Palladium, signed a song contract 
with the J. Arthur Rank Organiza- 
tion to make a soundtrack-only re-" 
cording of a musical introduction 
to the new Gainsborough film, 
"Miranda." 

Song . is., called "Miranda" and 
was written specially for the pic. 
Sablon is expected to make a re- 
cording for the EMI group to tie 
up with the picture's release. The 
music is being published by the 
Edward K.as:;ner Music Co. 



.Berlin s 7c from Feijit' 

Irving Berlin's ileal for two 
of his songs from the "Easter 
Pai-ade" score to be pub- 
lished through Feist calls- for 
only 7c royalty .and 50% of the 
mechanicals. A previous fig- 
ure mentioned a higher royalty 
divvy. Of the 7c per sheet, 6c 
goes to Berlin as songsmith and 
Ic to his music firm which 
normally would have published 
all the new excerpts from the 
forthcoming Metro fllmusical, 
just as Berlin publishes his 
oldies, including the title song. 
Feist Music is one of the so- 
called Big Three, wholly ownfed 
subsids of Metro, and it's to the 
best interests of the film that 
Berlin leased the publishing 
rights away from his own com- 
pany. Prime idea is to insure 
wider plugging of all the score 
components, otherwise one or 
another tune might suffer ex- 
ploitationally. 

"Easter Parade" is the score 
for which Berlin got $600,000 
flat from Metro and. while not 
enjoying a percentage interest 
as is his usual wont, the song- 
smith plans cooperating on all 
sorts of tieups to'plug the pic- 
ture. . 

The two songs are "Better 
Luck Next Time" and "I'm a 
Fella \Vith An Umbrella." They 
revfert to Berlin in 2% years. 
Songsmith also collects'50% of 
Feist's ASCAP income from 
the two numbers. 



Wfiflnesdiay, Mafclt 17, 194^ 



Sues Verne Co. For 

Unsanctioned Disking 

Verne Jtecording Corp. was 
slapped with an infringement suit 
last week in N. Y. federal court by 
Juan P. Acosta, who claims the 
diskery wrongfully used his copy- 
righted song, "Bajo la Sombra de 
un Pino." He asks $15,000 for 
alleged damages, an injunction and 
accounting. 

Acosta charged .that he wrote 
"Bajo" in 1947, hut the tune was 
never published. Verne Recording 
allegedly waxed and made a master 
of his number in January, 1948, 
without the writer's consent. He 
gave notice to the defendant, it's 
claimed; that the song vifas copy- 
righted but* the wrongful acts con- 
tinued, he stated. 



Mex Fun & Frolic at Fever Pitch 
Despite Shaky Peso, B.O. Slnmp 

, rumors about Mexico ar« 

taking root, " 



By PEGGY LeBOUTILLIEK 
Mexico City, March 8. 

Thp cold wave that hit tourist 
biz at the year's debut has gone 
with the spring wind. Hotels, res- 
taurants, nightclubs, the Hlpodro- 
mo and local airlines are ecstatic. 
Despite the fact that gold reserves 
are still fleeing the country -(Ille- 
gally); that whiskey, cigarets and 
other basic necessities are con- 
trolled by high embargos; that the 
peso is shaky, that banks lend the 
film industry only at a fantastic 
18% and that b.o. attendance is 
down 40% the fun and frolic are 
at fever pitch. 

Last year 360,000 toui ists, most- 
ly American, spent $121,000,000 
( U. S. ) . Turismo, which is reor- 
ganizing on a larger scale, expects 
400,000 tourists to spent $123,000-, 
000 this year, Yet they point out 
that their efforts to dislocate sub- 



SVENSKAS SWEET ON 
SWINGSTERS FROM U.S. 

Stockholm, March 1. " 
Since the end of the war, Sweden 
has been a lucrative market for 
tJ. Si orchestras, starting with Don 
Redman in 1946 and continuing 
with Austin Cole and Chubby 
Jackson among others in 1947. 
American orchestras draw full 
houses everywhere, maybe as a re- 
sult of the lack of '■American rec- 
ords. 

The two most successful recent 
tours in Sweden have been by Rex 
Stewart and Dizzy Gillespie. Gilles- 
pie is still on the Continent. 



Lou Suritz Blows Majestic 

Lou Suritz, chief of the Majestic 
Records agency in New York, has 
given up the agency and may re- 
turn to the liquor business. 

Suritz was one of the originals 
in Majestic when the late James J. 
Walker took over as prezi 



Plx Imports Score 

Studios are fairly busy, dubbins 
American pictures Into Spanish 
and making locals. Some Ameri- 
can films are on the horizon, but 
not many are important. Big suc- 
cesses are imports. "Open City" is 
the first Italian film allowed here 
since the war. "La Copla de Dc 
lores" (Mexico and Spain's trade 
agreements are wide and active) 
hails from Franco's land. Two are 
from France, "Le Diable au Corps" 
with the new craze Gerard Phi- 
lippe, banned in N. Y., and, Louis 
Jouvet's "En Revenant." .lames 
Mason is having a whirl with 
"The Upturned Glass" and "Duel." 
"Rio Escondldo," directed by Indio 
Fernandez and photographed by 
Figueroa, who did "The Pearl," 
and starring Marl Fell/., is curious- 
ly a flop. 

On a higher level, Igor Stravin- 
sky, conducting his own works, ex- 
cited little interest — partially due 
to inadequate publicity. Young 
obscure painters are selling well 
in several new art galleries, even 
to U. S. museums. jVIore N. Y. ad 
agencies are opening doors. Though 
the Government's English-speaking 
paper, the Daily News, died at the 
age of two months, the new leftist 
weekly, Partido Popular (of labor 
leader Lombardo "Toledano), is a 
hit. . 

Widespread Wallace 

Azcarraga, who controls the 1o^ 
cal radio, including the strongest 
station in Latin America, XEW, is 
setting up Quonset huts for tele- 
vision shows. Admittance, is only 
a few centavos. 

Reactionaries are spitting through 
their 'tequila at the snowball suc- 
cess of the two Wallace-for-Presi- 
dent clubs; one wholly Mexican, 
with a merely sympathetic value; 
the other run by ex-GI university, 
students who expect to contribute 
at least 1,500 votes to November's 
witching day, via returned stu- 
dents and absentee votes. (Last 
election only two of Mexico's 
15,000 Americans voted for FDR). 



ii 



-ii 



mViRmASOHOHAViBimitltiCOfSiBACKmGSf 




tmAmLYARE AFPfdCIA 





for ijwtance, there's Peggy Lee's ."Manana," Eddy Howard's "Four Leaf Clover," Buddy 
lark s 'Tou Are Never Away," Russ Morgan's "Beg Your Pardon," Bob Houston's "Pianissimo." 



^FUSED TO BE LOST IH THE SHWFLE 
AH^ISNOW A REAL HIT IN ITS OWN RIGHP. 



lEDWABD b". MARks music fOltPORAtlO 

RADIO CITY NEWYOStK'^ ^ 'HH'0ti,^^-^kK/9*P%i»'i^ f-lt^ M/»,»i-s«r 'J i 



4 "''^'^"y 50,3 



RCA BUHDING 



ORCHESTRAS-MtJ$lC 



Wednegdlay, Maieeh 17, 1943 



OUie Cyde Cushioiis Vet Qders 
Resting On Heir ASCAP Laurels 



A' long-Standlnff gripe within the 
music 'business has been that many 
veteran songsmiths have been rest- 
ing on their ASCAP laurels to the 
degree they've lost the urge ^0 
cr0ate. Allfegedly many have been 
cofttent to collect either their per- 
manent classification anriual sti- 
pends or, just roll along getting 
tiiat A and AA annual royalty 
melon. The fixed classifications 
range from $7,500 per annum, the 
top, or AA, annual melon comes 
to $19,000 per a year. 

However, the recent extraordi- 
nary wave of nostalgia .has taKen 
the a.k. songsmitlis off ttie defen- 
sive. If anything, the vfets* oldies 
—under the recent surge of "Nos- 
talgia Days in Cixie," as they're 
calliSig this cycle pf oldies getting 
new Hit Parade classifications— 
now' constitute the majority of 
songs in public favor. • 

Since before World War II, and 
right through the lush wartime 
period, the young songwriting 
blood, which had been turning out 
the fresher and newer pop song 
material, had complained bitterly 
t'lat the ASCAP "in" boysf — the 
vets—were the causes of their low 
classifications. It did appear that 
many of the C Writers had more 
currently active catalogs than the 
oldsters who, however, were cash- 
ing in on their seniority and avaiP 
ability advantages. In fact, some 
of these youngsters had to sue or 
threaten to sue in ordcp to get 
promotion^? Becrlmlnatlons against 
the 'SOKialled "country dub set" 
wltbln' ASCAP were freely aired. 

Rut How it's different. The.preg- 
ent flood pf old songs, vl& pre-disk 
ban recordings, gives ' the a.k.s 
surer footing within the trade. 

Wliat might servo- as a prelty 
good' index into the -degree that 
these old tunes are coming oil the 
wax .presses is the fact the re- 
leases for the two 'final weeks of 
February by the major labels con- 
tained 19 .songs of a bygone day, 
' The ''Id do not include a host of 
pTOjjCfus pldles, jsucb as "Fote- 



Leaf Clover," "Best Things In Life 
Are Free," "If I Had All the 
World and Its Gold," "Moonlight 
and Roses" and "Little White 
Lies," which have been popping 
up on the disk assembly line since 
the first of this year. They were 
done mainly because of' the disk 
ban, of course, but that's beside 
the point. 

Yesteryear Hit Parade 
Roster -of resurrected numbers, 
including their writers, that have 
appeared among the disk trade's 
products for just the past two 
weeks is as follows: ' 

"True"; Walter G. Samuels, 
Leonard Whltcup. 

"I Don't Stand a Ghost of a 
Chance"; Bing Crosby, Ned Wash- 
ington, Victor Young. 

"I'll Always Be in Love With 
You"; Bud Green, Sammy Stept, 
Herman Ruby, 

"You Were Meant for Me"; Na- 
cio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed, t 
"The Loveliness of You"; Ted 
Mossman, Bill Anson. ^ ■ 

"I Can't Give You Anything But 
Love, Baby": Dorothy- Fields^ 
Jimmy McHugh. 

"Don't Blame Me"; Dorothy 
Fields, Jimmy ^McHugh. 

"AH of Me"; Seymour Simons, 
Gerald Marks. 

"Yes, Sir, That's My Baby"; Wal- 
ter Donaldson, Gus Kahn. 

"Did You Ever See a Dream 
Walking?"; Mack Gordon, Harry 
Revel. • 

"We Just Couldn't S^iy Good- 
bye"; Harry Woods. . 

"After You've Gone"; Henrjr 
Creamer, Turner Layton. ' 
"Wishing"-" B. G, DeSylva. 
"•Deed I DO"; Walter Hlrsch, 
Fred Rose. 

"You Made Me Love You"; Joe 
McCarthy, Jimmy Monaco. 

"IV^ Extraordinary Gal"; Terry 
Shand. 

- ''If You Knew Susie"; B. G. 
DeSylva* Joseph W. Meyer. 

"Dancing On the Celling"; Lo- 
renz Hart, Richard Bodgers. 



Best British Sheet Seflers 

(Wccfc ending Morch 11) 
: London, March 12. 
Tree in Meadow Connelly- 
Near You,., Wood 

Kissing Her Now., , . .Feldman 

Sweet 16 ' Darewskl 

Serenade of Bells .... Morris 
Shoemaker's Ser..,. .-Kassner 

Wint'ertlme Cinephonlc 

Peg O' My Heart . Ascherberg 
Make Up Everything Maurice 

Civilization Morris 

Apple Blossom Connelly 

I'm Happy Here, , Unit 

Second 12 

Golden Earrings Victoria 

Coffee Song Southern 

LltUe Old Mill Dash 

Sorrento Rlcordi 

AndMimi Connelly 

Mother's Lullaby Dash 

Nice To Know You Care Unit 
Darby and Joan . . Box & Cox 
South America ....... Feidman 

Garden Rain ........ Connelly 

Glocca Morra. . Chappell 

Bow Bells " Kassner 



CAMARATA SIGNED 
AS WRITER BY MILLS 

Toots Camarata,' musical direc- 
tor for the London labei, has' been 
signed to a writing contract by 
Mills Music. Among the works the 
firm will publish are "Rumbalero," 
"Rhapsody for Sa^^ophone' and 
"Tall Trees." 

Long a top arranger and musical 
director, Camarata did arrange- 
ments for Jimmy Dorsey, Bing 
Crosby, Dmah Shore and others 
from 1932 to 1942. In 1946 he 
joined Decca as musical director 
«nd subseciuently moved to the 
London organization. 



Ue Orchestras-Music 

Barclay Allen orchestra, currently at Giro's, Hollywood, Is not an 
entirely new group. Rhythm section, comprised of Allen, Stan Blaclr 
guitar; Merle Mahone, drums, and Sid Frldkln, bass, played tocethp? 
for eight months at KLAO, where Allen waa miuslcal director befom 
joining -Freddy Martin orchestra. Group also waxed for Van-Es label 
owned by Allen and Bob McLaughlin, KLAC disk jockey, as Barclay 
Allen Four. Allen left the station's musical chores in Stan Black's 
care while lie and Miihone joined Martin and later lej!t Martin to take 
care of Allen's newly formed band, 

Story from Hollywood In last week's Issue concerning ar« apk order 
pulling Charlie Barnet from Harry ' Schooler's Mardi Gras ballroom 
tended to give the erroneous impression that the bandleader Intended 
to hire non-union musicians. Actually It was Schooler who had such 
Intentions. 

Jack Owens got 150 letters on his Introductorj^ broadcast of his 
latest tune, "Hukllau," via ABC's "Breakfast Club" and that's enough 
for Bregman-Vocco-Conn to have taken It for publication. Owebs wrote 
the number while on his recent vacation in Honolulu, Title means fish-" 

ing net.' , • , • 

Lou Levy's music firms, Leeds, Duchess and Peter Maurice and 
Andrew Sisters' activities, currently housed in separate Hollywood loca- 
tions, are malcing plans to gather under one roof. Firms will take 
over William Esty agency offices in Breneman restaurant building 
when Estj^ moves to new location. 

Hal Derwln, who has been with General Artists Corp. since he formed 
his orchestra, has left agency to join Music Corp. of America in hopes 
of securing Eastern engagements. Maestro inked a 30-day authoriza- 
tion with MCA and will sign a long-term pact with agency If desirable 
work la secured. 



Colum1)ia Recording Co., reported as having defaulted In tax pay- 
ments to the Japanese government in a Tokyo datellned story In last 
week's Issue, Is strictly a local operation there and not connected with 
Columbia' of the U.S., latter firm points oiit. 



Mex's Jitke. Bleat . 

' Mexico City, March 7. 
The newly organized National 
Syndicate ofv Musical Workers at 
Its first national convention, in the 
government-owned Palace of Fine 
Arts (National Theatre) here, 
adopted a resolution against too 
many jukeboxes and other music- 
making apparatus that supplant 
live muslciians. 



Fitzgera)d-£ckstine ' 
Jazzique Nabs $2,400 

• Los Angeles, March 16. 

Gene Norman, KFWB disk 
jockey, grossed $2,400 prompting a 
jazz concert' here last week at Em- 
bassy auditorium, featuring Ella 
Fitzgerald and Billy Eckstine, 
backed by a dozen fairly well- 
knowfi Coast sldemen. 

Miss Fitzgerald, fresh from a 
$2,000 weekly engagement at Billy 
Berg's, got flat $500. Eckstine, 
doubling from - current stand at 
Cricket Club, got a flat $450. Nor- 
man made profit, but not such a 
satiny sum as have greeted most 
of his promotions here. He tossed 
the affair on only five days notice, 
and used •nothing other than his 
nltely KFWB platter program to 

plug It. [ 



PUBS ROOST AGAIN 
ON WRITERS' PACT 

The new Songwriters Protection 
Assn. contract, which has been 
hanging fire tor almost a year and 
a half, will get another going-over 
from the publishers' side tomorrow 
(Thursday) in N. Y. 

Walter Douglas, chairman of the 
Music Publlsljers Protective Assn., 
has asked that organization's SPA 
contract committee to meet with 
him, and also to bring along their 
lawyers to examine the legal 
phraseology of the basic agree- 
ment. 

These 'long drawnout discussions 
over a covenant between the two 
organizations have been a sort of 
ritual between them ever since 
they started doing business back 
in the early '30's. 



. The Mightiest Little Band in the Land 

LENNY 




and His Quintette 

Currently Appearing 

HOTEL ASTOR 

■ .# ■. * ■ . 
NEW YORK 




GUEST RADIO APPEARANCE 

ON STAGE AMERICA 

March 22-WJZ-CoasMo-Coast 

Ftaturincf His Sensational Ver> 
sbn of His Latest Hit Record! 

HEY GOOMBAl 

CMcnorl 



TraMcrlptioRi: ^NO-WORTH ami MUZAK « 
Pwional Mana«miMt: WUOa COK ASSOCIATE 



Voriel y^ August 20, 1 947 

LENNY HERMAN OBCH (5) 
Astor .Roof, N. Y. 

. . . this Herman combo holds its 
own with anything the Astor man- 
agement can dig up from among the 
expen.^ive combos, as far as enter- 
tainment and forthright danceability 
is concerned. It is one of the finest 
flve-man herds available — for any 
purpose. It delivers any category : 
and all of its material is excellently 
played, from a musical standpoint. 
Few contemporaries develop the en- 
thusiastic beat achieved in every 
tempo attempted and the proof of , 
the pudding is in the number of 
people hoofing it .. . 

. . . Instrumentation produces 
smooth ballads, novelties, latin 
temi>i and anything el.se on the 
• musical horizon, neatly tied together 
by 'solo, duo and trio vocals and 
served m a manner that's hard to 
resist. Its members rate a nod for 
excellence. • Wood. 



Wednesday, Maufcli 17, 194» 



5$ 



MAKTIN FBISCO DATE 
DRAWS TOP COIN 

Hollywood, March 16. 

flreddy .Martin orchestra going 
Into St. Francis hotel, San Fran- 
e\vM on highest gunrantee and 
lircenUge deal for location date in 
irea since Benny Gpodman played 
Mark Hopkins in 1940. Goodman 
Sied for flat $5,600 at that time. 
Martin will get a $4,000 guarantee 
^lu a 45% of covers, ,which as- 
S of at least $4,500. 

jlaesteo's Cocoanut Grove take is 
tS,()00p«s iMsccentage. 



Mnsic Notes 



Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne 
plefthiR tunes for Warners' forth- 
coming "The Gay Nineties." being 
pioduccd by Alex Gottlieb . . . 
touis Forbes set by Sam Bis(*off 
as^Wusical director on "Pitfall." 

Andtfr Prtevin assigned to do 
the musical score- for "Sun in the 
Morning" at Metro . . , Harvey 
Twyman and Jaeli-Oev«nay' now 
gl^g Dan Anderson on Capitol 
Beeonds' public relations , and pro- 
gnotloir . . . William Lava set to 
(fibre Warners' "The Big Punch," 
with Wayne JVlorris, Lois Maxwell 
and Gordon MacRae . . . Columbia 
imJsic director Morris Stoloil 
named George Duning to cleff the 
gcore for "The Return of October," 
Glenn Ford-Terry Moore comedy 
. , Miiro Technicolor musical, "A 
Date- With Judy," will reveal 10 
tunes to . be played and sung by 
Jane Powell, Carmen Miranda , and 
■ Xavier Cugat orch , . . Dave Chud- 
now has been named musical su- 
pervisor and Ralph Stanley, com- 
poserKionductor for Equity Pic- 
tutes" "Shed No Tears." . . . Deep 
Btver Boys now at Larry Potter's 
Supper Clubf . . . Vivian Green 
temporarily out of Santa Monica 
Ambassador hotel due to illness 
, . . Frankie 'Laine, now at Copa 
Club, Pittsburgh, follows date with 
midwest concert tour and then 
Harem, N. Y. nitery, for four 
weeks beginning April 8 . . . Ray 
ileiodorf set as music arranger- 
director' for musical, "My Dream 
Is Yours," produced by Michael 
Cuitiz , . . De Castro sisters play- 
ing Adams theatre, Newark, open- 
ing March 18 . . . Herbert Stothart 
inked to cleffi original scores for 
"Hills of Home" and "Three 
Musketeers" at Metro . . ; Mabel 
Scott opened at Bar nf Music for 
three weeks . . , Doris Day records 
lug "Someone Like .You," "My 
Dream Is Yours." and "Freddy, 
Get Ready for School" for Michael 
Curtiz' film, "My Dream Is Yours." 
Harry Warren and Ralph Blane 
. cleifing additional ditties for 
Curtiz'« "My Dream is Yours." . . . 
Martha Tilton's first release on 
Capitol label since rejoining firm 
being oiTered this weok. Sides are 
"That's Gratitude" and "Not So 
Bright." . . . Sol, Bourne is putting 
- ABC Music on active list again. 
Mike Gould will head firm on West 
COjfist along with Bourne Music Co. 
Activities. Boui-ne and Gould have 
not set anyone for ABC job. as yet. 



lerm mst best seliebs 



Survey of retail sheet music 
sQlex, bused on reports obtained 
from leading' stores in 11 cities, 
and showing comparative .lale* . 
rattnsf jot this anti last week. 



National 
Ratine 



Week Ending 
Mar. 13 



*rbls Last 

wk. wk. Title 



Publisher 



(11 



T 
O 
T 
A 
L 

P 
O 
I 

N- 
T 



1 


1 


"Now Is the Hour" . . , 


Leeds 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


110 


2 


2 


"Four-Leiit Clover" ... 


Remick 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 




99 


3 


3 


"Beg Your Pardon" ' 


Robbins. . . 


3 




3 


4 


4 


3 


8 


3 


S 


3 


3 


74 


4 


7" 




Barbour- Lee. 


4 


a 


5 


7 


8 


4 


3 


7 


b' 


4':. 


5 


65 


5 


■■4: 


"Serenade o^. the Bells'? . 






4 




3 


: 


5 


5 


6 


3 




9 


54 


6 


5 


*HiroMen. Earrings". 


Paramount. .- 


6 




Ml 


5 


7 


6 


T 


to 


..5. 


6 


8 


40 


7A 


9 


"But Beautiful" 


Morris ■. ... 


s 


6 






3 


9 






4 






25 


7B 


G 


"Ballerina" 


Jefferson. . . 


7 






9 


6 


10 






7 


7 


6 


25 


8 


12 


"Teresa" 


Duchess. . . . . 




8 


6 






8 


-.4 


8 




8 




24 


9 - 


10 


"I'll Dance at Wedding" 


Simon. . . 


10 






6 










10 


10 


~4~ 


15 


10 


11 


"The Stars Remember" 
















e 


4 








12 


11 




^WahiS^o^' ■ . . : . 


























11 


12 


13 


"Best Things Are Free" . 


Crawford - . ■' 






8 




10 














10 


13A 


8 


"How Soon" 


-Supreme. . . 






7 












9 






6 

























13B 



"Dickie BirA Song" Robbins, .... . . .. .. .. 5 



On the Upbeat 



Hollywood 

Joe Liggins' Honeydrippers en 
route to Florida on one-niter tour 
. . . Johnny Moore's Three Blazers 
on orie-niter trek into southwest- 
. . . Pee-Wee Hunt opened at Paris 
Inn, San Diego, Friday (12) . . . 
Red Ingle and Natural Seven check 
into Universal-International to be- 
gin, filming ti two-reel musical 
which Will Cowan will produce 
and direct . . . Jack Fina playing 
an added four weeks at Claremont 
hotel, Berkeley, • closing • May- 9. 
Russ Morgan orch had date set 
back at Claremont and will open 
May 11 . . . Leighton Noble opened 
Mapes hotel, Reno, Wednesday 
(10) for six weeks.' Uddie Fitzpat-' 
rick orch follows for six weeks 
and Joe ■ Reichman checks- in for 
Slimmer . . , Ray Herbeck clo.ses 
Rainbow .Rendezvous, ■ Salt Lake, 
March 27 and will play one niters 
before entering ■ Martinique, . Chi. 
. . . Jimmy Zito orch at Sherman's 
nitery with Nick Delano handling 

vocals. ' .■' 



Club Copa Saturday (20) . . . .lack 
Kent orch replaced Bob Rhodes 
outfit at Johnny Brown's Club . . . 
Jimmy Willis Quartet and Farmer 
& Wayne have joined Belva White 
at Hollywood Show Bar , . . George 
Shearing, blind English pianist, 
into Mercur's Music Bar for couple 
of weeks . ... Pianist Bob. Barry has 
started his ' sixth month at lounge 
of Keystone hotel ... George 
Wells' orch gets opening shot at 
Ankara when that spot feopens 
March 25 after four-month shut- 
down. 



Pittsburgh 

Guy Lombardo booked Into the 
Grotto ,f Of a one-ftight dance stand 
March'30 . . . .loe Mooney Quartet, 
opens two-week engagement at 



Chicago 

Skitch Henderson headlines a 
two- week engagement at the State- 
Lake theatre, April' 2, to' be fol- 
lowed by Peggy Lee . . . Fred Niles 
"Hot Club," formerly on WAAF, 
will be resumed April 3, in the 
3:00-4:00 p.m. .slot on- Saturdays 
over WCFL. First half-hour will 
be sponsored by Dublin's Music 
Shop . . . Ray Herbeck, currently 
at La Martinique, has switched 
from Frederick Bros, to Associated 
Booking . . . Dave Garroway, 
WMAQ 'jocfcey, will emcee a one- 
night stand for the Charley Ven- 
tura orch at the Edgewater Beach. 
March 29 , . . Clyde McCoy, Johnny 
Long and Charlie Spivak set for 
two weeks each at the Club Car- 
nival, newest Minneapolis nitery, 
beginning the first of May . . . 
Tommy Carlyn, now at the Trianon 
Ballroom, flew to Pittsburgh -over 



Majestic ta Distrib 



Majestic Radio and Records, cur- 
rently going through the throes of 
reorganization under chapter 11 of 
the Chandler act, is folding its New 
York distributing branch and is 
arranging to turn over the exclu- 
sive distribution of its products 
to an independant 

Record promotion will b6 han- 
dled out of the Newark plant for 
the eastern area. 



Victor Cteans Shelves 
Of Black Pops, Red Seal 
Classics in Price Boost 

BCA-Victor's recent decision to' 
increase the retail prices of its pop- 
ular black label series from 00c to 
75c, and Red Seal classical disks 
to a $1 minimum, cleaned its own 
and distributors' shelves of a fair- 
.sized portion of inventory that 
might not have been moved other- 
wise during, the current 'Lenten- and 
forthcoming summer tieason. It was 
not the boost itself but thq manner 
in which it was done that turned 
the trick. Victor gaves its sales 
forces a 10-day warning of the in- 
crease. 

Last year, when Columbia Rec- 
ords hiked its pop price from 60c 
to 75c -it withheld news of its-inten- 
tion until the start of a weekend, 
and made the changes effective the 
following Monday morning. This 
prevented dispensers of its disks all 
the way down the line to the coim- 
ter from submitting large orders at 
the old wholesale price and imme- 
diately moving them ou,t to the 
consumer at' the end of the liAe at 
the higher retail tap, thus bagging 
a tidy profit. Columbia, however, 
made its move when disks of all 
kinds were moving at a fast sales 
clip. Currently, the disk business 
is still big, but hits only are in de- 
mand. 

RCA, however, overcame t4ie 
stagnation of its shelves by giving 
distributors an opportunity to load 
up to whatever extent they de.sii-ed , 
at the old wholesale price and re- 
selling at the higher price. And 
there's only 5% return privilege. In 
the 10-day interval between the 
citing of its price aims and the ap-^ 
plication, of them^ on March 1, the 
conyjany got rid of a ne&t bundle 
of disks. i 



Latouche-EUingtoA 

Tuoie for Robbins 

J jck Bobbins' music firm, set up 
more than a year ago following the 
sale of his 26% interest in the Big 
3 to his partner, Metro, is launch- 
ing its first pop tune, "He Makes 
Me Believe He's Mine," by John 
Latouche andrDuke Ellington. 
' Since setting up his J, J. Robbins 
firm, Robbins has been devoting" 
himself to educational and similar 
forms of music rather than buck 
the major firms which dominate 
the pop field. 



the weekend to visit his mother, 
who was suddenly stricken seri- 
ously ill in local hospital ... Buss 
Morgan will be initial feature at a 
new dub in Springfield, 111., April 
(Continued on page 56) 



COAST mis NEW HIGH 

MTHisemwrs 

Hollywood, March 16. 

West coast music t>i2 boasts an 
alltihte high of ISO songpluggers. 
Current number is 32 over last 
year's 118 figure. 

Boom in songpluggers has been 
caused by new publishers which 
have popped up during the past 
year plus- additional staff which 
has been added to some of larger 
firms. It is also reported that five 
more contactmen are due here 
from N:Y. On a pertnanent change 
of address. 



Chi Swingsters Soft 
Touch for Stan Kenton 

.Chicago, March 16. 

Stan Kenton, who played to more 
than 4,000 in Chi's Civic Opera 
House recently, returns to the same 
house April 20-21 for the third 
tune since November. Net date is 
a two-day concert. 

Orchestra is alsb set for a dance 
date at the south side Savoy Ball- 
room April 18. •■ 



Demand Performance ... 

In response to the requests received from thousands of radio fisteners 

The ANDREWS SISTERS 

will REPEAT their sensational super-sonic lyric version of 
(Every Time They Play The—) 

''SABRE DANCE" 

Lyric by ALLAN ROBERTS and LESTER LEE-Music by ARAM KHACHATURIAN 

"F/iey said no one could wrife words to the Sabre Dance!" 
Friday, March 19-Bob Crosby's 'CLUB 15"-CBS, 7:30 PM, EST 

LEEDS MUSIC CORPORATION-RKO BIdg., Radio City, New Yo rk 20, N. Y. 



56 



Claim BaHroom Stopped 
Checks to Barnet Orcli 
In Coast Union Hassle 

Hollywood, March 16. 
Harry Schooler, operator of non- 
union, band-using Mardi Gras balt- 
roomi, Culver City, has been 
charged with stopping payment on 
checks issued to Charlie Barnet 
and his bgndmen for last week's 
work in the terpalace in suit fil6d 
at Los Angetes municipal court for 
$1,950. 

James C, Petrillo, prez of Amer- 
ican Federation of Musicians, per- 
Bonally ordered Schooler and his 
operations blacklisted. Barnet 
wound his second week there the 
night before the blacldisting. Deal 
which musicians' Local 47 had 
okayed for Barnet was unusual in 
that two contracts were involved, 
one for Barnet guaranteeing -bim 
per$ooally $350 weekly, , the «ther 
for his. band, guaranteeing the 
sideKteh xts a group $1,160 weekly. 
Grpup pact was framed in name 
pf Bamet'S first sax, Bob Dawes. 
Another unusual tepXL was pact 
necessitating Barngt's appearance 
on iiaridstand for only one hour a 
night. 

Bamet's outfit, strictly union 
and last union group set for ter- 
palace, got paid oil the nose, for 
first week,, but when second and 
last week's checks were deposited 
it was learned that payment oty 
them had been stopped. Bamet's 
attorney, Jerry Rolstoil, said that 
tomorrow's suit will not only seek 
salaries unpaid, but an additional 
'$800, as Schooler-Barnet agree- 
ment included a cut of tlie gross 
for the bandleader.' 

Schooler, who etched 21 sides 
week non-union musickers, last 
week approached four local sta- 
tions with platters and got turn- 
tlowns from all. JtPWB, fCXLA, 
KLAC, K*"VD refused to add disks 
to' libraries or broadcast them de- 
spite' offer of free copies made in 
hopes of air plug.. Stations said 
they had contracts, with AFM, used 
only union^men themselves, hence 
felt couldn't give free air to non- 
union platters. Schooler spends 
Coin, on each station, advertising 
his. terpalaces. 



TELL ME 
A STORY 

LAUREL MUSIC CO. 

1619 Broadwdy 
New York ' 



TOMMY VALANDO 




A Great Two-Four Standard 

I FEEL 
A SONC 
COMING ON 

Music by, , , 
JIMMY MeHUGH 

ROBBiNS 



BETAIL DISK BEST SEUEBS 



WeiJiteBciay, March 17, ,1948- : 





'-—.■p'mmff^-—. 

Survey o) retail disk best 
sellers, based on reports ob- 
tainei from leading stores in 
11 cities, and showing com- 
parative sales rating for thit 
and. last wvek. 


* 


erty Music Shop) | 


■« 

1 


Detroit— (Grinnell's) - | 


inkins Mtisic Co.) | 


enel's Mus. Shop) 1 


(Sherman-Clay) 


Music Co.) 1 


earson) | 


Kresge Co.) | 


w 

1 

G 


litzer's) 


T 
0 

'A 


National Weclc Eudiug 
Mar. 13 

This Last 

wk. wk. Artist, Label, Title 




a 

T 
i 

J*! 


I 

a 

w 


iS 

U 

w 
a 

§ 


Q 

4) 

1 


. 

1 

.CO 


e 
o 

m 
, W 

1 

1 

s 

n 


V 
1 

1 

'Gf- 

a 


w 

93 ' 

i 

3 

OS 


s 

XI ■ 

1 

s 

a 
«i 
GO 


f 

4 
§ 

a 

B 


L 

P 

0 
1 

■ 

T 


2 2 


PEGGY Vm (Capitol) 




2 


X 


4 


3 


-JL 




2 






3 




8» 


2 1 


ART MOONEY (M-G-M) . 




3 


2 


' • 


: 2, : 


4 


i* 


3 


'• 




2 


2 


78 


S 6 


FRANCIS CRAIG (Bullet) 






• 4 


a 


4 


S 


4 












45 


4 3 


GBACIE FIELDS (London) 
"Now Is the Hour" 




4 






• • 


i 




1 


•■ 








42 


5 5 


BING CROSBY (Decca) 






-7 








3 


,'• 


• • 




1 




22 


6 9 


LES PAVL .(Capitol) 
"Lover"* 




V-' 


3 














AH.: . 


»■« ~ 


«> ' ' 


i« 


7 9 


FRANIOCE LAINE (Mercury) 








3. 










10 




4 


17 


8 4 


VAITGHN MONBOE (Victor) 




5 






6 




9 










14 


9A 13 


FBANKIE LAINE (Mercury) 




T 
















2 




* • 


Id 


9B .. 


WOODY HERMAN (Columbia) 




8 




10 




10 




3 








13 


lOA 8 


PEGGY LEE (Capitol) . 




10 


•■ 




5 




6 












12 


lOB .. 


BING CROSBY (Decca) 






6 




9 












6 




la 


IOC 15 


FRANK SINATRA (Columbia) 










5 


•< 


5 




• •> 






12 


, llA .. 


LOUIS PRIMA (Victor) 




1 






















10 


IIB .. 


ROSETTA HOWARD (Columbia) 






, 1 


















10 


lie .. 


STAN .KENTON (CapitOD 








7 










, 5 


• ♦ 




♦ ■» 


10 


IID .. 


MARGARET WHITING (Capitol) 








i 




• •• 






'.V 






id 


12A 10 


MACKLIN MARROW (M-O-M) 










2 














9 


12B . . 


ARTHUR GODFREY (Columbia^ , 
















2 








9 


13A . . 


SAMMY KAYE (Victor) . . 










7 














1 ' 


. 8 


13B .. 


RAY BLOCK (Signature) 




















3 






8 


13C .. 


GUY LOMBARDO (Decca) 
























3 


8 


14A . . 


BING CROSBY (DecCS) 










8 












7 




' 7 


14B .. 


ART MOONEY (M-G-Jtf) 
"Baby Face" 






•• 










4 










' 7 


14C .. 


ART MOONEY (M-G-M) 














>* 




• » 


4 






7 


14D . . 


BING CROSBY (Decca) 
"Ballerina" 






















4 




. i 


15A .. 


B. CLARK-NOBLE ORCH. (Col) 

"I Wish I Knew the Name". ..... . . . . 




5 




















B 


15B" '. . 


IVIEL TORME (Musicraft) 








5 


















6 


15C '. . 


MARGARET WHITING (Capitol) 










> 


5 










~— s 


•,'^« 


15D .. 


LARRY GREEN (Victor) 
















8 


8 








S 


15E .. 


FRANKIE CABLE (Columbia) 






















S • 


(i 






2 






a 















FIVE TOP 
ALBUMS 



NEUIE LUTCHER 

Capitol 



FRANKIE lAINE 
SINGS 
Mercury 



"ARTISTRY IN 

RHYTHM" 
Stan Kanton 
Capitol 



["GOES TO TOWN" 
Dorothy Shay 
Columbia 



"MiUER'S 
MASTERPIECE" 
Glenn .Miller 

ViClor 



On the Upbeat 

5 Continuca from page 55 s 



19, vvith Skitch Henderson succeed- 
ing. Glub is as yet unnamed . . , 
Joey Lehr, former contact fof Hud- 
son Music, in from the east to rep 
Mutual Music here ... Red Evans, 
Jefferson Music topper, making 
Chi his headquarters for a couple 
of weeks ... Russ Morgan deserts 
Music Corp. of America for Asso- 



ciated Booking as of .June 1 . . . 
Jimmy Dale, mixed orch, featuring 
Gene Ammoiis, Kenny Manne and 
Gale Bi-ockman, inked into the 
Regal theatre, April 9 with the 
King Cole Trio . . . Erwin Barg, 
head of Robbins Music, and his 
wife being partied by songpluggers 
in celebration of their 25th wed- 
jding anniversary . . ■, Carmen 
Cavallaro into the Chase hotel, St, 
Louis, March 25 . . , Guy Lombardo 
includes a night at the Aragon, 
April 6, in his tour of one-nighters 
. . . Eddie Hubbard, WIND, has 



iy£W REIEASB 

MACKLIN MARROW DOES IT AGAIN! 



M-e«M R«eord No. 300^8-A 



LA BAMBil DE VERA CRUZ 

Al..lf<:or<l.d by ETHEL SMITH Decca No. 241 3S.A 
PUBLISHED BY KELTON, INC. 
Sole Selliiig Agents; PAULk-PIONEER MUSIC CORP.. 1657 Broadway. New York 19. N. Y. 



been set as jock to m.c, the Mer- 
cury Caravan for its Windy City 
date . . . Stan Myers, town's BMI 
head, flies to New York for consul- 
tations with home office ... Joe 
Gumin of Chord Records, down 
from Milwaukee eyeing new talent 
. . . Randy Brooks and his future 
bride, Ina Ray Hutton, spent two 
days trousseau shopping here . . . 
Don Reed, currently playing dates 
in midwest on location March 30 
at the Music Box, Omaha, followed 
by an April 11 opening at the 
Px-om ballroom, St. Paul. 



Dallas 

Dwight Fiske at the Mural 
Room, Baker hotel. On the band- 
stand Is Ernie Hecksher crew . . . 
Roland Drayer is leading the 
Showland Club band... Ken 
Foeller, musical director of Denny 
Beckner's band, will take over the 
baton while Beckner is In New 
York playing a stage date at the 
Capitol on the bill with Tommy 
Dorsey. . . Harry Jennings band will 
open at Mossman's Blue Room 
March 18. Jennings was formerly 
at the Nite Spot, which has been 
taken over by the American Legion 
as a private club." 



New Zealand Dismayed 
At Credit to Aussie 
For lour' Origination 

New Zealand is quite perturbed 
over the frequent credit given to 
Australia as the birthplace of the 
current hit '(Now Is the Hour ^ 
Representatives stationed at ■ the 
New York office of the Common! 
wealth's Consul have been makine 
every effort to wake it clear S 
the tune originated in this country 
and not Australia, despitetthe fact 
tha the tune'3 history indicates 
that its sales success in Ausri^ 
Isrought it to the attention of S! 
lish and U. S. publishers. ^ 
..^T^ere's an unustfal mlxup over 
"Hour," in England where it be- 
came a hit prior to its success in 
this country. Mixup involves Doro- 
thy Stewart and Keith-Prowse 
owner of the English copyriRht' 
and Miss Stewart is not yet cSrl 
tain what to do, about it, whether 
to sue K-P or not. 

Jt seems that while the chorus 
and music of the tune, as original- 
ly known in New Zealand under 
the little Haere Ra," were written 
by Clement Scott and a .Maori 
woman, the "Hour" title and the 
currently used verse are by Miss 
Stewart, written here, K-P's Eng. 
lish rights to the tune came from 
Praling's, Australian music house, 
but was granted under the old 
title. Some ume ago, Chappell, of 
London, became interested in the 
tune unc^er Miss Stewart's title, 
and Gus Schirmer, who held the 
U. S. rights to it originally, granted 
Chappell an English copyright 
without being aware, of H-P's hold 
on it for England via Praling, even 

%OTe"*tltl?"^' 

K-P forced Chappell to desist 
publishing the tune and then, ac- 
cording to Miss Stewart, issued a 
new version of its own copyi-lght 
using her "Hour" title, but avoid- 
ing her verse. She is getting no 
royalty from K-P and is studying 
the situation for possible legal 
action. 

In the U. S, Leeds Music months 
ago secured rights to the tune 
from Schirmer, and their copies 
of it list Miss Stewart, .Scott and 
a Moari femme as co-authors, v.dth 
all beittg paid royalties. 



TAc Hp. I folk Record 
of ffre Hation 
T. TEXAS TYLER'S 

"DECK OF 
CARDS'; 

Vonr S^ar Becord ms 

AMERrCAN MUSIC. INC. 

Onret Itomoro, Prof. Mirr, 
lOlflS SunHet VCtvA. lS7e 'Broadway 
Holl} wooA 46, CM. Keiv York, N. X. 
OK«iitvlew 1-Sm COIiimbuH 5-7880 




Hev Dance Sensation 

' The 

MEXICAN SHUFFLE 

as featured by 

XAVIER CUGAT 

on Columbia records 

PEMORA MIISIC CO., INC. 
1660 Broadway, N. Y. 19 



ROBERT PANOFSKY 

PIANIST'ACCORDIONiST 
PLAYS 
3.000 REQUESTS 

. Soohs Booking from Miiy-Saptoinbor, isiS 
617 W«t l3Bth St. Hew Ycrk 31, N. V. 



WcdttCBday? March 17, 194M 



57 




Personal hAanagemmf 

CAEOS 
GASTEL 



tublic Relations 

GENE HOWARD 






WITH 



DAVE BARBOUR 



ON 



Capitol Records 



Direcf /on 



GENERAL ARTISTS CORPORATION 



58: 



Mex Muacians Strike IMus Dbb 
Hiere, Toe, Except by lariacUs' 



Mexico CitSt March W,. 

Clandestine pressing to offset the 
Petrillo ban may or may not be id 
full swing elsewhere in Mexico, but 
here in the nation's capital there's 
been no boom in the recording in^ 
dustry. Major waxing companies 
have been in the grip of a musi- 
cians' strike since Jan. 1, 1947, and 
js»ve lor occasional cuttings of non- 
union itinerant musical groups, 
known as "mariachis," little record- 
ing has been done. 

Walkout stemmed from the re- 
fusal o£ the waxers to grant de- 
mands of the tooters' union for a 
stiff wage hike for members. Origi- 
nally, it's understood, musicians 
wei-e eoUeciing an hourly ^age rate 
of 12, pesos ($2.40) for recording 
sessions. They asked' a 100% boost 
and the companies we^ willing to 
coutpiiBRUse at 1& pesos .($3.60). 

Furthermore, when an under- 
standing ^appeared to be on the 
verge, Petrillo's ban on all record- 
ings in tlie U. S. resulted in the 
local musikers asking still .addition- 
al, tinanciid concessions.. Negotia- 
tions, hvntever, continue and the 
industiy isi 'still hox>eful that a solu- 
tion will be found to the labor 
problem. Employer resistance to 
the pay increases reportedly has 
been based on the belief that inas- 
much' as sale of locally-made re- 
cordings goes to a decidedly lim- 
ited market, the consumer would 
be- di^clined to absocb tbe upped 
labor cost Therefore it's econom- 
ically iinsound to agree to too l^iglt 
« w«|$e scale. 

Perhaps the only disks made by 
union members in a 1 m o s t 15 
months of non-recording were sev- 
• eral cut by the Tipica Orchestra of 
the City of Mexico for RCA-Victor 
■last.fall. Government oflicials felt 



that the platters would be a nice i 
bit of advertising for the area and, ' 
it's understood, the musicians were 
"suggested" that they sit for the 
grooving Sessions, the strike not- 
withstanding. 

laarfaobis Brush 01¥ Unions 

Labor stoppage is solved to some 
extent by hiring-the "mariachis" — 
strolling musicians who have no 
truclE . with unions. Their 'music 
runs to native Meiidcan wsStzes and- 
polkas. This type of J^iytbm is en- 
joying wide popularity on the coun- 
try's jukeboxes. Mexican race, by 
nature, is musically: inclined and 
the music m!{cliines always have 
had tremendous popularity. 

Meanwhile. RCA-Victor is ready- 
ing a new plant here which is 
slated to open within two or three 
months.' Possibly 17 presses wQl be 
available for pop recordings. Other 
firms -with* new facilities include 
Columbia and Peerless. Latter is 
partially financed with American 
capital. Amplion, a new outfit 
sponsored by local backers, has 
some 10 presses availatde. 

While pop disks and ' classical 
material is still coming in from the 
U. S., some quartersr feel -that the 
government might restrict the im- 
ports' in some manner to help block, 
the outflow of dollars. Europe, it's 
■pointed out, is not the only part of 
the world where there's a shortage 
of, dollars. . >GovitnuncDt -only re- 
cently prohibited the , importation 
of a. flock of Iittuiy products in a 
move to save dollars. Becords, 
however, were not mentioned at 
t^jit time. 



ASCAF Tele 

Continued from.ince M i 



HIT OF '9^5 



mW A HEY 
AND A HI 
AND A 
HO HO HO! 



BOURNE INC, I 

799 Severt" /e. 



"THE ECSTACY 
OF YOUR KISS" 

By JEAN NOUE and JERni PHIUIP5 

T« Be RECOIIOEO ' Wiik tlw Anllrml . •( 

JADAES IJIMMYt PARILLO 



themselves or through a desig- 
nated agent. Lawyers for telecast- 
ing intecfests have contended tbAt 
such 'ain - arKSngement in their case 
would prove highly inconvenient 
and impractical if only for the fact 
that TV, unlike radio, will in its 
programming maike ^at use., of 
dramatic n^ts, and video's atnlity 
to license dually thx»ugb the same 
channels will have advantages for 
all conaei'ned. 

I A knotty problem that the inat^ 

I icv of dealing with dramatic rights 
has brought up for the ASCAP 
board is what to do in those in- 
stimces where these rights are not 
held ,bj? a- wxiter member but by 
the pi'odttcer of the show involved. 
The- present disposition of the 
board is to avoid handling any- 
thing that a writer-member cannot 
negotiate for, since the Society 
does not want to take producers as 
members. 

The angle about the whole tele 
operation that worries- the So- 
ciety's major production writers 
has to' do wth control over their 
works. They're afraid that the con- 
stant-use of their iuusic in produc- 
tion form on video would tend to 
kill ofC its value for film-making 
and stage' revivals. If they must 
corae in with ASCAP on dramatic, 
usages of their works in television^ 
the writers want to set up as many 
safeguards as possible against 
over-use and to be able to exercise 

i whatever restrictions they choose. 

i They don't want to- find themselves 
4n the position of having to grant 
the rights to dramatic usage of. 
music contained in one - of thiiir 
shows still running on Broadway, 
or elsewhere, or in pictures that 
haven't run their full course. 



HERBIE FIELDS 

and His Orchestra 

STATE LAKE, Chicago 

Week March 12 

Panther Room, Sherman Hotel 

Chicago, Starting March 19 
VICTOR RECORDS 



Esy Morales Sets Up 
12-Piece Rhumba Outfit 

Esy Morales, the flute-playing 
brother of Nora Morales, has or- 
ganized a 12-ptece rhumba outfit 
and ^gned with Continental Art- 
ists Corp. 

Esy, who has had liis Own comho 
before, cut "Jungle Fantasy" for 
Rainbow, which has been among 
the disk bestsellers for weeks. 



Jocks* 1 -Niters 



Jocks and Jukes 



, iC«ntliia«# from si 



Ss . Continued fMHn -mtsit 4> ss 
counter deals as compensation for 
lower salaries. 

New York disk jockey^ have 
paced the field in one-night jazz 
concert promotions. Bobbins, WOV 
jock, in association -wiih Ernie An- 
derson, practically blankets the 
metropolitan field, with a series of 
40- Saturday night bookings at 
Town Hall, N. Y., about to wind 
up. In addition, Bobbins and An- 
derson have hit the jackpot at sev- 
eral Cjurnegie Hall, N.Y., sellout 
dates With such attractions as 
Louis Armstrong and Stan Kenton 
orchs. Other jocks . in the area 
dabbling in the concert field are 
Bea Wain and Andre Baruch, 
WMCA's "Mr. and Mrs. Music"; 
Art Ford, WNEW; and Symphony 
Sid (Sid Torin), WHOM. Latter 
had several successful bookings at 
the Brooklyn Academy of Music. 

In Chicago, Garroway is hip-' 
deep in the concert biz in associa- 
tion with Herb Carlin, manager of 
the Civic Opera House. Garroway- 
Carlin team has followed the Bob- 
bins-Anderson pattei;n with ' regu- 
lar iHHildngs of top show biz names. 
Climax of the disk jockey era in 
Chicago probably occurred last 
Friday (12) when six jocks in the 
Chicago area opened as the stage 
attraction at the State-Lake 
theatre. - 

One' of the most spectacular 
splurges in the concert field has 
taken place in Detroit Iqr WJBK's 
.iock, JadE the Bell boy (Ed Mc-. 
Kenzie). Working on a 25(ll-watt 
station, McKenzie has developed a 
following that regularly fills De- 
troit's Masonic auditorium, a 4.300- 
seater that's the largest longhair 
auditorium in the country. < 

In Los Angeles, Gene Norman 
i-anks with Bobbins and Garroway 
as a jaz'i promoter. In Philadel- 
phia, there are 22 active jockeys in 
the concert field in one form or 
another. Bob Home, WIP, is in 
regular business with Nat Sicgal, 
Philly nitery operator, in the con- 
cert field. Boston has six jocks oc- 
casionally dipping into one-niters, 
most prominent being Sherman 
Fellers; WEEl; Bob Elliot, WIITII; 
and Nat Hentoff^WMEX. 



(Colombial. Pastor and the ClOny 
Sisters tuxxoimd the tune Irodt 
"Night Song" with smart chamctet 
touches and pattern of humor 
that go.es well especially with juke 
customers. The ballad on the other 
side, "Arcade," reveals Rosemary 
Clooney as a sentimental chirper 
with a . niarked ability for tonal 
nuance anc^ lyric styling. 

Beatrice Kay — "Yell for Mama,'* 
"Ho Ho Ha! Ha! Ha!" (Capitol). The 
Kay clan will like this pair, par- 
ticularly "Mama." Miss Kay im- 
parts to both her flair for impish 
humor and gaiety in. a quality and 
quantity that, assures Ax. minutes 
of .pleasant telttxtAtlon. Jocks will 
find them oke.for the f«nUUly etrele. 

The Ravens:— ^Together,*' 
'Thece's No You" (National). . Jim- 
my Ricks' sonorous bass bends a 
lot of rocky rhythm around the 
DeSylva-Brown-Hcnderson famil- 
iar melody, tagging it as another 
of his nickelodeon naturals. He 
turns ultra-modem on "You" with 
the result that it's a strain for 
average listening, but likely a luck 
for the cognoscenti. 

Billy Daniels — "Black Magic." 
"Love's a Lovely Thing." (Apollo). 
A stylist with a superb sense of 
timing, Daniels has put to wax bis 
ace personal appearance '\wac, 
"Magic," and it should be a "must" 
on ptogroms tiiat specialize in the 
more modem vocal idioms. He 
carries the begiiine rhythm with a 
mounting fast tempo, getting swell 
support from a name group, in- 
cluding Co^ Cole and Sid Weiss, 
and with Jerry Jerome in corat- 
mand. The coupling is projected 
with a change in |iace and with a 
similarly hunnuatiog warmth. 

Platter Points 

Billy Bntterfield beats out a 
couple of hot all-instrumentals for 
Capitol with "I Can't Get Started" 
and ^Flip Tlop," the first « happy 
frame for his trumpet and the 
other' featuring a nifty swing duet 
between himself and the 48's . . . 
Kate- Smith sugars up "Long After 
Tonight" and "Miracle of the 
Bells" (M-G-M) to her customers' 
acceptable ta^te . . Red Ingles 
and His Na|nrai Seven (Capitol) 
offer 'a natural for the backroom 
juke in "Cigarets, Whiskey and 
Wild. Wild Women," which in- 
cludes a takeoff of a Salvation 
Army band. Obviously not the 
thing for radio . . . The Starlithteis 
(Capitol) would have had a corker 
of harmony mixing in "Poimici- 
ana".if there weren't so much of 
Paul Weston gqing on behind them. 
Group gets a better break from 
the orch on- the reverse surface. 
Next Time I Fall in Love." ... 
Tex wniiaMs (Capitol) puts his 



sagebrush combination, augmentcfl 
by Mwmy Klein on the 

the "progressive'' jS 
mttion's of Stan Kenton's "Ar- 
Ustry in Swing," Williams tags his 
"Artistry in Western Swing " and 
Uje outcome Is quite titillating 
Maeklln Marrow, who plies* the 
^ symphonic crew for ■ 
M-tr-M, has contrived an exciting 
treatment of the samba , school out 
of "La Bomba de Vera Cruz." The 
other Aide's "Beyond the Sea " s 
old^hoolish . . , Johnny Brad- 
ford <Victort JWuses "« You'U Be 
Mine'.' and '"rhey Don't Believe 
Me' with a snazzy style of croon- 
liUf- His sense of timing is good 
and his manner is relaxed. 

Buddy ^ Greco (Musicraft) may 
find that, while the tune itself is 
catchy, the title and sentiments of 
"Scratch My Back" will cause no 
little jockey hesitation about spin- 
ning it His ballading of "Keep Me 
in Mind," on the other side, just 
about makes the grade . , . Ray 
NoUe's "Suspicion" (Columbia) 
may run into the same air . of un- 
certainty because of the verse in 
the song about the two-timing wife. 
Other side's "Goodnight Sweet- 
heart" is pleasant listening . , . 
Dinah Washington (Apollo) pits 
her nasal phrasing against Lucky 
Thompson's tenor sax m "Chewin' ' 
Woman Blues" and "Pacific Coast 
Blues". . . The Jesters chant "Bread 
and Gravy," themed to inflation, 
and "1 Won't Marry Ypu No 
More,'* an' amusing Polka novelty, 
under an Apollo label . . . Shep 
Fields (Musicraft) has what sounds 
like a click in "Hold It Joe." It 
links a snappy set of lyrics to 
bouncey melody. Toni Arden and 
Bob Johnstone do handsomely by 
the words. Johnstone also thrives 
on the other side's "Laroo, Laroo, 
LiUi Bolero." 



Bands at HoleF B.O.'s 



Emil Coleman" . . Waldorf (400; $2) 

Dick Jurgens Pennsylvania . (500; $l-$1.5b). 



Guy Lombardo . . . Roosevelt (400; $1-$1.50) . . , 
Eddy Howard Commodore (400; $1-$1.50) . , 





VttvvrM 


Total 


Vnul 


Gvren 




Wei-k 


Oh IHtIr 


23 


2.140 


51,565 


. 3 


1,47.') 


4,600 


. 3 ■ 


1.100 


4,175 


.70 


725 


62,875 


22 


2,375 


49,200 


9 


1,175 


11,650 



GPOiV'SG aif; ASD BOUSD'i! 




N C 



tabs'" "*'«l»'"»n 'AmbiLssador; 900; $l.50-$2). Powerful opening 2,930 



Chicago 

Murray Arnold (Empire Room, Palmer House; 550; niin. ISiiO-M 
cover). Town showed little improvement weatherwise or businesswise 

Boom S^e'^Neat Si ^""^ 

John Kirby (College Inn, Sherman; 650; $2-$3.50 min.). Ix>w budeet 
show with Ray English tiding room over till Easter. Tiny 1 400 

Ray IMorton (Mayfair Room. Blackstone; 300; SS^-iO min.'-$T cover) 
.Timmy.Savo pilmg up hclty 1,900. ^"vcit. 

Georffc Olscn (Marine Room, Edgewater Beach; 700; $1.50-$2 50 min ) " 
look a big dip alter several fine weeks.. Ulildish 2,500. 

Los Angeles 

dor; 900; $1.50-$;2) 
Jan Garber (Biltmore; .900; .i;i-$1.50V Excellent 2,700 covej-s. 

Location Jobs, Not in Hotels 

Tommy Carlyn (Trianon: $1-.$1.15 adm,>. A husky 14,000 despite 
strong weekend competition from sister ballroom 

Del Courtney (Ara^on; $t-$1.15 adm.). Vaughn Monroe one-nighter 
a $2 per duc^-it. Saturday (13) had ballroom jam-packed after fair mid- 
weeK. lerrilic 111,900. 

(o not^'badTgoo"^''^'' "''"•^* ''^^^''""^ 

Art Kassei (Blackhawk; rm: !i2.fi() mwX Got nice ru.sh from con- 
ventioners attending Miduo!it Hotelmen's As.sn. meet 0id 2 200 

f f'j'"^ (Latin Quartci" 700; S2.50). Firsl week of South Amei- 
icin I'evue featuring Sonny Mars and .lackie llllliard, a lively 2,300. 

Herman (Palladium B., Hollywood 6lh and last wk.). Good 
11,^00 takers. 



'SUNRISE SERENADE' 



fuccessor 



DREftMY 
LULLABY 

OXFORD MUSIC CORP. 
1619 Broadwray 
New York 19. K. Y. 



A HEW FIRM! 

A NEW HIT! 

"SLAP 'ER 
DOWN AGIN, 
PAW" 

CHOICE ImUSIC. inc. 

Onrat Boinrrrt. I'l'of. Miff. 
fUni) Smisot nival. 1AT« isrinulwo. 
UoUywrnHl ■ 4«, <IhI. N«w Vui'U, k. \. 
l'ltoMtvl«w j:-6!S»i i^oliiW'biiii d'tmtt 



Milh Program Suggastiom 
WHEN YOU'RE SMILING 

MARY LOU 
• 

MONEY. 

MONEY. 

MONEY 

TEACH ME. TEACH ME 
BABY 

MILLS MUSIC, INC. 

1619 Bronilwoy Now York 19 



EVCLUSIVE MANAGEMFNT 

ASSOCIATED BOOKING CORP. ^ 

JOE GLASER, Pres. 

745" Filth Ave N'?v- Yo-k 22 54 W P^n.Joiph S». 

PL, 5-55^2 C- zAz-. ' 



VAVDfiVnXJS 



S9 



Afi^AIY.LiKsd Nominates 38for 12 
Delegate Posts to National Convention 



The Associated Actors and 
Artistes .of America plan to have 
mpmbers of the American Gwlld 
S Variety Artists vote for dele- 
gates from all over the country is 
fclated to remain, , despite passage 
nf resolution urging its abolition 
it St convention -nominating meet- 
fnii held at Town Hall, N. Y., Thurs- 
dav (11). The AGVA national com- 
roittee, now governing AGVA, has 
recommended continuation , of the 
nlan which calls for membership 
throughout the country to vote for 
delegates from every t»ranch. It's 
up to the. 4A'S.to put final 
olfay on toe .plan. 

f National voting was the major 
bone of contention by the member- 
ship, which preferred voting by 
cities. Otherwise meeting, went off 
with comparatively few hitches. 
Confab nominated 38 delegates, of 
which 12 will be elected to rep- 
resent N. y. at its convention to be 
held for three days starting May 
7 at thfe AStOr hotel, N. Y. Meeting 
also heard a report by the rank- 
and-file committee which held a 
series of meetings to .jrecommend 
constitution amendments. 

Henry Dunn (Cross &) ehair- 
jnanned the meet, with Hy Falne, 
executive secretary of the Ameri- 
can Guild Of Musical Artists, and 
chali-man of the AGVA national 
committee presiding until a chair- 
man was elected. 

Recommendations by the const!' 
tutibnal committee included sug- 
.gestiotis that a clubhouse be es- 
tablished in every city; a national 
adrtsory committee of 45 members 
with every AGVA branch repre- 
sented, be established; regular 
meetings, and conventions be made 
part of the constitution; death 
benefits and hospitalization be in- 
cluded in the" dues payments, and 
the holding of an annual AGVA 
beneAt ift major towns. The con- 
vention will act-on these recom- 



■■ Nominees ,. 
Those nominated as delegates 
a»: Deyrey Barto, Hal Sherman, 

(Continued on page 61) 



NJ.KiDsTwo 
AntM^ife BiDs 

Legislative threats to New York's 
nitery and hotel concessions were 
eliminated with Saturday's (13) ad-< 
joununent of the N. Y. State Legis- 
lature. Prior to its close, the State 
Assembly , killed two bills which 
would have made it impossible for 
the concession industry to con- 
tinue, Both measures had previ- 
ously passi^d the Senate. 
' I First hlii to he eliminated was 
-«ie Wicks bill which made it a mis- 
demeanor for an employee to turn 
over tips. This was killed late last 
week in the Assembly Codes com- 
$;>ittee after having passed the 
Senate. 

Other bin was the Morritt mea- 
sure which would permit cities to 
tax Income obtained from conces- 
sions as much as 50% of the take. 
Judiciary committee pigeonholed 
the measure. 

. This season marked the second 
time that the Wieks bill came up. 
Ust -year, strong action by the 
Allied Food and Entertainment In- 
dustries of Greater New York was 
instrumental in shelving the mea- 
sure. Bill was defeated this session 
oespite American. Federation of 
*jabor support. 



Kay Thoitipgon to Preem 
New Le Directoire, N. Y. 

Le Directoire will be the new 
name of the Herbert Jacoby-Max 
Gordon operation to be opened 
around April 1 on the site of the 
former Cafe Society Uptown, N. Y. 
It will have as its first attaction Kay 
Thompson aad the Williams Bros., 
who have been signed at $6,000 
weekly, plus one-third of the gross 
over $21,000, and one-half of the 
tak* beyond $25,000. They'll be the 
sole act on the bill and have been 
signed for 10 weeks and options. 
It's likely that the spot will shut- 
ter for the summer after the 
Thompson-Williams run. 

So far plans call for one of the 
stijffest mi.nimums in N. Y. niteries. 
Minny nick will be $5 for each 
show. 

Jacoby and Gordon have leased 
the concessions to Costas Nicol- 
Taides, who runs the cloak-room at 
their other spot, the Blue Angel. 
Deal caiiis for $15,000, with $10,000 
as down-payment. ': 

ChiHoteis Drive 
For Cot in 
Cabaret Tax 

Chicago, March 16. 

Hotel men at the Midwest Hotel 
Show h<jre last week '^"were ' told 
that unless the 20% excise tax is 
reduced' the majority of inn rooms 
would be out of biz by summer. 
Committee urged immediate re.^ 
duction to pre-war 5% and asked 
operators to petition, their con- 
gressional representatives. Dele- 
gates also were advised to organize 
local groups to fight the high tax. 

Hotelier Ernest Byfield predicted 
a swift end of nitery biz in this 
country, unless relief comes but 
fast. Rpom attendance has slumped 
markedly ip the last 30 days, he 
said, and since January business 
has fallen off 50%. High tax bite', 
according to him, is driving away 
average bistroites. 

Meet was attended by several 
thousand hotel operators. 




UMOURET SEHLES 
COPACUIM FOR $1,000 

Robert LamoUret, French nov- 
wiy act which recently played the 
«oxy theatre, N. Y., at $3,200 
settled his claim 
tf*»5?t the Copacabana, N. Y., for 
Lamouret, while in Europe, 
M Inn^"®"* to go into the Copa at 
W.500 weekly at the conclusion of 
h« Roxy date. 

thE"l?*' *«rtly after Lamouret's 
fnr™ opening, notified the per- 
rpnni ^''t he wouldn't meet the 
cnS^„ '"^"ts °f the nightspot and 
SehfJl^ently cancelled the date. 
W was made after the act 
B^i tir*?f Sert room» of the 
Waldorf-Astoria, 



Ohio Liquor Bd. Lifts- 
Cleve. Nitery License 
Ofl Lewd Show Rap 

Columbus, March 16. 

Ohio Board of Liquor Control 
last week revoked the license of 
Norman Khoury, Cleveland, on 
charges of permitting lewd enter- 
tainment and operating a place 
other 'than that named in the li- 
cense, 'the board earlier had 
warned all nitery operators against 
offering indecent shows. 

Chairman Walter Mitchell an- 
nounced the , decision after the 
board heard a "bump by bump" 
account of acts put on by girl 
dancers. Counsel for Khoury said 
the case would be appealed to the 
courts. Witnesses told the board 
that scantily clad girls danced and 
did the striptease numbers on a 
runway atop bar at Khoury's place, 
Jan. 3 and 20. 

Testifying in his own behalf, 
Khoury said his club had been 
inspected regularly by police and 
liquor inspectors and that neither 
had ever told him he was breaking 
any law. When Enforcement Chief 
Donald T. Geyer issued an ultima- 
tum against runways over bars last 
Jan. 21, Khoury said, he closed his 
club for two weeks to reconstruct 
it to conform to the new regula- 
tions. 



Soph Tucker's Cafe Dates 
Prior to London Trek 

Sophie Tucker has been signed 
for the Latin Quarter, Bo<' on. 
starting April 4, and will follow 

with the Chanticleer, Ba j.-, 

April 29. 

She'll sail for England shortly 
after the Chanticleer date, being 
due to open in May at the Casino 
theatre, London. ' 



Terrace Room, Pitt, Tossing 
Shows Because of Tax Tilt 

Pittsburgh, March 16. 

New city tax of 5%, on top of 
the U. S. levy of 20%, is cuing pre- 
mature closing of William Penn 
Hotel's Terrace Room. It'll shut 
down April 3, after running shows 
only six months. In past years 
spot has operated through Decora* 
tion Day. 

Biz has been diving steadily 
since Jan. 1, when city tax went 
into effect, and while dinner trade 
held upr fairly well, supper was 
pretty dismal, entertainers fre- 
quently playing late performance 
to as few as half-dozen persons. 
Room, however, will remain open 
for lunch and dinner, but with no 
entertainment or dansapation and 
just some background music by 
small combo led by Billy Catizone, 
who now has the big band there. 
TChat'll eliminate both the federal 
and city bites. 



Atlantic City 
Readying For 
Holiday Biz 

Atlantic City, March 16. 
. Amusement and hotel people 
here are getting set for the next 
two weekends. Palm Sunday and 
Easter, when the resort will play 
host to crowds which will top those 
of any weekend up to the beginning 
of July, when the season proper 
opens. 

Thus far iif \Vill be the customary 
holiday with the city through its 
press bureau offering orchids to the 
10 best hats in the Palm Sunday 
parade with neckwear going to the 
10 best dressed men. This event 
takes place on Palm Sunday be- 
cause of the huge crowd Easter, 
which makes holding the event on 
that day almost impossible. 

Nightclubs start perking up a bit 
about this time of year with the 
two big weekends and a number: of 
big conventions due between now 
and June. Film houses will offer 
midnight shows and on Easter 
George Hamid, Sr., will reopen the 
big Steel pier. 

Hotels always get capacity 
crowds and their bookings are .up 
to expectations, they report. Hope 
of all is a good weather break. 

Those in the entertainment field 
here are not particularly delighted 
with the reports of the Miami sea' 
son. If business is off there it is a 
safe bet that it will be off here too. 

Heat is still on as far as gambling- 
is concerned. Big raids oil bookie 
spots and numbers drops have re- 
sulted in driving the operators 
underground. Even, in the swanky 
places it is hard to get in to make 
a play. 'Which means no big name 
shows in night spots here this sea- 
son, unless things-ease up, which 
is not likely. 



Management Mixup Faces 
Billie Holiday on Her 
Return to Showbiz 

Hollywood, March 16. 
New woes await Billie Holiday, 
sepia songstress, when she steps 
from the Women's Federal Peni- 
tentiary tomorrow (17). Having 
served her sentence and reportedly 
been cured of drug addiction, she 
will be freed— only to find herself 
in the middle of a management 
hasslct between Joe Glaser and Ed 
Fishman. Already suing Glaser on 
the count of having "pirated" Ruth 
Etting's comeback, Fishman left 
here Saturday with correspondence 
from Miss Holiday disavowing 
Glaser's representation and naming 
the bearer as empowered to act for 
her. ;■ ■ 

Miss Holiday, while interned at 
Alderson, W. Va., on March 5 re- 
portedly notified Glaser of the dis- 
association. Meanwhile, however, 
Glaser has set her for an engage- 
ment at Carnegie Hall, N. Y., for 
March 27 and is said to be holding 
royalty checks belonging to the 
singer. Fishman claims none but 
he is authorized to act for her and 
that she wants to rest, get back in 
form and pick up a wardrobe^ etc., 
before launching a return that now 
augurs well due to many air and 
booking offers; obviously for added 
sensational values. Fishman plans 
legal steps and already Glaser has 
filed charges against Miss Holiday 
with AGVA. 



Red hk Sm^ Brazil (Mes 
With Govt Edict Vs. Gambling 



TA Sets Up Insurance 
For Acts Playing Benefits 

'Theatre Authority has instituted 
a group insurance system for per- 
formers injured while playing 
benefits. With the plan adopted by 
the TA executive board, acts in- 
jured while working the free shows 
will be paid $50 for as long as 10 
weeks, while $500 in medical costs 
will also be covered. Additional 
benefits will be paid in the event 
of accidental death. Coverage also 
includes injury while travelling to 
the show. ' 

Premiums, amounting to $1 per- 
performer will be paid by the or- 
ganization sponsoring the show. 
Acts will be insured for five hours 
prior, to and after performance. 

Similar plan will be instituted in 
all cities where TA has represen- 
tation. Insurance plan was worked 
out by TA. executive , secretary 
Alan Corelli, and officials of the 
Indemnity Insurance Co. of North 
America. 



Ans^ Has Plenty 
Talent But Needs 
U.S. Acts: Wood 

Wee Georgie Wood, the British 
entertainer wljto recently returned 
from Australia where he produced 
legit shows and pantomimes, de- 
clared that country has more tal- 
ented entertainers than they've 
been given credit for. However, it 
must supplement its entertainment 
diet with American names inas- 
much as the acts currently playing 
there have been repeating dates 
too frequently. U. S, acts, and 
those from other countries are 
needed to give the Australian 
vaude bills the necessary variety. 

Wood declared that he doubted 
that the 25% quota on foreign acts 
is being eased. There had been 
some reports, he declared, that the 
foreign act quota would be lifted 
to 33% of any given bill, but Wood 
stated that this would apply to 
British acts only. If a single act 
from another country would be 
used, quota would automatically 
revert to 25%, even though the 
rest of the foreign acts were Brit-, 
ish. 



' Sao Paulo, Brazil, March 5. 

Hit by a tight ban on gambling, 
nitertes la Sao Paulo and Rio de 
Janeiro are going steadily into the 
red with no prospects for an 'up- 
turn unless the government re- 
vokes its ukase against casinos. In 
both cities, the two largest in 
Brazil, most nightclubs have cut 
out all shows, with the prescrip- 
tion now calling for just two or- 
chestras and nothing else. 

In Sao Paulo only such classy 
oafes as the Oafsis and Maraba con- > 
tinue an entertainment policy. The 
Oasis, however, has cut back to 
presenting performers only occa- 
sionally. But at the Maraba, where 
the minimum is $10 and drinks 
are $2 per, there's been a regular 
succession of such talent as Chucho 
Martinez, Pedro Vargas, Joan 
Nichols, Carlos Ramirez, Tati 
Casoni and Jean Bartel, "Miss 
America" of 1943. 

In order to pay good salaries to 
foreign artists, contracts have to 
b.e pooled between the niteries and 
radio stations. In addition to the 
nitery booking, these artists usu- 
ally appear on three or four 
weekly broadcasts. Tickets are 
sold to the programs as a regular 
practice. Radio, however, consists 
80% of recordings of music and 
dramatic shows. , 

Legit field is only represented ' 
here currently by Somerset 
Maugham's "Rain" and Oscar 
Wilde's "Salome." Most sjage 
presentations are in the form of 
concert, opera or ballet and are 
held at the Municipal theatre. < 



Name Bands-Singers 
For Geneva, N;Y., In 
Unusual Legal Setup 

The Club 86, Geneva, N. Y., has 
embarked on a policy of playing 
name bands and top singers for one 
or two weeks every month. Dean 
Hudson has been set for two weeks 
starting April 5. Helen Forrest will 
be the singer for the first week Of 
his engagement, with Vic Damotae 
following. 

Situation in Geneva constitutes 
one of the most peculiar ever en- 
countered by : a nitery operator. 
Bylaws of Onondaga county, in 
which Geneva is located, forbid 
any floorshows. Since nothing is 
mentioned about bandshows, 
they're allowed to play. 

As far as the singer is concerned, 
they're labeled part of the band in 
order to« comply with regulations. 
Consequently, when Miss Forrest 
or Damone do a show, they work 
on the bandstand. So far, the 
method of presentation is working 
out tb the satisfaction of county 
authorities 



Bradley's, N.Y., Reopening 
With Band, Talent Policy 

Bradley's restaurant, N. Y., a 
long-established eatery^ will con- 
vert to a nitery within a month. 
Spot, now closed for redecoration, 
will reopen Monday (22) and will 
operate as a dining spot until the 
liquor license is obtained, after 
which bands and possibly talent 
will be installed. 

Already' pacted for the spot is 
the Fausto rhumba orch. Deal is 
also on for the Herman Chittison 
trio. 



Belter (huts As 
W6 Vaude Booker 

-Milton Berger has resigned aa 
Warner Bros, vaude booker, and la 
slated to , leave the organization 
end of the week; There will b^' no 
replacement. Don Sherwood, as* 
sistant booker, takes over under 
supervision of Harry Mayer, 'WB 
eastern talent supervisor. 

Berger's resignation came at a 
time when .the Warner ^chain is- 
down to one house, the Strand^ 
N. Y. He decided there was little 
use ' in waiting for resumption o£ 
talent , ,. at other WB . theatres^ 
namely the . Stanley ,{ Pittsburgh; 
Earle, .Philadelphia, aiid jstart «l 
vaudevillie at the Warner, Okla- 
homa, .City> 

When various locals' of the 
American' Federation ^of'.Musicians 
cease demanding pay for standby 
hands, then it's likely that flesh 
will be installed' in these houses. 

Berger came to Warners a little 
more than & year ago from' the 
William Morris agency. Prior to 
that he was with .General Artists 
Corp., was assistant booker of the 
Paramount chain, and wasi with the 
Jack Davies office for many years. 
His present plans are tadeilnite. 



LIDO/PARIS, NITERY 
OP SETS U.S. ACTS 

Paris, March 
Jean Pierre Guerin, leading 
Paris nitery operator, is back from 
the U. S. with several Americanf 
acts and dancers signed and o'pti'- 
mistlc over prospects for a big up- 
beat in tourist trade from the U.S. 
He booked the Debonaires, the Ben 
Yost singers and Jack Cole and 
his ' dancers for his new revue 
opening in IVCay at his Lido, on 
the Champs Elysees. 

Guerin also huddled with Lou 
Walters, Billy Rose and Xavier 
Cugat in the- U.S. He may get 
Cugat to come over within the 
next few months. He left his pro- 
ducer, J. Fraday, in N. Y., and is 
sending Jean Gruyer, his music 
arranger,^ over to U.S. to do the 
music for his revue. 

The only *Paris showman to 
spend $500,000 on American talent 
each year for his shows. Guerin 
plans a Franco-American exchange 
of talent and properties on a larg9 
scale. 



6ft 



Dusting the Attic 



(For NO wther tbam nosteltiic rea-i 
tovD$ tiuae PtiUux MMs wUI be re-] 
pi inte* ei«cfc «?«fc, mnd for the cor- \ 

responSing week, a* they QTtsflinoTljA 
appeared in Vabhsx-x 25 iwan 

PM-ACE, N.Y. 

(MArcb IS, 1923) 

The Palace show Tuesday night . 
ran to 11:18, with seven acts and 
the Cliaplin feature, "The mgsimr 
The picture closed tlie vhsw, ntn- 
nins 4S juinutes. 

Twvi of the prosramsaed acts 
wetx off tiie Mil, due to the ntn- 
mng time. They were Vivieiuie 
Segal and Han-y CaiToll, also 
"Wood & Wyde. Blossom Seeley & 
Co: wre an «dded starter, «pen- 
ing >after brimntesion vaA doins 
about 30 ndautes. 

Fraiik Tiraiey headlined, elo^ng 
the vandeville portion jnst ahead 
of the Jeatnre idctmre, xespiinsiMe 
for the jiaatA-vip Tumning 1Ssas and 
the switdniig. 

Veidta GmHA was moved iTAm 
eceaad af te^: iaitectnisswa to f outlh, 
th; switch mattering not s Ml, Uie 
■way tlie "impressionist" weni, iMiss 
Gould did imitations oi CoJiaii, Jol- 



CMnwntly 

noeAoooM 



siauvAN 



Manag*m«"* 
HARBV A. «OMM 



■ I*' 



mi 
mi 



HARRY A. ROMM 

2b E 57fh St •( O'l N r 



mi FOSTER 

llKit4il*'« MewMt lirfMtnMliM 



STRAMD 
New York 



SOL TEPPat «XO «W|», Mwv. VMk 30 



son, Ted Lewis, Lenore Ulde, Grace 
La Rue attd Gilda Grey. Changes 
wnt with «M! "Kiki" and Orey 
numbers. Tlie luminous dress of 
the "Foli}ies" song helped a («rlc- 
ing impression of Miss Grey. As 
"Kiki," Hiss Gotdd used a fuU- 
utagK set and a nwle assistant Her 
Grace La Bue is «asi!y the hesrt,.^ 
A healthy hit. 

The show beld iplenty of shviigillt 
in itoiiii sectiotH^ variety taeing the 
highlight. Opening with Van Cello 
ic Mary, a fast, clean, interesting 
opener ol risley barrel halanclng, 
etc, 'witli a neat •prodaction tor 
background, the tempo ■speeded up 
wdlh J. Kosamond Johnson &. C©. 
in a melange of mnsic, singing and 
dancing. The colored players have 
a hoi soagslTcsB in Peggy Hollund 
and a -trap dTumtner who can do 
more -things with a pair of sticks 
than a monkey with a coeoanut. 
Johnson, a vet^an ot the two4< 
day, is a snperb showman, lie has 
a surefire arrangement of old and 
modem songs, "which he ■ selis" 
smoothly, assisted toy the four men 
and a girl. They did 15 minutes 
and eonld haye stayed longer. 

Lonesome Manor/' a Paul C!e- 
rard Smith skit constructed around 
an ont-oMown newspaper ^tand. 
and featuring Frank Dixon, proved 
a novelty, full of bright lines. Dix- 
on as the, sopliisticated "liick" 
graduate of a sUb in Illinois meets*| 
a giii from Kokohoma at the out- 
of-town newsstand. The crossfire is 
bright and topical, witli many a 
wisecrack: from the ciiy-wise Dix- 
on, who is admirably cast and 
equipped in this sketch. Some of 
the lines muffed, but cnougli reg- 
isteied.to msuie tbe'skeUii in the 
spot, "it ■was on a bit early for 
hest results. Adelaide &. Hughes 
closed the Scst half^ following Afiss 
qoidd.'^ 

After intennisswHi one of the hits 
of the evening, went to 'topics,*' 
proving tiie JBalaee is one of the 
softest audiences for imke on the 
iMg-time circuits. Any doMbt about 
this ■would liave been dispelled by ^ 
Tinney, who took up where' 
"Topics" left off, both hitting 
about 400 in ilie "released gags- 
163,^6."" Such ancients as "Actors, 
ar^ not hams, for hams can fse 
cured" weie ribsplitters for Tui- 
ney, with "To^ks'" one howl from 
beginning to end. 

Miss Seeley, assisted by Benny 
fields and two other boys, opened 
after in'termission. Miss Seeley has 
one of the best acts of her career, 
hut spoiled thins^ at the P^ce by 
indulging in crossfire with Fields 
after the gnintet had finished to a 
resounding hit. The act is gor- 
geously produced and j as last as 
Benny Leonard's left hand, up to 
jthe conversaition. Fields can foe 
heard harmonizing backstage all 
through Miss Seetey's nnmbers, 
the volume coming from a mega- 



photte. Xbe turn ran cWe *» *• 
minutes— abovt five loo many. 

Danes'. RSdsted lyr jUbn: Tlniugr 
(Bdna naven^OKt). nikmtA the 
vaudevlMe seeti<«, «ith the Chap- 
lin pletaie cjiwing. It proved « 
good vMideTllIe bill, but the addi- 
tion irf one more comedy turn m 
the iirst half would have made it 
one of the best of the season. 

A selUmt on the .h>*er floor 
Tuesday night, with standees back 
ot the rail. . ^w"" 



Gewgia SsAeri Beats 
Imttonf DiBce Rap; 
Biay ffmUt Restored 

Justice Morris Eder of the N. Y. 
supnsme court, yesterday <Taes.) 
ordered N. Y. Police Commissioner 
Wallender to reslwe the «abawt 
permit of Georgia Sothern. Miss 
Sothem^ «ard was revoked two 
weeks ago for an alleged "im- 
moral" dance at the Club Samoa. 
N. Y. However, the court ruled 
that there was notliing immoral in 
Miss Sothern's terping, inasmuch 
as two police officers had wit- 
nessed her number and had not 
made an arrest. , , 

Miss Sothem had been granted 
a temporary card, pending yester- 
days heating. 

Ike Caipenter's SMfty 
MBig of Agencies 

Hollywood, March 16. 
Ike Carpenter's orcheitca has' 
won the annual Balboa Beach 
band-bookhag race and will open 
the season at the resort with Eat^ter 
Week stand, March 20-28. Simul- 
taneously, orch manager Hal Gor- 
6oa sliced Carpenter off Music 
Corp. of America rolls and handed 
band back to General Amus. Corp. 

Gordon daims that when sign- 
ing an MCA short-tenner several 
months ago he was promised 
agency wooid tty to pitch him intoj 
the Balboa date, but tliat he «li^ 
covered MCA instead was pushing 
Hal Oervnii and CfaarUe Bamet. 
Gordon, liimself, then ctuieklyi 
peddled Carpenter to Balboa wpcr^ 
ator Bob Murphy, and when pact 
was signM sutetituted a GAC con- 
tract blank for an MCA paper, thus 
assuring GAC of the booking com- 
iaission. Then Gordon notified 
GAC had a new Itand on its list 
Carpenter oich has Iteen toad-hop» 
^Log £rmn agency to ageikiy for 
some time. Xiast summer hand paid 
$400 to William Monis to get out 
of a contract, took several dates 
from GAC, wandered over to MCA 
■aoA how has gamhittcd back to the 
Tommy Rockwell office. 



Phair Group BuiMilig: New 
Amus. FirlE it Vmmfm 

Philadelphid, JMterch Ifi. 
A:' 'joHti'.' 'tjmS^kiKbk? iteidiNa/'iar 
Attomeiy Kmannel Bpnua, ha» pur- 
cbased a 65-aere iilte near 'Pottv' 
town. Pa., 35 miles north of here, 
for construction of Saiiatoga Park, 
featuring ttitiU shows attd VSvO*' 
vilhf. . . 

IBomm ^bns to 'convert fitue 
^fCMIO park into a major Summer 
piayspot Opening is scheduled fm^ 
M«yt. AtttKclions Indnde nild^ 
auto racing, roller simtlnt irmk^ 
thrill sImws. qports and vaudeviUe 
bo<dced by Jolly Joyce. PfaiUy 
agency. Stage shows will be 
geared for Western and hillbilly at- 
tractions, although «ome Broadway 
talent wUi be booked during the 
Summer, 



JAN AOGDST SETS BACK 
CAFEDA11 FOR CONCERT 

Pittsbutgh, March 16. 

Jan August's booking with his 
quartet at Mereur's Music Bar has 
been pushed back from March 29 
to week of April 19 in order to per- 
mit piAulst to go on a 12<<day con- 
cert tour aifh Franlde Xoitte next 
month. "Xheir dualappearan£fe, with 
an orch led by Carl Fisher, singe's 
arranger and accompanist will be 
sponsored by Mercury Becords. and 
stops in longhair auditoriums are 
to be billed under the label* of the 
"Mercur Caravan." 

It's chie fm: a one-night stop here 
at Syria Mosque, April 1, wMdh 
will make it a quick repeat for 
Laine since he played here just last 
week, opening Lenny Litmao's pew 
Club Copa. August's original ItixiL- 
ing, to begin Easter Monday, was 
to, have been for a fortnight but the 
shut is cutting that period in half. 



Iff >»|1 • 

VogiKs Tounig 
S,A.BiiBRims 

fSouth American bullrings wia 
iMmse. a major U. S. 1« show ' 
Ing In May. "iw Vogues ' m 
people unit is «ilated to play at Car- 
was. Tcnnnela: for two weeks or " 
nnmt, wltb ottier dates In that ter. 

It's tiif fint major l4ades dii. 
play to Ifiay there, altlwiicb 
sijudjksr iuits such a* JUiaabSS " 
Ctaandter's "Ice and Stars" recent- 
ly toured area under a tent 

"Vogues" v/Ul carry its own kw 
plant. 



Joe E, hpvfia has 'been signed for 
El RatidbO Yegas, Las Vegas, start- 
ing Avra 14. 



JACK PARKER 




"THE JACK 
OFCUII»" 

■ SnB'.-H'w*. , ■• ■ 
Y:OTlLtlON IIOOM 
HOm. MEME " 
MEW YOKK 

■ mMk Kill, ' . 



TOM mzPAIHCK 

m W.-4M St, N. V, 

fkmt: re fi4*M 

SEN't AKTlSTk CDHr. 




Siranc lake 

By Happy Benway 
Saranac Lake. N. Y.\ March 16 
Saranac Guild Players aiv put- 
ting on a l&miaute skit to. lijypo 
the Bed Cross, drive, produced by 
ISd^e Yogt and ^mtteh by Carol 
Kantz. 

Margaret Newell, former bur- 
lesque performer, who cured here 
in 1S40, suffered a relapse and is 
now at the Hamburg, Pa., sana- 
torium, 

Carl Davis and Izzy Goldstein 
in fiom Pittsburgh to visit Moe 
Gould, former film salesman. 

Ann Bowe checked out of tlie in- 
ifirmaiy after mastering four stages 
of thoracoplasty operation. 
' Joe Cole, nit^ry entertainer, 
takes time out to entertain the 
patients of the sanatoriums around 
here. • 

Final arrangeirieBts for the St. 
Patrick's Day blowout have been 
made by George Fee, chairman ol 
the "We The Patients" committee. 
Show will be topped by Carl Kes- 
sler <"Tfae Amazing Mr. Balhin- 
tiae") and G. Albert SiniUu for- 
merly of "State of tile Union" oo.. 
with music by Carl Kiiroy .and 
Musical Madcaps. Refreshments 
will follow. 

Birthday greetings are in order 
to Bob Pasquale, G. Albert Smith 
and Mabel Burns, all Kogerites. 

May Taft, after a long siege in 
the infirmary, received her first 
good medical 3Peport that ups her 
for one meal. 

Johnny Grimes, manager of sta- 
Uon WNBZ, off to Watertown and 
Plattsburg, trying to form an up- 
state radio chain that will cover 
the Adirondacks. : : > 

<Writc to those H'1k> are UL) 



N.Y. Edbassy Lifting Tax 
Tab To ^iiqnlate ifo 

lihe Smbassy, N. Y.; In an effort 
to hypo business last week began 
absorbing the 20% federal amuse- 
ment tax. Absorption of the im- 
post followed the collapse of n^;^ 
tiations for takeover of spot by 
Joseph Bernstein. Sam Marcus, 
sppfs owoer, is now dicfcering with 
Joe CMneci, who formeriy owned 
the Downbeat «ni 52d street 

The tax absorption is only for a 
trial period until AprU 1. If Here's 
no appreciable pickup in trade, it's 
likety it will be rescinded!, 

Cbico Marfs Aassie IkA 

HoUywood, MariAi 9i 
David N. Martin, managing di- 
rector Of the Tivoli circuit, Aus- 
tralia, is here talking a deal with 

Chico Marx to headline in a mu- 
sical revue Down Upder. 

He's also setting up other pack- 
age layouts .wliile here. Hopes to 
start Marx show in AiirIL 



GOWKS Wa TMSKSTO 




"CaiAtdy Daset Antics' 
FOX, AltANTA. GA. 

•Ir.: MATT/ SOSEM 



EDDY 




H*if*tz of ih< 
liannoaica." 



aMheammg 
WITH A mi 

CAST 
(Ob Irfl arm) M 
Margery Wailas *i fh« Piano |l 
Mgb: IM UpsM " 



M 
A 
N 

s 

0 



ClittEKTLY 
ViUAGE VANGUARD, New York 
RADIO: Simtiiiys. 3.3:15 P.M^ WNEW 

•IrsdiM: 

MUSIC COM*, or AMEftfCA 



' Tho Salvador Dali «f Comodiam 

SEILER 

Inltnrafionall^ Famout Miiinforntwl 
Avtliority on Surrralitin, Fcncins, Ski.- 
ing, Uxifpt, Unbrtltos and Bafauddcat. 

Jutt CatnifiMcd 
Qnc«g» 'Werld'f fiitr 



LOO 

SEILER 

tiataMi Ottopn Ur fmn*4 
. Alia ItghiaMl* amabm. 

Currmllyt - 
3nl WEEK OUEENS TE«MACE 
LONG ISiANO. N. Y. 
Sdmklod for f????? 
and ?r??r?????T •!» ???????? 



CurrMtly: TOEVISING 

.. St. fotiitk Grwrin$)i racwwd vt 
Forosl todgt— 102S StMing St., Sdw Mcf d y 7, H 



JO AQU IN GAR AY 



0|)eriing Havana Madnd. New York — Msr-cIi 1 Wi- 

Just Finislisd 12 SMCcessIiil Weeht on the Pocriic Cooit 



-2nd EngagcnHit in 3 MonAs "AMEIHCA'S FAVORITE S(ONG SAl3Effl»lilN" 



VAVIIEVILLK 



61 



AGVA N.y. Local Nominates 



Continued from paf « 59 



Tack Guilford, Joe Smith (& Dale), 
ChVlle Harris, Charlie Banks, Rus- 
Swann, Jimmy Hollywood, 
Mary Norrls, Jill Smith, Ralph 
Shaw. Virginia Richmati, Margie 
toates. Bill Carter, Noel Hytown, 
Danny White, Sid De May, Adam 
Di Gatano, Marty Baj?rett, Francis 
Carlisle, Jay Marsliall, Frank Ross, 
Jackie Briglit, May Weil, Chick 
\ Darrow, Phil Irving, Irving Gross- 
' wan Claudia McNeil, Henry Dunn, 
Manny Tyler, Jimmy Lyons, Harry 
Eaton, Phil Foster, Bob Sidney, 
Arthur Ward and Jorl Livingston. 
Olier nominations may be made 
upon' petition of 20 members'. 
Honest Ballot Assn. will conduct 
the election. Alternates will be 
selected from among those receiv- 
ing the next highest number of 

'"ounn expressed disappointment 



of the turnout, slightly under 150, 
and decried the 'lack of attendance 
by the high-salaried performers. 
Dunn also declared that once a 
strongly functioning AGVA gets 
going, demands will be made to 
have the 4A'« demand that fllm 
studios open up som^ of their 
theatres to stageshows In order to 
give live talent a chance. 



TM ExcIhsIv* anl AmmiIm 




«t the MUIINT HOVAL IIOTKI. 
r^lfBMTl'K ANI> CI.VMA8, a pair of 
IMnriitK IliimarlstN with BNDT>IOHH 
M'ATKRIitI' Hiiil a LAVOH-A-MIN' 
tITK Type of DeHvery. 
Thf^y lotrUfluo«(1 - two new oumberH; 
both were an IMMKItlATE HIT. 
MnteU I, '48, The H«ral<l, Al Palmer 

Jlew Yoric Rep«! Clhleaao Bep.: 

MCK OAVIKS raUL TXKKKM. 



COMEDY PAmR 

Far Alt Ironchas «f TKtalriealt 

FUN-MASTER 

"The Shew Wt GaQ Fit*" 

Nos. 1 to 22 at $1.00 ea. 
To PARODIES for $10.00 
"How to'B* an Eme**" 

$3.00 including 2 Oaq FilM 

8«Kd. for Uiit of mutorinl, pttnidteit. 
ctftuedy soni;*, inlnntrel blt«— blavk- 
nbtih «ktfe, etc. 

NO C.O.I)'* 

PAULA SMITH 

200 \\. Mill St.. New Vork It 



COMEDY BARGAINS! 

PARODIES, SPEGIAt SONGS, BITS, ate. 

fjRrKeHl: Hclet^llon In Nliowltlxl 
4r I94K CATAIiOti FKKM! 
i^-JBtxrlOKive materlnl our Mpeeitilty ! 

J. & KLEINMAN 

; KSS-K No. Bnuimn Tel: 
ROIXVWOOn 28, CAMF. Ol. ViRIi 



Phllly Local Snafu 
Philadelphia, March 16. 
Dick' Jones, who has been funcr 
tioning as executive secretary of 
the Philadelphia local, has de- 
clared that Philadelphia will not 
participate in the national conven- 
tion. - Refusal to attend the con^ 
vention is the result of a resolu- 
tion passed last week by members 
of his group, in which membership 
demanded that the AGVA national 
recognize the autonomy of his 
group. 

' Resolution passed by the Philly 
group declares that the 4A's unlaw- 
fully attempted to take over the 
Philly local; manner of electing 
delegates to the convention is "un- 
American and a clear deprivation 
of the free vote and voice of our 
membership." Autonomy of the 
group has been completely ignored. 
Resolution -also charged that the 
4A's has turned the union over to 
nitery owners and agents because 
of*4ailure to act to eliminate ama- 
teur nights in the bistros. 
Jones Charges 'Rieging' 

Jones charged that the national 
voting plan provision of nomina- 
tion by petition permits rigging of 
the convention. He also declared 
that his participation in the con- 
vention would endanger his civil 
rights. He's currently suing 
Arthur Cowan, Philadelphia at- 
torney, for false arrest, and he de- 
clared that any action by the con- 
vention that wojuld limit his 
authority as head of the Philly 
local would endanger his standing 
in that case. ' 

The 4A's is expected to promul- 
gate an agreement in which it 
would be guaranteed that his par- 
ticipation in the national meet 
would in no way endanger his 
rights in the matter. In return he 
would be asked to abide by any 
decision made at the convention. 

.Tones is currently being sued by 
12 members of the Earl Carroll 
"Vanities" . unit which broke up 
last year In Philadelphia. They 
charge they were stranded. .Jones 
claims that all acts were paid for 
out of the $3,000 bond posted by 
Bobby Vernon, ilhe show's pro- 
ducer. Bond was $5 short of actual 
salaries, remainder was supplied 



by the Barle theatre. .Tones says 
that transportatioi;!. was paid for by ' 
the $2,500 collected -from, the Earle 
theatre as salary for the troupe. 
Unit was signied at $7,500 plus per- 
centages Over $24,000. However, 
?5,000 had been advanced to Ver- 
non and was therefore not collect- 
able. A group railroad ticket cost- 
ing $2,596 was bought for the en- 
tire outfit' and all members who 
wanted transportation back to the 
Coast were given passage. 

Jones charged that Matt Shelvey, 
former AGVA national administra- 
tor, was responsible for the 
"mess." He declared that Shelvey 
should have closed the show when 
Vernon started owing salaries earl- 
ier in the tour. Else, he declared, 
bond requirements should have 
been raised to cover all unpaid 
salaries. | 



Ai^entine Mibs Unite to Batde 
Plan Fordng Vaude 3 Days Weekly 



AGVA's Boston Meet 

Boston, March 12. 

Members of AGVA meeting with 
20 nominees as national conven- 
tion delegates this week to discuss 
proposals fo]f the constitution to 
be acted upon in N. Y., May 7-9. 

Nominees^ seven of whom will 
be elected by mail ballot, are Jack 
Edwards, Ralph ' Morgan, Cappy 
Capizali, Casper Gaines, Phil Ba- 
yon. Tiny Sinclair, Candy Parker, 
and Carol Gaines of ,Boston; Jeff 
Roland and Manny Malak, Cam- 
bridge; Charles Brest and Nora 
Bell, Medford; Benny Drohan and 
Terry Scanlon, Dorchester; Phil 
Allen, Roslindale; Danny Creedon, 
Danvers; Harry Taylor, Roxbury; 
Lou Bernard, East Boston; Edward 
Kane. Revere, and Charles Rozella, 
Winthrop. 



Buenos Aires, March 2. 
Argentine exhibitors are joining 
forces to combat the contemplated 
move of the- local Entertainment 
Board to force the inclusion of 
vaudeville acts at least three days 
a week at all film theatres. Exhib- 
itors fear that if this goes through, 
film fans will stay away from the- 
atres on the vaudeville days, mak- 
ing up for their non-attendance on 
the remaining four days of each 
week. 

The supporters of the move 
(probahljr influenced by vote-catch- 
ing conisiderations; in view of the 
elections this month), are trying to 
get it enforced by May 1 in Buenos 
Aires theatres, and starting Sept. 1 
in houses throughout the country. 
Even the most nationalist-minded 
in the film industry here are appre- 
hensive of its effects on picture 
biz. Vaudeville artists have a big 
field in the country's nitery spots 
as well as in radio, and there is far 
less unemployment in show busi- 
ness than promoters of the idea 
would have the authorities believe. 

The live talent gimmick is only 



Chi Nominates 15 

Chicago, March '16. 
Dave Fox and Hy Fain, AGVA 
exec officers, Chicago, March 16 
were given a vote of confidence by 
135 members of AGVA here last 
week. Chi AGVA office also got 
plaudits. Actors nominated 15 
candidates for delegates to the 
national convention in New York. 
They are: Joe Wallace, Herbert 
Schloss, Jack Gwyne, Charles 
Weaver, Jane McDonough, Teddy 
Fabian. Bee Haven, Violet Strands, 
Lucille Carew, Lee Norman, Dick 
Smith, Dolly Davis, Marty Hoff, 
Bert Davis and Dick Ware. 



one of the.current problems which 
the exhibitors have to face. The 
question of government censorship 
of pix and the dilatory practices 
followed by the Entertainment 
Board and the Municipal censors 
oh foreign films is a real headache. 
Getting A picture passed currently 
takes four times longer than in 
194S, before the Peron regime. 
Hollywood pix are almost Invari" 
ably classified as unsuitable for 
minors under 18, and even "Stair- 
way to Heaven" has been given 
that rating. ;( 

Following the line laid down by 
General Peron after he had been 
visited by* a delegation of local 
producers some weeks ago, all 
Spanish pix .shown here must pay 
a tax of $20,000, or equivalent to 
the tax applied by Spain against 
Argentine pix. 



THE INK SPOTS 




Opening March 12 
NATIONAL THEATRE 

Louisville, Ky. 



Mgt.— Gala Aq«ncy, Inc. 
4t We«» 48tli Stmt, Ntw York 



Miami Elects Three 
Miami Beach, March 16. 

Meeting of the Four A's faction 
of American Guild of Variety 
Artists here at the Lord Tarleton 
hotel on Wednesday (10) didn't, 
bring out as many performers as 
the Matt Shelvey. contingent's con- 
fab last week, but the fireworks 
were there. 

Conclave resulted in fiery 
speeches against Communists 
gangsters and newspapers. 

Four A's attorney Mort Rosen- 
thal, here for tha meeting, said 
that Jerry Hirsch,- local rep, who 
was beaten up by unidentified thug, 
recently, has again been threat- 
ened. 

Rosenthal also disclosed that a 
local nitery (Little Roumania) had 
given a bond check to the old 
AGVA setup here, and that the 
check had subsequently turned up 
endorsed by two persons not con- 
nected with the organization, and 
who allegedly have police records. 

Members elected to the New 
York convention were: Ra.1ah 
Raboid, Buddy Walker, Jack How- 
ard and Al Fast. 



Line Producers May 
Organize to Combat 
'UnethicaF Practices 

Nitery line producers ate start- 
ing «n organization: in ^n effort to 
protect themselves agjalnst "uneth- 
ical" practices of some cafe owners. 
The producers declare they have 

lost considerable income because 
several owners have induced lines 
to leave the producer's employ. 
Then they rehire the girls individ- 
ually, rent their own costumes, and 
thus save the producers' fee which 
sometimes amounts to $250 weekly. 
In most cases they continue the 
routines set by the producer. 

Wally Wanger,. one of the larger 
producers of lines, has already ap- 
proached other line directors, in an 
effort to protect themselves against 
these inroads; It's expected that 
they'll form an organization shortly. 

Wanger declared that he has lost 
several spots l>ecause of these tac- 
tics, and other producers have been 
hit the same way. 

In most cases, the boniface works 
through the line captain, who 
makes the deal with the rest of 
the girls. Usually the girls are out 
of the spot for a week Or so and 
then return. 




JOHNSON 



Amervaf* 
Foremost 
M«rimbUl 



GEORGE 




GUEST 



I'erAoBttl Alanufrement ; 
KORKKT COS AMSOCIAXBS 
seu Madison 4*e,. Slew Vor(c 



ACTS WANTED 

Jerue.v Ctiatiit Suininet^ Ke,;orl.; 
Nlsrlit €lubf>, Hotels, X'<inveiiilonfi 
Write. Wire> V.ome In • 

ASBURY TALENT AGENCY 

(A.G.V.A. Pianohlseii) 
710 MattJmm Avenue A. P. l-m» 
AHBtlRY PARK, N. H. 



AMERICA'S TOP HEADLINE SINGING GROUP 



Cnrrantly 
LARRY POTTER'S 
SUPPER CLUB 
Hollywood, Cal 



All Mnjor Networks, 
'riieatrea and Olube. 
V. 8. and Cnnad« 




1 



BOYS 



i 



RCA 

VICTOR 
FAVORITES. 



Perftoniil Dirertlon-~-ED KIKKEBY 
■iaos RKO IluililinK, New YorL 2«. N. Y. 



CIrvIe «-9S«a 



BIG TIME"! 




TOPS IN TOWN"! "WONDERFUL"! "BBAVO "! 

CASS 

MOORE 




MONICA 



FRANKLIN 



OUTSTANDINe SINGING TEAM OF 1948 

'Currently" ' 

HELD OVER 

EMBASSY CLUB, New York 

P«noR«l Dircctiw: JULES ZIEGLER. INC. 54S Pifth Av... Now Vorii 
PuUlciiy: HUNT-SOLTCRS 



Openinci March 22 
LE RUBAN BLEU, New York 




IMS:. 



NlfiHT CMn REVIEWS 



Fronces Fffve, Jncfc Corter, Fred- 
die Stewart, Lirw (6), Migueltto 
VoWcz, Ralph Font otchs; $3.50 
♦ninimwn, $4 tueeJtcnds. 

With New York niteries casting 
about for methods to stem the cur- 
rent slump in biz, La Martinique 
is giving it the old college try. In 
addition to the reappearance of a 
six-girl line to provide production 
numbers,, which La Martinique 
hasn't had in more than a year, Uie 
show has Frances Faye, comic Jack 
Carter and singer Freddie Stew- 
art. Result is a well-turned show. 

Miss Faye, with her kuig-sized 
orchid and pint-sized piano, easily 
demonstrates her super-showman- 
ship and projection. H6r smgtng 
is' loud but never to the point of 
excess, and those intimate, oH- 
handed quips she throws to the 
ringsiders still draw the yocks. 
Material, some of it new, some old, 
is all good, and 'she handles tiie 
ballads and powetty tunes with 
equal facility. , 

She tees off with a fast "Civiliza- 
tion" and then does a neat change- 
ol-pace OTth "I'll Be Seeing You," 
Straight piano ren<Hti<m of "St. 
Louis Blues," featuring some hot 
jazz imtpiovisations, is good, «.and 
her special lyrics dn "Personality" 
get the ri^t land of snickers. 



tlie multitude of audience-partici- 
pation ghnmicks on tap there. 

The Old Knick is an extension 
of the hiss-the-villain drama which 
had a latter-day revival in the 20s, 
Business is on a considerable up- 
swing since the recent change ol 
show, with "The Wayward Maiden' 
now the piece-de. It's a boke-and- 
ham written by Ernsest Sarracnjo 
(villain of the opus), which ap- 
propriately enough decries the evil 
of drink. To point up the moral 
of the yarn, one of the character 
occasionally steps offstage to plead 
with the audience to forsake the 
demon rum. There are also a va- 
riety of vaudeville olios, with the 
cast of the legiter doubling. 

Added items include the show- 
ing of silent films, with Paul Kll- 
liam adlibbing a soundtrack. He's 
excellent, with his running com- 
mentary of Rudolph Valentino's 
"Son of the Sheik" providing some 
biting comments on what was. con- 
sidered the height of pash in the 
late '20s. Also singing waiters. 

In all,, the customer has enough 
to interest Jiim for an evening. 

■ Jose. 



Blue Room, TS* O. 

(HOTEL ROOSEVELT) 

New Orleans, March 10. 



"Holidtti/ Toton," ice show pro- 
_ , , . iduced by Don Arden; costumes. 

After a couirte of -encore tunes, Mac/«Titosh, executed by Mtne 



she closes with a. straight vCKion 
of "My Yiddishe Momma"— aa«*a- 
■ rinish corn but with plen^ of 
punch. , 

Carter, back. here after a l(May 
hiatus, is ptesigued .with.:tl» ..SJane 
trouble as on his previotis^ .stmt. 
Young comedian's apparently too 
overly-sensitive to - audience reac- 
tion. If they don't i»arm immedi- 
ately, he practically does a fold© 
oh the floor: He started .slowly 
V^tb an unresponsive audience iJie 
lji#t icanght (11) and, confronted 
with an offish . ^paction, began to 
toss insults at the ringsiders. That 
'only heightened the tension and 
Idlled whatever rapport he had 
established. . His material is okay, 
' he has a n6at delivery style and 
evidently possesses plenty of tal- 
ent. But hfe'd better learn to keep 
socking away when things go 
^gainst him, if all that's to pay off. 
■ Stewart, who holds down the 
"Opening spot and also handles the 
production number vocals, is re- 
viewed imder Kew Acts. line, with 
dances staged by June Taylor, Js 
soeko. Gals st» beauts, their cos- 
tuming ueat and,' best of an, they 
can.dance. 

Ralph Font's orch cuts the show 
in good style- and doubles for 
dandng with the boif rhumba 
tunes ot M^uelito Valdez^s crew. 
ValtSeK 'pa-scaqaUy takes no part in 
tfae^F. . . Stol. 

€1h1» Rettwit 

Detroit, Morch 12. 
Nan Blakstone, Vivian Lorri- 
more, 'Billy Ketty, Kolly Kohler, 
Zebrairs (3) with Don H^tuiUdo; 
TMirlimtim, $2, $2.50. 



Berthe; special musical arriatger 
ments, Ken Thompson, Elliott 
EbeWiordt ..and Ivan Lane; Tony 
Bavaar, master of ceremonies; with 
Arnold Shoda, Nona McDonald, 
the Brinckmann Sisters, Robert 
Fitzgerald & George Banyas, Ea- 
telle Nevjcomer, Jeanne Crystol, 
Betty Crofton, Jo Camnaugh. Con- 
nie Corm ond Ann Nit^Us, Ray 
McKiwley Och (18); $2.50 mini- 
mum. , 



Waidjnfawhy, Mayelt 17, 194^ 



Nan Blak-stone, a vet .performer 
on the nitery circuit, has sur- 
rounded- herself with a unit and 
has been playing cafes on a per- 
centage basis. Group's efforts pro- 
vide a mixture of sophistication 
and triple-entendrc) some of which 
goes over the he&ds of eftfe patron- 
age, but much of it lands for solid 
yoks. 

Miss Blakstone with a twin 
piano layout, with Kolly Kohler 
keyboarding at the- second piano, 
.gets salvos with grouping of 
indigoisms. Items, include' "A 
Lady's a Lady," "Who Took Me 
Home," and "Cobwebs," all of 
which get the desired effect from 
the audience. 

Ti'ailer for the, Blakstone efforts 
'is provided by Billy Kelly, an es- 
sentially clever guy, but with ma- 
terial that Tuisses with the audi- 
ence.- He's young, has smart ma- 
terial and excellent timing, but 
despite these- attributes, crowd 
doesn't go for .his stuff. 

Vivian Larrimore, with satiricial 
songs, clicks with "Perfunjes" 
number and does "Forever Cerise" 
based on the "Amber" tome. 

Don Renaldo, band vocalist, han- 
dles stii;it satisfactorily. 

Business at this spot has picked 
up considerably since Miss Blak- 
stone took over, and with further 
' playing time, unit should draw at 
the swank spots. • Stan. 



014 Ri»i«k, IV. V. 

(FOLLOWVP) 

It's often a moot, point whether 
audiences or actors have -hammier 
- instincts. The average person will 
bet on performers until a visit to 
the Old Knickerbocker, N. Y. 
From then on in audiences win 
hands down. The Bammier the 
crowd, the better the time at this 
nitery. . 

Tliere are so many ways in 
which the mob can express itself. 
They're privileged to heckle the 
oldtime drah-mas, sing into the 
roving handntike, or from slides 
911 the screen, and participate in 



The current layout in the town's 
swankiest nocturnal rendezvous is 
a 45 minute spectacle of beauty, 
youth and lavish costuming that is 
rich in entertainment. 

T^he extravaganza's music is 
played by Kay McKinley's orches- 
tra which also provides the dansa- 
pation. 

Not so much as a bootstrap is 
left over from previous ice shows 
in the room, and the new Don 
Aidcn production sparkles from 
beginning to end. On . the per- 
formance-side there isn't much to 
be desired, as the youthful cast 
has everything that can be asked 
of skaters. It's shy on comedy, but 
it's not missed too much amid the 
scope and movement of the show. 
An emphasis on rhythm and musi- 
cal background throughout gives 
it a mood of its own. 

Seven production numbers 
each more colorful and entertain- 
ing than the other— -are the back- 
bone of the show, which opens 
with "Gay New Orleans," and in- 
cludes "Basin Street," "Canal 
Street Promenade," "Shanghai 
Serenade," "Limehouse Blues," 
"Hawaiian Paradise" and "Rink- 
side -Rodeo," Each is interpreted 
in spectacular fashion. 

The brilliant skating of Arnold 
Shoda is the standout of "Holiday 
Town." He displayed speed, grace 
and endurance in difficult solo rou- 
tines that earn him bravos. 

TaU. shapely Nona McDonald 
shows expert bladesmanship in her 
seductive routines, especially in 
her "Hawaiian Paradise" turn 
which nets plenty of palm-pound- 
ing. 

A delightful touch is provided 
by the cute Brinckmann ■ Sisters. 
Their "Canal Street Promenade," 
in which they are costumed as 
poodles, is a ^splay of clever 
teaming, as well as precision skat- 
ing. 

Bob Fitzgerald and George Ban- 
yas are also spotted in specialties, 
as well as in the line of six love- 
Ues. The girls are"" Estelle New- 
comer, Betty Croftoh, Connie 
Conn, Jeanne Crystal, Jo Cava- 
naugh and Ann Nichols, and all of 
their numbers were gracefully and 
neatly executed. 

Also copping top honors of the 
show -is Tony Bavaar, a jiersona- 
ble master of ceremonies with nice 
pipes. He keeps the show moving. 

McKinley's aggregation of 18 
meets every musical taste — it's 
sweet, it's hot and it's melodic. The 
band is one of the best to appear 
here and provides the kind of 
musical magic that keeps the floor 
crowded during the dance sessions. 

The boys handle the top tunes, 
as well as popular oldies and nov- 
elties like "Civilization" with a 
flair for musicianship as well as 
showmanship. Practically anything 
McKinley plays possesses a distin- 
guished authority as well as musi- 
cal intelligence. ■ 

While spotlighted constantly, the 
leader shares the honors with his 
lovely singer, Marcey Lutes, who 
warbles a tune nicely; Vernon Fri' 
ley, trombonist; Hay Beller, alto; 
Johnny Gray, guitarist; Johnny 
Potoker,- pianist, and others. 

All in all, the show tops any- 
thing presented at the spot in 
inonths. Capacity biz wheri caught. 



Carl Brisson;'Bo6 Grant Orch; 
,$3.50 minitnutw. 

Now that the chips are down— 
and biz ditto— it's appaient that 
only the "attractions"^ can pile up 
sizeable grosses in the dass nite- 
ries. Among the top-drawer draws, 
of course, is the perennial Cart 
Brisson, back on his semi-annual 
stock company engagement at this 
East 50th street bistro which, prob- 
ably averages the highest per-per- 
son check— but gives you plenty of 
value in return. This goes not 
only for the entertainment and 
band divertissements but priniarUy 
the cuisine, wherein Nick & AJcnold 
and John Boggiano specialize. 

On the subject of cafe puUer- 
inners and the current seasonal 
tapering-off (Income Tax Blues, 
etc.), two dominant values must 
prevail. EiUier the star must be 
potent to offset the dollar equa- 
tion;, or it swings other way — the 
bargain pulling power is what 
counts. Tlie Versailles never 
gives it away, so it's up to the 
star, and 4t becomes , notable with 
this leveling-off process that the 
headliner must achieve what any 
star in show business is supposed 
to do— pull trade. That's the extra 
value in the tradition of the star 
system. It marks , the diiferential 
between the amount of business 
anything does (be it theatre or 
saloon) under its own institution- 
al location or other momentum 
and that extra boxofiice power 
Which is directly the due of the 
headliner. 

Edith Piaf proved it indubitably 
during her sojourn here, just pre- 
ceding Brisson's advent. In all the 
history of the Versailles the frail 
Frenth diseuse set a b.u. marki 
completely changing the character 
of the room as well as piling up 
grosses. Hence the segue from the. 
Gallic idiom to the Great Dane 
should be marked but isn't, since 
Brisson, too, is an established ar- 
ticle. 

The paradox lies, however, in a 
little wrinkle which he has added, 
but which isn't necessary; and that 
is that bombastic rave intro iac- 
corded him by his own pianist. 
Brisson can well afford to play 
it more modestly than have his 
own accompmiist . officiate as a 
quondam confereiicier and, in the- 
atrically flowery fanfare, herald 
the return of "that great star of 
stage, screen and radio." That sort 
of effulgence is dated; what's 
more, Brisson doesn't need it. 

Despite a domlnantly new rep- 
ertoire, save for a few standard 
things and harkbacks to those 
fetching Danish doggerels which 
his Norse following seems to de- 
mand, he is a preiiossessing fellow 
of whom his tailors must well be 
proud. Brisson is a. manly clothes 
horse whom the Merchant Tailors 
Assn. of America should subsidize 
just to show men how well glad 
rags canrbe worn. Of fine physique, 
as bespeaks a former Danish boxing 
champion, Brisson takes command 
pronto. He's a double-threat man, 
therefore, both on arresting stage 
presence^ coupled with his capa- 
bilities as a singing artist. Brisson 
enjoys still another two-ply ad- 
vantage: the men like him and, 
as "the ' older girls' Sinatra," he 
is surefire likewise. 

He mixes his' ballads well. The 
romance songs, of course, are per- 
force dominant but th^re is suf- 
ficient change of pace from his 
cheery "Hello There" and' friendly 
signoff "My Best To You." In 
between there are such song eX" 
positions a^ '^Serenade of th« 
Bells," "Old LampUghter" and 
"Last Time I, Saw Paris," but' he 
bears down heaviest with the pash 
ballads a la "Ring of Roses," 
"Cigaret," a "perfume" song, a 
torchy "Double Martini Please" 
■ < credited to British songsmith 
Jimmy Kennedy, albeit a lyrical 
parallel to Cole Porter's "Another 
Oldfashioned"), "Optimistic" and 
"Linda." . 

'Backing up Briisson is Bob 
Grant's expert dance and Show 
band, including ian effective violiii 
solo obbligato from the rear bal- 
cony, plus other groupings which 
enhance the song stylist's show- 
manship. .. Abel. 



past and the intimacy has been 

strciightened by addition of big 
circular bar on one side of tiie 
main floor -'-Mid lenghtenlng of 
the balcony bar entire distance of 
the room. f 

With tj'pe of acts he's bringing 
in, it's obvious Lltman's making a 
play for the younger trade at the 
Copa. That's additionally borne 
out by the fact that there's no 
cover or minimum charge, and the 
drinks are reasonably priced. 
Which means that with limited' ca- 
pacity of the room, around 300, 
turnover will hayd to be big. 

Litman picked a natural to open 
in Frankie Laine. The vocal bend- 
er's hot as a pistol now and 
crowds have been fairly storming 
the Copa. Opening night was a 
madhouse; there was no ''dancing 
at all because tables were crowded 
onto every available inch of floor 
space. As a matter of fact, even 
Laine had no room whatsoever to 
move around at the mike. 

He sells 'em well, capitalizing 
on the tricks which have put his 
disks in the bestseller class, and 
they scream for more. Laine limits 
himself to around eight songs a 
session but could easily stay on 
for twice that many, They're 
screaming for more minutes after 
he's left the floor. To introduce 
the acts, Litman has Un'ed up 
on a weekly rotating basis the 
town's leading platter jocks, with 
Bill. Brant from KDKA getting the 
opening assignment. Al Fremont, 
who hasn't been active as a dance 
band maestro around town since 
before the war, has put together 
an agreeable small combo that 
gives out with okay dansapation, 
and Errol Garner, jazz pianist who 
got his start at Mercur's before 
Litman owned it, gives 'em wliat 
they want at the baby grand from 
the middle of the floor during the 
intermission lulls. 

Biz Copa's going after is reflect- 
ed pretty generally in bookings 
to follow Laine, among them Vic 
Damone, Joe MomieyQuartet, Jane 
Russell and Mildred Bailey. 

Cohen. 



Kl Chieo, \. 

Jiminez 4, Femojido Cresna r n. 

Rioff $3JS0 mwitnum. * 

This class Greenwich Village biiu 
tro with ite authentic Latin decw 
cuisine «id floorshow has been «» 
jumping-off spot for a sizeaSe 
number of later-to-become wk 
names in the Yank show biz scene 

Once again Benito Collada, bonil 
face and entrepreneur, evidences 
that he will launch a couple of 
promising new entries. As for one 
of his better iiiminaries, Rosita* 
Bios, a personality songstress, the 
fact that ahe's the boss' wife un, 
dpubtedly keeps her anchored. 
Miss Rios is back as headUner.' 
with her fetching songs in Spanl 
ish, this tunc a little too authentic, 
whereas in former seasons she 
mixed the routine up with a famil- 
iar Latin pop from Mexico or 
South America. None the less she's 
a highly effective chanteuse. 

Two New Acts, the personable 
Fernanda Crespa and the magico 
Conde Luis, are the ones more 
likely for wider orbits, within and 
without the V. S. boundaries, bei 
ing the type of turns that can play 
anywhere. 

Opehers are the Jiminez Quaru 
tet, in „ standard Mexican guitar- 
and-vocal fol-de-rol. Senorita Cre- 
spa next, fidlowed by Los Gitanit. 
los (The Gypsies) with their au- 
thentic terps. Team looks like it's 
been around and standard for class 
niteries of this calilwr. Following 
the magi and Miss Crespa's returoi 
Miss Bios in the ace spot with 
her tiptop sopranoing. Per usual« 
the snow ends in an ensemble 
fiesta formation, making for a 
bright, tight revue of less than 
an hour. Abel. 

El ]Mh»ro<!«», M onl'l 

JWontreol, Morch, 13. 
Buddy Lester, Steve Condps, Ann 
Hathoway, Buddy Clorkc Orcli; 
Minimum $2. 



Latin <tuairi«r. CM 

Chicago, March 12. 
Sonny Mars, Jackie Hilliard, 
Mavis Minos, Rene it Rita, Gomez 
Orch (6); $2 tninimum. 



C'Inb rnpa„ Pki 

Pittsburafi, Marcli 9. 
Frankie Laine, Al Fremont's 
orch (7), Errol Garner; no cover 
or minimwn. . 



Majibe Lenny Litman has finally 
broken, the jinx 'that's plagued this 
downstairs .spot now for a dozen 
years or more. Joe Hiller went 
broke there in the mid-30*s when 
it was the Music Box; Etzi Covato 
only managed to get by in the 
wartime' boom and Lou Abrams 
later lost a chunk opei-ating it as 
the Club LuMarba. Litman, who 
recently disposed of the Mercur's 
Music Bar, took over the Ibase 
from Abrams- and is giving the 
town a new poUcy. 

Room still isn't any tonic, being 
a inretty dingy affair, but at least 
a little more colorful than in the 



While obviously a low budget 
show in comparison with some pre- 
vious displays, there's a fair chance 
the package might bring the spot 
out of its doldrums. 

Sonny Mars, local lad, has a fine 
sense of timing and is quick on 
gags. However, he overdoes the 
swish and blue 'routine. 

Jack Billiard scores with tenor- 
ing of "It's Almost Like Being In 
Love,'' "Donkey Serenade," 
What'll I Do," "You Were Meant 
For Me," "Falling In Love" and 
"Wonderful." 

Mavis Minas, subbing for Winn 
Seeley, is one of the better tap- 
sterers on the bistro route. Tall, 
and fresh looking brunet gets 
heavy applause on scrici^ of fast 
twirls. 

Opener is sock roller skating act 
of Rene and Rita. Although pro- 
jecting mostly standard routines, 
fluorescent co.stumes provide slick 
production values. 

Gomez and his combo are first 
of the rhumba orclis brought in 
under a new policy. Lad works 
with a vim on the hand-drums and 
gourds and group is at home on 
fast beat Latin numbers. 

Buddy Shaw's, orch backs the 
show lucely; Zabe, 

Vhin* RoU, Y. 

(FOLLOWUP) 

As it's been proven in the N. Y. 
cafe sector, a name rhumba band 
pays for itself, and a few have been 
known to take a nitery out of the 
red. Noro Morales has done that in 
several cafes, and according to in 
dlcations, business here is consid 
erably on the upbeat since he 
mounted the podium. 

A great factor in the Morales 
b.o. value is due to a large per- 
sonal following among the rhumba 
fans. By catering to this type Of 
crowd with a strong and almost 
primitive beat without sacrificing 
too many melodic moments, the 
crew stands high in the Latin 
dance, category. While his lead 
position has been threatened by 
the johnny-eome-latelies in the 
business, he still manages to entice 
a major portion of this type trade. 

The ijierger of Latin music and 
Chine.se entertainment works out 
nicely here. It isn't as incongruous 
as might be imagined inasmuch as 
the two elements bring diflerent 
types of patronage into the spot. 

The show entices the dinner busi 
ness and onoe the display is over 
thj Latins take over. It's a hold- 
over layout with Jack Soo arid 
Katherine Lee Chang making nice 
impressions in the singing depart 
ment, while Matt Tuck's risley 
work. Three Cantons doing aero 
batics and juggling. Lauri Long, 
emcee and terper and the six-girl 
line, conti-ibute a good laniily type 
sliow. Jose. 



Hep comedian Buddy Lester had 
a time of it warming up opening* 
iiight audience but finally got 'em 
with his rendition of "Africa," one 
of his better numbers. Lester'^ 
sharp and versatile delivery puts 
him ahead of a lot of performers 
of the same type and he is often 
very iunny in a solid way. His 
"Whistle Song," not exactly iii 
good taste, still achieves heavy 
guffas but his Richinan characteri- 
zation didn't go over too well. He 
was better Iddding around with 
dancer Steve Condos in impromptu 
dance. Again on his own, Lester 
lost time and laughs with "Torch 
Song" before hitting real form 
with "Alaska," "Africa" and his 
closing bit "Thanks for the Mem- 
ory." , 

Condos, formerly of the Condoq 
Bros., is a smooth terper aqd im- 
presses with three solid routines.' 

Ann Hathaway, brunet looker 
with nice pipes, does a neat job on 
"It's. Wonderful," "Got the Blues" 
and "One of Those Things." 

, Mare. 



lAion Eddie's 

Eddie Davis, Sherry Britten, 
Lyda Sc Yanni, Danny Sullivan, Nils 
& JVadytie, Peggy Palmer, Toby 
Deane, Waner Grch; mtn, $3.50. 



Leon 8t Eddie^s formula of tal- 
eqt presentation has held op nicely 
for . nearly two decades, during 
which time there's been little 
change from the original idea that 
made this 52d street spot the 
mecca for the tourist trade. 

During speakeasy days, Eddie 
Davis entertained customers on a 
postage-stamp-sized flopr, and drew 
as many as a 1,000 customers on A 
single night in one-third the space 
of the current establishment. The 
same formula is still followed, only 
Davis has plenty of stage-space,- 
there's good production surround-- 
ing him and a stagcshow compris- 
ing fledgling entertainers anxious 
to make headway in the bigtimu. 

The response to Davis' tunes 
hasn't changed much. Tlie cus- 
tomers still get a terrific kick out 
of his tunes and bonifacing. 
' Surrounding him in this layout 
is the omnipresent Sherry Britlon, 
who during her long tenure here 
is evolving from a stripteu.se to an 
accomplished songstress. She now 
delivers special - material tunes 
with expert know-how; her terpmg 
afterpiece is merely to keep m 

Holdovers on the current session 
are Lyda and Yanni, the Greek 
dance team which originally came- 
to the IT. S. with the Edith Piaf 
show. They've been pleasing with 
their interpretation of folk dances 
and, incidentally, have been pull- 
ing in a good bit of trade f rom tne 
town's Hellenic colony. Danny 
Sullivan still emcees the snow 
capably, while- Nils and Nadyne 
impress with excellent lilts ana 
spins. However, their stifiigni 
dance passages ne(!d .some puncn- 
ing up. 

Rest of the layout compnf.es 
Peggy Palmer and Toby Deane, 
both under New Acts. Jose, 



New Acts 



UtEDDIE STEWAKT 

■ t« jWartiniqiue, N. T. 

With a rep already established 
via appearances in several Mono- 
«am ^ims and Capitol Records 
AiaVinU Freddie Stewart is making 
ffi New York nitery bow here. A 
Sminutive lad with a clean-cut 
Sien, he has a smooth and well- 
trained set of tenor pipes with 
which he socks across a range of 
JLnes in know-how style. He 
itinded several clinkers when 
cSt (11), but that ciould be ex- 
plained away as. part of opening- 
nlBht nerves. His habit of caress- 
tal the mike is slightly over- 
dwie, since he's apparently at ease 
enough to make with the gestures. 

Stewart's specialty lies with the 
ballads but he can also sell a jump, 
tune He opens here with a special 
long containing a pitch to the audi- 
ence on his preem and then swings 
iflto "Can't Pull the Wool Over My 
Eves." Medley on "Wish I Didn't 
Love You So" and "Time After 
Time" is best. He gets away nicely 
with ti modified re-bop version of 
'*! Told Ya I Love Ya." , He also 
handles the production numbers 
hercokayj , . 

Guys shows plenty of promise 
and should build rapidly with more 
experience and polish. He stacks 
UP us good material for similar 
clubs or yaude dates. Stal. 

CINNIE POWELL 

.jSones 
. llMins. ■ 

Cafe Society Downtown. N. Y. 

Formerly with the bands of 
Harry James, Gene Krupa and her 
husband, Boyd Raeburn, Ginnie 
Powell is making her bow presently 
as a nitery single. Excellently 
gowned and coiffed, she's a strik- 
ing visual attraction, but her blues 
stylizing offers nothing more than 
band-singer routine in the way of 
quality or showmanship. 

JJiss Powell's forte is in the 
syncopated, bluesy manner of her 
style, which makes her peculiarly 
appropriate for such sophisticated 
boites as Cafe Society. However, 
the same exceedingly low-register 
I>ipes which make for the style per- 
mit her to chant only a yery 
UAilted type of tune, since she has 
no range. Warbles "I'm Gonna 
Love You," "Stormy Weather," 
'rOn the Blue Side," "Good For 
Nothin' Joe" and "Man 1 Love." 

She'll have to develop consider- 
ably mor^ salesmanship in voice 
and manneir to lift her beyond the 
average. Herb. 



colorful music with a strong beat. 

The duo have a library that 
stresses variety. They're equally 
at home with a number tike "Clair 
de Lune" as they are with the pop- 
pieces. They're sufficiently mixed 
to retain interest. Jose. 



JEANNE d'ARC CHARLEBOIS 



n Mins. 

Quartier Latin, Montreal 

Good, looking blond has been 
featured locally in niteries and 
radios Has a style all her own in 
comedy and could achieve success 
across border with . a few touches 
on material and delivery. Gal is 
Very good on imitations of a trum- 
pet and banjo. Best is her folklore 
singing in French, which she favors 
¥rtth . typical peasant's sense of 
rhythm./In this she is unique and 
the leading exponent of this art 
in French Canada. Only so-so is 
her little girl treatment of a 
French version of "I'm A Big Girl 
New" and of an opera tenor doing 
Because." Latter is good but at- 
tempt to simulate male voice 
doesn't come off too well. But for 
something different in f e m m e 
comedy, Miss Charlebois has strong 
possibilities. More. 



ADA LEONARD 

Songs 

U Mins. 

Double H. Club. Pasadena, Cal. 

Out on her own after years of 
fronting lier own gal band, Ada 
Leonard shapes up as a first class 
nitery bet, particularly for the 
more intimate boites. She knows 
all the tricks of holding audience 
attention and tops it off with a 
deft delivery of her numbers in a 
smoothly shaded voice. 

Working with special material, 
she concentrates on off-the-beaten- 
track routines. Each is smacked 
across sharply. Stint includes a 
blues number which highlights her 
lush larynx. Kap. 

PEGGY PALMER 

Dance 

7 Mins. 

Leon & moie's, N . Y. 

Peggy Palmer is a {iersonable 
tapster with a set of engaging rou- 
tines. She's youthful, makes a nice 
appearance on the floor and gar- 
ners good applause. 

However, her routines need 
punching up. Much of her time is 
taken up with straight tap passages 
which aren't distinguishable from 
those of her contemporaries. But 
aside from a different approach, 
she also needs additional playing 
time before ready for production 
numbers of bigtime cafes. Jose. 



63 



and plans to add another half-hour 
daily, or 24 quarter-hours a week, 
whicli would give that station's lis- 
teners 50 quarter-hours a week of 
the crooner's output. 

WHN schedules three daily 
Crosby shows for a total of 
hours a week, and this does not 
include the airings he gets on the 
several other record programs 
aired by this station at other times 
of the day and night. 

WNEW has two Crosby shows of 
25 minutes each on weekdays and 
a 40-minute lap Sundays. These 
add up to 10 minutes short of six 
hours a week. 

On the Jersey side WAAT tops 
the list with two half -hour daily 
stanzas, which count up to 6V& 
hours a week, and also a 15-minute 
round of the Bing on Sundays. 



TOBY DEAKiE 

Songs'".' 
6 Mins.. 

Leon & Eddie's. N. Y. 

Toby Deane, nicely stocked 
blonde, needs further experience 
before hitting bigtime. She does 
okay on novelty numbers, but 
needs considerable build-up oh 
other type tunes. 

Miss Deane bears a striking re- 
semblance to Toby Wing, who ap- 
peared in films before retiring to 
private life as Mrs. Dick Merrill. 

Jose. 



Push for Wallace 



Kaye's London Hit 



Continued from page 1 



can troops, dispatches from I.,on- 
do'n Monday (15) revealed that his 
booking at the Palladium, which 
brought him $12,000 weekly, meant 
a house grxtss' in excess of $200,000 
for the sixr week period. Duration 
of his stand usually found patrons 
standing. The manner in which 
the wired services ballyhooed 
Kaye's London click, his reception 
by the royal'family, etc., has' rarely 
been accorded a theatrical person- 
ality. 



Variety Bills 



WEEK OF MARCH it 



Ifnnionild in coqnevUwn with ItUlfi Mow litdivate opening day of sliow 

wllethvr fnlt or Kitllt w«eir. ' 
l.eltor ill piiic'iitlicsc'H InilU'illcH <'lriMlllr (1) Indoiwudoni: (I,) X<«eivt 
KV) rilruinoiiiil ; (K) KKU; (S) StoU; (W) Wnnwr 



19 

Oro 



Sablon's Handicfhp 

London, March 6. 
Jean Sablon, who opened at a 
terrific handicap by following 
Danny Kaye at the Palladium, 
nevertheless was warmly received 
last week. Fair , business is ex- 
pected, but the act is more suit- 
able for cabarets. 



Evansville Ed. 

Continued from page 7 ; 



SS Continued {com page 1 

Negro,'' which will feature Joe 
Louis and the nominee. Another 
animated pic, "The Elephant Who 
Couldn't Remember and the Don- 
key. Who Forgot," has just been 
written by a team of top radio 
gag writers. Brandon Films, 16m 
film outfit, also has on tap a one- 
reeler. titled "Wallace Speaks" and 
has prepared a series of one- 
minute film plugs to be spliced 
onto the end of standard documen- 
taries on social problems. 

PCA chiefs are satisfied that 
their pix will have an uncontei^ted 
field during the summer months 
when the campaign will begin to 
warm up. If major party film plans 
get under way at all, they don't 
believe their pictures will be avail- 
able before the tall end of the 
electioneering. 



ANNE THOMAS 
■ Comedy 
10 Mins. 
Strand/N. Y. 

Anne Thomas with more experi- 
ence via further playing time, 
should measure up to the demands 
Of deluxers and plush cafes. She's 
|ot good material and shows a 
wwy for interpreting characters. 
«owever,- her projection fails to 
Balance the other attributes. 

a timidity in her ap- 
proach that doesn't do her caUse 
«i*<l even some of her 
DOff lines fail to hit the full im- 
pact because of her failure to 
give. However, it's still a matter 
fn ."^"owing her audiences and how 
to work to them, 

j"". character takeoffs are -en- 
»» songs such as "Ladies Who 
wngs With a Band" and "I'm i 
anJt^ Love That Guy." It's a good 
p«£^ of presentation, and should 
leap good returns once she knows 
ner way around. Jose. 

BOB WYATT & BILLY TAYLOR 
instrumental 

15 Mins, 

"oyai Roost, N. Y. 
m^^} who's one of the 

i,„^f„.Poh.shed and versatile of the 
1,.?^"^ organists, has combined 
with Billy Taylor at the piano, to 
wrm a team that promises to make 
nafr , mnsical circles. The 

^jL^ork with nice cohesion, pro- 
vioing a good listenable brand of 



Marches' Suit 

Continued from page ' ''i — rnii 

in that category. Charges allegedly 
were repeated in a subsequent 
is.sus ofithe mag. 

Named as individual defendants 
are managing editor Theodore G. 
Kirkpa trick, editors Kenneth Bier- 
ly and Andrew Avery, and sheet's 
Coast representative, John George 
K. Johnson. Alexander & Keenan 
Will handle the defense while Sid^ 
ney Struble of the Arthur Garfield 
Hays office filed for the Marches. 

Suit is based on a recent U. S. 
circuit court of appeals ruling 
which declared that not only is it 
libelous to apply the Communist 
label, but it's equally' libelous to 
write an article inferring that a 
person's a Commie. 



and advertising customs of the 
movie industry. The Joe- Doakes 
of this country do not live in New 
York, or Boston, or Cleveland, or 
Seattle. They live in Terre Haute, 
Evansville and Albuquerque. It 
is unfortunate indeed that the peo- 
ple in Terre Haute and Paducah 
who handle movie material fancy 
themselves as metropolitan jour- 
nalists and ape the style of the 
Brooks Atkinsons (N; Yw Times 
drama critic). 

"From .a purely economic stand- 
point, there are scores of - news- 
papers with 50,000 circulation each, 
to every one with a circulation of 
2.'jO,000. And these papers of 
50,000 circulation reach the Joe 
Doakes. I hesitate to contemplate 
how much money, effort and talent 
the movie industry pours into cur- 
rying favor and a line in the paper 
with the writers on the metropoli- 
tan sheets. This, of course, may 
have Its value, but to the exclusion 
of tlie earnest fellow who is wield- 
ing the big stick in the smaller 
communities. 

"Frankly, from my own experi- 
ence in several medium sized cities 
in the midwest — populations from 
75,000 to 250,000— there is no con- 
tact whatsoever with the industry 
except through the local theatre 
managers and the occasional pro- 
motion men who wander in." 



XEvv ifOiiK ori'v 
ciiditui (r.) 18 

Tox Beneke Ore 
Dean Afartin 
.lei'ry I.ewis 
MunIc JliiU <i) 18 
i'aul HftaUoiv 
Ktephariie AiUle 
Paul Pranke 
A Andi-ee & Bonnie 
Bellak a. Blaine 
UockeU.es 
CJorpi! lie £allet 
tileo C!lub 
.lym Ore 
l*urum»uint (T) 
TjouiB Prima Bd 
I>lck & Dot Remy 

Kuxy (1) 17 
Art^ .Mootinv Ore 
Gain Sl.s 
Betty Bruoe. ' 
Sallcl Puppets 
AI Bernie 
, .Strand (\V) 
TtusB Morgan 
i'lillFoster 
Ann Kussell 
liOU Wills Jr 

BKONX 
WiiidMir (I) il9-)!l 
i( Benlon.1 
Al Selienk 
Berk &. Hollow 
Clvavle.s T.eighton 
Amateur Policy 

BKOOKI.YX 
Ii'latbiiNli (1) 
.Danny Drayson 
Ladrt : Ijyon 
Mdrtie .IJanley Co 
(two to flin 

QIIEKNS 
•Tnmaioik (I) I'-Ko 
'A Jjondons 
.Henrv Kellv 
Candy Hlevens Co 
Don Hooton* 
D *, .; Rpadlntr 
(four to fill) 

BAI/TIMORE 
Ilipiiodramo (I) 18 
Joiin Calvert Show 

ICuyal (I) 10 
Stan Kenton Oro 
8tat« (I) ]X-!!0 
K & M Kormaii 
Stacy . Clyde 
AIn.n IClnK 
R Kinu H: Hlvejjn 

21-24 
.T & T Nip 
Hermlne 
Rally Marri 
.Hcrmine'H Mid>^etfl 



CINOINN.VI'l 
Albt^e (It) Itt 

Helen b''oreKt 
.Joey A.Ua}ns 
Keye T.uke " 
.Johnny (;oy ' 
Whirlwinds 

COIililVIKI'S 
Piiluce (K) IV-2t 
l.loiiel Hatnp.ton p 
Klini & Sweets .. 
Reds & (hurley 
Mara Klni 

HAHTrORI) 

Slat* (1) I9-'il 
Duke Bllln^toii O 
Mantaitl. Moreland 
Peck & Peck 
George Kirby- 

UOI.YOKE 
Van>-y .Atriiu (I) il 
lleliry "Busse Ore 
.r.rf3w FltZRiibbons ; ' 
Frank ilarlo\^e^ 
The HartnellB 
(two to fill) 
MIA.^II 

OLvmpia (!■) n 
ConlUlle's Does 
T * J Petevs 
Myles Bell 
Ken Winner Co ■ 
Bonnie Baker 
NEWARK 
Adams (1) .18 . 
Lecuona Cuban , B 
Mills Bros 
tjcor^le Kaye 
Roberta ft- Elecia 
■DeCflRtro. Sis 

rATERSON 
MnJ«stlc ' (I) 1H-2I 
LaVeriie & .Ton 
.Stanley Burns' ' 
.Olive White 
Steve Evans 
Mathane Bros 

CarleU & Boss 
Danny ('hang 
D & D Paige 
M Douglas Co 
The MarlboroS 

l>HII,AUKI.I>JnA 
Cannan (I) 18 
Coco Steve «E Bddy 
Alan Edwards 
Phyllis Arnold 
G Jloas Ruth 
REAOINIJ 

Ttnjnli (I) 18-^0 
Henry Busse Ore 
The Martingales 
Don Cummings 
.Watson sw 



LOW, HITE 
and STANLEY 

NOW 

SHOKKHAM HOTBT.. ' 
WASHINflTON, I>. O. 

Mgt.: 1':itl>IE S.MITfl AfiRNCY 
1501 Uroudwaj >Ji^w York 



BOSTOJf 
Boiiton (R) . 18 

Bay Maldne 
Clark: Dennis 
T.eo Diamond 
Ross & Stone 
B Greco A .Sharps 
TCItty Kallen 
Disc ,.Toi:l?ey Revue 
Ranny Weeks 
Bob .Hlliot 
Ray Doi-ey 
Sherm Feller 

<'A.\inEN 
Towers. (1) Ift-Sl 
Allen & Noble 
CorrI (t. Blsa 
Freddie . Stewart 
Sen Murphy 
;< Co-eds 

<'H.ICA(i0 
Stute-l/nkF (■■) 
.Klia FIlKprerald 
Mel Tornie . 
3 Tones 

Herb Fields Ore 
I Orient 111 (I) 18 
! (lldye McCoy Oro 
JBob T-lni)kins 

(one to fill) 



1» 



ROCKFOKK 
I'alacc (I) 18 

"Strike ITp Fun" 

Paul Sr. PniilRite 3 

Ulair & Barnet't 

Nardlne & Nadyne 

Ann .Suter ■ 

Billy Snyder . 

Paul Walker Oi'c 
SI'RJlM<JFIKi,H 

Court Sq <l) 18-1! I 

The Fonta.lnes 

Bobby Rollins 

.Toluiny llynian 

Ducat *. Kaye 

The Wuinlans 

4 Grands ; 

WASHINGTON 
Oltllitol (T.) IK 

Bedell Sc. Mattsun 

.rohnny Burke. 

DollnofC & Rnye Sis 
WOONSOCKKT 
Caiiltol (T) t!l • 

Benny Meroff 

IC Mcljaiig-hlin 

Candy Stevens, Co 

The MartlnKales 



lUal 'Cooke 

Oute society 
tUowntowii) ■ 

Tinuule BogWB . 
Uinnie Paw«U 
FalH Pieliun 
tnift J'acksO)!' 
Kdmund Hall Ore 

ciiiim uoii 
Katharine Chans 
.lack Soo 
r.*nrlo l,ong 
;i Cantons 
.Matt Tuck 
Norp ^forales ..' 
J .Frase • ' ' 
toiniciibana 
.lerry Tester ■ ■; 
<'arl Ravasiza 
U'Ariijelo & Vanya 
St. sat Gi-aves 
. .Miriam t,a Vella : 
Sa,'asns Oi-o 

■ ici'Innd 
Boyd Heath 
C & F Simpson 
Ginger Kinney . 
Bnti Ribble t)rc /' 
.lack Ripley Line' 

Hotel Ellison 
Itenry Jerome Oro . 

.No I fifth Ave 
•loan Casto 
ITal Hackett 
Uanel Webster 
Downey * FonvlUe 
Hotel Belni't-Plam. 
Carlos Bainireii 
Enrica fr Novello 
Mddie Stone Oro ■ 
Machito Ore 

Hotel Biltmore 
r.arry Green Ore 

Tui'ecamo Ore 
Hotel Commoilore. 
Eddy Howard Ovz 

Hotel T.<'xingtan 
Pineapple Ore 
Hfitel New Vorher 
Shcp Fields Ore 
Mar.shal Beard 
Phil Romayne 
Terry Brent 
Jay Mai-rin 
Jturlei Pack • 
.fanice Mai)iilton 
Rntel PeiinN.vlvi(nla 
Dick Jurgens Ore 

Hfltrl Pierre 
Nina Nova 
Olgo 

\'an .Smith Ore 
Cbas Bender Ore 
nianuHid HorseHhoe 
Mata « Han 

■Choral Octet 
' M .*5andler Ore 

Alvere/ 'Mera 

.Tuenger Ballet Line 
H:nt«l riaxa 

nildegarde 

fool 'TTerron Oro 

Salvatore Gloe 
Hotel KftoMevell 

Lawrence Welk Ore 
, Hotel St Monti 

-Mcnconl Ore 
I Hotel St P.oiila 

Dave Apollon 
I Hal Sanndei's Ore 

hivalyn Tvner- 

Rosalind Courtrlghl 

Laszln Sr Peplto 
niktel Tuft 

Vincent Lopez Ore 

f'barlie Drew 

.loir Clay 

Michael Diirso Ore 
Fernando Alvarez O 

El riiii-n 
P Del Monte 



BRITAIN 



N. Y. Papers 

Continued from page 1 



□ 



Crosby to Stay 



Continued from page 1 

politan stations that doesn't play a 
Croshy disli some time during the 
weekday, and even one of the net- 
worlc Iceys, WOR, has its own pro- 
gram of Crosby recordings. That 
one comes on Monday morning. 

The three heaviest Manhattan 
pluggers of Crosby platters are 
WNEW, WINS and WH;N, latter 
two .50-kilowatt independents. 
WINS currently clears 26 quarter- 
hours a week of Crosby programs 



first, opportunities for substitution 
or revision will have to go by the 
board. It will be like learning a 
new language." V 

Chief change in plans for adver- 
tisers will be an extension of the 
! deadlines for all but classified ads. 
1 For all non-cancellable advertising 
I orders, with complete and exact 
I space .specifications, including the 
! type of material or copy to be fur- 
nished and from whom it will be 
received, the deadline has been 
moved up to 96 hour in advance 
of press time. Any such advertis- 
I ing scheduled for Friday , publica- 
! tion, consequently, will have to be 
in the newspaper office by the 
preceding Monday. 

Any advertising coming in on 
■ reproduction proofs, mats or plas- 
tic plates will have to be sent in 
72 liours in advance of press time; 
For complete engravings, electro- 
types or shell casts, the deadline is 
52 hours aliead of press time. 
Newspapers have warned their ad- 
vertisers to make certain outside 
sources will be able to furnish 
them with the necessary photo^ 
engraving facilities. 



CAnniFr 

.New Theatre (S) 15 

Sleeping Beauty 
Freddie Forbes 
Nita Orotf 
'hii .Strickland 
'Icrt Murray 
'iiiie Love ' 
■abel Marden. 
ill ltnncl(le.\* ■ 
i.eon & Kitvl 
Ha.n.iilton Robins 
Sidney Treveiyan 
Vllnia De Boer 
Robs & (Jlobe Gla 
Balmoral t 
Charles 'Ancaaler ■, 
Beaton's 12 .IUA?es 
ClHISWIfK 

Empire (S) lit 
Harry Rnv Bd 
:} Brooklyns 
Hilda Heath 
Roberto chlesa Co 
Norman .Kidiiie 
Ben WanzHO Trp 
HACKNEV 

Ein|)ire (.S) ITi 
France Hoi Club B 
DJango Relnhardt 
Sleplmne . drapiielly 
.llniniy .Tames 
The Appletons 
t'harlfis :Caineron 
l>e«inontV ^tMarka 
Morgan & .Tones 
(Jourtiiev Denise 
iJCUESTUB 

Puhicc (S) 1.1 
Radio ForfCila 
Mooney * King 
Philippic & Marta 
Arrhie telray 
I.p.Mlie T.psler 
Flack. & Ijni.a s 



Mbn (reals 
Los Va,lentos 
l,ONI«)N 
StOil (S) 15 
Stars - on Ice 
€aNino 
Olsen & Johnson 
Pitchmen 
Gloria (Gilbert 
Pulliuiiuin 
.lean Sablon 

JUANCHE.'STER 
HiniMMlrome (SI l.f. 
Good 2 Shoes 
Ronald Frankau 
.Sonny .Jacobs 
.lack Stanford 
.Toan Daviea 
Joy Hayden 
Smeddle Bros 
Rosamund Beimore 
Agai^ Young ,2 
.Stual't Pearc'e 
Braeniar Pipers 
Tiller Girls 
Terry .tuveniles 
SIIEI-H'ROS BI'SII 

Einnire (.S) ir> 
Blliy Cotton Bd 
(Markaon Hose ■. 
Albert Wlielan 
Altuee Fonlpnay Co 
Donald Stuart 
The Ijaureys 
Clarkfton Rosebuds 
M'OOn flKHHN' 

Empire (S) YTt 
Rocky Mtn nhy'iii 
Hill (^aiiiyibell 
V Julian Sr Pels 
Peter Raynor . . 
Syd Maldn 
SIvek Ben All ■ . 
The.'Jtalda«. 
8 Ace Oit'is 



Victoria; Barcelo . » ■' 
Rita & Kosslno 
Los Fanehos 

Enibatitiy 
3 Plainas 
Belnionts 
Fisher & White 
Louis Varano Oro 
Jose Cortez Oro 

Harem 
Diosa Costello 
Chandra-Kaly Dcr» 
lOllssa Jayne 
Jaquellne Murley 
John Elliot 
Nevada Smith 
Ueul .Arnaz Ore 
Art Roman O 

llttvunu-.>l«drld 
Joaauln <3aray ; 
Jerry Bergen 
BarrancoR 

Hotel Warwiek 
Alan MePalge 8 
Jan August 

l.a i>l»rtiniqu« 
Jack Cantor 
Frances .JTaye 
Freddie Stewart' 
Ralph Font Oro 
Taylor Line 

Leon « Kddle'a 
Bddle Bav'la . 
Art Wanor Ore 
Sherry Britton 
Nils & Nadyhe 
Lyda & Yannl ■ 
Toby Doane 
Peggy ^Palmer - 
Danny Sullivan 
Shepard Line 
Old Ronmnnlaa 
Sadie Banks 
Don Tahnen 
Bella Snmro , 
,Toe LaPorte Oro . ■ 
D'Anuila Oi-o 

Essex Honise 
Erwin Kent Oro 
Latin (Innrler 
Frank Libuse 
Nick Long .rr 
Marlon Manner* • 
■Radio Aces 
Patricia Adair 
C & T Valdez ' 
Arthur X.,aurent 
Bon. Vivonts 
Vincent Trsvem O 

Rnbnn Bleu 
Tmogene Coca ■ 
Pierre Cartier 
Judy Ger.shwin ' 
Franklin St .Moor* 
Muriel Gaines ■ . 
Nermann Paris I 
Wnllv Blacker 
Splvy's 

Spivy 

Diane Courtney - 
Hayes Gordon 
Verfuiille* 
Carl Brlsson 
Bob Grant Ore 
Panehlto .Ore 

Villnite Barn 
Piute Pete ' 
Kay Carole 
Cordano & fiorlan* 
Populaires 
Buccaneers Ore' 

Vlllnce VimKuar^ 
Pajula Brake 
Max KnmlnsH; t 
Shay* Comtn . 
Melrose Colbert 
Don Fryc 

Wnldorf-.4i)torlii 
Donald Rtchards 
Lamouret 
Bmll Coleman Oro 
Mfsha Brtrr Oro 



CHICAGO 



BluoUliawk 

Art Kassel 
(3;loLMa Hart 
F Ray Sr. D Nal'do 
Aliml Walterfl 

Cli«/, Pnree 
Miirtv OoiiM Ore 
.la«'I(l(i fireen 
Jafik Cole Dftncera 
Joe Kovac Orch 
CheR A(Iorablei9 12 
Hotel ItliirliKt'one 
Ray Morion Ore 
.tiinmy Sai-Vo 

Hotel Bl^mnrk 
J Sutiy Ore 
Bemio "Relsnn O 
Trafly Sisters (2) ■ 
F.eonore 

IfelNlriKV 

A I Morsan 

Til ("^Iiandler Ore 



Gil HoblHRnn 
Sussanne Kitig: 
H Edf(0WHter Itenrh 
Holly Holls 
Boy Foy 

Luclenne & Ashour 
Marian Fedcle 
D Hlld Dnnora fU) 
Hotel Slierninn 

JviTin Klrby Ora ■ 
Ray BnKllsh ■ 
Carl Marx 

Lnttn Oiwrt«r 

Sonny Mara 
Gom ez R li u niba Or 
.Tackle Hllllard 
Winn Seeley 

rtilmer itoiiR«>. 
Rkinnay Ennff< Ore 
Rosalind Coiirtrlj^lit : 
McCarthy & Far'l . 
C Kaly Dnors <4) 
Lenora Edwin 



House Reviews 



Continued from page 24 



Cabaret Bills 



NEW YORK <JITY 



Bttgiilelle 
ooitithy Ross 

Itliie .'\neel 
Uoufflas By UK 



.\lU'e Pearce 
Alarc Lawrence 
Delta Rhylhirf Bys 
ISIIIs ljurUin i 



01;^inpia, Miami 

Soul" and weaves into "Civiliza- 
Uon." 

Impressionist Arthur Blake is at 
best with his incisive delineations 
of the Hollywood femmes. Worlts 
on Louella Parsons, Bette Davis 
for solid reaction, Male limnings' 
on the Hollywood scene are ef- 
fective also, to malce for a better 
than ordinary sesh of mimicry. 

Almost stealing honors from the 
topliners are the Debonairs, lately 
at the Latin Quarter here. The 
quintet malce for a zingy, smartly- 
paced sesh of song and dance 
groupings. Presentation is show- 
manly .and the topper, the : preci- 
sion "Machine Age" routining, 
brings solid applause. 

Another former feature at the 
L.Q. add novelty with their torso 
twists. Acroantics of the Dewey 
Sisters keep them interested all 
the way. 

Paul Rich, harmonicist, rounds 
out the layout with standard col- 
lection of tunes, with tlve "St. 
Louis Blues" sequence best. Les 
Rhode and house orch turn in 
usual good job of baclcgrounding. 

ha/ry. 



LEfilTlMATR 



Strawhat Checkup System by £«pAy, 
Ooser SupervMU Seen for '49 



Equity's almost complete about- 



face on its announced summer 
stock rules has been aecompanied 
by the adoption of a system of 
checking up on the strawhats 
through the coining summer and 
the possibility of even stricter reg- 
ulatiiHis for tiie 1949 season. ]|o\v- 
«ver, contiiiniitioii of the appren- 
tieie $!l«tein, which accompanies 
summer dnma schools, makes it 
just as easy for such outtits to 
"guarantee" membership cards in 
Equity, «ne "abuse" that the 
dn>p})ed Fegcfta1ions aimed; 4o elim- 
inate. 

Sirawliat managers -wttl be re- 
quired to matce weekly- reports to 
Eauity, wfaere eletks will tabulate 
the stariastics for consideration 
after the sras;^, usually 10-week- 
schcdUles spanning the snnlmer. 
.'Managers ' must r e,g i s t e r isith 
Equity iSie names and addresses of 
all actor.%, apprentices or students 
in the company or dramatic school 
operated in conjunction with the 
theatre, a^ well as any other lion- 
Equitvite appearing v^o is not in 
any of the :Ewnty-afSliated nniws 
(in tJte AsisMiated -Actors and 
Attires of America). Diey vrill 
also submit tbe weekly grosses on 
the grcnmd that rules applicable to 
come stocks -wonld i»ove a hard- 
^p to others where takings are 
■mall. As ai result when new rules 
are adopted, classifications of 
strawfaats may be made on the 
basis of tfaar boxoffice tiddngs. 

Uiuler Uteml^s apprenUees who 
nuike one appcSrance in stock 
(for whidi thtejr vsxsA be given a 
cwtnwt) may api^y for mcmber- 
slup in Equity. It was alleged tiiat 
in some instanc.es the apprentice 
or graduate student was required 
.to kick back the pay in order to 
appear ($30 is the weekly mini- 
mum a« against $46 heretofore). 
Apprentices di» jwt have to join 
Eqidiy,-IiOwever, unless tbey make 
.,tw<i cnsecuUve -appesucances or- 
' are casta 'diuamg.,ttae -.sea-' 

son. tliea k ia^a '^uitt^ 
' '-gartcggf ^Siwwy- .'■ ] 

Soliae- .aalBnier iMaiaK^n have' 
ei^iesaed "l£te»iselv«s in Javor of 
M^ealled. pad^age.sh(nls.inlt there 
seems, to be a .growing- sentiment 
agaiBst that idea. It's ctmtended 
that it . isht stock because the at-: 
traetioos travel as .units and are 
really road ^ows, aitbough Equity 
i«coei£Kes-tliem<n»:stodc. Cdtidsm 
' against paekagies includes comment 
that booking such attractions is an 
easy if not "laajr" way to conduct 
rural stodc Tislting naate and 
femme leads seem to be more 
favored. 

Generally welcomed, however 



*Daric Eyes' Opening 
In London March 23 

London^ March 16. 
"Dai* Eyes," Broadway hit of a 
few seasons ago, is set to open at 
the Strand here March 23. Eu- 
genie Iieontovich-El(»ia Kliramova 
authored comedy opened Feb. 23 
in Sonthsea and was well received. 
It's playing Manchester, Brigiiton 
and Oxford before its London bow. 

Irina Saronova, Eugenie Dela- 
rova. Polly Bowles and Yul Bryn- 
ner came oVer from U. S. to pla^' 
the leads. Jjonit & Donfee, Ltd. 
is preseaitiBg. in association with 
U. S. finn tA Davis & Severn. 



Wide Interest h 
2d P(»Tjr Awards 

Interest in the awards to be 
made at the .seeond anmial 
Antoinette Peiry memorial sutler 
March 28 at the Hotel Waldorf- 
Astoria, N. Y., will extend out of 
town instead of being confined to 
Broadwayites. Stars on tour will 
be included in those to be cited, 
and former staffs of the Washing- 
ton and Cleveland Stagedoor Can- 
teens will have get-togetbers to 
listen in on tiie broadcast of the; 
event. As secretary of the Amer- 
ican Theatre Wing,. Miss Perry 
participated in the formation of 
the Canteens. 

. Beservations for the supper are 
approaching the 1,000 mark, at $10 
per head, and it's expected that 
attendance wQl top 1,2(X), ibe num- 
ber who vere i^resent last year. 
Bemittances for tickets 'Efliould be 
made oni to the Wing and sent 
to Brodk Feqiberton, who will 
make the. presentation of souvenirs 
to those selected by. a comiiiittee 
as having .'j^ven outstanding serv- 
ice to the theatre dndng the sec- 



mF;pTSLT.DATE 

"Leaf and Bough," prize-winning 
play by Joseph A. Hayes, has been 
optioiied for- a commercial Broad- 
way production, so its scheduled 
Experteaental Theatre presentxtiim 
has been cancelled. The rigjits 
were booglit fMday (12) by Rich 



Move Her Type 

Paris, March. 10. 

Stage production of Boris 
Vian's novel, "I Shall Go And 
Spit On Your Graves,", is held 
up because the typist who bad 
the third act has ran Off with 
a servant, says her husband. 

Excen>t5 of Vian's novel are 
reported currently causing a 
sensation in London due to 
the coarseness of n)me of tfae 
wordage. 



PubKc Ininted 
By^ieafreWing 
InExiMKsion 

American Theatre Wing, plan- 
ning to go on as a service organ- 
ization in the theatre, in Ute next 
few wetics will put on a drive for 
members. It will be the first Wing 
drive of any kind, financial or 
membership!, «nd will be open to 
the general pgtblie for the first 
time. There, will be different forms 
of membership, involving active 
workers, financial contributors, etc. 

Committee to head it up will be 
virtually the Wing's exec commit- 
tee of its board of directors, con- 
sisting of Vera Allen, Solly Per- 
nick, Kermit Bloomgaidra, Oliver 
Sayler, James Sauter, Louise Beck 
and ^rle McGill. 

Wing's future activities wl}l in 
no way conflict with the American 
Natioiul Theatre & Academy, the 
two organizations worldng in sejt- 
arate fields. ANTA's chief aims are 
to service the theartre, aid to legit 
outside New York, ^aid to experi- 
mental tlieatre; amateur groups, 
etc, while the^Wing plans to con- 
tinue being a service organization 
of theatrical -unions- and allied in- 
dividuals. Wing's present services 
indode its hospital work (now in 
its fifth . year), community plays, 
veterans program, Antoinette 
Peny awards for distinguished 
service -urithin Qie theatre, and 
concert -debuts of promising «K-GI 
talent. 

There are over 2,000 profession- 
als, an ex-GIs, now iu the vet pro- 
gram. Wiog workers have wodced 
m 117 Vetalio^tttls, this woiic be- 
ing one of the «troBsest reasons 
for the Wing to remain a perma- 
nent setup. 



ard lieidti representing a James 
are short-cast package plays, and; Merrill Herd syndicate. The play 



one of the newcomers this summer 
may. be Ginger Sogers in "The 
Voice of the Tacfle," tiiree-east 
comedy. If the Mm star comes cast 
for Aat purpose she can take her 
pick of strawhat spots. "Spring- 
time for Henry ," which ' requires 
but four.actors, has been a favorite 
in summer stock with Edward 
Everett Horton for several seasons, 
and is slated to rejwat. Before tak- 
ing to the sticks "Henry" Is a 
Broadway revival possibility for 
this 



New Stock Company Set 
For Frisco Next FaD 

San Francisco, March 16. 
A permanent pnofessional stock 
company, the San Francisco Thea- 
tre Assn.. has been formed by John 
Jennings, and will, probably start 
. Operation next fall. It will use the 
l.SOO-seat Tivoli, a former legit 
house renovated at a cost of |50,- 
000 and used for films the- last 
couple of years. SFTA will open a 
$100,000 fund drive In about a 
month. 

Plan is to recruit a permanent 
company in New York and use 
guest stars from there and. Holly- 
wood. Each production is to run 
four weelts. It's figured the oper- 
ation will be somewhat similar to 
that of Macgo Jones' Theatre '48, 
In Dallas. Jennings, an actor-di- 
rector, has been working on the 
project two years, since his return 
from the service. 

Eichard Herman, a board mem- 
ber of Uie group, has been in New 
York the last couple, of weeks to 
eonfab witii the American National 
Theati-e &, Academy staff regaixl- 
ing plans. 



was to have been put into rehear- 
sal Monday (15) by ET. 

Herd, who has recently been on 
the Coast to gander several legit 
tryouts. Sew to Dallas last v?eel» 
to see the Theatre '48 production 
of "Leaf and Bough," staged by 
Margo Jones. It had been an- 
nounced only a few days before as 
the next ET presentation. Also, 
the U. of Chicago announced Sat- 
urday (13) that "Leaf" had won 
the Charles H. Sergei award of 
$500 for the best new American 
play. 

It's understood the author ex- 
plained to ET officials that he'd 
prefer to refuse the Heidt i^er, at 
least until after the play's presen- 
tation by ET, but he couldn't afford 
to turn down the option money. 
His only income is from £he plays 
he and his wife have .co^uthored 
for Samuel French for amateur 
gi'oups. As it happens, French 
passed up "Leaf," at least fw the- 
amateur market. 

Meanwhile, Hayes is at his home 
in Brookfield Center, Conn., al- 
ready at work on a new script. 

As replacement for "Leaf the 
ET production committee has 
scheduled the Six O'Clock Tliea- 
tre in a bill of three short plays. 
Six iierformances will be given, 
opening April 11. The three plays 
are expected to be "Hope Is the 
Tiling wiOn Featlier." by Richard 
Hjjrrity; "Celebration," by Horton 
Foote, and "Afternoon Storm," by 
E. P. Conkle. / 

Six O'clock Theatre is a two- 
year-old group of 40 professional 
actors and 10 directors who carry 
on workshop dramatic activity: it 
has about 20 short plays in active 
repertoiy. 



HewTaleiit-^riiit 
SmvcasiRg Slated . 
By 2 mk Projects 

The American National Theatre 
& Academy vi^l . start two projects 
during April to' showcase new tal- 
ent and scripts. One will be the 
In^tational Series of rehearsed 
readings of new American plays. 
It wiU be given at the Lenox. Hill 
Settlement Playhouse, N. Y., be- 
ginning late in April, as a supple- 
mentary activity of the Experi- 
mental Theatre. The other, called 
Talent '48, will be an audition ^ow 
using yoimg actors, April 30, at the 
Maxuie Elliott theatre, N,Y., for an 
invited audience of produoerSi di- 
rectors, strawhat managers, agents^ 
etc. 

The Invitational Series will in- 
clude the presentation of five 
plays, four of which have already 
been selected. They are "Seeds 
in the Wind," by Arthur Goodman; 
"Danny Larkin," by James McGec; 
"Battle for Heaven," by Michael 
O'Shanghnessy and Rand Carter, 
and "These Tender Mercies," by 
Barton Yarborough. The flftti will 
be scheduled shortly. "Danny 
Larkin" last week received a $300 
award as second prize in the Univ. 
of Chicago's Sergei play ccmtest. 

All the scripts to be thus pre- 
sented are among those submitted 
for possible production by the Ex- 
perimental Theatre, and given pre- 
liminary approval by the reading 
committee. Each will be cast from 
among the actors on the ET list, 
and bill be staged by young direc- 
tor prospects uncovered by ANTA. 
They will be done witliout scenery 
or costume, at a budget of under 
$100 each. 

Moe Hack is in cliarge of the 
Invitational Series, with Catherm 
Linn assisting. The committee in- 
cludes George Freedley, chairman; 
Aline MacMahon, Alexander Kirk- 
land, Gerald Savory and Herbert 
Kubly. 



Spemfag Ebb Seen B Pam Gross^; 
Mi^ador Tnlettes;$l,i^ Tops Take 



•Central Park' Slated I 
For St. Loo Season 

St. Louis, March IS. 

"Up In Central Park," Sigmund 
Bomberg's musical hit, will play a 
two-week engagetnent to wind x«» 
the 1948 season of the Municipal 
Theatre Assn., sponsor of al fresco 
et^^aiiunent to the Fcni^st Parle 
Playhouse. 

-Also ta be presented during the 
SS-uiiEht season, which tees off 
June 3 with an ll-night stand of 
"Auld Lang Syile" in Jts wwrld 
preem, will be "Sari" "Rio Bita." 
"Hit the Deck," "Three Muske- 
teers," '«unny" and "Jubilee." 
Thi-ec more still to be selected 
will round out the season. 



D'Oyly Cartes Set 
U. S. 'i Rehfln 

The D'Oyly Carte British troupes, 
presenting * Gilbert and Sullivan 
operettas currently prospering on 
Broadway, at the Century, will re- 
turn to America next season for a 
tour. Visitors are completing their 
second seven-week, period this sea- 
son, repeating each of seven G. & S. 
shows, but an additional three 
weeks has been added to the book- 
ing, so that the D'Oyly Cartes will 
have had a B^adway season of 17 
weeks: 

Added ihree weeks will be de- 
voted to "The Mikado," easily the 
most popular operetta, as indicated 
by the capaci^ drawn botlj per- 
formances given it so far. .When 
"Mikado" was perfoi'med recently 
the weekly gross was $43,500 
wltereas takings the following 
weeks with other G. & S. bills were 
,as touch as $17,000 less, although 
profitable. 

. Britishers will play Boston for 
four weeks prior to sailing bade to 
Engla^ Hub scticdnle, tdiarting 
April 26, calls, for tSie "Mikado" 
for the first and bet weeks, with 
"The Pii-ates of Penxanee," "Drial 
by Jury," "Pinafore" and "lolan- 
the" {daying a half weelSc each. 
Dropped for that engagement will 
be "The GondoUers," "Patience" 
and "Yeoman of the Guard." 

Next attraction booked for the 
Century is "Inside U. S. A.," a 
revue staxring Bea UlUe .and Jack 
Haley; it's having its first iryout 
in Philadetpbia next week. 



DALLAS BUDGET FOR 
OPMTTAS UP TO 320G 

Budget for the Dallas summer 
operetta season has been upped to 
around $320,000 by the Texas State 
Fair Assn., which will also expend 
$30,000* for revolving stages to 
facilitate scene-changes in tfae 
fair's casino, a 5,239-seater. 

Scheduled are musical comedies 
rather than the older-type operet- 
tas, j; t least two of the shows to be 
shown out of doors for the first 
time. Singing contingent of the 
ensemble will be engaged locally 
as heretofore but dancers are be- 
ing auditioned in New York this 
week, Applicants must belong to 
Chorus Equity. 

Dallas season starts June 14 with 
"The Great Waltz." which virill play 
two weeks, the following musicals 
each for one week being: "Any- 
thing Goes," "One Touch of 
Venus," "Rosalie," "The New 
Moon," "Bloomer Girl," "Naughty 
Marietta," "Hit the Deck" and "The 
Vagabond King," season due to 
wind up at mid-August. 

Shows m Rehearsal 

"Harvey" (road)— Brock Pember- 
ton. 

*"S*Uy" (revival)— Hunt Strom- 
berg, Jr., and William Bemey. 

"The First Mrs. Fraser" (road)— 
Gant Gaither. 

"The Cup of Trembling"— Paul 
Cisinner. 

•"Hold It»— Sammy Lambert. 

"The Play's The Thine"— Gilbert 
Miller, James Russo and AUchael 
Ellis, 

*"Indde V. S, A." — Arthur 
Schwartz. 



Paris, March \x 
I*git grosses in Paris are ert- ' 
dencing the general ebb of sneiil 
tag. For the week beginning^ 
March 5 up to and includini 
2*",";' y^?^^ ^*Sit grosses 
Paris totaled an appiDximate $151" 
700 or about $144,000 net. 

There is much difference in fht 
national tiieatves' grosses due to 
change of bills. The Opera. b«wv 
mally grossing $1,200 to $1,500 fw ' 
grand opera, gets upped to about 
$2,000 for the Wednesday balkt 
nights. Opera Condque with some 
new shows gets as little as $115 
but old faves like "Manon" or 
"Mmc. Butterfly" get a $S00 take; 
At the Francaise, the SaUe Luxem- 
bourg (former Odeon) with Use 
Topart in "Teme Capitalc" rates 
$250, better than Uic Salle Riche- 
lieu. 

Musicals are doing well, better 
even tlian the revues which are 
now siiowiug bare threads, having 
played tlie Casino de Paris and 
the Folies Bcrgere well over a 
year each. Folies Bergere is get- 
ting about $900 daily and Casin» 
Ls a poor runncrup at $400, Al- 
hambra, with a very local musical 
titled "AUiambra" but with popu- 
lar comedian Bourvil, takes about 
$800, while Henri Vama's Moga- 
dor,: with "Violettes Imperiales," 
takes in a huge $1,600 and Maurice 
Lehman's Chatelet vvifli "Sims 
Gfflne" foUows at $900. 

Straight hits are about evep 
money every night. Atelier (Jean 
Anouilh's "Invitation au Chateau") 
takes in $600; Atbenee (Mai«el 
A chard's "Valparaiso"), $650; 
Sacba Guitry's "Diable Boiteux" 
at the Edouard VII, $700; Louis 
Barrault shows at the Marigny 
from $700 to $600 according to 
bill; Jacques Deval's adaptation of 
"Petticoat Fever." rctitled "KMX 
Labrador," $400 at Michodlere 
with ' Gerard Philippe; Nouveautcs 
witli "Little Cabin" ssA Fernand. 
Gravey $600. But mo,st shows get 
barely $150 nightly though Mittr 
Goldin'S diminutive Capudnes 
rakes in $300 with "Roi Pausole." 
a musical. The list fades down te 
Theatre de Poclie, tlve mtq^et 
Montpamasse lOO-seirter 
rapes in anything from $10 to^l' 
on . lucky nights. 

MOPPET-SI^ LEGm 
N£W VO€U£ IN PARIS 

Paris, Iforch 10. 

Moppet-size legit is increasing 
here, due to desire of many acton 
to get on stage and refusal of back- 
errs to go for heavy bankrolling. 

Recently, the Club des Cuiq 
turned its premises into a 300- 
scater. The Theatre de Poche in 
Montpamasse, with 100 seats, and 
the ^octambules, were considered 
the smallest in town. Tliey wiU 
lose tlie title when the Salle de la 
Huchette opens with 80 seats and 
a few strapontins or folding seats. 

The new stand will be on Rue de 
la Huchette, and virill be operated 
by Audiberti, vrith his adaptation 
of a three-act Italian play by the - 
Milan publisher Bompiani, starring 
Andre Reybatz and Catherine 
Tooth. Title is "AlliiMrtina," ftem- 
iscs were that of a bookstoie. 



♦Musical 



Rolf Gerard's Staging 
Pliiin,GlyiidefaonroeOp 

London, March 9. 

One of Britain's top stage de- 
signing jobs of the year— that of 
handUng the decor and costumes 
of the new Glyndebourne Opei-a 
production of Wolfgang Mozart s 
"Cosl Fan Tutte," has been handed 
Rolf Gerard. Show preems duriB« 
the Edinburgh Festival on Aug. 
with Carl Ebert producing. , 

Gerard, who did the sets l«f 
"Big Ben," a last year's Charies B- 
Cochran success here, as well as 
Peter Brook's Stratford production 
of "Romeo and JiUiet," will also 
design the sets for a new play, oy 
Helge Krog, slated to open at the 
Arts theatre here Maj'ch 28. boma 
Dresdel will star. 

Dalrymple to Europe 

Producer Jean Dalrym&le planed 
to Europe Sunday (14) to confct 
with George Bernard Shaw an" 
Jean-Paul Sartre in Paris. 

Miss Dah-ymple will huddle w»tn 
both playwrights on works of theirs 
slie intends to do in New York. 



jPropose St»i&% Umt la Lobby 
FfiF Slmf Biz n Legion 



65 



A standiing: ttic*trical committee 
that would check upon and oppose 
toiteHtioii Inimical to show busi- 
^ as the resfult of the defeat of 
jTe so-called FfnorClaPcy firemen 
wn at Albany, Is proposed by 
Scoidwayttes. Committee would 
SireBCnt managers, actors, au- 
thors and others particularly In- 
terested in legit, which along with 
(irand opera and concert would 
bave been affected had the fire- 
men measure been adopted. Pic- 
ture bouses had been eliminated 
when the bill was amended but the 
measure was not withdrawn until 
Wednesday (10) night: 

^flQlti there were many offi- 
cials in Albany protesting the bill, 
whieb would have imposed a fee of 
DlO «ach f« two firemen per per- 
formance, major credit for knock- 
ing out the legislation went to th«. 
international Alliance of Theatrical 
$tage Employees, parent stage- 
1^^^ imilHL, John McDowell, see- 
i^taiy of Local 1, N. Y., and 
Xtwmas Murtba of Local 4, Brook- 
igf, were conceded to have been 
^Mt active in mustering opposi- 
tion, and through them labor heads 
fnint upstate hurried to the capital 
t« join the ]>rotesting show group. 

JIames ^. Reilly, for the man- 
age (League of N." Y. Theatres), 
also on hand, sent word to all legit 
showmen to send telegraphic ob- 
jections to all members of the 
legidature. Unions throoghont the 
ittate ioiaed in the movement, 
vAich recpiired speedy action, as 
the bill suddenly appeared on the 
ioor, not being introduced by reg- 
idOF .proccdnre. 

R Y. firemen are unionized, be- 
feg of the American Federation of 
I,abQr, as is lATSE. Latter clashed 
ifith the firem.en's representative. 
Who said that his outfit was seeking 
MOney for Its pension fund, deck- 
hands saying they wanted the same 
tlitoe but not in the sante way. 

^Siivper' to Try €o«g 
HWitl<HitGarfieliiritt 
New Sbr h Ayaflable 

AmuKinced closing of "Skipper 
Next to God" after another week 
on Broadway at the Playhouse 
HME rescinded and efforts continue 
to engage a Coast name to 
replace John Garfield, drama's 
Jrtar, who withdraws March 27. 
Kone of the half doien or more 
actors asked to step into "Skip- 
per" were able to accept on short 
notice, and it was figured attends 
ante would dive after Garfield's 
withdrawal unless another star 
would take over. Last week's gross 
•nmximated $15,500, excellent 
atoiiey for a straight-play one- 
letter. 

A Coast star will be available 
In about six weeks, and, despite 
the dosing notice, an attempt will 
be made to continue "Skipper" in 
tht interim. Anticipating a drop 
fel taidngs during that period the 
«»st may be asked to cut sala- 
ries. When "Skipper" was taken 
•ver fnwn Expcrunental Theatre 
by Blevins Davis, who assumed 
financial responsibility fmr the 
commercial date and stipulated 
that net profits go to the American 
NaUonal Theatre and Academy, 
■Ponsor of ET, the players went 
on a regular salary basis, claimed 
to be one reason why operating 
profits have been less than ex- 
twct^d. 

Chtess" operating expenses can 
w lowered, it's figured the show 
roight run into a weekly deficit 
instead of a current profit csti- 
Jnated at around $2,000, with some 
weeks having a higher net. "Skip- 
per was counted on to keep ANTA 
•Ut of the red on the experimental 
«*«son, and it has helped so far. 
- .J, L "^'"PPer" closes, settlement 
o» the differences with backstage 
unions over cost of the setting 
be liquidated. It was agreed 
mat $3,000 be deducted from the 
snow s net at the rate of $500 
eha -t "^^^y to ^ devoted to 



Widi SnrdSre 'Amne' 

Pittsburgh, March 16. . 
Following two consecutive dark 
weeks, only time this season ex- 
cepting tor few days before Xmas 
that house has been shuttered, 
Nixon reopened last night (Men.) 
with Mary Martin's "Annie Get 
Your Gun," in for a fortnight. 
Show's practically sold out already 
at $5.20 top, save for scattered 
scats in second balcony, and looks 
a cinch to gross close to $100,000 
on the engagement. 

Tallulah Bankhead in "Private 
Lives" follows "Annie" March 29 
and "Carousel" is tentatively 
scheduled to come in April 5, un- 
der subscription auspices, also for 
two weeks. "Lady ' Windermere's 
Fan" is set for April 19. 



Londm s in For 



London, March 16. 

Following their successful run 
at the Casino with their tabloid 
version of "Hellzapoppin," Olsen Sc 
Johnson will give it a full scale 
treatment at the Princes theatre 
beginning April 12. Show will re- 
place "Burlesi^ue," currently at the 
Princes. 

"Parissima," wliicfa opened at 
the Palace last Wednesday (10) is 
a colorful, solidly staged musical 
starring Shlrl Conway and Lester 
Ferguson. It was warmly received 
but lack of humor and. originality 
give it only an even chance for 
success. 

Bobbie Howes' substitution for 
indisposed Sonnie Hale in preem 
of "Four, Five, Six" last Thurs- 
day (11) at the York caused post- 
ponement of some excellent new 
numbers and clever skits. How- 
ever, co-star Binnie Hale and new- 
comers Vida Hope and Bill Fraser 
were enthusiastically received 
while the Howe-Hale team is shap- 
ing up as a surefire combination. 
Slmw, which is second edition of 
the original revue, "One, Two. 
Three," looks good for a healthy 
run. 



mEDVicroRr 

PARTY FOR HART 

Moss Hart will be guest of honor 
at a supper to be given at the 
Hotel Savoy-Plaza, N. Y., April 4, 
hosts to be those associated with 
"Winged Victory," written and 
produced during the war for the 
Army Air Forces by Hart. Play, 
which drew capacity at the 44th 
Street (since razed) N. Y., had a 
complement of 300, including a 
small percentage of feinme play- 
ers. Shqw will follow the feed, 
entertainers to include those from 
the original cast, which played 
together for a year and. a half. 

Joe Heidt, general press repre- 
sentative for the Theatre Guild, is 
handling publicity and arrange- 
ments. He helped .publicize "Vic- 
tory" as an army sergeant. Tickets 
will be $25 per couple, those at- 
tending single-o paying half that 
figure. 



What's in a Name? 

Vienna, March 8. 

Title of new operetta, "Stol- 
en Waits!,'! with music Its Jara 
Benes andi book by Fritz Kck- 
hardt, bad a real counterpart 
here. On day before the pre- 
miere in Wiener Kuenstler 
theatre, the entire musical 
score was stolen from Benes 
when he rode by streetcar to 
the last rehearsal. 

Management wondered what 
to do. But plan to postpone 
premiere didn't have to be 
carried out, because the thief 
incognito returned the score 
by messenger. 



Ro^en^Harnmerstdn Shows Provide 
1680 Jobs; Wn! Nears Fnre-Year Run 



New ReguIatieB 
May Affect Tax 
Status of 'Angek' 

Considerable interest has been 
expressed along Broadway over an 
Internal Revenue regulation which 
may dhange the tax status of lim- 
ited-partnership investors in shows. 
Attorneys who draw up such 
agreements for managerial clients 
will await more specific informa- 
tion about any change in the lim- 
ited-partnersUlp classification her 
fore expressing an opinion, but it's 
pointed out that department regu-< 
lations are not part of the law and 
may be- overruled. There are court 
decisions favoring the present tax 
classification, althouj^ there iS: a 
possibility of reversal. 

Fact that revenue agMtts are 
seeking waivers from show-backers 
tb'keep possible claims from be- 
coming invalid, through the statute 
of limitations, is regarded as a 
protective measure by the Com- 
missioner of Internal Revenue. It 
would doubtless eliminate any 
number of potential angels if they 
were permitted to charge ofi only 
a small portion of losses, in cases 
of flops. 

There is little doubt that aom& 
. shownten with hits are in the 80% 
tax bracket, and the game applies 
to many investors in legit. It isn't 
figured that losses of co-partners 
in legit productions would make 
any material difference in the 
amount of taxes paid. It's believed 
that anyone has the siujaX to make 
such investments, admittedly haz- 
ardoffs, without undue Federal re- 
striction. It's further contended 
that most showmen do not use the 
co-partnership method of financing 
production to evade the provisions, 
of the income tax law. 

There is more tiian cme system 
of entering into co-partnenilups, 
inclusive of that referred to as "an 
association of interests for tax pur- 
poses." which lias had court ap- 
proval. Some agreements stipulate 
that if a general partner dies, the 
partnership terminates. There are 
instances where attorneys have 
advised backers to become general 
partners but it is also contended 
that as co-partners have no voice 
in the management, they should 
not be regarded as responsible as 
the producers. Matter of capital 
losses and capital gains appears 
not to be factors in at least most 
co-partnership agreements. 



UJS. Plays Witb American 
Talent MnOed for Paris 

Paris, March 10. 

French adaptations of American 
plays are very frequent here but 
lilnglish-speaking French audiences 
don't get many chances to see them 
in their original versions. This will 
be amended if plans of Baphnc 
Deane; founder of the Paris The- 
atre Girild, are put into effect. She 
wants to add an American annex 
to her organization so as to have 
American talent do American plaj^s 
here in the original version. She 
is currently negotiating for the 
French rights to Thornton Wilder's 
"Skin of Our Teeth." 

She is now sending to London a 
comtKtny of French talent, headed 
by Micheline Presle, Maria Cazares 
and Maurice E^ande, to do Frcmch 
classics in French, and modem 
French plays in English. 



Sister as Walker Standby 

<!U( Lou Barto, her younger 
sh"*'"' has been named to under- 
ifr^ Nancy Walker in "Look Ma, 
Vrt„,",^Sf"S," current hit at the 
A^lphi, N. Y. 

vanrt? ^"^^ daughters of vet 
*«uaer, Dewey Barto. 



Par Pic Forces Ilka 
To Quit Sbw in Det. 

Detroit, March 16. 

Ilka Chase is going to Holly- 
wood to fill a picture commitment. 
She plans to quit the cast of 
"There Goes the Bride" when it 
closes its run at the Shubert- 
Lafayette theatre this week. 

Although she intended to go to 
the toaist she said "the picture 
commitment came up faster tlian 
I thought." 

Gloria Swanson will take jVUss 
Chase's role. Latter exiJfects to re- 
join the show in Los ^ngeles and 
tour the Coast in it. 



Berlb-Kn^'s 'Stars' . 
For illhisiG Box, NT., Oct. 

Palm Springs, March 16. 
Irving Berlin, wlio is vacationing 
here at the new Palm Springs 
Biltroore, plans returning to New 
York in two or three weeks. He is 
polishing "Stars On My Shoul- 
ders," new comedy by Norman 
Krasna and himself, which is slated 
for the Music Box theatre. New 
York, in October. 

i Belated production becomes nec- 
iessai-y because of Walter Huston's 
, easting in the lead role. Latter has 
a previous commitment for a 
film before beginning the legit 
chore.'. 



>■ "Oklahoma?,*' Broadway's musi- 
cal miracle, is certain to rea<ii the 
five-year run mark - two weeks 
hence (31), at the St. James, N. Y., 
a record not approached by any 
other musical. Under the banner 
of the Theatre Guild, it bears the 
hallmark of Richard Bodgers and 
Oscar Hammerstein II, their first 
collaboration as authors, a duo that 
went on to write "Carousel" and 
Allegro" (both Guild attractions), 
and also to turn producers -witb 
such clicks as "Annie Get Your 
Gun." plus straight-play standouts 
as "I Remember Mama," "Happy 
Birthday" and "John Loves Mary." 

R. & H. not only gave the Guild 
the sparkplug to resume: its place 
aniong top managements with' 
"Oklahoma!." after the Guild had 
several off-seasons, but through 
their activities as authors and mash 
agers are credited with providing 
jobs for 1,600 persons, in the the- 
atre this season,, a team record 
never before attained. 

There are 330 on the payrolls of 
"Annie" on Broadway (Imperial 
and the road, not, counting: the com- 
panies in London and Australia. 
"Oklahomal" on Broadway and on 
tour keeps 2\.Q busy on the stage, 
not including the London company; 
i there ate 80 with "Allegro" and 
the same nooiber wiOi "Shww 
Boat" (touring). Figuring, in the 
musicians, staigehands, house and 
company staffs, 780 more are oit 
the payroll. 

R. & H. have been interested as 
authors or managers in 12 attrac- 
tions this season, up to mid-winter, 
one or two shows having closed, in^ 



4NewMuskak 
ftieTUbSprmg 

Last year there were no musical 
newcomers to Broadway after mid- 
March but this spring is slated to 
see the . entrance of four, and prob- 
ably a fifth. Two new tuners which 
were more or less doubtful are now 
definitely set for production. In- 
comers are "Inside U. S. A.," , . „ 
Hold It," revival of "Sally" and'"=**»^«' overseas shows. Their 

royalties, are estimated to have 
be«»i: based cot eomlnned grosses 
approximaitiiig; ^$3SS,0()e Wf^elrly. 
ihio's actual piersooal iiKOiniitiS are 
not indicated but there^s'noi dbttbt 
R. & H. are in the blghest. tax 
brackets in show business; They 
credit Irving Berlin with the suc- 
cess of "Annie," the compdser hav- 
ing turned put the score under 
pressure after the death of Jerome 
Kem, wh« was' slated "to do it. 
Sfrdw%: book is % Herbert, and 
Dorotiiy 'iElcM^ ; 

Steberts l^ve benefited huiely 
througii the R. & H. product. 
Understood the house prt^ <m 
''Okbthomal" was euou^' f or them 
to purchase the St. James. "Annie" 
and "Allegro" are playing their 
theatres on Broadway, aind tbe 
strai£^t hits^ were spotted in .the- 
atres which they owned in part i 



"Sleepy Hollow," with "My Ro- 
mance" a possibfiity. Latter 
operetta is .slated for a summer 
stay in Chicago after moving from 
Philadelphia back to Boston, where 
it recently fared very well during 
tryout..... ; 

Rehearsals of 'Sally" were set 
back for some time, and when 
Eddie Foy, Jr., withdrew to go in- 
to the road edition of "High Button 
Shoes," the revival was seemingly 
off. Willie Howard, however, was 
engaged to play the part originated 
by Leon Errol. 

. "Sally" was originally produced 
by Flo Ziegfeld at the New Am- 
sterdam. N. Y., starting a long 
stay during the winter of 1920-21, 
with Marilyn Miller and Errol co- 
starred; 



ALBANY BURIES UL 
ON CO-OP VMURB 

Albany, March 16. 
A bill which would authorize the 
formation of theatrical cooperative 
shows, a type of presentation 
Equity frowns upon, was buried 
in the Senate corporations com- 
mittee prior to adjournment of 
the legislature Saturday (13). 
Measure had passed the lower 
house but was amended and re- 
committed, being an amendment to 
the cooperative corporations law. 
Assemblyman John R. Brook, rep- 
resenting Manhattan's silk-stock- 
ing district, introduced the meas- 
ure. 

There are farm cooper^ives, 
and it's understood that the Dairy- 
man's League objected to tbe 
Brook amendment although the 
legislator advised the organization 
that theatrical co-ops could in no 
way conflict with the farmer out- 
fits. ' 



PAULINE LETTS VICE PEG 

London, March 9. 
Pauline Letts replaces Peggy 
Ashcroft in "Edward My 
the end of the month. 



Son" 



Eva Cabor Planning 

HVood Stock Company 

Hoi Ij'wood, March 16. 

Eva Gabor'S new legit group, 
iCi-e.scent Players, took an option 
ion Sunset Strip property intent on 
' building its own theatre and oper- 
ating a permanent Hollwood stock 

company. . , , 

Idea is to screen miportant for- 
eign and domestic films between 
runs of legit plays. 



Even though the Brook bill would 
' have permitted the incorporation 
jof theatrical ventures without the 
{issuance of stock certificates, 
; Equity stated such legislation 
could not afifect its regulations 
pertaining to productions. Equity 
does not recognize corporations in 
the guise of managers. Individuals 
only may deposit money to .guaran- 
tee salaries and sign actor con- 
tracts. Brook did not explain the 
purpose of his bill. 



whole. 

R. & H. also receive nqralties on 
the records of their scores and 
sheet music. "CHdataoma!" albam 
sales have topped 500,000, it's 
claimed, along with more thim 2,- 
000,000 copies of the sheet muse 
frfKn that show alone. 



Two Snimier Slock Co. 
Cffcdts Ha&sik For 



Rewrite 'Bamaby' 

"Bju-naby and Mr. O'Malley," 
tried out on the road and di'opped 
'.last season by Barney Josepribson, 
' has been rewritten by scenajrtst- 
radio scripter Kay Van Riper. No 
new production deal is set. 

The former version was adapted 
by Edward Chodorov from the 
Crockett John.son cartoon shrip. 



London, Ont., Mateh 16. 
Plans for establtstameut of two 
summer stock companies to tour 
Western Ontario and the Muskoka 
holiday resort district are being 
mulled by Brian Dohecty of To- 
ronto. Idea follows a survey the 
past couple of months, by Baray 
Hunt, of London, an associate of 
Brian Doherty. 

Plan would mark the ; beginning 
of a scheme for estaldisitmrat of a 
professional theatre in London, 
employing ' Canadian talent. Do- 
I herty intends to operate two cir* 
jcuits with Robert Stuart, at pres- 
{eirt adjudicating drama festivals 
throughout the Dominion, directing 
[one of them. The other director 
I hasn't been named yet. 
I In the fall the two cinnpanie^ 
I would move headquarters to Lon- 
idon, where with the facilities of 
■the Grand theatre (Canada's largest 
: house accommodating 1,200) and 
! the London Little Theatre %vork- 
j shop, one larger company of the 
i best of the two groups would be 
; formed. The winter fare would 
i then be toured with star imports 
; to Kitchener, Stamilton, Brantford, 
iGuelph, Torontov Ottawa, Montreal 
' and perhaps a few othnr dties; 



j Buen«s Aires' Astral theatre 
has skedded presentatioit Of Aldo 
Fabrizzi's Italian legit cQmpany for 

i early April. 



66 



LBGITIMATR-COIVCBRT 



Vcdne8day^ March I7, IfMS 



Prsurie Players Roanm^ the Dakotas 
Teachmg Winters to Pay Off Deikits 



Jamestown, N. D„ March' 16. + 
Apparently undismayed . by two 
financially losing seasons, the 
Prairie Players, an acting group 
composed mostly of school teach- 
ers, is plantiing its third summer 
tour of the Dakotas and Mmne- 
sota. . The company is profession- 
al, non-Equity and— to put it mild- 
ly, say the members, non-proht. 

Tlie Prairie Players do mostly 
one Snd two-night stands, playing 
•generally in school auditorwms. 
Last season the company included 
2i actors and actresses, and three 
staff members, including Manon 
,J. Jackson, the director. Who dur- 
ing the school year is drama in- 
structor ?it Jamestown College and, 
as such, formerly taught most of 
the Prairie members. 

Financial arrangements vary ac- 
cording to the size olthe town and 
the auditorium, but in general they 
•ijffer the local sponsoring group a 
•choice <sf paying a guarantee of 
'$100-$200, against a 50-50 split of 
Jthe gross or a flat fee of $150- 
'$250 per performance. The local 
group sets the boxoftice scale, but 
-usually it's $1 for .adults and 50c. 
for kids: 

, The Prairie Players was organ- 
ized in the spring Of 1946 on the 

•return of several of the present 
member from the service. The 
nucleus consisted of ex-students of 
Miss Jackson, some of whom had 
gone on to ^New York, Hollywood 

.and other show bu^ness centers, 
■ but who returned to 'patttcipate 
in the venture. 

.. Starting with a $1,000 loan, the 
troupe played to total audiences 
-of 5,575 the first season. Total 



receipts were $3,9t0.3S, but there, 
was a . $2,846.70 deficit at the end 
of the summer. Unlike the commer- 
,cial theatre, this loss couldn't be 
written off if the organization was 
to continue. , So the members 
worked during the winter (most of 
them as teachers in various Dakota 
-towns) and repaid the . entire 
-amounts 

Crash Upsets Budget 
Last summer/ prospects for an 
even break financially seemed 
igobd, but seven members of the 
■ group wpre severely ^injured in an 
'auto crash , on the road between 
•engagements, so the season was' in- 
terrupted, the schedule badly dis- 
rupted and there vvas another loss. 
.'The ciMjipany covered 4,820 miles 
"and played in 15 towns its first two 
seasons. Most of its audiences 
had never seen a stage play be- 
fore. 

. :Membership'in the Prairie Play- 
ers' is limited to North Dakotans 
Xthe members saj; they hope to, 
.persuade Dorothy' Stickney and 
Maxwell Anderson to join some 
day ) . . Executive director is Wen- 

. delL. J. :Josal. Members include 
Ray Stough (a tea^sher in the New 
York City : public schools during 
the winter), Marjorie Thompson 
(formerly with, the Pasadena Play- 
house), Jiiel Wlese <wiio studied 
drama ; and was in radio in New 
York), Elizabeth Robertson (for- 
merly in New York radio and for- 
mer program director of WIBV, 

, Madiison, 'Wise), William Chaffee 
(a graduate student at. University 
of California) and Earl Mundt 
(formerly with the Pasadena Play- 
house and now a graduate student 
at Minnesota Univ. ) 

The Prairie Players Is being as- 
sisted with this summer's plans by 
the American National Theatre & 
Academy. 



Ft. Wayne Aud to Kx 

Fort 'Wayne, March 16. 
The Quimby Enterprises are 
tentatively considering cdnversion 
of. the Quimby Auditorium to film 
use exclusively next season, an 
action which would leave Fort 
Wayne without a suitable place 
for concerts or recitals. Directly 
affected would be the Fort Wayne 
Philharmonic Orchestra and the 
Community Concert Series. 

The Quimby, built in 1925 at a 
cost of approximately $1,000,000, 
seats 2,500 persons. 

Ballet Theatre Mulls 
S. America, London Bids; 
Next Season All Set 

Ballet Theatre is mulling offers 
for appearances abroad. Company, 
which opens an engagement April 
4 at the Met Opera House, N. Y., 
may visit South America for the 
first time this summer for a 10- 
week tour. If traveling conditions 
prevent that, the troupe may accept 
an alternate offer for a repeat en- 
gagement of four to six weeks at 
Covent Garden, London. If the 
South American trip materializes, 
a stopoff would be made af Havana, 
where company danced last sum- 
mer. 

In June, 1949, Ballet Theatre ex- 
pects to go to Australia for a 
summer's stay under management 
of Sir Benjamin Fuller, returning 
to California in September to start 
its '49-50 tour from San Francisco. 
Next season's U. S. tour is already 
booked, starting next Oct. 3 in 
New Haven and continuing through 
the following March 12 in St, Louis, 
Only one full week (that of March 
14): remains to be booked prior- to 
the spring engagement at the" Met 
next year. 

Company has .invited London's 
Sadlers Wells troupe to' dance for 
three weeks at the N. Y. Met in 
spring of .1949 under Ballet Thea- 
tre sponsorship. 

There was some talk of the 
Theatre Guild taking on BaUet 
Theatre as a subscription offering 
out of town, but BT's previously- 
set bookings prevented this ar- 
rangement. Collaboration is still 
being planned, however, possibly 
for the follo\xing year. Meantime, 
the Guild has promised to circu- 
larize BT on a national, basis, pro- 
viding a service for its subscribers 
in such of its cities where BT stays 
a full week. BT is making a prac- 
tice of playing legit houses instead 
of concert halls, as formerly, plan- 
ning to add more and more legit 
locations, since in all such houses 
it would have advantage of Thea- 
tre Guild subscription circulariza- 
tion.'--:" 



Current London Shows 

London, March 16, 
(Fifiiure ihoio? weeks!©/ rwn) 
"All This Ended." St. Jas, (6). 
"Anna Luoasta," Majesty's (20) 
"Annie Get Gun," Col's'm (41). 
"Bless the Bride," Adelphi (47), 
"Blind Goddess," Apollo (15). 
"Burlesque," Princes (3). 
"Carisslma," Palace (1). 
"Chiltem Hundreds," Yaude (29). 
"Cockpit,"- t>layhottse (5). , . 
"Diamond HI," Wales. (8). 
"Edward My Son," Lyric (42).. 
"Four, Five, Six," Yorks (1). 
"Gorbals Story," Garrick (5). . 
"Hidden Years," Fortune (8). 
"I Remember Mama," Aid. (2). 
"Indlff. Shepherd/' Crit. (6). - 
»'Ufe With Father," Savoy (41). 
"Linden "Tree," Duchess (31). 
"Mountain Air," Comedy (7). 
"Never Can Tell," Wyn (24). 
"Off Record," Piccadilly (42). 
."Oklahoma." Drury Lane (46). 
"Outrageous," W. Garden (46). 
"Present Laughter," H'ymkt (48). 
"Relapse," Phoenix (7). 
"Starlight Roof." Hipp.. (18). 
"Sweetest Lowest." Ambass. (98>. 
"Toxetber AgfAtk," Vic Pal. (48). 
"Tuppence," Globe (23). 
"Wonn's View." Whitehall (46). 



Mde Stuff-Legit 

Option of Joseph A. Hayes' "Leaf and Bough" by Richard Heidt lasf 
week, just as the Experimental Theatre was ibout to put the play intn 
rehearsal, was cbaracteristic of the way scripts have been snatched 
from ET during its two-year existence. Other shows which the oreaa 
ization had scheduled or was seriously considering, and which were 
grabbed .for commercial production, have included Vivian Connell's 
"19th Hole of Europe" (optioned by Michael Myerberg); Halsted Welletf 
"Temporary Island" (optioned by Sam Grlsman's American Co., sub- 
sequently dropped and then presented Sunday night (14) by' ET)' 
Jean-Paul Sartre's "The Respectful Prostitute" and "Unburied Dead'» 
(respectively produced and scheduled by New Stages), and "Skipner 
Next to God" (for which several managements dickered as soon as ET 
scheduled it). Under the ET setup, any commercial management has 
first call on scripts, even after ET has put them into production. 



The fact that the firm of Pinto, Wlnokur & Pagano does the audit- 
ing for many of the Broadway legit managements had a curious reper^ 
cussion recently. It seems that the firm's accountants, in going, over-, 
the books of various current shows, observed wide discrepancies in the" 
expense accounts of several pressagents. 

As a result, especially heavy accounts of several agents were ques- 
tioned, on the ground that so-and-so doesn't spend anywhere near that 
much. The agents thus challenged immediately appealed to the one 
who had been turning in the small accounts, calling on him to daiin 
greater expenses, so everyone could be consistent. The particular agent 
is willing to play ball with the others, but is puzzled how to justify the 
suddep increase in his own accounts. 



Seek Kelly for 'Rosalie' 

Pittsburgh, March 16. 
Gene Kelley is being paged to 
come back this summer for a 
guest-starring appearance with 
sunimer opera company in "Rosa- 
lie.''. He wlbuld play the old Jack 
Donahue role. 

.Kelly woudln't mind showing in 
• the old home town for the first 
time since he left here to try his 
luck, on Broadway, but acceptance 
depends on possible film commit- 
ments^'.' 



lOG '.LOST COIONY' GRANT 
Raleigh, March 16. 

A $10,000 grant has been made 
to Roanoke Island Historical Assn. 
by the Dare County Board of Com- 
missioners. 

The board voted to perpetuate 
the showing of "The Lost Colony," 
annual historic drama spectacle. 



Wilkes-Barre Group 

Having Socko Season 

Wilkes-Barre, Pa., March 16. 
The Little Theatre of Wilkes- 
Barre, one of the oldest such or- 
ganizations in the country, is hav- 
ing one of its most successful sea- 
sons. As an indication of: the in- 
tensified local interest in the outfit, 
all three Wilkes-Barre papers now 
publish production news* includ- 
ing individual casting notes on 
future shows. 

For the first time, the organiza- 
tion is doing laboratory shows and 
conducting classes in acting, voice 
projection, body control, etc. There 
are also plan§ for a play contest 
.and a radio series by the group. 
With the increased theatrical in- 
terest groused there is talk of try- 
ing to bring touring Broadway 
shows here as a regular one-night 
date next season. The town played 
many road productions years ago. 

The last Little Theatre produc- 
tion presented in January, was 
Priestley's "Dangerous Corner." 
The next, now being cast, will be 
Paul Osborn's "On Bon-owed 
Time." Because of increased at- 
tendance this season, shows are 
presented at the Masonic Audi- 
torium instead of the group's small 
playhouse, Leonard Heech. direc- 
tor of the troupe since last fall, 
was obtained through the Ameri- 
can National Theatre & Academy: 



Cornell, Lillie-Haley, 
Fay Shows Open Same 
Night (29) in Phflly 

Broadway rarely has opposition 
opening nights, and for three shows 
headed by stars to bow in on the 
same evening is almost unheard of. 
But that's the situation lor Phil- 
adelphia, March 29. On that date 
"Antony' and Cleopatra" (Forrest), 
with Katharine Cornell and God- 
frey Tearle; "Inside U. S. A." 
(Shubert), starring Beatrice Lillie 
and Jack Haley, and "Harvey" 
(Locust) with Frank ^'ay, are booked 
to open there. Usually a femme 
star in a straight play is favored 
by first-string critics when pre- 
mieres play opposite each, other, 
and "Cleo" should get the nod un- 
less the starting dates are un- 
scrambled although Miss Cornell 
has no wish to conflict with Miss 
Lillie. ' 

For a trio of star actresses to 
close on the same night on Broad- 
way is exceptional, too, but that 
happened last Saturday (13), when 
"Cleo," which is laying off this 
week; "Tonight at 8:30'.* (Gertrude 
Lawrence) and "Happy Bii^tJiday" 
(Helen' Hayes) rang down the cur- 
tain. Neither of the latter attrac- 
tions will tour, although "Toniglit" 
did roadshow and jumped from the 
Coast, where it flourished, only to 
flop at the National. Latter gets 
"Macbeth" March 31. Fay stars in 
the third "Harvey" on the boards, 
his Spot in the Broadway cast be- 
ing taken over by James Stewart. 

Four incoming attractions will 
have stars, which will add to 10 
current shows with name players 
billed above the titles: Miss Lillie 
and Haley in "U. S. A.," Flora 
Robson and Michael Redgrave in 
"Macbeth," Elizabeth Bergner in 
"Cup of Tremblin," and Louis Cal- 
hern in "The Play's The Thing." 
Current star shows are: "Mister 
Roberts" (Henry Fonda), "The 
Heiress" (Basil Rathbone and 
Wendy Hiller), "Skipper Next to 
God" (John ■ Garfield), "Medea" 
(Judith Anderson, Dennis King 
and Florence Reed), "Look, Ma, 
I'm Dancing" (Nancy Walker), 
"Man and Superman" (Maurice 
Evans), "Annie Get Your Giin" 
(Ethel Merman),, "Command De- 
cision" (Paul Kelly), "Angel in The 
Wings" (the Hartmans and Hank 
Ladd) and Maurice Chevalier 
(solo). 



The apparently defunct American Repertory' Theatre was sapposed to 
share in profits of the Ibsen repertory, "Ghosts" and "Hedda Gabler,'^ 
which recently were yanked after three weeks on Broadway (Cort)'. 
The "season" ended plenty in the red. At no time during eight weeks 
of performances, five of whicn were out of town, was there an Oper- 
ating profit. The- venture is estimated having lost nearly $35,000. ' 

Eva Le Gallienne was starred in the dramas, directed by Margaret 
Webster, the femmes insisting on new settings and drapes for the old' 
plays. Louis J. Singer and ART were the presenters but the latter was 
only technically within the management. Understood that Lee Shubert 
was also interested> with Singer. 



Council of the Dramatists Guild is understood dissatisfied with its 
present agreement with the Experimental Theatre. It may seek 
modificatioii of the terms before agreeing to a renev/al of the setup for 
next season. In particular, the Guild council disapproves of the present 
arrangement whereby the author would be required to give up 5% ■ 
of the purchase price in case of a film sale. It's pointed out that in 
agreeing to such terms the Guild understood plays by unluiown drama- 
tists would be experimentally produced, whereas the shows so far have - 
been works of luch wellknowns as Gorki or professionally established 
writers as Jan de Hertog and Halsted Welles. Council members fig- 
ure that 5% of a picture sale is too much, considering that the author 
gets a royalty of only $60 and five performances from ET presentation. 



Musical conductors who are members of the Lambs have a new in- 
terest in the club. A class in instruction on the Schillinger method of 
composition, a system widely discussed in musicians' circles, has been 
started by Ted Royal, an arranger. SchiUinger method is described as 
being based on numbers in scries and combinations, dealing with com- 
posing, harmony, counterpoint and musical theory. Originator of the 
idea is said to have been a former trombonist, then became a college, 
instructor in music, as was Royal; who arranged the score of "Briga- 
doon" (Ziegfeld, N.Y.). Among the musical show conductors in the 
class are John MacManus, Harry Archer, Charles Drury,: Eddie We|)er 
and a dozen others. The course is gratis. 



' Maurice Evans, actbr-manager who presented J. B. Priestley's "The 
Linden Tree," which expired at the Music Box. N.Y., after a week less ; 
one night, wrote those financially interested with him in the play to th^ 
effect that it was hopeless to continue in face of the adverse <press<: 
He added th^t the 20% call money, an addition to the amounts already 
invested, "was not expended and would be refunded, the total red there- 
by being held to $50,000. Same procedure will be followed by William 
Brown Meloney, producer of Rose Franken's "The Hallams,'- which 
played a week and a half at the Booth. The call from its backers ateo 
amounted to 20% over the original investments. ' 



Henry Adrian, whose presentation of "Young Man's Fancy" recently 
closed a long, but losing run at the Cort, N.Y., may not produce an- 
other play by a member of the Dramatists Guild until he makes good 
the unpaid $8,000 in royalties he owes Harry Thurschwell and Alfred 
Golden. The coin is due the co-authors of "Fancy" under a recent 
American Arbitration Assn. decision .settling a dispute between Adrian 
and tliem. In what amounts to blacklisting Adrian, the Guild council ■ 
foUowedvits regular policy in regard to managers who are delinquent 
with royalty payments. Last similar >icticii, against Michael Todd for 
non-payment of royalties^ still sfands. 



The American National Theatre & Academy will begin publication in 
about two weeks of the ANTA Bulletin. It will start as a quarterly 
and probably become a monthly next fall, going only .to ANTA mem- 
bers,. With no general circulation. The first issue will be about 24-30 
pages. It will report only ANTA doings, with articles by Rosamond 
Gilder, George Freedley, Margot Jones, Margaret Draper, C. Lawton 
Campbell and members of the ANTA staff. Richard Harrity and Wil- 
liam Matthews are editors. 



Pitt Light Operas 

Tee Off on June 3 

Pittsburgh, March 16. 
With William Wymetal jeturn- 
ing as managing director for sec- 
ond straight year, third season of 
Civic Light Opera Assn. will tee 
off at Pitt Stadium June 3 With 
"Show Boat" for run of nine per- 
formances. Revival of Ziegfield hit 
did tumaway biz for two weeks at 
Nixon in January. 

Continuation of al fresco ven- 
ture here was Vsured with another 
gift of Kaufmann's, local depart- 
ment store, of $50,000 to under- 
write any possible losses. Sam 
Handelsman will be the 1948 busi- 
ness manager, replacing Eddie 
Wappler, pilot of Nixon, local legit 
playhouse, who held down tliat 
post last year. 



Third "Harvey." with Frank Fay starred, which opens in Philadel- 
phia March 27, is booked there for seven weeks, attraction then gomg 
to Washington for six, longest engagement ever in the capital, ter- 
minating in late June. Show will lay off for about two months ana 
then relight in Boston for an indefinite stay. "Harvey" onginaiiy 
tried out in the Hub, where it was tabbed a sure thing some three 
and one-half years ago. 



On the site next to St. Malachy's church on west 49thst veet, ^■^'f^ 
office building is in course of construction. It was formerly " 
small legiter razed some years ago (called the 49th Street), having heen 
rated the least desirable house in the Times Square zone. One oi ine 
few attractions ever, plpofltable in the theatre was "Chauve-bouns 
(19221, Russian vaudeville troupe imported by the late Moms cest. 



After a lapse of 19 years Columbus, O., plans summer stock at the 
Harlman, season being dated to start April 20. which is consideraoiy 
in advance of the usual strawhat season. Robert Boda, who oPF'Vup 
the thea'tre; William G. Johnson and Bev Kelley are associated m uic 
venture. Latter is also a press agent for the Dailey Bros. Circus. 



Ted Luce, who gag-wrote two Broadway mu.?icals this season 
"Angel in the Wings" and "Music in My Heart" has just fin»-^i<>" 
ing writing courses at Columbia University. He's the son ot f''"' 
Grace Hartman (uses his aunt's last name so" that he wiU not oe tu» 
fused with Paul's brother, who's also Ted Hartman)-. 



UBCifflBIATB 



67 



di Grosses Hit by Snowstorm; 
: %lesque ISa ^Sleep Sad m 



Cbicago, Mnrch 16. 4 
l*«it grosses ragged Thursday 
-AFrliiav (11-12), foUowing a 
SSfvy SoM. Wednesday (10) 
Sec ..attendance dipped to^ a 
Slw low for the season. Also at a 
tow i« «« numljer. of show cur- 
; i«nf Only four houses are lighted 
one olE those dims this wcek- 

'"'Show Boat" is snugly harhored 
irt- fine business. "Burlesque" 
owwk March 8 with all favorable 
reviews, but the grow wa?-hiirt by 
weather and bad matinee. "Sleep 
tt Oft" was drubbed by the criticET 
ind will close Sunday (21). "Sweet- 
htitcts" quit the Erlanger after 
tiitee weeks of moderate b;o. 

Shuberts are bringing. "Student 
Prince" back, April 8, to the Blaqk- 

' itWiet Erlanger may bring, in "I 
Remember Mama," if Warner Bro$. 

• ' trtll hold back releasing the pic- 
tnre, but otherwise will not book it. 

. Katharine Cornell and "The In- 
spector Calls" are both April prom- 
ises, Jjut no date or theatres are set. 

" Great Northern opens April 12 
tfter remodeling. Opener will be 
Ibe musical, "My Romance/' 
' Estimates for Last Week 
'IMrlesque/'MSelwyn) (1st week) 
(^,000; ^3). Critics all gave Bert 
Lahr a sendHiff, but midweek storm 
hurt business; ok $15;0(K). 
.,'flahtt Loves Mary," Harris (5th 
.week) (1,000; $3.71). Keeping 
iteady pace' and not affected by 
weather; again $19,000. 

"Sbow Boat." Shubcrt .(2d- week) 
<2,l<)0;'f4i94). Outside-of Thursday 
. fiudit'* d^, the^eek was excellent; 
&ie^»,«00. 

miitv It Off," Blactetone (1st 
week) (l.'SSS; $3.80). Reviewers all 
advised this one to take a long rest; 
poori$8i000. 

"Sweethearts," Erlanger (3d 
wedc) (1,333; $4.33). Closed With 
gross of $19,000. 

WEGTOR' $8,000, 

SAME, DET. 

Detroit, March 16. 
Legit business took, a shellacldng 
here last week. The Civic Light 
Opera Company's version of "Two 
Hearts in % Time" feU below last 
week's b.o. receipts in spite of rave 
notices.' "An Inspector Calls" was 
weak, while the frothy "There 
Goes the Bride" also failed to 
draw. 

S h u b e r t « Lafayette reopens 
March 28 for two weeks with 
POggy Ann Gamer in Elsa Shel- 
ley's "Pick-Up Girl." The next 
n^ht (29), Katherine Dunham 
brings back her "Tropical Revue" 

, for a week's i*un at the Cass. 

The A'ctora' Co., which stages its 

'■ ■ productions in the Michigan Show- 
man's Assn. auditorium, will offer 
-Sophocles' "Oedipus Bex" next 
Friday-Sunday (19-21), and "The 
Importance of Being Ernest" the 
same evenings next week, March 
26-28. 

Estimates for Last IVeek 
"Two Hearts in *A Time*" Ma- 
sonic Auditorium (single week) 
SfH??. $3.60). Sizable decline to 



TaUu's lives' $20,000 
Near Capacity, Cincy 

Cincinnati, March 16. 
Tallulah Bankhead fetched near 
capacity trade at the Cox last week 
in "Private Lives." Town has 
"Song of Norway" this week in the 
2,lQ0-seat Emery auditorium, at 
$3.60 top. 

Estimate for Last Week 
"Private Lives," Cox (single 
week) (1,300; $4.20). Tallulah 
Bankhead and swell notices magr 
neted $20,000 for a close-to-the- 
ceiling. gross. 



lUNTS SMASH $29,000 
DESPITE BUZ, ST. LOO 

St. Louis, March 16. 

The heaviest snowfall of the 
winter, plus near-«ero temperature 
Wednesday and Thursday (10-11), 
was blamed for the failure of "O 
Mistress Mine" to sell out as an- 
ticipated last week. Lunt and 
Fontanne again scored with the 
crix. A good advance is. reported 
for Oscar Wilde's "Lady Winder- 
mere's Fan," with Cornelia- Otis 
Sldnner in the top role;' which 
opened a. two^week engagement 
last night (Men.) The house is 
scaled to $3.81. 

Estimate for Last Week 

"O niistcess. Mine/' American 
(single week) (1,700; .$4^45). Eight 
performances' grossed a huge 
$29,000. 



"There Goes the Bride," Shu- 
. bert-Lafayette fist week) (1,950; 
$3.60). Light play, with Ilka Chase, 
got only $8,000. 

"An Inspector Calls," Cass (1st 
week) (1,432; $3.60). Priestley's 
Whodunit with Thomas Mitchell 
pulled a bare $8,000. 

Kath Dunham $19,200 
In Return Week, Cleve. 

t \^ Cleveland, March 16. 

b- J Dunham's dancers 
JJMed up excellent business for 
we Hanna with their "Tropical 
.«e^e," although this was their 
™»fl visit here with almost the 
SMje format. Even mid-week per- 
ro^ances got a heavy play, while 
? "je-aay h.o. Sunday (14) was a 
mS^ sellout. Current is "Mary 
° a Little," with Edmund Lowe. 
Estimate for Last Week 




'Lorraine' 3G, Denver 

„, Denver, March 16. 

flftnt ?"* of Lorraine," which was 
DsS» 1^ local Elitch stock com- 
ffl«y last year, had tough going at 
D!at.« B "^^^y last week, with 
StBnri ^'T^oie in the title part. 
^'?,5f was for three performances. 
Lum r^ftfess Mine," with Alfred 
i^i S^^J^^ Fontanne, is cur- 
bteii S^ii'**' house, and has 

. S?Af »"t for a week. 

...„^™"»atc for Last Week 

(3 wlpf 1 M =«l('*""''«'»«'" Broadway 
Pany m nLV""i.*'*-20). Road com- 
for th^^il^*^ * disappointhag $3,000 
«ie engagement. 



Current Road Shows 

(Morch 15-27) 

"An Inspector Calls" — Cass, 
Det. (15-20). 

"Annie Get Your Gun"— Nixon, 
Pitt. (15-27). 

"Antony and Cleopatra" — Fords, 
Balto. (22-27). 

"Blossom 'fime"— Lyric, Harris- 
buig (15); Aud., Lancaster (16); 
Lyric, Allentown (17);. Temple, 
Binghamton (18n Erie, Schenec- 
tady (19^20). 

"Bnrlesiiae"— Selwyn, Chi (15- 
27).. ■ 

"Carousel"— Shubert, N. Haven 
(15-20); Met., Prov. (22-27), 

"Deep Are the Roots"— Geary, 
Frisco (15-20). 

"Harvey'' — Locust, PhiUy (22- 
27). ■■ 

"Harvey" — Poche, N. Orleans 
(15-20); Aud.. L. Rock (22-23); 
Conv. Hall, Tulsa (24-25); Home, 
Okla. City (26-27). 

"Hold It" — Shubert, N. Haven 
(25-27). 

"I Remember Mama" — Lyric, 
Mpls. (15-20); Aud., St. Paul (21- 
22); KRNT, Des Moines (24); Music 
Hall, K. C. (25-27). 

"John Loves Mary"— Harris, Chi. 
(15-27). 

"Lady Windermere's Fan"— 

American, St. Louis (15-27). 

"Mary Had ■ Little"— Hanna, 
Cleve. (15-20). 

"Macbeth" — Royal Alex., Toron- 
to (15-20); His Majesty's, Ottawa 
(22); His Majesty's, Mont'l (23-27). 

"My Romance" — Forrest, Philly 
(15-20); Opera Use., Bost. (22-27). 

"O Mlstre-ss Mine" — ^Broadway, 
Denver (15-20); Biltmore, L, A, 
(22-27). 

"Oklahoma!" — Curran, Frisco 
(15-27). 

"Pick Up Girl" — - Virginia, 
Wheeling (15); Aud., Newark (16); 
Weller, Zanesville (17); Town Hall, 
Toledo (18-20). 

"Private Lives"— Erlanger, Buff. 
(15-18); Aud., Roch. (19-20); Hanna, 
Cleve. (22-27). 

"Show Boat"— Shubert, Chi. (15- 
27). ■ ■ . ■ 

"Sleep It Off"— Blackstone, Chi. 
(15-20). 

"Sons of Norway" — Aud., Cmcy. 
(15-20); Aud., Memphis (22-27). 

"Student Prince"— Conv. Hall, 
Tulsa (15); Forum. Wichita (16); 
Music Hall, K. C. (17-20). 

"Sweethearts" — Erlanger, Chi. 
(15-20). 

"The Red Mill" — Studebaker, 
Chi. (15-20); Shubert, Bost. (22-27). 

"There Goes the Brfde"- Shu- 
bcrt-Lafayette, Det. (15-20); Town 
Hall, Toledo (22-27). 

Pic History for Germany 

A pictorial history of the Ameri- 
can theatre, from 1920 to the pres- 
ent, is being readied for U. S- 
Army exhibition throughout Ger- 
many. The photos are being col- 
lected by the American National 
Tlieatre and Academy and tlie ex- 
hibitions will be handled by the 
Civil Affairs Government In the 
American Zone. 

John Effrat is handling the proj- 
ect for ANTA, 



Tigil' Fair $2,500, lA; 
laeiBferie' SRO $6,000 

Los Angeles, March 16. 
Warm critical reaction met the 
opening of "The Vigil" last week, 
but the public failed to respond. 
Current frame is barren; but the 
Biltmore rekindles Monday (22) 
with "O Mistress Mine." 

Estimates for Last Week 
"Blackouts of 1948," El Capitan 
(2S9th week) (1,142; $2.40). Same 
$17,000. 

"Brooklyn, USA," El Patio (1st 
week) (796; $2.40). Moved over 
from tiny Hollytown to open 
Thursday (11) and registered a 
sweet $1,250 for- three days. 

"Deep Are the Roots," Belasco 
(8th week) (1,061; $2.40). Slipped 
to $10,000. 

"The Glass Menagferie," Las 
Palmas (4th week) (388; $3). An- 
other SRO $6,000. 

"The Vigil." Coronet (1st week) 
(255; $3.60). Public didn't go for 
this, despite critics' okay; opened 
Wednesday (10) and drew only a 
fair $2,500. 

'RoDiaiK»'$l|ii), 
Vacatfflg PluUy; 
TeB'FairM 

Philadelphia, March 16, 

Philly had' four legit shows last 
week, there- are two current, and 
there will be none next' week. It 
will be the first time in a long 
while that the town ..will be blank' 
during Holy Week. Instead of hold- 
ing, for a'., third week, "My Ro- 
mance" will retnni to Boston next 
week, after doing a potir $16,000. 
Show got fairly good notices here, 
but failed to get the anticipated 
business. Walnut went dark Satm'- 
day night (13) with end of "You 
Never Can Tell" engagement and 
has nothing booked; Shubert also 
shuttered Saturday after two good 
weeks of "Blossom Time." "Glass 
Menagerie/' also a return, ends a 
two weeks' occupancy of the Locust 
next Saturday (20). 

Next openings, all slated for 
March 29, are "Inside U,S.A.," at 
the Shubert; "Harvey," with Frank 
Fay, at the Locust, and Katharine 
Cornell's revival, "Antony and 
Cleopatra," at the Forrest. 

Only other booking set is "Hold 
It," at the Forrest, AprU 12. 
Estimates for Last Week 

"My Romance," Forrest (1st 
week) (1,786; $3.90). .Notices were 
favorable, but not the raves indi- 
cated in advance from Boston; $16,- 
000 was a loser and show leaves 
Saturday (20). 

"Glass Menagerie," Locust (1st 
week) (1,580; $3.25). Not much 
strength f«w this return, which this 
time has Helen MacKellar starred; 
scant $7,500; closes Saturday. 

"You Never Can Tell," Walnut 
(2d week) (1,340; $3.90). Fair $15,- 
500 for revival, the fifth Theatre 
Guild-ATS subscription offering of 
season. 

"Blossom Time," Shubert (2d 
week) (1,877; $3.25) Perennial in 
umpty-umpth local presentation 
did well; $19,000, 

mOIER' ONLY $15,000, 
DISAPPOINTING, WASH. 

Washington, March 16. 
Second stanza of the "Chocolate 
Soldier" dropped and the take dis- 
appointing. Spike Jones' "Musical 
Depreciation Revue" bowed Sun- 
day (14) for a 12-day stint. "An 
Inspector Calls" opens March 29, 
with the Louis Calhem-Faye Em- 
erson starring revival. "The Play's 
the Thing," due April 12. 

Estimate for Last Week 
"Chocolate Soldier," National 
(2d week) (1,680; $3:60). Lesis than 
pi*evious week, $15,000. 

Windermere' Nice $18,000, 
In 5 Performances, K.C. 

Kansas City, March 16. 

Worst March blizzard on record 
dented the opening trade for 
"Lady Windermere's Fan" in the- 
Music Hall here last week, but the 
play Came back strong on the 
weekend. Next week A & N brmg 
in "The Student Prince" for four 
nights and Saturday matinee, 
March 17-20. 

Estimate for Last Week 

"Lady Windermere's Fan," Music 
Hall (5 perf.) (2,572; $3.66). In the 
face of winter weather, revival 
racked up $18,000, fine money for 
the Wednesday-Saturday (10-13) 
''Stand..' , ■ 



B way Business hqiroves a Bit; 
ledea'OKSiamiookMa'm 
loDy $13,000, 3 Preems This Wk. 



There was some improvement on 
Broadway last week, but business 
did not recover from the post-holiv 
day (Washington's Birthday) slump. 
Betterment was attributed to sev- 
eral conventions and the flower 
show, a big draw at Grand Central 
Palace. Those hotels in the mid- 
town area which had p 1 e n t y of 
available accommodations jumped 
to capacity. Instead of modest gross 
increases, business might have 
been better, except for a sleet 
storm Thursday (11), but the me- 
tropolis escaped a predicted heavy 
snowstorm. Additional improve- 
ment may come this week with 
the passing of the Federal income 
tax deadline; 

No new shows opened last week. 
"The HaUams'.' joined the three 
other exiting shows Saturday (13), 
and both the Music Box and Booth 
are dark' on the desirable 45th 
street block. "You Never Can Tell" 
and "Joy to the World'^ open this 
week,' also "Temporary Island," an 
experimental production. "Briga- 
doon" and "Strange- Bedfellows" 
start Sunday performances. 
Estfanates for Last Week 

Keysi C (Comedy), D iDrama), 
CD XComedy-Drama), R ■ (Revue), 
M (ilfBsfcoO, O (Operctto). 

AUegro," Majestic (22d week) 
<M-1,695; $6). After a surprising 
dip;this.drama with music got bet- 
ter money; approximately $41,000. 

"iLugrcl in the Wings/' Coronet 
(14th week) (R-998; $4=80). Picked 
up and bettered $26,000, near ca- 
pacity for intimate, revue.' 

"Annie (xet Tonr Gun," Imperial 
(96th week) (M-1,472; $6.60). Bet- 
ter attendance for popular musical; 
over $38,000 and aiming for an- 
other summer. 

"Bom Yesterday," Lyceum 
(110th week) (C-993; $4.80). Im- 
proved moderately, as did other 
long runners, around $16,000, very 
good- at this period of engagement 

"Brieadoon," Ziegfeld (53d week) 
(M-1,628; $4.80). Has entered sec- 
ond year at highly profitable rate; 
some betterment at $34,000. 

' "Command Decision," Fulton 
(24th week) (D-968; $4.80). Picked 
up around $1,000, average for 
straight shows; $17,'000; Sunday 
performances counting. 

"Finian's Rainbow,'' 46th Street 
(62d week) (M-1,319; $6). Rated 
around $36,000, which gives fine 
profit for this musical. 

"For Love or Money," MiUer 
(19th week) (C-940; $4.20). SUghfly 
better here last week; estimated 
around $13,500. 

"Harvey," 48th St. (i77th week) 
(C-902; $4.20). Extra space ads 
anent exit of Frank Fay next we^ 
and return of James Stewart 
jumped receipts more than for 
others; $15,000 quoted. 

"High Button Shoes," Shubert 
(24th week) (M-1,387; $6). One of 
the season's musicals unaffected by 
slump; merely' variation in num- 
ber of standees; $38,000. 

"Icetime of 1948," Center (42d 
week) (R-2,994; $2.40). Should bet- 
ter $30,000 for final weeks; skating 
revue will be followed by San 
Carlo Opera for limited period 
starting April -14^ 

"Joy to the World," Plymouth 
(CD-1,063; $4.80). Presented by 
John Houseman and William 
Katzell; written by Allan A. Scott; 
opens tomorrow (Thurs.). 

"Look Ma, I'm Dancin'," Adelphi 
(7th week) (M-1,434; $4.80). Draw- 
ing standees in big house for most 
performances; great $38,000. 

"Make Mine Manhattan," Bi-oad- 
hurst (9th week) (R-1,160; $6). In- 
timate revue has consistent 
standees; around $36,000. 

"Me and MoUy," Belasco (3d 
week) (C-1,077; $4.20). Indications 
are new laugh show will run into 
warm weather; $13,000 estimated. 

"Mister Roberts;" Alvin (4th 
week) (CD-1,331; $4.80). Standout 
of the late' winter period is topping, 
all non-musicals and should con- 
tinue- so indefinitely; standee limit 
all times; $33,500. 

"Oklahoma!", St. James (256th 
week) (M-1,505; $4.80). WiU reach 
flve-year run March 31; continua- 
tion much longer thereafter not 
definite; $18,500 last week. 

"Skipper Next to God," Play- 
house (9th week) (D-865; $4.20). 
Should continue through spring, 
dependent on replacement for John 
Garfield, who leaves after another 
week; over $15,000. 

"Strange Bedfellows," Morosco 
(9th week) (C-935; $4.80). Another 
production that improved only 
slightly, but making operating 
profit; $14,000. 

"Street Car Named Desire," 
Barrymore (15th week) (D-1.064J 
$4.80). Season's! dramatic smash 



not affected and couldn't get 
higher grosses; $27,500. 

"The HalUms," Booth. Closed 
Saturday (13); house untenanted. 

"The .Heiress," Biltmore (24th 
week) (D-920; $4.80), Picked up in 
about same proportion as other 
straight play, leaders and rated 
around $19,000. 

"The Respectful Prostitute" and 
"The Happy Journey," Coit (D- 
1,164; $4.20). Moved here from 
downtown 300-seater (New Stages); 
.started in larger house last night^ 
(Tues.). ' 

"The Wfaislow Boy," Empire- 
f20th week) (D-1,101; $4.80). Busi- 
ness last week rated over $12,000, 
said to be satisfactory for British 
drama. 

Revivals 
D'Oyly Carte Opera Co.. Cen- 
tury (11th week) (0-1,670;. $4.80). 
Will play into late April, with "In- 
side U.S.A." listed to follow; 
"Patience" current Gilbert and 
Sullivan operetta; "Pirates of Pen- 
zance" last week approach e d 
$34;000. 

"Man and Superman," Hudson 

(23d week) (CD-I ,057; $4.80), 
Shavian comedy went up with the. 
field; over $21,000; slated through 
spring. 

"Medea," Royale- (19th week) 
(D-1.,025; $4:80). Resumed last week- 
and. did- exeeQeittly after twonand- 
one-haU weeks' layoff Judith: An* 
derson reported fuUy recovered; 
around $18^500. 

"Yeu Never Can TeU," Beck (O- 
1,214; $4^80). I^esented by Thea- 
tre Guild; second Bernard. Shaw 
play on current list; revival liked 
out of town; opened last night 
(Tues.). 

Added 

Maurice Chevalier, Golden. 
Scale of . $4;80 top now for Satur- 
days instead of $6, which proved, 
too high; claimed some improve- 
ment; $17,000; pace is under that 
at the MiUer last season; 
Eiq^rimentali/ Theatxe 

"Temporary Island," Elliot. Play 
by Halsted Welles was ' considered 
by managers for several seasons; 
opened with name leads Sunday 
(14) for eight performances; weak 
notices. 




Boston, March 16. 
"Joy to the World" was the sole 
entry last week and got a generally 
solid reception at the Plymouth.' 
"Carousel" flnLshed a sock run at 
the Opera House. "Red Mill," at 
the Shubert, did well in first week. 
"My Romance''' returns Monday. 
(22) to the Opera House, with 
"First Mrs. Fraser" arriving March 
29 at the Plymouth and "Hold It" 
the same night -at the Shubert, 
"Antony and Cleopatra" opens at 
the Shubert, April 12; Ballet Russe 
comes the same night to the Opera 
House; D'Oyle Carte arrives at the 
Shubert, April 26, and "Carousel" 
is set 'for a return engagement 
within the next month. 

Estimates for .Last Week 
"Carousel," Opera House (2d 
week) (3,000; $4.20). Had a wow 
fortnight, and is set to retium In 
April for another stand; estimated 
$46,000, great. . 

"Joy to the World," Plymouth 
(1st week) (1,200; $3.60). One- 
week stand only, but was doing biz 
following good notices and word- 
of-mouth, estimated $14,000. 

"Red Mill," Shubert (1st week) 
(1,700; $4.20). Nice press and ex-* 
ceUent $22,000. 



'Prince^ $6,000, Indpis; 
'Mary' $7,000, Split Wk. 

Indianapolis, March 16. 

A record March snowfall and the 
worst blizzard of the- year held 
twa shows to moderate grosses at 
the English last week. "The Stu- 
dent Prince;" showing its usual 
strength despite the. weather, aver- 
aged a -little better in three per- 
formances than "Mary Had a Lit- 
tle-' did in four. Both drew mostly 
from outside regular legit clien- 
tele. ■ " . : ' 

Estimates for Last Week 

"Student Prince." English (3 
perf.) (1,500; $3). Knocked out Of 
Monday opening by a concert book- 
ing, but still good for $6,000. 

"Mary Had a UtUe." English (4 
perf.) (1,500; $3). Fair $7,000 last 
half' of stanza, despite pastipg from 
the critics. 



611 



Vedikeailay, Magffh 17, 194^ 



Plays Out of Town 



Macbeth 

London, Ont., March 12. 

Theaire Inc. and Brian Dohoiay Pfoduc'- 
tinn oC drama by William Bhiikeapeiire. 
t)la»i»U by Non'is Houghton, asidsteii. by 
Aliaim Colvll; sdKneij- deilgned by Allcit 
Jnliivaon. Spei'lal music oomixised by Alan 
Biifili. Opened at Grand, liuudon, Canada, 
Mart'b (t, '48: pi t«P. 

liuncan ..... .:. . . .Slephen rouvUelgh 

Mali'tilin. iailiott Reid 

Di,ciali)!<iii MIcbael Reilly 

llacbelh. Michael .Redmave 

Bamiui) ........ . . f . . . . . .Ucoftrey Xoone 



Macduff 
I.ennbx 
.Bosti. .. 

Angus. . . (.,1.. . . 

Montetlh T 

Caithness. . , ........ . 

. Fltsant**. .■. . ... ,i .*i ... 

Siwa.rd 

■ "youiifi: .Slvvard. > .... , .>^. . . • 

I.ady Macbeth 

Ladv. Macduff. ...>,. , .r. 
Son (.0 Macdutt. ■. , , . : i . .' i 
Wounded Sergeant.. .».,> 
Miiasetigeiv at Inverness. , 



Whitfield Connor 
. . , .Richard Boone 
.Hector MacGreKOr 

John ' atraub 

.Paul Mann 

....Thomas Fulmar 
. .Ken Raymond 
.....lubn McQunAu 
....Arthur ICeettan 
,;.;v.Klot'a Robson 
...Beatrice Straight 
. . .'.sonny Rocs 
,>i.,JBhn McQuade 
Robinson Htone 



Sorter it Inverness. ....... .Ru.s.'soll Collins: 

Old Man............. ..Blair Cutting 

Sevion Harry He.s.s 

Mnideier Paul Manti 

H(a younBei- Accomplice. .. .Thomas. Palmer 
l:.ord, . . . . .i.. . ., • . . . .tamont Johnson 

Murderer at rife Martin Balsam 

Dnct|»r, . . . . ... ......... .Rus.iell Collln.s 

GenHeivoman : Penelope Saclt 

Two Watchmen) JMchael Uellly 

«f Bunslnane S. -lobn .SIraub 

Slntrer. ... . .Arthur Ivcegan 

i ..,.i.Vi..... .-..Robinson atone 

The Three J. .v. Ma.rtln Balsam 
J ........ .1. ....i. ., .Harry Tleas 

. i .. I'Gl"''"" Webb 
The Weird Si.'iters } . , . . Julie Harris 
J ,,. *. . . i ; .. . Ann Hesira 

An Armed Head M'hitfleld Connor 

A Bleeding Child Ken Baymona 

A Child Crowned....- Marsha Marcus 



duel in which someone is likely lo 
get huii. Beatrice Straight is tt 
charming Lady Macduff. Russell 
Collins is the one touch of comedy 
as the drunken Invei-ness porter. 
The 20 American members of the 
cast have only been in the play for 
three weeks. 

Costumes for the play are elabo- 
rate and costly, genuine for the 
11th century action. Newvi. 

I^oaif and Itungit 

Dallas, March 10. 

Mariro .Jones ptoductiun of drama in three 
acis by Joseph A. Hayes. Presented by The- 
aire "JS. S'l.iued by JWIss Jones; scttlnuB, 
Jed JJace. At tjult Oil I'layhouse, Pallas. 
Myra ^^'arren. . .:. . . . . . .Mary Finney 

Bert Warren...,...; tleorse Mitchell 

Aunt Attic, .'. . .■. . . . . . , . . .JCntherine. Squire 

Oradnpa Nelson Benedict MacQuurrle 

Nan Wanen. .............. .ifrancea WallOr 

t-aiira Campbell ....Betty tireene Little 

I'l'eflpi'lck CamphPll. .Wilson Broolts 

Glenn Campbell... .lack Warden 

Msrk CttBipbell Tod Andrews 



This North American- premiere 

• of "Macbeth" marks an important 
revival of the tragedy two weeks 
prior to an eight-week engagement 
on Broadway and a tour of leading 
American cities. It marks, too, the 
first appearance on . the North 
American stage of Mchael Red- 
grave, English film star. 

The play is reputed to be one of 
the first Macbeths in years to have 
toured and played in England with 
a profit.^ It promise;? to do it again 
in North America with its color 
and realism. 

* While Flora Robson and Red- 
gj^ave ai-e outstanding, the' Norris 
Houghton direction adds much to 
its importance. Houghton has 
thrown the book at the- play, with 
its 22 scene changes, a battery of 
sound-effects devices, and specially 
written music. The scenes include 
some moving backdrops, expertly 
painted and unusual in the liglit^ 
ing. The lighting should be in top 

• shape' by the time it leaves for 
Toronto and Montreal before going 
to New York. The opening was 
marti^d with a few hitcheji in scene 
changes, and there were fimall flaws 
in the lighting cues: 

So eeiie is the production that 
coupled with the performances of 
Redgrave and Miss Robson, the 
scenes seem to leer at every seat 
in the' audience. There are grand 
gestm'es of love, hate, tyrtahy and 
contempt— all chained to madness. 
These are given scope for perform- 
ances of depth and bigness. Too, 
there is a reality in the presenta- 
tion not often attained in Shake- 
spearian productions. 

Early in the opening-night per- 
f ormance,^ the scale of the produc- 
tion, concerning Houghton's tricks, 
overwhelmed Redgrave's offerings. 
Closing in on the' dagger scene, 
faoweveri he took the lead from the 
staging and Miss Robson. He and 
"the Lady" from then on sailed 
clearly and eloquently through 
murder and treachery to their 
tragic ends. His soliloquies from 
the first act on were riveting in 
their tenseness. 

Not so loud, not so tense, but 
driving and tragic,' Miss Robson's 
sleepwalking scene was measured 
to the point; here was a modulated 

• and almost lyrically-tragic "Lady." 

■Whitfield Connor (Macduff) is an 
American member of the 'cast and 
Is still getting into his Shakespeare. 
He and Redgrave fight a dramatic 



Author Joseph A. Hayes has a 
stirring message, an almost nostal- 
gic one, which some expert advice 
and study might turn into a mem- 
orable experience. Right now it 
misses its point. : 

Story concerns the efforts of 
two young people. Nan Warren 
and Mark Campbell, to find 
through their love an escape from 
dull surroundings and narjj)w liv- 
ing. Mark, a dreamer, works in 
a bank and hates every minute of 
it. But he does nothing about it 
except bury himself in books. 

Nan is spirited and defiant, re- 
fusing to fit into the mold of her 
family, but who has been happy 
with them until Mark's book-fos- 
tered philosophies develop in her 
a questioning attitude. Suddenly 
she sees her father as thought- 
lessly cruel, her mother as an un-' 
happy woman who has turned her 
thwarted life toward worldly 
gains; her aunt as a bitter, frus- 
trated spinster. Even her beloved 
grandpa she discovers is a wasted 
old man instead of the free soul 
she had alw^s believed. 
v.Jn a novel arrangement, Hayes 
keeps two, and ' sometimes three, 
stages goii^ at . once. The three 
playing areas are a house in 
town, a farm kitchen and a grassy 
hilltop. Lighting switches the ac- 
tion from one area to another, and 
ties the play's action intricately to- 
gether: 

In many places the play has 
real impact. It is well planned; 
the characters, on the whole are' 
astutely ' drawn. Unfortunately, 
characters lose, their force by too 
many poetic phrases. 

Tbe play is bnilliantly directed 
by Margo Jones and a cast of- pro- 
fessional players give some fine 
perfonnances, and these include 
Tod Andrews as Mark, Frances 
Waller as Nan, Mary Finney as 
Nan's mother, Katherine Squire, 
the pious spinster aunt; Betty 
Green Little, as Mark's mother; 
Wilson Brooks, the drunkard 
father; George Mittchell, Nan's 
father, and Benedict MacQuarrie, 
Grandpa Nelson. 

Production is excellent and, de- 
spite wor<Unesf$, the play consist* 
ently maintains audience interest. 

Berg. 



mane as part, of a conspiracy to 
establish the. Na2arene'a divinity. 

The trial has its interesting mo- 
ments but the subject matter pre- 
cludes genuine entertainment and 
the treatment does little to offset 
its ponderous nature. 

Producer Alexander Markey has 
staged this version himself, direct- 
ing with a deft hand, especially in 
the second act, where the electric 
atmosphere of an important trial is 
recreated. A carefully selected cast 
plays it effectively throughout. The 
smaller characterizations particu- 
larly stand out; King Donovan as 
a private detective, Milton Parsons 
as the fanatic Saul, S. C. Ramsay- 
hill as Pontius Pilate, Nana Bryant 
as his wife, Milton Graff as Joseph, 
Tom Fadden as the gardener, Fred 
Steele as a guard, Paul Newlan as 
a fisherman, Aubrey Mather, who 
almost manages to make , the role 
of the "angel-ology" expert be- 
lievable; , and Maurice Cass as a 
fussy little draper. Ruth Matteson 
just misses in her climactic mo- 
ments as Mary.- In the more prom- 
inent parts, Ian. MacDonald and 
Henry Wilcoxon are aptly cast as 
opposing counsel and Edward Van 
Sloan gives an intelligent and ef- 
fective portrayal of the judge. 

Courtroom setting by Nicholas 
Yellenti i.s fine. Kap. 



Play on Broadway 



A Temporalr^f Island 

-American Nation*! Theatre & Academy 
presents ExPei ln}en(a| Theatre, Jnc., pni- 
ductlnn of drama in three acts (five scenes) 
by Hal,>ited Welles. : Produced by Cheryl 
Crawford and T. Kdwaid Hambleton. 
Singed by author; seitlnKS ind llKhtliig;, 
Jjawrunce Qdtdwasser; original calliope 
music. Lehman EnKel) original sonss. Lo- 
renzo Fullei'icosiumes, Mildred Sutherland. 
At Maxine Elliott, N, Y„ March H. '4S. 

.t'ordella, Nancy l''ranltlln 

Hclolae Karen Mndgren 

Bunny. ,. . Klta Gftm 

Miss lOvana Jani^ Holtman 

Miss Rector ...Hilda Vaughn 

Mr. Plok...... Philip Mourneuf 

Miss WainM,sey ■. , .Phlllppa Bcvantt 

Mr. TotlnhiKliam. .■. Bhik- pavles 

mt. Chapter Harrison Dowd 

Mr, Avery (Jregory Rabtna 

.Tuning. .Bill Dtllaira 

Ned _ ; Bill Myers 

Mr. Prince. ..^ . . . .l.edn Aslcin 

Syzette , . .Verii Zorina 

r-'ellcity .<......... . .Ruth Vaughn 

Mr, Bontourlinsky. .Walter Palance 
Mrs. Boutourllnsky.. ........ .Ann SuUivan 

Mr. Smith Taylor Graves 

Uncle Benny........ /.Ernest Truex 

Sophomore . . , , Sh Irley Amos 

Senior. ..,......*..,,, ,. Annie-Marie Gayer 

.Tj'rcabman. . ,. Elaine Bradford 

Farmer Carl Jurtrt 

Farmer's Wife... ,.Na,l.allij Bcnisch. 

Farmer's Daughter. ,. .Winnie Mae .Martin 

Chief of Police......... (5ene Galvin 

Policeman..-, Geoffi;ey I.unib 

Mlllhand Dion Allen 



n O T EL ROOMS 

m WHB HISAKX OE- TISIKS S(). 
Kdaai, bafli and' sliowcr. Telcahooe. I'-foin $3f 
^^ij^ijinjgjjiid*3j5(i double. 



HOTEL ROSOFF 

147 W. 43rd at. 
(«t R'way). BR. 0-5400 



Rosoff'i 
F«maut 
Restaurant 
on thfl 
Premises 



WANTED TO RENT 

Hummer or Ke|iertor.V :Th«ater 
In (iood .liOcatlon 
Send Full PartlcuTai-a to 

RAY MORRISSEY 

1547 llroiiilway* ISfw York 



SAMUEL FRENCH 

' siiici: i8.to 
Play, Brokers and 
Authors' Representativefi 

is Wmt 4Sth Sti>reh Now York 
7«2.1 Siinwt Blvd., HoUywooa M, (lal. 



The Vigil 

Hollywood, March 10. 

Alexander Marlcey produt'lion of drama In 
three acts by Xiadfslas Vodor. Staged by 
Markey; setting and lighting, Nichoina 
yellenti; choral direction, Kamuel Knviln. 
At Coronet, Holly^vood, Mairh 10, '-48; i'A.iiO 
top. ■. 

Judge .......... , Edward Van Sloan 

Prosecutor. , Henry Wilcoxon 

Counsel for Defense ...... . .Ian MacDonald 

The Gardener...* .....'i'oai Fadden 

Esther. .... Monty Margctts 

i.uclus. ...... .. . ., , ... , ...... . . .Fred atecle 

Mr, Pinchaa. ..... . . .i. ....... .Maurice Cass 

Joseph of Arimathea, , .Wilton Graff 

T.ady Procula.. .Nana. Bryfint 

Pontius Pilate. .('. Si.' Ranisa.vhill 

Saul of Tarsus. ......Milton parsons 

.Beulab - Eve McVeai^h 

Sadoc .King Donovan 
Knsanna. ................ , . .Joan Woodbury 

Prof. Thaddeus. ^ ... .Aubrey Mather 

Mary Magdalene. .... . . > . \ . .Ruth Matteson 

(Simon t'eter. ........ ........ .Wdul Newlan 



A Broadway season that has seen 
a growing commercial interest in 
off-the-beaten-track theatre would 
seem to be the logical time for the 
introduction of this new Ladislas 
Fodor play. Despite the trend, 
however, "The 'Vigil" is at best a 
doubtful Broadway entry and its 
film chances seem nil because of 
the sub.iect matter. In the lan- 
guage of the courtroom in which 
it is set, the best Fodor can hope 
for is a hung jury, 

The age-old controversy between 
blind faith and cold logic provides 
the theme. The springboard is the 
Resurrection. 

The courtroom in question is 
deserted for the Easter weekend, 
so it is taken over by characters 
from the Bible who, according to 
the dialog, inhabit all empty courts 
in all lands on this particular week- 
end. Their purpose is to try Elias 
Jacobson, a gardeqer, on a charge 
of body-snatching. Specifically, the 
prosecution contends he stole the 
body of Jesus from its resting 
place in the Garden of Gelhse- 



Although it is a disappointing 
play and an jiin likely bet for com- 
mercial presentation on Broadway, 
"A Temporary Island" has an in- 
teresting subject and is an attempt 
to say something worthwhile. But 
it is as short on story as it is long 
on words. It steadily loses pace 
and dramatic impact until, at the 
final curtain, it has come almost 
to a standstill. It is indifferently 
directed and unevenly acted. 

The Halsted Welles script has 
been around for many months, and 
for a time was slated for produc- 
tion by the American Co., a co- 
operative actor group of which 
Sam Gri$man was manager. There 
have been minor revisions since 
then, but essentially it's still a 
story of how a New England col- 
lege president falls in love with a 
traveling circus queen but finally 
decides not to chuck his career for 
a gypsy life imder the big top. - 

The contrast between the musty 
girls seminary in the '80s and the 
fabulous atmosphere of the itiner- 
ant carnival seems promising. And 
the thesis that romance and the 
world of make-believe oflfer a tem- 
porary island' in a lifelong sea of 
drabness and loneliness, is appeal* 
■ing. 

Few of the characters have real 
dimension. The college prexy, 
particularly as played by Philip 
Bourneuf, is lifelike, understand- 
able and sympathetic, but the 
other faculty members are written 
without depth and acted, by Hilda 
Vaughn, Philippa Bevans, Bliair 
Davies and Harrison Dowd, with 
little imagination. 

As the bewitching Mme. Suzette, 
Vera Zorina has a languorous in- 
tensity that is effective for a scene 
or two. But she lacks sufficient 
resourcefulness to sustain interest 
m the dawdling last act. Ernest 
Truex is skillful and versatile in 
the somewhat pathetic, somewhat 
silly part of the daffy clown. Leon 
Askm is not always intelligible in 
the exaggerated part of the jealous 
ringmaster. Bill Dillard is likable 
as the singer and cannibal imper- 
sonator. , The unnecessarily nu- 
merous others are generally accept- 
able.'. 

The impressionistic scenery, Con- 
sisting of backdrops and atmos- 
pheric set pieces, give a reasonable 
suggestion of the three locales:-the 
college office, the circus 'site and 
the main entrance to the tent. The 
costumes by Mildred Sutherland 
are all right. Hobe. 



Phy$ Abroad 



l.'arisfilmii " . , 

London, March ll.. 

I.ee Eplirulm presCAlation ttt innalcat in 
three acts by Ki'Ui Ma(ii''hwlti, fruiu atory 
by Armin Rublnsuni music by Hans May 
Olrecleil by Reginald 'Wite, At Palace, 
London, March 10, '48, ■ 
Paolo Miirinelli. ,,. , . Lester FergusttTi 

Lord PoleiKh,..,.. IluKli Dempster 

illulietia Bind , . lEllxabeth 'J'heilmaun 

J.lsa Marvin, . ,>..ii.> . . . . , .Hblrl Conway 

Edith ., , .Ma.xin* Alldley 

Contossa Spoldliil, , llannuh Watt 

Bn9:7,lnlv . , f.co" de Pokorny 

Bincl , . , .EroilerUilt Schillar 

Caporelll ' tijiido Lorraine 

Hnmvy Adams Uolicrt Ayres 

Joe Erflman.. .Charltta FarrflU' 

Lily Barlell t.lly BovtoU 

Borg ., David Madle 



This is a bright, colorful mt|$ical 
that's, a credit to producer and east 
alike. Paucity of humor, however, 
is a grave defect. U. S. chances are 
slender unless it's considerably re- 
inforced. 

Set in romantic Venetian back- 
ground, story tells of a wealthy 
American cosmetician chasing a 
world-reno'wned Italian tenor to his 
native town. Determined to over- 
ride his objection to broadcasting 
shelias offered him a terrific fee to 
appear on her program to put over 
a new perfume. When she actually 
meets her prey it is carnival night 
and owing to his costume she mis- 
takes him for a gondolier. To prove 
that her American dollars cannot 
buy everything, the singer lets her 
sign him up as an unknown ama<^ 
teur and agrees lo make the broad- 
cast. Various events ensue. 

It's lavishly mounted, gloriously 
sung and altogether pleasing to eye 
and ear. Some brilliant ballet in- 
terpolations are an added, at- 
traction. Only real comedy is 
needed to make a satisfying eve- 
ning's entertainment. 

Lester Ferguson and Shirl Con- 
way, American newcomei'St are an 
enchanting pair of lovers. Elisia- 
beth Theilmann sings delightfully 
as the Italian girl, Hannah Watt 
brings poise and charin to the role 
of worldly-wise Confessa, and Hugh 
Dempster is devastatingly British 
as Lord Poleigh. 

SuppoHing cast is commendable 
and the music of Hans May (best 
known for his film work) Is lilting 
ahd acceptable. Undoubtedly show 
will attract and gratify its own 
special audience. Glem. 

La Marvclialc! Sans-Cawno 

Paris, Feb. 25, 

Maurice I.chmann production of musical 
In two acts (13 scenes) adapted by Lobmnnn 
fi'om comedy by Victorian Sal'dou and 
Emile Moreau. Directed by Lehmann. 
T.yrics, Albert Wlllemetz.; music, ■ Pierre 
PcLK; choreographj', Georges Gue, M. J. 
.Shea; llghtlntr, Gabriel Rousseau; cos- 
tumes, Douking: - Stars Finely Kevoll, 
.Tacques Baumer, F, Quertant, 43ilbert 
Moryn, Christiane Petlt-Castelli. At Thea- 
tre du I'hateiet, Paris. 



This show, which has about 150 
people on stage and uses 60 stage- 
hands, cost about $30,000. For that 
money, Maurice Lehmann got some 
very nice scenery and costumes, 
and no mean talent. But. adapting 
the old Sardou classic into a mu- 
sical bordering on the revue type 
of show familiar at the Chatelet 
divides the musical into many 
more scenes than the original, with 
long, tedious blackouts for change 
of scenery slowing up the perform- 
ance. Popularity of the Sardou 
classic, and show's stars, however, 
insure the musical a run. 

Lyrics by Albert WiUemetz are 
okay but the music by Albert Petit 
is more of the operatic than light 
musical type. Both sets and cos- 
tumes are nice. 

Fanely Revoil, who tops the bill, 
is a popular fave as musical com- 
edy star. She is good looking, 
lively, and has quite a nice voice. 
She does the part of the former 
laundress, who, having married, 
finds herself somevt^at embar- 
rassed at the Emperor's court when 
her husband has become a duke 
and a field, marshal. 

The husband is done aptly by M. 
Querlant, who has a nice voice and 
uses it with telling eftect. Gilbert 
Mpiyn clicks in the part of the 
■Minister of Police, Fouche. Na- 
poleon is acted in a very fine way 
by Jacques Baumer. The Empress 
is nicely done by Christiane Petit 
Castelli, who is easy to look at and 
sings nicely a tune in the second 
half. All parts are well done, and 
the show is Well cast. flfojri, 

Matorictl Humafln 

(Hiiman Material) 

Paris, Feb. 27. 

Jean Darcanle production ot play in three 
acta (toiii' scenes) by Paul , jkaynal. Di- 
rected by Darcanle. Sets by P«1il Raynaud. 
At 'fhcalre de la .Renaissance, Paris. 
CoriS. Ouelortie. . .......... ..lean Darciante 

Cnpt. Bnunrletie. , .iicnri Crenilcnx 

Coi. Plcteur, ...Abel Jacnuin 

('apt. de .*ilango Nece Rnoul Clulllet 

Hen. Rugln. j .,, , ,i ........... .Pierre Asao 



A French replica of "Command 
Decision," this is a strictly mili- 
tary play, with no femme and 
nothing but soldiers in the cast. 
But it has been written to interest 
women,' and they eat it up as well 
as the men. Though the action 
takes place during the first World 



War, on the Salonica-Dardanellpii 
Jf^'^!^'' A*"'* King Constan 
«t«»B of Greece was made to & 
cate, it is as timely as if the actinn 
had been set under Gen ElstSi 
hower. Actor-manager Jean 
cante h$s mounted it realistieaiiv 
with excellent Paul Reynaud sets' 
and directed it exempYarily S 
Ing by the whole cast is of the 
highest order, and every character 
IS true to type. Like ''Decision'' 
problems and re- 
sponslblUties df higher command ' 
and stresses how orders can looll 
different as viewed by the trooni 
and by the man who has the dutv 
to issue them, as w^U as the pit«R 
lem of. discipline. . 

Darcanle, as a corporal, acts ex- 
tremely well, Pierre Asso, as the 
general, gives sn exemplary per- 
formance, Abel Jacquin, as the 
colonel, is very well cast as the 
man caught in between the neces- 
sity to implement top-level orders 
and th^ difficulty to make them 
acceptable to the men, Henri Ore- 
mleux is very realistic as the store- 
keeper ticting as a reserve captain 
who is In daily intimate contact " 
with the men and finds himself 
hard put to it to make his ads 
meet his personal feeling for them 
As the aristocratic, patriotic staff 
officer, whose training makes him 
appear heartless, Roul Gutllet is 
also very i^ood. 

Small adapting would be re- 
quired to ready this for America 
where the play is a very likely bet. 

Maxi. 

1m Poine <'api<al« 

(Capital Punishment) 

Paris, March 6. 

Cimiedle FrancalHe production of di'anm 
in three acts (four scones) by t.'laude Andrt 
Puget. Directed by Juiien Mertbeaii. Sets, 
Louis Stie; costumes. Marcel Escc>fi:lev£ 
music, . Roger Besormlere. At ColneAlt ' 
Fnincaiiw . (Salle Luxembourg, fimnar 
Odeon), Farlx. 

LOrensio.v....;, ..Tullen Bei'lhc^u 

Cardinal Jerome. ..lean Debuconrt 
Aragbnais. , . . . v .... . . . Paul-Emile .Deil»r 

cbristufore., .................. Raoul Henr/ 

Flain8nd.......,............UeorgeK Vitray 

Fussnyeur. , , , .(ionrges Chamarat 

(^ardeur. ..■ ....Jacaues Servlere 

Vellleur .'t'ony Talflu 

Lionel lean Davy 

J.iu rece. Reiiee Faur» 

La Femme... • Loiil6« Conl» ■ 

Mndonn* Blanca Line Nora 

FUle. . , .',;,......,.......■...... .Lise Topart 



Comedie Prancaise went ovei> 
board to produce this and it's a 
success, suiting the taste of the 
Francaise patronage. What it 
might do on the Boulevards is 
something else again, because 
there they want faster action and 
less declamatory monologs. 

Chances abroad are limited to 
very arty audiences. Not a screen 
bet under its present shape, the 
theme might find its use if Wipo- 
erniz^d and story of the ItallM! 
brothers who rule over a SirtsU 
Italian -aity circa 1500 streamlined 
into industrial moguls of the 1948 
model. 

The good points in the play are 
nice production, excellent cos- 
tumes, and a very good cast. 
Thou^ Lise Topart is given last 
and minor billing (according , to 
Comedie Francaise tradition be- 
cause she isn't yet a full-fledgea 
member but only signed so far for 
this show), she fills the first scene 
as the young prostie and praCTi- 
cally stars in the show though siw 
doesn't appear in tlie other acts. 

The novice is done with due re- 
straint by Renee Faure. Julien 
Bertheau, as the prince, does very 
good work in handling a veiy hard 
part. The younger brother is done 
very commendably by Jean Davy- 
The designing mother has one mg 
scene, which Line Noro nmme$ 
with consummate skill. Moot. 

Darwell, Talbot In 

Frisco Teelin" Debut 

Los Angeles, March 16. 

Stephen Gross' new legiter, 
"That Old Feelin'," will open m 
San Francisco this spring with Jane 
Darwell and Lyle Talbot lieadiiig 
the cast. Ailleen and Dr. H- A- 
Conway are- producing, •wn» 
Eugene Bryden directing. ... 

Comedy, based on the advert- 
lures of "The Lady Known as 
Lou," will tour the Pacific Coast 
before heading east. . . 



ANNA LUCASTA 

HTOtiK . . 

LEONARD and COWl' 

Antliorii »«>*ir«<»ent««»«i 

516 Fifth Avem* " 



SUMMER THEATRE 
FOR SUB-LEASE 

One of Amrrlm's <•»<'«•»♦»•'"''"'' *K 
tr..», locntril .onstol Muss., '<•'"",, 
leuse, .'Vloilern stage, light <«i:''> ™,*'i,' 
plus fnriilNlieil 8(l-room urtors 'f*^ 
Incluileil in suli-lense. "<•*«■''"*?; "{m 
sons rontrtcl Box 4101, ViirM}, 
Wmt mil HI., NfiW Vork 1». 



SCULLY'S SCRAPBOOK 



^^^^.^ ^ -t Ey Frank Sculljr »♦»♦♦♦♦♦»»♦♦♦♦♦ 

Mt. Sinus, Mwrch 14. 

SliMtf, wiiicb "> HoU^ood's synthetic subaiitute for New England's 
more poetic twiUlSht, was dcseending on Whitley Heiebt» <3nd due any 
duw WW lof » namMtoanging to Mount Sinus). 

It had been «a exciting day for the SeuUy Circus. Patsy Ann^ our 
tiliid ilea from Heaven, was coining to the end of her llth big birthday 
Sarty and the beginning o£ her third big cold. 

We bad inix«l «a«ac of Uje snuog with leftovers of the party and 
dished oatsielTes a fatadjr acceptable smogesbard few stipper. And now 
n» wtr* cotntegr to th» piece de resistitnce. We were ati going to see 
tiie 0xk showing cS "I Rementber Mama." 

fa^ long felt a vested interest in this one. Dealing as tbe pte- 
iuw dots witji a Iforwegian fatnity who lived on a sort of secmd-mn 
-■WBtitJey Heists above San Francisco, there were many sSmilanties 
between tliem and u& Both families had four children, the oldest in 
'«ach case Tieihg: a boy. Both bad shared a Jot of laughs and tears, 
nuainy of them revolving around hospitals and a little girl's mastoid 
ameration. (In the Sei^ saga. Patsy had long been known as the 
•Ionian of tite Bar."> At aal^ one point did vre have a marked edge: 
had AUc^ MeUbye PibI for our Mania and all titey got was Irene 
Ounne, 

^ I'Kencmlier'lUonMr 
' But back of oar beatitifttl little Idanta was anotber Norwegian Mama 
lUtd that's the aae I rementber best. We call her Mormor. She bad 
f^m the Scully Circus its little Mairta. More, she bad lived through 
the peonage of life under Hitler, and at 79, had made the trip alone 
fMMii Norway to UoUywood for a six-month visit. At the time of the 
jibemtioa she had written:* "Vire have no coal, no wood, no clothes, no 
food, no transportation. In fact we. have uatliing, but we iiave our 
freedoBi, and tbat's everything." And now here she was snrrounded 
ligir ber efaildrcn and graadcbildren about to see a Hollywood vecsion 
<if life among some top-draww^ inunigrants from the Scandinavian 



We had got to the theatre' early, bi4ng tipped olT by- Nat Janwff that 
Hie place wotdd be SBO. .Tbtis we had time to look at the program 
iroA of many things. 

The first thing tbat contused Mmmtor was the 'word "prodoetioo." 
He picture was "a George Stevens production." He was additionaUy 
MIed as "excctrtive piodaeer and director." But tbe picture it se«ns 
'ym "produced by Harriet Parsons." « 

.to Mocroor, cows were 'producers." So were coal miners. She 
COttldn'f quite understand why in Hollywood people who produced 
IMtMng were called i»rodncer&. She thought it xvas like calling a mid- 
wife a motber. To explain that producers were really supervisors, sort 
of timekeepers and shop foremen of a very iinpcedictahte "product," 
didn't take more than half an hour: But we were, as I say, very early. 
' She next wanted to know why they had changed the name? 

"I bad read the book in Oslo," ^e explained. "There it was called 
'Mama's Bank Account'." 

'.'in Norwegian?" 

"Oh no. I read it in ItegUsb. Very amusing." 
"Well," I explained^, 'Vhen John van I>mteR took the story of Katb- 
lyn- Forbes and made tt into a ptay he changed tite name to "I Se- 

..io«mber:Manui.''... " ■ 
"So? Why?" 

CivinC' MornM»K the' iiKtlde' . 
*WdI, a play had been rumiiag for yean on Broadway called 'life 
'With Father.' It was a sort of 1 Remember Father.' And so the 
pnidaeers— I mean tbe baekeix— figured the pabiie was now ready for 
'Ji Bemendier Mama'.*' 

"Oh," said Mohoor. "And was. 'Father' abotft a Norwegian?" 
. "No. 'Wathtif vias a New Yorker. Everytbing in America is like that. 
Ilgcmor, Thingy are borrowed from other things. C^es, tb^ call 
tfeun." 

. ' "Do they ever pay back?" 

• '"iPay back?" 

* *Yes; when they borrvw sugar like this?" ^ 
-. "Listen, Mormor, this is show business. In show business you dm^'t 
iUt. material en bloc. Yon select tlting.^ here and there and imprenEc 
im Quern, and you never pay back." 
■ "They call it a business?" 
"Well, sort, of. They even call running insane a^^Iunts a business in 

She langhed. She has all her own feetb — all except cme molar far 
iback which she broke a montb ago on some hai-d candy. 

^ love America," she said. "But it gets very cold in California, too," 
'.abcaddcd.' ' ' ' 

T laughed too. We've been the dearest of friends now for 20 years, 
i-thoiight back over all the Scandinavians 1 had ever known. They 
all seemed singularly civilized in a world about the thickness of a 
l^itcmst from barbarism. 

About the twly ScuUywaggery which ha.'? lasted long enough to get 
Into the second-runs is that life always gives you, wbaA you want, if 
ypu Want it long enough, but not at the time you want it most, ft took 
We 3ft years to get that mie answered right. 

I. *»s convalescing at the time at" a AivieRa pension on tatidge from 
•ne of the many operations w*ieh were slowly making me the gubnea 
pig which no srargeon coald kill. Into the pension came a Norwe^an 
''In^her and two teen-age daughters. 

The younger was 18 and looked all of 12. She was the daughter of 
■a- widow; a painter and a very good one. Her uncle was head of the 
^ftMants* Party in Norway. Ber grandfather had built the country's 
'2r«^*''" Another ancestor had bis statue jfii fropt of the University 
1* w«o, not for ;^)litting the skulls of his neighbors in an old Viking 
»«*aitfon, but for being the foremost historian since Leif the Lneky 
«t out to discover America for the National Geographic. In fact, he 
*»ich an able historian that the Pope allowed him to mosey in the 
^» JMWfners of the Vatican library, this despite the fact that he was 
« Mrtheran, which in those days was like letting Moscow Joe poke 
"ttnugh Jim Byrnes' private papers today. 

■ Pike like ' In Pikcboo 

The Mama of this pike (pronounced peefca) and 1 got on very well, 
«> well in fact "that T asked her would she mind if 1 hired her younger 
secretary-chauffeur tilt 1 could drive myself again. I offered 
50 francs a week, in those days that worked out around two bucks. 
««fi? the delightful little ski jumper (her name was Alice) if she 
•C?!? ^P** English. Before she could tell the truth, ber sister said 
yes for her, 

wl^J. '*®veloped that Alice could do nothing of the sort, but she was a 
ro ,?flt"* *^ver and as cute a pike as a gamboling lamb. Rather than 
«" an the way back t'o Chaucer, I cut to the chase and started to teach 
^^f''?Sush from c-opies of Vabiety. 1 figurctl it would be the sort of 
.«ngsish she'd have to learn 2» years later, especially if she ever went 
so why wait? 

as ufin* fyping- ai"* "^I'S «P a -shoilliand course for her 

Art "*^"^ve me, 1 v/as earning her 50 francs a week in those days. 
Alter a yeartkf this, idyllic Riviera lite all of us reft for Paris— I on 
rem il I^don, the beautiful people to their native Norway. I 
»l#v.t V **' ^* walking along Boulevard Montpamasse one June 
*8nt alter a good Prencb Corner that set me back $1.80, including 
|«««_oojre. Feeling tbat the four of us were one lovely family by now. 
enVrt ".I*.?™ around the secretarial neck of little Alice. Mama tight- 
"ca visibly. Just why 1 couldn't understand. Practically eveiybody 



in the Latin Quarter, unless preparing for a duel, went at least arm- 

and-arm. 

. Sbauldler Arras 
Leaning on Alice makes walking easier," I explained. 

JVIama wasnt tbat kind of artist. Her lips remained firm. 

"Okay," I said. "How about my leaning on yen instead?" 

I put my arm around her shoulders. 

' Oh.-' she said, both shocked now and delighted. 

Her laughter* laughed. ■ She didn't order me to take my hands off' 
Jier, so we continued up the boulevard, drawing no more attention 
than girls, in dungarees would on Hollywood boulevard, 
• Before the nest winter had passed into spring I had won that Mama 
into sending my little i^e all the way from Oslo to Nice alooe. This 
time her job was to save me from fugitives from the Ctatcago stodk- 
yards who were practicing surgery in a Riviera ehoptiottse. 

She nursed ine from the foot of lite grave to at lexst the brink of 
despair. By the end of snmnier I really had to put an arm around 
her neck lor supprart because by then I was down to one leg. I wrote 
Mama in Norway tbat her pike and I had decided all this staHing 
around was getting pretty silly. We wanted her permission to get 
mamed explaining that in France, at least in those days, two could 
live as cheaply as six. ■ . 

Mama took this shock on a shopping tour. She consulted the rest of 
the tamUy. They suggested that she write and find out my "prospects " 
I gave them, to her. They could have been detailed on a calling card, 
viewed by even Okie standards, they looked pretty diijmai. 

With what I have always considered as giant-sized hunnor, she wrote 
back tbat my prospects seemed to satisfy the family, and so Bhe gave 
us her blesi^ing. 

She couldn't come to France for the wedding, but a yeaa- later she 
came for the baptism. 

I remember that baptism in Paris, It was ui a little church near 
the Etoile, Mormor was to act as godmother and George Canty as 
godfather. 

. We decided to call the baby "Jed." 

The French citre ran his fmger down the litany of saints. He couldn't 
find any Jed among them. 

"Baptize Mm Olaf then," suggested Mormor. 

That canie out no better on research than Jed. ° 

*'I find no saint named Olaf," the cure patiently explained. 

"Oh, yes there is," insisted the descendants of the first Norwegian 
hMrtorian to cra^ the Vatican adiives. "St. Olaf rescued the Scandi- 
Bivian peninsida from' paganism arotmd 1020." 

The cure shrugged his shoulders and accepted the substitution. 

Later some, members of the iiteraU asked Mormor, "*Tm did you 
name Jed after? Jed Harris?" 

The One With the Mttstaehe 

"Yfbv is Jed Harris?" adced Mormor, deadpan. 

"Who's Ibsen?" kidd«» the teft Bimkhead. 

"Well, you must know who Ibsen is or you couldn't ask. But I stilt 
would like to know who is Jed Hanrisr' 

She didn> say "Yed." She said "Jed." in fact, about the only criti- 
cism she made of "I Remember Mama" was that Irene Donne spoke a 
very good Engfisli— "too good to say Annt Yenny." 

Then she explained it to me. "Swedes can-t pronounce 'J'. We have 
no 'J' in our alphabet either, but we can pronounce it with a little 
practice. But it seems a Swede^s tongue never will let him do it." 

■ "Maybe there was a litfie Swede in Irene Dunne's Norwe^an," I said 
'-Could be," she ctmceded. "She's very pretty." 

'-f>id you think Oscar Homolkat, that is, ITncIe Chrii was a typical 
Norwegian?" , 

No. she didn'.t He was magnifique, a formidable character, but she 
thought his drinking was more Irish than Norwegian. « 

At that I bridled. "Olt, I've seen l^orwegians roaring drunk, too," I 
said. ■ ■ ■ . ■ ■ ■ • ■ 

■ I asked hear if she tbou^it people would like tbe pictitre in Norway 
"1 riiould think they'd like it everywhere," she said. '"It's a lovable 

picture of a lovable tanMliy. They have their struggles, of course. The 
streets of San Francisco are no more paved with, gidd than are those 
of Oslo. They find that out. It's so much better that Amkrica be rep- 
resented by pictures like this than pilly musical comedies of ridi giris 
at bars traduig fonrth hasbands for a fifth million. This picture is a 
credit to America. It makes a nice homey lapskaus." 

That's a Norwegian stew, but isn't a nice warm steW better than a 
parade of iit^ drfnfcs — especially for export? 



are mostly made by name writers). 
Criticism of the Random House 
agreement has been expressed 
within the Gaild m^ttbersbip and 
from the agents (wbo have their 
own proposed' standard, contract). 

The Guild council also voted (b 
lay out a general list of objectives 
and plans, to be put into printed 
form and sent to the membership. 
It decided to ask the Authors 
League of America (its parent or- 
ganization), to widen the tatter's 
censorship committee, lieaded by 
Mare Connelly, so tbat each Cnild 
could deal with censorship in its 
own field. j 

The council also beard a report 
that the invasion of privacy stiit 
ag:iinst Margaret ICinnan Bawlings 
for her novel, "Cross Creek," had 
been returned to the lower Florida 
courts for retrial. 



Literati 



Late Afternoon for PM 

Left dangling by Marshall 
JTield's scheduled puUout on March 
20, PM's future is enrrentfy long- 
ing on last-minute negotiations 'be- 
tween PM's Newspaper Guild unit 
and Clinton D. McKinnon, San 
IMego publisher who wants to byy 
out the N. Y. tabloid daily. AJ- 
thongh the unit rejected McKin- 
non's originat proposal to suspend 
the Guild contract for 90 days, 
door was left open for further 
talks yesterday (Tues,). 

Crux of the disagreement be^ 
twecn McKinnon and the Guild 
stems from tbe ctuestion of main- 
taining union grievance machinery 
during the first 90 days. Publisher 
declares he wants a free hand to 
reorganize the paper if be buys it. 
PiVI's staff, however, fears he may 
tire present personnel €A iSS. and 
rehire an entire new staif. McKin- 
non has already indicated that he 
doesn't intend to Ime an editorial 
staif of more than SO. At present, 
editorial ehores are handled by 90 
Gulldsmen, plus some from man- 
agement. 

Anxiott.s to reach an agreement 
with McKinnon, Guild exec vice- 
prexy Tom Murphy has asked the 
publisher to meet with him in Chi- 
cago to hammer out a compromise. 
Tims far, McKinnon is standing pal 
on his original demands, telling 
the Guild that if his terms aren't 
met, he's not interested. 



Varisxt correspondent * in Mem- 
phi.s, had previously fieen barred 
by the State Department, alleged- 
ly because he made a donation sev- 
eral years ago to the Southern 
Conference i^pr^ Hnrnan Welfare. 

He plains to return early in May 
on the JVIattretania, 



Lillian Roth Bioc for FaR 

Lillian Roth biog wUl be pub- 
lished in fall by Funk & Wagmdls, 
in a.SvSoeiatioB with Alcoholics. 
Anonymous. 

Paul Andrews is writing the 
yarn, which deals with the singer^ 
actress' faU from stardom and her 
Subsequent return to 'sthaw busi- 
ness after taking the AA cure. 

Anderson OnnibHi . 

William Sloane Associates, which 
has taken over pablicatiott of Max- 
well Anderson's works, plans to is- 
sue a two-volume collection next 
fall of all his plays. It published 
"OIT Broadway," a book of tbe 
dramatist's theatre e s says, last 
spring. 

Anderson's \vorks were formerly 
published by his own firm, Ander- 
son House. 



Harry Martin to Europe 

Throtrgh direct interees.sion by 
(he VVbite r.lou.se. Harry Martin, 
prez of the .'Vmeriean Newspaper 
Guild, planed to Geneva by way 
of l-ondon yestei-day (Tues.) as a 
member of the American delega- 
tion to the United Nations congress 
on freedom of Information. Martin, 
the amusement editor of the Mem- 
phis Cemmercial-A p p e a 1 and 



CoBncil Okays KB Pact 

The Authors Guild council, at its 
last meeting. pas.sed a resolution 
approving the term,<f of the Gaitd- 
Random House basic contract. In j 

i .so doing, it declined to go along ■ 

' with recent criticism of the pact. 
The general sen.se ol (he council's 
.stand was tbat the fi)ntract is in- ! 

■ tended to protect the less estab- { 
lished wriler, rather than the sue- j, 

{ cessfub one. ; 

I It was noted that the pact prc- 

j vents reduction of royalties (which 
benefits all autbon;. but the lesser 

I ones, in particular i. in retm'n for a 
percentage from film sales (which 



. , CHATIEB , ■ 

Maurice Zolotow profiling the 
dancing Hartmjans for Satevcpost.. 

Irving Kupctnet on his annual 
tour of Ilollywood studios for the 
Chteago Sun-Thwes. 

Bob Smith, former Columbia stu- 
dio flack, became news editor of 
the Blythe, Cal„ Times. 

Lewis Taylor will write a biog of 
W. C. Fields* which Doubleday will 
publish in the fall of 1949. 

Ruth Brigham in Hollywood to 
round up material for a series of 
yarns for International News Serv- 
ice. ■ ■,■ ^ 

Jack Bearwood succeeded Jim 
Parton as manager of the Holly- 
Wood bureau for Life and Time 
mags. ' 
, B. G. Davis* head of Ziff-Davis, 
,ta Hollywood to huddle with studio 
stc«y brtc£s on. .the sale of bo<As 
for filming, ■•; . .' , 

Screenwriter- Charles Grayson 
debuts as a novelist with. "The 
Bndcen Gate," being {wbliidied: by 
Dowbleday March 25. 

Max Steiner, Warner Bros, com- 
poser, has authored "My Way of 
Scoring," to be published by 
DouWeday Tiext fatt. 

Mary Margaret McBride's hook, 
"How To Be a Successful Adver- 
tising Wontan," puldished by Whit- 
tlesey HoQse March 16. 

Conrtenay ("Biick") Terretf, ex- 
.N. Y. World byliner now living in 
Montana, has aoithoicd a ranch 
yarn fitted "Hhe Sa«Mle," for tbe 
Asifil issue of Atlanfle. 

John O'Hara is BBderstood to 
have auarceled with editor Harold 
Ross and wont do any more pieces 
for the New yorker after eouxplc- 
tion of one alrea% committed:. 

Bill Ornstein's shottstory, "Tell 
Us A Funny Story," will appear in 
Southern Jewish Outlook for April. 
Anothei- shortstory, "Be My Gii),'^ 
is slated for the next issue of 
Decade. 

Harold Bone, Varibty's New 
Haven mugg, has a piece in the 
February issue of Promenade on 
the correct prominciation of tbe 
w.k. newspaper name of PoKiti»r— 
which is "PuU-itsur." 

Dramatizatkm. of Dostoievsky's 
"Crime and Puni^iment," as pre- 
pared by Bodney Ackland for the 
New York and London versions 
recently presented, has been pul»- 
lidied by Henry Holt in New Y'ork. 

Revised and enlarged edition of 
"Bing: Crosby satt) Thru Biograpliy- 
Pbotography-IMscograirfjy,'' edited 
1^ Dr. J. T. H. Mire, scheduled for 
April 15 publication. Tome also 1ms 
ing publtehcd in Brttafn and Au&- 
tratia. 

Dennis McEvoy, director of Asi- : 
atic Operations for Reader's Digest, 
was married March 8y in San Fran- 
cisco, to Nan Tucker, until recently 
with the WashingtMi Po^. They 
planed invmedfately to Hawaii and 
Tokyo. 

Jean llersholt, prcs of the Motion 
Picture Academy of Arts & 
Sciences, is writing an answer to 
Raymond Chandler's recent piece 
in tbe Atlantic debunking the Osear 
awards. Atlantic has it penciled 
in for ' the May issue. 

Jessamyn West''s'"Mi!rrTO: f«w the 
Sky," a musical drama about the 
life of Audubon,, will be published 
shortly by Harcom't, Brace. Music 
for the script was written and pro- 
duction was underway when the 
show was abandoned. 

The Seymour (INS) Berksons 
motoring south. Ditto the H. Allen 
Smiths, bat .separately. And Lonel- 
la Pareons' RKO producer-daugh- 
ter, Harrfet Parsons, plans picking 
up a new car in Dett'oit and mo- 
toring west to Hollywood, after her 
N. Y. visit. 

Jack Hines. professional singer 
and boulevardier, has written bis 
saga, captioned "Minstrel of the 
Yukon" I An -Alaskan Adventure), 
for which Lucins Beebe did the 
foreword. Latter ai.so codned -the 
title for tbe nomadic balladecr. 
Greenberg is tbe pubtlstier. 



70 



CUATTF.lt 



Broadway 



Dante, the magician, back from 
• European tour. 

Time doing a story on Teclini- 
color in forthcoming Issue. 

The Fred Zweifels' 25th wed- 
ding anniversary Monday (15), 

Henry Sember to publicise the 
•ummer opel^etta season at Dallas. 

Edna B. and Maceo Pinltard— 
he's the songsmith— celebrate 3ist 
*nni Friday (19)., 

Cart Dryer, Danish film director, 
due to arrive March 26 on his first 
visit to the U. S. 

Fredfericlc Strengholt, Dutch ex- 
hibitor, in on the Nieuw Amster- 
dam Sunday (14). 

Dorthea Duckworth replaced 
Marion Weeks in "Strange Bed- 
■Itell-ows" (Morosco). 

George Handy, of 46th Street 
C'Finian's Rainbow") boxofflce 
staff, a gout victim. 

Harry Sosnik composing and 
conducting the CBS documentary, 
"Report Card." March 24. 

David Green, publicist, bedded 
with Virus-X which he previously 
Ucked but which did a retake. 

Republic exec veepee James R. 
Grainger back ita New York fol- 
lowing five-week tour of exchanges. 

Jerry Simon, former Majestic 
Records' publicity chief, joined 
flack firm Of Arthur H. Miller As- 
sociates. 

Vet hospitals advised American 
Theatre Wing of icy roads last 
Thursday (11) ev.ening and shows 
..were cancelled. . 

Jewish Theatrical . Guild will 
xnark the passing of Barney Ber- 
nard 24 years ago with a me- 
morial service Monday (22). 

Forrest C. Haring slated to pro- 
duce "Perfect Pitch," formerly 
known as "The Wajr of a Hen," 
Bella and SaAt Spewack comedy. 

''Happy Birthday" closed Sat. 
(13) a week ahead of announced 
date and 10 in cast with salaries 
of $123 or less received two weeks 
pay. 

Walter Bernstein back from 
Coast scripting chores and writing 
« play for Elia Kazan, 'on commis- 
' si'on; No longer on New Yorker 
staff, 

P^ul and Grace Hartiflan, co- 
stars «f "Angel in the Wings," 
hav6 acquired "Red Beard" by 
Walter DeLeon tor Broadway pro- 
duc^on. 

Roland. Butler and publicity staff 
aides 'in town in advance of the 
Ringling, Barnum & Bailey circus, 
dated to open at Madison Square 
. Garden April 7. ' 

Albert Maltz, one of the 10 in- 
dicted filmites, was guest of honor 
at cocktail party of film division of 
Progressive Citizens of America 
yeijterday (Tuesday). 

George Archibald, managing di- 
rector of J. Arthur*. Rank's Inde- 
pendent Producers^ victim of virus 
pneumonia while here. He's in 
Doctors hospital New York. 

Henry A. Linet, .Univbrsal's ad- 
vertising manager, guest lecturer 
tonight (Wed.) at the. American 
Theatre Wing's screen seminar, on 
subject' of motion picture adver- 
tising. ■ 

Laudy Lawrence, Selznick Re 
leasing Organization's foreign sales 
veepee, recuperating at his Park 
'avenue home after a successful 
spinal operation in aN. Y. hospital 
last week. . > 

While RKO producer Harriet 
Parsons is east, ex-RKO eastern 
rep Jack Goldstein is .occupying 
her Beverly Hills homcC Goldstein 
has several Coast propositions he 
is mulling. 

Oscar Hammerstein, 2d, chair 
man, has called a luncheon meeting 
Tuesday (23), at the Hotel Astor, 
to organize the arts and amuse- 
ments division of the Sydenham 
hospital fund drive.' 

The Stop Censorship committee 
of the arts, sciences, etc., will hold 
an action meeting Tuesday night 
(23) at the Astor hotel, N. Y. The 
affair was previously scheduled for 
tomorrow night (Thurs.). 

Bunty Pendleton may return to 
the piano at Tony's Trouville, 
where she sprang to fame, to 
pinch hit for Mary McNally, key- 
boarder there who's checking into 
a hospital for spinal operation. 

Marc Connelly's new play, "Story 
for a Stranger," is about a talking 
■ horse that inspires the nasty resi- 
dents of a small town to live by 
the Golden\Rule, and so transforms 
the place into a paradise on earth. 

Following wrap-up of hectic 10- 
months of contract negotiations be- 
tween N. Y. projectionists and 
major chains last Friday (12), Her- 
man Gelber, Local 306 prez, en- 
trained for a month's vacation in 
Florida. 

Walter Vincent, 80 -year -old 
president of the Actors' Fund, will 
be guest of honor at the Jewish 
Theatrical Guild annual dinner 
May 2. George Jessel will be 
toastmaster and Dddi* Cantor 
roastmaster. 

Victor Mature and Richard 
Conte, co-stars in 20th-Fox's forth- 
coming ''Law and Martin lElome," 
tn N.'Y. for special scenes to be 



lensed for the film against auihen- 
ne N. Y. backgrounds. Richard 
Siodmak directing. „ , ^ . 

Balladslnger Susan Reed, daugh- 
ter of pressagent Isadora Bennett, 
was soloist with the Greenwich 
(Conn.) Sinfonietta uilder Franz 
AUers Sunday (14) in a new ar- 
rangement for soprano and orches- 
tra of a Hebrides song cycle. 

Legit actress Edith Atwater 
scheduled as guest speaker at a 
special meet Friday (19) of the 
Theatre Chapter of the Committee 
for the Negro in the Arts, which 
will discuss alleged discrimination 
in the National theatre, Washmg- 
ton. V, _ 

Spyros Skourasi and Harry 
Brandt, working in, behalf of the 
American Overseas Aid-United Na- 
tions A^ppeal for Children, have 
mapped gigantic parade of 100,000 
school kids for April 12 along 
Broadway to tee off a $6,000,000 
fund-raising drive. . 

When Bugs Baer went to Miami 
Beach for that Lord Tarleton bene- 
fit for the Heart Fund, with Ed 
Sullivan; Milton Berle, et al., he 
liked it so much that " his vMe, 
Louise, is now going there for 
Easter as a recup from her inten- 
sive work on behalf of the drive. 

The George (Paramount) Browns 
to Chi' this weekend for the wed- 
ding of thehr son Bob in the U., of 
Chi chapel to Paula Shuham. Par's 
Coast studio publicity chief returns 
west pronto but Mrs. Brown heads 
to Kane, Pa., her, hometown, and 
thence N. Y. The son is a student 
at Chi U. , , , ^ 

William Roach, of law firm of 
O'Brien, DrlscoU, Baftery & Law- 
ler, testified as an "expert" witness 
before a Congressional committee 
in Washtagton last Friday (12) to 
the Constitution guaranteeing 
equal rights for women. He's ag'm 
it, but only for technical reasons. 

Richard Rodgers, Oscar Ham* 
merstein II and director Joshua 
Logan surprised Helen Hayes at 
the closing performance of "Happy 
Birthday" at the Plymouth Satur- 
day (43) night by sneaking quietly 
onto the stage after the final cur- 
tain and waiting in full view of the 
audience fdis the star to come out 
for her curtain call. 

Bernard Sobel to London and 
the Continent on the Queen Eliza- 
beth March 27 for two months' re- 
search on literary and other mat- 
ters; also on behalf of Celanese 
.Corp. of America for whom he is 
"public relations counsellor. In- 
cidentally, Sobol contributed the 
chapter on Drama for the new edi- 
tion of International Year Book. 



WedneaJay,, Mardh 17, 194a 



Portland, Ore. 



Jerry Owens returned to the 
Club Hy Mac after a month's ab- 
sence. 

Jacques Ravel's production of 
"Starlight" opens at Jack and Jills 
this week. 

FlOTine Bale, Coast rep for 
AGVA, here for meeting of actors, 
and agents. 

Henry King band at Jantzen 
Beach Ballroom this week with 
Jan Savit to follow. 

Latest thing in^'Drive-In" thea- 
tres opened, this week under Gam- 
ble and Foreman banner. 

Paramount theatre celebrating 
20th anni here this week with 
Frank Pratt currently at helm. 

Jane Powell sang ^ith Portland 
Symphony Orchestra > here last 
week, Werner Jansen conducting 

Mutual's audience participation 
show "What's the Name of That 
Song" aifed from the Auditorium 
and broadcast over KAEE this 
week. 



'Film director John Paddy Car-- 
stairs has a book of short stories 
due soon, titled "My Fancy Has 
Wings." " 

Tyrone Guthiie, returned from 
Finland, where he produced plays, 
is back at the BBC on the Third 
Program. 

Jasper Maskelyne, third genera- 
tion of w.k. magician family, mar- 
ried to Mrs. Evelyn Mary Scotch- 
er March 11. 

Leslie Macdonnell, Harry Fos- 
ter's partner^ sails for his annual 
visit to New York April 7 on the 
Queen Elizabeth. 

Nicholas Brodszky, compoifer of 
many film scores, scheduled to sail 
April 7 oh the Queen Elizabeth for 
his first visit to the U. S. 

Gathering Storm," Sam Gold- 
wyn, Jr.'s first London theatre 
venture, skedded to close at St. 
Martin's March 20 after five weeks. 

When Two Cities has its pre- 
miere of "Hamlet" at the Odeon, 
Leicester Squpre, May 6, it will be 
attended by the King and Qu^en. 

Gaumont-Brltish to revfert to its 
prewar policy <in its large picture 
houses) of presenting variety acts 
in addition to dual feature pro'< 
grams. 

One of biggest festivals of music 
and drama in the world is taking 
place March 15-20 at Reading 
Town Hall, Berkshire, with 2,000 
railway workers competing. 

Yolande Donlon, in from New 
York, to play the lead in Cliiford 
Odets' "Rocket to the Moon," 
scheduled to bow at the St. xVIar-' 
tin's theatre. Peter Cotes staging. 

Crazy Gangs — ^Bud Flanagan and 
Gold and Nervo and Knox — are to 
take a week's holiday from Jack 
Hyltori's Victoria Palace show, "To- 
gether Again." Shov/ will close for 
Easter week only. 

New microfilm reader being dis- 
played for the first time to home 
and overseas buyers at Engineer- 
ing & Industrial Equipment (Home 
and Export) Exhibition at Royal 
Horticultural Hall March 10-24. 

Independent Theatre Produc- 
tions, new theatrical' venture spon- 
sored by the .English-Speaking 
Union, American Correspondents 
Assn. and Royal Academy of Dra- 
matic Art, just bowed in London. 

BBC to do hour's broadcast 
Easter Monday of a radio version 
of the Herbert Wilcox film, "Spring 
in Park Lane," with the two stars, 
Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding, 
taking part. Producer Tom Ronald 
is now working on the script. 

Jerry Franks, stage manager for 
Olsen and Johnson, called in. to 
restage the ice show, "The Aqua- 
show," at Earl's Court. Presenta- 
tion, starring Belita and Johnny 
Weissmuller, was badly handled 
from publicity angle aqd got off 
to bad start. 

Newsreel companies ai^e await- 
ing the King's decision Whether 
on St. George's Day, April 23, they 
can film Princess Elizabeth walk- 
ing with her husband to St. 
George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, 
to be installed as a Lady of the 
Order of the Garter. 



don after some months filmlnec for 
J. Arthur Rank. .. . 

Vienna Boys Choir and conduc- 
tor H. Taeuber arrived by plane 
from Vienna. They are perform- 
ing in San Carlos theatre, ar- 
ranged by dally Diario de Notieias 
to create a "Help Austria" fund. 



Mexico City 



By D. L. Grahame 
U. S. tourist trade here Is oh 
the upswing. 

Elsa Aguirre, young Mexican 
film star, picked as queen of Mo- 
bile, Ala. spring festival. 

Raul de Anda, pic producer, off 
to Spain for a three-months' visit 
to arrange Spanish-Mexican pic 
production. 

"Duel in the Sun" copped record 
gross of $293,842.59 (U. S.) in six 
months' exhibition in Mexico City 
federal district. 

Pic production-distrib company, 
Cia. Productora, Distribuidora y 
Exhibidofa de Peliculas, S. A., has 
been registered here by Luis Vega 
and associates. 

Jesus Grovas, producer, and 
Ferando de Fuentes, director, 
leave end of t'ie month for N. Y., 
th^h to England, France and Spain 
for about two months on biz. 

Julio Asuna, newsman who 
killed Vicente Villasana, publisher 
of the Tampico El Mundo and op- 
erator of a chain of cinemas, was 
sentenced to 21 years imprison- 
ment. 

Coin problems are delaying 
functioning Of the National Cine- 
matographic Commission that 
President Miguel Aleman recently 
organized as cooperative governing 
board of the Mexican pic industry. 
~ Mexican pic producer-dlstribs 
and most of the U. S. film dis- 
tributors have given the Michoacan 
state government an ultimatum 
that unless it cuts its new hiked 
taxes on cinemas, they'll stop sup- 
plying Michoacan with pix. 



Vienna 



"Speaking Frankly," James F. 
Byrnes' book, can't be sold in 
Russian zone.' 

New Burg theatre director Josef 
Gielen, now in Buenos Aires, will 
begin his duties Oct. 1. 

Tuchlauben Kino, totally bomb 
ed out during the war, has been 
reconstructed and reopened March 
12. 

Aaron Copland's book, "Music of 
Today," translated into German and 
published by Humboldt Verlag 
here. 

Luis Trenker, Him star and di 
rector, is working on "In the 
Shadow of Monte Miracolo," star- 
ring Dora Bini. 

J. W. Pabst's next film, "Mys 
terious Depth," story by Rudolf 
Brunngraber, will be produced in 
Rosenhuegel studio. 

Welt am Abend, German lan- 
guage afternoon paper published 
by Freach occupying powers 
changea-into Austrian property. 

liOewen Film Co. working on 
"Be It or Not," by Heinz Hansen 
and Peter Wehle, directed by W. 
Emo, starring Wolf Albach Retty 
and Use Werner. 

Operetta premiere of "Luck in 
Monte Carlo," book by Hubert 
Marischka and Bruno Hardt War- 
den, jnusic by Ludwlg Schmied 
seder, will be given at Salzburg 
festivaL 



Paris 



Andre Magnus prepping a show 
here. ' 

Irene Hilda'cutting six sides for 
Decca in Paris, V . 

Victor Francen to act "Tovarich" 
■\fith Elvire Popesco. 

Marcel Pagnol made Portuguese 
consul for the French Riviera. 

Michel De^combey, opera-dancer 
son of JJniversal's territorial chief, 
bedded with flu. 

Roger. Sardou, grandson of Vic- 
torien Sardou, now heading local 
Selznick flackery. 

Cesar de Mendoza, Madeleine 
Ozeray's' husband, conducting the 
National Orchestra. 

David C. Cousland here to prep 
filmization of some of the Two 
Cities "Sleeping Car to Venice'/ 
sequences. 

Lido producer Rene Fra'day back 
from N. Y. with music for new 
floorshow to open in May at Jean 
Pierre Guerin's nitery. 

Serge Lifar reported objecting 
to use of his choreography by 
grand Ballet de Monte Carlo, and 
the Paris Opera here supporting 
his contention for fear of opposi- 
tion. 



s 

By Les Kees 

St. Paul Civic Opera Co. to pre- 
sent "Rosalie," April 29-May 1. 

M. M. Kraine sold' his Loop, 
Gateway theatre, to Max Elkins. 

Paul Gray and Maurice & Maryia 
into Hotel Nicollet Minnesota Ter- 
race. 

Independent Film Distributors 
opening new branch at Sioux 
Falls, S, D, 

North Central Allied holding an- 
nual convention at Hotel Nicollet 
here March 22-23. 

Gaudsmith Bros, top "Spotlite 
Follies" at current annual Build- 
ers' Show at Auditorium. 

Sidney Blackmer and Lois Wil- 
son here as guest stars with Min- 
neapolis Civic Theatre In "Chicken 
Every Sunday." 

Walter Branson, RKO western 
sales manager, and Harry Gittle- 
son, his assistant, and Sid Krae- 
mer, assistant shorts sales man- 
ager, here for Ned Depinet drive 
sales meeting. 

Three former local stock favor- 
ites. Marie Bainbridge, Ruth Lee 
and Grandon Rhodes, the first two 
named being Minneapolitans, here 
at Lyceum this week with "I Re-^ 
member Mama." 



Lisbon 



ood 

va^tion^*'*'*"** ^^^"""^ 

birSy!"'^^*',"*'^*'"^'*^"* ^ 

Jimmy Swinnerton putting on a 
one-man art show. 

Maj. Barney Oldfield in town 
op Army business. , , 

Darryl Zanuek soaking up sun- 
shine at Palm Springs. 

Tom Breneman taking a week's 
rest on doctor's orders. ; 

Lanny Ross to Las Vegas for a 
stand at the Last Frontier. ? 

Jimmy Wakely in the saddle 
agam after an appendectomy. 

Harry M. Warner easting for six 
weeks in Washington and N. Y. . 

Pat Duggan in from N. Y. for' 
huddles with Samuel Goldwyn. 

Adelina Norise, Italian actress 
changed her name to Ann Norris 

Charles F. Rodgers to Saii 
Francisco for Metro sales huddles. 

Sybil Bowan joined the "Hit the 
Deck" troupe for a summer legit 
tour. 

Dr. Harald Molander, Swedish 
producer, guesting with Jean Her^ 
sholt. 

Sir Philip Warter, British fihn 
executive, paying his first Vlstt to 
Hollywood. 

Billy Gilbert back in town after 
touring' seven months with "Choco- 
late Soldier." 

Ritz Brothers returned from a 
four-week hitch at .the Beach- 
combers, Miami. . 

Bernard Hart in town to scout 
new play properties for Broadway > 
legit production. 

Pearl Bailey out of the "Isn't It 
Romantic" Cast for 10 days with a 
dislocated elbow. 

Martha Vickers and A. C. Lyles* 
Jr., announced their engagement 
to wed- next month. 

Margaret O'Brien and her 
mother leave tor England this 
week for a vacation. 

Sam Katzman to Palm Sprhigs 
for two weeks before resuming 
production at Columbia. 

Alan Bridge celebrated his 45th 
year in show business on the "Un» 
faithfully Yours" set at 20th-Fox. 

Robert Wolff, managing director 
for RKO in England, in town for 
two weeks of confabs with N,* 
Peter Bathvon. 



Washington 

By Florence Lowe 
R. W. Knepton, Warner field su- 
pervisor, currently in town on D. C. 
zone audit. 

Sigmund Romberg feted at Va- 
riety Club, for whom he'll do a 
benefit concert May 11. 

Local station WWDC-FM spon- 
sors, town's first FM-equipped Dus, 
which debuted Monday (15). 

Grant Theis moves from CBS 
New York, where he did sales pro- 
motion, to sales dept.. of WTOP- 
CBS here. 

Charles Kessnich, Loew's rep, in 
Atlanta, and Jack Ravel, company's 
Charlotte, N. C, manager, in for 
huddles with Carter Barron. 



Rome 



"Best Years of Our Lives" ter- 
rific in the deluxer Politeama. 

Lazare Leon, Metro manager, 
back at his desk after three weeks 
in h.o. and on the Coast. 

Italian Opera Co. with Benia- 
mino Gigli in Coliseu, :4,0p0- 
seater circus-theatre hall. 

"Mariona Rebull" hailed as best 
Spanish film of the year after only 
a week In the deluxer Ginasio. 

Pierre Benoit, French author, 
and Mrs. Benoit returned to Paris 
after a month In Lisbon and 
Estorll. 

VirgiUo Telxeira, w.k. Portu- 
guese actor^ i^etumed . fcom Lon-^ 



By Raul Quattrocdii 

Gino Cervi, now playing in Uni- 
versalia's "Fabiola,"' will star in a 
film based on the life of Italian 
poet Giosue Carducci. 

Anna Magnani signed by Argen- 
tine producer Celestino Anzuola 
for a film to be made here under 
Roberto Rosselllni's direction. 

New flrstrunner, the Metropoli- 
tan, opened here. Belonging to 
ECI Circuit, it has a seating ca- 
pacity of 1,600 and cost 400,000,000 
liras (over $800,000). 

Conductor Karl Boehm, singers 
Maria Cebotari, Hilda Gucden, 
Paul Schoffler and director Fritz 
Schuh here from Vienna for per- 
formances of Mozart's "Don Gio- 
vanni" at the Opera House. 

New Aldo Fabrizzi film, "L'Al- 
bergo degli^Emigrantl" ("The Emi- 
grants Hotel"), started at Palatine 
Studios. Fabrizzi, who wrote the 
story, is also directing. Outdoor 
scenes will be shot in Argentina. 
Guartinteed Picture^ is pxoducmce 



By Larry SoUoway 

Tommy Dix into Paddock dub, 

Professor Backwards into the 
Blackamoor room. <,< a 

Embassy club, which opened last 
week, featuring strippers. . ' 

The Jack (Columbia Pix) 
Cohens extending vacash here. 

Club Ha Ha, "gay" spot in Hal- 
landale, shuttered till next season. 

Jerry Cooper added to Famous 
Door show. Steve Murray holds 
over. ,1., 

Billy Rose at Boca Raton with 
wife Eleanor, and making Miami 
nitery rounds. . . . 

George Evans, publicist, .m tojim 
for Jane Froman wedding, which 
took place Friday (12). '„ ^ 

Annual Miss Miami Beach Beau- 
ty Contest to be staged at Lord 
Tarleton hotel, March 20. 

Tony Martin into Beachcbroper 
for 10 days, March 19, with WllUe ' 
Shore and Weire Bros, on suppi^rt 

bill. r il « 

Club 22, sold after some of the 
ex-owners became involved in- 
news stories on hoodlum activities, 
renamed El Chico. Latin poUcy- 
continues. . , lu^, 

Jerri Blanchard into Mother 
Kelly's March 21, with Gene Bay- 
los, who ended 20-week engage- 
ment, heading for Coast engage- 
ment at Billy Grey's Bandbox, 
Hollywood. 

Buenos Aires 

San Miguel is currently rolling 
"Don Bildigerno," with gaueho 
actor Fernando Ochoa m the leaa. 

Argentina Sono Film is dicker- 
ing with Dolores del Rio for an^ 
other picture to be made on Ar- 
gentine sets at end of this year. 

Spanish director Benito Perojo 
is busy shooting final scenes tor 
"Sweetheart of the Navy" CXa No- 
via de la Marina") which Emelco 
has lined up as part of this years 

^"^Metro director Fred Wilcox, cur- 
rently in Buenos Aires on a hjn'^y 
moon jaunt, visited onetime Holly 
wood colleague, Argentine dnector 
Carlos Borcosque, at Emelco bW 
dlos this week. nyrnnuel 
Cosmo Film has signed Manuei 
Romero to direct /^The History of 
the Tango,-; scripted by FraMiSco 
Garcia Gimenez and 
Cadicamo, Tango composer Iran 
Cisco Canaro will provide musical 

Colon Theatre imunicipally-co* 
irolled opera hotise) in Buenos 
Aires has already put on sale sw^ 



score. 

>n Theatre ynunu-,.- - 
trolled opera ho^se) in Buenos 
s has already put -- . .„„. 
son tickets for six symphony con 
certs to be conducted by Germa» 
musician Wilhelra Furtwangler, 
who will saU from ^ London w 
Buenos Air«s late iu Apru. 



mmch 17* 1948 



71 




. EtijWBE ZOIXEE 
Riimer ZoUer, 66, one-time 
mSl director for station WCAE 
£ Pittsburgh ond a native of that 
5^,v died Match 6 iii New York. 
fJUt was a tutor and accompanist 
if v«ai stars for more than three 
SeK, and was best known for 
hfa «soi:iation with Edward John- 
iSn, operaOc singer with whom he 
?r rtdthe Far East, Europe and 
S. He returned to Pitts- 
huWin the ear^ 1930's and for « 
t&iught in hi* home town. 

After his graduation from 
mnsiwl conservatory, ZoUer went 
In' Europe for further study and 
*ade his N. Y. debut as accompan- 
ist for AUcc Vcrlet of the Paris 
Ooenu He also toured with Olive 
fr^$tad. ZoUer maintained a 
studio in Pads for a time and 
served as . organist and choir direc- 
tor of the Ameritan-British church 
In Leipsig. Still later he operated 
■ studio in Hollywood for motion 
picture players. ' 

MiAiUOKIE PATTEBSON 

Marjorie Patterson, 61, writer 
and former actress, died in New 
Yorlc; March 12. Although she had 
ntade her home in Baltimore, she 
£ad been stricken ill while visiting 
friends in New York. 

Born in Baltimore, she had gone 
tbiDstt in 1910 and made her stage 
debut there. She later appeared 
In W Herbert Tree's production of 
"fbif Happy island," in London, 
liiijL>»Uio appeared at the New 
^Bn«tr« there in "The Thief" and 
"Whft' >nd Superman." Upon re- 
• tlc^nt from the stage some years 
Idler ^ devoted her tlm^-to writ- 



executive board in 1935 and was 
elected treasurer in 1946. 

Surviving are his wife and a son. 



RUTH SCANLAN 
Rutli Scanlan, 52, wife of Walter 
Scanian, an ABC production man- 
ager, died Feb. 27 in New York. 

Mrs. Scanlan was active in show 
biz before marriage and toured a.s 



He was six times president of 
Omaha Musicians Local 70 (AFM) 
and served 26 terms as delegate to 
the national convention. 



CARL W. HIMM 
Carl W. Himm, 54, died in Chi- 
cago, March 12. He was film editor 
for Wilding Picture Productions 

there... 

He- leaves his wife, son and 
daughter. 



Tax Peace Spurs Prod. 



Continued from page 3 



a ' dancer with road companies, in wood, 
eluding "The Red, Red Rose." She 
met her husband, at that time' a 
popular recording artist and star 
of light operas written by Victor' 
Herbert, while a member of one 
of his companies. 

Surviving are her husband, three 
daughters, her parents and a 
brother. 



Mrs. Martlia Berry Eyre, 81, 
mother of Wesley Barry, former 
film actor and now an assistant di- 
rector, died March 11 in Holly- 



HiistMBd, of Enid Markey (CobbK 
legit and film actress, died March 
14 in New. York hospital, N. Y., 
after a long illness. Sister also 
survives. 



main in that country- for invest- 
ment by the majors. American 
iirms basicaiiy are to be permitted 
to remit only $17,000,000 yearly, 
plus an amount equal to whatever 
British-made films earn in this 
country each year. 

Majors, consequently, are ex- 
pected to groove the lion's share 
of their earnings into producing 
films in England. That situation 
appears extremely likely in view 



VERNON L, WALTER 
Vernon L. Walter, 53, 'head of 
camera department at RltO, died.' 
March 14 at his Balboa Island 
home, Cai., after a heart attack. 
He entered industry as newsreel 
cameraman and later became pro- 
duction cameraman for Mack Sen- 
nett. Fox, Pathe, Warners and Co- 
lumbia. He joined RKO in 1930. 

He leaves his wife, daughter and 
a'brother. 



Alfred Lafayette, 62, prop maker 
for years at Paramount, died March 
11 in Hollywood. 



be switched now. Bing Crosby an- 
nounced last year his intentions of 
doing a film in England, in associ- 
ation With Rank, which may lead 
to some fort of co-financing deal 
between Rank and Par. 

Warners recently finished re- 
vamping of its Teddington studios 
and is now renting space to indie 
British producers. Important an- 
nouncement of its own British pro- 
duction plans, thoughr is expected 



of the British, government's der j to come through this week. Mean- 



cision to permit American firms to 
keep money on all British-prO' 
duced films earned outside of Eng- 
land. 

Renewed activity by the V. S. 
producers in KniJland is also ex- 
pected to have a salutary effect on 



while, the Alfred Hitchcock-Sidney 
Bernstein Transatlantic Pictures 
unit has "Under Capricorn" slated 
to start lensing at the Teddington 
studios early 'this summer. Film 
will be released by Warners. 
United Artists has been hud- 



the potentialities of films made by j dling for the last several week.s on 



IH I.OVIH6 MEMORY OF 

EDOm MILNE 

Wh* PawNl A<MV Mipreh It. 1t43 

ChuMlf.. wmorlM were so bcaa- 

*BSH'«r« iilmiy* w By lieari; dear. 
" Yoinr Uviag Wife 

MONA MILNE 



BENJAMIN STERN 
Benjaniin.Stem, 84, hotel owner 
and formerly connected with film 
business,- died' in Miami Beach Fla., 
March lO: At the time of his death 
he was owner of the Hotel Ziegler, 
Fallsburgh, N. Y. « 

Bom in Poland, Stern formerly 
had been a picture distributor and 
also operated several film theatres 
in Brooklyn, N. Y. * His wife sur- 
vives.- ■ ' , 



JIMMY W. 0UNN 

Jimmy W. Dunn, 52, actor, died 
in Chicago, March 11. He began 
stage career in stock productions 
as a boy , and later was member of 
the vaude team of Dunn & Bemice. 
Prior to his retirement several 
years ago, he worked as a dancer- 
emcee. 

Sui-vived by daughter, mother 
and sister. 



iogi which included three novels, 
"A W«man's Man," "Fortunata" 
and "Oust of the Road." $he also 
BttlStAr«d a one-act play, "Pan in 
Amibtlsh," in which she appeared. 



' JOSIE DE MOTT . 

Mrs. Josephine DeMott Robin- 
con; .SO, reputedly a topliner 
eq.uegtrienne with circuses at the 
turn: of the century, died at her 
home. to- Garden City, L. I., March 
ta, She had been known profes- 
tioMljly as Josie DeMott. 

After having spent the greater 
part of her career with top circuses, 
shff was forced into retirement 
after injuries in a fall in 1910. 
Hawever, she came out of - retire- 
meitt In 1936 to appear in BiBy 
Hose's :production of "Jumbo" at 
the Hippodrome, N. Y. 



HARRY FISHER 

Harry Fisher, 59, Cape Town 
theatre manager died there Feb. 
11. His father was one of the 
founders of cinema sliows in Cape 
Town and from his earliest days 
Fisher was associated with show 
business. He was for many years 
manager of the old Cape Town 
Opera Hou.se. ■ - 

Wife and a daughter by previous 
marriage survive. 



• JOSEPH REITLER 
Joseph Beitler, 64, former pro- 
fessor and music critic and founder 
of the Opera Workshop of Hunter 
CoUege, N. Y., died in New York, 
Mairoh 13. 

Shortly Wore his death he had 
completed a book of music remin- 
iscentes, drawing upon his pers9nal 
friendships with such music greats 
as Oustaf Mahler, Richard Strauss, 
Bruno Walter, Elizabeth Schumann, 
Lotte Lehman ah d others. 

Surviving are his wife .and a 
brother.. 



ED FITZPATRICK 

Ed Fit/.patrick, 52, manager of 
Loew s Poll Theatre, Waterbury, 
Conn., died after a heart attack in 
that city, March 11, 

Before going to Waterbury in 
1928. Fitzpatrick managed Poli 
Theatres in - Worcester, Meiiden 
and Bridgeport. 
He is survived by a son. 



. .„ OENE I»ENNIS 

m$. Gene Dennis Von Herberg, 
<1, who was well known as a stage 
PsycMc as Gene Dennis, died in 
Seattle, Wash., March 8. She be- 
cattie known as a mind-rcacler 
While stia in her teens. Her first 
..HIP ">«tract was made in Kan- 
*M Citj/C 

^ was the widow of Jf. C. Von 
,«^^' Seattle theatre operator, 
WW died last December. The 
ia« ^^"^^ married in Paris in 
jiM5 and had five children. She 
«aa not been weU since the death 
.Wher husband. 



MRS. M. H. RICHARDSON 

Mr.s. Margaret Howes Richard- 
son, 71, co-toumder of the Cape 
Playhouse, Cape Cod summer the- 
astre. died in Dennis, Mass., March 
12. She founded the Playhouse in 
1927 in conjunction with Raymond 
Moore. 

Surviving are a. brother and 
sister. 



MARRIAGES 

Joyce Ankarana to Eddie Hile- 
man; Jr., Pittsburgh, March 7. He's 
the sOn of Pitt theatrical agent 

RaKna Zarova to Meredith Will- 
son, Los Angeles, March 13. She's 
an opera singer; he's a bandleader- 
composer. 

Lois Elliman to John Wilfred 
Findlay, Scarsdale, N. Y., March 
13. Bride is a former nitery singer 
and was- assistant program director 
for the Red Cross in the southwest 
Pacific during the war. 

Elizabeth Peet Carlson to Alvin 
Josephy, Hollywood, March 13. 
He's a Metro, scenarist, formei 
author, and radio writer. 

Winifred Heidt to Eugene Con- 
ley, Chicago, March 9. Both are 
with the N. Y. City Center Opera 
Co. ■ 

Needra Huntington to John 
O'Dea, Las Vegas, March 12. She's 
a model; he's a screenwriter. 

Jane Froman "to John Curtis 
Burn, Miami, March HZ. Bride is 
the vaude^tery singer; he's the 
pilot who rescued her alter the Lis-, 
bon Clipper crash several yeaurs- 
ago. 

Pat Dunn to John Sherwood. Las 
Vegas, March 13. He's aii assistant 
director at Universal-International. 

Paula Schuham to Bpbby Brown 
March 20 in Chicago. He's the son 
of George Brown, head of Para- 
mount studio publicity-advertising 
on the : Coast. 

Lois Peters to Robert King Mun- 
roe, Edgewater, N. J., March 10. 
Bride is a freelance film writer. 

Mabel Wayne to Mickey Camp- 
bell, Las Vegas, Nev.,- March 14. 
Bride is the songwriter; he's Coast 
rep of Campbell-Porgie Music Ct>. 

BIRTHS 

Mr. and Mrs. Al Singer, daugh- 
ter, Pittsburgh, March 7. Father 
manages WB Plaza theatre. 

Mr. and" Mrs. Joe Dubinsky, 
daughter, Pittsburgh, March 2. 
Father's a nitery singer and AGVA 
rep. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bob Sheets, daugh- 
ter. Pi Usburgh, March 4. Father's 
wilh .M Marsico orch. 

Mr. and Mrs. Max Rabinovicb, 
son, Hollywood, March 5. Father is 
a concert pianist. 

Mr. arid Mrs. Harold Steinman, 
daughter. New York, March 9. 
Father is producer of "Skating 
Vanities;" mother is Caryl Gould, 
vaude and cafe singer.- 

Mr. and Mrs. Milton Sperling, 
daughter. Hollywood, March 8. 
Mother is daughter of Harry M, 
Warner, WB prexy; father is prez 
of U. S. Pictures. 

Mr. and Mrs. Rennie Renfrew, 
son. Burbank, Calif., March 11. 



Father IS owner-trainer of Daisy, 



JOSEPH S. CONNOLLY 
Joseph S; Connolly, 89, died in 



British firms at U, S. boxoffices. 
American companies will undoubt- 
edly make use of British stars, 
writers and technicians. Their 
performances in American films, 
even though these are turned out 
in England, should hypo their ac- 
ceptance by American audiences. 
Thu.<!, when they appear in British- 
produced films, .those pix should 
enjoy much greater earning power 
in; the U. S, This factor, in turn, 
will again increase the amount of 
money American companies will 
be able to remit from their Eng- 
lish earnings. 

While none of the mtijors has 
completed <its British production 
plans yet, it's believed each will 
attempt to make three or four 
films yearly in London. Only thing 
likely to stymie their. plans is 



ii.JFH*' GEORGE BALZER 
nf r Balzer, 71, treasurer 

of i '^^•^ Ameritan Federation 
iLn i'^'?"*' died at his home in 
ieaneck, N. j., March 11. 
tp^^^^ ^**'»^d Local 802's prede- 
lat^^" defunct, in 1896 and 
acttL elected a trustee. He Was 
tonomv"JTP'''?°'»2 for the au- 
ta&„°* ^«»«al 802, which ob- 
Behl5 «*Pwate charter in 1921. 
'wcarae a member of Local 802 



west for 40 years and managed 
many of the early-day theatres in 
Des Moines. 

He is survived by a si.ster and 
one grandson. 

MRS. HABBY JOLSON 
Mrs. Lillian Jolson, 58, former 
actress and wife of Harry Jolson, 
vaude performer and brother of Al 
.lolson, died of a heart ailment in 
Los Angeles, March 13. She had ap- 
peared in vaude and musicals prior 
to her marriage. 

Survived by husband.. 



HARRY F, MUNZELL 

Hari-y F. Munzell, 61, radio edi- 
tor of the Chi Herald- American, 
died after a heart .attackJa-^-OaJt' 
Park, 111., March 13. HFIiad been 
with the paper since 1917. 

Survived by wife and three 
daughters. 

- RANGVAL OLESON 
Ran'gval Oleson, 73, retired mu- 
sician, died in Omaha la.st week. 



the RKO film actor 

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ephron, 
daughter, Hollywood, March 10. 
Pareht-- are playwrights and screen 
writer. 

Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Small, 
daughter, Salt Lake City, March 10. 
Father is an announcer at KUTA. 

Mr. and Mrs. Irving Hamlin, 
daughter, Hollywood, March 6. 
Father is an indie publicist. 
•Mr. and Mrs. Armand Baum, 
daughter, Chicago, March 11. 
Father is Chi manager for Mood 
Music Co. \, . 

Mr. and Mrs. Horace MacMahon, 
daughter, Chicago, March 15. Par- 
ents are film-legit actors, mother 
Louise Campbell. 
rTSnd Mrs. Irwin Lewis, son, 
Bockville Center, L. I., March 12. 
Father is in the continuity depart- 
ment of .station WINS, New York 
Mr. and Mrs. Edward F. Flynn, 
daughter, Schenectady, N. Y 



J RKO'S Aussie Lab 

Indicating the way the 
U. S. majors may invest their 
hlocked funds in England, 
RKO recently bought a film 
laboratory in Australia. 

Another miuor plans to sink 
the money . into a costume 
dbmpany. • 



shortage of studio space. Com- 
panies with their own studios, con- 
sequently, such as Warners and 
Metro, will be in an extremely ad- 
yantageous position. Most of the 
majors had large-scale plans for 
British production before last Au- 
gust, but were forced to .shelve 
them when the 75% tax was first i 
imposed. 

Metro, for example, had an- 
nounced a slate of four films to be 
turned out at its Elstiee studios. 
Renovation on the studios had 
been completed last summer, after 
they had been bombed during the 
war. With the tax settlement, 
those plans are expected to be 
rushed through immediately. Ben 
Goetz, M-G production chief -in 
England, 'is current^ huddling 
with Louis B. -Mayer and other 
studio execs on the Coast, where 
definite plans for production will 
be finalized. First film on the 
Metro .slate will probably be 
"Young Queen Bess," starring 
Deborah Kerr. Also in the lineup 
is "Secret Garden," ,.wbich is to 
star Margaret O'Brien and Claude 
Jarman, Jr., if Metro is successful 
in getting English work permits 
for its moppet actors. 

20th May Rent Space 

20th-Fox, with no studios of its 
own, may rent space. Eastern stu- 
dio representative Joseph Mosko- 
witz returned last week from 



the possibility of producing five 
films a year in England during the 
next seven years. UA hoard two 
weeks ago, meanwhile, nkayed 
plans' for the Mary Pickford-Lester 
Cowan unit to turn out six films 
in Britain. Indie producer Ed- 
ward A. Golden announced on the 
Coast Monday (15) that he would 
lens ' 

Hollywood's Upbeat 

In Hollywood, meanwiiile. It was 
reported that deals for the Nas- 
'sour studios^ iwhich bad been dor- 
mant for months; suddenly popped 
up with new energy; Other rental 
lots reported independent deals 
emerging from a liebulous state, 
with producers now demanding 
definite stage commitments. 

Gunther Lessing, ; acting chair- 
man of the Society of Independent 
Motion Picture Producers execu- 
tive committee and general coun- 
sel for Walt Disney PraductiDns, 
hailed the lifting-.of tiie British tax 
as a promise of stabQi^ to the film 
industry after intonths of indeci- 
sion..- ■■ ■ 

Lester Cowan is going tn Eng- 
land in about two weeks to make 
preliminary arrangements for the 
Artists Alliance program of six 
films , for United Artists, release. 
Walter MacEwen, co-producer with 
Jesse L. Lasky of "The Miracle of 
Uie Bells'," heads for Britain ncx.t 
month to set up sales. ofBties- and . 
to" . investigate the - possibility of 
making picturjes over ther^. ' 

Meanwhile, the local banks are 
viewing the British situation with 
the utmost 'calm. Bernard Giannini, 
veepee in charge of film financing 
J'or the Bank of America, declared 
the compromise in Ixmdon makes 
no difference in Hollywood. • 



Britain' s Helhiani 20tli 

Megotiatiotis for a iii0v^ produc- 
tion contrail Ite^eett Biit^- pro- 
ducer Mar^I ETciQmsiti and StOth- 
Pox are now in progK^ss- at- the 
20th liomeoffice, with 20th' prexy 
Spyro^ Skouras,. 20th International 
chief Murray Silverstone and east-** 
ern studio representative Joseph 
Moskdwitz $it^g in ^on the Itud- 
dles,^'"' V', ■ 

Hellman flew in' from En^aiid 
I4st week]; bringing • .with Mm a 
print of his latest produetion, 
"This Was a Woman,'* ^'ilm wound 
up lensing in England in Decem- 
ber undeir HeUman's :^xcelsior 
Film Productions' b^ne* and is 
the last to be produced by him 
under his partial financing agree- 
Coast huddles with production i ^^i^h 20th, pendmg the inking 
chief Darryl F. Zanuck and it's be- » "^w contract. 



lieved that British production 
topped their agenda. Company now 
has a releasing deal for four films 
yearly from Sir Alexander Korda's 
London Film Productions, but is 
expected to produce more films in 
England, such as the recently- 
completed "Escape." RKO current- 
ly is planning another 50-50 deal 
with J. Arthur Rank, similar to 
the one dn "So Well Remembered," 
for "The Captain Was a Lady." 
Firm also may do a third under 
the same terms, with huddles on 
this possibility to be held on the 
Coast next month among Rank. 
RKO foreign sales veepee Phil 
Reisman and managing director in 
England Robert WUlfE. 

Hal Wallis, who temporarily 
shelved projected British produc- 
tion of "House of Mist" when the 
tax broke, is expected now to re- 
sume his plans. Paramount Brit- 
ish chief James E. Perkins an- 
nounced recently that Par has no 
plans for British production on its 
I own, leaving the Wallis slate the 



"Woman" is to be released m 
the U, S. by 20th, following release 
of Hellman's, "Meet Me At Dawn," 
which goes out Into genecal dis- 
=(ri(iution next month. 



March 11. Father is program man- j only ones to be released by Par. 
ag^r of WSNY there. These plans, too, are expected to 



British Aimy Bans 

Contltmed ' from tnse I =ss; 



have until now live amicably to- 
gether in Palestine for some 1,000 

years. , 

3. The Mirfti of Jerusalem is 
vilified notwithstanding the fact 
that he will be returning to Pales- 
tine in the near future and that his 
attitude is,- if only noininally, 
friendly to Great Britain. 

"It is considered that the film is 
no longer applicable to conditions 
actually prevailing in Palestine," 
said the War Office. "The film was 
originally secured with the ap- 
proval of the Army to illusftrate to 
newly arrived soldiers the nature 
of the problem that would face 
them." 




P^Wff 



Wednesday, March 17, 




ill 







LATIST RiiEASES 

Mod. 157 *HONEY, HONEY, HONIT 

^HOLLYWOOD HOUSE PARTY BOOOII 

Mod. 156 *iT ALL DEPENDS ON YOUr 
*MINUEt IN G BOOOr 

Mod. 153^DON'T TAKE YOUR LOVEIROM MEV 
''HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY #2 IN BOOGIE' 

Mod.lSOnRUSTINME'' 




^ROMANCE IN THE DARK* 

MoImZ *THArS MY DESIRE'^ 
*""MORESOUE BOOGIE" 






A- ^i*^ ■ "Wi- 1 




S«*IMp# 'W^Wjsjy al; t^^^ Street, New York 19, N. Y., Dy Variety, Inc. . Annual subscription, ?H. .Hinsin eoPieih 

IbU^ISNl W Mixind. (sl«w UMttev December ii, 19iS. at the Post Onice at New Yorli:, N. v., under tl& Act % oifw& 



Annual tsubscriptton, $1Q 
w Torit, , N. Y., und< 
CiOPiranGHT, W48, BX V&BHEirS, IHC. .AiaCi %IGBra?S ]^ESK1I.Vk» 



SK centM. 



mr~ — 



mW YORK, WBDNESPAY, MARCH 24, 194S 



PRICE 25 CENTS 







ifothbaD Heef Rea% to^^^^^ 
With ShowsIMitaiyCrisB Arises 



w 



' Washington, March 23. 4' 

f 'j5.„S)tiow business' "mothball fleet" 
reaclv for action in the event of 
fo* n«Uonal eiftetgeney, 
•f X- Pres. Ttninan's pleas of last 
' i.,4«(5k for t;he revival of selective 
;->S*(vice until universal mlUlary 
truitiing c»n h« enacted, indicates 
lh»t th* amusement fleid may be 
' ; called upon to revive its wartime 

,■ '' Survey ot the situation indicates 
ihat the entertainment industry 
" cain be put on a wartime footing 
i>';ppon ihwrt notice,' ' 
*,.^rln the ,:£c<!ord8 of the USO- 
• Citap IShows is covtatited the mas- 
: Ut blueprint of wartime opera- 
- tlonii, and with the continuing oP' 
erttioh of Veterans HosiJital Camp 
' ihp^ii, the entire wartime enter* 
-■]"|itfnnient ilppar'atus has a working 
■• model. A nucleus of operating per- 
jfpnnel, which can be enlarged. Is 
jjiw' contained in VHCS. 
, ■ However, it's noted that VHCS 
^Vat all times keep its identity 
ind remain in operation even in 
the event of a USO revival. This 
■ jwga'nkation will continue to serv- 
, /^^jee the Army, Navj' and Veterans 
"^^aulmitiistration hospitals. 
.,i"-i'It's to be recalled that Pres. 
^ yniman, in giving USO it^ honor- 
discharge last January, told 
' tot Officials that it '.yas being 
franted with the proviso that it 
» would return to active duty in the 
• iVenfrof 8 nationAl emergency. 

jv'- 

: Yank Show Biz Steps Up 
' Drama as Orientation Aid 



, For Germany, Japan 

.American show biz, partnered 
Mw ttie V. S. Army's Civilian Af- 
'MrS Division, is gohig into the 
^ Occupied territories of Europe and 
A*!* at an increasingly hypoed 
P»«« to prove to our erstwhile 
mtmm that Yank culture can 
'^nd up against any corrtparison. 
• ''2"'^* the avowed aim is to wean 

t' -MWinany and Japan from exag- 
rated national pride which led to 
War II, the take for show 
.^»?t toQ bad either. In Ger- 
■ sloiie. where 30 American 

have been produced since 
a*. Wrs finale, royalties to Ameri- 
™.,Pl9yWrlghts now total a little 
. (CoMmued on paige 55) 



, Mk Dancer*s 8-Wk. 

[ , ^« Planes Atlaxilic Sol© 

i s^S^'^"^*"* perhaps being the 
!■ ' aatrt traveler ever to malce £ 
«■ AhoS London in a Pan- 
* iw«t + ^i-'^^'^ways clipper fell last 
Ki, eight-week-old son of 
S t"^"^°''« Jack and Made- 
New v^T^^ Moppet arrived In 
to \ew n'l Saturday (217) en route 

f andmSher ^^'^^ "^^^ 
I ^oflfi'i"^^ veteran, infant's father, 
A»n»r&^^ Uoofer, made his 



Oops! Wrong Alley, 

Sez Allen Re Tele 

Fred Allen has a number of 
qualms about video. Alien's re- 
marks are inspired by the an- 
nouncement by Frank Mullen, NBC 
v.p. in charge of television, that 
Alleia's was among the shows the 
web had hopes of eventually trans- 
mitting over istie two media. 

Allen is doubtful on mixing a 
comedy show prepared for radio 
with television. He thinks that it's 
bad enough for a comedian having 
to direct himself to two audiences 
(studio and radio unsgen) without 
having to pleasfe a third one. 



La.sCiov.DavB 
To Play 

Cafe, Radio Dates 

New Orleans, March 23. 

Gov. Jimmle Davis of Louisiana 
and Ills hillbilly band will take 
to the adr in Hollywood and pro- 
vide entertainment in a night club 
of their own, the executive dis- 
closed here Thursday (19). 

The sotigwriting governor said 
that when his term of office ends 
on May 11 he and his musicians, 
all of whom hold state jobs at 
present in addition to playing in 
his band, wiU supply music for a 
radio broadcast under a contract 
arranged by O. A. Harailberg, 
agent. It was Hamilberg who. ar- 
ranged the deal with Monogram 
for the "Louisiana" pic in which 
Davis starred. 

James E. Thomason, secretary of 
the state board of tax appeals and 
business manager of the Davis 
(Continued on page 63) 

B.O.TAXCDTPl?ADOE 
FOR M 

Waslilngton, March 23. 

Congress will get around to con- 
sidering reduction of federal taxes 
of theatre admissions in late April, 
laccording to Rep, Harold Knutson, 
chairman of the House Ways & 
Means Committee. Meeting today 
(Tues.) with Herman Levy, gen- 
eral counsellor for Theatre Own- 
ers of America, Knutson said that 
at that time the committee will 
give TOA's proposals "sympathetic 
consideration." 

In recent weeks, Knutson also 
promised Ted Gamble, TOA prexy, 
and A. Julian Brylawski, Warner 
Bros, theatre exec, that Congress 
would discuss tax reduction meas- 
ures. He has given no indication, 
however, what the attitude of the 
powerful Ways & Means Commit- 
Jt^'}? Iwai^A PVC.*J ?tep. » 



OFFlSlflL 
m 2i WM. 



Resisting inroads on its profits 
from a troubled • world situation 
and a natural tapering of easy war 
spending, the film industry was 
able to pull through wltiti a net of 
$96,000,0.00 Hot- 1947— -the second 
highest take in pix history. That 
amount trailed only the alltime 
high of $124,998,580 racked up by 
tlie seven majors (United Artists 
excluded) in the peak postwar year 
of '46. It represented a slide of 
23% from that figure but was still 
50% ahead of anything garnered 
in all the years before. 

The $96,000,000 figure— a virtual 
certainty after last ^week's $14,- 
000,000 estimate by 20th-Fox for 
flsedl and calendar 1947 — was 
garnered despite a 12% overall in- 
crease in the costs of films for aU 
companies over the nut in '46. It 
was also made in face of a 4.7% 
worldwide decline in film rentals. 
The buoytocy, in good part, was 
due to sturdy boxoffice returns 
from the nation's theatres which 
held close to 1946 grosses. 

Second money piled up in '47 
will undoubtedly hold for tiiis year, 
at least, first-quarter and later re- 
turns of a number of majors make 
almost cartain. First three com- 
panies reporting for fiscal '48 
show a scaling of profits varying 
(Continued on page 63) 



HoMpMn Is Over f or Mifofl^^^ 
Salaries; Taleirt iosl Prove Bi);Pii 



$4,000,000 Snared 
By 'Oklahoma!' Sale 
Of Record Albums 

On the threshold of the fifth 
anniversary ■ celebration of "Okla- 
homa!", Decca Kecords, ' which 
pioneered the disking of Broadway 
musicals with their original casts, 
has counted 800,000 albums sold to 
date. At $5.29 retail aM around $3 
wholesale, it's a multi-million dol- 
lar sideline business by itself. 
Decca prez Jack Kapp has a wlsh- 
I-lose bet with Rodgers & Hammer- 
stein that the album will sell 1,000,- 
000. It has averaged 100,000 sets a 
year, in the last couple of years, 
now that the show has settled 
down into a marathon proposition. 

Nearest bestseller to "Okla" is 
Decca's version of "Annie Get Your 
Gun," also with the original Ethel 
Merman cast, which has sold 200,- 
000 sets. Bing Crosby's "White 
Christmas" and Al Jolson's "Anni- 
versary Song" albums, both over 
1,000,000 each, are the toppers 
among filmusical anthologies on 
wax. » 



Top* of tibe T«5» 

Reiatt Disk Seller 
"Manana" ■ 
Betall Sheet Itasic Seller 
"Now Is Th« Hour" 
"Most EefltaeSteS"' Wsk 

"Manana" 
Seller on- Coin Ma<ihittc» 



if the Rains Come, This 
Ice Show Can Play Cal. 

« Fresno, March 28. 

"Ice Cycles" needs an act-of- 
God in, order to keep its date at 
the Fresno (Cal.) Ice Rink May 
8. Show is in danger of being can- 
celled out if it doesn't rain. Be- 
cause of the 'drought in the Call- 
foimia area, management of the 
rink must apply to city authorities 
for permission to use sufficient 
water to cover the surface. So 
far, the permit hasn't been granted. 

Water for non-essential pui'poses 
is strictly rationed here. 



Ml St. if m$ 
PixStockSince 
Brit. Tax Peace 



Anglo-American tax peaee has 
captured Wall sixeet's attention 
and a flock of surveys gauging the, 
settlement is currently being 
prepped by investment brokers. 
Leadoffi surveys,, circulated by Carl 
M, Loeb, Rhoades & Co., and Mer- 
rill Lynch, Pearce, Fenner & 
Beane see the deal as an advan- 
tageous one. Rhoades thinks 
"movies stocks, generally, are 
apt to remain undeir some 
pressure." Paramount, Invest- 
ment firm says, "should malnttdn 
its earnings best." 

Major benefits of the compro- 
mise, Rhoades tells its customers, 
lie in the removal of the tax as 
a precedent and in extending to the 
(Continued on page 56) 

(MS DUST OFF THOSE 
GOOD OLE BIZ W 

Nitery hiz around Broadway, 
especially in these post-Income Tax 
Blues days, reminds of the not-so- 
good ole days. The bonifaces have 
dusted off all the old alibis about 
blue Monday, rainy Tuesday, 
Friday nite college kids who don't 
spend, etc. 

Some of the bistros are thinking 
about combining two so-so shows 
into one good show a night; some 
hotels are dropping the relief 
bands; squawks about "what the 
20% tax does to keep customers 
away are heard more vehemently; 
and a 2:30 a.m. (third) show is rare, 
except only in the "hot" rooms. 

None the less, as with the film 
business, things have only "fallen 
off to good, instead of being New 
Year's eve every night." Average 
checks are much higher. Indicating 
grosses are of sizeable proportions. 
xh6 waiters are the biggest squaw- 
kers because when {be traffic isn't 



Vaude bookers and cafe oper- 
ators are gradually going back to 
the pre-war talent evaluations 
when the top price ;tor a' sock act 
without boxpfifice;dr'att^ht was $1,- 
000. If a performer was paid more, 
it was expected that he woidd have 
sufficient pull at the b.o. to com- 
pensate for that difference. 

In these days of generally lower . 
grosses, talent buyers, are return- 
ing to tliat salary gauge. However, 
they're upnlug the talent: ante to 
around $1,500. In most ' cases, if an 
act wants more, the agent has to 
prove it will bring in business. 
' As a result, there's a diminished 
amount of buying In the medium 
priced brackets. A booker would 
much rather pay $3,500 for an act 
if it's certain the money will be 
returned in Ifte form ojf mose ad- 
missions, than pay '4ji2i,a(K) for an 
act of doubtful boxoffice. v*pltte. 

Because of tliat, agents are ad- 
vising many acts to either mt sal- 
aries or stay within their present 
wage brackets. Otherwise, it's ar- 
gued, the performer will pric# 
himself right, out of the market. 
Argument is being matje irapiws* 
sive by the examples Of several 
perfonners who camot »et work 
(Continued om page 13) 



Margaret O'Brien at 13 
Yonngesl Metro Star 
Under Retirement Plan 

Margaret O'Brien becomes the 
youngest star in Metro's history to 
benefit under the company's retire- 
ment plan when she turns 13 next 
year. 

Under the M-G retirement plan, 
any star or executive is eligible 
for its benefits attef having worked 
for the company for five years, al- 
though the company may start 
building the fund when the per- 
son starts work. Miss O'Brien will 
have completed her fifth year in 
1948. Moppet star now di^iws 
$50,000 salary per year, with 
Metro sinking an additional $1,00Q' 
yearly into her wtirement fund. 

In addition to her salary, she 
also draws down sojne $250,000 
yearly from royalties on the kid 
clothes she endorses, as well as 
from radio work, her newspaper 
column, etc. 



Lasky-LoHy Influeiice 
Hearst OK on Sinatra 

On a Jesse Lasky to Louella O. 
Parsons to W. B, Hearst pitch, the 
Hearst papers have been Ordered 
to about-face on Frank Sinatra. 

What control this can have over 
Westbrook Pegler's attaclcs Is doubt- 
ful, by nature of the latter'* 
contract, although Hearst has been 
known to "cue" matters, as in the 
case of Pegler's reference to 
Mickey Rosner, a Washington lob- 
byist. The colwatnist aHeged 
Rosner sought to get tiouis B. 
Mayer ofiE from testifying In W<ish» 
ington at the l^homas «omn^tte«*M 



Sa^ Bend Drive Revmi$ Ao^nt 
^ i^w 1^; Fdms, Plidters Set 



Washington, March 23. 
U. S. Treasury Sayings Bond 
Division will use motifxn prctui-e 
and radio on a scale compar^e 
to wartimje in conneclSon with the 
bond drive opening April 15. Re- 
turn to the emphaas on sliow biz 
for the first time in more than 
two years was higWi^ted at Ihe 
three-day conference pa^ weelc to 

fsease the ways for Uie coming 
ecurity Loan drive. These are 
the developments: ' 

A "Security Loan" teaUer, being 

trepared by Pathe, will be used 
y all five newsreels. 
Motion Picture Assn. of America 
and Warner Bros, are donating 
"Power Betal&d tbe NafKoa," Ifee 
tifltpr wbidbi WB 'made for the 
jAssn. AS A public relations pic 
som« time back. It's being cut to 
15 minutes, "otJI get entirely new 
narration, and will be widely used 
over tile Ite, jdnn-eommercial cir- 
«uit. 

Thetne has been some taltc on 

fe^ rallies, but nothing has been 
ac on this' y«t. 

The following have waxed spe- 
cial 15-minute platters: Bing Cros- 
by, Bob HopSt Al Jdson, Fanny 
Brice, Burns and Allen, Red Skel- 
ton, Eddie Cantor, Jim and Marion 
Jordan (Fibber McGee and Molly), 
Hal P^ess^ iiS^eeat Gjldersleeve), 
■ 3a fitaffim-d, Kay Kyser, . Jimmy 
Durante, "One Man's ramily," 
'?3R-uth or Consequences," Burl 
Ives, AUxott and Costello. The 
weekly" platter series, which will 
be aon-sponsorafole. has already 
been accepted by 2,158 FM and 
AM stations fpr sn aU-time high, 
treasury disdioses. 

The Savings Bond Division peo- 
ple lieport esaeeUmt cooperatian 
iram tbe Hollywood studios in lin- 



Hie Dove Desceoids 

Hollywood, March 23. 
Customers in Mike '^oman* 
olT's eatery held their bieaUus 
when Louella Panmts ffiUI 
Iledda Hopper sat dO^i at'^ 
same table. • ■ ' ', 

The erstwhile feudists 
dunked Uieir vittles together 
like old palsie-walsies, all on 
account at Miss Hipper writ- 
ing a swell piece about the 
producer of "1 Remember 
Mama." She^ Harriet Parsons, 
Louella's daughter. 



Paul Hhnn's %ms^ 



To Atfred Nobel ^pic 

Paul Muni and 3'o$eph BiAhnian, 
in process ol setting up an indie 
film and play producing company, 
sail for Sweden, Friday (26) on the 
Gripsholm for a tbree-monlbs tour 
of the continent. Teani will ex- 
plore the possibility of producing 
their first film in Europe this 
summer. 

While in Sweden, they plan to 
open dickers with tbe Nobel fam- 
ily for film biog rights to the life of 
Alfred Nobel, inventor and Nobel 
Prize founder. The Nobel family 
in the past has flatly turtted down 
similar offers made by various film 
-companies. Muni and Bothman 
will -also survey production facili- 
ties is France and Italy. 

Pair will also o.o. tlie play sit- 
uation in England. They already 
have -an option on "Sunday Break* 




KEN MURRAY'S 

"BLACKOUTS t» mS" 
•1 CaiSiam Ihealw, fMlywwiA M. 
IMiptui XeiMiH-Cnter Wacfc 
*BJCi. AHfy COO" 

" 'BiU imdOo' is Ui« gceateat pic- 
tore ot its fclud I liiwe «v«r seeti." 

LOUfiUA O. nUBDNS. 



^ tdMt. Muiai Bwre in Che i ^ „ Ye^/uex by Emery RuImo and 
way of Mp far jj^or^ogs as re- , Miriam Balf, which Muni plans to 
«ltou»d, • awercr, diwaon ran l j„ ^^^1 fall. Rothman was in 
««it lOf money and mil mot iae able 



to make additimud platters until 
its -next budget Is okayed. 

Bobeit Cloyne, executive director 
of the Thftatre Owners of Amer- 
ica, was one of the two principal 
speakers at the banquet last week 
for llie bond workers 3Dnom tlie <8 
states, jodicaling the importance 
of pix. The oUier speafcei- was 
iPresideut Truman. 

S^retars' lof the Xreasury John 
Snyder jslso.pli^sged tea StdJ^iiwod 
last week, declaring tbat it had 
"^vm ^enerou^ of its titipe and 
tcliHit to Uie saA^d^ bond pro- 



charge of the Navy's training film 
program during Uie war. 



We D»ceil widi (he AnlbiRe 



-By Dob Hartmwa- 



Treasury plans to Iceep the plat- 
ter series igmng past 4be duration 
of the drive and wants to wax 50 
more stars. ; 

Cartoonkts Rube iSoldberg,- Gus 
Edson, Ernie . Bushmiller, Otto 
Soglow, Russell Patterson, Ham 
Fisher, BiU Holman and Geor«e 
Clark were in for the meetings and 



iUNOn(OfO€OLCAIlS 
ON PK£SIDENT TRUMAN 

En route to the Coast after a 
five-day with Robert R. 

Young, A>ntrolIing stockholder of 
Pathe Industries, in Falm Beach, 
J. "ArtJiur Rank will pay a social 
call on President Harry Truman 
in Washington today (Wed.). Brit- 
ish magnate will also lunch with 
Secretary of the Treasury John 
Snyder in what's said to be an- 
other dn a round of D.C social 
calls. 

British film biggie is a personal 
friend of Snyder whom he jnet in 
London through Nate J. Blumberg, 
Universai's prexy, and Dan Scheaf- 
fer, U board member and veepee 



will work bond material into their of the Pennsylvania Railroad, 
strips. Ditto on Walt JJisney 
Gliick Y#ung and other stiips. 



COLLABORATING STAR 

Zunch, March 15. 
First pbstwar appearance here 
in concert of Zarah Leand^, pic 
star who made tsome films in Nazi 
Germany, has stirred some con- 
troversy. Actress-singer gave 
concerts in- Ba.sle and Ziu-ich, ac- 
companied by Swiss pianist Jean- 
Marc Pasche, and an ensemble. 



Rank will sojourn in Hollywood 
with his wife until April 4 when 
he entrains for White Sulphur 
Springs to meet again witli Young. 
He's due back in New York April 
J 9 and sails for England aboard 
the Queen Maty Apinl 22. 



Real Names to Be Used In 
Prop Tdegrani in Pic 

In an effort to give an individ- 
ualized fiUip in each . locality to 
"State of the Union," ' Metro lias 
arranged for a telegram j-ead in 
the film by Spencer Tracy to be 



Mme. L«ander featured some 'signed actually by a w.k, fi:gurc in 



(uccesses from German pix in 
v'hich .she played, and also sang 
some numbers in Ftench. 



J«flr«rso«ian Awards 

To Fiimers, Literati 

Dore Schary, Dartyl F. Zamick. 

Clarence Derwent and Sinclair 

Lewis will be recipients of Thomas 
. Jefferson awards for "the ad- 
; vaneement of democracy," at a 
'. dinner, given by the Council 
: Against Intolerance in America, 

April 11. at the Waldorf-Astoria 

hotel, N. y. 

Others slated to receive tlie 
Awards at tlie same time include 
; Laura Z. Hobson, Bill Mauldin, 
I Konnan Cousins, Bruce BUven, 
i Jackie Robinson, Branch Rickey 
■' ■ and .-Ford - Mcft.. - 



each -area. Inserts were siiippcd 
to the various branch offices, 
\vhere they're to be pasted at Uie 
correct spot in the pid,ui'e by local 
exchange personnel. Branches will 
change the inserts to their local 
characters for all first, second and 
third run bookings. 

Names include mostly sports fig- 
ures, such as Ro.sey Rowswell, 
Pittsburgh baseball announcer; 
Univ. of Minnesota football coach 
Bernie Bierman and Cleveland 
Indians pvez Bill Veeek. Others 
run the gamut from used car 
dealer Mad Man Muntz, who's to 
be used in New York, Los Angeles 
and Canada, to pub1L«ilicrs Palmer 
Hoyt in Denvej- and Gardner 
Cowles in Des Moines. Each of 
the celebs, of coui-se, has granted 
Metro clearance for rights to use 
his name. 



Brifisk Accord Also 
A Break for New Faces 
Due for H'wood Tests 

Legit thespers on Broadway with 
a yen for Hollywood have derived 
one of the incidental breaks of the 
new Anglo-American film agree- 
ment. Faced with a viitoal "lock- 
out" from the film colony since 
last summer due to cutbacks and 
talent layoffs, legit actors are now 
finding the door islightly more ajar 
at tbe talent offices of the major 
film companies due to an eig^ted \ 
production upswing.- 

Talent scouts have been :^ven 
the green light to sign up prom- 
ising players with a greater leeway 
for error. During the past period, 
talent chiefs of the majors pat^ 
their inking activity on ice, beif. ■ 
leery of tapping anybody vrho 
didn't look like a surefire click. 
White return to the good old days 
of corralling hordes of players for , 
half-year "vAcattois" (with pay) 
in Hollywood is out, talent 'Soouts \ 
sxe generally easing up with Uft- ^ 
ing of the "no^wrong-guess" edict 
Anglo-U. S. pact enters - the 
Broadway scene like a hero just in 
a time to save the current legit 
season from being one of Uie thin- 
nest yeai's for a Hollywood crop. 
According to Boris Itaplani Para- 
mount's eastern talent chief, the 
season will probably average ivp 
to normal before It folds in June; 
Maybe itll be a bit less than aver- 
age, Kaplan said, but tite diifer- 
cnce won't be much. In any 
case, he said, you can't figure tal- 
ent scouting on a statistical basis. 

"This business, like all others, 
travels in cycles," ICaplan said. He 
poohrpoohed the pessimists who 
predicted .last fall that the legit 
season Avouldn't turn up with a 
normal number of productions, 
hits and new players. Tbe fads 
now show the contrary, he said, 
pointing up the fact that inking 
players for Hollywood doesn't vary 
much from year to year either. 

ArOiur WilU, BKO's talent chief, 
expressed similar sentiments in de^ 
daring that Broadway is continu- 
ing to send a idore or less steady 
flow of players to the screen. Willi 
said, however, that talent scouts 
are now exercising more discrimi- 
nation in signing players. The 
economy squeeze was a health}? 
corrective, he said, in forcing 
greater emphasis on the payoff 
qualities of talent and pejrsonality,^ 
not loolfs. The trend, Willi s»d, 
is now to sign players for specific 
pax-ts. 



s 



Rooms for Show People 

Denver, March 23. 
The National Jewish hospital 
liere (non-sectarian) plans dedicat- 
ing rooms, in the name Of the 37 
USO-Camp Shows entertainers 
who were lulled in action, specifi- 
cally for show people. 

Local liospital, which has na 
tional endowment and whose work 
is endorsed by many in Show busi- 
ness, feels it can thus compensate 
for the minimized services of the 
Will Rogers Sanatorium, Saranae 
Lake, N. Y., which has' been in 
need of greater financial support. 



(Prodwcer, RfEO BiMo Pictures) 
ffotlywQOd, 
About iO years iiflo a fellow 
«aiue to see va» and udJi. M« name 
was Dore Si&ms «nd th«<; be |h«d 
been reowumeiadied by aiurilier 
fellow named Moss Hart. I didn't 
know Moss very welJ at that time, 
?md I had never seen Ibis fellow, 
Schary, befiaxe in my life. I only 
knew that ISoms iaai$,hfA been a 
social diiseetor lor several yt^rs at 
various Cuti^l Mt. summer «aimps 
»Qd faotc^ <We didn't call it t£ie 
Bomdit Cimiit then— heaven f or- 
iMd — ^we were "artists!") 

I bad just signed with the Gro.s- 
singer Hotel & Coiiatry Club, and 
Ifais fellow Schary wanted to be 
my as.sistjmt. lie had been Moss' 
assistant at the Flagler House — 
also in Uie Catskills — and was 
hi^ly recommcBded to mf as <»e- 
ing very tSapable,. emotionally 
stable, and levfl-lieaded. Ttie job 
of social director in those days 
was swch a hectic on* that we were 
all looking for nice, calm, steady, 
levethe»]«a assistants. I had no 
prophetic ^ft and so had no way 
of knowing that 20 years later 
Dore Schary w<^ld stiJi be emo- 
tionally very stable and would 
wind up' being my toofss at RKO. 
But I was very nice to him any- 
way, and he got the job, and he 
turned out to be everything that 
Moss ..said he was. 

it seems that the reasm he was 
at liberty was tliat Woss had de- 
cided to give up being a social 
director. He had just written a 
play called "Once in a Lifetime," 
and Stun Harris «raitted to produce 
it, and George S. Kaufman' was 
going to direct and collaborate in 
rewriting it. Moss had a contmet 
to go to Camp Copake at $1,000 
for the summer, but he naturally 
thought it would be more advan- 
tagemis for Mm to stay in town 
and have bis play produced, The 
owner of the «amp was veiy angry 
at liart for trying to get out of 
his contract, and even threatened 
Mm by saying that he would per- 
sonally see to it that Mofs would 
never work again at any other 
camp. As Moss tells it now, the 
camp owner was tjuite right in ttals 
piediction. To tliis day Moss Hait 
has never worked at -ms summer 
camp or hotel. 

fiorscbt Belt Nostalgia 
I have crossed pai lis in my time 
with many othecs of the Borseht 
Belt Alumni Association. My first 
job was at Camp Log Tavern, in 
upstate N. Y. as a waitei- and 
second assistant on tbe social staff 
to a fellow named Max Liebman, 
Liebraan taught me the ropes. The 
next year I was a lull fledged 
social director at Camp Carlisle. 
After a couple of years there I 
became social director for two 
years at Camp Tamiment, tlie 
Pennsy Poconos. The summer after 
left Tamiment to go to Green 
Mansions, in the. Adirondacks, 
Liebman went to work at Tami- 
ment. He hired a young camedian 
named Danny Kaye and a music 
writer named Sylvia Fine. Sylvia 
aud Danny held liands at tbe lake 
front, ajtd the rest is' history. But, 
as we say in the movies, we fade 
out and fade in a)>out 20 yeans 
later; and I am the wj'iter and as- 
sociate producer on a liUlc $2,000,- 
000 epic daUed "Up in Arms." You 
guessed it. The stai- was Danny 
IfCaye, and llic special material 
writers were my old friends. M,'(x 
Liebman ("M,il4C Mine Manhat- 
ttm") and Sylvia Fine. To corn a 
phrase, it's a small Borscht Cir- 
cuit. 

I keep running into one of thei 
"boys" all 1Jie time. Only the 
Other dayt at tlie Bovcrly Hills 
Tennis Club, a little fellow came 
off the court and sat down next to 
me. ^ We had a cold drink together 
and talked about Green Mansions 
and the days when he was an actor 
and a sort of comedian on the 
staff there. His name is Elia 
Ka/.an. 

It would probably be easier for 
me to recount who didn't work at 
the Summer camps than to give 
you a list of timse who did. .lofanhy 
Garfield, iSid Caesar, Clifford 
Odets, and Phil Silvers conie 
{fuickly to mind. There are many 
others. 

I understand it's very different 
today. Regular jKud entertainers 
are booked to appear on weekends. 
The personal touch is gone. 
my day (sure niake? one feel old 
to say that!) we had very large 
.staffs, most of whom were pro- 
fessionals although unknown. We 
use to write, dii%ct, pi'oduce and 



aid: iHijdl of the shows. And after 
w*nte we- dbnced with ihe audil 

li^'^ typical New 

Yo* theatre -goers, and hey 
would. leU us frankly and ii> piai„ 
language what they liked and 
didn't like about the shows We 
leained a couple of things tliat 
way that have been useful tluoush- 
out tiie years. 

But OoHbling. in Brass Beds 
In one summer, besides writing 
all the orlglqal material, which in- 
cluded music arad lyrics, I pro. 
duced and directed and played the 
Noel Coward part in "Private 
IJves," the Joseph Schiltlkraut 
part in "Affairs of Anatole," the - 
William Gaxton roll in "Of Tlice 
I Sing," the little coloi ed boy in 
Paul Green's "No 'Count Bov," 
and the Siwncer Tracy )iact *in 
"Tbe last Mile," The audiences 
iweue very tough .and expected pro- 
fessional New Tfm'k showj!. 

"Phe fast tbat they taaew us so 
well perscuudiy had certain advan- 
tages and certain drawbacks, i 
was the fellow who sat with tbem 
at meals three times a duy and 
danced vrtth Ihem in the evening, 
and still, ivitta a little greasepamt, 
1 had to make them believe Uiat 
I was 40 diflerent cfaaraetets be- 
tween Decoration Day and Labor 
Day. Sometimes it worked out 
weir and sometimes it didn't. ' 

For instance, during my biiive 
presentation of Pendleton King's 
"Cocaine," a minor cataclysm oc- 
curred. This is the story of a man 
and a woman who put a quarter 
in the gas meter, open the jets, 
and get into bed to die in leach 
otiicr's arms. It is a very «ieri» 
torious, dramatic idea, and tiie au« 
dicnce let us get as far as open- 
ing the jets without any undue te- 
action. But when we tried to ptv 
ceed with the rest of it, ba>^ng 
one of the camp's prettier bcUcs 
playing opposite me, the. audience 
t>egan to see possibilities ia (he- 
play which Mi-, Pendleton King 
never dreamed of. ■ 

"Woo! Woo!" and "AtU Boy, 
Don!* slioiited a couple of rebels 
ax the audience as 1 got into bed 
beside -fbe lovely lady. The cry 
was tiifceu up, generously .spiced 
with a little unscdlclted advice for 
"bu.'^CBS" which we had- not re- 
hearsed. TTnable to go on with 
the pla.y, and shocked by Ibis ; 
raucous bebavior, I extricated my- 
self from the bed-clothes' and 
walked to the front' of the slage 
to indignantly lecture the audience 
on the meaning of culture and the.- 
eloquence of art. 

Evil Miaded Audienee 
"All right, go ahead," sbecp- 
i. silly said a spokesman for .the 
chastened listeners. Brcatbing a 
sigh mt relief, and glad that the 
ffpirit or right had triumphed over 
rowdyism, I started to clamber 
back into bed. 

"Woo! Woo!" they slioiited. 
Greatly discouraged, 1 ordered 
the curtains closed, and, to put it 
mildly, I didji't dance wiUi the au- 
dience that evening. I am saw 
T . learned some lesson from this, 
but what it is I am unable to re- 
call. Besides, in my pRiscnt posi- 
(Continued on pii^c 55) 



YAm im %mm 



Washington, March 23, 
Republic prexy Herbert J. Yatc* 
has taken possession of the first 
block of the company's stock whtch 
he agreed to purchase from Harry 
M. Goetz and an associated group 
of minority shareholders alinos a 
year ago. It amouMs to 22.J»' 
shares, giving Yates a lol^a' « 
687 of the approximately 1.8n,««w 
shares outstanding, according 1« * 
report filed with the Securities ft 
Exchange Commission here. 

Shares are currently seiiinB 
around $4, which would mal^^. 
value of Yates' holdings aboui 
$296,000. He also holds 900 l>i«; 
ferred shares and $25,000 ol deben 
tm-es, according to the SliC report- 
Deal with Goetz called for the 
slock involved about WU 
shares of Rep and 33.782 slwr« 
of Associated MoUon Pict'U'^f V. 
dustries, a holding cowipany-7-10 ^ 
put in escrow pencUng an uu. 
ment payoff. Final P'>.vJii«"U 
the first block, includmj? me 
387 shares of Rep and ^'^JXn 
closed amount of AM PI '«''^'*-"aV 
not listed on an ex'^-'f Jtl; iakiiX 
made on Feb. 27, with Yatei UW™ 
possession on that date. 



DON'T RUSH INTO BRITTSH PROD. 



fin Biz Warais to Tax Peace 
As Best Deal Under Bad Conditioiis 



Following a week of pro and con ^ 
discussion on how favorable to the 
American industry is the new 
iiclO-U, S. films agreement, great 
maiority of film toppers are agreed 

• that they got a fair deal. Feehng 
was summed up in the words of 
one exec this week. He said: "It's 
the best -we could get under the 
circumstances, but the circum- 
stances were pretty bad." 

A decisive factor in the thitiking 
of many of the execs was word 
brought to New York last week 
from London by Joe Seidelman, 

- Universal's foreign chief. He said 
there were well-substantiated re- 
ports in England that the govern- 
ment was preparing the machinery 
to halt all film remittances to the 
IT. S. as of the end of March. 

One of the points that had been 
(ited as a reason for not making 
a deal with the British to end the 
79% tax was that American com- 
''panies were still- withdrawing 
About $1,000,000 a week and, while 
this would be lessened as new pro- 
duct ran out, it would still amount 

, to considerable money. Stoppage 
of this flow completely would, of 
. course, have been a severe blow 

• to the U. S. industry. 

° Seidelman said the halt would 
. have been a matter pf necessity 
With the British government, since 
its dollar positibn is m\Lch worse 
than it was a * year ago or six 
months ago, and will be still worse 
a month or a year hence. 

While there's still no general 
feeling that the new agreement is 
going to make everything rosy in 
the industry, most execs were pret- 
' ty well satisfied after explanation 
' of details of the pact by Eric 
^hnston, prexy of the Motion 
Hoture Assn. of America, and 
Jatties A. Mulvey, prez of Samuel 
Goldwyn Productions and rep of 
(Continued on page l6) 



aising 



Groucho — -or Stucko? 

London, March 23.. 

Flock of British newspapers 
have continued hammering 
during the past week at the 
new pact ending the 75% tax 
stalemate. Papers are highly 
critical of the government, 
feeling it gave away every- 
thing to the American film in- 
dustry and got nothing in re- 
turn. Press attitude is typi- 
fied by the crack of the staid 
London Financial Times. It 
declared: 

"We couldn't have come 
off worse in the negotiations. 
it we had been represented by- 
the four Marx Bros." 



wa BE COSTLy 

s 





In Light of Tax Accord 

Twentieth-Fox prez Spyros 
Skouras, accompanied by 20th In- 
t(»tnational prexy Murray Silver^ 
«tp»ie, files to London Monday (29) 
for a re-survey of European condi- 
tions in light of the recent British 
tax settlement. Chief item on 
theh' agenda will be a onceover of 
the 20th studios outside London, 
Which have remained vacant since 
they were bombed out during the 
"war. ■ 

. Skouras announced plans about 
18 months ago for renovating the 
studios at an estimated cost of 
some $20,000,000. Plans were 
abandoned, however, when the dis- 
teibution pact with Sir Alexander 
Korda's London Film Productions 
was signed. With the tax settle- 
ment proviso calling for the invest- 
ment in England of the major 
Share of the U.S. companies' earn- 
higs in that country, Skouras has 
apparently reinstituted plans for 
20th to produce on its own there. 

From London, Skouras and Sil- 
vertsone will fly to Paris and then 
swmg around most of the Euro- 
pean countries. Trip marks the 
second for both of them In less 
• «nan a month. They went over 
several weeks ago to huddle with 
J- Arthur RSnk concerning plans 
Mr the merger of the Odeon-Gen- 
?rai Cinema Finance Corp. in Lon- 
*M • Return, date for their trip 
JMS time hasn't yet been desig- 



$imOOO in U. 
Loans to Korda, 
Rank a Poser 



Treatment of some $4,000,000 in 
loans outstanding to British produ- 
cers J. Arthur Rank and Sir Alex 
Korda under the British tax settle- 
ment is causing some pondering in 
trade circles. Stumper posed is 
whether the coin must come out of 
earnings of. British pix here or 
whether the British Treasury will 
credit that amount and free it for 
bank payments. It's believed that 
the transactions won't diminish the 
amount ■ going to Yank distribs 
under the pooling arrangement 
provided by the settlement. 

Rank's loan amounts to $2,500,- 
000 which he borrowed about six 
months ago from the Bankers Trust 
Co. Korda recently obtained an 
advance of $1,500,000 from the 
same outfit. 

Eric Johnston, Motion Picture 
Assn. of America prexy, said the 
answer lies in the difference be- 
tween remittable and remitted. 
Majors will be credited with re- 
mittable sums and that would in- 
clude amounts before loans are re- 
paid. Hence, Johnston doesn't be- 
lieve the $4,000,000 in obligations 
will affect operation Of the new 
peace pact. 



By IRA WIT 

Paramount has no intention of 
rushing into England in the wake 
of the Anglo-American tax settle- 
ment with a hasty and large-scale 
production program, Barney Bala- 
ban. Par's prexy, said this- week. 
What's more. Par's topper believes 
that any company making films in 
Britain "just for the sake of cash- 
ing in on frozen pounds" will be 
making a costly mistake. "It's no 
answer to reach for a lot of Brit- 
ish production and then come up 
with stringy pictures . .that won't 
pay off in the international mar- 
ket," Balaban told Variety. 

Commenting further on the new 
prospects in Britain, Balaban said 
that one prime question — precisely 
what uses frozen monies could be 
put to and'^^'hat regulations would 
he issued covering that coin-^re- 
mauts open. His company is cur- 
rently studying that very poser and 
until- a decision is reached he's 
chary on predictions. Rulings by 
the new Anglo-American film 
board on the uses of frozen funds 
apd regulations expected from the 
British government will really tell 
the story of whether the majors 
cdn proper^ go into "deficit fi- 
nancing." 

Put in another way, Balaban 
said, those rulings would determine 
whether frozen funds could be 
(Continued on page 13) 



Ex-War Secy Patterson Representiiig 
Skouras & Co. in Stockblders'M Suit 



'Borgia' Boffed 

Philadelphia, March 23. 

Heeding a request of the Catho- 
lic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the 
52d and Locust Theatre Corp., op- 
erator of the Locust theatre here, 
announced it would withdraw the 
foreign-made film, "Lucrezia Bor- 
gia," on Thursday (25), two weeks 
before its scheduled closing. 

The Locust's ads for the film 
read: "Daring-Sensational . . . re- 
vealing the intimate secrets of the 
naughtiest lady inkjiistory." Pic had 
been banred previously in Eng- 
land, Italy and Germany. Catholic 
Legion of Decency has dittoed the 
ban here. 



B'KLYN ZIONIST GROUP 
PICKETS BRITISH PIC 

"Black Narcissus," British Tech- 
nicolor pic made by J. Arthur 
Rank, ran into trouble this week 
in Brooklyn as result of stormy 
Jewish resentment over British 
tactics in Palestine. Pic, playing 
RKO's Kenmore, took something 
of a boxoffice licking following 
sporadic picketing by groups sup- 
porting the Irgun Zvai Leumi, fac- 
tion of the Zionist resistance. 
While the film was also playing a 
number of other RKO houses in 
Brooklyn sector with a heavy Jew- 
ish population, none of these was 
picketed. \ 

RKO has no intention of pulling, 
the film, company spokesmen said. 
While the gross on "Narcissus" 
was naturally hurt at the Kenmore, 
the dip was not too sharp, he 
added. Tliere's no present inten- 
tion on the part of the circuit to 
drop bookings of British films. 



Despite Commie Coup 
In Czecho, U.S. Film Biz 
Getting Its Money Out 

. Despite the Communist coup in 
Czechoslovakia a month ago, pay- 
ments are still being made regu- 
larly to the American film indus- 
try. According to a spokesman 
for the Motion Picture Export 
Assn., which handles distribution 
in Czechoslovakia for all U. S. 
majors, the Czechs have been "liv- 
ing up to the letter and spirit" of 
the agreement entered into with 
the MPEA in 1946. 

Only effect on Yank films that 
the Communist takeover has had 
is the banning of seven pix with 
stars who are allegedly "anti- 
Communist." Otherwise, Holly- 
wood's output is still No. 1 on 
the Czechoslovakians' entertain- 
ment hit parade. Last week, for 
instance, Universal's "All Baba" 
(Continued on page 22) 



BAICHIH'S METRO SCRIPT 

the U, S. for the past month 
u\ ^^'Jles with Metro's Arthur 
Hornblow, Jr., writer Nigel Bal- 

"Returned to Britain last week 
vo^i . Queen Mary. He re- 
cW f ^r'"^^ « scripting 

n„i Hornblow. 
Aw ^^'"' w*^" screenplayed Sir 
glexander Korda's "Mine Own 
2M^"?^F" "^Vie for release under 

. •Uin-JtOXS imn'-i"* ».~ — ~" J~ 



ahnfi,.i — imprint, said he may do 
S for the British pro- 

iet * yet not 



Blumberg, Cowdin West 
^ To Detail Eng. Accord 

Nate Blumberg, Universal prexy, 
and J. Cheever Cowdin, chairman 
of the board, left New York for the 
Coast yesterday (Tuesday) to ■ ac- 
quaint studio execs with the details 
of the new Anglo-U.S. films pact 
and with results of negotiations 
with U's English partner, J. Arthur 
Rank. . ' 

Blumberg and Cowdin returned 
from England last week. Foreign 
topper Joe Seidelman, who was 
abroad with them, is not making 
the Coast trip. 



N. Y. Exhibitors 
Cooi to Qiances 
Of Theatre Tele 

Despite all the optimistic predic- 
tions and hullabaloo raised about 
the potentialities of theatre, televi 
sion recently, the idea still reP' 
resents a vague, nebulous question 
in the minds of the majority of 
New York theatre operators. That's 
the general impression to' be gained 
from a survey of affiliated .and 
indie circuit owners allied with the 
the Metropolitan 'Ivtotion picture 
Theatre Owners Assn. 

Survey was conducted last week 
following a meet of theatre owners 
called by Colonial Television Corp., 
manufacturers of theatre video 
equipment. Colonial attoi'neys told 
the theatre reps present that they 
felt certain they can bring success- 
ful action against any tele broad- 
caster who attempts to prevent a 
theatre from taking a tele show off 
the air and transmitting it on a 
theatne screen as an added feature 
of the show's program. 

Question of legal action, which 
has been the chief stumbling block 
in the progress of theatre tele to 
date, arose several weeks ago when 
NBC threatened to sue RKO to 
prevent the theatre chain from 
demonstrating large-screen tele at 
one of its N. Y. nabe houses via 
an NBC show. RKO at the time, 
■(Continued pn page 22) 



Another ex-Cabinet member i« 
currently on the film scene. He's 
former Secretary of War Robert 
P. Patterson, who's reppiug for 
National Theatre execs Charles P. 
Skouras. F. H. (Rick) Ricketson, 
Jr., Elmer C. Rhoden and Harold 
J. Fitzgerald in six consolidated 
stockholder suits pending in the 
New York federal court to declare, 
void a deal whereby the quartet 
netted $6,850,000 through sale Of 
NT stock to 20th-Fox. 

With Skouras now in New York 
to steer the campaign of the Thea- 
tre Owners of America against 
juvenile delinquency, Patterson 
has accepted service of the com- 
plaint for the film biggie. Besides 
attacking the stock transaction, 
dissident stockholders are seeking 
to upset stock options, bonuses and 
salaries paid to Spyros Skouras, 
20th prexy, and his brother^ 
Charles, over a nine-year period. 

Named as defendants in the ac- 
tion which is pending for over a 
year are all officers and directors 
of the company plus the estate <rf 
Wendell Willkie, who served as a 
director before his death. Spyros 
Skouras, it's charged, "had abso- 
lute domination and control of 
20th-Fox" at least from July, 1943, 
-when the company reacquired 58% 
of NT's stock from Chase National 
Bank for $13,000,000. 
Skouras, it's further claimed, 
(Continued on page 20) 



National Boxoffice Survey 

Pre-Easter Lull Bops Biz — 'Gentleman,* 'Naked,' 
'Saigon,' 'Sitting,' 'Scudda' Lead Field 

Usual pre-Eastet lethargy is "Double Life" (U) shapes a mild 
making itself felt in nearly all key 
cities this week. Rain and storms 
in the middlewest also are proving 
added handicaps. However, most 
Operations are marking time, play- 
ing out extended runs or using re- 
issues to tide them over until 
Easter week. Reflecting this is 
the fact that more than 35 differ- 
ent frontline pictures are playing 
some 20 key cities covered by 
Variety this week. 

Flock of Oscars garnered last 
Saturday (20) by "Gentleman's 
Agreement" (20th) is pushing 
this picture into first place na- 
tion-wide. Pic opened poprscalo 
run in L.A. just prior to Academy 
awards to cash in on expected 
laurels, and is leading the city 
with solid takings. Similar plan 
was followed in Pittsburgh. It 
opened to smash trade in Seattle, 
upped its take both in Chicago 
and N. Y., and held n i c e 1 y on 
fourth week in mild Philly. 

Sustained strength on hold- 
overs is giving second spot to 
"Naked City" (U) although in few 
keys at present. "Saigon" (Par) is 
not far behind but mostly ex- 
tended-run. Fourth slot goes to 
"Silting Pretty" (20th), big in 
three keys where now showing. 

"Scudda Hoo" (20th) is wind- 
ing up in fifth position while 



sixth-place winner. Other good 
grossers are not scoring heavily 
with trade badly split among 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO), "Mating 
of Millie" (Col) and "Smugglers" 
(EL). All three should do better 
when biz retm-ns to normal. 

Of fresh product launched this 
round, "Miracle of Bells" (RKO), 
"Bride Goes Wild" (M-G), "The 
Clock" (Par) and "Mating of Mil- 
lie" ( CoJ) look best boxoffice bets. 
"Bride" shapes nice in Washing- 
ton and fat in Cincy. "Bells" is 
sturdy in N. Y. "Clock" will pace 
Detroit with sock figure. "Millie" 
did not fare so well, in N. Y. 
but is bright in L.A. And, of 
course, "R e ra e m b e r Mama" 
(RKO) looks in onJjasis of great 
showing being made at. N. Y. Mu- 
sic Hall. 

"Adventures of Casanova" (EL) 
will do nicely on initial week in 
N. Y. "Black Narcissus" (U) is 
rated fancy in Denver and big in 
Seattle, with Oscars credited with 
helping. "Robin Hood" (WB) is 
proving surprisingly strong for a 
reissue, b e i n g especially big in 
Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. "Bill 
and Coo" (Rep) did well on twin 
bill in Seattle. 

(Complete Bojco^ice Aejiorts on 
pages 12-13). 



M.V£RDOl[X IS REALLY 
DAMAGE THIS TIIIIE 

'Paris, March 23. 
A local court last Week dismissed 
a charge brought by bank clerk 
Henri Verdoux that the Charles 
Chaplin film, "Monsieur Verdoux," 
injured his reputation due to. tlie 
similarity of names. Bank em^ 
ployee was assessed costs of his 
action. 

With the exception of the like- 
ness of names, the court held that 
the real Verdoux had no cause for 
suit. It also ruled that merely be- 
cause llie film's character was a 
murderer, there -Kas noSioog to 
show that the plaintifHs respect- 
ability had been Ttaronjg'jL 




Trade Mark Rcgri.stered 
POUNDED BY SIMH SILVERMAN 
I'nbllslif rt M eckLv l>J' VAMKTY, Inc. 

Sid Sllvsrman, pyealOeiit 
154 West leth .St., New YoAc 19, N. T, 
U(>n.r\vO0(1 88 
till Yucca StiCBt 
Oilcnrro 1 
3f,0 No.- Michipan Ave. 
liOiidoii 

t St. Marlin s PI.. TrafalBiir Sq. 



SUXI.SCKIPTION 
Annual. . . . . .$10 ForeiBo. ... . .$11 

iiingle Copi«8. . . . . . , ..... ... .SS OentH 



Vol. 170 



120 



No. 3 



INDEX 

Bills 55 

Chatter 62 

Concert ,, 58 

Disk Jockey Reviews 42 

Film Reviews. .... . 8 

House* Reviews. . . . . . , ... .56 

Inside Legit , . . . > . 58 

Inside Pictures , .... . ... . ;17 

Legitimate 57 

Literati . . ... . . . . . . , . . . , .61 

Music , ... . .-..V. ..... . '. . . ,42 

New Acts. ........ . . ; .55 

Night Club Reviews 54 

Obituaries ... , . i ...... . . .63 

Orchestras . . .... ... , . . . .42 

Pictures 2 

Pre-Production News . , .... 9 

Radio 27 

Radio Reviews <• . . . 34 

Records 42 

Frank Scully 61 

Television !...30 

Vaudeville 51 

nAIIiX VAKIKTX 

(PubllBlied In IJoUywood by 
Dally Vftrlely, ttd.) 



iiliert Maitz Avers ITwmkI %iiis 
Have Restricted Adiw to The W 



Hollywood stttditss have been-t 
making a strong effort to avoid 
,«9i|;«lidUtig the WacJdist «f *U«8?« 
laibvennves beyond the W 
■writers, tlirectoi>s and producers 
they «eie forced lo ialoei "«nem- 
ployaMe" as * resalt of Ihe House 
trn-American AdiviUes Commit- 
lee's .Coast red liuiit last Ml. 
That's the opinion of scripter A1-, 
l>ert Maltz. iwmseU one Jfit "The 
JO," wJto has been ia ISew Yotk 
-for itae past. 10 days. 

KlAltz said iliiat the stodios tiad 
thumbed dowa House OnmnHttee 
Cj,^»lrma« X Paraell's TJiomas's 
smeeestion that tixey bl»casall 
ewryone on the 3ist of 18 aliegcd 
Conunuinsts he rarcwiated amnag 
Hiem. Even a nuniber of the nine 
wltae^es wlio were called to 
Washington, but avoided conlwnapt 
Sndictme&ts because tlwjy sscereat 
Siven an oppottimity to tesJily, 
akc now WH-kift«, MaKz pwatcd 
cut;. . 

Efe iqjflcay added, hewever. tbal 
«thers are not at prtseet em- 
ployed, but sand it -was- impossible 
to ^icU wiwtiicr it was betausc of 
Ttomas^ fingerpointing or the gen- 
erainy slack emplojtnent situation 
, cnirently. Maltz in no way con- 
douod the action of the studios in 
Macldisang •T.'he 1«," bat was aim- 
ing' to point up tlie •HnpopalacitF of 
tbie mora, into -whxfai Iw feels the 
UFodaci^' were forced fay an ef- 
fort of taiamaS to ialn control of 
^etau-e subject matter and content. 

. Meeds 1H»M«I. , 
Mslte, \vlTtO left TSTew York for 
Che Co*)* yesteatday KToHssday), 
mffi <0tsH *o raise -coin for the 
I'seedom fn^m Fear "OsBMftWbee, 
wKch -was ot^anized to baiVd up a 
Jund for the legal defense of "Tlie 
10." He estimated that it would 
take S100.0t30, ae^te the fact that 
Ilobeit W. Kenny, iCowner Cali-. 
fomia attorney sgeraeral, and the 
staff of six acttotaes's, plus re- 
«earchei;s, whom he heads, are 
iKoAansfor Busor fees. 
. JtiboBt W& fiOO Jus been raised 
Jto £»r, some of it «ia a secies of 
jda«etiii^ mA ooddtail parties which 
MaltK addressed ia New Yvdf. dur- 
'tng his stay. An addilional sum 
•will be realised oo royalties of ttte . 
"book, "Hollywood on Trial," which . 
tells Hie stocy of The 10" and uiJl 
be published by Booi <b Gaer, N. Y., 
i^inil 10, the daiy the fiist era-; 

Sane of the money, Maltz ex- 
iplained, 3s needed for expenses of 
several of the. 10 nuen, whom be 
said were '^ol&e" «s a result of 
quantities of coin spent in their 
wra defense and inability to get * 
Job. He declared there was a 
public mteundeistandine" that ;aU 
■ot the 10 i»wa» weJl-Jiieeled HoUy- 
woodites, while in tact only about 
five wete actually on reenter studio 
paytiolls.'^ As a t<esult, he said, of 
the- six of the 10 who owned their 
■own homes, lour ave trying to -sell 
them now to raise coin to live on. 



Hollywood, Mareh ZS. 
Metfo houglit the screenplay of 
"Little Woiaen" from David, O. 
Stride in a pacJca^ deal involv-. 
ing iset plans and all the data re-j 
quked by a picture ready to shoot i 
The story itself has bfeeti In pobllc 
domain ifior years. 

SfSmkSt bad pUtnned the fxlm as 
a starrer for Jennifer Jones but 
Metro bought it with June AUysoo 
in mind for Ihe top sptiL I>rodue- 
tifm ls:sl«ted to start la June. 

HC^joiGe' 
daimiHSait 



Sacramento, Mi«tt)ji 23. 
ISTew independent film «jompwiiy, 
A. F. A. Prodnctiffliis, Chsd iM»r- 
poration papws bare irtth Iwwis 
Hay ward- a« pvexy, Bdgw Q. IJiffl^r 
as veepee and Samnel Reisman as 
counsel. 

Corapaajr is oapitaliBedat j{tl.<MW,- 
OOtt, 1*0 initials stand for Asso- 
ciated SSUm Aitists, 



Loretta YiRiig a Dark-Hone FauKr 
As 2lhli Oscar Derlqr Rons to FwB 



lioUsmrood, li^cAi 23 
AiSdavit of prejudice against 
federal Judge l.eon R. Yarikwich, 
asking that he disguaHfy himsell 
from the suit brought by LesWtir 
Cole against' Metro lor reinstate- 
ment, was filed. !«' the studio on 
grounds that the Judge criticized 
the suspensions of Cole and other 
members of the "Hollywood 10"; 
indidied for coaten^ of Con-^ 
gress. Mfftro ^tudio^s sftatemeat, 
signed by Mannix, said, "In course: 
of discussion about hearings be-; 
fore said oonunittee, he said in 
his ojinioh there was no le{,«l 
justification for suspension or dis- 
itjhacge of persons indicted by tlae 
^dios: He said he hoped none -of 
the oases arising from such sus- 
pensions or discharges came bo-' 
fore him tout if they did he would' 
have no attieiTcati^ but render 
^i^giraeid: for slaitttifEs in svicli 
aetaofis and «jat if he were at- 
torn^ for sueSj plaintSlfs he oould 
TeeoTCT judgment in their favor 
for. millions of dollars." 

Affidavit- states that these re- 
macte tnade during the course of a 
sooal evening in presence of sev- 
eral persons, and one of them, 
James Swman, a Mth-Fox em- 
ploye, 4old sftiriBo ^iScials. 

Earlier in lUbe !H>aring, yxcd&t 
Yankwidi. expressed the 'opinion 
that CoUe did not refuse to answ<^ 
tOontinited on page 26) 



hnlfel Issee in 
Aiiotler OX. Appeal 

Wa^iiiUltoa, MsKch 23. 
The 10"— the j^up of Iloliy- 
woodites who are slated to £o on 
trial April 10 for refusal to tell the 
House Un-Amei1«aa Activities 
Committee whether they're Com- 
munists— TVill file an amteus curiae 
iliiend of ISUt oourt) brief in tlie 
suit of «he Joint Anti-Fascist BeSu- ; 
gee CominltitM ndiich wbs «tedded 
by tlie U, •circuit oouit of ap- 
pends hexx! last week. Cimiit oourt 
Tided tiiat the Un-Anioricaa com- 
mittee has the night to put ques- 
tions to a witness wiiich, if an- 
swened, may i^eveal he is a <3<Hn- 
muoist. . " 

That is pnscisely the ijiocstion 
that must be detecmincd by the 
U. S. Supreme Count in the case 
of "The 10." But, siiKie the Ai*i- 
f'ascist IQidjagee Comnutitee suit 
will hit the high court first, Robert 
Ken«y, eounsel for "Hie lO,'" fears 
tliat an opinion «iU be hamied 
down before he has a chance to in- 
terjert an apguroent. T^us the de- 
cision to ifiie aa amicus curiae brief 
in ttte otber ease. 

Kenny' is rep«Mrtedly bumed be- 
cause the voling eweerahi^ »Kes- 
sity- of answering the "'A** you «. 
Coramie?" qnedMHii was entirely 
extraneous to the Issue in the Anti- j 
Fascist OHnmittee suit whidi the 
I circuit court decid«d. He feels that 
it was pt^ in by two of the judgK 
(the third dissented) entirely 
gratuitously. queslion at issvx 
did not deal with personal affilia- 
tions, bat the refiKal of the AoM- 
ITasci'st. Committee officers (w!m» 
include ' author Ho^naurd Fast) to 
KOotrtinued on page 22) 



Olynpic Fril-Lei«t1i Be 

Zurich, March 15. 
A full-length ieatuxo on the 
Olympic wint«r j^me« at St. 
Moritc, with comment by Swiss 
radio gabber Vico RtgasSl, has 
been produced by Condor <llm, 
Zurich, and Svenslt Journal film, 
Stodkhohn. Film is x'unfling in 
Sweden with great success and 
just bowed in ^rich at a £i'8t run, 
S. Arthur Rank Organization has 
the exclusive on the forlhcominf 
summer Olympic same^. 



MIS STATIC MARHET 

Market ibr screen rights to nov- 
els took a spurt this week, after 
months of doldrums, with 20th-Fox 
'making two purdnses. They were 
"Gay Pursuit" by Elizabeth Cadell, 
lor wiiich the studio paid $27J500, 
and "The FrifhUmed ChUd" by 
Bana Lyon, on which the price was 
♦30.000. 

"Pursuit" is a comedy-romance 
with an English baclsground. It will 
be piiblisbed by Morrow in the Sail, 
foliowing condensation in the 
Indies Home Journal. '"Child" is 
a psycholo^gical mystery. It's slated 
Sot publication next month, by 
Harper's. 

Film companies since the econ- 
omy wave set in last summer have 
curtailed their purc3iases of .screen 
rights to novels and pJaj's to almost 
notliing. They've all been di-awing 
heavily on material that has parked 
'<wi their slielves .since brigliter 
iSays, when anything that didn't cre- 
ate top enthusiasm in the studio 
was given the brush. 

In addition to the lack of book 
and play purchases recently be- 
cause of economy,' story eds have 
feeen virtually unanimous in 
squawking that published material 
this past winter has been the weak- 
est in memory. They attribuW it 
'largely to a postwar reaction. 



Washington, Marcli 23. 

Gifts i^ome of their com^myts 
$5 l)«r oonuBOa %y the <hnee War- 
ner brothers featured a duQ mooth 
of traasacfkms by film industry 
-inaders itvam Sec 11 ia Jan. 10), 
accondins to the i«{)ort made pub- 
lic Friday (19) by the Securities 
Exchange Commission. 

Albert Wainier made a gift of 
i,dOO shares, leaving him wi^i 
430,000, plus another 21,000 in a 
trust Amd. Sans Wamer donated 
1,7^ sSiares, hut still owas 293,250, 
plus IMOO in a tnist fund. Jack 
Warner made a gift of 2,000; at the 
end of the period he still owned 
42S,<X)0, plus 21,500 in tru^. 

Oaniel M. Sheaffer," of Pbiladel- 
lAia, sold 1,500 shares of his Uni- 
vtss^i Ketnres common, Matty 
F^OK,. ^raillam A. Scully and Jos^h 
A. SeUteinqai cacb took up 3,400 
conmnoa sinek warrants of the 
same company, Spyros S&ouras 
.got a little i>Iock of 10 shares of 
^h common via a £tock distribu- 
tion and 23 shares of preferx>ed by 
the .same process. IJuring the 
month, l!iled Depinet unloaded 30O 
Shanes of fiKO %\ common, but 
held on to ^,700. i 

There was a trifling .toansaetioa 
in Republic Pictures. Walter ■ 
Titu*, .Ir., acquired 250 shares of 
common, and also repotted that 
during November he got 100: 
shares of tommon. 

Austin Keough sold 500 shares 
of Paramount common, leaving 
himself 1,5©0. Maurice Newton 
sold 25 shares, and Stanton GrilTis' 
T. G. Ijid»uche trust reduced its 
Paramount holdings from S.OOO 
down to 4,S00 shares. L. H. Gol- 
dcnson and his wife reduced tttieir 
Jioldings by SOO shares. 

J. fiobert Rubin soSd 100 shares 
of IXMCw's no par common; Loew's, 
Inc.. aoqcHired SO sliares of Loew's 
Boston Theatres. Abe iUontague 
soldi aOO siiares of C'Olumbia no pair 
common, leaving hina ^,1SSL 



Washington, March 23. 
^ House labor .-suWemmittee is 
trying to make up its mind 
whether to go immediately into the 
question of alle;ged perjury by 
Herbert SorreU,- head of the Con- 
ference of Studio XTziions, or to 
wait until the condusion of its; 
investigation of the studio j^iiloes. 
Another set of sessions on the sub- 
ject op«ns here May 17. 

Ori^nal idea was to |[et this 
matter to the full House labor com- 
mittee within the next two weeks. 
However, SorreU, who has denied 
he is or ever has been a Com- 
munist, now wants lo return jmd 
testify in answer to charges made 
by John St. BobinBon. Latter' told 
the condttees last week that Sor- 
reU admitted membership in tlie 
Commy party in 1037 and also 
flawed a party membership card. 
The FBI has also identified Sor- 
rell's handwriting on an alleged 
1937 membership card made out 
to Herheit Stewart. 



'4? Oscar Ddiy 

By GBOSGS; PBAIR 

Hollywood. March 23. 
^Hollywood's ruling passion today 
i.s retrendiinent, or ta^irteaing of 
the bankroll., and the 20th Qscai- 
Derby ran ti'ue to form. • It vras; 
the rao^ un-HoJ3ywoodish function 
since the boys nude motion pic-, 
tures on the cuff in GiifRth Park.; 
Not a single searchlight pointed a 
linger at tite in a town where 
searehli^Dte are tdilixed to open 
used car lots, hamburger haciendas 
and shoe shine stands. Except Hor 
a re^ment of l«os Angeles gen- 
dannes and a bevy of bleacher fans 
across the street, the Shrine Audi- 
torium miglat have been mistaloen 
for the scene of the annual conven- 
tion of the Ntct 9c Sott Mammae 
tarers Associatioa. It was an oc 
casion of dignity and economy., as 
befits these p»ious Hmes when 
efficiency executioners _prow*l tlie 
studtos rounding ap actors, writers, 
secretaries and grips to feed lihe 
financial guinotine. 

'The coin saved by dunking Oie 
frills, farbelows and fixeworkS; 
amounted to 13 grand. It might be 
used to slap an extra coat of £«ld 
on the Oscar ^tueltes, whicfa 
hace a liabit of losing their lustre 
in less time than it takes the bally- 
hoo to bog down. 

Fireworks, among the artists 
failed to detonate and tempera 
ment was kept well in hand, 
year ago there was a display of py- 
rotechnics when Olivia de Haviland 
and Joan Fonttdne enacted a touch- 
ing family scene, biid; this time tlie 
climax was a masterpiece of under- 
playing by Rosalind Russell. In aU 
the winter liocdcs Boz had been 
tdayed as the £avonte. There were 
supposed to be winter books in 
Reno and Las Vegas but they all 
turned out to be flacqueroos. In 
Reno and Las Vegas where betting 
is reooienlBed as a flatawaril funeUos^ 
aloas with divorce and how muc^ 
chance has the sucker £ot to maloe 
a 10 i^ hard way, tbe business was 
that Roz would romp home in the 
bit. Up and down Vine street and 
along HoUyvwod Blvd., she was 
XCtHoitimHsd fm page X) 



By MHCr 

HoUywood, March 2| 
The "Family Albm" 
iaie mh MrOiday oC the 
of Motion Picture Arts and Scl 
ences Awards was maintained 
ttirou«faout Uie program at the 
Shrine Auditorium Saturday niRht 
f20), even to the final, climactic 
surprise twist that could occur in 
any ifiaroily and the gentle but 
pointed crltlciian from one of th« 
family's elder plMars, IJarryl F 
^^anudk. The surprise, of course' ' 
was the bi-aid-«f-hair-breadth vie-' 
tory of Loretta Young, who copped 
top honors as the Best Acliess of 
the year for her performance as" 
the Swedish immigrant girl in 
RKO's "The Faimer's Daughter." 

The verbal spanking was admin- 
istered by Uncle Darryl as he 
stepped lo the stage to ixxcive the 
award for having produced Qie 
Best Picture of the Year, "GeoHe- 
inan^s Agreement." Zanuck clai^Kdi 
the statuette fondly but minced no 
woixls. 

He told the crowd of almost 
7,000 people that he stm felt that 
bis un-Osc«red "Wilson" had been 
deserving of the accolade but de- 
clared "this award wiU make up 
lor previous disappointments." 

The tnsitinK cousins at tJie fam- , 
ity affair, to wbich a few tbousamd 
gawldng outsiders ivcre invited jtt 
$3.60 a throw, were greeted l»s* 
pitably wiUi & total of six awards 
going to the English-spealdng 
members of the family from across 
the sea and one, a special tropliy, • 
going to the Italian relatives -who 
made *'Shoe Shine." The Itali«i$, 
unfortunately, were not u^pre* 
sented. But Jean Simrooos was ik 
hand as the delegate from Britaun- 
and alter her first appearance on 
stage the audience was hoping 
Britain's fdm industiy would swesp 
the re.^ of the awards, Just to Jieep 
IVIiss Simmons on stage. Coming 
as the first oiHcial representative 
since the two branches ol the fam- 
ily patched itp theu' financial dif' 
fereaces, -She served as„the best 
"ambassadress of good will" that 
cousin J. Arthur Hank could haw 
sent over. And up in the gallery, 
more than one long-suETcring hus- 
band of a film-conscious frail 
perlasd up and began to take a 
little more notice of the pioceett- 



Hany Wsunmr, Pearson 
.R«cdv€ Italuui Hoomr 

Washington, March *23. . 
Harry Warner, lor his woik as 
national rihairman of the Friend- 
ship Train committee, last Week 
received the Order of Solidarity, 
Firs* Class, from Italian Ambas- 
sador Alberto Tardhiani for ef- 
forts on behalf of the Italian 
people. 

This wa$ part of a big day «a>d 
evening viuwh Drew J^Htrson and 
Warner ■shared here, climaidng in 
ceremonies at the Watner theatre, 
company's D. C, showcase. Thei-e, 
for an invitation audience, includ- 
ing top Government and diplo- 
matif i)ras.s, there was a screening 
of ""Thante, America," docuraen- 
1ar>' made i»y the Italian people 
in appreciaJaoa srf the food trains; 
and "Friendship ,Train," a com-, 
ptlatioa-'iif Warner-Bathe reels on 
tiae same subject. Later in the 
evening Warner and Pearson were- 
guests at the Italian Embassy. 
They were also gieeted duiing the 
day at the Fcencti Embassy. 

Top speakers at the Warner the- 
ater were Tatvhiaai and Secretary 
of AgriewMwe distcMt P. Ander- 



L.A. to NX 

Art Arthur 
Chai-les Barry 
Irving 'Berlin 
Sidney Bennsteia 
Steve Brody 
Alex Coljen 
Claud^te Colbert 
Bichard Day 
Sam Rembow. Jr. 
Chester Erskine 
Georii^a GiiMiS 
Billy Gilbert 
Leon Ghiclmtan 
Edith GoeU 
Cy Howard 
Eiia Kassan 

l>r. Herbert T. Kabnos 
Al Lane 
Peter LawXord 
Paul Laaarus, Jr. 
Claude McOow 
Paul O'Brien 
Victor Peers 
Herb Pettey 
Abraham Polonsky 
Eleanor Powell 
Edward IJaftery 
.Icnia Kelssar 
Leah Salisbury 
Thorton Saivmt 
Gradwell Sean 
Spencer Tracy 
Cecil Whiting 

Europe to M.Y. 
Jack Bu<±aaan 
Oanay Kaye 
Viifiinia Wiata» 



mgs. ■ ■ 

The British win*, for art d^ee- 
tioa, «et decotatiDn and cinemato^ 
raphy in both black-and-white ano 
-(Ooatiaued on page 24) » 



mmm at 

Hollywood, March 23. 
Bay HeiBdorf has been naKed 
Waamers' musical director, sbm*^^ 
ing Leo F. Forbstein, who died last 
week. 

.A gmduate of Troy Conservalory, 
he worked In N. Y. for many years 
Mupiwvising aocompaniments Jo» 
silent ^etores, coming here jflwr 
the adweat flf sowad. . IfciadOT 
scored all GoWwyn 
1937, when he inked ^J^*^^^ 
longtermcr. He won an O^J^ 
scoring "This Is Ihc.Array m 1J«. 
He condaded the Acadeany orehes 
tra Saturday night laoj. * *lf 
Forbstein had been scheduled; »»« ^ 

N.Y. to L.A. 

Monty Banks 
Nate J. Blumberg 
J, Oheevcr Cowdia 
Midiaei Davidson 
Gracie Fields 
PnuJ Franklin 
Clark Gable 
Ezra Goodmaa 
Boris Karinrff 
Sam Moope 
Susan Peters 
J. Robert HaWn 
Steve SlessiBger 
George Stevens 
Howard StrickUng 
Hal Waliis 

N.Y. to Europe 

Nick Omdos 
Paul Graetz 
Jacques Grinieff 
Kay Hairison 
Hutb Kanin 
Margaret O'Brien 
WiJliam Baney 
.Martha Base 
Maigery Rhodes 
Mr, * Mrs. Jacob bcgai 
IJeam SiJitaky . 
George Woodham-S«'rt» 

Bernard Sobeh 



X 



CRIX CLICKS SELDOM B. 0. PIX 



British Setdemoit Hasn't Eased 
. Bank Loans to Indie Producers 



British taK settlement haq in no 
wa7 served to loos»n up the tight 
iituation facing Indiie producers 
Cng for financing. With few 
iSions, Sanks on ' both coasts 
ire adopting a wait-and-see policy 
Sfore they open^t^eir coffers 
i^aiA, feeling that the British tax 
Impasse was only one of a number 
flf factors making film financing 
unattractive at this time. 

A severe blow to indie produc- 
tion is indicated In reports reach; 
Ing New York banks that the in- 
dustry's two principal sources of 
fot-money have all but completely 
pulled in their horns. George 
yousling, v.p. in charge of film 
loans for the Security-First Na- 
tfonal, of Los Angeles, has inr 

• formed associates in New WYork 
th9t he'll make practically no loans 
ptil fall, while the Bank of 

. kamicA reportedly iis lending 
hads to "old friends onlf." 
.. Qpthdm institutions which have 
Iteen. a source- of indie coin, such 

f[ Bankers Trust and Continental 
snk, reiterate that they're still in 
the market to make good loans, 
bat the setups presented by the 
producer will have to be excep- 
tiftnat and the promises o^ econo- 
my drastic. One bank v.p. de- 
claredv VThere will Ije no more 
11,200,000 westerns financed by us. 
Producers will have to be down to 
(Continued on page 26) 



Sues EL, 2 Writers For 
350G in Piracy Rap 

Hollywood, March 23. 
Parsegh Der Hagopian, writeri 
fired a $350,000 damage suit at 
Eagle Lion, writers Robert E. Kent 
and Crane Wilbur, charging they 
pirated three of his stpries and in.^ 
corporated themjn "The Red Stal- 
lion." 

He alleges that film copies largely 
from "The Boar's Tusks," "Ghen- 
gis Khan Versus Aziz" and "The 
Great Orphan." ' 

In a'ddition to damages, Der Ha- 
gopian asks that EL be kept from 
screening "Stallion." 




. Jn Paris to London Swap 
^ WitH Aliport to France 

Iifotion Picture Assn. of America 
will strengthen the personnel of 
its London office because of the 
greatly increased activity antici- 
pated as result of the new Anglo- 
U. S, films agreement. MPAA 
prexy Eric Johnston decided on 
the move during his recent visit 

f London to negotiate the pact, 
was learned In New York this 
week. 

Johnston is planning to switch 
the personnel of the MPAA's Lon- 
don and Paris offices. Fayette W. 
Allport, who reps' the association 
In Britain, will move to the Conti- 
pent, while prank McCarthy and 
njs assistant, Rupert Allan, will 
fhtft; to London, This will serve 
to double tlie manpower of the 
Ifttter office and keep together as 
* team McCarthy and Allan, who 
Johnston considers have worked 
very well in dual harness. 

Plot is to divvy the work of the 
pHdon office along rather sharp 
«nes. McCarthy will handle the 
rt« the Anglo-U. S. pact, 
ymie Allan will run the normal 
gijties of the office. Since Mc- 
Varthy's chores will b« primarily 
a financial-political nature, he 
Js held by Johnston to be particu- 
larly fitted for them because of his 
previous experience in the U. S. 
'State Bept. 

Allport, it is expected, will be 
mm an assistant in Paris. 

McCarthy to Geneva 
_ , Paris, March 23. 

trank McCarthy, Continental 
rep lor the Motion Picture Assn. 
m„ ?.'"?"<:a, will shuttle for a 
month between Paris and Geneva, 
he will be American con- 
juttant at the Freedom of Informa- 
ii"?. ^ference which the United 
wi? in the Swiss city 

.yj^"^^''»y>- WiUiam Benton 
Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt are 
"mong. the Americ w delegates. 

Film Banker Resigns * 

.^yentworth Johnson, v.p. in 
eharge of the Radio City branch of 

hanrti^!.'"!, Co., N. Y., who 

Pndled film loans for the bank, 
r^"*'^- Kenneth McGhee," 
»nn i :u'*®'='"^^^''y> who aided John- 
tlnin? * ""^ financing, will con- 
«mi«; to represent it in that field. 
tiS^I^ successor is Prank At- 
Be w. ; "".^ ^""^ ^^^"^ "PPed to v.p. 
the Z^- ^?™erly assistant v.p, in 
rvinp '"r^i^«" street) office of the 
Wwe pSr as^yet! ^"'^'^^ 



i 



*-ttr S Jk n ■■■ OKI 



160 New PictDres 
Give MPAA's Kid 
Project Big Lift 

A hypo Has been given to the 
Children's Film Library project or 
the Motion Picture Assn. of 
America by the majors with the 
addition this year of 160 new. films 
.available for special kid " show 
bookings. Six pictures afe being 
added immediately to the library's 
current roster of 46 features in 
order to ofl:er a greater variety of 
product than heretofore possible. 
Lack of sufficient films was chiefiy 
responsible for the waning of in>- 
terest in the library during the past 
several months. 

With cooperation from the sales 
managers of the MPAA member 
oompanies, prints of the 160 pix 
are rapidly being distributed to 
each exchange center. Bookings 
are made directly to about 2,500 
theatres at fractional rentals for 
the special screenings at which the 
kids pay only nominal admissions. 
Revival of the majors' interest in 
the library was stirred by an aware- 
ness of the project's push to the 
MPAA's pifblic relations campaign. 

Special committee, headed by 
Ned Depinet, RKO exec viccTprexy, 
was instrumental in obtaining the 
list of new films. MPAA's com- 
munity relations department, 
headed by Arthur De Bra, set up 
the special standards which all the 
pix had to pass. 

U.S. Army Wants Majors 
To Distribute 5-Reeler 
„ Of the Nuremberg Trial 

°U. S. Army win, in aU likelihood, 
seek major company distribution 
for its five-reel fllmization of the 
Nuremberg trial, which iS now 
nearing completion in Germany. 
While policy has yet to be cleared 
in Washington, the Army's Civilian 
Affairs Division is anxious to get 
major company reaction to the pic 
with some sort of U. S. theatrical 
distribution in mind. - . 

Final editing of the film is now 
under way and it's expected that 
a print will reach the CAD within 
two weeks. Besides considerable 
footage of the trial Itself, it in- 
cludes a good part of the evidence 
film which was effctively used to 
obtain a conviction of the Nazi 
overlords.' 

Scripting and general supervision 
was handled by Stewart Schulberg, 
who Went over for that particular 
job and then stayed on as head 
of the Military Government's docu- 
mentary film bureau. Originally, 
Nuremberg trial pic was intended 
as a joint four-power project, but 
it subsequently broke up, with the 
Russians cutting the tape first with 
their version of the event. 

Pic will be compulsory diet for 
German flickcries tn the American 
occupied zone. 



The gap between the boxoff ice 
and critics in appraisal of films is 
as wide as ever, According . to a 
comprehensive survey of "blest 
film and "best grosser" lists on 
1947 product by one major dis- 
tributor, it's still a relative rarity 
for a picture to click in both classi- 
fications. 

Lack of contact between the 
"payola" and "artistic" pix was 
especially striking among the New 
York film critics and Life mag's 
weekly selections. In these in- 
stances, the li^ts were heavily 
stacked with foreign entries whoSe 
b.o. potency is still narrowly lim- 
ited to the sureseater* trade. 

Of the six films considered for 
the New York Film Critics Award 
for 1947, not one hit in the top 20 
grossers named in Variety's annu- 
al roundup. ("Gentleman's Agree- 
ment" (20th-Fox), which copped the 
award, was released too late in 
1947 for a boxoffice' estimate. Judg- 
ing by its current impact, however, 
the pic looks to be one of 1948's 
b.o. winners, especially on top of 
the Academy Award.) 

Life mag's "Movie of the Week'^ 
selections named 29 pix during 
1947, only two of which made the 
top 20 of Variety's list. Look mag's 
list of their "Best of 1947" struck a 
much higher percentage with four 
out of 10 pix also proving to be 
(Continued on page 22) 



h Re: Those Veddy 
itish Dialects 



Criticism by Eric Johnston last 
week of British filmmakers for al- 
lowing players to speak in heavy 
dialects entirely unintelligible to 
American audiences found English 
producer Marcel Hellman in full 
agreement. In New York on a visit, 
Hellman raked his colleagues for 
giving insufficient attention to the 
enunciation byi British actors, the 
dialects they speak and the excess 
speed With which they mouth their 
words. 

"Despite 'the fact that many of 
the producers have been to Amer- 
ica often and are fully aware of 
the justifiable objections of Amer-^ 
lean audiences, they still refuse to 
force actors to speak clearly," 
Hellman squawked. "Not only 
that," he added, "but the same lack 
of care applies to story selection. 
If you want to sell your product 
in the American market, it's obvi- 
ous that you must pick stories that 
Americans like." 

Hellman heads for Hollywood 
Sunday (28) in an effort to line up 
players for his next picture. He 
has one more to go on a 20th-Fox 
deal for production of three films 
in England. Fox shares ^n tbe 
(Continued on page 26) 



House Group In£cates INssatbf action 
On Lewis Bill Shifting ASCAP Costs 
From Pietare Houses to Stulos 



Film Names Win Medals 
For Command Show 

Hollywood, March 23. 

Command Performance Medals 
were p r e s e n t e d to Hollywood 
names who went to London last 
November to put on a show for 
British royalty. 

Receiving the awards in a cere- 
mony in Beverly Hills were Loretta 
Young, Robert Montgomery, Alexis 
Smith, Bob Hope, Craig Stevens 
and Norman Siegel/ manager of the 
tour.' ■ ■ 



British-Made 'Evil' 1st 
UA Release in Over 2 
Mos. Due to Many Snarls 

More than two-month hiatus in 
the release of new films by XInited 
Artists will come to an end tomor^ 
row (Thursday) when the company 
sends the British-made "Man of 
Evil" into distribution. Six oth^ 
pictures are at the starting line, 
but have been delayed by title 
changes, litigation or for other rea- 
sons. , 

UA staff has been coasting re- 
cently as result of the lack of new 
product to work on. A rush of 
high-powered activity is looked for 
within the next couple months, 
with the half-dozen films now in 
the can going into release in a 
spurt. 

Last one into distribution was 
Triangle's "Sleep My Love" ' in 
mid-January. The only one now 
definitely dated, aside from "lEviL" 
is "Arch of Triumph," which stans 
its regular runs with an engage- 
ment at the Globe, W. Y., tenta- 
(Continued on page 26) 



SROInksFore^n 
DistribsasPards 
For 0 seas Setup 

Selznick Releasing Organization 
is setting up a complete European 
distribution system via partner- 
ships with local operators, Milton 
Kramer, chairman of the SRO 
board, disclosed this week. Kramer 
said he expected the layout to be 
completed in about 60 days in Italy,' 
Belgium, France and ■ the Scandi- 
navian countries. ' 

Kramer has himself taken over 
supervision of foreign dislxibution 
for SRO, following departure of 
Laudy Lawrence, SRO v.p. for 
overseas operations. Lawrence, who 
joined the company about a year 
ago, has been inactive recently. He 
has had a serious spinal operation 
in New York and r&portedly wiU be' 
unable to work for some time. He | 
is being granted an indefinite leavo 
of absence beginning April 15. It is 
known that there has been friction 
between Lawrence and Kramer 
during the period of their associa- 
tion. 

The European distribution setup 
provides that SRO will have com- 
plete control of sales in each coun- 
try, but will liave a local partner, 
(Continued on page 22) 



UA Defers fart bf Its 
Distrib Fee and Cagney 
Finally Signs Pact 

Refusal of banks to go along on 
a tilt in the distribution fee on 
"Time of Your Life" was the factor 
last week that almost upset the 
agreement previously arrived at 
for producer William Cagney to 
turn the film over to United Artists 
for release. A last-minute agree- 
ment by UA to defer part of the 
lipped distribution fee got the pic 
back into the company's fold and 
brought a lawsuit between UA and 
Cagney to an end. 

As part of the deal by which the 
distrib had agreed to make a 
$250,000 investment in the com- 
pleted film for a 15% interest, 
Cagney. accepted a hike in his 
distribution fee to a straight 25%. 
Under terms of his original pact 
it was 25% to .$800,000 gross and 
10% after that. 

Cagney and UA proxy Grad 
Sears had arrived at the terms by 
phone and Sears "flew to the Coast 
to sign the papers. When he got 
there he discovered it was no go, 
since Security-First National Bank, 
of Los Angeles, and Bankers Trust, 
of N. Y., Which put up the coin for 
the pic, balked at the distribution 
fee. . . , , 

The banks had to be consulted, 
inasmuch as the payoff to the 
releasing company precedes the 
return of the bank's money. They 
came . around after Sears agreed 
that iJA would take only a 15% 
fee, deferring the income repre- 
senting the other 10%. until after 
the banks were paid off. 



Washington, March 23. 
A House judiciary sub-commii;- 
tee indicated yesterday (22) it 
did not think too highly of th* 
Lewis bill, which would shift 
from the theatres to the studios 
the cost of paying the American 
Society of Composers, Authors 
and Publishers for performing 
rights on musical soundtracks. The 
committee conducted an all-day 
hearing on the bill, sponsored by 
the Allied States Assn. of Exhibi- 
tors, with most committee mem- 
bers giving the impression in their 
questions that they would not ap- 
prove the measure. 

It is believed here that the bill 
may not even get as far as the full 
House Judiciary Committee. The 
Allied witnesses made a consider- 
able impression upon the subcom- 
mittee in the morning, but when 
the Theatre Owners of America 
and the producers took the stand 
in the afternoon to give the other 
side of the story, a perceptible 
change took place in the attitude 
of the committee. 

Ted R. Gamble, American Thea- 
tres Assn. proxy, did the best job 
of hatcheting the bill. He charged 
— convincingly enough, so that a 
couple of congressmen- admitted 
afterward that he was right— that 
the 'House Judiciary Committee 
had merely been put in the middle 
of an industry fight between two 
(Continued on page- 24) 

WCBS Gabber Jumps Gun 
Again in Airviewing Pic 
Before Regular NXCrix 

Plenty griped over what's 
claimed to be a premature radio 
review of Jesse Lasky's "Miracle 
of the Bells," RKO's flackei-y is 
mulling a possible ban against the 
offending gabber. Bill Leonard, 
who's half-hour program is aired 
each morning over WCBS. Leon- 
ard, it's charged, jumped the gun 
when his "This Is New York" pro- 
gram, March 15, tore "Miracle" to 
pieces in a slambang indictment of 
the pic. RKOers are peeving be- 
cause they think he violated the 
custom in the trade that no radio 
reviews are to be aired before the 
newspaper crix have their say. 

Leonard, it's said, has already 
been banned by 20th-Pox, who re^ 
fuse him admittance to their film 
previews. Action by 20th, it's 
claimed, followed a similar overly 
fast start. Lasky, while in New 
York, personally called on Leonatd 
following the incident to take the 
matter up with him. . 

"Miracle" opened at the RivoU, 
Broadway showcase, Tuesday (16). 

STEVE BENNIS' 4 INDIES 
SUED FOR % CHISELING 

Sprhtgfield, 111., March 23. 

Four separate percentage-chisel- 
ing suits have been file^ in th^ 
Illinois federal court here against 
Steve Bennis, operator of the Lin- 
coin and Grand, Lincoln; and the 
Freeport, Freeport, all in Illinois. 
Universal, Warner Bros., RKO and 
Metro charge Bennis with maldng 
and submitting phoney boxoffice 
returns on percentage pix. 

Four distrlbs want punitive dam- 
ages besides compensation for al- 
leged losses. Local attorneys for 
plaintiffs are Mayer, Meyer, Aus-^ 
trian & Blatt. 



EL Execs' Coast Huddle 

William J. Heineman, Eagle 
Lion's distribution veepee', and 
Max L. Youngstein, ad-pub veepc;e, 
shove off for the Coast neitt 
Wednesday (31) for a looksee of 
EL's coming product. While there, 
it's expected, they'll huddle witit 
J. Arthur Rank, British film mag;- 
nate visiting the Coast, and As?- 
thur Krim, EL proxy. 

Quo will spend about a week at 
studios before returning to the hJO. 



0 






» *" SKA' Ttfe'fcw' w 














o 




FlUm KBYIKWS 



Wdhietday, March 24, 1948 



fStat« of thft Union 

Hollywopd, March 20. 

Metro rciwifli' of Tfraiik I'npm (bliifity 
FlUdBj WuiluiHlon, diiwwd by ilaiiiu. StiUB 
PlKincor Truny, Katbai-ine .Hpiibuin. Vun 
Jiihnsun, AoKela hansbiiiT, Adolphe 
JMcujou, Ijiiwls Stone; (iMilm-es lluwuril 
fSililth, I'hurUs DiilKlc, MliUK'l 'runlfi-, Jlu.v- 
■nionrt Wnlbum. Hi'Vfeninny, Anthony 

Mvli's Connolly; b»»P(l on play by Howir* 
14ii(l«ay tina EusHBl Cniuse; camevn, Gsnrso 
4. l?olK(?5'-; s;;orej«.;Viptor Youni?: oGltor 
WilUkm Moi-ntaetk, 



3«, '48. Hunnlnir tii 
Ofant Miitthcwa. , . . . 

jVT-tiry Matthews 

"SplkP" Mac^liuiug., 
K fiy Tlitimiiyke. * , . . , 
,11m t'onixver. . . . i . . . 

^^um Thornitykc. - . . . . 

$iini C. I'ai'rlHli' . 
Bill Nolaril Hm-ily.. 
riiiluMie AloKanilur. 
Judge Alestaiitlwv. .... 

Koi%')ii. . . .............. 

X.f'lth," Radio A i)nounc<f\' 
Konutor Ijiutt^i'baflt. , . 
OmoO' Oi-val Draper. . , 
lim-lc -S^ynBon ., . .■. .... 

minlt Alomiii.'. >. 

.lo.vcfl Mattl^Wj.'i , ..... 
Ci'iinl. MoLtthewn, .li.. 

Bflllboy null 

'WkU«v.>. .■. .» . * . . ' . . 
Bari.T-'r 



TrfuJi'Showii ; Marcli 

.Sponeoi- Tracy 

Kalliariile UPi)blirn 
, , ... . . Van .Tuhuson 

,■ . . Angola ■ LanHbin'y 
.... ..ArioiBb* 'Mi'n.lDU 

... ; . .Ijeicls Stono 
... , . .Xlowaj'd SriiHli 
, . . . . Clini'los I'JIUKlo 

. .; . ,.Mat(1«>l TltrbPv 
.Raymond Walbarn 
Margaret Hamilton 
. . . Ai't fialtpf 
...V'lent! WaHiln 
. . .Kiorpiioe- AUPr 
., . , . IrvinK BacolTt 
i . . .(^barles Vriine 
.....Patii .Brady 

. . .<i(=()rge . Nftltes 
MJalfa".: SwUzer 
, . . .Torn li"adclfiB 
. ; .. . . i'Pom I'eSl 



"State of the Union" should be 
an election year .natural. It's sock 
entertainment, full of humor and 
drama. At the same time it pro- 
jects a timely social message. It 
catte. it$ shots about the political 
scene in a manner that should prod 
the voter's conscience, but without 
using soapbox oratory. Message is 
adroitly cloaked in good story 
theatrics that cleverly, ladle out 
drama and humor to make the 
political sales talk palatable. 

Boxoffice-wise, "Union" is an im- 
portant Frank Gapra production 
that lends itself to the strongest 
kind of exploitation. It has star 
names for the marquees, timeli- 
ness of release and, above all, en- 



Big €iiy 

(SONGS) 

Hollywood, March 20. 



Metro jvlea.ie oi .loe FastPvmik produc- 
tion. Stars MargiivPt O'Brieti, Robert Vwsi- 
lon, Duniiy thoinas, (leovg© Jlui'Phy, Kai'in 
uijolli, Kilwavd ArnoUl, Butfh .knUlns; 
reatiu-cs Bottv Oai'rett, l^otte Kohmann. 
nU'C'oted by Norman Taurog. Scrponpliiy, 
VVbltfi^ld Uook, Anne MwriHon Chapin; 
added dialos. Aben Kiitidelj based on a 
story by Mtklos LobkIo, as adapted by 
Nanette Kntiier; camera, Robert Kurteoa; 
miiale, Oeai>sto Sloll; hokks, Irvii'!! Ber- 
lin, I'j'i'd SpUilman ■ and .lanico Torre,; 
Jlmjny MolIUfib; Ineis .laini>« and Wldnuy 
Miller;; Walter I'opp anil JeVry Heelen; ar- 
I'nngemftnwv lieo Arnatid: editor. tSene Itu(?- 
giero. Tradesbofl-n Man.b IT, ■ IS. Running 



lime. W MLNS. 
ilidge.,. 

Rev. Andrews. ........ 

C'llitor Xi'Gldman. . . . . . . 

l.-'atrick Q'Donnell, . . . 
liMorenee Bartlett; ... . 

.FudKO Abererombie. . . 
Lewis Keller......... 

"Khoe-Khoo" tjrady.. 
"Mama" Feldman. . 
MartUa. 



. .■M.uxai-et O'Biien 
. . . . . Kol}cr^ t^reuton. 
. . ; . . D.mny Thomas 

. . . .(leor({e \M«j;plw 

, Karin Booth 

Kdnwd Avnoia 

,,..,BUte)i .lenkins 

rtntty Oawetl 

Ivolte l.iebroiinn 

. . .Connie <3llclii l.st 



PaBe OavirnauKh Trio 



"Big City" pulls all stops in ap- 
pealing to the seutimentali^m of 
the 'average filmgoer. The tear- 
jerker theme is wrapped around a 
load of music of all faiths and 
ranges from traditional to modern 
pop. It's schmaltz, but the kind 
that will rate, okay retiims, partlo- 
ularly in family trade theatre cir- 
cle,s. Above its theme of neighborly 
tolerance, film is marked by sev- 
eral mighty solid performances that 
will do much to advance those 
players with picture fans. 

Danny Thomas and Betty Gai> 
rett, two names better known in 
the niteiy and musical stage fields, 
deliver outstandingly. Thomas' por- 
trayal of the Jewish cantor in the 
big city sector of mixed faiths is 
a talented, sympathetic job. Work- 
ing with a young male choir, 



tertalnment values that will hold Thomas gives feeling to "Sholera 



the interest of a broad audience. 
It's not likely that such a parlay 
could miss. ' 

The hit Broadway play by 
Howard Lindsay and Hussel Grouse 
has been expanded somewhat in 
the screen adaptation by Anthony 
Veiller and Myles GonnoUy, a 
broadening that makes the best 
use of screen technique. Dialog has; 
headlme freshness, and a stinging 
bite when directed at politieians, 
the normal voter and the election 
scene. All the various power 
.groups are soundly spanked as they 
pass through a -writing -wringer 
that has enough truth to hurt. It's 
satire with a sting, made stronger 
by serious, instead of slapstick 
tieiiiment. 

C^ast is loaded with stalwarts who 
deliver in top form. The fact that 
it's pat tasting only helps to im 
sure the payoff. Spencer Tracy fits 
his nersonality to the role of the 
airplane manufacturer who be- 
coiiies a presidential aspirant. It's 
{t sock performance. Katharine 
Hepburn makes much of the role 
©X Tracy's ^ Vv ife. giving it under- 
standing and warmth that register 
big. Van Johnson shines as the 
columnist turned political press 
agent. It's one of his better per- 
forraances,>' ' 

Capra'S direction punches over 
the pictorial expose of U. S. poli- 
tics and candidate manufacturers, 
the indifference' of the average 
voter, and the need for more ex- 
pression of true public opinion at 
the polls. Plot deals with a power- 
mad femme newspaper publisher 
.who picks up a self made plane 
magnate and shoves him towards 
the White House to satisfy her own 
interests. The candidate begins to 
lose his commonsense when the 
political malarkey soaks in and 
only is saved by his frank and 
honest wife. 

Angela Lansbury, outside of fre- 
quently unintelligible speech, gives 
a topnotch account of herself as 
the publisher with ambitions to be 
the power behind the "White House. 
Adolphe Menjou draws a tyjjical 
porii'ait of the political conniver 
wlio is used by the newspaper 
chain. Lewis Stone appears only 
briefly in an opening scene estab- 
lishing Miss Lansbury's character, 
but makes it remembered. 

Film is dotted with 'strong bits 
by capable lesser lights. Among 
thcrse standing out is Howard 
Smith's crass big business man; 
Charles Dingle's labor, leader; 
Maidel Turner's and Raymond 
Walbum's southerners; Margaret 
Hamilton's maid; Pierre Watlun's 
opportunist senator; Irving Bacon's 
butler; and Tom Fadden's waiter. 

Capra and his associate producer, 
Anthony Veiller, "have given the 
picture important production back- 
ing in all departments, The music 
score by Victor Young; George J. 
Folsey's lensing; special effects, art 
direction, settings and other con- 
tributors figuring exjpertly in' meas- 
Wing this one for the top market. 

. Broff. 



Miniatnre Reviews 

"State of the Union" (M-G) 
Frank Capra production, plus 
strong boxoffice names in 
Tracy, Hepburn, Van Johnson; 
socko b.o. . I 

"Bit City" (Songs) (M-G). 
Entertaining tear-jerker for 
general audiences. Good 
acting and heai't-wai-ming 
theme of neighborly tolerance. 

"The Search" (M-G).» Excel- 
lent semi-documentary type 
pic on GuTOp^S' dispUced cfailx 
dr^n should do fine. 

'fBxma^^ (EL). Disap- 
pointing drama told largely in 
flashback. 

"The Inside St»ry" (Rep). 
Broad comedy on rural life 
during the. depression; good 
b.o. in general situations. 

"The Arizona Rancen" 
(RKO). Okay western eo-stacr 
ring Tim and Jack Holt. 

"The Arizona Rancer" 
(RKO). Above par Tarzan ad- 
venture; strong twin-biller. 

"The Enchanted VaUey" 
(Color) (EL). Animal outdoor 
meller fine for kids on twin 
bills. 

"Mr. Orchid", (French) (Lo- 
pert). Meller of French un- 
derground activities; strong 
for foreign-language spots. 



Aleichem" and "Kol Nidrc." For 
variety he delivers "The Whiffen- 
poof Song," "What'U I Do" and 
"Yippee^D Yippee-Ay," in a more 
modem vein. 

Miss Garrett registers big with 
vocals on "I'm Gonna See a Lot of 
You,'; "Don't Blame Me" and "Ok'l 
Baby Dok'l," and comes through 
with a veteran performance as a 
hard-knocks gal "who goes straight 
for love. Queenly voice of Lotte 
Lehmann adds class to renditions 
of "God Bless America," Brahms' 
"Lullaby," "Traumerei" and ''The 
Kerry Dance." A neat reprise of 
'Ok'l" is. wrapped delightfully by 
little Margaret O'Brien for an 
especially pleasing treat of precoc- 
ity. Page Cavanaugh Trio ably in- 
tersperses itself into the pop musi- 
cal end. 

Plot in the script by Whitfield 
Cook and Anne Morrison Chapin 
deals with 'a foundling who is 
adopted by three young -men of 
Jewish, Catholic and Protestant 
faltlis, ioid raised m the Jewish 
home. There's little intolerance in 
the stoiy and the lone basis for 
conflict is when the Cathplic boy 
nnarries and wants to take over the 
youngster; and only a judge's wis- 
dom and the kid's instinct Straight- 
ens out the muddle. 

Norman Taurog's direction puts 
the players through their paces 
with neat dispatch to point up the 
sentimental but is never too maud- 
lin. Little Miss O'Brien pleases' as 
the foundling. Robert . Preston is- 
good as the Protestant, and George 
Murphy makes on excellent Irish 
Catholic cop. Karin Booth and 
Miss Garrett are eyefuls as ro- 
mantic interests for Preston and 
Murphy. Edward Arnold is an able 
judge and little Butch Jenkins, 
with a haircut, is a solid laugh-get- 
ter. Miss Lehmann does intelligent 
work as Thomas' mother. 

.Toe Pasternak backs the picture ^ 
with excellent values that fit the 
story background. Technical cred- 
its 'rundown gives mention for ex- 
pert work to Robert Surtees' lens- 
ing, musical direction by Georgie 
Stoll and orchestral arrangements 
by Leo Amaud, art direction and 
other factors.' , -if flrog. 



Reds Confess 

jaiollywood, March 23. ■ 
Eddie Sutherland will produce 
and direct "Confessions of a Com- 
munist" for United Artists release. 



grim and the b.o. Is unlikely to 
equal either the purpose or quality 
of the production. "The Search" 
can be expected to hit its peak 
potential only in selected big-city 
houses and via the hefty campaign 
that Meti^ is giving It. 

This simple film was made in 
the American zone of Germany, 
principally in and around the rub- 
bled remains of Nuremburg, Only 
four of its actors are professionals, 
the others having been recruited 
on the spot. It's jprobably that fact 
that gives the picture its Warmest 
and deepest interest, for no actor 
could recreate the terror, the ab- 
jectness, the remnants of ' starva- 
tion that cameraman Emil Berna 
has so magni&:ently ciaught in the 
faces of Eiu«pe's lost childrenk 

The story is tlie familiar one of 
a family torn apart by the Nazis. 
This time the family is Czech. Only 
survivors are the mother and a 
nine-year-old boy, who are separ- 
ated. Unable to differentiate be- 
tween the beatings suffered from 
the Germans and the good intent 
of UNRRA's displaced persons 
workers; the lad . runs.' away. His 
ca)^ is foimd by a river bank and 
it is assumed he has drowned. Ac- 
tually, he lives amongst the rubble 
until hunger tempts him close 
enough to a GI for the soldier to 
catch him. 

Beaten and starved so long he 
can't -say anything but "t don't 
know" in German^ the boy is 
finally ' tamed and taught a few 
word^ of English by his kind and 
patient GI guardian. In the mean- 
time, his mother has started a 
round of children's camps, peering 
into the pinched faces, hoping to 
find her boy. She finally runs into 
a femme camp of flcial who remem- 
bers the lad,' breaks the news of 
his supposed death and then con- 
vinces her to find herself by work- 
ing "with the - other children for a 
while 

The GI, finally ready for home 
and discharge, takes the boy to this 
same camp to leave him until he 
can arrange to bring him to 



Prague radio station, he reveals an 
enormous ability to fathom and in« 
terpret His difficult part in a man- 
ner that sharply profiles its full 
tragedy. Metro has reportedly of- 
fered him a studio contract, with 
tl»e idea nixed by his parents. 
' Overall credit for the depth and 
naturalness of the ' characteriza- 
tions, for the topnotch choice of 
players, both profeissional and non- 
professional, for the fast move- 
ment, for the reaUstic locations 
and the technical excellence 
throughout must go to director 
Fred Zinneman. He, incidentally, 
was dropped from the M-G . con- 
tract- lists while he was abroad 
making the picture last summer 
and fall. RKO signed him. Then 
MetrOf following early screenings 
of "The Seai-ch," optioned him for 
another film at considerably more 
coin than he was getting originally. 

Screenplay by Swiss writer Rich- 
ard Schweizer (who also did "The 
Last Chance") is taut and natural, 
falling short only in the patness 
of an embarrassed denouenient. 
David Wechsler collaborated on. 
the script, with Paul Jarrico mak- 
ing a considerable contribution in 
the imstilted added dialog Vfith 
which he is credited. Incidentally, 
it's all in English or immediately 
translated via the dialog of the 
screenplay itself.. 

Metro, if it maintains its present 
enthusiasm and drive on behalf %A 
the film, merits, a reward even 
more attractive than big boxoffice 
grosses would be at the moment. 
Films ..like "The Search" can be 
a decisive factor in causing the 
world to take a deep breath and 
give another thought to the fearful 
eyes of *hpse children before it 
plunges itself oft the present brink 
and ipto another International 
catastrophe. Hvrh. 

ItHiillCHW 

Uaglfl Uon releaue oC Pradui'lng Arliata 
(Afttwr B. Lyons) production. iilBr* Zach- 
ar.v ^oott, I^tH Hftyward, Plana Ijynn. 
Sydney Ore^iuitt'eet, Lucille Bremer, Martha 
Viekers. Directed by JSdfar O. Xllmer. 
iSoreenplay, S. K. Lauren, Gordon Kahn, 
bailed «n novel, "Frelttda to Night," by 
Dayton StoMart (;ainer», Bett fil«!tnon: ed- 
itor, B'niiela D. I.yon; -jnueieal iK:OTe, AVer* 
ner Jnnnsen. Tradeiltcnm to T., Marrh 
\», '48. Bubninic time, IM MXNS. 
Horaae Vendlsr., .......;.>.. . .SSaehary Scott 

Vic I.anibdln'. ........... L.trfmls Hbyward 

Martha nurnsidel 

Mallory Flanc ii........... .Diana Lynn 

Suean Duane...,,,,' Martha VIckeri 

Buck Mansfleld ..Sydney Greenatrect 

Ohrista ManiifleM.^;j.«.>.. .Lucille Bremer 
Hirrs, ?3umBlile...v..<v...>;..KdUh Barrett 
Mr. Bumalde... .....a.,..,.. .Dennis Hoey 

Fete Vendig. Raymond Burr 

Kate VendltSf ... J Joyce Arllng 

Brueo Mononald Charleo nvanit 

Hornfifl Vendlg (ar child). ., .Bob AndereoW 

vie Lambdin {as child) Arthur Stone 

Silartha Bumstde (a* child). . , .Ann*' Otrter 

liibhy Sim* TSAna, Solland 

J. Norton Slnw ...IVed WoriBck. 

Bradford Duane '....John Qood 

Bella Claire CarWtSn 



Tli« ^car«h 



lleiro release of Uaziir .Wechsler produc- 
tion, iroaturee. ^^jtitgomery ' Clift. A.llne 
MaeMabon, , tfavmlla No^'OI;na, ■ 'Wendell 
(.'orey and Ivan .landl. Directed by JPreri 
Xinncinun. Original ncreftnitla.y by Elehard 
Sehwelzer, in oollaiKjiution with Uavid 
Wechsler; addltloual; dialoK. Vaul Jarrico; 
C4(niera, It^mli Berna; .cdl^r, -Hermann 
.Haller; wore, Bobert Bluni. t*reviewed in 
nr. T., March 13, '4S. Ifiinniiift linnc, 105 
M1N«. '., , ■ 

Ralph Steventioh, .,.'..... ;cvroiitR:omery f'Ul't 
Mra. Murray ...Aline MacAlahon 

Mi'«. Afalik. ..Ta roiila .Novotna 

.Teri'y FiHher. ........... .,.'. ; . Wendell '(^ire-y 

Mrs. 53^iKtliM'. i v.. .'.MfU',v "lljltlon 
Mr. flrooUe..}. Kw.'irl G. MoxTiaoft 
Tow PIsher. , .■WIHIaiii Rogers 

Kiirel Malik../.......-..., Ivah Jandl 

Joel MnkowRky. . . J ...... Leopold Borkowaki 

ilaoul 'Dubois. . . Claude Oiimbier 



Swiss producer Lazar Wechsler, 
who proved his superior hand as a 
semi-documentary maker when he 
delivered "The Last Chance" to 
Metro two years ago, wins {mother 
palm for "The Search," And he 
once again proves that the quasi- 
factual film can be not only superb 
picturcmaking, but can at the same 
time carry the medium to perhaps 
its highest mission, that of a force 
for a humane and less selfish 



Starts about .Tune 1 at the John 
Sutherland Studios, owned by his i world. UnfortunateTy, as ' in ''this 
cousin, , ..,!f?s,et however, truth is 106 often 



America. The mother meantime 
has left the camp, but in a last 
minute change of mind returns to 
be reunited with her son. 

The picture is fine most of the 
way. It's in that last bit of business 
that it fails to ring the bell com- 
pletely. It seems to make the solu- 
tion to the problem, of kid DP's aU 
too easy. By putting a saccharine 
finale on a single case, there's an 
undue submergence of the fact 
that other millions of these pit! 
able youngsters are still in camps 
and have still failed to find their 
mothers and security. It's prob 
ablya necessary concession, how- 
ever, to most audiences — and to 
the boxoffice — to picture the tradi' 
tional "happy ending." 

The four professionals in the 
cast are Montgomery Clift, as the 
GI, who is a Howard Hawks con- 
tract player making his film debut 
following a Broadway break-in; 
Aline MacMahon, as the camp offi- 
cial, and as typical a .social worker 
as one could put a finger on any- 
where; Jarmila : Novotna, Metro- 
politan Opera singer and herself , a 
Czech, wlio plays the mother, and 
Wendell Corey, a Hal Wallis con- 
traetee, who plays a friend of the 
GI. 

Each of them shows a deep com- 
prehension, giving a feeling por- 
trayal that neatly catches the 
nuances of the situation. Thespic 
hero, however, Is Ivan Jandl as the 
boy. Discovered while singing with 
an amateur group of 'Mds .^on a 



heights' but later realized thpir 
errors. 



Production values are mediocre 
,..iile camerawork and othw 
credits fail to rise above the on« 
nary. ' 



The iMnIdo Ktory 

Ropubllo release and Dioduction 

WUllan. l-uudlil'^Vh^rS; 



Akitaha Hunt, 
Wlnnlngcr, OaU Patrick; 
r-ockhart, Flnrence BhIoh, Allen. JenwV;- 
Uoseoe Karns, Hoburt CaviinnUKh, It,;S 
Sbayne Direc ted by All™ l),v,m, ' sorS 
play, Mary l.oo«. Richard -Hule; Swi- 
atory, Erneat I.ebnian, (jezu. Hei-jS: 



Francine- Taylor.. 
Waldo WtlUama., 

I'nole J|i!d 

Audrey O'Oonncr, 
Horace 'raylor, 



aemldlne A.thert«n. 
.Uawm. ... . , , , 

Kddy Hale,., 

Kuntace Pei^ody-. , , 

'torn O'Conner , 

.lay Jajr Johnsen,., 

Bw.'ky 

Kph... 



Despite a sei^t of name players. 
"Ruthless" will have onjy a mod- 
erate b.o. draw. Picture is a vic- 
tim' of cliched and outmoded direc- 
tion and of weary dialog , to which 
no actor could do justice. 

Long running time of 104 min- 
utes is another negative factor. At 
least 15 minutes out would help 
the yam considerably/ Arthur S. 
Lyons, Hollywood agent turned 
producer, has rounded up an im- 
pressive list of players whose ef- 
forts might well have been put to 
better use. 

Practically the entire yam stems 
from the mental reflections, of 
Louis Hayward, one-time partner 
of powerful financier Zachaiy 
Scott. Film tees: off at a soeial 
gathering where Scott is awarcUng 
a large sUce of 'his gains to charity. 
Comes then the first of many con- 
fusing flashbacks, reverting to the 
boyhood days of the two men. 
These early sequences show how 
Scott moved from a poor environ- 
ment to a position of prestige and 
wealth 'by a "what-makes'-Zat^ary- 
ran" technique. 

Picture boils down to a character 
study of Scott, finally illustrating 
the retribution which Joe Breen's 
Production Code Administration 
insists is invariably faced by pur- 
suing greed. In delineating his 
role, the actor is on familiar terri- 
tory, for he's frequently played 
similar heavies in recent years. 

Performances arc handicapped 
by the direction of Edgar G. Ul- 
mer, which employs many cliches 
the profession cast aside long ago. 
Scrcenwriting job by S. K. Lauren 
and Gordon Kahn has made the 
adaptation from the Dayton Stod- 
dart novel, "Prelude to Night," in- 
volved and confusing. , Plot's de- 
nouement is also telegraphed long 
before the finale. 

Hayward contribs a fair inter- 
pretation of Scott's associate, \^ho 
eventually breaks from him. Diane 
Lynn, in a dual role, is wistful and 
appealing as a pawn in Scott's af- 
fections. Sydney Grcenstreet, cast 
as a utilities magnate who's ousted 
by Scott from his power empire in 
a stock manipulation, tends to 
overact. Lucille Bremer, as Green- 
street's wife, and Martha Vickers, 
a gal with influential connections, 
are both adequate in • depicting 
women who were foolish enough 
to aid Scott. iU: achieving the 



.WlUlam imniliKiui 
eharlen . WinnlBr^ 
.......Uail l?atnfi!k 

. . . . .CTen« rjocfthart 

.^..Ftorene* Bates 
. Bobort Cavanaugh 
.i..i'. Alien Jenkliis 
,...Jo«,'o« Karns 
..i .Boliert Stoma \ 

- IftMWe- ., : 

Ab Follansbee .....Tom radoej 

One of Republic's top biidgeters, 
"The Inside Story" is an entertain- 
ing mixture of frothy plot ingredi- 
ents and comic talents of a good 
cast. Pic is likely to sthr only sec- 
ondary interest in the key firsttjuui 
but 1*111 do very nicely in nabe and 
rural situations. 

It's a folhsy film about life in 
a small town brimming witir 
oracker-barrel philosophy and 
homespun humor. Some of the 
gags are as broad as a bam wall 
but the pic none the less escapes 
from falling completely into the 
com bin. Director Allen Dwan- 
keeps action rolling, rarely letting 
the slapstick interfere with the 
pace. Chief credit, however, for 
keeping, this pic afloat goes to a- 
comedy combo consisting of 
Charles Winninger, Gene Lockhart, 
Allen Jenkins and Roscoe Kams.' 

Story kicks off on serious note 
with a flashback to the depression 
era of 1933. Setting is a whistle- 
stop burg in Vermont where the 
natives are beset with the familiar 
problem of raising enough com to 
keep the sheriff from the door. 
After this ominous opoung, stoiy 
takes a sharp turn into farce when 
a New York visitor puts $1,000 into 
a hotel vault for safe-keepmg. 

The grand proves to be the 
town's salvation Respite the fact 
that its circidation is strictly il- 
legal. Beginning with the hotel 
owner who uses the money to pay 
off his creditors, the coin makes a . 
complete cycle through the town's 
pocketbooli^i restoring love and 
confidence to each of its owners. 
In the nick of time, however, it's 
restored to its propier place. The 
moral is hammered home: if you 
don't want another depression, 
keep your cash circulating. 

Winninger, as the hotel owner's - 
aide, gives a familiar portrait as a 
fumbling, absent-minded old man 
with a shrewd sense of humor. As 
the frantic hotel keeper, Lockhaict 
contributed an energetic per/orm- 
ancci Kams, as the New York 
wiseacre, and Allen Jenkins, as an 
honest safe-cracker,- also add im- 
portantly to the pic's comedy at* 
mosphere. ' ' . 

Subsidiary romantic interest ^ 
handled in neat; style by Marsra 
Hunt and WBUiara Lundigan, both 
of them giving the love angle a 
once-Iightly-over treatment. Gail 
Patrick and Robert Shayne, as a 
shaky marital team, also do okw. 

Production dress is solid with 
good lensing and background score 
^ving an overall polish to the film. 

Hem. 



Tk« Ariawna Ra«B|{«r 

KKO releaae of Hcman Schlmn produc- 
tion. IStars Tim Holt, Jack Holt; J"*'""' 
Xaji r>!«lle, Richard Martin. Ulrected W 
John KawUns. Original screenplay, Nor- 
man Houston; camera, J. Boy H"";:*"^. 
tor, Demnond Marquette! music, PatU saw* 
tell. Tradesbpwn N. T, March -'A 
Banning tlm», «* MINS< ' ,, 

Bob Wade .'l-l;" t 

nawhide Jack Holt 

Laura Bnller Nan l.e«He 

Chito Bafferty Klehard Marwn 

Quirt l'""™' 

Ben Klddl8i,.,...> 
Nlmlno. ... 

JaB)>er.. . . ; . 

Oil. ....... ........'. 

Mu<'. ...... 

Pei'ton. .... . . . .. . . . 



Iinl Hurnt 
. ..rim Nolan 
itobert Bray 
.Richard ftenedlct 
.., William I'ldDtw 
Barry Tlntvey 



In "The Arizona Banger, pro- 
ducer Herman Sehlom has come up 
With a good western that s rein- 
forced with some bang-up hand-to- 
hand combat as well as the usual 
six-shootin'. It sliould more than 
satisfy the action fans along wiw 
the Saturday matinee .luve pations. 

Novel is the billing wli^" 'i' 
stars Tim Holt and his l'"*^her JacK- 
Both turn in creditable perform 
anees. Holt pere, of cour.se, is ^ 
old hand at these oaters. and nis 
son, Tim, measures up. Story, Jt;^ 
propriately enough, lias them po» 
traying father and son roles. 

Yarn, screenplaycd b.v 
Houston, is woven around t " 
valry of the senior Holt, a power 
ful rancher, and. his J 
spurns a partnership on. ^^^.I'TZ 
to accept a commission in t nc ai 
zona Rangers. Questi_on of whether 
the law should be taken ""-ft 
own hands results in a furthei rm 
.'Continued on. page U) 



PRK-PKOPIJCTIOIV 



$14)00,000 TUT TO H.0.PAYR0LI5 



Breakdown Per Film Co. 

Following table gives a coinpany-by-company breakdown of the 
increased payroll loads resulting from the current wage hike ar- 
bitration awards. While arbitrations at 20th-Fox, Paramount, Re- 
public and National Screen Service are still pending, it's expected 
that they'll follow the general pattern of the other companies. An 



EmplayecB 

KKO 700 

Mietro 540 

Col 300 

VA 198 

ZOth'Fox 330 

Par , 350 

Bep 80 

NSS 200 

Major Exch'grs. . 300 

Totals 3,028 



per worker has been used in 


.these cases. 


Avee. 




Total Ann. 


PayTJlt 


Total Back Pay 


. Increase 


$7.1i{ 


$do,oob 


$250,000 


6.80 


77,250 


191,300 


6.80 


42,800 


' 106,000 


6.75 


39i500 


64,250 


6.50 


50,000 


112,000 


B.50 


5i>,000- 


115,000 


6.50 


11,000 


27,000 


6.50 


27,000 


67,000 


6.50 


40,000 


100,000 




$431^550 


$1,032,550 



SweM Mas %w Filn Prod 
Until New Umon Contract Is Set 



Stockholm, March 18. ^ 
With loeal producers' retarding 
tlie start- of additional production 
here until a new agreement is 
pticted between the Studio Work- 
ers union and producers, attention 
in trade circles is focused on the 
number of films coming into Swe- 
den from all parts of the world. 
This country always has been a 
vast market for .foreign pictvu-es, 
with U.S. product topping the list 
(nearly 70% of all pictures shown 
here ) . 

Previously about 12 countries 
sent their product ' into Sweden. 
Three other countries will be add- 
ed as a result of the newly formed 
distributing company headed by 
Per-Olof Lindquist and Lennart 
Bruce-. This outflt has pactcd 
agreements with producers in Yu- 
goslavia, Bulgaria, Hungary and 
Argentina, - Previously only Hun- 
garian pictures were distributed in 
Sweden. ~ Initial picture to be re- 
leased will be "l«a Guexra Gaucha," 
Ai^entine-swde. 

The single Swedish film now in 
Iftroduction is "Strange Harbor," 
Which is being made by Sandrew- 
Bauman Film, with Hampe Faust- 
man directing. This was adapted 
from Joseph Kjellgren's play, "Un- 
known Swedish Soldier." Exteriors 
are boing done In Finland. 

Wliile many new films are 
planned, producers .want to wait 
until the new union pact is made, 
Tipoif on the upbeat of recent na- 
tive production, however, is found 
In tlie fact that nine new Sev/dish 
films were preemed hei^ in Janu- 
ary, as compared with the usual 
two or three unveiled each- month. 



Boston's 640,128 Seats 

Theatre Survey of the Bos- 
ton exchange area, 30th in the 
series of 31 directories being 
issued by the Motion Picture 
Ass;i. of America, shows a 
total of 764 theatres with an 
aggregate seating capacity of 
640,128. In addition, there are 
19 shuttered theatres with 
11,722 seats and 11 drive-ins 
witli a total capacity of 4,400 , 
cars. 

Of the total number of' 
houses, 419 are circuit-oper- 
ated while the remaining 364 
^ are owned by indies having 
' less than four houses apiece. 
Sui'vey reveals that Boston has 
5S theatres currently in opei"a- 
tion while second-ranking 
Providence has 16. 



HAROLD RODNER TO GET 
MPA'S 'BEACON' AWARD 

Annual Beacon award of the Mo- 
tion Picture Associates for meri- 
tonous and patriotic achievement 
In the motion picture industry was 
voted to Harold Rodner, veepee of 
"•jarner Bros. Service Corp., at a 
MPA merabei-ship luncheon yes- 
terday (Tues.) inN. Y. Candidates 
lor the distinction included Spyros 
^kouras, Barney Balaban, Herman 
Bobbins, J. Robert Rubin and Rob- 
ert Weitman. 

Rodner will officially receive the 
award at the organization's annual 
oinner, scheduled for the Waldorf- 
Astona hotel, N. Y., May 21. S.im 
l^aer, who won the prize last 
"J?®^® * ''I'ief address urging 
t'^e new Will Rogers 
hospital at Saranac Lake. ' Ray 
Moon, ot 20th-Fox's sales staff, and 
of the MPA's newly- 
i™;? V. "nembership drive, re- 
InfH^ l^^'^ 2" new members wore 
m the first week of the 
r.°?i^*'^'=»'«Paign. Arthur Mayer 
presided at the conclave. 

JOtJi', Annuri ICeet May 18 

2fln,"""^' stockholders' meet of 

q J"'' ^'^^ set for May 18. 
Will K ..''''^'^^ of record April 20 
eligible to vote fy new di- 



Metro Saviiig Its 
Biggies for Own 
B way Showcase 

After almost six months of poor 
business prior to the current run of 
"Naked City," the Broadway Capi- 
tol is to be converted "by Loew's 
into a Radio City Music Hall type 
of operation. 

Thus, instead of booking as many 
of its top films as possible into the 
Hall, Metro henceforth will save 
all its biggies for the Capitol. New 
product .lineup has "Homecoming," 
Clark Gable starrer, following 
"City." High-budgeted Technicolor 
musical, "Easter Parade," is slot- 
ted in next, with "On An Island 
Witli You," also in color, expect- 
ed to follow that. In the past, 
Metro would have aimed at least 
one of those at the' Hall but is now 
grooving them all for the Cap. 

Reason for the switch is believed 
directly attributable to the poor 
gross<iS hung up at the theatre 
from the time "Hucksters'' closed 
last summer until the current run 
of "City." Loew's execs reported- 
ly feared the house would acquire 
an unsavory reputation among cus- 
tomers as a place where they could 
never expect a good picture. String 
of bad pictui-es lias done that to 
otlier deluxe showcaaers in the 
past. . " 

• Capitol stageshows will continue 
under tlieir present formats, com- 
prising name bands and top peiv 
sonalities. 




Passing through the second post- 
war round of wage increases, the 
film industry is currently estab- 
lishing a pay hike pattern for 
white collarites In tlie. New York 
offices that'll cost $1)000*000 an- 
nually. Pattern was definitely set 
last week • when an arbitration 
board awarded 198 office workers 
at United Artists a flat $6.75 in- 
crease per week, retroactive to 
May 1, 1^47. UA is the fourth 
company from which the Screen 
Office & Professional Employees 
Guild won a pay tilt averaging 
around 15%. . 

Breakdown of the payroll loads 
at each company resulting from 
the recent awards reveals that 
RKO has been hit the hardest with 
a total annual increase of $250,000 
plus a back-pay a.ssessment of 
$90,000. Loew's is shelling out an 
additional $191,297 annually With 
back pay of $77,000; Columbia is 
being upped $106,000 with back 
pay of $42,840, and UA is paying 
an additional $65,000 with back 
pay of $40,000. Eagle Lion, which 
(Continued on page 24) • 



Ularinka' May Be Filmed 
Down Under After hs 
L^it Tour in Aussie-N.L 

, One of the earliest, direct re- 
sults of the Avustralian freeze on 
U. S. film distribution is the two- 
ply deal made for the Down Un- 
der rights to the Emmerich Kal- 
man operetta, "Marihka," which 
played a season at the Winter Gar- 
den, N. Y., several years ago. 
Bernie Foyer is clippering to Aus- 
sie early in April, closely behind 
David Martin, chief talent booker 
and head of the Tivoli circuit in 
Aussie. They will put on tlie oper- 
etta, with a view to its filmization 
following its legit run in Australia 
and New Zealand. Cathy Barr, who 
was with Metro foy a spell, Norman 
Lawrence (ex-"FpIlow the Girls") 
and Sonya Yarr (in the Luba Ma- 
lina role) are set for the leads. 
Komo Vincent, currently in Las 
Vegas, has a couple of Hollywood 
commitments, which bar his re- 
creating his stage original in -the 
•Aussie version. That role, there- 
fore, will be cast in Sydney under 
present plans. 

Martin is making his trip home 
via Pittsburgh and Chicago stop- 
offs, before flying from Frisco, 
March 28. 

Show opens May 11 at the Tivo- 
(Continued on page 20) 



Danish Pact l&arts ScradUe to Dump 
Pix; Direct hdie Sale Doubles Dough 



Turkii Seek World Market 

Ankara, March 10. 

Not to be outdone by film 
industries of other lands, Turk- 
ish picture producers also are 
aiming their product at a 
wider market. 

Opening gim will be "Yu- 
vami Yikamazsin" ("You Can- 
not Destroy My Home"), which 
stars Caliide Sonku and GaUp 
Arcan. 



hie Exporters 
Not Concerned On 
Brit Coin Divvy 

Check of indie -fllm exporters 
last week shows 'thaf most of them 
feel there's no cause for alarm as 
to just how dollars allotted to the 
U. S. picture indu.stry under the 
recent 75% tax ad.1usUnent by the 
British government will be carved 
up. Many of the firms have long 
had a sizable trade in Britain sell- 
ing reissues in that market as well 
as films made by indie American 
producers. 

Walter Bibo, head of Excelsior 
Films, felt that the small film men 
would have little to fear,, concern- 
ing equitable distribution of the 
dollars that are to be set aside as 
prescribed in the London agree- 
ment with Motion Picture Assn. of 
America prexy Eric Johnston. He 
opined actual divvying would prob- 
ably be done by the British govern- 
ment. 

Others who expressed similar be- 
liefs were S. M. Livingston of the 
International Optima Corp. and 
Irvin Shapiro, head of Film Rights 
(Continued on page 24) 



Maji 



Atlas' Annual Meet April 7 
Atlas Corp.. holding company 
with a controlling interest in RKO, 
has slated its annual stockholders' 
meet for April 7 witii stockholders 
at record, Feb, 27, eli^ble to vote. 

Besides election Of officers and 
other business, stockholder ap- 
proval is souglit for reduction of 
capital by retirement of 53.682 
shares of stock now in the com- 
pany's treasury. 



jors ^tde Another 
Indies Suit— Ray Syufy's 

San- Francisco, March 23. 

Settlement terms have been 
reached by attorneys in the $1,- 
050,000 treble - damage, anti - trust 
suit brought in the California fed- 
eral court last year by Raymond J. 
Syufy and a number of other plain- 
tiffs against the majors, it's relia- 
bly reported. Under the deal, 
agreed on but not yet inked, Syufy 
and his co-plaintiffs will receive 
$60,000 as a lump payment for 
calling off their suit. 

Syufy and his partners are op- 
erators of the Rita and Victory 
theatres in Valle.io, Calif. They 
named all majors except -Universal 
plus the Fox West-Coast circuit 
as defendants charging that the 
Rita Was entitled to flrstrun in 
the town, and that it and the Vic- 
tory had been deprived of product. 

Understood settlement will not 
change runs or bookings in Val:- 
lejo. , ■ ■■• 



Briefs From the Lots 



Dallas IGin Parley In 

Fair Trade Discussion 

Dallas, March 23. 

Discussion of the fair trade and 
biz practices in the IGm industry 
and an open forum session on 16m 
production and distribution high- 
lighted a two-day session here of 
the National Assn. of Visual Educa- 
tion Dealers. 

They met at the Melrose hotel 
last week (19'20>: 



Hollywood, March 23. 

Milton SperliUff bought "The 
Gentle Sin," authored by Daniel 
Fttchs, as the next LUH Palmer 
starrer for United States Pictures 
. . . "Wanted" is the release tag on 
the Harry Sherman production 
variously known as "Four Faces 
West," "New Mexico" and "They 
Passed Tliis Way." . .. . Leo White 
starts his 35th year as a film thesp 
in "A Kiss in the Dark" at Warners 
. . . Samuel Goldwyn turned 
"Roseanna' McCoy," a novel by 
Alberta Hannnm. over to John 
Collier for screen treatment. 

Ann Soihem will play one of the 
top ro'es in Metro's Teclmicolor 
musical. "Words and Music." based 
on the careers of Bodgcrs and 
Hart . . . Michael CurUtK lit out foi 



the Mother Lode country in North- 
ern California to scout locations 
for "The 49ers." , . . Joan Caulfield 

obtained release from her Para- 
mount contract, with the studio re- 
taining rights to her services in 
one picture, to be selected later . . . 
Paramount assigned "Web of 
Da.y.s," "Comeback" and "Beyond 
Evil" to Endrc Bohem's -.production 
program . . . William Thomas will 
direct "Special Agent," William 
Kythe starrer, as the third of six. 
pictures to be filmed this year by 
Pine-Thomas for Paramount re* 
lease . . . Edward- Nassour ready- 
ing a film on the auto-racing career 
of Ralph dc Palma . . , James Tin- 
lins will direct "Big Dan," a Sol 

'Wurlzel production for 20th-Fox 

j release. .■ ■: 



Copenhagen, March 19. 

Uncontrolled flood of American 
films into most European countries 
resulting from a mad scramble by ' 
U. S. film companies to extract as 
many dollars -as possible from the 
continental market, is neatly illus.r 
trated here where the eight 
American majors have started sell- 
ing product to their one-time arch 
rivals, the independent distribu- 
tors. Inking of a new film agree- 
ment between the government and 
Hollywood's Danish branches, 
which became effective March 1, 
touched off a race to dispose of 
pictures as soon as possible. 

So small is the dollar amount- 
allotted to each American firm to 
remit to the U. S. that exhibition 
of only a few of their films pro- 
duces enough income to cover ex- 
penses here as well providing the 
entire dollar sum to be sent home. 
Therefore most branches of the 
majors have embarked upon a 
policy of selUng to the indies in 
order to secure these distribs' dol- 
lar allotments. Such a course en- 
ables the U. S. firms to double 
their horaeoffice remittances. 

Paramount has sold /'Perils of 
Pauline" to Asa Film and Dansk- 
svensk picked up its French- 
man's Creek." Universal ped- 
dled "Temptation" and "Mag- 
nificent Doll" to Criterion. Biggest 
indie, Constantin Film, has bought 
^'Bishop's Wife" direct from Gold- 
wyn and is closing a deal for more 
than a dozen Columbia pictures 
(including "Jolson Story") in. 
New York where the company's 
pre.\y, Preben Philipsen, has been 
handling negotiations. As a corol- 
lary of the indies' deals, some of 
them have paid so much in dollars 
for Hollywood product that they've 
already used their dollar allot- 
ments for the next 18 months. 

Among American films now on 
local sci-eens are "The Kid fi-om 
Brooklyn" (RKO), "Grapes of 
Wrath" (20th) and "The Stranger" 
(RKO). All are felea.sed by local 
indies Scala Bio, World Cinema 
and Alexandra, respectively. Other 
current product includes several 
Danish films and a British im- 
port, "Frieda." 



B.A. IS MECCA FOR U.S., 
EUROPE FIXERS LATEY 

Buenos Aires, JMtarch 16. 

A fiock of U. S. and European 
pix tycoons have been planing- into 
Buenos Aires during the last fort- 
night. Local fihn colony is hope- 
ful of some sort of settlement on 
frozen exchange and the growing 
trend towards nationalism and 
protection of local production. 

Harold Sugarman, United World 
Films v.p.. is already in B. A. 
and is making Universal his head- 
quarters. His visit is tied up with 
the distribution of 16m pix for J. 
Arthur Rank and GaUinont British. 

Paramount expects visit from-; 
George Weltner, chairman Of 
Paramount Intecjjational Films, 
who is on an inspection tour ac- 
companied by Arthur L. Pratchett, 
Par's Latin - American divisional 
chief, and Samuel E. Pierpoint, 
manager for Argentina, Braall, 
Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay. 

French film distributors are ex- 
pecting a visit from Andre Paulvcf, 
who produced "Les Visiteure dil 
Soir" and "l^a Belle et la Bete" 
and who is also on a South Amer- 
ican junket, escorted by Jean 
Sefert. COFRAM French pic dis- 
tributors in Argentina. 



LANTZ IXRISHES 12 

Hollywood, March 23. 
Six months ahead of schedule, 
Walter Lantz announced comple- 
tion of his entire program of 12 
cartoons for United- Artists re- 
lease. 

Five prints have already been 
delivered to UA and the other 
seven are currently in the Tecb* 
nicolor labt 



Congratulations 

to 

RONALD COLM AN 

from UNIVERSAL -INTERNATIONAL for 

his ACADEMY AWARD honoring his ster- 
ling performance in "A DOUBLE life*'. 

■ ■ . ■ , ■ i ■ ■ ■■■■ ■ , " 

Congratulations, also, to Dr. Miklos 
BLOZsa, for giving "A Double Life" the 
year's best musical score for a dramatic 
picture. 

These awards are significant tributes, 
not only to Mr. Colman and. Dr. Ro2sa, 
but also to the excellent production 
"A Double Life". 



Congratulations to the 

J. ARTHUR RANK ORGANIZATION 

from UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL 
for the ACADEMY AWARDS WOfl by 

"GREAT EXPECTATIONS" 

and 

"BLACK NARCISSUS" 

"GREAT EXPECTATIONS" was hotiored for the 
best art direction, best set decoration and best 
cinematography among black and white mo- 
' tion pictures. 

"BLACK NARCISSUS" was honored for the best 
art direction, best set decoration and best cine-, 
matogi^phy among motion pictures produced 
in color. 



PICTVRIE Gll4»S^eS 



Wedneaday, March 84, 1948 



LA No Ball (if Fire But Oscars Help 
'Agreement' Hep mm 'Millie Hot 
4SG, 'Ranchero' 15G, 'Gentleman 37G 



Los Angeles, March 23. 

"Gentleman's Agreement," in 
four theatres at popular prices, is 
pacing Los Angeles flrstruns with 
«oHd $59,000, being strong in all 
except two spots. Film had long, 
hefty advanced-scale run at Palace 
downtown. "Mating of MiUle" 
looks bright $45,000 in two houses. 

"Alias a Gentleman" and "10th 
Ave, Angel" shapes to land only 
thin $37,000 in three situations. 
Reissue combo of "Only Angels 

gave Wings" and "Coast Guard" 
kely will be okay $21,500 in four 
emall-seaters. "Gay Ranchero" 
«nd "Discovery" looks disappoint- 
ing at $15,000 in five spots' for . six 
days, with "Bambi" replactag to- 
morrow (Wed.). 
"Naked City" is leading the hold- 

Jivers with fancy $45,000 in five 
ocations, second frame, after 
"reat $66,000 opener, over hopes. 
Saigon" is nice $18,000. in third 
and final week 4t two Paramount 
houses. 

Estimaties for This Week 
B«lm»nt (FWC) (1,532; 60-$l)— 
"Gay Ranchero" (Rejp) and "Dis- 
covery" (FC). Dim $2,500. Last 
Week. "Ideal Husband" (20th) and 
"Half Past Midnight" (20th), 
»4,200, . 

Beverly HUls Mmie HaU (G&S- 
Blumetofeld) (826; 65-$l)— "Only 
Angels Have Wings" (Col) and 
•'Coast Guard" (Col) (reissues). 
Fair $3,500. Last week, "Intrigue" 
<UA) (2d wk), $1,800. 

Carthay Circle (1,518; 80-$l)— 
•'Northside" (20th) and "Live 
Again" (20th) (3d wk). Medium 
$5,000. Last week, oke $5,900. 

Chinese (Graufflwi-'WC) (2,048; 
f 0-$l ) — "Gentleman's Agreement" 
<20th). Fair $16,500. Last week, 
"Northside" (20th) (8d wk), okay 
t8.400. 

Culver (FWC) (1,145; 60-$l)— 
"Gay Ranchero" (Rep) and "Dis- 
covery" (FC). Dull $2,500. Last 
week, "Ideal Husband" (20th) and 
"Half Past Midnight" (20th), 
$4,500. 

Dttwntown (WB) (1,800; 60-$l)— 
"Robin Hood" (WB) (reissue) (2d 
•wk). Neat $14,000. Last week. 
$18,500. 

Downtown Music HaU (Blumen- 
feld) (872; 60-$l)— "Angels Wings" 
<Col) and "Coast Guard" (Col) 
(reissues). Okay $11,000. Last 
week, "Intrigue" (UA) (2d wk), 
thin $6,800. 

Egyptian (FWC) (1,538; 60-$l)— 
f*'A!ias "Gentleman" (M-G) and 
"Tenth Ave. Angel" (M-G). Slow 
$9,000. Last week, "Three Daring 
Daughters" (M-G) <2d wk), nice 
$8,700. 

.El Bey (FWC) (861; 60-$l)— 
"Gay Ranchero" (Rep) and "Dis- 
covery" (FC). Faint $2,000. Last 
week, "Ideal Husband" (20th) and 



ters" (M-G) (2d wk), neat $14,800. 

Loyola. (FWC) (1,248; 60-$l)— 
'Agreement" (20th). Sturdy $10,- 
000. Last . vveek, "Northside" 
(20th) (3d wk), big $6,600. 

Orpheum (D'town-WC) (2,210; 
60-$l)— "Gay Ranchero"N(Rep) and 
'Discovery" (FC). Scant $6,000. 
Last week, "Ideal Husband" (20th) 
and "Half Past Midnight' (20th), 
$9,300. 

Pantagec (Pan) (2,812; 60-$l)— 
"Mating of Millie" (Col)„and "Re- 
turn of Whistler" (Col). Bright 
$22,000. Last week "Knew Susie" 
(RKO) and I'Tracy Meets Grue- 
some" (RKO) (2d wk-6 days), $7,- 
700. 

Paramount (F&M) (3,398; 6Q-$1) 
— "SaigohV (Part and "Mr. Reck- 
less", (Par) (3d wk). Finales at $11,- 
000, Last week, oke $15,000. 

Fiiraniount Hollywood (F&M) 
(1,451; 60-$l)— "Saigon" (Par) and 
"Mr. Reckless!' (Par) (3d wk). Near 
$7,000. Last week, nice $8,800. 

RKO Hlllstreet (RKO) (2,890; 
60-80)— "Mating Millie" (Col) and 
"Return Whistler" (Col). Sturdy 
$23,000. Last week, "Knew Susie' 
(RKO) and '"n^acy Meets Grue 
some" (RKO) (2d wk-6 days), sUght 
$9,700. 

Ritz (FWC) (1,370; 60-$l) 
"Naked City" (U) (2d wk). Rousing 
$11,500. Last week, sock $14^600. 

Studio City (FWC) (880; 60-$l) 
"Naked City" (U) (2d wk). Smooth 
$6,500. Last week, great $8,500. 

United Artists (UA) (2,100; 60- 
$1) — "Naked City" (U) (2d wk) 
Good $16,500. Last week, big $24,- 
700. V 

Uptown <FWC) (1,719; 60-$l)— 
"Agreement" (20th). Fast $12,500. 
Last week, "Northside" (20th) and 
"Li^ Again" (20th) (3d wk), big 
$7,200. 

Vogue (FWC) (885; 60-85)— "Gay 
Ranchero" (Rep) and "Discovery" 
(FC). Thin $2,000. -Last week, 
"Ideal Husband" (20th) and "Half 
Past Midnight" (20th), fair $5,500. 

Wilshire (FWC) (2,296; 60-$l)— 
"Alias Gentleman" (M-G) and 
"Tenth Ave. Angel" (M-G). Slow- 
$7,500. Last week, "Daughters" 
(M-G) (2d wk). Neat $8,400. 

Wiltern (WB) (2,300; 60-$l)^ 
"Robin Hood" (WB) (reissue) (2d 
wk). Nice $9,000. Last week, good 
$16,000. 



TOED CriY' SMASH 
$33,000 TOPS FRISCO 

San Francisco, March 23. 
"Naked City" broke opening day 
record at two Blumenfeld theatres 
and looks to pace city this week 
with big total. "Gentleman's 
Agreement" shapes fine at Fox. 
"Sitting Pretty" looks solid at War- 
field. Otherwise, the city IS largely 
on holdover. 

Estimates for This Week 
Golden Gate (RKO) (2,844; 60- 
85)— "Bishop's Wife" (RKOi (3d 
wk). Down to $16,000. Last week, 
husky $25,500. _^ • . 

Fox (FWC) (4,65li 60-95)— "Gen- 
tleman's Agreement" (20th). Fine 
$21,500, Last week, "Pittsburgh" 
(FC) and "Green Hell" (FC) (re- 
issues), pallid $11,500. 

Warfleld (FWC) (2,656; 60-85)— 
"Sitting Pretty" (20th). Big $20,- 
000. Last week, "Meant for Me" 
(20th), $18,000. 

Paramount (Par) (2,646; 60-85)— 
"Robin Hood" (WB) (reissue). 
Strong' $21,000. :;-ast week, "Ad- 
ventures Casanova" (EL), $13,000. 

St. Francis (Par) (1,400; 60-85)— 
Saigon" (Par) (3d wk). Mild 
$9,500. Last week, fast $11,500. 

Orpheum (Blumenfeld) (2,448; 
55-85)— "Naked City" (U). Fancy 
$19,000. Last week, "Ends of 
Earth" (Col) (2d wk), okay $13,500. 

United Artists (Bllumenfeld) (1,- 
207; 55-85)— "Sign of Ram" (Col) 
(2d wk). Fair $8,500^ Last week; 
solid $14,000. 

Clay (Roesner) (400; 65-85) — 
"Beauty and Beast" (Indie) (4th 
wk). Off to $2,800. Last week, 
boflf $4,100. . 

Larkin (Roesner) (400{ 65-85)— 
"Furia" (Iiidie), Returned to play 
here after being seized by police 
last December. Socko $4,200. 
Last week, "Monson in America" 
(Indie), thin $2,200. 

Esquire (Blumenfeld) (952; 55- 
85)— "Naked City" (U). Great $14,- 
000. Last week, "Buck Privates" 
(FC) and "South of Tahiti" (PC) 
(reissues), $5,500. 
«tate (Par) (2,133; 60-85)— "Fron-^ 
tier Marshal" (ZOth) and "Bell« 
Starr" (20th) (reissues). Oke $9,00S. 
Last week, "Only Live Once" 
(Indie) (reissue) (2d wk)^ $2,000 in 
4 days. 



New Fare Hypos Hub; Me Lively 
$48,000, W StiU Pretty 27G, 2d 



Key City 



Estimated Total Gross 

Tills Week $2,698,500 

(Based on 20 cities, 202 
theatres, chiefly first runs, tn- 
eluding N. Y.) 
Total Gross Sam* Week 

Last Year $3,419,200 

(Based on 22 cities, 207 thea- 
tres) 



$5,200 

Esduire (Rosener) (685; 85-$1.20) 
—"Nicholas Nickleby" (U) (4th 
wk). Neat $2,000. Last week, 
$2,400. 

l^out Star (UA-WC) (900; $1.20- 
$1.80) — "Mourning Becomes plec- 
tra" (RKO) (13th wk). Okay $3,- 
500 in final 9 days. Last week, 
$2,400. 

Guild (FWC) (068; 60-$l)— 
"Naked City" (U) (2d wk). Nifty 
$6 .'300. h&st week, socko $9,000. 

Hawaii (G&S-BlUmenfeld) U,- 
106; 60-$l)-i'"Angels Wings" (Col) 
and "Coast Guard" (Col) (re- 
Issues). ■ Fair $3,500. Last week, 
"Intrigue" (UA) (2d wk), faint 
$1,700. 

Hollywood (WB) (2,756; 60-$l)— 
"Robin Hood" (WB) (reissue) (2d 
Wk). Okay $10;000. Last week, 
solid $16,500. 

Hollywood Music HaU (Blumen- 
feld) (475; 60-85)— "Angels Have 
Wings" (Col) and "Coast Guard" 
(Col) (reissues). Trim $3,500, Last 
week, "Intrigue" (UA) •(2d ' wk), 
$1,700. 

Iris (FWC) (828; 60-85)— "Naked 
City" (U) (2d wk). Good $6,500. 
Last week, big $9,200. 

Laurel (Rosener) (890; 85)— 
"Furia" (FC) (2d wk). Nifty $4,- 
fiOO. Last week, solid $6,100. 

Loew's State (Loew-WC) (2,404; 
60-$l)— "Agreement" (20th). Me- 
dium $20,000. Last week, "North- 

gde" (20th) and "Live Again" 
;Oth) 't3d . wk), strong $15,700. 
tOS Angelea (D'tow»-WC) (2,097; 
«0-$l)— "Alias- Gentleman" (M-G) 
nd "Tenth Ave. Angel" (M-G). 
How $20,500. Last week. "Daugh- 



St. Loo in Slump Albeit 
Xarnegie' Okay $17,000; 
'Husband' Good 



St. Louis, March 23. 
Holy Week in this heavily popu- 
"Half Past Midnight" (20th), okayilated Catholic city plus a general 



11ieClo(iTimehr 
1000, Del Ace 



lethargy of natives to buy anything 
is slowing down biz at the big cine- 
mas to a walk. "Robin Hood," a 
reissue, will get top coin but "Car- 
negie Hall" is doing okay at Loew's. 
Estimates for This Week 
Ambassador (F&M) (3,000; 50-75) 
—"Ideal Husband" (20th) and "The 
Challenge" (20th). Good $18,000. 
Last week, "Bishop's Wife" (RKO) 
(2d wk),'"stout $16,000. 

Fox (F&M) (6,000; 50-75)— "Rob- 
in Hood" (WB) (reissue) and "Girl 
Tisa" (WB). Modekt $19,000. Last 
week, "Scudda Hoo" (20th) and 
"Perilous Waters" (Mono), nice 
$23,000. 

Loew's ^(Loew) (3,172; 50-75)— 
."Carnegie Hali" (UA) and "Person- 
al Column" (UA). . Okay $17,000. 
Last week, "Ends of Earth" (Col) 
and "Fabulous Joe" (UA), solid 
$20,000. 

Missouri (F&M) (3,500; 50-75)— 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) andJ'ScUd- 
da Hoo" (20thl (m.o.), good" $9,000. 
Last week, "Voice of Turtle" (WB) 
and "Call Northside" (20lh) (m.o.) 
(2d wk)i big $10,000. 

Orpheum (Loew) (2,000, 50-75)— 
"Ends of Earth" (Col) and "Fabu- 
lous Joe" (UA) . Oke $7,.'500. Last 
week, "Pittsburgli" (SG) and 
"Green Heir (SG) (reissues), 
$8,000. 

St. Louis (F&M) (4.000: 80-75)— 
"Saigon" (Par) and "Mr. Reckless" 
(20th), (3d Wk). Good $6,500. 

Shubert (Ind) (1,500; 40-60)— 
"Fun, Fancy Free" (RKO), and 
"Wistful Widow" (U). Neat $4,500. 
Last week, "Belle Starr" (20th) and 
"l^rontier Marshal" (20th) (reissues) 
(2d wk), $3,500. 



Detroit, March 23. 
Michigan has found the answer 
to socko business for Holy Week. 
It's the crix raves for "The Big 
Clock" that's getting it a socko ses- 
sion in one of toughest weeks of 
the year. Not since last August has 
the*theatre's biz been so high and 
it's the biggest Holy Week gross 
in years at this house. Fox is close 
behind but not as strong with 
"The Smugglers,-" and "Untamed 
Fury." 

The rest are holdovers with "Al- 
buquerque" most favorable in its 
second week. 

Estimates for This Week 

Adams (Balaban) (1,740; 70-95)— 
"Cass Timberlane" (M-G) (5th wk). 
Mild $6,000 after $8,000 last week. 

Art Cinema (Marten) (250; 60- 
90) — "Pagliacci" (Indie). Big 
$1,500. Last week, "Beauty and 
Beast" (Indie) (2d wk), fancy $1,200. 

Broadway-Capitol (United - De- 
troit) (3,309; 70-95)— "Adam Had 
Four Sons" (Col) and "Talk of 
Town" (Col) (reissues). Disappoint- 
ing $8,000. Last week, "T-Men" 
(EL) and "Linda be Good" (EL) 
(3d wk), big $12,000. 

Downtown (Balaban) (2,863; 70- 
95)— "High Wall" (M-G) and "An- 
gels Alley" (Mono) (2d wk). Solid 
$10,000. Last week, sock $12,000. 

Fox (Fox-Michigan) (5,100; 70-95) 
— "Smugglers" (EL) and "Untamed 
Fury" (EL). Brisk $20,000: Last 
week, "Ideal Husband" (20th) and 
"Woman's Vengeance" (U), dull 
$18,000. 

Michigan. (UrD) (4,039; 70-95)— 
"Big Clock" (Par) and "BiU and 
Coo" (Rep). Socko $28,000. Last 
week, "Knew Su.sie" (RKO) and 
"RIain Street Kid" (Rep) (2d wk), 
neat $15,000. 

Palms (U-D) (2,976; 70-95)— "Al- 
buquerque" (Par) and "Always To- 
gether" (WB) (2d wk). Moderate 
$14,000 after big $22,000 opener. 

United Artists (U-D) (2,976; 70- 
95)— "Sign of Ram" (Col) and 
"Campus Honeymoon" (Rep), (2d 
wk). Satisfactory $10,000 after alow 
$8,000 starter. 



L'ville Goes For 
'Susie' at $15,000 

Louisville, March 23". 

Spring weather has hit town in 
earnest, and patrons are shunning 
the downtown houses this week. 
Holy Week also is claiming atten- 
tion of many,' and result is slow 
pace at all flrstruns. "If You 
Knew Susie" at the Rialtd is the 
only house where business is even 
near good. 

Estinnates for This Week 

Brown (Fourth Avenue) (1,200; 
45-65) — "Tycoon" (RKO) (m.o,). 
Mild $3,600. Last week, -"Meant 
For Me" (20th) and "Half Past 
Midnight" (20th) (m.o.), good 
$5,000. 

Kentucky (Switow) (1,200; 30- 
40) . — "Swordsman" (Col) and 
"Smash-up" (U). Medium $3,000. 
Last week, "Wistful Widow" (U) 
and "Always Together" (WB), 
$3,300. 

Mary Anderson (People's) (1,100; 
45-65)— "Prince of Thieves" (Col). 
Normal $7,000. Last week, "Girl 
Tisa" (WB), about same. . ' 

National (Standard) (2,400; 45- 
65)— "Roosevelt Story" (UA) and 
fwo-reeler "Fight Wild Stallions" 
(U). Slow $5,000. Last week, 
"Vance Returns" (EL) with Ink 
Spots, Lucky -Millinder orch, 
others, on stage, sturdy $20,000. 

RialtO (FA) (3,400; 45-65)- 
"Knew Susie" (RKO) and "Slippy 
McGee" (Hep).' Catching top play 
along /(he main stem, albeit not 
potent enough to override Lent 
and spring weather. Satisfactory 
$15,000. Last week, "Tycoon" 
(RKO), neat $14,000, and m,o. 

Scoop (L'ville Theatres) (700; 46- 
65)— "Magic Bow" (U). Fair $2,500 
Last week, "Henry V" (UA), at 
$1.80 top, healthy $5,000. 

State (Loew's) (3,000; 45-65) 
"Alias Gentleman" (M-G) and 
"10th Avenue Angel" (M-G). Neat 
$12,000. Last week, "DouSle Life' 
(U) and "Chan Chinese Ring" 
(Mono), about same. 

Strand (FA) (1,000; 45-65)— 
"Song Beraadetts" (20th) (reissue) 
Booked in here with expectation 
that Catholic patrons would turn 
out, but Lent hasn't helped. Mild 
$4,500. Last week, ''Louisiana" 
(Mono) and "Fighting Mad" 
(Mono), about same. 



Boston, March 23. 

Despite Lent; new product li 
hypoing biz i^i this town currently 
"Double Life" at State and Orphel 
um is well on top with solid week. 
"Sitting Pretty," seeond week ai 
Metropolitan, still is wow. "Bam- 
bi," at Memorial, and "Robin 
Hood," at Paramount and Fenway 
both are fine for reissues. ' 
Estimates for This Week 

Astor (Indie) (1,300; 40-80)—. 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO). (13th wk) 
Nice $8,000. Last week, big $9,000 

Boston (RKO) (3,200; 50-$l.l0)— 
"Love From Stranger'^ (EL) plus 
disk Jockey show, Kitty Kallen, 
Clark Dennis; others on stage. Lo- 
cal disk jocks hypoing this hous« 
to a neat $28,000, very big sans 
band. Last week, "I Became Crim- 
inal" (WB) plus Lionel Hampton 
orch, others on stage, $27,000. 

"Expter (Indie) (1,300; 55-76)— 
"Brief Encounter" (EL) and "Di- 
vorce I^ady X" (Indie) (reissue)! 
Thin $4,000. Last week, "Capt. 
Boycotf'v (U) (2d wk), $5,000. 

Fenway (M-P) (1,373; 40-80)— 
Girl Tisa" (WB) and "Robin 
Hood" (WB) (reissue). Excellent 
$7,000. Last week, "Call North* 
side" (20th) and "Mr. Reckless" 
(20th), $8,000. ' 

Kenmore (Indie) (9P0; 40-80)-r 
"Roosevelt Story" (UA) and "Girl 
in Canal" (Indie). Medium $2,000. 
Last week, "Panic" (FR) (5th wk), 
$2,800. 

Memorial (RKO) (3,000; 40-80)— 
"Bambi" (RKO) (reissue) and "So 
Well Remembered " (RKO). Good 
$24,000. Last week, "Black Bart'* 
(U) and "Caravan" (EL), $23,000. 

Metropolitan (M-P) (4,367; 40-80) 
—"Sitting Pretty" (20lh) and 
"Docks New Orleans" (Mono) (2d 
wk). Still very big at $27,000 after 
$36,000 in first. 

Orpheum (Loew) (3,000; 40-80)-^ 
!'Double Life" (U) and "10th Ave. 
Angel" (M-G). Best in town at 

treat $31,000. Last week, "Ends 
arth" (Col) and "Devil Ship" 
(Col) (2d wk), $22,000. 

Paramount (M-P) (1,700; 40-80) 
-—"Girl Tisa" (WB) and "Robin 
Hood" (WB) (reissue). Oke $16,000. 
Last week, "Call Northside" (20th) 
and "Mr. Reckless" (20th), $17,000. 

State (Loew) (8,500; 40-80)— 
"Double Life" (U) and "10th Ave. 
Angel" (M-G). Day-date with Or- 
pheum, smash $17,000. Last weeli;, 
"Ends Earth" (Col) and "Devil 
Ship" (Col) (2d wk), $11,000, 



mrthside' Gets Call 
In Mpk., Lofty P,000 

Minneapolis, March 23 
Biggest ari'ay of newcomers for 
a single week in months has help 
of the weather to offest Lent. Best 
bet by far among the major en 
tries is "Northside 777" which 
looks sock at' Radio City. "Secret 
Behind the Door" .shapes as fair 
at the Orpheum, Lone holdovers 
are "Bishop's Wife" and "Saigon," 
both stout. 

Estimates for This Week 
Century (far) (1,600; 50-70)— 
"Tenth Ave. Angel" IM-G). Light 
$6,000. Last week, "Mohs. Ver- 
doux" (UA), fair .$7,500. 

Gopher (Par) (1,000; 44)— "Gay 
Ranchero" (Rep) and "Angel's Al- 
ley" (Mono). Sturdy $4,000. Last 
week, "Daring Young Man" (Col) 
and "Swiss Miss" (FC) (reissues), 
$4,500. 

Lyric (Par) (1,000; 50-70)— 
"Saigon" (Par) (m. o.). Still socko 
at $9,000. Last week, "Voice of 
Turtle" (WB) f4th V k), fine $5,000, 

Radio City (Par) (4,400; 50-70)— 
"Northside 777" (20th). Given fine 
bally and delivering in big-league 
fashion. Lofty $20,000 or over. 
Last week, "Cass Timberlane" 
(M-G) (2d wk), good $14,000. 

RKO -Orpheum (RKO) (2,800; 
50-70)— "Secret Beyond Door" (U). 
(Continued on page 20) . 



Mild Weather No Help 
To Pro?.; 'Sitting' Fme 
$18,000, Trouble' IIG 

Providence, March 23. 
Second successive favorabla 
weekend in four months of wintery 
weather, had more people on the 
roads than in the theatres, but 
Several spots are doing nicely. 
Majestic is hep with "Sitting Pret- 
ty" while Loew's State looks okay 
with "Relentless." 

Estimates for This Week 
Albee (RKO) (2,200; 44-65)— "I 
Love Trouble',' (Col) and "Prince , 
of Thieves" (Col). Fairly good 
$11,000? Last week, "Knew Susie' 
(RKO) and "Green lor Danger" 
(RKO), nifty $19,000. 

Carlton (Fay-LoeW) (1,400; 44-65) 
—"Road Big House" (SPi and 
"Burning Cross" (SG). Neat $6,!)00. 
La.st week "Call Northside" (20th) 
and "Dangerous Years" (20th) (2d 
run), good $5,000. 

Fay's (Fay) (1,400; 44-65)— "Easy 
to Wed" (M-G) and Bert Wheeler 
heading stageshdw. -Nice $7.50(). 
Last week, "Anchor's "Aweigh 
(M-G) (reissue) and vaude, $6,500. 

Majestic (Fay) (2,200; 44-65)-- 
"Sitting Pretty" (20th) and "Half 
Past Midnight" f20th). Healthy 
$18,000. Last week, "Double Life 
(U) and "Case of Baby Sitter" (U), 
good $15,000. ^. 

Metropolitan (Snider) (8,100; 44- 
65)— "Argentine Nights" (U) and 
"Hellzapoppin" (U) (reissues). Aver- 
age $6,500. Last Week "Buck Fn- 
vate" (U) and "South Tahiti 'U' 
(reissues), same $6,500. 

State (Loew) (3,200; 44-65)— Re- 
lentless" (Col) and "Keeper oi 
Bees" (Col). Okay , ^""I 

week, "Ends of. Earth" (Col) and 
■"Curley" (M-G) (id wk), $12,000. 

Strand (Silverman) (2,200; 44-65) 
—"Sign of Ram" (Col) and 
our Girl" (Gol). (2d wk). Average 
$7,500. Last week, nice $12,600. 



PICTVItK GROSSES 



IS 



Rain, H.O. s Slough Chi; 'Sierra $iM 
lcCoys'(Kiner& Clyde) KiirEiaM 



Chicago, March 23. - 

Chicago fllni grosses have leveled 
nff under the impact of rainy 
(leather. Holy Weels and laclc oJ' 
„Aw product. Only two new bills 
Phihe in, one othese being a re- 
feue "Treasure of Sierra Madre" 
at the Chicago should hit fine $40,- 
flOO "Fighting 69th" at tiie Roose- 
velt is only $10,000. 

Holdovers are mainly light, but 
several were able to overcome 
tenten slump."Merton ot the 
kJvies" With EUa Fitig^ald wad 
iHel Torme in pamm went into 
second we6l£ at the State-Late wiUi 
smart $37,000. "KiBer McCoy" at 
the Oriental slipped to $35,000 in 
fourth week, bo* stiJl goiod!, with 
new stagebill headed liy Clyde Mc- 
Coy band fteiping. 

"Bambi' 'at the Palace looks a 
real sleeper snd second staontsa 
sliould hit dandy $20,000. "Cass 
tiinberlaae " is dcawing: sock $32,.- 
OOO for second at Woods. 

"Sign of Rmd" at United Artists 
will hit okay $15,000 for second 
frame. "Gentteiaaa's Agreement." 
now in 19th week at ApoFIo, 
spurted to neat $15,000 after 
Academy awards were announced. 

Apollo (B&K) (1,400; $1.28)— 
"GentlenoAn's Agreement" (20tb> 
(19th wk>. Academy award hypoed 
biz to handsmne $13,000. 
week, $8,000. 

Chlcasa <B&K> (3,900; »8l — 
•'Sierra Madre" (WB). Fine $40,000. 
Last week, "J Walk Alone" (Par) 
(2d wkt, ftice $27,000. 

Grand (RKO) (1,1500; 081— "Pan- 
handle" (Mono) (2d wk). Lean 
$12,000. Last week, $15,000. 

Monroe (fndie) (1,000,- 38) — 
"Good News" (M-G) (2<l wk>.. Mod.- 
erate $13,000. Last week, $18,000. 

Oriental (Essaness) 0,400; 98i— 
"Killer McCoy" (M-Gi (4111 wki 
witli new stage show headed 
by Clyde McCoy orcb. Average 
$35,000. Last week, $48,000. 

Palace (BKO) IZJSMt; m — 
"Bambi" (RKO) (reissue) f2d wk). 
Excellent $2(^,000. Last week, 
$26,000. 

ItoosereH (B&K) (1,500: 98;i — 
"Fighting 69th" (WBi (reissue). 
Weak $10jOOO. Last week, "Al- 
■bOquertiue" (Par) (2d wki, fancy 
$17,000. 

State-Lake (B&K) (2,700: 98)— 
"Merlon of Movies" (M-G> with 
Mel Torme and Ella Fitzgerald 
heading diidc show (2 «eeki. Stout 
$37,000. Last week, big $45,000. 
. .United Acti&U (B&K) (1.700; 9&) 
—"Sign of Ram" (Col) (2d wki. 
Okay $15,000. Last week, $23,008. 

Woo*5 (Essaness) (1,073; 98i — 
"Cass Tijnberlane" (M-G> (2dt wk). 
Sock $32,000. Last week, $38,000. 

World (Indie) (587; 77)— "Slioe- 
phine" (Indie) (7th wk). Neat 
$3,500. Last vte^ $^j0«^. 



Broadway Grasses 

Estimated Total Gr«s«r 
This Week $CKt4t* 

(Based on 23 tJieatresV 

Last Year $721,000 

( Based on 18 theatres ) 



Rain Clips Indl^; 
Tarth'FktM 



Indianapolis, Jdarch 23. 

Bain and windstorms plus Lent 
are dampening most fosses at 
deluxes liere this week. Gtaae ex- 
ception is "Robin Hood"^ on reis- 
sue, going with "Slippy McCie^"' at 
Circle. "Naked City" is daiodly in 
second stanza at Indiana an«E 'To 
Ends of Earth" is^ fair at Loew's. 
Other entries are way off. 
Estimates for This Week 
. Circle fGamble-DoUe) (2,880; 44- 
65)— "Robin Hood" tWB) (reissue) 
and "Slippy McGee" (Bep). Rous^ 
ing $13,000, and probable move- 
over. Last, week, "Night S^aig" 
<R'K0) and "rialf Past Midnight" 
(20tti), $11,000. ' 

Indiana (G-D) (3,300; 44^)— 
"Naked City" (U) ('2d wk)-. Damdsy 
$10,000 added to Isefty ?J!6,08O fai 
kmi stanza. 

Keith's (G-D) (1.300; 44-65)— 
"Song Bernadette" (20th) (reissue). 
Puny $3,000. Last week, "Flame" 
(Rep> and "Years Between" (U), 
same. 

Loew's (Loew's) (2.450; 44-65) — 
"Ends of Earth" (Col) and "Love oE 
Rusty" (Col). Fair $10,000. Last 
week, "Three Daring Daughters" 
tiM-G) and "Wreck Hesperus" (Col) 
(2d wk), Oke $9,000. 

Lyric (G-D) (1.600; 44-65)— 
"jGfiri Tisa" (WB)s and "l Became 
Criminal" (WB). Mild $5,000. Last 
week, "Women's Vangeance"^ (U> 
and "Mr, Recldess" (Psnr), thin 
$3,500. 



Buffalo. March 23, 

lloty Week is taking a heavy toll 
at' tiie tioxolJice' in this stirong 
churcli town. "■Albaqwerqiie" looks 
best of new films. Holdovers and 
reissues, are hurting many spots. 
. ^fiBHties. 'fits- '.T^' Wedfc;' ;::' : 

Buffalo iShea) iSMO; 40-761— 
"AlbtHinerque (Par> and "Ca«cd 
FBry" (Pari. Fairly good $'13;,aoft or 
elase. Last week, "If Winter 
Comes"^ I M-G) and "Captain Cou- 
rageous" (M-G) ireissue), $12,000. 
■ Tfertsv ' (SSteSiV. (1.400; .. 4Q)^70K— ■ 
"Blat-fc Cat" flU) and "Btack Frt- 
dacji" (U) (reissues). Won't go over 
$4^000,. not so bad for eddies., Last 
week, "Meant For Me"^ (20ftfi) and 
"The Challenge"" (-Mono) (ih.o.>, 
$4,400. ■ 

Lafayete (Basil) (3,000; 40-70)— 
"Secret Beyond Boor"' nV). Mild 
$ll;jOaO. Last week "Sign of Ram"-' 
(Co!) and "Return of Whistler" 
(Col), good $13,500. 

GxtiA Lxkies (Shea) (3,400; 40-70) 
w- .*W8aa'^.: ('Pat-)! ' 'and ■ "Mr. . Reck- 
Eess" (Far)' (2d wk). Still stont! at 
$13,000. Last weeS. smash $2030. 

IKro (Shea.)' (2;100; 40-70— "Tar- 
zarc's Secrett Treastnre'* (RKO) and 
"Taraan'sN. "sr-'AtfeentMre" (RKO) 
(retssues)' okay $8l5QO. Last week. 
"IdeaT HnsiKHtd" mm and "Ten- 
der IfearsT f ZOtliK ooMl $T,5>e». 

imk Ccntarr (iOKb CetiA.> (3.- 
000; 4Q-1(f)^"S» West Reaaen- 
bered" (RKO) and "Wyonang" 
(Rep). Modest $9,000 in 6 days. 
Last week. "IKshop's Wife" (RKO), 
solid $7,000 in Sve dajys of third 
week. 



De»A of New Pix, Lent DnH N. Y.; 
WRh^sLi^ $40,000 in Preem, 
'Casanofa' 17G: lama' Hot 144G, 2d 



SNOW LIFTS DENVEI^ 
'SCDDDA' HEP $26,000 

Denver, March 23. 
"Scudda Hoo," playing in three 
theatrps, ynll get top coin this 
week, being big. Snow Saturday 
nigtit hurt midniglit shows but has 
helped biii generally since then, 
. keeping folks in town. 

Estimates for This Werii 

Aladdin (Fox) (1,400; 35-74)— 

Intermezaio" (SRO). Nice $5,000. 
Last week, "Call Northside" (20th) 
and "Heading for Heaven" (EL), 
wter week at Denvei-, Esquire, 
Webber, $4,500. 

uenltam (Coekrim (1,400; .^5-70) 
r-„Saigon" (Par) (2d wk). Great 
*1^000. Last week, $17,000. 
^Denver (Foix> (2,525; 35-74)— 

i>cudda Hoo" (20tb) and "Docks 
J^ew Orleans" (Monoi, da>-date 
with Esquire, Webber. Big $18,000 
or close. Last week, "Ends of 
^■arlh (Col) and "Let's Live 
Agam" (20th), same. 
„ *'^*«^^e (Fox) (742; 3.^-74)— 

bcudda Hoo'- (20tli) and "Docks 
«e\v Orleans" (Mono), also Denver, 
Webber. Nice $4,000 or a bit iin- 
«er. Last week, "Ends of Earth" 
$300o""^ "Eet's Live again" (20th), 
. prphemn (RKO) (2,600; 33-74)— 
"irn '5.**^ Comes" (M-G) and 

KUler DvU" (SG). Slow $12,000 or 
5 niJx week, "Knew Susie" 

$14 000 "Frieda" (Ui, oliuy 

"ift!?*","'^?""* (2,200; 35-74)— 

ptack Narcissus" (U) and "Secret 
'.Lontlnued on page 20) 



Few 

Kansas City, March 23'. 

Town is spotty with hotdovers 
out in front by a wide m'aargin. 
"Scudda Hoo" is giving the Fox- 
Midwest firstrun trio its best 
money in several weeks, being fine 
in second stanza after socko first 
session. "Voice of Turtle" at 
Paramount on holdover likewise 
looks nifty. "Carnegie Hali" at 
Orpheum and "Tenth Avenue 
Angel" at Midland both ate new- 
comers but both lightweight. 
Weather finally moderated and is 
lielping at tlie boxoOice. 

Estimates for This Week: 

Esquire (Fox Midwest) i820; 45- 
65.— "Thief of Bagdad" (Indie) 
ircis.stte) and ".iungle Flight" (Par). 
Moderate $3,500. La.st we^k, 
"Lady in Jam" (Indie) and "Lady 
from Cheyenne" (Indie) (reissues), 
$3,000. 

Midland (Loew'sV (3,500; 45-65)— 
"10th Ave. Angel*' tM-G) and 
"Captains Courageous" (M-G) (re- 
issue). Lightest in many weeks, 
$11,000. Last week, "Alias a Gen- 
Ueman" (M-G) and "Retium of the 
Whistler" (Col), $13,000. 

Orpheum (RlCO» (1,900; 45-65)— 
"Carnegie Hall" (UA» and "Vance's 
Secret Mission " (EL) psild $lff.00O- 
Last week, "Bishop-s Wife" (RKO) 
(3d wk), fine $8,000. 

Paramount (Par) (IJOO; 45-65)— 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) (2d wk). 
Okay at $M,000, and probaWy will 
move out lor new film Easter 
week. Last week, strong $17,000, 
opening in a bliraard. 

Roxy (Durwood) (SOO; 45-65)— 
"Adventures Tom Sawyer" (Indie) 
and "God's Country" (Indie) (re- 
issues). Mild $4,000. Last week, 
"Butch Minds Baby" (U) and 
"Tight Shoos" (U) (rcissuesi, 
$3,500, 

Tower - Uptown - Fairway (F o x 
Midwest) (2.100, 2.043, 700; 45-(>5) 
—"Scudda Hoo ' (20th) (2d wit). 
E^eal moneyniakor in town al 
$15,000 but won t hold, making 
way for Easter week. I..asl week, 
wil!h Hollywood playei-s at open- 
ing, hit dandy $23,000. biggest in 
weeks. 



XfUmd' $,001 
h^Piiliy 

'PhUadelpIiia, March 23. 
I Philly 6lm bix is soffenns cnr- 
irenlSy from Lenten ddldrams. 
I Most delnxers are banging on to 
jtbeir holdovers and holding back 
' on new product until the windup 
of Holy Week. Reissue of "Robin 
Hood" is getting, s nice play at the 
Mastbaum. "Smugglers." at the 
Stanley, shapes as weak while "Be- 
came a Criminal" looks moderate 
at the StanlOQ. Otherwise, town is 
full of holdovers or extended- 
runs. 

Estimates for Tfais Week 
AkEtne (WBV (1,303; 50-34)-^^ 
"Senator Indiscreet" (U) (2d wk). 
Fair $14,000 after .$17,500 last 
week. 

Arcadia (S&S) (700; 50-94)— 
"Girl Tisa" (WB) (2d run). Sad 
$3,000. Last week, "High WaR" 
(M-G) (2d run), nice $6,000. 

B«yd (WB> (2,350; 50^94)— "Dou- 
■ Me Life" (U)^ .C4th wk). MEId $14,- 
000 after oke S 16.500 last week. 

Earle (WB) (2.760; 50-84)— 
"Sitigon" (Par) (3d wk). Fairish 
$15,000 after $17,000 for second 
week. 

Fouc (20tb) (2,250; 5ft-S(4)— "Gen- 
tleman's Agreement"^ (20tii) (4th 
wk). Neat $20,000 aft«r $24,000 
for last week. 

Goldman (GoldmaxX (1300; 50> 
94) — ^"Three Daring Danghters" 
(M-G) (Jd'wk). Fine $24,000 after 
great $28,000 opener. 

Karlton (Goldman) (1,000; 50-94) 
—"Bishop's Wife" (RKO> (6th 
wki. Mild $8,500 after good $11,- 
OGO last week. 

Keith's (Goldman) (1,300; 5Q-9«f 
—"Night Song" (RKO) (2d runJ; 
Pale $4,000. -Last week, "Voiee of 
Turtle" (WB) (2d run), so-so $5J0OO. 

IMfastbaum *WB) C4,360; 50-94)— 
"Robin Hood" (WB) (ireissue). Fine 
$30,000. Last week. "Knevr Snsie' 
(RKO) (2d wk>, mild $17,000. 

Pfct (Cummins) (500; 50-94)— 
"Outlaw" (UA) (8th wk).- Oke 
000 after last weelc's $7,500. 

Stanley (WB) (2,350; 50-94i— 
'.'Smugglers" (EL). Thin $15,000. 
Last week. "Duel in Sun" (SRO) 
(2d wk), good $16,000. 

Stanton (WB) «l,475i; 50-94)— "I 
Became a Criminal" (WB). Mod- 
est $9,000. Last week, "Fabirtous 
Texan" (Rep), fine $11,500. 



Estimattes Are Net 

Film gross estimates, as re- 
ported lierewith from the vari- 
ous key cities, are net, i.e., 
without the 20% lax. Distribu- 
tors .share on net take, when 
playing percentage, hence the 
estimated figures are net in- 
come. 

The parenthetic admission 
prices, however, as indicated, 
include the U. amusement 
tax.:.-. 



With a few new pictures and the 
handicap of Holy Week. Broad- 
w^ay firstrun business shapes ex- 
tremely spotty this session. Many 
theatres are marldBit time await- 
ing the unveiling. of new, strong 
produet' for Easter next Sunday. 
Mild, springlike weatJier last Sat- 
urday (20) and Sunday (21) gave 
several of the larger houses a 
strong weekend. 

or the two new entries launched 
in the past week. "Miracle of 
Bells" is by far the biggest grosser. 
Despite tlie handicap of teeing off 
last \wek, just prior to Holy Week, 
the. Jesse Lasky-RKO opus wound 
up its fir.st stanza at the Rivoll 
with a slin-dy $40,000. "Adventures 
of Casanova." the other new -film, 
looks to hit a good $17,000 in hrst 
week at the Globe, and stays an- 
other round. 

Strongest holdover is "Remem- 
ber Mama." with stage show that 
includes "Glory of Easter" pageant, 
in second week at Music Hall. Like- . 
ly will top first week's figure with 
great $144ljQQa "N^dced City" plus 
Tex Beneke band, Jesxy Lewis and 
Dean Martin onstage, is, continuing 
big at Capitol in tbird week with 
$108,000 in sight. 

"Sitting Pretty" with Art 
Mooney band, AI Bemie and Betty 
Bmce topping stagetnil still is 
solid in second week at Roxy with 
$S3.(K)0. Intended to go only three 
stanzas, this ccnnbo -may hold a 
fonrth at present gut. "Road to 
Rio" vnth Louis: Prima band is 
holding nicely in &Sa session at 
Paramount, good $63,000 being 
probable. This show stays a sixth 
frame starting today (Wed.) to 
take in Faster weekend. 

Broadway deluxers are looking 
for a stiarp upbeat, with any sort 
of a break in the weather, starting 
tomorrow (Thnss.)' when Kaster 
holida}r& start in' most schools of 
MetropoMtan area. With this . in 
mind plus the usual uptrend Sat- 
urday night and lEasler Sunday 
(281, there will be 12 new btHs 
launched in tite next seven days 
starting with tite preem' of 'The 
Seartb'" last (Tktes.) night at the 
Victoria.' 

"B. F.'s Daughter" precms today 
(Wed.) at tiie State, following mild- 
ish $27,000 with "Mating of Millie" 
in 12 days. "Mr. Blandings" toes 
oil' tomorrow (Thurs.) at the Astor 
following 15 .strong weeks witii 
"Bisimp's Wife.'' The same day, 
"Men of Evil" opens, at the Winter 
Garden. Also' on 1%Uitsday, the 
Park Avenne hrini^ in "Mill on 
Floss." Strand launches "April 
Showers" witli Claude Thornhill 
band and Morey Amsterdam head- 
ing stagesliow next Friday (26>. 

Palace opens "Tartan and Mer- 
maids" the following day (Sat.) 
On the same 6ay, the Sialto starts 
"Tlie Smugglers." Another Satur- 
day opening is "Mr. Orchid" at the 
Bijou. Criteriwj launches "All My 
Scms" on the same day. "Winter 
Meeting" has been set to tee o(f 
Saturday at Warners but actual 
opening may lie postpcmed several 
(teys because "RoIhb Hood," a re- 
issue, is holding up so well. The 
Golden resumes its fOta policy* 
next Maadss^ (29> vrifh "The Lost 
One," after fqur wedis with Maur- 
ice Chevalier on staige. 

Estimates for Has Week 
Ambassador (Shritztsr) a,200; 70- 
$1.50),— "Vplpone" (Indie) (ISth 
wk.). Doing nicely in view ^of 
season with $7,500 for ciu-rent 
stanza ending tomorrow (Thurs.); 
12th was okay $8,500. Continues. 
, Art (RugofE-Becker) .(570; 95- 
.¥1.10) — "Farrebique" (Siieitzky) 
(5th wk). Fourth round concluded 
Sunday (21) was off a bit at $5,000 
after $5,»)0 in third session. Stays 
on. 

Aslor (City Inv.) (1.300; 80-$l.a0) 

— "Bi-shop's Wife" (RKO) (15th- 
finat wk). Looks trim $21,000 after 
$25,000 for 14th week. "Mr, Blan- 
din^" (SRO) opens tomorrow 
(Thurs.). 

Bijwa (City Inv.) (650; 85-$l,50)— 
"Beautv and Beast" (Indie) (13th- 
finai wk). Oir to $4,000 in 13th 
round ended last Monday 122) 
night, after $4,500 in 12th week, 
fielding four extra days witli "Mr. 
Orchid" (Lopert) opening Satur- 
day (27), 

Capitol (Loew's) (4,820; 70-$2.20) 

— "Naked City" (U) with Tex 
Beneke orch, Jerry Lewis and Dean 
Martin topping stageshow (3d wk). 



[ on' considerably this .stanza at 
j SI 08. 000 or near but still smash. 
Second week was terrific $121,000. 
Continues indef. 

Criterion (Loew^'s) (1,700; 60- 
$1.25)— "Relentless" (Col) (3d-ftnal 
wk). In week ending Friday , (2© 
is way olJ at barely $9,000 or near, 
after $14,000 for second, "All My 
StntsT' (II) opens Saturday (2'2>. 

Elysee (Siritzky) (750; 85-$1.50) 'r 
—"Fanny" (Sirifctky) (6th wk). In 
current frame ending today (Wed.) 
slipping, back to around .$5,500 after 
nice $6,800 in fifth week. Stays on. 

Globe (BrandlE) (1.500; 70-$1.20))-^ 
"Adventures ol' Casanova" (EL). In 
first week ending Friday (26i, likeljr 
will hit good SI7.000. Holds over; 
Final il9th' week, ot "Body and 
Soul" (UA) was stout $14,000 as 
windup of great run. "Arch ol; 
Triumph" (UA) already set to com* 
in next, probatily AprU 3. 

Little Caraegrie (Indie> (460; 9*- 
$1,20)— -"Jenny Lamour" (Vog) (3d 
wk). Current round ending Fri- 
day (26) lool(s smash $8,500 or 
close after $9i,00& in second, .week. 
Holds hidefinitely at cuirrc^t pace. 

Majfafr (Brandt) (1,736; 79^ 
$1.50) — "Gentleman's Agreement" 
(20th) (20th wk). Being helped by 
Oscar awai-ds ui 19th week ended 
Monday (22) night, and dimhinc 
to fine $23,000 as against $21,000 
lor ISthi session. LooIes for evea 
bigger Upbeat later this week. 

Palace (RKO) (1,700; 60-$1.20)-r 
"Knew Susie" (RKO) (5tU-final 
wk). Bloweff Friday (26) will be 
very thin $10,000, .not in black; 
fourth was $13,000. "Tarzan and 
Mermaids" (RKO) opens Saturday 
(27) to take advantage of Easter 
vacation from schools. 

Paxantanni (Par) (3.664; 55-$L50)> 
— "Road to Rio" (Par) with Louis 
Prima orch toppins stageshotv 16th« 
.final wkV. Fifth round ended 
(Tues.) night was good $63,0QOj 
after nice $72,000 for fourth. 

Park Avetone (U) (583; ' $I.2»- 
$t..50) — "Song of Heart" (Monol 
(3d-linat wk). Barely oke at $4,000 
after good $5,000 last week. "Mill 
(Cantiaued on, p^e 201 



Van Johnson Heftf 1^ 
inFastCmcy;*Sidgon' 

Cincinnati, March 23. 

An «Ktra measnre of solid WW 
bills and a stage bill are trans- 
forming the traditional Holy Week 
bugaboo into a solid session, "Re- 
turn ot Whistler," bolstered with 
a vaude Kneup including Helen 
Forrest. Joey Adams and Keye 
Luke, tops the town. "SaigD»* 
heads the straight-film parade. 
Another solid new film is "Brido 
Goes Wild," latest Van Johnson 
picttire. 

Esimqaies for Tbj» Wedc 

Albee (RKO) (3^100; «>-95) — 
"Return Of Whistler" (Col) with 
Helen Forrest, Joey Adams, Kcye 
Litke. oUiers. on stage. Revival 
of stageshows on a spot-lKKdiinS 
plan, is the trade filter for fancy 
$25,000. Last week, "Ends of 
Eartli" (Coll, at 50-75c scale, hotf^ 
$18,000. 

Caintal (RKO) (2,000; 50-75)— r 
"Bride Goes WiW" (M-6>. Pfantip 
$14,000 or npar. Holds. Last week, 
"ARas a Gentleman" QSrCD', okay 
$9,000. 

Grand (RKO) (1.400; 50-75)— 
"Ideal Hu.sband" (20th), Normal 
$8,000. Last week, "Bishop's 
Wife" (RKO) (m. o.) six days, sock 
$11,000. 

Keith's (aty Inv.) (1,542; 5»-7» 
— "DouWe Life" (U). All right 
$9,500. Holds. Last week, "Ver- 
doux" (UA). sad $4,500. 

Lvric (RKO) (1,400: 50-75>— 
"Ends of F^rth" (Coi) (m. o.>. 
Pleafdng $5,500. Last weA, 
"Guadalcanal Diary" (20th) and 
"Purple Heart" (20th) (reissues)* 
$4,000. 

Palace (RKO) (2,600; 50-75)-r- 
"Saigon" (Par). Fast $15,500. Last 
week. "Albuquerque" (Par), good 
$12,500. . 

Shobcrt (RKO) (2,100; 50-75)— 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO). Second 
moveover for tlurd downtown seshi> 
Fairish $4,500. Last week, "Call 
Northside" (20th) (m. o.) t2d TS(k). 
about same. . '-^ 



WARNER BRO& 



\ 



ALBANY * WARNER SCREENING ROOM 
79 NO. PEARL ST. • 8:00 P.M. 

ATLANTA • 20th CENTURY-FOX SC RM, 
Vn WALTON ST. N.W. • 2:30 P.M. 

BOSTON * RKO SCREENING ROOM 
122 ARLINGTON ST. • 2:30 P.M. 

BUFFALO • PARAMOUNT SCREENING ROOM 
464 FRANKLIN ST. • 2:00 P,M. 

CHARLOHE * 20tii CENTURY-FOX SC. RM. 
308 SO. CHURCH ST. vIOiQO lM. 

CHICAGO • WARNER SCREENING ROOM 
1307 SO. WABASH AVE. • 1:30 m 

CINCINNATI • RKO SCREENING ROOM 
PALACE THEA. BLDG. E. 6th • 8:00 P.M. 

CLEVELAND • WARNER SCREENING ROOM 
2300 PAYNE AVE. • 2:00 P.M. 

..DALLAS • 20th CENTURY-FOX SC. RM, 
1803WOOD ST. • 10:00 A.M. 

DENVER « PARAMOUNT SCREENING ROOM 
2100 STOUT ST. • 2:00 P.M. 

DES MOINES ' 20th CENTURY-FOX SC. RM. 
1300 HIGH ST. • 12:45 P.M. 

■ . ■ # 

DETROIT • FILM EXCHANGE BLDG. 
2310 CASS AVE. • 2:00 P.M. 

INDIANAPOLIS • UNIVERSAL SCREENING ROOM 
517 NO. ILLINOIS ST. • 1:00 P.M. 

:i < * ';' ' ;./'',; i i';-i'':.; ' j /."■■X' ' !..'' : -."V, ' "^/ ' i^:-; ■ — ■ 

KANSAS CITY • 20th CENTURY-FOX SC. RM. 
1720 WYANDOTTE ST. *• 1:30 P.M. 

LOS ANGELES • WARNER SCREENING ROOM 
2025 SO. VERMONT AVE. • 2:00 P.M. 

MEMPHIS • 20th CENTURY-FOX SC. RM. ; 
151 VANCE AVE. < 10:00 A.M. 




MILWAUKEE • WARNER THEATRE SC. RM. 
212 W. WISCONSIN AVE. • 2:00 P.M. 



MINNEAPOLIS • WARNER SCREENING ROOM 
1000 CURRIE AVE. • 2:00 P.M.. 



NEW HAVEN * WARNER THEATRE PROJ. RM. 

70 COLLEGE ST. • 2:00 P.M. 

NEW ORLEANS • 20th CENTURY-FOX SC. RM. 
200 SO. UBEIITY ST. • 1:30 P.M, 

NEW YORK • NOME OFFICE 
321 W. 44fli ST. • 2:30 P.M. 

OKLAHOMA ' 20th CENTURY-FOX SC. RM. 
10 NORTH LEE ST. • 1:30 P.M. 

OMAHA • 20th CENTURY-FOX SC. RM. 
1502 DAVENPORT ST. * 1:00 P.M. 

PHILADELPHIA • WARNER SCREENING ROOM 
230 NO. 13th St. • 2:30 P.M. 

PinSBURGH ' 20th CENTURY-FOX SC. RM. 
1715 BLVD. OF ALLIES * 1:30 P.M. 

PORTUNO • JEWEL BOX SCREENING ROOM 
1947 N. W. KEARNEY ST. • 2:00 P.M. 

SALT LAKE • 20th CENTURY-FOX SC. RM. 
216 EAST 1st SOUTH * 2:00 P.M, 

SAN FRANCISCO * REPUBLIC SCREENII^G ROOM 
221 GOLDEN GATE AVE. • 1:30 P.M. 

SEAHLE • JEWEL BOX SCREENING ROOM 
2318 SECOND AVE. * 10:30 A.M. 

ST. LOUIS • SORENCO SCREENING ROOM 
3143 0LIVtSTr • 1:00 P.M. 

WASHINCTON • EARLE THEATRE BLDG. 
« 13th & E. Sts. N.W. •10:30 A.M. 

WITH VICTOR FRANCEN 
BRUCE BENNETT 
DOROTHY MALONE 
TOM D ANDREA 
oiRCCTBQ my DELMER DAVES 

WRITTEN *y RICHARD «BOOK« 

JERRY WALD 



Don't Rush Into Brit. Prod. 



Continued froni paice 3 , 



heated souncUy as rwenoe. If j», 
companies coulcT pms^Bcrte prtOmt- 
tion budgets whl«ft igwdd figore 
■the WocJtcd inon«y as part of a 
fSm's profits. Mw>rs esiild also 
borrow from banfes mn the basis of 
British returns on fiims. It's im- 
DorUnt, aJso, because' it would de- 
termine how far the majors- eoBtd 
tto in protecting the frozen fm^ 
from possible "poimd »Iwi«*age" 
via a devaluation of Brltf^ cuif- 
rL-ncy. 

So far as Balabatt sees it. settlc- 
iiient or no settlement, the hig 
struggle for the coiupasies is the 
battle against higb pictiare costs. 
"It wasn't the type of films twrwed 
out by the studios nor tbe dediite 
in boxotficc which meant the dip 
in proflls las,l year," Pax's pre.ty 
'dedarod. "but the boost in. costs. 
•Worldwide revenues weee down 
only 4.7% during J94T iMrt *«sts 
were up 12% over 19*5. The Efse 
in costs resulted in tfie Wg drop in 
■ , profit."?." ■. 

Par's 2-3 Yearfir 



Par's proxy, moreover, sees no 
threat of the tax peace raising a 
British VYankensteln in the form 
of heiglitened competition from 
that coimtry's film industry. lie 
regards tlie inclusion of American 
reps on the board which will de- 
termine how frozen fimds can be 
spent as a highly favorable factor. 
Settlement, per se, he thinks is a 
good factor because the companies 
now can plan with some derive of 
certainty. ' , 



Jap Producer K.O.'s. 
Labor Union Fiir A$ 
Xommie 



Tokyo. Starch 17. 
Toho Motion Piciure Co., now 
managed by a ncwly-clectcd board 
of directors, last wack ordered its 
studio to stop prodiactimt of a film 
depicting a labor nuamt in aetion 
on the ground it is q "CtuBmaaust 



Speateaig farttMw oil produetiim j pr«w»gamla" picture; The fiieker, 
plans for Btttein^Bidaban sees tw»rB»i-Shinrin'' (The Great Forest), 



of possibf?/ three well-niadB and i was about tlie activities ,««E the Alt- 
fairlv cosUv nix yearly for Pajta- i Japan Electrical Worfcers Union, 

one of the radical affiliates of th« 



fairly cosUy pix yearly for Pajra- 
mount and prjobably the other j 



companies as the more Ulaely tkv 
vclopnjent. Any .film made in 
Britain by Par would likely aver- 
af[e the same as a Hallyweod pie— 
aliout .'!il,5(tO.000— md wanM only 
be made when the iKoper picieagfs 
njt story, stai-s and tedtoleians pre- 
scfnted itself. 

'•To make cheap, stringy filois 
there would only enliarace the 
'American resistance to the Britisn i 
label and thereby increase oui- 
problems herer,'' '&iIalM|R declared. 
"A film, no matter where it's made, 
must have mass appeal. It must 
be as good on 86th street or I4t)i 
street as it is at tbe Rtvcrili If ft 
isnl, there's no profit in it." 

Commenting on the. assertion of 
J. Arthur Kank, .Britain's ace 
filmmaker, that British pix won't 
■ sell in America until U. S. indus- 
try '=tflkcs oil' its coat and goes to 
work for them," iwexy , de- 

clared, "majtbe we bavot't taken 
off our coats, but we've really 
worked for them." Balaban cited 
his trip last .year to New Orleans 
when he appealed to Paramoant's 
partners to book the jhx a:; exten- 
sively as posBible. "The tax came- 
just at that time and it was natural 
that a certain amount of resent- 
ment on the iiart of exhibitors teoik 
its effect. Consequeotly. they've 
slipped a bit since then." 

"Even' picture must stand on its- 
own — British or American," Bala 



National Congress of Indu.strial 
Organizations. 

One of the picture's co-proi* 
ducers, Yo.shi Hi.iikat:k, spent many 
years in France .and Russia before 
he returned to Japan after' the end 
of the war. ' Mamni Fu.i)raoto, da^ 
rector of the film, denied charges it 
was a propaganda piece, and ten- 
dered his i-csignation in protest. 

The action came when the new 
board was reviewing tlie com- 
pany's production schedule for the 
first lialf of this year. 



Ci^ADlAN CENSORS 
STERN ON 'ADULTS' PIX 

Toronto. March 23. 
Laxity of some' Ontario exhibs 
in failing to advertise properly 
films which previously had been 
classified as "adult entertainment" 
may bar the offending theatremen 
from showing similar films in the 
future under new regulations be- 
ing .weighed by the province's Mo- 
tiow Picture Censorship and. Thea- 
tre In.spection Brancli. Last year 
some 47 houses were handed final 
warning by authorities. 

riecenl bulletin of the Motion 
Piciure Theatres Assn. of Ontario 
point.s out that O. J. Silverthomo, 



chairman of the MTCTIB. has ad- 
ban declared. "It'ii earn what it's the orsanization that he feels 



llio only solution to insure strict 
enforcement of its classification 
ruMngs is to have all "adult" pic- 
tures released under a special per- 
mit excluding theatres which pre- 
viously have failed to comply with 
the censor hoard's requirenients. 
Ilxhibs' association opines there's 



worth providing it has mass, appeal 
and i.s acceptable to the American 
public." * 

V. S. Versus British Standards 

Though he sees no wa.v out of it; 
Balaban notes that d«ttble-fcatur- 
ing British xwith Amecican pix has 

played up the difference of the two ] no reason for theatre managers to 
to the disadvantage of the former, j plead ignorance of the adult clas- 
Its not tbe dUI'crcnce in <yia,tity, I sificalion.s for since the regulations 
he sadd, but rather the diange in iwcame efl'eetive last July the 
iwoe and ti-ieatment which is | MPTAO has listed titles in its 
sharply focused by combining the ' bulletins of all pix tagged as 
— i "adult" during the previous month. 

American audiences' difficulties I Last Febi iiary four films rated thai 
with British films are aptly demon- i label: "Mourning Becomes RlecU'a" 
Crated, he said, on occasion by i dtKO). "Gangster " (Mono), "Pa- 
the reception given An^^o* imports i tient Vanished" (.FC) and "I .Be- 
by Atnerican critics coinpisrred to ! came a t^riminal" (WB). 

that of the British, li* a numfoer • 

of instances, British eriti<^ coming 
oyer here are amazed at the 
plaudits for fiinw poorly receilied 
ui Ivngland itself, and the reverse, 
of course, has also frequently oc- 
curred. ITowever.- he thinks the 
American public and British films 



Same Old Cry Re Star* 

Barney Balaban. Para- 
mount's proxy, sees nothing 
new in the recent outcry 
against superannuated stai's. 
"It's the same cry all over 
again except, perhaps, with a 
diftereqt label." he said. "A 
few years ago, it wai» called 
'boxolfiee poison." We'll al- 
ways have that problem and 
we'll always be working on it," 

All studios are anxious tat 
develop new faces Iwt the 
problem has always, proved 
tremendously difficult, Bala- 
ban said. The praductiMt -wing 
will come up with » proposed - 
pictmre whfch ii^ludes group 
of unknowhsV Par's prez added. 
"The distribution bi-anch will 
say it can't be sold and the ex- 
hibitimi end that it won't gross. 
The exhibitor, very properly, is 
not concerned with our future 
plans but with what a picture 
will do this week." Balad&i^tti 
thinks despite this there are a " 
few stars coming along as 
usiiat. 



Rnsh for Br^ St^ ^ace 
By U. S. Producers Alrea# On 



Value of This Snrvey 
Can Only Be Proved 
if the M. Goes Up 



' Bush for British studio space, 
touched off by the settlenwiitt of the 
Britiali ad valorem tax, U already 
well under way. With the tax 
peace less than two \yeeks old. J', 
Arthur Rank, British filmmaker 
holding the major share of produc- 
tion facilities in Bngtand, has been 
snowed under by a raft of proposi- 
tions from indie producers anxious 
to get started in Britain. Subject 
has been personally broached to 
Rank innmnerably on his present 
visit to the tf. S. 
Antony thosK who've already put 



lOAsiUbiate 
Sdiflo^pffc 

Theatre Owners of America is 
teeing off its drive for better na- 
tional public relations with a | 
three-ply program for the cam- 
paign against juvenile delinquency 
in which the theatre org is work- 
ing in conjwiction with the U. S. 
Government. Two-day meet of the 
committee, headed by Charles- P. 
Skouras, National Theatres topper, 
ended yesterday (Tues.) with tlie 
appointment of a sahcommittee of 
1^ to carry on Uie work. 

First of three steps agreed on is 
production by TOA of an appro- 
priate film for use in local com- 
munities. It's intended to encour- 
age formation of panels and sym- 
po.sia for a sbadisr oif. conditions 
creating juve dereliction;;. ' 

Recommendation' will be ■ made 
to TOA membership that » na- 
tional youth month be slated from 
Sept. 2.7-Oet. 21. £.\hibs are asked 
to give aU-oiit assii^nce during 
that period. 

Third, .subcommittee is desig- 
nated to map plans for a campaign 
expected to equal any ever carried 
on by V. S. theatre ops. Specific 
program- will t>e announced within 
a month which will probably in-, 
elude special trailers, special chil- 
dren's shows, youth forums and 



The public is flipping more and 
more to the amusement section of 
daily newspapers in search of en- 
tertainment, a recently-published 
study of The Advertising Research 
Foundation disclo.ses. Polling read- 
ers of ^ cross-section of newspa-, . „ ^ ... 

pers througtiout the country, sur- ^ in a piteh with the Bridsher, it's 
vey turns up the info that some understood, are David O. Sglznick, 
6&% of the women now scan tbe ' Walter Wanger, Hal Wallis and 
amusement ads against 59% dor- ; Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. In each 
ing the war and ttie same pei-cent- instance, proposition is for a corn- 
age in the pre-war period. j mitment which would ensure the 
On the male side of the ledger. ' Producer of space to make one or 
some 47% now glim amus?emenl P« Britain during the 
pages against 42% duruig hostili- '^»">'"S 12 months. 
Ues and 44% in the pre-war era. ' Rank, however, won't enter into 
Phenomenon is considered all the negotiation* while he's here 
more remarkable because the same *^«»*- intends to take up the 
survey discloses a azeable dropoff . "f^^'Stion on his return to England 
in reading of alnwst every otlier , "'•'-''t .month. With his present 
section of tlie daily papers includ- capacity production plans, under- 
ing editorials, eomies, financial st"od there isn't much likelihood 
news, shirts, ete^ ' deals with indies unless some 

' unforeseen cancellations of pic- 
making projects come through. 



Reading of radio programs and 
hews, survey shows, dipped to- 38% 
for women against .49% during the 
war and 53% before hostilities. 
For men. it slid to 28% average 



-. While on the Coa.st, Hank will 
meet with N. Peter Rath von. RKO's 
iH-cxy, to discuss possibilities of 



-ip.inol 41% wartimp rradins and '0'«Ple'"ng the Rank-HKO JOint 
against 41 wartme reading ana production plan in England.. 

There's one miOre film due tinder 



42% pre-war. 



DOCUMENTARY mAR' 
DTTERESl^ MAJOR COS. 



the present tieup, It's likely Bath- 
von will ask Rank for: anathoi* deiil 
along: i^ilae UneSk 

No' other maj^r has, as yet, 
approaefaed the Brfti^r with' m 
„ , . J, . ., X I request for studio space. Only 

Several major distribs manifest- Metro and Warner Bsos, have their 
ed interest this, week m a deal be- own .studios so it's thought likely 
ii« offered by. the United Nations ^bat Ranit win be queried on space 
for commercial distrniution of before his U. S. trek is done- 

"First Steps. ' the one-reel doeu- . 

mentary which, won an Academy 
award last Saturday (20). Pic was 
produced for tlie UN by Karl llin- 
teie of Frederie Hottse, jaaikiegs. of 
training and indu^risA -Slms>, on a 
coiitract basis at $9^,000. 

Shot ia » «BRp ior arippled chil- 
dren, near Ashury Park. The pic- 
ture, until it woii the -award, was 
given only mild attention by dis- 
tribs because of the grimness of 



a. result' of the Oscar, intere.st 
perteed so much Monday ^ 22^ that 
the UN was hoping to- set deal 
this week. 
Terms, being oif^reid to distribs 
, . . ' , ■ , |in the- ij. S. andvthroughout the 

hke acUvitjes. Thornton Sargent, ! world are that if thusy do not de- 
of Los .Aingeles, has been tapped igij-e i^^^ ^afee a profit; th^y can have 
tor chairman chores. He'll be aided ! rights for the cost of prints. If 
by 17 pKblici.sts ;md exhibs includ- ] t^gy ^.g^t a profit it's okay with 
in? Ivu-le Hudson. Paramount part- 1 y^.' but it must share in the 



PHiiteCEORS TAKING 

Paris, March 19. 
American pictures continue to be 
a target for opposition in most 
local fitai eess^ers. Actresses Si- 
nione Si^iioret and Madeleine S»- 
, „ „ i, to^, and aebw Jaegraes. IhmiesBil, 
the subject matter. It shows man^ ,atter of the Coniedle Francalse, 
badly^crippled poUo victims. As ^ h,„,^ h„„„ „,„vf„„ „„_„v,„„, ... 



ner: Ed Schrelber, Century circuit 
flack; and Staote? Piendsil, TOA 
i ass't to exee cttreetm? Bsfbert C&ifae. 



Ray Mitland Helps . Baity 
Par's New Lima Showcase 



I Ray Mi Hand who returned to the 
I Coast last week after several 
■ week.s' visit to New York, flies to 

; Lima. Peru Saturday (27) to help , amrdiseas7cause 'th^ hi^hestToUo 
along the tete planned by Para- 1 ^-aje i„ ^orld. 



income. Money goes into UN's 
general fund, not' directly back 
into films, however. ■ • 

"First Steps" has -been made in 
about eight languages and has 
played extensively in ' commereiat 
houses in India, for which it was 
expresitly made. Treatment and re- 
habilitation of crippled kids, which 
is the topic of the pic, is a major 
problem there, where malnuti-ition 



have been making personal appear* 
I ances on tlte stage of theatres wlmt 
featured in pix playing tfiere^ to 
make speeches prompting ondi- 
ences to support French pix and 
boycott American preda^. 

The National Assembly has aske#, -; 
the government to h«ve the Bfitraf' 
Bi'rnes accord afmentfed to a sevea 
weeks quarter)^ qiiot» instead nf 
four. Tills, 4espite the fact that 
the- agreement has so far never 
been properly tried, and that even, 
the secretary of the Pictures Com- 
mittee stated that the difficulties 
the French industry is expeVienc- 
ing would not be al>ated just by re- 
vising the agreement. 



Disputed 'Fugitive' 

For Mexican Debut 

Mexico City. March 23. 
"The Fugitive" (.RKO) is to make 
its Mexican debut with the opening 



mount in conjunction With the 
opening of its Tacna theatre on 
April 1, Milland will make short 



Film was directed by Leo Seltzer, 
who forjrterty worSed -for the Cana- 
dian Film Board -and U. Si AriT^r 



are moving closer together as a I of the new Cine Mariscale, 3,650- 



l-esult of gi-eater care in propping 
the pix and greater understanding 
on the part of the public. 
• Jialaban thinks Eric Johnston, 
wotion Picture Assn. of America 
Pri>H.\'. did a good job in ncgo- 
iiatmg ihe settlement. "There'll 
always be crtticism of anything 
inais done." he said, "and I'm 
aware that the British wanted to 
ei\e less while we were hoping lor 
more. The most that could ever 
nave been hoped for would h 



soater. tenlativcl.y: set for April 1 
Some Mexicans who saw ''The 
Fugitive" in the U. S. beefed to 
local newspaper, that it disparages 
Mexico. ■ .. ■..„ 



stopovers at Mexico City a n d . gjg^i c^rps. Writer. wi» Al Was- 
Panama City on the way to the ; ggrman and cameraman Al Mozell. 

Peruvian capital. | . 

Also on hand for the opening' 

will be George wcitnor. Par's loi-, Italians Show Gratitude 

eign dept. head; A. L. Pratchett, ™ Vr • -«r» *» -rt^ i 
managing director for Latin To Yauks Via 2-Reeler 
America; Clement Crystal, head of, Italian gratitude for food.stutts 



M M Qoarte r SpeHs 
123G Mono Loss for 6 Mos. 

Monogram worked -its- way out 
of the red in the second-quarter of 
the current fiscal year with a net 
of .<^9,029 after taxes. For the 
half-.vear, however, company snf- 
I'crcd from a bad first quarter aiid 
showed . up with a to^s. of |;<t22;983 - 
after taxes for the entire 26r'weQk 
stretch. ■ 

Despite returns in the red-ink 
bracket. Monogram's gross income 
for the half-year showed- up 



Marathon's 3d for EL 

With Frank Satenstein's Mara- 
thon PicUij-es having already deliv- 
ered two lilms to Eagle Lion for 
distrihutioi) under a four-'picture 



■-lui involved a 50% freeze, ac- 1 deal, indie firm's third pic may roll 



Pair's overseas theatres, and Abe delivered through the Freedom .strongly with $4,495,218 garnered 
Piatt, Crystal's aSs't. i TralA , ha?,- been filmed via two- ' againitt i|!3,826j9(§^ tor the .same 

Gene Goodman, manager oC the reeler " which the Motion Picture j period a year ago. Profits for the 
Tacna. has already pushed oil lor'ASsn^ ol America,' has agreed to { second* qvuietw before taxes to- 
Lima. He was. named" for the spot f disfi:i'<>ute in the tj. ,'S. The pic, i tailed !?92,214 which compares- with 
following recent cotnplciion of hi*.! "'^lianles, America."- was made in , $i"7e.28fi for the same period «l '46: 
training for theatre worK by'Para- II afy with coin raisetl there by pub- 1 Net after taxes in that period 
mount. lie subscription aftei: t^reniier de amounted to $li2,21S. 



toi-dmg to Balaban 
l.„ "'^"'^'I'mg the contention that a 
wn^'Pr wait on the part of the 
" ' t ha^ 

able deal, Balaban 



nij' o -s mislit have brought "a still 
o '- '>! deal, Balaban 

'''■at tho.se tactics could i naien.siein. wuo iciumeu 
rv....**^^" the reverse. "The week from several weeks' vacation 

in Jamaica, B. W. T., revealed his 
third film probably will tise the 
documentaiy technique- Principal 
ba cker. of Marathon is Ilany 
Brandt, prejty of Brandt Theatres, 



some time in June, Company's 
completed pix are "OiJcn Secret." 
now in release, and "Close Up' 
which was recently shot in New 
York. 

Satenstein. who returned last 



fi ■ --"'.v* lilt; 
h',?*-'''f|»<''lt helped us very coii- 

bh?,l"'!'i'^' J'' »f^gotiaUons." he ex- 
W\ 1 ■ infl«ence might have 
Klh ''f '»J^ waHed until tlie 
«iatsha,i Plan went through." 



GaspejJ'- initiated tlie ' project 
MPAA lids clo.sed arrangements 
with Sandor Pallavtcini, head of 
Inconit. only Italian newsreel com- 
pany, who recently came to the 
U. S. with a print in low. 
MPAA will groove the 20-min 



Half-year los.ses before taxes to- 
tals .1175.399. 



New MPRF Drive 

Hollywood, March 23. 
New campaign for the Motion 
Picture Relief Fund was inau- 
gurated here with George Bagnall • ute pic through major distribution. Ithi.s weekend in Chicago. Company 



Mono Sales Meet in Chi 

Meeting of Monogram franchise 
holders is scheduled to be held 



as chairman of the committee. 
Drive is aimed at the reenlistment 
of old donors and a roundup of 
newcotner» to the film industry 
since the last appeal. .' 

Committee consists of Albert B. 
Hilton, E. L. DePatie, Frederick 
Richards and Jean Heisholt, MPRF 
prexy. 



with all playdates On a cuffo basis. < prexy Steve Broidy, east the past 
The film has an English comnien- ' 10 days, is due to leave either 
tary with Orson Welles, who was Thursday or Friday to attend the 
in Italy at the time, doing the nar- I conclave then continues on the 
ration. j Coast. 

Pallavicini is also gai-nering Accompanying Broidy to the Chi 
footage of the American scene | huddles ai'e firm veepee Edward 
which he wants to weave into his : Woi ey and general sales manager 
newsreels toUght communism. I Morcy Goldstein. 



RIAD ALL ABOUT m 

In coming weeks you will be hearing so much about Firank Capca's "STATE 
OF THE UNION," pne of the greatest motion pictures of all time, that M-GrM 
wishes to acquaint the industry with the planis for its distribution. 



SIHULTANEOUS BOOKINGS! 

Hundreds of theatres will play this tremendous attraction at the same time 
across the nation, one of the greatest mass bookings in America's top theatres 
that has ever been undertaken in the history of our business. 



Previewed to cheering audiences in* a series of theatre showings, it gloriously 
fulfills every promise of Its fanite as a stage play. Fame for its Pulitzer Prize- 
«™:d! Fame for its two soUd y*«s o» Broadway and its roadshows! 

TIMiLIEST FILM OF THE YEAR! 

It's red hot up-to-the-minute entertainment! It's as sizzling as today's headlines! 
Regular movie' patrons will flock to see it, but it will also attract millions 
of tibket-buyers! 

eum CAMPAiGHI 

"State of the Union" will be backed by one of the biggest promotions of 
modern times— in newspapers, magazines and radio-^11 carefully dove»tailed 
to break with its simultaneoiis releiise! 




ViOl JOHNSON 




ANGEUUNSBUIY 




ADOIPHE MDINMI 




lEWB STONE 



HREAT CAST! 

No expense of cast or production was spared to -briiijg this sensational stage play to the screen. The conflict of two 
beautiful women for a man, set in the national ar^na of current events is a powerful, pulsating motion picture 
that takes its place with the aU»time great. . 



Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Liberty Films present SPENCER TRACY • KATHARINE HEPBURN • VAN lOHNSON 
ANGELA LANSBURY . ADOLPHE MENjOU • LEWIS STONE in FRANK CAPRA'S "STATE OF THE UNION" 
Based on die PJay by Howard Lindsay and Russel Grouse • Screen Play by Anthtfny Veiller and Myles Connolly 
Associate Producer Anthony Veiller . Produced and Directed by FRANK CAPRA . AMciro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture 



Vednesday, IMtareli 24; 1948 



PICTIJBES 



17 j 



biside Sbiff-^Pictares 

Much fanfare and hoopla accompanied an announcement made at a 
21 Club (N.Y.) luncheon last fall that the old Ft. Leje film studios were 
to be revamped and modernized by "a group of Long Island business 
men" headed by industry veteran Dr. A. O. Peters. Production was to 
start early this y«ftr. However, Dr. Peters revealed last week that "bad 
weather" has set "baek, the opening of the plant until some time in 
June, Beconstruction of the studio's two sound stages are in progress, 
he said, and added that he's mapping erection of a third stage with 
proposed dimensions of 126x175. 

While his own :^roduction plains are considerably nebulous at the 
moment, Dr. Peters disclosed that he intends to rent out the premises 
to anyone interested in the facilities. Among those who have approached 
him with that In mind, he declared, are United Artists fllm-maker Lester 
Cowan as well as Charlie Alicoate who's repping some unidentified pro- 
ducers. 

Several arguments against any decrease in payments to film writers 
are presented in an editorial, "Has the Cold War Come to Hollywood?" 
In the current (March) issue The Screen Writer, official publication of 
the Screen Writers' Guild. The piece, signed by Stephen Longstreet, 
says In part, "Writing is,, and has always been, the least cost on any 
picture. Less than 1% of the price of most finished pictures. The 
great increase has been in star salaries, cost of production, and over- 
head. In fact, overhead alone has doubled, even tripled, in many 
studios. We are told that Warners now add 60% to their budget- 
Metro 48 to 50% ind Paramount between 50 and 60%, Unfortunately, 
writers have not doubled or tripled their incomes during the last 10 
years, as have many other branches of the industry. Writers are no 
better off today, judged by income and employment than they virere 
in 1938. A great many are worse Off." 



Confronted with imanimously poor reviews in the New York daily 
newspapers on "Miragle of the 'Bells," RKO took the unusual step of 
quoting exclusively from trade press reviews for N.Y. ads on the film, 
now current at the Broadway Rivoli. Producer Jesse L. Lasky ex- 
pressed disappointment at the generally poor treatment accorded the 
film in the consumer press, noting the disparity between the daily 
papers' reviews and the generally good ones given "Miracle" m the 
trade papers. RKO's campaign paraphrased it with the caption, "Critics 
. Who Know Pictures Best ; . . ." 

Universal, incidentally, is also quoting from trade press reviews for 
advance ads on "All My Sons." Since the film preems at the Broad- 
way Criterion Saturday (27), however, no consumer press critiques are 
yet available. - ' 



On the basis of the latest international Gallup poll, only seven per- 
sons out of 100 spend an average evenhtg at film or legit theatres in 
some nine countries including the U. S. Least interest in that form of 
amusement was in Denmark and Norway where the figure dropped to 
four. Most .avid picture and legit goers were in Britain where some 
14 representative adults out of a hundred declared they'd spent the 
previous evening taking in that form of entertainment. Listening to 
the radio was favorite diversion of Americans with 22% of those qiu2zed 
expressing a choice for air shows. 



Bear operations on the. New York stock exchange during the 30-day 
period ended March 15 dropped sharply on common stock of 20th- 
Fox and Warner Bros. Short holdtags, as of the 15th in 20th dippfed 
to 4,525 shares against 7,970 held on Feb. 13. Holdings of Warners' 
stock dived to 3,535 shares against February interests of 7,835 shares. 

Metro short interests showed the sharpest climb, hitting' 6,275 shares 
on the 15th, compared to 4,907 in February. Universal rose slightly to 
10,013, against 9,480 shares during the month before. 

Since then the market has bulled a bit. 



Keepmg itk step with the touchy international situation between U.S. 
and the Soviets, Research Institute of America Is currently dickering 
for commercial release of Its anti-Communist documentary, "Cross- 
roads for America." ]^ilm, a three-reeler produced originally for 
screening before employer associations and Chambers of Commerce, is 
currently being tradeshown with a view to selling a major distributor 
on its message. RIA is a research outfit specializing in labor-manage- 
ment problems. 



Exhibs Fear U May Not Be 
Able to Police 16m Dates 

Latest offer being made by 
United World Films, Universal's 
16m subsid, to narrow-gauge dis- 
tribs and photographic shops is 
bringing on a string of squawks 
from exhibs which may lead to an 
ope^n battle. Proposition now prof- 
fered by UWF is the granting of a 
five-year franchise on thre,e fea- 
ture negatives, for $400, ,.Under 
terms of the i»ffer, distrib ' must 
charge a scale of minimuti)^ ,fot 
renting the filjiii to. homest $<iIio6]l8> 
etc. • ■ • -J 

At the end of the -flVfeiy^ar 
stretch three negatlves.-Sre to -be 
returned to the company. Eifhibs 
concede that films are oldies. 
They're peeved, however, because 
they claim no satisfactory pontrols 
on distribution of these pix can 
be enforced once the prints reach 
the shops and small-fry distribs 
Their pitch to Universal is that the 
pix will turn up in situations where 
they would unfairly compete With 
commercial houses. 



41. .Si**''* a production center was thrown into 

the Oscar" sweepstakes following the Academy award for best docu- 
mentary short to "First Steps.". 

Pointing out that the first three shorts under consideration by the 
Academy were turned out in the east. Judge Edward C. Maguire, Com- 
missioner of Commerce for N. Y., said eastern studios have proved 
themselves "outstanding world leaders to. the development of the fact 



^Talent agent, on the grab for profitable clients, promised a young 
star a rosy future if he would switch agencies. Actor said okay if you 
to? JSa ,? "^^"^t number one. Deal cost agent number two 

2: learned that the actor had no written contract with 

agent number one— nothing but a handshake. 



KNOPF AND CUKOR BACK 
FROM LONDON PLAY 0.0. 

.Edwin Knopf and George Cukor 
trained to. the Coast Sunday (21) 
after returning several days 
earlier from a 10-day junket to 
Britain where they caught the 
London hit play, "Edward My 
hon." Pair respectively are pro- 
uucmg and directing the piece for 
Metro release. 

According to Cukor, the film 
version will roll about the middle 
M May. Spencer Tracy and De- 
borah Kerr have already been an- 
nounced as the picture's stars. 

UA's Olympics Pic 

United Artists will give a pro- 
motional kickoff today (Wednes- 
aay) to "Kings of the Olympics" 
When sportswriters from the New 
*<>rk area get together with a 
BToup of 1936 Olympic participants 
gjj^^,^A-sponsored lunch at Toots 

f„n the feed they'll view the 
juu-length feature edited from 
uwusands of feet of film shot un- 
«f»i.w <li»"ection of Leni Reifen- 
stahl for Adolf Hitler. "Kings" 
il^ 1^ Released this spring in time 
break when current Olympic 



to 



^ptest 



reaches Ite height- 



FTC Hearings Due On 
Beefs Vs. 4 Ad Filmers 

Washington, March 23. ■. 

Hearings will be' conducted in 
seven cities next month by the Fed- 
eral Trade Commission on com- 
plaints against four advertising 
film companies. They are Ray- 
Bell Films, inc., St. Paul; Alexan- 
der Film Co., Colorado Springs; 
United Film Ad Service, Inc., Kan^ 
sas City, and Motion Picture Ad- 
vertising Service Co., New Orleans. 

FTC has cited them for "unfair 
methods of competition tending to 
restrain trade and create monopoly, 
in the sale of commercial advertis- 
ing films." Hearings are slated as 
follows: Chicago, April 12; Minne- 
apolis, April 15; Des Moines, April 
19; Omaha, April 21; Tulsa, April 
23; Houston, April 26, and New Or- 
(leans, April 28. 

Tarsifar Pic 

HoUwood, March 23. 

Richard Wagner's oratorio, "Par- 
sifal," based on the quest of the 
Holy Grail will form the basis of 
a film to be produced by Trouba 
dour Productions. 

New company is headed by Ernst 
Laemmle, nephew of the late Carl 
Laemmle, and Milton Fox, former- 
ly associated with the Cleveland 
Museum of Arts,. 



MOsKimNotFor 
R^idar. ExJubs 

BKO's ' expanded 16m* distribu- 
tion in the U. S., contrary to pre- 
vious trade reports, does not take 
in theatrical showings. Company, 
unlike 20th-Fox, is not malting a 
special pitch to line up 16m out- 
lets in small, theatreless towns. 
It will take such bookings if they 
pass an approved location test, but 
the main pitch is being made to 
the usual non-theatri<ail situations, 
such as schools, hospitals, religious 
institutions, penal institutions and 
camps. . ■ 

Reports that RKO" was going 
after theatrical bookings for its 
narrow-gauge product produced a 
note of extreme alarm in the cur- 
rent bulletin issued to member ex- 
hibitors by the Associated Theatre 
Owners of Indiana. Noting that the 
film companies have expressed 
concern over protecting 35m ac- 
counts from inroads by 16m book- 
ings, the bulletin declared: "We 
hope that the concern is not ex- 
pressed for the purpose of lulling 
the small exliibitor, who is today's 
customer, into complacency until 
tomorrow's 16ra market can be de- 
veloped." 

ATOI wanted every small town 
exhib to "keep on the alert" for 
16m theatrical exhibition and to 
keep in mind how far he must ex- 
tend the radius of his drawing 
power in order to stay in business. 
Without his country draw," the 
bulletin states, "he might as well 
close up. Merely because no 35m 
house exists in a nearby town, it 
does not follow that 16m exhibition 
there does not take business away 
from him. 

J'We may be duly alarmed, but 
we believe that now is the time 
to guard against the possible even- 
tualities. The distributor who 
doesn't heed his customer's com- 
plaint should be told that he must 
decide whom he wants as custom- 
ers — the established theatres or 
the school houses, public« buildings 
and vacant stores. Until a clear- 
cut answer is given, all regular the- 
atre accounts would do well to 
forego the product." 

Both the RKO and 20th-Fox 
plans for 16m distribution, inci- 
dentally, have been given full en- 
dorsement by the Theatre Owners 
of America. 



Egypt m Sbfte vs. DiiUied U.S. Pk; 
Polish-Czedi Deals; Salvador Siu^s 



200 Films Rounded Up 

Hollywood, March 23. 

Total Of 200 films have been 
rounded Up by RKO for 16m show- 
ing in hospitals, prisons, religious 
cloisters, colleges and private 
schools hitherto untapped by e.sr 
tablished motion picture theatres. 
Narrow-guage pictures, in feature 
length, will be distributed by the 
company's 21 branches, which will 
also - function as guides to Inex- 
perienced film users in the selec- 
tion of pictures. 

Among the newer pix turned 
into 16m prints are "Sinbad the 
Sailor," "The Spanish Main" and 
five Walt Disney features. 

$50,000 Iowa Blaze 
Des Moines, March 23. 
Fire destroyed two brick build- 
ings at Elma, Iowa, March 16 with 
estimated loss of $50,000, one be- 
ing occupied by the EUna theatre. 
Fire started in the theatre's base- 
ment 



Washington, March 23. 
The impact of an Arabic sound- 
track, dubbed to American films, 
has been so terrific in Egypt that 
Egyptian film workers have gone 
out on strike to protest what they 
consider unfair competition, U. S. 
Dept. of Commerce reports. It is 
claimed that the country's industry 
will be ruined unless the dubbing 
of Hollywood pix is prevented. 
Commerce report declares in part: 
'On Feb. 29, the Egyptian mo- 
tion picture syndicate of both tech-, 
nicians and artists went on strike 
against the exhibition of a U. S. 
fiun with a dubbed Arabic sound 
track. The picture, being shown 
at Studio Misr Cinema, is enjoying 
great success with complete sell- 
outs for every performance and 
with advance bookings for the eve- 
ning performances sold out two 
weeks in advance. • 

"The strike was called by Yous- 
sef Wahby Bey, one of the most; 
popular of Egyptian actors and an 
investor in one of the larger Stu- 
dios, as head of the syndicate. Ac- 
cording to newspaper reports, he 
terms dubbing as 'the first nail in 
the coffin of the Egyptian film in- 
dustry'. Seven of the eight studios 
have suspended operations, the ex- 
ception being Studio Misr which 
has dubbed with its facilities two 
other pictures. Officials of this 
studio state that they too feel that 
local Arabic productions cannot 
compete if U. S. films are dubbed 
on a large scale." 

Other nations on which reports 
were made by Nathan D, Golden, 
chief of the Commerce Departinent 
Motion Picture - Phottfgraphic 
Branch: 

Poles Rap U. S. Pix 
Poland: There are no trade re- 
strictions on pix inside Poland ( of- 
ficially) except that one Polish 
newsreel must be a part of every 
program and that the reel consume 
10% of the time taken by the full 
show. A prefeifence is showh to 
Soviet productions and Commerce 
asks whether the reason might not 
be because "of some agreement in 
the Polish-Soviet film agreement, 
the terms of which have not been 
made public." Chief criticism 
raised by the Poles against our 
films, says the report Js that "they 
contain propaganda glorifying cap- 
italism and that they are anti-social 
according to postwar Polish gov-^ 
ernment standards. ' - 

"Poles have made a deal with 
the Czechs which calls for joint 
production of full length and short 
pictures; mutual exchange of work- 
ers; visits and joint consultations 
of workers and reporters; coopera- 
tion in training selected personnel, 
in film techniques, between film in- 
stitutes, schools, publications, and 
press; mutual and regular flow of 
information in all phiises. of film 
production; agreement on Import 
and export of films; and provision 
for widest distribytion of films 
originating from 'brotherly' pro-, 
duction." 

The Poles currently have two 
studios in operation, one at Lodz 
and the other at Krakow. 

Salvador Labor Code 
EI Salvador: Country has under 
consideration a new labor code 
which would require a certain per- 
centage of natives to be used in 
foreign businesses, including the 
distribution of pix. The U. S. holds 
top position in exhibition .of its 
pictures, with Mexico and Argen- 
tina following in order. There is 
some evidence that Mexican pic- 
tures are given preferential treat- 
ment by the Circuito de Teatros 
Nacionales, the government syndi- 
cate controlling most exhibition. 
There are only 29 theatres in the 
country -<tf which Jour are not now 
in operation. There is under con^ 
sideratlon '^a'piau to form a chain 
of 16m theatres for towns which 
do not HaVfe'SSm theatres. 

Syria: Director of Press and Ra- 
dio has extended until June 1 the 
deadline when all foreign film dis- 
tributors must open an office in 
Syria. The original deadline was 
Jan. 1, 

Netherlands GAst Indies: The 
government will make no commit- 
ments to release dollar exchange 
for the import of 35m pictures, 
due to the shortage of dollars. 
Nevertheless, Motion Picture Ex- 
port Assn. affiliates are continuing 
to send pictures. Small indies, 
however, have generally held back 
their, pictures, pounds sterling is 



also withheld, although exchang* 
is made available for French and 
Swiss pictures, y 

Engrland: A Bristol finjti is mar- 
keting a device which wpuld enar- 
ble 25-inch reels to be fitted to or- 
dinary 16m projectors, thus accom- 
modating 6,400 feet of film, repre- 
senting a continuous performance 
of nearly three hours. This might 
have some value in stepping up th« 
lOm circuits in various parts of the 
world. 

Spain: American fiilims continue 
their pre-eminent position In Spain, 
which is now producing at the rate 
of about 50 features per year do- 
mestically. During 1947 237 fea- 
tures were released in Spain, of 
which 142 were American. Of th« 
othets, 30 were Spanish, 16 Britisb« 
15 Italian, 11 Mexican, 7 Argentine.' 
6 French and 10 mlscellaneoua. 
While only 30 Spanish features 
were released, 50 were actually pro- 
duced. The report disclosed that 
the Spanish are now seeking to 
produce their own rawstock, which 
has been mainly imported from 
Belgium and the U.S. The Cha- 
martin Studio and the Banco d« 
Vizcaya have set up a company t* ■ 
manufacture raw film. 

Uruguay: Hollywood continues 
to hold ' top spot in this coun- 
try. About 77% of the films shown 
during 1946 were 'American and 
the ratio was up to about 84% dur- 
ing the first half of 1947. Country 
now contains three film producers, 
but only one plans to make fea- 
tures. The other two will malw 
only newsreels. Only one of the 
companies is native; the other twqi 
being controlled by Argentines. 
Uruguay has 186 'film theatres 
which are slowly but steadily 
switching to a grind policy. The 
best houses have been screening 
three times a day, the most popu- 
lar show being the 6 P.M. "ver- 
mouth" screening. Regarding pref- 
erences, "Musical revues are not 
parUcularly popular because jive 
does not appeal. On the other hand 
a musical presentation with a large 
amount of- classical' music does 
have a large amount of boxoffice 
appeal, even if the story is of in^ 
ferior quality. War pictures were 
so overdone that they no loqger 
continue to interest local audi- 
ences, but action pictures as whole 
will draw crowds. . . Another tyiie 
of U. S. film which is unpopular 
that which iells ^of a histpricai 
event in the United States. - 

Argentina: Bureau of Publie 
Spectacles of the Ministry of In^ 
terior has issued a resolution pro- 
hibiting commercial advertising on 
the screen in motion picture thea- 
tres, by slides, short films or ant- 
mated cartoons. The Bureau ruled 
that advertising space on theatre 
curtains, billboards and programs 
provided enough coverage '.'witlt- 
out abusing the use of the screen", 
Ecuador: During the first 11 
months of 1947, four of the 10 top 
boxoffice grossers in Guayaquil, 
were American, including the top 
single-grossers. Five were Mexican 
and the 10th was Argentine. Dur- 
ing the period the Guayaquil thea- 
tres grossed a total of $695,000. At- 
tendance was about the same as 
1946, but the take was up 20%. 
due largely to tlib opening- of * 
high-admission, flrstriin theatre. 



2 Pa. Towns Subject 

Of HVood Documentari^ 

Pittsburgh, March 23, 
Couple of nearby towns, Scio. 
O., and Steubenville, O., are go- 
ing to get the feature-length,, semi- 
documentary treatment ' in pix 
shortly as a result of recent hap- 
penings there, 

Metro's going to tell the story of 
Lou Reese, pottery - magnate of 
Scio who " has always shared . the 
business with his employes, .. tin- 
der the title of "Bread on thtt 
Waters." "Jules Furthman, see* 
nario writer, has been there for 
last couple of weelcs gathering ma- 
terial. When pottery factory re- 
cently burned, to the ground, 
practically the entire town went to 
work with Reese rebuilding it, 
and plant has since reopened. 

It's Eagle Lion that will put 
Steubenville on the celluloid map, 
telling the story of that town's 
recent vise crusade, launched' by 
a Protestant minister, whica 
cleaned up a city long held to be 
one of the most wide open in th» 
country^..' 



18 



mtmmmm- 



RY.yiesWwtRiishliilillieiitre 
Bidiliiig ETei WA CfiBtrob Eased 



With Ck)ngress lUcely to wipe* 
away all controls on tlttstre baiid- 
ing some tfane ttiis js^tting, a <*e!ck 
of New YwTc metropolitan itidie 
film ciPcuUs shows that few are 
ready or ineliued to rush into new 
construction. Si Fahian, head oi 
the thain hearing his name, de- 
clared he liuA no plans at present 
while the Reade «hain is also hold- 
ing off on its long-range blueprint 
scheineis. 

Most circuit execs were reluctant 
to specifically name sites in re- 
vealing, their projetsted^ building 
for fear a compelattw.jnigbt bene- 
fit by su«h fcnowleage. Among 
those who lti){>e to proceed wi^ii 
erection of new bouses once the. 
green light comes are Sol Stran»- 
berg's Iratcrbero diain, whidi ex- 
pects to put up lour or five new 
theatres in Queens and Masssai 
counties, N. Y., within the neiid, 
six months. 

.Otlicrs with similar aspirations 
are Haybnad, which alceadi^ tiwRs 
sites in JLoiag Island -raid the Brmiix, 
N. HugofC & Beeter -mUi plans 
mailed for ivm new houses'; and 
the Endimtt tjii-cuit in Brooklyn. 
Latter will build tine in tliat bor- 
ough as well as another in Queens. 
A miEftber of exhibs who feel 
tliey'll wait out the current high 
cost of new construction said £bey 
had ambitimis remodeling plans 
.for ib&r ^istii^-thei^txes. 



iShealne €<Mitr»ls X«ar. End 

Wastaisigum, March 23. 
' HifMise-Senate confrces, 
loeliied am 4SiKsioa over difiterenees 
In tbe :two >ent-contnd extension 
IriJis, are reported to have agreed 
upon. dro|iiring Iheatze construc- 
tion iot^-s&s, eJlDective March 31. 

The controls Ji^ply wsw aniy to 
amusemrait osnstruction. How- 
ever, the . iKutsing expeditor faas 
admitted tHiat he lacte the foiee 
to police his eonsls^ictiDn xestrk- 
tiens. The -bil!! voted by the senate 
would contiiiue the controls for an 
additiaiaal ^^ear. mie hoas&passed 
naea^ase divp ihem. 



Doubie*Fcataired Bdily 

In the first of what's ex- 
pected to be a number of joint 
ventures, Eagle Lion and Uni- 
versal publicity forces ai-e cur- 
rently workins fa»ge^&e^;^|ttf^|. 
promotion .of !!GrSet^i'l^wt,:.l^fe--S- 
ish film star, isunsentty Ufflne 
on a series of personal ap- 
pearances. Reason for tlie 
pooling of forces is fael thiit 
Miss Gynt holds top billing 
botJj in "Take My Life," which 
EL will tlistrihutfi in the U. S. 
for Ihc J. Arthur ^S^uik.flPg. 
and "Dear Murderer," vi^ich 
U dittoes for HasJc 

Maurice Bergman, TTs east-^ 
em ad-pub bead, and Max 
"Swingst^n^ EL'S ad-pub vee- 
pee, are coordinating- on Miss 
Gynt's dates, cross - planting, 
etc., so there'U be no conflict. 
Since U and EL share 3Etank|s 
■ product here, current action is 
expected to set a pattern £ar 
futuiie. handling of Ifoita^ 
Uiesps. 



fax Peace 

CMtUatucd rr«i» pat* 



□ 



Gnnd. Allnny, S!S%9jUiO Kevaxap 

Albany, ^, March 23. 
, Piqns for reraedeUlxtg of EEO 
Grand here at iestimated cost of 
$^,^000 have been filed with 
Albany's building commissioner. 
PhHis call for removal of the stage 
and boxes Ito jirot^ide ZBS additional 
seats. Bemodelii^ madis the pass- 
ii^g^ «f j^IbsRy'£ .last v^de titoalape. 

New Calif. Brive-lu 
£awta Barbara, CaL. iMDarcb 23, 
- it^ew Onune-In, equipped wiUa all 
ttfr iatest im^mvemeots, was 
opened at the junction of W^- 
waj's 101 asM ■69, betweaot ibei« and 
Oxnani WilJ be run by 1*1 
Drivc-in Theatres, Inc., beaded by 
Beeves Espy. 



Tm hMm as fmi 
World Neds M, fibis 

Adjustment «f Britain's 75% ad ; 
valorem film tax will definitely 
Ijave a good efteet upon the fitai' 
marlcet in other European -coua- - 
tries, as well as Britain, for it 
s*o»« American pictures are 
needed to keep theatres open. 
Th-at's the opinion of Mike liavas, 
IeKO;s Continental and Near East 
!, sales manager, who arrived in New 
York aboard the America last week 
for his first U. S. visit in 18 months. 

Despit* a growing tendency of 
■European Iheati*. patrons .t« be^ 
come more choosy in selecting pis, 
Havas' emphasized the tmijUx^ is 
still good. He summed Up the sl- 
uation with the statement, "Give 
iqualily pictures to all Europe and 
thej-'ll do terrific business." While 
in New York he"!! huddle with the 
company's foreign chief, Phil Eeis- 
man, and otber faomeofOice toppers. 



SOO^Seater For ]>allas 

Dallas, Mart*. 23. 
The ilagle, SOOrseater, is .being 
built in £agle W^ .isr |iled Ed- 
wards and three Assodates wfao 
are >enavIo!!|res in a .le^Ur shop 
here. • ■ ' 



For Low«r Reirids On 
S(ri»gliiofHiiLTaxK.O. 

Kow . that the American distrib- 
Wlore have got that British market 
back; the indiie exhibitor is entitled 
1a a reduction in film leotal, cur- 
rent bulletin of Allied Boc^ 
ilountain Independent Theatres 



M£X f1t(HHK:£llS f!J^ 

mm, 1^ dmm 

Mexico City, March 23. 

CDmrne-rcialized 16iq pix are m 
established fact in Mexico With 
first convention of the Jdnd bete 
iMardi 11-16 of i€m distributors. 
Commercialization was ciystalized 
with the organization of Peliculas 
Nacionaics, distrib center of five 
<af the biggest Mexican pic pro- 
ducers^ Oscar J. Brooks, ex-WB 
head here who is producing for 
Filmex, one of the five, heads PN, 

In assuming that- position. 
Brooks announced that Ifim pix 

tre the solution to adequate ex- 
ibition of Mexican pix and that 
PN plans to ^establish .some 4,000 
16m cinemas, many in tovms that 
never had -a theatre, because of 
their remoteness. Plan is to re- 
duce 35m pix to peewee size, and 
later to produce i6m pix. Equip- 
ment for both purposes is now be- 
ing installed in Clasa studios here, 
operated by' Clasa BUim Mundiales, 
a FN member. 



the Society of Independent W^aon 
PictTJre Producers, wlw» nfiSernxM 
the agreement. Tliey .a»isw«red Uie 
qaesUons of soitw eS indaStey top- 
pers to a session at the VbaysaeA 
taulJ in New York a few 
after th*y got oS the ship from 
magixi^ Thursday < 1« ) . 

^me Jn«t Cant Be Meased* 
" s AA * i9W|S» «oijiIe*«ape following 
yie'^mi^etlng:,- Johnston, made clear 
that he was familiar with some of 
the beefs made against the new 
setUemept. "Tl»ere?s. been some 
criUcism in Hollj'wood that we 
didn't get enough money," he said. 
Some peopte are liard to please. 

Salale t« Jeimaoa. Mulvey 
Johnston, Mulvey and their as- 
sociates were given a vote of 
thanks by the execs at <Jm! Evevjoa 
Club meeting, TMs followed m:- 
aud ttMmA hs &» vB*iB8 jtoe^ 
tors of the Motion mxUxue Export 
Assn. of the embargo on. shi^ents 
to England, wliich was instituted 
last Aug. 8. Embargo comes off 
as soon as British Parliament com- 
pletes the routine of eliminating 
the tax, wtaicb should be In early 
ApriL 

In a radio address on NBC from 
Washington Saturday <iS9) wa- 
ning, Johnston said that despite 
the iact some people wouldn't like 
Out tax settlement, it would nev^- 
t^eless be helpful \n stimulating 
competition and getting bettsr i«.€- 
tures before the public. He stated: 
"Vei-y obviously, there are going 
to be some people in both Britain 
and America who will not like this 
agreement. . . . Hollywood is under 
no illusions as to what the agree- 
ment means. It may onee again 
be able to ship out as many pic- 
tures as befoi*e, but it must accom- 
modate itself to getting back fewer 
dollars than it has in the past. Our 
industry wiH now be taking out of 
Britain less than half of what it 
used to tatee- 

^'Hollywood has been busy these i 
long months of deadlock and im> 
passe. Tbete is an old saying 1Q 
^^ywood 1*at there's nothing 
Kvisong with the motion picture in- 
dastry that a good picture can't 
cure. Good pictures, tike good 
products of. all kinds, can some- 
times become better pictures when 
necessity mothers iavenlion. 

'The new pictures you and our 
friends in Britain, too, will see in 
the next few months will reflect' 
that Hidjywood eBixt^ It is any 
opinion that, as we move atosi; 
under tiae terms of the agreemeatr 
you will see an increadng number 
of soperioF pictures.*' 



Jobi^ Clanfies Rinattaices 

Following are aom« of the -more important poin^ts of the new 
Attglo-U. S. films agreement cleared up by. Johnston ob his 
vetusn from negotiating the pact in London' last we^ek. Hundreds 
of other points on uses of funds are stiU open to interpretation by 
the .four-man joint conunlssiou of the U. S. industry, and tiie British 
govemmmt, but the following .ai« iiear, accord^, to the Motion 
Pklffi» Assa. of America pi«a; 

L DiviideiBis derived fram the jave^nunt of tttaea coin in Eng:- 
land are remittable to the U, S. in dollars beyond ibe $17,000,«q6 
allotted 'for film ipGome. , 

2. Holders of fmsen funds may sell them, loan- tlim or pool , 
them for any purpose for which they co^ld use tiiem tbentselves. 

3. Deciding vote of the four-maa joint commission, in case: «f 
of a deadlock, lies with the two Britidt members. 

4. Funds credited to U. S, companies as income from Brili.sh 
films apply in the U. S., its possessions and affiliated territories and 
the Philippines. (It had been sug^sted'that Canada and laiin: 
America might be included, iwt this is not «dJ 

5. Ainoimt of dollar credits going into ike ptnA lor divvy anMing 
the U. S. di^bs as a result of playoff of BiitistaL pix, is based on 
"remittables," not "remitted" funds. In other words, whether or 
not J. Arthur.Rank or^ny othei- British producer chooses to remit 
all or part- of his 4ollar credits to England is immaterial. What 
counts is bow Bjuch is eligible for repiittance. 



JOliSTON KmSES 
HEmfeR His HELP 

Hollywood, March 23. 

Eric Johnston. Motion Pkiwt 
Asm. of America fsrez, kudosed 
James A, Mulvey< wbo represented 
the Society of Independent Motion 
Picture Piwiucers in London dur- 
ing the Anglo-U. S. film pact nego- 
tiations, for his contributions in 
bringing about the tax settlement. 
Johnston expressed his apprecia- 
tion m a telegram to Samuel Goid- 
wyn who read it M a testimonial 
dinner tonight <3?ii«sday) given in 
honor Of Mulvey, prexy of Gold- 
wyn Productions. 

Johnston lauded Mulvey for his 
"practical industry experience, 
sound judgment, fairness and com- 
mon sense. I cannot begin to tell 
you how much he contributed to- 
ward working out the solution 
which removed what jcould «asily 
have been a source of increasing 
irritation between Britons and 
Americans at a time when the need 
for tb» closest relation.^ip is ob- 
vious." 





Better ^tnhxHivwg 



as 



^T. ^ODUCERS EYE 
M£Cr ON NATIVE FIX 

London, March Z3. 
Ee-entry of American pictures 
to the United Kingdom was wel- 
comed by t^ie executive council 
Of the British Film Frodaoers 
AssiL, which held a special meet- 
ing to consider effects of the xe- 
cent ISP/o tax agreement. At the 
isame time the organization ex- 
pressed regret that it was not con- 
sulted during negotiations- on mat- 
ters vitally affecting Us interests 
in Britisli production. 

But realizing the necessity of 
willing cooperation between the 
industries of both countries, exec 
council pledged the association's 
supi^rt, trustiijg tliat the large 
sterling balance which the Ameri- 
can companies will accumulate 
here won't be used eithier for 
dominating British screens or to 
weaken the independence of Brit- 
ish fihn prooUiction. 

BFPA also urged that the Board 
of Trade raise tJje exhibitors' 
quota, due to be fixed by July 1, 
in order to aid the British film 
industry in retaining its charac- 
teristics as welt' as developing its 
output and quality. 



Mianeapolis, March 23. 
„, . ,,,, ., - , Addressing niferth Central Allied, 

cJaim.s WlMle notmg that resump-|i„ convention here, H. M. Richey. 
tion of picture shipmwts to Britain i^Ictro director of exhibitoi: rela- 
has cleared the air a bit," AKMIT 'tions. called upon the industry to 
interprets tlie lax adjustment as a fonnuute a "merchandising plan" 
V^u^«^^^"^..^^^^''? ^^^^ to convince patrons that pictures 

t^'^L^^^i^Jf^T'^^^ ''''' ^""^^ '""^^ economical! Abbott-Costello In 
the; past few vamths at getting the , entertainment and, in this way, re- 

Tit '■nfatF^*^'*'* *o pay for "loss" direct 50.000.000 people not going 
of iJi.e Bntish market. ; to theatres regularly. 

^me buHetija also revealed that i "We have merchandise worthy of 
the- next A,l]ied Natioofd fioatd cf the public's dollar and, I'm sure, 
Direcloi-s' .Mectipg witl be held in enough brains and ingenuity to 
^ make the public conscious there are 

^<eat pictures for it to sfee*" Me 
.said. 



Denver M3y 15-17 immediately 
preceding ARMIT's two-day con- 
vention, which is slated to start 
May IS at the Cosomopolitan hotel 
In the Colorado capital, ffirectois' 
conclave is scheduled to be at- 
tended by Allied board chairman 
and-g(BneFal.=counsel Abrara My^rs, 
m w«ti as Allied heads- of Indiana, 
Texas and Eastern Fentasylvania 
branches. 



Kansas Nabe Robbed of $1,080 

Kansas City, March 23.' 
Jayhawk theatre, Kansas-side 
oabe, was burglarized last week af- 
ter the theatre bad been closed for 
the night. Loss was reported at 
about $1,000. 



Texas P.A.'s with Pic 

Dallas, March 23. 
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello will 
make a series of appearances 
throughout Texas in connection 
with the showing of their latest 
film, "The Noose llangs High," be- 
ing released by Eagle Lion. 

Four Texas cities will conjstitute 
a world-premiere circuit for the 
pic, and the duo will be on hand in 
each. The schedule is April 7, 
Metropolitan, Hou.ston; April 8, 
Majestic, San Antonio; April 9, 
Majestic, Dallas, and April 10, 
Worth, Fort Worth. 



Par Wlikties Writers As 
Econemir Drive Go^ Ob 

Hollywood, March 23. 
Retrenchment on the Paramount 
lot has whittled the raster of con- 
tract writers down to three, with 
all the rest working on a week-to- 
week basis, and no more long term 
scripting pacts in tiie oBll^g. Total 
number of writers now on the lot 
is 15, compared with 50 at .this time 
last year. 

■ Understood the .studio will cut 
story purchases down to a mini- 
mum and will utilize properties 
already bought and dig np old pic- 
tures for remakes. 



To &g. Post-Tax 

Haste of the major U. S. film 
companies in getting fresh prints 
to Britain in the wake of the 75% 
tax adjustment is pointed up by 
figures of Pan American Airways 
which show the company flew some 
5,000 pounds of motion picture 
freight to England through Maivh 
13-19 iocluave. More th^n hall of 
PAA'-s sMpments comprised adver- 
tising material. 

.Last week's film industry con- 
signments represented about a 
400% boost in that type of traffic 
for PA A inasmuch as the line usu- 
ally handles no more tlian 1,000 
pounds of picture material weekly. 
If facilities of other plane com- 
panies which also serve Britain 
were used In the same proportion 
as PAA, air £i|^meats in the initial 
post-tax periiod must have been un- 
preccderAed. 

Bea.wn for advertising material 
such as posters, etc., bulking so 
large in plane shipments is at- 
tributed to the critical sliorlage of 
paper in Britain as wcU as a lack 
of time to have promotion matter 
printed fliere. SOtii-Fox alone sent 
some, nine prints via PAA to Eng- 
land last week. They Included 
"Forever Amber," "Captain From 
Castile,." "Gentleman's Agree- 
ment," 



Extra Vacatioii Is Mu£ac 
To Eagle Lwsfi Muslkers 

Hollywood, March 23. 

Eagle Lion's entire music staff 
of 35 got a twoAveek vacation in 
addition to regular annual leave, 
as boniu; for writing, scoring, re- 
recording and shipping seven plx' 
in six weeks so as to- beat the 
March tax deadline. 

Leaves were granted by music 
chief Irving Friedman for work 
on "Mickey," "Noose Hangs High,"" 
"Cobra Strikes," "Spiritualist," 
"Baw Deal," "Northwest Stam- 
pede" and ^'AsagnM to Dangea-." 

Longh&ir Concert Film 

Dallas. March 23. 
- Filming of a complete concert 
program on 35m film is being done 
by the Dallas symphony orchestra. 
Produced by !Paul Goidoa 

To be recorded are Tchaikovsky's 
Fifth Symphony, Johann Strauss' 
"Emperor Waltz" and "Annen-Pol- 
ka," Rossini's "La Gassa Ladra" 
overture, Berlioz's "Racoczy March" 
and two Slavonic dances of Dvorak. 



"Foxes 
A,lley." 
Pretty" 
Me." 



"Call Northside 777," 
of Harrow," "Nightmare 
"Daisy ICenyon," 'Sitting 
and "You Were Meant for 



Pa. Exhibs Nix MPF 

PhiladelpJiia, Mai-ch 23. 
The Board of Governors of the 
Allied Independent Theatre Own- 
ers of Eastern Penn.sylvania last 
week thumbed-down the Motion 
Picture Foundation. Action was 
taken backing up the Na- 
tional Allied States Assn., which 
had similarly rejected the Founda- 
tion. 

"The Motion Picture Founda- 
tion was set up by the big distribu- 
tors as a device to saddle on the 
backs of the industry their castoil 
employes," said an official of Kast- 
ern Allied^ 



IN mm miim 

Lisbon, March 15. 

Stepping into the badly under- 
seated lisbori area with intentions 
of boilding a deluxe theatre, J. 
Arthur Rank's overseas organiza- 
tion has run into a series of 
municipal restrictions likely to 
kill the projed:. After acquiring 
a $350,000 building site. Hank's 
reps learned that under tho 
cinama act, theatres can't belong to 
f<Mneigners. As a i«8ult, a. corpora- 
tion was fonued in which 60% of 
the shares belong to Portogtiese. 

But the City Council chimed in 
with a provision that the theatre 
had to have exits on three sides 
despite the fact that the lot only 
had two fronts. It was suggestiid 
that tlie corporation buy a small- 
adjoining city-owned property, but 
the price was set at *400,000. The 
whole business is liteely to remain 
at this point. 



Sightless Persons Bill 
Awaits Albany Action 

Albany, March 23. 

One of the 30-day bills awaiting 
action by Governor Dewey is the 
Fino-Banks measure making it a 
misdemeanor to exclude sightless 
persons accompanied by a Seeing- 
Eye dog from facilities fiiinishcd 
by theatres, restaui'imts or other 
public places of amusement unless 
admission Would tend to create a 
dangerous situation. ii.-, 

The bill, which amends ine 
Penal Law, was amended to meet 
an objection raised by Ihe oov- 
ernor in a veto message, last year. 



Talk About Entertammentl . ; . 

IT MAY NEVfeR AGAIN BE POSSIBLE 
TO COMBINE THE RARE ACADEMY AWARD INGREDIENTS 
THAT WENT INTQ THE MAKING OF THIS 
MOTION PICTURE EVENT. 



RING CRO^RY 

VflW/^U I > as a very American traveling salesman who (selling the 
first phonograjjh) hies himself to old Vienna, to the very court of the Emperor 
Franz Josef himself, where the gayest, most class-conscious aristocracy of 
yesterday's Europe is having THE Clambake of The Year . . . 

JOAN FONTA/NE 

as the Countess Stoltzenberg von Stoltzenberg. 
Her beauty is merely breath-taking. From the tip of her parasol to the tail of 
her French poodle, she is The Thorough Aristocrat. Only a Countess so very 
sure of her blood lines could have dared be as gossip-defyiiig. 

CHARLES BRACKET! 

Rll I Y WU DFR 

.DIImL. I WW IL.L/C-I\ — Theirs is the producer-director gift of wit, satire, irony 
— and the unusual ("The Lost Weekend" bears witness). Casting their foxy 
attentions upon "That Society" which was so sure it had solved all its problems 
it could just deyote itself to wine, women and song, they create inspired ha^OG. 

come and go but the songs the Traveling Salesman sings 
to the Viennese Countess combine the lilt of America with the schmaltz of 
Vienna; they will return to you, endearingly, through the years, even as the 
mountain echo faithfully returns to the yodel. 

TECHNICOLOR_The court of the Emperor Franz Josef; the natural, 
mountainous splendor of the Tyrol; spectacle and scenery filmed with a truly 
lavish maghificetice.. 

ROMANC£_The Countess' French poodle, proud possessor of imposing 
lineage, falls violently, unreasoningly in love with the Traveling Salesman's 
gum-chewing mongrel. It would only be funny— except, for the confusing fact 
that the Countess plays, fast and loose with the 'mongrel*s master. 

— j\s old as human nature, as new as the values we still seek — ^the 
ironical but timeless and never finished tale of how love demolishes class dis- 
tinction, told in a flurry of lifted eye-brows and a rustle of tongues-in-cheeks. 




PARAMOUNT gives you all this in . . . 





starring BING CROSBY- JOAN FONTAINE 
Color by Technicolor'* with Roland Culver •Lucile Watson * Richard Haydn 
Harold Vermilyea • Produced by Charles Brackett ' Directed by Billy Wilder 

Written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder 



riCTUKKS 




NEW YORK 

(Continued ifom p^e 13) ■ 
€n Floss" <Indie) (mssue) opens 
tomoiTOw (Thurs.). 

SMite Ciiy Mvuric UbilU (Kocke- 
feOw!) <5,945; 70-$2.«))— "Hemtan- 
ber JtUma" fRKO) stage^ow 
with "Glory of Easier" pageant ^..^ 

(2d wJc). Likely will climb above rent film lineup »3?auaist three new 
first week's figure with great $144,-, pix. Among Ithe ,lr«h enlries. 



000, or near, atier $141,500, very 
big, lor openlag -week. Continues. 
Only length of Him keeping this 
from bigger money. 

RMtA (Mayert (594; -35-85)— 
"Furia" (FC) <Stb wk-10 day«). 



Alias a Gentleman" at. Penn and 
"Night Softg" at Stanley, Vifill wind 
up about nock and neck, neither 
showing any pailacular ^vng^ii. 
"Heayen Only Knows" is dying at 
Uie iStnis. "Semwbnr jumiiBd the 



, «una le-VJi wk-iu uaysy, , uic ki«ew>. skuwm .|uuij>cw iuk 

Doing «kay $9^000 in blowofF ses- ' on Acsutemy A-w»rds ^ fering- 
sion that takes in three extra days ing back "Geutietnan's Agreement", 
after okay $7,000 for eighth week, and it's cashing in heaviSy. 



"The Smugglers" (EL) opens next 
Saturday 127). 

JKiT«li (0AT-Par) (2,092; 60- 
$1.25J— "Miracle of Sells" (RKO) 
(2d wk). Fiist week ended last 
Monday (22) was sturdy $40,000, 
but below hopes. Opening just 
prior to Holy Week is proving a 
handicap for this picture, la aliead, 
"JEnds of Earth" (Col) (Sth ibSc-S 
days), 3|ll4;O0O. 

Boxy (20th) (5,886; 80-$1.50)— 
"Sitting Pretty" (20th) and stage- 
biU headed by Art Mooney orch, 
Al Bemie, Betty Bruce (3d wk). 
Second stanza ended last (Tues.) 
night held up strongly at $99,000 
a£ta: f^mcgr $1S7,000 Opener. A9jiy 
stay four «ve^ at present pace, 

-with "Scudda Hoo" (20thy laa ntott. 
State (Loew'is). (3,450; 43-$1.10)— 

'"B.F.'s Daughter" (M-G). Opens 
today <Wed.). In ahead, "Mating 
of Millie" iCol), in 12 days ending 
last (Tues.) night, landed barely 
good $27,000. "Daughter" teeing 
off as yewM ^eem fpt this Metro 
incture. 

Strdna m& (2,756; . 75-$ 1.50)— 
"Fightiag eWh" (WB) (reissue) plus 
Rmsb Morgan lorch topping stage- 
show <2d-anal wk). Second frame 
ending tomorrow (Tliurs.) slipping 
to fair $30,fto0 after fine 1^4)00 
opener. ""April Showers" (WB) 
with Ciaude Tliornhill orch, Morey 
Amsterdam on stage, opens. Mday 
(26). 

Satton (Eugoff-Becker) (561; 70- 
$1.25)— "Tiie Pearl" (RKO) {6th 
\\*), Fifth cound ended Monday 
(22) night was fine $6,7(», after 
sttwdy $8,000 for fourth. Stays on 
ittdef. ■■ .: . ■: 

. Vietwii (Ciity IrtV.) (720; 70- 
$1JSB)— -"The iSearch" (M-G). Op- 
ened IjJst <Ttxes.) night. Final five 
days qE ""Allmquerque" (Par) in 
fourth wedk was only $7,000; third 
sesaon was olcay $12,000. 

Wsnwr <WB) (1,499; 90-$1.50)— 
"Eid^in Hood" (WB) (reissue) (3d 
vfk-3 days). Staying over three 
tsEtia days to open "Winter Meet- 
ing" (WBS on Saturday (27). Sec- 
ond frame ended yesterday (Tues.) 
was stout $a8,000 after big $29,000 
opening wedt. Last-tninute change 
may hold '"Bobin Hood" for a full 
.extia week.' 

WMttit fiarden (UA) (1,312; 60- 
«l.aD)— "'Black- Bart" (U) (3d-final 
wk). , Getting about $15,000, oiay, 

in 'KmoI imSirAtt-- Ji^.ti.' ' _\«4. ... n rnnn 



Oily 3 Mew ¥k in Pitt, 
NoneBig;^' $14,000, 
'Gentleman' Droopy 13G 

Pittsburgh, March 23. 
There ar« seven reissues on cur- 



Estimates for This Week 

Fulton (Shea) «(1,700; 4*-76)— 
"Belle Starr" (20th) and "Fron- 
tier Marshal" (20lh) (reissues). 
Fairly good at $5,500. Last week; 
"The Flame" (Rep), $4;000. 

Harris (Harris) (2,200; 44-76)— 
-"Heaven Only Knows" -(UA). Got 
BOwheFe over Ihe weekend. Be 
lucky to do $5,-500 in S days. Last 
week, "'Doulde life" (V), aioe f 16,- 
000 in 10 days. 

Penn (Loew's-UA) (3, 300;' 44-76) 
^ — "Alias a Gentleman" (M-(3).' Crix 
no like and mild $13,000 looks 
probable. Last week, "Philadelphia 
Stoiy" QS-Cri (reissue), «hin,$li^Oa. 

Wta '(LtfBw^) m»; JW-'W)— 
"Adam Four Sons" (CoH aad "Let 
Us Live" (Col) (reissites). Moderate 
$3,000. Last wedc, ^'Saigon'' (Par) 
(m. o.), very steoag *5;Ji6o. 

Senator (Hanis) (1,750; 44-76)— 
"Gentleman's Agreement" (20th) 
Management figured picture wa.s 
a cinch to win Academy Award 
and brought it back on day Oscars 
were handed out. hashing in pIen-> 
ty, too, and $6,500 here ••during 
Holy Week is terrific. Likely to 
bold. Last '^week, "CSall Korthside" 
'(20lh) 4m. o.), iine $6,000 in 10 

Staidey (WB) (3^880; 44-76)— 
"M^ Son^' (RKO). fte viewers 
pounced sai ever Vbjs and ^idfas 
thin $14,000. Last week, "KoTain 
Hood" (WB) (reissue), hot $17,000. 

Warner (WB) (2,000; 44-76).— 
"Robin Hood" (WB) (reissue) (m. 
o.). Big $9,0(»0. 1^ week, "Girl 
Tisa" CWB).and "I Became a Crimi- 
nal" mB% very ^tw $5^SS0. 



Portland, Ojf*,, March 23. 
_ Three bew pictures^ al^e raking 
in the coin at downtown houses 
iOds weeit. ''"Sierra Madi%" at Broad- 
■wagr looks torrid. "Setidda^HtJO™ at 
'Onei^l . .arad ^ratagsixdt. -sha^eijB. 
nice. "Sign of Bam" at Orpheum 
is only mild. "Double Life" at 
United Artists is the ace holdover. 
Estimates for This Week 
Proadway (Parker) (1,832; 50-85) 
— "Sierr-a. Madjse" m& and 
•^mjnis fifonBymoon" (Sep); Tor- 
i„ «Ut --^^-^ — ■'■-;:• — 1"-"' last -week, "Fabulous 

inr^J^^jT.f^'ZJ^M^'f ^^r: 9-^P2.f^i^ '^l^Py McGee" 



MINNEAPOUS 

(CottMnued 'ftom 12> 
1^ fS.OOO. Last imM& "JSxkiu «( 
Gartb-" (Ool) (M 'stfUsEartioiy 

KKO-iPan (RKO) (1.600; 59-70)— 
"Wioman's Vengeance" (U). Me- 
dium 4^^0e is about aU. Idtst 
week, "House Across Bay" <Iadte) 
and "Stand-In" (Indie), (reissues), 
mild $7,500. 

State (Par) (2,300; .'50-70)— "Girl 
Tisa" (WB). Tough going at $7,500. 
Last week, "Sirigoij" (Par), big 

Uptornn (Pw) <1,0004 44-90)— 
"Captain Castile" (20th). First 
nabc showing. Good $4,500. Last 
week, "Walk Alone" (Par), $4,000. 

WorM mataS U^; S0-«5)— ' 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (5th wk). 
Still iffiolitdde lit jj^SOO «nKT «oMl 
$3,000 ipmitonit ' 



"Senator* firsl Party 



tor seoond. *Man of EvU 
opens temarrow. (Thurs.). 

SAIGON' filG NOISE, 
OMAfiA, FANCY $13,500 1 

. Omaha, March 33. 
"Saigon" at Paramount ' is . the 
big ncdse this week, with. «m«s3i 
session. Bij! is okay at most spots. 
Estimates for This Week 
Paranoimu (Tristates) (2,800; 16- 
65)— "Saigon" (Par), Sock $13,500. 
Last week, "Scudda Hoo" (20th), 
P3j000. 

Braudeis (EKO) (1,500; 16-65)— 
"Rol)in Hood" (WB) (reissue) and 
"I Becwtte Criminal" (WB). Solid 
?6,5pO Of over. Last wedc, 
op's Wife" (RKO) jmd '"Tf/reA 
Hespenij>"-<Cio5J Isid wk), big.f6;t»o 

OiiAetnn (HtSrfates) (3j000; IB- 
65)— 'Drums Mohawk" ^aoth) and 
"Mark Zorro" <20tJi) (redssufis) 
Unexpectedly good 91ZM0. Last 
week, "'Personal Column" (UA) and 
^Tiaifi Out of Mind" (U), good 
flOjSOO. 

OjMaha ^IWstates) (2;100; 16-85) 
—"Scudda Hoo" (20th) (mxaj and 
"Docks of New Orleans" 
Stout 4J10,000. last week, "Voice 
of Turtle" (WB) (m.o.) and *Tre»- 
passer" (Eep), $8,aD0. 

State (Goldberg) (865; 16^) 

"T«ith Ave. Angel" (M-GJ (3d wk) 
and "Old Spanish Trail" (Rep) 
Great »5^. Last weelt, witti 
©wjiBiiww" (Mono), 

?5i00fl,- 



Washington, March 23. 
Sluggish biz this sessi<ni prevails 
all along the main stem, "Sen- 
ator Was Jndiscffleei," at Keith'^;, 
&>aks to ibe lfsaid«-, tAce if not 
sock biz. "Ideal ilu^baiid" and 
vande Is only so-so at £he CliypitoL ; 

'Ideal HuijUand" (20th)^^ plus vaude. 
So-so $23,000. Last Week, "10th 
Ave. Afigel" (M-G) plus Horaee 
Heidt show on sta^e, sock $i)^|MI),) 
.iuad weil aboiPe esOsu^ tmeedcB .lo^ 
draw of Gte Heidt erew. 

■■■a«W^ <l'iK3-;. 44-'3tO)i 
-"Son M ' JMilneasteisr'' im and; 
Sim^ SraBStensbtfln" (tT) (rds- 

average for house, with a solid 
$10,000 for 9 days. Last week, 
'Song of Bemadeite" (M-G) (aeis. 
suie), yanlted , aftra^ S ■■4imi ' -^sAi 
$3,O0O.V i 

Keith's (BKO) (l,939;-v44-80)— 
"Senator Indiscreet" (U). Trim 
$te,00a or better. Last mtxk, 

■"a&ib^- iiriftf" aaaso)- .(«ai v/k) ' 

MetroiMiattaii CWB) (IJ;®; 44-70)' 

-■'S^aoa" •mM& . imMiX ■ 

.$£1,000 lor second .<laiii4owa -weelc. 
Last iwe*, '"PMhandle" (Mono), 
okay $7,500, but below hopes. 

Palace (Loew's) (2,370; 44-74) — 
"Bride Goes Wild" (M-G). Nice 
$18;000, bat not up t» jiar bere. 
^ -ww^, .'SPBep, lly^ -Ijw*"- Ai ' 

W^er -rmt) -(2,154; 44-74)— 
'Hobaa Qoed" (WB) <ms8iiie). Goad 
<0* t IV L 1 i .AAA n £ a«d not bad f«r a reissue. 

Jierra nlffh SI 4.000 rOrt. «»im«»™S dm«»g Salarday 

« J -T . »„ P*^"^ hours for the Friendship 

Train program hurt some. Last 
week, "Saigon" (Par), okay $16,000. 

*A!emmmA^ Wmm 22G 

. Seattle, March 23. 

'Gentlehiaii's Agreement," at 
Fifth Avenue, shapes as easily the 
city's best bet currently with 
Academy awards helping to sock 
session. 'i^ sa& t3m"3»fa»Mm 
at 'Palomarv 

Blue JiBaae m-E) (SMl; 45-tO)— 
"SnamP . :;(B»r» .-aitd- '^Bury "Me ' 
Dead'' (^ay fauoi. Stoiprisiijijy 
ilne i$5,(J0O, 'Laist week, "DoiMe 
Life" (U) and "Dangerous 'ifeai's" 
<20th) (2d wk), oke $3,200 in 6 days. 

Fifth Avenue (H-E) (2,349; 45-80) 
— "Gentleman's Agreement" (20th) 
CSmtt -. $K(JOO0- -uaa: M»Mem^ 
awards betjriog to vast extent. Last 
, "mm . Sonr' iwrnr -and 
Vmi^me"' \mamo% f 7«ao 

laberty (J & Tmi (Ijf^t); 45410) 
■-• 'Sign of Ram" (Col) aind "Return 
of Whistler" (Col). Good $8,500. 
Last. week. "Albuquengue" (Par) 
■aad^'miss^ems^ iCim 423 wk), m 
$7,600. 

■ Music Box (H-E) (850; 45^)-^ 
y^^^> and "Daffl«eMw 
%a««" <im) 14th wk). Okay «4,i«M» 

, Mwsc Hiot. mm •oyattB; 'mmh— 

Black NarcawsHS" iBi audi ■^He*a- 
mg for Heaven" (EL), l^efSilJW 
Lesser awards for former was a 
J»«i»er... isK* week, ■"Gamuster" 

■ Alley" 
(Itoao), $S,4I». ; ... . , * 

»i^tmm m-n (2,600; 45h80)^ 
j^^':Hiw'"--«©th) adwk). Kice 
*7JM0. big $11^00. 

Palomar (Sterling) (1,350; 45-80) 
-;BiU and Goo" (Rep) and 
s^s^i*"* Honeymoon" (Rep). Tdka 
$6,500 OK near. Last week, "Spoil- 
"Diamond Jm" 
tl'C) (reisMies), oke $5,600. 
raxamovmt, (H-E) (3,239; 45-ao)— 
Knew Sawe" oaiCO) and "Wild 
Horse mess" («K0). Neat $iBj0OD 
or eiose. Last week, •'^Sjdaon'' 



m BALirioo mm 
mmmmmwi 



(©A) iVbt^) fair $6^. 

Maj'fair <(Parfeer) (1,.^; 5»4S)— 
Intermezzo" (SRO) aiid "Ex-Mrs. 
Bradford" (RKO) (reissues). 'Okay 
$4,500 or better. Last week, "Walk 
in Sun" ■(20th) and "Back to 
Bataan" (RKO) (reissues) (5 days) 
"■".IDO. 

Music Box (H-E) (1,000; 50^) 
"'Ends of TSarth" (Col) and "Alw'ay.s 
Togetber" (WB) (m.*.). fixeeltent 
$2,500. liast week, "Northside 777" 
(20th) and "Riif-Baff" (RKO) (2d 
wk) (m.o.) fine $3,800. 

Oriental (H-E) I2;fl^0: 50^)-^ 
"Sciidda Hoo" (30th) and "W»ck 
of Hespems" (Col), dsiy-:dale swSth 
ParamoBBt. Okay $5,'000 or near. 
Last week, -"Ends <oI iCarlJi" (Col) 
and "Woman from Tangier" «3ol), 
$4,800. 

Orpheum (H-E) llJlSOi 50-85)^ 
"Sign of Ram" (Cal))-«hd "Bidhdie's 
Anniversary" (Col). Mild' $e,SO0; 
Last week, "Albuquerque" (Par) 
and "Dangerous ^fBiWs" ' taotti) 
S7,800. ■>"■■■•' 

Paramount (H-E) (3,400; 50^85)— 
"Scudda Hoo" (20th) and "Wi«dt 
of Hesperus" (Col), also Ori«ital. 
Fine $9,000. Last week, "Ends of 
Barth" (Col) and "Woman from 
Tangier" (Col), fine .$9,000. 

PlqdMOse (H-E) (1,200; 50-85)— 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) and "Out 
of Past" (RKO) (2d wk) (m.o.). 
Good $2,500 or over. Last week, 
excellent- $4^000. 

VtOML Artists (ParJaer) (883) 50- 
85)— "Double tafe" (U) (id wfc) 
Mild $4,000. Last week, 4>kay 
$7,800. . ' 



Iiidicatini; the ifflm companies 
are beginning te -realize the poten- 
tial advertising value ta them of 
television, Univencal Ibis Aveek set 
tiie first major promotion tie-in 
with a commercially-sponsored vi- 
deo show. 

In conjunction with the DuMont 
web and Kaiser-Frazer, sponsors of 
the Major Bowes Amateur show 
aiitMd over DuMont Sunday night, 
U is oOferins » fSOO prize for tbe 
best £ath«r aiui wn amateur act 
appearing on the program Sunday 
(28), tying in the stunt with the 
Breaduay lopening the preceding 
day of "All My Sons." Kaiser- 
Fraxer is baddng tbe halU'hoo- by 
iaseiting fdugs for fbe film in tits 
dealer ads and windows. 

0 was- »ne id tbe first majors to 
adveritise on tdie, building a spe- 
cial trailer for "Senator Was In- 
discreet" for screening over N.Y. 
video stations prior to the film's 
opening on Broadway. RKO re- 
cently followed through with a 
serLes of leaser trailers on "Ty- 
cfloa." 



pm Vmk Suit 

sOwMlmicll from j 



CiMbBnKs Ib £.0. 
Its £i*an Franchise 

PRC last week made -a -general 
denial in N. Y. federal court of the 
breacbjof contract £uit Jiled against 
it by FBC <le Cuba anA, in a evus- 
trerclMm, wked far a decree- res- 
cinding the contract and dismissal 
of like suit. 

Ci^ban outfit bad sued PRC for 
$^,400,000 daoages, clainiing it 
bad signed for exelusive distribu- 
tion of all PRC product for the 
1943-44 and 1944-45 seasons, but 
that only 18 fUms had been deliv- 
eced. XWC, in asHng for tbe suit's 
dianubKat,.«lainied the Ouli«B''jfinn 
still owed it $7,'Sm on the 18 ILbns 
aad alltqi^d bxt&iat that the con- 
tract had bem imieured by fraud; 

Accbrdiae to Die PBC altega' 
tions, the Cuiian 6mi&t had given 
"eertadn consMerations" to PRC 
«mplo|nees for cil»sia£ the deal. 
Contract, consequently, PRC attor- 
iocjs ^Peged, was proSitaabte to the 
plaintiff but detrimehtat to. the 
defendant. 



naiwed five nC the directors of 20th 
^^**L^ '^oit'es and 

control off 13 out of 

him out as having fitoared the etf! 
tue transaction vmOeie attack. 
Finanolil Details 
When 20th reacquire^ the stock 
complaint states, Ht redassiticd NT 
shares into 2,0«0 A Aam of 
which 1,600 were issued 4o 2oth ■ 
Board approved transfer of 40 B 
shares to the four NT esecs at a 
price of $565,000 with JJie rieht to 
.convert to 400 A dunes • on Dav- 
mcnt of $5,085,000. It the quartet 
was made a bonafide offer by out- 
side intenerts for tbe stock, 20th 
had to be «Iv« an owpiirtunity to 
meet the ftfioe. 

On tliat «!0»e, complaint attacks 
an Oder made by Transamerica 
Corp. in July, 1946, of $12,500,000 
to (he four charging that it was 
not bona fide. In an effort to sup- 
port the charge, pUdratiffs cite fact 
ithat U. S. sbatutory couit a few 
weeks before bad ordered partial 
divorcement and ctenpcd a freeze 
on theatre expagction ftf NT among 
others. This, It says, neduoed NT's 
earning possibilities mi made 
the offer more icicredible. 

"Nothing .occim-ed within tlie in- 
tervening two years (from the 
time the quartet' received the 
stock to the date of the Trans- 
america propo!5«I) which enhanced 
the value of the B shares 13-1 old" 
complain], declares. At any rate, 
plaintiffs *ay, 20th met the Trans- 
america offer after stodaholder ap- 
proval and bought the slock back 
at a prnSt of «M56,O0a 

3 OAcr Sepuuate S«uawks 
Three oftber sc;para!te causes of 
action seek to upset bonuses, .sala- 
ries and stock- options. Total 
jstock options assaulted 'coiiic to 
140,000 shares of which 100,000 
•went to Darryl F. Zacudk who 
later converted st $13 per share. 
Options actwaJly were gifts 
amounting to f4,«>00,000 in con- 
verted shares and ,800.000 in 
unconverted profits, acowding lo 
the suit. 

Charge is made that Spyros 
Skouras nceei'ved $1,900,000 in "ex- 
cess" CMM^ieasation during tlie 
years 1937-4S out of a lotal o( $2,- 
800,000 paid to him. "Excess " to 
Charles Sfcoiiras, it's claimed, 
amounts to $2,100,0000 out of $2,- 
77.5^,000 me same iperiod. 

Plaintiffs in the consolidated 
actions bold some «40 shares of 
20th common. They're Simon h. 
Levin, Virginia H. Berg, Elizabeth 
R, Benjamin, Montro Corp., John 
L, Joseph, Helen Silverstein and 
Ada Elster. Milton Pollock has 
been designated by the court as 
general counsel for the plaintiffs. 
Besides PaUei'son on ihe cijr- 
-enl film .scene, ihere's former 
of State James F. 



into Aiiftolia. Ameae S^quity 
Assn., however, has agreed to a 
Sfi% quota for Biitisih talent and 
23% for American acts. For prac- 
tical puiTWses the Yanks can get 
their money remitted but there is 
a slight technical hazard which, 
however, forfcnds actual guarantee 
thereof. For this reason Cliico 
Marx refused to "essay ibe junket 
since fiane could giwamtee dollar- 
ior^idollar remaiances. 



ItSsiS! Continwd from pace a ssssJ 

li, Melbomme, wWch marks the 
beifbt of tiie -winlcr season Down 
Under. -Goes to Sydney, Adelaide, 
Brisbane and then N. Z. at 6 shil- 
lings top (roughly $1, under the 
lesser Ansste pound taccluange, 
wfaich, bowever, has a g^%ater pur- 
chasmg power). 

The ^% ma {reese wakes coin 
availability for local pic produc- 
tion no problem. Martin is an ox- 
film rep for the major V. S. dis- , - - 

tribs in Australia. Now, as head j Secretary 

of the "fivoli cfaaia, be is a strong ' Byrnes who's been active in de 
advocate «f booAdm tat^a acts ^^'^se of 20th in the Government 

anti-traat fisdt. Alsoi»ersislently re- 
ported m^iSlEig an entif into film 
biz via acaidisition of circuit hold- 
ings is^esayMofigWithau, Jr., 
erstwhile jSearefarjr «if Treasury, 
■ ■ ■., /■ ■ 

Refuses in Bianiss 
StoclMlerMVs.U 

N. Y.^ Pedeml JudiSe Simon H. 
Rifkind last week denied a motion " 
filed by Uniyerssd and eight U di- 
i-ectors for summari'' judgment to 
di.smiss (he suit filed against them 
by U stockholder Bertha T.. A ine. 
Judge Rifkind will now take depo- 
sitions in the case prittr to bii'fng- 
Ing .-it- to' tatiaL , 

Suit- chaj«ed that an option deal 
allegedly nwde by the U director? 
prior to M»45 unduly benefited 
them, penuitttins the ^panpany's 
management to realize profits in 
excess of $1,1^^}O0 by exercising 
the sto(3c os>ti(H^. Miss Aine fur- 
ther charged Ibat the same group 
of directors holds options for more, 
shares on w*ttdh they can make 
$5,000,000. Terraing the option 
deal a "waste of assets,^' she's asfc 
ing that the profits Jiiade be turned 
over to thc'Cotopan^. ■ ; 



J>£NV£R 

(Continued from page 13) 
Beyond Door" (V): Fancy $13,000. 
Last week, "Ideal Husband" (20thj 
and "Driftwood" (Rep), $11,000 

Rialto (Fox) (e7«; »5-74)— "Knds 
of Earth" (Col) and "Let's Live 
Again" (awfa), after week al Den- 
ver, Esquhne, Webber. Fair $3,700. 
Last week, "Black Bart" (U) and 
"CSbalksaW!'' (aotb) (m.o.), fair 
f4i1IOlQ.' ■:■ ■ 

Tabor (Pox) (1,967; 35-74)— "Sin- 
town" (Indie) and "Lady from 
Cheyenne" (Indie). Strong $11,000. 
Last week, "Invisible Man" (U) and 
Invisible Maa Betnrns" (U) (reis- 
sues), $9,000. 

Webber (Fox) (750; 35-74)— 
"Scudda Hoo" (20th) and "Docks 
New Orleans" (Mono), day-dale 
with Denvei", Esquire. Big $4,000; 
Last week, "Ends of Earth" (Col) 
and "Let's Live Again" (20th), 
$3,000. 



Associated Film Wrilets is the 
new name lof the Eastern Screen 
Writers Assn., an Indie organiza- 
tion of scripters of shorts, docu- 
mentaries, eomausdals, etc., in 
New York. . 



St. Loo's Jan. Tax Hits $51,531 
St. Lwais, March 23. 
. Tbe 5% aajusement tax enacted 
by Board of Aldermen here to on- 
set shrinking in revenue for mu- 
nicipal purposes yielded $51,531 m 
January, first month of its exi.st- 
ence. Picture theatres paid mw 
tbe treasury $44,482 on a gross of 
$889,656. 



— Of The Frontier's Fighting Men ... 
And The Women Who Made Them Heroes! 




A mighty motion 
picture of majestic 
sweep and tremen- 
dous action! . . . 
LUSTY with the 
humor el reckless 
cavalrymen . 
TENDER with the 
romance of women 
who dare . . . 
ABLAZE with the 
fire of savage 
conflict! 



JOHN WAYNE • HENRY FONDA 
SHIRLEY TEMPLE • PEDRO ARNENDARIZ 





APACHE 



Directed by JOHN FORD • Screen Play by FRAtNK S. NUGENT 
AN ARGOSY PICTURES PRODUCTION • Released by RKO RADIO PICTURES 



<2 



mm 



Film Reviews 



Vontinwed (roiu page t 



Arixosia Stronger 

between the pair. But their differ- 
ences are patched up before the 
fmale. 

Supporting players contnb some 
okay thesping under John Rawlins' 
able direction. Nan Leslie, in the 
lone t'emme role, generates audi- 
ence sympathy as the wife of out- 
law Steve Brodie. Latter registers 
as the heavy, while Richard Mar- 
tin, the comic relief, would have 
done better had he not been handi- 
capped by some unusually trite 
lines 

J. Hoy Hunt embellished the film 
With some above-avergge outdoor 
lensing. Production values are 
good as is Desmond Marquette's 
editing which keeps the print down 
to a tight 64 minutes without ira? 
pairing the pacing. 

Morsnaids 

IIKO iMoiiac oC Sol 'Les.Wir plwlm-tWn. 
Blurs Johnny WeissmuUor. Bremlii .ruyve; 
fea.tiu-c» Linda. Christian. Directefl by KoU- 
ert Floicj'. Ovisrlnal atory ana !«'wi>m>lay 
by C'aiToil Young base<l on chiirai'.tfi-s I're- 
aW by Htlgar Rice Burroushu: i-amera. 
Jaik l>iai)Ci-, Oalirid FlftuerDa. Kaul -Vlar- 
Wnfz Solaros; eaitor, Men-iU Whit?. Trj.de- 
«hown X. r., March '18. mroning tlmo, 

ff avian .'['. .% . . . i Johnny ■W<?l«sm»Uei: 

t*it»A -Bi'**nda Ji>>i:e 

Mam.. Wwlii Christum 

Bonjl ..i, .John Iiiturenz 

Varaa -FSroando Wagner 
Coimnlssiom-r ...Bdwaril Ashley 

Ulaiia Andrea I 'a ma 

JjUliP , .OusUvo Uoj« 

British inipectw-Oeneral. .Matthew Bolton 

"Tarzan and the Mermaids" is 
standard Johnny WeissmuUer, dif- 
fering only from other jungle epics 
■ jm that this one was produced in 
Mexico. Also, it introduces Linda 
Christian to VS. S. audiences and is 
gister-moving than othere in the 
Tarzan group. « , 

Robert Florey gets credit for 
keeping an implausible story mov- 
ing swiftly mtb d; minimvnn of dull, 
hokey intemistions. Sol Lesser 
moved MS coBfrpany into the Ghu- 
rubusco stu^os just outside of 
Mexico City to fiM the picture. 

hey also went on location at Aca- 

SulGO, Mexico's west coast water- 
ig resort, for many exteriors and 
the hair-raising Mgh-dlving shots. 
Newcomer Miss Christian, native- 
bom Mexican, hints posabilitles. 
She's comely and has the physical 
attributes to measure up for the 
screen. 

This story is strictly one of those 
things about a forbidden island m 
mythical Aquatania -wrhere a white 
trader and his undercover cut- 
throat employ a fake txibal god to 
keep the natives swbjugated in 
order to grab pearls. ^"Ehe crooks 
want Miss C&mian as a bride for 
this gofE, bvt sbe has other ideas. 
Hi^S ^Mribeie/i^nait comes in, and 
wbeie. th£f ISba gets its tag. He 
fishes hier out of the river acci- 
dentally and tells his wife he has 
bagged a mermaid. Tarzan ulti- 
mately unfrocks the phoney tribal, 
prie^ and his helper but not until 
after the familiar exciting cUmax. 

WeissmuUer gets more chances 
than customary ta. show his prow- 
ess in the water. Brenda Joyce is 
his very attractive spouse. John 
Laui^nz, as jungle mail carrier, is 
a pleaslngvaddition with his guitar- 
etinimmiss and warbUng. George 
Zucco, as fttgih priest, heads the 
support. . 
■ Two photographers, Gabriel 
Bigueroa and Raiul . Martineu 
Seiares, helped Jack Draper oa the 
lensing. Result is some spectacular 
camera work, probably the best on 
my Tamn film. - Wear, 



terrupted by the arrival of two 
pavroll bandits atid their femme 
companion. Their arrival is just 
in time to save the picture from 
becoming a rather dull study of 
outdoor animal life. After that all 
developments are telegraphed well 
in advance. The gangster chief re- 
forms and goes straight through 
the ministrations ol the crippled 
youngster. 

Grapewin lends some fairly pro- 
fessional atmosphere to earlier 
passages. whUe» Alan Curtis,- as the 
fleeing tliug, makes a passable 
gangster. Anne Gwynne is okay 
as his sweetheart, who also re- 
forms in favor of the great out- 
doors. Joseph Devlin is acceptable 
as his assistant. Young Gift does 
well enough as the crippled youth. 

Production is marred by some 
very mediocre acting ui earlier 
passages. Curley Twiford, Earl 
Johnson and Byron Nelson should 
take bows for their anlmal-lraining 
stints. Ernie MiReV's camera work 
is A-1 throughout. Wear, 



»Ir. OreliidI 

(Le Pere Tranauille) 

(FRENCH-MAB£) 

liOiiert PUm release of B-CSt iwoductlon. 
Sliir» Noet-IToel. DlrsctPrt by Bene t'lpm- 
«nt. S(.-r««ni)lay. >{oel->!uel; music. Rone 
rioeree. Piwiewpil In ."». T., Mnnrh 18, 'iS. 
Running time, 106 MINS. 

Mr. Martin , .'. .. ...... Nool-Xoel 

Monique Martin, ,.....+■,..... .Isadine Alart 

Pim-n Martin J^ose .\rtur 

Madame Miirtln.... ......... .Okilru Olivier 

HcHler. .Je\in Varaa 

Hinnm.. .r.tul Frankeur 

< *avrat Delaf tre 

t''athcr Gbarle!! Lemontler 



try to hit the firat-nma. A ii^hle 
eSort, this is merely an exalted 
miisiGal short plugging Kay Ven- 
tura's band. Musicomedv actress 
GiiaeUe Pascal is the iaa-craiy 
daughter of RJmdall. She exacts 
from her father a promifse to hire 
Ventura's outfit to play for her day 
and night. And don't they do it! 
Picture is a likely grosser in 
France, but Is highly dubious ex- 
port fare, maun. 

"Kouto HiMiH iHSUH" (Hoiul Hloi-k«d>, 
(VKENCH-M.IIH'!). I'llniBOnnr rcloaiio ol 
ere prodvu'ttnn, Stars <7Jaurt« Dauphin, 

H«len'o PBrdrl()ra; foatufos Armonlol, 
.Tftrie Marltcn, IiUoicnue l.emarchand, 
Qeorses I'aulniH, JaonuKs I'nstoUol, tjlsolB 
CttKOdfliiiis. IMrcctod by .loan rftelll. 
Scroiniplnj-, StoUl and 1'. d« Tlioniasot. 
M UJnema 'T..6 Tarls, I'nrl.s. nunnlnrr 



Mild quality pictoire in every re- 
spect except Ute cast wliich does as 
well as it can despite inexpert 
scripting and direction. Plot cen- 
ters around the use of "ghost-voic- 
ing" to reveal the inner thoughts of 
Claude Daiiphin, an' architect who's 
unvdttiiigly committed 9 murder. 
Results in loss of his girl because 
she feels he might have confided in 
her. Ineptly made, "Route Sans 
Issue" has smaU chance in the 
French maricet and none abroad. 

Maxi. 



"Nattvnkteua Uuiiuw" (TU« Nlsht 
Watehman'ii Wife) (HWKDISII-M.tOK). 
Wive FUm rnleane oC Oentruni PUm nro- 
duction. Features Ake GronUorff. Hrltta 
Holmberfi, Sturo T.,aK6rvall. Naima Wif- 
Htrantl, Ako 01a.*iKon, Omifflaa IlaKO. Al- 
lan Bohlln. Tlior MoflWMi, tVirl Strom. 
IjinneaHlilberK, IIuko H.lonio. DIrectod 
by Bengt PaJui. .St'rconplny, 'I'orsten 
FJoden and rfune Ho.rKHtroin; camera. 
Nils DahlKrun. At ^3spla,llad, StocUholm.. 
RunnlnK time, 8ii MIN8. 



Traiamg Altec Men 
Colonial Television Corp, 
last week Intecl « deal to train 
Altec Sendee Corp, personnel 
in the inBtalUitlon-.«nd main- 
tenance of Colonial's theatre 
television projectors. 

Under the arrangement, .10 
Altec engineers are to under- 
go a week's training and se- 
ries of lectures at the Colonial 
plant, receiving practical in- 
struction in the assembly, test- 
ing and operation ot the Co- 
lonial set. ' 



Theatre Tele 

ConUnued from paee 3 



(In French; English Titles) 
A story of the French under- 
ground with Noel-Noei, French 
comic, in a .dramatic role for a 
Change. "Mr, Orchid" is a vivid 
character study of a typical French 
patriot" under the Nazi heel. Noel- 
Noel turned out the script and did 
the dialog, so ifs more or less tail- 
or-made for him. Ttaere are sev«:al 
extraneous passages, bitt despite 
this "Orchid" shapesiip asa strong 
entry for U.S. -loiellbt-lwgU^e 
theatres. . , „ 

The star plays -the easy-going 
chief of the undergroimd. His hob- 
by of raising orchids, so as to bet- 
ter hide his radio equipment and 
dynamite supidies, gives the film 
its tag. Nadine Alari is refreshing 
as iiis daSgfater, and Jean Varas 
and Paul ^ankeur are superb as 
the two leading undercover opera- 
tives. Claire Olivier also is excel- 
lent as a typically French house- 
wife constantly worried about her 
busband's hfealth. 

Rene Clement has directed in a 
fairly leisurely manner but still 
managed to sustaip suspense. Rene 
Cloeree's origmal score helps to 
stress tbe more exciting mommits. 
• Wear. 



Poor scripting and ^direction 
spoil this. Yam deals with a coun- 
try gal who comes to Stockholm 
without a job or shelter. Her 
problems are temporarily solved 
when she meets and marries a 
night watchman. Later • she has 
some romantic escapades with a 
wealthy character, but the final 
reel Gad^ her hack ' with the 
watchman. Picture m i g h t have 
been acceptable if prop^l^ made. 
Biz prospects are meag^ botb 
here and in the U. S. Wilm. 



"Far 3as lav, Hbtsmtxttt" (SUaU We 
Dance, Mr. Teacher?) (SWBOISH» 
HJUOK). nBuropa PUm proaiiction ana 
release. Stam St'l^ Jai-rel, TJlla Sailert, 
A^neta Xiagerfclilt ; features Katie Rdlf- 
sen, Hakon Westergren, OuH Natorp, 
Georg Funkqul&t, Carl-(5-unnar Wingard, 
Artliur Ifisoher, Wlktor AndersHnn. 
Christian Bratt, Lars Sarri. Directed by 
Borje tiarflson.' Screenplay, Goorg Elias- 
son and Sy^m OuHtatason based on An 
tde« by Oyntber Stiel; caiueri, BertU 
Palmgpreu. Hsrald RerKlond; uu^ic, Brllc 
Baunutn, Nstlian OoerUoK. At Anirltlis, 
Stoefeholm. Raanine Uni«. S6 SfESS. 



Vhe En^anteA Valley 

(COLOR) 

" Eagle Hon release of Jack Schwarss pro- 

tdiKition. Stars Alan Curtis; features Anne 
Wynne, Charley Grapewin. Directed by 
bhert Gjnmett Tansey. Origrlnal screen' 
play. JbTaucea Kavanaugh: camera (Cina- 
eolur), Brnle Miller; editor, eeorge 9Tc- 
Ouire; 'Kaaeahown in N. T,, March 19, 'iS. 
3Running time, 77 MISS. 



Johnny. .... 

-Midge ,. 

«teundpit 

ITimmy. 

Chief SoBtt........ 

B«sg«r 

JPreMSf Boy......k. 

ji<tenelU...^..i,.k.. 
<Jo»»taW6.,.....,., 

Gangster,....,...; 



....... .'Aljin Curtis 

Anne <lwynue- 

..Charley OraptHvln 

:.I>oun Uitt 

..^•..Joitepb Cretian 
.i.iif„^os>fm. Hevltn 

.>..,.... .Al'Xa ftUB; 

........3oIut Bleifpf 

.....tkorler Cojnenitt 

Jerry Riwlo 



This is reminiscent of "En- 
chanted Forest," which PRC turned 
out itt 1945, Story, characters and 
settings smack remarkably of tlie 
earlier picture. PRC will be re- 
called as the predecessor to Ejigle 
Lion, which distributes "En- 
chanted' Valley." The producer 
again has used Cinecolor to effec- 
tive results. Pic should delight 
most juvenile patrons but it's 
strictly for twin bills. 

As with the earlier production, 
the central character is a creature 
of the forest, a great lover of 
nature. In this case it is Donn 
CJift. as a crippled youth who likes 
the simple things in life. His tran- 
gull existence with his grandad 
(Charley Grapewin) is sharply in- 



iVnlikelvtorAngU»nti, s. fitakety 



"»ra»teir Deteciiven Blorokvlst" (Bloto- 
kvlst. Master ' Detective) (SWUniSn- 
SltlDlS). Sandrew-Bauman release of 
.'Scliamyl Baumas protluotlon. Features 
Ann-Marie Skoglund, Olle JohansBon, 
.Sven-Axel Carlsson, Bengt Callenbo, Bit 
Torneman-Stanhammec, Roberto Gynther, 
Henrik Sohliat, BJotn Berglund, ffosta 
.TonsBoh, SoiVaist Hedengran. SiBse I'ryirt, 
CWl« fieinholz. ' Directed by Rolf Hus- 
ber*;' SctBettpiay, HnsberK, based upon 
novel by Aatrid liludgren; tramera, Rune 
Kricsson. At Astoria, Stockholm. Kun- 
nins time, HJJ MIKgt ■ 



Adapted from a novel writtefl 
for youths by Astrid Ltndgren, 
"Master Detektiven Blomkvist" 
emerges as a good Swedish film 
Yarn revolves about a young boy 
who essays some sleuthing. Scan 
dinavian business will be satisfac- 
tory On this one but film offers lit- 
tle appeal Svt ttie international 
mart. Winq. 



"I/A«entBre Conmuvnw Hcmutn" <Ad. 

venlure Htarts Tomorroir). (FBBNCJI- 
yUkO&l. e.F.C. release ol! Tellus produc- 
tion. Stars laa Mii-anda, .4ndre Lugnet 
and Rannond Rouleau. Directed by 
ftlehard Pettier. At lilnitttage, Farln. 
•EijtittlBB ttoe, iM MntS. 



Inept camera is^ork and general 
amateurishness of technique in- 
cluding edittng mar this picture 
which is well- acted. Isa Miranda 
acquits herself well as an adven- 
turess. She conspires with Ray- 
mond Rouleau to swindle explorer 
Andre Loguet who's found an in- 
exhaustible ivory source in the 
African jungles. Film has scanty 
chance in France and none 
abroad. Mai-i. 



A splendid comedy, "Far Jag 
Lov, Magistem?" is headed for 
good grosses in Scandinavia and 
has some appeal for the interna- 
tional market. Performances are 
first class, with Stlg Jarrel a stand- 
out as a dancing instructor. Re's 
involved in a number of amusing 
pranks while studying the modern 
dance in Staekhobn. Scripting, di- 
rection and camerawork meast^ 
up. Witiq. 



"Mvet Ta li-ornbyholm" i "IJ(e at Fors- 
byholm Manor") (SWKDISB-MAUB) 
KungstUm production and release. Stars 
Sickan CarJsson. 15ffon I^arHson; features 
Ntl.H BlrlcsKon, Douglas Hags, John Bot- 
vld, Thor Kodeen, Mari.mne liOfgron, 
Greta Ijimtng, .Sten Qester.-rUa Andreas 
son. Directed by Blof Aiirle. Screen 
Play, Senrik Hill; cftinern, .T. .T«yn»; 
musi«, Arthur and H^ymour Ostei-pall. 
At Dntken. Stoclcholiu. Runtiittg' time 



Fine thesping of Siekan Carlsson 
and Egon Larsson coupled with the 
b.o. pull of their names will help 
this Swedish comedy' in Scandi- 
navia, but abroad the picture hasn't 
a chance. Winq. 



"NIttloettJui Karlsnoiis Perrnis" ("Pri- 
vate IJarfeson on I^oave") (SWEIHSH- 
laABiS)^ 3vea Film release of Imaeo 
mim prnduetton. Featntee. ami Oaht 
stfom, HelKfr Ungtead^ 'Ire»« Swder- 
blom, Fritlof BUlciuist, DoUKlas Hase. 
Thor Modecn, Julia Caesar, .Tohn Norr- 
man. Directed by Huso Bolander. 
SorcenRlay, 0osla Bernhard and Tage 
Holmberff; (ramern, Sven Therina?nlus; 
niugtc, Kal auUmar and Beorg Enders. 
At Lyran, Stockholm. Runnine time, 
106 MINS, 



'^d«inol«ie]l« H'Amnse" (Mademoi- 
selle Has Pun) a'TKEJrt'lf-MAOB), C»- 
rimn ri-iease of Hoe.hc produtition; Stars 
nay Ventura and band. Micelle Pascal; 
featurea Bandall. Jeanne Pualer-Otr. 
Georges Iianned. Directed by .Tcan Boycr. 
Music, Paur Serge Veber; lyrics Andre 
Hornez. At Paramount, Paris, Ruh- 
ninir time, »7 SUNS. 



Deartb oJt PrencH films suitable 
for quotai weeks enabled this en- 



Bi^sed on "Private Karlsson," a 
magazine cartoon character, this 
comeSdy falls far sbort of equalling 
the original. Designed as a numor- 
ous takeoff on military life, "Mttio- 
ettan Karlssons Per mis" shows 
army routines in an objectionable 
manner. Picture most likely will 
do well in Sweden due to the mag 
OeHp,.but ovmets^ m chances are 
nil. Wifig. 



Shelton Rejoins Gmetz 

William Shelton has checked out 
as general sales manager of Sir- 
itzky International to rejoin the 
A.F.E. distributing company 
headed by Paul Graetz. 

Graetz has just returned to Paris 
after 8 two months stay in New 
York. "Diable du Corps," which 
he produced in France in a deal 
with Universal - jbttematlonal, is 
still barred from U. S. release due 
to censorship obstacles. 



threatened with an injunction, 
called off the demonstration. 

Admitting that Colonial's main 
interest in the problem obviously 
lay in selling Its tele equipment, 
the outfit's attorneys told the the- 
atre reps that theatres have just 
as much at stake. Colonial is ready 
to carry the ball in case of a court 
fight, tiiey said, but feels it only 
fair that theatre owners be rep- 
resented in any ensuing litigation. 
According to the Colonial attor- 
neys, there's no legal basis for 
broadcasters' claims to exclusive 
copyright on their tele shows. 
They're satisfied, they said, that 
under existing Federal Communi- 
cations Commission's rulings and 
anti-trust laws that this theatre of 
litigation from the broadcasters can 
be successfully removed. 

Uncertain As to Policy 
Answer to the Colonial proposal 
was contained in the reaction of 
a spokesman for one of the major 
circuits, who attended the meet. 
Citing the number of obstacles 
that have to be removed before 
theatre tele becomes reali^. he 
declared that everybody in the 
theatre business is still feeling his 
way slowbf. "The only people in- 
terested in speed on tms'q,uestion," 
he decltired, "are fh6 set manufac- 
turers.'* His company hasnt yet 
formed a policy on the mattep, he 
ssdd, because it's not time yet for 
a policy. "In fact," he added, "even 
our lawyers disagree on the .prob- 
lem. There's not even a ^adow of 
a ghost of an idea on how to handle 
it." 

Loew's 'theatres exec Oscar A. 
Doob declared that Loew's hasn't 
made up its mind yet on what to 
do about, theatre tele. Company 
will not call a hnddle on the sitaa- 
tion at this time, since it's still 
looking on. Meanwhile, Doob said, 
Loew's has no intention' of instal- 
ling any tele equipment in its 
theatres "for the immediate fu- 
ture." RKO theatres exec > Sol 
Schwartz declared, "I'm not certain 
yet what will happen with theatre 
television." In time, he said, it 
will .play a part in theatre enter- 
tainment but what that role will 
be ascertained only through time 
and experimentation. "Meanwhile 
he declared, "the question isn't vi- 
tal enough to take it to court." 

Majority of the 18 indie circuit 
reps attending the Colonial meet 
declared they were turning the 
Colonial proposal over to their 
attorneys for full consideration. All 
expressed considerable interest in 
the development of video for their* 
theatres. Their general attitude 
was summed up by Emanuel Frisch, 
Randforce circuit veepee, who de- 
clared that "we'll follow along with 
Whatever the rest of the MMPTOA 
members decide." 



Gzeche Bii 

C«Btiiint< from p»g^ 3 

was in Its 18th frame at tlie Pas 
sage theatre, Prague, with 78% 
all available seats for all shows 
sold. Run continues indefinitely. 

Pix placed on the Czecho banned 
list are RKO's "Major and the 
Minor" and "Kitty Foyle," both 
starring Ginger Rogers; Warner 
Bros.' «Sgt. York," starring GarJ 
Cooper; Columbia's "Here Come!^ 
Mr. Jordan," starring Robert 
Montgomery; Columbia's "You 
Were Never Lovelier," in which 
AdoJpIie Menjou appears; Metro's 
"Waterloo Bridge," starring Robert 
Taylor, and 20th-Fox's "Tales of 
Manhattan," also starring Miss 
Rogers. 

One-year pact of the MPEA with 
the Czech film monopoly (which 
has been in Commie hand.s since 
the end of the war) expired last 
November. There were about 20 
fihns In the country at that time 
which had not started to play off 
They are playing oft now, with the 
MPEA getting its percentage. Less 
than a dozen remain, and there 
has been no progress in arriving 
at a new agreement. Negotiations 
failed, however, before the Reds 
took over the government. 

Louis Kanturek, MPEA rep in 
Czechoslovakia and eastern Eu- 
rope, who has been in the U. S. 
for the past three weeks for con- 
fabs with Irving Maas, v.p. and 
general manager, returns to his 
post ia Prague in about 10 days. 



SHO Pards 

Contihiied trim pae« S 



.experienced in the territory, wlio 
will have a staff of local people and 
ihaintain exchanges. An SllO rep 
in each caSe will handle important 
circuit deals, with the local .staff 
doing the rest of the selling, but 
with SRO retaining veto power. 
Selznick drganissation will also have' 
to approve any domestic product 
the local partner chooses to dis- 
tribute. 

Kramer declared this type setup 
would give SRO an effective dis- 
tribution organization at a cost 
much below that of the ro.-ijots. 
Directly in' charge of it in Great 
Britain (where SRO will have no 
local partner), Europe and the 
Near East, will be Louis Lewis. 
Similarly, managing director for 
Latin America and Australasia 
will be Mannv Beineif. 

Lewis Came to SRO about a 
year ago from IJnited Artists, 
where he served Under British top- 
per David Coplan and repped UA 
on the Odeon circuit board. Reiner, 
formerly, with Paramount, joined 
SEO when he left the Office of 
War Information after the war. 

Allen Byre will continue as SRO 
genei-al salesmanager in Great 
Britain. In France, Rene La Frite 
has bec<Hne SBO's local partner, 
with Jean Divolies ais general sales- 
nostnager.' ' ' 



Crix CIrcks 

Continued from page S 



Continued from {Mtge 4 , 



wicket spinners. In both cases, sev- 
eral productions were named that 
could not be included on Vahiew's 
list due to their late release dates. 

Boaley Crovrther, N. y. Times 
film critic, named only one out of 
10 that made the "best grosser" list, 
while Howard Barnes, N. Y. Herald 
Tribune jcritic, picked no b.o. hits 
out of his 10 choices. Barnes went 
aU out for foreign pix, with two 
French, two Italian and one Eng- 
lish film comprising his list. 

The mass circulation national 
mags generally had "best pictiure" 
lists moice in tune with b.o. reali- 
tiesi Liberty named 24 pictures on 
a monthly basis with the relatively 
heavy ratio of nine also figuring 
among Vahiety's top grosser list. 
Louella Parson's selections for Cos- 
mopolitan also attained a high bat- 
ting average With 5 b.o. pix in- 
cluded in her list of 14. Out of 
McCall mag's sections, 11 of 



turn over to the Thomas probere 
certain books and papers that had 
been requested. 

Circuit court ruling came in an 
opinion upholding the District con- 
viction of a group of the Anti- 
Pascist Committee toppers on 
charge of contempt of Congress. 
"The 10" have been indicted on a 
similar charge, so the importance 
to them of the Circuit court dicte 
is apparent. Both .cases are ex- 
pected to go to the Supreme Court. 

Associate Justice Henry W- i!;": 
gerton, in holding the Anll-Fa.scist 
Committee convictions unconstitu- 
tional, said: "The House commit- 
tee's investigation abridges free- 
dom of speech and inaicts pun'sn- 
ment without trial and the statute 
the appellants are convicted ol V»<>j 
Ijited no ascertainable .standard «t 
guilt " ■ ■ 

Majority Upheld the conviction 
on the basis that the Thomas wm- 
mittee was investigating for }'^^ 
purposes of possible legislation 
and if it has the power to loolc mto 
Communism, it has the right to 
identity individuals believing J» 
that form of government. 



2 More Ohio Towns Vole "Ta* 
Toledo, March i3. 
Two more Ohio wunip*'" '"S 
.„„Bo .X have enacted a local 3% adm'*- 

the mms also were in the moh^ -sions tax, Focest and Geneva-ojr 
class. " .-■■■.^^ihe-Lake. 



"Ford and Miss Keyes make a sock team. Should 
click with all types of theatregoers, particularly 
the younger sbV'-variety 

"Great boxoffice potential. Every earmark for 
successful runs.' -f/iM Mir 



**Mark this one for brisk business all down the line."— M. P. HERALD • "A 
natural for women. Should do well."->$HOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW • "A neat film 
package."— M. P. HERALD • "Aimed for profit."— HOLLYWOOD reporter • ** Busts out 
oil over with rare good humor. Just a case of keeping the route between 
the box office and the bank well guarded."- DAILY VARIETY 



COLUMBIA PICTURES presents 



GLENN 

FORD 



EVELYN 



„,..vuj, RANDELL • WILLARD PARKER 

Screenplay by Louella MacFarlane and St, Clair McKelway 

Directed by HENRY LEVIN • A CASEY ROBINSON PRODUCTION 




RUl 




S4 



■i»i«7irii«KS 



Oscar Awards 



Continued (rom pace < ; 



color divisions, gave the Universal- 
International segment of the local 
Idmily top honors in the Oscar 
Derby with a score of eight wins. 
V'l which released the films here, 
took credit for the trophies handed 
to Britain on "Great Expectations 
and "Black Narcissus" and then 
grabbed two awards tfn its own. 
One was the coveted Best Actor of 
the Year trophy which went to 
Ronald Colman whose performance 
in Kanin Productions' "A Double 
I.ife" capped a distinguished ca- 
reer of 27 years before the lenses. 
The second was the award for the 
'best musical score of a' dramatic 
«r comedy picture which went to 
Dr. Miklos Rozsa, also for "A Ubu- 
■fcle Life." 

Twentieth-Fox was a close sec- 
ond with a total of seven awards; 
three each on "Gentleman's Agree- 
ment" and "Miracle on 34th 
Street," and- one on "Mother Wore 
Tights." "Agreement," whjch won 
the Best Picture Award, also 
brought fame to Elia Kazan as Best 
Director and Celeste Holm as Best 
Supporting Actress. "Miracle," 
which gave Edmund Gwenn his 
first award as Best Supporting Ac- 
tor also won the Best Original 
Film Story and Best Written 
Screenplay trophies. Valentine Da- 
vies was honored for the former 
and George Seaton for the latter. 
Twentieth's other award went to 
Alfred Newman for the best scor- 
ing of a musical, "Mother Wore 
Tiehts." ^ 

Miss Young's surprising, but ob- 
viously - gallery - gratifying stretch 
drive to win the Oscar Derljy as 
IRast Actress, gave RKO a total of 
Six credits in show position. Stu- 
dio's total was helped by special 
awatd to James Baskett for "Spng 
Of the South;" the best original 
Bcresnplay award to Sidney Shel- 
dop for "The Bachelor and the 
Bobby Soxer;" the best original 
song, "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dab," by Al- 
lie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert in 
"Sms ot the South;" the best 
achievement ill sound recording by 
Gordon Sawyer on "The Bishop's 
Wife;" and the award for" the most 
distinctive documentary feature, 
"Design for Death." "The Bishop's 
Wife," was a Samuel Goldwyn 
Production and "Song of the 
South" was made by Walt Disney, 
but BKO as the disfiAbHttttg iteent 
got the: credit in the totals. ' 

The award to Bsiskett, Incident- 
ally, m^^ed the second time In 
Acadeit^ hisftiry that a Negro 
thesplan has h6ea honored. The 
first to Win was Hattie McDaniel, 
who won tbe Best Supporting 
Actress Award on "Gone Wind the 
Wind." , 

Metro ran fourth in the total 
credits with three; the special 
cSiexits award (pbotographic) to A. 
AitlOld Gillespie and Warren New- 
combe on "Green Dolphin Street;" 
the special effects award (sound) to 
Douglas Shearer and Michael 
Steinore on the same film; and the 
award for the best one-reel short 
subject, "Goodbye Miss Turloek," 
produced by Herbert Moulton. 

Warners, United Artists, Mono- 
licam, Kepublic, Lopert Films 
(Italian) and the United Nations 
Dnrision of IHms & Visual In- 
formation nabbed one credit apiece. 
The UN won with the Most Dis- 
tinctive Documentary Short, "First 
Steps," Republic made the grade 
with the special award to Ken 
Murray for "Bill and Coo;" the 
special award <for "Shoe Shine" 
l^ve Lopert its sole credit; Waro" 
■ tits- ' won with Kdwiard Seizor's 
]prize-wlnning Short Subject (Car- 
toon) "Tweetie Pie;" UA made it 
when Francis Lyon and Robert 
Parrish won the award for the best 
achievement in film editing, the 
Enterprise film which UA distrib- 
uted; and Monogram cracked the 
"Winner's ' circle for the first time 
Vith the best two-reel short sul>- 
Ject, ^^'Climbing the Matterhom,'* 
made by Irving Allen. 



Thomas Armat, Albert E. Smith 
and Colonel William N. Selig. 
Statues were sent to Spoor, in Chi- 
cago, and Armat, in Washington, 
but Smith and Col. Selig were on 
hand to receive theirs personally. 

Col. Selig happily recalled that 
he "was the one who started" mo- 
tion pictures. No longer a pro- 
ducer, Selig disclosed that he now 
sells story properties, adding: 

"I have a lot of stories which I 
haven't disposed of even yet, after 
all these years, and if anybody 
wants a story, I have one for him." 

Smith drew laughs with his 
reminiscences of the early days of 
the industry, disclosing that his 
first film cost $3.50 to make, ex- 
clusive of the cost of film, then 
TVhc. a foot. Two years later, the 
pioneer apparently -had learned 
more about film making. He made 
"The Battle of Santiago" by past- 
ing up cutouts of pictures on a 
white backgrrjuid. Total, cost, 
$1.98. "The reviews," Smith re- 
called, "said the picture was bet- 
ter than the battle." 

No present member of the in- 
dusjtry-family baliaved in such a 
way during the year that be should 
be singled out for special honors. 
For the third time since it was 
established in 1937, the Acad 
board of directors decided not to 
make a presentation of the Irving 
Thalberg Memorial Award. Samuel 
Goldwyn won it last year and 
Zanuck and Hal B.. Wallis have 
hit the jackpot, the former in 1937 
and 1944, the latter in 1938 and 
1943. David O. Selznick took it in 
1939, Walt Disney m 1941 and Sid- 
ney Franklin in 1942-. 

Film Cues Nostalgia 
As expected at a fanuly ^ather^ 
ing, all concerned got more than 
a trifle nostalgic during the even- 
ing. Clips' of previous. Acad win- 
ning films and stars flashing on the 
screen brought many departed 
members fleetingly to lite. And 
another film cued the sentimental 
side of the festivities with clips of 
the early film appearance of scores 
o£ Holl3*oodites now listed in the 
star ranks. The brash outsiders, of 
course, screamed loudest at seeing 
present favorites in bits, but even 
industry members joined in as they 
got a glimpse of screen bows of 
such personages as Gary Cooper, 
James Cagney, Lew Ayres, Ray 
Milland fin a bar scene, at that), 
Walter Huston, Alan Ladd, Lana 
Turner, Barry Fitzgerald, Alex- 
ander Knox and othersL Film, 
titled "Family Album, 20th Anni- 
versary," was narrated on sound- 
track by Carey Wilson and Wesley 
Tourtellotte supplied organ music, 
as in the days when. Another reel 
brought excerpts from the current' 
Oscar derby nominations and a 
screen salute was paid the five fihoa 
figures who died during the year: 
Sidney Toler, Harry Carey, Ernst 
X^ubitsch, Mark Hellinger and 
Grace Moore. Silmt clips were 
used on all save Miss Moore who^ 
voice was heard once more sing- 
ing "One Night of Love." 

Family and outsiders then heard 
Acad prexy Jean Herj^olt honor 
the memory of Le» Forbstein, who 
died a few days before the award 
ceremony and whose place as con- 
ductor of the orchestra was ta^en 
by Hay Heindorf. 

The gathering was not as prfr- 
tentious as last year's ceremony at 
the same place. There were no arc 
lights stabbing into the sullen 
March sky and the staging inside 
was in a simpler vein. The cost to 
the Academy was around $47,000— 
about $I3,00q less than last year's 
shindig.^, ■ 

As expected, the family gather- 
ing oc(;asioned a few gripes. 
Scribes, generally annoyed at hold- 
ing the affair on a Saturday night, 
were also somewhat disgusted at 
again finding themselves down in 
the cataci»mbs far beneath the 
main auditorium floor. And there 
were, of course, the usual com- 
plaints that tliis or that award 



2etli Alerted on BaUyhoo 

Willi 'Agreemeet' Oscar; 
Sets Special Campaign 

With its ad-publicity staffs 
throughout the Country alerted for 
the possibility of "Gentleman's 
Agreement" copping the Academy 
Award Oscar, 20th teed off a mass 
campaign immediately after an- 
nouncement of the award was 
made Saturday (20) night. New 
campaign culminates the entire 
merchandising plan on "Agree- 
ment" instituted when it preemcd 
on Broadway last fall, with every- 
thing from selected spot bookings 
to exploitation and ballyhoo under 
direct homeolfice control. 

In an e'fl'ort to plug "Agreement" 
for its Oscar as soon as the awards 
were announced, 20th bought a 
five-minute news show for $59.50 
on WJZ (N. Y.) Immediately fol- 
lowing that station's coverage of 
the Awards dinner. News was 
broadcast as usual but a special 
one-minute plug on the picture was 
inserted at the close. Two scripts 
were prepared in advance, one to 
plug the film if it won and another 
to cover if it lost 

Ads in the New York newspapers 
Sunday (21) were also prepared in 
advance with an eye towards 
'Agreement" winning an award. 
They carried no mention of the Os- 
car but stated in large tjfpe, "Here 
It ,Is," . so that readers who knew 
about the Oscar would understand 
the tiein. Monday morning ads 
carried cuts of the statuettes. With 
some 359 bookings set for "Agree- 
ment" throughout the counti^ next 
week, meanwtiile, the pic firm had 
primed its field staffs in advance 
to start tying in with the awards 
as soon as they became known. 

Incidentally, Charlie Schlaifer, 
pub-ad boss for 20th-Fox, is mak- 
ing a pitch for a new idea In mo- 
tion picture advertising which he 
feels can pay extraordinary divi- 
dends. He is opposed to the idea 
of "budget" apportionment for 
each picture, feciUng thCTe should 
be an addlUooat $2iQ,000 per pic- 
ture to piay with. Multiply this 20G 
by his company's 24 pictures, and 
it comes to less than $500,000. 

On the theory that a halt-million 
added to the overall budget of a 
major film company's, program is a 
comparative pittancev he is deter- 
mined to "bet" his bosses that, in 
the worst ease, that $480,000 extra 
allotted his department will be re- 
captured. Aiid the chances are it 
can iBfexpret Itself into &tX90t- 
dinary dividends. 

Now that "G«»itleaian's Agree- 
ment" copped the 1847 Academy 
award, the payoff can be reviewed 
because, by judicious coupling of 
advertising-pubUcity with the sell- 
ing of the film, a possible $3,000,- 
000 grosser has added an easy $2,- 
000,000'extra— all of it gravy. It's 
that extra milUon or more. that 
makes for the real proUt to a film 
company. 




•Matterhom" probably is the I wasn't right, 
most unusual film, of any size to be | But members of the family en- 
bonored. Certamly it's the first i joyed themselves. And so did the 
OsCar winner that cost nothing to, better than 1,500 film fans who 
make. Allen shot the film in Swit-j braved a nippy March wind to sit 
Jterland while there making the for hours in the special bleachers 



feature "High Conquest" for Mono. 
The film was given him by Ansco 
—a gift that gave Ansco its first 
chance at the awards for "Matter- 
horn" is the first winner to be 
lensed on that film. 

Pic Pioneers Honored 
The "grampaws" of the industiy 
also were honored as the family 
celebrated the 20th anni. Special 
«wai:«}8. went to, George Spoor, 



outside, craning their necks as the 
sleek limousines roared up and 
cheering as they recognized their 
favorites. 

And, as always, the flacks for 
the studios, films and thesps that 
didn't make the grade had the 
final word. As they jostled their 
way out through the still-excited 
throng, they eyed each other and 
nqittered "next year " 



Twice-Yearly Han 
For Acad Nannnations 

; HoUjhvoodt Idarch 23. 

The Academy's board of gov- 
^prs reportedly Will vote at an 
eariy liaeetmg on suggestion to 
have nominations twice yearly to 
offset studios' recent habit of hold- 
ing until fete December pix they 
consider possible winners. 

Plan being mulled would have 
vote hi July picldng five top plx of 
first half year. Soon after Jan. 1, 
second vote would pick five toppers 
for second half. Winner would be 
selected from top 10. 

Supporters argue that move 
would be beneficial to the tadustrj', 
since it would keep theatres from 
being choked at same time by top 
productions competing with one 
another. 

Frequently, it's pointed out, top 
pix shown early in the year are 
ignored for Acad nominations. 
This year, for example, already 
shovm ate "Treasure of Sierra 
Madre," "Naked City," "Remember 
Mama," "Sitting Pretty," "Call 
Northside 777," "An Ideal Hus- 
band," "Nicholas Nickleby," "Mira- 
cle of Bells," "To Ends of Earth" 
and "Voice of Turtle." Others, in- 
cluding "State of the Union," 
"Homecoming," "Emperor Waltz" 
"Pirate," "Connecticut, Yankee," 
"Another Part of Forest," "Iron 
Curtain," "Mr. Blandings Builds His 
Dream House" and "Winter Meet- 
big" are due for showings soon. 



ASCAP 09St$ 

Continaed frotn pas* S 

groups of exhibitors, with tlie pro- 
ducers on tlie sideline." fie also 
disclosed, to the amazement of tlie 
committee, that Allied had a'f- 
filiated theatres in its ranks. The 
Allied witnesses had claimed that 
their association was completely 
unaffiliated and that the reason for 
TOA's stand was that it was domi- 
nated by producer-owned theatre 
interests. 

Scapegoat 

At one stage rep. Kenneth B, 
Keating (R., N. Y.) asked Gamble: 
"Do you think these gentlemen 
(Allied) are using the ch^rman 
of this committee as a scapegoat?" 

"It amounts to that," retorted 
Gamble. 

The refei'ence was to Rep. Earl 
R. Lewis (R., O.), chairman of the 
committee, who introduced the bill 
for Allied. When Gamble as- 
serted that Allied had aflUiated 
theatres in Its organization in 
Ohio, Indiana, New Jersey and 
Michigan, Lewis interjected, "ap- 
parently this thing is all hash." 

"We can unscramble it if you 
ask the exhibitor associations to 
furnish lists of their members," 
said Gamble. Rep. Lewis then 
directed that the lists be submitted 
to the committee. 

Other developmentsi during the 
hearings: 

Adolph Sclilmel, Secretary of 
Universal Pictures and member of 
the Motion Pictui'e Assn. of Amer- 
ica copyright committee, charged 
that the sole effect of the bill "is 
to alter a business practice in one 
industry which is affected by the 
law in regard to recording and per- 
forming of music— namely, the 
motion picture industry." He 
pointed out that the amendment 
would not abolish payments for 
performing rights but merely shift 
the responsibility for acquiring 
them to the film producer, he de- 
clared, "the acquisition of such 
rights required by law fe not a 
proper charge on produoing tte 
picture. It is a proper cbatisr oii 
the exhibition thereof." 

•ASCAP Monopoly' 

Herman M. Levy, counsel for 
TOA, asserted tliat the Allied peo- 
ple were angry over the "ASCAP 
monopoly," and added; "I don't 
thhik this bill vrill lessen that 
monopoly. TOA is concerned not 
with file kind of deal the producers 
might make with ASCAP but with 
what kind of deal they would pass 
on to the exhibitors." 

James M. Barnes, attorney for 
the Society of independent Mo- 
tion Picture Producers, said the 
Lewis bill Vould raise the price of 
pictures, with the public as the 
ultimate victims. The same view 
was taken by Abe Montague, gen- 
eral sales manager for Columbia 
Pictures. 

The strongest pitch for the 
Levsds bill came in the morning 
from Sidney E. Samuelson, general 
manager for Allied in Eastern 
Pennsylvania, where the Assn. has 
225 theatre members. He said the 
exhibitors were wiUihg to take 
their chances on any Itiked prices 
if the bill went through. He called 
the ASCAP fees an "annual, self- 
renewing contract, completely one- 
sided, with constant increases made 
vrithout negotiations." 

The ultimate aim of ASCAP, he 
charged, "is to levy music license 
fees on a percentage liasis." This 
argument opened the door to 
strong rebuttal by Gamble ia the 
afternoon. Gamble pointed out 
that the producers were old hands 
at selling on a percentage basis. 
He said they would probably take 
advantage of the law to up their 
percentages. On the other hand, 
he pointed out that the new 10- 
year TOA-Ai^CAP contract is on a 
per-seat basis without any percent- 
age arrangement, 

Trueman T. Rembusch, of Al- 
lied's Indiana subsidiary, said in- 
clusion of perfortfiance rlglits in 
producers' music fees would be 
"negligible" and could be "easily 
absorbed" by the studios. Abram 
F. Myers, Allied board chairman 
and general counsel, claimed that 
the studios were big and strong 
enough to get better deals from 
ASCAP than the theatres ijould 
obtain. 



leap Frog' Rlmmaking 
By Box Uses Up Slack h 
Gainsborongh Studios 

London, March 18 
Gainsborough executive pro- 
ducei" Sydney Box is Introducing a 
system of "leap frog" filmmaking, 
This consists of preparing flin^ 
scripts that can be shot lu quich 
easy sections whenever studio 
space is clear for short periods be- 
tween other productions. 

This method achieves maximum 
utilization of studio space and time 
Box is using this system in the pro^ 
duction of film at present called 
"Laughing Lady" but which ii 
known to the studio employees as 
"Hiccough Girt." 

Pic is based on the old fairy 
story of the princess whose hic- 
coughs can only be cured if the 
court jesters can make her laugh. 
So far Box is concentrating oii 
shooting "court jesters." He has 
just completed filming comedian 
Terry Thomas and ventriloquist 
Robert Lamouret, who starred in 
Sid Field's "Piccadilly Hayride." 
He had previously finished a se- 
quence with Freddy Schweitzer, 
the musical' clown. * 
Rest of the story will be shot 
during the summer. Another 
script to be made on this system la 
now in preparation. 



H.O. Payrolls 



inked a pact with SOPEG last No> 
vember, is paying an additioiuil 
$20,100 annually. 

Four other companies, covering 
20th-Fox, Paramount, Republic and 
National Screen Sei-vice, are cur- 
rently in the middle of arbitration 
proceedings with SOPEG under a 
wage reopening clause in the union 
pact. If, as expected, similar 
awards are granted to collarites in 
these compimies, the cosv to each 
company will be as follows: Para- 
mount, $115,000 annually plus $5S,'< 
000 back pay; 20th-Fox, $112,000 
annually plus $50,000 back pay; 
NSS, $67,000 plus $27,000 back 
pay; RepubUc, $2T,0OO plus $11,000 
back pay. 

In addition, 150 SOPEG workers 
at the exchange of Metro, UA, Co- 
lumbia and 20th-Fox, are due for 
a similar increase of 15%. Rest 
of the exchanges, cQvered by the 
International Alliance of Theatri- 
cal Stage Employees, received 15% 
a couple of months back. Under 
a SOPBG-Company agreement, 
SOPEG workers are to receive 
parallel tilts. 

Screen Publicists 

In a separate category, 450 pub- 
licists covering all the major com- 
panies which are organized by the 
Screen Publicists Guild, are slated 
to get an aggregate increase of 
.«280,000 annually plus about $125,- 
000 In hack pay extending to Sept. 
27, 1947. Fifty publicists at 20th- 
Fox have already been awarded an 
average Increase ranging ''bout 
18-%. 

' Warner Bros., the only major 
company which has no pact v,^i(h 
SOPEG, is covered by the H.tuic 
Office Employees Union, Local 
H-(i3, lATSE. Warners granted a 
pay increase last fall but will not 
be affected by the current 'oimd 
of wage dewattds. 



N. C. Variety Club Gives $4,838 
Charlotte, N, C. 
Sixteen patients in the Mecklen- 
burg Sanatorium have been aided 
through tlie gift of $4,838 by the 
Variety Club here. Variety Club 
gave .^,500 last year. 



Indie Exporters 



Coiitlnu«d from page 



International • Corp. Former was 
sure there would be a "just distri- 
bution" of the monies while Sha- 
piro declared despite the very con- 
fused picture at the moment 
there's no need to worry about the 
future. 

Indies aren't following th^..^"' 
ample of the majors in sendmg 
over immediate sizable shipnTents 
of films. Bibo pointed out as^ far 
as reissues are concerned there 
still are many prints in Britam ana 
the Britfish government has always 
permitted American exporters to 
make deals on pictures whose 
prints were already there. Pay' 
raent, of course, was made upon 
application to the Board of Tiaue 
and Bank of England. 

Meanwhile Bibo's Excelsior com- 
pany is shipping a lew reissues 
plus a couple new indie pix. 
national Optima is also rcadymg a 
small siiipmcBtt 



2S 





wits MARY MEADE- ALFRED RYDER -WALLY FORD 

JUNE LOCKHART- CHARLES McGRAW • Produced by AUBflCV SCHENCK • DirwUd by ANTHONY MANN 
Writttn by John 6. HInins • SugKested by « Story by Virginia Kellofg • An EagI* Lion Films RaitOM , 



# NiW YORK, CRITERION; LOS ANGlLfS, 6 Theatres, move over 4 Theatres; CHICAGO, STATE-LAKE; PHILADELPHIA, 
STANTON; SAN FRANCISCO, St. fRANCES; BROOKLYN/ FOX; MEMPHIS, WARNERr SACRAMENTO, ESQUIRI^ TO^fER. 
DEL PASO; BIRMINGHAM, MILBA, GALAX; CINCINNATI, KEITH'S; DENVER, WEBER, RIALTO; HARTFORD, STRAND. REGAL? 
SPRINGFIELD, MASS., CAPITOL, ART; OKLAHOMA CITY, WARNER; BUFFALO, 20th CENTURY; BALTIMORE. HIPPODROME] 
PROVIDENCE, MAJESTIC, CARLTON; OAKLAND. ESQUIRE; SEATTLE ORPHEUM, BLUE MOUSE: PITTSBURGH, STANLEY, 
WARNER; MINNEAPOLIS, STATE, LYRIC; DETROIT, PALMS- STATE; NEW ORLEANS, JOY; OTTAWA. ELGIN; STOCKTON; 
ESQUIRE; WORCESTER, WARNER; HARRlSBURG, SENATE; READING, ASTOR; PORTLAND, ME.. CIVIC; LINCOLN, VARSITY} 
ATLANTIC CITY, HOLLYVVOOD, SHORE; CHARLOTTE. BROADWAY; SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA. ADAMS. 



t6 



PICTURES 



W«sclnctday, March 24, 1948 



U's Deal Splits Product Between 
Par and RKO Chain; Xchange Briefs 



Minneapolis. , 
E. T. Gomersall, Universal-Intei-- 
national assistant sales manager, 
made deal here to split company s 
product 50-50 between Minnesota 
Amus. Co. and RKO Theatres m 
Twin Cities in place of the latter 
getting entire output as before. 
Deal will permit Universal to liqui- 
date its product faster in the 
Minneapolis-Sti Paul area. 

Product split leaves Minnesota 
Amus. (Paramount circuit), having 
six Minneapolis and four Minne- 
apolis downtown ftrstrun houses, 
with all of Metro, Paramount and 
20th-Fox, and half of WB qnd Uni- 
versal films. RKO Theatres, with 
two Minneapolis and one St. Paul 
loop firstrun houses, has all of 
HKO and Columbia and half of 
WB and Universal product. 

Universal homeoffice was dis- 
satisfied because of delays by RKO 
Theatres in booking - releases, 

especially hitches over "Double- 
rife," "Black Bart," "Lost Mo- 

; ment" and "Black Narcissus." 
Minnesota Amus. is taking the first 
two films. Both chains, however, 
have turned down "Last Moment" 
and "Black Narcissus." Universal 

Previously had tough sledding with 
linnesota Amus. getting only an 
occasional film played? in its Twin 
City neighborhood houses. 

Republic's 3 Texas Deals 

Dallas. 

James R. Grainger, Republic 
sales topper, and W. L. Titus, Jr., 
southern division manager were 
here recently to assist N. G. Col- 
quhoun in closing deals with three 
principal circuits, Robb & Rowley, 
Jefferson Amus. Co., and J. G. 
liOng circuit all having Republic's 
1947-48 product for all their sflots. 



T. J. Brown, E. C. Siegfried and 
Fred Kessler, surviving charter 
members of lATSE, Local No, 143, 
were presented with gold life 
membership cards at a dinner 
when the organization celebrated 
its 40th>anni, * 



Charlotte's New Shipping Depot 
Charlotte, N. C. 
Shipping and storage depot of 
Carolina Film Service opened here 
with shipping and inspection of 
Selznick Releasing Corp., Eagle- 
Lion and Film Classics product to 
be handled.^ 



'WB Makes Moore Eastern Mgr. 

F. D. (Dinty) Moore, branch 
manager for Warners in Pitts- 
burgh, promoted to eastern dis-> 
trict manager, eitective* March 29. 
He'll headquarter in Boston.' Paul 
Krumenacker, salesman, takes 
Moore's Pittsburgh spot. 



Jennings to Albany Madison 

Albany, N. Y. 
Herbert Jennings, former state 
public relations man in N. Y. -for 
Treasury Department, appointed 
manager of Warner's Madison here. 
James Morgan moves from Madi- 
son to his old post at the Delaware. 

Pitt Exiiibs bito Politics 

Pittsburgh. 
Couple Of district exhibs have 
recently become city fathers. Wen- 
dell Yeagley, ex-GI theatre owner 
of Confluence, Pa., ,ndmed tb bor- 
ough council to succeed Joseph 
Barkley, resigned, and John D. 
Nagy, of Rural Valley, won a four- 
year term in his community's 
councilmanic body. • 

Bob Gibson, who managed Cup- 
pie's Drive-In in Centerville last 
season, named manager of Sfrand, 
Brownsville, by Mrs. Mary Laskey, 
hoiise owner. ; 

R. O, . Fredley resigned- as mana- 
ger of the Drlve-Ins operated by 
Dr. R. B. Herrick in New Castle 
and Butler, and will manage an 
outdoor theatre in this area this 
summer. 

Milton Samuels, former city ex- 
hib who. operated houses on the 
Korthside, bought the checking 
conces^on at Mercur's Music Bar 
here. " - 



in this territory. Undewtood the 
circuit has lined up three more ad 
pictures for showing this year in 

about 600 theatres. , , 

These ad films call for a rental 
of $10 per 1,000 admissions when 
played in all of circuit's houses. 
Hate goes up when only certain 
divisions are used. Wheri each ad 
picture plays to a potential audi- 
ence of more than 3,000,000, at $10 
per head, it amounts to real coin. 

HAUcii'S Texas Chain 

Temple, Tex. 
Joy Houck's Texas Theatre cir- 
cuit 'organized here with Corbin 
Houck in charge. Houck also an- 
noimced purchase of Palace and 
TexAs in Cisco, Star in Rising Star 
and the Plains in Cross Plains 
from Forrest Dunlap. He also re- 
cently bought the Strand and 
Queen in Dallas. 

Balk New Mpls. Drive-In 

Minneapolis. 
S. D. Kane, counsel for adjacent 
landowners as well as for NOrth 
Central Allied, succeeded in stav- 
ing off issuance of -a license for an- 
other Drive-In to Sid Balman at 
Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis sub- 
urb, temporarily at least, by con- 
tending that consent' of two-thirds 
of adjacent landowners was neces- 
sary, this not having been obtained. 
Town council voted to refer the 
matter to the state attorney gen* 
era! for an opinion, deferring ac- 
tion until then. 



Fox-Midwest III. Facelift 

St. Louis. 

Fox-Midwest circuit let a con- 
tract for a facelifting job on its 
Crand in DuQuoin, 111. 

The R^alto, 350-scater, Siloam 
Sorings, Ark., owned by Rex Killi- 
brew was destroyed by fire early 
tjhis hionth. 

George D. Rafferty, A. P. Petill, 



Don Woods New WB Head in Det. 

Donald Woods, WB branch man- 
ager in Dallas, transferred to same 
post in Detroit, replacing Robert 
H. Dunbar, on leave because of ill- 
ness. ■ 




Beiersdorf's Sales Swint; 
Herman) Beiersdorf, Eagle Lion's 
western sales head, pushed ' off 
Friday (19) for a two-to-three week 
swing through the midwest and 
southern sectors. He'll visit eight 
EL exchanges before retutnlnjg to 
New York h.q.s. 

liaimehet Ad Shorts 

' Los Angeles. 

Commercial advertising on the 
screen was launched here by Na- 
tional Theatres in four of its first- 
run houses with "Tobacco Land," 
an eight-minute film in Cinecolor, 
plugging Chesterfields. The to- 
bacco plug was shown along with 
"Gentleman'is Agreement" at 
Loew's State, Fox Uptown, Loyola 
and Grauman's Chinese. It will 
run this week in 13 other houses 



Pat^s New Firstrnh in Toledo 

Toledo. 

Remodeling of the 900-seat Prin- 
cess has been started here so that 
first-run Paramount films can be 
shown in the house by July 1, 
when the Balaban & Katz lease on 
the 3v400-seat Paramount expires. 

Richard Norton opened his Key 
theatre, Redkey, Ind., dedicating 
the showplace.to a brother, Robert, 
who was killed in action. 

Lou HoUeb, manager of Majestic, 
Columbus, O., has taken a long- 
time lease on the Imperial, Zanes- 
ville, O., and will take over on May 
1. Until recently, it watf" one of 
five Zanesyille houses operated by 
M. L. Shea, Inc., of N. Y. 




. Rosedale Buys % from Odeon 

Calgary, Alta. 
Rosedale .Theatres, Ltd., owner 
of the Crescent Theatre, Calgary, 
and Westmount Theatres, Ltd., 
owner of the Plaza, has bought up 
their leases from Odeon. Les Litch 
continues as manager of both 
houses. 



continued from pace s tss 

tively April 10, It played a group 
Beach, Palm Beach and other 
Florida towns, 

Being held up by title switches 
are "Miracle Can Happen" (Boge- 
aus). It was decided two weeks ago 
to retag it "Aloiig Came Baby," but 
that's now in doubt and no play^ 
dates are- being taken, since the 
ads must await the final label. Copy 
is all r6ady except for the same. 
"Miracle" had played New York, 
Philly, Detroit and Atlantic City 
yirhen it was decided to make the 
change. 

Likewise, awaltlhs decision on a 
shift of title Is "Atlantis" (Neben- 
zal), which has so .far played only 
one date, Las Vegas. Talk is of 
changing it to "Siren of Atlantis," 
With the ads, of course, being held 
up in the meantime. In exactly 
the same category Is Enterprise's 
"They Passed This Way," which 
last week was to become "Four 
Faces West," and this week be- 
came "Wanted." 

Still another is the same boat Is 
"Heaven Only Knows" (Nebenzal), 
which is going out as "Montana 
Mike." Ads and accessories are 
being changed, which , is holding it 
up. "Man of Evil," incidentally, 
also went through the name-chang- 
ing routine, it having originally 
originally been "Fanny J8y Gas- 
light." 

, Two other films '_have been held 
up by litigation. THey are "Time of 
Your Life" (Cagney), which is now 
set okay legally and is to be re- 
leased in late spring, and "Red 
River" (Monterey), which is sup- 
posed to go to UA as a result of 
recent arbitration, but on which 
nothing in that regard has as yet 
happened; 

Gasping for product as a result 
of the delay in UA releases are the 
four Music Halls in Los Angeles 
and the United Artists in San 
Francisco, on which UA controls 
bookings via a partnership with 
Joe Blumenfeld. "Man of Evil," 
going into the houses on Friday, 
will -relieve their proBuct shortage. 
It opens at the Winter Gardep, 
N. Y., tomorrow. . 

Recently completed and awaiting 
release — sans title change or liti- 
gation—is "So This Is New York," 
produced by Stanley foamer. 



BIZ BIG, TAKE LEAN 
IN TOKYO PIX SETUP 

Tokyo. March 15. 

Shin-Sekai Blga-she <New World 
Film Co.). has been exporting two 
news films a week since ban was 
lifted last December, netting 
400,000 yen ■ ($8,000). Its news- 
reels hit about 80% of Japan's 
1,500 filmhouses, adding about 
4,000,000 yeii ($80,000) to the 
coffers per month. Additional 
short films boost the monthlv tab* 
to 5,300,000 yen ($106,000). ' 

But expenses are terrific, and 
when the outlay is completed 
there's usually only about 80 00(1 
yen profit ($400) to show! Despite 
the apparently goofy setup, com. 
pany contends it will declare a 6% 
dividend next June on it< 
12,000,000 yen capital. 



New York Theatres 



WARNER IROS. PRESENTS 
JACK CARSON • ANN SOTHERN 

"APRIL SHOWERS" 

, ;■• "with ■ , 
ROBERT ATJOA S. Z. 8AKALI, 

Directed liy . I AME.S V. KERN • 
TN PERSON 

CLAUDE THORNHILL 

ni« Piano and His Onthcstra 
plua MORBY AMSTERDAM 
Bro».l«a.v "'IP^'^'i 
\t 47th Stn:et STRAND 



PALACE 



EDMeMTw-itmMns 

CHARLES OWGLE-IOMV OMSCOU 



"THE ADVENTURES 
OF ROBIN. HOOD" 

Ctlor by TeehiilMlar 
ltt-R«liat«i by Warmr Bros, Pidurtt 

>, . stuu'lm 
Errol FLYNN • Olivia D* HAVIltAND 

wnii 

Ba«il RATHBONE • Clouil* RAINS 

■Mid Alan Ual« • KaKen^ I^lletU 
Dirteteit by Miiihnl Curllz ud Win; Ktiililtif 

WARNER THEATRE 

llrnuihvny at filHt StKM 



RADIO CITY MUSIC HAlt 

' Kopketelleji center ♦ 

JRENE DUNNE III Gnrie Stcwni' p„t. a'.'. 

: "I REMEMBER MAMA" :; 

Barbars Oscar Phliia*' 

BEL GEDDES • HOMOLKA • DORN ' 

Pn^aM by HARRItT PARSONS 
> Mini* Hill'i Grut EuUht 81m Shaw 




Al Lidman Bac^ to Atlantic City 

Atlantic City. 
Al Lidman has returned here as 
manager of the Palace theatre, re- 
cently bought by Morton Magill 
and Stanley Adleman. He was here 
in 1926 and 1927, but in recent 
years has been with Stanley Co., 
Loew's, Inc., Warner Bros, and sev- 
eral independent groups. 

Hutton To State, Salisbury 

Raleigh. 

Iredell Hutton of State theatre, 
Sahsbury, is succeeding; Frank 
Irvin, transferred to Charlotte. 
Hutton is from Lexington. 

III., Mo., Houses Shuttered 

. St. Louis. 

M. W. Jessup, Brazil, Ind., has 
shuttered his Joy, Kansas, 111., in- 
def period. » 

James Ellis and Herman Fergu- 
son, co-owners of Liberty, Maiden, 
Mo., shuttering for - 100% face- 
lifting job. 

John Harlow^ has broken ground 
for 1,000-car Drive-In near Herrin, 
Xll. 

Ben B. Reingold, recently re- 
tired as manager of St. Louis ex- 
change for 20th-Fox, honored at a 
dinner tossed by St. Louis friends 
before moving to California. 

Northside Amus. Co., headed by 
Fred Wehrenberg, Clarence and 
Francis Kaimann, got building 
permit for a 1,000-car Drive-In 
theatre in Jennings, St Louis 
county. 



Thrifty Oscarsj 

I Continued from page 4 ^ 1 

pointed out as the next Oscar win- 
ner, Retired farmers from Illinois, 
who have muscled out the Iowa 
farmers in these parts, all had the 
idea that Rozzy was going to get 
the glorified gadget which is the 
aim and end of all gals who pop 
their eyes and bare their teeth with 
a smile, as if they were working 
on an air show with Bob Hope. 

Miss Russell, a sweet gal and a 
good thesp, was waiting at the 
white line like an Olympic sprinter 
waiting for the starting gun. "When 
the. shot sounded it sounded like 
Loretta Young. Roz suddenly melt- 
ed, and who can blame the gal? It 
took 20 years for the Oscar Derby 
to produce a drama with a dramatic 
finish. ■"■ 



M-GSuit 

Continued from p»g» 



□ 



Indie Loans 

Continued from paie i i 



Sussc Moved to Buffalo by Metro 

Albany. 

Ed Susse rewarded for 15 years 
of service at Metro by promotion 
from Albany exchange office man- 
ager to a salesman in the Buffalo 
territory. 

Harry Hellman, oldest Albany 
exhibitor, recovering from an 
operation. lie's associated with his 
wife and son, Neil, in operating (he 
Paramount and Royal here and the 
Palace in Troy as well as a Drive- 
In pool. 

Coinmander Larry Gowen, up- 
slato publicity chief for Fabian 
Theatres, will make a six weeks' 
upstate membership drive for 
Theatre Owners of America in his 
capacity of Albany publicity direo 
lor. 



earth and practical. The films 
we're interested in now preferably' 
will be budgeted at less than 
$1,000,000." 

Second-money — the venture 
capital provided by private sources 
and junior to the bank coin in the 
payoS line-^has also been little 
effected by the Anglo - British 
films pact. Like the banks, the 
second-money boys are waiting to 
see if costs can be brought down 
to a point where a break-even can 
be assured on the. domestic mar- 
ket alone. 

In New York seeking production 
funds during the past week, in- 
cidentally, has been Boris Morros. 
He is trying to get financing for 
"Babes in Toyland," for which he 
has a distribution deal with United 
Artists. He had a deal for 
.$1,200,000 with Irving Truist Co., 
N. Y„ which financed his last pic- 
ture, "Carnegie Hall," but the 
bank has now backed out on 
putting up that much coin. 



questions before the House un- 
American Aetivities Committee.' 

After eliciting a statemient fr«m 
a Metro attorney that he-knew «t 
no law requiring a witness to 
answer "yes" or "no" to a ques- 
tion-, Judge Yankwich said: 

"Then your man did not refuse 
to answer, He merely said he 
wanted to. answer the question in 
his own way. As I view the law, 
he did not refuse to answer." 

On request of Metro attorneys. 
Judge Yankwich agreed to delay 
his decision on the suspension suit, 
but is expected ,to announce bii 
verdict some time this week. 



British Dialects 

ss Continued irom page 5 s 



financing and distributes. He won't 
go ahead with the third picture, 
however, he said, unless he gets 
suitable players here. 

Importance of American stars to 
British films was obvious, he as- 
serted; in a statement made to him 
by a 20th distribution exec last 
week. Latter declared that Hell- 
man could have added $1,000,000 
to the U, S. gross of his latest film, 
"This Was a Woman," had it a 
Hollywood star in it. Hellman said 
that "few British stars mean any- 
thing in Britain, so it's obvious 
that they can't mean much in the 
United States." 

Producer brought the print of 
"Woman" with him. This was sec- 
ond of his productions for 20th. 
Fir-st, about to go into release, is 
"Meet Me at Dawn." Hellman will 
be in Hollywood for about three 
weeks, return to New York for a 
week atad then return to London. 




Now 
CBt your MHTvicft! 

FIVE STAK 

DC-6 

PLAtttHIPS 

LOS ANGELES 

11 huuw», 4S mimftes 

Ph«ii« MAvamayar A-SOOO 
or yaurtnival atant 

TicM OHicti: Mi nei Terminal • KocMtlttr 
Cenfer • Haiti New Yorker • m Btoadwif 
Hotel Si, George 

AMERICAN 
AIRLINES 



THE SHOWMAN'S FRIENB 

100 Modern Rooms 
with bath and radio 

"Everything New but the Name 

ALEXAHDRU HOTEL 

Fifth at Spring • Los Angol" 
FRANK WALKER. General Manager 
•rmorly at OlmrfeaJ. Cleveland. iJ- 



LIST OF 'AVAHAfiUITIES' MOUNTS 



Peblo s 1 Surradbr 

i 9ig question that has everybody in radio and television second- 
cue^g ts James C. Petrillo decided on a policy of complete 
location to the networks in pacting a new three-year contract for 
Ills American Federation of Musicians. 

Veteran broadcasters who have had long and varied experiences 
in dealing with the musicians' boss are of the opinion that Petrillo 
capitulated for a variety of reasons, but primarily these: 

The final realization that, regardless of how much ranting he 
carried on about musician quotas on stations, it was basically a 
<our-network deal that really mattered, for the "base bucks" ac- 
crubig to musicians come from the webs. It was a case of bringing 
. home to Petrillo the fact that 90% of all musician coin — or. about 
125,000,000 a year-^omes from work on the network with its 
lucrative commercial airings. 

With the AFM elections coming up in June, there were obvious 
political overtones involved. A prolonged stalemate on negotiations 
would ha ve~ jeopardized Petrillo's standing .among the AFM mem- 
bersliip, it's conceded, thus forcing the issue of whether it was 
woxth teading an* Empire" for television concessions. 

The always-imminent danger of winding up behind the legal 
eight-ball because of the newly-promulgated Taft-Hartley law, plus 
the "close shave" experienced in the Lea Act challenge are..also 
considered important factors in Petrillo's "I surrender" stance. 

Finally, it was Petrillo's awareness that the netwoi^ chieftains 
meant business; for when the web execs at last week's negotiations ' 
huddle arose and started to walk out in a body at AFM Boss Man's 
suggestion that they "fiddle along on tele" sm^ only sign a one- 
year contcact covering AM radio, Petrillo knew the jig was up and 
threw ' inC" the ^towel.. 



(Mer B'cast Onoiis ^ Top Om 
ybor Fadkns Call D«d a 'Municli' 



As fat' as the other broadcast -t' 
unions are concerned^ it was a sour 
note PctriUo blew on that trumpet 
the networks gave him. And the 
peace-at-network-price which the 
American Federation of Musicians 
agreed to is regarded in these labor 
circles as a Munich which won't 
particularly contribute to harmony 
in the recently organized Assn. of 
Broadcast Unions snd Guilds. 

There's a crucial meeting in the 
works for the young ABUG setup, 
composed of national and New 
Yot^ local officers of seven indus- 
iry labor groups, and while spokes- 
men far such outfits as the Ameri- 
can Federation of Radio Artists, 
Uie Radio Directors Guild and the 
Radio Writers Guild aren't anxious 
to perpetrate an. open rift, their 
mood in the- wake of Petrillo's to- 
tally unexpected give-in is a mix- 
ture of confusion, wonderment and 
resentment. 

Apart from their inability to un- 
derstand why Pfetrillo danced so 
unqualifiedly to the broadcasters' 
music, an act which they feel put 
all other unions in a very unfavor- 
able bargaining position, these 
union and guild officials— most of 
whom are ttiemselves currently .in 
thft midst Of various negotiations 
with the nets — ^point out that the 
AFM-network deal caught them 
so off guard that they are unpre- 
pared to meet problems suddenly 
raised by, for example, the simul- 
taneous AM-PMrtelevision airing ot 
Web sliows. 

RDG, for instance, had to tcle- 
(Continued on page 38) 



F(orgotten) M(edtiim) 

FM was all but forgotten in 
the rush of excitement over 
the music-on-televisitm angle 
of the Petrillo^network truce. 
It's true the agreement ' per- 
mits continued ' AM-FM dupli- 
cation of network shows: But 
the high-frequency, high-iidel- 
ity stepchild of sound broad- 
casting remains just that, as 
far as the webs are concerned. 

In other wards, they'll c(md- 
tinue giving it a tree ride, as 
a medium which, for the pres- 
ent, delivers no appreciable, 
extra audience. ^ 

If the agreement now per^ 
mits the nets to charge an ex- 
tra rate on duplication, they 
ai-en't bothering about it. 

As for the independent FM 
operators, Petrillo's office re- 
ports they've made no new 
overtures towSrd siting mu- 
sicians' sales for the mediunv 



Cok€ Facelift 
Fw Sumner 

Coca-Cola's three-way network 
programming setup (Percy Faith, 
!>pilte Jones and Morton Downey), 
will be. given a summer facelift 
with a revamped talent roster. 
U>ke outfit will tetain all time seg- 
ments through the hot weather 
period, since the soft drink prod- 
"pi »!> a natural for summertime 
Pmsemg. Hovfever, the costs will 
oe shaved somewhat. 
. '•P'ke Jones definitely goes off 
jor lue summer, planning a Hawaii 
noneymoon. Doodles Weaver may 
80 in as a replacement, or Dorothy 
"nay take over with an or- 
chestra. There'll probably be a de- 
cision m a few days. 
t,^,}?^ Downey; who moves over 
^"tua^ to NBC in June, will 
"«y on through the summer. It's 
wnsidered likely, too, that the 
wcy iaith Sunday evening show 
w«l remain itttart. 



Jr. Miss' Goes 
Multi-Label For 
Lever on CBS 

Hollywood, March 23. 

Lever Bros, has bought "Junior 
Miss" for its assorted products 
with the takeoff on CBS set for 
April 3. As a starter. Needham, 
Louis & Brorby will have the bill- 
ing on Pepsodent powder and also 
supervise production through the 
entire- scries. Other Lever labels 
will be used intermittently. 

Packaged^by Polan and Rosen- 
berg, half-hour comedy piece wiU 
be directed by Hank Garson, who 
will also collaborate with Bob So- 
derberg on the scripts. Walter 
Schuman composes and conducts 
tlie music. 

Show airs from here on Satur- 
day morning. Barbara Wliiting, 
sister of Margaret Whiting, singer, 
will have the lead role. 



f ONSOR UNREST 





The stock-taking days have 
arrived on the sponsor front and 
some talent heads are beginning to 
fall. It's put down to general busi- 
nes.s uncertainty, coupled with 
apparent necessity in some cases 
Of shaving costs. The result is what 
looks like the early tremors of a 
wholesale - shakeup in the fotu:- 
network programming picture. 

While the casualties thus far 
have been held to a .respectable 
minimum, nevertheless sponsor unr 
rest' and Indecision seems to be 
sparking a reevaluation of radio 
billings. To some extent, optimistic 
web quarters feel, it's the spnng 
housecleaning that inevitably fol- 
lows the mid-season lull. But the 
signs point also to some tightening 
of budget belts, with resulting like- 
lihood of an expanded list of 
'availabilities." 

Here's how the picture shig[>es ap 
at the moment: 

Fannie Bhce has been cancelled 
by her longtime sponsor. General 
Foods, strictly a^ an economy move, 
GF realigning ' its budget down- 
ward. It's ' been a $16,000 weekly 
package and while the sponsor is 
retaining the Friday night time, 
plan is so put in a moderately bud- 
geted show as replacement. 

Milton Bcrle, after touch-and-go 
every 13 weeks, finally has been 
X'ed out of his NBC Tuesday slot 
by Philip Morris. Many felt Berle 
at long last was lutting his comedic 
stride, but PM reportedly wasn't 
satisfied with hia rating. 

"Corliss Archer," bankrolled for 
more than a year by Campbell 
Soup,, has gotten the axe, with the 
client vacating the Sunday night 
CBS tinie. 

Phil Spitalny and his all-girl orch 
are losing the Electric Companies* 
(Continued on page 38) 



NBC Yields On 
Recorded Shows 



NBC is letting down the bars to 
recorded broadcasts — a move 
which execs within the web have 
very privately admitted for some 
time jjvas inevitable. 

While the net isn't ready to 
formalize the announcement yet. 
apparently wanting every detail 
worked out beforehand, it's now 
confirmed 'that NBC not only Is 
going in for a daylight saving time 
schedule of delayed, recorded 
broadcasts, starting next month, 
but will employ tape recorders, a 
la ABC's plan, to feed outlets in 
the standard time zones. 

Like CBS. but unlike ABC, 
which will pipe delayed broad- 
casts out of both Chicago and Hol- 
lywood, NBC will feed its entire 
standard-time schedule out. of Chi- 
cago, one hour later than: the live 
originations are aired in the east's 
d..s.t. zone. 

The NBC move makes delayed 
d.s.t. season schedules unanimous, 
' Mutual having earlier joined with 
ABC and- CBS in okaying such 
plans as the only feasible answer; 
(eontinued on page 40) 



Ed Downes to CBS 

Ed Downes lias joined CBS as a 
staff director and is handling the 
network's new comedy series, "Our 
Miss Brooks." starring Shirley 
Booth, whicli was audition-recorded 
Friday night (19i. 

Recently a freelancer, Downes 
formerly directed the Kale Smith 
evening sliow, when Miss Booth did 
a comedy spot on It, 



KAYE, BENEKE AS 
CHESTERHELD SUBS 

The summer replacement setup 
on Chestej-field's "Supper Club" 
(NBC) looks like the Tex Beneke 
and Sammy K aye orchestras. Last 
summer it was Beneke and Frankie 
Carle. 

Tom Rockwell, head of General 
Artists Corp., last week visited 
Ka.ve at Boca Raton, Fla., where 
the bandman was spending a brief 
vacation, to talk the thing over. 

Kaye now broadcasts twice a 
week over ABC, the Sunday "Ser- 
enade" and the Monday niglit "Do 
You Want to Lead a Band?" sUnts, 
while Beneke has an Ai-my-spon- 
sored program. 



Fate of F-C-B's AuKrican Tobacco 
Biifii^s Seen Linked to G. W. Hdl 
Checkout; Meade Makes Surinise Exit 



'Free and EquaF Blues ' 

Mutual sees no reason to . 
grant equal time given to an- 
swer a controversial broadcast. 

Case in point is a request 
received by the web from Wal- 
ter White, exec secretary for 
the National Assn. for the Ad- 
-vancement of Colored People, 
asking "equal timej' to reply 
to tliree half - hours given 
southern senators and gov- 
ernors to answer Mutual's 
four-part civU rights series.' 

Abe Scliechter, MBS veepee 
over news and special events, 
nixed the request, advising 
White the web felt the civil 
rights series spoke ad^uately 
for the NAACP's side of the 
■ story. 



J-M News Strip 
May Be Mutual V 
Top'48Biilii$s 

Year's top billings hypo is shap- 
ing up for Mutual, with deal on 
tap for the switchover of the five- 
Iminute cross-the-board Johns' 
Manville news strip |ram CBS 
starting in the fall. 

J-M news package, which will 
probably even exceed the $2,000,- 
000 billings that accrued to Co- 
lumbia because of the larger num- 
ber of outlets involved on Mutual, 
also means. BUI Henry moving 
over. 

The Johns-Manville strip is cur- 
rently heard in the 8:55-9 p.m. seg- 
ment on Columbia, but present 
plan is to slot it in the 9:35-10 p.m. 
slot on Mutual. (BUIy Rose occu- 
pies the 8:55-9 p.m. strip on MBS 
and present arrangement is to con- 
tinue the capsule show in that 
spot.) , 

J-M news program is slated to 
bow off CBS in June, with the web 
relinquishing the .lucrative billings 
in order to strengthen its back-to- 
back 8:30-t6-9:30 sponsored pro- 
gramming without the five-minute 
interruption. In the case of Mu- 
tuM, commercial: programming, 
under the present roster, wont be 
affected, since sustatners occupy 
the Monday-through-Friday 9:30- 
10 periodi except for Friday's "In- 
formation Please."^ Latter will 
probably exit Mutual in June. 

It's figured Mutual will also 
wrap up Bill Henry sponsorship 
deals for Saturday and Sunday, as 
CBS did over a period' of years. 



•♦■ .The resignation last week of 
George Washington Hill, Jr., as 
vice-president and advertising head 
of American Tobacco is seen as an 
all-out attack on the regime of 
Vincent Rlggio, president. Foote. 
Cone & Belding, tlie s^^ncy hand- 
ling the American Tobacco account, 
is apparently sympathetic to Hill. 
Further evidence that the Ameri- 
can Tobacco fire is stiU crackling 
was tlie sudden resignation yester- 
day (Tues.) of Everard Meade, an- 
other of the firm's advertising 
execs.'" 

It'js regarded as significant that 
Hill's public blast referred favor- 
ably to F.C.&B., stating that the 
.sledge-hammer commei^ial tech- 
nique of the Luckv Strike ads were 
invented and perfected by his late 
father, then president of the com- 
pany, himself and tiie agency, 
"working as a team." It was also 
noted in the trade, that Hill's state- 
ment was released fay Allan Melt- 
zer, a pressagent who has dmiei 
work for F.C.&B. (only a we^ cnr 
so ago he publicized Martin Gosch's 
proposed television series for 
Luckies) and is understood to 
ba ve been hired by Rill on the rec- 
ommendation of Emertxm Footer 
the agency prez. 

There has been trade talk for 
months to the. effect that ttac 
F.C.&B. hold on the American To^ 
bacco account was shaky, and vari- 
ous other agencies have been con- 
sistently making pitches for the 
business. Foote himself has also 
revealed privately that 'he feared 
he was~losing the account, since the 
death of Hill, Sr., and the passmg 
of control to Riggio. So it's figured 
he may have teamed with Hill, Jr, 
in a long-shot gamble to upset the* 
new regime, get Hill back in con- 
trol and thus re-establish His clos» 
connection witli the company. 

With HUl Vout of to^vn" when hia 
resignation and attack were made ■ 
public, no responsible official of 
American Tobacco or F, C. & Bi 
(Continued on pa^-41) ' - 



Detroit Copper Slams 
'This Is FBI' Airer As 
'Blueprint for Crime' 

Detroit, March 23. 
Crime programs came in for a 
terrific slamming Thursday (18) 
from Inspector Sanford Shoults. of 
the police' department's, juvenile 
unit. His protest came .after ap- 
prehension of a ISryear-old boy 
who aped k.-crime pi^gram in an 
attempt to extort :4i^,0D0 from 
Eai-l W. Mott, local funeral di- 
rector. 

The youngster voluntarily told 
the police he thought he could 
avoid the errors made in . an ex- 
tortion plot which he, had heard 
on "Tliis Is Your FBI." Shoults 
branded the program as . "a blue- 
print for crime." "We have num- 
erous doetunented cases In poUce 
headquarters which haver been 
traced to I'adio progi-anis," he 
added. . 

Program is aii'ed Fridays over 
WXYZ. 



AFRA, Network 
b Stalemate 



After three days of negotiations, 
the American Federation of Radio 
Artists' and the networks are skiSe' 
mated on tiie question of a toBb^ 
of-living increase. Meetings were 
held Thursday, Friday, Monday 
(18, 19, 22) and another session is 
set for today (Wed.), writh no im- 
mediate prospect of agreement. It 
was understood that the networks' 
attitude toward the performer 
union was much stiffer than it bad 
been before the Petrillo cave-in. 

Atteiiding the "meetings "were not 
only the national AFRA and net- 
work representatives, but unipn 
officials from the Coast and Chi- 
cago locals, plus numerous exec- 
utives from "ad agencies, package 
fii-ms and transcription outiits. 
Also, the various agencies and 
sponsors that would be affected by 
any change in the AFRA code wei-e 
kept informed of . the discussions. 
So was the AFRA national board, 
which met in regular sessipn M<^- 
day night.. • ■ 

AFRA is reported to be propos- 
ing an increase o£»only 10% (the 
(CUmtinued on page 41) ■ 



m 

Wasliington, March 23. 

Ringling Brothers, Bamum & 
Bailey Circus got in the radio bniti- 
ness last week when the FCC au- 
thorized the big show to use radio 
in handling its loading and unload- 
ing operations. 

The FCC handed out permits for 
15 portable two-way radio units but 
cautioned the cireus none of them 
were to be used for enteitainnnaBt 
purposes. 



fiS 



UAMUO 



Vcdnerfay^ Mawik g4> 1949 



Hflie of Wfo m Ms Listenn^ 
One of Season 8 Major Phenoms; 
Network Audkaices Unaffected 



One of the major phenomena of '*' 
the broadcasting season is the ap* 
ftroximate 30% hike in listening 
^mong the indie stations around 
the country. 

. Remarkable aspect of the Indie 
audience upbeat is the fact that it 
apparently represents a heretotore 
untapped segment of the popula- 
tion. Surveys made by the A. C. 
Nielsen research organization re- 
veal that network stations have not 
nujffered in the process of the inftie 

g:alion» piclting up new audiences, 
ut have remained fairly static as 
compared with last jrear. 

Chief reason ascribed for 'the 
pidie resurgence is the new and 
inore colorful program patterns in^- 

iected into Indie station ppera- 
ions. For one thing, the emer- 
gence of the di'sk jockey as a com- 

£' unity personality in his own right 
seen as a majw factor in woping 
the new audiences, . 

Equally fmport^nt is th« avail- 
ability of name talent for the indie 
•tations through transcriptioik 
packages. Today the smallest sta- 
tion has at his disposal a flock of 
bigtime open-end shows, each of 
which he can purchase for a few 
bucks. With enough of them, he 
bas managed to evolve a progiram-f 
nting pattern that smacks .of the 
bigtime, but at the isame time re- 
taining 4 real local flavor and fol- 
lowing with home-bred announcers 
iuid disk jockeys. 
- 'the Nielsen findings in favor of 

£e indie stations have been makr' 
g a deep impression among the 
agencies and station reps, for It's 
being translated into new %iz and 
dollars. 



Too Much Morgan 

. After two years with the 
Henry Morgan show, Charles 
Irving has been dropped as 
announcer because "he sotuids 
too much like Henry Morgan." 

Two replacements were 
hired, Bob Sheppard to read 
.the commercials and (af*er 
exhaustive auditions) Doug 
Browning to do the opening 
a^d closing announcements 
and play stooge bits. Doug 
Browning was dropped after 
one broadcast, and Glen Riggs 
now has the assignment. 

Decision to replace Irving 
was made by the client, Rayve 
shampoo, and the agency, 
Roche, Williams & Cleary, 
after an analysis by , comedy 
consultant Ernest Walker indi- 
cated that Morgan "lacks iden- 
tification" and that his and 
Irvlng's- Toices sound tstmilar 
at times. 




.KtZ Farm Reporter 

LOWELL WATTS 

. Wattp travelled more than 38,000 
miles by plane, train and car last 
year t'O" report Blgnlflcant farm news 
(or 4'^000 fai-m families In the Rocky 
Mountain roKKtn. 

KLZ, DENVER. 



BMB'sC(HnboRate 
AsSnNcriberBaot 

. Broadcast Measurement Bureau 
this week threy out a bid for a big 
numerical boost In its station sub- 
scriber strength, the. bait being a 
ctSnpbination rate for broadcasters 
naving FM and television outlets 
as well as AM stations. They can 
lump their revenue from the two 
or three outlets together to deter- 
mine their subscription rate, in ef- 
fect giving their FM and tele mem- 
bership Jn BMB at no extra cost 
fince income from these mediums^ 

Jt present is either aU or negli- 
ible. 

, Deal is pretty certain to make 
BMB subscribers out of 326 FM 
itations affiliated with AMers al- 
TCady on the bureau's roster. 
Combo rate is felt also to be an 
additional incentive tp 367 AM-FM 

tetups, not now in BMB< to get in 
he fold. 

Bureau also is stepping up. serv- 

i!e to subscribing stations via ap- 
ointment of Cort Langley, now 
ire<!tor of research for WOR, 
Y., to ije <lirector of subscriber 
Herviee. He'll move over to BMB 
April 12. 



Horvib^ 
FCCDedswn; 
Attadt Lamb 

Mansfield, O., March 23. 
S. A, and Isadore Horvitz, pub- 
lisheifs' of, Hie- Mansfield 'News- 
Journal, who have been barred 
from radio by the FCC, aren't tak- 
ing the Government's decision 
lying down. " 

Friday (19) issue of the Mans- 
field daily carried a two-column 
frontpage spread—first of a series- 
—blasting Ed Lamb, of Toledo, 
-who beat them out for an FM per- 
mit ka the town. Series will also 
discuss "the FCC and the FCC's 
handling of responsibilities vitally 
affecting this community." One re- 
porter has been assigned fuUtime 
to the job of digging up facts about 
Xiamb, according to reports here. 

Walking the libel tightrope care- 
fully, the paper headlines its piece 
"Many Records Link Lamb to Red 
Activity." Lamb, who owns 
WTOD, Toledo, and part of the 
Brie (Pa,) Express, a daily news- 
paper, is then charged with writing 
a book called "The TPlanned Econ- 
omy in Soviet Russia," representing 

reputed communists and radi- 
cals," initiating the original portal- 
to-portal pay suit for CIO, and 
(Continued on page 40) 



WJAS Bounces Gabber 
With Local Apologies 
To Parties Criticized 

Pittsburgh, March 23. 

Ann Christy, femme commenta- 
tor on WJAS, got the gate last 
veek, right after she had gone on 
the air and taken a blast at several 
local institutions, at least a couple 
«f which are heavy advertisers on: 
CBS outlet Ifere. In addition to 
riding two downtown department 
Mores, Miss Christy likewise piled 
Into the late Mark Hellinger's last 
iBicture, "Naked . City," which 
noesn't open here until this week- 
end. She had seen it a few days 
]>revious]{y at a screening. 

Next day, WJAS, in slot custom- 
arily reserved for Miss Christy's 
"Around the Tovrai" quarter-hour- 
•r, announced that the morning 
|»ro8i>am would no longer be heard 
^n the station and at t^e same 
Uffie pui»licly apologised for "un- 
provoked criticlMf yesterday of 
feveral loc^l ytstMutifiDS. which 
Mve our greatent respect'^ 



Ma jor Accmmts 
Shekel^ Plans 

Prepared spot campaigns , in- 
volving major accounts have been 
shelved for the time being as a 
result of the sudden switch in buy- 
ing practices by the grocery chains. 
Fearing further breaks:;in the com^ 
modity market, the . chains have 
issued instructions to their stories 
to order strictly {or the shelf and 
not for the backroom, with the 
result that purchases are being 
made by the cqse instead of the 
carload. ■ 

This caution applies to soap as 
well as canned . goods, flour and 
other packaged foods. , It's an in- 
stance where the consumer level 
remains unchanged but where 
store inventories are reduced to 
almost minimum dasr-by«day de- 
mands. ■ 

Situation here is reminiscent of 
one that occurred in the drug in- 
dustry in early '47. Re'tailers 
slashed their orders to ifae- mini- 
mum inventory point and the 
drug manufacturers rushed to cov- 
er with their" advertising budgets.. 
0ne firm alone, Whitehall Drug, 
ordered its agencies to affect im- 
mediately a cutback of $1,000,000 
in radio expenditures. 



WaDace ProUem Onld in Nets' Cover 
Of Triple-Decker Polit Conventions 



NIELSEN TO SPRING 
A NEW AUDMETER 

The Jbattle of the rating services 
flared up anew this week, with A, 
C. Nielsen, arch-rival of C. E. 
Hooper, announcing in a 10>page 
news release that he'll soon un- 
veil a new audimetor. 

It's neither a radar gadget nor 
the Instantaneous, telephone-line- 
fed tape machine which Nielsen 
has run pilot' tests on both in Chi- 
cago and New York. Instead, it's 
a refinement of the current audi- 
meter, with two features added: 
(1) It measures FM and television 
as well as AM dialing; (2) it will 
simultaneously record tuning of up 
to four radios in one home. - 

Most important, competitively, 
however, .Js the fact that plans call 
for full use of a self-addressed 
mailing container in which sam- 
ple homes caui^send in audimeter 
tapes at regular intervals. ' Kiel- 
sen expects this to cut his report 
time from on^i month to about two 
weeks, which is the'tfrne lapse on 
Hoopevatings. 



WINS'AIl<NegroFornm 

What's believed the first all- 
Negro forum ever regularly aired 
will make its debut Sunday, April 
4, at 6 p.m. on WINS, N. Y., with 
the topic initially to be discussed 
tabbed, "The Situation on J25th 
Street, New York." 

Dr. Channing Tobias, director of 
the Phelps-Stokes Foundation and 
member of .• President Truman's 
Committee on Civil Rights, will 
serve in an advisory capacity. 




ency Confabs Break Down 
Despite GsM Agreonent on Issue 



Negotiations between the Radio 
Writers Guild and the ad agencies 
and sponsors virtually broke down 
Monday (22). The admen agreed 
to submit the Guild's revised p¥o- 
posal (to be submitted via letter) 
to their clients, but said they didn't 
believe It has a "Chinaman's 
chance" of accept;tnce. The dead- 
line for reply is March 29, and 
the Guild has already called mem- 
bership meetings in New York, 
Chicago and Hollywood for April 
7, which officers pointed out will 
be the anniversary of the organiza- 
tion's strike vote agahist the net- 
works last yea*. 

The agency men have been in- 
sisting since tlie start of talks last 
January that it could not bargain 
unless the Guild would be certified 
by the NLRB as bargaining repre- 
sentative for writers. A preliminary 
step in gaining certification would 
be for the Guild's officers to sign 
non-Qommunist oaths, and it has 
been privately admitted (and of- 
ficially denied) by agency and 
sponsor execs that this non-Red 
aspect of the situation was figured 
Ukel.v to embarrass and impede the 
Guild. 

Stand Reversed 

However, «[t the meeting Mopday 
>^ the agency men, the Guild 
announced that it had reversed its 



previous stan^ and w^s willing to 
be certified by the NLRB If the 
admen would agree on definition 
of bargaining unit for NLRB.«lec- 
tion and for the scope of terms 
and conditions to be negotiated. 
DesiMte their past insistence on 
Guild certification, the agency 
men refused to agree to the pro- 
posal. . • 

Participating in Monday's meet- 
ing (for the admen) were Leonard 
Bush, of the Compton agency 
Walter Craig, of Benton & Bowies' 
Louis Brockway, of Young & Rubi- 
cam, and Herold Beckjordan, of 
the American Assn. of Advertising 
Agencies. Representing the Guild 
were Erik Barnouw, national presi- 
dent; Welboum Kelley, eastern 
viee-prez; Rod Holmgren, midwest 
v.p,; Sam Moore, Coast v.p.; Paul 
Franklin and Michael Davidson 
from Hollywood, and Roy Lang- 
ham, Peter Lyon, Robert Newman 
Robert Cenedella and Max Wylie 
of New York. ' 

Guild strategy meetings, at- 
tended by the Coast and Chicago 
reps, took place in New York all 
day agd evening Saturday and Sun- 
day (20-21), when the deqisjon was 
made to offer to obtain NLRB cer- 
tification. After th9 coijifabs, the 
Hollywood and midivest delega- 
tions planed out. 



WCHS Keeps Its' 
EyeonKkUmcb 
FrMn Ocnlists 

Charleston, ;w. Va., March 23. 

.None of the newspapers or other 
stations -lit- town would touch the 
story fouf^ex-'newspaperman Howard 
Chernoff , manager of WCHS here, 
has just completed a three-week 
radio campaign exposing the eight 
local medicos listed by the Justice. 
Dept. as accepting kickbacks from 
optical companies. 

Station has never m^de any 
bones about the fact that it editorit 
alizes "on public service issues" 
either with the Federal Communis 
cations Commission or other broad- 
casters. WCHS followed its usual 
practice here of offering time to 
the accused medicos — but there 
were few takers. " . ' • 

Names of the eight oculists (who 
take rebates from the eyeglass 
companies rather than lower their 
prices to patients) were uncovered 
by a newspaper reporter but never 
saw print in Charleston. The eight 
doctors were among 2,750 through- 
out the country vfho may be bound 
by. a forthcoming decision in the 
Justice Dfept's antitrust suit against 
optical companies who ' charge 
rebates on eyeglasses. 

Station broke' the names of the 
local oculists exclusively on a F,eb. 
22 newscast, published the govern- 
ment's charges, and promptly of- 
fered the medicos time on the air 
to talk back. 

When the news of the backdoor 
kickbacks was first aired over 
WCHS, the station .was threatened 
with lawsuits (none were* filed), 
charged with "a serious breach of 
etiquette" and scores of doctors 
phoned to ask the station to "lay 
off" exposing their fellow medics. 

Only one of the eight doctors, 
A. C. Chandler, accepted the sta- 
tion's invitation to refute the 
charges. He declared he had pro- 
tested the practice before the war, 
had repeated his protest to. the 
American Optical Co. after return- 
ing from service and no longer got 
kickbacks on eyeglass customers 
sent to AOC. Success of the gov- 
ernment antitrust suit. Chandler 
said, would help the public get 
glasses at a reasonable price. 

Finale of the WCHS campaign 
was a 10-minute Sunday broadcast 
by manager Chei nolf, who told o£ 
the public's reaction to the story 
and repeated his offer of airtime 
for anyone wishing to reply. 

WNBC's 37% Ist Ouartcr Hike 
It's been a bright first quarter, 
reports WNBC, N. Y. Flagship of 
NBC reports total billings for the 
first three months up 37% over 
the same period last year, with lo- 
cal business more than double. 

Mltrch bUlinge were the highest 
in the station's history. 



The triple - decker presidential 
nominating conventions to be heiH 
this summer are presenting the 
networks with a problem thiS 
haven't faced before.*^ As in loS 
years, the major nets have alreadv 
begun to prepare well in advanw 
for blanket Coverage of the Dem^ 
cratlc and Republican nationS 

delphia this summer. 

Fly in the ointment, however, {« 
Henry Wallace's Third Party mov" 



CBS* Backroom Stuff? 

Maybe CBS iHi going to 
spring a surprise in its cover- 
age of the m^Jor party con- 
ventions in Philadelphia l^ls 
summer. In any case, the 
net is keeping its plans under 
its hat until a week before the 
Republicans meet on June 21. 

Davidson Taylor, vlce-prexy 
in charge of programming, 
says CBS is preparing some 
novelties. But he won't talk 
in order not to tip his mitt 
to the other net^. 



ment which will also have a for- 
mal nominating convention some- 
time this summer. And If the nets 
don't give it adequate coverage, 
they'll be facing heavy squawks 
about ^'discrimination." Ideas for 
covering the Wallace convention, 
unlike the other two, are still in 
the fuzzy stage. 

The ' Mutual net seems to be 
alone in having made up Its mind 
on handling the Wallacltes.- One 
exec stated that since that conven- 
tion won't involve a "personality 
race," Mutual would give it "rou- 
tine" news coverage. The other 
nets have adopted a "wait and see" 
policy, pointing out that the Wal- 
lace forces have not as yet set a 

(Continued on page 40) 



Pope Se^ 'Out' 
On J. Cs WHOM 



Washington, March ^3. 

Generoso Pope's WHOM, Jersej? 
City, has asked the Federal Com- 
munications Commission for an 
''ouU'. under, a .proposed rule which 
would require stations to originate 
a majority of their -non-net shows 
from the city in which the station 
is located, 

Marcus .Cohnj attorney for 
WHOM, hailed the rule as "basic- 
ally sound," but-'added that roost 
of the station's shows for the past 
15 years have originated from 
WHOM's Manhattan studios. When 
Pope bought WHOM from tM 
Cowles Broadcasting Co. In 1946, 
and in two subsequent applications 
filed with FCC he made it clear 
he intended tO' program the station 
as a foreign-language outlet for 
metropolitan New York and not 
Jersey City, the petition declared. 



ABC to Stop Detroit 
Music as Curtain-Raiser 
For New 'Stop the Music' 

Detroit Symphony will b« 
checked out of ABC's Sunday 
night sequence after April 18 and 
may exit the web's ether alto- 
gether. Net doesn't want anything 
to stand in the way of the best 
rating payoff possible on its new 
hour-long "Stop the Music" and 
feels the slotting of the longhair 
hour ahead of it offers too little 
audience buildup. 

Probability is that at lea.st one 
and possibly two whodunits will 
be lifted out of other time slots 
and planted in the 7-8 p.m. period 
preceding "Stop the Music." Web, 
meantime, is offering the Detroit 
orch a week-night spot, possibly 
either Monday or Thursday,, but 
no definite commitment has been 
made. . . 

ABC has been paying tlie freight 
on the symph airers since late Jaiv 
uary, when Henry ReichhoW 
pulled the tab in the wake of paV; 
scale difficulties with the Detroit 
local of the American Federation 
of Musicians. Apparently theres 
little prospect tl|at he'll, renew Ws 
costly angeling of the concerts' 



BATTLE OF 

Six alswwsi eomBettaig against the Top IS ia the Hooper sweep- 
ia*:«s sueceedie* to giraering. a lo or better ja.tiitg in. the newest 
■ BMP«K»tinC9i> wWkiii ^vea. Bal|ite ISdwards' '^rutii on Conseqaences" 
. a bWieat tally achieve* bjt any show tMs season. 






■ ■#wti» ■ m-'&iit^^0>ii^^'- ■ •■ ■■ ■ MvT 

jaclSrBennr 

Fibber & MoHr 3^ -^ 

Badto Tfceatrc 27.3 

Bob Hope - 2a,2 

Amosr "in' Amiy 24.9 

FiWtAlleB., ...Zi.X 

OodSrey's Talent Sewt» 22.8 

Ctortie McCarthy 22.6 

My Friend iKna . . '. , ► . .22il 

MTixieer Wine&ell .Stl.S 

Pfen Harris 

Al Joteon 

Bed SktAMi Vm 



Total Nriw^ 

11.2 
ia.a 

101.6 Dr. I. Q. ,.^.,.16.6 

II.3 

11.6 "VVe the People- .21.1 

l'0-.7 Man Called X 17.6 

14-.2; . 

12.7 Sam. Spade 

rzjs 

I2i6 Man. Menry-Gki-Round. .Z4.2: 
12:6 Bloudie 19.2 

1T.2 



20.1 



FCC Aefim Vs. KKlwj»4QIIH% Sera 




WasbdngtiAk. March 23. 
.Tallies RooseHrelt, CaUfomiai state 
Dernoeratic Committee efaaixmaB, 
and tike nationat dO Joined the 
Antcncao Jewish Coc^ess last 
! Iwe'ek' itt demandiAg FederadL Com- 
' munications Commission action, 
against C. A. Richards^ owner o{ 
KIMPC, Hollywood; WJfR, JQetroit, 
and WGAH, Cleveland. Biclutrd.s 
ha.s been pablicly accused ot at- 
tempting, ta editorialize newscasts 
aired on the Hollywood outlet. He 
has. denied the charge, 

FCC o£fieisds bave already ex- 
preaied vtiBlngBess to probe the 
K1\$PC ch^eas and are expected 
niomeyntarily to take official actioin. 
This may take the fAim oi calling 
for testimony frost KMPC princi- 
pals at fortbeeiming hearings oa 
the agency's no-ecEitoRal ruling, 
diie to resume here April 19. Or 
. the FCC may initiate fomal re^ 
vocatioiKKf-If cense peoceedings 
against the statioa, as requested by 
the American Jewish Congress. 
The first course -of action is be- 
lieved favcffed bgr a majority ot' 
the Commissian bench. „ 

Contmts of the Roosevelt and 
pthtf protest lettcrcs reaching 
Washington have not been released 
ftt 'mtion headquarters^ deelaired 
that published charges against 
KMPC' "are of swdk seriousness*' 
as to Deceasitiife public hearings 
''at the earUest ivaeticaible time." 
The CIO letter added: ' li the 
. charges are proved true', tbenowm- 
ers of KI!IIPC ba«e clearly demun- 
slraled lack o£ respoositHiity ia 

(Continued' on page 38 > 



Raiei^ n Spot Test 

Ralei^ cigarets. («rown. & WU- 
li'antson) is g.oiug in for a con- 
centrated campaign of minute an- 
noiiincements in Seattle. Pittsburgh 
and ProTxdsnee, as a sort of test. 
They'll be run ofC at the rate of 
101 a wec^ atatrtins A:i^Ui 5. 

Ted Bates is. the iigency. 



FCC Snobs Jones 
AsDAWChasHidl 




'Nsra Drake' tit F^sre Ob 



n 



Dui'ing the camplicated switch- 
over of the "STosa Braice'^' serial 
from NBC to CBS, the d^ytirnvr 
Will have two wceisa -without spon- 
sofsiiij*, anoth«r two> weds when 
It's, carried by both networks, and 
a faur-week warmup run on CBS. 
The show starts its* four-week sus- 
tainer romp April 12 on CBS. It 
ends its Toni haDrwave^ponsorcd 
spin April 23 on NBC It ]resumc» 
TOBi banlorcdling. Uam 10 on CBS. 
Witti the stuft oe "Noca" to CBS. 
that network vrta have $2,250,000 
anmtal time WHiag from the Toni 
Co. Fowte, Come & Belding is llw; 
agency on the account. 
, For the two-week itntervatl:. start- 
ing April 12, that the stanaia will 
be heard on botli networks,, two 
sij«titly difTerent scripts will be 



Washington-, March 2£. 
The Federal Communications 
CoBimission by a six-to-one- vote 
last week agreed to let the CIO 
United Autonjobi-Ie Workers com- 
pete in hearing with WCAR,. Pon- 
tiac„ fftf- right to use'the 1^130 kc 
cHiannet for a fulltime station in 
Detroit. 

It was one of the few times in 
radio liistory that the full FCC 
bench overturned a ruling ol one 
o£ its membership. As "motions 
Commissioner/' Robert F. Jones 
had earlier denied the UAW's 
llth-honr application to compete 
with WCAR on the ground! it was 
"defieieHt.'* 

WCAR is seeking to move from 
Pontiac to Detroit and hike power 
to .W kw on the 1130 kc slot. The 
UAW, wbicb has already gone 
through bearing to luse the 68i> kc 
spiyfe for a limited-time outlet in 
Detroit, switched to seek use of 
the 1I3;0> kr assignment for a fUll- 
time station. 

The Conunisaion denied another 
U.AiW plea to enlarge the issues in 
tlie WCAR hearing to- show avail- 
ability oE another daytime channel 
which WCAR could use in Detroit. 



Washington„;Ma9Re:h({@. 

Beal of the tou-tama «!» the in-" 
ternational front may gain new 
momentum when the spotlight hits 
the battleH>f-the-shortwave spec- 
trum whieft- opened in Gene-va, 
Switzerland yesterday (22>. For 
technical experts from the United 
Slates.. Soviet Russia, the tJnited 
Kingdom, India and Mexico have 
been called into session there to 
work Q(Ufe a formula foe dividing 
upi meagKR sbociwave speetnnn 
among 6T na/tions.viha dahn a total 
of ntore than 1,200 dit. transmitters. 

T» eomplicate the intesnational 
picture stiQ fiirtfaerr hofth the II.S. 

Rnssia aare emnmitted to de- 
mand a bigger share of the short^ 
wave spectrum tn sell their fw- 
ernment's programs to Europe. 

When the Unman 0.S. d'elega- 
ition embarked for what is slated 
to be- a two-month session there 
was no- definite assurance the Sov- 
iet enguieers- would be on hand for 
the technical caofisrence. But with 
CzechoshMrafcia, niow. b^Eod and- 
Italy withilt reaefr of the Zram 'Cur- 
tain, pressures fen* scarce dx spec- 
trum by both Bastenr aniJ Western 
European powers were expected to 
reach new highs. 
. An abrupt switch in U. S. for- 
eign policy and Concessional at- 
titudes toward the. Voice of Amer- 
ica in the past year has further 
complicated the portion of the XI. S. 
delegates in Geneva. For Congress 
has. already more than dmifoled its 
funds to deepen and extend the 
Voice broadcasts and a Senate Ap- 
propi-iations Committee proposal 
cadis for additional support over 
overseas informiation to the tune 
I air S33.Q00,Q«0. B»t, the engineers 
point out, there has been no cor- 
I responding expansion in the num- 
ber oif ^Qxtwave ebanneis to wliich 
this cntBrtiy csa. rightfully lay 
claihi. 11. dselcsates ace xeady to 
make a pitch for i^gsared use of 
some 65-75 out of a total of ap- 
pro.Tumate^ 150 dx channels avail- 
able for worldt-wide users. Some 
Araeriean spokesmen (CBS' Kd- 
ward Chester is ^moored among 
them) had plugged .for expansion 
oi the sliortwa-ve bands over' and 
above those agteed on by the 67 
signatories at the Atlantic City 
conferences last summer on the 
ground that effective use oi the 
VVoice' funds requires at least 
seven sinudtaneaasr' U. S. broadcast 
(Gontmued cm page 4&> 



CSS HI ffidie as Godfrey ffid For 
Sub. N^it QiesteriieU Sbw Cues 
Spiwb f ran Talrat Scoid' Ag^cy 



Presidential Phsgs 

Now that President Truman 
has come out for the draft, 
Coodnvan Ace says his new 
CBS conmedy show is unique 
in raidio> annals. 

Ace, whose Saturday night 
progiam is sponsored bs the 
V. S. Army (m< behailf of re^ 
cruiting. says he's tbet -only 
performer in the history of ra- 
dio to have a President of the 
United States doing the c<h»- 
iiiei-cials. 

"And talk about selling a 
product," cracks Ace. "We've 
only been, on the ah; five 
weeks, and look what's- hap- 
pened!" 




mmm mm 

WIS PROMOTION POST 

Charles Oppenheim, director of 
promotional activities of the Ci'os- 
Icji -owned WINS. New York, sub- 
nutted' his resignation last week in 
a nio"c that occa-sionerf some sur- 
prise, inasniuch as he was pro- 
moted to the post Mtly six weeks 
ago. 

Move follows a succession of 



resignatioos in the" past few weeks, 

airprf ^^it. n^' ^-i' I among them Jerry Danzig, who 

v^^ hf rv^' ivr^^ f^Sttlar yei-sron p,.„g,.am director to- .ioin 



■wta be on NBC. A slightly cx 
Pajjded edition, with the vaiious 
chiwactwa "identified" via ex- 
Planatojfy dialog, wUl be broadcast 
CBS. The absence of com- 
(Continued on page 41) 

VEl VEBmt BJiK SPOTS 
Colgate-Patmolim fe testing its 
vel Beauty Bac dfetet^t soap-, 
several scatteoed marttets via 
-.«uwi*e--ai 



'Fffliam Bs(r fa tfete «geac)r. 



CBS television, and Marian An- 
nenDi&rg. who checked out as pro^ 
motion director. 

Oppenheim joined the station 1 3 
month.s ago as publicity director, 
movnng over from WOR, N. Y., 
where he was al-so chief flack. For 
the present lie'il devote liis time to 
diiectiiig and producing liis 
WQXR "Book Concert" program; 
sponsforerf by DwabledSsy Book 
SlorAs, awd! woek on t«levisiow-re- 
lali packages,. 



N.Y.U. Suraier Wsrksltiip 
CurricufiMrCdKsters Sd; 
'Sfikl^r Mist Pofiey 

New ■york Univeisity will offer 
its regular six weeks- Snmmoj- 
Radio Week5lia{» this year June 28 
through Aug. 6. It's the 12th sea- 
son (oldleat ia V. SL.> and, the sixth 
year f«w Bobert J. Landtry, Secre- 
tary of Idfie CBS Program Board, as 
director. Pf.Y.TiJ. has. decided to 
keep the curriculuni strictly to 
radio on the the«ry that ratfa and 
television cannot be taught in one 
worksltop sim-ultaneonsiy. K.Y.U. 
also is proceeding, on the assuinp- 
tion that televisiaa will supplement 
and not supplant radio. 

In addition to his own lectures 
Landry \«ill haV9 ss guest .speakers 
for 194S tyman Biyson, Counselor 
on Public Affairs at CBSp Ctscar 
Kat-i, CBS Director of Research; 
Arnold Hartley, Program Director 
of Station WOV; Walter Craig 
Benton & Bowles veepee; Pauline 
Frederick. ABCjuews commentator, 
and George Rosen, Radio Editor 
of 'VMrinTy. 

Teaclring staff for the Workshop ; 
will include WaUaea Hiau.se,. Fred- ] 
eric JVlethot, Elwood C. Hollraan. j 
Leon Gold.stein,, Ted Huston and 
Burton P^uln of the Univeimty of 
Minnesota radw statitm KCJOM. 
who. will return a^dii. In addition 
there will be a .serlea! on public 
service including Charles S«p- 
mann, Monris Novik aad Abe 
Sehecbtel:. 



Exit in Revamp (M 
Aoflrorrty Sbhip 

Robert W. Buckley has resigned 
as account executive on the 'WliSe- 
hall Pharmaeal Co. aceouaat at the 
i Dancer-Fitxgerald-Sample agency, 
i His departure, effective May ] , is 
'. an offshot ot the realignment of 
I the orbits of operations -which H. 
iiVt. Dancer and' Clifford Fitzgerald, 
prez and executive v.p., respec- 
tively, recently decided for them- 
I selves. Agency has around $30,- 
000,000 in billings. 

Buckley, who: has been with the 
agency since 1944, had been offeced 
I a key assignment in the ' EeaUgn- 
I ment. tliat of coordinating all 
media. This would have ne- 
cessitated his moving to C3n- 
cagOi and there were other 
factors whidt entesed. mtff the 
proposition which infCiMneed the 
decision against it and the resigna- 
tion. Buckley -was- brought into 
New Tork in '45 as director of 
media and later on he was pro- 
moted to accotmt executive on 
WhitehaH. At the time of bis resig- 
nation he vras a senior account ex- 
ecutive. Prnn; to ioinihg SFS 
Buckley was -western Saies 

manager, statitmed in Cbiteago. He 
is currently on a vacatioia in Flor- 
ida. .. 



a, New Chi Vecpees 

Chicago, Sfareb 23. 

Two new v.p.'s were added to 
the local office of Dancer-Fitzger- 
ald-SampIe in canjunction with the, 
agency's new authority setup. Th^ 
are Samuel Sutter, foemer coi^ 
chief of the Btow Co., and Bdward 
Newton, f oormer v.p, and tags chKt 
of J. Mathes. 

Sutter and Newton wQl rejport 
to Clifford Fttstgerald, who- under 
the demarcation of orbits wiU have 
charge^of plans and creative work 
in Chicago, New York and Toronto. 
Dancer will overseer account 
handling in those cities along 
with managing all offices. 



' Jftve Jiirj': A.L Versiei 

Jack Barry and Dan, Ehrehreieh, 
who package "Juvenile Jotry," 
have cooked up' an a.k. version of 
it. Audition plaitcir is . currently 
making the agency rounds. ' 

Stan^.a is called "L.Me Begins at 
30" and features a panel of five 
oldsters-, youngiest of whom is just 
80. Barry . emcees^ : -* 

While the fR-oducers feel the 
progi-am idea rate# better fban a 
mere sumnter-replacement candi- 
date, possibility is seen that it' 
might actually turn up as a straw- 
hat standing for "Jury," inasmucli 
as Benton & Bowles, through 
which Gaines Dog Food bankrolls 
the 'juve airer, is reported inter- 
.ested.' 



Chesterfield, -wbicb now sponsors 
Arthur GodfR>f 's five 30-minnte 
morning shows a week on CBS, 
wants to bankroll him for an addi- 
tional half-hour Sunday nights on 
the same network. However, Young 
& Rubieara, as- agency for Lipton, 
which sponsors the Godfrey "Tal- 
ent Scouts" series, Monday nights, i 
also on CBS» is objecting, sa the 
Sunday night stanza may. not' 
go- on,,' 

Lipton's contract for the "Talent 
Scouts" is not an exclusive for eve- 
nings, and does not. give the at- 
count or the agency a right td for- 
bid Godfrey to do another nigliit- 
tinie series for a non-competitive 
product. Also, it's understood Lip- 
ton has no particular objection to 
the proposed Sunday program. But 
Y£R execs feel that an additicHial 
tiighttimc airing for Godfrey, par- 
ticularly on the evening jost pse- 
ceding the "Talent Scouts" series, 
would be spreading the comedian- 
m.c. personality too thin, and 
-might tend to make th^ jpnblic tire 
,of him sooner. 

. Chesterfield doesn't share the 
Y4R viewpoint, feeling that an 
additional evening show would 
give Godfrey just that much nf^ore 
exposure and a chance to build a 
greater public following. It's also- 
pointed out by the cigaret ' ifa-m 
tl-iat the proposed Sunday' series 
would be patterned more or less 
along the lines of the Godfrey 
morning show, so would probably 
involve little competition or con- 
fusion with the "Talent Scouts" 
series. 

CBS is understood inclined to 
string along with the Chesterfield 
line of reasoning, especisdiy since 
the Sunday series wontd mean not 
only a hefty return in time charges 
but would presumab^ bolster the 
network's Sunday night progi'am 
h'neup. However, the network 
doesn't want to run caunter to 
Y&R (and possibly Lipton), so the 
whole project may be dropped. 
Meanwhile, Godfrey is estimated 
to bave an income of abont $400,- 
000 a year from his present Six 
weekly half-hours.. ■ 



AFI^ €10 loiii Forces 
FoflabrSpeab'ia-Wk 
Sories in NX Slate Area 

American Federation of Labor 
and the Congress of Industrial Or- 
ganizations may bave no love for 
each other as rivals for labor's 
hand, but they've gfttten together 
— ^for the first time, it's said— <m a 
plan to put labor's views on." the 
airwaves. 

Thirteen-week "Labor Speaks" 
program presented jointly by the . 
rival unions combines will tee irft 
on WOR. N. Y,. next Wednesday 
(31) at 7:30 p.m., and steps "were 
under way this week to get time 
on upstate IST. Y. staUon&. Up to 
yesterday (Tues.), 'WliBa,. SyrsH 
cuse, and WBOW, Alfoaogr, bad 
cleared time for the stanzasJ 

CIO chief Philip A^urray and 
AFL prexy Wiiliam Gredi will ap- 
pear on the getaway showr. Fonnat 
of succeeding sequences wQl -vary, 
some being dranutt&ied; others 
using wire-recorded material or 
presenting talks and intei-view^. 
Morris Novik, radio constdtant to 
labor groups, is credited vrith pnH 
motittg the seriesk 

FossilHlity is seen, if the airers 
come off well, that they'll be con- 
tinued beyond the 13 weeks and 
given wider covers^. 



McNHLL TO BTAST IN H.Y. 

Chicago, Maxdi 23. 

Annual New York juntcet ol Don 
McNeill and the "Breakfast j^lub* 
is set for-/ May 3-M. with, side 
jaunts to Albany and Caniden. 
Plans, for a broadcast in coiljnnc- 
tion with breakfast at the Waldorf 
^ hotel have been shelved. > . 



80 



TV Adds Stature in Toscy Airing; 
Poorer PhiUy Show the Better Test 



By GBORGE ROS£N 

Television grew considerably in 
itature last Saturday (20) as the 
«0-minutc radio broadcast of Ar- 
turo Toscaninl and the NBC Sym- 

Shony Orchestra was given a si< 
lultaneous telecast by NBC. The 
event, one of the historic and 
memorable "firsts" in video, was 
In celebration of the go-ahead 
given only two days previously by 
James C. Petrillo for the use of 
live musicians in video. 

Only 90 minutes prior to the 
Toscanini-NBC Symphony telecast, 
CBS videoed the regular Saturday 
afternoon broadcast by Eugene Or- 
mandy and the Philadelphia Or- 
chestra from th6 Academy of Music 
in Philly, with a tv pickup in New 
York. For the somewhat dubious 
distinction of boasting that it got 
in under the wire as the first tele- 
cast of a live musical program, the 
CB3 symphonic presentation suf- 
feted considerably by comparison. 

The feeling that the CBS pickup 
from Philly was a hurried job with 
a hit-or-miss camera quality, 
merely that the network might 
establish its "first," was in strange 
contrast to the superb "produc* 
tion" and sound that came out of 
Studio 8-H in Radio City. 

Granted that, in Toscanini, video 
had at its disposal one of the most 
fascinating and. colorful personali- 
ties in the realm of the arts. Or 
that an allTWagnerian program was 
a particularly appetizing morsel 
for such an occasion. The fact re- 
mains that the expert camera treat- 
ment contributed most toward giv- 
ing the ptogi'am historic overtones. 
. For uie home video fani, even 
those passive toward sym{>hoidc 
music, the Toscanini concert was a 
rare treat. For NBC's camera 
crew achieved the difficult feat of 
creating a rhythm, always fas* 
cinatmg to watch, in the threes 
camera., play on the orchestra and 
Its celebrated leader. 
1 The camera fades were beauti- 
fully timed to permit for an almost 
perfect synchronization with the 
predominant orchestta sections, 
suggesting always that the camera 
crews were working under expert 
musical guidance. The very move- 
taents of the camera seemed to ac- 
cept the tempo of the orchestra 
leader to permit for a perfect co- 
Sf «f*i?".P* sight-and-sound. That 
the fades" could excite the visual 
sense without distraeting from the 
Beauty of the Toscanini readings 
is a tribute to the NBC technical 
. Stan. , i . ■ . '''.J 

Wisely, the major camera accent 
yras on Toscanini, with the closeutt 
shots (from the right side- of the 
pehmd tlie tympani; whereas 
*H^„ .other two cameras were in- 
stalled in the balcony), permitting 
for a fun profile of the hypnotic 
inaestro. fhe brilliant and show 
manlike montage effected by super 
imposing a closeup of Toscanini in 
action over a full-range view of the 
orchestra during the closing bars 
* ^'oncert offered a portend of 
S?!?*^"^*'!"^^''^ camera techniques* 
will eventually be achieved. 

Wisely, too, the NBC cameras re- 
frained from over-spotlighting par- 
ticular secUons of the orchestra, 
training t&B lenses on an all-en- 
comMssmg. view of the ensemble. 
iiJn'j , 'u^^^ hx contrast with the 
PMladelphia pickup, where over- 
accentuation of a single unit of the 
orchestra let the interest lag and 
definitely detracted from the musi 
«al concentration. 

originally planned to 
telecast only. 30 minutes of the 
Jh»^aoir^* concert, but later 
Ranged its mind in favor of the 

Siiiffc^'"*" "f^^'' t° determine 
Whether a symphonic concert could 
interest. In aU 
truthfutoess, last Saturday's pe" 
formance was not a fair test. So 
much drama and personal mag- 
t»sm was packed into the 60 min- 
Knt " ntam» a moot 

it was in the Ormandy- 
^liV^delphla Orchestra concert 
Trn»"j? answer might be found. 
True, Ormandy is a colorful per- 
sonality in his -own right and did 
fa«J"stice to the camera eye 
Uiere, too, three cameras were in 
constant use.) Yet the limited play 
of the cameras made the visual end 
of the broadcast dull and unre- 
wardmg. it didn't take long for 
the novelty to wear off. The syn- 
chronization was 'Often out of tune 
except toward the end, when the 
cameras seemed to hit their stride 
' ♦aii.M«''°"o appears unmis- 
takable. Symphonic music via 
television Isn't likely to win new 
adherents for the muse. The nov- 
fhl^m™!^ ''"iPS .them, but not hold 
inem. hymphonic lovers arc likelv 
In fact, to resent the intrusion of 
visual distractions, unless it is at- 
tended by the sort of flawless pro 



Wanted: A Pattern 

NBC, following up its Ar- 
turo Toscanini-NBC Symphony 
telecast, took its video cam- 
eras into the N. Y. studios 
Monday night for a pickup of 
Firestone musical' . program. ■ 
As a sight-and-sotuid attrac- 
tion, it immediately projected 
the all-important question that 
broadcasters must face'— how 
best to integrate radio pro- 
grams into the visual medium. 

As such the Firestone 
'%neak preview'' : could well 
serve as an object lesson in 
what is basically wrong in 
exact duplication of standard 
broadcasting in the realm of 
video. Merely focusing the 
camera on the performance is 
not the answer to, good video. 
Despite the three-way show- 
casing of the Howard Barlow 
orch, the Firestone Choir and 
the soloist (Eleanor Steber, 
who, in reality showed up as a 
ddad-pan soprano), it made for 
a dull visual performance. 

Just wherein lies the pattern 
for simultaneous broadcasting 
to excite the viewer's interest 
over a SO-minute stretch is 
something the tv program boys 
must eventually flgiire out. 
Merely picking up an orches- 
tra, a chorus and a soloist is 
the easy way out. Rose. 



Teleyision Reviews :: 

♦♦♦««♦♦♦«»♦«♦»♦♦»>»♦♦♦!' 



I 



duction that NBC brought to the' 
Toscanini concert last week. 



THIS-IS OUR STORir 
Witb John K. M. McCalTery, em- 
cee; Ben Grauer> Bob Smith, Tex 
Bf cCrary, Jinx PattLCnbiiig:. 

'Others- " 
Producer: Fred C!oe 
Director: Ira Sfcatch 
Writer: William Alcine 
30 Mins.; Fri. (19), 1:S0 p.m. 
WNBT-NBC, N. Y. 

This show marked the first at- 
tempt by a radio station to pro- 
mote itself via television. It was 
staged by WNBG, key station in 
the NBC web, to recount its activi- 
ties during the last year as a fol- 
lowup to its presentation of a 
VABEBXY Showmanship Award for 
its year's opefation. 

Show was subject to much of the 
shoddy camera work and unruly 
errors that have plagued video 
presentations at times, but it un- 
doubtedly paid off with the pro- 
motion expected for it by station 
manager Jim Gaines. More signifi- 
cant however, was its pointing up 
of the way tele can profit by ce5 
tarn radio-type formats. Show was 
one of the first documentaries pre- 
sented on video and its success was 
undoubtedly due to the way writer 
William Alcine foUowed the radio 
documentary pattern. 

Program made fine use of the 
combmed faciUUes of film and live 
presentation. With John K. M. 
McCaffery emceeing from the desk 
of his own office at WNBC. the 
viewers were shown via actual 

Sfw^S^*''^***'"^ of the top 

WNBC programming that won it 
the award. Due emphasis was 
placed on the station's public serv- 
ice programming, including its 

5^fh^MJ?r*^*^«^"'* shows, 
^^^^^^ staffers explaining be- 
fore the cameras how they handled 
tne snows. 

o^^^T? ^^V, Tex McCrary 

and Jinx Falkenburg, pointing oul 
reasons for their occasionalsMiou^ 

7.1^^' , forthcoming Metro film 
wi™^**SL**!f'* European children. 
Film added much to the general 
documentary pattern of tlTe pro- 
Sram. . stal. 

KEEP OFF THE GRASS 
Plrector: Preston Stover 

W^T^il^^^iSf 
Too much of a good thing. 

h J^J?' r*!'?"'^- station, 
had a good idea m televising the 
famous Philadelphia Skating (ftub's 
annual production direct from the 
Main Line rink..jBt«h, watching it 
for more than twd hfe fade even 
tn| most rabid, ice show fan bleary- 

Skating Club, though com- 
posed of amateurs, has a high 
sense of showmanship that reaches 
almost professional level. Reason 
for long show was that Dick But- 
ton Olympic champion, was in 
wmdup number, and telecast had 
^''f ^^3^^ production in 
order to catch the star attraction 
, Camera work was okay. Ditto 
the musical accompaniment of re- 
cordings which were cafefully se- 
lected and timed by Paul Nickell 
to dovetail witb each number. 

Shot 



New Tele Bus 



Ford Motor sponsoring aU 77 
home games of fSnti MUwauk^o 
Brewers over WTMJ-TV, Mil- 
waukee. 

Otto L. Kuehn Qo. and Broad- 
way House of Mu^ic will alternate 
on 10-minute dugout interviews 
preceding Milwaukee Brewer 
games on WTMJ-TV, starting 
April 27.. ; , , 

Lucky Strike buyliig four spots 
a week on WTMJ-TV, Milwaukee, 



Hypo 



AFM Action To 
SetSal^ 
Better 

Chief among the many benefits 
television broadcasters expect to 
gain from the American Federation 
of Musicians' okay on the use of 
live musicians, is a tremendous 
impetus to receiver set sales. 

That factor, according to tele 
spokesmen, may not be noticeable 
as quickly as will the general im- 
provement in programming, but it 
will be of more lasting value to the 
industry. Limited number of setg 
in circulation is still the main ob-. 
stacle in the path of high-budgeted 
video shows. Thus, if the new 
AFM pact means more set sales, 
more advertisers will enter the 
medium, which will in turn benefit 
the industry all around. 

Receiver set sales execs look fot 
a boom in set-buying despite the 
fact that all . models put on the 
market in many of the present tele 
cities are completely sold out. 
Many people who've been disap- 
pointed in the tele shows they've 
seen haven't been activated to buy 
yet. There's still a margbi for 
stimulus to set-buyerSf consequent- 
ly, and it's expected that improved 
programming resulting from the 
AFM pact will supply that stim- 
ulus. 

Among the new potential set- 
buyers looked for by sales execs 
are those people still laboring un- 
der the delusion that tele pro- 
gramming consists' entirely of 
sports and old, second-rate films. 
New programs, such as the sym- 
phony orchs presented by CBS and 
NBC last Saturday (19), are ex- 
pected to provide the necessary 
impact leading such people to buy. 
In addition, the list of top name 
radio stars that will soon be avail- 
able to tele under the radio webs' 
duplication plans will zoom tele 
set sales, it's believed. 

Video's long-standing vicious 
cycle,, consequently, is expected to 
continue as a. cycle but one with a 
rosy hue. Instead of there being 
small set sales because of poor 
programming* and poor program- 
ming because of small set- circu- 
lation, there's, now expected tb-be 
good programming leading to more 
set sales, which in tum wlU lead 
to even better pretgramming;. 

2 More TV Okays; 
Total Passes i 

Washington, March 23. 
_ The Federal Communications 
Commission gave the green light 
to three more tele applicants last 
week, bringing total number of 
video outlets authorized past the 
90. mark. 

Permits were awarded to the 
Erie Dispatch, ch. 12, Erie, Pa.: 
Picture Waves, Inc., ch. 6 and TV 
Inc., ch. 10, both in Columbus, o! 
Commissioner Robert F. Jones of 
Ohio cast a dissenting vote for 
hearing in the case of the first two 
grants. Edward and wife Prudence 
Lamb, owners of WTOD, Toledo, 
hold majority interests in both the 
Dispatch and Picture Waves, Inc. 
companies. Owner of TV, Inc. is 
the Columbus Dispatch, which 
also runs AM station WBNS. 

Concurrently, the Commission 
designated for hearing seven re- 
quests for video spectrum in Sah 
Francisco. Bidders are: Don Lee- 
S. H. Patterson; Leland Holzer; 
Paramount's Television Produc- 
tions, Inc.; CBS; Edwin Pauley's 
Television, California; and Radio 
Diablo, Inc., ABC station KGO, 
Wesley Dumm's KSFO and the 
San Francisco Chronicle already 
hold permits for three «f the 
town's five channels. 



DuMonVSaw Radio Qutlet^ Starts 
live Music Pattern From Scratch 



CBS Was There 

Television's "battle of the 
firsts" hit real paydlrt Satur- 
day (20), when CBS sneaked 
In under the wire to beat out 
NBC in bringing video audir 
ences the first live pickup of 
a symphony orchestra. 
Whether the effort was worth 
the result, however, is another 
question. (See vevlew in this 
section.) 

NBC exec veepee Frank E, 
Mullen had stdlen the original 
thunder by announcing at the 
Petrillo meet- Thursday (18) 
afternoon" that his web would 
scan the NBC Symph Saturday 
afternoon. After apparently 
considerable brain-wracking, 
CBS sent a camera crew from 
N. Y. down to Philadelphia 
Saturday for the .Philadelphia 
Orchestra, vrMch tbkes the air 
90 minutes before the" NBC 
Symph. It was such a last- 
minute decision that CBS 
didn't even have time to 
change the 'daily tele logs in 
the newspapers. NBC, conse- 
quently, got the press break 
but "CBS Was There" first. 



OFFER 'ARTISr ON niM 
FOR SALE TO STATFONS 

Don Hirst, writer on "You Are 
An Artist," Gulf-sponsored 15- 
minute telecast on INTBC, planed to 
Coast, Saturday (20), carrying 
with him a film of the program. 
Hirst will talk to tele execs on-^he 
Coast, and then in midwest points 
like Chicago and St. Louis on the 
way back, on use of the program 
oii their individual stations. 

If sale is made, it's believed 
this will mark first time for film 
of a live show being used as regu< 
lar program 'elsewhere. Show is 
sponsored on NBC by Gulf and 
emceed and owned by Jon Gnagy, 
artist, who e:S:plains to audience 
how to paint and has audience 
joining in. Show fs oldest on NBC, 
having been on two years, and 
sponsored Wt years. Idea Is to 
set up local sponsors In areas Gulf 
doesn't cover, with deal to be made 
with Gulf and NBC t» this pur- 
pose. Hirst, who wrote two shows 
ahead, wUl be back in N. Y. next 
week.. 



Edge Re-Pacted to Share 
Dodgers TV With Barber 

CBS tele^sion, ' ending rumors 
that Red Barber's play-by-play 
radio coverage of the Brooklyn 
Dodgers' games would be carried 
simultaneously on tele this year, 
has re-pacted Bob Edge to handle 
the major part of the video narra- 
tion. Edge will share the 'play-by- 
play with Barber, who's to double 
toto tele, for a couple of innings 
each game. 

Under present arrangements. 
Barber will handle the fifth and 
sixth innings for video, with Edge 
announcing the rest. Latter has 
?.^JiSi Dodger games over 
WCBS-TV, CBS' N.Y. video outlet, 
for the last two years. He'll do the 
complete games this year during 
the time Barber is in England for 
radio coverage of the summer 
Olympics. 



Free & Peters Reps WPIX 

WPIX, television station now 
under construction by the N Y 
Daily News, has appointed Free & 
Peters to represent it in national 
time sales. Advertising reps will 
assume their duties immediately 
and will be responsible to WPIX 
commercial manager B. O. SuUivan. 

Free & Peters for more than a 
year has repped KSD-TV, St. Louis 
Post-Dispatch tele station. 

Milt Britton'i Tele Package 
Half-hour television show built 
around the zany vaude act of Mil- 
ton Britton and his band has been 
packaged by Britton and Arthur 
Miller Associates for sponsoring 
livailabilUy. 



♦ puMont television, left in a 
unique position by the liftlne «# 
the Petrillo ban against the use of 
live music for video, has alreaS 
begun planning for the addiUoi 
of live musicians to some of If. 
current shows and the buildinH of ' 
new shows to take in music 

DuMont's position is a precari- 
"yi,'.*'.'}* ''ecwse it has no radio 
affiliation. Web is completely cut 
off. consequently, from duplicating 
radio shows into tele. Unlike NBr 
CBS and ABC. It will not be able' 
to take its tele cameras Into a 
radio studio and scan the AM 
show. suQh as both NBC and CBS 
did with their respective symphonv 
orchs last Saturday (20). with 
the addition of live music expected 
to bolster considerably tele pro- 
gramming. DuMont consequently 
must buUd'from .scratch in order 
to buck the competition of the 
other webs. ■ 
Because it has no radio liein. 
the web was not included in the 
pact signed last week by the four 
major networks and the American 
Federation of Musicians. Until it 
has talks with the AFM, conse- 
quently, DuMont isn't certain 
Vvhpther.lt will be subject to the 
same rules as tliose applied by 
the AFM to the radio webs. Both 
the- web's network chii9f, Lawrence 
Phillips, and program director 
James L. Caddigan hailed the Pe- 
trillo pact as opening up new vistas 
for video. According to Phillips, 
' we expect to have the same satis- 
factory relationships with the AFM 
as we have had with other unions 
in the past," 

Caddigan declared that live mu- 
sic will mean plenty to tele shows, 
and pointed out how it could be 
used for such current DuMont pro- 
grams as "Television Fashions on 
Parade" and the Major Bowes 
Amateur Hour. Until arrange- 
ments have been completed with 
the musicians' union, however, 
Caddigan said he can make no im^ 
mediate plans. 

New Role Set For 
TV Chamiel Shifts 

Washington, March 23. 

Federal Communications Com- 
mission today (Tues.) laid dovm a 
procedure for persons desiring to 
apply for television licenses in 
cities not given channels in the 
Government's 1945 allocations. The 
commission decided that hereafteir 
shifts of channels to non-served 
towns could only be made by 
amendment of its rules and on a ' 
strong showing that the move was 
in the public interest. 

As a result, channel shifts can- ' 
not be made in the course oif a con- 
solidated hearing for television as- 
signments for a particular town. 

Procedure was laid down by FCC 
m denying a request by the Yankee 
Network to reassign television 
channel No. 10 from Hartford to 
Bridgeport. FCC invited YN to 
file a new petition within 15 days 
asking specific amendment bf rules 
to permit the shift. Four bidders 
are currently in hearhig for chan- 
nels 8 and 10 at Hartford. 

Commissioners Robert Jones and 
Rose! Hyde dissented on the 
grounds that the existing rule is 
broad enough to permit considera- 
tion of YN's request in the Hart' 
ford hearings. 



CMLWAUKEE RELAY 
TO BE READY BY FAU 

Chicago, March 23i 
A. T. & T. last week started con- 
struction of a microwave relay 
.system between Chicago and Mil- 
waukee for tele use by fall. Ninety- 
mile stretch will be spanned by 
three 100-foot towers along the 
Chicago-Milwaukee R. R. right-of- 
way. 

Present co-ax blueprints call for 
completion of a Chicago, St, Louis, 
Toledo. Cleveland and Buffalo cir- 
cuit by October. With this link 
NBC can form Its midwest net of 
WTMJ-TV. Milwaukee, WNBQ, 
Chicago, and KSD-TV, St. Louis- 
Splicing of Cleveland and Phila- 
delphia in December will connect 
the eastern and midwestern net*. 




lelevisiiig of Safio Shows Poses 
Problem m StatiB of Sdpters 



-With the start of simaltaneousi > 
itelevision of radio pFffgmras last ' 
week midcr the Petttlto-Betwoik 
agreement, the status of scripts 
and writing ia relattom to video is 
confused. Widely diverse con- 
dition* exist in Hbk daSerent sliow 
business fields. . 

'The writer organizations, mostly 
witlUn the fiamnrarfe of the 
Aattwn lieague of America, are 
mipr^inred to meet the new eon- 
^iONto. They have no consistent 
policy and have not even gotten 
together to evolve one. Only in 
the legit and literary fields are 
authors in position to control their 
writing, at least f«Mr the pnesent. In 
tlie picture field they have little,^ 
if any, say about television of the 
scripts. In the radio field, con*, 
ditions very greatly. 

Stall' writers for the networks, 
working under a new minimnni 
basic agreement, have no say about 
simultaneous televising of their 
radio shows. Nor do they get any 
addition coin for such perform- 
ance. However, they must be paid 
lidditional fees if their radio 
scripts are televised at a time 
other than that of the radio broad- 
cast. In the case of freelance 
writers, the situation varies ac- 
cording to the individual and the 
terms of his contract. In general, 
mcst name writers of series, shows 
are believed to be entitled to ex- 
tra fees if their scripts are tele- 
vised by the sponsor, but few have 
full control of ' subsidiary rights 
to the material and therefore could 
■not • sell or 'lea,se the video rights 
to other sponsors. 

In the picture field, writers al- 
most invariably sell their original 
scripts outright, in conformance to 
long practice in tlte industry. This 
applies to freelancers as well as 
(Continued on page 36) 



Camel Seeks Spots 

Camef, which bankrolls the 20th- 
Fox newsireel on the NBC video 
web, is looking around for avail- 
able minutes before sports' events. 

It put in J bid for the spot pre- 
ceding the N. Y. Yankees games on 
WABD, N. Y., but found that 
Brown & Williamson had already 
tied up the availability. 



IstTVHeadmer 
Award torn 

Philadelphia, March 23. 

StiiUon WFIL-TV, operated by 
■ the Philly Inquirer, has been hon- 
ored by the National Headlincrs' 
Chib ot Atlantic City with the first 
Headliner Medal ever voted a tele- 
vision .station. 

The club makes awards annually 
for outstanding journalistiic work 
in the field of reporting, editorials 
and pictinres, as well as for radio 
reportijig and commentary. It se-: 
lected the Inq's Television News- 
reel, broadcast daily at 7:45 p.m., 
for its medal. 

The panel of 11 judges chose 21 
winners in various newlspaper, ra- 
dio and newsrcel fields from more 
than ."iOO entries. Awards will be 
made .lune 19 at the ISth annual 
Hoadliners Frolic in Atlantic City. 

In announcing the award to the 
local video outlet, the judges said: 
. "For the first time in the hisloj-y 
Of the awards, a Headliner Medal 
has been voted for a tele news 
program. The award was made to 
WFIL-TV for its general excel- 
lence in the daily presentation of 
an up-lo-the-minute tele newsi"eel 
of events taking place the same 
day as shown. The 13-minule show, 
jvilh excellent camera work, edit- 
Mig and commentary, was regarded 

sem^nyng^l^cUUy^tSarwiir grow $30,000,000 TV Sct Sale 

in importance." 



CBS Pays lOOG In 
New Exdnave On 
N; Y. (larden Sports 

CBS . telttvisioDi this week re^ 
newed for Msotbcr year its exclo- 
sive costract with HCacdisoQ Sq. 
Garden Corp. to afT.all events otig- 
inating from the Garden with the 
exception of boxing matches 
staged by the IVIike Jacobs'' outfit. 
New contract niarksE the third con- 
secutive year that CBS has had 
exclusive tele rights to the Gar- 
den. Price is reported at $100,000, 
same as in previous years. 

CBS was reportedly given plen- 
ty, of competition from other video 
broadcasters for the Garden i-ights, 
as well as from motion picture out- 
fits who hoped to gain exclusive 
film rights so that they could can 
the events and then sell the filni 
for subsequent transmission via 
tele. Garden reportedly chose CBS 
because of the ontstandiiae w<Hrk 
the wttb has dtate in presenting 
the Garden sports during the, last 
two years. Web won a Variety 
Showinanagement award this year 
for its coverage of sports events. 

CBS for the first time has de- 
cided not to air iiockey games 
when the hockey season opens next 
winter. tWPlX is taking it over.) 

New contract takes effect at the 
at the end of tlie current indoor 
sea.son. It winds up with the Ring- 
ling Bros., Barnum & Bailey Cir- 
cus, which comes into the Garden 
•April 7. 



leC. CBS PICTS 




Stiufios' Nuac Soundtrack 1% 
StiU Nixed in AFM-Wdb TV Pact 



N.Y. DiREaORS MAP 
FUIi-DRESS SEMINAR 

Video fever has spread to the 
Radio Directors Guild, with the 
result that the N. Y. local is map- 
ping plans for a full-dress tele- 
vision seminar, probably to run 
through a weekend within the next 
month and pos.sib]y to be instituted 
as a continuing affair, to train ra- 
dio directors in the visual medium. 
RDG members will -hash over the 
whole matter at a meeting next 
Monday (2!)) at Holland House at 
8:30 p.m. 

At the same meeting, oft'icers 
for the loeal will 'be nominated 
for the coming year. Election is 
slated May 3. William Sweets is 
current prexy. 

Charles Polacheck, CBS tele- 
vision shop steward for KDG; is 
heading up the tele seminar plan- 
ning, , 



Jules Fields Sets Up 

• Tele Prod. Outfit 

Jule.s Kiekls. until recently east- 
ern director of publicity for 20th- 
I'ox, has teamed with Jack Schae- 
H'r, nowcomer to show biz. to pro- 
duce package shows for television. 
Most of the unit's plans will stem 
trom making picture shorts and 

, neiv,sreels for video. 

flie pair leave on a 10-dav toasl- 

.to-toasl trek today (Wed.) to line 
up material and contacts for a 
«ewKv(.'ol built «round women's 
tashjons. 



For Chi Seen by Tukey 

. CIvicago, March 23. 

Video set sales in the Chicago 
area amounting to $30,000,000 \vere 
loretast last week hy E. C. Tukey, 
ad slafl'er ot the Chicago Tribune, 
whicli tees off its WGN-TV here 
April 5. Tiikcv based his figure on 
the fad that 100,000 sets, or l.^^; 
of the ycai-'.s potential total of 
700.000, have been earmarked for 
Chicago. • , . , , 

Accoiding to Tukey national tele 
set sales in '48 will surpass the 
retail sales volume of either re- 
frigeralois or wa.shing machines in 
any prewar year. 



The race Sjtn;,' television- affiliates 
is on. ■ ■ 

With all factors combining to 
boom tele's progress this year,; the 
networks have ,started their ex- 
pected mad scramble to ink affili- 
ate outlets on the same exclusive 
basis as that holding for radio. 
NBC teed oft last week by signing 
on KSTP-TV. Stanley Hubbard out- 
let in St. Paul. Both ABC and 
CBS entered the race this week, 
with ABC pacting witli WFIL-TV, 
Philadelphia station owned and op- 
erated by the Philly Inquirer, and 
CBS. signing with WCAU-TV , 
Philly Bulletin outlet. 

Measure of ditference among the 
setups of the th.ree different webs 
signifies the nebulous state in 
Which tele still fmds itself net- 
work-wise. Of the three, only CBS 
cacn he teemed a ia Hhe xeeepted 
sense of the word, since its the 
only one at this time that can. feed 
shows to its; affiliate from an o.S-o. 
originating paint. With the lack 
of networlting facilities between 
N. y affid St, Paul, NBC for the 
present is- restricted to feeding 
KSTP-TV with only film, or scripts 
for live shows. Web, consequently, 
has been tenived a "Mickey Mouse" 
operation by its competitors, 

ABC, on the other hand, is in 
the unique position of having 
signed an aflliliation contract with 
no o.&o. stations operating yet. 
Fact that it has pacied with WFIL- 
TV indicates the web, after months 
of delay, is finally beginning to 
roll on its tele planning. An- 
nouncement of the pact with the 
Philly outlet declared that ABC 
would begin vidcot'operations on a 
major scale- during the week of 
April 5, "when the first results of 
the ABC-WFIL-TV- affiliation will 
become evident to the television 
audience." 

I Only explanation offered by ABC 
spokesmen for tftat statement is 
that on that date ABC will inaugu- 
rate regularly-scheduled programs 
from the WFIL-TV studios for 
"other network outlets.'' Since its 
N. Y. outlet, W.rZ-TV, isn't e.v- : 
pected to take the air before Aug. 
1 at ttie earliest, it's believed that 
the web has. neared the inking 
point with WMAL-TV, Evening 
Star outlet in Washington. Even ' 
with the D,C. and Philly stations 
lorming the basis of a regional net, 
ABC would still he. operating with- 
out an o.&o. station for several 
months. Pact with WFIL-TV, in- 
cidentally, holds for two years, the 
maximum permitted by FCC regu- 
lations. 

CBS Trying to Catch Up 

CBS' move in signing with 
WCAU-TV is believed to pi'esjtge 
an all-out ell'ort starting, immecii- 
at«ly for the torjnation of a tele 
web. During the time it was con- 
I ducting the color fight, CBS neg- 
lected to apply for o,&o. outlets 
in the key cities. End of the fight 
found it with only its WCBS-TV in 
N, Y. operating, and with -a bid 
pending for another station in 
Chicago, Since then, the web has 
also applied tor a Boston outlet but 
now must woi-k fast to line up 
affiliates in other parts of the coun- 
Iry. Web has already been 
rimiored willing to buy applica- 
tions or permits, if FCC approval 
can be obtained. 

NBC. meanwhile, has been oper- 
ating a four-.slation ' web in the 
east for almost a year and only 
last week added WMAIl-TV. .Balt- 
imore, to its setup. All so-called ; 
alTiliates on tlie web have been ' 
operating, however, under "work- ! 
ing agi'CKMiients." so that IvSTI'-TV ; 
is actually its only signed afliliate, ' 
Web toppers reportedly ran intoi 
considerable opposition front reps ' 
of its AM aft'iliates when they 
gathered to discuss video March 
J 2 and it's believed whatever con- 
tract tcims were discussed will 
undergo much i-evision before 
many more outlets are linked tq 
the net...: ■ ■ ■ ,^ . 



TV's 'Tuxedo Rates' 

"Tuxedo rates" is the term 
television execs are applying 
to the' hiked scales musicians 
will receive, in contrast to 
their standard broadcasting 
pay, because the visual me- 
dium will require the AFM 
boys to dress. 

Factor in the .eventuai pact- 
ing of the "Tuxedo rates" will 
be the necessity of playing un- 
der tv lighting conditions, etCi 



Tele Primed For 
Politico Confabs 
Except for Films 

Television broadcasters have 
completed plans for coverage of 
the political conventions opening 
in Philadelphia with the RepubU- 
can conclave June- 21. Only factor 
left to be ironed out is film cover- 
age for those stations not con- 
nected on the coaxial cable. , 

Film committee, chalrmanned 
by ABC national tele director Paul 
B. Mowrey, met in N. Y. Monday 
(22), where a proposal for joint 
sharing of an estimated $8'7;000 
cost for film coverage was turned 
down. Plan called for all stations 
in the country to share the cost, 
which would have afforded two 
half -hour film programs daily, 
each processed and ready for air- 
ing within 12 hours after occur- ; ^° "P witJi the answer. Best 
i-enee of the events. ' ' ^'^^ y*^*- appears to be a simpltfica- 



New American Federation of 
Musicians' pact with the networks, 
contrary to some trade reports, 
doesn't change the regulation pro- 
hibiting the use on television of 
films with a music soundtrack 
turned out by the major producers. 
Pact does permit musicians to 
score new films d'j.signed jtuft for 
video purposes and is consequently 
expected to create a boom in Uie 
production of such pix,: with 'some, 
of the major companies bow eyeing 
that end of the business, 
, AFM contract with the film pro- 
ducers prohibits specifically the 
transmission on video of all films 
turned out- after February, 1946. 
That deal was reportedly set up at 
the insistence of AFM prcz James 
C. Petrillo on the as,sumption; that 
such duplicate use of the musieians' 
Work meant other musicians would 
be unemployed. Petrillo announced 
at his press conference last Thurs- 
day (18) that the contract expires 
Labor Day, but declined to say 
what negotiations were going 'on 
for a new deal. 

With, the go-ahead sign' now 
granted for production of Alms 
with music for video, the main 
problem facing pix producei-s is 
that of costs. . Those Hollywood 
studios investigating the ))ossibility 
of doubling into teli; film prodne- 
tion have discovered the- minimum 
cost of operatio:^. under their qual- 
ity standards is about $15,000- per 
reel; Since a reel would run less 
than 10 minutes, it obviously 
wouldn't pay off, either for the pro- 
ducer or 8 sponsor. 

Hust Cut Film Costs 
Majors, consequently, have been 
looking for some shortcut ; to- pttn 
duction to cut costs but have yet 



Several other proposals were 
forthcoming at the meet, including 
one to turn the job of filming the 
conventions over to one of the! 
major newsreel firms. Decision on 
them, however, was postponed 
pending further consideration. It's 
estimated that at least 10 station.s 
will need complete coverage by 
film, since the co-ax won't iBe ex- 
tended to the midwest until sev- 
eral months after the close of the 
political confabs. 

Extra Cables Available 

For those stations able to re- 
ceive direct coverage from Phila- 
delphia, the American Telephone 
tContinued on page 38) 



(Conlimicd on page 38) 



ALPHONSE-GASTON 
SETUP m SET SALES 




, Philadelphta, Ma«t:h S!3, 
A tele preview of the ItWlfc.'ha^ 
ball season, direct from the-Fldri- i 
da training camps of , nine .major I 
league clubs, wiU be: -aired by ' 
Philco in 12 major 'cities in the 
next four weeks. 

Beginning this week, the tele- 
casts will be aired twice' weeldy, 
with the last program sehedi^led 
for the Mreek the 1943 season.' gets 
underway. ' . 

,„ , . , , ., Program introductions-arcbeimg 

Television broadcaster.s will ap- handled by Stan Baumgartner, 
parently go to any lengths to fur- phiny inquirer sports wrHer-, while 
ther the growth ot their medium, the commentary will be .provided 
Motorola Radio has signed to i ,,y Bill Slater. Teams televised 
• ?'li'u '^' „^l«''«'^»il '^ lare the Athletics. Yanks, -Red- Sox, 
-The Nature of Things ' over the i senators and the Tigers in tlie 
NBCvideoweb8:15to8:30Thurs-,^mcric^^ L the Phils, 

day nights. Outfit wil plug its jj^.^^^ National. -Aii 

nH»in^f na?vim WPT7 Phii^.^^ ^"^^J'sis of the clttb.s and their 
originating from WPJZ. Ph ladei- p^.,, ^ts in tlie coming pennant 
phia station owned and operated by ; „,jii ka u., % Zl^^^ 

Philco, which also make^ tele set.s. 'JSflJ"}L^J^:!^^J^. Bau^^art- 



NBC, of course, is a wholly-owned 
subsidiary of -RCA, which also 
manufactures tele sets. 

Show, teeing off under Motorola 
sponsorship April 1, will be car- 
ried bv WNBT, N. Y.; WRGB, 
Schenectady; WBAL-TV. Balti- 
more, and WNBW,, Washin.gton. 
It's received a hefty mail pull dur- 
isg its term as a sustiitincr on 
WPT2;. . 



ner on each teleea.st. 
i Pro.grams will be aired in Phila- 
idelpliia, St. Louis. New York. Chi- 
:ca.c;o. Washington, Cleveland, Bal- 
timore, Cincinnati, Detroit, Mil- 
waukee, Albany and Los Angeles. 



WLOlFOesinMpls. 

Mihni&apol is. -March 23. 

WLOL has filed application with 
FC(^ for television permit, asking 
2,1.000 watts tele power and 12,000 
oral. If station is authorized, new 
towel' will be erected. 

Meanwhile KSTP, alread.v broad- 
casting television but expected to 
cvtend its range with a new lower 
in April, has become affiliated with 
NBC television network and will 
be supplied by films and special 
scripts until relays pei'mit direct 



Chi Kids to See Ball 

Games as TV Gue^* 

Chicago, March 23, 
Phil - Wrigley, owner of the 
Chicago Cubs, and the manage- 
ment of WBKB. Balalian & Kala 
, tele station, have worked out a 
ideal to install video sets in field-*' 
jlioii.ses of the Chicago Park Dis^ 
[trict. Sets are for viewing of base- 
^hall games, which Wrigley has of- 
fered at no cost to tclecastcrs, ■ 

Fieldhouse set.s are expected to 
reduce juve delinquency during 
summer vacation months. Deal will 
deter youths from bar door lally- 



hookup at ^year's end. Orall.v, , . 
KSTP has been an NBC affiliate jSagSmg foi" » sudsy glimpse of the 
since ld28. I national' game. 



MOST EFFECTIVE 
COVERAGE 

X ■ ...... ^ 1 ■ 

another reason why CPlSt 
is the West's COMPLETE 
Regional Network 



AOt, PROGKAM PRODUCTION. PROGRAM PROMOTI 



Jtid ask the Columbia Pacific Network adveHiser 



CPN has more stations 5,000 or more watts 
than any other regional network on the West Coast 
All CPN stations are strategically located for complete 
coverage of all areas, whether inside or 

. . ■ ' ■ X 

outside metropolitan districts. 



The Columbia Pacific Network reaches 100% of 
all radio homes on the Coast at night. Even in the 
daytime, CPN reaches 98.7% of the radio homes.* 



You buy a maximum of ability to reach listeners 

• when you buy a program on the Colombia Pacific Network. 
Listeners are msiowers. And custmmrs are what 

you are after. This is what CPN delivers at less cost 
than other Coast networks . . . day and night. 

♦ BMB Study No. 1 



Represented by 
RADIO SALES, 
Radio StdHens 
Representative, CIS; 
New York, Chicogo, 
Los Angeles, Detnit« 
Son Francisco, 
ond Memphit 



Columbia Pacific iietworic 

Tii» West's Completft Regionoi Netwviifc 



^«W8 REPORTING. I N O I N i ■ R I N MUSIC AND SOUND, STUDIO 



flOP THE MUSIC 
mu Bert Parks, Kay Armen, Pick 
Brown. Harry Salter orch; Dousr 
Brownins, announcer 
Pt-oduoer: Mark Goodson 
60 Mins.; Snnday, 8 p.in. 

ABC, from New York 

In a bid to cut into the Edgar 
Berxen-^red ,^llen parlay Sunday 
nights on NBC, the ABC network 
hag spotted a full hour audience 
participation musical show into the 
8'9 o'clock niche and is offering it 
for national sponsorship in 15- 
minute segments. The stanza, titled 
"Stop the Music," is a Lou Cowan 
package. It premiered Sunday 
night (211, with no bankrollers at 
the getaway. 

Even for a listener without a 
telephone listing, the show seems 
moderately lively and entertaining. 
Since the many numbers are neces- 
sarily short and are interrupted by 
the tcleph«ie question gimmick, 
the show is .iumpy and the other- 
wise good music suffers. Also, the 
phone- confabs lose much of their 
life because only the studio end 
can be broadcast. ; 

Whether the. show can make 
serious inroads on the Bergen- 
Allen rating citadel will depend 
greatly on how much it can sustain 
the interest of premiere. The pro- 
ducer and the network obviously 
. realize that and are using a run- 
ning jackpot prize-gimmick to cap-^' 
ture and hold listener attention. 
The format of "Stop the Music" 
' is relatively simple and good. 
Harry Salter's orchestra plays one 
chorus of' a number, and occasion- 
ally Kay Arin0n or Pick Brown 
sings, omitting "tlie title lyrics. 
Meanwhile, ABC switchboard op- 
■erators are making calls to num- 
bers picked at' rimdom from na- 
tional phone listings. When they 
get someone' on the wire who is 
liiitening! ' to the . program, Bert 
Parks asks him to identify the tune 
just played. 

If he an.swers correctly he wins 
• fairly impressive prize, (electric 
I'et'rigerators, radio-phonographs, 
silverware sets, electric washing 
machines and motion picture cam- 
eras-projector sets were given on 
the preem) and immediately gets a 
chance to, identify the "mystery 
melody" and win the jackpot con- 
sisting of a $1,000 bond,- spinet 
piano, auto, diamond ring-, radio 
phono and 38-day cruise. 

Of the 12 persons called on the 
premiere, six named the tune cor- 
rectly; bat all missed the jackoot 
tune. The six who missed were 
given- wrist .watches as consolation. 
For each miss, a studio contestant 
was called up to answer the ques- 
tion and win the original prize, 
but wasn't given a crack at the 
jackpot. ' 

This rojitirie worked out fairly 
smoothly, particularly for » pre- 
miere,- but Parks repeatedly had to 
urge listeners to wait for calls and 
not phone the studio, as that 
wouldn't be allowed as. guesses and 
would only tie up the ABC switch- 
board. Within the limits of such' 
hectic circumstances, Harry Sal- 
ter's music and the singing of Miss 
Armen aiid Brown were impres- 
sive. And the phone call gimmick 
multiplied the old pot-o<'--oM 
climax 12 times. Kobe. 



OPINION-AIEE 

With Harry Lacassitt, moderator 
Producers: UoUls Seavey, Jack 

Palffe • 
30 Mins.; Wed., 10-10:30 p.m. 
SnstalninK 

Mutual, from Washington 



FARAIXE OP YOUTH FORUM 
'Witli James liooby- 
30 Mins.; 9:30 «.m.. Sat. 
WORC, Hartford 

This half-hour youth panel forum 
discussion is co-sponsored by 
WDRC and the Hartfbrd Courant. 
It is tagged after the Sunday juve 
maga/.ine supplement in that sheet 
-and has at its helm James F. 
Looby, editor of the section. It is 
one of the many cooperative efforts 
between the station and the new.s- 
paper with eaeh getting equal and ' 
reciprocal billing and publicity in 
the two media. 

Show is heard at a time when 
the local etiier is clutteied with 
radio sho\ys- beamed directly at the 
juve traffic. All local stations on 
Saturday ay em direct all their at- 
tention — but not their talent— to 
the moppet plus traffic. As a result 
they get interesting filler mate- 
rial but not good entertainment. 

"I'arade of Youth" Forum is one 
of those sho-v'.s that suffers because 
of. its lack of entertainment valuo. 
Topics under discussion deal with 
problems of high school youth with 



George Denny can rest easy with 
his "Town Meeting of the Air" and 
NBC and CBS need not rush out to 
defend their laurels in the forum- 
discussion field, if Mutual's re-air- 
ing of its forum-type sustainer 
"Opinion-aire" last Wednesday (17) 
is any gauge of the program's fu- 
ture performance. 

In fairness to the show's origina- 
tors, "Opinion-aire" format, which 
employs a courtroom technique 
with direct amd cross-examinaition 
bv lawyer.«i for both sides, may 
have possibilities for dramatizing 
a lively issue. " In practice, the 
courtroom atmosphere of last 
week's show was completely sub- 
ordinated to long-winded ques<- 
tions, liickering and crossfire which 
soon lost both direction and flayor. 

The preem show pitted CIO at- 
toi-ney Frank Donner against NAM 
coun.sel Ray Smethurst in what 
conceivably could have been ' a 
Spirited discussion of the pros and 
cons of the Taft-Hartley Act. As 
it turned out, the broadcast was 
consistently dull. 

The debate is supposed to tee off 
with a provocative question by 
counsel for the protagonist of the 
affirmative side — in this case the 
argument for repealing the Taft- 
Hartley Act. Actually, CIO coun- 
sel Phil Lazarus threw the ball to 
Donner who proceeded to monolog 
for most of the six minutes theo- 
retically earmarked for rapidfire 
direct examination. At another 
point during cross - examination 
Lazarus shot a double-ban-eled 
two-irninHte-long question at Smet- 
hurst which wound up "Isn't all 
this so'?" and left his opponent 
with little time and no composure 
to refute the charges. All of this? 
may give aid and comfort to the 
protagonists but it makes poor lis- 
tening. 

Show would be 100% improved 
by a firm wielding at the gavel and 
frequent interjections from the 
moderator. Choice of protagonists 
was also unfortunate. The same 
issue batted around by top poli- 
ticos and not by organmttions 
whose views on, the subject havei 
been rehashed ad nauseam might 
have been easier to stick with. 

Another gimmick of dubious lis- 
tener value is the telephone poll 
conducted by Pittsburgh poll-taker 
E. L. Rayhawk. Reports on phone 
calls from listeners in a half-dozen 
cities (supposedly divided between 
agricultural and industrial areas), 
are suppo.sed to add fillip and a 
sense of audience participation to 
the show. 

If Mutual's only purpose is to 
get a showing of listeners' pre- 
jiiclgments on the issue — and not 
to air what purpoi'ts to b© a bona- ' 
fide public opinion poll — this fact 
should be made crystal clear on 
the program itself. And if the 
web's intent is to give het-up lis- 
teners an outlet for their feelings, 
the poll could .be handled in a 
much lighter fashion without any 
attempts to pose as a scientific 
sampling of opinion. 

Skeptical listeners seeking en- 
lightenment are neither lllumi- 
nat0d nor convinced when only 
percentage votes— and not the ac- 
tual number of calls made— are 
reported. And the fact that calls 
are made from the minute the 
show goes on, Uie- air divorces any 
signifieance the poll might have 
for the participants themselves or 
for the impartial ILslener. By 10:30 
p.m. last week the last-named were 
not tuned to Mutual. Holl. 



BIG TALENPT HUNT 
With Jim Backus, emcee; Ted 
Brown, announcer; cuests; EJmer- 
Son Buckley, masic „. . 

Writers: Will Glickman. Joe Stein, 

Sid Reznick 
Director: Walt Framer 
Producer: Hetb Moss 
35 Mins.; Thurs., 8:30 p.m. (EST) 
Sustaining 

Mutual, from New York 

It's strictly from zanyness, but 
it ain't bad. Mutual, or any web, 
could do a lot worse. As for Jim 
Backus, maybe this is just his dish. 
In the preem of this talent-hunt 
satire last week (18), he was click- 
ing on evej-y quip cylinder. 

Idea is simp^f to kid the current 
vogue for t»Ient-h«nt sSiows via 
competitive anditionrng of the 
oddest assortment of whacky tal- 
ents the producers can round up. 
On the initialer, for instance, these 
included a fellow who produced 
musical notes by hammering on 
his noggin, a fireman who was a 
human echo, and a lady auto 
mechanic who played tunes on an 
inner tube a«>d. a mbber hose. Lat- 
ter copped the jaekpot ($100) on 
the basis of a studio "applause 
meter"; all of the contestants got 
50 bucks apiece for their peculiar 
efforts. ,.• . "■, 

Sheer absnrdfty of most of the 
freak talents demonstrated made 
for listener amusement, but it was 
Backus' fast and foolish repartee 
that really , gave the show edge. 
BacknSr who cut his- come^ teeth 
6n supporting roles for Alan 
Young. Eddie Cantor, Danny Kaye 
Jack Benny, Fred Allen and others 
has had tough sledding in tke 
Hooper stakes with his Feenament- 
sponsored Sunday night show on 
Mutual, the stanza being a thinly 
budgeted, almost singlehanded ef- 
fort. It remains to be seen how this 
new talent hunt takeoff will stand 
up on weekrin, week-out basis, but 
Backus got it off to a beautifully 
screwy and promising ■ start. His 
parodying of the "amateur hour" 
technique coupled with expert ad- 
libbing throughout gave the show 
the earnuirks of a connec. Dom. 



BKANTOWN VAKIETIEH 
With Carl Moore. Carl Dickerman, 
Gloria Carroll. Wild AaEsdexSt 
Frank Bell orch (131. 
ProttaecR JetoMiy VwdnrocOi 
25 Mins., MoH-Sat., S:30-S:55 «.m. 
Participiatingr 
WEEI, BiDiitiMt 

This stanza has been one of the 
more popular early ajn. anrings for 
several years based on personal 
draw of Carl Moore and Carl Dick- 
erman, long-time WKEI personali- 
ties, who give out as if they were 
making the whole show up as they 
go along, which usually they are. 

Show rolls along in informal 
manner, tlie fbrmat consisting usu- 
ally of chatter, songs, orch special- 
ties and plenty of a.fl lib ribbing 
from cast. Result is a happy-go 
lucky free-for-all of music^ cross- 
talk and corn, the whole- tied up 
with Moore's gravetrvcte« delivery. 

Gloria Carroll, a smooth war- 
bler, carries the vocal burden with 
the orchestra, a very neat house, 
band, and clicks with a hep list of 
current faves. Wild Azaleas, hill- 
billy trio with guitar, plenty popu- 
lar with the rural listeners, fill in 
with one or two numbers. Show 
frequently uses guest stars for a 
spot of singing, pfantt .pfao^infe or 
kidding around. 

Moore, on air 12 years for WEEI 
(he has another a.m. spot with Bay 
Girardin in songs and patter), 
writes whatever material the show 
needs, but in general it's a spon- 
taneous affair with a high average 
of clicks. Eli?. 



He Wincliell nienmenon 

Walter Winchell as a journalistic phenomenon Is taken for 
granted, So is his Influence. Of the 16 or 17 years he has 
been Jcrgensing, his impact Sunday nights at 9 has never been 
matched in radio. As a show blz entity he has been parred only by 
the now historic America-sets-its-time by Amos 'n' Andy, when 
they were in the 7 p.m. nightly slot. Ana that's only matched by 
Jack Benny at 7 on Sunday nights, 

But, on top of all these time-honored, babit-fbrming. influences 
nev^r before in histoi<y of Winchell on the radio has his impact 
been as vivid as in recent months. More specifically it reduces it- 
self to recent weeks as America seems to recognize that, what 
appeared to be alternately a voice in the wilderness, or (to many) 
a seAsation-seeking paen of hate — glibly dismissed as warmonger- 
ing— suddenly has taken on new values. Winchell's potency has 
never been sold short. The time he sent Wail Street plummeting 
down was a recent case in point, to the degree that his intimates 
now believe this was an occasion he must have regretted person- 
ally, no matter how well intentioned he might have been. 

Winchell's intentions. >s a matter of fact, are rarely if ever to be 
questioned. He may err sometimes in permitting his emotions to 
sway him too far^ but he can never be accused of being overboard 
on Americanism. 

As a radio commodity, however, he's a rarity these days the 

untrammelled commentator who can .speak his mind freely, unin- 
hibited and unabashed. As Ed Murro-w cautioned at a recent radio 
awards fete, the problem in these reactionary days Is greater than 
in the era of severest "security" during the war years, so far as 
newcastlng sans "weighted words" is concerned. The .'Vndrow 
Jergens Co. has certainly been smoothing the way tor its ace lotion 
merchandiser, so far as a free -microphone is concerned. From an 
obviously testy series of asides to his announcer about "middle 
commercials," and "don't cut me off," and the like, Winchell has 
been given a free course with only the end commercials. His talks 
, have been grave btit authoritative; martial and, if betimes hysterical 
in light of events, prophetic. And if his past Sunday night's talk 
(from Wa.shington where he went "in order to be closer to the 
news") sounded like somebody was putting'the damper on him. he 
was none the less factual and realistic. 

Winchell has been a show biz and joutnalistic phenomenon for 
many years. As he has matured he has achieved a stature which 
has been somehow grudgingly accorded htm. Pact remains the 
headlines seem to be catcliing up with one Sunday night crystal-ball 
microj^lKKROigaiiCT. Abel. 



THAT SACRED FIRE 
With Drew Pearson, Abbie Lewis, 
Susan Donglus, Norman Rose, 
Paul Dubov, Elaine Rost, Mason. 
Adams, Charles Webster; Don 
Lowe, announcer' 
.W)dtcT: In MariM 
DfaeetArsr Chairles Warbiurton, 

Charle«, Andrews 
30 Mins.; Mon. C.!'^), 10:30 p.m. 
Sustaining 

ABC. from New York 

"That sacred fire of liberty" is 
the new catchword for the latest 
giveaway' contest. If there are 
-prizes for 25-word testimonials for 
soaps, cigs, razor blades, etc.,, why 
not, it was figured, for the most 
precious necessity of all-^democ- 
racy? It's completely logical in a 
completely ludicrous way. 

Fathered by Drew Pearson, the 
contest is framed around the ques- 
tion: "How to make democracy 
work?" Pearson, after a 25-miuute 
dramatic trailer, appealed to the 
civic conscience of America for 
widespread participation in think- 
ing through the problem. Then 
came the spieler's pitch. Just to 
make it worthwhile, he said, we're 
going to give away $5,000 in cash, 
an automobile and dozens of other 



ACADEMY AWARDS 

With Buddy Twiss. Franeek ScOUjr 

Producer: Sid Goodman 

170 Mina.; 10:30 p.m.. Sat. Mar. 29 

Sustaining 

ABC, from Hollywood 

This pickup of the 20th annual 
distribution of "Oscars" must have 
proved quite an ordeal for even the 
most rugged and vivid worshipper 
of screen luminaries. Running, but 
10 minutes short of three hours, 
the broadcast gave the listeners the 
complete works, from the bleach- 
ers' hoopla outside -the auditorium 
right througli to the -final word of 
the ceremonies. Loudspcakerwise, 
it was an alternating succession of 
suspcnseful, excitinp moments and 
stretches of dullness. 

With television the event could 
turn out one of the great highlights 
of the year. But limited to sound, 
this conglomeration of film souna 
tracks and repetitious ritual was 
as bard on the ear as it was on the 
seat. The ranoff must have been 
especially wearing on those who 
tuned in for the winners of the 
best actor and picture awards. Most 
of these were announced during 
the final quarter' hour. 

Of Uic various films shown dur- 



olf."^'''f.i''."'''^.?; I<^«ep the essays to , ing the festivities the one whose 



PEACE OR ELSE 
Writerr David Roberts 
Producer:. Larry Hardlnf 
15 MtHs^r Mwndays, 8 p.m. 

Sustainiins 

WVET, Rochester, N. Y, 

Atomic energy programs are 
almost as plentiful as giveaway 
.■jhows but they're far more useful 
"Peace Or Else," aired over the 
newly organized, vet-owned WVET, 
is presenting a frank and adult 
discussion of the meaning of the 
atomic age. With cooperation fi-om 
tlie>, Rochester 



authoritative tone. Even more im- 
, , -.. . . portant, it avoids the usual pedan- 

a panel drawn Irom the schools of 1 tic timidity and calls a spade a 



University faculty .. 

and student body, the show ha.s an ations aren't particularly original 



STORY FAIR 

With Albert Arkus, Gerald Pear- 
son-, Wayne Murray, Diane Cas- 
par. Ada .and Ceil Winderbanm, 
Walter Weil, Alan Shay, Sue Gail 
Shay, .loylene Trent, Ben Ham- 
meri Les Diamond 

Producer- Writer: Herb Ross 

55 Mins.; Sat., 10 a.m. 

SUstaininjT 

WNYC-N. Y. 

This program, which has been 
proceedin.!! without fanfare (al* 
though with a highly accelerated 
mail pull) since its debut last fait, 
is well above the usual cut of chil- 
dren's programs, displaying imagin- 
ation and taste in dialog, sitifti- 
tion and general production. Situ 



250 words; write on one side of the 
paper; the judges' decision is final; 
and all other .contest rules apply. 
Evei-ythi'ng was thrown in except 
the boxtops. 

Ira Marion's script pulled out all 
the stops in leading up to the grand 
climax of the contest's announce- 
ment by Pear.son. Our boys gave 
their all at Valley Forge, Gettys- 
burg and Okinawa to, preserve our 
heritage, it said. JBut this flabby 
generation needs that $5,000 incen-r 
tive to stir it into thought and 
action, it implied. Herm, 



the metropolitan Hartford area. It 
falls apart because of poor han- 
dling, and lacks cohesion. Modera- 
tor Looby allows subjects under 
discussion to get away from him 
with result that there is a wander- 
ing over fields before a return to 
the discussion pasture. He. him- 
self, at tijnes .shows inadequate 
preparation for topic .at hand. 

l*anel numbers are unrehearsed 
and appear without notes. Asa re- 
sult, there is loo much dead space 
and an overabundance of throat 
clearing interspersed with oohs 
and aahs. £c)c. 



spade. 

On the preem show (Sk William 
L. Sliirer, guested with a brief talk 
outlining the dangerous altwrna- 
(ives open to civilization since fu-st 
A-bomb was dropped. Meat of the 
program, however, was served up 
by Richard C. Wade, history in- 
structor at Rochester, who made a 
searching analysis o£ attemtps to 
put amtoic enei-gy undei- interna- 
tional control. His conclusion was 
totally devoid of pious hopes: "The 
United Nations has no more con- 
trol over the atom than a butterfly 
in a liigh wind." 



but they're very satisfying nevei'- 
llieless. It's an Alice-in-Wonder- 
landish sort of program, with a 
charm elders will appreciate as 
well as kids. There's "no hint of 
adult condescension, while there's 
a mature quality, about the han^ 
dling that shows what a kid pm- 
firam can have under adequate 
care and pre!>ent:ation. 

Saturday's (20) program intro-. 
duced a number of new features, 
but format was essentially the 
same, with a couple of kids wan- 
dering along , a magic midway, 
stumbling into an ' opera house 
record room, an orchestra hall, a 
sideshow, anything. A kid wan- 
(Continued on page 36) 



soundtrack ofl'ered some meaning 
and interest for the listener was 
the compilation tagged "Academy 
"Family Album." It was well writ- 
ten and narrated and i-elaycd in 
bright sparks of nostalgia. 

The procession of film names 
making similar little speeches of 
presentation and acceptance was 
long, but the entcrtainmunt, in the 
strict sense, was crowded into the 
interlude preceding the award of 
the best screen song. Delivering 
the plugs lor the five candidates 
were Johnny Mercer aijd the Pied 
Pipers, Dennis Day. Frances l-ang- 
ford, Gordon Macliae and Dinah 
Shore. Incidentally, the tunc sung 
by Meroer and the Pied Pipers, 
'.'Zippy Doodad," was the winner. 

Of the ABC staff Buddy Twiss 
had the assignmcnt of interviewing 
the bleacherites at arrival time and 
filling in with an explunalory note 
or two during the cereiwmies in^ 
side. He earned it oD' with good 
judgment and tad. Frances Scully, 
also of ABC staff, was also in for 
the preface, reporting on the ar- 
rlvees' garb, Odvc. ^ 

Pinchers" prize to listener who 
.supplies best household hint and a 
write-in on the top of "my favor- 
ite grocery clerk." Another device, 
"Myi Wor.st Day," has three con- 
testants striving to top each other 
•With accounts of domestic mishaps. 



SHOPPER'S SPECIAL 
With Eddie Hubbard. Beulah Kar- 

ney. Don Moreland. Ellen White, 

lUtneydreamers (5), Rex Manpin 

Orch,' 

Writer-Producer: Ed Sketch 
60 Min.<i.; Sat., 8 a.m. 
Sustaining 
ABC, from Chicago 

Ever since "Breakfast Club" was 
cut down to five days a week sev- 
eral .years ago, ABC has been cast- 
ing about for a saleable show to lit 
its 8-9 a.m. Saturday slot. Previous 
tries included a hillbilly bash, spon- 
sored by a manufacturer of a den- 
tal plate adhesive lor 13 weeks, and 
an aud participationer on which 
Tommy Bartlctt handed out loot. 
. Latest entry, arrowed exclusively 
at femnies, has Beulah Karney with 

the hard facts of food and Eddie . ...v- ... -.- ^ , 

Hubbard as emcee. Latter, a di.sk | Winner on preem (20) told how slic 
jock lave from an indie, handles i accldently sautecd a canary 
the main "Maiket Basket" guessero I trying to make a batch of spastnelti 



in which pairs of contestants try 
to identify objects on the basis of 
words in pops sung by Don More- 
land. Answers are whispered into 
the mike for the edification of lis- 
teners., 

Beulah ICarney, food ed of Lib- 
erty mag and a veteran of kilocycle 
homemaking. gives tipn on grocery 
buys for the week and delves into 
gustatory lore as side sauce for 
menu planning. She avoids deadly 
recipe I'ccitals and her delivery has 
interest plus authority. 

For mail pull there'* a "Penny 



Hubbard proved nimble in the 
emceo role. H o n e y d r e a in e r s 
weaved voices neatly in "Market 
Basket" inlroes and scored in t-heir 
go at "Cherokee." Ellen White 
worked her single solo well. I«>n 
Moreland is in that unrewardmg 
spot in which vocals are secondary 
to a stunt. Rex Maupin orch per- 
forms handily on pops. 

Show has -iTOSslbilities for Itxja 
dealers as a co-op or, nationally, in 
.subdiv 'vons of the hour. ' 
brciTk". dow'n into separate i .|'»- 
ute shots. 



S5 



AFRA Polling 
Membership On 
Unemplopent 

The American Federation of 
Badio Artists will this week start 
circulation among its membership 
of a questionnaire on employment. 
The New York local will be 
Qveried. first and the chapters in 
other cities will, be , polled soon 
afterward. The move, being car- 
ried out by the union's unemploy- 
ment committee, is intended to 
gather information on which ac- 
tion can be taken to combat un- 
employment within the member- 
ship. 

The organization's national and 
local officers are appealing to the 
members to fill out the question- 
naires fully, accurately and hon- 
estly. The U. S, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics is cooperating in the 
survey, prepai-ing the questions 
and tabulating the results. AFKA 
ofticlals have assured the mem- 
bers that no one in AFRA will 
see any of the individual returns, 
all of which will be sent direct to 
the Government agency. 

The. questionnaire \viU ask for 
data on length pf experience in 
radio, 'educational background, 
specialized training in the enter- 
raintnent field, amount of work 
and earnings during 1947. Taking 
a specific sample week of the year, 
the questionnaire will ask whether 
the performer was working that 
week, looking for work or was 
unavailable because of illness, 
vacation, etc. If employed in radio 
the kind of work will be asked 
<that is, live, recorded, local, net- 
work, commercial- or sustaining, 
etc.) If' employed outside radio, 
the. kind of work will be asked. 

The questionnaire will also in- 
quire as to earnings for the week 
in radio and otherwise, pumber of 
programs worked, how many of 
tiiese were contract appearances^ 
and whetiier the week's income 
ivas above or below average for 
the' year. 

Clayton Collyer is chairman of 
ilte unemployment committee. 

fVi^irani Hypo For 
Cancer Fund Plea 

American Canc«r Society will 
«et a powerful ride on the kilo- 
cycles next month with both the 
radio and television phases of the 
Industry getting set to pitch in be- 
half of this year's $16,000,000 fund 
drive. Preparations for a big kick- 
off for the campaign April 4 were 
finalized last week by a committee 
representing all net and local sta- 
tions in the New York area. 

Cancer control drive will also 
stretch across the country's airlanes 
under a detailed blueprint drawn 
up by the Society's radio commit- 
tee in the form of a voluminous 
campaign kit, the committee has 
prepared 18 different types of pro- 
erams, ranging from 15-second 
plugs to four IS-minute dramatiza- 
tions. The kit is for use on a local 
scale, and includes several foreign 
language airers. 

On the network level, all major 
aavertisers have pledged to insert 
plugs on their shows. Additional 
support is being obtained from the 
leading spot sales sponsors who 
nave agreed to devote a portion of 
tneir time to the cancer fund plea, 
flans are also underway to present 
a half -hour sustaining show on 
each of the major networks. 

'Taking advantage of the disk 
2Sn ^ comeuppance, the society 
will conduct a national contest in 
wmch the jockey bringing, in the 
most mtoney will be given an award 
Among other projected plans arc 
wo contests, one of which will be 
m!,!-. ^ of the "Walking 

^«an idea in cooperation with 
nol*®^? for a Day." The other 
th„ t?*^ which will be confined to 
plotted'" York area, is still being 

television, films of name 
«ars making appeals for the soci- 
ZE S'^e being distributed to all 
vraeo stations. In addition, avail- 
SSff e*Jc«tional films on cancer 
*™ oe tied into the campaign. 



RADIO EDITORS' QUALIlt RATING 



Week of Stardi 13-19 



JU Compiled Exclusively for Variety by Dick Monsfielii 
Freelance Researcher 

(A coTnpo.itte ewoluotion of programs hy the nafion's leading radio editors, rated upon the fol- 
lowing points: Script, Performance, Production, Ad'^ertising, Music, Originality. Rating system 
allows for a possible high of 30 points, as follows: Oiitstanding, AA or 30; A plus or 25— Excellent 
A or 22; B plus or 19— Good, B or 16; Fair, C or 13; Ppor, D or 10.) Of the 65 critics polled 37 re- 
sponaed in this report. 



Pravlout 
Standing 

(4 

(3 
(14 
(10 

(7 

' (9) 



U Ozzie & Harriet 24,6 

2. Fibber & MolJy. 24.2 

3. Fred Allen 23.6 

4. Bing Crosby 23.2 

5. Jack Benny 23.0 

6. Living— 1948 22.8 

7. Fred Waring 22:4 

8. Studio One 21.5 



frevloui 
- Standing 



1 


9. 


Percy Faith 


21.2 


6 


10. 


Amos 'n' Andy 


21.0 


1 


II. 


Henry Morgan 


20.7 


5 


12. 


CBS Is There \ ,.. 


20.3 


8 


13. 


Theatre Guild of Air. .. 


19.6 


2 


14. 


Town Meeting of Air , . . 
Duffy's Tavern 


19.3 




15. 


19.0 



EDITORS' RECOMMENDED LISTENING 

Ford Theatre , NBC 

Candid Mike ABC 

Quiet Please .- MBS 

Telephone Hour NBC 



Station Broker 
Asks FCC Help 
HimConect42G 



Washington, March 23. 

The Smith Davis Corp., largest 
broker in the broadcasting busi- 
ness, asked the Federal Communi- 
cations C^missipn last week for 
permission to appear at a March 
29 hearing in which the FCC will 
weigh the competing merits of 
Liberty Broadcasting Co. and the 
Grandwood Broadcasting Co. to 
buy ABC-owned WOOD, Grand 
Rapids. Station's sales ticket is 
$850,000. 

Davis said he has at stake a 
$42,500 commission due him on 
ABC's contract to sell the station 
to broadcaster-publisher Harry M. 
Bitner and Ralph S. Euler, prin? 
clpals in the Grandwood company. 
Davis' petition, filed by attorney 
Paul A. Porter, listed the follow- 
ing reasons why he is a party in 
interest in the WOOD sale: 

ABC approached him in July, 
1947, Davis recounted, to find a 
buyer for WOOD. The net was 
required to sell the station by rea- 
son of the Commission's chain 
broadcasting rule which prohibits 
network ownership of the domi- 
nant radio facility in a town where 
there is no Independently-owned 
outlet able to compete on equal 
terms. Grandwood Broadcasting 
Co. agreed to buy WOOD for $850,- 
000, 5% of which was to go to 
Davis as a broker's fee. 

On Nov. 3, 1947, the Liberty 
Broadcasting Co. filed a competing 
bid under the AVCO procedure. 
Liberty had originally contracted 
to buy WOOD, but was unable to 
meet the cash commitments of an 
earlier contract with ABC. 

Davis claims Liberty's offer 
qualifies as "competing" only if the 
network is relieved of its obliga- 
tion to pay him $42,500, regardless 
Of whether FCC approves a sale 
to this company or Grandwood. In 
effect, he claimed, Liberty's pur- 
chase price is not $850,000, but 
$807,500. If the Commission 
should decide he is not entitled to 
his brokerage fee, Davis declared, 
he would be denied of "property 
without due process." 

Davis said he was filing an ap- 
pearance at this late date because 
he had assumed until recently that 
ABC would pay him his fee even 
if the sale were approved toUb- 
erty. In March the net informed 
him it would consider itself liable 
only if the deal were consummated 
with Grandwood. 

This is one of the few hearings 
in which a broker has sought active 
participation, although details of 
all sales handled through brokers 
must be disclosed in full in sales 
applications. 



Manila Gets in ^rong' 

Manila, March 15. 

Radio fans who are often 
exposed to music they don't 
care to listen to can now re- 
lax and. take it easy here, 
Armed ■ Forces Radio Service 
station WVTM is offering, a 
novel program called "Wrong 
Number," which at least is 
definitely somethitag different 
in these parts. 

Entire show consists of mu- 
sic that someone does not en- 
joy, including songs by vocal- 
ists held in abhorrence* by a 
given radio fan and pertinent 
comments by the announcer 
relating to the merits of the 
musician in question. 

"Wrong Number" is now a 
weekly feature over WVTM, 
In line with its program of ex- 
panding its broadcast activi- 
ties. Sgt. Jim O'Neill is in 
charge of spinning the records 
on the show and. dropping 
vitriolic comments on the side. 



'Binger Beer Web' 
Set for Gncy Reds 

Cincinnati, March- 23. 
Thirteen stations in four states 
will relay Waite Hoyt's WCPO air- 
ings of Reds' games this season, 
with Burger beer as the tagger. 
So-called Burger network kicks off 
with the Cincy baseball club's 
opening game and includes entire 
schedule except certain night 
games and all Sunday games at 
home, 

This is Hoyt's fourth year on 
WCPO. Previously he did play-by- 
play accounting on WKRC for 
three summers. Burger has been 
his bankroUer all that time. He 
continues a 15-minute sports re- 
view at 6:15 p.m. on WCPO for 
Alms and Doepke,. department 
store, which also has sponsored 
him for his all-time Cincy stretch. 

Dick Bray, dean of Cincy sports- 
casters, also carries on for his 12th 
season with an interview series, 
"Fans in the Stands,'' of quarter- 
hour programs before each game. 
They originate in Crosley Field for 
home games and in the RKO Albee 
theatre lobby for out-of-town play. 

Other stations to which WCPO 
will feed are: WCAW, Charleston, 
W. Va.; WHTN.Huntington, W. 
Va.; WKLX, Lexington, Ky.; 
WCSI-FM, Columbus, Ind.; WSUA, 
Bloomington, Ind.; in Ohio, WFIN, 
Findlay; WPTW, Piqua; WBEX, 
ChiUicothe • WPFB, Middletown, 
WWSO, Springfield; WMRN, Mar- 
ion; WMAN, Mansfield, and 
WMGA, Marietta, 



Court Seizes N.O. 
Station in Offshoot 
Of Divorce Action 



New Orleans, March 23. 
Civil Sheriff Louis Knop seized 
WJBW here Friday (19) under a 
writ signed by District Judge Mc- 
Cune, of Jefferson Parish. The 
writ was issued on application of 
Mrs, Louise C. Carlson, divorced 
wife of Charles Carlson, .who with' 
his former spouse, owns the sta- 
tion. 

'Mrs. Carlson charged that Carl- 
son did not observe conditions of 
their divorce decree," which was 
issued several months ago. Sheriff 
Knop said. All funds from the 
station's operation will be placed 
in a separate fund at the disposal 
of the Jefferson Parish court, he 
added. 

The court also appointed James 
J. A. Fortier, local business man,' 
to operate WJBW and its property 
until further orders of the court. 

The FCC last December denied 
Carlson renewal of his license and 
awarded it, instead, to his former 
wife. The FCC charged that Carl- 
son was operating the station off 
frequency with greater than li- 
censed power. 



Hartford — Station manager 
Walter Haase of WDRC has been 
appointed publicity chairman of 
the $50,000 fund drive of the Hart- 
ford Rehabilitation Workshop. 



HAMPTON TO REPLACE 
'HARLEM HOSPITALITY' 

Mutual's "Harlem Hospitality 
Club," which only recently got a 
N. y. outlet via farming-out to in- 
die WNEW, is in for shelving next 
month, With its Saturday afternoon 
slot going to a new Lionel Hamp- 
ton musical stanza which the 
Treasury Dept. wiU banki'oU (tal- 
ent only) to plug savings bonds 
sales. 

Half-hour show, in addition to 
Hampton and his 20-piece band, 
will have a glee club, quartet, so- 
lolsts.and emcee. Stanza was pack- 
aged by Sam Levine, co-producer 
of "Hospitality Club," and will 
travel, playing theatres, following 
its N. y. preem April 10. 



ABC Pitch For 
Honors Fith 
letliuselah' 

Round of network coverage' 
claims and counter-claims touched 
off last year by Mutual's "listen- 
ability" hoopla niay be in for a 
revival, ignited this time by ABC. 
Web this week will blanket the 
ad agencies and other vital points 
with a sales promotion iqailer 
which the net's briefcase boys have 
dubbed "Methuselah." 

Gist of the ABC pitch is that 
while two years wasn't very long 
in the life of Methuselah, it ac- 
counts for 30% of the total ex- . 
istence of the web as an inde- 
pendent operation. It's been just- 
two years this month since the 
Broadcast Measurement Bureau is- 
nued' its nationwide survey, and 
lots of things have happened since 
•hen. 

Web, says ABC, has added 70 
stations, now "has "more Stations 
in the top markets than any other 
network;" lots of affiliates have 
upped power, soon will have 11 
50-kilowatters against the four at 
BMB survey time. 

But It's on the rating front that 
ABC bears down in its Metliuselah 
peptalk. Pointing to a vast dif- 
ference between "can hear" and 
"want to listen" — an oblique slap 
at "listenability" arguments — ^web 
says its average nighttime Hooper 
on commercial, shows is up four 
full points, or 71% higher than 
when BMB came out. Night for 
night, without naming names other 
than its own, ABC figures the two- 
year changes in average nighttime 
commercial Hoopers this way: 

Cross-the-Board 

Friday— ABC up 73% in the first 
place; network X down 3% and 
in third; Y up in 19% and in 
fourth; Z down 18% and hi second. 

Saturday—ABC up 96%, ranking 
second; X down 41% and Y up 
33%,. tied for third; Z up 22%, 
ranking first 

Sunday- ABC up 67%, ranking 
second; X down 19%, ranking 
third; Y up 22%, fourth in rank; 
Z down 2%, first in rank. 

Wednesday — ABC ttp 119%, 
ranking second; X down 16%, 
ranking third; Y up 16%, fourth; 
Z down 6%, first. 

(Mondays, Tuesdays and Thurs- 
days obviously are another story 
as far as ABC is concerned, as 
they're lgnoi:ed in the compila-* 
tion.) , 

Anyway, ABC concludes, there's 
no reason to judge the web, or any 
of the others, for that matter, on 
the basis of Match, 1946, stand* 
ings. 

Mutual, incidentally, may ormay 
not be prepared for a quick retort 
to ABC via nighttime "listenabil- 
ity" figures. At last report^de* 
spite vehement denials by th« 
brass that the net won't have a 
nighttime story to tell — Mutual en- 
gineers were still grappling with 
skywave and other problems en- 
countered in composing an after- 
dark counterpart to the daytime 
'listenability" claims the web came 
up with last year. 



WJR's 2-Way fiesta 

Detroit, March 23; 

Station WJR had a double-bar* 
relied celebration Friday (19> •Right 
when radio, business, sports and 
civic leaders assembled in the Re- 
cess Club to dedicate the new ex- 
panded studios and to honor G. A. 
"Dick" Richards, WJR prexy, on 
his 59th birthday. 

A special CBS program, "An 
American Salute," featuring an all- 
American team on tlie field of 
radio, climaxed the ceremony. Each 
member stepped to the mike and 
delivered a sidute to Richards. 



Seattk AFKA 
Poised for Strike 

Seattle, March 23. 

Strike action by local American 
Federation of Radio Artists against 
three network stations, KOMO, 
KJR and KIRO, is still a possibili- 
ty, although long drawn out nego- 
tiations have achieved a tentative 
agreement on a raise of $6.50 per 
vt'eek, retroactive for one month, 
for staff announcers and an in- 
crease of 5% in freelance fees, ef- 
fective this week. ' 

Still at issue are questions of 
working condition's, contract for 
staff writers and period of retroac- 
j tive pay. Membership meeting last 
; week revealed desire for retroac- 
j tivity back to January 1, when old 
contract expired. 

A sub-committee from the Se- 
attle Central Labor Council has 
been keeping tab on dickering, with 
AFRAites ready to call for strike if 
negotiations reach deadlock; again. 



8« 



wumwo 



'M or NoAng' Policjr on FM Onlion 
By Webs h GtVmg fCC Scrutiny 



Washington, March 23. - 
• The Fedecid Coninnmications 
Commission is evincing concern 
over the "all or none" policy of 
the nets in handling duplication of 
web shows on PM. 

Mutual and ABC last week filed 
replies to FCC's letter of Feb. 26 
demanding full info on duplication 
policies. NBC and CBS have been 
prodded by the Commission ta get 
their answers in earty this week. 

M«tii»l*s letter, over the signa- 
ture ot general manager Robert 
Swezey, explained that aililiates 
who air any web shows on AM-ITVI 
must duplicate all commercial 
islots. ABC counsel Joseph Mac- 
donald reported that -the web is 
•asking its affiliates who do any 
duplicating to air btttli web com- 
mercial and sustaining shows on 
FM, Both ABC and Mutual ex- 
plained they were invoking the 
"all or none" rule to give network 
advertisers an equal break in get- 
tin? the added FM coverage. 

An FCC official opined that 
Wholesale duplication on a manda- 
tory, basis may raise a question 
\mdee tbe Commission's chain 
broadcasting cegulations. Under 
the rules, . a network may option 
only three out of every five hoin-s 
of station time. However, if an 
affiliate -voluntarily airs more than 
three hoirrs of AM net shows he 
has no similar right of refusal .on 
FM,.bnt must duplicate 100%. The 
chain regolatinns «pply equally to 
AM and FM, as pjresently written. 
NBC and CBS are both reported 
' in wirea to affiliates to have re- 
quired 100% duplication of spon- 
sored shows so as not to discrim- 
inate among advertisers. Although 
NBC has not officially replied to 
FCC, '.a telegram over the signa- 
ture of.; station relations manager 
Sheldtm B. Hickox has notified! 
: web filiates they must dean up 
earlier commitments and be pre- 
. pared to duplicate NBC commer- 
' cial stanzas 100% by May 1. 

MeanwhUe, FM'ers reported here 
that most FM affiliates take the 
view they should play along with 
the' nets on the theory more is to 
be gained 100% duplication 
than by fitting the "all or none" 
idcase. There is a minority senti- 
ment, however, that affiliates 
should be ^allowed to pick up a 
little cash off their FM operation, 
which, under a 100% duplication 
nlan Is all outgo with no advertis- 
|lng mon^ coming in. 

Cott-World B'eastng 
Tieup to Wax Library 
Of Dramatic Material 

First transcription library of 
dramatic material is now bcang 
recorded by World Broadcasting 
Co. as result of an arrangement 
between Ted Cott, as producer ol 
the shpwst and Jade Kapp. Library 
will contain 600 selections geared 
, to many uses, such as spot mate-' 
rial, signoff effects, quiz show ma- 
terial or even regular programs 
(such as a three-times-a-week 
quarter-hour airerX Material can 
also be integrated into existing 
programs,' selections nmning from 
20 seconds, to five minutes in 
length. 

Set up in separate cuts, library 
will contain historical speeches, 
light verse, action poems, love 
sonnets, religious sayings, Bible 
readings, anecdotes, etc., in a sort 
of "Bartlctt's Quotations" and an- 
thologies brought to life. Three 
readers are doing the disking: Jay 
Jostyn, Raymond Edward Johnson 
and Arnold Moss. 

Library will be rented to stations 
rather than sold. Decca' of which 
World Broadcasting is a suhsid, has 
option to put out on records any 
of the material that goes well on 
the air. A manual to describe its 
Ws0 will accompany the library. 



TV Scripts 

Continued from page 



□ 



contract scenarists. It also ap- 
plies to adaptations of other nia- 
lerial, such as boofes and plays, 
though in such cases the studio 
acquires ownership of the adapta- 
tion, only. • Control of video and 
other subsidiary rights to literary 
and legit material would depend 
on the terms of purchase or lease 
ol; each individual property, In 
manv cases, the companies have 
included such subsid rights in buy- 
ing books and plays; 

In the case of televising of plays, 
the authors retains ownership and 
control. For a limited period 
during the stage run of a play the 
approval of the legit producer is 
required for any Video deal, but 
even during that time the authors 
retains all performance fees (un- 
less the' stage production is used, 
in %vhich case the producer may 
collect payment for that). No 
telecast of a play may be done 
without the author's permission. 

In the literary field, authors re- 
tain ownership and control of 
subsidiary rights, ihcluduikg tele- 
vision', unless a specific sale of the 
material has been made. An in- 
stance of the latter might be the 
sale of the legit rights or film 
rights in which case the purchaser 
might also acquire the video 
rights; iBut barring specific trans- 
fer of such rights, they remain the 
property of the author. 

Following the precedent set in 
radio, deals for telecast of plays 
or books almost invariably cover 
only a single performance. Thus^ 
the various television showings of 
"Our Town" have brought an equal 
number of performance fees .to 
Thornton Wilder, the author. Same 
thing tvottld be true in tbe case of 
simultaneous broadcast and tele- 
cast of the play. That is. Wilder 
could (and presumably would) in- 
sist on two fees for the deal. 



FOREIGN GABBERS STAY 
ON AWHILE IN DETROIT 

Detroit, Msuch 23. 
Foreign language gabbers are 
.still on the air. Circuit .Tudge Ira 
W. Jayne Wednesday (17) con- 
tinued indefinitely a temporary in- 
junction restraining WJLB from 
abandoning foreign language pro- 
grams. 

The injunction was continued on 
request of attorney IBdwai'd Bar- 
nard, who represented the 31 
groups seeking to force the station 
to continue their broadcasts. 
Jaync, after three days of argu- 
ments, instructed both sides to file 
briefs and said he wanted to see 
the case brought to trial on the 
issues involved. 



Radio Reviews 

£ Continnedf Cram paee 3t s 



DX^AFRA'sAimualMeet 



Washington, March 23. 
The annual membership meeting 
and election of officers of the 
Washington local of the American 
Federation of Radio Ai-tists will be 
held April 24. Nominations, by the 
nominating committee and by 
membership petition, v/ill be made 
by April 1, and baUots will be 
mailed to the membership two 
weeks later. 



Istdnrdi^hnied 
FM PemA &ant 

Minneapolis, March 23. 
Pernvit for operation of the first 
church-owned FM station was 
granted hy FCC to Bethesda Free 
church, Minneapolis. It obtained 
special authorization for a 1,000- 
watt station, with call letters 
KBTB. 

Station is expected to be on the 
air within two weeks. With new 
studios and 130-foot ttansmitter 
tower. . 

Church officials said the sUition 
will be operated as regular com- 
mercial station featuring pubUe In- 
terest programs. dassicaL abA semi- 
classical music and high school 
sports. Religioiis material will not 
occupy major time. 

All profits will be devoted to 
church's missionary fund. Pastor 
is Rev II B, Prince. 



dered into a room and felt the' 
spirit of the dream chair. She 
dreamt she was a painter— and 
lo and behold, she was at the sea- 
shore, getting a lesson in painting. 
(So was the listening audience.) 
There was some kidding about art 
galleries and art shows (which 
must also have piqued kids' curi- 
osity). Another chUd wandered 
into an orchestra room and heard 
an orcliestra' rehearsuig Bach's 
Little Fugue in G Minor, which 
gave the annoimcer opportunity to 
introduce all the instruments as 
the various solos came in. 

Musical bridges, animal noises, 
other productimi- points were high- 
grade; to be a personal tribute to 
producer wiitcr-aimouncer Herb 
Ross. Bron. 

foHow-iipCoiMReiiti: 



Nancy ff alker's guest shot on 
Radie Harris' fivc-minute CBS 
airer last week gsftre a vivid thumb- 
nail sketch of the musical cAmedy 
star's personality. Miss Walker is 
a breezy, brash gal with- a free- 
wheeling conversational style that 
has more laughs in it than she's 
aware of. She Also made some 
shrewd and biting comments about 
Hollywood .which tiespeaks of in^ 
telligence as well as talent. Dur-^ 
ing the interview, she simply re- 
fused to be glamorized^ 



1 1 » t' t »:t 1 1 1 1 t 'f*'*'*'*'t * *;** *; f *■ f *f 1 1 1 * t 't 1 1 1 1 1. 1 1 ' « i I ♦ » t .:i.|'|,l 

From Ae Prodbfitioii tees 



United Nations B'casters 
ToHadifleniN.Y.Fri.(26) 

standing Committeie of. United 
Nations Broadcasters, of which 
NBC nevragabber John MacVane is 
prexy, wiil huddle Friday (26) 
with UN radio oMcials to double-o 
blueprints for radio and television 
facilities at the permanent UN 
world headquarters now under 
constructidn in Manhattan, N. Y. 
Plans to accommodate radio reps 
at the General Assembly in Paris 
next September also will be dis- 
cussed. 

Broadcasters committee, formed 
several months ago. voted at a re- 
cent meeting to expand its mem- 
bership to include non-American 
radio organizations and television 
setups. Those immediately voted in 
were DuMont station WABD, N. Y.; 
BBC, the French Broadcasting 
System, the Polish Broadcasting 
System, and the Near East Broad- 
casting System. 



Albuanerqne — The local AFRA 
chapter has just received its char- 
ter. Frank Horan, an attorney, is 
the local exe«>secretary. 



"It's a Gift," an original com- 
edy-fantasy by Lee Bloomgarden, 
with dialog written by George 
Faulkner, was played Sunday iStV 
on "Pord "Theatre," via NBC. It 
was a balmy yam about a young 
fellow- who could control other 
peoples' action by "concentration." 
The idea was amusing and had 
occasionally entertaining passages, 
but it was essentially li^t for a 
full-hour show, and was imagina^ 
tively developed. Cliff Carpenter 
was acceptable as the hero, and 
Klspctta Eric, Carl Eastman, Bill 
Zuckert and James Van Dyke were 
okay in principal supporting parts. 



Ted Hiising'a 10:45-11 a.m. Satur- 
day morning "Comball Specials" 
are a fresh departure in disk jockey 
showmanship, virtually a min iature 
vaudestaow on wax. The WHN plat- 
ter chatterer just lets' it nm, re- 
prising some of the yeste^ear rec- 
ords which resurrect the spirit of 
vaudeville as it used to be. 



Parker, Mack Tape-Record 
Way Through Middle East 

Calcutta, March 23. 

Everett C. Parker, radio direc- 
tor of the Congregational-Chiistian 
Church, and S. Franklin Mack, 
chairman of the World Radio Corn- 
Conference of North America, are 
due here Thursday (25) on their 
way to the Middle East. They've 
so far visited Hawaii, the Philip- 
pines, Japan. China, Siam. Burma 
and other cities in India, traveling 
by air. They're scheduled to ar- 
rive April 9 in Cairo and are due 
April 15 in London and be back 
April 29 In the U. S. 

They're accompanied by an en- 
gineer and are making tape-rec- 
orded interviews at their various 
stops. 



eOLDSTEBTS 1IE6B0 FUSl) AID 

Leon Goldstein, vcepee of N Y 
indie WMCA, is taking on chair- 
manship of the radio division lor 
the fifth nationwide drive by the 
United Negro College Fund, rep- 
resenting 32 private Negro col- 
leges. 

He'll work with a national com- 
mittee headed by John D. Rocke- 
j feller, Jr. The drive oiHsqs April 



IN mW YORK CITY ... 

Sam Moore, Paul Franklin and Michael Davidson, of the Coast chap- 
ter of tlie Radio Writers Guild, planed in and out of town over the 
weekend for strategy buddies on tbe Guild's bargaining session Monday 
(22) with the agencies and spcmsors. Rod Holmgren also flew in to rep- 
resent Chicago in the battle-mapping confab . , Philip Morris came 
through with that 52-week renewal (with usual options) on MutuaVs 

"Queen For a Day" and "Heart's Desire" Ted Steele planning to 

continue his 14-hour weekly disk jockey chore on WMCA after h» 
opens with orch Saturday (27) at Essex House for a 7:15 p.m.-l:15 a.m 
nightly stand, but hell platter his half-hour daily KYW "Celebrity 
Farm Club" — Mary Conway, head of British Information Serviced 
radio iSection, quitting to wed Viktor Pctschek, N. Y. biz executive, 

WUUam H. Weintraub, prez of the Weintraub agency, engaged tA 
marry Mrs. Suzanne Van Alen Murray ... Recently admitted members 
of the American Federation of Radio Artists include George M. Cohan, 
Jr., Luella Gear and Pamela Kelltno (Mrs. James Mason) . . Bill Lii^on 

has graduated from Columbia U, and is back at radio acting Ljna 

Duddy will go to Bermuda during* April, Georgia Gibbs planed to 
Coast to do the vocals on last nlght'.s (Tues.) Bob Hope show, but flies 
back today (Wed.) and goes to Atlantic CSty for a weekend appearance 
at the Steel Pier and is booked for a one-day stint, April 3, at the 

State, Hartford CBS says Joan Davis" co-op show has ..31 sponsors, 

not 20 Actress Lesley Woods is remaining in Rome until fall, when 

her husband, John Abbatte, completes an architectural ewuse there. . . . 
Carl Jampel is writing a summer show for Zero Mostel. It'll be « 
variety stanza with a slight story line and will be Utiedi "Cluh Zero," 
Meanwhile he's continuing the scripting ot **Areliie Andkcws" on NBC 
for Swift. 

John Cleary now directing Paul Whlteman's "On Stage America" 

Charlie Ilarrell, now ABC's eastern program manager, handed "Child's 
World" directional chores to Clark Andrews, who also directs "Fat 
Man" . . . CBS producer Will Roland (Arthur Godfrey, Radie Harris and 

Robert Q. Lewis shows) bought a 46-acrefarm near Danbury, Conn 

Rocco Tito took over direction of CBS' Janette Davis Sunday song 

stanza, replacing Ace Ochs, now on the WCBS-TV staff Periy Laf- 

ferty .assigned as Blow agency rep fui f he writing and production of 
the Horace Heidi SboeV. ■ . .Masrai Candy Co. bought Larry Hanunond's 
'Keeping Up' With Ute Wfgglesworth" e.t. series on 14 southern sta< 
lions, upping total number of outlets for the-sdtow to ISO. 

ABC has advised clients, to keep talent oontRiitments as flexible as 
possible for the weeks this summer when the Vhllly political convene 
tions arc on, to avoid complications in last-minute cancellations of 
commercial shows, . . .Cy Howard, creator-producer of "My Friend 
Irma," due in yesterday (Tucst) from the Coast for a week's look-around. 
Wm stop off to see his parents in Milwaukee on the way back.. ..Love that 
Hattie McDaniel, says everybody connected with "Beulah." The month 
after she moved into the show, its rating rose from 5.3 to 6.3. Now it's 
a husky 9.0 . . Barbara Welles (Florence Pritchett) now doing a Satur- 
day ayem stint on WOR under her real name for a Newarilf furniture 
outfit, ., ."Radio Comedy: How to Write It," a four-volume, 75,00O< 
word, $9.50 works by Art Henley, NBC scripten will be out April I, 
which opens the third annual National Laugh Week. 

Arch Oboler. who sailed for Africa Feb. 14 under a $100,000 grant 
from Frederic W. Ziv Go. to tape-record and film radio and video sub- 
jects, writes under Capetov/n postmark of March 9: "The only thing 
that has happened so far is that I now hold the world's championship 
for seasickness. Twenty ' days and 20 nights. Love to I^iouis & Ar- 
mand's". . . .Bandy Michelson new traffic manager of WHN. . . ."Onr 
Gal Sunday" starts its 12tb year Monday (29) .... Court Benson new to 

"Lora Lawton" Ray Johnson added to "Our Gal Sunday" cast 

Charme Allen with "YouAg Widder Brown" Sue Read added to 

"Just . Plain Bill" WHN to cover the Easter parades next Sunday • 

(28) on L«nox avoiae in Harlem as well as on Fifth avenue and at 
Coney Islands boardwalk. Latter scene wiU be described by Coney 
historian. Jo Hanson, WHWs publicity boss. 
Gertrude Rozan, radio actress, now with the American Theatre Group 

in an executive capacity Sliirley Mitchell doing a stint in the Jim 

Backus show whUe its originating in Gotham. Stanz^ will return to 
the Coast in a couple of months. . . .Jerry Saltzberg, radio row pbotog, 
has organized a Perma-Newsclip Co. to exploit a method of keeping 

press clippings fresh-as-new forever Bryan Herbert, British actor 

cuinmtly touring Cankda with the Dublin- Gate Players, being flown 
down from the Dominion for a lead role in Ford Theatre's "The In- 
former" Sunday <28> If Mutual doesn't sell its "Newsreel" soon 

(Zenith backed out> WO«'s gonna give A, L. Alexander back the evening 
cross-the-board spot for his "Poems That Touch the Heart." Station 
points out that Nobody' But Nobody ever got as big a carryover of 

Heatter's audience as Alexander did in this niche Kay Kyser's April 

17 and 24 Kollege sessfams calendared for N. Y. origination. 

m HOLLYWOOn . . . 

Alan Kent, ye olde jingle man, passing the time of day and night 
here on bis new televisimi setup with Anson Bond. They have three 
new program ideas ready for presentation and are lining up writers for 
others to come. To be sure, the commercials wiU have that Kent 
touch, which paid off in important money to the partnership of Kent 
and (Austin) Jolmson, now dissolvc^d. . . . Bob Orr around for talks with 
Andrew Jergens and Louella Parsons .... Frank "Bud" Berend will 
have under his supervisory wring sales promotion and recording dlvi" 
sion in addition to his main function as far west sales chief for NBC. 
Oscar Turner may be his dtief inde. . . . An army moves on its stomach, 
once said Napoleon, but nowadays the whim of a network can move 
a whole army of musicians. Count has been lost but Mark Wamow's 
"Sound Off" for the army has been moved again, this Ume from Sunday 
to Monday on ABC. It's a free ride for the sliow due to the recruifmg 
feature. Paul Warwick around for a few days on agency business of 

"a routine nature" Lou Tilden of Sherman & Marquette's Chicago 

office, parleying with Roy Rogers on a show for one of the firm's cli- 
ents. IleU likely take back an audition record ... Several picture 
studios are evincing an intere.st in "My Friend Irma" but. so far no 
"firm" offer. , . Sid Strotz packed up and aired east for bis four-month . 
residence while coordinating the television activities of NBC — Ar 
Jolson, as of this writing, will pass part of the summer in Hawaii. 
Before the season is washed np hell do two or three broadcasts in 
New York and break the return trip west by airings from Chicago and 
Denver Zuma Palmer, draws a salute from Hollywood Ad Club April 
5 for her 20 years as radio editor of Hollywood Citizen-News. She also 
gets feted by agency and network publicity departments and she's one 
gal who rates it all. 

Les Bowman, CBS manager of technical operations, to New York for 
national conference of Institute of Radio Engineers. . . .Henrietta Nor- 
man, who gave up the legit here for the greener field.* of Gotham, back 
in town, but this time as radio and nitery warbler. Sbe^s slanting her 

talents toward television, smart girl Al and Sherwood Schwartz have 

turned their typewriters away from Danny Thomas after that flurry ol 
tempers. . . .Ted Bliss, producer of "Ozzie and Harriet^' limping around 
with a broken toe. . . Alan Yonng drops off the Texaco show for the 
summejr, but rest of the troupe can-ics on. Oiler wants to catch up 

with the budget which took a beatmg on the double shot Anita EUis 

' ' <Cnnthiiied'"«npa'g*^'M>' ' ; 



If 



neither free nor equal 



COMMENTS OF CRITICS... 

From newspaper eritie** 

". ..a definite' contribution to the 
cause of intergroup understanding 
and; to the establishment o f a more 
democratic living pattern for all who 
call themselves Americans." 
Minneapolis Times. 

"WCCO has definitely pioneered with 
'Neither Free Nor Equal' and with 
its extensive listening audience may 
be able to bring new thought and 
Understanding «d the people of thi» 
locality!' Minneapolis SpoResman. 

^'Excellent script and good ; 
: performance. Fine and forward"' 
loolcing radio!' Boi MarpAy; 
Minneapolis Star. *• 



Because a// kinds of people listen to radio, its audience includes lliose who would deny equality 
to some people. This paradox— the fact that people who are intolerant listen to radio which is 
democratic — gives radio a unique responsibility. It means that a radio station-^perhaps more than 
any other means of communication*-^ has the power to ^.break through barriers of prejudice and 
shake the dulled conscience of the unwitting bigot. " ^ 

Last Summer, a public-minded Minneapolis-St. Paul radio station— WCCO— used tljis power 
to hammer home the appalling fact that some citizens in the Northwest were neither free nor equal. 

Newspapers and social agencies furnished eloquent testimony of the need for such a campaign. 
They cited the case of a veteran who could not buy a home. Because he was a Nisei. The doctor who 
turned his back on an ill child. Because she was colored. They quoted Carey McWillia^ras— authority 
on int^rgroup relations— who had stated: "Minneapolis is the capital of anti-Semitism in the United 
States!' They told the story of a girl who was denied a job. Because she was Gatholic. 

To make Nortliwest citizens aware of these intolerant attitudes and intolerable actions, the 
WCCO Documentary Unit collaborated with six Northwestern social agencies. Together they studied 
^ feworn statements. Interviewed, Questioned. And found the facts. After months of research, after 
more weeks of preparation, WGCO presented "Neither Free Nor Equal!' Broadcast on succes.sive 
^Wednesday n i ghts at 9 tSO, this series of %ix half'hour programs included *>^The Face of Discrimina- 
tion" ^'Discrimination in Employment" "Discrimination in Housing" **The Indian in Minnesota" 
*'The Hate Merchants!' and "Meeting the Problem!' 

Response to WGGO's "Neither Frtee Nor EquaF'was quick. ..huge.. >.and gratifying. 
The National Conference of Christians and Jews awarded WGCO a Citation of Distinguished 
Merit "for contributing to better human relations!' 

The Heywood Broun Awards by the American Newspaper Guild included an Honorable Mention 
for WCCO — the first award of its kind ever given to a radio station. 

• Atid just seven days ago, the Variety 1947 Survey of Showmanagemera gave WCCO the Plaque 
'Award for "Fostering Racial Understanding' 

Press comment was equally laudatory. Throughout the Northwest. And across the country. 
But still more important were the telephone calls, telegrams and letters received by WCCO from 
listeners. AH paraphrased the man who saidt "I've never been able to make a dent in my neighbor's 
thinkingj But your 'Neither FreeiNor Equal' series did the trick!' 

Especially gratifying is the fact that the usefulness of the series has been extended. More than 
850 radio stations and social agencies have requested scripts for adaptation in their communities. 

These commendations are cited not to show you what Columbia's WGCO accomplished in its 
community— but perhaps to suggest what can be done in your community.* 

For as Governor Youngdahl of Minnesota stated on one of the "Neither Free NorvEqual" broad- 
casts: "The spirit of brotherhood must begin in our community life. It- is there diat the issue must 
be decided. For surely we cannot hope to achieve world peace if we cannot eliminate discrimination, 
prejudice and bigotry from our own homes, commiinities, schools and businesses. There nnist l)e a 
change of heart and it must come through education and a genuine effort to acquire tlie understand- 
ing which leads man to live in harmony with his neighbors!' 

This is the reason why "Neither Free Nor EquaVwas created by Columbia's 60,000-watt WCCO 
'-"The Good Neighbor to the NorthwestV 



"...one of the most courageous and 
two-fisted treatments of the subject 
yet attempted by radio!' Variety. ' 

**WCGO treats the spread of 
discriminatory practices as an 
unthinking development^ in the main, 
rather than a malicious one. It is 
proba biy the only approach that offera 
any real hope of effective results!' 
St. Paul Dispatch. 

"If every U.S. community dared set 
up a self-survey and could find a 
radio station as ready as WCCO to 
pound its findings home, our 
nation might get discrimination on 
the run in short order!' A^ew York iPSt 



From social agencies t 

"We're sure that 'Neither Free Not 
Equal' will set many people to 
thinking about things that they took 
for granted>and considered not 
their problem!'/e«;M War ' Veterans, 
Department of New York, 

"I would like to express, in the name 
of this organization, our appreciation 
of your splendid series of 
broadcasts'' Mireneapo^M Leagm 
of /Catholic Women. 

"This program represents some of 
the finest thinking that- we have 
ever encountered in the field of human 
xe]silionsV Intergroup Goodwill ■ 
, CouncUi Youngstown, Ohio. '■ 

"We are certain that this series will 
contribute in a large measure to 
better intefgrdup relations in the 
•NiKilvwest',' Minneapolis Self-Survey 
of Human Relations. 



"Our attenti«n has been called to the 
coiiimeruJalion which WCCO has 
received from the Minneapolis Oily 
Council for the 'Neitlier Free Nor 
Equal' program. We can assure yoi^^ 
that the program has donT» much 
to help interpret conditions in th« 
cmnnwmilyV Minneapolis Urban 
League. - ■ ■.• ■, , 

"We want to express our appreciation 
for the excellent service you have 
rendered better human relations in 
our community tlirough your series 
of broadcasts'' Minneapolis Round - 
Table ofthe National Conferenet 
pf Christians and Jews, 



MMMm 



Ust of 'Availabilities' 



Continued from pftK« Vt i 



billing in a move apparently dic- 
tated by monetary considerations. 

Burl Ives, Bing Crosby's Pliilco 
running mate for the past two 
years, isn't included in the radio 
manufacturer's plans for the fall, 
a result in this case apparently of 
too little rating. 

Groucho Marx's ABG show sold 
Elgin-American compacts so well 
the sponsor pulled the tab — but 
might be interested, Jrs said, in 
taking him back ih the fall, • 
Sablon, Tony MarUn. Et el 

King Cole Trio has been Washed 
out by Wildroot, which is reallocat- 
ing its ad coin. Electric Auto-Lite 
is unplugging Dick Haymes in 
favor of "Suspense/' Jean Sablon 
has been shopping for a bankroUer 
since Hudnut yfinked its tab some 
time ago. Ditto Jack Paar, dropped 
by Lucky Strike; Tony Martin, 
dropped by Texaco; Jan August, 
dropped by Revere Camera tin 
favor of Andy Russell and Marian 
Hutton), and Bret Morrison's "Song 
of the Stranger," cancelled by 
Pharmdco. : 

Dan Golenpaul, so unhappy •with 
Mutual's co-oping of • his "Infor- 
mation Please" that he's suing for 
$500,000 damages, has a new net- 
work berth to find for ttie fall. 
Bis stanza is one «dE fhe few that's 
been on all four webs. 

' Kreml gave up its unhappy deal 
with Martin Block's MBS platter 
show and the speculation is that 
,the web or Block, or both mutu-' 
ally^ will look for a way to close 
out the hour-long cross-thc^board 
disk twirling session. 



Close to a dozen web stanzas, 
while not definitely on tlie cancel- 
lation slcids, are reported on shaky 
footing. "Vox Pop " barely got a 
IS^week reprieve recently from 
American Express and there's 
doubt whether it will make it 
again. Camels is said to be disr 
satisfied with j^he Vaughn Monroe 
show's rating payoff, but might go 
lor a time or network shift rather 
than a pullout, Frank Morgan's 
Old Gold Show is regarded as a 
likely casualty, comes hiatus time, 
as is Raleigh's "People'Are Funny." 
Latter ciggie outfit alfeo is said to 
be in a mood to shake Red Skelton,. 
but he has a two-year pact with 
another season to go. 

Question marks seem to hang 
over fall renewals for Henry Mor- 
gan, now plugging Rayve shampoo; 
"Newscope," the Kaisei^Fraser 
four-a-weeker on Mutual, and Jim 
Backus' Sunday Pharmaco show. 

"The recently added availabilities 
top a list which in recent months 
annexed, for want of bankrolling, 
such properties as "Thin Man," 
"Ekploring the' Unknown," "Real 
Stories from Heal Life," "Hop Har- 
rigan," "Darts for Dough," "Scot- 
land Yard," "American Forum of 
the Air," "Opie Gates Show." 

In the sponsor listings, the pull- 
outs have included ArchOr-PEoeking 
Glass, .Waterman PenSj Dr. PeK»er 
and Henry Reichhold. ' . * 

Des Moines— Ken Gfeller has 
been named production directw of 
WHO. He continues as continuity 
director also. 



"THE LONG ISLAND STORY" 

Thianks 

WHLf News Bureau 



tor Us 



Responsibility to the Cominuiiity" 

as recognized by 




Showmonageinent Award 



Hats off to Ellas Godofsky and his new KO-watt day- 
time operation. In its brief career since first blowing 
a whiff of fresh air into, the small community of Hemp- 
stead it has fought the good fight with telling results. 
Recognizing that there are more than 20 stations in tiiie 
Metropolitan New York area, WHLI put all its program- 
ming e£^ into the local community ba.sket. 

because it regards the Long Island Railrodd as a local 
iniititution, it went to work after the Big Snow of De- 
cember and trained its guns on an investigation of the 
railroad's breakdown, whipped up commuter sentiment, 
came up with some sought-for evidence which it for- 
warded to the Public Service Commission and, as a rous- 
ing finale put on its now memorable "Operations Snafu" 
series of shows (two documentaries and one Gilbert '& 
SulUvan-motifed satirical blast). Tlic good Hcmp.stead 
townsfolk now say that if you listen closely, the wheels 
of fhe purged LIRR cats can be heard to sing out the 're- 
frains of the G, & S. parodies. As a fitting tribute, the 
Clifford Evans-Rhoda Cantors—scripted G. & S. presenta- 
tion will soon get a full-blown stage production in Mine^ 
ola, tlie county seat — a fitting memorial to WIILI's suc- 
cessful campaign, 

—From Vamei^'s "Shownonagewent Rcwiei^^^ 

M«rch 17, 1948 



The story of WHLI is the Long Island story — a story of 
people in o large quality market who turn to WHLI regiriariy 
for famtiior" good music and hxa! news, jiist as they turn 
to WHLI fwr responsible service lo the community. 



WHLI 



1100 
ON THE DIAL 



WHNY on. the YM dM 

Hempstead, Long Island, New York 

''The Vo'Ke of Long Island" 



cllA& GODOFSKY 
Pfetident 



PAUL GODOFSKY CUFFORD EVANS 

Executive Vice-Pm. Vice#m„ Public Affairs 



oriHi 

Seattle, March 23, 
KING, local indie station, has re- 
ceived okay on its application for 
50,000 watts power, and has already 
ordered transmitter with delivery 
expected in about 90 days. Plans 
can for immediate construction of 
high-power facilities, and station 
management hopes to be on air 
with new wattage by next fall. 

KING has hookup with XL re- 
gional network, which includes sta- 
tions in Portland, Spokane and El- 
lensburg, as well as Z net in Mon- 
tana. 



PetiiHo 

Continued from p.-ige 27 



graph waivers to member directors 
xssigned to the three-ply airings 
last Saturday (20) of the NBC Sym- 
phony and the Philadelphia Orches- 
tra (on CBS>. The guild has newly 
signed contracts with CBS cover- 
ing both AM and tele staff direc- 
tors and a new pact awaiting sign- 
ing with NBC covering AM direc- 
tors, but not tl>e web's tele cms- 
throwers.. No clause in these 
agreements^ however, specifically 
covers AM4ele duplications. 
Directors Disturbed 
Sample of tlie problems sud- 
denly posed for RDG by the Pe- 
trillo truce is dual-director setup 
involved in duplicated airings. On 
the NBC Symphony, for example, 
a guildsman directed the AM 
broadcast, while a non-BDG direc- 
tor handled the telecast. The du- 
plication not only involved extra 
work for the AM director,, but, 
theoretically at least, posed the 
question of which of the tWo 'direc-' 
tors -had the most say. 

In the case of NBC, too, the 
question arises of whether the net 
will determine that a tele director 
alone can supervise the duplicated 
broadcasts, tliereby dUminating the 
AM t$iseetm. As far ais.BDQ's con- 
tract is. concerned, the,proBlem ap- 
parently is a legal one. The 
guild-NBC pact requires that only 
guili^en may direct AM shows, 
hut conceivably would, not prevent 
the web from piping a telecast over 
the AM ,^ein without any AM di- 
rector standing by the control 
board. 

RDG officers xti huddling on 

these and other .problems raised by. 
the overnight developments in an- 
ticipation of plenty of inquiries 
f rotn guild members at a- N. Y. lo- 
cal meeting scheduled for ne:^t 
Monday night (29). 1 

Meantime, toppers of the vari- 
ous unions an<f guilds in ABUG 
have been in frequent conversation 
via phone discussing 'mutual and 
respective issues and problems cre- 
ated by snowballing preparations 
of the webs to feed their shows to 
tele outlets and film shows for iso- 
lated video affiliates. 

Next meeting ot ABUG had not 
been scheduled until Friday, April 
16, but in view of the Petrillo truce 
it's expected the group may get to- 
gether much sooner. 



Soundtrack 

Contlaned from page 31 



tion of scenes and lighting, since 
the average small-screen video re- 
ceiver, coupled with faulty recep- 
tion and transmission, too often 
dissipates the Value of such factors. 
According to a spokesman for one 
major film company, it wUl be 
necessary to produce pictures tak- 
ing into account tele's own limita- 
tions. Result may be the develop- 
ment of an entirely new genre of 
films. 

Despite the emphasis on the use 
of closeup^ for video, some of the 
ma jor producers aren't too eertain 
that a plethora of closeups is the 
answer. Too many close shots, they 
point out, would restrict the view-- 
er's imagination and would thus' 
seem drab after a while. Some 
method must be developed, conse- 
quently, lor medium and long-shots, 
to show well on the video screen. 
Answer to this factor, they believe, 
may lie in the perfection of .pro- 
jection-type video receivers, which 
would render possible larger 
screens than the majorityof those 
presently in u,sc. . 

ExatnpJe of the work that must 
be done yet in perfecting film pro- 
duction for tele is the new lighting 
effect worked out by 20th-Fox tech- 
nicians for their Movietone News 
on video. Since the film is pro- 
jected electronically and not by arc 
lamp, as in a theatre, they found 
tliat use of softer lights .during 
the printing process, would make 



Petrfllo s CSve-and-Yet-Lhre 

The "complete agreement ... on all issues" announced by James 
C. Petrillo and the four networks last Tlmrsday (18) amounted, in 
the main, to complete concession by the American Federation of 
Musicians' boss in order to preserve past gains, , 

What the networks got; 

Extension for three years, retroactive to last Jan. 31, of present 
contracts Between American Federation of Musicians locals in New 
York, Chicago and Los Angeles, and the stations owned by the nets 
at these points. • 

The right to use musicians on AM and PM, simultaneously and 
"interchangeably," and on cooperative and local participating 
shows. ■ . — - 

The right to use. musicians on television and on simultaneous 
AM-tele (and FM) broadcasts; the right 1,0 air tele pickups of pub- 
lic events, such as parades, having live music; the right to make 
films for tele with music. 

Guarantee that musician? "wltt continue to be available" for telt 
during the three years, > 

Musician.s' services for the next three years at no hike in pay ot 
' employment quotas. 

Dismissal of the Petrillo demand that platter-lumers be reouired 
to .ioin the AFM. . ^ ' . 

What Petrillo got: 

Prd^ongation of the status quo in musicians' pay scales and, mo.st 
important, employment quotas at a time when many stations have 
been trimming their music staffs and cutting them off entirely 

Assurance that musicians playing for AM-tele duplicated shows 
will get "rea.sonable" added fees. ■ 

Prospect that employment will be ci>eated for more musicians 
thi-ough the impetus thus given television programming. 

Continuation of union shop terms of current contracts. 

Perhaps ho great love from the rest of tre labor front, but un- 
doubtedly a lot more favor in the public's eyes, as attested widely 
in newspaper editoi'ials during the past few days. 



the film show better on tele. Same i sponsorship. Only type of banic- 
prints would look wa.shed out on a rollers to be nixed are breweries, 
theatre sci'een but are apparently since the shows would go to sev- 
near-perfect for video. Tele process ] eral dry states: 
isn't less costly, but ihakes pos^ble ' ■ 
better control' of. )Contrast clnrlfu( 
transmission of Uie reel. 



KMPC 



CeatiBOcd (ram luifii If 



□ 



using the ,1 public's airwaves. De- 
vious appeals to racial and religi- 
ous prejudice, cditoriaUzatlon and 
obvious efforts to distort the facts 
of the news should certainly, not 
be tolerated." The Jewish Con- 
gress' attack on Richards was lim- 
ited to his alleged efforts to slant 
KMPC news so as to stir up "anti- 
Semitic feelings and prejudices." 

The FCC has also been notified 
of the formation in Los Angeles 
of a militant citizen's committee 
to carry "the fight against KMPC. 
The group includes representatives 
of the Americans for Democratic 
Action, veterans, civic and liberal- 
minded groups. 

Meanwhile, any doubt of FCC's 
intention to move against KMPC 
was dispelled last week at hearing 
on the bid of Riohards' WJR fw a 
tele channel in Deti-oit. 

FCC examiner Jack Blume said 
he had no intention of raising the 
KMPC is^ue in the Detroit hearing 
but okayed a recommendation of 
Commission attorney John McCoy 
that the Detroit hearing record 
be held open to incorporate any 
evidence on this count which might 
fci brought in at a later date or 
in another hearing. Blume said this 
action was not deigned to indi- 
cate FCC's position "on the merit 
of the chargea," 

The Commission's action in De- 
troit was roundly lambasted by 
WJB attorney Louis Caldwell, who 
took the position FCC has no au- 
thority to consider an applicant's 
program policies in awarding li- 
censes. , 



Politico Gonfahs 



ConUinied from page SI 



j & "Telegraph Co. is making • two 
I extra cables available in both di- 
rections from Richmond, Va., to 
Boston. These will be used by 
individual stations on a. time-shar- 
ing basis to feed material of par- 
ticular interest to tlieir localities. 
Coverage of the conventions them- 
selves \vlll be handled on a pooled 
arrangement, with all shows to be 
available to all Stations. 

Actual physical operation is to 
be handled by crews frqm the N. Y. 
outlets of NBC, CBS and DiiMont, 
^ho have had the most experience 
' in tele remotes. Four or five cam- 
eras will be placed at strategic 
locations inside Convention Hall 
for the events. With each camera 
Jiaving interchangeable lenses, at 
least 16 different camera angles 
will be necessary. In addition to 
coverage of the in.side of the hall, 
i a crew from WFIL-TV, Philly, will 
I be stationed on the steps outside 
the buildinf? to transmit anything 
of interest that occurs there. 

Question of sponsorship of the 
conventions is still up in the air. 
Both the Demos and Republicans 
have repoi-tedly okayed plans for 




eOHMM SOOMi 





m 



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Television 

serving 

NEW JERSEY 

and 

' METROPOLITAN 
NEW YORK 



CHANNEL 



13 



ASK YOUR 

^AAT 

MAN ABOUT 



New Jersey's 1- Station ., 




NEWARK-MEW JERSEV 

- — ■ — 



On the field a triple play is thrilling — on the air it means greater * 
listening. Our listeners approve of the WINS three-way program- 
ming. They like music, ne\ys,..and sports — and in that order. 
(They told us so in 10,000 letters received in a two- week period 
recently). "It's easy listening," they wrote. "There's something 
for every member of the family." 

We've knocked many a "homer" for our clients,. too. One was. 
just nice enough to let us know that WINS secured for him the 
lowest cost -per -thousand response of the 101 stations he was 
using from Coast-to-Coast. Another told us to take a bow for pull- 
ing the second greatest number of letters of the eight New York 
stations 4n his campaign, (the first just nosed us out; the third 
was far behind). 

)t takes leamwork to win . . . and WINS has the teami 





[ WINS ^ 


. CROSL. EY BROADCASTING CORPORATION! 


HHBHBHHBHHHHBHHIHHHHHHHHBHHHI^ 


k 5 0 K W ''^ /v . n P A 



40 



Battle of tbe'Spectrun 



threads into Europe dui'ing 
best nighttime listening hours, 
RCA-NBC Has Big Stake 
Senator Charles Tobey (R., N.H.>, 
acting ehairman of the Senate In- 
terstfite Commerce Committee, — 
repoi'tedly at the prodding' of the 
military— has already urged Secre- 
tary of State Marshall to resist 
efforts of "some private communiT 
cations interests" to widen the 
shortwave bands still further, Mill- 
tary strategists point out that any 
gains in -dx $pe<;frum mey. mean a 
loss of valuable international com- 
mnnications services for the Army 
and Navy. RCA-NBC is in the dual 
position . of having a large stake 
in the outcome , of both allocations. 
■^Insiders here point out the im- 
perative necessity Of getting the 
countries to cooperate on short- 
■ wave allocations. Many European 
dx transmitters are already oper- 
ating illegally outside the short- 
wave bands, jamming each other's 
signals and iuciclentally raising the 
possibility of interfetfence with, 
vital international safety com- 
munications.' 

Meanwhile, these are some' of 
tho other headaches with which 
tha State Department has to con- 
tend: 

1. U. S. treaty commitments ver- 
sus present foreign policy: The 67 
signatories to the Atlantic City 
confeiiences last summer expanded 
to shortwave band 38% over the 
original U. S. ■ recommendation, 
made at a time when Congress was 
dcadset agiunst the Benton pro* 



Contiuued from mv> 29 
the 



gram. The U.S., with the help of 
other delegates, stiff-armed eflorts 
at that time to make a final short 
wave allocation on the basis of 
"priority" usage. Russia, China, 
India. 'etc. who use shortwave for 
domestic broadcastirfg" wanted a 
priority system which would have 
awarded channels first for domestic 
use, then for "coloni&l" broadcasts 
li. e. Great Britain to the domin- 
ions, etc.) with U. S. at the bottom 
of the heap taking what was left 
for international shortwave opera- 
tions. 

As an alternative, U. S. offered 
to send its engineers to Geneva to 
work with the iotu' other powers 
on a feasible sharing plan which 
would give everyone an equal 
break. Now the delegates must get 
healthy bloc of spectrum for the 
U. S. without blackaUding on their 
Atlantic City commitments. 
Private vs. Gov't Control 
2. Congressional sentiment 
against government control of dx 
programming and insistance that 
all private licensees get in on tlie 
act isn't easing this government's 
problem in dealing With .othet 
countries, most of whom have gov- 
ernment-radio systems. 

Engineers say three or four su- 
perpower transmitters placed at 
the right spot la the , spectrum 
could do the best posi^ble job in 
'getting U. S. broadcasU into Eu- 
rope. Now liiat Congress is viriUlling 
to pay big money if the private 
licensees do the programming, they 
all "want a share of th» shoilwave 



I 



TAILORED FOR mEVISION! 




' "THE FIDDLE-BUSTER" 
. And Amcricci's Crojiiest prclwstra 

(St«n el "n««f*ld Felli«s," Paramomif « "Ridiiif Hiqli." 
Warntr Ire*. "SwMf Music" .and mmicrwis Paramo«i«t, 
CoiHmbia and Wariitr Bros, shorts) «■ 

R^adly Now 
V/ith a Slack o/ SocIeo 
Si'ir^f-Cofittffy Seqtf«fict» 

INCLUDINO: 1. The Murder of Suppe 

3. Injun Gal Hep! Hep! 

S. Overtures (To End All OvMrhiivs) 

4. The Oreat Ballet 

5. The Unfinished Symphony 

6. The Water Carnival 

7. Comin' Round the Mountain 

8. Zany Opera 

9. The Brown Derby 
10. Madame Piqnavich 
n. Dinner Music 

12. The Old Masters 

13. The Grate Conert 

I All mtit9rlal fully prof 9cMi 

MHt Irltton Television Productions 

ARTHUR H. MILLER ASSOCIATES 
151 East 90th St., New Yorii. Eldorado SHMfl 



Warn Soviet on 'Voice* 

Washington, March 23. 

The Geneva shortwave par- 
leys take on added significance 
with the report here Sunday 
(21) that the U. S. has asked 
Russia to stop "jamming" of 
Voice of America broadcasts 
destined for Eastern Russia. 
Mysterious Soviet transmitici's 
were blamed by the State De- 
partment for a three-week 
blackout of the Voice broad- 
casts beamed out of Manila 
for Eastern Europe. 

Meanwhile, Congressional 
attacks by Reps. John Taber 
(R., N. Y.), Robert F. Rich 
(R., Pa.) and other solons at 
specific Voice programs which 
carry the blessing of the State 
Department augur a prolonged 
debate on Capitol Hill before 
disposition of shortwave tunds 
is finally decided. 

A blast at the Voice pro- 
grams came from still another 
quarter Sunday {21) when the 
Association of Foreign Corre- 
spondents in Budapest labelled 
as false U. S. dx programs de- 
sciibing t«stri£tions on foreign 
newsmen In the Hungarian 
capitid. 



pie. This means U. S. will require 
more channels than if the opera- 
tion were centralized in a few 
hands. One suggestion to relocate 
■some of the' East Coast dx trans- 
mitters on the West Coast to reach 
Europe and the East via the back- 
door has already drawn heavy fire 
from some of the licensees af- 
fected. 

3. Although the Geneva parley 
is supposed to steer clear of poli- 
tics and stick to engineering, in^ 
siders here beUeve this is an imr 
possible assignment. Some non-«n- 
gineers have gone to Geneva to 
protect their company's interests, 
The U. S. delegation is headed by 
Forney ftanbin, administrative 
head of State Department's Inter- 
national Broadcasting Division; 
vice chaimuoi is FCC engineer 
Curtis Hummer. Other delegates 
include: for -CBS, Edward Chester 
and engineer Bobert DeHart; for 
RCA-NbC, James Veatch, and 
Charles R. Denny, Jr. may go for 
part of the time; for the State Do' 
partment, Harvey Otterman, Fred 
Trimmer and Roger' Legge; for 
Uie Army, Col. A. C. Simson; FCC, 
engineer A. I>roac Walker; for As 
sociated Broadcasters, George 
Hughes. KAB engineering direc- 
tor Royal S. Howard, cancelled out 
at the last minute to prepare for 
forthcoming paileys on the North 
American Itegioiud Broadcasting 
Agreement..^'.',' 



and David Stre^ cut a record for ^UC. . . B^lelglm Bhombie tammi 
for a summer jfeplacement for Bed Skclton with a price tag of aroiuiS 
$5,000. „ . 

IN CHICAGO ... 

Ken Nordine replaces Fred Kasper as announcer on Tonl's seg of 

'Breakfast Clob" Caesar Petrillo; WBBM maestro, weekending on 

Tominy Dorsey's yacht oil the Florida coast, , . ."Ladies Be Seated" aiiv 

from Topeka April 9 Elizabeth B^in, former traffic director ot 

WCFL, has joined WGN-TV as music librarian Guy Savage, sports 

and special features freelancer, rounded out his 22nd year of broad* 
casting last week , . . , Commander Industries has snagged a CP for an 
FM'er m.suburban Oak Park, . . .NBC's three-day415, 16, 17) Workshop 
Meet here on programming, promotion, publicity and engineering was 

attended by 100 representatives of the net's midwest affiliates Don 

Herbert has replaced Lee Schooler as chief of the Community Fund's 
radio dept. 

Fahey Flynn tees off with three-a-week newscasts on WBBM March 
29 ... , Fran Allison back , with the Breakfast Clubbers after a week's 
stay in Passavaut hospital for minor surgery . , , ', Spike Jones and his 
Slickers ait their CBS show from here April 30 and May 7 , , . . Bill 

Walker, former band arranger, signed as staff 88'er on WIND 

Dolores Marshall, script typist at WGN, got her big break as songstress 
on Mutual's "Voices ojt Strings" Sunday (22) Ell Henry, ABC's mid- 
west flack chief, off for two weeks of glad-handing in Dixie Chuck 

Worcester, WMT's farm director, named ..chairman of the National 
Safety Council's Farm lUdio Committee. . . .Jay Trompeter resigned 

last week as stage manager of "Ladies Be Seated" NBC's Studio H 

is .being converted Into a combined newsroom and news studio 

Norm Barry's newscasts on WMAQ renewed by Metropolitan Life . . . 
Frank Falknor, WBBM's general mgr., attending tele school in Syra- 
cuse, N. Y Gene Auti-y does his CBS ah-er from hero April 25 . . . 

Byron Keath.;»dded to cast of "Gapt. Midnight." 



WuHaee 

Continued fiom page M 



Froin The Productloii Canters 



Continned front 3t i 



chief in charge of news and special 
events, will manage the convene 
tion coverage. None of the nets 
has drawn up time schedules for 
the two weeks in which the con> 
ventions will be held. 

The nets may have ad^tional 
headaches in Pbilly if a faction in 
the Wallace party has its way. 
According to their nation, the Wal' 
lace convention would be sand- 
wiched between the two other 
conventions, forcing the attention 
of the nets upon them. The Re- 
publicans meet at Conventioii Hall 
June 21 and the Dems follow 
July 12. The date of the Wallace 
convention will probably be set 
at the April meeting in Cliicago 
of the various state groupii com« 
prising the Third Party movement. 



Honritz 

; Coiitinaed from mge It 



□ 



convention date or place. Wallace 
headquarters confirm this. 

For the major party sessions 
general pattern of the nets is to 
throw all available news gabbers 
into the picture. In the case of 
ABC, the net is hiring additional 
news analysts from daily papers 
to build up its convention staff, 
NBC is still in the process of 
working out details vnth the blue- 
print expected to be fintdized this 
week. CBS has its own scheme 
but is keeping it under wraps for 
the time being, 

,^t ABC, Elmer Davis is slated 
to be the pivot man assisted by 
a group of staffers including Mar- 
tin AgrpDsity, Taylor Grant, 
George Hicks and others. Head- 
quarters will be in the BeUevue- 
Stratford HoteJ with Tom Valletta, 
vice-prexy in charge of news and 
speciat events, taking charge 
Outside men hired specially for 
both conventions are Tom Stokes, 
Scripps - Howard newspaper ana- 
lyst, and ISrnest K. Lindlcy, Wash- 
ington bureau chief of Newsweek 
mag. Dickers are on for two other 
newspaper men. 

Wiuchell, Pearson on Leash 
ABC, along witli the other nets, 
utilize wire recordings for 



NB€ Yields 

iSm Coattnned trom pac« tt tsss 

to all-around squawks in past 
years over the complications aris- 
ing from d.s.t. Mutual and CBS, 
however, will record their shows 
on platters rather than tape. 

Question of whether NBC 
should let down, its no-transcrip- 
tion barrier to the extent of wax- 
ing all sliows for sectional play- 
back was actually a minor con- 
sideration, it's said, in the decision 
to accede to affiliates' urging in^ 
favor of the daylight time plan. 
Web reportedly overrode squawks 
from a number of sponsors' agen- 
cies over the fact that the day- 
light setup would shift certain 
shows into Class A time brackets, 
thereby upping their cost. 



belonging to several alleged "Com- 
mie front" organizations, including 
the National Lawyers Guild. 

The paper then backs up its 
frontpage story with a cblunm- 
length editorial which challenges: 
"Did the FCC Investigate Lamb?" 
and proceeds to insinuate thero 
may have been reasons why the 
agency overlooked the facts it un- 
covered about the Toledo attorney^ 
The Commission in January pro- 
posed to deny AM and FM licenses 
to the Horvitz Bros, because they 
bad opposed the existing station 
WHAM on every side, had insisted 
on exclusive advertising contractjS 
and generally tried to achieve a 
"monopoly in news dissemination." 



Houston— The seventh standard 
broadcast outlet, KNUZ, has taken 
to the air here operating full time 
with 250 watts on 1230 kilocycles. 
OuUet is owned and operated by 
tiie Veterans Broadcasting Co., of 
which Max H. Jacobs is prez and 
Douglas Hicks Is vice prez. David 
H. Morris has been named mana- 
ger of the outlet. 



M 7 



will 



special interviews and spot devel 
opments which will be woven into 
regulaf- live programs. The net is 
also^^nning to give a long leash 
to Walter Winchell and Drew 
Pearson in special commentaries 
which will be spotted frequently. 
John Madigan, net's mitional news 
editor, will handle European re- 
action to the convention. Mike 
Roshkind will take charge of all 
special events. 

Mutual is coQcentrating its full 
news staff of 63 persons, includ- 
ing some technical personnel, on 
Phitly during the convention 
weeks. >^ Schechter, network 



CARS' FOR WAGS 
New miM<y natwial f«- coiabf. *iu iaelu. 
MC'f, OcKlma 111 (In. I t. « nt 

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COMEBACKS TO HECKLERS, $1. LAFFIIa 
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NOTE: Ord«r $^1 wsrtii U caaMdy material 
aail Mt «a. n.nolos rbaaluttly (m. TheM 
ni*,:i>lois ar. ORIGINAL. 
LaailKl UnllHlKid. 27i W. St.. N. Y. C. 



GEOItGE CiVOr 

lOMoanmHS. mc. 

FAIRMONT HOTEL 
ATOP NO! HIU 
SAN FRANCISCO. CAUF. 
(YUkon 6.1003) 
proudly prawith 

'<QIVOT roR 
FIFTEEN 
MINUTES" 

A HAPPY OUARTER-HOUR Of 
SONGS AND DIALECT 
STARRING ■ 
THE INIMITABLE 

GEORGE 
GIVOT 

52 Fiftaen-Minut« Opan End 
Tranicriptions With a Top Notch 
Mail Pitich — Dotigned to Appoat 
to Evary Momber of tha Family 
A PERFECT SUMMER SHOW 
Will; win, ar phaaa fm 




W«dn(!|d«y, Bfairch 24, 1948 



Course on N'westeni 
Uniy. Institute Agenda 

Chicago, March 23. 

I$ew course in station manage- 
'went will be offered at the six- 
week NBC-Northwestern Universi- 
ty summer, radio institute which 
tees oft here in its seventh year 
June 28. Course for budding s.m.'s 
win deal with union and guild re- 
lations, building and financing, li- 
censing, legalistics, and routine op- 
erations. 

Annual institute provides ad 
vanced schooling in non-technical 
branches of radio, with enrollment 
limited to those with previous ex- 
perience in radio or allied trades. 

Classes aire held in NBC studiosi 
except a news course at Northwest- 
ern, Institute is co-directed by 
Judith Waller, NBC's midwest chief 
of {mblie affairs, and Don Fedder- 
son, who chairs N. U.'s radio de- 
partment. 

MINNESOTA PEDAGOGS 
TO GET 'REPORT CARD' 

Minneapolis, March 23. 

School ' administrators from 
throughout Minnesota will hear 
CBS' documentary, "Report Card," 
in a special session tomorrow 
night (24), at Northrup Memorial 
Auditorium, Univ. of Minnestota. 

Each year, the university holds 
"Schoolmen's Week" for superin- 
tendents, principals and other 
school officials. The organization's 
banquet will be Wednesday night, 
wad WCCO director of education 
E. W. Ziebarth arranged with Dean 
Wesley E. Peik o£ the university's 
department of education to install 
special wires for feeding the hour- 
long documentary to the as- 
sembled group. 



41 



F-C-B 



Continned from page 27 ; 



'Nora Drake' 

Continued (ram page iO ; 



mercials oh OBS stanza will allow 
for the additional lines. 

While the show is being heard 
«a both networks, Charles Irving, 
the director, will have to sprint 
between studios and his various 
iwting/ commitments, as he plays 
the l€4d on the "Young Dr. Ma- 
lone" serial and has numerous 
other running parts, though most- 
ly on evening programs. How- 
ever, when "Nora" finally settles 
down in its afternoon spot on CBS 
It will enable him to commute 
frmn his place in Bucks county, 
Pv., instead of living in town dur- 
ing the week as he does at pres- 
ent, with the show on NBC in the 
mornings. • 

"Marriage for Two," the Elaine 
Carrington serial sustainer which 
Is being taken off CBS to make 
room for "Nora," is under option 
to the network and may be revived 
if a time spot becomes available. 
The CBS program staff believes 
the series has rating potentialities 
and, if no five-a-week opening 
opens up7 may put on the stanza 
«s a Saturday daytime half-hour. 
Ed Downes, who joined the net- 
work staff this week to produce 
the new Shirley Booth show, "Our 
Miss Brooks," will direct "Mar- 
riage" for its remaining stay on 
ttie air. 



would comment for quotation, al- 
though Alfred F, Bowden, assistant 
to Riggio, merely confirmed Hill's 
exit. Hill's salary was estimated 
about $200,000 a year. 

According to t h e statement 
announcing his resignation. Hill 
charged that "my operations have 
been hampered by executive deci- 
sions with which I am in funda- 
mental disagreement, and in the 
making of which I have had pro- 
gressively diminishing voice or 
influence. I am of the opinion that 
principles and procedures long 
established in the company and 
essential to effective advertising 
have been departed from; and that 
the company's advertising results 
have suffered in consequence. The 
situation of having responsibility 
without authority is untenable, and 
that is the situation in which I 
find myself." 

Specifically, the statement as- 
serted that when Hill became ad 
manager of company in 1937, 
Luckies were tiiird in domestic 
cigaret sales and were declining. 
When he left to enter the service 
in 1942, it continued, Luckies were 
first in domestic sales. In those six 
years, Hill contends, the company 
spent $17,000,000 less than Rey- 
nolds spent for Camel advertising 
and $19,000,000 less than Liggett 
& Myers laid out for Chesterfield 
ads. 

At the end of 1946, according to 
Hill, Luckies were producing 103 
billion cigarets a year, or over 13 
billion more than the nearest com- 
petitor. In 1947, he said, Luckies 
produced 102 billion cigarets, while 
the nearest competitor rose from 
about 89 billion to over 100 billion. 
American Tobacco grossed $500,-. 
1000,000 in 1945. Its advertising 
' budget has frequently exceeded 
$20,000,000 a year, all of which is 
placed through F. C. & B. 

Apparently the ease-out of Hill, 
Jr., has been in process for many 
months, possibly even from Novem- 
ber, 194es, when his father died and 
Riggio assumed the American To- 
bacco presidency. One of Higglo's 
first nnoves was to bring back into 
the firm his own son, whom the 
elder Hill is reported to have fired. 
Some of the other top executives 
of the company left soon afterward, 
Pat Weaver, for instance shifting 
to Young & Rnbiean as v,p. in 
charge of radio. 



AFRA 



Continued from page 27 



Seattle-^urt Roberts, formerly 
production chief at KING here, has 
been named exec secretary and 
business agent for Seattle AFRA. 
Koherts succeeds Jack Kinzel. 




CNIXKI) REXALI. DRUa CO. 
WBdneBduy, XnC, 10:30 VM.. K.S-T. 
M-q-M— ''Oil tile iHland WHI» Van" 
"THIS TIME FOR KEEPS" 
Mgt.l LOU CLAVTON 



EXPERIENCED 

NMwork wrltw^dlrMtor prewnlly 
tmploytd, dMirci produetion poil- 
non with televItloM iMtian or 
agency, lox S11, Varisly, 1S4.W. 
4«Mi St.. N«w York 19. 



cost-of-living index rise has been 
10.7%) in the fees for staff an- 
nouncers and sound effects men in 
the four major originating cities 
iNew York, Chicago, Los Angeles- 
and San Francisco), but retention 
of the present scales for all non- 
staff announcers and sound effects 
meny as well as for all actors and 
singers.' Also, all commercial fees 
would remain as is. 

In return for this qualified boost, 
the union wants the "cooperation" 
of the networks in determining the 
bargaining unit for NLRB elections 
for union-shop clauses. Without 
such "cooperation," it's figured 
AFRA's problem of holding such 
elections might be prohibitively in- 
volved. In fact, rather than attempt 
to go through such procedure with 
several hundred agencies, sponsors, 
package and transcription firms, it 
would probably be simpler to strike 
for union-shop. 

After first proposing the same 
sort of agreement they reached with 
Petrillo (that is, renewal for three 
years on the same terms), the net- 
works finally offered a five percent 
boost for staff announcers and 
sound effects men, and indicated 
that a setup for "cooperation" 
toward NLRB elections "might be 
worked out." But at the last ses- 
sion, AFRA was reported holding 
out for retention of the cost-of- 
living clause, with a stipulation the 
commercial .scales would be recon- 
sidered in that light next Nov. 1. 

Meanwhile, an added complica- 
tion threatened to disrupt the en- 
tire (;ourse of negotiations. That 
was the stiu t by the networks of 
simultanuou.s broadcast and tele- 
vision or programs, including the 
use of AFRA talent without addi- 
tional payment. Several announcerf; 
were picked up on the video sound 
track without appearing visually^ 
but a chorus was used on one NBO 
Show both vocally and visually. 



Call of the Mature 

Thelma Hitter, radio actress, 
who made, her film debut in 
."Miracle on 34th Street," was 
called last week for a bit in 
"The Law of Mai-tin Rome," 
being shot in New York. Hav- 
ing a partial conflict with a 
radio assignment that day, .she 
turned down the bid. 

However, when she learned 
that ''Martin Rome" stars Vic- 
tor Mature and that she would 
play a scene with him, she 
merely asked, "What time is 
the call?" and arranged to ad- 
just the radio commitment. 



Hot Battle Shapes Up as Indies Boom 
Cal Smith for NAB 16th Dist. Post 



DES MOINES BXASTER 
WINS PRIMARY VOTE 

Des Moines, March 23. 

M. B. Bennett, president of Radio 
Station Des Moines, Inc.. which 
plans construction of KUMB for 
standard and FM, and also vice 
president of Tri-States Broadcast- 
ing Co, which has been granted a 
permit for an FM station at Sioux 
Falls, S, D., came in first in the 
primary election in Des Moines, 
for public safety commissioner and 
his lead in the vote indicates he 
will give the incumiient a' tough 
race for the office. 

Bennett has lived in Des Moines 
only three years but apparently has 
made a lot of friends through his 
radio programs on KCBC. Ben^ 
nett's platform promises to do 
something about housing, flood 
control and a cleanup on the police 
department as well as a fight for 
lower gas and electi-ic rates 



Hollywood, March 23. 
Hottest electioneering in the 
history of the NAB out here is 
under way for the election of di- 
rector o£ the 16th district. Cal 
Smith, one time director, militant 
indie, NAB-needler and newly I 
elected v-p of the California State 
Broadcasters Assn. is after the job. 
The incumbent is Bill Ryan, also 
a board member of the CSBA, who 
says he doesn't want it — ^though 
events seem to indicate otherwise. 
They are, respectively, g.m.'s of 
KFAC and KFI, the latter NBC's 
Coast outlet; while Smith emulates 
Gotham's WQXR with a class op- 
eration. 

There are two other localites, 
networker Harry Witt, assistant 
v-p at CBS, and Bill Beatqn, g.m. 
of KWKW, Pasadena, and prexy 
of Southern California Broadcast- 
ers Assn., but their nominations 
among the 11 appear discountable. 

Smith is already openly lining 
up votes, He thinks Ryan's two 
terms are aplenty and that it's 
time an indie, with a feeling for 
and a knowledge of indie prob- 
lems (Ryan's always been net- 
work) . should displace the incum- 
bent. Though Ryan has indicated 
by letter, in which he named Witt 
and another as likely successors, 
that he did not consider himself a 
candidate lor reelection, his name 
has reappeared on the secret bal- 



lot received here. Smith smells 
politics, though Ryan has re- 
stated that his original sfatemeht 
stands. Smith counters with the 
reminder that Ryan spoke simi- 
larly at the last election over two 
years ago — but agreed to "unani- 
mous nomination" in some cloak 
room maneuvering — and Smith is 
taking no chances of a repeat 
"steamrollering." Too, Ryan re- 
cently revived interest in local 
matters, from which it's reported, 
he had previously been conspicu* 
ously absent, and this is indicative 
that all isn't kosher. 

With 1 1 in the running and 
Smith already assured of many 
southern California votes, he looks 
like a good bet. More especially 
since business is off for indies and 
they don't want any slapping 
around but need an indie-minded 
fighter repping them. Election 
could be swung, by a couple of 
votes, in view of the running, and 
should center on the two here, un- 
less Arizonans gang ujp. Smith is 
reassured due to getting two votes 
of those with FM's. 



Hartford— "Two new additions to 
the announcing staff of WONS 
here are Owen McFarland and 
Irving Edward. An ex-newspaper^ 
man, Forbes Parkyn has joined the 
WTIC news staff as an associate 
editor. 




Q o o 



iff 



Music 



BMI has long been ready for television. Since 1940 it has 
granted the unrestricted right to perform its music hi tele- 
vision broadcasting. 

At present BMI is the orilj major performing rights organiza- 
tion that serves or can serve television on the same. basis as 
audio broadcasting. 

.An ever Increasing BMI catalog — wid!ely diversified from 
classics to 6e-bop«— gives television broadcasters a complete 
service of music for every type of program* ^ 

In the future, too, BMI pledges all of its facilities and all of 
its cooperation in helping television pioneers, whether broad- 
casters or film producers, meet every musical need on the 
road, ahead. 

Consult BMI now for information concerning music in ti^teviaion. 

Broadcast Music, Inc 

580 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 19, N. Y. 
New York • Chicago . • Hollywood 



42 



flRCmSTRilSUllllJSIC 



WeJiMHwlay, Mmrelt 24, 1948 



Jocks^ Jukes and Disks 



By Ben Bodec 



Veggy — "Laroo, Laroo, Lili 
Bolero," 'Talking to Myself About 
"Vou" (Capitol). It's apparently the 
girl's big season. No wonder her 
rivals are beginning to ask, "How 
long can one little pair of pipes 
keep there on the bestseller 
list?" Indications are she's tagged 
j^nother one in "Laroo." Miss Lee's 
trsalment is not only on a par 
with "Golden ISarrings" but the 
Bide gives the customers two fea- 



My' Favorite Five 

ByJOEQASH 

(WINX, Washington, D: CA 
"Ain't Misbehavin'" (Harry 
Jap^"s. ■ 

, "Opus No, 1" (Tommy Dor- 
sey. 

. "Artistry Jumps" (Stan 
Kenton). 

"Little Man with a Candy 
Cigar" (Jo Stafford), 



tures for the price of one. The 
other is Dave Barbour's super- 
exciting rhumba in the back- 
ground. The reverse side is a sort 
of relapse, as far as the Chirper is 
concerned. The tones are- nasal 
and metallic, and the phrasing in- 
nocuously phlegmatic, but it's still 
got enough melodic ride to make 
the item acceptable. 

" ?ewy Como— "Laroo, Laroo, Lili 
Bo.ero," "When Your Hair Has 
Turned to Silver" (Victor). It will 
be interesting to watch this ver-" 
sion compete with Peggy Lee's 
across the counter, Corao's is also 
a whopper. His fine feel for the 
haunting quality of the cdmposi- 

' tlon, dramatic ph^asUig and tonal 
byilay are upper-register stuff. 
Unlike the Lee version, the buyer 
g ts notliing but Como. The back- 

y^vground is so muffled and doused 
with that new offbeat, cacophonic 
id3a,-which seems. to be becoming 
a pestilence, that the instrumental 
plitasure of the si^e is inconse- 
quential. "Silver'.' emerges as a 
p" 'iasant dustoff. 

Vaoehn .nt6nroe^"It's the Sen- 
tiriiantal Thing To Do," "Like We 
Used to Do^' (Victor). The double 
d03e of "Do's" on tWs platter sug- 
g' 'its that Monroe might have been 
bitten by one of those radios gags 
on Duz, However, the "Senti- 
ni -ntal" side has heaps of ingratiat- 
ing lilt, and its mate is rich in 
st- iigs. 

'/Sing Crosby — "Haunted Heart," 
"I:oonlight on a Picket Fence" 
(Dacca). Crosby is in on the 
^'Haunted Heart" sweepstakes with 
a -uperior article and he makes the 
s^gng to the qther side's nostalgic 
s<mtimental piece in his usual 
rack-'em-up'figain stride. It's a 
platter with a money margin. 

Skttch Henderson Orch— "When 
You're Sailing," "Army Ain 
Corps" (Capitol). Henderson seems 
to be groping here for some sort 
of .ultrarmodern expression. The 
esoteric mob, for want of a new 
insssiah, may build it into a new 
cult, but to the average record fan. 
it'll probably sound like so much 
snooty noodling. There isn't much 
to smile about by the time he gets 
through with the old standard, and 
as for the service song Henderson 
must have gotten it mixed with a 
funeral hymn. 

liouis Jordan Orch — "Reet, 
Petite and Gone," "Inflation Blues" 
(Victor). In on the composition of 
either side, the leaderman-vocalist 

• kicks up a mess of torrid boogie 
with "Reet," but lets things down 
somewhat with the reverse side's 
pi ;;co of topicial lament. 

Fred Waring— "Nutcracker 
Suite" (Deccai. One of the most 
dialinctive and musicianly produc- 
tions that has come oft' the platter 
presses in some time. Waring has 
woven into this Tschaikovski ballet 

• the quintessence of choral story- 
_ .telling and backed it up with an 

instrumental texture that sharpens 
and colors the changing moods of 
the narratiytf. It's all on a single 
12-inch vinylite disk and attrac- 
tively packaged. 

Sammy Kayo — "Tell Me a 
Story," "I Wouldn't be Surprised" 
(Victor). Two corking sides. 
"Story" combines a soothing blend 
of reeds and brass in waltz time 
and an upperrbracket vocal by Don 
Covnell, while the. coupling bounces 
with catchy rhythm and projects 
Cornell and thfe personality-solid 



Laura Leslie in a highly saleable 
set of verses. 

Martha Davis — "Trouble Is a 
Man," "Ooh-Wee" (Decca). Her 
rendition of the Alec Wilder tor- 
cher should do much to raise the 
stature of this stylist. She can cut 
herself; a notch on this one. The 
phrasing, timing and tonal byplay 
is of a brand to put her, • as far as 
the Wilder item is concerned, 
among the tops of her sisterhood. 
The rhythm piece on the other side 
is a passable filler. 

Bob Carroll— "Now Is the Hour," 
"Sapphire of the Tropics" (Decca). 
Even though -a late entry, this 
grooving of the Maori import 
should make something of an im- 
pression. Carroll is at his melodic 
best and the backing of the Dick 
Maclntire Hawaiian group is as 
dulcet a$ they come. The Sol K. 
Bright composition stacks up as a 
snug match. • 

Monica Lewis — "The Gentleman 
Won't Say Goodnight," "Tony 
Spumoni, the Ice Cream Man" 
(Signature). Even though the bal- 
lad comes through With much yvin 



(Inusiial No. of Pings 
For Jack the Bellboy 

Detroit, March 23. 

"Jack The Bellboy," Detroit's 
IVo. 1 diskspinqer (WJBK), is get- 
ting an unusual number of plugs 
these days. ■ 

The newest is a recording, "Jack 
The Bellboy Blues," bearing the 
Aladdin label, and recorded by 
Norman Granz' "Jazz at the Phil- 
harm<>nic" group. It features 
composer' Flip Phillips on the 
tenor sax; Willie Smith, alto; 
Buddy Rich, drums; Buck Clayton, 
trumpet, and Trummy Young, 
trombone. 

"Bellboy Boogie," written and 
recorded by Tod Khodes, Detroit 
jazzist, sold an estimated 50,000 
copies in the Motor City area dur- 
ing late 1947. 

Other plug tunes for the jock 
include "Jivin* With^ack the Bell- 
boy," waxed by Illinois Jacquetj 
"Jack The Bellboy's Last Call," 
cut by Sam Donohue's orchestra 
for Capitol; and Jack's theme song, 
"It's Jack The Bellboy Time," 
written by Peter Conn and Darda- 
nelle. 

. Jukebox distributors and music 
counters have already reported 
"considerable demand", for "Bell- 
boy Blues." 



somfe flavor, it's the novelty on the 
other side that has the ring of a 
click. There's a jingle and a 
bounce about "Spumoni" that'll 
probably lift it in. due time among 
the sheet bestsellers. The joclcs 
should find it a handy bit of spice. 

Herbie Fields Orch — "You 
Turned the Tables on Me," "I Wish 
I Knew the Name." (Victor). Pat 
Flaherty's spirited vocal of "Tables" 
is more than a premium. It makes 
the side, even though the band 
puts out a hot assortment of dan- 
sapation. The bandman delivers the 
lyrics for the reverse surface, but 
the attraction for the ear is the 
dynamic instrumentation and the 
solo work in the reed and brass 
sections. / 

Alan Dale— "My Guitar," "Isle 
of Capri" (Signature), For a change 
this young lyrical singer has some- 
thing worthwhile into which to 
sink his talent, and the result 
should be highly favorable, if the 
record gets the promotion breaks. 
"Capri" has been revived with°a 
production dressing that's decided- 
ly diR erent. It's loaded with lush 
instrumental trappings and strikes 
off an an infectious spirit of gaiety. 
Bay Blpch also orovides a bright 
CContinued on page SO) 



PetriDo 
LocaktoPdi 
InfoonAFM 

Hollywood, March 23. , 
American _ Federation of Mu- 
sicians has issued orders to all lo- 
cals to send copies of a pamphlet 
written by James C. Petrillo and 
expressing his reasons for the re- 
cording ban, ban on transcribed 
shows and fight against jukeboxes, 
to schools, libraries, newspapers 
and other locations accessible to 
the public. • 

In the pamphlet. Petrillo ex- 
plains fully his reasons for the 
current music situation complete 
with actual breakdowns on money 
received from different sources 
and present employment status of 
union musicians. 

Local 47 here has received 15,000 
copies of Pelrillo's words with re- 
quest that information be dissem- 
inated as widely as possible. 



Unnaial Me Tkhp in Neb. 

• ' Frmont, Neb., March 23 

Jukebox operators «n4 disk jopkeyfi vrork pretty closely to nri*. 
mote each other's interests, but It's unlikely that any have formprf 
such an alUance, as exists here. 

A local box operator sponsors a disk jock on KORN here, and the 
jock involved, Rog Lambert, studs his commerqials with addressed 
of locations of his client's machines that! are likely to contain 
some of the disks he airs. 

Machine op, Kyes & Nichols Music Go., jstarfed the novel idea 
of sponsoring a disk spinner last week, and part of the cost is 
^underwritten by the owners of taverns and restaurants in which 
the boxes are spotted. They don't mind kicking in since the men 
tlon of their use of a K & N disk machine is also a plug for them' 
Lambert occupies an. 11:15 p.m. to midnight slot on KORN five 
nights weekly. ■ 



Pre-Disk Ban Hustle Settii^ Up 
Current Headadhe for Recordos 



Disk Jockey Reviews 



H TO 1 CLUB 
With Jim Lounsbuiy 
Sat., 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. 
Sustahiing " 
WHAS, Louisville 

This two-hour stanza is fast be- 
coming the station's top mail- 
puller,^ and switchboard reports 
that lines are clogged during the 
first hour with telephoned re- 
quests. Lounsbury really reaches 
out with WHAS's 50,000 watts, and 
does it with a quiet, friendly ap- 
proach which attracts listeners. 
Just to sample and survey the air- 
ing's mail pull, Victor A. Sholis, 
station director, held a mail con- 
test, giving away four table-model 
radio sets for a period of four 
\veeks. Listeners were invited to 
finish the sentence, "I Like the 11 
to 1 Club because . .. . in 25 words 
or less. Gimmick resulted in swell 
mail response. i 

Lounsbury mixes up his disk se- 
lections, but likes progressive jazz. 
Promoted a couple bashes here- 
abouts, just'for the fun of it. Visits 
other disk jockeys occasionally, 
and has guest names on his show. 
Ts generous with name mentions 
and requests, but modestly keeps 
the disks in the forefront, instead 
of subordinating the actual play- 
ing of the disks to his personalized 
chatter. Guy has a large following 
on the late Saturday, and early 
Sunday morning airing, and also 
does .a daily p.m. stint at the turn- 
table. Hold. 



JSLIO Best Sellers on CoiihMacliines!;!!::^^^ 



2. 
3. 



5. 
6. 



8. 



NOW IS THE HOUR (8) (Leed* {^Vr^l I : : ! I! Il"^^ 

MANANA (7) (Barbour-Lee) . i... ...... . . . . ... . . . . Pedgy Le6 . 



FOUR LEAF CLOVER (9) (Remlck). 



.. . . . .. . .Copitol 

I Art Mooney - • . . ■ . . . , . . . .M-G-M 
\ Uptown. String Band. . . .Mercury 

BEG YOUR PARDON (5) (Robbins) | Francis Croiff Bullet 

' ' I Frankie Carle Columbia 

BUT BEAUTIFUL (2) (Morris) . . Bing Crosby. .Decca 

UTTLE HrWSfi LIES (2) (BVC) Dicfc Haymes . .'. Decca 

SABRE DANCE (4) (Ledte) \f°'i^J' HfT" Cohmbia 

(Freddy Martin .......... .Victor 

SERENADE OF THE BELLS (11) (Morris) H" Stafford Capitol 

~ ' " ( Sotmnv Koye. .......... . Victor 



9. GOLDEN EARRINGS (13) (Paramount). 



10. BALLERINA (18) (JefTerson) 



Coming Up 



[Peggy Lee Capitol 

I Dinah Shore. , , . .... . . Columbia 

i Vaughn Monroe . . . , . . . . , . Victor 

( Jimmy Dorsey. M-G-2W 



TERESA (Duchess) . . 5 Andrews Sis Haymes . 

I Vic Damone 

MATINEE (Morris) 

SHINE (Shapiro-B) 

THOUSAND ISLANDS SONG (Morris) 



. Decca 
Mercury 

.... . . ... . . Vaughn Monroe , , , . . ,. , . Victor ■ 

Fra,nkie Laine, . . , , , . . > .Mercwry 

* ( Louis Prima Victor 

• • j Johnny Mercer.,. ,, . ... .Capitol 

f DICKEY BIRD SONG (Robbins) ( Freddy Martiw. . Victor 

•■ THOtirnTiF<SQ '^"'■'■^ Clinim Decca 

iHUU(jtUJ.Ll<.SS (Feist) ....V Buddy Kaye MGM 

BIG BRASS BAND FROM BRAZIL (Morris) Art Momiey. ['.M-G-M 

HAUNTED HEART (Williamson) . [Perry Como Victor 

4. mnnnav tnv. ^ ^i<^fford Capitol 

t BECAUSE (Chappell) p,,,^, ^omo Vic-tor 

IN LITTLE BOOK SHOP (BVC) J Vausflm Monroe Victor 

I Guy Lvmbardo. . . , . . . . . . .Decca 

(Jo Stafford. . . , Capitol 

I Dindh Shore . ... . , , . Columbia 
Spike Jones . . . . . . . , . . . v . . Victor 

PIANISSIMO (Santly-Joy) ( Perry Como Victor 

VACTtrn nun/inu /» ... ) Buddy Clark Columbia 

EASTER, PARADE (Berlin)- . n.,,, r ^ i / 

■ •■• Guy Lo?)i()ardo. ...... .. ..Decca 

( Saimmj Kaye . . ., . . . . .... . Victor 

( Ames Bros • v.i . . . , .Decca 

Art Mdoney . . . . , , . . . ^ . . , MrG-M 

( Andreios Sisters . .,/... . . Decca 

r„. , , ITonu Pastor..... .....Columbia 

Utgures in parentheses indicate number of weeks song has been In the Top 10] 

** «*«♦♦♦ tW^^f M t l 



BEST THINGS IN LIFE (Crawford) 
MY OLD FLAME (Famous) 



TELL ME A STORY (Laurel) 

BABY FACE (Harms) 

RED WAGON (Leeds) 



Hustle and bustle which char- 
acterized the pre-ban activities of 
all recording companies, particu- 
larly the majors, which had the 
talent, is now beginning to show 
results which in many, cases are 
not to the liking of those respon- 
sible for the assignment and re- 
cording of future hits. In too many 
instances songs are becoming hits 
Which the recording men didn't 
believe wopld reach that position, 
and either didn't record them or 
assigned them to medium or minor 
b.o. talent. As a result, there are 
recording directors among the var- 
ious manufacturers who are in hot 
water with their bosses. 

Before the first of the year, the 
deadline for disking (as per the 
American Federation of Musicians 
ban), the task of sorting, evaluat- 
ing and assigning to the proper tal- 
ent the mountain of pops and 
standards submitted by music pub- . 
Ushers was a prodigious one. Pub« 
Ushers who normally are extreme- 
ly selective and careful about the 
material they accept for publica- 
tion were forced to work fast, just 
as the recording companies were. 
Which meant that, in the final 
analysis, the songs they submitted 
Were not always up to their stand- 
ards. Multiply such a situation with 
-the fact that virtually every major 
publisher was digging into files for 
revivable oldies, and the picture 
4)ecomes a confused one. 

Add to that the number of fu- 
ture show and picture tunes which 
were hurriedly readied for record- 
ing, some of which won't see re- 
lease until late this year (but, by 
that time may not be included in 
the films or shows for which they 
were written). This latter group, 
incidentally, were the safest tunes 
for diskers to record since they 
get the heaviest exploitation from 
the showing of the vehicles from 
which they spring, and the staffs of 
publishers who own them put forth 
extra effort. 

Currently, each of the major and 
medium-level manufacturers have 
problems caused by the lack of 
diskings of hits,'or by the fact that 
a Hit was made by an artist not 
strong enough in name value to 
compete with the opposition. This 
condition is in some cases the fault 
of the. recording director, but in 
many more cases can be attributed 
only to the rush of pre-ban disk- 
ing. But that explanation doesn't 
always suffice to quell the heat be- 
ing put on some recorders from 
higher executives. 



BEBE DANIELS SUES FOR 
HER % ON RECORD DEAL 

Hollywood, March 23. 
Bebe Daniels is suing John Clein 
for $2,200, claiming she inked a 
deal with him, as agent for United 
Artists Records, a phono records 
manufacturing corporation, under 
which he was to make disks from 
her masters, and pay her 50% of 
the net. 

Suit alleges Clein made approxi- 
mately 5,500 platters, owes her 
$2,200, but refused to pay. 

Gem Records' Pub Subsid 

Gem Records has set up a music 
publishin/? .subisid which will av 
filiate with Broadcast Music, Inc. 
Firm name is Click Music Publish- 
ing (Co. 

. Teeoff publications are "Sinbad 
the Bamba" and "Manana Rumba, 
recorded by Oolph Traymort for 
Gem. 



Wcdtei»l«y, Mweh 194M 



BANDS' B.O. LAG STIRS DISKERS 



Honedber Mama'Pic hodocers Force 
Halt of Title Soi^ frmn Perfomnance 



As the result of a threat of liti-^ 
gation from RKO, the song, "I Re- 
member Mama," has been with- 
drawn from public performance 
and publication by Chappell & Co. 
In its protest to the publisher RKO 
contended that the song's writer, 
Charlos Tobias, had made use of 
the title without obtaining per- 
it>issi0n from iny one concerned 
\nth the original plas" or the pic- 
ture. It's the first time that a film 
company has taken steps to pre- 
vent a songsmith from tagging on 
to a title. 

The sudden ban on the tune not 
only caifted several radio names 
who had it listed for performance 
to change their plans but created 
no little embarrassment for the 
record companies that have cut 
and released the number. The 
latter have bad to abandon all ex- 
ploitation ideas for "Mama." 

Max Dreyfus, head of Chappell, 
said that 'RKO had advised him 
that it was acting on the objections 
of Harriet Parsons and George 
Stevens, producei's of its "Mama" 
version. It was felt in that quar- 
ter that the song might tend to 
lower the. dignity of the fllm- 
. RKO, said Dreyfus, pointed out 
that the title was the property of 
John van Druten, author of "I Re- 
member Mama," and that the 
songwriter's appropriation of it 
WAS hot only unlawful butr might 
result in damage to' its film prop- 
erty. Dreyfus explaifaed that RKO 
- had no objection to the records al- 
' ready made of the tune so long as 
they were confined to home use 
but it was adamant about its per- 
formance In public, especially on 
• the air. 

: Dreyfus kgreed to have all per- 
formances stopped and to shelve 
the published version immediately. 
The publisher added that the pic- 
ture compttQjr's reaction was quite 
a surivise to him since that busi- 
ness is as a rule anxiousr to . co- 
operate in exploiting songs with a 

: common interest. 

The three recordings of "Mama" 

: that have already been released 
are those of Ziggy Lane (DeLuxe), 
Betty Rhodes (Victor) and Claude 
ThornhiU (Columbia). Dreyfus 

. has notified all record labels in- 
volved of the situation. 



ToOKRewgPiaii 

Signature Records has asked mu- 
sic publishers, through Harry Fox, 
latter's agent and trustee, to okay 
a plan under which the pubs will 
be paid some $52,500 owed them 
collectively on royalties in arrears, 
which ultimately will allow the 
company to proceed. At the mo- 
ment. Signature is involved in a 
Chandler Act reorganization peti- 
tion in New York, and an unoffi- 
cial creditors committee is endeav- 
oring to get the company's affairs 
straight so as to vrin legal favor 
*or its continuance in biz. 
^, Unofficial group has proposed 
that publishers accept a plan for 
all debts prior to Dec. 13 last, when 
the Chandler dive was taken, call- 
ing for 25% on the doUai-. This, 
it okayed, is to be paid 5% in cash 
at the time of settlement, 5% 
yj^jn one year, and the additional 
15% in 18 months, at the rate of 
1% each six months. In addition, 
WCTiature will pay to pubs in full 
aha in cash all royalties accrued 
through sales since Dec. 13, to be 
paid apparently from a $100,000 
. loan that will be made the com- 
pany as soon as its reorganization 
Plan is accepted by aU creditors 
and condoned by the court, 

ftan Wilde has opened four- 
week run at Baker hotel's Mural 
«oom, DaUas, coming from Ana- 
Antho»J°°'" at San Antonio's St. 

■ •■ J . ■ i ■ 



BuUet in Tieup With 

Jones, Dick Peterson 

Hollywood, March ^23. 
Jim BuUeit, BuUet Record pVexy, 
has lied in with Isliam Jones and 
liis recently formed Bantam Rec- 
ords. BuUeit, now co»owner with 
Jones, will distribute the two 
Bantam platters Jones has at pres- 
ent, 

' BuUeit has also inked a pact 
with orch leader Dick Peterson to 
release macstro's 12 mjisters. Peter- 
son recently reclaimed his mas- 
ters, made for United Artist rec- 
ords, when he decided UA was not 
giving him the deal he wanted. 
Peterson has also severed connec- 
tions with his personal manage- 
ment agency, Rusdan, Inc. (BuUets 
Durgom and Nick Russo). Band 
leader bought oflt a pact which had 
been in effect six months but still 
had six and a half years to go. 

MCA Iryiai To 
hAice Mae^os 
To Spread Work 

Music Corp. of Amercia's band 
division is set on a policy of get- 
ting its major properties back to 
fuUtime work. This primarily 
means inducing them to play date's 
they have not bothered to work for 
years, either because their salary 
quotations set them out of the 
reach of certain dates or because 
they, were too busy circulating 
among only the best locations, the- 
atres, and laying off on long vaca- 
tions. 

Tommy Dorsey's coming summer 
is an example. He's working such 
dates as the Surf Club, Virginia 
Beach, Va.; Chase hotel, St. Louis, 
Eastwood Gardens, Detroit (see 
separate story). Theoi-y behind the 
agency's move is that current, con- 
ditions of the band business, are 
caused by the fact that not enough 
top names have been devoting 
themselves to the type of work that 
in the final analysis goes; a long 
way toward sustaining the entire 
band business. 

When a top name confines him- 
self to the prime locations and 
theatres, the lesser operators must 
get along as best they can: with 
medium names, which in the end 
restricts the possibility of , those 
lower level crews. 'There's not 
enough stimulation among the pa- 
tronage df the smaller spots when 
.big names continue to avoid them 
and that contributes considerably 
towai-d public apathy toward the 
band business itself. 



MAJESTIC CALLS HALT 
TO NEWARK DI$Kfl(G 

Majestic Records last week halt- 
ed the pressing of disks by Its New- 
ark plant for reasons said to be : 
(1) That distributors and dealers 
buying the output weren't exhibit- 
ing any anxiety to pay for them 
under the theory that the company 
is deep in the Cliandler Act re- 
organization and there was no 
sense in paying unless they were 
farced to, and (2) that due to the 
company's legal involvement, plus 
a sloping off of the recording busi- 
ness, orders were not too plentiful. 

Meanwhile, tliere have been sev- 
eral offers to buy the firm, whose 
principal assets at the moment are 
artist contracts, and its Newark 
and Elgin, 111., pressing plants. Ap- 
parently each of the offers being 
made stem from people who feel 
they can take over the company 
for a fraction of what it's worth, 
pay off the recording division's 
debts on percentage terms, and 
thus wind up with a good thing. 
None of the offers apparently is 
being seriously entertained, includ- 
ing one to purchase the Newark 
plant alone. 

1--.^^ ►♦♦t'lH-^ -^-^> » ♦ •» ■» 




T IRimilT 
FIIT CONTimCIS' 

Fall from pubUc favor of name 
bands in the past year is beginning 
to disturb certain major disk com- 
pany executives. And it's probable 
that one will soon go after the situ- 
atioii in no uncertain manner. 

Though many bandleaders — those 
who from force of habit the busi- 
ness stUl regards as top names — 
are now ifearer the bottom of the 
boxoffiice heap, they still enjoy fat 
recording contracts. In some cases, 
maestros drawing healthy annual 
coin guarantees, on the basis of 
contracts vnritten when they were 
stiU real names, represent deep red 
ink. 

Disk executives go along with 
the ol^vious fact that "name" bands, 
as such, have been depopularized 
considerably since the war's end, 
but they also are quite .strong in 
their opinions' 'that nobody has 
made an attempt to do anything 
about it — including the bandleader 
himself and the booking agency, 
PrincipaUy, however; they feel 
many maestros are at fault foi- fail- 
ing to keep up witfr the times; not 
conducting, themselves properly in 
contact with the public; clinging to 
wild styles; maintaining-bands en- 
tirely too large in view of condi- 
-tions, etc. The recording execs 
feel it'll'Soon become a question of 
a maestro's consenting to meet part 
way on the objectionable items or 
take their wares elsewhere. 

One. of diskmen who feels that 
it's about time some one stepped 
in and tried to do something about 
the lagging band business if leaders 
do not want to do it themselves, 
feels that a closer cooperation be- 
tween the disk companies ari& 
booking agencies would be effect- 
ive. This could extend to an alli- 
ance on promotion, exploitation and 
other means of developing a ' new 
interest. It would mean to him, 
too, a closer supervision by record- 
ing men over recorded arrange 
ments, if and when the disk ban is 
settled. He feels that so-called 
swing bandleaders for some time 
have been getting away with too 
much, that there's Jittle or no su- 
pervision of the arrangement of a 
tune once it's aissigne^i for disking. 
He feels that the name bandleader 
has had his day, that at the mo- 
ment the b.o. reaction is weak 
largely because bandleaders them- 
selves fluffed off the public and 
their opportunities and that it's 
about time someone told them off. 



N. Y. Publishers Mull Advisability 
Of Cutting Costs Now Instead Of 
Waiting Out Current Sales Slump 



Capitol Settles for $750 
'Alamo' Theft Charge 

Winding up a three - month 
plagiai'ism tangle, Capitol Songs 
has settled out of court with clef- 
fer WilUam F. Peters the latter's 
claim that one of his tunes was 
lifted and became "Across the 
Alley From the Alamo." Peters re- 
ceived $750 to caU off his lawyers. 

Peters is pressing a similar suit 
against Crawford Music on allega- 
tions that "Glocca Morra" was 
taken from a tune he published in 
1928. Tune is the hit number of 
"Finian's Rainbow," Broadway mu- 
sical sock. 



Barnef s 50€ Suit Vs. 
AFM's 47 Local on Coast 
In Mardi Gras Puilout 

HoUywoOd, March 23. 
Local 47, American Federation 
of Musicians, is on the wrong end 
of a $50,000 breach-of-contract ac- 
tion, filed as a cross complaint to 
maestro Charlie Bamet's suit 
against the Casa Manana, Inc., 
over a bad check. Suit against the 
union is over the fact that two 
weeks ago Bamet and an orchestra 
he was leading were pulled from 
the Mardi Gras ballroom, Culver 
City, by Local 47 executives. 

Stillman Pond, Joe Zucca, and 
Harry Schooler, operators of the 
Mardi Gras, operate two other 
ballrooms, Majestic, Long Beach, 
and Terrace, Hermosa Beach, both 
of which use non - union bands. 
Mardi Gras intends going into a 
non-union 'music policy soon. It's 
the contention of Pond, Zucca, 
and Schooler that Local 47 pulled 
Barnet for that reason, which vio- 
lated its contract with the ball- 
room since ■ the switch to non- 
union musicians had not yet been 
made at the time Barnet was 
pulled out. 

The $50,000 action was made a 
cross complaint in answer to 
Barnet's suit 'claiming a pay check 
given him' by the Mardi Gras 
bounced. He had two more weeks 
to go at the spot when 47 execs 
moved in on him, prompted by the 
complaint of Long Beach Local 353 
to the national AFM office in N. Y^ 
k »•> < ♦ ii>-"-»->>> •«-4-ir'--.»->.»»»t-*4-«-t 



De€cam'47To 
Top '46 Gross 

JDecea Records turned in a jiew 
high sales groiss niark for 1947 of 
$32,508,700. This figure surpassed 
by almost $2,000,000 the previous 
mark of $30,675,380 piled up dur- 
ing 1946. Other inicome, l(abelled 
as royalties, presumably derived 
from its music publishing affilia- 
tions, increased the company's 
gross to $32,977,000 as compared 
to • $31,104,850 fof the previous 
year. 

Though the gross was . liigher, 
Decca's 1947 net earnings were 
lower, amounting to $1,618,550. 
equal to $2.08 a share on the 776,- 
650 capital stock in circulation 'as 
against the $2.50 paid following the 
previous year's earnings of $1,944,- 
538y Difference is accounted for by 
increased costs, new equipment, 
etc. In addition to the $2.08 being 
paid stockholders on the net as of 
the end of the company's fiscal 
year (up to Dee. 31 last), regular 
quarterly dividends of 25c per 
share were paid diuing 1947. 

Decca's earned s u r p 1 u .s, now 
stands at $4,223^104, an. increase of 
$841,900 over the* total at the com- 
pletion of 1946. Jack Kapp, the 
company's president, pointeid out 
in an elaborate brochure circular- 
ixed among .stockholders that the 
current disk ban imposed by the 
American Federation of Musicians 
is unUkely to interfere with con- 
tinuance of business on the same 
scale— at least during 1948. -v 

Decca's elaborate brochure to 
detail the '47 statement points out 
the company's gross progression 
year by year teom the $494,500 it 
took in during 1934, its first year 
of operation. It points up the sud- 
den zoom in the disk business fol- 
lowing the end of the war, when 
from a 1945 gross of slightly over 
$15,000,000 the company's '46 take 
jimiped to more than $30,000,000. 
Similar boosts occurred with all 
disk companies. 



■4; Major and minor music publish- 
ers apparently are not going to wait 
out the current sales slump thi^ 
year as they did the last time bus; 
iness took a dive, There's been 
considerable discussion among New 
York executives during the past 
week or so relative to sUcing op^ 
crating costs as much and as quicfc-r 
ly as possible. 

Since the war, when good staff 
men were hard to Jind. and keep,- 
salaries have gone up considei-ably. 
But that's not what has been both- 
ering publishers in recent weeks, 
since sales began slipping. They're 
more concerned about printing and ^ 
other mechanical costs, which have 
increased a bit. Printers' prices, 
for example, went up again about 
10 days ago, and in the face of such 
increases publishers have not lifted 
wholesale prices to jobbers and 
other buyers . Fop music stiU - -r^' 
tails at 35c per copy, on the aver^- 
age, and the feeling is that if that's 
increased sales would decrease 
even further since musie is today 
more than ever looked upon as a 
luxury item. 

A ma.1or firm with a large N. Y. 
staff, and others in Chicago, Holly- 
wood and elsewhere, can consume 
up to $65,000 monthly, and pep- 
haps more. Even a small firm witb 
five men spread around cant get 
by on much less than $IOjQ0O a 
month. Which means that a slump- 
ing sales curve calls for. drastie; 
measures. There are- Uiose pubs; 
incidentally, who. can't see how 
some smaU firms can survive cur- 
rently, but such predictions have 
been consistently made for years. 



Coi^t Payola 
Radbt Grows 

' Hollywood, March 23. 

West coast music men are com- 
plaining bitterly about the payola 
racket, which is running rampant 
from Los Angeles to' San Fran- 
cisco. The abuse runs in the foim 
of orch leaders- exacting from mu- 
sic pubUshers and pluggers coin 
to play new tunes. .. 

Al Comparte, Coast regional di- 
rector for contaetmen, 'reveals that 
no formal complaints have been 
filed. In such an event the union 
holds fuU-dreis hearing of griev- 
ances. As it stands at present,* 
pluggers are pointing fingers and 
glaring ' at one another, but it's 
aU unofficial; ihus, n» action can 
l»e taken. ' 



£. H. et GETS 
250.pt, 

Edwin H. Morris MiiSic Coj, 
has been partially successful in ita . 
campaign for an incceiise in its 
availability ratings in the Ameri- 
can Society of Composers, Authors 
and Publishers. ItS bid for point* 
boosts for all three' Morris firms— ^ 
Morris, Melrose and Mayfair-^ 
ha^ Ijeeii. capi^ed by; the granting 
of : a ' 25(hpOittt increase for the 
Moi;ris outfit. This lifts that 
catalog to 1,000 points, while 
Mayfair and Melrose, listed at 900 : 
and 800, respectively, teinain as 
they are. 

Increase for Morris was secured 
Hollywood, March 23. from the Society's fuH board of 
Herb Montei and Jack Johnstone : directors last week by attorney Lee 
have formed music firm, .lohnstone Eastman, who argued Morris' ease 
& Montei Inc., a BMl concern. Both I for all three firms. As yet Morri^ 
parties also have separate pubber- , has not been notified otQcially of 
ies; Montei, Vanguard Songs, and I the increase. 

Johnstone,^Johnstone Music. ! ASCAP board men point out 
J. and M. Inc. will become an . that the additional points doled out 



MONTE!, JOHNSTONE 
FORM NEW PUBBERY 



operating concern April 1 with two 
songs, one from each partner's 
firm. Montei's Vanguard Music 
will be headed on the Coast by 
Charlie Adams and will pubUsh 
western music exclusively. John^ 
stone will handle new firm's activi- 



to Morris are subject to change. 
Society's Publishers Classification 
Committee has been in the throes 
of re-evaluating all availability 
ratings and when the job is com- 
pleted Morris . may ' get another 
change. Committee has been at its 



ties in New York, Montei in Hoi- 'task for a year or so and is stiU not 



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43 






AND HIS MUSICAL DEPRECIATION REVUE 





mimm 




ONE NIGHTERS 

OES MOINES 

|l4,t32 fCapoelfy; 
|14,2MI (CmpmtHy) 

MHIIIEAPOUS 
MILWAUKEE 

113,117 (Copa^) 

SOVTH BENS 
0 

(Cmpmtity) 

SYNAOUSE 

$13,041 (c«|Hfc;f)fj 

YOUNOSTOWN 

111,310 (Cmpmtlfy) 

NTTSBUNON 

$10,230 (Cmpmity) 

WONCESTER 

$15,510 (C&pmtHy) 

SFMNQFIELD, MASS. 

$11,730 (CapmeHy) 

Sfidafcakftr Tii«afre, 
ONIOAOOrlO Wadks 

$222,043 (Capa€HY) 



0^ 








Ju«l Relented on 
HCA VICTOR RECORDS 

"Jiigie Ttwn 

■ and 

"Vgfa Ho* Bm Ucfi Be* Bm Igga 



0wMMmiJHifi. AOENA OTAM, INO. Rd^li Wendm, 

mm OONPONATION ff AMINIOA 



46 



ORCBESniAS-lllVSIC 



DANNY\.v The ANDREWS 

^ SISTERS 




A SemtioMi Mm-Up of tfieir Gmt Remd 'WIUZATWN' 

* IT'S A QUIET TOWN (cross bone county) 

ilr BIG BRASS BAND FROM BRAZIi 



DECCA RECOKD 




* And Watch For This One! Soon To Be * 

• Released. DANNY KAYE'S record of: • 

rTPOLIE OOLIE PQOME I St UHllS BLUES I 



. Don't Miss TMs Great 
ANDREWS SISTERS Record 



, I HATE TO Lost YOll 



BALLIir THE JACK 



Decca Record #24380 ® Decca Record #24401 • 

• • «..••« « • 9 « 9 9 « « « « « 9 « 9 



i X 0 I U S I V E I Y ON 



A RECORPS 



i i S(H^ i# Largest RadiD AiriW 

The top 31 songs o/ the week based on the copj/rtgihted Audi- 
• ' ence Coverage Index Survey of Popular MuHc Broadcast Oner 
* Radio iVctiuor/cs. Published by tHe Oj^ce of Research, Inc. Dr 
John G. Peatman, Director. ^ ' " 

Survey Week of Mureh IMS, 1948. 

Ballerina , . . . v Jefferson 

Beg Your Pardon Robliins 

Best Things lia Life Are Free-^t"Good News" :Crawford 

Brass Band From Brazil— *"A»gel In the Wings" , . , Morris 

But Beautiful— f'Boad to Bio" Morris 

Dickey-Bird Song— 1"3 Daring Daughters" Bobbins 

Feathery Feelin' Beverly 

First Time I Kissed You. , Warren 

Golden Earrings— 1"Golden Earrings" , Paramount 

Hooray For Love — f'Casbah" — "Melrose 

Hov/ Lucky You Are . Maurice 

I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover Remlck 

I'm My Own Grandpaw , . General 

In a Little Book Shop Triangle 

Love Is So Terriflo Mellin 

Manana . . Barbour-L 

Now Is the Hour , . . . Leeds 

Pass the Peace Pipe — 1 "Good News" Crawford 

Passing Fancy ...... . . . ■ BMI 

Pianissimo , Santly-Joy 

Saturday Date . . Southern 

Sat. Night Central Park— -""'Make Mine Manhattan" , Harms 

Serenade Of the Bells. -. ■ . Melrose 

Shauny O'Shay— "^''Look, Ma, I'm Dancing" Chappell 

Tell Me a Story Laurel 

Teresa' i Duchess 

Thoughtless Feist 

Treasure Sierra Madre ■ Remick 

Whafll I Do Berlin 

You Do— 1 "Mother Wore Tights" BVC 

Don't Have To Know Language — f'Boad to Bio" Morris 



The remaining 19 songs of the week, based on the copyrighted 
Audience Coverage Index Survey of Popular Music Broadcast 
Over Radio Networks. Published bv the Office of Research, Inc., 
Dr. iTohn G. Peof man, Director. 

All Dressed Up With a Broken Heart. Marks 

An Old Sombrero . . . . . . . ■ , . . * ^ Shapiro-B 

At the Candleligbt Ctife Witmark 

Bye Bye Blackbird Remick 

Dreamy Lullabye .................. ...... . , , . . . .Oxford 

Haunted Heart— *"Inside USA" ... Williamson 

I Never Loved Anyone Dreyer 

I'll Dance At Your Wedding .>, Simon 

I'm a Comin' a Courtin' Corabelle Dreyer 

Just About This Time Last Night. Broadway 

Let's Be Sweethearts Again , , . . C-P 

Little White Lies BVC 

Oooh Look-a There, *Ain't She Pretty. ...... . . ..... Leeds 

Sabre Dance Leeds 
AVTiat's Good About Goodbye — t"Casbah" ......... Melrose 

When You're Smiling ........ ,., Mills 

You Were Meant For Me — t'You Were Meant". . Miller 
You're Gonna Get My Letter London 
You're Too Dangerous Cherie ^ ^ ....... . Witmark 



• Legit Musical, t Filmusicol. 



Larry Barnet Doe in N.Y., 
On Mend After Illness 

Hollywood, March 23. 

Larry Barnet is expected td go 
to New York' the middle of April 
on his first trip east since his ill- 
ness two months ago. Barnet has 
been taking it easy since returning 
to his home here following his 
hospital siege, and while he Still 
feels the .effects he's, .sufficiently 
back on his feet to plan Resuming 
work. \ -. 

Barnet will not remain in Music 
Corp. of America's N. X. office 
when he returns. Johnny Dugan 
will continue tff head the eastern 
band division under Barnet, who 
will divide his time between all 
MCA branches. 



National Denies Disking 
Leeds' *Heartbreaker* 

National Records states ihat it 
has not made a recording of Leeds 
Music's "Heartbreaker." Its name 
had been included in a story in the 
previous issue telling how. Leeds, 
Which had accepted the tune less 
than a week before the recording 
deadline, Jan. 1, only kniew of two 
disks made of it at the time but 
found itself three months later 
with 11 versions of "Heartbreaker" 
on wax. 

National also points out that the 
Billy Eckstine recording of "All of 
Me," which had befin inadvertently 
credited to M-G-M in Varimty's disk 
jockey poll, is one of its own disks. 
Eckstine has been with the M-G-M 
label almost a year. 



ANDREW-CRYSTAL BAND 
BOOKING PARTNERSHIP 

John B. Andrew, booker of the 
Shelton and .Governor Clinton ho- 
tels, N. Y., and the Onandaga ho- 
tel, Syracuse, has formed a part- 
nership with Jack Crystal, of Com- 
modore Records, for the formation 
and booking of bands. Duo also 
plans to produce music units for 
theatres and niteries. 

Crystal for some time has been 
conducting the jam sessions at 
Jimmy Ryan's, N. Y. nltery. He'll 
also do the shows at the Rustic 
Cabin, a New Jersey rdadhouse, 
starting April 22. 

Andrew-Crystal idea is to pat- 
tern^, bands and price according to 
each specific spot 

Vaughn Monroe, at the controls 
lOf his own plane, flew to Pine- 
hurst, N. C, for five days of golf 
before epening at Pottstown, Pa,v 
Saturday night (2'7). 



NAVY BAND'S 104 CONCEIRTS 
Washington, March 23, 

V. S. Navy band opens its second 
postwar tour March 30, with an 
itinerary which includes 104 con- 
certs in 51 eastern and midwestern 
cities. Windu'p will be in Pitts- 
burgh on May 20. 

Similar tour was made through 
the soutiii in 1946. AU profits go to 
charitable aiid dvlc organizattions 



MUIs Program SngeeslItiM 

WHEN YOU'Ri SMIUH© 

MARY LOU 

MONEY, 

MONEY. 

MONEY 

TEACH ME. TEACH ME 
BABY 
MILLS MUSIC. INC. 
I6I9 Broarfvimy Nmir York I» 



Hear KENNY ROBERTS 

Binir "Out West Wliere I S"! 
th« "Barnyard iS'oIllea S^<>w t "« 
Sat. »M ii.m., MM., Marrl. «■ 
(riuro tlilB notice on your raiHo.) 
prof. coiileH ami Hst wrltti: 
Knom AIKIRK PBBWC/VTIONS 
■ . Uniftam, Pk. ' : ■ 





AND HIS MUSICAL DEPRECIATION REVUE 




ONE NieHTERS 

f IMtt (Cafxieify; 

SNHifiFffiUI, lU^ 

PEORtt 

MilMEIFOliS 

||i||l28 rCopoclfyj 

WATERLOQ 
TOLEDO 

$14^ rcofwcir/) 
MILWAUKEE 

113,861 (CapmHy) 

SOUTH BERD 

112,264 (CofwHy) 

TOMIKTO 

$22,641 (Copmhy) 

SYRACUSE 

SiSJMi (Copatiiy) 

YOUROSTOWR 

(11,310 (Capadiy) 

finSRUROH 

$10,230 (Capadty) 

WORCESTER 

$16,616 (CapacHy) 

SPRIROHELD, MASS. 

$11,738 (CapatHy) 

SiHiUaker Theatre, 
OHICAOO, 10 Weeks 

1^22,843 (CapatHy) 







Just Released on 
RCA VICTOR RECORDS 

«'Juegle Tm' 

"Uf^a Ugi;a Bee Ugga Boo Boo Ugga' 

/^mUMtdAfyl AREHA STARS, IHO. Raipb Wond^, Pf«8. 
^iMo^ MUSIS CORFORATIOi ^ MIBOM 



BETflll SHEET BEST mi^lB^ 



















Coast Mitsie Co. - | 










' ta 

rtliem Music Co. 






■ — • — ' p^^^^y-" ' ' ' 1 

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/rom leading stores in 11 cities, 
and showing ' comparative sales 
rating for this <tnd Ifat wetk. 




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Easier to SeD 
Rhumk Bands 
In N.Y. Cafes 

New Yoric agencies are,finding it 
easier to sell a good Latin dance 
outfit around town thtan any other 
type band. The rhumba crews' 
draw in nlteries is pronounced, arid 
currently most agencies are trying 
to ^et in on the lucrative summer 
hotel business v/ith a list of Latin 
orchs. 

Bulk of the rhumba business has 
been tied up by the • recently 
formed Leonard Green agency, the 
Contbental Booking office and 
Jack Bobbins. 

According to Green, there's an 
insufficient supply of this type 
band to meet -the demands. Con- 
sequently, individual sidenien de- 
mand an average of $125 weekly to 
go on the road, wiiich means that 
these bands must be sold at higher 
prices. 



2 Leave Vitacoustics 

Chicago, March 23. 
Hal Cooke, sales manager, and 
Art Ward, public relations direc- 
tor, left Yitacoustlc Becords last 
veek. 

Cooke joined Capitol Becords 
Sjiles promotion departnieht here 
Monday (22)y Ward, who also man- 
ages the Hbneydreamers, Vita re- 
cording artists, will do freelance 
television public relations ■\*ork, 
and plans to package several video 
shows. 



EDDYDUCHINREORGS 
BAND; NX STRAND SET 

Eddy Duchin, who deserted 
bandleading several years ago 
when he enlisted in the Navy, will 
resume batoning. He has already 
been signed for the Strand theatre, 
N. Y,, May 21, in for a four-week 
run. ' , 

Duchin, during his absence from 
the podium, has remained a show- 
business • figure. Until last year, 
when the Al Jolson show took over 
on the Kraft Music Hall, he was 
emcee, and pianist for that pro- 
gram. 



Cugat, Morand In 

Squeeze Song Play 

Xavier Cugat and Jose Mo- 
rand, partners in Pemora Music, 
launched by Morand a couple of 
years ago, will put a Latin rhythm 
squeeze on New York during May. 
Morand, who has been away from 
maestroing for ove^ a year, devot- 
ing himself to music publishing, is* 
going to work April 6 at the Pel- 
ham Heath Inn, and Cugat opens 
May 13 at the Hotel Waldorf-As- 
toria. It's reported that RCA-Vic- 
tor, for which Morand records, in- 
sisted he resume fronting a band 
to help push his disks. 

At any fate, with Cugat at the 
Waldorf and Morand at PeUiam 
Heath, the pair will be in a unique 
position to broadcast the songs pub- 
lished by" their own firm. Morand 
will not give up his publishing ac- 
tivities due to his return to the 
band biz. He'll use a 10-piece com- 
bo at the Pelham Heath Inn, stay- 
ing eight weeks. ' 



Denny Dennis Signed 
For T. Dorsey Orch; 
Unique Disk Setup 

Tommy Dorsey baa put a unique 
twist into his band, whicb resumes 
work April S. He haa slgaed 
Denny Dennis, English vocalist 
now being sold in this country 
on London Records, to sing with 
the outfit. Dennis, who has been 
getting attention here in recent 
months via the ' London disks, 
which are made and pressed in 
Britain and, shipped here, arrives 
here by plane Saturday (27) to take 
up with T. D. He carries consider- 
able b.o. weight, in England. 

Unusual ^ngle of the deal is that 
Dennis will continue to record for 
London while with Dorsey (cutting 
material here when needed), plus 
which he'll record for BCA-Victor 
with Dorsey if and when the cur- 
rent disk ban is lifted while he's 
with the band. London Records, 
whidh has in the past given some 
thought to the possibility that if its 
disk names are successful in the 
U. S, they eventually would be lost 
to the label, is said to be highly 
satisfied with Dennis' arrangement 
with T, D, on the theory that work- 
ing with that band will heighten 
his b.o, value, to its benefit, as well- 
as his. Dorsey has Dennis tied to it 
six-moiith .pact, with simikr optioa 
periods. 



T. D. Nixes Santa Monica Dancejnr 
Hollywood, March 23. 
It seems certain nov/ that Tommy 
Dorsey will not play tliis summer 



at the ballroom he owns at Santa 
Monica, the Casino Gardens. He 
sat at spot for 14 weelis last sum- 
mer, to good biz, and Eddie Gil- 
martin, v/hom Dorsey brought here 
to run the terpalace, has been im- 
ploring T. D. to give the site a 
pushoff late in May when a full- 
Week policy again will be installed. 
After Dorsey pulled stakes late last 
August, biz waned until by Novem- 
ber the ballroom was lighted only 
on Saturdays, using local, scale 
orchs. ■ 

Dorsey is playing summer loca- 
tion, bookings this season that he 
has not worked in years. Leader 
has' okayed stays at such spots as 
Surf Club, Virginia Beach, Va., 
where be opens May 28; Chase 
hotel, St Louis, June 11-28; Bast- 
wood Gardens, Detroit, July 2-15 
and the Club Carnival, Minne- 
apolis, July 26-Aug. 4 (latter spot 
is on the site of the burned-out 
Happy Hour and is using a name 
band policy, changing weekly); 
Aug. 15, at Steel Pier, Atlantic 
City. 

Dorsey is still in Florida on var- 
cation, resuming April 5 with one- 
nighters through the southwest. 
Between the above locations he'll 
play other brief single-date strings. 

Paris for Pitt Jazzist 

Pittsburgh, March 23. 
Errol Gamer, local jazz pianist, 
is set for a trip to Paris with an 
American group as a result of big 
click in French capital recently of 
Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong and his 
outfit. 

- Garner's been playing around 
town for last half dozen years. 



Name Bands Show 

Upbeat in Kaycee 

Kansas City, March 23, 

Name bands are having a some* 
what better go here this season 
than has been the case in any 
year since the war. Situation was 
highlighted by Vaughn Monroe and 
Woody Herman outfits, in over the 
weekend,, and Sldnnay Ennis the 
week previous. 

Monroe, playing a Sunday night 
dance in the Municipal auditorinm 
for A & N Presentation, garnered 
an advance sale of nearly 2,500 at 
$2 each. Gate traffic at $2.25 per 
head figures out almost $10,000 
take for the one-nighter, really big 
money in band circles here. 
A & N has Sammy Kaye ticketed: 
for an April one-nighter. 

Ennis troupe in the Pla-Mor B#» 
room, March 13, Played to ovt* 
1,290 daneers, highly satisfact«iy 
if • not big. -Woody Herman crew 
in Saturday i[20) sold out the Pla- 
Mor's 1,500 plus table reservations- 
at $1.75 a head, and picked up con- 
siderable B.o. traffic at $2. Ball- 
room, however, usually tries to 
stay under the $2 figure on Ad- 
missions. 

Pla-Mor has Russ Morgan, Guy 
Lombardo, Del Courtney, Henry 
Busse on successive Saturdays 
through April, indicating the re* 
newed confidence here in name 
bands. Spike Jones is set for a. 
Pla-Mor date In May, and Stan 
Kenton makes a return engage- 
ment with a concert in the Muny 
auditorium. X^ast time here Ken- 
ton played to 4,700 at the concert. 



.Elliot Lawrence's yotingeif 
brother, Stan Brbza, Jr., a platter 
pilot on Yale University's station; 
WYBa ■ ■ 




A Be^tttiful Ballad 

pianIimo 

Eddie Joy, Gen. Pro. Mgr. 



HISING 

STARR' 



TIME, FSItUAW 7. lW 



MUSIC 




Rising Starr / 

At 13,- she had her own radio show in 
Dallas, At 14, she had a band of her 
own .called the "Rhyihmaticians." At 15, 
she vyas singing with Swing Fiddler Joe 
Venuii's band, waVidering across the U.S. 
on deadly one-night stands. Then Jazzman' 
Charlie Barnet put her up against his nine 
brasses. ''I pay for 'em,'' Charlie used to 
roar, "and I want to hear "em." After two 
years of shouting. Kay Starr's voice broke 
down. . . 

Last week., in "Slapsie" Maxie Rosen- 
bloOm"s big saloon on Los Angeles" Wil- 
•shire Boulevard. Kay, now 25. was singing 
witJv a new kind of voice. Howling down, 
the horns had given her a husky growl on 




- . c„ciet¥ Downtown 
New Yoik, i««y 
for Twelve WeeKS 



Kav Starr Over the brass, 

ihe blues— but she still had a sw&t, sand- 
papered tone left for the ballads. And 
Kay, who was born on an Oklahoma In- 
dian reservation (she is a mixture of Irish, 
Itoquoi$. Cherokee and Choctaw), was be- 
ginning to look like a girl the U.S. would 
soon be hearing about. Her record of I'm ' 
the Loiiesomest Gal in Town has already 
sold more than 100,000 copies in three 
months. And Capitol Records, which 
«eems to know when it has something (it 
also has such top girl singers as Jo Staf- 
ford, Margaret Whiting and Peggy Lee), 
had recorded 24 songs by Kay before tb6 
Petrillo ban. 

Just how fast Kay can rise to popular- 
ity will depend a lot on James Caesar 
Petrillo (see National Affairs). The 
songs of hers that Capitol stored away 
were largely what were handed to her. 
The pick of what new tunes were around 
had already gonij to Stafford, Whiting and 
Lee; Kay got the scraps, 

Kay is loo much of a trouper to com- 
plain about- that. Besides, she was free to 
sing old songs, which have a way of turn- 
ing out to be hits these days. Kay's for- 
mula Is simple:' "If a tune is comfortable 
. . . if it feels good, I sing it." 



Exclusive CAPITOL Recording Artist 

' : . '-'a ■ .a- ■■■,-r,,_BERLE ADAMS 



Bands at Hotel B.O.'s 



B»n<r . 
Emil Coleman* . . . 
Dick Jurgens . . ; . . 
Shep Fields* 
Johnny Pineapple 
Lawrence Welk- . . 
Eddy Howard . . . 

"hwienne Boyer 



„ , . Week* 
Hold Played 

, Waldorf (400; $2) S4 

.Pennsylvania (500; $1-$1.50) 4 

. New Yorker (400; $1-$1.50) 4 

. Lexington (300; $1-$1.50) 71 

. Roosevelt (400; $1-$1.50) ...... 1 

. .Commodore (400; $1-$1.50) .... 16 

at Waldorf; Ice Show at New Yorker. 



Past 
Week 
2,075 
1,250 
1,075 
750 
2,000 
1,000 



Total 
CoverR 
On n»(e 

53,623 
5,850 
5,225 

63,625 
2,000 

12,650 



Chicago 

Skinnay Ennis (Empire Room, Palmer House; 650; $3.50 min.- 
$1 cover) Rosalind Courtright in Thursday (18), vice Kaye Ballard- 
Murray Arnold combination, powerful 4,400 

1 OOT *""' Sherman; 650; $2-$3.50 min.). New low, 

mi^^*"l^« oonn '^^^^^^^ ^00™' Edgewater Beach; 700; $1.50-$2.50 
Art Kassel (Blackliawk; 500; $2.50 min.).' Fair 1,400. 

, _ . , (Los Angreles) 

Joe Reichman (Ambassador; 900; $1.50-$2). Strong 2,775 tabs 
Jan Oarber (Biltmore; 900; .$1-$1.50). Good 2,650 covers. 
IJain trimmed coin somewhat. 




Location Jobs, Not in Hotels 

(Los Angeles) 

Charlie Spivak (Palladium B„ Hollywood 1st wk). Good 16,000 callers. 
-."^ ' • (Chicago) 

adm.). Del Courtney switched 
l^^l^}} ^''^^^^y <^6} iov 10 days, Garlyn enormous 4,500 for 

nJltof.*"itnA'' i?"!.'**'": $1-|1.15 adm.). Carlyn's four days shaped 
up.classy 6,500. Courtney ereditecl with fin« 3,000 for double day. 




MUSIC PUBLISHING CO., INC 



RALPH PEER, . . 

Sole. Selling Agent; fo' CHARLES K. HARRIS Music Publi;hmg Co Inc ■ PEER INT E R N AT ION A I COS? 
MELODY LANE PUBLICATIONS, INC ■ LA SALLE MUSIC PUBLISHERS INC 







TWO OUrSMND/NG SONGS 

"SATURDAY BAri" Southern Music PuUithins Co., Inc 

"TOOLII OOllE DOOIIE*^ 

Charles K. Harris Math Publishing Go., Inc. 
^tmii^' **rHE DREAM PEDDLER" Peer Internottonai Coiporalion 




Exclusively- It's SOUTHERN the World Over! 



0. i, A>- Yorl C/if'rti|)A Md/f/trtviit 

Southern M>i>«: Pulilnhing C o , fn^ 

P«fr InlainutiuAul C '(1 

Mttody Lane ( uhliutiurtt Inc 

(^(larlo X Hariit Muiii. Pvblistiinn Hic 

la Still* Muiir Pvbh'hi'r^ Inc, 

CANADA 

TtiioAld Sbuth.K Music Pjbliihin^ C« , ltd 
Montrntft fdihuM ^ud 

AaGtNTINA<-Bviin«> Ann 

Edit Arqcfttinu d* Mu^ico liit 
RKAZIL-I(m d< Jonttro, £ao Ptiulo 

ln;>«o: Vitcilt 
emit— Sontiji, J Jf ', 'ii/t 

Sl>>ithsrn Music Intuntuttendl 

COIOMBIA-Botiofa 

J>julhi>rri Mutih >iitFr»nsic>niil , 

P«><Mt«r4r Ain«rira u- Je Muvc4 S A 

FdiJvriAt Mmt'tvna d. Mlsiio Ii > A 

$t>kth*rn Mutii: liitviniilioitat 



Paer fn**iiiQtiaital Cdip 
AUSTkAllA- Sfd„e, 

$Oilltt«r|i Muiic Pwtiluhing Co Pty , ltd 

S««<K«rA Mvliic y A 
«rtOtAND -tondqn- 

Sovtltcrn Muik P<,bliihin( Co , ltd 
lib*l'-ft«uthWn Lllltll.d 

FKANCf-Pam 

$pc d fdihoni MiikcoIm tnt 
l»f f Ati«n» Matidi'in 

HOltAtt0~-A)iut«rdum 
N. V tvii AniAr AMjUI*)- 

tdiii<>ni '•euthsri! M<,iic 
Sf AM — Bttttltm " iMctdiirf 
Edi Musn.«[ lh«r« Am.ritvns 
/Min(9 al*l Sur 

Sunllt^n M**4 I 

^outharn Mlliir A t> 




NEW YORK ib'^ s.jo.wjv . CHICAGO w.^.c 



. LOS ANGELES 



so 



imonBsniAS-iMitrsic 



Arnainini 
TtSetHiiee 

Hkk Suits 



AmeHfeaiBB BteitEatttoK o£ 
clans has! ItoHm wwctoUE srttsndiity- «* 
the {orntnilladlinB! oS' te{r«&^ scales 
lor linusMKHas smes siKXnntS-a teets 
jrew ag)rc«a«nlL last wc*^ wMt tlw 
networks lilffindbiB'tte i»t of Iwe 
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completnitt By I teaw ii w w ff «»■ tfe 
week, BMUit aflScialK wadtctf unAili 
late MInhNf » tm*- vritboitf 
having' »3sniatf at cntdhnin^ 

' MeamwHIev tfce ~s«!*He«Mi* by 
the AFJMra j«w!9MiHrt„ Jaawes Pfc- 
trillo, wi*B! tfie - MrtwcsSBk. 

elicited mdxcdE leactuMC anmi^ 
musiciaaesi. Kltaaty statGo amli le- 
cording, Htast wwte of lilie siiBaiBi 
they had Itcmi saltd. dawn tiiie mar 
by PetTiili]I•»1i^en•F«rfeaK^£tedt.tt)R. 
he had ttmegdti^f taebtcaieired:. 
and dicfiatilramn&.tiMriilMiKatnase' 
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results FrinilBWa KgiistiaaiiEinK. 
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all thraat aff * swHafifc siaake waesi 
passed jS«r aMiUier ttacM: jvaos. 

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networlSK wag., atfj i a ilg rtl mam 
in the feaat -Mi iwaaiB iie txadev 
as. havi^S' hum w tet a pei l -jiwat^r 
by (1) tAeiaflMiKfiex~j4anr,. vkii^ 
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'b6R(t^' ' jaB a w i ^i tmfuirtatr-Msi-.-mmr' 

terms, Q01«ii^ti«M»R^ll*lKM» 

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ni«nts'««&c!enia® ■tte.'seteteiHent-. 




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"Now Is the How" 




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FIVE TOF 

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rST. MtHCK'S 

Deeca 


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; HCUIE EUVEMfir 

Capitol 


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■ "MIILHI'S 
MASTERneCE" 
Clann Millar 

Vicior 


S 

"lOOK, lyiA, I'M, 
DANCIN' " 
Orig'. Com 



vsde tran^I feaeiiKracmd fwr SdteTs 

mt Bnwent OaA— One 

'Ba« T<i«%'^ '"OMe /Blatift 



i4 'Grwtf T wri rt iw r S fftwi w : J 

II SOK 



jijNfifriie«iim 



'aiMWi!; 'tipe; .iar ae. .lupt. on Ohs-^ -best- 
. acSeT'IaaaAaaeeatt'' £K.Mie- a$ the- 
.m«a!r ''e■lgal#^|■'.'a■A^/.BBl?x1l!S8be 
tbaoee-iMuits wad ou tc^t' of. tbat be* 

Qoe,"' wtak^EL is beEnis.' workeitf mto- 
t60 Rwivat of "BamW «m> the 

wX^. sBiaxt- edfim^UnwBt'.. '■ .. ■ 

f atlSiites (»» Wfrr "Te^ Me„ Tearfi 
Me-, Baby" I ",Wter You've Gone," 
"Barfe Eyes" (Columbia). "Tables" 
and "Teaeb" may be racked up as^ 
t!wa sparkrins t»tehes of. dansapa- 
tiion!, yxiih SaAsish - vocalizing by 
Mfmres BacwktDs,. but tbe re^t treat 
is mv mtsmsF - iammma^ tir«a«- 
mea*. off 'tSoae* 'Mte^' -^rattt t»«( 
re>-re»ease* "ESres," wtuefe; bas es- 
billttisllied iitsieEif as a sort ol' clasKie: 
Hatdtag the spotlight fat "Gaoae'' is 
Roy JEtdridge and bs torrid and 
^Jarittiant fti«ttts on. the ham. The 
, jme&s have a preiiBiBm in this one. 

Cfcatfie Veittwm — "^How High 
tlwt Moon," "PlTease Be Kind" (Na-' 
tianal). Decidedly differisot is 'the 
"IWooffi" side, it achieves the feat 
of bl«iitdiBS YeatBra's saxinff and 
Hjl3raamCa!rel;*sse3c,y vacaltiahff into 
8tt .ttrgewirtjr intimate dttet. Neil 
Seftfs Mnmgentciit fear th» all- 
imtnmeam ^mi^ laaecties Vea- 
tmarit jrcadi «»tett tke fairasi see*, 
tfoa witb aome aisqslliiff Jazz cffectr. 



A solid item in . the hotbeat divi" 



Pkttinr Points 

Leslie Seatt (I>ecca) croon& "You 
Were Meant ftw-Me" and *'Und^a 
BTanket af Blue^ with a stjrle tifiafa 
metsgravy,' bnt tiie ptat^ is 
worthy of a. spin, tf oniy for Coie^ 
JMK BankuH^ Itvely sax. cfaonw on 



KoridMnmaii^4iE. Pick* 

Eiiti»r Vmiaxrt 

I noticed your list of amttr 
bers tb«t. bad nat^iei a. mlt- 
lion ea^le» or more, TheaeEit 
I'd give yo» a list of sume of 
the Feist mtmbers tfaat were 
passed up. Yob can take my 
word they soM » mOlion or 
more: 

Feather Your Kest 

I'll See You In My Dreams 

Swiiiging Down the Lane 

I'm Sitting on Top of the 
World 

Toot. Toot. Tootsie 

Hawaiian Butterfly 

Don't Bite the Hand That" a 
Feeding You (sold over 2 mil- 
lion) 

My Belgian Rose 

Alabama' Lullabye 

Where Do We Go From 
Here Boys 

There's A Uttle Spark of 
Love Still Burning 

Pal oE My Cradle Days 

The Curse of An Aching 
Heart 

Incidentally, accordipg.. to 
your list and this edition from 
1910 to JES)30. you will note 
that I. as profe3.<uonal manager 
of Leo Feist, Inc., picked each 
of these sobga and planned 
their exploitation which ought 
to be some kind of a record. 

Pfiil Komheiser. 



1.0 be out of the groove in their 
latest for DeLoxe, atthough there's 
a vestige of C^yten's bi^-ridisg 
New Orte»ii» atnfr in "In the Kve- 
nine When the Sun Goes Down." 
Gail nfereAitb carves mt a p(ea«ng 
version of "That Old Feeling" ant 
"Those. Foolish Things" under the 
Apollo banner. The notes and 
words have -a sweet quality tout ab- 
sent is the stamp of dt.-«tin«tion. 

KOa FStxeerald (Decca) lobs «ff 
a brace of DiidefaiKE jdngies ett tbr 
themes of "&-l)-iHtt''e''' iMtit "Bark- 
town Strutters -Ban" ... ZfaOF 
Lane, under the Deluxe label, has 
molded the SOO-year-old melody, 
"Raisins and Almonds," into a 
thing of haunting appeal. He- also 
sliows up as the vocaHM on a 
Henry Kimr version o* "Bal^ 
Face." from which JleMxt,' has; 
blown the cobwebs . . . Ih^r Soft 
Winds (Majestic* liave a good bet 
in the novelty. "Pin Stripe Plants." 
It's got an exceptionally clever 
catchline and the team'.s phrasing 
is the darbs. A standout .jukebox 
number . . . Lucky MtlKnder (Dec- 
cat gets a better break on the 
vocat.s from Annesteen Allen's 
treatment of "Don't Hesitate Too 
Long" thas from the cpiavering 
Paul Beckinridge's handling of 
"Tonight He Sailed Again." Fair 
dance music . . . The backroom 
piano of Frankie Freeba (Decca) 
as applied to "If You Were tile 
Only Girl" and "Bye Bye Black- 
bird" should tickle thi' older .sot 
. . . Joti and Sandra Steele's "My 
Happiness" (Damon) may not be 
quality harmoniiiing but there's a 
sentimental tug about the time 
that could build it into q,uit« • 
thing around the hinterlands . . . 
Fajte Cavanancb Trio (Signature) 
propounds exercise-K in up^to-ttae- 
minute i»w. via "Blue Momk"^ and 
•Body and Soul." ^ 



Tdbswi Rates 

Giantine of permiasioft by tlie 
AmericaH FcdesatlsB of Mm^iw; 
for the «Me of live; masic m, trtS 
vwrfoft I* baviug the expected effect 
on the American Society of Com- 
posera. Anthors and Piiblissher^- 
Seeietjr'* executives will hnrrv 
ttWMjBfe the formalities of arrang- 
ms its booae for the inclusion 
perfomwice rights frmn the new 
medium in its rate, structure. It's 
very prtibaMe that the qwsaiw 
vnll anse at tomorrow's (Thats. 
day) nHwrthly board meeting hi 
Jtew -York and tone steps taken 
twsard sftakiing up the processes 
throMgh. vfbicb ASCAP has been 
gt*»g t»iinivt^at a deal with video 
broadewtcirs. 

A»it Btsftc^ BOW, ASCAP's: mui^ 
is avaftable to television on a tcdsen 
basis tor establish the Socfetynt 
right to performance royalties. 
This agreement, however, contains 
a so-day cancellation clause. 

ASCAP'* attorneys have been in 
the process at formutatinf; a con- 
tract fear peesmtaAkta to publisher 
members, extemltog; antll ism the 
■Society's ri.*t tv represent its 
mcBibers in tele music deals. This 
win be rusfaed, it's expected, and 
the blanks circulated as .soon as 
possible. ASCAPers feel that 
vid<!0 will zoom hi importance fol- 
lowing the injection of live rau.sic 
into the pieture, and Uicy do not 
want to- fee caqgbt napping. There's 
smt a qtteatfoa mark cm ttw 
methods to be used in Ucensmg 
tete.and fbe coin -stnictm^ under 
which permits will be issued. 
'Ebere's akn tbe important f^ae^ 
tUm ffif tbe differeace between a 
dxawatic right- and a regnlar per- 
fonniBg xigbt. 

FB RevMup* N.YTStelf 

■Frederick Bros, -ast-ncy ban re- 
vamped its New York staff wtth 
the addition of three agents, Sam 
and Fre(S'BatA»in0„ and Jerrj'^ Gross 
Jtove bem adUe4 t» batuRe vaude^ 
eaJSe Mid cqdctail bookings. Teia 
were formerly with the Stanford 
Zucker ageney. 

Tom Kettering. FB vecpee, will 
cttntinuc to head the olHce,. dodb- 
Bng between tbe Chi branch and- 
IS. Y. 





Ms onetusnut 



Citrruily: ifb MoKHt 

TQfFBII POLE 

BALLROOM 
NEWTON. MASS. 



Tke Ho. f Folk Itvewrrf 
of fkf Nation 
T. TEXAS TVtiK'S 



"DECK OF 
CARDS' 



f^m Mar Wrrard 

AMERICAN MUSIC. INC. 

(JaMi Kamnnh l'»»r. TWjfr. _ 

»i«a fswuet mnia. •M» wn;'>'»r'"i 



VAjDmsmMx 



51 



Television Looms as Growing, 
Profitable Oiidetlor Vaude Acts 



with 



settlement of the music 



gltuatiom on television, the possi- 
|)ili«es of variety shows on vi&e-> 
ire heinK revived. Now that James 
C pertlUo, American Federation 
of Musicians head, permits live 
music on tele, variety shows are 
likely to get a terrific comeuppance 
In that medium. 

Vaudeville shows have been at- 
tpnmted over video during the Pe- 
tr llo ban, but didn't pan out due 
to absence of music. Foremost 
example is the Standard Brands' 
"Hourglass" shows which used top 
talent such as Edgar Bergen, Helen 
Parish, Eddie Mayehoffe, without 
indicating the potentialities of 
vaudeville talent in video. Lack 
ol live music caused various acts 
to be seen at a disadvantage. Mu- 
sical accompaniment, by record- 
ings >^as inadequate to create the 
proper mood. Another drawback 
ivas the fact that the shows were 
,gen<i«|iUy forced to use a steady 
gttceession of dumb acts, novelties, 
and terp-turns, which didn't make 
for good all-around variety.. 

However, it was proven that 
vaude talent could be built into 
: terriiBc tele. Occasion was the 
N, V, University-Bellevue Medical 
Centre fund benefit show at Madt- 
toU- Square Garden, N. Y., for 
wlijich permission to televise y^ith 
uu^lc was granted. Response to 
that show was tremendous, as was 
proven by a huge number of vol- 
untary contributions sent in by 
video-viewers. 

Now with musical backing possi- 
ble, it's expected that more stand- 
ard names will be able to play the 
medium^ Singers, which couldn't 
be 'used previously, .will now be 
heard,* and various instrumental 
trios and quartets will also now 
be seen on tele. 



Sablon Wfll Plane From 
London to S.F. Spot 

Jean Sablon, current at the Pal- 
ladium, liOndon, will make one of 
the longest jumps in history at the 
conclusion of that date. Sablon, 
closing at the Palladium March 28, 
opens at the Fairmont hotel, San 
Francisco, a week later. 

He'll fly back with a N. Y. stop- 
over for one day. 



Connee Boswell, who opened at 
the Fairmont hotel, San Francisco, 
yesterday (Tues.). follows with the 
Kona Club, Oakland, starting 
AprU 6. 



AMA Touring 
Crabbe Tanker 



; Arena Managers Assn. is consid- 
ering putting the Buster Crabbe 
water show on a year-round basis. 
Norman Frescott, AMA executive 
secretary, is at work on . a fall, 
schedule for the troupe. Layout 
has already "been booked starting 
April 21 in St. Louis, and will fol- 
low with stands in Cleveland, Phil- 
adelphia, Pittsburgh, Hershey, 
Providence, Montreal, Toronto and 
Chicago. 

It's likely the Crabbe show will 
tour the Coast area in the fall, and 
then . repeat the eastern stands 
after the ice*show season. The 
layout has been designed for large 
auditoriums, as it will carry an 
aluminum tank, with outside di- 
mensions of 48 X 148. Show also 
has an eight-foot diving tank. 

There's considerable speculation 
on the drawing power of aqua- 
shows this year. The Carnival, 
N. Y., is considering the installa- 
tion of an aqua display, but there's 
no definite word on that as yet, 

Elliott Murphy, who runs the 
water shows at the Flushing Mead- 
ows Park, N. Y. (site of the Billy 



Shelvey Surrenders to Ga. 
In Alleged Conversion Rap; 
Released in f 5,000 Bail 

Matt Shelvey, deposed national 
administrator of t h e American 
Guild of Variety Artists, last week 
surrendered to Georgia authorities 
on charges of fraudulent conver- 
sion of $20,0Q0 allegedly given by 
the Henry Grady hotel, Atlanta, to 
the AGVA welfare fund; He was 
released pending trial in $5,000 
bail. 

Shelvey, together with Arthur 
Kaye, former Miami Beach region- 
al director for AGVA, was indicted 
last January on charges of collect- 
ing $20,000 from the hotel's man- 
agement as a contribution to the 
AGVA welfare fund for the priv- 
ilege of conducting matinee shows. 
It's alleged the money was never 
turned over to the treasui^. Kaye 
surrendered several weeks, ago and 
was released on $5,000 hond. 

Shelvcy's Statement ' 
^ After his release on bail, Shel- 
vey issued the following state- 
ment: 

"I have waived extradition and 
voluntarily presented myself to 
the prosecuting officials of Fulton 
County.. I have come to Georgia 
to clear my name and that of the 
union of which I am national di- 
rector. 

"In the past 30 years I have 
been in the State of Georgia on 
only one occasion. That was some 
10 years ago when I came to Co- 
lumbus and Macon, Georgia, to as- 
sist in providing entertainment for 
the soldiers stationed in the Army 
camps at those places. For 30 
years I have never been in Fulton 
County. I am innnocent of the 
charges brought against me and I. 
welcome with full confidence the 
opportunity: to establish my inno- 
cence to the "people of Georgia."' 

Shelvey, meanwhile, is running 
a rival AGVA organization with 
headquarters in Philadelphia. The 
issue of whether the Shelvey 
AGVA faction or the organization 



Sarat(%a IGteries Will Plui^e Again 
On Top Talent for Sinmner Season 



Downtown, S.F., Plans 

3-Day Vaude Policy 

San Francisco, March 23. 
Vaude bills on a three day 
weekly policy have been set for 
the Downtown theatre on Friday, 
Saturday and Sundays, starting 
April 9. 

Bert Levy agency, which previ- 
ously booked the Golden Gate the- 
atre until it tossed shows a fort- 
night ago, will handle bookings. 



Peggy Lees$5,0i 
Vaude Package 

Hollywood .March 23. 
Peggy Lee opens a tour of vau- 
dates July 12 with stint at State- 
Lalce, Chicago, at flat $5,000 per 
for a package consisting of chirp 
and Dave Barbour's four-piece 
combo. On vaude tour Miss Lee 
will play off the option she owes 
Paramount theatre, N. Y., which 
was signed after her last appear- 
ance at the Broadway house. 

The option calls for $3,000 week- 
ly for singer, so in order not to 
lower the demands made for her 
upcoming tour and also not to dis- 
turb. Par's option system. Miss Lee 
will play the house at the 3G fig- 
ure and a separate contract will be 
drawn for Barbour, giving him 
$2,000 per week for engagement. 
Parenthetically," this is highest coin 
the Barbour foursome lias ever re- 
ceived. 



4- The Saratoga, N. Y., spas have 
made a st^rt in talent buying with 
the Piping Rock's pacting of Joe E. 
Lewis for two weeks, starting July 
31. and Sophie Tucker to follow. 

It's anticipated that the other 
important Saratoga cafes, Arrow- 
head and Delmonica's, will also go ■ 
in for top talent, although too 
much hope for a winning season 
isn't seen tliis year. Insiders de- 
clare that tliose who dropped big 
money at the niteries and gaming 
tables in previous years can't af- 
ford it this year; 

It's still a tossup as to who will 
operate the cafe end of the Piping' 
Rock. Eddie McCune, of the Brook 
club, Miami Beach, who controls 
the operation, is still to decide be- 
tween Lou Walters, Latin Quarter, 
N. Y., boniface, and Nat Harris, 
Harem operator, Walters operated 
the cafe for the past two seasons. 



Rose Aquacade during the World's 

Fair), is 'primed to continue that I authorized by the Associated Ac 
show this summer, but hasn't for- tors and Artistes of America, will 
mulated bis talent plans as yet. 1 control AGVA is still in the courts. 



Durant's British Dates 

Jack Durant, who played the 
Casino, London, last year, has been 
signed for the Palladium/ London, 
starting May 24. 

He's booked for four weeks at 
the Palladium and will play the 
provinces for two weeks. 



RIVIERA, FT. LEE, N. J., 
WILL REOPEN MAY 4 

The Riviera, Ft. Lee, N. J., will 
reopen May 4 with a bill topped 
by Jan Murray. Donn Arden will 
do the production. 

Bill Miller, who will again oper- 
ate the spot, has set Jaipkie Miles, 
Gracie Barrie and. the Vagabonds 
for the layout starting June 5. Tliis 
package played the Clover dub, 
Miami, throughout the w i n t e r 
season. 



Rasimi, French Troupe 
Of 150 Set for Mexico 

Mexico City, March 23, 
Mme. Rasimi, 78-year^old French 
music hall star, has been booked 
here for an indefinite period start- 
ing about June 15, with two vaude 
companies, reportedly from Paris, 
comprising 150 actors. . . 

Will be the biggest foreign 
troupe of the kind to play Mexico 
in nearly 40 years. 




'S TOP DISK JDCKS E 

A TERRIFIC *$45,000 GROSS 
FIRST WEEK IN VAUDEVILLE 




EDDIE 
HUBBARD 

WIND 




DAVE 
6ARR0WAY 

NBC 
WMAQ 




LINN 
BURTON 

WENR 
WIND 
WAAF 




ERNIE 
SIMON 

WJJD 




PACE SETTERS OF THE NATION'S DISK JOCKEYS 



NEW HOUSE RECORD | 



Currently: 

STATE-LAKE THEATRE 
CHICAGO 



CONCEIVED AND 
PRODUCBD BY 



AL BORDE 



203 N. WABASH, CHICAGO 
FRANKLIN 4406 



62 



Dusting the Attic 



(For no other than nostalgic tea 
sons these Polac* bills unll be re- 
pridtetf earcfe weeic, arwd for the cor- 
rtsjwwcfiWlf «WiBte» aa «Mris*nntlu 
appeor«cI" in Variety 25 i/e«i's oyo.) 

PALACE, RY. 

An oaretiflBary layoilt for the 
Palace this week,, with the majority 
of acts having been seen there be- 
fore. WimaxQ Seabury and Mar- 
garet Irving were forced to wrth- 
draw due ta illness, with Enmta 
llaig announced to tate their prlacc. 
She failed to put in an appearaftce 
at tlie MoBday matinee, witOr Uavis 
& P^e, an actotiatic team, added, 
and openftig the show at night, 

A* the show, stood the only new 
feature was -Mrs. Rodolph Valen- 
tina (Jean Acker) in the Edga;r 
Allen VTooTf sketch, "A Regular 
Girl." The Yalentino name drew a 
few picture people Monday night, 
they being scattered throughout 
the. house. The fiist Mrs. Valen- 
tino lias eliminated the Jean Acker 
name entirely fcom the biBing of 
the act. It is the second try for the 
screen actnesis at tlie Palace in the 
present vehicle. She retired aJtcar 
the Mooidas showing the first week, 
with iKaess givea as the reason. 
From, appearances Monday the act 
sliould last OHt the week this time, 
notwitiistanding its sliortcwnings. 
Tvv» new He<q»Ie have heen added 
to , the cast, George Spaalding 
having r^sdbifeea Louis Monrellr 
and Ibelma.i^llfbite assigncid the 
role iKiginnlly entrasted to Beiyl 
McCaw., Se«c9ral cbanees were 
made .in the cast prior te-its orig- 
inal sibowing. ■ There . are still 
chances for improvement. As ifc 
stands the act pvcwides nothing but 
a glimpse of Mrs. Valentino^ which 
may be enoo^ for soamt, hut doc« 
not tMid to give real vandmiHe 
entectaiainent; The Arehiclp itself 
Is a weak-jaieed effort with no 
redeeming feature. In place o£ de- 
pending apon references t» HoUy- 



gag which was used in a new act 
recently when it was breaking in. 
It lasted for the break-in only, and 
was taken out for the PaJace show- 
ing. H i.s now included in "A 
Regular Girl." Mrs. Valentino re- 
ceived flowers over the fooUight 
Monday night. The audience ap- 
plauded mUdbf. They needed re- 
hearsing badly. The sketch closed 
the tint half, 

Davis & Pelle opened with their 
neat routine of hand balancing, 
with Bernard & Garry taking fite 
■No. 2 assignment. This two-man 
'combination is in need of neW 
ideas.- The present routine is 
idenltcal with that wnployed for 
many tnoonsi. They found the atrdi- 
ence still walking fn. 

An artistic and applause hit was 
garnered biy Marga Waldron, No. 3, 
with h« dance ofEering. Pro- 
grammed to clos* the show. Miss 
Waldron was moved up to the 
first half, taking the spot assigned 
originally to the Seahary-li-ving 
act. Her eSiarts seeured instant 
appreciation, with each of her; 
dance specialties building up in' 
applause returns^ The work, of 
George Halpi'in at the piano justi- 
fied the hearty response. The first 
lialf comedy assignment fell to 
Walter and Emily Walters with 
their ventriloquial offering. No. 4. 
The lau^ts came rapidly for ttteir 
efforts.. The couple possess a cork- 
ing idea for an- offing of this or- 
ider, placing them among tite t^p- 
notchers of their elas& Hhut audi- 
ence Moodajr ni^ was most hot- 
sistent with its applause.' 

Anatol Priedland & Co., with 
a sight turn, opened after inter-^ 
mission. Providing a ilash with 
the necessary pep, the Friedtand 
offering made the grades with WiU 
MahoQ!^ following- Maboney en-' 
teied with a new comedy sbawl 
for his. itl^troduciiMrs' manlier, also 
introducing ah impression of a 
colored singer and dancer, new to 
i his routine. It proved a productive 



wood for a kidc,, all . such having gaining langh after laugh. Mis 



been withdrawn, the -authior has 
sought other lines to add the 
necessary punch. One is a liquor 




HE£NEai4flOWAR0 



HENRY GRADY HOTEL 

ATLANTA, GA. 

Dir.: MATTV ROSEN 



COMEDY PAHER 

, For All Bronclm of Theatricals 

FUN^MASTER , 
"Th« Skow.li^ Gag RIc'V 

Nos. 1 to 22 at $1100 ea. 

10 PARODIES for $10.00 

"How to Be on Emcoe" 

$.3.0t fnchiding 7 Gag Kin 

Shmil far Jlst at matMlitl. itaniilitHi. 
twneily Honerfi^ miMtnl bH» — U»«t- 
imtH. iildta, ete. 

PAHIA mim 



efiTorts were curtailed due to bis 
appearance in tfae^ Victmr Moore- 
Enuna Uittlefield act, which fol- 
lowed. 

Malwmey retttmed for downing 
with Moore, the same as indulged 
in last week, when tit^ appeared, 
at .the Colonial- The BSpcuffr-Iittle- 
firfd offering, now weEf oat et Hs 
teens, had the Palace audience 
howling. With Mahoney returning 
for his burlesque Russian dancing, 
and Moore attempting the Steps, 
the returns were immense. 

Rupert lagalese was moved to 
the. closing position and enter- 
tained an interested ' audience. 
Ingalese is j» finished juggler and 
a showman. He has two well train- 
ed assistants. They are brought 
into play fre«(UenUy for corned ji 
business. In the straight juggling 
Ingalese has »»me clever feats. His 
work with the coins and tumblers 
is elfective. Angela Grey fits in 
nicely with piano work and general 
business, Ingalese took the stage 
Monday night at tl o'clock and 
entertained capably. Hart. 



CHICO'S NEB. DATE - 

Omaha, March 31. 
Cluco Marsi will head the 
opening revue of the annual sum- 
mer entertainment season of Ak- 
Sar-Ben Coliseum. 

Fo ur oth er shows to be huitt foir 
the summer aod^ naines ar 
sought. 



Fainoos Door^ MisasA, 
Cited *Uiifair^ by AGVA 

Famotts Dooir, UiaaA Beach,, was 
declai-ed "unfair" by Anierican 
GuiHd of Variety Aitists last week 
lor failure to post cash secuvUy to 
cover engagement of Atan King, 
skedded to be added to the sl»ow. 
Nttery has bond up for other ta^nt 
but not enough to cover King's 
engagement. 

King had originally been set to 
opefe at the nitery tv(o weeks ago, 
but agreed to set back bis date 
imtil April I, t«nviding Moe »ack- 
feld and AL Frecnaan, operators of 
Famous Door, would post the addl- 
tfonal cash last week, as per agree- 
ment between them and Dave Fox. 
assistant national director of 
AGVA. When this was mot done 
Fox ordered Jerry Hirsch. AGVA 
Miami rep, to yank eminrent show 
I and declared fb»^'s»>^:-''JiBa0w^ 

M.S.Beiiftaii^TelAfeit, 
Kes B SI Y. at 80; 
Repped Many Stars 

Myroa S. Bentham, 80, who for 
many years had been a topflight 
talent agent, died at his home at 
240 Central Park South, New York, 
March 13. 

During the 30 yeairs between 
1899 and 1829 be liad been a fran- 
eliised agent of the Keith Circuit 
as well as representing such stellar 
luminaries as Irene Bordoni, Ina 
Claire, Laurette Taylor, Rudolph 
Valentino, Helen Morgan, Alice 
Brady, Leon Errol, Mary Eaton, 
W. C. Fields and naany others. His 
management pacts were excJusavr 
representation. Cc«S«taenUy, he 
continued m that eapacity' after 
many of Ins dicnts taaid graduated 
from vand* to lf^t iotd fdctures. 
Daring this period- he had placed 
his stars with the late Flo Ziegfeld, 
David Belasco, George M. Cohan, 
Sam" p. Harris and other manage^ 
ments. When vaxide started peter- 
ing out in 1929 he concentratfid 
more on placements in. other fiields 
of show biishiess, and is reputed Ut 
have scoassed a comfortable to*" 
tune. He. retired sonte yesurak aeo. 
but never lost iBtercst ta the thear 
Ire and its peojile. . 

In leisure boors he enjoyed 
yachting and maintained a deluxe 
craft for years. When .World War 
I broke out in 1916 he loaned his 
yacht to the U. S. Navy, and later 
was commissioned a lieut. Com- 
maaader, attacbe^ to Nmy xecruit- 
ing division., from then or he was 
affectionately called "Commodore" 
by his f riendES and clients. The tag 
sludc with him through- the years. 
Despite his name of Myron, he had 
been knovm to those of the pro- 
fession as "Mike," which be seem- 
ed to prefer. 

When Helen Morgan was tried 
; by a jury in AptQ, 1929, after a 
probibiti«a taid pa her nltety> 
Helen' MMfgan^s Summer Place, 
Bentham as sole witness for the 
defense testified he drew up the 
shiger's contract with the lught- 
club and that she was never other 
than aa employe. His testinuHiy 
helped secure Miss Morgan's ac- 
quittal. . 

Funeral services - were held ; yes- 
terday (23) from Riverside Mer 
morial Chapel, N. T. j- Tnferment 
was in Woodlawn CSnnetery. Be 
leaves his wife; DMotbjr Jl Ben- 
Iham. 



TODNGIIIAN,LARBlLY 

FOR copjt, mm 

Henny Youngman and Betty 
Reilly have been signed for th» 

Copacabana, Miami Beach, stai-ting 
Mai-ch 29. Duo succeeds Billy Vine. 
How long the Copa will operate 
its large room, taasnt detcr> 
mined as yet. . . 

However, It's likely the spotlwHl 
slirink to its usual sununertinse of^ 
eration. late Apacit ear Mwjr. During 
the oH-seasoft, Copa remains open 
with a cacfctail Iminee. 



AMEUCA'S TOP HEADLIME SfNGiNG GtOOT 



Currently 
tARRY POTTBTS 
SUPPER CLUB 
Hollyww* Cab 



•%tl Major Notworks, 
Theatres nnil CIntts, 
V> 6> and CAiUida ' 




1 



BOYS 



i 



IVinaaal IHrci-liaii-^iEO 
.SS08 KKO BuildiiiE, New York 20. N. Y. 



CKntfo »-»aM 



Rosenbfoon Pafs Off 

Difl'erenees between Maxie Ro- 
scnbl04»B, Taude and nitery comic, 
and Diana Mason, for salary due 
on a cancelled date„ were adjusted 
a I American Guild of Variety Art- 
ists last week. 

Miss Mason claimed that. Rosen- 
Uoom. had engaged her to appear 
with him in a series of blackout 
skits on a recent nitery date in 
Louisville. Upon arrival, she found 
spot had changed formal of show 
and her services were not required. 
Rosenbloom gave her $50 but she 
claimed there was still $75 due her. 
After a conciliatory hearing at 
AGVA, Rosenbloom paid the dif- 
f«nuKe. 



Coal CoBs^aiioii Hay 
Stall Rmifc Preem 

stymied by a Govemincnt order 
bar|-ing circuses frooa travellag 
over coal-powercd railroads, Ringr 
Ikiig Bros. Bamum & Bailey's big 
top may not able to open at Madi- 
son Square Garden. N. Y., April 7 
as scheduled. Show is currently 
stalled in Florida wiater headquar- 
ters fotlovidhg a rejectloa of ap- 
plicatian for a ttavel pemii biy 
the Office of Defense Ttaaqpotta- 
tioo. Agency's measure was put 
into effect last week to meet the 
coal strike emergency. ■ 

Restriction of railroad travel, 
however, wiU not affect touring 
shows. Several eamhral outfits 
have been hit hard with the order 
coming right out at the outset oi 
the spring season. 

Saraiaciake 

By Happar Bemtay 

Sairanac take, N. Y., March 23. 

Thanks to Larry Kaye (Danny's 
brottKsr) for his charitable murk 
among the less fortunate of the 
colony here. 

Frank (Par) Hynes celebrated his 
fourth anni\'ersary here and was 
cheered by -surprise visit by his 
frau, loudlle Hynes, and tits sistei', 
Anita Ijtngsm. 

June Weaver, the "Elviry" of 
Weaver Bios. & El*iiy. laid up 
with agrtbiitis at iter California 
honie; medico's have «»deml her 
to A)|^iona to beat the' rap. 

Lee Klintick, . who has been 
ftoored for the past two months 
with set-back, up and around 
again; ditto for. Helen Gnipp (Be^ 
public Pictures), who beat recent 
siege of pneumonia. ' 

Harry Clifton^ foraater minstrel, 
now curing at the Onondaga sana- 
torium, Syracuse, N. Y., has re- 
euped so well he expects his dis- 
!charge papers any day. 

Sydney Cohen received bis all- 
idear papeis and dtecks out latter 
part of Apnt. 

"Dinner at Durgans" returns to 
the air over WNBZ vdth £ddie 
Vbgt as emcee. 

Wiltiam Chase (& LaTour) un- 
derwent first stage of the thoraco- 
plasty Qi^ration, took it like a vet- 
eran and is back resting at the 
lodge. 

Cai-l Eessler ("The Amazing Mr. 
BaQantine") an agog over b}s con- 
tinuoBS progress, and hawy over 
surprise visit from Mrs. StetAen 
Archer, of the Sensational John- 
sons. 

Harold WilKins, formerly of -this 
colony, shot .in from Blidgeport, 
Conn., to visit the gang. He's now 
head of a hillbilly band that's touc- 
ing Noi'them New York. 

Jim WottoB showing niee prog- 
ress since adding peniciOiB to tus 
treatment. 

(Write to those who ace. !&> 



HoBemkudeve, 
Switdies Bookers 

nam Hollenden hotel. Cleveland, 
for ntai^ years booked exclusivelv 
by the Cleveland ofBce of Music 
Corp. of America, became an opeit 
spot last week, with the bookimi 
of Bert Wheeler, starting 
29. Booking was niade by the Wflt. 
Ham Morris agency Chicago ofBce. 

However, the hotel is likely to 
name an exclusive booker shortly 
It's expected that General Artists 
Corp. m*y get the nod. 

Hottendeni is now operated by 
the sjisdicate which eontruls th« 
Deschler-Wallick hotels, Bot^ings 
of these inns was recently sxiagged 
frOTO MCA by GAC. Chain is ex- 
pected to keep its bookings with 
one agency. 

'Memories of fhe Palace' 
To Top NVA Benefit 

Annual benefit of National Va- 
riety Artists, of which George 
Jessel is honorary president, wilT 
be tteld Sundays i2»> night at the 
the Imperial Theatre, N. Y. Benefit 
is seated from $e to $15, with 
{Noceeds tttaa ticket sales and 
souvenir program going to the 
welfare fond of the organization. 
Laitter praatotitm is being handled 
by Lester Bose, as in previoua 
years. 

Joe Verdi (Clark &"> is chaii-inan 
of the entertainment conimttlee 
and is 'Uning, up the show with an 
assist from Lon Handin, pre^Ky of 
NVA. Topping the lull will be a 
nostalgic item. "Memories of the 
Palace," in which a number of 
NVA-ites, who played the Palace 
in its hey-day, will appear. Otliers 
sparking the proceedings will be 
Milton Berle. Paula Laurence, Guy 
Kibbee. Bert Wheeler, Basil Bath- 
bone, Joe Laurie', Jr.. Harry Hecsti- 
field and Senator Ed Ford, tlie 
"Can You Top This?" trio fnm 
radio. 



JUDY MAGEE 

Fatafo-MtrnhFY 
OPtmm MARCH 25 

iiickatir loM 

MIAMI BEACH 



EDDY • M 




"H»rfi»h of fh» 
harmonica."' 

Currently 
APPEARING 
WITH A FULL 

CAST 
(On Mt arm) 
M««wy WalUi at tlia Piano 



N 

S 

a 

N 



TW UST SIGN OF 

LOU 



SEILER 

Prettntino a Pol Pourri of Satiric 
Nitwit Nontanta with a New Tuxado 
. oUo famous impretaiom of . un<- 
known people. 

Conoiillyf 

ViS-A-VIS AVEC ¥fOEO 



WRREAUSr HHMOWIST 
(Big Dealt) 

SEILER 

Jutt completed two weeks 
MICHAELS ECOLE, N. V. 
April 28lh Thru May 11 
FLAME ROOM 
DULUTH, MINN. 
AvaitaUe for Eaiter Egg Dyeing. 



Between Jobs: 

FOREST LOD6E-I0» STRONG ST.-SCHENECTADY 7, N. Y. 



DICK AND DOT REMY 



CURRENTLY IN 6th WEEK PARAMOUNT, new york 

JUST CONCmOED « WEEKS CARNIVAL. CLOi. NEW YORK NEXT ROXY NEW YORIC 



DIRECTION: MX.A. 



trcanceday, Mawih 24, 1948 



VAvnEvnxB 



Court Decision on AGVA Jurisdiction 
Awaited, as Confabs Break Down 



Attorneys for the Associated 
Actors and Artistes of America, 
and Matt Shelvey, deposed na- 
tional administrator of the Amer- 
ican Guild of Variety Artists, have 
been conferring with Justice Sam- 
uel Hull- of the N. Y. supremp 
court for several weeks in an ef- 
fort to reach an agreement on set- 
tlement of the Issue of which fac- 
tion shall control AGVA. 

Conferences between Justice 
Null Judge Samuel Rosenman, 

tGVA attorney, and Morris L. 
mst, Shelvey attoi^iey, have 
been held during the past week. 
However, no settlement has been 
reached. Each side is seeldng an 
Injunction. The ,4A's asking the 
court to enjoin Shelvey from rep- 
resenting l^iimself as being head of 
AGVA, while Shelvey is asking an 
injunction which would forbid the 
4A'$ from controlling the vaude 
and nitery union. 

Shelvey proposed that the court 
appoint a^ referee to control, the 
tnion until the AGVA convention 
takes place May 7 at the Astor 
hotel, N. Y. Shelvey is reported 
to have asked that the 4A'8 pay 
Ernst's legal fees. The 4A's at- 
torneys flatly refused this deal; one 
of the reasons being that Shelvey 
could claim this as a legal victory, 
iknother reason for t|h.e turndown 



**Mr, Vaudeville 

^l^f How did a ^chanc* 
meetinfi; with 

George M» Cohan 

Jit 1928 launcli him 
on a 

fabulously prosperous 

W Why is he, at 22, in 
4»Nnsttint '. 
demand by movie and 
t recording companies? 
How did- a iiimple, 

nickel-a-throw 
hobby help him un- 
• cover a 

,$100,000 treasiiire? 

What lucky hunch led 
him 

. straight to the only 
recording 

Lillian Russell 

ever mad^? 

You''!! enjoy the Fascinating 
Itory of Joe Franklin, "Mr. 
Vaudeville,'* one of 40 grfmt 
features in 

April Coronet, 

now on sale 



JACK PARKER 



is the fact that such a disposition 
would become a mutually agree- 
able settlement, and therefore 
could not be appealed to a higher 
court, 

i. Expensive Jockeyingr 
The supreme court's decision is 
expected shortly, now that the con-- 
ferences have broken down. De- 
cision is eagerly awaited by both 
sides inasmuch as the ruling would 
end expensive jockeying for posi- 
tion by both sides. Latest devel- 
opment in the battle for control of 
the various AGVA branches canie 
early this week when Al Wilson 
and Benny Hurst, heads of the 
Cincy AGVA branch, left the 4A's 
faction and joined the Shelvey 
side. Hurst said his position with 
AGVA was untenable inasmuch as 
he was specifically hired to keep 
an eye on Wilson and would ulti- 
mately take over the branch, Wil- 
son said he resigned in order to 
work with Shelvey. A 4A's spokes- 
man declared that Wilson has been 
working for Shelvey right along, 
although,, he had attempted to 
"carry water on both shoulders" 
by doing some work for the 4A's. 
Bill Feinberg', former AFM Local 
2 official, who served as labor 
relations counsellor, after a trip .to 
Ciiicy, liad recommended that .Wil- 
son be let out. Feinberg, incident- 
ally, has completed the 4A's assign- 
ments and has left his AGVA post. 
Paul Ross, AGVA public relations 
man, has taken over the field pre- 
viously covered by Feinberg. 

Shelvey, to datei controls branch- 
es in Boston, Philadelphia, New 
Orleans and Miami Beach. The 
4A's has also .set up rival branches 
there. Consequently the court de- 
cision is seen as the only way of 
cleaning up the factionalism in the 
various cities. 



Doubles-Minimum 

For Chi Turnover 

Chicago, March 23. 
• Blue Note ' jazz club here has 
been doing unusually well at the 
b.o. with Louis Armstrong's or- 
chestra, and as a means of getting 
a turnover has instituted a unique 
minimum-charge arrangement call- 
ing for a twice nightly tap. And 
the spot is getting away with the 
idea. I 

Clubs ask a $2 minimum from 
opening until midnight and slaps 
on another deuce after that hour 
to the tabs of those who stay over 
from one period to another. 



Philly Bistro Cashing in on Blue Blood 
Blues Singers and Other Amateurs 



N.Y. LATIN QUARTER 
SET WITH HEADLINERS 

With the pacting of Sophie 
Tucker for an October date, the 
Latin Quarter, N. Y., .has enough 
headliners to carry it through to 
December. ' It's not yet definite 
how long Miss Tucker will stay, 
although ei{(ht weelcs are virtually 
certain. 

Latin Quarter' lineup as It now 
stands has Buddy Lester, Steve 
Condos and Hermanos Williams 
trio starting Sunday (28), with 
Joey Adams, Tony Canzoneri and 
Mark Plant, Nicholas 6ros., Anne 
Russell and Pupi Campo band 
coming in May 1. Willie Shore is 
down for June 1, with Ina Ray 
Hutten starting June 30 and Ted 
Lewis beginning in August, with 
Miss Tucker set to follow. Miss 
Russell, due in the May 1 show 
and current at the Strand, N. Y„ 
was inadvertently referred to as 
Anne. Thomas In last week's New 
Acts and house review- section. 



Holiday Concert 
To Go on Despite 
Booking Dispute 

Billie Holiday's Saturday (27) 
concert at Carnegie hall, N. Y., 
will come off despite the manage- 
ment dispute between Joe Glaser's 
Associated Booking Agency and 
Ed Fishman, whom singer recently 
named as her personal manager. 

Concert will be played as a re- 
sult of the rewriting of hejr Car- 
negie contract by> the American 
Guild of Variety Artists in which 
it was stipulated that the date 
will be honored with no agency 
or personal manager specified in 
the deal. AGVA* stepped into the 
picture in order to protect Ernie 
Anderson, "Concerts at Midnight" 
impresario, and promoter of Miss 
Holiday's concert; AGVA's po- 
sition was that the artist ^should 
perform, especially after contracts 
were signed in' good faith, and a 
sellout house has resulted. > How- 
ever, the union ruled that because 
Glaser had arranged the deal, he 
was eligible to receive commis- 
sions. Fishman had originally re- 
fused to recoghlze the deal and, 
according t6 an AGVA spokesman, 
had wanted to call it off. 

Miss Holiday, meanwhile, has 
sent Glaser a letter terminating 
her agency contract with him. 
Union is set to hold conciliation 
conferences next week. If these 
confabs fail, matter will go to ar- 
bitration. Fishman, who now op- 
erates from the Coast, has no 
AGVA frailchise, but is permitted 
to handle AGVA members as a 
personal manager. 

The sepia singer was recently 
released from a federal prison 
after serving a sentence on a nar- 
cotics charge. 



Philadelphia, March 23. 
Nite club bonifaces have long 
known that thar's gold in them 
Social Registers, but a Philly spot 
has figured a new Way to mine it. 

The Drake Room, in the swank, 
midtown l^rake apartment hotel, 
now turning its floor over to 
the Blue Book Thursday nights, 
to provide the entertainment. The 
place is cashing in, for the debbies 
Jove singing (without endangering 
their amateur standing) before 
the mike and their friends and 
relatives— and general public— 
fill the loom, and make its cash 
•register ting-a-ling. 

Permanent emcee for the all- 
for-free entertainment smorgas- 
bord is a personable socialite 
youngster called Charles "Buddy" 
Tindle, reputedly, well bankrolled. 
What he seems to like best is wear- 
ing a white tux jacket, waving a 
baton at the room's little band, 
and introducing the amateur tai'- 
ent. : 

Past Thursday was the sixth of 
the new dispensation and Tindle 
brought to the mike . three debs 
and a young man with considerable 
talent as a mimic. Best mitt ac- 
tion went to Louise Leopold, a 
lovely blue-eyed blonde who nicely 
handled "All the Things You Are." 
(Hollywood scouts ought to drop 
in for a gander next time ^she goes 



on. It will be .worthwhile if she 
photographs as well as she looks.) 

Betty Younger, another Blue 
Book kid, had herself a marvelous 
time mugging through a burlesque 
version of "The Man I Love" to 
the considerable amusement of the 
audience. The opener was Sally 
Grimm, doing "September Song." 
Headlinef was Thomas N. Dell, 3d, 
a comic with a considerable, range 
of mimicry. He impersonated 
Danny Kaye singing "Anatole of. 
Paris"; Al Jolson doing "Califor- 
nia, Here I Come," and Beatrice 
Kay in "I Don't Care." 

Then the socialites really went 
to town. A raft of males, boast- 
ing famous Main Line names, did 
a comic job of modeling the hats 
of their wives and dates before 
four judges. ^ Three prizes were 
awarded-^two white rabbits and » 
hat. 

Reportedly slated to head the 
bill April 1 is a scion of a promi- 
nent Park Ave. (New York) cliflf 
dwelling tribe, who will be tearing 
himself away from Harvard an) 
Hasty Pudding circles for the occa- 
sion. 

Guy who cooked up this highly 
successful idea is Curtis Wright 
Leslie, the Drake's publicity man. 
His offer of Social Register talent 
at no minimum, no cover, every 
Thursday, results in ii sellout for 
th^'t night each week. It also re- 
sults in an overflow of biz which 
is benefiting the spot other nights 
of the week. 




"THE JACK 
OF CLUBS" 
4th W««k 
COTILLION ROOM 
HOTEL PlERRk 
Thank you, ■ 
NEW YORK 

Mr. ChM. Ruder 
Manittmtnt : 
tOM FITZPATRICK 

. IM W. 4M St., .N. Y. 
Phdna: PE 6'0i7« 

' . Sdokinoi: : 
GEN'L ARTISTS CORP. 



Eigen's B'way Date 

Jack Eigen, disk^jockey, work- 
ing from the ilCopacabana, N. Y., 
may play his first Broadway vauder 
at the Strand May 7. Negotiations 
are now on for the Strand to do 
a platter pilot layout as has pre- 
viously been done in Chicago and 
Boston vauders. There's the possi- 
bility that Bea Wain - and Andre 
Baruch, WMCA's "Mr! and Mrs. 
Music," and two other disk jocks 
may be included in the layout. 

Eigen has 'had some previous 
vaude experience having played a 
round of the Loew one^nighters 
some time ago. 



LATIN QUARTER. CHI, 
SHAVING SHOW BUDGET 

ChicagQ, March 23. 
Latin Quarter has dropped elab- 
orate floorshow policy and will now 
feature a single act with two bands, 
one a rhumba combo. Spot, which 
used top talent up to last summer, 
has gone through many changes of 
policy, but has managed to keep 
open. 

Last show, which closed Friday 
(19), featured Sonny Mars, Jackie 
Hillard and Wynn Seeley plus 
Gomez rhumba orch. Gomez stays 
on with Buddy Shaw band doing 
the relief turn. . 



STILL GOING STRONG! 



8 BIG WEEKS! 



VICKI SUNDAY 



A NEW LOOK— A NEVIf VOICE 

THEATRICAL LOUNGE 
CLEVELAND, OHIO 



iPRANK HAMILTON 
104 Wcit nih Stiw«r 
M«W YORK Clir 



Chi Dancehall Collapse 
Hits Unlicensed Spots 

Chicago, March 23. 

A survey taken after the col- 
lapse of the third story of a dance- 
hall and bowling alley, disclosed 
that some 300 public amusements 
spots are operating without licen- 
ses. Most of the places have been 
unable to obtain a license because 
of veto by the fire department. 
Among the places listed are the 
Latin Quarter, downtown nitery; 
the Chicago Arena, sports palace; 
the Famous Door, northside jazz 
spot; the Globe theatre, and the 
Devon theatre, nabe motion picture 
houses. . 

Crash at the Lakeview Bowling 
Alley, earlier in the week resulted 
in death of one woman and injury 
of almost 100 persons. Chi police 
and file departments have begun 
new drive to close all spots unless 
violations are corrected. 



BIG TIME'' 



"SENSATIONAL" 

Sullivan 



"BIG CLICK" -Kf/9o//en 



BERNIE 



Singer Johnny Cfawford now 
singing with the Alan McPajge 
Trip 9t the Hotel Warwick'* Ra- 
lel0b Room, N. T. 



Terrific at the Para- 
mount, New Yoric, Thanks 
to Bob Weitman. 

"One «| the grcafesf 
comedy kits we hove ever 
hod In the theatre." 

HARRY LEVINE 
Paramount Beefcer 



4 MONTHS UTER- 
A SMASH HIT AT THE 




ROXY 

NEW YORK 

THANKS TO SAM tiAUSCH 



« He's 28 
He's engaged 
He Htes Eh-ElhOh 



Mracilwi 
WitUAM MORmS AttlNCY 



54 



VAIjmBHUJi 



N^it (M Reviews 



n«^a<>li«'ttmli<'r, ]lllainl II. 

Miawii Beocii, March 20. 
Toriv Mar/in iuith Ben Oalcland, 
'VliVLic Shor^, Weire Bros., Ray 
Arwtt, Jtmr Tayl&r Girls {7 J, 
iDave TvU'T Orcii {16); vo wini- 
iui(«i at dinner, $3.50 «t supper. 



Tlie roam tSiat has jeaturetl the 
bi^Egest Hncup in name values (wUb | 
sometimes oiTish resuU-s) comes ap ' 
Willi the most solid attraction, en- j 
tcrtaintncnt and draw-wise. tiii,s , 
season iii Tony Martin. An open- | 
ing night crowd saw tumawaj'sj 
reminiscent ©i the war-years hey- 
dey. He scored wliat could liave' 
hsea the most solid personal 
triwapli of a hectic season. And 
tliis when the "hefeht" has conic 
and soae, and the ^pang "off days" 
are on. ■ ■ , 

And that word spi«ad quickly, to 
supplement the heavy ad campaign 
instituted by l?ed Schuyler, Beach- ' 
comber owner, was evidoioed in 
weetend biz -wiiiich set necord 
grosses for the Mg room. All of it, 
adds up° to bring the spot into Het 
big pitiSt hracket in its last 10 days 
o£ operation. For, as £Udi\iyl^ .ad- 
mits, "rd be cna^ to by and fol- 
low- this jgny." 

' ' &i a 50-minute stint bdtore an 
audience that included the blade 
tie croK<d Jis weU as the' average 
tounst, Martin scored ihe .most 
I'esoimding dii*. ot the year, twsm 
ini^n^g "Ra^ Thompson's belt, 
earilier in the season. 

The suave, -good loidEXDg film and 
radio song^er xefanxted to 
haunts <nAieie his hl^i^ pee-^war 
click was- at the old Bo]^ Balm 
here. Based on this ^asagenwnt, 
he can write his own ti«tet Kdien- 
e \rcr be wants to come back. Harry 
lUchman introed Mm, -with a brief, 
eHective etjlogy. On to a solid re- 
ccnptlon, Martin, teed tiff with a 
slick arrangemiait of ."Lullaby Of 
Broadway," kejjt" the receptiveness 
mouutins; .'«iti) his easy approach, 
plus the -dominant values that 
inade his stint outstanding: the full 
ranging voice, the humble, yet as^ 
sured manner and the warming 



personality that held the packed 
house with him. 

Follows wiUi a medley of "Make 
Believe," "All The Things You 
Are" and "September Song." 
Comes back for "Bmiil," an im- 
pression group on <%evaUer, Ricli- 
man: both adept limnings, and for 
added effect the comefly oveitoned 
clarinet solo. Encores "with a sock 
version of "No Business lake Show- 
busmess," with clever patter about 
the old time vaude greatst "Dance 
At Yonr Wedding" and his theme 
•"Beguine." Winds with a funny 
short spot with WilUe Shore to 
wrap tilings up, Guy -had to beg- 
off, but they kept pounding for 
more long after he had gone. i 

Sest of show is a mildly pleasant • 
buildup to Martin's stint. Willie 
Shore contiibs an amusing session 
of comedy and dance, with Ute terp 
sections the l)etter pait of combo. 
Comedy patter is a bit weary and 
gets giggles where fresher material 
might have gol^ien howls. Best 
part of the comedy sequence is the 
pinbail machine addict. Acro-dance 
stufC reminds of Ray Bolger and 
liits fiJT top m«l)*ion. 

W<9ii« Bros, are lost in this room. 
Stuff seems more tailored for thea- 
tres than a sprawling layout sniih 
as tius. Viohn stuff and comedy 
tcrps go nicely, -tiiough not socko. 

Production wise, June Taylor has 
^v&y her line of lookers two brief 
and effective routines, with ISie 
costuming' in £ood taste. .Bay 
AmelT. handles the son^-dance 
ichores of sequences in adept man- 
ner. • ■ ^- 

Ben Oakland rates kudoK on his 
accomps for Martin, while Dave 
'Tyler haandles the bat(me«ring end 
in wiiat amounts to the' best job 
of the season, fie doesnt miss a 
cue jfor 'iK&uctin's heavily arranged 
'sonss, cutting though he'd play- 
ed' him for months; Lary. 




CONNEE 
BOSWELl 



CurrantW 



JIARRY A, ROMM 



38 E 5- 



Cwcoamii Ciravc!, tmA. 

Los Angelest March 18. 
Joe Rei<Stihmn.'s Ordi (15)', with. 
Sergio De Karlo, Morjorie I,ce, 
Ambossadorables' (Doris Crane, 
Mtarifypk Mams, Vivia'M Presco, 
Beth Holt, ItHoel Eberle); $1.50 
c'over we^days, ||2 Saturday. 

It's noteworthy in a way that a 
notice written about the Grove 
attraction is about somebody be- 
side Sffiddy Martin, for the past 
seven .years, with occasional in- 
taniptlons, the tootler-business 
man (he has a swank music shop 
in the Ambassador hotel) 'lias held 
sipy <mir the bandstand and en- 
deiared hhnself and his dansapa- 
tion to this class clientele. Now 
he's away for a while and leading 
the paraide of bandwen. into the 
room of smShy palms and floating 
clouds is Joe micbman, still the 
'I'agliaccl of the }nano."-and mak- 
ing his fourth, stand in the Wil- 
shire.bowl grotto. 

It's the Reitdiman pixie person- 
aUty-and sdhowioanslnp that over- 
shadows his music for the feet and 
ears. His clowning is restrained 
and alTable, never leaving the 
bench, and a .■vfrarm friendliness 
with the dancers-by makes the in- 
gratiating easier. There's a show- 
manly touch to his Hying fingers 
and the ctaaatging moods on his 



phiz act like tucks uad^ the chin. 

Hotel .ballrooms have long been 
Beichman's play-and-pay ground 
and he knows how to mix up the 
tunes to get the most people out 
on the floor, In every set there's 
a rhnraba but otherwise the 
rliythms float yvith the dancers. 
No fast or fancy stuff, just straight 
foot ease. Marjoric Lee and Sergio 
De Karlo take care of the vocals, 
the latter a Latin adition of Cheva- 
lier down to the straw skimmer 
and perpeUial grin. Miss Lec for- 
sakes styling for an easy deliverj' 
of pop tunes. Doris Crane's Am- 
bassadorables, four petite violinists 
and an accordion-^«c«list, take 
over the intermission and enter- 
tain at ringside tables ^ith op- 
eretta arias after a full start to the 
Reichman accomp, 

Reichman sliould keep the 
covers coming for the five weeks 
of his stay and then gives up the 
stand to Guy Lombard©, Frankie 
Carle and Miguelito Valdez, in that 
order., ami all for four weeks. 
Grove'^ 990 «apadty was three- 
quarters full for the' opening. 

Helwu 



Montrcol, Morch 19. 
BiockbHrtt Tuaii$, Ludntila ^^o- 
pato, Rasha fiodeU, Maria del Cmr- 
me» Gomez, BiU 5tetnner Orch; 
Minimum $2. 



For his SOtli annivcritar}' as 
producer of; this nitery's sho'ws, 
Carol Ciraiier has a nice lineup of 
social performers and the result 
is a smash show leaving everybody 
very satisfied and enthusiastic. The 
Blackburn Twins, Raymond and 
Royce, who do ''some of the smart- 
est tap routines seen around here 
in « long fiiae, and blonde Conti- 
neidal diseiise Ludmila Lopato 
share the spotlight and gaUmr 
most of the plaudits; 

Tall, dark and handsome, the 
Blackburns are in a class by them- 
scIvK in their sharp tcrping rou- 
tines. Every gesboe, smdle, mam- 
ment and deftKU is aocoonted for 
in every number and theirs is a 
series of dances which gamer 
J^lenty salvos. They open with » 
song jtad dance that "sets their 
bright, lively style and follow with 
a neat soft tap routiiK. Thebc mirr, 
TOT dance is also splcnffid'. Wind 
up -with a' rhythmic rendition of 
"18th Century Drawing Ro«n" for 
solid appreciation and beg-off. 

Petite, Slavic boauty Ludndla 
Lopato foUows. It's a difOcult spot 
for a diseuse with moody songs in 
French and Russian. But pos- 
sessed with great charm and a very 
warm voice, she readily scares. 
With sensibility and taste, she 
sings "Imaginez," a romantic bal- 
lad; "Sertze." a lively Russian air; 
J^ai vcndu mon ame an diahle," a 
dramatic song; "La Valse Tonme," 
a charming ind joyous IVeniA 
waltz musette. Then encores with 
a «^de choice of Russian or Ficnch 
numbers before having to beg-off. 

Popular baritone Rasha RodeU is 
back for liis fourth return engage- 
aaent. Sings in many languages 
and registers with well-trained 
voice. Best is his rendition ot 
Granada," "'As Years Go By" and 
an Hungarian lullaby. Al^ does 
well received Russian airs and an 
excellent interpretation of the 
yrendi "Aimez-von^ les monies 
mannieres?". Delivoy between 
songs can still be sliarpenedL Miaria 
del Cannen Gomez is a typical Oa- 
menco singer and dancer, agree- 
able to listen to and watch in her 
t\vo Spanish numbers. The finale, 
vnth Garuer and the cast, is a very 
gay and amusing interlude <than1cs 
to the fooling of the Blackhums) 
js indeed a show worthy of Grau- 
er s anniversary. • Mart:. 

ll«vaiM«.]»f JMlriil, !V, V. 

Joaquin Garay, Pilar Cam-ez; 
Viiola, Line <65, Argiticso mid 
i>acasas Orchs; $3 ndithmtm, it 

weekends. 



Following Oie pattern estab- 
lished la.st week by La Martinique, 
y -', Latm-mioded :QavBna 
Madrid has Teiustalled a llnfe after 
an eight-month hiatus in an effort' 
to needie slumping biz. Even if 
the line doesn't pay off on tliat 
Idea, brmgiog back tiic gals is a 
good step, since they inject prac- 
tjcally ail the verve and poli^ to 
the club's new spring revue, 

Show is headed by emcee-singer 
Joaqum Gara.v and features Span- 
ish tcrper Pilar Gomez and come- 
dienne Vitola. All of them are m 
the Latm idiom, which should di- 
rectly suit the taste of the Havana 
Madrid crowd— when a crowd's 
available. Room was practically 
empty, however, the night caught 
<19) meaning the performers were 
workmg against tremendous odd.s, 
Garay, ior example, came out with 
his usual bounce to tec off the pro- 
ceedings but gave up his jokester- 
mg in mild disgust when he coiild 
draw less than a^sridcftr from the 
paltry number of payees. 

Garay makfes out much better 
with his singing, projecting his in- 
fectious personalit)r neatly with the 
bpanish, Portuguese awl • 



aubibers. Big mistake here is. in 
givinr th« aatttiam too mo^ »t 
one cradk. H« opensi with '^hlu, 
Chiu," effects a good pace-change 
with "Serenade of the Bells" and 
hits his stride on "Everything Is 
Latin In the" U.S.A.," a reverse 
twist on the "South Americsa, Take 
It Away" motif. This would have 
got him off to go<»d residts, but h« 
stuck around for one moUe number, 
ttierdiy partly mining Ids effcc- 
tiveneto. ■ , 

Miss Gomez, a sultry Spanish 
beaut, demonstrates some intricate 
heel-and-toe work in her brace of 
numbers. Gal is lissome and 
graceful, and utilizes her «astanet- 
clicldng nicely for extra tiiytltmlc 
effects. After opening witli a 
flamenco routine, she comes hack 
with a good impressionistic turn 
on "Malagucna." Line then "spells 
her while she does a quick costume 
change before rctuniing for a flae^ 
heel-and-toe finale, 

Vitola, a last-minute addition (o 
the sliow, is reviewed imSer New 
Acts. Work of tlie line, incident- 
ally, marks another feather in the 
Easter bonnet of June Taylor, who 
casts them and sets their routines. 
Gals are all nice-lookers and, as 
'with Uie new La Martinique en- 
semble, can really dance, Show is , 
backed well by Argueso's cieV7, 
which doubles for dancing with 
the neat ifaumba beat of Sacasas' 
sidemen. StuL 



WalMit B i wm » Chi 

(BtsMAKcnK aofsau) 

Oticasro, Marcii 18. 
Georgif. Gobel, Joseph Svidy 
Orcii <11) -witli Leflore; miiAtmm, 
$!!-$2.S0, 

Usual iKace of standards on tap 
at this room has been whittled 
down to one. A second and less 
noticeable cut has taken six feet 
off the length of tiie dance floor — 
not that there's need of extra table 
space but just to bring the audi- 
ence in closer. 

Crewgie Gobel is well received 
by the faimly trade, althou)^ his 
impact is deodedly on the light 
side.. Some of. hte matetial sHU 
wears Idiaki, whfle bis ciwie stuff 
is pre-war. Despite brisk gestures, 
bis stories tend to flatten out, 
mainly because they're um«lieved 
by punchy asides or byplay en- 
route to the payoff, there's noth- 
ing wr<»i? here that fresh routines 
'wwi't cure. 

Comic, strumming a guitar, gets 
fiavorahle returns' on "Little Bit 
of Heavei^" "Preacher and the 
Bear" and "Sippin' Cider Through 
a Stnw." Brightest of the lot is 
"Alice." an original that starts 
with creampuffs but shifts (n the 
needl^. 

Lehore. holding over vidth Jo- 
seph Sudy's orch, does okay ah 
her vocal of "If a Mail Could Be," 



Jcaimette Garrett, Garron & 
Bennett, Olga PorfoiHi, Roland 
Tiidor, Zatga Beta, Shnndor Orch, 
Gene Kordos Orc?i; $2 Tniniwum. 

At the rock-bottom price Icvet^ in 
tile Broadway cafe tirade. Zimmer- 
man'is Hungaria rolls on its way 
with its standaid policy of offering 
a solid package of entertainment 
for its type of clientele. I^ayout is 
somewhat below the top shelf class' 
but it malces up in quantity what 
it lacks In quality. 

Built along minimum production 
lines, show opens with a solo tap 
terping stint by JcanncUe Garrett, 
(Continued oo page St) 



A€VA AWARDS f333 
(Mi ClAB! VS. CROSS 

ton, p. C was tagged unfair iSr 
American Guild of Variety Artist 
last week for failure to " settle . 
riaun of $333 back salarj' due 
Margie Woods, his fonner vocaUsl 
Comphiint. brought by iS 
Woods at AGVA, claims that dmTnl 
a 10-week peiiod she worked » 
vocalist with the band. Cross had 
paid, her less than union minimum 
salaiy, with above stated amount 
still due her under her AGVA con- 
tract. Cross was notified of the 
action but did not interpose a 
defense, whereupon AGVA cited 
hhn "unfiiir" until he pays off the 
obligathm. 



Hob RKO Droys Vande 

The BKO theatre, Boston, is set 
to drop stageshows for the sum- 
mer. May 5. Final show isnt set 
yet. House will continue thiough- 
yet. Hope will operate with a fdc- 
ture policy, although a spot- attrac- 
tion will be used occaaonally. 

Resumption of vaude is definite 
for the falL Dan Friendly, house 
booker, has set Vauidim Monroe for 
week starting Nov. 25. • 

Potson^s Tax Trial On 

Cliicago, March 23. 
Twice-delayed tax evasion trial' 
of Mifce>Potson started yesterday 
(22) la. Chi federal district court. 
Government charges that fanner 
operator of Coliamo's wnithh^ 
$162,000 in back taxes. 

Trial was postponed twice beftaie 
when medics advised that 64-year- 
old deCendant was too iU to tntify. 

TEXAS NITEBT EOIE 
Midland, Teic, March 23. . 

Loss of the structure and equip- 
ment was placed at $50,1X10 follow- 
ing destruction of the Log Cabin 
Inn by fire. 

The nightclub was owned liy 0. 
A. C:atter and operated by Jerry 
Boberts. Spot was located on out- 
skirts of the dty. 




Ht tin MOrNT KOYAI. MOTI>:f, 
IiAimmXiC ANM CI^YMMl, u iinlr of 
I>ant!lnK .H«mMwt« wltk KKDI.ICSM 
)IAT)<]KU.I, mmt a I.A|-<:B-A-MrN- 
VTK Tyiie «r »pllvtir>'. 
Tlif'y liitroi1iic«4 t«v» mv^ mmniten; 
biitli wore nn IMnrRTDIAI'K HIT. 
Miintli 1, '48, The Ilvralri. Al I'ulMr 
JSfur 'SMk rhl^K* 

M4X .lumois riHL tvkkkm. 



DON COSTELIO 

Biii-k 111 S»m York 
. Afl«r m SupwiHMfwl Iteipixvwirat 
la Th« 4aniRiMt MMrH It. K. 

n»■lc«r-8tlt|re^«lMmcnph«r * M.€. 
: llunluv to , , 

mmi OMar...tiM ' 
t31 -'S-«ew 



LOEW 

BOOKING 
AGENCY 

4(«MfMi fxrcurivf orricii 
LOEW •iiiiBimi Mma 

£W «.4tkSl.M.V.C*Mii'lMW 



JOHN E.REED 



IN HOLLYWOOD 




VV e on 'he c c c? s t v i s i » 



JOHN E. REED STUDIO 

■ bti'i SUNSET BCU'lE vARD 
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA 



ss 



New Acts 



80NALD mCHABDi 

45 Mint. „ . 
lert Boom, N«w TTork 

Donald Richards is virtually 
making his N. Y. nitery debut al- 
thoush, on a couple occasions, he 
has doubled under emergency from 
"Ionian's Rainbow' of which he's 
the iuve lead. A personable bari- 
tone of fine voice, Richards should 
ouallfy in the saloon circuits, 
esnecially with such a smash musi- 
cal as his Broadway background. 

The above indicated 45 mins, 
running time is obviously a mis- 
take It will doubtlessly be 
trimmed after the premiere en- 
thusiasm at the Waldorf-Astoria is 
discounted. He's generous to a 
fault and if the idea is to engage 
Jn a vocal tour de force good self^ 
editing — such as those three cycles' 
of doing everything in threes — 
wopld automatically correct mat- 
ters. The triple trio embraces 
three excerpts from other musi- 
cal hits ("Fellow Needs a Girl," 
"BfeSt Things in Life Are 
Free" and "June Is Busting Out 
All Over"); a trio of excerpts from 
''Finian's" (a natural enough idea); 
and far down in the routine, after 
a second encore, he does an oper* 
atic trio. And that is really carry- 
ing the trey too' far. Especially 
considering "Romantic Guy," "But 
Beautiful," "The Whip," an Air 
>■ Corps parody on "Whiftenpoof" 
and the inevitable "Glocca Morra." 

Not that he doesn't appeal al- 
most all the way but the leave-'em-. 
hungry show biz adage should ob- 
tain at some point in Richards' 
eongalog. The Air Corps stuff, in- 
cidentally, is nicely dovetailed with 
a salute to Charles Segal, his pian- 
ist (aiid also his sergeant in the 
AAF). 

Robert Lamouret, the French 
ventriloquial comedian who clicked 
In London in the Sid Fields variety 
revue, and repeated on Broadway 
, at the Roxy, proves himself plenty 
OK in the niteries, following Rich- 
ards. Only clash is the repetition 
of the "Figaro" operatic excerpt 
wliich the singer does legit, and 
which Lamouret repeats as part of 
his slapstick shaving hokum with 
his Donald Duckesque ventriloquial 
puppet. It's obviously more neces- 
^6ary to the Frenchman than Rich- 
ards, hence the. latter should edit 
It out. 

For the rest, Emil Coleman, now 
quite the grand old man of class 
hotel and nitery maestros — he's 
been prominent on the podium for 
almost- a third-of-a-century, and 
remains among the best baton- 
Vdelders extant-^ontinues with 
his smart dansapation. And Mischa 
Borr, despite his un-Latinesque 
Cognomen, dispenses a brand of 
dance music that would qualify 
him for top membership in the 
daiqui'ri-carioca-paso doble unions 
the world over. 

. Incidentally, in face of current 
ease-off in N. Y. nitery biz the Wal- 

forf-Astoria's Sert Room seems to* 
e holding up nicely^ Ambrose at 
the tape is still a busy gent, even 
tinder present standards of cafe- 
caterbig. Abel. 

GENE McCARTBT * TOAUiY 

FARRELL 
Comedy 
18 Mins. 

Falmer House, Cbi 

Gene McCarthy, no newcomer at 
platter byplay, and Tommy Farrell, 
*ecn on Broadway in "Barefoot 
Boy With Cheek," are happily ac- 
commodated in Max Shulman's 
first try at nitery routining. Team, 
opening at dual mikes on chest- 
nigh stand, satirizes disk jocks, 
radio commercials, and hoke plat- 
«er lyrics in crisp, punchy style. 
/Mugging and panto stuff are 
tightly dovetailed with disks 
played by engineer. For Red 
fngle-Jo Stafford recording of 
Temptation" (Tim-Tayshun), Me- 
J-arthy dons a bandanna head- 
P¥pe and pumps a prop accordion 
ywie Farrell saws at a pocket-size 
noale. Stint drew salvos from 
ppchlng night aud, fWlowed by 
heavy hand for similar treatment 
S«r Bing Crosby singing 

. Wail 'Till the Sun Shines Nelly." 
li.i^^.r.^'^hy scores solo in clown- 
Klrsten Plagstad's trilling of 
, Valkyrie," a sharply con- 
ceived satire of operatic posturing, 
i?.. talteoff on newscasters, pair 
recite stock news oddities 
with trick payoffs. Both have a 
lendency to drop unctuous radio 
l^l^^'L*""® while yocks come fast 
and hard. Turkish disk is weak- 
closer in comparison to 
preceding platters. 

uver-all act is firstrate for class 
""OMes. Baxt. 

VITOLA ~ 
, Comedienne 
JP Mins. 

Havana Madrid, N. Y. 

««]w3*2'^' according to the intro 
2f ?ii her here, has done a lot 
and nitery work through- 
out Latin America, but this rep- 



resents her f trst time in a New 
York club. Gal is a hawk-faced, 
grotesque, character, with an ul- 
tra-long and thin body which she 
contorts into freakish postures for 
the basis of her comedy. In addi- 
tion, she has a goo.d soprano voice, 
which is apparently well-trained 
and which she uses deftly to kid 
the classical operatic arias. 

Grotesque posturing and comedy 
thrushing could probably fit her 
for the title of the Latin Cass 
Daley. Right now, however, she 
lacks both the timing and comedy- 
knoWhow of Miss Daley. As a re- 
sult, tKe solid laughs she builds up 
with her first appearance rapidly 
dissipate as she repeats with the 
same routines for three numbers in 
a row. As is the case with all gro- 
tesqueries -the audience soon tires 
of looking at ct-azy stances. She'll 
have to add more to her act, con- 
sequently, if she's to catch on. 

5tal. 



possibilities for smarter niteries, 
once they get themselves some 
new routines and better costuming. 
As presently constituted the trio 
reminds slightly of Jack Cole's 
ideas, but the basic conception 
seem to have gone astray in the 
stagings. 

One spot sets a takeoff on Indian 
dances with jive interlinings. Idea 
may have looked good, and per- 
haps with some new. conceptions 
might work into a solid sequence. 

Other 'section of the act is a 
nicely worked out canto of ballet- 
modern that sets well for their first 
impresh on the audience. As a 
group they impress as potent dance 
talent in the modem-satirical vein. 



JUDY GERSHWIN 

Songs".' 
IS Mins. 

Ruban Bleu, New York 

Heralded as from a radio back- 
ground, Judy Gershwin evidences 
the accent on the mike technique 
but she is effective, none the less, 
in person. In an intimate boite 
like the Ruban Bleu she. could 
dispense with the amplification 
because her personality is good 
and she projects on both counts. 

Thrush probably has chirped 
with bands judging by her tech- 
nique. She's in the modem 
rhythmic idiom as she unreels 
"Still Get a Thrill," "Got a Crush 
On You," " 'Swonderful" and 
"Don't Blame Me." Nicely attired, 
that hennaed streak on her fore- 
tresses is a conceit which means 
little either way. "'Swonderful," 
of course, is one of her famed 
kin's better tunes but she makes 
no capital of her in-laws, George 
and Ira Gershwin. Songstress is 
the wife of Arthur Gershwin, their 
youngest brother, and himself an 
incipient songsmith. . 

Miss Gershwin is okay for the 
class nitery league and suggests 
greater scope with schooling 
and extended materiaL Abel. 



Variety Bills 



WEEK OF MABCH .24 



Numeral* In canncetkm wHIi blUi b«I<kW indicate openlnK day «r «h«w 

whether fuH or K|>ttt week. 

Letter in iiiireiithefleH IntlK'iitesi elreiilt: (1) Indepenileut ; (T.) I'.oew; 
l-aramuliiit; (R) KUO; (H) StoU; (W) Warner 



YanK Show Biz 



Continueil fromi page I ; 



CONDE Litis 

Magician 

12 Mins. 

El Chico, N. Y. 

Conde Luis hails from Madrid 
and is making his American debut 
with his routine of standard cards, 
rope, ciggie, paper, candles, bal- 
loons and handerkerchief trickS; He 
runs the gamut, doing too much, 
but is cute in personality and dia- 
lect as he projects the few neces- 
sary American words he has not 
quite mastered. The unfinished 
linguistics are a plus but the sur- 
plusage of routine should be edited 
down. He should, of course, dis- 
card the corny 'American flag busi- 
ness, apparently injected as insur- 
ance." ■ ■ 

He doesn't need it because he's a 
seasoned manipulator who- can fill 
his spot with showtnanly entertain- 
ment. Abel. 



FERNANDA CRESPA 

Dancer ■ 

10 Mins. 

El Chico, N. Y. 

First time in America, Senorita 
Crespa impresses on her whole- 
some Latin good looks and an 
authentic terp style that holds the 
customers and registers in both 
halves Of her routine. She breaks 
it up by being brought back for a 
reprise of an Andalusian routine: 

Opener is a Spanish fantasy and. 
a fiesta number, with- and without 
castinets^ She's an exicting looker 
and her dance .sequences bespeak 
intensive schooling. She'll impress 
generally, as she goes along, not 
being confined to atmospheric 
boites like El Chico which is dom- 
inantly Latin. Abel. 



MINDY CARSON 
Songs 

12 Mins. . 

Club Charles, Baltimore 

Attractive songstress displays 
considerable know-how in selling 
a vtocal. On the wholesome and 
clean-cut side and gowned accord- 
ingly, she liandles own introes and 
utilizes a good change of pace. 
Opens with "Got a Feeling I'm 
Falling," following up with "But 
Beautiful"; a brace of Gershwin 
tunes; "But Not For Me," and 
"Someone to Watch Over Me." 
Good spot of rhythm, "Feathery 
Feeling" strong closer. Encores 
with her current recording seller of 
"Pianis.simo." 

Should be able to hold a potent 
spot in any company. Bwrm. 

DAVID NILLO DANCERS (3) 

Dance 
10 Mins. 

Copacabana, Miami Beach 

Young trio of terpers, compris- 
ing two lads and girl, show distinct 



more than 1,000,0Q0 marks ($100,- 
000). 

The top-grossing Yank' play to 
date is John van Druten's "Voice 
of the Turtle" which has brought 
its author 110,213 marks ($11,000), 
according to the latest CAD sur- 
vey, in blocked currency. Royalties 
are fixed by the CAD (which clears 
all plays before they can be staged 
in occupied zones) at 10% less a 
Slim not exceeding 3% deductible 
for translations. Next in order as 
moneymakers are Robert Ardrey's 
"Thunder Rock" which has earned 
the playwright 82,789 marks ($8,- 
300); "Skin of Our Teeth" bring- 
ing Thornton Wilder 80,844 marks 
($8,000) and S. N. Behrman's 
"Biography," netting 76,951 marks 
($7,700). 

Dramatizing the intense activity 
with Yank works, ther» have been 
five times as, many 'American plays 
produced by the Germans than 
that of any other of the occupying 
forces. The British, for instance, 
have had only six of their, plays 
staged and the Russians, generally 
regarded '^s the most active prose- 
lytizers of the Germans, no more 
than the British. 

60 Plays; First Musical 
Some 60 plays have been cleared 
by the CAD for use in Germany 
and Austria and the division is 
now working on. musicals with 
"Oklahoma!" a probable first. In 
Germany, 604 theatres and music 
halls have been licensed by the 
Yank army officials. So far as Aus- 
tria is concerned, 16 plays have 
already been produced with "Life 
With Father" the ranking favorite. 
Playwrights Howard Lindsay and 
Russel Crouse have garnered 34,- 
380 Austrian shillings ($3,400) as 
royalties. [Both shillings and marks 
figure 10 to the dollar.] 

"The Germans were taught un- 
der Hitler for many years that no 
culture could compare with their 
own," a CAD official said, explain- 
ing the Army's program. "It's our 
job to win them to democracy and 
one of the best ways is to demon- 
strate that American entertain- 
ment shapes up as well as their 
own. We think we're on the right 
track because attendance Is hold- 
ing up so well." , 

Radio, film, music and art and 
periodical sections of the' CAD are 
also stepping up their programs. 
So far as pix are concerned, some 
54 theatrical shorts and 22 non- 
theatricals have already made the 
rounds of the German flickeries. 
Some 27 more are being processed 
and will hit the theatres shortly. 

Packaged Entertainment 

In Germany, booking of Army- 
designated shorts is compulsory. 
They're included in a package with 
newsreels and a feature for the 
theatres. Besides, 150 prints in 
16m are also prepped for each pic 
for showings at information cen- 
tres, labor unions, youth groups 
and other organizations. Program 
will be considerably zipped, up in 
the near future since the Army 
has a $600,000 untapped appropria- 
tion for the purpose. It spent 
$900,000 last year preparing its 
program. 

Going has been Slower in Japani 
but CAD expects to go full-tilt 
with the Nips during the coming 
year. Five plays, "Yellow Jack," 
"Abe Lincoln in Illinois," "On 
Borrowed Time," "Ethan Frome" 
and "Our Town" have been cleared 
for Japan and are currently being 
translated. 

Brigi General Robert A. Mc- 
Clure, commanding the CAD, 
planed to Japan last week to give 
the program further impetus. He's 
surveying the field and checldng 
into theatre facilities in that coun- 
tipy. One poser in Japan is the 
problem of piracy since the coun 
try has a history of copyright pla 



NEW YORK riTI 
Capitol <r.) «5 

Tex Beneke Ore 
Dean Mai'tin 
.lerry Lewis 
Miitttc Hull (1) lilt 

Paul Haakon 
vSlephanle Anile' 
l^aul Franke , ; 
A. -\ii(ire(i tk Bonnie 
Beiiak & Elaine 
Rotkelteij 
corps de Ballet 
Olee Club. 
Sym Ovc: 

I'liriimoiiiit . (P) .34 

T^oni.*! Pt'ima B(l 
Dick *, Dot Remy 
. Roxy (() 24 
A>'t M ooney Ore 
Gafli- Sis 
Betty Rruce 
Al Bern I e 
SitlU-l Flippeta 

Strand (W) 
Claude ThornhiU O 
Helene Sr. Howard 
Morey A;mHterdain 

BRONX 
Windsor (1) ^«-«8 
Danny Drayson ^ 
Ladd Lyon 
Bdtlie Hanrey 
Morgan Sla 
(two to fill) 

BROOK liYN 
li'ltttbuHh (I) '^6-%8 
Bobby Rollins 
Beau Jenkins 
Skating Marks 
Foran Sis 

QlJ.IHlflNS 
.Tamaim (I) »4-«7 
Ai Schenk 
C Fredericks Co 

Kayos 
Bobby Winston 
.) Hurley 
Bruce Howard 



Oriental (I) IB 

Nellie l.utcher 
Tito Gulzar 
(taudamlth Bros 
Carl Sands Ore , 
(one to nil) 

Regal (D i!« 
Wdie Vinson Bo 
The Ravens 
Qeo H ud son Bd 
I'huck & Brown 
Owen Tinea 

HAUTKOKI) 

Siiit« (I) n\--i» 

Horace .Heidt Sliow 

.UOI.YOKU 
valley Arena (1) 2« 
only 

Gene Krupa Ore 
Al Srfienk 
;i Miniie Men 
belage & Rlilrley 
(one to fill) 
MIAMI 
Olymvin (P) -114 
Latinos 
Olt^s Carrer 
Elton Brltt 
Sybil Bowan. ■ 
Curryi ByrA , & 
LeBoy j 
MKWAKK 
Adanig (1) M 
Henry Busse Ore 
Vic Damone 
,laok Leonard 
Emerald Sis 

PATEKSOTf 
Mnjeotlo (I) 
,1 & T Nip 
Mllo Sc Moran 
Hermlne 
Candv Stevens 
Hermine's MldKets 

«0-31 
B & .T Peterson 
.10 & .toey Mack 
Jimmy .limae Co 
Al Schenk. 
R & M Carnevale 



CARL AND FAITH 
SIMPSON 

AND THEIR HVMORETTE8 
Rtfll at Ireland Reatanrant, N. Y. 
Per. Met. TYfcER MASjON 
EDI>1E SIWITH AGENCY 
ISOl Broadway New York 



Bagatelle 

Dorothy RoSs 
Bine An|;el 

Douglas Byng : . 
Alice Fearce 

. . , , Marc Lawrence 

•giariaihs running back many years, ncita Rhythm By» 



Lucky & Lea 
.lane Frazer 
P McWlUlams Co 
ATKANTIO eiXY 

Casino (1) »(l-i8 
Georgia Gibbs 
Ro?B & Stone 
Stage McMann 3 
.Tim "Wong Troube 
The Londons 

BALTIMORE 
Hippodrome (I) 
4 Fast Steppers 
Gary Morton 
Clark J>ennts 

State (I) 26-%1 
Malone & Sharon 
,Gina Thomas 
Terry & Crals , 
3 Co-Elds 

28-Sl 
Renee & .Tim 
Thelma Baker 
York & Pierce 
M MoClanaihan 
BOSTON 
Boston (R) iiS 
John Calvert 
The Extremes ■ 
(three to (111) 
CAMDEN 

Towers (I) 2«-»8 
The Tanos 
Gae IDixon 
.limmy Jiinae Co 
Steve Bvans . 
Nat'hane Brorf 
CBICAOO 
Staterfake (P> M 
Kaijhryn GTayson 
Johnny Johnson 
.Ian Murray . 
Cardens,a 
Caetle Sl« 



PHllABETMhlA' 

Carman (1) !B5 

"Walter Waltiers Jr 
Pansy the Horse 
Ij & A Anders 
Duke Norman 
READING 
Bnjah (I) %S-27 
Eddy Arnold Rev 
BOCKFORD 

Palace (l).-.!ie 
"Strike Up Fun" 
Paul & Paulette S 
Blair &, Barnett 
Nardlne & Nadyne 
Ann Suter 
Bill Snyder 
Paul Walker Oro 

SFRINGIIEI/P 
Court Sq (I) 25-28 
Anson Sis 
Benny MeroiC 
K McLaughlin 
Arthur Donnelly 
Billy Carr 
Betty Percy 

WASHINGTON 

Howard (1.) 2fi 
IFreda Bhys s 
Maureen Gannon 
C North & Marcla 
Debonairs 

HoAvavd (I) 2« 
Duke Ellington (J, 
Moreland & Hurray 
George KIrby 
Peck & P^ck. 

WOON800KET 
Capitol (I) 28 only 
•Tack Oleson 
P Mason & Pals 
Bud & OIlie 
Tenner & Betty 
(two to All) 



Fats Pichon 
€11 (T Jackson 
Edmund Hall Ore . 

China fita 
XCatharine Chantt : 
.Tack Soo 
Laurie Long ' 
3 Cantons 
Matt TUck 
Noro Morales 
J Fra.se 

OoiiacalMina 
Jerry Lester 
Qnv\ Ravass:sa 
D'AU'gelo & Vanya 
.Si.:sHr. Graves 
Miriam La Velle 
Sacasas Orn 
. ' Iceland 
Boyd Heath 
C & F Simpson . 
Calnger Kinney , > 
Ben Ribblo Oro 
Jack Ripley Line' 

Hotel Edison 
Henry Jerome Ore 
No 1 iltth Ave 
Joan Casto 
Hal Hackett 
Har.el Webster 
Downey & Fonvlile 
Hotel Belm't-riaza 
Georgie Price 
Eddie Stone Oro 
Machito Ore 

Hotel niltmoce 
Larry Green Ore : 
n INirecarao Ore 
Hotel Commodora 
Eddy tloward Ova 

Hotel LextOKton 
Pineapple Oro 
Hotel New Yorker 
Shop Fiiilds Ore 
Marshal Beard 
Phil Romayne 
Terry Brent 
Jay Martin 
Muriel Pack 
.lanlee Hamilton 
Hotel Pennsylvania 
Dick Jurgcns Oro 

Hotel Flerra 
.Taclc Parker 
torn Scott 
Hoetor & Byrd 
Van Smith Ore 
Chas Reader Ore 
Diamond Horseshoe 
Mata & Hari 
Choral Octet 
H sandier Ore 
Alvereis Mora 
Juenger Ballet Line 

Hotel ria» 
Hiidegarde 
•Toel Herron Oro 
Saivatore Gioe 
Hotel BooBeTeil 
Lawrence Weik Ore 

Hotel St Morlti 
Menconl Ore 

Hotel St Reel! 
Dave Apoiion 
Hal Saunders Oro 
Kvalyn Tyner 
Rosalind Oourtrlsht 
Laszlo & Pep] to 
Hotel Tatt 
Vincent Lopez' Ore 
Charlie Drew . 
Jelf Clay 

Michael Dnrso Oro 
Fernando' Alvarez O 
El Chleo 

Fernanda Crespa 
Conde Luis 
Victoria Barcelo 
Rita & RoKino 
Los Panchos 



BRITAIN 



• CAKDIS-F 
New Theatre (S) 22 

.SlefiflHilf Beauty 
Freddie Forbes 
Nlta Croft 
Phil Strickland 
Bert Murray 
Btllle Love 
rsabei Marden 
Bill Dunckley 
Leon & Klkl 
Hamilton Robins 
Sidney Trevelya.il 
Vilma Do Boer 
Robs & Globe Gle 
Balmoral i ' 
Charles A.ncaflter 
Beaton's 12 Juves 
, CHISH'ICK 

Empire (S) 22 
20 Questions' 
S MacPherson 
F Bamberger 
Max Geldrey 
V Civclist . Trp 
Flacit & Lucas 
Terry I-lall ' 
F Marx & Iris 
Daring Darlta 
HACKNEY 

Empire (K) 22 
Harry ParrS- « 
Gftorge Lacy 
-Wilson 

Keppel & .Betty 
.'Skadng Typhoons 
Saveen 

XmCBHTER 
Valuer (R) 22 
Robin Ricltmona 
Organ Odrs ."ing 
M & H Nesbit , 
liaha & Rudas I 
'ijdftie Reindeer 



J Kavanagh 
Al & Vic Farrell 
lioreen Victor 
I^ONDON 
Stoll (8) 22' 
Stars on Ice 

Palhullum 
Jean Sablon 

Casino . 
Olson & Johnson 
Pitolimen 
Gloria Gilbert 

MANCHESTER 
Hippodrome (S) 22 
Good 2 Shoes 
Ronald Frankau 
Sonny Jacobs 
Jack Stanford 
.Toan Davles 
.Toy Hayden 
Sttieddle Bros 
Sosamund Belmore 
Agar Toung 2 
Stuart Pearce 
Braemar Pipers 
Tiller Girls .. .. 
Terry .luvenlles 
SlIEPH'BDS BUSH 

Empire <S) 22 
TTai Monty 
•Seamon & Farrell 
Chas Cameron 
Ravel 

Singinflf Miner's 
3 A'berdonianS' 
Floyd & B'Nay 
WOOD GREEN 
Empire (8) 22 
Radio Forfeits 
Mooney & King 
Philippe & Marta 
Archie EIray 
Leslie I/cster 
Durosa 4 : 



Cabaret Bills 



NEW YOBK CITY 



ViWa Larkin t 
Hal Cpoko 
.Fane .Harvey 
Cufe Society 
(Downtown) 
-Tlnimle Sogers 
Glnrilo Powell 



Embawr 

3 Flames 
Belmonts 

Fisher & WhiSa . 
.Louis Varapo Or* 
Jose Cortes Oro ' 

Harem 
Dlosa Costello 
Eltssa Jayne 
.Tohn Elliot 
Nevada Smith 
Desi Arnaz Ore 
Art Roman O 
. HavunnTMqdrhi . 
Joaquin Garay 
PiiaV' Gomez , 
VoUta. Argueso 
Taylor Line 
Saecaasaa Ore 

Hotel Wanvleh 
Alan McPaige % 
Jan August 

I4| .MnrtlnlQM 
.Taolc Carter 
Fi'anoes Faye 
Freddie Stewart 
Ralph Font Oro 
Taylor jjine 

IjCoii 8i Eddle'a 
Kddie Davis. 
Art Waner Oro 
Sherry Britloo 
Nils & Nndyne . 
Lyda & Yannl 
Toby Deane 
>^effgy Palmer . ^ 
Danny SUlllvan 
Shepard Line. 
Old RonmaalMI 
Sadie B.mhs 
Don Tannen 
Bella Smaro 
Joe LaPone Or« 
D'Aquila Ore 

Essex lIODse 
Erwin Kent Ore 
Latin Quarter ' 
Frank Libuse . 
Nick Lbng Jr ■ 
Marian Mannera 
Radio Aces 
Patricia Adajr 
C & T Valde* 
Arthur Laurent . 
Bon VIvante 
Vincent Traven O 

, Ruban RIeB 
Pierre Cnnler ' 
Judy Gershwin 
Mervyn Nelson 
Daphne Hellman ■ 
Franklin & Moor* . 
Nermann Paris S 
Wally Blacker 
SpI'vy'e 

Spivy 

Mary McCnrly 
Hayes Gordon 
Versailles 
Carl BrlsBon 
Bob Grant Or* 
Panchlto Oro 

VUlace 
Plnte Pete 
Kay C&role 
Gordaoo ic CorlaM 
Populalren * 
Buccaneert Or^ 
VUlsR^ V«aiinr« 
Paula Drake 
Max KamlDsky t ' 
Shaye Oogan ' 
Melrose Colbert 
Don Fryo 

Waldorf-Actarfa ' 
Donald Richardi 
Lamouret 
Emil Coleman Or* 
Or* 



Misha Borr 

CHICAGO 



Blaekhnwk 

Art Kassel 
Gloria Hart 
F Ray '& D Nardo 
Mimi Waiters 

Chez Fare* 
Marty Gould Ore 
.TacklO' Green 
Jack Cole Dancers 
Joe Kovae Orch ' 
Ches Adorables 12 
Connie Haines 
Hotel Blachstone 
Ray Morton Ore * 
Luclenne Boyer' 
Hotel BInnarfe 
J Sudy Ore 
Benno Delson O 
Tracy Sisters (2> 
Leonore 
Georgie Gobel 
Paulens (2) ■ 
IlelslBg* 
Al Morgan 
Bill Chandler Ore 
Alwite & Blue 



Mllve Young 

B Bdsewat^r Bcaek 

G)i Maison 
Myrtll & PIcaud 
George Olsen Ore 
The Chords (2) 
Preston Lambert 
Marian 'Fedele 
D Hild Dancra (12) 

Hotel .Sherma* 
Horbio Fields Or* 
Kay. Starr ■ 
Sonny Howard 
Mead J..UX Lewla 
Cart Marx ' . 

liatln Quartt* ' 
Sonny Mars 
Gomez Rhumba Or 
.Jackie Hilliard 
Winn Seeley 

Palmer Hoas* 
Skinnay Ennls Ore 
Rosalind Courtrlght 
McCarthy St. Par'I 
C Kaly Dncrs (4) 
Xionora Edwin 



We Danped | 

ss Continued from page I (jsgjl , 

tion, I believe tliat all such mat- 
ters are automatically taken can 
of by the Breen Office. 

To give titose of you who have 
never had tlie expeirience an ex- 
ample of what it .was ' like from 
the standpoint of blood, sweat- and 
tears, 1 can only tell you what 
happened to me. I was a social 
director .for seven summers. At 
these various places there were 
always a lake, a golf course an4 
tennis courts. But I never got to 
use any of thiese extremely, please 
ant facilities. The sun never 
visited my face or body. I lost 
from 10 to 20 pouiids in the course 
of the three months by the arduous 
process of furnishing entertain- 
ment seven nights a week, and all- 
day long whenever it rained. Any- 
thing we could: think of to keep 
a guest froni checking -out was 
part of the job. 

Possibly one of the rea.sons 1 
whisper little prayers at night that 
my pictures will be good, is that, 
although I believe it was the 
greatest training ground in the 
world, I never want to go back 
to it. And I wish all of my fellow 
alumni the same^ 



56 




Palladiiim, Lond«»n 

London, March 16. 
Jean Sablon, Borrah Minevitch's 
Harmonica Rascals, The Merry 
Macs, Monsewcr Eddie Cray, Nat 
Jacktey, Scott Sanders, Doimtey & 
Day a, Tlie Touortch Troupe, The 
Rosinas. 



Centuries ago Aristotle said 
"Ffiasts to which many contribute 
may excel those provided by one 
man," but then the old philosoplier 
had not Val Pamell's job of finding 
a bill to follow six weeks of Danny 
Kaye. It is a tough assignment try- 
ing to entertain folk still yearning 
for the^Mggest record breaker ever 
to set foot on a British stage. Pres- 
ent bill— pi-etty fair one under 
normal circumstances — stays only 
two weeks, Kaye having overlapped 
half the time for which the bill 
was originally booked. 

First house was slimmest in a 
long time, and artists had to iight 
hard to win laughs or applause. 
Whole show savored of anti-climax 
following Kaye's phenomenal exit 
a couple of nights before. Second 
house was practically full when 
show was reviewed. 
~' Opening act, Downey and Daye, 
better-than-usual skating act, 
have never worked harder to get 
the hand' they deserved. Next, is 
"The Old PhUosopher," Scott San- 
ders, whose patter Is now tob fa- 
miliar to thaw an icy audience or 
get much applause. Laughs come 
freely for -Borrah Minevitch's Har- 
monica-Rascals with Johnny Puleo 
sparking the antics. There is still 
lots- of fun in' it, but the musical 
standard has declined. "Moose w«r" 
Eddie Gray -wixis favor, but an act, 
crazj' as it may be, that most have 
seea meoiy times can hardly raise 
the ZDOt Merry Macs,: held 
over from the last program, close 
the first half to good applause. 
■ Their harmony is well appreciated. 
Second half opens with the Bo- 
sinas, class trapeze act, who set the 
house in a good mood for Nat Jack- 
ley, Ute "rubber neck" comic, in a 
sketdi that has grown tedious with 
repeUtion. The applause was flat- 
tering, and lingered over to wel- 
come star , of the bill, Jean Sablon, 
for whom Paul Ba«an- takes over 
the orchestra. Sablon had no 
illjisions on the ta^ before him, 
and set about it with a will. Bie- 
traying an- unusual nervousness he 
clutched the mike desperately, but 
only won full applause when he 
sang ^ose numbers that have made 
him a disk favorite like "Sur le 
Pont d'Avignon," "Le Fiacre," 
"These Foolish Things," and "J'At- 
tendrai." 

Unfoi-tunate dosiog act to a rap- 
Idly emptying house was the To- 
varich Troupe, equilibrists from 
the Cirque Medrano. They could 
rarely have had such a disappoint- 
ing setting for their acrobatic oSer- 
ing. 

Martha Raye tops the bill for a 
tnonth from March 29, and is get- 
Ing^a big advance buildup. Cone. 

KKOu Boston 

Boston, March 19. 
' "Disk Jockey Jamboree" with 
Ramy - Weeks, Bob ISIliot, Ray 
Dorey & Sherm Feller; Kitty Kal- 
Icn, Clark Dennis, Buddy Greco, 
JLoe Diamafl. Ross & Stone, Ray 
Mcllone; "Jjove from a Stranger^' 
(EL). 



terp chore, and Boss and Stone In 
a comedy turn wltli Moss taking 
over to introduce jocks. Finale is 
a minstrel show with pocks and acts 
arotmd mike doing "You Are My 
Lucky Star." Neat package drew 
goad opening biz, £lie. 

Orlentnl^ Chi 

Chicoffo, March 18, 
Clyde McCoy Orch (15) with 
Don iiei/nolds & Billie Jane Ben- 
nett; Mieribcth Old, Bob Hopkins: 
"Killer McCoy" (M-G). 



Few musicians have held up so 
well on the basis of a single disk 
hit as has Clyde McCoy, For more 
than a decade his trick trumpeting 
of "Sugar Blues" has brought in 
the lucre. Tune serves as opener 
and closer of lightly seasoned bill 
that could use more pepper. 

Maestro fronts four rhythm, five 
reeds and six brass in a straight 
play of "Lady Be- Good," then 
showcases his nimble hom in 
"Stormy Weather." Singer Don 
Reynolds handles vocals in smooth 
style, with best response won by 
the oldie, "Peggy O'Neill." 

Although billed as an aero 
terper, Meribeth Old is that rare 
sight on local boards— a contortion- 
ist and as supple as they come. 
Femme, in bra and panties, works 
on waist-high stand, entwining her- 
self to steady returns. Boneless bit 
to baSle chiropractoi's has her 
stepping ofif the beat from a back 
bend stance. ■ • 

McCoy, using a pocket-size trum- 
pet, puts snazzy flash into "Thiaee 
Littie Words." BUUe Jane Bennett, 
sheathed in green, bounces "Civili- 
zation" and picks up^^ggles with 
pert treatment of "I'm My Own 
Grandma." Songstress closes to 
firm hand with "Beg Your Pardon." 

Bob Hopkins' gallery of a dozen 
celebs is pinned to an okay char- 
acterization of Bing Crosby in the 
emcee role. Comic offs, to brisk re< 
turns after "My Heart Is A Hobo." 
Return has him landing ready 
yoeks vidth his impresh of a lush, 
followed by a bit, recognizable to 
Spike Jones disk fans, in wliich he 
laughs out lyrics of "Holiday for 
Strings." Boat. 

Olympia, THUmmA 

Miami, March 19. 
Bonnie Baker, Ken Wlwtmer, 
Myles Bell, Ted Si Dennie Peters, 
ComiUe & Her Dogs, Les Rhaig 
House Orch; "Cass, Tiwibcrlome" 
(M-G). 



shapes up as fair etttertainment 
considering the low budget. 

Sabby Lewis' band, comprising 
three rhythm, four reed and five 
brass, tees off the show Witt} a hot 
number, . paving the way for Mar- 
celle Porche. An aero dancer, she 
garners fair returns in the two 
minutes she's onstage. Band's vo- 
calist, Evelyn White, contribs a 
number in the swingy idiom fol- 
lowed by the slower tempoed 
"Time After Time" for a solid re- 
ception. 

Enid Williams, an unusually tall 
gal, warbles a deadpan vereion of 
"I've Got the World on a String" 
and encores with "That's My Ete- 
sirc." Hqr physical appearance and 
deliberately lifeless .style gets tit- 
ters from the audience, but her 
bow-off generated okay milling, 
Eddie Hector, a song'* and dance 
man of the old school, slays 'cm, 
with his piping and fast terping. 

Rfiythm Willie, harmonica play- 
er who's making a return appear- 
ance here, offers ai brace of tunes 
of which a sock arrangement of 
"Star Dust" is the better. Scored 
solidly with the jpayees. Band, with 
Lewis on .the ivories, really, rocks 
'em when the brass section warms 
up. Orch spots several sidemen in 
solos, and they go to town on sax 
and trumpet, resulting in heavy 
audience acclaim. 

- Veteran emcee Ralph Cooper 
shepherds the amateurs, through 
their i>aces. Gals and &uys are 
spotted for convenience in a night- 
club set onstage. Among those 
contribbing brief stints are a jit- 
terbug dance team of Bobo & 
Ruth, femme vocalists Carol 
Simms and Christine Spencer, tap 
dancer Barl Hiker, instrumental 
trio 'tagged the Swing Mates, toe 
dancer Joanna Norris, sax player 
Jimmy Brown, onerlegged dancer 
Henry'Heard and a harmony quar- 
tet labeled the "Casanova Four." 

All of the turns have basic merit, 
but they're badly in need of fur- 
ther e}q>erience and poise. Most 
interesting act is that of Heard, 
who's mastered some okay terp 
routines despite the loss of a leg 
and an arm as wdU. Gilb. 



In line jwith growing hifluence 
of disk, jocks, RKO is currently 
spotting the top^ four Hub j«cks in 
a lineup introducing jock-built per- 
sonalities. Tunis out to be a novel 
apd well-balanced bill nicely 
staged. 

Bob Elliot of WHDH tees off, in- 
troducing Loe Diaman, who draws 
a big hand for his harmonica 
stunts. Wows with an imitation of 
« grasshopper auditioning for 
Spike Jones, using a»weird contrap- 
tion to hold, his four harmonicas. 
Bows off witti a solid aiTangement 
Of Sabre Dance." ' 

Ray Dorey, WBZ jock and singer, 
himself a recording personality for 
Majestic, follows, offering Clark 
Dennis, Capitol platter star. Singer, 
with a free and easy manner, does 
"Carry Me Back to Lone Prairie," 
"But Beautiful," and "Jalousie" to 
nice returns. 

Ranny Weeks, local bandleader 
and WCOP jocft, had Buddv Greco 
.and the Sharps for his entry. They 
do. "How High the Moon," ' Some- 
body Loves Me" and smash "Oh, 
Look, Ain't She Pretty." Especially 
Mlid for hepsters. 

Sherm Feller. WEEl Club Mid- 
night jock, introes Kittv KalJen 
who clicks big with "Glocca Mona" 
and the gag song, "I Wish I Had a 
Daddy in the White House." All 
four of the jocks, who work largely 
with studio audiences anyway, 
show plenty hep stage manner and 
make an inipres.sive appearance as 
well. Bill is opened by Ray Ma- 
lone, good^lookmg kid, doing a peat 



Typical post-season bill installed 
here this weeks adds up as fairly 
satisfying for the regulars. 

Bonnie Baker is back for her an- 
naul appearance, with the same cu- 
tiepie delivery, which is beginning 
to shoTjr signs of wear. Diminutive 
songstress emphasizes the shy, 
though saucy voice to a point 
where it doesn't jell to well. 
Blendings show the experience 
gathered through the years, with 
"I've Waited Eighteeh Years," a 
medley, emphasizing the nostalgic 
m tunes, including inevitable 
"You'd Be Surprised" and "Oh, 
Johnny" and. winding into «ne of 
her latest "I'm Gonna be a Bad 
"Girl." 

Ken Whitmer provides a sock se- 
quence with his work on a group 
of . instruments accomped by fast 
patter. All is done wiUi a slww- 
manly approach , that brings nice 
results. On the instrumental side 
goes from piano through tru pet, 
trombone, violin, sax. drums, fife 
! and harmonica to round out a top- 
i per for this layout. 
I Myles Bell emcees nicely enough, 
(but his routines are too familiar. 
Utilizes a baby routine for better 
laugh results. 

Novelty item is ComiUe and her 
canines in a stint that is deftly 
worked out. Pooches climb poles, 
essay the standard hurdling rou- 
tines and generally work well un- 
der her handling. 

Terp slot is a standout, with Ted 
and Dennie Peters purveying some 
satires an adagio that hit the 
laugh meter for a good score, and 
legit delineations that show imag- 
inations and careful staging. Mix- 
lure of comic and straight comes 
I off for resounding mitts. 
! Les Rhode and house orch 
I handle the backgroundings in top 
manner. i,ary. 

Apollo, Y. 

Sabby Letois Orch (12 ) with 
Evelyn White, Eddie Rector, 
R-hythin Willie, Marcelle Porche, 
Enid Williams. Ralph Cooper- 
\"Junole Flight" {Par). ' 

! Layout at this session i.s over- 
j long, running an hour and 3.'5 min- 
lutes. Inclusion of some nine ama- 
teur "stars," giaduates of the 

house's weekly neophyte talent . 

contest, accounts for the added : partners,. wUl continue as heads of 
tiiwe. On the overall, the bill the orgaiilisatiokk 



Wall St. Eyes 

g.Contianed Una pace 1 ; 



film ccnnpanies the right use for 
monies frozen in Britain. The 
$10,000,000 figure kicked around 
by some circles as the probable 
earnings of British films in the 
V.' S. annudOy is discounted as 
"highly optimistic" in the report. 

*'Even if strenuous promotional 
efforts «re applied," survey de- 
clares, 'it is doubtful that the 30 
British films to be sent, here this 
year will earn much mwe per pic- 
ture than the 20 sent in. 1947." 

Survey prepared and circulated 
by Merrill firm, sees reduced earn- 
ings during the immediate period 
though agreeing that the compro- 
mise is. favorable on a longrange 
basis. Analysis believes annual 
dollar total "may very roughly 
approximate 50% of the $68,000,- 
000 taken out in 1946." 

It expects a probable increase in 
returns from Britain later on. Re- 
port anticipates film stock will still 
continue in line with the general 
trend of the market. In this re- 
spect, brokerage house hasn't 
changed the rating of the stock as 
one following the average in the 
New York stock exchange, 

Rhoades "anticipates that movie 
companies will continue to report 
subsequent declines in earnings 
for most of this year." "The dif- 
ference in the severity of the 
decline among the several com- 
panies will depend primarily on 
the importance of foreign revenues 
in each case and the number of 
high cost pictures remaining to be 
amortized," is continues. 

Stock commitments in the film 
group at this time should be con- 
fined to Paramount, survey states. 
That's because only 15% of its 
tbtal revenues are at stake ia 
Britain. Earnings are estimated at 
$4.50 per share in '47 (approxi- 
mately $32,000,000) and at $3.50- 
$3.75 in 1948 (.$26,000,000 — 
$28,000,000). "Its $2 dividend 
rate, which appears secure, affords 
an attractive yield," survey states. 



N^t dub ReYiews 



CoitUnned Irom pace 34 { 



'», N. 

who flashes a well-paced routine. 
Her standout Is a long session of 
■rapid body twirlixM always effec- 
tive for plaudits? Her finale piece 
of manipulating a cape in toreador 
style also impresses. Olga Pavlova 
handles her xejpertory of Hungar- 
ian, Viennese and Ibiasian num- 
bers in neat fashion with a power- 
ful set of soprano pipes. Zalga 
Bela delivers a polished brand of 
instrumental soloing on the cym- 
balon. 

Bill Is rounded out by Roland 
Tudor with conventional baritone 
renditions Qf a couple of romantic 
ballads and a Negro sphritual. Lat- 
ter niunbcr, "Glory Road," could 
be skipped since It requires a vocal 
mastery that Tudor hasn't got. Gar- 
ron and Bennett are a young clean- 
cut dancing team who register 
nifsely in their ballroom stint with 
some fancy acroturns. 

Gene Kardos orch backs the show 
competently and alternates with 
Shandor's combo far the dance 
music. Hcrm, , 

BUtMore MmwU I» A. 

Lot Angele», March 20. 
Paul Winchell, Joy Hodaet, Mar- 
doni S( Louise, Lucienne & Ash- 
our, Jeanne Blanche, Jan Garber'i 
Orch (12); cover $1 weehniohts, 
$1.90 weekends. 



Gr«beii Bows Out of UAE 

Chicago, Mai-ch 28. 

Harry Grcben, Chi booker, has 
severed partnership in United 
Amus. Enterprises Of Dallas, Texas. 
Company was organized six months 
ago to book shows in the south. 
Greben explained that he is bowing 
out because of pressure of his local 
booking office. 

Dick and Sonny Millard, former 
dance team, who were Greben's 



With Jan Garber holding down 
the podium, the Bowl draws a well- 
mixed crowd. Youngsters and old- 
sters come for the dancing, the 
"Idol of the Alrlanes" dishing it 
out in a style that makes the terp- 
ing easy. And since the Bowl is 
on the list of "tourist tours," there's 
a sizeable segment of folks from 
the hinterland where the jitterbug 
and Latin styles haven't completely 
penetrated. Garber keeps 'em all 
happy. 

To provide entertainment . that 
will mesh smoothly, manager Joe 
Faber picks his layouts with care, 
current one — a well rounded bill — 
being tsrpical. 

The humor is keenly handled by 
Paul Whichell, helped by dummy 
Jerry Mahoney. Winchell Wisely 
builds the dummy's personality as 
a dummy, not as a pseudo-human; 
but a dummy has feelibgs too. 
Jeri-y moans about living in a 
trunk, gets indignant at the men- 
tion of McCarthy and endears 
himself to the crowds. Winchell 
has some sharp material, works- 
smoothly and with a tongue-in- 
Jerry's-cheek attitude that pays off 
handsomely. Laughs are almost 
continuous. 

Vocal chores are handled by Joy 
Hodges, who could stand a change 
of pace. Jazzed'Up version of 
"Somebody Loves Me," for example 
doesn't set as well as tlie straight 
handling of "Now Is the Hour." 
Her style and appearance are more 
suited to the straight approach. 

Few fast illusions are offered by 
Mardoni and Louise. Prop "mind- 
reading" wooden duck adds laughs 
and effectiveness to cant-selection 
tricks. Mardoni works smoothly 
with his guillotine bit, drawing 
added yocks by dragging an unwill- 
ing victim from the audience. 

Terp turns open and clii^ Uie 
show. On first is Jeanne Blanche, 
an attractive lass with -a simple, 
but effective routine that's well- 
handled. Closing chore falLs to 
Lucimme and Ashour whose jtdagio 
b"ilds to aa okay fiaidi and earns 
them SQlid returns. ^K^. 

t;«p«ealM«a, Bf imi 

Miami Beach, Morch 19. 
Billy Vine, Yvette, David Nillo 
Dancers, Buster Bumell, Ralph 
Young, Wally Wanger Girls, Frank 
Linale Orch; Supper minimum 
$3,50, iw mvnimum at dinner. 

Now that Kay Thompson (and 
tile big spenders) are gone, this 
swank spot has returned to a policy 
of new faces to bring in the 
patronage, with tlje current layout 
an indication of the bookings to 
follow for the spring and summer 
months. 

In Billy Vine, operator Murray 
Weinger has brought back a comic 
who did handsomely for him dur- 
ing an engagement last fall, and 
who is wellrknovm to this town. 
The rotund laughmaker, is as al- 
ways, a hard working performer 
who keeps punching through a 
routine that includes everything 
from ringslder heckling to numbers 
that mix pathos and laughs. Tees 
oft' with his funny bit on a "native" 
bidding goodbye to a too-long 
house guest, for yocks. Follows 
with standard drunk bit to "Old 
Gang Of Mine" and limning of his 
contemps on the cafe circuit whicli 
includes top takeoffs on Zero Mos- 
tel, Jackie Miles, the I.4!!itcr 
Brothers, Joe E. Lewis, Danny 
Thuinas and finally Joison. Vocal 
taiicoff on Sicfaman provides ^ddcd 
sock to a colotful sequence that 



rings the bell Comes back for a 
finale canto that rstiked up ZiS 
howls than heard Ijn UUs rSomrtl 
season. It's broad stuff which in- 
volves waiters, busboys (legit) and 
a sprmkimg of stooges, includinS 
a spoon-player, a tapster who S 
a routine on p ates, and for 
topper, a bit with the "guy ftSS 
"»e gents' room" anent*his ami 
blttons to be an actor, with vC« 
playuig an attorney and the stooge 
a .woeful defendant that keeps & 
yocks comma to a begoff pitch. 

* J^^u^'i^^T^ last minute 

for a llndted stay, does nicelv vrtto 
her balladmgs and charm-approach 
Purveys the same act that she 
turned in at the Olympia theatre 
here last . week. Stuff includes a 
French tune, "Molly Malone" <one 
of her best), "Necessity," pluTl 
well presented medley which hi- 
eludes "Body and Soul" for tiS* 
standout, and "Civilization " 

David Nillo dancers . (New Acts) 
are another feature and fill out tlie 
terp side of proceedings, which at« 
inituited by Buster Burnell and the 
line. The lad wracks up healthy 
reception with his spin-taps. Line 
has been changed for better look- 
ers and dancers. Routines at« 
more effective than heretofoi'e. 
Ralph Young holds down the 
straight singing chore in neat fasli- 
Ion with his wcll-roimded bari- 
tonings. Frank Linale and his oix-h 
handle the backgrounding in good 
fashion. Lary, 

Ewpfro llMMHiiii, 4.1bl 

iPAiiMEB Hovsr:) 

Chicago, March 18. 
Chandra Koly Dancers (4), 
Rosalind Courtrifliht, McCarthy k 
Farrell, Leona Enmn, Sldnnay . 
Ennis Orch (14) with Carmine; 
$3.50 minimum, $1 cover. 

Labeled the "Springtime Revue," 
Oils one will be going strong well 
up into the time when the first 
radish crop brings heartburn to 
happy gardeners. Only flaw in an 
otherwise choice layout is the 
closing set of dances, which need 
rearranging. 

Teeoff ha^ Skinny Ennis chorus- 
ing trademarker, "Got a Date with 
an Angel," while Leona Erwin, for- 
mer Abbott Dancers' captain, terp 
twirls. Ennis and wife, Carmine, 
do a family exchange, on "It Had 
To Be You." 

Chandra Kaly and two femmes 
contrib East Indian dances in 
ornate trappings. 3Ka!y's terping is 
sharpened by broad mugging and 
fluent hand weaving. Joined by, 
third femme, group abandons In- 
dian gyrations for a solid go at 
jive to heavy drumming of 
"Swampfire." 

Rosalind Courtrlght, a compara- 
tive newcomer, scores on all points^' 
She has poise, looks and .an okay 
voice. Songstress draws top re- 
sponse with a novelty, "Yuk-a- 
Puk," the smokey "If A Man Con'd 
Be," and the Jimmy McHugli- 
Harold Adaroson "What A Wonder- 
ful Way To Go Cra^." Best is Iief 
ballad of a fantastic Manhattan 
filmery that has a swimming pool, 
skating rink and a resident psy- 
chiatrist. 

Gene McCarthy and Tommy Far- 
rell sock over Max Shulman mate- 
rial in a disk jock take-off that 
wins salvos. Pair"'s platter antics 
are reviewed fully under New Acts, 

Kaly team I'eturns for Brazilian 
terping which is brisk but drawn 
out. 

Ennis orch back nimbly throu^ 
a maze of cues and also supplies 
prime dance tunes, Baxt. 

Radio Frank «ro'«, M.V. 

Radio Frank Beaiinger, Jean 
Faye, Justine, LouisCi MicheU; W 
cover, no minimum. 



Radio Ftank Bessinger, for many 
years a familiar castside. figure, 
several months ago transferred Ins 
^tivities to the site of what once 
was the Queen Mary restaurant 
and, later. Giro's. He's apparenlly 
taken his following along with 
him, as is evidenced by the crowd- 
ed bar and good proportion oi 
diners. t.- , 

Besiiinger is working this bistro 
on the proposition that familiarity 
breeds business. Aside from a no- 
dler and an accordion player, its 
an all-femme entertainment crew. 
The girls are introduced by their 
first names. Idea apparently is suc- 
cessful here. . 

The bulk of the entertainment 
is by Bessinger himself, who ban- 
tones an assortment of musical 
comedy tunes which are nicely 
handled. For a "Show Boat" med- 
ley, the Negro waiters give huu 
vocal support. It's a pleasant se- 
quence. , 

The others in the gi-oup work 
in semi-anonymity. Most arc in- 
troduced by first names only. »"« 
with this type of bilUng, t'- ■ R'rls 
can get careless vdth their :o!igs. 

Jose. ■ 



UECifimffATB 



ST 



Equity, in Very Oese Vote, Amends 
CoBstftnikn for Uppng of JiuKors 



Amendment to Equity's consti-'f 
ttttion pertaining to junior mem- 
bers, * controversial issue for the 
■Mst two seasons, was adopted 
Moaday (22) at the association's 
third quarterly meeting in the 
Astor hotel, N, Y, The voting was 
close but unless the result is' pro- 
tested within 30 days the amend- 
metA will be automatically added 
to the -constitution. It's possible 
.that a petition would force a 
referendum, as last summer when 
tivfe amendment was defeated by 
116 votes,' but indications are^ 
against similar developments. 

At that time opponents objected 
because a clause gave Equity's 
council discretionary' rights in 
electing juniors to seniority, but 
thai provision was deleted. Ob- 
if(tw:S- who claimed the- clause to 
a joker campaigned vigorously 
against 'the amendment. At Mon- 
day's gathering 1,000 were present, 
of which 491 were privileged to 
vote. Tally showed that 330 voted 
in favor of the junior amend- 
ment, with 161 opposed. The re- 
quired two-thirds margin was 
ttiereby registered, but by only one 
vote. 

Under the rules 750 senior mem- 
bers in good standing are required 
to be present and to vote on .luch 
Issues, but it is mandatory to put 
the amendment to referendum 
only if it's protested witiiin the time 
limit. A petition to force a refer- 
endum requires the signatures of 
at least 100 seniors In good stand- 
ing. 

Rnlea Eased 

Amendoiieat wlU permit juniors 
to bteome Mniors after two years 
oMi«mbenhip, provided they will 
have played 30 weelts including re- 
hearsals in two shows within that 
period. Old rule required stage 
appearances, for SO weeks within 
two years. Amendment would 
probaUiy have passed last summer 
at the strongly attended annual 
Bieeting without the referendum 
lielng cesorted to, but too many 
•enion walked out before the pro- 
iNisal was made. 

Heretofore some members have 
been juniors for more than seven 
years principally becau.se they 
were unlucky in ejigagements, 
getting jobs only in shortlived 
shows, whil§ other juniors landed 
in ran shows, so quickly became 
CligiUe to seniority. Juniors get 
the same rehearsal pay and mini- 
mum, but do not have the right to 
' vote. 



OTPER'S' SKIPPING 
SOMEWHAT SNARLED 

Tuesday's (23) dailies advertised 
the last six performances of "Skip- 
per Next To God" at the Playhouse, 
N. Y., but it was then stated there's 
a chance the drama would con- 
tinue. Although it's .star, John 
Garfield, who is credited with most 
Of the drama's draw, declared he 
would withdraw Saturday (27), 
there was some indication he would 
temiwrarily hold over if a name 
leirtacement should be secured 
within a reai^onable time. 

However, the boxoffice has been 
refunding money on tickets calling 
tor performances later than this 
week. "Skipper" originated with 
£3(perimental Theatre and when 
placed on a commercial basis, there 
Were vexing problems which ap- 
parently were cleared up. But 
joine of the angles are believed to 
have led to GarBeld's withdrawal, 
wegory Peck is among the Coast 
actors invited to replace, his re- 
sponse being that he's willing to 
step into "Shipper" but wouldn't 
be free of Coast assignments until 



Santer Arrangii^ Show 
For Tony' Awards 

James Sauter will be in charge 
of the show to follow the "Tony" 
awards supper. Sunday (28) even- 
ing at the Hotel Waldorf rAstoria, 
N.Y., the second annual event in 
memory of Antoinette Perry. Those 
slated to appear are: Lisa Kirk 
and Kathryn Lee, from "Allegro"; 
Nanette Fabray, Helen GiUlagher 
and Donald Saddler, "High iBut- 
ton Shoes"; Virginia Gorski and 
Forrest Bonshire, "Look Ma, I'm 
Dancin' Kyle MacDohnell and 
Joshua Shelley, "Make Mine Man- 
hattan"; and Maggie Teyte, Fer- 
ruccio Tagliavinf and Pia Tassi- 
nari, from grand opera. 

"TOny'^ awards are due to be an- 
nounced starting at 10:30 p.m. and 
that part of the program will be 
included in a broadcast over the 
Mutual network. 



Bublin Gate Co. To 

Ireland After Canada 

Toronto, March 23. 
The Dublin Gate Theatre Co,, 
Winding up its l2-week Canadian 
and American tour Saturday night 
\ li proceed directly to Ire- 
Jantt for its summer layoff prior 
}P readying its fall season in Dub- 
«n. However, the two heads of 
we troupe, Hilton Edwards and 
wl*^ xf* MacLiammoir, will go to 
«ew York for several weeks before 
«!turmng home. 

four-week engagement 
»n Broadway, the Gate has been 
Riaying one-nighters through the 



Experin^ 
Theatre Seen 
AgMintheRed 

When the Kxperlmental Theatre 
started its second season, those 
who have nurtured the project, 
and the American National Thea- 
tre and Academy, which sponsors 
it, were confident that ET would 
come ua to financial expectations 
by breaking even. That is hardly 
possible, it is now indicated, and 
ANTA, which liquidated the red 
last year, will doubtless have to 
repeat the payoff. Unforeseen 
high production outlays appear to 
have upset the calculations of 
those interested in operating and 
continuing seasonally. ° 

"Ballet Ballads," which will be 
ET's sixth and final attraction this 
season, to be directed by Cheryl 
Crawford, will be its most preten- 
tious presentation, the approximate 
cost to be around $19,000, wliieh 
is more than four times the nut 
on any previous experimental try. 
"Temporary Island," which was 
ET's fourth attraction and which 
flnalcd on schedule (Elliott, N. Y.) 
Sunday (21) after eight showings,- 
is said to have cost $4,600. "Skip- 
per Next to God" (Playhouse), 
which attracted nfore attention 
than any other ET show, cost less. 
Next show, which will be the 
fifth on the season's schedule, will, 
however, cost virtually nothing, 
program consisting of playlets to 
be given on a tme stage by a 
group known as the Six O'clock 
Theatre. 

ANTA has been benefited by 
ET's "Skipper," getting the profits 
from the commercial showing of 
the drama, which is due to close 
this Saturday (27). The "Sltipper" 
net has been around $15,000. Last 
season's £T red was placed 
around $16,000 and whether it 
will make a better financial .show- 
ing this year is not clearly 
indicated. 



REDGRAVE IN B'WAY 
DEBUT AS MACBETH 

When "Macbeth" opens at the 
National, next Wednesday (31) it 
will mark the Broadway debut of 
the British actor Michael Redgrave, 
who will co-star in the Shakespear- 
ean revival with Flora Robson. It 
will also be the first Broadway di- 
rectional job for Norris Houghton, 
who .staged the London pi-esenta- 
tion earlier this season. 

Upon "Macbeth's" opening Rich- 
ard Aldrich withdraws as manag- 
ing director of Theatre, Inc., which 
is presenting the drama in associa- 
tion with Brian Doherty, Toronto 
attorney. Latter was associated 
w ith A'drich *: Myers in the short- 
lived Broadway showing of the 
Dublin Gate Theatre players re- 
cently. 

"Macbeth" is limited to eight 
weeks, which follow three weeks 
in Canada. Production was brought 
over intact from London. , 



m//Brig/W 

( Bought for Aussie 

Sydney, March 23. 

J. C. Williamson. Theatres has 
bought three ^roadway hits for 
Australian presentation, "Okla- 
homal," "Brigadoon," and "John 
Loves Mary." Purchase was made 
through its N.Y. agent, Dorothy 
Stewart, with contracts currently 
being drawn up. 

Production is slated towards end 
of current year in Melboum* and 
Sydney. 



B way Mgrs^ Stasebands Union Nearer 
To New Contract; See Pay Boosts OK'd 



'Shoes' Wrangle 
On Author Coin 



"High Button Shoes," musical 
comedy hit at the Shubert, N. Y., 
continues to be the basis for vari- 
ous legal tangles and disputes 
among those in the management 
and creative end. One of the 
latest wrangles' is over the question 
of authors' royalties. However, a 
supposedly past complication^ in- 
volving Mary Hunter's successful 
claim of contract breach, is still 
not cleaned up, and there's also a 
complaint from Mack Sennett that 
his name is used in the show with- 
out permission. 

The issue over author 'royalties 
involves Stephen Longstreet, who 
wrote the book, and Jule Styne and 
Sammy Calih, who did the music 
and lyrics. Under the contract, 
each was to get royalties. 
However, the producers, Monte 
Proser and Joseph Kipness; asked 
each to agree to a 1^% cut on the 
plea that the show's operating nut 
was so high there was practically 
no profit left for them (Proser and 
Kipness). 

There has been continued argu- 
ment over whether any or 'all of 
the authors agreed verbally to the 
reduction. Meanwhile, the produc- 
ers have been sending the authors 
chccliis based on straight 2% roy- 
alties, but Longstreet, Styne and 
Cahn have refused to cash the 
checks lest in so doing so they 
prejudice their claims for the ^% 
balance. Recently, it's understood, 
Proser gave Longstreet a written 
statement to the effect that 'no 
agre^ent for a royalty cut had 
^ver been made, and Longstreet 
has used a pliotstat of it to support 
his claim- for full royalties. 

George Abbott, who staged the 
show, is understood to be getting a 
percentage, for that assignment, 
plus a royalty fair revisions he did 
on the book. But now that the 
Mack Sennett complaint has been 
made (no actual legal papers have 
been filed), there's also a dispute 
as to who actually contributed that 
part of the show. 
. Meanwhile, Phil Silvers, who 
gets a guarantee and percentage as 
comedy lead in the show, recently 
took a cut of $500 in return for star 
billing. His original contract is 
understood to be somewhat con- 
tradictory on that point, calling for 
star billing in one clause and 
.specifying in another that his name 
appear beneath the , show title 
(which constitutes featured billing). 

Although an American Arbitra- 
tion Assn. panel recently awarded 
Mary Hunter full payment of'$l.,500 
cash and royalties of 2%% of the 
gross (of the Broadway and road 
companies) for her breached con- 
tract to stage the Show, she has 
not yet received any payments, It's 
reported that Milton Weir, attor- 
ney in the case for Proser and 
KipnesSi plans to take an appeal 
of the award to court. That would 
be an unusual but not unpreceden- 
ted action; 



Ckvalier to Give 

Heart Fund Show 

Maurice Chevalier, who con- 
cludes a four-week date of solo en- 
tertainment at the Golden, N. Y., 
Saturday, will also appear Sunday 
(28) when the performance will be 
a benefit tor the Heart Fund. It's 
expected that $5,000 will be netted. 
Tickets will be $6 each on the 
lower floor but the first two rows 
are said to have been, sold at $100 
per seat.. Souvenir programs will 
be sold, and around $1,500 is ex- 
pected to be netted from these. 
Takings will be net, there being no 
charge for the theatre; employees 
back and front will give their serv- 
ices gratis, ' 

Benefit was arranged by Ed Sul- 
livan, N. Y. Daily News columnist, 
in collaboration with Arthur Les- 
ser, who manages the French star. 
Theatre is due for grind pictures 
next weefc, 



Playwrights Co. 
Seen Doing 3 
in'r49 



Plays 



Playwrights Co., inactive this 
season for the fiirst time since the 
organization of author-managers 
was formed 10 years ago; will be 
in action during 1948-49, when two 
— and probably three — ^new plays 
wiU be presented. 

It was expected that the outfit 
would produce one play this season, 
authored by Garson Kanin, who 
was invited to join the Playwrights 
la.st summer with his playwright 
wife, Ruth Gordon, But the duo 
withdrew. 

Elmer Rice is completing a play, 
and so is Maxwell Anderson, while' 
the third is expected from Robert 
E. Sherwood, all three being origi- 
nally of the Playwrights, along 
with) the late Sidney Howard and 
S. N. Behrman. The latter with- 
drew about a year ago and Kurt 
Weill joined the group. 

Script from Sherwood is due 
after he completes a book on the 
late Harry Hopkins. 



f Broadway managers and stage- 
' hands union Local 1 are again hud- 
dling, and tt's expected the fac- 
tions will come to agreement in 
negotiating a new basic contract; 
Some showmen are opposed to any 
wage increases but indications are 
that scale boosts will be m&de, 
although they will be less than 
those sought by the deckhands. 
Managiers inclined to concede mod- 
erate wage tilts seem to {avpr the \ 
lower-paid men backstage' rather 
than heads of departments. 

When the two sides were dead- 
locked last month the local sought 
the advice of Richard Walsh, head ' 
of the parent union, the Interna- 
tional Alliance of Theatrical Stage 
Employees. W a 1 s h appointed 
Thomas Shea, an I A vice-president, 
as his assistant,, and he's sitting in 
on the huddles as a sort of medi- 
ator, which eliminated reported 
hints that the deckhands might 
strike. It was agreed to reduce 
the numb&r of each respective 
committee, expectation being that 
negotiations would thus be com- 
pleted more promptly. 

Shea made an . impression upon 
showmen at a joipt meeting last 
week, when he stated that while 
his sympathies went to the union 
local, he hoped to be impartial. He 
.said that managers have every right 
to fair consideration, and that their 
importance was not to be under- 
stated for the pertinent . reason ' 
that without them there would be 
no union. 

One manager who does not favor 
increases declared that since stage- 
hand scales were last adjusted the 
drop in business generally along 
Broadway was as much as 40%. 
That observation was based on a 
comparison with legit attendance 
two yeai-s ago, but wiiile there was 
no amplification of the observation^ 
the showman added that the de<^ 
dine more than matched employee 
contentions of living-cost increases. 

Joint committee of eight, plus 
Shea, has four members of the 
managerial League of New York 
Theatres, and they are: Brock 
Pemfoerton, head of the League; 
J. J, Shubert, Louis Lotito and 
James F. Reilly. For the stages 
hands: William Maguiire, head jof 
Local 1; John McDowell, its"Bec» 
retary; Solly Pemick and Loui» 
Yeager, latter two being the union^s 
business agents. 



Corio'Cooper-Bamett 
Comedy Sleeping It Off 

Chicago, March 23. 
"Sleep It Off," Coast-produced, 
financed and cast, folded here Sat- 
urday (20). Farce, which teed off 
in Oakland, Feb. 13 and did short 
tour before opening here two weeks 
ago, was heavy loser, with Chi en- 
gagement rumored to have lost 
$25,000. Critics thumbed it down, 
despite cast combination of Ann 
Corio. Jackie Cooper and Vince 
Barnett. 

James Ellison, producer and 
chief backer, says that play will re- 
sume after two months of doctor- 
ing. Miss Corio takes off for N. Y., 
Cooper returns to Hollywood for a 
pic and Barnett also hikes back to 
the Coast. ; ■ '« ■ 



mSTY HEART' QUITS 
ROAD AFTER NG BIZ 

"The Hasty Heart," which road- 
showed in smaller stands, travel- 
ing by bus, has been called in for 
a second time, show closing in 
Savannah last Saturday (20). With 
Freddie Bartholomew heading the 
cast, it was expected to play 
through the spring, but attendance 
was disappointing. It was learned 
too late that "Heart" was part of 
the repertory presented in south- 
em territory this winter by the 
Barter Theatre, a factor in the 
n. g. biz. 

"Heart" bussed it earlier in the 
winter and the group of young 
actors in the show were hopeful 
of better business through word 
of mouth in two and three-day 
stands. Backer, however, with- 
drew. After laying off several 
weeks, the di'ama again went to 
the road, with Larry La Rouge 
taking over. Latter is a young 
Canadian , of wealthy family, and 
it was said to have been his first 
try at show business. 



'Bolton's Revue' Switch 

London, March 16. 

''Bolton's Revue" has transferred 
from the trj'out Bolton's theatre in 
Kensington to the St. James, mak- 
ing first revue to be staged at this 
house. Show is charming, unpre- 
tentious and pleasing and may at- 
tract on its uniiophisticated sim- 
plicity, although being more suited 
i to intimate theatre. 

Chief arttsits are Billy Milton, 
Daphne Anderson, Rex 'Varney, 
Rosaline Haddon, Sheila Matthews, 
John Warwick, Donald iteed and 
iUchard. Gilbert. 



'MISTRESS' ROW IN 
DENVER ON TRESS'HX 

Denver, March 23. 
Engagement of the Lunts in "O, 
Mistress Mine" at the Broadway 
last week saw fine attendance 
for six perfoi^mances, Monday to 
Thursday (13-18) plus two matinees, 
but there was an incident that pro- 
voked those with "the show but 
about which the audience was un- 
aware. 

At Thursday's matinee,- Law- 
rence ■ Farrell, company manager, 
asked Arthur Oberfelder. who 
booked "Mine," how come there 
were 10 occupied extra chairs in 
the orchestra pit. He was told they 
were for the press. Farretl adced 
a woman in one chair whether she 
paid to get in, and she replied she 
did. Company manager thereupon 
asked Oberfelder why those ad- 
missions were not on the box- 
office statement, and an argument 
started. 

Oberfelder is alleged to have 
socked Farrell, breaking the tat- 
ter's glasses and cutting him over 
the eye. Showman called in the - 
police, but Farrell did not make an 
assault charge. • 

After talking to John C. Wilson^ 
who presented the Lunts. Wilson 
advised Farrell not to file a com- 
plaint as it was more important to 
take the company to Los Angele9 
the foUowing day than to remain 
in Denver to press ; the charge; 
Wilson assured Farrell that a Com- 
plaint would be made to the United 
Booking Office. 



Stewart Arrives To 

Take Over iii 'Harvey* 

Jimmy Stewart planed into N. Y. 
from the Coast over the weekend 
to take over the lead in "Harvey" 
next Monday (29). 

Meeting him at the airport was 
Brock Pemberton, producer of the 
play. 

Stewart replaces Frank Fay, who 
goes tnto the rood* version: ' 



LRGITHMATIE-COlVCimT 



WetliiMdiiy, March 24, 194H| 



Theatre League MoDs IG Drive; 
ATAMfdl Help Needy Members 



1- 



This week Broadway showmen* 
«re slated to decide on ways and 
means to raise approximately 
$30,000 to be devoted to a goodwill 
campaign- for, the legit theatre in 
New Yprk and out o£ town. Antici- 
pated methoa is to tilt the dues 
Of League of New York Theatres 
members. Each theatre pays $10 
weekly when lighted, with attrac- 
tions paying the same amount for 
each week played. It's likely that 
the dues of all will be doubled. 

It's expected that a publicist will 
be chosen to handle the campaign. 
Since the plan was broached last 
fall a flock of proposals have been 
made to the League from manag- 
ers and others, all designed to ef- 
fect the campaign. At least 20 
different plans listed are said to 
cover so wide a field of activity 
that it's likely only several will be 
acted upon at one time. ■ 

Equity's preliminary survey of 
the theatre compiled by a Wash- 
ington economist, Robert Nathan, 
figures to result in a parallel effort 
tor the benefit .of the theatre but is 
particularly aimed to increase actor 
employment. Either or both move- 
ments would start during the sum- 
mer. 

Referendum Due . 
After considering several plans 
to help unemployed members, the 
Assrf, of Theatrical Agents and 
'Managers, whose members pubU* 
cize and handle legit shows, have 
gone into action to lighten the sit- 
uation while awaiting other results 
of a referendum designed to aid 
the unfon; ^ 

Bpoklets valued at $10,.containing 
slips calling for prizes to be -given 
away |tt a social gathering of the 
union, have been distributed to 
members. Prizes may range be- 
tween an auto to a television set, 
ATAM expecting most of the gifts 
to be donated. . 

Anticipated txxxA is estimated be-, 
tween $6,000 aiid $15,000, there 
being no limit on the numl>er of 
booklets to be distributed. ATAM 
has over 600 members, including 
about 400 in New York, but there 
i% quite a number on a withdrawal 
. basis.' Some ATAM-ers are work- 
ing temporarily outside the the-' 
atre hjut ai^und 200 are without 
jobs and at least 60 are In need of 
unemployment insurance. Some 
didn't have jobs last season and 
are therefore not privileged to ob- 
tain New York state unemployment 
insurance. It's especially that con- 
tingent that ATAM will help. Dur- 
ing discussion an issue arose over 
multiple jobs, wl^ch concern? only 
a limited number of Broadway 
press agents. Insurance wiU be 
quite- separate from the union's 
welfare fund; which ts devoted to 
hospitalization and aid to the sick 
and needy. » 

Previously this season the union 
started to collect 2% for the un- 
employment fund, and although 
that plan was voted in at a largely 
attended meeting, with but two 
newcomer objections; it was later 
figured that members out of towti 
did not get a chance to vote. . A ref- 
erendum was ruled the proper pro- 
cedure, the result of which will not 
be learned until late April. Insur- 
ance fund distribution will be pat- 
terned alpng the lines of the state's, 
but exact benefits will not be de- 
termined until the amount raised 
is deflnltle. Total is hoped to reach 
$20,000, allowing for payments of 
$10 to $20 weeldy for 10 or more 
■•Weeks. 



Xarouser for DaUas 

Dallas, March 23. 
"Gaiousei" and "Oklahoma!" 
have been booked by Interstate 
Theatres for the Majestic theatre 
this year, "Oklahoma!" is sched- 
uled for Sept. 28-30; "Carousel", for 
Dec. 13-16. • 

This is "Carousel's" first presen- 
tation in Dallas; "Oklahoma!" was 
here last year at Fair Park audi- 
torium. ■ . \_, 

Opening Us Texas tour at the 
Melba here March 31, "Harvey, 
starring Joe E. Brown, plays five 
Texas dates on the Interstate Cir- 
cuit, here, in Fort Worth, Houston, 
Austin and San Antonio. 

'Winslow Boy' to Be 
1st British Play in U.S. 
Since Mutual Tax Pact 

"The Winslow Boy," now in its 
22d week on Broadway, will con- 
tinue through April at the Empire 
before going on tour. It will be the 
first all-British cast show to re- 
main over here for more than six 
months since a reciprocal arrange 
ment on income taxes became op 
erative between the U. S. and Eng 

land. .* , \, 

Actors are not reqmred to pay 
taxes to both governments for a 
period of 183 days but it is under- 
stood that if they continue to ap- 
pear beyond that time, dual levies 
are payable. 

H. M. Tennent, English showman* 
who signed the- "Boy'? players' con- 
tracts is responsible for possible . 
taxes;, due to England. He presents 
the drama here in association with 
the Theatre Guild and John C. 
Wilsbn, who is the operating head 
of the American appearances. 
"There has been no salary withhold- 
ing by the Wilson office on account 
of American taxes because the 
length of the attraction's stay over 
here was not definite when the im- 
port opened. 

Withholding will start when the 
half-year mark is reached, and 
there's a cliance taxes for the fiocst 
six months will be ruled due^ It 
is. claimed, however, that if the 
"Boy" players pay American taxes 
those amounts will be deductable- 
from the British levy, which is 
higher than here. 

The D'Oyly Carte operetta 
troupe, also an all-British outfit, 
will sail back before the expiration 
of the 183-day period. That unit, 
now in its- 13th week at the Cen- 
tury, goes to Boston for four weeks 
starting April 26, then sails back. 
The Gilbert and Sullivan troupe 
would rem,ain on this side longer 
but for tbe tax angle. 



Longhair Shorts 



Huxley's 'Sitifle' Dae In 
June With Brown, Brook 

London, March 16. 
Jack de Leon will present a new 
play by Aldous Huxley, "The 
Crioconda Smile," based on the 
author's short story, at the NeSv 
theatre in June. 

Pamela Brown and Clive Brook 
, are set to costar, with Marie Ney 
and Brenda Bruce also in the cast. 
Play will be directed by Peter 
Glenville. 



'Rocket's' London Glare 

London, March 23. . 

Clifford Odets: "Rocket to the 
Moon," which opened at the St. 
Martin's March 20, was generally 
Well received, with Yolande Don- 
Ian having a personal success as 
fenune lead. 

Aside from her, however, play 
i^eems miscast. A prolonged run 
Is doubtful. 



Kobert Byrn, of "Allegro" (Ma- 
jestic, N. Y.) cast, sang title role 
Friday (19) in special concert ver- 
sion of "Tannhauser" at Met Opera 
House, N. Y., under his real name 
of Robert Bernauer. Polyna Stoska, 
formerly of "Street Scene," sang 
f emme - lead . . . Benno Moisevitch 
British pianist, leaves U. S. for 
Honolulu, March 29, and opens 
Australian tour April 25 in Ade 
laide ... Columbia Artist Mgt. and 
National Concert & Artists Corp, 
both now have four-piano en- 
sembles, following spectacular suc- 
cess Of the . Bill Fadimanrowned. 
radio-built First Piano Quartet in 
the concert field; Columbians 
called jPhilharmonic Piano Quartet: 
NCAC's, Four Piano Ensemble, 
Bookings are heavy for both next 
season. .,. Columbia has opened Los 
Angeles office under David FersrU' 
son, its Coast manager. NCAC ap 
pointed Alexander F, Haas its 
Coast -manager, heading Frisco and 
L. A. offices. 



HortoninlMarietli' , 

Los Angeles, March 23. 
Edward Everett Horton will ap- 
pear in "Naughty Marietta" for 
the L. A. Civic Light Opera, start- 
ing May .,31 at the Philharmonic 
auditorium. 

Horton plays the role of the 
Louisiana governor. Other toppers 
previously signed for the show are 
Susanna Poster, Wilbur Evans and 
Johnny . Coy. , , 

LA. Tnmdown, 
H[et Rivalry 
Hh SI. Opera 

Los Angeles, March 23. 
Last week, for the first time in 
years, the Los Angeles county 
board, which every previous year 
voted $3,000 towards the guaran- 
tee fund to bring the San Fran- 
cisco Opera Assn. here for a fall 
season, rejected an appropriation 
request. Involved in the situa- 
tion is the Metropolitan Opera 
Assn-. of New York. 

Frisco opera company has given 
two weeks of performances in L.A. 
every fall for years. The Met, 
which never competed with the 
FrisQO crowd on the Coast before, 
is coming to Los Angeles for a 
fortnight this spring (for the first 
time in 40 years). Since the Met 
and Frisco use the same artists 
and operas (Frisco's opera season 
goes on in the fall, before the Met 
gets under way), question's been 
raised whether L. A. can sustain 
four weeks of the same singers 
and fare, including the Met's two 
in tlie spring and Iosco's pair in 
the autumn. 

The Met's visit next month is 
reported guaranteed by a group 
headed by Cliarles H. Strub, gen- 
eral manager of the Santa Anita 
track. This group not only under 
wrote the 14 performances for 
$308,000, ($2,200 each), but also 
the transportation costs of the Met 
from DaUas to L. A. and then to 
Denver. Strub's group is not only 
financing the Met's forthcoming 
engagement at the Stirine Mosque 
but is behind the proposed Los 
Angeles Civic Centre, in which 
the Met will figure as an annual 
attraction. ^ 

General feeling is that Frisco's 
season in L. A. is cooked by the 
Strub guarantee of the Met and 
the desire; of local civic group to 
play ball with him. rather than the 
Met's highly competitive Frisco 
outfit. Frisco, it's believed, needs 
the L. A. season to help balance 
its books. Gaetano Merola, Fris- 
cd's general manager, has said that 
this fall isn't the test but that 1949 
will tell whether his goose 
cooked. 

Artist managements' concern 
about the situation is based on the 
materialistic fact that if Frisco 
flops, there's one less outlet for 
artists. But more important to 
them, the Met's last big competi- 
tor will be gone. Where the Met 
pays Lily Pons $1,000 a perform 
anCe, for instance, Frisco pays her 
$3,000. Where the Met pays Doro 
thy .Kirsten $350 a week, Frisco 
pays her $1,200 a night. Removal 
of such competition, according to 
concert managers, will depress the 
market for singers. 



blade IM-4i^ 

Because the revival o? Bernard Shaw's "You Never Can Tell" fated 
vei-y well oj^^t of town, then drew a majority of negative notices when 
it opened on Broadway at the Beck' last week, the sponsoring Theatie 
Guild expressed its disappoitttment with unusual extra-space ''incen- 
diary" ads headed; "Shavians Arise, .Heresey, Sabotage, Treason" 
Broadway critics who didn't flke . the play very much, were placed fai 
.iuxtapositipu with' those who did. In the case of Brooks Atkinson o! 
the Times, hig opinion as a dissfiriter was compared to that of W, A. 
Darlington, London .theatre correspondent' for that daily, who rated 
"Tell" highly. -Richard Watts' favorable comment opposed the News' 
John Chapmant who "had to 'drink a cup of coitee after he wrote his 
review." Robert Coleman's rave In the Mirror was compared to the 
notice by William Hawkins of the World Telegram, who rated the play 
as being dated. Howard Barnes, Herald Tribune, thought it "weU 
worth witnessing," while Ward Morehouse of the Sun could take "Tell" 
or leave it. Alter mentions of the cast's performances, the ad ended 
with "To the Barricades," in large block letter caps. 
Alfred Fischer, European showman, is associated with the Guild in 
Tell," which cost around $50,000, He was formerly an active German 
manager dating back to 1928. Over here he has had Kathcrine Dun- 
ham on tour, also Argentinita, and he was in also on "Cabin in the 
Sky." Fischer is said to have proposed reviving "Tell" but it's under, 
stood he put in very little of the production cost. 

There is apparently a misunderstanding of the meaning of the new 
basic contract between Equity and the League of N. Y. Theatres, as it 
applies to actors appearing at the National theatre, Washington, next 
season. The a'ctual wording is that actors shall "not be required" to 
play the house if there is racial segregation in the audience. One New 
York management, now readying a show for fall tour. Is reported ask- 
ing prospective members of the company if they object to' appearing at 
the National. Those so queried have assumed that the management in- 
tends hiring only those willing to play that spot, though no one is known 
to have asked for clarification of the point. However, the matter is 
academic as far as Equity is concerned, as the union's legal department 
has specifically stated it Interprets the contract to mean that no Equi^ 
member wllb be "permitted" to appear at the house if segregation is 
practiced.' 



HMCHANTS SFONSOB LEGIT 

St. John's, Newfoundland 
March 23. 

Bowring Bros., operating a de 
partment store here, is financing 
winter dramatic stock here, and 
have imported the players and 
technicians I r o m the Alexandra 
Tlieatre, Birmingham, England. 

This is the fir.st time a mercan 
tile firm has sponsored a season of 
sitMk .locally... ... 



Armhia Marshall (Mrs. Lawrence Langner) of the Theatre Guild ad- 
dressed the season's graduates of the American Academy of Dramatic < 
Arts last Wednesday (17) at the exercises held at the Empire theatroi 
N.Y. She told tlje class how she went on the stage after coming from 
California and attending the academy for a year. After directing and 
acting in amateur shows in Roslyn, L.I., she sent a letter to Langner, 
through whom she got Into a drifma called "The Tidings Brought to 
Mary," which the Guild produced at the Garrick theatre (razed) in 
1923. It wasn't really a part, but more a walk-on as one oLsix nuns. It 
turned out that the six nuns had already been selected -but Langner 
asked that a seventh be added«^ which was the start of the Langnei^ 
Marshall romance. 



There were 28 actors and two stage managers with "Temporary 
Island," the Halsted Welles drama presented on Broadway (Elliott) 
last week by Experimental Theatre. If the film rights are sold, the 
company will share pro rata in one-half of the 40% managerial end, 
the other half going to the American National Theatre and Academy, 
which sponsors ET. Author would receive 60%, the same share as 
when plays are regularly produced. Whether the actors in "Skipper 
Next to God" would participate in the event the picture rights for that 
drama are sold isn't clear because that cast (except John Garfield) . 
went on regular salaries when "Skipper" started showing commerr 
dally at the Playhouse, where It is slated to close Saturday (27) after 
an engagement of 11 weeks. 



A new syndicate for investing in legit shows is being farmed W 
Mary Hunter and Winston OlCeefe... An unspecified number of partici- 
pants win put up $1;000 each (no one will be permitted more than 
that) and the total amount will be Invested In several different shows. 
The group intends to get someone experienced in show financuig to 
advise on investments, and hopes to have the entire setup ready for 
operation this summer, when fall productions are being readied. 

Miss Hunter and O'Keefe are actors and both are associated with 
the American Theatre Wing, Miss Hunter is also a director, having 
put on the New Stages twin-bill hit, "The Respectful Prostitute" and 
"Happy Joumeyy' now at the Cort, N.Y. 



The Dramatists Play Service, amateur and little theatre booking 
agency of the Dramatists Guild, has discontinued handling scripts writ- 
ten particularly for the amateur market. It has found that there is no 
profit margin in agenting such plays on a royalty basis, as the fees 
are insufficient to cover the complicated bookkeeping Involved. Samuel 
French, with a list of several thousand scripts it owns outright, does a 
profitable business on amateur theatre bookings, but the Dramatists 
play Service is a cooperative group owned by the Guild memberrfdp 
and its policy is to handle shows on a royalty basis only. 



Gielgud Disks From 

^Richard' for ANTA 

John Gielgud last week recorded 
two scenes from "Richard II" for 
the American National Theatre & 
Academy series to be issued by 
Decca. Fredric March will prob- 
ably do the next recording, reading 
excerpts from Thornton Wilder's 
"The Skin of Our Teeth," in which 
he starred on Broadway. Tenta- 
tively set for subsequent platter- 
ings are Helen Hayes In a scene 
from "Victoria Regina," fiva Le- 
Gallienne in a bit from "Hedda 
Gabler," Alfred Lunt and Lynn 
Fontanne in an excerpt from "The 
Guardsman" and Louis Jouvet in 
a sketch not yet selected, but to be 
recorded in Paris. 

The stars are doing the record- 
ings for nothing and Decca is pro- 
ducing and releasing them on a 
low-cost arrangement, with profits 
going to ANTA. Distribution will 
he through the American Book Co. 
Nat Karson is lining up actors and 
clearing title to the material for 
ANXA. ■ 



Charles Ileidt, who has optioned the drama, "Leaf and Bough," by 
Joseph A. Hashes, does not represent the syndicate headed by James 
Merrill Herd, as reported last week, but is. acting independently on 
the project. Herd was interested in the script, but Heidt states that 
they are not associated. Heidt was last represc^nted on Broadway in 
1935, as To-producer with Crosby Gaige of the play, "On to Fortune," 
by Lawrence Langner and Armina Marshall! "Leaf and Bough" was 
tried out last week by Margo Jones at her Theatre '48 in Dallas. 



Because strenuousness of her role in "Annie Get Your Gun" doesn't 
permit Mary Martin herself to entertain service convalescents in vari- 
ous tpwns show's playing, star does the next best thing; she plays to 
them in the theatre. No matter where the musical is, 22 seats at every 
Wednesday matinee are laid aside by Miss Martin for distribution 
among patients at veterans' hospitals. 



Louis Lotito; operator of the Coronet theatre, N.Y., has decided he 
has a hit on his hands with "Angel in the Wings." He has issued orders 
to redecorate Paul and Grace Hartman's dressing suite in new cham- 
pagne colors. It will have complete kitchen facilities so that the Hart- 
mans and cast may eat all their meals in the theatre on matinee days. 



The "Stovepipe Hat" lawsuit, which Caii E. Ring brought against 
Harold Spina and in which the Dramatists Guild is charged with viola- 
tion of the anti-trust laws, has been returned by the N. Y. Court of 
Appeals to the U. S. district court, where the presiding judge will role 
which issues will go to the jury and which he'll decide himself. 



Four leads in "A Streetcar Named Desire," running on Broadway 
at the Barrymore, are set to continue in the standout for the season 
of 1948-49. Jessica Tandy, featured, was Under contract for this season 
but has signed a new contract, as has Karl Maiden. Kim Hunter 
and Marlon Brando had originally contracted for two seasons. 



Katharine McBride, head of Bryn Mawr college, has announced plans 
for establishing a Theresa Helburn chair of drama at the women s 
college. An organizing committee of 40 to raise a fund for the dc- 
partiaent is headed by Broclc Pemberton. Miss Helburn and Lawrence 
Langner are top executives of the Theatre Guild. 



(Incago Shak^ M iMm Lethargy; 
lkMt'Clafy'19a'BiirIes(|iie'n^ 



Chicago. Msrch 23, -f 
Except for "Sleep It Off," which 
Aa^ o« Ssturday im, rest of 
i«dt fare has shaken off Its Lenten 
iSSartjy. Sligh* bettering of gros- 
i«( laS^week can be attributed to 
fhe fact that, aside from 'deep,' 
only three plays are avaflable. 

He vised date on "Student 
Prince" brinei it to the Blackstone 
Anril 1. ""i^ Bomance" reopens 
iKe Great Northern April 12, and 
Bi competition the Stadebaker wiH 
offw"Mary Had A Uttle."- Katha- 
rhie Cornell bows into the Black- 
stone April 2S, hut "The Inspector 
rails" stiU has not found a place 
to show. "High Button Shoes" is 
rumored for May at tKe Shubett. 
Eitinafes for lAst Week 
i^vrteMne." Selwyn (2nd week) 
(1,000;: $4,33). Picked up at the 
matinees to okay $17,000. 

"John Loves Mary," Harris (Wh 
week) (1,000; $3;71K Light farce 

fot nice play over the weekend, 
ioe .$19,000. 

"Show Boat," Shultert (3rd week) 
(2,100; $4.94). Gaining momentum 
right along. Handsome $40,000: 

"Sleep It Oif," Blackstone (2nd 
week) (1,333; $4.33). Company 
broke up here March 20. Bclow- 
par $S,000. 

W 246. Hnb; 
Metl30GiB9 

Boston,. March 23. 
"My Romance" returns to town 
for another couple of weeks tliis 
week, going into the Opera House 
this time. Show got its best recep- 
tion in tbi«l town and should do 
well for its additional frames be- 
fore going to Broadway. 

Two shows set for next week, 
"First Mrs: Frascr" at the Ply- 
mouth March 29, and "Hold. It" at 
the Shubert March 30, both for a 
fotthi^t Ahead is. "The Cup of 
Tramblihg" at the Colonial AprU 
6. 

Estimates for Last Week . 

Metrop<ditan Opera, Opera 

gouse (first week) (3,000; $8.80)— 
ine performances only, wholly 
subscribed for by local guarantors 
and complete 'sellout cvci-y per- 
formance. Estimated $130,000 at 
scale. First time Met has ever had 
such a short visit in Hub, which 
could easily sellout for three weeks. 
"My Romance" here now. 

Red Mitt," Shubert (secmid 
week) (2,700; $4i!0). Gained to 
estimated $24,000 on second week, 
very fine. Final week current. 



'BROOKLYNmSCLJL; 
TOTS^lOiG/GLASS'BG 

Los Angeles, March 23. 

Two houses went dark over the 
weekend, but rekindling of > the 
BUtmore with "O Mistress Mine" 
after a five-week drought kept four 
houses functioning. 

Departures, "The Glass Menag- 
erie" and "Deep Are the Roots," 
both went out in a blaze of glory. 
"Menagerie," at the small h»s 
Palmas, was SXiO at each perform- 
ance. "Roots," in for nine weeks, 
and three . days, was about 75% 
capacity at all times. 

Las Palmas rekhidtes Thursday 
(25) with Actors' Lab production 
of "All My Sons." Lab incidentally 
is shopping i'or a downtown house 
for a run witli "Declaration," new 
legiter whicl) it has been showing 
weekends only at its workshop. 

Estimates for Last Week 

"Blackouts of 1948," El Captain, 
(300th wk) (1,142; $2.40), Marked 
the 300-week milepost with the 
same solid $17,000. - ' 

"Brooklyn, USA," EI Patio (2d 
wk> (796: $2.40). First full week 
registered $5,000. Will hold' 
tlu-ough April 3. 

"Deep Are the Roots," Belasco 
(9th wk) (1.061; $2.40). Finaed 
Saturday (20) with okay $10,500 
for frame and $131,000 for run. 

"The Glass Menagerie," Las 
Palmas (5th wk) (388; $3). Closed 
Sunday (21) with another SRO: 
$6,000 week and a lush $27,400 
total. * 

"The Vigil," Coronet (2d wk) 
(255; M.eO). First fuU week far 
below hopes with a dour $2^500. 



lama' Faff 16G, 

Minneapolis. March 23. 

Imminence of picture version, 
already being advertised for April 
1 at Orpheum, plus Lent and a gen- 
eral abrupt business slump, got in 
some nasty licks for "I Remember 
Mama" which, compared to its fine 
talcings elsewhere, fell down rather 
badly at Lyceum here. 

Estimate tor Last Week 

"I Remember Mama," Lyceum 
(single week) (1,900; $3.60). Started 
slowly, but play and cast very well 
liked; grosses built steadily for nice 
weekend turnouts. Final $16,000 
total pretty good, but disappoint- 
ing, e.spectally for play about Scan- 
dinavians in Scandinavian com- 
munity, 



Uttle Change in ITway Grosses; 

'Joy OK mm, 1st 4 w no. 

'Prostie' 1^/26 in 6; 'Stipper' Skips 



IBstress' 20G, DtHor 

Denver, March 23. 
Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne 
In "O Mistress Mine" packed the 
Broadway for all six shows, four 
nights and two matinees, having 
been sold out almost two weeks be- 
fore show tbne. There is $5,000 
advance sale on "I Remember 
Mama," with Charlotte Greenwood 
due at the Broadway April 26-27. 

Estimate for Last Week 
"O Mistress Mine," Broadway (6 

Serf., $4.20). Lunt-Fontanne com- 
ination sold out for $20,000. 



'Marietta' 45G, Detroit; 
'Inspector' TViG, 'Bride' 6G 

Detroit, March 23. 

Pre-Kaster week business in legit 
houses here was hit by an unusual 
slump, with the exception of De- 
troit Civic Light Opera Company's 
presentation of "Naughty Mari- 
etta," where the b.o. took a leap 
over the previous week. v 

Both Ca.ss and Shubert-Lafayette 
will be dark the current week. On 
March 29, "Pick Up Girl" moves 
into the Sliubert-Lafayctte for two 
weeks, and Katheruie Dimham's 
"Tropical Revue" returns for a 
week's run at the Cass. 

Estimates for Last Week 
"Nanghty Marietta," Masonic 
Aud (single week) (5,000; $3.60). 
Remarkable rise to $4!>.000. 

"There Goes the Bride," Shu- 
bert-Lafayette (2d. wk) (1.950: 
$3.60). Itka Chase's frothy play at-> 
tracted an estimated $6,000. 

"An Inspector Calls." Cass (2d 
wk) (1.432; $3.60>. Very disappoint- 
ing $7,500 for J. B. Priestley who- 
dunit. 



'Romance' 21|4a 
'Qass' 6G, Finlly 

Philadelphia, March 23. 

Philly is now without legit en- 
tertainment. Drought will last till 
Monday night (29) when three top- 
flight attractions make their bows 
together. Last week, with only two 
legit offerings, the lone pair of 
holdovers picked up a tittle in biz. 

Of next week's shows, "Inside 
U. S. - A.," the new revue which 
comes into the Shubert for three 
weeks and will probably draw the 
first-string crix, contrary to prece- 
dent, has the loftiest scale— -$5.20, 
with $6.50 Friday and Saturday. 
The mail order sale was terrif and 
window sale now open looks the 
same. 

Katharine Comell's revival of 
Shakespeare's. "Antony and Cleo- 
patra" is'in at the Forrest for two 
weeks at $3.90 top. and same' goes- 
for "Harvey" whidi is skedded for 
seven weeks (at least) at the Locust 
although Miss Comell's scale will 
be tilted to $4.45 Friday and Satur- 
day. 

Estinuites for Last Week 
"My Romance." Forrest (2d 
week) (1,786; $3.90)— Started to 
pick up about time curtailment of 
run to two weeks was announced. 
Well over $21,500 last week and 
considerable- audience interest. 
House dark with Katharine Cornell 
coming in next Monday for two 
weeks. . 

"Glass Metta|!!erie." Locust (2nd 
week) (1,530; $3.25). Again around 
$6,000 mark' which rcportedly. 
meant some profit House dark this 
week with "Harvey" in for stay- of 
at least seven weeks next Monday^ 



'M&cbetk' 16G, Toronto 

Toronto, March 23. 

Despite rave notices, b.o. on 
Mtchael Redgrave and Flora Rob- 
son in "Macbeth" disappontcd, 
presumably due to a recent surfeit 
Of Shakespeare- here. Five-night 
Ice carnival also hurt. 

Estimate for Last Week 

"Macbeth," with Michael Red- 
grave and Flora Robson, at Royal 
AJexandra (1,525; $3.60 top). Dis- 
•PPoibtiAg $16,000. 

TRINCE' $10,000, K.C. 
Kansas City, March 23. 
Student Prince" in four days 
yive performances) in the Music 
«aU turned in fair business with 
>o-so $10,000 take. "I Remember 
Mama" due Thursday (25). "Song 
or Norway" playing six days bc- 
«"imng March 28. 

Estimate for Last Week 

"Student Prince" Music Hall (5 
jei'i.) (2,572: $3.00). Rang up $10,- 
JJOO, March 24-27, not bad for a 
P'ay seen so regularly Jierfc 



Shows in Rehearsal 

*"High Button Shoes" (road) — 
Monte Proser and .Joseph Kipness. 

"Sword by My Side"— Arthur 
Traub. 

"Rats of Norway" (Hollywood) 
—James GUiott and Carl Schruer. 
"To Tell You the Truth"— New 

Stages. 

^•Harvey" (rmad)-— Brock Pem- 
berton. 

♦"Inside U. S. A." — Artliur 
Schwartz. 

"The Play's the Thins"-T-Gilbert 
Miller, James Russo and Michael 
.Ellis. 

"The First Mrs. Fraaer" (road) 

— Gnat Gaither. s 



RAIN HITS mOPICiUL' 
IN INDPLS^ 6G IN 4 

Indianapolis. March 3. 
Katherine Dunham's "Tropical 
Revue'' hit a I..enten slump and 
found tough going in her third an- 
nual visit to the English here 
Thiursday through Saturday (18-20). 
English now recessed until after 
Easter, with "Private Lives" due 
April 8-10 and "Lady Winder^ 
mere's Fan" April 15-17 as only 
sho\\rs in view for remainder of 
season.' 

Estimate for Last Week 
Tropical Revue," English 1 



There was little change in busi- 
ness despite spring catching up 
with Broadway and while there 
were slight increases grosses are 
well under winter levels for many 
attractions. For some years Holy 
Week saw surpris,ingly improved 
attendance, . but this season it 
isn't indicated either by advance 
sales or agencies. Latter half may 
see better business as Easter 
holidays arrive with school vaca- 
tions. Next week should i>e okay 
for theatres but thereafter it's con- 
jectural. 

Divided notices went to "You 
Never Can Tell," which did fairly 
well because of advance sale, "Joy 
to the World" also drew mixed 
critical opinions with a couple 
highly enthusiastic. "Me and 
Molly" climbed further. "Re- 
specttul Prostitute" fared well in 
its first week on Broadway. "Skip- 
per Next to God" is slated to close 
Saturday C27). 

Estimates for Last Week 
Keys: G KCcmedyy, B cOroina), 
CD (Comedy-Drama>, R IRemie); 
M (Musicah, O (Operetta). 

"Allegro," Majestic (23d week) 
(M-1,695; $6). Management look- 
ing forward to summer holdover; ' 
still best grosser though takings 
well under midseason form; $39,- 
000. 

"Ansel in the Wings," -Coronet 
(15th week) (R-998; $4.80). Has 
varied somewhat in recent weeks 
but still getting excellent business; 
$25,500. 

"Annie Get Your Gun," Imperial 
*97th week) (M-1,472; $6.60). Ap- 
proaching end of second year and 
still well up i in the chips; rated 
around $37,500. 

"Bom Testerdaor," ' Lyceum 
(111th week) (C-993; $4.80). Vari- 
ance for laugh show last week but 
bettered $15,000 to goodly profit 
; and likely to play into , another 
summer. 

"BriEadoon." Ziegfeld (54tti 
week) (M-l,eZ8; $4.80). Pubhcity 
attendant Inusical's -passing of one- 
year-run mark helped im:^vve- 
ment to $36,000. 

"Command Deeiston," Fulton 
(25th week) (0-968; $4.80). Has 
completed six months and con^ 
tinnance into warm weather looks 
set; slightly off; $16,000. 

"Finian's Rainbow," 46th Street 
(63d week) (M-1,319; $6). lUdhag 
along to goodly profit at presmii 
levels, with takings last week- 
around $35,500. 

"For Love or Money," MUter 
(20th week) (C-940; $*.20). Con- 
tinues to fare' moderately well and 
making operating profit right 
along; rated aroimd $13,500. 

"High Button Shoes,*' Shubiart 
(25th week) (M-1,387; $6). Has 
also completed six months to ca- 
pacity — ^plns business which is 
close to $38,0i()0 weekly, 
"leetime of 1948," Center (43d 



year will he completed; stiU mak- 
ing some profit; $18,500. 

"Skipper Next to God,'» Play- 
house (D-865; $4.20). Advertised to 
close this week, the 11th;. wfU pas* 
sibty continue however; again rated- 
well over $1!J,000. 

"Strange Bedfellows," MoroscA 

tlOth week) fC-935; $4.80)r. Al- 
though not exceptional, laugh (dacr 
doing Well enough with takings 
quoted at $14,500. 

"Streetcar Named Desire," 
Banymore (leth week) tD-1,064^ 
$4.80). Business varies for most . 
shows according to conditions, but 
not with smashes like this; $27,900 
and more according to standees. 

"The Heiress," Biltmore (2Sth 
week) iD-920; $4.80). Another 
show that has attained a six months 
run and still . making real coin; 
around $19,000; not much under 
capacity. 

"The Respectful Prestitnte" and 
"The Kawy Journey." Cort (1st 
week) (D-1,164; $4.20). First week 
uptown strong and expected to 
climb; opened in 300-seater down- 
town; started on Broadway Tues- 
day (16); over $11,500 in first six 
times; should go over $15,000 full 
:.week 

"The Winsleiw Boy." Emtrire 

(21sl week) (D-l^Ol; $4.S0>. Some- 
what better last week when basi- 
ness was figured araund $13,000; 
slated to stay through May. 
Revtvals 
D'Oyly Carte Opera Co» Ceor 
tury (12th weekl (O-1.670; $4,801. 
"Yeoman of the ^uard," current 
Gilbert and SuUivan operetta, re- 
peating; "Patience" last week 
rated around $25,500. 

"Man and Supeitnan." Hudson 
(24th week) (CD-1,057: $4.80). 
Somewhat better for best, of Shaw 
revivals this season; estimated 
around $22,000. 

"Medea.."^ Boyale (2QU( week) (D- 
1,025; $4.80). Comeback after hiy- 
off indicative of -classic's' draw? and 
is slated through spring; $18,000. 

"Ybu'Nevcr Can Tell," Beck (tst 
week) (C-1,214; $4.80). Fairly 
strong after divlcted press and in 
first seven perfmanauces, takings 
were around $17,000. 
. . ' Added 
Maurice Chevalier, Golden; 
Takings again topped $17,000; 
I'ourth and final week plna-s bene- 
fit performance for the Xteart Fimd 
Sunday (28). 



(4 perf.) (1,500; $3). Mild $6,000 for 
poorest showing Dunham troupe 
has made here to date. Heavy rain 
and wind storm hurt Friday busi- 
ness. ■ 



,N.H. 



* Musical. 



'Windermere' ITVjGr, St. loo 
St. Louls, March 23. 

Legit is apparently cooling off 
liere First of the two-week .stand 
of Oscar WUde's "Lady Winder- 
mere's Kan" was mild despite good 
critical reception. Gloria Swanson 
and Robert Alda in "There Goes 
the Bride" to follow. 

Estimate for Last Week 

"Lady Winderniicre's Fan" (1st 
week) American (1,700; $3.81) K^t 
performances grossed a mild $17r 
500. 



New Haven, March 23. 
"Carousel" came to town for a 
full stanza at llic Shubert last week 
I (15-20) with the season's top tai-iff 
I ($4.80). This week has brcakin of 
i "Hold It/' Sammy Lambert musi- 
cal (25-27), Another initial per- 
formance is due next week when 
Louis Calhern heads a revival of 
"The Play's the Thing," April 1-3. 
Estimate for Last Week 
"Carousel," Shubert iluU wk.) 
(1,700; $4.80). , Original premiere 
here three yeafs ago drew $16,000 
On four shows at $4.20 top. This 
trip, the full week at upped figure, 
pulled $28,000; good but not super. 



week) (R-2,994; $2.48). Will get 
benefit of school holiday vacations; 
skating revue ends season next 
week; $29,000. 

"Joy to the World." Plymouth 
(1st week) (CD-1.063; $4.80). 
Opened* Thursday (18) to mixed 
notices but goodly business there- 
after; approached $10,500 first four 
times. . 

"Look. Ma. I'm Dancin'." Adel- 
phi (8th week) (M-1,434; $4.80>. 
Musical with comedy punch looks 
set- into summer; among the lead- 
i ing money shows; $37,500. 
I "Harvey," 48th Street (178th 
week) (C-902; $4.20). Advance- sale 
for James Stewart who steps into 
lead for limited stay next Monday 
(29); $14,000. 

"Make Mine Manhattan," Broad- 
Jiiur.st (10th week) (R-1,160; $6). 
One of the season's popular song 
and dance shows getting close to 
$36,000; capacity in this house. 

"Me and Molly," Belasco (4th 
week) (C-1,077; $4.20). Improved 
much more than any other show 



'ANNIE'S' 44&1^ 

PITT GROSS m wm 

Pittsburgh, March 23. 

First of Mary Martin's two wefta 
in "Annie Get Your Gun" at Nison 
did around $44,000, record high 
for the year and just about the 
biggest figure any show has hiing 
up here in recent memory. House 
was practically sold out by mMl 
orders alone, with very little left 
when window sale finally opened. 

Incidentally, show 'got highest 
top here in long time, $5.20, with 
$4 base and 20% federal and 10% 
city tax. 

Estimate for Last Week 

"Annie Get Your Gun." Nixon 

(1st week) (2,100; $5.20). Biggest 
thing in town in years, with 
$44,000 representing everything 
house could possibly do. Crix here 
who saw the N. Y. version, by the 
way, labeled the Mary Martin 
production better of two. 



'Norway* $25,000 in Cincy; 
Town Quiet for Fortmght 

- Cincinnati, March 23. 



"Song of Norway" rollicked here 
last w&ek. Bookings are recessing 
for a. fortijight): next road show 
being (3orrtelia O^ Skituier in 

"Lady Windermere's Pan" at the' 

last" week" when takings were i Cox. April 5. For the engagement 



Jones' 23G in D.C. 

Washington March 23. . . 

Spike Jones and his "Musical De- ! ^^'^t:^^^'''^J'!{'^ n..!^^.^^f*^o 
preciation Revue" made p 1 e n t y , and should make stay of it. 
noise at b.o. of the NaUonal last I "M'stw Roberts,'' Alvm (5th 
week. Capacity expected for cur- ! week) (CD-1,331; $4.80). With 29 
rent stanza. "An Inspector Calls" : extra seats inserted downstairs 
bows ui Mai-ch 29. - | gross for smash up $1,000 to $34,- 

Estimate for Last Week l^^- , ,„ c.. t 

"Musical Depreciation Revue," "Oklahoma!,'* St. James (257th 
National (1st wk) (1.680; $3.60). ; week) (M-1.505; $4.80) Theatre 
Rang the bell with $23,000; SRO I Guild plans quite a celebration for 
over weekend. 



I next Wednesday (31) .when fifth. 



Gun," April 12, the Shuberts have 
renewed rental of the Z,500-seat 
Taft theatre for the first time In 
nearly two years. 

Estimate for Last Week 
"Song of Norway." Emery (on* 
week) (2,100; $3.60). Clicked for a 
robust ^5,000. Swell notices aod 
audience retecticm hypoed biz alta 
light advance sale. 



y«<|<iwiay, Manieh 24, ^.949 



Plays on Broadway 



iJoy to the World 

J John HuU9Ci>inn ana WilUiim K. KiUaell 
>iT>(lut'tIC*u of coinedy-druniH In throe acts 
on»> Ketliiig). atara Alfred Drake piui 
rlaraha Hunt; featurt'H Myron Mt'Corniu'k 
,nd Movfls <^Ht'novfJky. Sta^eil by ,lii!e3 
asain; aaUintr, llarry Hornei", coatumfis, 
uveiiy Woodiit'i-. Oponea at Plymouth, 
N. y„ March IH, M8; $i.aO top. 



Wary M,iitill. 

rirtjii 

Mildred. ,. 

fcdlth Wham 

J. NrwlAn McKwi. 
Miirtlnter Bohrnian . ■ 
Blcliarcl Stanton. . . . 
Kdward t', Gannon. 



...Mary WeUh 
.Mlt^haet DreytusM 

Lois Jlall 

, i,. ...Pegsry »»ley 
,MyroH MiiC'orro It'll 
,, .iV. Leslie Iiltomy 
, .,. . .Hugh Rennlo 
. . .liert Freed 



Alexander Soren .........Alfred Wrukn 

Tllworlhy... .Harris Brown 

Ann .Miusha Hu n t 

, Stei-a Walton .HTerl) Kutner 

BavBarn Henlon, . . . . ., . -. . ... .LutrlUe, Patton 

Henry .Salnlsbury Walter P. Applet- 
John V. Hooper,, ....... . .Clay Glcnicnt 

Dmitri Oumansky Kurt, Kaszmir 

Sainp.iou. Hal tiei-aon 

Mr. WIUhix. . ............ .Theodora Newton 

Harry. . . . . . .... . .Sam Bonnell 

Sam Bluinenteld. . .« , . . . .Morris Curnovsky 



"Joy to the World" is the best 

filay about Hollywood since "Once 
n a Lifetime" but it's not nearly as 
mirthful as was t h a t satirical 
travesty. It should develop into a 
winner though it may be costly to 
dperate. 

Had "Joy" been properly edited 
tt would stand a' better chance. 
Producers John Houseman' and 
William Katzell .have given Allan 
Scott's play a corking production, 
and Harry Horner was evidently 
given carte blanche in the design- 
ing,- which ■ includes opulent oif ice 
gadgets of a Coast studio. An ex- 
cellent cast is headed by Alfred 
Drake and Marsha Hunt, the latter 
appearing for the first time on 
Broadway. 

■ - Maybe the author covers too 
much territory, touching on a num- 
ber of topics including censorship. 
Some of the issues may be hot in 
Hollywood but probably are . not 
nearly so interesting to the average 
niaygoer. There's a bit where three 
key men in the ficticious Atlas- 
Continental studio switch pills for 
their respective allergies or imag- 
ined ailments, which is rather com- 
ic and apparently accurate. 

Third act prcjved the best open- 
ing night and upon its acceptance 
the future of "Joy" depends, Alex- 
ander Soren, fastidious ))oy wonder 
6f the outfit, has been forced to 
resign by the front office because 
Df his radio address on freedom of 
Ideas, and he's blacklisted in much 
the same manner that writers and 
film producers were recently cited 
for contempt by Congress. There- 
upon Sam Blumenfeld, a picture 
pioneer ( for whom Alex formerly 
broduced . but to whom he hasn't 
spoken for 10 years, bursts into the 
office and pleads with the ypung 
man to rejoin his outfit The old 
boy — who could be a prototype of 
one. of several well known film- 
makers still active-^speaks so feel- 
ingly that Alex is brought to tears. 
That scene, between Morris Car- 
novsky and Drake, will either make 
or break the show. 

The speech that gets the success- 



ful plcture-^maker into trouble is 
written by Ann, a Ph.D. from Min- 
nesota. Their's is a quick love 
match. Crux of the story is that 
the speech hadn't even been read 
by Alex before its utterance but he 
refuses to disavow its principles. 
Then he wants to produce a film 
alwut Samuel W. Gompers, former 
labor leader and it will be filmed 
at Blumenfeld's plant. 

At times "Joy" is frenzied, 
almost delirious, so there seems to 
be strange changes of pace. It's all 
done cleverly, under the direction 
of Jules Dassin, rather new. to* 
Broadway; he also staged "Strange 
Bedfellows" (Morosco). Manipula- 
tion of the phones and gadgets are 
interesting bits, and the lighting by 
Jean Rosenthal is crack work, too. 

Miss Hunt, who has done numer- 
out feature parts in Hollywood pix, 
plays Ann alluringly, a classy ac- 
tress makin*^ her Broadway bow 
A^ho looks like she can stay around 
as long as she wishes. This is 
Drake's first straiglit part and he 
seems as adept as in musicals. ("He 
created a lead male role in "Okla- 
homa!"). As Alex: he not only looks 
the, part of a brilliant filmite but 
plays it convincingly. Carnovsky, 
who hasn't been, around for several 
seasons, remains a very good actor 
whQ makes Blumenfeld real, too. 

Myron McCormiek,' who's fea- 
tured with Carnovsky, plays the 
studio publicity head and does it 
up to the hilt. His McKeon is a 
two-flsted drinker who luiows all 
the answers, the part being similar 
to that he had in "State of the 
Union."' Others who do well in- 
•clude Mary Welch, as the recep- 
tionist; Kurt Kaznar, a screwy mu- 
sician; Clay Clement, as board 
chairman; Bert Freed, Hugh Rqn- 
ttie and Leslie Litom^, a trio of 
studio execs. . - ibee. 



"World's 
biggest, brightest 
gamble!" 

T'faaf s Avhal April Coronet 
oalls show business, in a . 
■paxkllnr IS-page «andld-i»in«m 
report to America on one of her 

most glamorous IndlnBtrieg I 
Be sure to read 

Broadway Backstage 

See great stage names 
like Maurice Evans 
June Lockhart, Quthrie 
llfiCUutlc, "on the flrlnac line/' behind 

the footlights! Make a special 
note to get 

April Coronet "^4^^ 

B9EBBD 

now on sale. 

40 great features for your eojoyment 



You Never Can Tell 

Theatre Guild production (In association 
with AUred Flafhei- of threft-act comedy 
(three at-enesV by George Bernard Shaw. 
Staged by Peter Ashntove; settinKS and coa- 
tumes, SiQwart Chaney. Opened at Beck, 
•N. y., March 18/ M8; ¥4.80 lOD. 

Dolly .Patricia Klrkland 

VaUmtine .Tom Helmoro 

Maid .Scott Douglas 

l*hlUpv . , , . . .Nigel Stock 

Mi*fi, Ol^Ttdon. . . . . ... . i , . i .. .Frieda Ineacort 

Gloria .iJlftith Bi'ook 

Ornmptoni, * . ..V; . .Ralph Forbes 

McCamas. , . * . Walter Hudd 

Walter. ^.. 4> t .* -I^eo G. Carroll 

Bohim. . » , .......... .William DevUn 



Summer theatre 
for sub-lease 

Owe of Ainerica'H oUeat summer Jhea- 
tren, lorah-il constnl Mass., for «nli- 
leuBe. Moiloin f<ta«rc, Ught. equipment, 
Iilus Iiiriilshcil ^O-room actorg' «ott«Kr 
liirhideil ill Huh-Irase. Intensted per- 
sonii eon«»«t Iiox 4181, Variety, IW 
■Weot 46th St., Kew TCnAi l5. •■ 



•f.n > ) I » wa I « I' < ,v» HIM H ' ) » 



One of Bernard Shaw's yght- 
•weights is "You Never Can Tell," 
a farce better known to stock audi- 
ences than Broadway playgoers. 
Its chances- seem limited. 

The Theati-e Guild. seems, a bit 
bedeviled to iiU out the seasonal 
production schedule guaranteed its 
subscribers, which may explain 
why "Tell" was-j^ut on. Guild has 
been rather active in presenting 
Shaw, whose promised new play for 
this season is apparently in the 
waiting department. "Tell" may 
be often played in England but the 
past two generations here hav6 not 
viewed it on the main stem, . al- 
though "Tell" dates to 1895. 

The Guild gives it class A pro- 
duction, and the cast is very good, 
too, the management featuring nin6 
out of 10 in the program. Right- 
fully heading it is Leo G; Carroll 
though it does seem strange to see 
him as a. waiter. , 

Carroll is a master of reserved 
performance, and in some ways the 
part fits him perfectly. His num- 
ber of sides is limited in ' com- 
parison to the loquaciousness of 
some other characters, a native 
Shaw trait. He is a respected 
friend of the Clandons and to 
others who come to the English 
seaside resort hotel, where he pro- 
ficiently serves all guests. " 

Mrs. Clandon, a writer of sup- 
posedly new ide?s, and her off- 
spring, Dolly, Philip and Gloria, 
go to the Dover resort. They have 
never known who their father was 
but at the hotel that gentleman is 
revealed^ having changed his name 
to Crampton; he hasn't seen his 
family for 18 years. 

Gloria, the attractive e 1 d e r 
daughter, for whom a young pen- 
niless dentist, Valentine, falls hard, 
resists his advances, thereby con- 
forming to the feminist teaching of 
her mother. But, suddenly, comes 
love-^then clinch. 

Patricia Kirkland is vivacious as 
Dolly, while Faith Brook is the 
classy, uppety Gloria. Tom Hel- 
more plays the amorous dentist 
very well, and Frieda Inescort is 
also a standout as the mother, 
Ralph Forbes plays the grumpy 
father convincingly, but William 
Devlin may be a bit too pomjpous 
as the peace-making attorney. 

Ibee. 

Mpls. Clvicers Need Coin 

Minneapolis, March 23, 
Minneapolis Civic theatre has an- 
nounced that it'll be forced to close 
its doors this month if Immediate 
financial support from local citizens 
isn't fortlicoming. 

' .JllifUO > .1 ; >,l ir ••l»,J;^- 



ANTOmnE PERRY 
DIED HEAVILY IN DEBT 

To the surprise even of intimates, 
an appraisal of the estate of tlie 
late Antoinette Perry filed with the 
surrogate revealed that she died 
broke. She was the widow of 
Frank W. FrueaulT, onetime part- 
ner of Henry L. Doherty's brok- 
erage, and was heavily interested 
in Cities Service Co., gasoline dis- 
tributor. Miss Perry is reputed to 
have lost several million dollars 
in the Wall Street crash of 1929. 

The Frueauif estate was divided 
between Miss Perry and her'daugh' 
ters, Margaret Perry Fanning and 
Elaine Perry Stranahart. Miss 
Perry's estate showed assets of 
$73,442, with liabilities amounting 
to much more, a major item being 
a promissory note to Mrs. Fanning 
of $347,473. 

Miss Perry was one of Broad- 
way's most skillfull directors of 
comedies, her last accomplishment 
being "'•Harvey." She owned but 
4Vi!% of the Pulitzer prizewinner, 
valued by the appraiser at $53,110, 
although the j^Iay is still garnering 
profits on Broadway and th'e road. 

Miss Perry died of an asthmatic 
attack in June, 1946. During the 
war she devbted most of her time 
to the American Tiieatre Wing, of 
which she was secretary. 



Plays Abraad 



Wolfit Troupe Returns 
To England After Clicko 
Trans-Canadian Tour 

Toronto, March 23. 

After a 14-week North American 
tour, first trans-Canada junket by 
any company since 1939, Donald 
Wolfit troupe sails from Halifax to- 
morrow (24) on the Aquitania. En- 
tire tour was a. success financially' 
and from the standpoint of audi- 
ence enthusiasm, with Toronto the 
only lukewarm date but the Mari.; 
times and the Prairies going big for 
the Shakespearean repertory. 

Visiting some centers that hadn't 
sifeen a legitimate attraction within 
the memories of the younger gen- 
erations. English visitors opened in 
Halifax on Dec. 18, with all per- 
formances sold 6tit days before the 
ship arrived. They then played 
St. John, Montreal, Ottawa, Toron- 
to, Brantford, Hamilton, London, 
NdMh Bay, Winnipeg, Edmonton, 
Calgary and Vancouver. 
, Company then had satisfactory 
engagements in Portland and Se- 
attle but p ans for a proposed tour 
of principal U. S. cities during the 
eastward journey was held up by 
decision of British Government, 
which wanted these American dol- 
lars but wouldn't play along on 
risk. On return trip, Wolfit troupe 
therefore played Regina, Saska- 
toon, a return engagement in Win- 
nipeg, Fort William and Kingston, 
with tour ending at latter city on 
Saturday (24). . ' 

Wolfit is currently mulling a 
third Canadian tour with Ernest M. 
Rawley, his North American repre- 
sentative. When this will be sched- 
uled, however, is debatable and 
will depend on the fate of a new 
modern play, untitled, which he 
will do with . Rosalind Iden in a 
provincial toiA: of Britain, prior to 
the hoped-for London success. He 
will then bring this to Canada-~if, 
as, etc. • ' 



Current London Shows 

London, March 23. 
{Figure shows weeks of run) 
"Anna Lucasta," Majesty's (21), 
"Annie Get Gun," Col's'm (42), 
"Bless the Bride," Adelphi (48). 
"Blind Goddess," Apollo (16), 
"Bolton's Bevue," St. Jas (2), 
"Burlesque," Princes (4). 
"Carissima," Palace (2). 
"Chiltern Hundreds," Vaude (30) 
"Cockpit," Playhouse (6). 
"Diamond Lil," Wales (9). 
"Edward My Son," Lyric (43), 
"Four, Five, Six," Yorks (2). 
"Gorbals Story,"4^arrick (6). 
"Hidden Years," Fortune (9). 
"I Remember Mama," Aid, (3). 
"Indifr. Shepherd," Crit. (7). 
"Life With Father," Savoy (42) 
"Linden Tree," Duchess (32). 
"Mountain Air," Comedy (8), 
"Never Can Tell," Wyn (25) 
"Off Record," Piccadilly (43). 
"Oklahoma!," Drury Lane (47). 
"Outrageous," W. . Garden (47). 
"Present Laughter," H'ymkt (49). 
"Relapse," Phoenix (8). 
"Rocket to Moon," St. Mart. (1) 
"Starlight Roof," Hipp. (19). 
"Sweetest Lowest," Ambass. (99). 
"Together Again," Vic Pal. (49). 
"Tuppence." Globe (24). 
"Worm's View," Whitehall (47). 



HHoua Irons a Valparaiso 

(We Shall Go to Valparaiso) 

Paris, March 8. 

Ploi'ie Bluiiohav pmliix'llon of comisily In 
fnur avU by Marce) Avhiirii. Uirac.teil l>y 
Blaiivhlii'. Hels by FrancaU OHneau. Slora 
Blani'httr and Sltnone Renant. At Atlienee, 

Pni'la. ' . 

Thereae Cabanlii Ijnirt'nce Aiibruy 

Tanlinci. Oormalna M[>c'hel 

Paucal Cabitni». . .Jcun I.unlei' 

Vnlorls FanlliUlaiii <., , .,, ..SImona ICennnt 
((lllPB (.'nbatilu.. ..Pierre Blaiifb.'U' 

1,(1 I'l'raldent, .. , i .Jean D' Yil 

McnttnlEloi' I ...... . . ..loiin Toliloiil. 

I.'Avoyat (.JHimrivl. . ....... .Ci«()r«:eM I.annoa 

SUKnTrntt Furstoi'. ....... DoiuiiilQue Bi'ovan 

nabouln. , , , .ISOmand Ardlauon 



Pierre Blanchar and Simone 
Renant's names, as well as the 
Marcel Achard signature, will 
ensure' a run here. Besides which, 
the play is well acted and suffi- 
ciently amusing. For America, a 
stage adajptatlon would be sure in 
draw comparisons with "Mary 
Dugan" though the play Is more 
comedy than real drama, and it 
would be felt t6 lack fast tempo 
and punch, with the happy ending 
coming as a kind of postscript. 
Play is likely to hit the French 
screen. ■ 

Mile. Renant is the mistress of a 
shipmaster (Blanchar) whose wife 
doesn't know of it until the gal 
herself, thinking she has lieen 
slandered by her, calls on her and 
lets out the facts, following which 
the wife commits .suicide. Husband 
is accused of her death, to be 
acquitted in final courtrooni scene. 

Play has been well produced and 
splendidly cast. Blanchar, who is 
inclined to act stiffly before the 
camera, is okay' on stage. Mile. 
Renant is her usual able and good- 
looking self. Jean d'Yd, as the 
president of the court, is excellent, 

Mtai. 



Current Road Shows 



(Marcli 22-April 3) 
"A Cup of Trembling" — Play- 
house, Wil. (2-3).' 

"An Inspector Calls" — Nat'l, 
Wash. (29-3). 

"Annie Get Your Gun"— Nixon, 
Pitt. (22-27); Community, Hershey 
(29;3). 

"Antony and Cleopatra" — Fords, 
Balto. (22-27), Forrest, Philly (29-3). 

"Ballet Russe" — Royal Alex., To- 
ronto (29-3). 

"Blackouts of 1948" — El Capi- 
tan, L. A. (22-3). 

"Blossom Time'v^His Itf a jesty 's, 
Mont'l, (29-3). 

"Burlesque" — Selwyn, Chi (22- 
3). ■ ■ V 

"Carousel" — Met, Prov. (22-27) r 
Aud., Hartford (29r3). 

"First Mrs. Frafeet"— Plymouth, 
Bos. (29-3). 

"Harvey" — Locust, Philly (22-3). 

"Harvey"— Xud., L. Rock (22-23); 
Conv. Hall, Tulsa (24-25); Home, 
Okla. City (26-27); Forum, Wichita 
(29-30); Melba, Dallas (31-3). 

"Hold It" — Shubert, N. Haven 
(2,5-27); Shubert, Bost. (29-3). 

"I Remember Mama"— Aud., St. 
Paul (22); KRNT, Des Moines (24); 
Music Hall, K. C. (25-27); Broad-, 
way, Denver (29-31); Chlfef, Colo 
Springs (1); Aud., Boulder (2); 
Aud., Pueblo (3) 

"Inside U. S. A.»' — Shubert, 
Philly (29-3). 

"John Loves Mary"- Harris, Chi. 
(22-3). 

"Lady Windermere's Fan"— 
American, St. Louis (22-27); 
Mosque, Peoria (29); Qrpheum, 
Davenport, ■ (30); Iowa, Cedar 
Rapidij! (1); Parkway, Madison (2- 

3).. 

"Mary Had a LitOe"— Erlanger, 
Buff. (28-31); Town HaU, Toledo (1- 
3). 

"Macbeth"— His Majesty'?, Ot- 
tawa (22); His Majesty's, Mont'l 
(23-27). 

"My Romance" — Opera Hse., 
Bost. (22-3). 

"O Mistress Mine" — Biltmore, 
L. A. (22-3). 

"Oklahoma!" — Curran, Frisco 
(22-3). 

"Private Lives"— Hanna, Cleve. 
(22-27^ Nixon. Pitt. (29-4). 
"Show Boat"— Shubert, Chi. (22- 

3). , 

"Sonff of Norway"— Aud-, Me|n- 
phis (22-27); Music Hall, K. C. (28- 
2); Aud,, Topeka (3). 

''Student Prince"— O r p h e u m, 
Sioux City (29); KRNT, Des Moines 
(30-31); B]ack.stone, Cl)i. (1). 

"The Play's the Thing" — Shu- 
bert, N, Haven (1-3). 

"The Glass Menagerie"— Hanna, 
Cleve. (29-3). 

"The Red Mill"— Shubert, Bos. 
(22-27); Aud., Worcester (29-30); 
Metropolitan, Prov, (31-3?. 

"There Goes the Bride"— Town 
Hall, Toledo (22-27); American, St. 
Louis (29-3). 

"Tropical RcTiie»-<;a8s, Detroit 
(29-S). 



. Miry Morean prod«ctton'^J^om»!*av^/'%,v 
S?'ae!^?.,^a^r * 

J'^^l-e : : ::;;:::::::: : 
ce^oiu:::: :::::::: w v • • -iZTn 

iviuciitnan Pierre HueUet 

^ This comedy is based on thf 
eternal theme of the husband 
whose .jytfe cheats on him in such 
an open way that he is the onlv 
one not to realize he is a blind 
fool, living in a fool's paradise; 
Hackneyed situations and comv 
jokes abound, and though not for 
sophisticates, show^ will draw at 
the boxoffice. It's unlikely for 
America, though. 

Simone Simon, as the cheating 
woman, is very good. She gives 
an excellent performance, lookina 
better than she ever did. Her hu£ 
band is most amusingly done by 
Marcel Carpentier, virho draws 
plenty of laughs. The lover, done 
by Henry Guisol, is competent 
with other parts, including thai 
assigned himself by playwright 
Louis Ducreaux, just bits. Fran- 
cette Vemillat, still in pigtails, is 
a consummate actress and prac- 
t'f'.'iUy steals the show whenever 
she is on. Maxk 



I^n Droit d«< Rlr« 

(The Right to Laugh) / 

Paris, March 2. 

Club des cinq protluction of rovue In tW0 
acta by Plerry Diu^ «nii rornand Kauzens, 
Directed by Maurico PokrI. yds and can* 
tames by M. van Moi)p<'». Munlu by I'red 
and Jacquee Breux, Ktiu a Ti eiie Hilda and 
Dae. At Theatre du Olub flea OInq, Paris. 

WHU Irene Hilda, Pierre a>ac, Mareel 
Alma, Robert nioniP, .1(^an Tjeo, BuKUette, 
KuKene Wyl, Genevieve Vlgneau, .laeque* 
line Guerin, Ady l^ldt'lin, I'lerre Budan,/ 
Vernand HauTicna, Jamhlan, Michel Sotdow. 



This Is very conservatively budg- 
eted production, but it's highly en- 
tertaining and very well done. It's 
strictly local for the most part, be- 
ing (as implied by the title) a sa- 
tire skit on the right still left to 
the French of laughing at the dif- 
ficulties caused by governmental 
interference and red tape in most 
of their daily life, but an interna- 
tional touch is given by Irene Hil- 
da. She's bandleader Bernard Hil- 
da's sister,^ and proves that show- 
manship EUns in the family. (Sue 
also doubles at the Ambassadors). 

What makes of the various 
sketches a continuous chain is the 
appearance in most of them of a 
couple of interfering dicks cleverly 
done by Marcel Alma and Robert 
Blomc, Other unusual scenes are 
one by conjurer Michel .Seldow, 
and another with singer Pierre 
Dudan. 

Another scene is a wild west 
parody of "Manon'* with Pierre Dao 
doing the lover as a cavalry officer, 
.Tean Lec the father in the guise of 
a sheriff, and Manon done by 
Irene Hildq. She scores heavily in 
her act and is worth watching for 
musical comedy. 

Music is played by Fred Freed 
and Jacques Breux, each one 
pounding the ivories on one of the 
two pianos set on each side of the 
proscenium. ' Maxi. 



. i« «»«" 

VAoc 



ID}} rmii AviNwi 

11 5Tlk SIlMI 



aUIVCM HMIU 

Ml* 



ANNA LUCASTA 



stock 



LEONARD and COWL 
Airthor$' Rsprismtatives 

SU Fifth Aw«j. N. Y. TR 7-3082 



»1 



Literati 



CtmM. BUkium tmr PM 
BUnor S.. CWmbel, widow o* Col. 
route S. C^1«Sl 5r., ot live New , 
y«ri!: d«p*rtnieat «lore family, and 
^^illoiuii duinnun of llw i^ecenlly 
!^ig,gi«d Women Vor W«JJ*oe or- 
jjjjHtotkm,' te reparUsd io teave 
Ignemd negiVliatjanB Monday (22 1 
•rffib Marshal Field for tlie pur- 
ehase of PM, tbe N. Y. ti*. Uixjer 
TMrs. Gimliifl's plans, sbfiuld ti»e 
4eal £0 tiiroul^ sbe would become 
editor and pubUsher of the tabloid, 
fgti tostail Joiieph Queailin Biznik, 
t^taM aide to Sidney HiUcaara 
In the founding of the MatHwial 
CIO iPolilMail Action Cmnmiltee in 
jgM, as exeeuiUv« editor. 

Bizuik is a former Hearst and 
■iCi^iwen-CoIUer editor and was 
rxw$ editor of the (Tolunibia 
ilcoado$isUDg Sj'^teu} at tbe time 
XisA Hatfltor. X-^ter be was 
media coordinator f«r Glioer DaVis 
ja tbe OWL He aiu-ived in New 
York from California a montii a£o 
to woric with Mrs. <}limbei on the 
Wallace campaign. 

Mijs. Gnenbel was the lonljr wom- 
an among eight original founders 
and batters of PM in and lis 
a Ih^ngiime C9:lend of field. Her 
plans, it*s said, would be to convert 
I'M into a pro-Wallaee national tar- 
culation daily, with the ^r^sent 
fitaiS iovJlied to stay on under Guild 
<»iiteaet. The paper would he op- 
erated as a -fausiness veiriure, bow- 
ever, ratber tliajn as an adjunct 
t» tibe Wallace casnpaiffn. 

A tolal of $1300,000 reportedly 
would be involved in the transac- 
tion, with «even persons holding 
rcconveiied jAiancB, but Mrs. Gim- 
bel retaining tnajority control. 

Clintoo MtiKanbon, San Diego 
newspaper pubUsber, v\as in negio- 
. fiataon wilh Field lor several wocks 
to huy PM, but tlie deal went od d 
W;hen McKimoa was unable lo 
agdee with tbe Newspaper Ckiiild 
on tbeems sinder whicJi present I'M 
staffers woitdd be retained. 



photos, far tjae beat sports motion 

Eddie Roarkf «£ the Mempiiis 
ProBS-Sciinitar, for "consistently 
outstanding daily feataea oOhjmTis 
during VHl." Tom StsSs^, of 
United features, for *"eon!3stently j 
outstanding columns during 1947." 
Vance Jolinson, of Uie Pittsburgh 
Post-Gaxette, as outstaodiiig spoil!; 
wriiler of the year, Tom Lit^ie, oi' 
the Nashville Tennesseean, (or 
"qmsistenily ouistoiding editorial 
cartoons/' . 

Daniel F. Claney, of the Spring- 
field, O., Sun, for "oonsistently out- 
standing reportimg." A. Vernon Da- 
vis, of the Hagerslown, Md., Morn- 
ing Herald, fw bis series on Are 
hazards. Reg Abhott, of the Man- 
chester, N. H., Morning Umon, for 
his series on eoniJitioHS in the 
Roclnngbain County jails. Univer- 
sal Newsreel, for best newsreel 
cov«riage of a newji' event, scenes 
of the Texas City Bre. 



since, on aooou&jt of the devalua- 
'tion of the Ifrawes, they upped 
tbeir prices. Strangely ,«Jou^, 
Time mag has gone to 15 fcancs, 
(equivalent of while News- 

week is seJUfflg for 40 francs, about 
13c. Result is that Newswoek 
sales are increasang compared to 
Time. 



SCULLYS SCRAPBOOK 

By Frank Scully ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ - 



Dale Harntema to Obi Trib 

Bale Harrtscai, formei: Chicago 
Sun feature coteuniust who was 
dropped when the Sua and Times 
were combined ta -January, will re- 
sume \ia the CJhicago Tribune April 
5. Five-a-wcefe eolinnn will be sup- 
ported by advertisers, vnSii plugs 
in diflerent type faces inqeiited be- 
tween jgaragmphs. 



neubledays Show Biz Entries 
Ftock of ^ow hi* boolss (or al- 
lied thereto) are due from Doublie- 
day. As in fBhe instance of H, Allen 
Smith's humor anthology, "Three 
Smiths to taie Wind," Max Shul- 
man's trio is likewise being pub- 
lished' as an omnibus under title 
of "Max. Shiiilinan''js, Xi«rge Fcon- 
offlay Si»e,." • ■ 

'EUin Berlin's newest novel, 
"Lace Curtain," is due Juoe 2i. 
Book is sai^ to be partly Inograph- 
ical. 

John 'Tebbel, who did Uie book 
on tlie Marshall Fields, has'Xieoise j 
Horace Lorimer and *he Saturday 
Evening Post" due April 22. 

Uffian Laufeity, wife of M«t 
basso James Wolfe, hence knows 
her subject, treats with flue same 
vilinosphere in her novel, "Bari- 
tione," djae July 8. 



Wewspatfer Ofllee Itomance 

Whitelaw Reid, editor of the 
a. Y. Herald Itibune, is about to 
niaziij^ the daut^er of one of his 
slaffeiTs. His eogagemcol was .an- 
nounced on Sunday (21) to Joan 
Bcasdoa, whose mother is I>arolhy 
iBcaadoD, editor of the Trib'^ ooce- 
*«f«elc *Young Modems" page. 
Vtaaat is nVi years old and a 
«lndrat at Barnard College. Keid 
.l»about34. 

^ Mr s. Brandon was hired away 
feom a Pittsburgh paper by Beid- 
to do Ihe "Young Modems" page. 
She originated it there. She en- 
listed itihe aid of Beid's inotiicr, 
Mi-s. Helen Keid, putelisher of tJhe 
Trib and a Barnard trustee, in en- 
rolling her daughter in the college. 
Miss Brandon soon after that be- 
came a ftequmt woefcend visitor 
to ^ fieid estate at J'urchase, 
T. Marrli^ is set for Jnly. 



Miss Kami's '^Repeat' 

"Repeat With Laughter," new 
novel by Kiizabeth Dewing Kaup 
<Applctou - Ctntuiy -Kroft; $2.75), 
is an incredible story of an -actress 
Who remains .so mintctdously young 
and bea!ati£al that .she's able to 
onastiruetaMdle as her own daughter 
and, at 73, is taloen for 30. It in- 
eludes two references to Varh^ty, 
"oae of which is apparently sup- 
posed to be a typical legit review 
tuom this papi^. Fcanctne Larri- 
nuoHre is iteponted intezested in 
.stairing in « dramatization of the 
yam., ■, ■ 

TSie araihoness, who's written 
several previoMS novels, is a former 
slock actress and once condticted 
a radio series. She's the mother of 
legit actress Elicabeth Dewing. 

Hobe. 



Stwn 'Plays' Oont Play 
"The GcrtiTHJe Stein JlESt Bead- 
and Three Plays" <Hioughton 



Scre\N^ll Center, March 21. 
.Tust what I feared would happen, has. jPress agents for psychlatristt 
have begun patching. One of them wqo*:rs if his tjiient couldn't get 
a break on aecount he is curing Hollywood's psychoses with music. He 
Ihiiew some high-class namCs around as amoiiig the patients of his couch 
consultant. ■ , 

I tr)ld hiasi I'd be glad lo if he didn't fear in turn that Pctrilio's at- 
tentitHj-callers would spot that here was a soMirce ot iiiu;$icai app^ecia- 
tion which was not paying oil'. He rnuUed tills one over for a Baoment, 
then said he guessed I was right. 

HoUj'wood is full of peculiar cross-moljvations, and this one, where 
everybody wants publicity without loss of privacy, is a common psycho- 
sis. That's why stars use every device to get tlieir names in print and 
then so to fantastic lengths to keep tbeii- names out of telej^one books. 

s in turn has created an entinely new industry. Private addresses, 
mad phone numbers. t>rtaln stars cliange (jheir numbers once a" 
njontii. This kecips tlie number-tapptTs in business furnishing the new 
numbers. It's jnuch like the iprofit derived from razorblades, with the 
rawr itself thrown an as a giveaway. 

Tlie phone company's rwtine is: "The subscriber jdianged his 
nuduber and has instiucted us not to give out the new number." This 
infuriates tbe caUer, foicing him into the black market for it. 

Ai'ways free 'with advite, I 'have a l*e1ter way, Tliat is tiO put the 
plionc in a relative's maiden name and permit it and tlie address to be 
listed as such. Tlicre is one dofect in this however. If the caller 
merely ask.s for the telephone number at 2071 Grace avenue he will 
get you. But few are smart enough to imakc that simple approach. 
. Of course, all of this does not protect you from the direct ajjproach 
of the U. S. mails, jh .pixxjess-sci-^'ei- or a Western Union "boy."' 

(Only the other night I was .setting O'ut for a iiound of unreginiented 
igairty uith BiU Cunningham, Uic Boston strong boy; Budy Vallee, tlie 
half-opened eyes Maine's potato crop, and J. P. MjcG!v<oy, Ihe paun- 
crcatic juicer of Reader's Digest, -vrhen a oouilcr handed me a note 
ivom the diiKctMr «f *tt and culture in Chicago. It fumed out to be no 
friendly exdianee between free {peoples, but an ultiroatoin. The com- 
3iiunil-i2iie demanded: - 

IF YOU DONT OONTmVE THAT PSYCHIATRIC HANDBOOK 



Mifflin, ?3>), believed to be Ite last : ^''.^^S^.^^^Ji^ 



Ballyho* Hack 

iMl IHibUcations brought back 
a touch of the thi'Tsty 'Ms this 
vjeck -willn the reappearance on 
*«wssftaHds «« Ballyhoo. Format 
«f the slick-paper tnag is much the 
as before, with its sligia'ly- 
*cniM»d .sejc parodied iSas, car- 
wow and takeout ma. olher mags. 

Elmer in fact, is sUMr the 
toiture attraction. ItH sell lor 



Headliners' Awards 
The National Headliners' Club, 
TOicfe wiU bold its 15th annual 
*»llc ])«« June 18-20, announced 
«M Friday (19,) winners of 20 
awardb and one Ironorable inen- 
uon after a panel of 11 judges had 
Jiiade their selections the weekend 
Before. 

Medal winners .included: Daniel 
Be Lmce, of the AP, for consistemt- 



ntelson's Anthology 
H. William Fitclson picked a 
dozen of the Theatre Guild's i-adio 
productions' for this' book, "Thea- 
tre Guild on the Air," Rinehai-t; 
$3 and his selections couldn't be 
better to diow the student writer 
and general public that a great 
deal of original %riting is done by 
the author of a radio play when 
translating the story for the ak. 

Such standards as ".Strange In- 
terlude," "The Guardsman," "Sil- 
ver Cord," "On Borrowed Time," 
"Ah Wilderness," "Three Men on a 
iH-o r s e , ' ' "Paymnent Deferred," 
"Dead End." "They iCnew What 
They Wanted," 11 Renaeniber 
Mama'" and -"The Show Off" are 
included in this anthology. The 
Guild's piesentations of these 
plays on the air have received fine 
oomment fTom nearly all the radio 
critics. Especially fiood is the 
comment made by each of tlhe 
radio adapters, telling about tboir 
particular pirobilems in tran.spo.sing 
the origliHd play for the rjidio. 

It is a book 'that is not only in- 
teresting reading tout very infor- 
mative lo ithe student writer of 
any medium. It gives you am idea 
of tlie tiechnique employed in 
■tnansposinig a play to radio .form 
by topnotch writers. A must for 
any writer's iefei«nee or reading 
shelf. ; ' Jbc Lowrie, Jr, 



book by the late exponent of im 
pressionistic lit'oatnre, is supposed 
to be a "juvenile for adults." It's a 
slim volume (83 pages) and the 
"Plays" run only four, none and 13 
pages, respectively. 

None of the "Plays" is really 
for sla,ge jtireseMtation, though they 
I or the "Reader"), might be suit- | 
abile monoiog maleirial for a Sid i 
Caeser, who's pretty hasHly with 
doubletalk, too. 



CANCEL MY SUBSdOPTlOXr TO 

FUND. 



CHATTSai 

1 iDale Kramer is writing a biog «[ 
Heywood Bronn for psafolication bv 
A. A. Wyn. it's not yet titled. 

"Allegro," the Richard Biodgers- 
Oscar Hamiserstein, 2d, musical, 
'wiil be published April 5 by Knopf. 

Sleanor ^bert Pariser and Jack 
Star have formed an authors agency 
to handle SdSon and comtaercial 
■writing. 

"Supplement Two: The Ameri- 
can Language," the iBaal volume 
in ii. L. Mencken's .series,' will be 
published April 5 by Knopf. 

Gov. Earl Wanren of California 
is wriiing a piece on tine inotiion 
picture industry for Che anniversary 
issue lof 'Screen Writer, SWG mag. 

Dwight- Perrin, exec ed of Syra- 
cuse (N. Y.) Uerald-Joumal, re- 
tuimod this week after recuper- 
I ating in Bermuda from long illness 
' siege. 

Songsniith -Imold Shaw controls 
"Love Is -a Four-iictter Word," 
by April Tayha- (mom-dfrplume ) 
which Beechhurst Fiess is pub- 
lishing. 

Evelyn Waugh's new-novel, 'Tl*e 
Loved One," is based on a satirical 
yarn he wrote for Life mag, about 
a Hollywo(8d cemetery. It's slated 
t'oi- publication in August. 

William Saney, executive editor 
of Binehart, oftf to Europe on the 
Queen Elitabeth March 27, with 
England, France, Italy and the 



niiaois' Beporter Safecnards 

1 1 1 i n Q i s state representative 
Charles 11. Weber is drafting a bill 

to protect Illinois reporters f rom | Lowiands as his itinerary- chiefly 

I on publi.shing business ha™g to ■ £^^3^^^^ 



legal action for failure to i-cveaJ a 
news source. Hill will be intro- 
duced at next ^session of the legis- 
lature. 

Weber, publisher of a Oliicago 
cotTjmunity paper, said the pro- 
po.sSed legislation is sindlar to that 
under ctmsideration in New York. 
States tliat already grant reper- 
torial immunity are Alabama. Ari- 
zona, Indiiuia, Kentucky, Maryland, 



It .was signed: ASHTON STEVENS. 

I had Ijoiied I could coibie and go on that labor of love as I p!ea.sed. 
But here 'was an order to drop the pursuit of happiness and sot to 
■work on raoipe viieseaivh— ^«r else. 

There -was mone to the uttinialuni. but , it was practically a deaiand 
th'dt we di.scl«»se our toprdrawer- secrets. 

"Confidentially," added the dean of American culture, "What do 
you have lo have wi Yatxetv to gel Utcrature in it? I mean what do 
you have to have?"' . 

Once Howard Stiikling, feeding ais L. B. Mayer's pet diicken soup 
in tlic M-G-M commis.saiy. asked 3f we had seen a certain picture. 

"No," said Little AlitMC in Blunderltind, "^e must be on your B-li.st, 
because we didn't get invited to that one." 

The director of public relations stopped all dining. In measured 
tones he anraoiunced: 

■■•We liawe no B list." 

Well in psychiatry we have. Hejie it is. Mr. Stevens: 

Rahcwftt TesA. Measures mental deterioration. Naated after a pro- 
ducer named Babcock who began as a vieepresident in charge n( pro- 
duction and ended as a production in charge -of viccpresidsnts. 

Babinski Sisra. Indicates a lesion involving the pyramidal tract. 
Yes-men who make a tetter O of lihumb and first finger when their 
producer jjuinif ests pleasure over a scene he himself iiomembered fvom 
another picture and wrote an th<e jscript. 

Bar«giwsis. lioss of power to edsinate weights. Stars gone fat and 
insisting on being photographed with slendei-izing leaises. Theatre 
managers who pad grosses for publication. 

Barosnotas. Ability to recognize wcis'ht. Handicappers Syndrome. 
Housewives' who can spot a butcher's Juirad on the .scales. 

Baryyhonia. Difficulty in emitting words. Mike fright Harpo . 
Marxism. 

Bayle's Disease. Horse-owners »*io can't pay (their hay Wlte. 
Beilbun, BeHhhAem Bosal hospital, LAndon. iMadbouse. ■ VmmAei 
in 1547. Transfemed to Hollywood when sound <caKie' to pidntet In 

lim. ' . . , 

B^viorist. A psychologist who has no couch, who behaves himself. 
Bell's Disease. Acute delirious mania. Producers who ■scream "Get 
me that numbskull so-and-so, and if the New York call comes in cut 
Mm iinmedialely." Directors wbo cry "Well, that take* hit the 
bell!" Esdiibitors wbo believe any picture with "^Beir an the title will 
hit it. 

Bell's IParalysis. Fadal affection of the ^eventii nerve of dunectors, 
piNsducei^ and eicbibitots on learning their "Bell" pkrture i£ a tSop. 

Benis^n Stupor. Manic deprcssives who say they •will never make 
iiwotiher adult picJjure if this one jKincatoes. 
Beiiien. Favorable to rocwery. People who cant cosmt to 10. , 
Benien Tresdd, Preoccupation with adult intere^. Pei^fe who read 
Aiquina.s in projection rooms. 

Bemrenter Test. A "yes" or "no" test. Popular with legislative 
committees who eu'vy the Hooper rating of the radio program, "Mr. 



Paris Biz IVorsens 

Controversy between French 
piiess mad govemnaent as to how 
nwich space former could print and 
what price to charge has been set- 
lied by the goveraanent in giving 
the papers the option of going on 
printing on four sides for tiive 
francs la little under 2c.) or print- 
ing six sitles (three pages) 'foi- 
eight frantj! (less than 3r.). To date 
the publistjers have taken no action 
and papers are still appearing in 
the old format. 

Paris newspaper business is get- 
ting worse and worse. 'Unere are 
talc too jnany daffies and maiga- 
eines, and the sales off American 
mags have dmpped (soiii^erabily 



w.OBlstainding foreign news report- New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsyl- ser 
,*Bg based on his coverage of the vania. 
JjSS*^ situation to Europe during 
. '^T. AP news features, for "de- 
velopment of pictorial Sournalism" 
TO the creation oC "Picture Show." 

Washington Post for '"oulsland- 
•mg public service *iy a newspaper" 
t ui iits presentation of an explana- 
Oon ©f iiie Marshall Plan. 

Vrtwdon Paiics and Alifred Ivay, 
M the San Francisco Chronicle, for 
witstanding domestic" news ,re- 
SW'tMig,'' Jack-Vincent, of line Day- 
ton, O., Herald, for an "outsland- 
?^ domestic news series ' on .stato 
*wpitai coniUlions in Ohio. Bob 
JriUnaa, of the New York Mirror, 
• *«hra iihoito, "List Mile." 

.JrtHal Calveirt, of the ^ An«eles 
™s. ««r his photo. '"Beach »ra«- 
cigs. Jerry, «I J^xhik news- 



do with accumtflated wai'tune niat- j Bestiality. Script writers who marry cuUes. 

. .. . Beta Test Iritelligence tost devised lor producers who can't read 

Ma,|. Fred May, lormer Missoi.n | j^_st Syndj-ome. " 

scA-Jbe, an-dval in lokyo to re- j ^^^y Giant cell in motor area of cortex. Pjsesent in stage 

place Ca.pt. Glenn J^P as chief | ^^^^1,6,^ especially ones who keep saying, "Cobm! now, Mofeesr' knows 
at Gonenal MacArthnr's Press , g^^^ ., ' ' 

Branch, Public Inl'oimation Office. ! jj^psvchic. The next cycle ^ pictuipes to foMow .'Sstraight'* 
Trump, former Vabiety corre- I • ' 

spondent, is retnanlng to the States 
lor discharge allter six years of 



The Authors Guild has begun 
operation of its assessment-based- 
on-earnings plan and members 
were circularized last week with 
instmctions in oomputmg assess- 
anents and to sdeot one of three 
methods of payment. The assess- 
mente were approved la^ fall by 
the membership. 

Ezra Goodman headed Coast- 
ward yesterday fTues.) for hack- 
ground on a series of mag articles j 
on .lohn Huston, CharUe Feldman. I 

Paul Muntz, B. Reeves Eason and i trade department of Knofa, has 
others. He has a vam on Jeriy ' joined the Macrae-Smith editorial 



ibiiograpliies. 

Blepharospasm. Involwuatory blinking «C ey^ds. Aiudieaoes who cry 
just becaufie there'* glycerin on the screen and Baiibara Stanwyck 
walks into it wearing a Willkie button. 

Bourdon'^ Test, For alertness. Subject is told to cross out every 
ffl and 1) on a printed page. Avoids b's for fear of being typed. 

Brachyoepha3ou.s. Broadheaded. Not to be confused 'with broad-' 
minded, or other anima. . ■ ■ ' 

Bradykinctac. Slow moventcnbs. Fpreign ^}it&^gss. idea of feelings 
too deep for espression. 

Bradylalia. Slow speech due to brain lesion. Cojniaon to directors 
.suH'ering from Bradyldneticism. 

Boliaiia, Morbid increase, of appetite. Trade nubs who ane sure 
they're getting ulcers apd inust -store up fat against the dte^ias days 
ahead. ■ 



Wald .in the May issue of Harper s, 
and Coronet's July issue will tca- 
ture an article .titled "Arc the 
Movies A Menace?" 

Helen Hotter, formerly assistani 
to Alfred A. Knopf, Jr., to the 



.sta'JX, specializing on juvenile 
books. 

Oharies A. Hughes, editor and 
publisher of DAC News, official 
monthly of the Detroit Athletic 
Club, out of the Fold hospitol fwl- 



lowing an op, but will i«cup 3-4 
weeks at home. ■ ■ 

With its issue of last November, 
when it began using a pictorial 
icover. the Atjantic aM»nthi^ circu- 
liation jumped approxiaiaitoly 36,- 
500, to a total «£ il8fi.717. Its news- 
stand sales lust alMoat dmdied. 



CHATTER 



Broadway 



Rinehart mulling a book on Jolrn 
©olden. , ^ .. , 

Leopold (Loew's veepee) Fried- 
man back from Palm Beach holi- 

Rose Dugan in Mt. Sinai hospi- 
tal under treatment for cardiac ail- 
ment. . , , 

Ken Englund, Hollywood 
scripter, east, working on a Broad- 
way play. , 

Leon Siritzky saife for former 
home in Paris today. Be gone 
three months, 

Sid Field, British comedian, will 
do "Harvey" in London. Field's on 
his first U. S. visit. 

Lynne James, pianist at Town 
House, recuping from appendec- 
tomy at the Gotham hospital. 

Arnold Shaw now signs himself 
veepee of Duchess Music, BMI 
affiliate of Leeds Music (ASCAP). 

Charles McDonald, RKO theatre 
exec in N. Y. area, back at desk 
after bQing bedded by flu for weelt. 

Joseph Seider, prexy of Pruden- 
tial Playhouses, back from a 38-day 
South American cruise on Mon- 
day (22). 

Booker T. Washington Birth- 
place Memorial Fund out to raise 
S235,D00. Arthur Pme handling 
the bally. 

Alan Anderson is stage manager 
of the revue, "Inside tr.S.A.," tis'- 



Santa 
a few 
nitery 
Monty 



ing out next week at the Shubert, 
Philadelphia. 

Inner Circle $25 per plate dia 
ner at the Hotel Astor Sunday (21) 
featured a skit billed "A Streetcar 
Framed O'Dwyer." 

Freddie Cheviantone, who 
maitre de'd at the Carnival (N. Y.) 
before going to Florida, will be 
Bradley's headwaiter. 
' Film importef-exporter Jacques 
Grinieff planed to London over 
the weekend. Returns next week 
after also visiting Paris. 

Meyer Hutner, formerly in the 
Carl Erbe flackery and onetime 
pressagent for Billy Rose, has 
joined 20th-Fox press dept. 

Chester Erskine, pro d u c e r- 
scripter of "Universal's "All My 
Sons," arrives in New York tomor- 
row'<Thurs.) from the Coast. 

Yolanda, French chanteuse, 
known to GIs as "the Gallic Hilde- 
garde," makes her' American debut 
at the Blue' Angel this week. 

Ben (News) Gross and Charles 
(Times) Zemer having their first 
play, "What This Town Needs," 
making the Broadway rounds. 

"Third Person" to be presented 
by Lassor H. Grosberg, co-producer 
of "An Inspector Calls" and Al 
Rosen to be general manager. 

French chanteuse Edith Piaf 
planed to Paris but returns to New 
York in October for a three-month 
repeat engagement at the Yer- 

Robert Bryn of "Allegro" (Ma- 
jestic) sang lead in concert version 
of "Tannhauser" at the Met Fri- 
day (19) under his right name, 
Bemauer. 

Susaii Peters, paraplegic screen 
star, making the nitery rounds in 
her wheelchair, squired by her 
brother and Columbia Pictures' 
Bay Murray. 

Dave Wolper,' former owner of 
tfaie Hurricane and onetime legit 
jE^Oducer , now . a St * ■ Petersburg 
i^epticide manufacturer, is visit- 
ing Broadway haunts. 

ifjA- Soon as George Abbott com- 
plete the staging of the "High But- 
ton Shoes" road company, he'll be- 
gin preparations to direct "Clutter- 
bujjk" for Roland IJaas. 

L. N. Schultz, chief engineer of 
Maoquarie Network. Melbourne, 
in from England Thursday (18) for 
Institute of Radio Engineers con- 
vention in N.Y. this week. 

Jules C. Stein (MCA) in town 
for a month on business. MCA 
about ready to move into its new 
$7th and Madison Bldg. Chase 
Bank is one of the lessees. 

Bert Bloch, 20th-Fox's eastern 
story ed, who has been recuper- 
ating from an illness at the home 
of bis wife's family in Greensboro, 
N. C., due back at his desk ApriL S. 

Sir Ernest Pooley,' chairman of 
the Arts Council of Great Britain, 
scheduled to arrive next Tuesday 
(30) under auspices of the Rocke' 
feller Foundation, has cancelled 
his vjjiit. 

Robert Garla«d inaugurated a 
series of lectures entitled "Current 
Broadway Theatre" last Wednes- 
day (17) at Queens College, at 
school's Play Shop headed by John 
Newman. 

Charles Palmer, east from Dis- 
ney studios for temporary script- 
ing stint with Louis de Rochmont 
Associates, stays on indefinitely 
following inking of a new deal with 
de Rochmont. 

-Lillian Nadei Gerard named exec 
assistant to Jacques Chabrier 
American rep of Pathe Cinema and 
director Of the new Paris theatre 
She's the wife of Phil Gerard 
Mj^tro press agent. 

Ted Straeter's band into the 
Directoire (nee Cafe Society Up 

fm) with Kay Thompson & Wil 
ms Bros. April 1 when Herbert 
Boby-Max Gordon take it over, 
a $9 minimum scale. 
Paul Lazarus, Jr., UA pub^ad 



chief, due back today (Wednesday), 
following three weeks on the coast 
huddling with UA producers on 
pieture campaigns; also a short 
vacation at Palm Springs. 

Gracie Fields to her 
Monica home to rest for 
weeks, following strenuous 
schedule. Comedienne and 
Banks celebrated their 14th wed- 
ding anniversary last week. 

Cartoonist William Steig has de- 
signed the dolls and written a 12- 
minute act for puppeteer Remo 
Buffano. Turn has been auditioned 
for a break-in at the Blue Angel, 
N. Y., prior to theatre dates. 

Robert Breen, exec, sec of the 
American National Theatre ^ 
Academy, due back by plane last 
midnight (Tues) from Dallas, 
where he attended the festival 
week of Margo Jones' Theatre '48. 

Shirley Graf, former N. Y. 
Mirror amusements writer, going 
out with Gloria Swanson Saturday 
(27) as the actress' personal rep on 
her six-weeks toUr as replaeement 
for Ilka Chase in "There Goes the 
Bride." 

Wayne Pierson has 'had two of- 
fers since he started his new 
moustache; one ftom his wife» 
Lulu, to get the heck x)ut of the 
house and the other from "Men 
of Distinction" not to change to 
Calvert's. 

Elliott Silverman, recently with 
the Fordham Univ. drama school, 
has joined the Barter Theatre, 
Abmgdon, Va., as iightlng techni-, 
cian. He was engaged Uitough the 
American National Theatre & 
Academy. ' 

Adrienne d'Ambricourt, film ac^ 
tress and former member of the 
Comedie Francaise, sailed for 
France yesterday" (Tues.) aboard 
the De Grasse. Ship's other pasr 
sengers included French violinist 
Zino Francescatti. 

Copacabana boniface Monte 
Proser and the William Morris 
agency's George Wood patched up 
an eight-year old quarrel last week, 
when Wood brought Proser in as 
producer for the Jay Gorney-Barry 
TMvers musical "Heaven on Earth." 

Clifford C. Fischer, Martha Raye, 
Nick Condos, British Technicolor's 
managing director Kay Harrison 
and Columbia Pictures Interna- 
tional's veepee • treasurer Jack 
Segal among those sailing to Bri- 
tain on the Queen Mary last week. 
1 Ted Gamble, prez of Theatre 
Owners of America, acting as I 
chairman of the Franklin D. Roose- 
velt memorial fund drive which 
tees off in 1949. Spyros Skouras, 
Harry Warner and Frank Walker 
serving as board members of the 
foundation. 

Plans for establishment of the 
Theresa Helburn Chair of the 
Drama at Bryn Mawr Collegte were 
announced yesterday (Tues.) at a 
reception in honor .of Miss Hel* 
bum. Gathering was cbairmanned 
by Brock Pemberton who heads a 
fund-raising committee for tl^e 
drama project. 



"Cockpit" skedded to (flose at 
the Plajmouse April 10. , ^ 

Olive May (Countess of Drog- 
heda), former Gaiety girl, left 
around $112,000., . 

Ram Gopal Indian Ballet season 
at the SaviUe extended by two 
weeks to April 3._^ ^ 

Andy Rataucheff, midget in Ol- 
son and Johnson company, had 
nervous breakdown and is now 
undergoing treatment at Charing 
Cross Hospital. , 

Peter Glenvllle to present- 
"Major Barbara" at the Arts Thea- 
tre Club April 21, with the produc- 
tion he's been recently" touring 
mining villages. , 

Francoise Rosay to appear m 
Sydney Box's "Alien Corn," one 
of Somerset Maugham's four 
stories in "Quartet" being filmed 
by Gainsborough. , 

Anna Neagle voted most popular 
screen actress in recent poll bv 
London DaUy Express and- with 
her partner, Michael Wilding, most 
popular romantic couple. 

Patricia Roc's next film appear- 
ance will be opposite Eric Portman 
in an adaptation by Bridget Boland 
of Hugh Walpole'a "The KUler and 
the Sbin." %rold French to dl- 
rcct ■ 

"Little Lambs Eat Ivy," by Noel 
Langley, new Linnit & Dunfee 
production, opens at Ambassadors 
April 8, replachig "Sweetest and 
Lowest," which, with its tvro earlier 
editions, has occupied the theatre 
for tliree years. . 



the 



has now cleared up his tangle with 
Warner* Bros. 

"Therese Baquin," Mtarcelle Mau- 
rette's dramatization of Emila Zo- 
la's novel, will be done by her at 
the Gymnase, , . , , ,, ^ 

Alfred Cortot, musical director 
under the Petain regime, suing the 
musicians union because It refused 
to play for his concert last fall. 

Roger Ferdinand, prexy of Au- 
thors Society, to have his new play, 
"They Are Aged 20," ioUow his hit, 
"Three Boys, One Girl," at the 
Daunou. . . 

Jacques Haik, who already got 
his Cinema Francais back from 
government control, is now battling 
to regain full control of the Olym- 
pia and Normandie. 

Victor Francen to take pajft of 
Rene Lefaur in revival of Jacques 
Deval's "Tovarich" at the Made- 
leine, opposite Elvire Popesco, who 
was In the Original produt^on. 



on 



By Florence S. Lowe 

Cliff "Ukelele Ike'' Edwards cur- 
rently at Club C!airo. 

The De Marcos, who recently 
broke all records at Shoreham's 
Blue Room, skedded to return early 
next month. 

Elliott Roosevelt represented 
family at benefit preem of "The 
Roosevelt Story" at newly opened 
Dupont past week. 

Merrie Smith, Eric Johnston's 
secretary, returned from her Brit- 
ish jaunt and checked into hospi- 
tal for treatment of bad cold. 

Paul Foley's - Airport Drive-In 
won spring opening sweepstakes 
for the outdoor theatres past week- 
end, with other two outdoor spots 
skedded to follow suit within week. 

Sheraton hotel reports biz up in 
its Lounge by new policy of "glam- 
orizing waitresses" with show girl 
cheese-cake. A trend probably due 
to spread to other hotels in chain. 
, District Theatres, chain of 26 
negro houses in Baltimore, Wash- 
ington and Virginia, held a two-day 
pow-wow here last week, with pres-; 
ident Harry Freedman hedding up 
confabs. 



By Larry SoUoway 
Bugs Baer and. family at 
Tarleton. 

Jackie Miles and family planed 
out Saturday (20). 

Jerri Blanchard into Mother 
Kelly's Thursday (25). 

Dave Vine in town for son Billy's 
engagement at the Copacabana. 

Paddock club dropping shows 
and going to two dance band setup. 

Leslie Charteris and wife head- 
ing Coastward after extended stay 
here. . 

Joe E. Lewis planed to Coast 
Monday (22) to join wife, Martha 
Stewart. 

Miss Miami Beach contest fit 
Lord Tarleton netted $1,000 for 
Cancer Fund. 

Eileen Barton into Clover Club, 
joinmg the Vagabonds, ZarcO & 
Beryl and Aurora Boche-Garlyle 

The jack (Columbia Pix) Cohns 
celebrating their 3Sth wedding 
anni at the King Cole hotel here 
this week. 

Sammy Kaye, at Boca Raton for 
annual southern vacant, broadcast 
Sunday (21) from gardens Of the 
swank resort, 

Sophie Tucker, set for vacash, 
broke two toes in fall at Veterans' 
hospital (Pratt General) Friday 
(19), while doing benefit «how. Had 
to cancel Boston engagement and 
virlU recup here. 

Tony Martin heads for Boston 
and preem of his latest pic, '^Cas- 
bah," following current Beach- 
comber stint,' then to Europe, with 
Beachcomber (>p Ned Schuyler, 
making trip with him. 

Guy Lombardo and Tommy Dor- 
sey joined for Barry Gray Copa 
broadcast the other' ayem. Lom- 
bardo will try for speedboat record 
next week, on course along Indian 
Creek. Brother Carmen also in 
town.. 



Arthur Lee Sifitipkins, singer, ill 
with pneumonia. . , , 

Johnny . Coy, the. hoofer, and 
Alan Carney set for State-Lake, 
April 2, 

Mrs. Danny Graham, wife of 
MCA booker, recuping from recent 
operation. . . .■ , 

Bob Hope will preside at the 
Chi Board of Trade's 100th anni 
testimonial April 3. . . , 
Freddie Williamson, of Associ- 
ated Booking, in Chi Osteopathic 
hospital for checkup. ' , , 

Glenn Ford here from Coast for 
confabs with Leo Salkin, local 
head of William Morris. 

Ml-, and Mrs. George Brown, he's 
Paramount's studio publicity chief, 
here to attend wedding of their 
son. 

Shirley Temple apd actor-hus- 
band John Agar coming in to at-- 
tend the preem of "Fort Apache" 
at Palace. . „ . , 

Clark Gable and Howard Strick- 
land, of MeUo's pubUcity staff, 
here to discuss promotion plans 



for "Homecoming" preem. 

J. J. Shubert here conferring 
with Sam Gerson, local Shubert of- 
fice head, op reopening of remod- 
eled Great Northern theatre, April 
12. . • ■ ■■■■ 

Steve Cochran in from Holly- 
wood to see his wife, Fay McKen- 
zie, who is co-starring with Bert 
Lahr in "Burlesque" at the Sel- 
wyn. 



Paris 



New Haven 

By Harold M. Bone 

Daggett Lee on last lap of his 
Woolsey Hall concert series. 

Maurice Bailey now chairman of 
Variety Club Tent 31 welfare 
committee. 

Mickey Wren shaping up his 
third annual Sports Follies for 
Arena run, May 5-9. 

WBIB etherizing backstage in- 
terviews and lobby broadcasts at 
Shubert legit openings, 

Two preems skedded for early 
dates at Shubert are "Hold It," 
March 25-27, and "Play's the 
Thing," April 1-3. 

Yale Drama Dept. set "Listen, 
My Children," by Norman W. Ash- 
ton, as next big show March 24- 
27, at University theatre. 



By Maxime de Beix 
Joe Hummel off to Rome. 
Dave Lewis on a middle East 
survey. 

Paul Wmckler on quick trip to 
America. 

Charles Campbell suffering from 
throat ailment. 

Comedie Francaise prepping 
London season this fall. 

Ed Pendleton promoted concert 
at the American Church in Paris. 

Metro's Spanish head Cesar Al- 
ba and wife at Plaza Athenee for 
short visit. 

Henry Lartigue, ex-Metro head 
here, enjoying an indef rest for 
the first time. 

E. Marks bought- film rights to 
"Dame du Cirque," Guy des Cars 
bestseller on tent life. 

Claude Dauphin to film his 
legiter, "Bal des Pompiers" ("Fire- 
men's Ball"), a resistance story. 

Ingrid Bergman hitting Paris 
screens with two pictures on same 
day, "Notorious" and "Spellbound, 

"Peine Capitale" run at Fran 
caise Luxembourg suspended on 
account of illness of actress Renee 
Faure. 

Steve Passeur to have hi 
"Demoiselle en Smoking" produced 
in Brussels and Geneva before it 
hits Paris. 

Fourteen-year-old ballerina Bet- 
ty-Josette Clavier a hit as star in 
"Malheurs de Sophie," new ballet 
at the Opera. 

Andre Magnus inking manage- 
ment pact with Yves Montand, who 



Detroit 



at 



By SJbn IVonto 
Mickey's SHow Bar reopened. 
Herb Jeffries current feature 
Bowery. . ■ , 

Kay Robinson joins Dublnettes 
at Bowery. 

Herb Jeffries penciled into Bow- 
ery week of March 22. 

Ruth ' Wallis opened in Town 
Pump Room, March 18. 

Singer Bunny Paul in 18th 
month at Palm Beach Club. 

Buddy O'Day, comic, to Chicago 
after 6-month run at Empress. 

Audrey Nelson joined four 
other girl singers at Cafe Bur- 
gandy. 

Mike Sachs, blind burlesque 
comedian, to Boston for more eye 
surgery. 

Pat O'Shea, Irish tenor from 
Coast, to Columbus, O., to fill two- 
week spot. . * 

Kay Carson, singer-comedienne, 
fiew in from Coast to open at 
Penobscot Club. 

Ross Chepeleff resigned from 
publicity staff of Detroit Civic 
Light Opera Co. 

Charlene Harmer ' quit Fox the- 
atre drum thumping after raves 
for her work in Robert Hampton's 
production of ."Death Takes a 
Holiday." She hopes to land on 
Broadway. -- 



, Mywood 

^ Merian ©joper in from Mexico 

moiff ^^^^ P«eu. 

Leon Errol'around after a week 
in the hospital. 

Joe Bigelow rushed to the ho*, 
pital after a heart attack. 

Georgette Windsor recuperatina 
from emergency appendectomy 

Jean Simmons, British star, nav. 
ing her first visit to -Hollywood 

Keenan Wynn tore ligament in 
right shoulder in fall at his horn? 
^ William Elliott to Baton RouRe 
? 10-week rodeo toui' 

Eddie Cantor produced the show 
for Dnarte Sanitarium benefit ffi 
ner. ^ 
Sid Field in from London to bn 
guest of honor at the Masquers 
dinner. 

Sam Dembow in town to confer 
with Mary Plckford on future pro- 
duction. . 

Elisha Cook, Jr., started hir25th 
year as a thesp in ''Tlie Great Gats- 
by" at Par. 

Darrylin Zanuck, daughter of the 
20th-Fox studio chief, taijured in tu 
auto accident. 

Lana Turner out of hospital with 
a brace on her arm, injured in fall 
on set at Metro. 

Alf Jorgensen. Swedish pro- 
ducer, in town for, confabs with 
David O. Selznick. 

Bing Crosby doing spring train- 
ing with his favorite ball club, tbt 
Pittsburgh Pirates. 

New Zealand Ambassador 
Carl Berendsen ganderlng ' film 
production at Metro. 

Mrs. Florence Hubbard, winner 
of the Walking Man contest, 
gandering film studios. 

Glenn Strange, film monster, 
broke a foot while monstcring in 
U's Frankenistein picture. 

South Africa 

By Joe Hanson 

Will Hay, British stage and radio 
artist, here to recuperate from re- 
cent serious illness. 

South African National Theatre 
movement launched with staging 
of "Dear Brutus" in Cape Town, 

Enrique Jorda, new conductor of 
Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, 
kudosed after batoning ih:st con* 
cert. , ^ 

"Historic Cape Town," first of 
Technicolor shorts made for Movie- 
tone by cameraman Jack Painter, 
released at 20th-Fox, Johannes- 
burg. 

Dutch Reformed Church to make 
religious and educational films in 
English and Afrikaans (Dutch), 
Capital of £90,000 ($366,250) re- 
quired, Of which less than half has 
so far been raised. , „ 

Universal - International Films 
offers prize of a six-month contract 
in a beauty contest organized in 
collaboration with African Con- 
solidated Theatr§s throughout 



Australia 

By Eric Gorrick 

Wirth's Circus in Sydney for 
Lent. Biz brisk. 

Wolfe Cohen, Warner's foreign 
head, planes in April 1. 

Bookings tremendous for Old 
Vic Co. at Capitol, Perth. 

Syd Albright, 20th-Fox head 
here, planes to N. Y. April 3 for 
h.o. huddles. 

Doris. Fritton is playing in ''The 
Little Foxes" at Majestic, Adelaide, 
for the Fullers. 

Sir Ben Fuller compelled by biz 
to postpone his trip abroad for an-; 
other 12 months. 

Ballet Rambert still sock at the 
Tivoli, Sydney, for D. D. O'Con 
nor-British Council, 

Grand opera at the Princess, 
Melbourne, for , Fullers - Carroll, 
with a local setup, is doing okay. 

Bob Kerridge, head of the Ker- 
ridge New Zealand loop, on biz 
visit. He's a SO'/o partner in Rank 
setup in N. Z. 

"Under the Counter" reopens at 
Royal, Sydney, March 27. British 
star. Cicely Courtneidge, who was 
ill, okay again. 

Bob Parrish, U.S. ^nger, is here 
on second visit f on Dave Martin's 
Tivoli loop. He's presently on loan 
to the Hoyts' cinema loop. 



South Africa and Rhodesia. 



By Sven G. Winquist 
'Born Yesterday" celebrSiing its 
fifth month at the New theatre to 
capacity business. „, 

Some four new Czech mm 
slated for distribution here W 
Nordisk • Tonefilm. ' _, 
Producer-writer-actor Hasse JiK- 
man leaving Europa Film Co. and 
back to Terra Film Co. , 

Terra Film Co., Swedish produc- 
tion-distribution company cele- 
brating 10th anni this year. 

London Films (Korda) mvading 
Sweden with strong pix. Critic* 
like them better than Rank's. 

"The Breakfast Club" a success- 
ful Swedish radio show aked Sat- 
urday mornings with Sigge lyrsi. 
will be filmed shortly, _ „ . 

"Anderssonsfcans Kalle," filmed 
here twice before (last in ISm'j 
to be filmed again. Wive Film and 
S.A.S. Swenson producing. 



Copenhagen 



By Victor Staarup 
"Dear Ruth" is a hit at the Ny 

Paper shortage is so serious tliat 
many weeklies only appear as m 
weeklies now. . , 

Max Hansen has returned trom 
film work, in Sweden to do a_ con- 
cert tour with Danish revue smgei 
Osvald Helmuth. 

Universal - International vice- 
prez, A; E. Daff, in town, trade- 
showing "A Double Life" and 
"Woman's Vengeance" at PaiK, 

Det bedste-Danish .version^ oi 
Readers' Digest— is a big hit here. 
Sales rumored passing the lOO.OUu 
mark after a year of P"Wication, 
which is tremendous in .DenmarK. 

"Glass Menagerie" big hit ai 
small Riddersalen. Manager Meyr 
Feigenberg plans taking over big 
jjer Alle-Scenen, where Per Knui 
zen is leaving for a^ director's con 
tract with the Royal theatre. 



Mvjin -S. B«*lrt<m, m, vet tal- 
Jiiwt. '^^^ 
^'Su^'ln **» Vaudeville sec- 

CHARIUES aAYMOND 
* (l»rie» Rj^ymoml, S3, assistant 
tdBaSer flarnm,- division managep 
of laesv'* theartret eastern diviaaon, 
^iJ, Match 20, In Scituate, Mass, 
Bairaiwnd w»s born in Worcester, 
■Mm*-. served a showbusiness 
spwc^ticeship «s an assistant to 
Aima<Eva Fjar,.» mind reading-act, 
diiia. later WM employed by i^tetore 
^ilieifltvE to |ir6«lde a commentaury 
foraidlwt flIiBS. 

JUEI^ wtliddiig as an exploita- 
tton tttan Jivd ladio press agent, 
BavnwM^ joined l<ocw's in Boston 
in 1927' as a theatie manager. He 
jnanased houses in St. Louis, QiM- 
timore, Kansas tSty, Buffalo, Phil- 
adelphia, Januiicii an4 Bocheslcr. 
■ Be^ ils» was^ih^ fiist waaager of 
'tfe| Sletro lib«|iitn», ^obaimesburg, 
ik 1932 and after a year.iwas tnms- 
fmed to the Empire Hieatre, him- 
don-. iie served as general manager 
of the MGM British tbeatres. 

Baymond returned to the United 
,$bte8 in 194:0 as Great Lakes «di-' 
vision manager for Loew's. Eaiiy 
this- year, he was made assistant to. 
Barron in Washington. 

Survived by wife, son and 
d^S^ter. 

tea Forbafiaa. 96,- tAOti ^atr War- 
music Ma(F, tiled March 16 in 
Hollywood after a heart attack. 

Starting his musical career as a , 
violinist with a theatre orchestra 
ia. St. Louis, ITorbsieiH conduced 
bands In St. Joseph, Mo., and 
Kansas City before coming to 
Hollywood in 1923 as conductor in 
the Egyptian theatre. He also 
served in that capamty in the Mil- 
lion Dollar and Warners Uxeatres 
in th^ days of silent pietum, and 
' AvaS- placed in charge of Warners 
mti^c department sliortly after 
sound was introduced to the 
Scteen. 

He won an Academy Award in 



maiking deeumeatary and educa- 
tional filnu-in NTew York C^ty, and 
associated with Teaching 



was 

Films, Inc. He is survived by his 
wife, and Mi's. Lillian Ormosi and 
a matemal aunt, Mrs. ,^Edmond 



Pauker. 



appeared with William H. Crane- 
in "Father and the Boys," in 1909, 
and while- appearing in David 
Belasco's "Yea^s of Discretion," In 
1S15, she met ^ind 'married her 
husband, who was also in the cast 
of ttut phiy. ■ 



MR& BLEVINS DAVIS 
Mrs. Margaret Sawyer HiU Davis, 
socialite wife of Bievins Davis, 
radio and legit prodneer, died of 
heart disease in Kansas City, Mou,' 
Match 18. 

Mrs. Davis, who reputedly in- 
hented $80,000,000 from her former 
husband, James Norman Illll, late 
railroad tycoon, married Davis in 
Washington, D. C, Oct. 2, 1946 and 
later was enterCained at the While 
House by President asd Mrs. Harry 
S. Trumsm. 

Davis js eurreotly sponsoring 
John (xarfi^ in "Skipper Next to 
God;" having taken it over from 
the Expedmentitl Theatre. He was 
co-pn>ducer of "Rhapsody" in 1944 
and "'A Joy Forever" in 1846. 

Surviving, in , addition to her 
husband are a lirother and a niece. 



GEOI&GE .1. St»mS!X 
Geoi^ J. Stanley, 49, veteran 
vaude performer, died March 13 
in Bnrbank, Calif. lie and las 
wife; the former Gladys Baehelder, 
retired from the stage-about a year 
.ago... 

Stanley originated the vaude- 
ville act, "Gtsorgia Crackers," in 
which lus wife and son, Geoj^e 
Stanley. Jr., appeared with him. 
Suiriwed - ^ wUe, son and 



$96,0flli;ill let I 

suss OmUhkA' temm ig'^'f-Smym' 



MRS. CLAKA D. MANNES 

Mrs. Clara Damrosch Mannes, 
78, pianist-music teacher and menr- 
ber of the noted family of musi- 
cians, died in New York, March 16. 
For many years she and her hus- 
band, David Mannes, conducted 
tiie Mannes Music School in N. Y. 

Mrs. Mannes was the sister of 
the late Frank Damrosch, long the 
head ef the Institute of Musical 
Art, and of Walter Damrosch, wdio 
succeeded his father as a conduc- 
tor at the Met Opera House, N. Y. 

Surviving t>esides her husband 
and brother, are a claugbter, Mrs. 
Maiya Blow, autiior and play- 
wr^t, and a son, Licopold, musi- 
cian and inventor. 



EOWAED E. HIFSHER 

Dr. EdWacd Ellsworth Ifipsher. 
76, former assistant editor of 
Etude music magazine from 1922 
to 1941, and author of "American 
Opera and Its Composers;" 4i^ 
March 7 in M^ion, O. 

He stuftied at -Valparaiso Univer- 
sity, the Boyal Academy «f Mu«ic 
in London and in Italy. In tSZZ 
he was elected an associate ef the 
Royal Academy. 



ms&. MARGiUUET S. DUFFY 

Mrs. Margaret Sawtelle Duffy, 
82, retired vaude performer and 
mother of the late. Jimmy Duffy 
i& Sweeney), died in New York, 
Feb. 27. 

Prior to her son having sprung 
into prominence «o - lus own, he 
had appeared for several years ia 
an act wiUi Ms mother and father 
billed as Duffy, Sa-wtelle & DniSty, 

Survived by brother and a niece. 



MARRIAGES 

Mabel Waame to SOAsir Campbell, 
Las Vegas, March t& She's a song- 
writer, he's a music publisher. 

Sylvia My»rs to Gerald Prosk, 
Chicago, March 16. Both are mem- 
ltens!«tfS|ie '.'Sbow Boat" cast. 

iMQIena IGIter to J<dm U: BcAaer, 
Beverly Hilis, Maidi 19. She's a 
segxggbaeasy he's' w^.' -la. tSmcgB 
radio for J. WaHer Thnnspson 
.agMiW.' 

Harriet Andersoa lo 
Murthough, Xats Vegas, Mjarch 35. 
He's a radio engineer at CBS. 

Bonnie Baker to Frank EL Tay-, 
lor, Leesburg, Ga., March 16. 
Bride is cafe singer; groom is as-^ 
sociatcd mth ithe duuics Hogam 
agency, Oucago. 

JMarie-Maddeine IVIalraux to 
Andre Malraux, Paris, March IS. 
Bride is Avidow of huf^and's 
brother; he^s Frmdh novelist and ' 
stxipter of title £lm,''''Mai}'s Hope."' 

Maiy Bogan »ud Alan Ltwcll, 
Akron, O., March 12. She's Ira the 
"Ice Cydes of 194a." 

Beatrice de Sou^y 4o Teddy 
Culvert, Palis, J\faKh 19 His Oirajsany's «op take «as in '46 

^■"S^®*??"*" STiitai fifth jtoe, be- 

hind meibno wliiieh took In '$11,626,- 
4X3 . Im : noaffitS. : ' M^G . . Wlds ' its 



FJtANK N. HEAKN. JR. 

March 26, 1932 
IMy Porling Boy Never Forgotten 
MOTHER JUIIA KNOX 



V^ior the score of "Anthony Ad- 
verse" and was preparing to handle 
the musical program for this year's 
Acadeniy show when he was strick- 
en with a heart ailment. Promin- 
ent among . his -works at Warners 
were .scores for ''Night and Day," 
"This Is tlie Army," "Humoresciae" 
and "Rhapsody in Blue." 
Wis tdf e and a fytf^stet survive. 



THOMAS I.OllDfiN . 

Thomas louden, 73, character 
actor on stage and screen, died 
March 15 in Hollywood after a 
stroke. Most of his career was 
spent in Shakespearean plays, 
starting almost ^ years ago in 
Dublin. 

He came to this countcy in 1910 
and played -with Sothem and Mar- 
lowe and oUier stars. In later years 
he appeared in various le^t suc- 
cesses, winding up In 1946 with 
"Lady Windermere's Fan" in New 
York. His film career •consisted of 
character roles. 

Surviving is his-wife, the former 
Elizabeth Valentine. 



I.INCOI.N STEDMAN . 
Lincoln Stedman, 41, lilm pro- 
ducer, died in Hollywood, March 

22. He was a child actor in the 
silent film era, appearing in such 
films as "Baby Peggy.", "Out of Hie 
Storm," "Old Smmnnn' Hjole."' 
"Captain January," and ^'Harold 
Teen." His last film appearance 
was in "Sailor Be Good" at RK.O. 
He was tlie son of Marshall and 
Myrtle Stedman, silent film play- 
er.s. ■ . 
Survived by wife. 



from 40% in the cusft at Tfarimers 
to eo^'o for Metre with <"rt!«aubi* 
dowj] by 50^. While mgtseMtni, 
gaatppSiiBg the cost ||(i?«Aiiem is 
espected to litom up ineveasingly 
duxine the IMbmce of the $i!ear, 
eoBSes^ns is tlntt 1948 wiM AeftriSat 
in mA same 33% from jtttfe 1947 
Williaxn totaL If m, it'iS. eome to approxi- 
TmAaly half af the IMS alltime 
lUigh. 

Only -two eoimpanies uie 'jaw un-: 
aecwanted tm: tsXicially. Hftey'ire 
Pxramomt and WlKO. Ws nffinder- 
jsiliiwd itamt a .nonber of awioirces 
nxat Par wiill 'iwJe high at $33,000,- 
060 Ddaich t^mes M the Na. 1 spot 
for &m fiWh jcsu* in a sum.,'' It 
oompaiea «gllla $Hj[>40,000, il^est 
in itiae iiSxImsr -aX the coingaauy, 
SfirmsxA ma. '4S, ' WB .gass to sec- 
ond ^iiilt and SMfti 4p thSini'.':;': 

BKO's SSMmrik figure i« #6;896,- 
632 said it^ deemed likely Jits tbtai 
will Ik S%,1SDQJXM9 for iOae^ear^ 



Sdma Goldman to LaLVry GiB-e, 
VtanAi "N. T. She's p.*. with 
ti^e Spencer -Hare ofSce; he's p. a. 
with tlie Aft AaDBldin lOflioe. 



, C— HiagfJ tmn -pise 1 ; 



J 



SAM RAYMOND 

Sam Raymond, 67, theatre op- 
erator, died in New York, March 
19. For many years he had op- 
ei^sited burlesque houses in New 
Y-ovk and Brooklyn aai at time of 
his death had been.eperating a. 
film theatre. Uie Beverley, in New 

Raymond's theatre operations 
date back to 1911, when he l>e- 
came associated with B. F. Kahn 
in the operation of the erstwhile 
Keith's Union Sq. theatre, N. Y., 
wifli burlesque stock policy. When 
latter theatre w^as sold for razing 
to 1918, Raymond, on his ovm, 
leased the Star and Gayety thea- 
tres, Brooklyn, from the Hyde & 
Behman interests, which he op- 
erated with travelling burlesque 
shows for many years. Associated 
jwth.him in these enterprises were 
lus two .sons, Harold and I,eonard, 
who survive him in addition to his 
ytufi and a daughter. 



LE0P01.D FREVDBERG 

Leopold Frcudberg, 55, violinist 
and musical director of the New- 
ark Evening News radio statioi^, 
WNJR, died after a heart attack in 
Newark, N. J., March 19. 

He had conducted theaire or- 
chestras in the Newark territory- 
during the days of vaudeville and 
at various times was employed by 
KKO and Paramount. Between 
1933 and 1940 he was musical di- 
rector at station WOR. He joined 
WNJR when it was oi-ganized last 
year. 

Survived by wife, parents, three 
sisters and thre* brothers. 



HABLEY C. XENOUuET 
Harley C. BenoOet, 46, farm di- 
rector of Station KOA, Denver, 
died in that ci^ March 11, follow- 
ing a cerebral hemmrhage. He 
joined KOA in 1944 and was known 
in the Rocky Mountain area as tlie 
"Mile High I'armer." 

Survived by wife and two daugh- 
ters. ■ ■ • 



healings ajamt aiUeged 'DomnumuiaBi 
in Hollywsod. Heai'sl, in a «!ona- 
numi-qBe -to .R: T. Van GMiscih, 

i mammpmg Mliiiamt iim -lMS AnsgeteS 

Examiner, soade- It cHear tb'at 
Mayer's illness was itlie only reason 
entailed. " 

By amilar eommunieatlon to Van 
Ettisch, who is generally regarded 
as Hearst's "aamdias boani," the 
word has gone ont tft Heaist news- 
papers thai Sinato has been tak- 
ing a "wrong rap," ewm d«(^4e 
the Lee Montinicr imbrogUo wMrih 
the crooner sctiled for sieiissrai 
thousands and legal oosts to ia«; 
N. Y. MirrOT {Hearst) saloon sxA- 
umnist. . 

Veteran film man Lasky had 
stressed to iKBss Parsons tbsH 
natra was a "iiaj^d kind ef Jtatoaa" 
— bypassing the I'act lihe leroatreer 
was playing a priest role in l-asfey's 
filmization of "Miracle ©f 13ie 
Bells" — and 'the vet.-araii Heaanst 
motion picture editor -used hser 



JACOB SCUWORM 
Jacob Schworm, 83, vet musi- 
cian, died in Fainesville, O., 
Mardi 16. He neceived his mwrical 
education in Germany and touned 
Europe as a clariiaet and trumpet 
player with a circus band. He 
came to America with the band «t 
the age of 20. 
His wife and daughter survive. 



influence wiUi^ hcr boss. 

By coincidence, one of Frank | ings on 2,796,016 shares com- 
Gohniif's anti-Sinatra columns in ' mon : outstanding amonmt ;ii» $4.81 
the N. Y- Journal-American last Fri- per share. EamineS in 1946 
day was set up in type but killed in totalled $7.90 per- shane «a 2,756,- 
proof wlien the word got around 462 shares of common mltetanding. 
to the Hearst newspaper dyna-sl.y. 
Actually Gonnifl' oaly mentioned 
:^natra's alli^ed anscastiisg.aia .iUie 
fiim, willHiat any further -«aipiiiMas- 
ness. ■•• 



t AS7XO EDE OBMOS 
Laszlo Ede Onnos, 45, screen- 
Wight and director, died in New 
York, March 19. • 

Oriiios was bom In Mako, Hun- 
gary, and was educated in Buda- 
pest and Vienna. He did new.spa- 
per work in Budapest, Vienna and 
"Crlin, and served for a time as a 
gotion picture director at UFA 
*»»m.S and at Paramount Studids in 
•.I'arts. He was the author of scv- 
?an Puhlishcd in Hubgar- 

- JJc came to the United States in 
JS.i.), and worked as a freelaAce 
.Tj^nter at a number of studios in 



WILLIAM li, TAMME 
William L. Tamme, 73, one of the 
first motion picture theatre own- 
ers in St. Louis, died of heart ail- 
ment March 14, at his home in St 
Louis County. 

Tamme amassed a fortune oper- 
ating two picture houses in the 
early 1900s. He later disposed of 
the theatres, served in the Board of 
Aldernuin and was Recorder of 
Deeds of St. Louis for 12 years be- 
fore his retirement. 

His wife and a .son survive. 



GUSTAV DIESSL 

Gustav Diessl, 48, Austrian stage 
and film actor, died in Vienna, 
March 20. 

Diessl had appeared in the 
screen productions, "Roman BSner 
Nacht," "Die Weisse Maiestat" and 
"Mother Love," which had ■ been 
shown in foreign - language tiaea- 
tres in N. Y. 



MBS. G. P. HUNTLEY 

Mrs. G. P. Huntley. 67. actress, 
widow of G. P^ Huntley, Briti^ ac- 
tori died in Los Angeles, Mardi IS. 

She appeared on the New York 
and London stage under Hie name 
of Eva Kelly. 



HARRY J. SHUMOW 

Harry J . Shumow. 53, was crushed 
to death March 15 in San Francisco, 
when the wall of a building toppled 
on him. Shumow, in the construc- 
tion business the last 18 months, 
was former branch manager for 
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Milwau- 
kee, and before that in Omaha. 



MATTHEW MURRAY 

Matthew Muiray, 64, radio an- 
nouncer and producer., once known 
as "The Ambassador of the Air,' 
died March 16 in Hollywood after a 
long illness. 



ftmriUi positiiaa diespite j£act its net . 
dwaiimd jEcDMi $i%'691 corralled 

Wasemm aMl ColumMa Up 
Two cocapanies, Warnets and 
OdianalHa, ibi^liBred their totals 
inuiig oqp in In both testeuces, 
in the 'naaddle of 
jjtue TaftMidar }«wr — and. hence, be- 
fbre liang eoets and dropping 
jgrassffis .ttx»lk tis^r full !l»ll. WB's 
JF2S4X94J09 sines it .seoood pAace — 
advanrane iiit fnoi thiid 'Siptdt held 
in '4S. GonspanQr cliajbed Crom 
.S19,424,000 net in "-46. 

Gokunbia, in . sixth spot, Itad a 
net of 3?3,706,541 against .'$3,450,- 
488 iur tSae preceding yean;. Uni- 
versail slid to $3,230,017 iliram the 
year toeJsMw's $4,565,219. 

Gmss ixKiome for 20th during 
'47 is esitxmadted at $174,4aftW0, a 
detdine team. 1946'5 $184^,175. 
Its melt Ibeforc taxes iis placed 
at !PSSj090yO(W while tlie tax itself 
cauMS to ;$9,100,000. After de- 
diitdang £1,%I0,000 apsplicable to ' 
m^notity tntiarests, Uie ,i>abnce of 
U4^m0, QIBIi is struck. In 99>I6, net 
briOare tases-was $39,934 ;3M while 
the ta anHManted to $14,630,000. 

Affiixsr deducting dividends «n the 
i pneferrcd stock, equivaleaUt earn- 



..CwctasMd 'JEmat -rat*! i ; 



Mx. 'aiad Was. .'IVIillaid ' HB^hell; 
daa^Wber, llfew York,' ' IMari^ . 16. 
iMMlMir VksssS Gould, 'l^t ac- 
tiRe^ feittar % 'jCurreoiHy sipehe^rs- 
-ms » "rase :Cup of Trembling," : 
»Bw latter 'Starring Elisab'em 

Mr. aaKd John teight, sd^ 
■■itollyyiw«^-3«^ #ather::is,a ; 
•sBsre'en w i M ia c. ' 

Mr. a*d .Ifet ©nn Water, son, ■ 
Kansas CS^i iWther is «Bld , ex- 
pIoital&Ba sttailSec at Waawer Bros. 

Mr. aimd Mis. Kobert De Leon, 
•son, CMica«o^,li»nch 2. F^er is a 
songw33Btacr. 

ISb. iseud Hies. .Jipncs.. Greenwood, ' 
:sdh^:«!tfeft*BC8fc:aii8rt 11. .father's 
^"mS^id!^ ^ ^.^ ■ 
The Fkffiida season just latst Mr. and Mps. Ray Barr, aaa. New 
proved that caf€ss, even with ■capac- Yisirk, Mamdi 3Z 'Father's a band 



because tiieir s^dary has soae-lie- 
yond the paiat where a .pitafilt can 
be made tm Ifiieir t^gaeemesA. 
■ r«wer aSfwts At To* XMim 

Tliere's alsd a sUi^t ret^iuBTJing 
of values even among ISmj top 
names. Willi the exception «f a few 
attractions that haven't ^antwom 
their h.o. on the cafe and vaude 
circuits v\fith frequent: appearances, 
the playing time of acts in Uhe 
$5,000 and ^ class is dimjni^dng. 



ity business at top prsiees, cou3d 
stillii lose mmiey becauce <ixf iHie 
lu£^' talent easts. 

Consequently, m»i« niixty <mi- 
ers are fig^jiing thai it's t«o icaslsy 
to put a Mg sum into one act But 
even wia ftat type «rf figuring, .an 
operator would rather {jamWe on 



nHisacaan; midiier is Betty John- 
ston, funnec 'Miealist vSUti Joey 

.Mr. and Sirs. Bill Galiagher, 
daugitler,. Ho%wood, March 19. 
F^sSte- is « tscBcen' actaK...., 

Mr. aaad ■ Mts. Ttemf- Peters, 
daughter, Tofteka, Kaafi., Feb. 20. 



the chance of making money on a ■ parents are Slaff mem b«ir s at 
$5,000 investanent .ttan taJse a loss h^iBW in Cbat«!ty. 



'"Wa.L,IAM FARISS 
William Fariss, 35, former pro- 
gram director of-WNJE, NewMk, 
died March 19 in New York. 

Survived by "wife, father and 
three brothers. 



Don Peters, 41, asrfstant sound 
Universal-International^ 



who is WB branch manager in m Hollywood. 

Mother, 69, of William Lively, 
Republic screenwriter, died Marcli 
i9'in.-,JBollSTWpflidi° 



IS 

Chicago. 



MRS. LOUIS MASSEN 
Mrs. Grace Flynn Massen, 64, 
actress and widovi' of Louis Mas- 
sen, actor, died at Saranac Lake, 
N. y., March 16. 



Budolf Ducifnss, 76, father «f Ar- 
thur Dreifuss, film director, died 



with a ^MBBtwea. 



fiov. Dains 



band, said be is leaving !ior MeSSy- 
vmood Shortly to complete delUiils. 
Thomason's $350Ha-montlt Job with 
the state will end as soon as Eail 
Long is inan^irated as governM:. 
He said Hamilberg has alineady 
comideted axrangements for a 
nitery spot already approved by 
the governor. 

Governor-designate Long has an- 
nounced that the Davis band m^ 
consider itself "fired now." 

It was learned that Gov. Davis 
and his baud h*«fe given a number 
of auditimisin the efforts of Hamil- 
berg to arrange a radio contract. 



I Mr. ai3d Jilxs. Allen SjoAea, son, 
llaiaford, OfflBtt., March 15. Father 
Is contivucaly «ifief at WTIG in that 

Mr. and Mrs. Micliael Horton, . 
daughter, Vsuas, March 17. Father ; 
is a ^idtaSer mL European edition' ot ■ 
N.Y. aeaaOd Iribune. 

Mr. and Mrs. Julian Elkins, son, 
Mineola. Ja. L, March 20. Parents 
are l£t^EiicianiB in Xingineering 
Dept. 4^ XIM SIbation WSSB^i New 
York. 

Mr. and Mrs. Jack MulJea, si 
Hollywood, March «0. Fa-tlicr i. 
Republic Fix flack. 

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Cummings, 
daughter, Hollywood, Mardh 22. 
Father is film actor. 

Mr. and Mrst Tommy Sui«mers, 
daughter, Hollywood, Mar(ii 21. 
Father is Alan Ladd'S staufin. 




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and hit ORCHESTRA 



The New RECORD $ELL-$ATION! 






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THI QUiATEST NilMi ^ III ENTIHTIIIIiiiEliT 



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F«I>lia1u!(I W?»kly at W West 4Stb Street, NeWr Torfc 19, N. X., by Voriety, Inc. Annual subscription, $1?. Slnglo conies, 86 cents. 
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t ABIO SPLIT ON VIDEO FUTURE 




Nm^TeieStatioiitoSpl^ 
Its l^ws ITm Ifew^papsr Tedim^ 



> .VpIX, television station now un-+- 
Sjiei^^jonstruetion by tlje N, Y, Daily 

§'jJ«'Ws. is^ planning to syndicate 
m»ty of its original shows to other 
«Hons throughout the country, 
yrtditalion, according to F. M. 
^•lynn, News' preii and general 
Manager, .will be run much the 
'game as a newspaper operation, 
.with the. News either producing 
shows durectly on Sim or filming 
its televised shows off the face oi 
H receiving tube, 

■ ^Programs, Flynn said, are fejen 
.to be offered on att «^tiitabXe basis 
•to othfer stations in -the same way 
the New.? now syndicates many of 
its special columns and features to 
pther newspapers. In return, the 
■News hopes to buy shows produced 
by other stations. With no network 
HffUialion yet in sight for WPIX, 
je^nn said, that should off«r one 
taiaidiaed form of obtaining and 
'selling network shows. Syndica- 
'tion of programs .Will be another 

■ -incthod tlirough which the News 

• hopii's to incorporate many of its 
newspaper features into its video 
joperation.' 

Flynn declared that WPIX would 
be open to. the right offer of affili- 
. -ation from aiiy netw6i-k seeking a 
outlet. Until such an offer is 
iijrthcoming, however, the station 
. "Wfil strive to operate prpJitably on 

■ « local basis. He scouted rumors 
-Of a pdssible tiein between WPIX 
•aittd WGn-TV, owned and operated 
"by the Chicago Tribune, pointing 
out that WGN ift one of the major 
stockholders in Ihe Mutual web. 
Fiynn also expressed doubts about 

' the formation of any newspaper- 
owned netv/ork, declaring it was 
hardly likely that any newspaper- 
pwned AM station affiUated with 
one of the four major webs would 
•bypass the chance of affiliating 
Videowise with the same web. 

No. budgetary limits have been 
«etfar, WPIX during its first years 
(Continued on page 58) 

PRES. TRUMAN TO TOSS 
WIST BALL ON VIDEO 

\5'jiuahington, March 30. 
, RiilVtOnt's airing of the 1948 
oaseball opener April 19 between 
the N. Y. Yankees and Washington 
. f>¥«alors from 'Washington will 
■< jnqrk up another three firsts for 

• television— first tune the season's 
opener has been televised, first 
time the President has been 

. scanned throwing out the' first ball 
and the first time any out-of-town 
game has been aired in N. Y. 

Game, which precedes the regu- 
iar leagues' opening the following 
day Will be 'picked up by WTTG, 
PuMont's B.C. outlet, arid piped 

' «m , • '^^ "ve*^ the coaxial cable, 
be bankrolled in N, Y. by 

. .BJUiantlne's, as an added feature 
w the brewery's sponsorship of 

* Yanks' 77 home games. All 
three N. Y, broadcasters plan to 
PCK up out-of-town games during 

.the regular season, When the 
mi$ IS available. 



Ooiiunand Perf oraiance 
For Borge in Denmark 

Boston, March 30. 

Victor Borge, cxuxently at the 
Copley Plaza here, sails April 23 
for his native Denmark, f of a com- 
mand performance before King 
Frederick. 

He's being- sought for dates in 
England on his way back to the 
U. S. - 

.. . ,/ 



B'fayLegitersTo 
Be lelemed In 
Equity 12G Show 

sponsored televising of Broad- 
way legit hits-^with the original 
casts where possible — ^has been 
proposed to Equity and accepted by 
the actors union and its chorus 
affiliate, under whose auspices it 
would be sponsored. At any rate, 
legit playeris almost exclusively 
.would be used. 

A one-hour program budgeted at 
$12,000 for each weekly telecast is 
the plan, originated by Music Corp. 
of America, and the show's run 
would extend over a period of at 
least 39 consecutive weeks. MCA 
(Continued on page 63)- 



Failnre of New Names 
To.Come Along Key T© 
Slide in Instruinent Biz 

Instrument dealers are echoteig 
something that daftce promoters 
pointed out quite a while ago. The 
instrument business has been 
sliding steadily" for months, and 
the retailers' think that the failure 
of the danceband field to come up 
with new outstanding instrumental- 
ists since the war may have a lot 
to do with this condition. 

As the bandbuyers observed be- 
fore them, the instrument people 
say that the inspiration to emulate 
instrumental idols isn't what it 
used to be, because the galaxy of 
name specialists has been pretty 
well froSi'en for the past seven or 
eight years and no big talent has 
come up to johi them. The dealers 
say that the idolizing element has 
more to do with sales than any- 
thing else. Kids want to learn to 
play when they see someone hi 
the lower-age brackets get himself 
a rep with a band or start his own 
combo. 

About all the youngsters have to 
idolize howadays, the dealers feel, 
are jazz vktuosi who made their 
mark before the war, such as 
Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Gene 
Krupa, Benny Goodman, Artie 
Shaw and Harry James. 




mmM 



»y GEORGE JROSEN 

The upsurge of interest in tele- 
vision, with the attendant claims 
of - the video-minded that it's des- 
tined for eventual top billing in 
the whole realm of show business, 
has had the effect of dividing the 
radio industry into two camps. 

On the one hand it's contended 
that all of radio will be integrated 
into the sight-and-sound pattern 
and will wholly supplant the pres- 
ent method of standard broadcast- 
ing.' The other camp is equally 
adaihaiit in its conviction that, no 
matter how vast its scope, video 
will only become a supplementary 
medium. 

The more realistic broadcasters, 
although alerted to the swift 
changing currents and patterns 
which they recognize are bound to 
have an effect on the radio indus- 
try, nevertheless take the vievvf 
"How are you going, to laugh off 
40,000,000 radio families and net- 
work billings aggregating $200,- 
000,000 a year?" As far as they're 
concerned radio's here to stay — 
and that's looldng ahead 10 to 15 
years' which is the time" variance 
set by top tele leaders for multi- 
million circulation of TV receivers 
with its attendant coast-to-coast 
video networks and SKO banlcroU- 
ing of telle programming. 

At the moment, what's intriguing 
both the radio and tele branches of 
the entertainment industry is the 
effect the ever-increasing tele up- 
surge will have on radio program- 
ming in the immediate future. 

That things are beginning to hap- 
pen is already apparent. It's mani- 
fested in multiple activities around 
the talent agencies where, in some 
cases, equal emphasis is being di- 
rected at video packages. It's re- 
vealed in the advertising agencies 
(Continued on page 63) 



Hollywood Cvcks Globe to Use 
Frozen Funds in Film ProdiictiiHi 



Terrif Season Seen 

Next Year in Cafes 

A ''terrific season next fall" is 
forecast by the })lstro bonifaces 
who foresee a liish'pefiod, compara- 
ble to wartime spending^ but 
without war. 

Indications pouit to renewed pro-, 
duction in war goods, uniforms, 
aviation, etc., as part of the peace- 
time conscripfion program. By the 
same token, all of show biz is 
figured to benefit accordingly. 



Reverend Hears Old Call 
As (One:Shot) *Dr. I. Q.' 

Mineral Wells, Tex., March 30. 

Rev. James McClain, rector of 
the Episcopal Church at Eastland, 
will revert to former status as 
"Dr. I, Q." dSwthe coast-to-coast 
show for one evening here for a 
Red Cross benefit. 

Rector McClain quit his Pr. I. Q. 
post about a year ago to become 
an Episcopal missionary after six 
years as the mental banker. More 
than $1,200 in cash and merchan- 
dise prizes have been pledged by 
local merchants for the program. 



• Tops of she Tops > 

Betail Bisk Seller 
"Manana" 
Betail Sheet Music Seller 
"Now Is The Hour" 
?'Most Bequested" Disk 

"Manana" 
Seller on Coin Machines 
"Now Is The Hour" 
British Best Seller 
"Tree in a Meadow" 



Gotta Teach 1!m 
HowtoSefllNsb 
All Over Again 

- Now that pop disk sales have got- 
ten around to slipping, along vidth 
music sales, platter company execs 
are theorizing as to the reason for 
the slide, in factory orders. Many 
are convinced that an ironical twist 
based on the wartime seller's mar- 
ket hias much to. do with it; that 
retail store clerkSi accustomed for 
so long to a Sales demand beyond 
(Continued on page 58) 



Award to 'Streetcar' 
By NX Drama Critics 
Seen Strong Possibility 

"A Streetcar Named Desire" 
is the strongest possibility for the 
N. Y, Drama Critics award as the 
best new American "play of the 
1947-48 Broadway season. The 
Critics "Circle huddles today (31) 
to select the best play. "Streetcar," 
which registered the first dramatic 
hit of 1947-48, would give Ten- 
nessee Williams his second Critic's 
Award, author having scored also 
with "The Glass Menagerie." "Mr. 
Roberts" (Alvih) a more recent 
dramatic click, looks like the 
runnerup, acording to current sen- 
timent of the critics, though it's 
still rated a chance to Cop. "Com- 
mand Decision" (Fulton) is re- 
garded as third choice. 

A majority of the reviewers on 
the nine dailies reportedly favor 
"Streetcar" but the Circle outfit 
has 25 members, and those not 
rated as flrststringers may upset 
the dope. Winner is expected to be 
decided on one ballot but another 
may be required in case of a tie. 

Best drama of foreign origin will 
probably be "The Respectful Pros- 
titute," a short play that originated 
in a downtown little theatre (New 
Stages) and is now at the Cort. 
One critic has signified he will vote 
for "The Old Lady Says No," a 
flop played recently by the Dublin 
Gate Players. 



Hollywood, March 30. 
. British tax settlement laicy hav« 
paved the way for an onslaught of 
U. S. mm production hi England, 
but that's not the only Country in 
which American producers will be 
working during th© next year. List 
of foreign locales, resembling a 
Rand-McNaUy, includes among 
others Sweden, " Canada, Italy, 
Mexico, France, Germany and 
Switzerland, , 

Chief factor leading to, the large- 
scale trek from HolIy#&d, of 
course, is much the same as that 
engendered' by the British situa- 
tion — a method of putting to profit- 
able use the blocked funds stored 
up in other countries.' In addition, 
industry officials believe that full- 
blown production in countries 
which stiu permit full remittances 
will tend to head off the imposis« 
tlon of any currency freeze. . 

Another important factor is the^ 
sky-high production costs on the 
Coast. Availability of natural, au- 
thentic sets in foreign locales is 
sometimes less , expensive than try- 
ing to reprodttcie those sets at fie 
studio, especially " if it means piife. 
ting frozen money to use tho 
foreign couptiSes. Also figuring in 
the situation' is the lower cost of 
labor abroad. 

, • Leading the junkets abroad is 
David 0. Selznlck, who's exporting 
Dorothy McOulre and a large cast' 
from HollywoQid: to mak^ a nluiiza- 
tion of as&'s "Doll's .Hotjse" ia 
Sweden. With V. "S. disfrlbutAon 
funds tied, up in Sweden, Selzniek 
is supplying cash, but will use a 
Swedish producer and director on 
the film, Smce "Doll's House" is 
set in that counfyy, DOS will also 
be able to take advantage of au- 
thentic sets. Shooting is tentatively 
scheduled to tee off in May; , 

Also trekking overseas is Colum- 
bia, which has contracted to turn 
out eight musical, films in Italy 
during the next year, First, 0 
these, Gregor Rablnovitch's "Lia 
Traviata," opened Monday (29) 
night at the GOlderi, N. Y. Indie 
producer Edward Snjall has Slso" 
lensed "Cagiiostro" in Italy, with 
director Gregory Ratojflf sufiewfe- 
(ContinUed on pag6 8) , 



YANK FILM BK DP: IN 
EUROPE WHMier OFF 

"Wrashh^^on, March 30. 
The little t)eople of Europe, as 
far east as satellite countries be- 
hind the Iron Curtain, have found 
a new way to express their prefer- 
ence for America over the Soviet 
Union, 

They are saying it at the box- 
offices of film houses in a dozen or 
more nations. According to word 
reaching the- State Department, 
business of American pictnres in 
Europe has been tremendous in re- 
cent weeks. Correspondingly there 
has been a boxoffice drop at 
theatres showing Russian pix. 

The situation has been reported 
in France, Italy, Germany, £>oland, 
Czechoslovakia and other nations. 



VICTUIUBS 



B way VaoiHilinefs Talk Dram 
Stage Shows toK.O.ASCAPDeinauIs 



Possibility of some Broadwayt 
houses now using live talent drop- 
ping that practice was talked up 
fast week after reps of those show- 
cases labelled ASCAP's demand for 
a 525% hike in seat taxes "the last 
Btraw." Committee fnuitbig for the 
five Times Sq. vaudfilmers and 
other houses huddled.«|th ASCAP 
emissaries during the iseek but hit 
what appeared to be inflenl^le de- 
mands for the new rates. Hiere'll 
be more meetings within the near 
future, it's said, when ASCAP 
names the time and place. 

TaeanwhUe, reps of Uie Broadway 
boitses came away from the hud- 
dles thoroughly ired. Aroused 
Initialb^ by a boost which would 
lUke the rate from its present 20c 
per 'seat annually to $1.25, they 
burned all the more over what they 
termed was a higjily discriminatory 
and unsympathetic* attitude by 
• ASCAP negotiators. They were 
particulairly fired over a lemartc re- 
portedly made by Sichard Mittrar^ 
uss't gensnA mana^ for ASCAP 
to ihe effect: "I don't caie whether 
Bta^se shows continue or not." 

With the ^wcases employing 
livL' talent' already paying a seat 
tax for music in sound tracks, llie- 
atrc ops expressed willingness to 
double that charge by pasing the 
identical rate for music in shows. 
A boost of .525% was definitdy be- 
yond consideration, 'one " spokes- 
msm deelaied. And since costs for 
other appurtenances of live shows 
. have climbed sharply, it was said, 
insistence by ASCAP might force 
tht cbropping of aU stage shows. 

Leopold Friedman, veepee and 
■ecretary of Loew's, acted as 
tpokesman for Watners, I-ocw's, 
WSO, Paramount, Bmy and Badio 
City Music HalL 

2l7o Statelet, Gut 



Sir Tenpercent 

London, March St. 

Viscount Songan, son ot 
Lord Cowley, ex-West End 
actor, and himself former a^tor 
and stage director for H. M. 
Tennenl; Ltd., has made appU?- 
cation to the London County 
Council for a license to be^ 
come an agent. ■ 

This will make him first 
blueblood tenpercenter in 
show biz. " 



British Films Spreads 




KEN MURRAY'S 

"BLACKOUTS OF IMr' 
n Cfipitan 'llMcitf*, H«lhrwM>#, Coi 
Now Hayiiic NofiaMlly 
"Mil AND COO" 
SMCIAl ACMHEMV AWiM* WiNNBI 



Unless Senate ^ liix 

■ Washineton, March 30. 

A 21% acnuss-Hie-board slash In 
t[»e State Department's overseas 
information program looms, im- 
less the Senate restores the $6,378,- 
000 which the House knocked out 
"bf this portion of the State Depart- 
ment's budget. The cvtt Would bite 
into both the picture and radio 
prosrams for tiie fiscal yeac com- 
miiicfng July '1.; 

• Testimony tdUiis effect has been 

fiven in executive • session to the 
enate Appropriations Committee, 
which is now deciding -tt^heUier to 
change the House's recommenda- 
tions for the State f}49partment. 
; -State Department ai^ed $34,- 
378,000 overall for its' "Voice of 
America" activities. It got $28,- 
€00,000 from the Honse of which 
f2&,S0O,0OO is for program ex- 
penses, The Department adnilts 
this -is a sUc3c increa^ over what 
It has had to spend during the 
currents fiscal ycart' but claims it's 
not enough to do tiiie liest job in 
' the cuneut international situation. 



Campaign against British pix by 
Zionist sympathiors gathered mo- 
mentum this week witit two Broad- 
vi^ houses, Rialto and 'Wfater Gar- 
den, being Wt lor pliOret lines. 
WithQut wandng, a l^up of young 
people flashed some home-made 
signs Mtmday afternoon (29) and 
began marching before the Hialto 
currently showing "Thife Smug- 
^ers," an Eagle lion -J. Arthnr, 
Rank production. Later, the gnmp 
moved up to the Winter Garden 
where another Bank pic, "Man of 
' (Conthnied on page 58) 

JAN. aaXOFEHIES OFF 
OVER A YEAR AGO 

WashhigtOn< March 30. 
The nation's boxoffices entered 
1918 considerably weaker than 
they crashed into 1947. 

Figures announced yesterday 
(29) by the Bureau of Internal 
Bevenae disclose tiiat the 20% ad 
missions tax broui^t Uncle Sam 
S2S,410,738 on the tiasls of January 
business. About- 80% of this is 
estimated to come from picture 
theatres, with the remainder from 
all other types of amusement. The 
corresponding figure for" January, 
1947, was $28,823,690, or, roughly, 
$3,400,000 more. -Tha;t means $17,- 
000,0<X>-niore in admisaions were 
taken in during that month. 

In addition, the January, 1948, 
nightclub taxes netted the Bevenue 
Bureau $4,122,000. A year earlier, 
that figure was $5,227,000, or near-v 
ly 25% higher. 

.In the 3rd District of New York, 
which includes all of Manhattan 
above 23rd st., the admissitms tax 
earned on January's biz, was $4,^ 
677,493, not far behind the $4,794,- 
272 for the same month a year 
earlier. However^ nightclubbing 
wds badly off. The tax for January, 
1947, biz was a nice $642,415, but 
was only $383,569 on past January's 
tabs. Even the tax on charges sold 
by ticket brokers fell off, bein^ 
about $7,000 behind the previous 
year's figiures. 




Pitching HoRSESiaibEs 

By mUy Rose 



Cronyn's London:H'wood 
To B'way MoUI-AcAivities 

Hume Cronyn, who Sidled for 
Britain Saturday (27) aboard the 
Queen Elizabeth, has been work- 
ing for the past three weeks on a 
screen treatment of Alfred Hitch- 
cock's forthcoming Ingrid Berg- 
Man starrer, "Under Capricorn." 
.Actor-writer estimated five weeks 
"more work remains to be done on 
the adaptation before the script is 
completed. He expects to return to 
t ie U. S. sometime in May, then 
goes directly to the Coast. 

Cronyn's next picture thesping 
chore Jias not yet been set, but he 
tosdosed that late this summer 
b.a's due to stage a Broadway dra- 
n^atic version of Ludwig Bemel- 
inans' novel, "Now I Lay Me Down 
to Sleep." Play is being adapted 
by Elaine Byan and Peter Foster 
is producing. Rehears^ are tenta- 
tively scheduled to start tlie third 
week In August. 



BECALL COI. JOE GOEIZ 

Washington, March 30. 

Lieut. Col. Joseph F. Goetz, 
former associated with BKO Thea- 
tres in various midwest cities and 
New Tork, has been recalled to 
active duly by the U. S. Army Air 
Fol'ce for assignment to headquar- 
tej,'3 here. 

•He'Jl supCTvise the U.S.AA.F.'s 
^notion pidttre theatre operations. 



LB. Mayer's N.Y.Ifaddle 
WidiSchenckApnllS 

Metro production chief Louis B. 
•Mayer is due in New York from 
the Coast about April 15 for hud- 
dles with M-G proxy Nicholas M. 
Schenck and other homeoffice of- 
ficials. SChenCk, who's been in 
Florida since Christmas, is ex- 
pected back at the homeoffice 
about the same time. 
- Trip will mark the first visit of 
Mayer to N. Y, since last Novem- 
ber. At that time, he came to the 
homeoffice after testifying in tiie 
Hollywood Bed probe before the 
House un - American Activities 
Committee in Washington. 



Reject Forrest s 
CffiDsodiii Han 

W^^ishington, March 30. 
Peacetime censorstiip is dead — 
at leai^ for the' time being. Pix 
and radio reps jc3ned other media 
yesterday (29) in unanimously re- 
jecting Defense Secretary James 
EVirrestal's plait Sov imposition of 
immediate controlsi ' 

The 21-man Securi^ Advisory 
Council, named by Forrestal to 
study the pUm, used strong lan- 
guage to drive their opposition 
home. Their resolutioa declared: 
"We do not believe any type of 
cens^tfship in peacetime is work- 
able or desirable in the public in- 
terest Be any exists, we would 
not be sympathetic with an intent 
on the part of the military estab- 
lishment to propose peacetime 
censorstiip." 

Walter Ament, Wamers-Ftathe 
veepee and general manager^ and 
National , Assn. - of Broadcasters' 
Proxy Justin Miller were members 
of . a ' seven-man subcommittee 
whose recommfmdations were 
adopted by' the all'^nedia council. 
'Forrestal has said he will abide by 
their findings. 

The. media reps said they recog^ 
nized the need for "restraint" in 
handling security information but 
concluded the "wise solution b£ 
this problem is the responsLbility, 
of -the national military es&blish-^ 
ment" • Tliey reconunended that' 
at least one rep> from each media 
be named to a security advisory 
council to consult with Forrestal 
on handling of security matters. 

Two will be named from the 
radio industry, one representing 
the NAB and other the . four major 
networks. News heads of the webs 
will get together to name the Jat- 
ter. Miller expected to rep 
IffAB. 



NOBMA SBEASES'S PLAT? 

-Hollywood, March 30. 

Norma Shearer may make her 
Broadway bow iri the fall in a 
dramatization of Lazslo Aladar's 
"The Honest Founder." 

Ernst Lubitsch directed' a fihn 
version, titled "trouble in Para- 
dise," with Miriam Hopkins. Kay 
Francis and Herbert Marshall, fbr 
Paramount in 1932. 



Boienwald Fund Eads 

Chicago, March 30. 
The Julius Bosenwald Fund, 
which has granted scholarships to 
many outstanding artists, musi- 
cians, and writers: since its creation 
30 years ago, will end June BO. 

Fund has iipent ixver $22^000.000. 



Hitdicock Garifies 
' His l a-Year W^ WB 
ftd If s Not Exclusive 

statement by Warner Bros, that 
it had signed Alfred Hltehcock to 
a "long-term" producer-director 
contract sent Hitehcock and Sidney 
Bernstein, his partner in Transat- 
lantic Pictures, indie unit, into a 
dither. WB press handout was is- 
sued Saturday (2^or Monday (29) 
release, but bel^i it- made the 
papers Hitchcock had sent out a 
denial. 

Hitchcock' statement was made 
from the Queen Elizabeth at sea. 
He left New York Saturday for 

(Continued on page SB) 



The only queen I «ver met died Wu^ 0.- Her name was Tn.i<, 
De Mott HSobiowo. wdj, josie 

I first met Josie back bt 1934 when I was lining up a cast for "Jumbn » 
The Hecht-MacArthur aeript called for some oldtime circus stars anii 
Nagafy the Fire-eater suggested I look up Josie De Mott, the barebapt ' 
rider. "She's past seventy,"- Said the dtavolo, "but don't let that throw 
you. She can still do more tricks on a horse t&ut I can on a sidewaUc>* 

I dropped Josie « note, and she' showed up 'a few days later at thA ' 
mppodrome— a gray-haired kewpie doll about five feet tall. "Can vn« 
stiU ride?" r asked her. • - 
Josie smiled a sweet-oldrlad}' smile. "Try me," she said. 
We went down to the basement where the horses were stabled and 
she selected a dappled percheron. Behearsals stopped in the arena as 
the. old girl went into her audition. I looked and blinked. The three- 
score-and-tenner w*s perfonning.-.with the same limp, kittenish speed 
that had been hers as a girl. 'I .got the feeling she was doing more than 
ride the horse— -sflie Slemed to inftale the darned thing through the 
soles oif her feet, to become s, human-shaped piece of it. 

Whea Josie dismounted,' the performers and roustabouts lined up to 
pay their respects. They addressed her the way I imaghie the Duke of 
Cumberland addresses the Dowager Queen, and I got the feeling tha't ' 
if I didn't engage Josie, tlie cast would throw me into my own tiger cage. 

I began to realize what Josie meant to circus folk when Dick Maneyi 
my press ageqt, brought the "Jumbo" program copy to okay. TlM* 
flinty Broadway broadsider'had devoted as much space to the has-bectt 
as he liad tQ.Dncante.and Whiteman. and he had writen about her \viai 
a degree of feeling and respect I never knew was in his typewriter. 

Josie De Mott was iMini ■« sawdust princess,, and no Sourbon or Hans, 
burg, iisd a better ba<dEground. Her ancestecs were doing hoisebwk 
highjinks wluai' the tranter box was ri^rved for Napolemt I. 

Josie made her debut, at three in her father's horse-drawn caravan. 
According to the yellawed clips on my desk, tiie audience at fint 
thought the tot was a mechanical dolK By the time- she had galloped 
into her- teens, she was a headliner with Bamum and Bailey. Swedes 
toasted her ia glogg, and Mexicans in tequila. She was as well known 
in Paris as she was in Peterson. 

In 1890 Josie fell in love with Chiles Bobinsoh, part -owner of the 
Bobinstm- ^otiiess' Cireus. Every one thoo^t it was a fine match— 
the impresario >and .tlie star. But it didn't turn out that way. Theim* 
presario got interested in pdliti«is and became a gUlie. A- gillie is a 
person who thinks there is something in the world more important than 
the circus. For fifteen years Josie did her best- to be a gilUe too, but 
she never quite made it. 

One day she got stuck on a cream-colored horse pulling a milk wagon} 
bought it, and went I>ack into training. Robinson divorced her. No* 
body had ever come back to bareback riding after a fifteen-year layotT; 
but Bailey, wlio owned 90 per cent of the Bamum circus, gave her a 
contract. 

A nuwfb before tfte cfawus was to open St ihe old Garden, Josie missed 
a somersault and broke' two -cibs; Tiie doctors .taped her up, and the 
morning after opening, niglit she was again, the bif^est five feet in CHiv 
cusdom. ■• 

' This was the saga'of the sawdust sweetie who performed for me. at 
the Hippodrome and went along. witli tjie troupe. to Fort Worth when 
I presented "Jumbo" at the CentenniaL The following year I dis- 
covered water, put on the first Aquacade, and forgot alwut Jo.sie; 
Chances are I made a mistake by not asking her if she knew how to 
swinu. ■•„ • ■ ■ ■ • 

And now for ime of those vignettes which make me glad I'm in show 
business. 

One Spring evening a few years back, I went to the opening of the 
circus at Madison Square Garden. As Merle Evans picked up his baton 
to give the downbeat for the preliminary fanfare, he turned, faced a 
center box and bowed. Then, as the performers trotted out for the open- 
ing spec, I noticed their eyes were on the same box. The riders saluted 
with their whips as they pranced by. The aerialists signaled a jatmtf 
two-fiqgered hello, and the clowns did an extra flip. Prodded by thdr 
trainers,- even the elephants waved their trunks. 
"What gives?" I asked myself . "Is the President in the house?" 
I followed a Crackeijack salesman down the aisle to the box. Seated 
in it was you-knoV-who. Her-.white hair had been patted, primped and 
curled until it looked Uke a platiniun tiara. 

After the finale, I went backstage and looked up Pat Valdo, who has 
been major-donioing the Greatest. Siiow on Earth- for a quarter of a 
century. "Who arranged the big fuss for Joste?" I asked him. 

"Nobo^ arranged it," said Valdo. ''It's been happeidng like this for 
years."'- ■ ' .-■ ^■ 

"You mean Josie attends every 'circus opening?" 
"Yes," said Fat, "and all the other pejrformances as well. You see, 
the old lady lives in a hotel down on Twenigr-third 'street. Not much of 
a place — one of - those bed, dresser and xdbidr jobs. The walls are cov- 
ered with her old circus posters, and on tbe nmatel atje the decorations 
she won — the medal the President of M^doo gave, her, the miniatun 
horse presraated.by Edward of England. 

"Every year when the big show plays New York, Josie puts on her - 
best dress and hires a limousine. She doesn't have any trouble getting 
into the Garden — she stiU has the gold lifetime pass Barnum himseU 
gave her. -The management reserves the center -box for her, and every 
afternoon and night for six weeks, Josie -is in that box. And if she 
wasn't, I guess the performers would get worried- and figure sometiMsS 
was wrong." ■ . 

Well, when the Big. Bazzledazzle opens at.tlie Garden come April 7, 
I expect to be there with peanuts, popcorn and pennant. Being an old 
corn-ball, I'U naturally be thinking of Josie De Mott Robinson. And 
I'm willing to bet-any. kid a candy apple that the performers will play 
to the center hasi as usual, and nod their heads in memory of a lady 
whose life was a little sad, a UtOe gallant and a little romaricable. 

• . fiopyi-itflit. m«, liy Hilly Hone 



GEETA GYBT'S YAKK PIC 

Greta Gynt, British 'actress, 
heads for the Coast this week on 
the lookout for a one-pic stint with 
an American fihn company. Her 
contract with J. Arthur Rank ex- 
pires shortly and she wants to get 
in work on one Yank fihn. before 
returning to England. Understood 
that Rank is ready to renew once 
she treks homeward, but has no 
objection to a delay due to a Hol- 
lywood .solo. , 

She's being handled, through 
Bert Allenlietg, Hollywood agent. 



Would Cut Tax to 

Washington, March 30. 

New bill to drop the 20% .ad+ 
missions bite to the prewar 10% 
figure has been introduced here by 
Rep. Bertrand W. (Bud) Geathart 
(R., Cal.). He is a meniber of the 
House Ways and Means Committee, 
which institutes aU tax legislation. 

While the feeling here is that 
there will be no slashes in the so- 
called Inxury excises during 1948, 
it is interesting, that Gearhart's bill 
came less than , it week after Bep. 
Harold Knutson (R;, Minn.), chair- 
man of the Ways and Means Com- 
mittee, promised that the admis- 
sions tax would be considered dur- 
ing the latter part of April by his 
committee. Knutson has favored 
reducing the admissions tax for 
some time, but the House leaders 
claim that other tilings come first 
in their scheme o£ tsK legislation, 



RAVE DAZZLES LONDON 
IN PALLADIUM 



London, March 30. 
Martha Raye stopped the show 
cold at her opening yesterday (29) : 
at the Palladium here, providing 
30 minutes of sock enterUinment, , 
after which she begged off to in- 
troduce the Ben Yost Koyal 
Guards. She interrupted the sinfr 
ens' efforts for further comedy and 
again succeeded virtually in halt- 
ing the proceedings. The Guards 
hit showstop proportions on their 
own in the first half of the bill- 

Miss Raye opened to a capacity 
house Nvith 300 standees, i^oxt^ 
is sold out for the entire week, 
with heavy advance boofci*«gs. 



wwnmms 



TOP PK SALARIES UP $11,071,333 



Breakdown of Salaries 

' Breakdown of how the seven majors (United Artists excluded) 
pEiy out to officers, and other personnel drawing $20,000 annually 
or more is herewith tabulated. Compilation is via latest available 
proxies applying to fiscal 1947 except for Paramount, RKO and 
20th'Fbx where 1946 proxies are latest available. 

OfficerS'^ireotors Others Total 

1 Metro $2,379,000 $22,226,668 . $24,605,668 

20th-Fox .... 995,000 14,636,141 15,631,141 

3 Paramount., 1,179,000 11,429,152 12,608,152 

4 Warner Bros. 1,135,000 10.830,480 11,965,480 
B. universal ... 1,132,000 7,298,899 ' 8,430,899 

6. IBKO 499;887 ' 6,926,265 7,416,152 

7. Columbia ... 080,119 3,530,681 4,510,800 



inhisby SeM^idatim Posed 
To K.O. PosaUe Qhz Ml BriL Haw 



With foreign departments oft 
both majors and indies busily en< ' 
gaged in figuring every possible 
way to get "maximum coin from 
'Bnglarid under the new Auglo- 
U.S. films agreement, idea is being 
discussed for the American indus- 
try to set up a self-regulatory com-" 
mittee to pass on potential uses 
for frozen coin and generally po- 
lice adherence to the spirit, as well 
as the terms, of the new pact. ' 

There's a strong fear among a 
number of industry execs that 
since the amount of money 
fhe American companies can get 
out Will hinge to an important de- 
gree on their ingenuity; they may 
extend themselves to a point where 
they incur the hard feelings of the 
British. 

Film men have exhibited a spe- 
cial knack for legally getting fro- 
zen .currency out of other coun- 
tries where no dollars are supposed 
to exist. Now, in England, under 
the new agreement, they have 27 
listed ways of getting- blocked 
money out via uses connected with 
the film industry, plus wide free- 
dom of use outside the industry. 
What's feared is that with such 
scope their genius may extend to a 
point which the British con^der 
"dubious" and cause the Board of 
Trade, which has the final vote 
on idl these matters, to take a 
(Continued on page 20) 



Connors' Comm'l Films 

Tom Connors, former v.p. in 
charge of distribution for 20th-Fox, 
is reported planning to go into' the 
business of distribution to theatres 
of commercial, films. He is known 
to be seeking, office space in New 
York for a small staff. 

Connors left 20th alntost a year 
ago and has been at various times 
reported going wifli Eagle lion 
and Film Classics. • 



If and When Mason Gets 
Court Decision Vs. Rose 
He'll Film Mrs/ Novel 

James Mason, his wife (Pamela 
Kellino) and his alter ego, James 
Monahan, entrained for the Coast 
Monday (29), taking with them a 
«aipt of Miss Kellino's novel, "Del 
mma,!" on Which the trio hope to 
close a film deal. Story property 
IS owned by Gamma Films of 
America, Inc., an outfit recently 
formed by the three to handle all 
Mason's film pfojects. 

Mason won't do anything con- 
crete on films, however, until and 
unRss he gets a favorable decision 
from Federal Judge John C. Knox 
in his present court feud with 
•uavid Rose. Court has reserved 
oecision after trial and Mason ex- 
pects a ruling within a few weeks 
m ms suit to declare void a joint 
nimmaking venture with Rose. 

British thesp wants to both di- 
rect and star in a fllmization of 
Uel Palma" and, if the court 
green -lights the project, will seek 
f. ""^or company tieup while on 
we Coast. He'd like to do that 
getore meeting a commitment to 
Alexander Korda to play in 
«f *1 King's General," adaptation 
S!' Daphne DuMaurier novel. 

u to be made in the U.S.,. 

probably in the fall. 

Monahan, who serves as pub- 
""ty agent and general aide to the 
"Wsons, goes directly to Los An- 
seies while the Masons stop off, en 
">Hte, at Phoenix for a, short visit. 

Crawford Settles 

^^^^ Angeles, March 30. 
Pftn^f'' Crawford made an out-of- 
court settlement of a $200,000 dam- 
age suit filed by Mrs. Pauline Mc- 
J-ay, a mental patient who charged 
»«vasion of privacy. 
fih^n^^'T^ permitted to watch 
wock. treatments while preparing 
«»r her rolp in "Possessed," n 
Warner producjUon. 



lis Tele Subsid 
Dickers CBS On 
Newsreet Deal 



Following through on an an- 
announced intention to get into 
the television *eld early. Universal 
Is currently negotiating with CBS 
for the sale to that net" of video 
rights to U's newsreel issues. 
Actual dickerings are being han- 
dled by United World Films, U's 
wholly-owned subsid, with Matty 
Fox, UWF board chairman, and 
James Franey, company's proxy, 
carrying the foiill. They're now en- 
gaged in a string of huddles with 
William S. Paley, CBS board chair- 
man. 

UWF recently has gone full-tilt 
into tlie video field and U has 
transferred to its 16m offspring all 
intricate angles involved in cop- 
ping tele revenues from celluloid. 
UWF is also fronting for J. Arthur 
Rank's tele Interests in this coun- 
try as part of the close tieup be 
tween U and the British film mag 
nate. 

U's subsid has already set up a 
. (Continued on page 17) 



SNEAK-PREYIEWOFNEW 
FEATURE ON TV KAYOED 

Plans of Screen Plays execs to 
sneakpreview Henry Morgan's star- 
rer, "So This Is New York," on 
television have been discreetly 
shelved following murmurs of op- 
position from exhib groups. Indie 
production outfit had the video 
stunt all set with .WCAU-TV in 
Philadelphia, "but decided not to 
go out on a limb with their first 
pic. ■ 

Film is slated for release by 
United Artists May 1. Tight situa- 
tion among the Broadway show- 
cases currently will res,ult in the 
pic preeming outside of N. Y., 
probably Chicago, despite the title. 

Acad Plans Scholarships 
On Film Techniques 

Hollywood, .March 30. 

Academy of Motion Picture Arts 
and Sciences is going collegiate, 
with a plan to award scholarships 
to universities where film drama 
and techniques are taught. Idea 
is to start with awards to three 
schools, one in the east, one in the 
midwest and one on the Coast, 

Eventually the Academy hopes 
to hold its ceremonies in the Holly- 
wood Bowl, With 22,000 seats, and 
let the Oscar Perl^y finance the 
scholarshij^. 



181168,292 NOT 
IN '47 SETS mi 



Tlie salaiy nut to the industry's 
upper bracket personnel— both 
executive and talent^climbed $11,- 
071,333 during the fiscal year 1947 
to make that year probably the 
highest in pix history and the peak 
for some time to come. Seven ma- 
jor film companies (excluding 
United Artists) paid out a total of 
$85,168,292 to its top executives, 
directors, producers and actors re- 
ceiving in excess of $20,000 annu- 
ally, compilation of latest available 
proxies by Variety reveals. The 
highwater mark was set by salaries 
doled out before the economy wave 
hit both' coasts and a sharp dip dur- 
ing the current year is more than 
likely. 

In all, the seven majors gave 
$20,000 or better annual pay to 
1,466 officers and employees either 
on the Coast or in the homeoffic'es. 
That in itself represents a rise from 
the 1,351 breadwinners who came 
into the magic salary circle during 
1946. Every one of the seven 
majors paid a higher total in wage 
checks to top ihdustryites during 
the year. The yearly total does not 
include extra compensation by way 
of bonuses, stock options or profit- 
sharing deals. 

Metro No. 1 
Metro again heads the pack as 
the company with the biggest bill 
to meet. M-G stuffed the weekly 
envelope with a year's total of $24,- 
605,668, which it handed to 372 em- 
ployees and 12 officers. That fig- 
ure compares with .$23,384,671 dis- 
tributed in '46. Its salaries to offi- 
cers, however, dipped to $2,379,000 
from the previous year's $2,458,065. 
Columbia does a repeat on cap- 
(Continued on page 17) 



5 UJS. Newsreels Contnb 
f 8,000-Each for Olympix 

London, March 30. 
Five American newsreel com- 
panies will participate in covering 
the summer Olympic games in 
England after each contributes 
$8,000 as its shafe towards the 
price paid by J. Arthur Rank, Brit-, 
ish filmmaker, to the Olympics 
Committee for exclusive film 
rights. Thus, assurances which 
Rank gave to Yank newsreel execs 
several weeks ago in New York 
that no freeze on news clips was 
intended are carried out under the 
deal reached here. It ends possi- 
(Continued on page 20) 



Gamble Offers Naify $6,750,000 
For 50% of His 115 Calif. Ili^es 



Call Out the Cops! 

Caracas, Ven., March 16. 

Theatre , ihanagers have 
complained to the city council 
that so many cops are on the 
free-list, that they often don't 
have enough seats for the paid 
customers. 

At the recent opening of the 
comedy, "The Robber," more 
than 80 policemeh, detectives 
and traffic cops, made fheir 
way in by just fiashing their 
badges. 

Complaint was s i g n e d by 
managers of the Rialto, Boy- 
aca, Avila, Continental, Holly- 
wood, Ayacucho, Principal and 
Capitolio theatres, who asked 
for a quick abatement of the 
al)use. 



Strange Parallel 
InPar-RKOVPs 
Bossing Pub-Adv. 

John M. Whitaker, RKO v.p., is 
now serving as supervising head of 
the company's publicity and adver- 
tising department. RKO has had 
no actual pub-ad chief since the 
department was split about six 
months ago, with Paul HoUister 
becoming publicity topper and S. 
Barret McCormick advertising 
boss. Whitaker must now put his 
OK stamp on. all budgets and 
projects. " 

A virtually parallel situation 
exists at Paramount, where v.p. 
Paul Raibourn is in the same sit- 
uation. Par has had no depart- 
ment topper since Curtis Mitchell 
resigned about three months ago. 
Ben Washer reports directly for 
his publicity setup and Stanley 
Shuford for advertising to Rai- 
bourn. 

Another peculiar parallel exists. 
^Both Whitaker and Raiboum are 
former engineers. Whitiaker, after 
graduating from Yale, got his 
master's degree in chemical en- 
gineering from Massachusetts 1*- 
stitute of Technology, while Rai- 
bourn holds an electrical engineer- 
ing degree from the University of 
. (Continued on page 18) 



San Francisco, March 30. 

Offer of $6,750,000 for 50% of 
his interest in the .United Calif or-- 
nia Corp. has been made to Mike 
Naify by Ted Gamble, it has been 
learned. United California con- 
trols about 115 theatres In Cali- 
fornia through the Golden State 
circuit and other subsids, It also 
owns considerable real estate, 

Also still interested in obtain^' 
ing the UC stock is Milton Rey» 
nolds, Chicago millionaire ball pea 
manufacturer, who has teamed up 
for the deal with Packy Dee, cif 
Gregory & Dee, midwest circuit 
operators. Julian Levy, Reynolds' 
brother-in-law and attorney, had 
two talks with Naify last week. He 
offered to make an outright buy ot 
Naily's entire interest. 

Meantime, Joseph M. Schenck, . 
20th-Fox production exec, remams 
a strong financial power in UC via 
the Bank of America note for- 
$2,500,000 which he endorsed for 
Naify when the latter bought out 
his partners, E. H. Emmick and B. 
A. McNeil, last fall. Schenck can 
take no active part in operation of 
the theatres, however, since he 
obligated himself to the Dept. of 
Justice to that effect because the 
industry anti-trust decree forbids 
theatre expansion by major com- 
panies or th^ir execs,. 

Likewise reported interested lii 
(Continued on page 20) ' 



National Boxoffice Survey 

Easter Brings Usual Biz Upbeat — 'Sitting,' 'Naked,' 
'Agreement,* ^Showers,' 'Mama' Top Moneymakers 



Easter week upbeat is cheering 
exhibitors in nearly every key city 
this week, with chilly or rainy 
weather in some spots helping 
theatres get back into stronger 
stride. With so many new pic- 
tures being launched to take ad- 
vantage of improved boxoffice, 
total biz is evenly-divided among 
some 12 big coin-gefters. 

"Sitting Pretty" (20th) is well 
in the lead this session, with 
"Naked City" (U) not far behind, 
also doing great business. Latter 
is only in five cities but doing fine 
to terrific currently. "Sitting" is 
playing in 10 keys covered by 
Variety and showing surprising 
strength. Third best money- 
maker is "Gentleman's Agree- 
ment" (20th), with a batch of new 
bookings to cash in on Oscar 
awards. Fourth place winner is 
"April Showers" (WB), which 
looms as a real profit-getter. It's 
'Okay to big in eight spots. 

Others in the Big Eight list, 
in order of their draw, are "Re- 
member Mama" (RKO), "Uncon- 
quered" (Par), "Miracle of Bells" 
(RKO ) and "Three Daring Daugh- 
ters" (M-G). "Unconquered" is 
go^ out on pop-scale dates and 



proving nearly as great as on first 
time aroundk \ 

Best runner-up films this stanza 
are "Gall Northside" (20th), 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO), "Bill and 
Coo" (Rep) and- "Sign of Ram" 
(Col). "Robin Hood" (WB) 
again is showing amazing draw for 
a reissue. "Bambi" (RKO), too, 
is doing well this session on re- 
issue dates. 

Tops among newcomers appear 
to be "Mr. Blandings" (SRO), 
"All My Sons" (U) and "The 
Search" (M-G) although only 
spotted in one theatre apiece. 
"B. F.'s Daughter"' (M-G) also 
shapes: big on initial playdate. 
"Man of Evil" (UA) is getting 
no place this round. 

"Scudda Hoo" (20th ) is on the 
spotty side currently. "The Flame" 
(Rep) shapes hep in Providence. 
"Alias a Gentleman" (M-G) is big 
in Seattle and doing nicely in a 
couple of other spots. "Mourning 
Becomes Electra" .(RKO) opened 
solidly in Boston. 

"Panhandle" (Mono) will be 
okay in Boston with stagebill. 
"Double Life" (U) looms socko in 
Detroit. ^'Smugglers" (EL) is do- 
ing sturdy biz in N. Y. 

(Complete Boxof/ice Reports 
on Pastes 12-13 ) . 



FIRST FILM STOCK 
UPBEAT IN MONTHS 

Picture stocks and oil shares led 
the generally strong stock market 
yesterday (Tues.), with renewed 
interest in film issues pushing 
them to new Highs for year in most 
instances. Loew's, up $1.62^; 
Paramount, up $1.25; 20th-Fox, up 
$1.25; Universal, up $0.87^; anfl 
RKO, up fractionally, all climbed 
to new 1948 peaks. Warners, Re- 
public and Columbia advanced 
small fractions. 

It was the broadest advance for 
film shares in months. Fact that 
many pictures are registering biff 
grosses this week via usual Easter. \ 
upsurge is credited with starting 
the buying movement in these 
stocks. 




Trade mark ReslBt«(ed? ' 
FOUNDBD BT SIME SILTDRUAJf 
PabHBlica Weekly by VABIKXt, Inc. 

Sid SUverniaii, President 
164 West 40th St., New York 10, N. I, 
Hollywood %B 
S3H Tucca Street 
Chioagn t 
ito No. Michigan Ava. 
iondou yfCi 
8 St. Martin's PI., Tratalerar S4. 



SUBSCRIPTION 


»n 










Vol. 170 >^ 




No. 4 



INDEX 

Bills 55 

Chatter 62 

Concert . . . ........ . . 56 

Film Reviews- 15 

House Reviews 55 

Inside Legit 58 
Inside Pictures 24 
Inside Radio ............. 34 

Legitimate 56 

Literati .- 61 

Music 42 

New Acts .. . . . . . . . . ..... 54 

Night Club Reviews 54 

Obituaries 63 
Orchestras ,..,.<,...,... 42 
Pictures -. . . ... .... ..... . 2 

Pre-Production News ..... 9 

Radio . . . . . . ... ; . . , . . . . . 25 

Radio Reviews . ......... 28 

Records ................ 42 

Frank Scully ...... . . .... 61 

Television .............. 30 

Vaudeville 50 

IIAII.Y VARIKTX 

(Publi.slieil in Hollywood by 
Diiily Viirloty. I..trt.) 
tie a Year^tZO I<<oKelgiii 



TOA Alleges EF. Assn. Jumps 
With AU-Indusfry Builder-Upper 



Overall Industry public relations-- 
campaign, on which the Theatre 
Owners of America was set to em- 
bark next weekend, has turned in- 
stead into an intra-industry 
wrangle. TOA toppers arj^. com- 

. plaining that the Motito Picture 
Assn. and the^MPAA's eastern ad- 
vertising-publicity directors com- 
mittee are trying to grab onto the 
campaign at their expense. 

TOA prexy Ted Gamble and his 
committee were firecracjsered into 
action by a press release from the 

. MPAA for Monday (29) morning's 
papers. It announced plans of the 
MPAA pub-ad group's campaign 
"to acquaint the public from coast 
to coast with What that body 
dtaribes As 'more good motion 

.pictures than ever before in the 
Mstory of the Aaieric*m film In- 
tlustry'," ' ; 

Plans for a similar campaign had 
been announced by Gamble at a 
TOA board meeting in Los An- 
geles two weeks ago and were am- 
plified in an ittterview with the 
trade press in iSTew York . test 
Thursday (25), 

• Atcbrding to TOA toppers, they 
ssked the pub-ad managers to meet 
■vrith them last Wednesday, Ke- 
quested at that time was a list 
of top pix frosp each company 
which the TOA committee could 
sift, picking out the best to sell 
the idea that great liew films were 
cooling Irom Qiie studies. Aim was 
to reverse current widespread pub- 
lic belief that the British tax and 
^ding domestic grosses had the 
wolf at Hollywood's door. The 
meeting was highly amicable, with 
mutual pledges of cooperation. 

Pub-ad heads held their own 
confab, the following day, with 
Kenneth Clark, MPAA public rela- 
tions chief, from Washington, and 

,Tom Waller, the Association's New 
■Jfork press rep, attending.' Each 
(Continued on page 24) 

Eepublic*s election to the Mo^ 
Hon Picture Assn. of America on 
■to«iday l29) makes it the eighth 
aistiib-memlJer of the organiza- 
tion. Other members include all 
the majors except, tlnifed Artists, 
'■which withdrew several years ago 
and never returned. ^ Not in are 
3Ea;^e Lion, Monogram, Selznlc|£ 
Beleasing Origanlzation, Film Clas- 
yAtk mi the ^tes ri^ts distribs. 
' Janixal meeting of the MPAA, 
in New York, at which Hep's re- 
quest for membership was given 
■the nod, also reelected all ^rec- 
tes of the association. Meeting 
■otlwrwise was perfunctory, carried 
»n almost entirely by proxies.' It 
■was held only to comply with the 
■by-laws, which require the yearly 
session be caiUied on the last Mon- 
iday in Mareh. ' 

Next actual business conclave of 
the MPAA will be the meeting of 
the board April 12. In the mean- 
time, first section of preXy Eric 
Joimston's annual report is ex- 
pected to be issued in Wasiiington 
this week. Following the pattern 
initiated last year, the report will 
t>e released in parts, ramer than 
in bulk the dai? of the annual 
meeting. 

V.p. Francis Harmon subbed for 
Johnston at Monday's ■ session. 
Johnston is in San Francisco visit- 
ing his mother, Mrs. Ida B. John- 
ston, who is seriously iU in a hos- 
pital t^ere.- She fell and fractured 
her hip some time ago and recently 
contracted pneumonia. MPAA 
topper flew out SaturdiQr (27), 



UA to Peiroit Hughes'' 2' 
Via EKO If Atlas Deal Set 

Howard Hughes and Grad Sears, 
United Artists topper, have made 
a tentative arrangement by which 
UA would give up its distribution 
rights ■ on two of Hughes' unre- 
leased films if the producer con- 
summates his deal for the purchase 
of RKO. No agreement has been 
reached on price for UA to relin- 
quish the films, but it is reported 
in the neighborhood of $275,000. 

Hughes' films are "Mad Wednes- 
day," Harold Lloyd-starrer, made 
by Preston Sturges, and "Ven- 
detta." Producer told Sears he 
would like to have distribution 
rights to the films if he took over 
the Atlas stock, giving him control 
of*BKO, UA prexy agreed, pro- 
vided they eould arrive at an 
equitable figure on what distribu- 
tion of the films would mean to 
UA under c ■ tract by which 
Hughes is committed to pay the 
disfcrib 25% of «ie groi^. 

Hndso&'sB:di 
Via Pic Salesmen 

Earle Hudson, Paramount the- 
atre partner named to head the 
ThealicOwners of America's new 
publicity drive, will put the bee 
on major company distribution 
chiefs to get "his campaign moving 
on a salesmen level. The United 
Detroit circuit topper will meet 
with sales heads of all the com- 
panies this week as the initial step 
in the newly birthed campaign. 
He's going to ask .distribution 
veepees to fajstruct their salesmen 
to talk up the better-prodnct-ahead 
pitch regardless of whose picture 
is who^e, 

"It's "our idea," Hudson said, "to 
get salesmen to build up the 
theme that great pictures are 
ahead in 1948 as part of the plan 
of ending downbeat talk in the in- 
dustry. We intend asMng sales 
managers to pass the word down 
that salesmen help along the pro- 
gram without worrying whether 
any particular picture is put out 
by his employing company or a 
competitor. In so doing, he helps 
along the entire industry." 

Hudson figures that the 600 or 
so salesmen in the industry aver- 
((^ntinned on page 3i0) ■ / 



Diffar«e ®f 15 BIqc&s" ■ 
Plenty Big oil Biaitt B,0. 

Diterence between fifew tor&'s 
42d street and 57th street appears 
to be more than the 15 blocks 
which separate Brandt's Apollo, 
just oft" Times square, from the 
posh Little Carnegie. "Passion- 
elle," French film which was 
pulled out of the Little Carnegie 
after one week because of bad biz, 
is part of a dual bill that rang up 
a 14-year record at the Apollo last 
week. 

Pic is teamed with "Torment," 
Swedish-made, which previously 
had a 10-week engagement at the 
Avenue, N. Y., and some other 
dates. Gross for the initial Apollo 
week was around $];6,0<M). 




Move to llrottk 
Politics of Stars 



Washington, Match 30, 
Film stars have a right to appear 
in politieal films, including new*- 
reels, and otherwise take part in 
politics, the Motion Picture Assn. 
of America malle clear here Sun- 
d^ (28). 

In a letter to B. H. Poole, exec- 
utive secretary of the Pacific Coast 
Conference of Independent Theatre 
Owners, Eric Jolinston, prez of the 
Assn., rejected a resolution on the 
subject by PCOITO. Besolution 
protested "the appearance of mo- 
tion picture stats in political 
propaganda* films. Including news- 
reels." 

"I most emphatically disagree 
with it (tlie resolution)," wrote 
Johnston "I shall take no action 
along the lines it suggests. 

"In a sense it is perfectly true, 
as you suggest, that motion picture 
stars bblong to the public, but in 
a broader sense, this relationship 
in no way st.eplizes their rights 
and duties as American citizens. 
Motion picture stars are not a class 
apart. "They must be as free as all 
(Continued on page 22) 



Pro-Tito Pic Seized h 
Canada for license Lack 

Toronto, March 30. 

Motion Picture Censor Board 
has seized and confiscated a five 
reel fihn dealing with Marshal 
Tito's administration in Yugo- 
slavia and also fined Emeric Simac 
$100 and court costs for showing 
the film without the Board's iip 
proval and another $100 for using 
an unlicensed projector. 

Film was shown in a iectuire hall, 
With O. J. Silverthome, chaiman 
of the Censor Board, pointing out 
that the confiscation was not 'neces- 
sarily one of Ked propaganda sup- 
pression but a matter of the film's 
not being submitted for censor- 
sbifi approval. 



Unfredng $13,000,000 Front France 
Pi^k fw H wood Under New Deal 



fti Gddwjn's Mws 

Fiscal policies of Samuel Gold- 
wyn Productions were given a care- 
ful o.o. at last week's session on 
the Coast of the company's eastern 
execs with the producer. In 
HoUsnvo'od to take part in the talks, 
in addition to prexy James A. Mul- 
vey, were Sylvan Oestreicher of Ol- 
vaney, Eisner & Donnelly, Gold- 
wyn's tax attorneys, and Harcy 
Archinal, auditor and assistant Sec- 
retary, 

Mulvisy, Oestreicher, salesman- 
ager Arthur Sachson, foreign chief 
Alfred Crown and publicity-adver- 
tising topper Lynn Farnol planed 
east from the Coast over the week- 
end. Farnol stopped over in Den- 
ver and is due in New York today 
(Wednesday). Ai%binal» held on 
the Coast, arrives east tomorrow. 

Pat Duggan, story editor, in a 
change of plans, will headquarter 
permanently on the Coast. He came 
to New York last fall vtdth Gold- 
Viiyn and it was decided at that 
time he would shift his offices 
there permanently. After confabs 
on the Coast last week, he returned 
east to get his setup ready for 
moving to the studio again. Action 
is expected to be taken in mid 
April. 



MAYER MAY DISPOSE OF 
ffiSN.Y.RIALTaFOR250G 

Deal may be consummated this 
week for sale of the lease on the 
Bialto theatre on Broadway by Ar- 
thur Mayer to James J. Mage. 
Mage, French refugee, owns the 
Laflmovie in ^Kmes Square and 
similar houses in Baltimore and 
Boston, as well as the Cinephone 
circuit of 16 theatres in Belgium 
and France. He also distribs for- 
eign films in the U. S, 

Mayer's lease on the HialtO has 
about IVi. years to, go. Considera- 
tion is in the neighborhood of 
$250,000, with Mayer retaining an 
interest in the house until it is 
paid off. After a policy for many 
years as a "house of HOrror," play- 
ing shock-type Ibw-budgeters to ati- 
tract times Square waik-in trade, 
Blalto recently shifted to foreign 
films. It's done iatr)y well undtf 
this policy. 

-Mage, it is understood, plans to 
continue the foreign films for the 
time being, at least. He reportedly 
hopes, however, to make a deal 
with an indie or group of indies to 
keep the screen occupied with their 
product, similar to the arrange- 
ment the Astor has with Samuel 
Goldwyn and the one now being 
worked out between the Victoria 
and David O. Selznick. Difficulty, 
however, is that the Rialto has onl^ 
60(r sei^ and couklia't foe enlarged 
except at very heavy cost 



ianisl Producer iill.S. 

Carl Dreyer, Danish film pro- 
ducer and director, is scheduled to 
arrive in Hoboken, N. J., Friday 
(2) on his first visit to the U. S. 
aboard the S. S. Falstria. 

Whl|e in New York Dreyer will 
attend the American preem'of his 
"Day of Wrath," slated to open 
soon at the Little Carnegie, N. Y. 
He also plans a trip to the Coast 
to study American film-making 
techniques. 



Metro's $50,000 Buy Of 

European- Medico Novel 

Hollywood, March 30. 

Metro yesterday (Monday) closed 
a deal for screen rights to an epic- 
size novel, "Bodies «nd Souls," 
published in Newr York tliiis -weelCf 
Written by Maxence van'^r 
Meerscb, it is a translation from 
the French. • Studio paid slightly 
less than $50,000 for the rights. 

The' 654-page yarn is a story of 
the French medical worl4 between 
the two recent wars, with a tre- 
mendous list of characters and 
events. Published in France and 
sevesral other European countries 
last year, it was a begt-«eller there. 

It's being issued by a new pub- 
lishing house in New York. Pelle- 
grini & Cudahy, and is considered 
a "dark horse" for hitting the.best- 
seller lists here.' In any case it 
will probably be impossible to use 
the title because of conflict with 
Enterprise's "Body and Sotil." 

Wallis Dickering 

With delzmckr 

'* . • 

Hollywood, March 30. 

Hal Wallis may move into the 
David O. Selznick camp as an indie 
producer releasing uirough the 
Selznick Releasing Orgioilzation 
when his contract with Paramount 
expires. WaUis is reported nego- 
tiating with Selznick with a better 
than- even chi^ce that a deal will 
go through, f A number of talks 
were staged by Wallis and Joe 
Hazen, his partner, with Selznick 
when the former was in New Yoric 
recently. 

Door is Still open for Wallis to 
return to Par on a renewal of his 
12-pix pact but the duo have been 
unable to get together on several 
important details. Wallis is claim- 
ing that Par has been diarging too 
much again^ his films for studio 
overhead. Indie producer wants a 
ceiling placed on overhead charges 
or some other proviso which would 
cut that charge considerably. ladie 
producer has two more films to 
deliver to Par oudEO' « ionr-year 
coatratst. 

Par's stift stance is believecL to 
be partiaUy based on its recent 
acquisition of a number of indie 
imits including , Liberty Films 
and Rainbow Productions. That's 
brought such top talent as'William 
Wyler, Frank Capra, George Stev- 
ens, Sam Bxiskin and Leo MeCarey 
to the Paramount studios. 



^ Se^s Insurance 

HoUywood, Mardi 30. 
New group Insurance plan will 
be adopted by the Screen Publicists 
Guild if 75% of the members vote 
for it. To date, about 60% have 
expressed their wUlingness. 

Idea is that film flacks who carry 
studio life insurance lose out when 
they leave the studio. 



lipped Costs Keep WC 
Net Profit to $3,333j250 

Net earnings of General Aniline 
& Film Corp. totalled $3,333,250 in 
1947. While the profit was slightly 
ahead of the $3,188,895 netted in 
'46, earnings were tagged as un- 
satisfactory by Jack Piye, com- 
pany prexy, who noted that sales 
increased some $11,000,000 during 
the year but costs almost kept pace 
with a $10,000,000 hike. 

Dependence of General Aniline 
on others for its raw materials is 
under study by the management, 
according to Frye, and company's 
expansion program will tackle that 
problem. Total sales came to $75,- 
009,538. Equivalent earnings per 
share of common A stock amounts 
to $4.5S against $4,33 in '46. 



T, - .t.u.P®5*"Ston, March 30. 
Possibility of unfreezing somp 
themoteW 01 frozen lo iywood 
coia inrifcance looms here, aHhe 
State Department is getting readv 
t9 announce titet it wUl siiS 
renegotiate the Blum-Byrnes Mm. 
accord. . 

The French rwently requested 
rfianges in the pact, which pra- 
vldes that French films must be 
shown in French theatres during 
four week's playing time of each 
quarter, with tlie remaining period 
open to all comers. The French 
are asking tb.at their guaranteed 
share be increased to seven weeks 
per quarter. 

Indications are considered good 
by insiders that the U. S. will agree 
to an increase in the French play- 
ing tune, providing it can arrange 
a deal to get some of its coin out 
o£ the country. Since 1939, only 
about $1,800,000 of film profits 
have been allowed out. Pictures- 
are virtually the only industry 
whicii has not been able to get its 
postwar earnings bikck to America 
from Fr^Hoce. 

Another angle is tftat the French 
are currently hard put to tnnt out 
enough pictures to meet commit- 
ments for four weeks a quarter. In 
fact they have not been, able to do 
so, and so the present law is not 
lived up to. Hence, it will be some 
time before the French can supply 
their own screens for seven weefa 
per quarter. 

Feeling is that the French gov- 
ernment is merely making a ges- 
ture for home political consuiup- 
tion, because Cotiimy pressure in 
Prance has been stirring up trouble 
among the studio workers, charging 
that the American pictures ajc 
taking jobs away from them, 

PARIS PIX PRODUCTION 
NOW AT EITIME low 

Paris, March 26. 
Pictiure ' industry in France is 
now at an alltime low. Not only 
do such iirms as Univers Films 
have to shutter, tut wen big 
studios like Buttes Chaumont, in 
Paris, are serving notice on their 
personnel that they must look for 
jobs elsewhere. Only pic still roll- 
ing there Before foldhig is Sacha 
Guitry's "Lame Devil" (from his 
current legiter), almost completed. 

Not, oDtly are bankers tii^tening 
to the limit, but in many cases 
unforeseen complications prevent 
production. Picture prepped by di- 
rector Calude Autan-Lara ("Diable 
au Corps"), titled "Ble en Herbe" 
{"Green Wheat"), from a Colette 
novel, has struck a snag. Adapted, 
by Pierre Bosc and Georges Auren- 
che, who are coproducing, the 
script Is claimed by Roger Leen- 
liardt to be based on Ws "Demieres 
Vacances" and Boger Ferdinand, 
Authors Society prexy, will arbi- 
trate the matter, pending which 
the film remains in the blueprint 
stage. 



Jean Bartel 
George Bradsbaw 
Ann Corio 

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. 
John Garfield 
Cy Howard 
, Danny Kaye 
Gian-Carlo MeoottL 
Burgess MereiUth 
Charles Prutzmaa 
Phil Heisman 
Irving Shiffrin 
Robert Siodmak 
Jules Weill 
John C. Wilson 
Fred Zinnemann 

N.Y. to Emroiie 

Cecil Beaton 
Sidney Bernstein 
Hume Cronyn 
Alfred Hitchcock 
Irying B. Kahn 
Peter Levathes 
Paul Muni 
Lyman Munson, Jr.* 
Natalie Schaefer 
Eugen Sharin 
Murray Silverstone 
Jean Simmons 
Spyros Skouras 
Sir Philip Warteic 

Europe to N.Y. 

Denny Dennis 
Jean Sablon 



L.A.t®N.Y 

Robert Ardrey 
Ed Begley 
Nprman BlaeMbom 
Mal^y Boland 
Bing Crosby 
Alfred Crown 
Pat Duffgan 
Lynn Farnol 
Jules Fields 
Judy Garland 
Nat Goldstone 
Jed Harris 
Signe Hasso 
Jerry Hausner 
Helen Hayes 
Al Jolson' 
Ben tCalmenson 
John Kennedy 
John Laurenz 

Peter Lawford 
Rouben Mamoolian 

Frederic March 

Harold Molandet 

James Mulvey 

Sylvan Oestreicher 

Alan Posner 

Bob Roberts 

Wm. F. Rodgeis 

Benny Rubin 

Ann Rutherford 

Jack Schaefer 

Silas P. Seadler 

Gloria Scott 

Jimmy Van Heusen 

Ruth Warrick 

Paul Warwick 

Clifton Webb 



II 

yedneada yT March 81, 1948 




mnei! o 



IVlttU 



Including tke New York Critics} Citcle 

Award lot tlie Best Picture ol tlie Year, 

GI^ Tl 4" 1 I^TIH ^ Tl 

Agreement 

Climaxes tke Greatejst Acclaim in 
Screen History hy Being Selected 

Tte Academy 
Award Picttire 

and Wmnm^ 2 AclJ^itioiaal Academy Awards! 

In gratitude and pride, we extend 
our warmest congratulations 

ToProJucer DARRYL JR. ZANUCK 

T<y Screen play Writer MOSS HART 

To Director ELI A KAZAN 

To Author LAURAZ HOBSON 

To- the Stars ' 

GREGORY PECK 
DOROTHY McGUIRE * JOHN GARFlfiLD 

To the Supporting Players 

CELESTE HOLM, ANNE REVERE, JUNE HAVOC, 
ALBERT DEKKER, JANE WYATT, 
DEAN STOCKWELL and gAM JAFFE 

- To All Who Contributed To 

THE ACADEMY AWARD PICTURE! 




€ENTURY-FO 



■ 



ncimnis 



New Values Gted in Aii|^o4IJS. Tax 
Accord; Intra-hdiisby Amhy On 
Methods of Divrying British Coin 



Amity has prevailed so far in+ 
the meetings of major company 
foreign chiefs to work out the 
fliwy among U. S. distribs of in- 
come from the dollar pool result- 
ing from the new Anglo-U. S. films 
pact. Conferees met at the Mo- 
tion Picture Assn. of America in 
New York last Thursday (25) and 
again Monday <29) in exploration 
of the agreement. Several such 
meetings a week are expected to 
bfr held until there is accord on 
Interpretation of the pact and, 
finally, on terms for divvying the 
coin. 

So far, the difficult problem of 
actual division of the pool hasn't 
been more than passingly^ touched. 
Rather thati get into the expected 
]iass!e right off, it was decided to 
"take up the easy part first." Thus 
the sessions have been restricted 
to interpretation and definition of 
terms. 

. This is highly important, since 
the American companies must 
clarify their own ideas on what 
the agreement should allow and 
not allow before Fayette W. All- 
port, the MPAA's London rep, can 
finally work out these same de- 
; tails with the. British Board of 
Trade-. 'Allport, as a matter of 
fact, has already started on that 
chore, getting the Bi^tisb point of 
view for submission to the foreign 
Chiefs faere, jiist as their views will 
be sent to him. 

Aiding at the first confab were 
three heads of American' com- 
panies' British subsids. They were 
Sam £ckman, Jr., pi Metro; Joseph 
Friedman, of Columbia, and Rob- 
ert Wolff, of RKO. James A. Mul- 
vey, president of Samuel Goldwyn 
Productions, who helped negotiate 
the iigreement in London, sat in on 
Mondayls meeting and. is expected 
to be at 'most of the future ses- 
sions. 

While nothing has-been officially 
decided yet on how the coin in the' 
■ pool is to. be whacked up, ii is re- 
ported there' is a . definite under- 
standing on one major point. 'That 
is that each company's pro rata 
will be based on income of indi- 
vidual pictures in England each 
month. It will not be on a per- 
company basis, but on an individ- 
ual iilm basis as a protection to 



^British are to make their pay- 
ments into the pool Inonthly on 
the $17,O0OJI0O annual xemittance 
' dgreed upon. They are to pay into 
it quarterly the equivalent of coin 
earned, in the U. S. by English pix. 
(Continued on . page 18) 



Hawks Must Deliver 
'Red Ri?er/UA Spots 
WlntoNXMayfair 

United Artists last week ob- 
tained a judgment to force deliv- 
ery of" "Red River," Howard 
Hawks' pic made for Monterey 
Productions. Judgment, issued by 
N. % supreme court, was .entered 
m California by UA's counsel 
there, but it is understood that 
Monterey will deliver without fur- 
ther legal maneuvers. 

George Raftery, of O'Brien, 
DriscoU, Raftery & Lawler, com- 
pany's attorneys, obtained the 
judgment to affirm an arbitration 
award previously won by UA. 
Monterey was Ordered to deliver 
the negative "forthwith," or be 
he'd in contempt of court. 

0A- is now going full ahead on 
sales plans- for the Cagney film, 
"Time of Your Life," which was 
«iso in litigation. With an agree- 
ment reached, UA has booked 
•'Life" into the Mayfair, N. Y., fol- 
lowing the current tenant, "Gen- 
tleman's Agreement." Latter is 
expected to riin until about Me- 
morial Day. - "Life" will be the 
first non-20th-Fox film into the 
theatre since its operation' was 
taken ovex' by Harry Brandt from 
Loew's about a year ago. 



SRO'8 Distrib Chiefs 

Head for the Road 

Selznick. Releasing Organization 
sales toppers hit the road en masse 
this week to set circuit deals and 
generally hypo distribution of 
their product. Proxy Neil Agnew 
heads the touring trio. He'll hit 
Chicago and six other midwest 

Milt Ktisell, general saleman- 
ager, is heading for nine southern 
and Coast towns, including Los An- 
geles and San Francisco. Sidney 
Deneau. assistant general sales- 
manager, will make eight cities 
between Boston and Cincinnati. 

They'll all be working on regu- 
lar release of "Duel in the Sun'' 
and start paving the way for "Mr. 
Blandings:" "Duel" at regular ad- 
mission goes into Loew's State, 
N. Y., following the current "B.F.'s 
Daughter," and into Loew's houses 
in 26 other cities between April 0 
and May 20. • ' 

Oscared 'Agreement' 
Seen Sparking EOth-Fox 
Into Bigger Earnings 

Twentieth-Fox, whose net earn- 
ings dropped from $22,000,000 in 
1946 to an estimated $14,000,000 
last year, has trained its sights on 
a sharp rebound in 1948. Company 
execs believe their current and 
forthcoming product lineup, paced 
by the recently-Oscared "Gentle- 
man's Agreement," should send 
their second quarter's gross sky- 
wards. 

Figuring on the basis of present 
returns, 20th sales chief Andy W-. 
Smith, Jr., is endeavoring toi rack 
up a domestle gross of about 
$6,000,000 on "Agreement," which 
is some $500,000 betten tiian 
"Leave Her to Heaven," the com- 
pany's current record-holder. Sold 
at no increase in. admission prices, 
the film opened last week in 359 
spots for its first general release 
session. . ■ 

Currmt bookings include return 
engagements in' Miami, Pittsburgh, 
Boston, Los Angeles and San Fran- 
cisco, with grosses, hypoed by . the 
Acad citation, topping those rung 
up on original dates in several 
cities. Film opened day-and-date 
in four I<. A. houses 'last week and 
biz was. good enough to add a .fifth 
house to the string. -Fear that the 
controversial theme of VAgree>- 
ment" would cut into grosses in 
the south was dissipated last week, 
when the first frame In Atlanta 
outgrossed the Christmas - New 
Year's biz done by "Heaven" in 
1946. 

Smith, meanwhile, plans special 
merchandising campaigns for other 
20th films coming, up. "Iron Cur- 
tain," story of the atom bomb spy 
scare last year in Canada, wUl 
open in 350-400 major spots during 
the week of May 12, Company has 
also received a number of requests 
from exhibitors during the last 
week for repeat engagements on 
"Miracle on 34th Street," which 
won an Oscar for scripter George 
Beaton and for Edmund Gwenn in 
his supporting role in the film, 



U-EL Agree on Split 

Of Rank's British Pix 

Hollywood, March 80. 
Method of splitting the 30 J. Ar- 
thui" ftank pix to be released in 
the U. S. this year will be worked 
out 4)etween Universal-Internation- 
al and Eagle Lion, Rank said, 
"They will advise us which Of «i«r 
pictures are suitable for the Amer^ 
lean market and 'Pi-oceed from 
there. 1 feel they will be able to 
accomplish this among tiiemselves 
satisfactorily because they are on 
very friendly terms." 

Eagle Lion rep said two repre- 
-sentatives from each company and 
an arbiter will decide how the filnis 
will be divided. i . , 



D« Mille to Testify 

Washington, March 30. 

Cecil B. De Mille is due in Wash- 
ington April 5 to appear before the 
House Labor Committee April 17. 

He'll be guest at a Gridiron Club 
dinner April 19. Then goes to 
N,Y. for play-gandering before re-, 
turning to the Coast 



Raid's ^l-a-Year 
Goal Stymied By 
Gov t, He Qaiins 

Hollywood. March 30. 
British government refusal to 
issue licenses for new studio con- 
struction is keeping him from ex- 
panding film production, J. Arthur 
Rank told a press conference here 
yesterday (Monday): He said his 
studios were now running at their 
capacity of ' 30 pix yearly. His goal, 
he explained, is 40 but is impos- 
sible to reach without, new studio 
facilities. 

Admitting that he was "copying 
Hollywood," Rank said his films 
were helping to introduce his coun- 
try's products around the- world. 
He declared that the British were 
well on their way to -licking the 
language bugaboo, opining that 
U; S. audiences are better able to 
understand the broad 'W dialogue 
nojir than previouiily. . 

Rank said he couldn't reveal 
what percentage of fais film profits 
came from the U. S. "We have not 
really gotten started," he said, "and 
are only just now beginning to roll. 
I can say, however, that what we 
yeeeive, from the U. S. fs overall 
profit." ' Rank said his biggest 
grossers in this country have been 
"Henry V." "Caesar and Cleo- 
patra," "Great Expectations," 
"Stairway to Heaven" and "Odd 
Man Out." 

"We will continue to make these 
prestige pictures because I ,have 
sufficient faith in the filmgoing 
public to do so." <,He added that he 
doesn't plan making films compar- 
(Continued on page 03) 



Bii^l Tax SetdoDHit No Panac^ 
Fw Lowered Fib Rentals-iytli 



JUDGE REFUSES TO 

BOwouriNcaisni 

Hollywood; March 30. 

Federal Judge Leon R. Yank- 
wich overruled a defense motion 
that he disqualify himself in the 
case of Lester Cole suit for rein- 
statement as a writer at Metro. He 
also overruled C(de's attorney's mo- 
tion for immediate reinstatement 
without \rial. 

Metro's motion for disqualifica- 
tion, said the judge, expressed sym' 
pathy for Cole and others of the 
"Hollywood 10" at social gather- 
ing. For the record, six affidavits 
denying asserted statements were 
presented by the judge. 



€BS Producer Doubles 
As N.Y. Pic Director 

Fletcher Markel, CBS staff pro- 
ducer, starts doubling next week as 
director of a feature for Tower 
Pictures, It'll be filmed in New 
York. Titted "The Vicious Circle," 
it's a murder thriller based upon 
a hate campaign. Vincent McCon- 
nor, CBS staff scripter, is collabo- 
rating with Markel on the screen- 
play, adapted from an original by 
John Roeburt, No release is set. 

Leading parts-will be played by 
Garry Merrill, Anne Seymour, Ray- 
mond Edward STohnson and -Hester 
Sondergaard. Because, of Markel's 
radio schedule <his "Studio One" 
series airs Tuesday nights), no 
shooting wUl be done Mondays or 
Tuesdays. Before joining the net- 
work, Markel directed documenta- 
ries in England, and he also screen- 
played "Salome" for Alexander 
Korda, based on a character sketch 
of Oscar Wilde. 



01 

hsSiimofliakedCili' 
FroiBhs3Mos.nt^ 



With Mark Hellinger's "Naked 
City" continuing to roll up ultra- 
heavy grosses at" the Capttol, 
Broadway^ showcase,, Unlversal's 
sales toppers are now expecting to 
extract $SOO,000 in film rentals 
from that house alone. Pic is 
f^^ired to run three months at 
that deluxer Mid to turn in an over- 
all $1,000,000 in rentals from the 
entire metropolitan area. In its 
first three weeks, "Naked" grossed 
$375,000 at- the Capitol with « 
breakdown of $147,000 during the 
initial week; $125,000 during the 
second; and $102,918 in the third. 

In line with its new policy of 
backing the big ones to tiie hilt, 
U is grooving big advertidng out- 
lays for the film. 

Company thinks the flhn will 
cop the top rung as U's all-thne 
top grosser with a domestic take 
better than the $5,100,000 which 
"The £gg and T' has amassed to 
date. Take of "Egg," in turn, is 
double that of any previous Uni- 
versal film. "Naked" has done 
better in the comparative spots so 
far played. 

First week at the Esquire and 
Orpheum, San Francisco, grossed 
$34,019. Five Los Angeles houses 
totaled $67,459 during first week 
playoffs and $48,973 in the second 
stanza. Opening day at the Stan- 
ley, Philadelphia, netted $5,067 
which was only bettered by " Jolson 
Story," which 4id- $5,200:- 



MAJORS WOULD SETTLE 
THEATCO (S.F.) SUIT 

San Francisco, March 30. 
Negotiations are currently under 
way to settle the $1,540,000 treble- 
damage, anti-trust suit slapped by 
Theatco Amusement Co, against 
the eight majors and the Fox-West 
Coast circuit. If it goes through, 
settlement would follow in quick 
succession a peace pact made by 
the majors with Raymond Syufy, 
another suing exhib in this terri- 
tory. 

Theatco is asking for $250,Ck)0 as 
payoff to dropping its action j it's 
reported, with the majors counter- 
offering considerably less. Plain- 
tiff's suit claims that F-WC has 
bottled up the llrst-run situation 
in Frisco with a resultant freezeout 
of indies. 

Theatco suit was originally 
slated to be tried In February but 
has been postponed several months 
to allow leeway for current dicker- 
ings over settlement. 



U-I Pays $250,000 For 
Bellinger Properties 

Hollywood, March 30. 

Mark Hellinger estate, through 
its executors, sold five story prop- 
erties and the contracts of two. ac- 
tors to Universal-International for 
$250,000.. Stories include four 
originals: Arthur Cohn's "Dis- 
barredf Gordon Macker's "Rape 
Track," Phil Epstein's "Mistakes 
Will Happen" and Jerry D. Lewis' 
"Twinkle, Twinkle,", plus Forest 
Rosaire's novel, "East of Mid- 
night." Actors are Howard Dult 
and "Don Taylor. • 

Johnny Hyde, as liquidator of 
the estate, for Mrs. Hellinger 
(Gladys Glad), -and Martin Gang 
and the Bank of America, as execu- 
tors, have disposed of assets 
amounting to $520,000 since Hel- 
luiger's death. Sales include "Act 
of Violence," "Criss Cross," 
"Knock on Any Door" and various 
Ernest Hemingway stories. Mean- 
while, Hyde wUl continue to rep- 
resent the executors, in handling 
the bulk of the remaining estate, 
which consists of six films in di.s- 
tribution. Among them are "THo 
Naked City," "Brute Force," 
"Swell Guy" and "The Killers." 



SMALL'S 



EKSS IWAL Wm EL 

Hollywood, March 30.; 

Dispute over screen credits on 
"T-Men" led Edward Small to 
notify Eagle Lion that he was 
terminating his releasing deid 
with the studio. One more. Small 
picture, "Raw Deal," will be han- 
dled by EL, but Small is deleting 
names of Bryan Foy as executive 
producer and Aubrey. Schenck as 
producer from the credits. 

Small declared EL was taking 
credit in advertising and news , re- 
leases for the production of "T- 
Men" and ' playing' down his own 
part in making the film. As a re- 
sult of the dispute, a' deal under 
which Small was to take over 
"Twelve Against the Underworld" 
and produce it for Eagle Lion re- 
lease was caUed off. - 

Producer's next film will be 
"FBI Versus Scotland" Yard;" 
which goes before the cameras 
May 1 with a Columbia release set. 
His "Life of Rudolph Valentino" 
will be distributed by United 
Artists while 20th-Fox -will handle 
his "War Path" and "Leather 
Stockings." 



EHison, Barnett 

Form Oater Indie 

. Hollywood, March 30^ 
James KUison and Vince Barnett 
formed an indie producing unit to 
make a series of low-budget oaters 
in which t^ey will double as thcsps 
and producor.s. 

Company, backed by a Chicago 
bankroll, is negotiating for a re- 
lease outlet 



U. S. «thibitoni can expect no 
breatai m the way of decreased 
rmtals as a result of the British 
tax settlement. According to 20th. 
Fox sales chief Andy W. Smith. Jr 
"we stUl must get 100% of our 
costs md profits back from the 
domestic mai-ket." 

Exhibs' hopeful reaction to the 
tax peace was cmtained last week 
in a bulletin issued by Allied 
Rocky , Mountain " Independent 
Theatres. Group declared the set- 
tlement would strike a blow to the 
sales pltcli of distribs. who alleg- 
edly have been aiming in the last 
few months to get their Indie cus- 
tomers to pay for 'floss" of the 
British market. But such is not 
to be, according to Smith. 

He declared the tax peace would 
mean some easfaig of the U S 
market, but pohited out that most 
of the foreign market outside Eng. 
land is still suffering from the im- 
pact of quota laws, frozen revenue 
etc. "Consequently," he said, "we 
still need as much help as possible 
from our domestic distribution" 
He cited the majors' former de- 
twndence fOr their margin of profit 
on Britain and other foreign coun- 
tries as a mistake in the first place 
declaring that "we should never 
have got away from seeking 100% 
of our profits in the U. S." 

As a result, Smith said, 20th will 
continue to sell its product in this 
country based on what the com- 
pany thuiks the pictures are worth 
and the ability of theatres to pay. 
."Our business," he said, "should 
be run like any other business. 
When we need additional consider- 
ation for cmr product, we'll go to 
our customers and ask for it, iust 
like salesmen , in any other busi- 
ness would do. In return, we'll 
cooperate in the same way with 
oiuT' customers. That's the basic 
form of barter' on which any busi- 
ness nuist be run." 

- Pointing np the new stake the 
majors have in the amount of play- 
ing time rolled up by British films 
In this country. Smith declared the 
tax settlemoit should prove an in- 
centive to U. S. exhibs to give 
^more favorable consideration to 
British pictures." He scoffed at 
reports that more bookings for 
.British films on IT. S. screens would 
mean less time for doniiestic prod-> 
uct, declaring there's still, enough 
playing time available for alL 

As for 20th, "the company has not 
yet arranged to release more pic- 
tures turned out by British pro- 
ducers Marcel Hellman and Sir 
Alexander Korda than were called 
for in the original contracts. Hell- 
man is presently huddling with ■ 
20tb execs in New York on an ex- 
tension of his pact, which expires 
following release of the next two, 
"Meet Me at Dawn" and "This Was 
a Woman." Korda contract, orig- 
Uially calling for 14 films m lour 
years, vras extended to include two 
more pictures before the tax prob- 
lem was settled. Wo birther com- 
imtmentff, however, a» contem- 
plated at this tiQte. 

. 8 Others 
CInred by Coart 
h 1946 Indictment 

Hollywood, March 30. 

California's superior court has 
quashed a 16-moni^ old indictment 
against Herbert Sorrell and eight 
other officials of the Conference 
of Studio Unions on charges stem- 
ming from strike violence in the 
studio strike of 1946. Men were 
indicted on ciiarges of criminal 
conspiracy to violate the coiut's 
order to. limit the number of 
pickets before each studio. Judge 
William R. McKay ruled there was 
no valid evidence presented before 
the county grand jury. 

Indictment, originally returned 
Nov. 22, 1946, named 14 defendants 
on charges of conspiracy, unlaxvful 
assembly, assault with deadly 
weapons, refusal to disper.se and , 
extortion. Charges, which arose 
from picketing at Metro, Columbia, 
20th-Fox and Universal, were 
ffiSnmed by defense motions. Five 
of the defendants were freed lel- 
lewing a petition to the state 
supreme court; 

Besides Sorrell, defendants freed 
of charges were Earl C. Head, 
Mattew Matlison, Edward N. (.fil- 
bert, Andrew Lawless, . Russf" 
McKnight, Nerval Crutclier, Jolin 
Martin and Louis Whitman. 



T 





ISffinntt of ,51 Honoirs 
and Awards, Th# 
Number of Boxoffic« 
Recotds It Has Estab- 
lished ^Tops Everything 
In 20lii History! 




MM 777 



The Best of 20th'^ 
Red-Life Triumphs 
*-and. the Biggest 
at the BoxoflGice! 





From Boxoffice Barometer 
to the Business Reports of 
Variety to "What The Pic- 
ture Did For Me»" there's 
a sensational boxoffice 
story being told! 

Big towns, small towns, 
subsequent run houses, 
neighborhood theatres all 
add to the glowing reports 
of one company's product 
, , . and the showmanship 
behind it! 

. . . Thafs why the 
whole industry is 
calling it 

^4(1 



ii 



0^ 

Mi 



Sitting Pretli 



*A WOW! "SMASH!* 
'STAKbOUT!' 
[Reports Variety for 
'The Funniest Pict 
ture Ever Made! ' * 




"a- \ 



{^Audience vote at every 
preview! 



Yon Were 
Meant For Me 




It's All The Sweet 
Things Rolled Up 
in One Ticket- 
Selling Musical! , 





TiCHNlCOJLOR 

Ask The Men Who 
Played It In 329 
Theatre Premieres! 
Those "Smoky" 
Grosses Are Here 
Again! 




frmn 




CENTURY-FOX 



mm 



From Me 



TECHNICOLOR 

2nd Straight Month 
Motion Picture 
Herald Boxoffice 
Champion! 





nctDBiis 



Indie Exhibs Warned on British Fix 
Pitch; WouUBa&Distrib Pressure 



"If we can make money on ' 
British film, we'll book it, but If 
its b. o. prospects look doubtful, 
well pass it up regardless of the 
distributors' pressure." That's the 
consensus of indie exhibs, ex- 
pressed during the past week. In 
line with this thought are words 
of caution passed to theatremen by 
various units affiliated with Allied; 

Looking into Its crystal ball, Al- 
lied Rocky Mountain Independent 
Theatres predicts , in its Current 
bulletin that American exhibs "are 
about to be pitched one of tiie fast- 
est curve balls in' the historv of 
super-salesmanship. You will be 
asked to run more British films 
than ever before. Every distribu- 
tor will have a bushel basket of 
them. ..." 

Advancing a hypothetical sales 
pitch, ABMIT claims the distribs 
will argue that if exhibs don't play 
British pix, so little money will 
be taken from England that "our 
production will suffer" and the 
theatre op will be hurt in the long 
run. 

Allied of Kansas and Missouri 
also warns the indie exhibs to be 
wary of British pictures. It recalls 
, that terras of the recent tax; ad- 
justment provide that the $17,000,- 
000 freed for American iilm earn- 
ing in Britain are tc> be augment- 
ed by revenue gleaned by British 
pix here.. Hence, "pressure on you 
to buy English pictures is going 
to be very great, so keep'ycmr eyes 
and ears open!" 



SKOURAS, SILVERSTONE 
ALSO MULL ITALO PROD. 

Twentieth- Fox laresQ? Spyros 
Skouras and 20th. International 
chief Murray Silverstone will scout 
the possibiUty of producing one 
film in Italy during the coming 
year on theiir current trip. to Eu- 
rope, Silverstone, who sailed Satur- 
day (27) aboard the Queen Blizar 
beth, declined to famish any de- 
tails but declared preliminary 
planning fot. the one-film deal was 
well under way. 

Silverstone was originally sched^ 
nled to accomi>any Skouras by 
plane Monday (29) but switched 
to the boat in a last-minute change 
of plans. ■ He'U, meet Skouras in 
London when the: Elizabeth docks 
and the two vtrjll continue their 
junket from, there. They're sdied- 
uled to survey the 20th-owned 
studios in London, which were 
bombed out during the war, as a 
preliminary to resuming British 
production in light of the recent 
tax settlement. 

Duo will also visit Paris and 
other cities on the Continent. Sil- 
verstone is due back in. three 
weeks, but no date has been set 
for Skouras' return. 



Loew*» in Expendable 
Appeal on Damage Suit 

Boston, March 30. 

Loews, Inc., filed notice of intent 
to appeal the $3,000 Federal court 
award to Lt. Cmdr. Robert B. 
Kelly of Maiden in connection 
with the Navy officer's $500,000 
suit for damages as a result of his 
characterization in "They Were 
Expendable" <M-G). 

Among the points relied on to 
sustain the ■ appeal ~,to the U, S. 
circuit court of appeals are that 
Loew's has not shown the iilm 
since the war ended, that the film 
was within the authority and con- 
sent of. the plaintiff, that evidence 
doesn't warrant a finding that the 
audience recognized the plaintiff as 
participatmg, or that the plaintiff 
is less estimable in the film than 
he was in W. L. White's book of 
the same name. 

Fore^ Distribs Seeking 
Exchisi?e Theatre Deals 
ToSbowTheirPixinBi. 

Buenos Aires, March 24. 
Cinematografica Inter-Americana 
has lined up the Select Lavalle, 
along Buenos Aires' film row in 
centre of the city, for release of its 
Spanish-speaking lineup through- 
out 1948. The theatre has been re- 
modeled to seat 1,200 and the bill 
is to cliange weekly with Latin- 
American made pix being- shown 
exclusively. Mexican-made "Bel 
Ami" was released for the teeofE 
Miarch 11. Another Mexican pic- 
ture, "Casate y Veras," will follow. 

Foreign pic distributors in Bu- 
enos Aires are having to follow this 
method of linin{( up exclusive deals 
With Specific theatres in order to 
insore the release . of their pix, as 
firstrutt houses are all tied up with 
Hollywood distribs and have to 
cope as well with the enforcement 
decree which obliges them to show 
Argentine pix at least one week in 
every monfib.. 

The Biarrite is: due to reopen to- 
morrow (17), after a fold for re- 
pairs ■ and renewal of equipment, 
and will specialize in French pix. 



Pix as Teace Weapon' 
Urged by B«ioit-Le¥y 

Hollywood, March 30. 

Plea for the use of motion pio 
tures as "weapons for peace" was 
made by Jean Benoit-Levy, direc- 
tor of the United Nations' films 
and visual information bureau. 

He asked not for propaganda 
films but for popular education plci 
tures that can be understood by 
people in theatres throughout the 
world, f 



N.Y. Managers Union 
Charges RKO Refuses To 
Meet on a New Contract 

Labor dispute between RKO the- 
atres in the New York area and the 
Motion. Picture Theatre Operating 
Managers & Assistant Managers 
Guild looms April 15 with termina- 
tion of their current two-year pact. 
According to George Dunn, man- 
agers' guild prez, RKO has refused 
to meet with a union committee for 
the purpose of negotiating a new 
contract. 

Guild, representing about 115 
managers and assistant managers 
in 42 RKO theatres, is making the 
following d^ands: closed shop, 
30% wage , increase, 44 hour week, 
double-pay for overtime, eight 
holidays annually, seniority promo- 
tions and banning use o£ student 
managen. 



Jl||pd«e8diiy, Mureh 31, 



Edbniin Sees Plenty of Studio Space 
h London for UJS. Produdiim There 



Earl Carroll Plans 

^ap Docmnentary Pic 

Hollywood, March 30. 

Karl Carroll is making a pitch 
for a major release on ft documen- 
tary to be made in Japan with a 
native cast. Story will highlight 
activities of subversive elements 
and the general submission of the 
Japs to the American regime. 

Carroll recently returned from 
Tokyo where he obtained permis- 
sion from Gen. MacArthurto shoot 
the picture. He may go to yFash- 
ington for bmdal clearance <Kt the 
story. 



H'wood Circles 



Continued from page 1 



ABP to Defiver Six 
To WE in Two Tears 

. . Associated British Pictures, Ltd-, 
will deliver six ■ films to Warners 
for U.S. distribution within the 
next/tw years, according to ABP 
chairman Sir Philip A. Warter, 
who sailed for Britain, Saturday 
(27) aboard the Queen Elizabeth 
after a sijK-week visit in New .Yorit 
and the Coast. Pictures are' to be 
financed by ABP ^ while WB vnill 
assist their production by lending 
some of its stars. 

While on the Coast Warter 
huddled with. Jack and Harry War- 
ner on a possible overall British 
production program between the 
two companies; ABP, partly owned 
by Warners, has spent $5,000,000 
in rebuilding its studios at Elstree 
and, in addition, has three stages 
available at Welwyn. It's figured 
that everything would be in readi- 
ness should the WB top brass- de- 
cide to give the greenlight to film- 
making in England, i 

Aside from using some of its 
frozen rental <■ pounds at ABP's 
studios, Warners is the sole owner 
of the Teddington studios, which 
were completely revamped earlier 
this year. Two-stage plant, prior 
to the tax adjustment, had been 
rented out to small British Indies, 
but the space now fits into what- 
ever production projects WB may 
Work out. 

Meanwhile, proposed joint film- 
making deals of Warners 'and ABP, 
await finalization. next June, when 
Jack Wai-net Is scheduled to visit 
Britain. ' 



RKO FOREIGN EXECS 
msm AT STUQIO 

Hollywood, March 30. 

RKO's foreign toppers are due 
in town this week for huddles with 
N. Peter Rathvon and Dore Schary 
on the studio's future policy under 
conditions entailed by the recent 
tax settlemenf in England. 

Taking part in the conferences 
will be Phil Reisman, head of for- 
eign distribution; Robert Wolff, 
managing director for the United 
Kingdom,.,, and Jack 'Osserman, 
Latin American supervisor.. 



Asher Also Getting On 
Brit Prod. Bandwagon 

Hollywood, March 30, 
Irving Asher, with nearly 15 
years of . experience in British pro- 
duction, expects to ink deal with 
a major company this week as 
head of British production. If deal 
is okayed, it's understood hell also 
produce on his own in England. 

Asher vras formerly with Warner 
Bros, in England for nine years^ 
He produced "Tartu" for, Metro 
and was associated with Sir Alex- 
ander Korda in three pictures. He 
also has his own British production 
company. 



SWG Okays $25,000 Fee" 
For Arnold in 10' Cases 

Hollywood, March 30. 

Members of the Screen Writers 
Guild voted 236 to 164 to pay Thur- 
man Arnold. $25,000 to $35,000 for 
legal services in forthcoming ac- 
tions by the "unfriendly 10," wlio 
have been suspended or discharged 
by their studios. Ballot came after 
an all-night debate in which Rich- 
ard Macaulay, Borden Chase and 
other speakers proposed a limit ot 
$5,000 on the fee for Arnold. 

Vote favored a minimum of $25,- 
000 and an additional $10^000 
under certain conditions involving 
an appeal. • 



ing a cast composed mainly of 

Americans. Both Small and Co- 
lumbia (Rabinovitcfa) are using 
their - frozen Italian lire and also 
tlie natural Italian Ipcales. 

Canada will also come in for its 
share of U. S. film production. Sev- 
eral of the majors have already 
negotiated deals with the Canadian 
government, whereby part of the 
flow of film earnings to the U. S., 
estimated at $17,000,000 yearly, 
will be offset by film production. 
•Canada hopes eventually to see 
production spending equal the 
amount of money drained by U, S. 
films from the country. 

Warners last summer shot part 
of "To the Victor" in France, again 
for the dual purpose of securing 
authentic backgrounds and utiliz- 
ing blocked funds. With no frozen 
earnings in Mexico, U. S. produc- 
ers working there are after either 
lower labor costs or natural sets. 
Twentieth-Fox, for example,- shot 
much of "Captain from Castile" 
south of the l)order, where the 
wages of the tiiousands of extras 
hired was much less than Ameri- 
can extras would have been paid. 
"Castile," of 'course, was localed 
in Mexico, BSC is now operating 
its own studios in Churubusco, 
Mexico, where both Argosy Films' 
"Fugitive" and Jplm Steinbeck's 
"Pearl" were lensed. Both are be- 
ing released by BKO. 

Foreign • producers, too, have 
gone far afield m an efllort to put 
to use frozen funds. Julien Duvi- 
vier, for example, is now scouting 
locales in Tahiti for backgrounding 
"Marriage of LoU," which he'll 
produce under the banner of Sir 
Alexander Korda's London Film 
Productions. Tahiti is a French 
possession. That means that Kxn-da 
will be using his blocked francs to 
produce the film. 

In this country, producers have 
shipped crews to all pohits of the 
nation for those natural settings, 
with much of the impact of such 
films as 20-Fox's "Kiss of Death" 
and Univorsal's (Mark Hellinger) 
"Naked City" attributed to the 
fact that pictures were shot in 
their actual locations, in the latter 
instances in N. Y. City. Other ex- 
amples of the search for authentic 
locales abroad include Warners' 
lensing of "Berlin Express" in Ber- 
lin and Metro's production of 
"Search" in both Switzerland and 
the American zone in Germany. 
Latter picture was turned out by 
Lazar Wechsler's Praesens Films. 



French Honor Rathvon 

Hollywood, March 30. 
N. Peter Rathvon, RKO proxy, 
was decorated with the order of 
the French Legion Of Honor as a 
reward for his work in developing 
friendly relations between this 
country and France. 

Award was made on the RKO lot 
by Alexandre de Manziariy, French 
consul. 



For Baying Still Carry 
Jndie Group's Approval 

Minneapolis, March 30. 

Although under attack at thes 
North Central Allied convention 
here, divorcement and buying cam- 
bines . still carry the independent 
exhibitors organization approval. 
The body has made known that it 
will press for divorcement and use 
it's influence to bring members into 
buying combines. 

Denoimced from the floor for al- 
legedly misrepresenting the mem- 
bership by taking a prominent pact 
in the fltfl*t for divorcement, Pres- 
ident Bennie Berger nevertheless 
was unanimously re-elected for a 
fourth term and given a vote of 
approval. 

Leaders of the organization de- 
clare th^ continuecl faith in the 
buying combines despite the fact 
that Col. H. A. Cole of Dallas, vet- 
eran national Allied States board 
member, and Harold Field, owner 
of a large Iowa theatre circuit and 
co-owner of a deluxe Minneapolis 
suburban theatre, insisted that.buyr 
ing combines have been unable to 
show as good deals as independent 
exhibitors making their own in- 
dividual transactions. 

Berger was assailed from the 
floor by Jerry Silver, Cannon Falls, 
Minn., exhibitor who charged that 
the body's president misrepresent- 
ed the wishes of the majority of 
members in espousing divorcement 
and' requested that he be rebuked 
and "turned in the right direction." 



JOHNSTON, RANK TALK 
^ PK WITH TRUMAN 

Washington, March 30. 

President Truman got the low- 
down on pictures last week from 
two industry toppers — ^Eric John- 
st«n and J. Arthur Rank. 

Rank was. set up with a White 
House session past Wednesday (24), 
shortly before he trained out for 
the Coast. He discussed the gen- 
eral picture situation and claimed 
he fotmd' the President "vfery 
warm-hearted and sympathetic." 

Following day, Johnston reported 
to Mr. Truman on the details of 
the plan to lift the 75%. British 
bite on our pix, plus other devel- 
opments. One feature was . the 
effect on pictures abroad of the 
new international developments. 



3 AngMJS! Productions 
Reviewed in This Issue 

Footnote to the present surge to- 
ward American production in Eng- 
land is ttie coincidental release in' 
Britain last weelir of three pictures 
made there by U. S. compainies or 
with thbir financial aid. Films are 
"The First Gentleman" (Colum- 
bia), "Snowbound" (RKO) and 
"Escape" ,(20th-Fox), 

They are all reviewed from Lon- 
don in this issue of Variety, Opin- 
ion points up the stand talien by 
many U. S, picture execs that 
American . production in England 
will, be no royal road to unfreezing 
coin held there under the new 
Anglo-U. S. films agreement. 
*Only one of the films, "Escape," 
is rated for good business in the 
U. S. That was achieved by 20th 
through providing from Hollywood 
its own screenplay, producer, di- 
rector and stars. Both of the top 
names, Rex Harrison and Peggy 
Cummins, happen to be British, 
but both have played in American 
films and thus have had the benefit 
(Continued on page 24) 



nnH.®S.P**® 'act that Metro 

20th-Pox and Warners are the S 
U. S. majors to own thefa- own 
studios in England, there will Zli 
be plenty of space available for 
<)ther producers who plan to use 
their blocked English funds f™ 
turning out films. That's the ooin. 
Jon of Sam Eckman, Jr., Metro 
managing director in England 
who's now on a visit to the homei 
office for the first thne in two 
years, 

According to Eckman, the Metro 
studios have a capacity of 12 ton 
pictures a year. It's extremcLv 
unlikely, however, that the frozen 
currency of any U. S. company will 
approximate enough to finance 
such a heavy production schedule 
Once the M-G studios "get rolUng 
consequently, there will be space 
for other American firms to rent 
In addition, Eckman voiced the 
possibility of some U. S. com- 
panies tieing in with British pro- 
ducers for studio space, such as 
the RKO-J. Arthur Rank co-pro- 
duction deal on "So Evil My Love." 

He declined to discuss Metro's 
British production plans, declaring 
the situation is now under dis- 
cussion on the Coast in huddles 
among British production chief 
Ben Goetz and studio officials. Eck- , 
man stressed, though, that Metro 
would proceed ..xtn the assumption 
that British economic conditions 
won't clear sufficiently within the 
next two years to permit any 
change in the amount of money 
remittable under the tax agree- 
ment. Production in England via 
frozen funds, consequently, will be 
a long term proposition. 

Eckman said that Metro, along 
with the other U. S. companies, 
has already shipped its first five 
new films to England. They're ' 
presently being held in bond pend- 
ing the royal assent to the tax 
agreement, but should be released 
about the end of April. He ex- 
pressed doubt that there would be 
any tremendous upsurge in British, 
bookings for U. S. films im- 
mediately, however, since most cir- 
cuits are booked until the end ot 
September. "Bel Ami" (Da^d 
Loew-Albert Lewin), released by 
M-<>r in England in January, was 
the last new film to be distributed 
there by the company. Since then, 
Eckman said, Metro has expanded 
its reissue program, putting out 
two oldies a month instead of the 
one issued iwevioHsly. 

N« Natlvnalizatlon 

Eckman quoted a recent state- 
ment of British Board of Trade 
chief Harold Wilson to the eflcct 
that the British government has 
no intention of nationalizing the 
film industry. New tax peace, he 
said, will probably create no 
change in the government's think- 
ing. He cited the possibility, how- 
ever, that the British will establish 
a government-sponsored film bank 
to finance production. 

Metro's 16m biz in England, ac- 
cording to Eckman, is progressing 
satisfactorily. Company has 
agreed not to release any 16m film 
theatrically within a tw<hniile 
radius of the nearest 35m situa- 
tion. Because of the compactness 
of the island, he said, the ruling 
makes it difficult to operate. To 
distribute 16m product within the 
two-mile limit can be done only 
with the approval of the Cine- 
matograph Exhibitors Assn. If 
the CEA objects, the problem is 
put up for adjudication before the 
joint conciliation committee, cM»- 
prising reps of CEA and the dis- 
tributors' organizations. 

Cowan Heads Rank Canada 
Relations; Lawrie, Odeon 

Toronto, March 30. 

Coincident with visit here of J. 
Arthur Rank, all his public rela- 
tions and promotional activities in 
Canada will now be coordinated 
under direction of James A. 
Cowan, according to Hon. J. Earl 
Lawson, head of the various Rank 
interests in the Dominion. To be 
emphasized is the selling and pro- 
motion through the 120 Odeon 
houses across Canada of both 
American and British films bemg 
handled by the Rank chain. 

Cowan has been named director 
of publicity and public relations 
for the J. Arthur Rank Organiza- 
tion; Archie Lawrie assumes sanie 
tan for Odeon Theatres of Canada. 
Larry Grabum continues as direc- 
tor of advertising for Odeon. 



wmm-rmmnjcmm 



n TOP FILMS FOR APRIL-JUNE 



Breakdown of Releases 

Ch>mpatiy-l)iy-^mp9Ay bireakdown of releases for tbe Arst and 
, gec«m4 quarters of '48 are listed herewith: 

West.- Total tor West.- T'L for 

|!t, ' . Color Aet. Jstqjntr. Color Act. M4iur. 

fdurobia 3 4 ,19 1 8 13 

smer Bro9. .•«..•> 1 7 ' 1* 10 

Metro 1 8 3 .. 9 

. SOUi-Fox i... f- ■ 9 i 13 

Universal . , 2 8 . 1 8 

UA a 1 8 

JIKO 1 8 .. 1 S 

Paramount .>...../.. .. 3 9 ... 7 

Si^lcLion t 3 IS . t 1 to 

BJiliublic . Z 8 1 3 8 

liittognim 2 11 3 12 

-'fOttt'ClaBsics .: 5 '3 1' 6 



UP 11 OVEB 1ST 





16m Film Shortage May Be Caused 
By Army-Navy Rawstock Pileup 



Qi llieatre Bnilli^ By 
' Jadson Park, Dnrorcon^ llreat 



Chicago, March 30. + 
Chicago, -which has had no new 
. film theatre construction in the 
lut seven years, with the exeep- 
..&an of Drive-ins. may spfend sev* 
;et«I millioh dollars for new houses 
h congress lifts the building ban. 
Most of the construction will be in 
the suburbs. Check with Chi per- 
mit office discloses that no com- 
panies have asked to build new 
houses within the city. 

Balaban & Katz officials, while 
admitting that planning of new 
houses was underway, indicated 
none would be in the Chi area. 
Neglect o£ the Chi area stems fi-om 
fact that B&K feels its operations 
aie hampered here under the 
jrackson Park decree and that it 
would be unwise, at present, to 
make plans until, decree gives it 
more leeway. Theatres to go up, 
tn most cases, are those replacing 
houses, downstate and in other 
Cities that were formerly leased 
find on which B&IC and Great 
States (downstate Par chain) have 
. lost their lease. 
. Other leading circuits have no 
Immediate building.i. plans. One 
circuit head, affiliated with a pro- 
diw^ firm, said that such plans 
Would be obviously held in abey- 
ance until Supreme Court ruled on 
divorceinent. 

^ On the west and northwest side 
of Cook county, two Drive-ins are 
beiog built, and two more are in 
' (Continued on page 17) 



Milleimluin 

Hollywood, March 30." 
Paramount ran ifitoH stu^ange 
condition in these economical 
days a shortage of actors. 
One scene in "The Great Gats- 
by" was delayed two days be- 
cause of difficulty in hiring 
200 atmosphere and bit play- 
ers. 

' Thesps in these classifica- 
ti6ns are in heavy demand. 



Rep's $5-$S Pay Tilts 
Mark 5th SOPEG Accord 

. Fifth in the series of wage tilt 
awards for the Screen Office & 
Professional Employees Guild, 80 
White collarites at Republic's home 
office have received increases of $5 
to $8, retroactive to Sept. 27, 1947. 
Vncler a w^ge reopening clause in 
the union contract, SOPEG has ar- 
bitrations currently pending with 
20th-Fox, Paramount, and National 
Screen Service. 

Similar arbitration cases involv- 
ing the Screen Publicists Guild 
«nd Warner Bros, and RKO are 
Slated to open in the middle of 
April Meanwhile, SPG voted to 
•SSesa each member a flat 20'J'o of 
™w pay awards in order to 
defray the expense of arbitration. 

House Kills Lewis Bill 
Over Allied Opposition 

Washington, March 30. 

They buried the Lewis bill here 
last week, when a House Judiciary 
t-ommittee voted 5 to 1 to 'kill the 
nieasure, vifith only its sponsor. 
Hep. Earl Lewis (R., O.l, recom- 
»«ending that it be s§nt on favor- 
ably to the full House Judiciary 
t-oramiUee. And even Lewis admit- 
wd quietly to his colleagues that 
ne would not be mad il they voted 
against him. ' 

Tlie bill, which had the backing 
•Of tlie Allied States Assn. of Ex- 
nibitors, would have shifted re- 
sponsibility for paying the ASCAP 
seat tax from the theatres to the 
"hn producers. 

Lewis toUl newsmen that what 
motivnteU Iho committee to vole 
agamsl the bUl was the fact that 
we e\hibii,: -.j themselves were di- 
vided about it. 



UAOK'sO'seas 
DistribiitioH nan 

Assent has been received by 
United Artist.^ from virtually all 
its -producers to the plan broached 
last week by which it would give 
up its own offices in tlirce foreign 
territories. Company is planning 
to license a local distrib in each 
area to handle it's films. 

Move, put to the producers' reps 
in New York last week by foreign 
topper Arthur W. Kelly, applies to 
China, Palestine and Egypt. It fol- 
lows similar action in Spain about 
a year ago and Mexico last month. 

In each case, UA claimed, ' its 
operations were unprofitable and 
the producers would be served 
equally well or better by distribs 
with local political savvy. UA will 
also keep its own man on the scene 
to okay contracts. 

Operation in Egypt will be re- 
turned to the sani* distrib who 
handled it before UA opened its 
own. branches about five years ago. 
That's Raissi brothers, who operate 
the Ideal Motion Picture Co. In 
Palestine it will be Norman Lurie 
who, prior to the war, was general 
manager of his father's 20th .Cen- 
tury circuit In South Africa. He 
(Continued oh page 20) 



Major film companies, with few 
exceptions, have set heavy releas- 
ing schedules for the second-quar- 
ter of 1948 with total pi-oduct 
hitting a grandslam figure of 73 
films for the' April-June pei-iod. 
If advance, plans hold, that total 
will be 11 more than the 62 plx 
which reached exchanges for gen- 
eral ■ release during the first 
stanza stretch. In all, majors and 
minors will send 109 films to U. S. 
flickeries against 101 in the Jan- 
uary-Mardi period. 

Five majors are stepping up 
their tempo, in the next three 
months. Of these, sharpest in- 
crease is by United Artists which 
plans eight releases against a bare 
two during the first quarter. 
Warner Bros, is hypoing to 10 its 
pix from a previous seven; 20th- 
Fox to 13, from 9; Paramount to 
7 from 5; and Metro to 9 from 8. 

Aside from number, no great 
Change in bracketing of pix is dis- 
closed in current releasing plans. 
For the majors, there will be seven 
Technicolor films and two Cine- 
color during the coming three 
months, almost identical to the 
eight Techni and one' Cine pix re- 
leased in the first quarter of the 
year. British films continue scat- 
tered with five Anglo pix heading 
for the screens in the coming 
quarter and six reaching them dur- 
ing the initial three mtmths. 

Majors turned out eight western- 
actioners during the first stanza. 
That number is whittled to six 
for the next period. There'll be a 
slight boost in the minor leagues 
Where the smaller companies plan 
eight in that bracket for the nexi.' 
three months against a total of 
six for the first quarter. 
Synchronized with the combined 
(Continued on pafee 17) 



Steel Shortage 

Hollywood, March 30. 

The international situation 
is felt on the film lots. 

There is an increaidng dif- 
ficulty in obtaining steel for 
set construction. 



Tekpix Proi 
Problem in N.Y. 



Ex-Biz Mgr. Gets MO Yrs. 
For $10,000 Absconding 

Lqs Angeles, March 30; 

Paul Behrman, former business 
manager for film players, was 
found guilty of grand theft and 
sentenced to serve from one to 10 
years in San.Quentin, 

He was charged with taking 
$10,000 from a writer. Wanda 
Schoemann, by representing that 
it was' a loan to Anne Nichols. 
Evidence showed that Miss Nichols 
knew nothing about it.: 



New York's cramped studio facil- 
ities are now presenting a major 
headache to both large-scale and 
small fry producers of pix for tele- 
vision only. Two tele-picmakers in 
the • field, Jerry Fairbanks and 
United World Films, 16m subsid of 
Universal, have engaged in some 
feverish scurrying of late to ease 
their own ^udio problems. So far, 
it's been learned, neither have been 
able to secure the right space for 
their ambitious production plans. 

Fairbanks, it's reported, has his 
hook out for the old Edison studios 
in the Bronx, Both CBS and NBC 
are also reported flirting with the 
Edison owners with the idea . of 
solving their telepix riddle ac- 
quiring that lot. 

Full-size stages used ordinarily 
for theatrical features aren't adapt-: 
able for tele films, it's said. First 
they're too arge for the modest jSe- 
quirements of pix made solely for 
video. Seiioadly, they're too ex- 
pensive in view of jthe still limited 
returns available on films made for 
tele. Hence, Pathe's new studios in 
Manhattan are con-sidered no real 
answer to the stumper. 

Most of the smaller studios now 
in use for commercial and indus- 
trial pix are also out for differen* 
reasons. Objection to them, it's 
said, is because they're mostly non- 
union in operation. Producers, 
therefore, wouldn't be able to Ining 
in their union cameramen, tech- 
nicians, etc. 

One produced, faced with the 
problems, actually took to a cellar 
to make a series of six tele shorts. 
In that instance, it wasn't only the 
space problem but also the need to 
keep tbe nut to a record low; Cam- 
eraman was made a partner and 
entire cost of the six didn't come 
to much more than $2,000. 



4- Unexplained shortage of 16m 
rawstock since the beginning of 
the year is being laid by film firms 
to Army and Navy stockpiling. 
Major companies which sell abroad 
In the narrow gauge, as well as 
documentary, industrial - and com- 
mercial users, have had their op-^- 
erations tremendously slowed by 
the sudden and mysterious disap- 
pearance from the market of stock. 

There was a shortage during the 
war, when military and naval 
forces were using up large' quan- 
tities for recorinaisance work, 
training films, «-rays and other 
uses. From the end of hostilities, , 
however, until , last December,' 
commercial users were getting all 
the supplies they wanted. 

Eastman and other manufactur- 
ers, queried by film-makers, de- 
clare that the shortage is due to 
nothing more than increased pub- ■ 
lie demand. They say, for instance, 
that public health x-ray programs 
are using up much of the' stock 
that might be going to film com- 
panies; that there's much greater, 
amateur use of 16m cameras; that; ; 
there are many more commercial 
and training films being made, etc. 

Toppers for major distribs agree 
to all that but don't figure that 
what was a plenitude could have 
changed to a shortage overnight. If 
it had just resulted from an ex- 
pansion of normal demands. The 
only wa;^ they figure it is that 
someone has interposed', large or- 
ders on ' the manufacturers . and 
those orders are being given pri- 
ority.' , ■ . . ■ 



Urge Fed. Admish Tax 
Be Switched to Munys 

Chicago, March 30. 

Immediate repeal of the Federal 
admission tax so that source of 
revenue can be taken over by 
municipalities was urged by a spe- 
cial committee of the U. S. Confer- 
ence of Mayors in sessions here 
Thursday (25). Burden- of mayors' 
beef was that Federal and state 
governments have grabbed oft the 
mo.st productive forms of taxation, 
leaving cities to struggle along on 
the crumbs. 

Attending the huddle in addition 
to Chicago's Mayor Kennelly were 
Aloysius Kaufman, St. Louis; 
David Lawrence, Pittsburgh, and 
George Welsh, Grand Rapids, 
Mich.', prexy of the conference. 



Molinc's i'i Tax 
MOline, 111., March 30. 
' Moline last week became the 
' latest enlistee in the ranks of cities 
! passing picture admission levies. 
City council slapped a 4';; tax on 
sLv houses starting April 3. . 

Revenue will be used to meet 
budget deficits and hire additional 
I men for the police foi-ce. 



Briefs From the Lots 



Hollywood, March 30. 

Ronald Reagan draws the male 
lead in "Fighter Command," which 
Jerry Wald will produce at War- 
ners.. .11. v. Kaltenboru, news 
commentator, will play himself in a 
sequence of Koy Del Ruth's "Tliei 
Babe Ruth Story". , . Paramount 
signed Ken Murray's Elderlovelies,- 
chorus gals ranging in age from 60 
to 72, for roles in "Isn't It Roman- 
tic". Metro has ordered 450 
prints of "Homecoming" and a 
similar number for "State of the 
Union" to fill the demand for early 
playing dates. 

Enterprise borrowed Louis Jour- 
dan from Vanguard'to co-star with 
Lilli Palmer and Dana Andrews in 
"No Minor Voices" . . . Walter Mo- 
rosco draws production reins on 
"The Frightened Child" at 20tli- 
Fox. . Faith Domergue and Donald 
Duke recalled for more added 
scenes on Howard Hughes' "Ven- 
detta". . "Beyond Glory" is the 
new tag on "The Long Grey Line" 
at Paramount ... Max Opuls will 
direct "Wild Calendar," to be pro- 
duced by Wolfgang Keinhardt at 
Enterprise . Adclc Jcrgens will 
play a dual role in "Ladies of the 
Chorus" at Columbia . .Richard 
Maibanin will produce "Mask for 
Lucretia" at Paramount when he 
winds his current job, "The Great 
Gatsby" W. Lee Wilder's nexi 
indie production will be "Sheppey," 
ba.sed on a play by W. Sonncrse'. 
[Maugham^ 



Metro has June Allyson, Janet 
Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor and Utar- 
garet O'Brien lined up for roles in 
"Little Women"... Aynd Rand 
checked in at Warners to screen- 
play her own novel, "The Fountain- 
head" ...Robert Stevenson, re- 
cently returned from London, will 
direct "Weep No More" at RKO. . . 
Mecca Graham, former business 
manager for Marilyn Miller, will 
be technical adviser on "Silver 
Lining" at Warners ... Steve Sletr 
inger in town to negotiate foi^ the 
production of a new "Red Rider" 
series. 

Robert . Cnmmings and Eugene 
Frcnke wound their first indie, pro- 
duction, "Let's Live a Little," $25,- 
000 under budget, with "Passpoi-t 
to Love" slated as their next. . . . 
Buster Keaton signed to write gags 
and comedy dialog for Metro. . . . 
Enterprise making a pitch for stage 
space in England to produce "Pur- 
suit of Love."' . . .Republic bought 
"Grand Canyon Serenade," written 
by Gerald Garaghty, as an oater 
for Roy Rogers. . . . Twenty ski 
jumpers, foreign and domestic, 
have been signed for snow scenes 
in Sun Valley for the 20th -Fox 
picture, "That Wonderful Urge." 
. . . Robert WUmot Will direct "I 
^ Am . the Law," a George A. HSili- 
, man production, starting May 10, 
in New York. . . Danny Kaye 
checked in at Warners for huddles 
on "Happy Times," his first tune- 
film on the Burbank lot. 



Stndios Match Headlines 
With Anti-Red Fdms 

Hollywood, March 30. 

Communism, once avoided as a 
film theme, is getting a heavy play 
among major and independent pro- 
ducers. In addition to 20th-Fox'3 
"The Iron Curtain," which is com- 
pleted except for the recording, 
half a dozen lots are readying films 
dealing with the Red situation in 
one way or another. 

John Sutherland is currently 
conferring with Gen. William Don- 
ovan in New York on "I Was a 
Communist," which will be pro- 
duced for United Artists release. 
Louis de Rochemont's first doeu- ' 
mentary for Metro will be based; 
on Communism in this country. 
Metro also has "The Red Danube" 
on its schedule, and indie produ- 
cers are preparing "Portrait of an 
American Communist" and "I Mar- 
ried a Communist." Meanwhile, 
Warners has set an April 10 re- 
lease date on "To the Victor," 
which has an anti-Communistic 
slant. 



C.O.D. T^st Won By 

Exhib on Pic Debt 

Minneapolis, March 30. : 
In a test case, a district court 
jury here decided that an exhibi- 
tor who has paid for a picture is 
entitled to receive it even though 
he may owe for other films con- 
tracted for yet unplayed and un- 
dated. It awarded Frank Woskie, 
former independent neighborhood 
exhibitor, $50, the price of Univer- 
sal's "Lady on a Train," which he 
previously had paid for but which . 
was sent him C.O.D. because he 
hadn't fulfilled . contract.'' 

■Woskie also was suing Univer-- 
sal for an unspecified amount of 
damages because he kept his the- 
atre closed for two days rather 
than accept the shipment C.O.D. 
Concurring in the defense's con- 
tention that Woskie could have 
telephoned . to another exchange 
for a substitute feature picture, 
tii6 jury refused to award him any 
damages. 

Combating "this prevalent prac- 
tice" of shipping film C.O.D. for 
claimed indebtedness other than 
that of the cost of the picture in- 
volved, North Central Allied back-- 
ed Wo.skie in his suit, provldUig^^. 
counsel for him. 



10 




Opemd Wedmsday—Holy Wmk \ 



19 



PICTIJBB CWOSSKS 



Wedlnetdiiy, March 81. 1948 



Tugitive Sets Pace of New LA. Pit 
Wham at $29,000; 'Showers' $50,000, 
'Bride' Slim 43G, 'BishopV Fair 35G 



Los Angeles, March 30. 
Garnering major attention 
among new bills here this week is 
'"The Fugitive," which will hit 
great $29,000 or near in two fairly 
Small theatres. "April Showers" 
shapes olcay at $50,000 in three 
houses. "Bishop's Wife," playing 
(It top prices in two spots, shapes 
only fair with $35,000. 

"Bride Goes Wild" loolcs mild 
$43,000 in three situations. Re- 
issue of "Bambi" will be nice $33,- 
SOO in Ave locations, mostly small- 
«eaters. "Man of Evil" shapes slow 
il7,500 in four small spots. 

*'Naked City" still is fine $36,000 
in five situations, third frame. 
Second week of "Gentleman's 
Agrifement" is only t)kay $36,500 In 
• four spots, and will add fair $5,500 
for first week in fifth house. Final 
eight days of i'Mating Millie" on 
second week looks nifty $34,000 in 
two locations. 

Bstimates for This .Week 
Belmont (FWC) (1,532; 60-$l)— 
♦•Bambi" (RKO) (reissue) and 
"Western Heritage" (RKO). Oke 
»4,000. Last week, "Gay Ranchero" 
(Rep) and "Discovery" iFG) (6 
days), $1,600. 

Beverly Hills Music Hall (G&S- 
Blumenfeld) (826; 65-$l)— "Man 
of Evil" (UA). Slow $3,000. Last 
week, 'AAngels Have Wings" (Col) 
and "Coast Guard" (Col) (reissues), 
thin $3,000. 

Carthay Qirde (1,518; 60-$l) 
—"Gentleman's Agreement" (20th). 
Fair $5,500. Last week, ''North- 
fide" (20th) and "Live Again" 
(20th) (2d Wk), medium $5,000.. 

Chinese (Grau°maq-WC) (2,048; 
eo-$l)— "Agreement'' . (20th> (2d 
xnk): Down to $9,S()0 or tietter. 
Last week, fancy $19,100. . 

Culver (fWC) (1,145: 60-$l)— 
"Bambi" (RKO) (reissue) and 
"Western Heritage'" (RKO). Okay 
$5,500. Last week, "Gay Raijchero" 
(Rep) and "Discovery" (FC) (6 
days), $2,000. 

Downtown (WB) (1,800; 60-$l)— 
"April Showers" (WB). , Nice $18,- 
000. Last week, "Robin Hood" 
(WB) (reissue) (2d wk), $12,700. ■ 
Downtown Music' Ibll .(Blumen- 
feld) (872; 60-$!)— "Man of Evil" 
• (UA). Dull $8,000, Last week, 
"Angels Have Wings" (Col) flind 
"Coast- Guard" (Col) (reissues), $9,- 
son. 

I Eryptian (FWC) (1,538; eO-$l)— 
I "Bride Goes -Wild" (M-G). Fair 
i $10,500. Last, week, "Alias Gentte- 

man" (M-G) and "10th Ave. Angel" 

(M-G) (11 days), $17,000. 
EI Rey (FWC) • (861; 60-$l)— 

"Bambi" (RKO)^ (reissue) and 

"Western "Heritage" (RKO). Okay 

?;4,500. Last week, "Gay Ranojiero" 
Rep) and "Discovery" (FC) (6 
days), only $1,600. 

Esquire (Rosener) (685; 85-$1.20) 
f— "Nicholas Nickleby" (U) (5th wk). 
Close' to $2,000. Last week, $2,200. 
■ Four Star (UA-WO (900; 60-$l) 
—"Fugitive" (RKO). Fancy $9,500 
or near. Last week, "Mourning Be- 
cpmes Electra" (RKO) (13th wk-9 
■ days), $3,900. 

Guiid (FWC) (968; 60-$!)— 
"Naked City" (U) (3d wk). Nice 
$4,000. Last week, smart $6,300. 

Hawaii (G&S-Blumenfeld) (1,- 
106; 60-$l)— "Man of Evil" (UA). 
j^lim $3,500. Last week, "Angels 
Have Wings" (Col) and "Coast 
Guard" (Col) (reissues), $3,200, 

Hollywood (WB) (2,756; 60-$l)— 
"April Showers" (WB). Oke $16,- 
000. Last week, "Robin Hood" 
(WB) (reissue) f2d wk), neat $9,800. 

Hollywood Music Hall (Blumen- 
feld) (475; 60-85)— "Man of Evil" 
(UA). Slow $3,000. Last week, 
"Angels Have Wings" (Col) and 
"Coast Guard" (Col) (reissues), $3,- 
100. 

Iris (FWC) (828; 60-85)~"Naked 

£ity" (U) (3d wk). Good $4,500. 
ast week, sturdy .$6,500. 
Laurel (Rosener) (890; 85)— "Fu- 
ria" (FC) (3d wk). Trim $3,000. La.st 
week, $4,100. 

Loe'w'B .State (Loew-WC) (2,404; 
«0-$l)— "Agreement" (20th) (2d 
wk). Fair $13,000 or near. Last 
week, conservative $21,200. 

Los Angeles (D'town-WC) (2,097; 
. B0-$1)— "Bride Goes Wild" (M-G). 
Trim $22,000. Last week, "Alias 
Gentleman" (M-G) and "10th Ave. 
Anger' (M-G) (11 days), $27,000. 

Loyola (FWC) (1,248; 60-$l)— 
"Agreement" (20th) (2d wk). Good 
$7i000. Last week, sock $11,700. 

Orpheum (D'town-WC) (2,210; 
.•0-$!)— "BAmbi" (KKO) (reissue) 



and "Western Heritage" (RKO). 
Pleasant $13,000, Last week, . "Gay 
Ranchero" (Rep) and "Discovery" 
(FC) (6 days), only $5,300. 

Palace (D'town) (1,226; 60-$l)— 
"Fugitive" (RKO). Big $19,500. Last 
week, subsequent-run. 

Pantaces (Pan) (2,812; 60-$l)— 
"Mating of Millie" (Col) and "Re- 
turn Whistler" (Col) (2d wk). 
Pleasing $16,000 in 8 days. Last 
week, brisk $21,700. 
" Paramount (F&M) (3,398; 60-$lV 
—"Bishop's Wife" (RKO). Fair 
$21,000. Last week, "Saigon" (Par) 
and "Mr. Reckless" (Par) (3d wk), 
Closed at $11,200. 

Paramount Hollywood (F&M) 
(1,451; eO-$l) — "Bishop's Wife" 
(RKO). Good $14,000. Last week, 
"Saigon" (Par) and "Mr. Reckless" 
(Par) (3d wk), flttaled at $7,800. 

RKO Hillstreet (RKO) (2,890; 
60-80)— "Mating Millie" (Col) and 
"Return Whistler" (Col) (2d wk). 
Smooth $18,000 in S days. Last 
week, smart $22,500. t 

mti (FWC) (1,370; 60-$l) — 
"Naked City" (U) (3d wk). Solid 
$10,000. Last week, $12,100. 

Studio City (FW(3) (880; 60-$l)— 
"Naked City" (U), (3d wk). Good 
$4,500. Last week, $6,500. 

United Artists (UA) (2,100; 60-$l) 
"Naked City" (U) (3d wk). fast 
$12,500. Last week, $17,000. 

Uptown (FWC) (11719; «0-$l)— 
"Agreement" (20th) (2d Wk). Near 
$7,000; modest. Last week, rousing 
$14,000. 

. Vogue (FWC) (885; 60-85) — 
"Bambi" (RKO) (reissue) and 
"Western Heritage" (SiKO). Nice 
$6,500. Last we^, "Gay Raijdi- 
ero" (Rep) and "Discovery'' (FC!)' 
(6 days), $1,700, 

WiUdilre (FWC) (2,296; «Or|l)— 
"Bride Goes Wild" (M-G). Fair 
$10,500. lOiSt week, "Alias Gentle- 
man" (M-G) and "10th Ave. Angel" 
(M-G) (11 days), $9,700, 

Wiltern (WB) (2,300; 60-$l)— 
"April Showers" (WB). Fairly good 
$16,000 or near. Last week, "Rob 
in Hood" (WB) (reissue) (2d wk), 
neat $8,600. " 



Cooiier $14,500, Omaha 

Omaha, March 30. 
Sudden small blizzard Friday af- 
ternoon killed biz for one night at 
all houses. Orpheum with "Un- 
conquered" at pop scale is topper. 
Gary Cooper ^starrer being big. 
Estimates for This Week 
Orpheum (Tristates) (8,090; 16- 
65)— "Unconquered" (Par). Socko 
$14,500. Last week, "Drums Mo- 
hawk" (20th) and "Mark Zorro" 
(20th) (reissues), fine $12,000. 

Brandela (RKO) (1,500; 16-65)— 
"Bambi" (RKO) (reissue) and "So 
Well Remembered" (RKO). Hot 
$8,500 and better for "Bambi" than 
when first played. Last week, 
"Robin Hood" (WB) (reissue) «nd 
"I Became Criminal" (WB), fine 
$6,800. 

Paramount (Tristates) (2,800; IO- 
CS) _ "(Gentleman's Agreement" 
(20th). Bounced back for nice $12,- 
000 after storm hurt opening. Last 
week, "Saigon" (Par), smash $13,- 
600. 

Omaha (Tristates) (2,100; 16-65) 
—"Saigon" (Par) (m.o.) and 
"Thunder Mountain" (RKO). Fancy 
$10,()00. Last week, "Scudda Hoo" 
(20th) (m.o.) and "Docks tit New 
Orleans" (Mono), okay $10,200. 

State (Goldberg) (865; 16-65) 
"Cass Timberlane" (M-G) and "Hat 
Box Mystery" (SO. Big $6,000 
Last week, "ibth Ave. Angel' 
(M-G) (2d wk) and "Old Spanish 
TraU" (Rep), fine $5,300. 



Hub Ranediers 'Mama' Torrid $27, 
'Electra' Solid 17G, Cooper Oke 24G 



ley City GtwM 

Estimated Total Gross 

This Week $3,197,000 

{Based on 22' cities 214 
theatre*, chieflv, first rum, in- 
cluding N. Y.) ' 
Total Gross Same Week 

Last Year . .fS,U»,000 

(Based on 22 cities 201 theatres) 



CohnaB Oscars 
Detroit, $26,000 



Detroit, March 30. 

With end of Lent, spotting in of 
new films and school vacations, 
theatre hii is being given a hypo 
this week. Best showing is being 
made by "Double Life" at United 
Artists. "Sitting Pretty" also is 
solid at Fox. "The Big Clock" in 
second round at Michigan con- 
tinues big, "Unconquered" in on 
pop-scale date will be sirong at 
Palms. 

Estimates for .This Week 

Adams (Balabaii) (1,740; 70-95)^ 
"Cass ■fimberlane" <M-G) (6th wk). 
Improved to * $7,500 after mild 
$6,000 in fifth Week. 

Art Cinema (Marten) (450; 60-90) 
— "Mourning Becomes Slleotra" 
(RKO). Capacity $2,000. L^st 
week, "Pagliaecl" (Indie) (2d wk). 
Big $1,500. 

Broadway - Capitol (United - De- 
troit) (3,309; 70-95>— "Robin Hood" 
(WB) (reissue) and "I Became a 
Criminal" (WB). Terrific $21,000. 
Last week, "Adam Had Four Sons" 
(Col) and "Talk of Town" (Col) (re- 
issues), disappointing $8,000. 

Downtown (Balaban) (2,863; 70- 
95) — "Three Daring Daughters" 
(M-G) and ".Tiggs, Maggie In So- 
ciety" (Mono). Excellent ■ $12,000. 
Last week, "High Wall" (M-G) and 
"Angel Alley'' (Mono), solid 
$10,000. 

Fox (Fox-Michigan) (5.100; 70- 
95) — "Sitting Pretty" (20th) and 
"Challenge" (joth). Sturdy $26,000. 

"Smugglers" (EL) and 
Fury" (EL), good 



*Showers:M 
Big$a000,St.L 

St. Louis, March 30. 
End of Lenten season plus plenty 
of attractive screen, fare and warm 
breezes are 'all helping to hypo 
grosses at downtown . cinemas for 
best biz in weeks. Easter Sunday 
was sock. "Three Daring Daugh- 
ters" looks b.o., leader. "April 
Showers" also is showing plenty of 
draw. • 

' Estimates tor This Week 

Ambassador (F&M) (3,000; 50-75) 
—"Relentless"' (Col) and "Half 
Past Midnight" (20th). fine $19,- 
000. Last week, "Ideal Husband' 
(20th) and "The Challenge" (20th), 
$16,000. 

Fox (F&M) (6,000; 50-75)— 
"April Showers" (W6) and "Bill 
and Coo" (Rep). Nice $?3,00O 
Last week, "Robin Hood" (WB) (re- 
issue) and "Girl Tisa" (WB), $17,- 
000. 

Loew's (Loew) (3,172; 80-75)— 
"Three Daring Daughters" (lVj:-G) 
and "Woman from Tangier" (Col). 
Sock $23,000. Last week, "Car- 
negie Hall" (UA) and 'Personal 
Column" (UA), $17,000. 

Missouri (F&M) (3,50d* 50-75)— 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) and "Scud- 
da Hoo" (20th) (m.o.) (2d v^). Sig 
$9,000 after neat $14,000 first 
stanza. 

6rpheum (Loew) (2,000; S0-7S)— 
"Tarzan's Secret Treasure" (M-G) 
and "Tarzan's N.Y. Adventure'' 
(M-G). $11,000. Last w«ek, "inds 
of Earth" (Col) and "Fabulous Joe" 
(UA) (m.o.), $7,500. 

St. Louis (F&M) (4,000; 50-75)— 
"Unconquered" (Par). Neat $7,600. 
Last 'week, "Saigon" (?ar) and 
"Mr. Reckless" (20th) (3d wk), $8,- 
000. ■ 

Shubert (Ind) (1,500; 40-60)— 
"Rains tame" (20th) and "Wed- 
ding Night" (FC) (reimies). Good 
$5,000. Last week, ''Fun, Fancy 
Free" (RKO) and "Wistful Widow" 
(U), $3,560. 



K.€. Thin But %mf( 
Pretty $2S,000,TopBir, 
WCoo' Sturdy f 9,000 

Kansas City, Mitrch 30. 
Only strong fllm here is "Sit- 
ting Pretty", which , is getting top 
coin day-date at "Tower, Uptown 
and Fairway. Despite Lenten 
weekend film Will hit biggest week 
in some time and great total. Fox 
Midwest changes policy for week, 
throwing the Apollo, east-side 
nabe, into 41 flrstrun paired with 
for "Bill and 



Esquire 



Last week, 
"Untamed , 
$22,000. 

Michigan 
"Big Clock" 
Coo" (Rep). 



downtown 
Coo." 

Estimates for "This Week 
Apollo-Esquire (Fox Midwest) 
(1,080, 820; 45-65)— "Bill and Coo" 
(Rep) and "Discovery" (FC). Day- 
date with usually second-run 
Apollo brought into this set-up 
temporarily. Looks fine $9,000. 
Last week. Esquire only, had 
Thief of Bagdad" (Indie) and 
"Jungle Flight" (Par) for moderate 
$4,000. 

Midland (Loew's) (3,500; 45-65)— 
"Tarzan's Secret Treasure" (M-G) 
and "Tarzan's N. Y. . Adventure" 
(M-G) (reissues), Average play 
on these oldies, $11,000. Last 
week, "10th Ave. Angel" (M-G) and 
"Captains Courageous" (M-G) (re- 
issue), about- same. 

Orpheum (RKO) (1,900; 45-65)— 
"I Love Trouble" (Col) and 
"Prince of Thieves" (Col). Slow 
$9,000. Last week, "Carnegie 
Hall" (UA) and "Philo Vance's 
Secret Mission" (EL), $10,000. 

Paramount (Par) (1,900; 45-65)— 
"Albuquerque" (Par). Slow $10,- 
000. Last week, "Voice of Turtle" 
(WB) (2d wk), nifty $12,000. 

Roxy (Durwood) (900; 45-65)— 
'Palmy Days" (Indie) and "Roman 
Scanda)s" (Indie) (reissues). So-so 
$3,500. Last week, "Adventures 
Tom Sawyer" (Indie) and "God's 
Country" (Indie) (reissues), aver- 
age $4,000. 

Tower • Uptown - Fairway (Fox 
Midwest) (2,100; 2,043: 700; 45-65) 
—"Sitting Pretty" (20th). Only 
strong film in town, doing sopk 
$^5,000, best here in months. 
Holds. Last week, "Scudda Hoo" 
(20th) (2d wk), held up strongly 
at $15,000. 



(U-D) (4,039; 70-95)— 
(Par) and "BiU ^d 
(2d wk). Big .$25,000 
and $28,000 last week. 

Palms (U-D) (2,976; 70-95)— "Un- 
eonquered" (Par). Lusty $21,000. 
Last week, "Albuquerque" (Par) 
and "Always Together" (WB) (2d 
wH), moderate $14,000. 

United Artists (U-D) (^,976; 70- 
9S) — "Double Life" (U) and 



Rtt, 

lfl7,000;MedCity'Hot 
$19,000, 'Showers' 18G 

Pittsburgh, .March 30. 
Big noise of Easter Week will 
be -"Naked City" at Harris. "Miracle 
of Bells" got a solid start at Warner 
on heels of sock campaign and 
"April Showers" will do very well 
at Stanley. "Gentleman's Agree- 
ment" is still cashing in on Oscar 
award, via re-release date at Sen- 
ator. 

Estimates for This Week 
Fulton/ (Shea) (1,700; — 
"Scudda Hoo" (20th). Not making 
much dent at very rmld $8,500 or 
near. Last week, '^elle Starr" 
(Continued oa<..^ge 24) 



"Wreck Hesperus" (Col). Smash 
$26,000. Last week, "Sign of %m" 
(Col) and 'Campus Holiday" (Rep) 
(2d wk), okay $10,000. 



Indpls. ChiDy, So's Biz; 
'SitHng' Lively $13,000 

Indianapolis, March 30. 

A cold Easter, following a Good 
Friday tornado, put the damper on 
firstrun biz here this week. "Sit- 
ting Pretty," getting a heavy p'lay 
at the Indiana, is the only winner, 
"Black BarV at Circle looks fair. 
Other entries definitely are weak. 
Estimates for This Week 

Circle (Gainble-Dolle) (2,800; 44- 
65)— "Black Bart" (U) and "Chal- 
lenge" (20th). Oke $11,000. Last 
week, "Robin Hood" (WB) (reis- 
sue) and "Slippy McGee" (Rep), 
bif $13,000. : 

Indiana (Gatnble-Dolle) (3,300; 
44-65)— "Sitting Pretty" (20th). 
Rousing $13,000. Last week, 
"Naked City" (U) (2d wk), nice 
$10,000. 

Keith's (Gamble-Dolle) (1,300; 
44-65)— "Robin Hood" (WB) (reis- 
sue) and "Slippy McGee (Rep) 
(m.o). Thin $4,000. La.st week, 
"Song Bernadelte" (20th) (reissue), 
$3,000. 

Loew's (Loew's) (2,450; 44-65)— 
"Tarzan's Secret Treasure" (M-G) 
and ■ "Tarzan's New York Adven- 
ture" (M-G) (reissues), Mild $10,- 
000. Last week, "Ends of Earth" 
(Col) and "Love of Rusty" (Col), 
same. 

Lyric (Gamble-Dolle) (1,600; 44r 
65)— "Bill and Coo" (Rep) and "In- 
side Story" (Rep). Modest $5.0(10. 
Last week, "Girl Tisa" (WB) and 
"I Became Criminal" (WB), ditto. 



Boston, March 30. ' 
"I Remember Mama" at the Me- 
morial will be on top this week but 
general level of biz is fairly high 
all around. "Unconquered" at 
regular scale at the Met looks 
okay, "Mourning Becomes Electra" 
is off to a good start at the Astor. 
."Ideal Husband" will be big at the 
Exeter and "Relentless" shapes ■ 
strong at the tw^o Loew spots. 
Estimates for This Week 
Astor (.Taycox) (1,300; 40-80)— 
"Mourning Becomes Electra" 
(RKO). Will touch $17,000 first 
week, very good, with about three 
weeks indicated. Last week, ■ 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (13th wk) 
big $8,000. 

Boston (RKO) (3,200; 50-$l,10)— 
"Panhandle" (Mono) plus John 
Calvert, Ma.yo Brothers, others, on 
stage. Building to okay $26,000. 
Last week, "Love; From Stranger" 
(EL), plus disc jockey show, Kitty - 
Kallen, Clark Dennis, others, on 
stage, $28,000. 

Exeter (Indie) (1,300; 5,5-75)— ' 
"Ideal Husband" (20th). Class ' 
nabe house doing excellent $8,000, 
Last week, "Brief Encounter" (EL) 
and "Divorce Lady X" (Indie), 
$4,000. 

Fenway (M-P) (1,373; 40-80)— 
"Sitting Pretty" (20th) and "Docks 
New Orleans" (Mpno) (m.o,). Solid 
$9,000. Last week, "Girl Tisa" 
(WB) and "Robin Hood" (WB) (re- . 
issue), $7,000. 

Kenmore (900; 40-80)— "Beauty 
and Beast" (Indie). Strong $4,!>00, 
Last week, "Roosevelt Story" (UA) 
and "Girl in Canal" (Indie) $2,000. 

Memorial (RKO) (3,000; 40-80)— 
"I Remember Mama" (RKO). Big 
$27,000. Last week, "Bambi" 
(RKO) (reissue) and "So Well Re- . 
membered" (RKO), $24,000. 

Metropolitan (M-P) (4,367; 40-80) 
— "Unconquered" (Par). Firstrun 
at regular prices, okay $24,000. 
Last week, "Sitting Pretty" (20th) 
and "Docks New Orleans" (Mono) 
(2d Wk), solid $23,000. 

Orpheum (Loew) (3,000; 40-80)—.. 
"Relentless" (Col) and "Curiey" 
(Indie). Moderate $25,000. Last 
week, "Double Life" (Ui and "10th 
Ave. Angel" (M-G), $24,000. 

Paramount (M-P) (1,700; 40-80) 
—"Sitting Pretty" (20th) and 
"Docks New Orlean.s" (Mono) 
(m.o.). Sock $17,000. Last week, 
"Girl Tisa" (WB) and "Robin 
Hood" (WB) (rei.ssue), $16,000. 

State (Loew) (3,500; 40-80)— "Re- 
lentless" (Col) and "Curiey" (In- 
die). Neat $13,000. Last week, 
"Double Life" (U) and "10th Ave. 
Angel" (M-G), $9,000. 

Cincy Has Easter Tint; 
'Sitting' yid $15,000, 
'Scudda' Savory $14,500 

Cincinnati, March 30. 
All downtown houses are show- 
ing an Easter lint. "Sitting Pretty" 
is nudging "Scudda Hoo" for top 
money this session, with former 
easily strongest "Robin Hood" on 
reissues also is in the upper 
bracket. "Bride Goes Wild" is 
strong in its second week as is 
"Dougle Life" with Colman s 
Oscar. . 

Estimates for This Week 
Alboe (RKO) (3,100; .50-75) — 
"Scudda Hoo" (20th). Pleasing 
$14,500. Last week, "Return of 
Whistler" iCol) with Helen For- 
rest, Joey Adams, others, on stage, 
sprightly $23,000 at 60-95c scale. 

Capitol (RKO) (2,000; .50-75)-- 
"Brtde Goes Wild" (M-G) (2d wk). 
Frisky $9,000 after hotsy $13,.500 
preem; 

Grand (RKO) (1,400; .W-VS)— 
"Robin Hood" (WBi (reissue). Sock 
$13,00a Last week, "Ideal Hus- 
band" (20th), fairish $6,(500. 

Keith's (City Inv.) (1.542; 60-75) 
—"Double Life" (U) (2d wk). Col- 
man's Academy crown luring hotsy 
S9,000 in wake of big $10,500 un-:; 
veiling. • 
Lyric (RKO) (1,400; 50-75)— 
"Belle Starr" (20th) and ' Fronlier 
Marshal" (20th) (reissues) split 
with "Farmer's Daughter" (RKO) 
for encore on Loretta Young's 
Academy laurels. Okay $5..500. 
Last week, "Ends ot Earth" (Col) 
im. o.) mild $4,500, 

Palace (RKO) (2,600; 50-75)— 
"Sitting Pretty" (ZOthi. Rosy $15,- 
000. Last week, "Saigon" (Par', 

$14,000. „ „n, 

Shubert (RKO) (2.100; 50-75)— 
"Saigon" (Par) (m. o,). Moderate 
$5,500. L«st week, "Bishop's Wile 
(RKO), third downtown weeK, 
$4,500. 



IS 



Chi Hot; Tor Keeps'^iiizar-Liitelier 
Potent $60,000, 'Casanova -Vaude 43G 



, Chicago, March 30. 

Arrival of Ave new films, plus 
the end o£ J^n^is zooming the 
fcixofflce. here. "TWb Time for 
keeps '' with Tito Guizar and Nel- 
fie Ltttcher on the stage, looks a 
Mtent $60,000 at Oriental. "Adven- 
Wes of Casanova," helped by 
vaude headea by Kathryn Grayson 
Ind Johnnie Johnston, promisee 
the State-Lake a sweet $43,000. 

School holiday brought out the 
kids "ior "Tarzan and the Mer- 
inaids," ' which is sighting hefty 
$25 000 at the Grand. Two Britislr 
imports are anemic, "Jassy" at 
the Palace might do lean $20,000 
while "Smugglers" at the United 
Artists lodks equally light at 
$15,000. 

"Gentleman's Agreement" in 
eoth week at the Apollo continues 
Okay on strength of Academy 
avard. "Treasure of Sierra Madre" 
at the titaieago shapes to land ex- 
cellent $37i(M)0 in second week. 
EstlmateH for This Week 

ApoUo (B&K) (1,400; $1.28)~ 
"GentXeman's Agreement" . (20th) 
(20th wk). Fine $13,000. Last week, 
$15,000. ' 

Chicaco (B&K) (3,900; 98)— 
"Sieira Madre" (WB) (2nd wk). 
Sxcellent $37;000. Last week, 
f41,000. 

Grand (RKO) (1,500; 98)— "Tar- 
m .and Mermaids" (RKO). Hearty 
425,000. Last week, "Panhandle^'. 
(Mono) (2d Wk), $12,000. 

Monroe (Indie) (1,000; 98)— 
•'Good News" <M-G) (3d wk). Light 
$7,000. Last week, $12,000. 

Oriental (Essaness) (3,400; 08)— 
"This Time Keeps" (M-G) with 
NelUe Lutdier and Tito Guizar 
heading stu;9> Robust $60,000. Last 
week, *'Kfller McCoy" (M-G) (4th 
wk) with Clyde McCoy orch, hep 
$32,000. 

Palace (BKO) (2,500; 98)— "Jas- 
sy" (U). Lean $20,000. Last week, 
"Bambi" (BKO) (2d wk) (reissue), 
fine $20,900. 

RooseveU (B&K) (1,500; 98)— 
"Fighting 69th" (WB) (reissue) m 
wk). Suii^ifisfng $13,000. Last week, 
$18,000. 

State-Lato (B&K) (2,700; 98)— 
"Adventures of Casanova" (EL) 
with Kathryn Grayson and Johnnie 
Jolmston topping stagebill. Potent 
143,000. ' Last week, "Merton of 
Movies" (M-G) with Ella Fitzgerald 
and Mel Tonne on stage. (2d wk), 
solid $32,000. 

United Artists (B&K) (1,700; 98) 
—"Smugglers" (EL). Modest $19,- 
QOO. Last we^, "Sign- of Ram" 
(Col) (2d wk). nice $14,000. 

Woods (Essaness) (1,073; 98)— 
"Cass Timberlane" (M-6) (3rd wk). 
Sock $31,000. Last week, $33,000. 

World (indie) (587; 77)— "Shoe- 
Shine" (Indie) (8th wk). Neat 
$3,600. Last Wef^ $3,000. 

PROY.UCKSUF, BEERY 
$17,000, 'BAMtr 14G 

Providence, Mar^h 30. 

Loew'a State's "AUas a Gentle- 
man"» is the highest grosser this 
week but best showing is being 
made by the Majestic with second 
frame of "Sitting Pretty," which 
is great. Reissue of "Bambi" also is 
lively at Albee. 

Estimates for This Week 
. Albee (BICO) (2,200; 44-65)— 
''Bambi" (RKO) (reissue). Lively 
$14,000. Last week, 't Love Trou- 
We" (Col) and "Prince of Thieves^' 
(Col), good $11,000. 

Carlton (Fay) — "The Flame" 
(R6p> and "Pretender" (Mono), 
Hep $5,500, Last week, "Road Big 
House" (SP) and "Burning Cross" 
(oGr), nice. $6.500. 

^ Pay's (Pay) (1,400; 44-65) — 
.Driftwood" (Rep) and vaude. 
Peppy $7,500. Last week, "Easy to 
wed" (M-G) and Bert Wheeler 
"e^wng stage show, $7,000. . 
..c.^?>j«st« (Fay) (2,200; 44-65)— 
i>Utmg Pretty". (20th) and "Half 
^ast Midnight" (20th) (2d wk). 
s>0"d $16,000. First week was 
sweet $18,000. 

^ State (Loew) (3,200; 44-65)'— 
.A'las a Gentleman" (M-G) and 
.{"■ii Ave. AngeP' (M-G). Steady 
*",000 on Wallace Beery in for- 
^^J'.L*** w^ek, "Relentless" (Col) 
and Keeper of Bees" (Col), $19,- 

Strand (Silverman) (2,200; 44-65) 

Furv"'^,'2''\ «»d "Caged 

T„f <Par) opened Sunday (28). 

"SiSn of Ram" (Col) 
snLe,. ^iS™®*" Girl" (Col) 2d wk), 

2S"lner ' " ^^^'^ 



Estimated Total Gross 

This Week . .$900,500 

(Based oil 24 theatres) 

Last Year $682,000 

(Based on 18 theatres) 



'Showers' Perky $8,500, 
Louisvine; Tirates' Mild 
f6,000;'Nortliside' 12G 

■ Louisville, March 30. 

Windup of Holy Week held down 
takes and they are not spurting any 
too much even with the advent of 
Easter Day. -'April Showers" at 
Mary Anderson and Tarzan reissue 
combo at Loew's State look best 
bets of newcomers. Otherwise, the 
new films are on slow side. 
Estimates for This Week 

Brown (Fourth Avenue) (1,200; 
45-65)— "Knew Susie" (RKO) and 
"Slippy McGee" (Rep) (m.o.). Mod- 
est $4,000; Last week, "Tycoon" 
(RKO) (m.o.), $3;500. 

Kenjtnd^y (Switow) (1,200; 3(^-40> 
—"Senator Indiscreet" (U) and 
"Relentless" (Col). Moderate $3,000. 
Last week, "Swordsman" (Col) and 
"Smash-Up" (U), about, same, 

Mary Anderson (People's) (1,100; 
45-65) — "April Showers" (WB). 
Perked on Easter- Day and looks 
sturdy $8,500. Last week, "Prince 
of Thieves" (Col), $7,000. 

National (Standard) (2^400; 45-65) 
— "Pu-ates Monterey" (U) and 
"Woman's Vengeance" (U). Fair 
$6,000. Last week, "Roosevelt 
Story" (UA), $5,000, 

Rialto (FA) (3,400; 45-65)— "CaU 
Northside" (2Qth) and "Campus 
Honeymoon" (Rep), Fairish $12,000. 
Last week, "Knew Susie" (RKO) 
and "Slippy McGee" (Rep), good 
$15,000. , 

State (Loew's) (3,000; 45-65)— 
"Tarzan Secret Treasure (M-G) and 
"Tarzan N. Y. Adventure" (M-G) 
(reissues). Oldies are burning 'em 
up at solid $17,000. Last week, 
"Alias Gentleman" (M-G) and 
"10th Avenue Angel" (M-G), mod- 
est $12,000. 

Strand (FA) (1,000; 45-65)— "Bill 
and Coo" (Rep) and "Inside Story" 
(Rep). Bird pic was expected to 
hjrpo business but looks only so-so 
$5,500. Last week, "Song Berna- 
dette" (20th) (reissue), $4,500. 



'Agreement' Big 23G, PorL 

Portland, Ore.^ March 30. 

Downtown houses are showing a 
boxoSice upbeat this week with 
"Gentleman's Agreement" at Para- 
mount and Oriental pacing city 
with sock business. 

Estimates for This Week 

Broadway (Parker) (1,832: 50-85) 
-"Sierra Madre" (WB) and 
"Campus Honeymoon" (Rep) (Zd 
wk). Excellent $8,500. Last week^ 
socko $14,000. 

Mayfair (Parker) (1,500; 50-85)— 
"Black Friday" (Indie) (reissue) 
and "Black Cat" (Indie) (reissue). 
Okay $4,500. Last tweek, "Inter- 
mezzo" (SRO) and "Ex-Mrs. Brad- 
ford" (RKO) (reissues), $4,700. 

Music Box (H-E) (1,000; 50-85)— 
"Scudda Hoo" (20th) and "Girl 
Tlsa" (WB) (m.o.). Fine $3,500. 
Last week, "Ends of Earth" (Col) 
and "Always Together" (WB) 
(m.o.), $2,300. 

Oriental (H-E) (2,000; 50-85)— 
"Gentleman's Agreement" (20th), 
d-iy-date with Paramount. Big $8,- 
000. Last week, "Scudda Hoo" 
(20th) and "Wreck Hesperus" (Col), 
$4,800, 

Orpheum .(H-E) (1,750; 50-85)— 
"Prince of Thieves" (Col) and 
"Love Trouble" (Col). So-so $7,200. 
Last week, "Sign of Ram" (Col) 
and VBlondie's Anniversary" (Col), 
$6,400. 

Paramount (H-E) (3,400; 50-85)— 
"Gentleman's Agreement" (20th), 
also Oriental. Terrific $15,000. Last 
week, "Scudda Hoo" (20th) and 
"Wreck Hesperus" (Col), fine $9,- 
100. 

Playhouse (H-E) (1,200; 50-85)— 
"Song of Bernadette" (20th) and 
"Miracle 34lh Street" (20th) (re- 
issues). Mild $1,800. Last week, 
"Voice of Turtle" (WB) and "Out 
of Past" (RKO) (2d wk) (m.o,) $2,- 
700. 

United Artist .(Parker) (895; 50- 
85)— "Henry the Eighth" (Indie) 
(reissue). Than $3,600- Last week, 
"Double Life" (U) (2d wk)), $4,100. 



'Agreement' 22G, Monti 

Montreal. March 30. 
End of Lent is building terrific 
biz for "Gentleman's Aisireement" 
at Palace and "tJncontiuered" at 

Loew's. "Wild Irish Rose" also is 
big at Capitol. 

Estimates for This Week 

Palace (C. T.) (2,578; 30-62)— 
"Gentleman's Agreement" (20th) 
Wow $22,000. Last, week, "Ver- 
doux" (UA) (2d wk), $10i000. 

Loew's (C, T.) (3,115; 35-67)— 
"Unconquered" (Par). Smash $23,- 
000, Last week, "Captain Castile" 
(20th) (3d wk), okay $11,000, 

Capitol (C, T,) (2,610; 30-62)— 
"Wild Irish Rose" (WB). Smart 
$15,000. Last week. "Upturned 
Glass" (U), $11,000. 

Princess (C/ T.) (2,270; 30-53)— 
"Prince of Thieves" (Col) and 
"Mary Lou" (Rep), Big $8,000. Last 
week. "Out of the Blue" and 
"Heading' for Heaven" (ED $5,500. 

Imperial (C. T.) (1,916; 30-50)— 
"Mark of Zorro" (20th) and 
"Drums Mohawk" (20th) (reissues). 
Solid $6,000. Last week, "100 Men, 
Girl" (U) and "Stole A Million" 
(U) (reissues) $5,500. 



'Showers Timely 
m Seattle 




Seattle, March 30. 

Easter vacation here is offsetting 
the usual Holy Week slump. Top 
newcomers are "April Showers" at 
the Orpheum and "AJ^as.a Gentle- 
man" at Music Hall. ■ 

Estimates for This Vedk 

Blue Mouse (H-E) (800; 45-^)— 
"Knew Susie" <RKO) and "WUd 
Horse Mesa" (RKO) (m.o ). Okay 
$3,500 in six days. Last ' week, 
"Saigon" (Par) and "Bury Me 
Dead" (EL) (3d wk), swell $4,300. 

Fifth Avenue (H-E) (2,349; 45- 
80) — "Gentleman's Agreement" 
(20th) (2d wk). Big $12,000 after 
great $20,400 last week. 

Liberty (J & VH) (1,650; 45-80)— 
"Sign of Ram" (Col) and "Return 
Whistler" (Col) (2d wk). Good $7,- 
000' or near after solid $9,200 last 
week. 

Music Box (H-E) (850; 45-80)— 
"Scudda Hoo" (20th) and "Adven- 
turess" (EL) (m,o.). Trim $4,000. 
Last week, "Turtle" (WB) and 
"Dangerous Years" (WB) (4th wk), 
good enough $3,800. 

Music Hall (H-E) (2,200; 45-80)— 
"Alias a Gentleman" (M-G) and 
"High Tide" (Mono). Big $9,000. 
Last week, "Black Narcissus" (U) 
and "Heading for Heaven" (EL), 
fair $6,700 in 9 days. 

Orpheum (H-E) (2,600; - 45-80)— 
"April Showers" (WB) and "Rail- 
roaded" (E-L). Nice $10,500. Last 
week, "Scudda Hoo" (20th) (2d 
wk). oke $7,500 in 8 days. 

Palomar (Sterling) (1^50; 45-80) 
—"Elephant Boy" (FC) and "Trail 
Of Vigilantes" (FC) (reissues). Iklild 
$5,500, Last week, "BiU and Coo" 
(Rep) and "Campus Honeymoon'" 
(Rep), good $8,500 in 9 days.. 

Paramount (H-E) (3,039; 45-80)— 
"Sitting Pretty" (2Qth) and "Whis- 
pering City" (E-L). Okay $12,000. 
Last week, "Knew Susie" (RKO) 
and "Mesa" (RKO), $8,300.' 

Boosevelt (Sterling) (800; 45-80) 
— "Woman's Vengeance" (U). Good 
$4,500. Lajst week, "Rin Tin-Tin" 
(EL) and "Blonde Savage" (EL), 
$4,000. 



^er Ckers N. Y.; llan£ng$,' 'Schis' 
M Each, Great; 'Search' Big 31G, 
'Showers'-Thomhill Fancy $57, 



After sagging to the low for Lent 
last Friday and Saturday (27), most 
Broadway firstruns did landoflice 
business on Sunday (Easter) and 
Monday. Takings will hit highest 
level in more than a month this 
week as a result. 

Ace new combo bill is at Strand. 
"April Showers," with Claude 
Thornhill band and Morey Amster- 
dam heading stageshow, likely 
will hit sturdy $57,000. Astor and 
Criterion are neck-'n-neck for top 
money of straightfilm newcomers. 
Former looks very big $50,000 with 
"Mr. Blandings." Orit, with about 
400 more seats, also is smash with 
"All My Sons" at $50,000 or better. 

Third sock new entry is "The 
Search," with $31,000, best figure 
at Victoria in 15 weeks. "B.F.'s 
Daughter" shapes big $32,000 at 
State. "The Smugglers" is head- 
ing for solid $12,000 at Rialto. 

"Man of Evil" is very disappoint- 
ing at below $10,000 in Wmter 
Garden. Also fahish is "Mr. 
Orchid" at Bijou with $5,000. "Mill 
on Floss," no bellringer when in 
N. y, a .number of years ago, is 
showing surprising strength with 
$7,500 at Park Avenue, "Tarzan 
and Mermaids," cashing in on 
youngsters out of school, is push- 
ing to strong $30,000 or near at 
Palace. "BiU. and Coo," another 
designed to catch kid trMe, looks 
so-so $7,000 at Gotham. 

Pacing the holdovers is "Re- 
member Mama" with "Glory of 
Easter" pageant onstage, with huge 
$155,000 in third week at Music 
Hall, It's biggest take of run, 
Miracle of Bells," not smash open- 
ing week, is down to $28,000 on 
second session at Rivoli, 

Easter week upbeat also is rais- 
ing totals at Koxy and Capitol, At 
former, "Sitting Pretty" with Ai-t 
Mooney band looks big $115,000 
third round. "Naked City"-Tex 
Beneke band may hit great $112,- 
000 in fourth Cap week, "Gen- 
tleman's Agreement" climbed $6,- 
000 over previous week to tall 
$29,000 in 20th frame, Mayfair. 
Estimates for This Week 
Ambassador (Siritzky) (1,200; 70- 
$1,50)— "Volpone" (Indie) (14th 
wk). Building nicely to $8,500 in 
present session ending, tomorrow 
(Thurs.), after $7,000 in I3th Week, 

Art (Rugofif-Becker). ' 
$1,10) — "Farrebique" (Siritzky) 
(6th Wk). Ftfih frame ended last 
Sunday (28) night held weU at 
$4,500 as against $5,000 in fourth. 
Astor (City Inv.) (1,300; 80-$1.80) 
"Mr. Blandtogs" (SRO). Initial 
week ending today (Wed.) looks 
great $50,000 or. near. Final ('l5tb) 
week of "Bishop's Wife" (RKO) 
was $16,000. • • 

Bijou (City Inv) (650; 85-$1.50)— 
"Mr. Orchid" (Lopert). In first 
round ending niext Friday (2) looks- 
fairish $5,000. Final (14th) week Of 
"Beauty and Beast" (Indie) was 
$3,50O. 

Capitol (Loew's) (4,820; 70-$2.20) 
"Naked City" (U) with Tex 
Beneke orch, Jerry Lewis & Dean 
Martin heading stagebill (4th wk). 
Helped by Easter, to $112,000, after 



W 1%% Mbcle at $41000; 
'Naked'WowmOOO.'Nortliiade'aOG 



Philadelphia, March 30. 
Film theatre biz is on upbeat 
here with end of Lenten season. 
"Miracle of Bells", looks standout 
this session with terrific week at 
Earle. It was helped by great and 
continued exploitation .iob sparked 
by junketing group of stars with 
Jesse. Lasky, including Frank 
Sinatra and Leo Carillo among 
others, "Naked City" also Is smash 
at the Stanley. "Call Northside," 



Estimates Are Net 

Film gross estimates, as re.> 
ported herewith from the .vari- 
ous key cities, are net," i.e,, 
without the 20% tax. Distribu- 
tors share on net take, when 
playing percentage, hence the 
estimated figures are net in- 
come. 

The parenthetic admission 
prices, however, as indieated, 
include the U. S^ amusement 
tax. 



despite this strong opposition, will 
be sturdy at the Fox. 

Estimates for This Week 
Aldine (WB) (1,303; 50-94)— 
"Senator Indiscreet" (U) (3d wk). 
Fair $11,000 after $13,500 for sec- 
ond. - ■ 

Arcadia (S&S) (700; 50-94)— 
"Cass Timberlane" (M-G) (2d run). 
Oke $6,500. Last week, ''Girl Tisa" 
(WB) (2d run), very thin $3,000. 

Boyd (WB) (2,350; 50-94)— "Sign 
of Ram" (Col). Good $23,000. 
Last week, "Double Life" (U) 
(4th wk), $14,500. 

Earie (WB) (2,760; 50-94)— 
"Miracle of Bells" (RKO). Hot 
$42,000 or near. Last week, 
"Saigon" (Par) (3d wk), nife $15,- 
000. 

Fox (20th) (2,250; 50-94)— "Call 
JJorthside" (20th). Sturdy $30,000. 
Last week, ."Gentleman's Agree- 
ment" (20th) (4th wk), big ■.$20,000. 

Goldman (Goldman) (1,300; 50- 
94) — ^"Three Daring Daughters" 
(Continued on page 24) 



big $103,000 in third session, below 
hopes. Continues.' 

Criterion (Loew's) (1,700; 60-. 
$1.25)— "All my ■ Sons" (U). For 
initial week ending next Friday (2) 
this looks smash $50,000 or over. 
Holds, natch! Third week of "Re* 
lentless" (Col) sagged to $9,500. 

Elysee (Siritzky) (750; 85-$L50) 
—"Fanny" (Siritzky) (7th wk). This 
stanza ending today (Wed.) will 
come near stout $6,000 after $5,500 
for sixth week. Stays on. 
Globe (Brandt) (1,500; 70-$1.20) 
"Adventures Casanova" (EL) (2d- 
final wk). Week ending Friday (2) 
is sagging to $10;000 after $16,000 
for opener. "Close-Up" (EL) opens 
Saturday (3). 

Golden (Siritzky) (769; 85-$1.50) 
-^"Lost One" (Col). Opened here 
Monday (29). Last week, Maurice 
Chevalier on stage, 

Gotham (Brandt) (900; 70-$1.20) 
—"BiU and Coo" (Rep), Opened 
last Saturday (27) to catch young* 
sters out of school this week, but 
looks only $7,000, Stays only thif 
week. Last- week; twin reissues. 

Little Carneg^ie (Indie) (460; 95- 
$1.20)— "Jenny Lamour" (Vog).{4tli 
wk). Week ending Friday (2) lilcely 
wiU be socko $9,000 after $8,000 
for third. Stays on. 

Mayfair (Brandt) (1,736; 70-$1.50) 
— ^"GenOeman's Agreement" (20th> 
(21st wk). Soared to tail $29,000 
in 20th week ended last Monday 
(29) night; 19th was $23,000. Con.« 

Palace (RKO) (1,700; 60-$1.20)— 
"Tarzan and Mermaids" (RKO). 
Ideal booking for Easter weefc. 
with first week ending Friday (2> 
assuming solid $30,000 or neac 
Last week, "Knew Susie". (BitO)! 
(5th wk); $10,000. 

Paramount (Par) (3,664; 55^I.50> 
— ^'Saigon" (Par) with Mills Bros., 
Buddy Rich orch, Colstons, Dean: 
Murphy heading stageshow. Starts 
today (Wed.). Sixth week of "Road 
To Rio" (Par), with Louis Prima 
orch topping stagebill, was strong 
$60,000; fifth was .$63,000, 

Park Avenue (U) (583; $1.20- 
$1.50)— "MiU on Floss" (Indie) 
(reissue). First week ending today 
(Wed.) wUl hit fancy $7,500 ior 
close. Last week, "Song of Heart" 
(Mono) (3d wk), oke $4,000. 

Radio City Musie Hall (RockefeI« 
lers) (5.945; 70-$2.40)— "Remember 
Mama" (RKO) and "Glory o£ 
Easter" stageshow pageant (3d wk). 
Soaring to smash $155,000 Wltll 
Sreat lift from Easter crowds. Sec- 
ond was $142,000, a bit below 
hopes. Continues indef; 

Rialto (Mayer) (594; 50-$1.50)— 
"Smugglers" (EL). In initial ses- 
sion ending next .Friday (2) prob- 
ably WiU reach solid $12,000 but 
not up to fancy takings of previous 
foreign fUms here. Final 10 days 
of 10th week for "Furia" (FC) was 
$9 000 

Rivoll (UAT-Par) (2,092; 60-$1.25) 

-"Miracle of BeUs"_ (RKO) (3d 
wk). Second stanza' ended last 
Monday (29) week slipped -to 
$28,000; first Was sturdy $38,000. 
Stays on. . • 

Boxy (20th) (5,886; 80-$1.50IJii^ 
'Sitting Pretty" (20th) and stage- 
Show topped by Art Mooney orch, 
Al Bemie, Betty Bruce (4th wk). 
Third round ended last (Tues.) 
night roaa-^d ahead to sock $115,- 
000, with biz getting terrific lift 
starting Sunday (28); second was 
$100,000, over hopes. "Scudda Hoo" 
(20tfa) comes in next. 

State (Loew's) (3,450; 43-$1.10)— 
"B. F.'s Daughter", (M-G). In initial 
frame ended last (Tues.) night hit 
big $32,000, best here since start 
of current firstrun policy. Holds. 
Ten days ot, "Mating of Millie" 
(Col) was barely good $27,000. 
"Duel m Sun" (SRO) and "Here 
(^mes Trouble" (i(7A) open AprU 7. 

Strand (WB) (2,756; 75-$1.50)— 
"April Showers" (WB) plus Claude 
Thornhill orch, Morey Amsterdam 
heading stageshow. First week 
ending tomorrow (Thurs.) will be 
sturdy $57,000, Second week of 
"Fighting 69th" (WB) (reissue) 
with Russ Morgan orch, $31,000. 

Sutton (Rugoff-Becker) (561; 70- 
$1.25)— "The Pearl" (RKO) (7tli 
wk). Sixth stanza ended last Mon- 
day (29) night dipped to $5,600 
after $6,700 in fifth. Holds. " 

Victoria (City Inv.) (720; 70- 
$1.50)— "The Search" (M-G) (2d 
wk). First week ended last (Tue^J 
night was very big $31,000. LodiM 
(Continued on page 24) 



f 14 



W^dbiwlay, Mweh 81, 1948 




THE ViCTvIt IS VERY BIG TRADE NIWS/ 

With national trade showings just 
completed and publie shoi^ 
fpUo^ immidt^te 
picture industry again is demon- 
strating!^^ 
story* rr^^^^ 
up-to-the-minute that story can be. 

TO THE VICTOR is the picture for which stars, cast, 

director, and complete production 
unit were sent to France. 




DENNIS 








^^^^ 



AS THE MAN WHO SOLD HIMSELF TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER 

VIVECA 

iimioRs 

THE NEW STAR FROM SWEDEN -1948'$ MOST IMPORTANT DEBUT! 

flli WCT© 

mm mm ■ muce benneii • ooiioiiiy mhiohe-- um d'anorea • OEliffe ■ ellio 





Written by 
Richard Brooks 





IS 



Mr. Blawndipigfii Builds 

' ' '.Mis; ii!««iiiai:\Hii^ 

tinlznipK re»«*» BKO profluctfon, pro. 
,1- "miifc. Stnnr C»rr Crnnt, Mynia 
BhWn M««fe«,. Connie. Mao*.-, II, 



».;rv^.v. "la. wolf*. »l««*eU ).y 
*i™ (. K>ttM'. • on novel by Bctc 

S;>.ii'i'iii; cawcni. J^iWM (Wons Howe; 

JprBviewed -Sbb^ Running time, 

S\to)lttllW«> • Ci'ry flrant 

Mui-lcl BlamSWIH ,M.v,L-n.-i Imy 

&'i U.V Himnit.- •• * llCBin.Uil 1>..,mr 

SVifidin^'B smuyn A?„ti,-c.U 

OucBle 

Zuuwi. 

JdP Apullon"'! • • 

,Tohii Uptcli 

Miiry. 

Ciupentjr,"."" 
Mr, peDeltord.., 



laii WoITcf 

;,:,-,,B«f:"y Hhann.i>n 

TU« Vwoln 

. . , . . .Nfstor ^ilvifc 
» , , , .JaBoit KolKiVils: 
,>;;ri-Imrpn» Ttittlo. 
....... ;I.iPx Ii.-tt1cer 



'^Mr. Blandings Buflds His 
Dream House" is -a mildly amusiBg 
comedy with strength enough in 
star names to pidl .tlnrongh to sat- 
isfactory grosses.. Cary Grant's 
bfliKofflce value will be an impor- 
tant aid in boosting initial ticket 
sales, and" names of Myrna Loy, 
Ms'.vyn Uouglas and others ate 
mat'ciuee familiars. 

Eric Hodgins' novel «£ the trials 
aptl tribulations of the Blandlngs, 
wli)l3 building their dream house, 
r£ad a lot' funnier than they filmed. 
iKormaa}, Panama and Blelvin Franlc 
coma through with a glossy lustre 
In handling^ ' physical production, 
but Cailed to Jell the story into 
solid film - fan in their .dual 
Bcriptnig;. 

Film's opening pulls some stand- 
ard siipit gags that register strong- 
ly, helped by the husineas injected 
throu^ H. C. Potter's direction. 
Such elemental sitnations as a 
'Tibber. MeGee closet," the sight 
of a man trying to f^xve while! .his 
wife shares the basin, and other 
such ' familiar stunts are always 
good for a laugh response. Less 
funny is tlte sight of a man trying 
to make -ends meet on $15,000 » 
year, especially to the ' average 
fUmgoer who squeezes by on con- 
siderable less. Script gets com- 
pletely out of hand wheti nnneces- 
sary jealousy twist is intradueed, 
neitber aidvancing the story nor 
adding laughs. 

Grant is up to his usual per- 
formance standard as Mr. Bland- 
lngs, getting the best from the ma- 
terial, and Myrna Loy comes 
ttaroui^ with anotber.«f her screen 
Wife assignments niceJy. Melvyn 
Douglas, the lawyer friend of the 
femily,^ gives it a tongue-in-cheek 
treatment. Trio's finesse and Pot- 
ter's light directorial toueh do 
much to give proceedings a lift. 

Reginald Denny, the architect, 
is good, as are Ian Wolfe, the 
• Marp Yankee realtor; Lonise 
Beavers, the maid; Harry Shanmm, 
Trto Vuolo. Nestor Palva and 
others. The Blandings' yoimg 
daughters are played by Sharyn 
Moffett and Connie Marshall. 

On the technical end, film has 
me class contributions. James 
Vi^S. Howe's lensing. is expert 
^rt direetops Albfert S. D-Agostino 
and CatKSll clartc really dceamcd 
up a dream .hoasc and the set deco- 
rations show it off. Leigh Har- 

tactois are good. Broj>. 
Pirate 

(SONGS^COLOR) 

, Hollywood, March 27. 

Owen. nfiS i;,,, KegfaaM 

Wph; imrt ^"'«''V Pi'-'incM 

camera ."'"S" ''^ N. Kolirmrui: 

Co i Harry stnimfn.,-; 

Sanros. n<,i,;,r I'fnnl'* iraytoii: 

' <..Ju(l.ir atirlitna 

Uone lioiiy. 

....WnUn- Slozdit 
.... Gi(uiy.s Coopor 

. . .He«inill(l ()«■;■«: 
•■..Oeorso Zucco 
.Nicholii."! Brcitlipvt) 

.tester Alien 

...... .Lfjlff I)e<'ra 

...Bnen Ros.1 

Mm-Jr J,) Efli.., 

........Jean Dean 

. ..Martou. Mnri-ay 
'.......Ben I.e»fly 

.....Jerry Berj^eii 

.Vol SeU 



the numbers, "Love of My Life," 
"Mack the Black" and "You Can 
Do Ifo Wrong." Kelly vocals "Be 
a CloWn" and" "N}na," using both 
as dance introductions aliro. 

In terp department, Kelly flashes 
Ilia heels first in near-ballet rou- 
tining for '7*103." then highspots 
a fire dance as biggest of the elab- 
orate production pieces. Another 
highspot is his footwork with the 
Nicholas Bros, in the "Clown" 
number. Foi- finale, Kelly and Miss 
Garland send them out witfi a laugh 
reprising ."Clown" in full baggy- 
trouser makeup. 

Vincente Minnelli's direction is 
light and seems to poke subtle fun 
at the elalwrate musical ingredients 
and plot. The fact that "The Pi- 
rate" never takeir itself too scri- 
oasly adds to en.toyment, giving 
sharp point to some of the dialog 
in the Albert Hackett-Frances 
Goodridi script. 

Adapted from the S. N. Behrman 
play, picture tells of the cloistered 
Latin girl about to fulfill an ar- 
ranged wedding when she . meets 
a travelling troupe of entertainers 
headed by Kelly. From then on its 
juist a quei^on of how much foot- 
age before the actor gets the girl 
and the old groom-to-be gets the 
noose. Title springs from fact that 
gal yearns for a fabulous pirate and 
sees lum in the actor while all the 
time it's the old boy, who has given 
up blackguarding to settle down 
with a young wife. 

Wvtter Slezak makes a niffy re- 
tired pirate. Gladys Cooper and 
Lester Allen ate Miss Garland's 
fiutteiy relatives who arranged tlie 
wedding. George . Zncco is good as 
the viceroy. Making up the travel- 
ling troupe are Bpn Lessy, Jerry 
Bergen, Val Setz, the GaudSAdth 
Bros, and Cully Blehards. 

Film, moves fast. Harry Strad- 
ling's cfdor-'photo^^by is both 
ngnbile-joid artfnl in displaying the 
gnrgeous costume? and settiBgS as 
well as the able dances staged by 
Bobert Alton and Kelly. Lennie 
Hay ton's direction of the music .and 
Conrad Salinger's instrumental ar- 
rangements are o^editaUe, as are 
an of ttie contiilrtttian&. Brocf. 



'■i^ the Victor 

Hollywood, March 30. 

Wftwej-s ieilease of -leri-y Walil proiluc-tlon. 
StftW Jlennto : Hoksan, Vlveca Lindfora; 
teatuiw* Victor Fi'ancon. Bruee Bennett. 
Dorotbr ainlme, T(m irAwlrm. Kdsudit 
Cfimnem, DubeUu* Kennedr, Jweph Baien, 
TVillfam CwnmiJ. Dirw^ted by Delmer Davea. 
SvrceBDlay, JtMard Kmokit; nincrn, Bob- 
ert Burl£ii: ,musk% I>uv&(l Kaitolph: edltux. 
Folmnr Btanssted. Trartesaowa 'SAsaiSt 29, 
RunninK time, JM MINS. • 

i'nul > .....Dennis Mor(?an 

chrlaline .... Vlveea Unatora 

c.-iin. Ihianvais....... .... . .Vielor. I'mncen 

Ifen<Teni»ir. -.Braca Bennett 

WWam ,....;...Darothr Malone 

CInK .ToEn n^Aniirea 

JPlrago- , Eduiirdo dannelli 

SSevc .Douglas Kennedy 

Bolyannv Joseph Bulofll 

Farnsworth.... AViUiam Conrail 

CilfivstDL.. .................. .I..ala Tatn Kooten 

PaM4>'. . ^ K«Nw;Uintln Shayne 

Kihkt ...Antlumy Oarng& 

R;tbl>y. .Toapee Wayne 

rj<>»tme.*.. .... . ..161m Banner 

KlnieMv. Henry Rowland 

Victor, . ..... i,,,. Felipe Vurleli 



Jfennoln, 
*'afl»..., 

The Advorato 
Viceroy..,. 

ifitelltt^.. • 
Jsrcedi's , V " ' " ' 
i'^nrila;.. 

Hllolsp.,^ • "•«• •;•• ' • 

Sxuiijo, .".'*"*''■■";■' 
Biiio., 

Trillo ■ 



Bi-othera. anuasmlth Broll.ern 

If?nn P^'^te" is escapist film fare. 

aSe tin^*"*'^'' songs and 

certain for 
response. Arthur 

stars '''''^^'ng show off the 

Gen "Entertainment content, 
team H„r^ily. J"dy Garland 
Ces fi'f ^""^ ^' selling the 
•Jepartm^nlTS^ *»» both 

mi^htv ni "Pirate" 
Por IT to take. The Cole 

foot. Mi« ^^"^ the 

t; *i'ss Garland sells three of 



"To the Victor" has exploitation 
possilHiities as an exciting chase 
melodrama. Cttherwise it misses. 
nnfoFtnnately, the pic's good ele- 
ments have been confusingly put 
together and its message, the need 
for all to work together for peace, 
is sledge-hammered. There's no 
quarrel with the worth of the 
propaganda. Tiie fault is with the 
manner in which it is ipresented. 

Footage is- mostly on posiWar 
Paris as. to locale and plot timing. 
Film practically gives a complete 
tour of the French capital and in- 
cludes one impressive .sequence on 
Omaha bea<ih in Normandy with 
jcloseups of the battered German 
forts and abandoned Allied ships 
and equipment These shots are 
highly eifective in themselves but 
not sufficiently integrated into the 
film's general- development. ' 

With this film, a >proniising new 
star in the person of Viveca Lind- 
f ors is introduced to American 
audiences. (Her first for Warner 
Bros... "Night Unto Night," is being 
held up for relea.se to follow this 
one.) This girl has beauty and tal- 
ent with a faint Swedish accent, 
a la Ingrid Bergman, which wont 
do any harm; 

Story has her married to a trai- 
tor and collaborationist Who's been 
brought back to France to stand 
trial for his war crimes. It is the 
efforts of the latter's henchmen to 
silence her that spring the chase. 
Dennis Morgan plays an American 
vet engaged in the Paris black mar- 
ket with a couple of unsavory Rus- 
sians and Nazis. Atter talidng the 
girl into his safekeeping, a romance 
develops and triumphs withvMiss 
Lindf ors testifying against her hus- 
band and Morgan reforming. 

Flaw in the script, or maybe the 
editing, is an uneven continuity 



Miniatiire.Refiews 

■Wr. Blanffin'gs Builds His 
Ifavmn House" (SRO), Good 
cast names, iwaded by Gary 
Grant, to help GOmec^'s' 

grosses. 

"The Pirate" (Color-Songs) 
(M-G ) . Sprightly musical with 
strong marquee natives: 

"To the Victor" CWB>. Melo- 
drama with' peace message. 
Chase theme and good cast 
help but b.o. looks fair. 

■♦Beeape" <20th). New Brit- 
ish version of John Galsworthy 
thriller, with Rex Harrison, 
ishould do good biz. 

"Sjpring in Park Lane" 
(Lion). British-made light 
comedy with Anna Neagle, 
Michael Wilding is sure b.o. 

"The First Gentleman" 
(Co!.). British historical drama, 
with , Jean Pierre Aumont, 
holds only prestige draw. 

"The LMt One" (Col). Ap- 
pealing TtaliauHBiade ver^on 
of Verdis ' opera, "La "Rravi- 
ata," should do in art houses. 

"Snowbonnd" (RKO). Satis- 
factory .^British thriUer about 
buried Na4 gold, good as V. S. 
dualer. 

'^Confessions of a Rogue" 
(French). Nifty comedy, star- 
ting Louis Jouvet, : for the 
artles and soreseatcHTs; 

"I^ast Days of Boot HOI" 
(Col). Anoti^er ,in the Burango 
Kid series. Okay oater for the 
Saturday matinee trade, 
■^engs of Idaho" (Songs) 
<Cbl). Comfed cemiedy win 
attract hiUbiUy fanciers. 

"IWtBtT Madness" (FC>. Poor 
programmer for the dnaHs; 

"Man F»m Tesc^ (KL>. 
Johnnie Johnston, Lynn Bari, 
James Craig in implausible 
western; too lightweight. 



him^ played by Peggy CurominB. 
Finally, to save a padre lying, he 
gives himself up, knowing he has 
the girl to come back to. 

For those who do not know their 
Galsworthy the story will be- per- 
fectly satisfactory, although it will 
not, as Galsworthy hoped, produce 
in the audience "a mental and 
moral ferment." Rex Harrison is 
good as the convict, but Peggy 
Cummins is too shallow to make 
her love for him really convincing. 

William Hartnell, for once on the 
side of the law, gives a first-rate, 
natural performance, and Norman 
Wooland is most effective as the 
parson. All the minor characters 
are well played: Cone. 



with several unexplained cbarais- 
ters. Bdmer Daves' directitm man- 
ages-good suspense, particularly in 
the opening scene wherein Miss 
Lindfors is stalked through the 
streets by a gunman. 

Jerrj' Wald's production values 
gain strength from the footage 
filmed in Paris by Robert Burks 
with special effects by Marcel Grig- 
non. ' Morgan plays well as the 
blacketeer, while Victor Franeen 
makes his rale of a French detec- 
tive count heavily. Bruce Bennett 
walks tteameh an unexplained bi<' 
■ BfOfir. 



(BRITISH) 

London, March 18. 

Britl^ih I.iolv relea.se of. ITpi-hevt "Wili-ox 
{nro<Jn<-tfpn. t^tara Anngt Neiij?le. Mir-li!i?l 
WiidinK. XQm. VVaUs. Dlreeietl by AVileox. 
Hereenpiiiy 4>y Kie^io.'as 'Pljliips: niusie. RoK"- 
ert Farnon; eaiisera. Max Greene, I^cib 
Walker. Previewed I^onrten, ;Mar<Mi 17, '48. 
RniininB time, '91 Sites. -...^ 
jndy ijow-iini . . . . ..... . i^.i ..! .Anna Neagle' ' 

Rleiiard, ..... .... . . ; . . . . . . .OTehael WHiUns 

Tei^llua HfiM'tird ... . .. . . . ; . . ... i .. ^- .Tyin ' Waw 



.F?eter Graves' 
. . . .Mavjovie Viet^liljs;- 

'i-... . .Kk-tkOtsi# PJllls^iS 

. . . ; . G. H. Mafeaster 
..... . ;CatIiertRe VwaX 

.Jo.sepllvne' FilKgeraUV 
....... .'Kljt^t , l*ati'ic-U 

.;,.....-.T;ana Alorris 

HlRKlnv ■..W.'.K. Hlpneit 

Antique DeahM-. . : ..... ... ...*>rH Conwiiy 

Bates. . ............. ;l'etB Walls, Jr. 



Basil Jluilland . . . 
WUdrert Hcnvard.. 
Mai'nUiH uC Boi'*-t'} 
Perkins. .... 

Lady IJereeheslei' . 
Kate O'Malle.v; . . . 
Mr. Bacon . ....... 

ilosie 



'^'"Uscape 

(BSITISB) 
London,' March 24.. 

20th.Fo!r lelesiM of WntMrin VaTSttet's tao- 
iIUBUpn. Stan RKC BRrrfaan, Fegsy- Cfan- 
nsfinK. Cirevted by Joscpli Tj. Manl^iewicx'. 
Screenplay by Philip Punne from John 
Galswoi-thy's "Bscape." Kditor. Alan L. 
Jaggs: music, Wliliam Alwyn; camera, 
T^derick A. Tonus, Russell : Thomson. 
Previownt Tattnilim, M-areh' il8. '48. Running 
time. 79 ailNS. 

Matt Denant Rex liarrlson 
Dora "Winton ........... .'. . .Beg-gy Eummins 

Tnsitoctor .Harris. William Hartnell 

l?araoii ..Norman Wooland 

Grace "WintoH... Jill Eanaoad 

Brovrr»ie IS'retlericit Piper 

Mr», Pinkeni. . .' Mayjorie tthodea 

Girl in I'ftrk.. ....... i .Betty Arm Bayiea 

Rodsrer.s .Cyril Cuaacit 

Car Sale^inau... .Jo^D Slater 

Constable .Kramlf Pettinifen 

riuln Clatlieii Man .......... If lehael golden 

Joflge 1 Wflerk* Leffrter 

Defense Counsel.., .Walter Huda 

Crown Counsel,., ....... .-.Maurlee Benham 

I'hylUs ................. .Jacqueline Clarke 

Mr. Pinkem...,..i........ ...iPrank Tickle 

Tltcli .',.,;...;..». .Pete* Crolt 

Fanner l!!Ki«nSiis-.."--6eorg» Wendiniasir 
Sir Janie.^ ..Stoart XJnawI 

For this remake of John Gals- 
worthy's play (Radio 1930, Sir 
Gerald du Maurier and Edna Best) 
20th-Fox imported two topnotchers 
in WiUiam Perlberg and Joseph 
Mahkiewicz. ' Result, although not 
Galsworthy, is eminently satisfying, 
and will play to good business here 
and in U. S. 

Galsworthy stated his theme in a 
matter-of-fact way — how would 
various people react to an escaped 
convict who had been a gentleman? 
With restraint he avoided anytliing 
sensational. "Phere was no woman 
to fall in love with him, although a 
couple did sympathize. It was a 
straightforward story, coming to 
the only possible, conclusion, an 
ending fortunately reikined in the 
present version. But the elimina- 
tion of the fishing scene from the 
film betrays a lamentable ignorance 
of British psychology. 

Picture has been brought up to 
date by making Rex Harrison, the 
escaped convict, an ex-RAF squad- 
ron leader, sentenced to three years 
for manslaughter for hitting and 
accidentally killing a policeman 
who was trying to arrest a prosti- 
tute in Hyde Part to whom the air- 
man had been speaking. He is sent 
to Dartmoor. One foggy morning 
he escapes from jail and for a time 
dodges the police with the a.id of a 
girl who has fallen in love with 



Like a .shaft of light piercing the 
prevalent gloom of the British 
screen aomes this gay, irrespon- 
sible, comedy, bringing joy to. ex-- 
hibs. Herbert Wilcox has done it 
again, and the boxolfice will react. 
Bicb in entertainment, it has top 
marquee value in^ tlie country's 
most popular romantic team; Anna- 
Neagle and Michael Wilding, and 
while she consolidates her posi- 
tion as screen's first lady, WiLding 
establishes hiittself as Britain's 
foremost light comedian. 

Great merit of the story is that 
it seems like a happgr improvisa- 
I tion. None of the elaborate and 
I necessary scaffolding is apparent, 
and when Mictutel Wilding as. a 
younger son of a noble family, 
needing money for a return trip to 
New York, becomes a temporary 
footman in a' Park Lane mansion, 
he is immediately accepted as such 
by the audience. And since Anna 
Neagle plays -a secretary in the 
same house, everybody knows it 
will be love a.t first sight and that 
sooner or later the tv/o will.manA 
altarwards. 

It's a story in which the trim- 
mings and incidentals are all-im- 
portant. The gay harmless I'un 
poked at the film stars, the dinner 
party bore, the .liousekee£«r to 
whom bridge isV religion, the 
twAmwci cutting in to dance or 
cussing art with his boss— incident 
upon incident carry' meny laugh- 
ter through the picture. • 
In addition to the two stars and 



caricature. History records he waa 
natilraUy gifted; had considerable 
taste, was a blcmd of polished 
gentleman and accomplished black- 
guard, but never a bnjioon. And it 
is his cheap comicalities and his 
amours that dominate the picture, 
to the detriment of the boxoilice. 

The rich elegance of the produc- 
tion should attract certain patron' 
age,' but with little marquee help it 
will be hard work to recoup tlie 
considerable outlay. With 20 
minuter cut it may find a place in 
prestige theatres in America. 

Story begins when Geoi^e III, 
having lost hils reason, is replaced, 
as Regent, by his son, George, 
Prince of Wales. Afraid of the 
popularity of his daughter, Char- 
,'.otte, he plans to marry her to 
Prince William of Orange, but hav- . 
ing fallen in love with Prince Leo- 
pold of Saxe-Coburg, she disobeys 
her father, and is virtually kept as 
a prisoner. To gain public favor, 
the Regent relents, allows Charw 
lotte to marry the man she loves, 
but rejoicing turns to tragedy when 
she dies in giving birth to a still- 
bom son. Story ends with the Re- 
gent attending the baptism of his 
niece Yictoriai future Queen of 
England. 

. Picture is elegantly mounted, but 
fails mainly tiirough indecision of 
producer and director to malce up 
their minds how to deal with the 
story. It is a lush pageant with too 
'few dramatic highlights and an 
overlong di^athbed scene. 

CevSi Parker is too good an actor 
to have burlesciaed the title role 
without instracthms, and Joan Hop- 
Icins (stage understudy to HVendy 
Biiler in the part) is just ade^iat* 
as Charlotte'for whom Jean-Pierre 
Aumont makes a nice lover. Partiisi- 
pating in the picture is a consider- 
able cast of good players. 

For the' first time since 193S, 
when he conducted for the Mozart 
musicaL film "Whom the Gods 
Love," 'So: Thomas Beecham di- 
rected the complete music score of 
a film. It' isn't noteworthy. Cane. 



The Lost One 

CLa Traviata') 
■ (ITALIAN) 

Columbia release of Gregor R'abinoviteh 
(William Szekely) production. Stars Nelly 
Corradl, GIno. M-attern. Directed .by Car- 
mine' Gallone. Screenplay by BamUton 
Bensi, adapted tioni wera, "La Ttaviata," 
wilh -ran^o br Glnseiifie Vefdl and IfltrMt* 
by F. M. FiaTe, ftnd ftnni "Ija n»nt<'«jiK 
C}xniolias," .by Alexander. Dnmna. 
c-tmera. Arttmr Onllea; editor, Nfccola' 
sari; mlla{e«l a^pCcr, £,aigi Rlccl; ^MAc 
dBctor. Ettore Fantixa. At Go1<teii, 17. T4 
March 29, Ruiinlng tfme. ft! MIN8. 
Alexandei' Dumas, Jr......vMssirfi!n« ffera(» 

Giuseppl Verdi. ............Nerlo BernardI 

Violetta Valefyi . ... . ......... .Nelly Corradl 

AtrreidB Qermont..:. i... Gino Mattcra 

G*onse- Setmont Jlanfredi PolvenKil 

JBora BetTotx.. Flora Marino 

Bairmt Znmptiol. .......... ..Carlo IjombanU 



(In ItaXtan; English NarrationY :, 
Italian-made version of the Giu- 
seppe "Verdi opera, "1^3 Traviataj"- 
filmed in Rome by Gregor Babino- 



Tom Walls, who are in top form, [vitch as first -of six pictures, sched- 
Wilcox. has gathered some notable luled for Columbia release, is sev- 



first-timers. Significant screen 
debuts are made tay Nicholas 
Phipps, Lana Morris, Jo.sepbine 
Fitzgerald, Nigel Patrick and Cath- 
erine Paul, while Peter Graves 
proves triumphantly bow sadly 
some producers have misused Idm 
for years. 

Max Greene maintains his repu- 
tation as top cainera specialist'. Bill 
Andrews deserves a bouquet for 
his art work, and the musical score 
by Robert Farnon is appropriately 
impressive. In all, a rewarding pic- 
ture for everybody. Cane. 



The First Gentlemam 
onimsH) 

' Lcmdon, March 2&. 

Columbia Pictures produeiioji and release. 
Stars Jean Pierre' Auraennt. Jomi yVof^insir 
Cecir Parker. Directed by Cairalcantr. 

Screenplay by >\i(>ho]}|s l^hipps, ^nm IJlay 
by Normau GIn.sbur.r. Ewtor. . .Margery 
Saunders; music, Len]\ox Berlceleyt eaoawa, 
.Tack Hihlyard.' At Studio. One. London.- 
Harch U, '48. Buanins time. 111 MtS»., 
Prince Leopold; ..jean Pierre Annwttrfe 
Prin'ce . Res:ent, . , . . . , . , 
PrincesKj ClKirlolte, .... 

Mr. Brouffbatn ......... . 

MiHB KiiiKht. ....... 

I,Jlrty Hertfort. ....... . 

Kdward, '0u]:e of Kent 
IJr. StfKikmar. ......... 

Mrs. Griffiths...... 

Sir Richard Croft 

Bi.'ihop of SaliabBry. ... 

Tmke of Tork... ... 

Prtrtoesw Kllzahetli 
Prince wniiam. . . , 
Princeai} Angrusta. 
Queen Chavloite. . ■. 
f va-oline . . . .'.> 

I.rjrd Kldon. . . . . , . 

I'rlneesa Sophia... 
rrlnces.s Mary..... 

I.ady Conyngham. 



.Cecil Parker 
.;...Toan Hopkins 
..... Bonald Skitiire. 

-Athene Kt^yler 
3,farparetta b'cott' 
.... .Tack .Livt^wey 
. . ... . . . .Gerard Helnx 

..loan "young: 

. ... . .\nthony Hawti;ey 

HobJi Grifrrtb 

....... Metittte Camum 

.Betty Ilnntly-WriKht 

Tom Gin 

. , . . .T^ydia Sherwood 
i ..... France* Watrin?^ 

........... Amy Frank 

, ... , .-.Wc-liiird SUayne 
. . . . Jndy Beaumont 

..... Olwen. BroolEew 

.... .Mellasa StrlblJng 



eral-cuts above recent operatic iftt- 
ports from abroad. !Cbe irresistible. 
Verdi score andsentfmeotalfliotigh 
mo'ving love stbty are backed.- by 
some fine casting and performances 
and superior production. Bat being, 
essentially an ^daptaticm of an 
opera,' and following the opera 
closely, the film is fairly static and 



The Rome Idea 

Jteviewing "The Lost One" 
from Rome, Variety's .Quat. 
says: "Films of this kind mean 
little to Italian audiences, who 
prefer to see and hear operas 
'at opera houses:.'- However, it 
can do u)eV, aS)road with un- 
sophisticated music lovers and 
Italian-language trade." 



Hollywood has often been 
blamed for laying rude bands on 
British history, but nobody would 
have dared travesty a principal 
character as has been done here. 
In this adaptation of Norman Gins- 
bury's play, the Prince Regent 
(afterwards George IV of En.stland). 
self-styled "First Gentleman of 
Kurope," has been turned into a 



frequently very slow. It wUl appeal 
to opera-lovers and prove a good 
bet for the art houses^ but little 
more. . . 

It's evident that great care, and 
good taste« went into the produc- 
tion. Sets, costumes and general 
production are superior by fat -to 
most other opera films. Casting 
has been made with an eye to U. S. 
tastes, with-^' handsome Alfredo in 
Gino Mattera, 24-year-old Italian 
tenor, find, and an eye-filling beauty 
for Violetta in Nelly' Corradi. Not 
only is the lady a knockout visually, 
but she can act. Love scenes be- 
tween the two, despite the artificial, 
mood-dispelling situation of hav- 
ing them flinging arias to each 
other in the tenderest of momentSt 
are frequently poignant and of 
much beauty. Handsome couple do 
much to offset the dull spots. 

It's obvious that the singing' ia 
dubliied (and sometib.... the dub- 
bing isn't too perfectly synchron- 
ized). Credit goes to Onella Fiit- 
(Continued on page 22) 



ir<ailiMdiiy> MniPdt 31, 1948 




M^.Mpr*«nti"aF.'«DAUOHTER'»»l»rHnrBARBARA 
STAJWYCK . VAN HEWLIN • CHARLES COBORN 
. RICHARD HART • KEEN AN WYNN • A ROBERT Z. 
LEONARD PRODUCTION • Screen Play by Lu»her 
Davit • Bated on the Novel by John P. Marqiund • Dl< 
rected by ROBERT Z. LEONARD • Produced by 
EDWIN H. KNOPF • A MettoJOMmfM*m Picture 



Metro-Goldwyn-TMayeranrfLibertyFilinspretentSPENCER 
TRACY . KATHARINE HEPBURN. VAN JOHNSON 
ANGELA LANSBURY . ADOLPHEMENJOU • LEWIS 
STONEin FRANKCAPRA'i "STATE OFTHE UNION" 
Bated on the Play by Howard Und^y and Rusnel Crouse 
Screen Play by Anthony Veiller and Myle* Connolly 
Atsoctate l^a«fcir ANTHONY VEILLER • Produced 
and E»r«cted by^ FRANK CAPRA • A MetM»43oktwyn- 
Mayer Plctui* 



M-G-M present* "SUMMER HOLIDAY" • MICKEY 
RQONEY • GLORIA DeHAVEN • Walter HuttOn 
Frank Morgan • Butch Jenklnt • Marilyn Maxwell 
Agne« Moorehead * Selena Royle • Color by TECHNI' 
COLOR • Adapted by Irving Brecher and Jean Holtoway 
From the Screen Play by Fratiicc* Goodrich and Albert 
Hackett • Bated on the Play "Aht Wildemettl" by Eugene 
O'Neill * Mutic by Harry Warren • Lyrici by Ralph 
Blanfc • Directed by ROUBEN MAMOULIAN • 'Ph». 
duced by ARTHUR FREED • Aq M^M Picture 



m 



APR"- SHnsA>caS BRING- mAY f}OWERs 



THI WWMW 

(TiCHHIfpiOR) 

M.G.M pretentt JUDY dARLAND • GENE KELLY in "THE PIRATE" • WALTER 
SLEZAK • Gladys Cooper • Reginald Owen • Song* by COLE PORTER • Color by 
TECHNICOLOR • Screen Play by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich '• Based on 
thePlaybyS.N.B«hnnan > Dance Direcdon by Robert Alton and Gene Kelly * Directed 
by VINCENTE MUNjNELLt • Iftmluced by AR^UR FREED...* A Metro-Goldwyn.' 
Mayer Picture 



HOM 




IN6' 



M'G-M presents CLARK GABLE 
HODIAK in "HOMECOMING" 



.- LANA TURNER • ANNE BAXTER • JOHN 
Ray Collins • GladysjCooper • Cameron Mitchell 



A MERVYN LcROY PRODUCTION • Original Story by Sidney Klngsley • Adaptation 
by Jan Lustig • Screen Play by Paul Osborn ,• Directed by MERVYN LeROY • Produced 
by SIDNEY JERANKLIN t A Metn»Goldwyn.Mayer Picture 




YOU' 



M-G'M presents "BIG CITY" starriivKMARGARET O'BRIEN . ROBERT PRESTON 
DANNY THOMAS • GEORGE MURPHY • KARIN BOOTH . EDWARD ARNOLD 
BUTCH ^NKINS and introducing to the screen BETTY GARRETT and LOTTE 
LEHMANN * Screen Play by Whitfield Cbok and Anne Morrison Chapin • Additional 
DialoeUeby Aben Katfdel • Based on a Story hy Miklos Laszlo • As Adapted by Nanette 
Kotner •Directed' by NORMAN TAUROG • Produced by JOE PASTERNAK • A 
A<etrD*Goidwvn»Mayer Pictufii^ 



M:G-M present* ESTHER WILLI AMS. PETER LAWFORD . RICARDO MONTALBAN 
JIMMY DURANTE • CYDCHARISSE • XAVIER CUGAT and hi* orchestra • "ON 
AN ISLAND WITH YOU" • Color by TECHNICOLOR • Screen PUy by Dorothy 
Kingsley, Dorothy Cooper,, Charles Martin and Han* Wilhelm • From an original story 
by Charles Martin and Ham Wilhelm • Directed by RICHARD THORPE * Produced 
by JOE PASTERNAK '* .A Metr0-Goldwyn«Mayer Picture 



JUNE Happ,^,cc< gRINOS i/(/tycete6RAT/0/Vs 



EASTE 

(TECMNI 




ARADE' 

LOR) 



A DATE 

(TiCHNilC 



M-G'M present* 

IRVING BERLIN'* "EASTER PARADE" starring JUDY GARLAND. FRED ASTAIRE 
PETER LAWFORD . ANN MILLER . Color by TECHNICOLOR . Screen Play by 
Sidney Sheldon; Frances Goodrich and Albert Hacke.tt • Original Story by Frances 
Goodrich and Albert Hackett • Lyric* and Music by Irving Berlin » Musical Number* 
Directed by Robert Alton •' Directed by CHARLES ' WALTERS I* Produced by 
ARTHUR FREED • A Metro^Goldwyn-Mayer Picture ' 




TH JUOY 

R) 



M-G-M presents "A DATE WITH JUDY" starring WALLACE BEERY • JANE POWELL 
ELIZABETH TAYLOR • CARMEN MIRANDA • XAVIER CUGAT and his orchestra 
ROBERT STACK . Color by TECHNICOLOR • Screen Play by Dorothy Cooper and 
Doiothy Kingsley • Based on the characters created by Aleeh Leslie' Directed by 
RICH ARDTHORPE • Produced by JOE PASTERNAK • A Metro-Gold wyn^Mayer Plctare. 



JUtlA 




EHAVES' 



M-G-M presents GREER GARSON • WALTER PIDGEON in "JULIA MISBEHAVES" 
PETER LAWFORD . CESAR ROMERO . ELIZABETH TAYLOR • Lucile Watson 
. Nigel Bruce . Mary Boland » Directed by JACK CONWAY • Produced by EVERETT 
RISKIN • A M«tro-Go]dwyn'Mayer Picturtt, 



A SOUTH iim YANKEE' 



M-G-M presents RED SKELTON . BRIAN DONLEVY in "A SOUTHERN YANKEE" 
ARLENEDAHL . George Coulouris » Lloyd Gough • John Ireland • Minor Watson 
Screen Play by Harry Tugend • From an Original Story by Melvin Frank and Norman 
Paiiama . Directed by S. SYLVAN SIMON • Produced l>y PAUL JONES '.A Metro. 
Goldwyn-Mayer Picture . ^ - ' 



tTecIncsday, Mffrch 81, 1948 



nCTITRES 



If 



Pix Salaries Up $11,071,333 



Continued from page J 



turlng the basement corner with a 
L^ad nut of $4,510,800, a shade 
above the 1946 marker of $4,373,- 
256. It paid over $20,000 to 94 of 
its personnel. In second spot again 
is aOth'Fox which met a $15,631,141 
budget for the year to 255 ofticer.'s 
.•ltd employees (based on the 1946 
proxy)- It represents a hike from 
the $13,376,220 paid in its previous 
year. 

Paramount, on the basis of its '46 
proxy, has now climbed tp show 
position with a $12,608,152 bill to 
meet annually. It hands that sum 
to 229 Paramountecs. Its previous 
nut was $9,930,738. Warner Bros., 
formerly in third, is down to fourth 
with $11,965,480 paid to 209.on its 
payrolls. That's an increase from 
its '46 bill of $11,394,944. 

Up at fifth spot is Universal with 
that company's pay load now total- 
ing $8,430,899 handed 143 officers 
and personnel, against $6,430,032 
paid out in fiscal '46. U displaced 
° JtKO, which is paying $7,416,152 
,on the basis of its '46 proxy to 151 
of its personnel. RKO, in the year 
previous, paid $5,208,098. 

Studio Chiefs Top 

Traditional to the industry, stu- 
dio chiefs again received the top 
salaries of any executive branch, 
surpassing even the company 
proxies in their annual stipends. 
Top straight salary, weiit to Louis 
B. Mayer, Metro's production head, 
in another industry tradition. la 
order of sii^e of pay, they're listed 
•' US' follows: 

•,l.t.'B. Mayer (M-G) $500,000 

ii. Darryl F. Zanuok (20th). 260,000 

3. William Goetz (V-I) 254,000 

4. Dore Sohary (RKO) .... 250,000 

5. Henry Ginsbergr (Par).. 219,500 

6. Harry Cohn (Col). ..... 197(600 

•J.Jack Warner (WB) 182,150 

Schary, in addition to his basic 
pay, takes home a small percentage 
of RKO's net for the year. (Tohn, 
formerly in iifth spot, slid to sixth 
as a fesult of a cut in his pay from 
the 1946 figure of $226,900. 
Presidents' Payroll 

Againsi this production handout, 
company proxies were paid as fol- 
lows: . 



in charge of budgets, Paul Rai- 
boum, Par's exec, talces $30,000, 
and John M. Whitaker, RKO, 
$24,000. , 
, Five companies list the salaries 
of their general counsel. Their pay 
is as follows; 

1. J. Robert Rubin (M-G) . , $215,642 

2. Charles D. Frutzman (U) 111,006 

3. Robert VI. Perkins (WB) 87,300 

4. Austin C. Keough (Par) . 85,000 

5. G. K. .Youngman (RKO) . 37,186 
Most of the companies operate 

without board chairmen or with 
nominal designees in that spot. 
Only two chairmen rate high on 
salary rolls and both play an ac- 
tive part in the management. 
They're J. Cheever Cowdin, U's 
gavel-wielder, who's paid $188,785 
annually and Adolph Zukor (Par), 
paid $136,400. Floyd B. Odium, 
BKO's chairman, while head of At- 
las Corp. which controls the film 
company, receives only $240 yearly 
for hi.s RKO position. 



N.W. Variety's $300,000 
Set for Minn. Hospital 

Minneapolis, March 30. 

Northwest Variety club turned 
over $300,000 to Minnesota U and 
this plus Federal funds will permit 
the construction of a heart hospital, 
first of its kind on a campus. 
Architect plans have been com- 
pleted and work will start early 
this summer, former chief barker 
Art Anderson told members at a 
dinner to' honor five former chief 
barkers. Club also is pledged to 
contribute' a minimum of. $2^,000^ 
annually to the hospital. . 

Honored ex-barkers were Eddie 
Ruben, W. H. Workman, Ben 
Blotcky, Maitland Frosch and 
John Branton. Previously two 
other former chief barkers^Bill 
Elson (now chief barker again) and 
Anderson were so honored. 



Chi Circuit BIdg. 



Continued from page 9 ass 

the works for the south and south- 
west areas'. Only one of four is 
scheduled for opening this spring. 



V50-Seater in Ohio 

Toledo. . 

New 750-seater, costing about 
$200,000, will be built in Pauld- 
ing, O., by Arthur Weaver and 
Jack O'Connell. Will replace old 
Grand destroyed by fire in 1946: ■ 

Contract let for: new theatre ig 
Celinaj O., for Chakeres-Dwyer 
chain. . 



73 Top Pix 

^ Continued from page 9 Sm 

drive of the Theatre Owners of 
America and the eastern publicity 
committee of the" majors to tout 
coming big pix, all majors are 
slating a number of top product 
for release during April-June. 
UA, finally getting under way af- 
ter* drifting in the first quarter, 
has "Arch of Triumph" and "Time 
of Your Life" set. RKO> top 
choices are '.'Miracle of the Bells" 
and "Mr. Blandings Builds His 
Dream House." • 

Par's bigvones are "Hazard" and 
'The Big Clock." WB is counting 
on "To The Victor" and "April 
Showers" while 20th has "Iron 
Curtain," "Scudda Hoo! Scudda 
Hay!" and "Green Grass of Wyo- 
ming." U's top releases will be 
'AH My Sons"' and "Another Part 
of the Forest" and Columbia has 
'Coroner Creek" and "Lady from 
Shanghai" set to go. Metro's big 
ones are "State of the Union," 
"Pirate" and "Homecoming." 



1. Spyros Skouras (20th) . . $255,922 

2. Nich. M. Schenck (M-G) 224,767 

3. Harry Cohn (Col) 197,600 

4. Nate J. .Blumbcrgr (V) . . . 188,785 

5. Harry M. Warner (WB), 182,100 

6. Barney Balaban (Par) . . . 159,000 
,7. N. Peter Rathvon (RKO) 104,540 

The distribution end of the biz, 
as usual, came nowhere near pro- 
duction in the magnitude of salary 
payments. Sales toppers took 
roughly 50% of what was doled to 
production veepees. One unusual 
aspect is that the two smallest 
companies listed, Columbia and 
Universal, paid the highest stipends 
to their sales heads. A. Montague, 
Columbia's sales topper, aided by 
« terrific pay boost of $49,^ 
. zoomed in one year from.seventli 
spot to first. They're listed as* fol- 

■■iOWS!' ■ 

1. A. Montagnie (Col) ..... , $130,000 

2. WIUiam Scully (U) 126,606 

3. Wm. F. RodKers (M-G). 114,714 

4. Benj. Kalmenson (WB). 112,700 
B. Ned E. Depinet (RKO) . . 105,010 
e.CIias. M. Reagan (Par). 81,482 

Safary of Andy Smith, Jr., 20th- 
Fox distribution head, hasn't been 
publicized as yet. Rodgers can re- 
ceive an additional $79,000, based 
on company sales, Under his em- 
ployment pact. 

Exhibitor Nq< t Earner 
- Highest paid figure in the indus- 
try, Charles P. Skouras, National 
Theatre head, falls in the exhibi- 
tion bracket. Otherwise, the ex- 
hibition end draws the lowest pay- 
checks of all. Five theatre toppers 
pulled down the following salaries 
l..Chas. P. Skouras (20th) $980,000 
2. Joseph R, Vogel (M-G) . 156,428 
«• Harry M. Kalmine (WB) '112,700 
H. Goldensbn (Par) . 85.000 
O.M. H. Kingsbergr (RKO) 71,260 

Info on foreign dept. chiefs is 
particularly thin since most are not 
officers of their parent companies 
Arthur M. Loew, M-G topper, prob- 
ably takes top pay. Only two listed 
are Joseph H. Seidelman (U), who 
gets $111,006, and Murray Silver- 
stone (20th), $97,583. 

Ad-pub heads are led by How 
ard Dietz, M-G) veepee, who now 
takes $104,285 after a boost from 
*ol,785 last year. Other known 
Jti^ries are Nate Spingold (Col), 
|83,200 ($74,450 in '46); Mort 
Blumettstock (WB),- $69,200 ($62,- 
;sa0 m '46). Ad-pub departments 
M Paramount and RKO are now 
oeing run temporarily by veepees 



U Tele-CBS 

SB Continued .trom page 3 asi 

complete television department 
and is currently engaged in turn- 
ing -out. pix made specifically for 
video purposes. It's planning 
complete departmentalization in 
the field with special divisions for 
newsreels, shorts and features. 
Company's toppers are even mull- 
ing the possibility of creating a 
special department for live talent 
with it performing the agent's role 
for television broadcasters. 

Meanwhile, outfit is now carry- 
ing on negotiations with the nets 
for sale of Rank's projected Olym-. 
pics films. Britisher has exclu- 
sive rights to the summer games 
in England and has turned over 
U. S. distribution rights to UWF. 
Understood, number of sponsors 
have already put in bids for reels 
of the Olympics and that a deal 
will be tclosed shortly. 

If UWF closes viith CBS for the 
newsreels, it'll be the second 
major film company making a pact 
of this sort. First of its kind was 
made by 20th-Fox recently when 
it licensed Its reels to Camels as 
sponsor and NBC as network. Both 
Warner Bros, and Paramount are 
also in the market tor similar 
deals.'". ■■ 



Houston. 

Construction completed on Cas- 
cada theatre, 17 miles from here. 
A. W. Kleb will run house, which 
cost $25,000. 

The Tower reopened here after 
remodeling that cost $50,000, 

First of six Drive-Ins opened at 
Beaumont last week by East Texas 
Theatres. 

Construction of a similar .layout 
in Lufkin is expected to start soon 
with others to be built in Marshall, 
Longview, Kilgore and ' Nacog- 
doches. The site for the Lufkin 
house has already been selected 
according to Sam Tanner, district 
manager. 

Julius Gordon is head of the 
East Texas Theatres Circuit. 



600-Seat Mpls. Nabe 

Minneapolis. 
With approval from U. S. hous- 
ing expediter, Volk Bros.,, indie 
circuit owners, starts work soon 
on a new 600-seat neighborhood 
theatre to replace ano&ec house 
about a mile away. 



Droy Theatre Control on Bldg. 

Washington, 
Federal controls on theatre con- 
struction end tomorrow (31) at mid- 
night. Rent control extension bill, 
which' the House and Senate finally 
approved, dropped the McCarthy 
amendment which would have ex- 
tended the limitations on -amuse- 
ment eonstructton an - additional 
year.'''' . 



FC Adds 65 To 
Sales Staff As 
Distrib Expand 

Midway Ih its expansion program 
launched at end of last year. Film 
Classics has built up its distribtt* 
tion force with the addition of 
about 65 salesmen and sales execs 
in the last three months. Move was 
cued by Joseph Bernhard, FO 
prexy, and B. G. Krauze, veepea 
over sales, to coincide with com* 
pany's switch to handling new 
product as well as reissues. , 

On its own corner of the recently 
completed Nassour studios in Hol- 
lywood, FC has blueprinted 14 pix 
for this year with over half in 
Cinecolor. Also will lumdle sever- 
al indie-produced films through its 
distribution setup which is beinf 
extended - overseas; Kranze haS 
completed his organization toppers . 
with appointment of division man- 
agers for all major territories, in- 
cluding Jake Lutzer, southwest; 
Max Roth, midwest, . and Georg* - 
Waldman, Y. metropolitan dis- 
trict. Sam Wheeler Is in charge 
of sales and production on tta* 
Coast. 

Al Zlmbalist, ad'.publicity chief, 
has named Sid Gross as his -as- 
sistant. FC recently took larger 
homeoffice quarters in Faramowife. 
building, .JNT. Y. 

Organize Charlotte 

Co. to Make Westeriui 

Charlotte, N. q., March 80.; 

Western Adventure Productions 
has .been organized in Charlotte to 
produce westerns. John Mangham 
of Atlanta is president. Other of- 
ficers include Francis White, Char- 
lotte, secretary and treasurer; Joy 
Houck and E. V. Landachie, New 
Orleans, vice-president. Rond Or- 
mond of Hollywood will' be ia 
charge of production. 

Screen Guild will release. 




ar^ lax Gilkl 

"Lux SoaR care leaves skin 
softer, smoother," 

ia/« /ov«f/ IRENE DUNNg 



Here's a proved complsxion care! In recent Lus 
Toilet Soap tests hy skin specialists, actually 
three out of four dotnplexions became lovelier in 
a short time. "I work tiie fragrant lather well in," 
says Irene Dunned "As I rinse and then pat witii 
a soft towel to dry, skin takes on fresh new 
beauty." Don't let- neglect cheat you of romances 
Hi* sereen stars tip! 



%it» of RKO Raciio Pictures' 

REMEMBER MAMA'' 



18 



dis Qmi Psd^; Xdis^e jfevs 



Chicago. ^ 
Univenal lus jdincd Metro and 
oUter major •disbilnrtwrs in finally 
booldnj scmty hxm^ its iormer 
dawntonna x<3eue Jioss^^ HKO, 
Gnoid otad Pdace. TTaivesrsal }us 
TKuared^'CasTsali" into the Essanesi 
<St4«!ta!, April 22. Esnftiangc here 
Jure not set Ibc^bam film in that 
lioose ior several Tears. Under 
JadEsoa Park demw. films playing 
Crrand or Palace ai£ limitea to 
twsiww* rfrorong. OrigiaaHy -fliis 
pic ««6 ad: for .Valace to start 
Aptil m, metro is sStairtbig Bala- 
ban St JKariz witb. iap pmduct aoid 
ttookiug iiiito Hxeatceu aat aSteiUxti 

Wiila its ^ on Che jackscn Paxk 
deccee vMcb fimits £rst-jmn loop 
■ bwtidngs In affiiiaited, fiteatces to 
t«o nfeeSks, If Uas ded aa 'talced 
City" «i]id> ouar set a pattern, 
f Iba unpens AfnU M m ibe Ba3ace, 

. ShnaitamjBWBay with the move- 

date in * Aiicfc of anburfaan «ad 
nabe 3UX. Jmnsbel Tbnwi^ that 
device, film win be kept ia 
Jjoop nubile iwlriBit Jls waadalory 



rounds in subse;|iutnt-xiw theatres. 
Moveom to m nffiUifte is vev' 
botea under the JP rules but not 
to an indie. 



Vill AvkmUmnfiit Una 
H. Wliain Anten naniea «adte 
aisaistant to Sam lb 
head <of tosKkfi^ «>iKrafl0M, lat jSiule 
Uon. Arrtcn, for the paA yiar, bu 
been United Artists' asst. salM m- 
pervisor for ISnro^e. ile's the sera 
-of Capt. Harold Auten, former UA 
and J, Aithor Raait msaec 



to aide Bobat HadELtgr, act direiBlnr. 
Tukovich has been staff nfirt in 
fbe conq^afar ifior the Jiuit IS aMmtbt. 



vriMsa bi« nutomohile was sinek bjr 

Wilson Turner, fttraierjy with 

dianges In Ftdlndd|Aiia, i^Htoed SL 
Lfluis Warner* sales staff. 
Kictiin: UMHttes ben (Hissed 

^m^rn'M'^iimmt* mammi. m 
a'iiiKiiiBdQiM'M^'tiw 

mnn tnc'' visiiia;.biiiMto:'iiM.Mi|«' 

482 wit Of a tMUl 'ot fSt^Sl, 



. lUL ^»aid Si«a.S'aaiflita»' 
Fcaaddae agreeraeatas pro«dtag 
ior xeteMK of Albert JDeatd Fro- 
doctiMis. bMu, fflais ii&ed br Bowl 



in *L ir. 
bUMtiaa 

Issues, 



ici0at to blocta 



dte> and Walter JnnmeraowB ai* «at|y 



jBMBL'a AG Itat 

nallaa. 

Robert K. Helms, veteraa. «x- 
cbaaae empiagnee, joiaed Screen 



EI, bas a«ped Ckulet ITidDiivid^ CrajM PwoduC&am of 1?eitas as 



St. Im MliBB ^ rix Ad *Btea 

St.1jtndx. 
The three dailies here bare Mfced 
Cheir ad zatec for 'piebnne thnlxes, 
ege Ul we M/rH !• The aew rale ' 

bli^biufl in '<ci^'a Mrfmjr. 

"aiie lancoDn, BtndEer IBB, SL. 
SSIhseafter i^ieiatefl by T. A. Bideer. 
•wm ttte aaly inidnTe theatre 
TOecked by ^e tomvdo iSnt smpt 
through part of Missouri and 11- 
iinds meently. - 

Rifby S'Stenco, owner ot Art "the- 
atre here, e a ca ped serious injury 



booker. £aiexi«« Hw btikaitay in, 
1915^ be was with RKO- for IS Xxa boose. Barveiir, IlL 
years and did a l aer tn yea r ttofcih ; 
with Unimsal. " 

Ed BoaAejr. jpr.. made general 
manager of a new Bradlian pictn-e 
eontpany ^hieh plans tMartiae matk 
Jn June. Kxisfing facilities unCLl 
be naed lor first two musirtfls with 
ail-Braiillan casta. Bowleses Ealber 
beads Bckbb & "Boiifley circuit bere. 



Chicago. 

. Exchange fladcs bave lormed a 
cammltlec to tqraad get CM newa- 
papers to give tiiem mnre j^ace. 

PuMic relatians aicn May that 
.since typos walked eat jicveial 



daiUea bave beca giv- 
ing at least three to four times 
mow space to legit and muie,. amd 
thidt iKmk <«bldi par tb« over- 
whelming part of the feature pagcsi 
tm aei^tected. . 

Jobaogr Joaes iiem to take over 
aiMKatiaas- af Jones, 'Unnidk and 
SataiXar, while Twottier Aaron v«- 
catlonB fn Calttoriila.. 

gnBstod w% Mke 4o B4m. wden 
members. 

John Scmedalaa, Lna Bhein- 
hdaaer. Al 



toe bouse 2B,day availability after 
aecoad «m bere. The flmii ^5 
Para^Boimt. wlthS^ ^ 
last run, wm have same move^ 



THriMM ai>.4r J«*ertMateiq«lat, foroier man- 
SiBMMi, l3:via« jIMdt mger of Ge««. Cbarles Cttv L, jEJl 
. (3,,^ tbeatoe Con" 

ceeds Robert Hustftn. resigSed^ 
Vmmd Itdbi: ttwuBd jnanswef »f 



abaters to flw Vaiieir JEninaatioa- 
albkMiuBL 

nraiter Woods, fonaer assistant 
atanager at Woodto. is shitted to 
the Lamar, while Anlbony CSiuraet- 
akl goes from the Ardmare to Ok 
'Woods. 

Natban Slepyan, former Maata- 
Sose booker, will manage.lto Mew 



to 



.«laii««m 

TMty Steno. anitb WB berTlbr 
yeaoa but wre reoenttir cMef 

migm4vi«^ well an ii>die#io^«bf 
■wraWBe. ' '■ ■ ■ . ■ 

„ , „ _ I^tBc^e. persooaei manager 

manager oC Hariwiwi's *f tbeatnea, taking a leava 
- - of ahsenoe ia an ciSart to 

bwbeaiLtti, being rv^iaced 1^ tSm 

W» baa bm^. iba 
propertr iriUdi now IumiisCs tbe 
Ilarrls tbeatre. Bonon- JPa., oner^ 
9ted by Wamor ieiixuit. 
. Tom jDr^ niaB^ of 



" OradrV'Cincr: 
Jantes I, GaOg baoatcd 
brandi 

C%aciiBiiaU,/«iiianlwe.':'^ %mU.itM 
over from Waitar Wtagnc. t«w- 
ierred to Denver as branch topper 
there. "Wlens Is IQllng Ibe vacancy 
caused birthe recent dcMth of Ches- 
ter Bdl. 



Albany Indie's Upped Clearanec 
Albany. 

SHjiilation signed last wetic in 
Axoencan Arbitratian Assn. ease 
brought by the Kagle meatre 




WoM Embassy Wx Sales M»r 
Joe W«|f joined Embassy Pi-. 
^ C3«p. Mgeneral saJe^ 
«ger. arana^angr >as CblumMii 
«des luaiiager In Borton. ™'™"* 



3 Mo.-'Kaiu. AJSed 1tE«i«uuls 

. Kansas City. ' 
Allied, eidilbs of BCansas and Jffis- 
souri will bold added i^onal 
meetings In April. First will be 
&^ 17 la TWdiita. JCans. Second 
toH be in Moberly,-Mo., April 20. 
Thmi is in Cameron, Mo., Ai>ril 21. 



New Mm 

Con tlna a i txam pat;* < bsb I 

On that foaiBs it Is expected that 
tlie total American divvy will also 
be determined and nude qnarteily. 

Can Use Blodced Pomub 
ToPby^OffBriiishStara 

Washington. March 30. 
Holljrtwjod may picli up an extra 
$2,000,000 to $3,000,000 on the new 
British film agreement by paying 
British stars in this cotmtty in 
pounds sterling fipoien in England, 
lalber than in dollars. That was 
disclosed by Eric Johriston in a 
joint press interview with i, Arthur 
Bank/besB Ii*ta«dfc; ■ V ' 

Ibe JHbtiim Hcture Assn. of 
America prez explained that Amer- 
ican companies now pay dollars for 
ibe serviees of British players in 
Ibis country. However, the doihirs 
go to tiie British govermnent 
alikii, in turn, paiyfi off the picture 
pepple in pounds. Under Uie new 
aiTangesoent, tiie pounds will come ' 
om, of the blocased eurroicy U. S. 
eompaniea \dU have in England. It 
will mean that much more realized 
*erond the %rjjmjm permuted 
Ifor xemittance, (this what British 
IMX earn here. 

Rank, facing some 30 U. S. and 
Bntish correspondents at the 
MPAA head^arters, described the 
new An^-tT. S. amuigemenl as "a 
"wty good agreement" 



CStTMge PjraHel 
S CenHanta timm S nsail 

lUinois;. Both men lat«- Special- 
ized in ecanomics. 

Whitaker's lladkgmmd 

Whitaiur came Into RKO when 
Floyd Odbim's Atlas Corp. gained 
oontroL He's been Atlas' financial 
watchdogs Before that he was as- 
sociated witb Atlas ilsclt. Previ- 
ously lie bad been witb a number 
of (3>eadcai outfits. During the 
war be isenred as special assistant 
to X«on Henderson in the Office 
of Fiiee Administration and to 
Bendenon's saoeessor, Prentiss 
Brown. j9e later tvas consultant 
to the Foreign Economic Admin- 
islxation. 

Raihoum was an economist for 
Paramount and has long been in 
chatige of its television atUvitics. 
He's prez of Television Produce 
tions, Inc, its wljolly-owned sub^ 
Sid. Prior to Joining Par he was 
in the radio ^visions of Westing> 
house and American Telephone « 
Telegraph Corp. , 

It's believed that both RKO and 
Par *re working on a lemporar/ 
basis in not having official heads 
of their pub-ad departments and 
that in each case someone will be 
upped from the ranks or a SHilame 
man on the outside wUl be located 
and brought In. 



VedneBtbyt Mwdt 81, 1948 




^^Trcfmtndously moving . • , Told with com- 
pelling sympathy and groat htart . . . Will 
rato audionco acclaim." 

-^VARIETY 

^Immense audience satisfaction seems des- 
tined to be the happy fate of this sterling 
attraction . . . Valli is excellent, MacMurray 
never better. Sinatra a pleasant surprise." 

-MOTION PICmHE DAILY 

"A strange, rare and strongly affecting , 
drama . . . Has.a profoundly different theme 
that engrosses and maintains a strong grip 
on the imagination." 

"FIIM DAILY 

"Looks lilce one of the best boxoffice bets 
in many a day . . . Will set even hardboiled 
cynics reaching for their handkerchiefs." 

--DAILY VARIETY 

"A picture certain to land among the higher 
successes everywhere.'' 

--THE EXHIBITOR 




"So freighted with entertainment values as 
to guarantee a tip-top boxoffice experience 
. . Played like a house afire on the occasion 
of its preview/' 

-MOTION PICTURE HERALD 

"A solid hit . . . can hardly fail to strike a 
responsive chord in the hearts of all." 

-BOXOFFICJE 

"Comes to the screen with all the warmth, 
the beauty and the tenderness of the novel 
preserved intact." 

"HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 

"Outstanding entertainment, not only for 
those who read the book, but for millions of 
others who revel in heart-warming screen 
fare." 

-^SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW 

"Big boxoffice * . . provides colorful acting 
spots for the trio of stars." ^ 

INDEPENDENT FILM JOURNAL 

"A wonderful, enthralling picture desttited 
to rank with the outstanding su^sset loff 
recent years.'- - ' 



Nttk LEE J. GOBB- HAROLD VERMILYEA 

pmw Iv lEiiSE L. lASKY and MM MacEWEN • Directed bj HG WM.. 
tallybvllENHECHTvidllllENIINIiEYW 



REUASn 





Gamble Offers Naify 



Continued trom page 3 



buying into the circuit are George 
and Charles Skouras, Robert Han- 
negan, forijier Democratic national 
chairman and Postmaster General, 
and Ed Pauley, wealthy oil man 
who until recently held -several 
sub-Cabinet posts in Washington, 
Hannegan and Pauley 

Interest of Hannegan and Pauley 
Is strongly denied by insiders. 
Charles Skouras is in the same 
position as Schenck because of his 
association with a major company, 
but is definitely interested in the 
event the U. S. Supseme Court de- 
crees divorcement. 

Should 20th-Fox be forced to 
dispose of its National Theatres 
holdings, Schenck and Skouras are 
reported ready to pull out and join 
. with Gamble and some of the pres- 
ent NT subsid circuits to form a 
large chain of their own. Included, 
if possible, "would be Golden State, 
Gamble's holdings in Indianapolis 
and Oregon, Skouras houses in St. 
Louis, Fox Metropolitan New York 



circuit. United Artists fiircult, Fox- 
Midwest, Fox-Wisconsin, Fox-Inter- 
mountain and Fox-West Coast. , 

Despite the multiplicity - of po- 
tential buyers for Naify's interest, 
he shows no great desire to sell. 
He has listened to the oilers of 
both Gamble and Levy, but told 
Variety this week that he "doubts 
if anything will develop " Hfe said 
he and 'his family "like Golden 
State and want to hold OA." 
Has No Partners 

Gamble inaintained to Nalfy that 
he has no partners or associates in 
the deal and that the source of the 
coin he'd invest is entirely a New 
York bank. He is willing to make 
a deal by which he and Naify 
would be even partners and pay off 
Schenck or a jthree-way deal in- 
cluding Schenck. 

Gamble offered Nai^y exactly 
the same price per share for the 
United California stock as Naify 
paid when he bought out McNeil 
and Emmick. The $6;750,000 offer 
for the shares is based on a total 



value of United California i^A all 
its holdings and subslds of about 
lj!2S,000,000. 

Corporate setup of UC and sub- 
sids Is highly complicated. It owns 
and operates 140 theatres directly, 
but also holds about 75% of the 
stock of Golden State li^oatre ft 
Realty Co. (39 bouses) and the 
major part of T. & D., Jr., thater- 
prises, Inc. (58 houses). T, & D., 
in turn, holds a 50% interest in 
San Francisco Thfeatres, Inc. (6 
houses). ' . 

United Cal also owns some non- 
theatre x«al estate directlj', plus 98 
pieces Ihrougli Golden State, Most 
valuable of the latter is a whole 
block in downtown Oakland, Cal. 
This parcel, incidentally, is a very 
sore point with McNeil aud Sm- 
mick. 

When Reynolds was origlnaUy 
trying to make. a deal to purchase 
Golden State from Naify, McNeil 
and Emmick (before the latter two 
sold to Naify), the parcel was left 
out. When Naify made his deal 
with McNeil and EmmioJc he in- 
cluded it in, getting it for Us book 
value of $800,000. McNeil and 
Emmick now claim that .was un- 
fair, since its actual value is aibout 
$1,700,000. 



Hudson's Safesmen Fitch 



ago two exblbs dally, 
the rank-and-filers can blanket the 
country in short order and help 
sell TOA's new program. Hudson, 
himself, will devote 50% of his 
time in New Yorlt until the cam- 
paign is well under Wfty. 

TOA, according fo Hudson, will 
ask the National Screen Service 
for cooperation by ineorporating 
the slogan— this is the fiOlnis' best 
year— in bill posters and trailers. 
Committee will also prep raatearlal 
for exblbs who'll be asked, in turn, 
to speak before civic groups, 
parent-teacher associations and 
like groups. ' Hudson • wants the 
exhibs to be i-eady to answer tick- 
lish questions on so-called red 
activities in Hollywood and 
whether films further juvenile de- 
linquency. 

On the subject of trailerizing big 
up-and-coming product, Hudson 
doesnt expect too much difficulty, 
from exhibs. "We want to get 
across the ideii to them," he said. 



Continued from ptic« 4 
He thinks 





1= f^^'^^P H committee 
asthe Jbest eomini; from Hollywood 
should be play«d up. xegardS of 
What theatre^ in town * books anv 
particular fflm. Exhibs may Z 
touting a competitor's product, in 
part, but the converse is akn 
worlcing. His competitor, by the 
same token, is playing up compet- 
ing product also." 

No set budget is planned for the 
sPfatioft according to Hudson 
Well spend a& much as we need 
without any limitations. That's 
our understanding ivith the TOA 
board." * . 

Besides Hudson, committee in- 
cludes Bob Weitman, Charles 
Winchell, David Jones. Senn Law- 
ler and Harry Browning. Ted 
Gamble, TOA proxy, is overall 
chief of the publicity drive. 



^lelf-Reguiation 

SSS Continued from pagre 3 

liard-bitten, uncompromising view 
of practically any transaction. 

Suggested idea, it is understood 
would be for reps of all companies' 
which figure to share in- the dollar 
pool from England'to get together 
and elect a board of perhaps live 
men. This body- would pass on any 
move to get coin out of the pool 
before the- idea was put into effect 
or broached to the British Board 
<rf Trade. 

Whether any agreement on such 
a self-regulatory commission could 
be reached is uncertain now, since 
there's much competition among 
th2 companies to find ways to ex- 
tract their frozen balances.' Anjr 
company which has a really clever 
idea,- naturally, has no desire to 
impart it to anyone else who might 
make use of it .first. 

A number of ratlier in.£;enious ' 
ideas have already been ovolved, 
.£oni0 of them quite simple, others 
remarkably complex. One of the 
simple ones Which appears to be 
legal under the pact is for an 
American company to obtain rights 
from an English author or play- 
wright to receive all his U. S. roy- 
alties. Then the equivalent, plus 
a liberal bonus, is paid to the au- 
thor in England out of the blocked 
ooui^s. 



Mors 

ConUnncd from page 9 ; 



went to Palestine for the British 
Ministry of Information durfaig the 
war and decided to stay there to 
help buUd up the countey for the 

Jews., ■■. 

No Ifcensing agreement has been 
s^t yet for China. There's no coin 
coming out of most of the terri- 
tory, which is coveKd frflm Shang- 
hai, although dollars are being re- 
ceived fcora^ the Hong Kong area. 

Since UA's contract with its pro- 
ducers provides it must have its 
o wn usages abroad, the filmmakers' 
assent bad to be xeceiissd before 
the change to Itcensing could be 
made. Producers iStiU are under no 
obligation to go alonS if they don't 
want to» but are guaranteed that 
in no event will they receive less 
than S0% of remittable coin Col- 
lected by the local distrib. 

Producers had been paying UA 
35% for distribution ,in Egypt. 
Now they'll pay the local distrib 
32^^ (wbich may come down to 
2"7?f4% tsL « siUMi; time ) , plus 10% 
to ICIA. S(Blae«rhat similar arrange- 
ment wHt prevail in Palestine. 



Cmt&axteA taaa page 3, 



bility of a knockdown Anglo- 
American battle threatened here- 
tofore. 

It's understood Rank has sanc- 
tioned American participation in 
the games on the advice that ex- 
ercising exclusivity would likely 
have future repercussions. Yank 
newsree-ls might have combined to 
shut out Rank's cameramen from 
events occurring in the U. S, Brit- 
isher, besides, is primarily inter- 
ested in the feature pic which he, 
intends to piece togetlier Irom 
clips of the sports events. 

Rank had promised that G. i- 
Woodham - Smith, his attorney, 
would take up the matter on nis 
recent return to England from a 
visit to the U. S. Previously, 
Amerleari reels had threatened a 
boycott of the games. 



V<dine»diay» March $1, 1948 



I 



Eagle 




Lion 



GEORGE mtENT - VIRGINIA MAYO • TURHAN BEY 
ANN DVOKAK • CAROLE LANDIS in 

"OUT OF THE BLOE 

From th« itvry toy Vafo Cacpory. vi9^«* of "Laura" 



•'ii iwrm 4««itfit« tot emit an« rhrHh," •ers it*aH*> K^>p^«r, sae 
JOHN riODIAK • SYLVIA SIPNEY * ANN RICHARDS in 



LOVE FBON aSTRANGIR 

with itAtnHvtfwi • \tob*i lU«i«i 



"T-M*n, th» N*w ThrilM9idr~W<tlft WinehttI 



Tfia b'But^cf li.vor.^ ^hfni- uf Alt in SMtithliuMing SfMcfac/a' 

"ADVENtDRES of CASANOVA" 

ifai itj ARTURO DE CORDOVA • LUCILLE BREMER 
rURHAiV BEY * NOREEN NASH 

•>f|tl ««»} of thoVMt<t(f» 



f'U/'Sttit' atioira of n f-'*Kttt Whotm Lv«l for fawei Da*troy«<f Hi'm- 
ZACHARY SCOTT « LOUIS HAYWARO 
DIANA '.YNN * SYDNEY GREENSTREET 
LUCILLE BREMER • MARTHA VtCKERS i%i 

n 



T-NEN 



9toi-r;i(9 OINNIS O'KWft 
with M«ry fAMtitt • AifrMi Ryd*'* * W4>fy 
Jun* Lockhort • Ch«rl«* MtOraw 
}>r«c*itl*43 fay BDWAItO SMAU 



Maynlffc^Mf ThtiU* a* rfc« Cf Kid R(d«4 W««M ' 

"THE MAN FROM TEXAS" 

itorring JAMIS CRAM • LYNN BARI • JOHNNIE JOHNSTON 
with Una MUrhal • Waity Ford • Harry Davon|H>rt • Sara AH«Md 

Anothor Unhlt Drama l»y fh« Mm Who Mud* "T-Mtt.'U 

"RAW DEAL" 

starring OENNIS O'KEEFE 
CLAIRE TREVOR • MARSHA HUNT 
P»4«n»«d by fOWARP SMALL 



MICKEY" 



IN CINiCOtOlli 
*tomi»0 LOIS ttiniR with Bill Ooodwrn • iron* Horvoy 
John Sutfon < H*M* McO«m«< • SUpOV Hwnoior 
«<iMd«n th« pri7« vv'inninf iM»y«t/'Ct«m«ii«in«/' by P«9«y Goodwin 



ROTRLESS 

i'toduMd fay ARTHUR $. LYONS 



fitmttd en an UnparatMod Sca/s of Oufdoor AftlM/ 
JOAN LESLIE • JAMES CRAIG • JACK OAKtE in 

NORTHWEST STAMPEDE" 

IN CINKOLORI 
Swg94f*Wd by Saturday Cvonino Po** articlo, "Aild HerM Round-Up' 



yh» Stnen'i Favowfo Zpttioi-in ihoir ••»»-.-ond f or»nio«r/ 
BUD ABBOTT • LOU COSTELLO in 

THE NOOSE HANGS HIGH 

with JoNph CaHoia • Loon Erroi • Calby DewNt 



Suipomof j( Story ot n Mam Who Uvot Anofhor Mmn'i We' 
PAUL HENREID • JOAN MNNETT in 



HOLLOW TRIUMPH 



ft 



Seroon'M Mo«r AUufing Star loomod in Orond RamontK Comodyl 
MIDY LAMARR • ROHIT CUMMINOS in 



n 



LET'S LIVE A LITTLE" 

A Vnifod Cafltornia J>rftd«clten 
^rodvcod fay Ei/gono Fivolio aod ■•fc*if Cwiwtoy 



A Hoty tff Hi^h OinuFnafK Powtii' 

"THE BLANK WALL" 

JOAN BENNETT 

rhnf? After VhriJ/- -ffcufwlor/rtft AdvpnJif.-e' 

THE BASTILLE 

ftatrintt RICHARD BASEHAR1 



rabu/out Sfory of a Rsd-Htfoiiod Ptrmt0 AMMHyf 

ANNE OF THE INDIES 

.rcirring SUSAN HATWAKO 

%tftk<i-h~l-kh. inga pf o ffoafiny *o*iw»«wflf ' 

TULSA" 

f^cttn.^g SUSAN HAYWARO 



1 




Entertainment Leadership 



82 




WedneiKfey, :Mai^lt M, 1948- 



Continued from l)»r« ti 



The Lost One 

eschi, Mattel, Tito Gobbi, Fran- 
cesco Albanese and Arturo La 
Porta for the actual singing. But 
the singing is of high order, and 
tlie recording is exemplary, with 
the sound track superior to most 
such pix: Ettore Panizza, former 
conductor at the N. Y. Met, has 
handled singers, as well as sup- 
porting orchestra and chorus ot the 
Borne Opera House, with', skill and 
distinction. Camera Work is fine, 
ivith some lovely outdoor shots. 

Film follows the opera closely. 
Prplog has Dumas, the writer, and 
Verdi,; the composer, standing by 
the grave of the noted Parisian 
courtesan, Alphonsine Plessis, in a 
Montmartre cemetery, discussing 
her life and loves. Then the film 
fades toto the familiar opera tale 
of the l{Kiy ^o deiserts her fast 
Jparisian Me for her new-found 
young love, their breakup and her 
tragic end. Most of the film is sung, 
and all in Italian. 

The prolog Is in English, and a 
running commentary throughout 
the film, done in English as if the 
heroine is reading her diary, ex- 

Elains the story perfectly to elim- 
late need for subtitles. The diary 
voice is, a Utile confusing, the audi- 
ence believii^ it Is ASoletta's, And 
being constantly surprised as 
spoken .word in English is Imme- 
diately followed by singing ^ce 
In Italian. Matter Sioidd baire be^n 
cleared up a' bit. 

Film is also badly cut in a couple 
«f places, especially at the begin- 
ning of one tenor aria, to make it 
jerky. Spoken dialog, as it's read 
from the (Uary, is somewhat stilted 
' and coixiy fit times^ too. Pic is a 
good attempt . at translating opera 
palatatily for U.S. audiotces, but 
by its Tery nature is limited -in ap- 



come an assortment of folk all 
seaxX>hing for th« hideout. It Is a 
sure formula for a game of cops 
and robbers, and will find favor 
here with most audiences, although 
a little less doublecrossing would 
have made the story less compli- 
cated and more enjoyable. For U. S. 
It sliould fit into dual bills. 

Main failing of the yam is that 
situations do not thrill sufficiently, 
even when all the protagonists are 
snowbound in the hut and trigger- 
puUing, knife'throwing, and a 
raging fire become inevitable. 

Bobert Newton plays his usual 
self as an ex-British Intelligence 
officer. Dennis Price is a careless 
hero, Herbert Lom scowls suitably, 
as a Nazi, Marcel Dalio is duly ac- 
ceptable as a conspirator, Giiy 
Middleton is effectively nonchalant 
as a British deserter, and Stanley 
HoUoway contributes his quota of 
laughs as aid; , innocent cameraman 
drawn Into the homete' nest. For 
corpses' it irivals "Hamlet." 

For the romantic interest Mila 
Parely was imported from Paris, an 
experiment difficult to justi^ by 
results. Cone. 



provincials. Complications set In 
midway with the introduction of 
the swindler's double, a mousy, 
honest clerk, who's picked up by 
the police for the other's crtmei). 
The doubles finally team up to con- 
found the cops, but through a sharp 
turnabout, the taones^t man comes 
out on top with'the swindle!^ loot 
and mistre^. 

Principal support to Jouvet is de- 
livered by Suzy Delair, a pert 
looker v/ith a sharp sen.se of humor. 
Other thespers in minor roles also 
turn in good performances. Eng- 
lish titling by Walter Klee is com- 
petent, but several important dia- 
log bits are left untranslated. 

Hem, 



Conf etsslons «»f m ttognc 

(FRENGH) 

DlBtingiuished Films relefluft of ConsteUa. 
Hon VVlma praduetlon. St»is Ijouia Jouvet; 
teiitures Stray Deliilr. Directed by Cunst^n- 
tin Gettman. scrsenplay, Henri Jeanson, 
£rom Boonitrio by .Tacouw Corapaneez: ca»J' 
eva, Jean ffeyte; Btieliah titles, Walter 
Klee. At Pjx, N. T., Jlarch 2e, '48. Bnn- 
nlna tlm?,' S* BUSS. , . : 
I»mora. . 4..,', . .... .liouljs Jonvet 

Caroline Susy Delnlr 

Charlotte.. . ,■ Annette Poivro 

Cone ierse. Jane Mnrlien 

Mme. CharKa Madeleine Saffel 

Oscar Jean Jaoanes IJelbo 

Andte , .^...>.. Leon liiipara 

An accompUce- J«in Carmet 

I^iprune .Fally 

M. dhartes. Honi-1 Chnrrett 

Peroni Fernand Kaazena 

Piiuzat <lcorgc."j Cu«in 

Judge ^. ..Robert Seller 



peal. 



Bron. 



Sn»wboitnd 

(BBmSH) 



London, March 24. , 

HKO roleaao oC J. Arthur Ranlc, Sydney 
Box-G.aIn»boroTigh. productioh. Featur^ 
Rdtiert Newton, pennis Price, Herbert Ijont, 
Uiretjted by Dfwid MacDonald. Sorecnplay 
by David BYtins; Keith Campbell, adapted 
from ''The Lion^ly Skler''i by HamTnond 
Innes. Mualo, Oedrlo. Thorpe Davie; editor, 
Charleii I£nott; £amei% Stephen Dudfr. At 
Odeon, Marble Mum, 3jonM(, Maicb SS. MS. 
ttunnlng time. Sfl SBNSw 
K3erek Snglei^. .....Robert Newton 

Keii Blair...., ...........Dennis Price 

Keramikos ........ .....Herbert l.iant 

BloXim Vatdin:t....,.,,,......',-IU[afcel Dalio 

Joe Wesson . j,Staiiley Hollow^ 
Gillierl Mayne. ....'Guy MWdlctoa 

Ciiila Bometta .'..jrila Parely 

Alilo .:. . .. Willy- Ftt4t«r 

Hiinclnl '.Bichard Moltnaa. 

ISml lla , 1 ...... . Catherine ' Ferrais 

Ajietimiet ....•..'.,.',..MASi3inQ Coen. 
Stelben ..... ...WUllam Price 



Scene for this thriller is a ski- 
hut in the Alps, cache -of Hassi gold 
buried when- Germany was de- 
feated; lake flies i» a sugar-tart 



(In French; English Titles) 
'Confessions of a Rogue" is a 
neat comedy item from France 
slated for .solid returns in the sure- 
seater circuit, leaking the oli Hol- 
lywood chestnut of a double iden 
tity mixup, this pic turns it into a 
tasty souffle of Gallic wit, slyness, 
sexiness and cynicism. 

Louis Jouvet, France's most pop- 
ular and, apparently, most active 
thesper who's also b^ing seen here- 
abouts in "Volpone" and "Jenny 
Lamour,",is a one-man show in this 
production. Playing a super- 
swindler, Jouvet assumes a haU- 
dosiea different roles with which to 
con his clientele and tickle his U.S. 
fans. A consummate artis-t, he'; 
able to suggest a nev7 personality 
through an eyebrow flicker a slight 
resetSog of his chiil. 

First half of the film is a spar- 
kling recite «f JTouvet's tecbniiaue 
ot -selUng mmeam to gidDable 



Last Bays oi IBtmtt mill 

(SONGS) 
Hollywood, March 27. 

Columbia release ol Coll>ert Clarlc produC' 
tion. Stara Charles atarrett: teaturea 
Smiley Buvnctte, Vlritiula Hunter, Paul 
Campbell, .Mary Newton, Ca-sa County Boya. 
Directed by Ra>' SazaiTO. Ovieinul screen- 
play, Norman S. Hall: camera, GcorKe P. 
Kclley; editor,. Paul Borotsky. Koylewed 
at Valley, North Itollywood, -MaroU 26, "48. 
RunnlnK ttnw, 85 MllfS, 
StevB Waring I ,. . , . .charlea Stamtt 
The ' Darango Kid J . . .. 

Hmiloy Burnetts.,.,...,... Huuley Burnetle 

Paula Thorpe Vlrifinla Huiitor 

Frank Kayburn I'aul Canuibcll 

Mrs. Forrest Brent .^fuw Ncivton 

Reed Brokaw i>"i. 1' 

Dan McCoy J. Coudlan.J I'« 

Brono PrterH Bob W like 

Forrest Bront Alan Bridge 

The Cass County Boys 



sell several bucolic pieces for 
laughs. Others Aiding musical por- 
tions are the Sunshine Boys, back- 
ing Grant's singing; the Sunshine 
Girls and the Starligfaters. 

Jime Vincent is a comely pro- 
gram analysist who mixes romance 
with her job. Tommy Ivo does a 
sharp job as the precocious young- 
ster and Bmoi-y Pamell is good as 
his father. Dorothy Vaughn, Eddie 
Acuff and Maudie Prickett measure 
up to demands. • _ 

Colbert Clark's production fur- 
nish good values for the limited 
budget, Lensittg and other credits 
are okay, Brog, 

Film €laB9loa TOleans ot Sij^miind N«u< 
told Prailucttou, Stars Hugh lj«aum«nt and 
Fran¥Bfl Rufterl;!'.' Directed by Petei- Stew- 
act. Original story, Al Harlin : <'a|tar, Hol- 
))rook N. 'Todat cJimera, Jaolt Oreonhalsh; 
muaicai illr«t;tor, Leo Brdody. Trddeehown 
in N. Y. March !». '48. Itunning ilm«, 
73 MIN8. . 
Steve Clark Hqgh Beamnont 

Julie.. . . ...I'ranfics R.afferty 

Donald. ,. , ............ ..... .Hm'lan Warde 

Coiu ........................... OficH Weston 

Mrs. Fergason >..,........ Ida Muore 

Kogera « Danny„ Uorton 

Dr. WagneP.,...;,..' Joel SVledkln 

polleeman. .Lantt Chandl«r 



New Vorfe Thedfrc^ 



WAMtEA iiOSftfUESEMIS 
JACKCARSOH • ANN SOTHERN 

■'AntiL SHOWEKS'' 

with. 

ROBEBX AUIA, S. Z. SAKALI. 

Dtreoted by JAMBS V. EnRN 
IN PBBSON . 

CLAUDE THORNHiU. 

' Hia Piano and: IUa Omlietitra 
Slua MOBBY AMSTHKDAM 

\t «7th Stnet S T It A N D 





«ri VERONICA 

LAKE 



WL ussat r—mit,^ am wtc iwiiiiMr 



iifiiiiifiesitiff-nii^ 

■>><iiMf«MittlMI{IKIIItt' V 



— RADIO CITV MUSIC HAU «— 

llocliefeller center 

.(inENE OUNNE 1* 6«rt< Stwoit' Pr«l. 

"1 REMEMBER MAMA" 



I 



The Durango Kid rides again to 
Last Days of Boot Hill" to bring 
six-gun justice to prairie evildoers. 
That most of his action takes place 
by flashback is unusual for this 
forthright series that draws a clear 
line between right and wrong. It's 
also production sleight-of-hand, 
permitting close shaving on the 
budget, but the Saturday matinee 
fans of western derring-do won't 
mind. 

In between the action, four 
musical interludes are spotted with 
standard results. Charles Starrett 
walks through his assignment as 
the TJ. S. Marshal on the trail of 
$100,000 in gold stolen years be 
fore, sfdopting the Durango char- 
acter to deal out the villains' just 
desserts. Smiley Bumette is his 
roly-poly undercover assistant, in 
between working ^th the Cass 
County Boys on oatunes such as 
"Texas Belle," "Lookin' Out, 
Lookin' In," "On My Way Back 
Home" and "Giddey-Ap." 

Bay Nazarro's direction puts the 
players through their paces in okay 
style, although film could have 
used a few spectacular thrills out- 
side of the tried-and-true , chase 
and gun fight. Casting is stand- 
ard, villains looking, Uke villains 
and' the good element in shining 
arraorr Starrett's dual function a» 
the law and the outlaw, saves, Vir- 
ginia Hunter's ranch from skull- 
duggery by Mary Newton, Bill 
Free and J. Courtland Lytton. 
Standing, by is Paul Campbell as 
romiantie. interest for the herotoe. 

Colbert Clark produced and 
George Kell^ di^ the leasing m 
standard outdoor fashilm, Brog. 

SoiHS o< Idaho 

(SONGS) 
Hollywood, March 27. 

Columbia release of Colbert Clark produc- 
tion. Features Ilootticr Hot Shotw, Kirby 
Grant, Juno Vincent, Tommy Ivo. Directed 
^ by Uay Navarro. Orislnai '/?reenplay, Harxy 

IKhlpman; camera, Vincent ,t"^irrar; editor, 
Aaron Kteil. At Million Dollar, Xj. A., 
March 27, '48. liunning tlnte, 67 MTOSfi. 
King RusseU... ........... ../.Kitlty GffiUlt 

Eve Allen. ............... ^ . . ; June Vlnectrt . 

Junior .Tommy Tvo 

Bara LSom.. ........ Dorothy VauKbn 

J. Chester ^Tottingham Kmo\-y Panicll 

Haiib Brown .JSddle AcufC 

Millie....... MaadlB Prickett 

Hoosicr Wot ijliut» , . 
Sunahino Boys 
Sunshine Gtcls 
.Siarligbtera • 



A feeble programmer, "Money 
Madness" will find its market 
limited to the dualers and nabes. 
Small cast, lack of production 
mountings and a tiite script re- 
flect an all too-limited budget. Co- 
stars Hugh Beaumont and Frances 
Rafferty are deserving of better 
roles. 

Story's built' around a supposedly 
uiugcnious scheme that banlcrobber 
Beaumont has hit upon to spend 
a $200,000 haul without arousing 
suspicion of authorities. He v;eds 
Miss Rajferty, then poisons her 
aunt to make it appear the latter 
has hoarded the money to leave to 
her niece upon lier demise. Miss 
Rafferty discovers too late that- her 
husband is a crook. However, the 
law eventually catches up with 
him, thus satisfying the Produc- 
tion Code's retribution require- 
ments. 

Beaumont struggles with an un- 
sympathetic part. Miss Rafferty 
does what she can. and Cecil Wes- 
ton is okay as the carping, hypo 
'Chondriactd aunt. Harlan Warde 
contribs. a fair job as an attorney 
who sees through Beaumont's 
mkchinatfons. 

Producer Sig Neufeld, an old 
hand at turning out modestly-bud- 
geted program pix, failed to give 
"Money Madness" much help via 
production values. Al Martin's 
scripting is quite ordinary while 
Jack Greenhjdgli's lensing as well 
as other technical credits are ade- 
quate. Gitb. 



211 Yt»»rs of Aesid4>«i|3r ' 

;■«»«««« ot Acftdaroy ot liotlon ric 
ttti'* Arts wid SotencM production. Niin',w 
tlon by Carejf WUsoti. Tradoshowii n, u v 
Maieh 80, '48. Running time, JH mn%\ 

Showing the Osdar winners and 
Academy Award pictures starting 
with 1938, and carrying through 
1847, this novel two-reeler consti- 
tutes a swift-moving- quickie dose, 
up of the txxeea industry's tri- 
umphs over the past 20 years, It 
was produced by the Academy 
with proceeds from showing of 
film to be used by the AMPAS in 
furthering constructive work on 
films. It should interest any au- 
dience. 

Carey Wilson carries the running 
stoiy to point up highlights. Mary 
Pickford and Warner Baxter are 
shown as first Oscar winners, for 
their work in "Coquette" and "In 
Old Arizona," respectively. There's 
also an excellent closcup o£ Al 
Jolson, given a special award lor 
being star in the first tklking pic- 
ure (''The Jazz Singer," for War- 
ners), there's one of Shirley Tem- 
ple handed special mention when 
site was a child star, plus award- 
ing of special small Oscars to Walt 
Disney, 

Besid;es showing the Academy 
winners in the outstanding films 
which won them the laurels, each 
year also depicts top sequences 
from each year's best picture.. 
Short carries through to include 
actual presentations to 1947 win- 
ners (awarded March 20) in Holly- 
wood, with Darryl Zanuck, Loretta 
Young and Ronald Colman step- 
ping up to receive the Oscars. 
Then typical scenes from "Gentle- 
man's Agreement," 20th-Fox 1947 
prizewinner, are given as well as 
sequences from "Farmer's Daugh- 
ter," RKO picture for which Miss 
Young won ber prize, and "Double 
Life," Universal film for which 
Colmatt won his. 

Much of this short's effective- 
ness stenis from Wilson's deft nar- 
ration. Crisp editing also is a big 
tactmr. Wear. 



Johnston Rejects 



Continued from page 4 



other loyal Americans to express 
their viewB In any manner they see 
fit" 



Main From 'WvfXMm 
(SONGS) 

Eagle Lion release ot Jotiojih FitMdH I>ro- 
duction; StarH Jamos Ci-iilg, l.yiin Barl, 
Johnnie Johnston; features ITna M(*rkel, 
Marry Davenport. Diretllcd hy I/Clgh .la«0H. 
i5croenpIay, Joseph Fields and Jerome 
Chodorov, ITrom staBopl.iy by 1!. B. GInly; 
camera, Jackson J. Rose; editor, Norman 
Colbert; BOnga. Karl Rohlnaon and Jos'-nh 
Plelds. Tradeahown in N. y., iJarch SH, 'iS. 
RunninK- time, 71 MIN!^. 

EJ Paso Kid .T.invpM Oaip; 

Ze« Bixbee i.ynn Bari 

EUUy Taylor .Tohnnie .lulinaton 

Widow ' Weeks. Una Merkel 

Jed Wally Ford 

fop Hickey Rnrry Davenport 

Aunt Hello................. ....Sara AllKOod 

Charles Jaekson.. ..Vl(j Cutler 

ir. S. Ma.nihal. ...Reed H,tai«y 

.lim WsilsH. ...... ...........ctiinry Coopcp 

Boh Jackiinn. .Bert Conway 

Sam. .... ..«* .Kinff l>onovait 



N. T. NeW Btushofl 

Editorial comment by the N. Y. 
Daily IJews on Eric Johnston's 
okay for actors to be . in politics, 
says: "You can't quarrel with ttiat. 
You can add, however, and we nJow 
take pleasure in so doing, that 
other Americans are free to put 
the current valuation on the politi- 
cal intelligence of actors. In most 
cases, that correct valuation is 
very, very low . . . Let us by all ' 
means continue to tolerate actors 
who bat around in politics; but 
let's also for our own safety, re- 
fittse to take 99 out-of 100 such ac- 
tors seriously." 



DORH 



Barliara Oscar 
BEL CIEDDES • HOMOLKA • 
Prediioeil by HARRIET PARSONS 
Mutia Hall'i Groat EUtgr StaH Sligw 



rierrlng 

FREDMiiclfURRAirj 
FRANK SiKATRftl 

4 kr ma lAiiia ncntwt I 



Team Valli, Gotten 

Hollywood, Mai-cn ;^0. 

Valli, on loanout from David O. 
Selznicfc, wiU co-star with Joseph 
Gotten in "Weep No; More," to be 
produced by Robert Sparks at 
RKO, starting April 14. 

Picture will be the second at 
RKO for the Italian actress. First 
was "The Miracle of the Bells," a 
Lasky-MacEwen production. 



"Song of Idaho" is another of 
Columbia's light-budgeted rural 
comedies with music. It has plenty 
to please, particularly in the cofrn 
belt. A fast pace, able clownmg by 
the Hoosier Hotshots, Kirby 
Grant's veiy listenable baritone-, 
and other ingredients are all on 
the credit side. 
~ Plot is the one about hilllally 
singer trying to interest his spon- 
sor in a renewal when show goes 
off the air. To get the sponsor's 
signature, program must please 
latter's young son, a little hellion. 
Ajities center around Hot Shots' 
effort- to win the youngster's favor 
and the kid's blackmailing.' of the 
foursome. Barry -Shipman's script 
put the ingredients together neatly 
and pleasantly and Bay Nazarro's 
direction makes it aU come out 
entertainingljf for Ijhe attdieace at 
which it is, aimed. 

Kirby Grant reprises "Idaho" 
several times, gives solid vocal 
treatment to "Driftin' " and "No- 
body Ellse But You" in a baritone 
that is good listening. Hot Shots' 




This western,' with . Johnnie 
Johnston, Una Merkel, Lynn Bari 
and James Craig for marquee 
lustre, is lightweight and has ex- 
triMnely limited chances. 

Pie depicts Craig wavering be- 
tween b«ng a law-abiding citizen 
and- an outlaw. In between the pic- 
ture falls apart. At one juncture, 
Craig helps a poor widow (Una 
Merkel) lift the mortgage on hec 
ranch and then turns arounds to 
rob a bank. After that it's a free- 
for-all as to whether Craig will re- 
form OS continue his bandit ca- 
reer. 

Dialog, is surprisingly corny. 
Craig strives hard to be an outlaw 
but with not much success. Lynn 
Bari plays his wife, but not one of 
her better performances.* Johnnie 
Johnston adds little to his cine- 
matic career as a guitar - strum- 
ming crooner who bursts 'into song 
on the slightest provocation. His 
choice of tunes also is question- 
able. Miss Merkel also falters asf the 
widow, but maybe it's what she's 
asked to do and say. Reed Hadley 
is best of the support. 

Jackson J. Rose's camera job is 
refreshing. Joseph Fields is cred- 
ited with being producer and con- 
tributing the lyrics to several of 
the cowboy songs, plus teaming 
with Jerome Chodorov on the 
screenplay. • Wear. 



Now 

nVE STAR 
ffl,A(BSHtfl»S 

11 liowrs, 45 mlnoles 

Phon* HAvamsyer O-SOOtt 

or your travel agent 

Tict«l Offices,! Air/iftas Termina; • Rockofelfcr 
Cwrfer • Hot»fN»w Y&her • IJZO Broodwoy 
Hots/ Sr. G«orge 

AMSRtCAN 

AiRums 



Now Specializing] 
,in Refreshment 
fCottcessions f"^ 
BRIVE-IMTHEATRESy 




I 





■■(fey 










*\ letting «*• 

' U won't «»• ^ 





in o9«»v * J 







think* 






^4 




^5 



I 



A FULL LEN@TH FEATURE in f [[ |f Q Q I| Q [ 

featuring 

and Curley Twiford's JIMMY THE CROW 



OkeGted by DEAN RIESNER 

Screen Play by Royal Foster 
and Dean RIesner 

Bated on an Idea from 
Ken Murray's Blackouts 

Produced by KEN MURRAY 



S4 



Picture Grosses 



NEW YORK 

(Continued from page 13) 
In for run. Final 6 days o£ fourtii 
week on ^Albuquerque" (Par), 
$7,000. 

Warner (WB) (1,499; 90-¥1.50)— 
"Robin Hood" (WB) (reissue) (4th* 
final wk). Third session ended last 
(Tues.) night held well at $16,000 
after soUd $18^00 for second. 
Show«d such strength in second 
Irame that it was held a fourth 
week, with "Winter Meeting" (WB) 
opening set back until April 7. 

Winter Garden (UA) (1,312; 80- 
$1.20)— "Man of EvU" (UA). First 
week ending today (Wed.) was 
highly disappointing at $10,000 or 
under, with ctix taking It over 
.bumps. , Btowever, holds second 
stanza. Third week (8 days) of 
•Bfack Bart" (U) was $11,000. 

IHAMA' CHEERS BUFF^ 
. $m,000; ^DA' 13G 

Buffalo, March 30. 

Big . news this week is the big 
Iwsiness being done by "Remem- 
ber Mama" at Century. "IStcudda 
Hoo" is on. disappointbig side at 
the Buffalo. 

• Estlaafw twt Ibiai tVcA 

Bi^HWk) .{Shear (3,500; 40-70)— 
Smem Hoo" {20th) and "Lees 
Live Again" (20tb). Fait-iy good 
$13,000 or better. Last week, "Al- 
buquerque" (Par) and '^aged 
Fuiy" (Par), ditto. 

Great Lakes (Siea) (3.400; 40-70) 
—"Robin Hood" (WB) (reissue). 
Nice $13,500 or near. Last week, 
"Saigon" (Par) and "Mr, Heckless" 
<Par>« $13^000. 

• mg» (Shea) «,100; 40-70)— 
"Alias a Genttooaaif Off-G) and 
"li^toag Forert?* (K-G). TMm 
or over. Last week, "Par- 
zan's Secret Treastoe" (M-6) and 
"Tarzan's N. Y, Adventure" (M-G) 
(rrjssues), $7^00. 

Teck (Shea) (1,400; 40-70)— 
"Tarzan!s Secret Treasure" (M-G) 
and "Tarzan's N. Y. Adventure' 
(M-6) (reissues). Okay' <^,500. 
Last wecdSf "Black Cat^ OJ) and 
"Blac*: FridJtjr (TO (lelssuesK 
$3,500. . ' . 

Lafajrette (Basil) (8.000; 40-7il»— 
"Black Bart" (U) aBd'"WomaE?s 
Vengeance" (U). Gooa $13,000. 
Last week, "Secret Beyond Bow" 
(U), thin $10,500, 

ZOai Century (20th Cent) fAMSi 
40-70) — "I Bemember Afama" 
(RKO). Big $19,000 or better. Last 
week, "Foreign Correspondent" 
<Mast) aM "Blockade" .iliidie) (re- 
issues) ii)7,500. in e .ds^. 

PITTSBURGH 

(Continuea from pajge 12) 

"J^ontier Marahal" 
(20th) (reissues), $5,500. 

Harris (Harris) (2,200; 44-76)— 
"Naked aty" (U), Biggest Friday 
(26) opening any picture ever had 
Jiere, all more remarkable since 
house didnt get going that day 
until 2 p.m. on account of Good 
Friday. Smash $194)00,. mi grts 
at least Hnsee we^. Last .week, 
"Heaven Only Knows" (HA), $5,500 
Jn 6 days. 

Penn (Loew's-UA) (3,300; 44-76) 
—"Tarzan's Secret •ft'easure" (M-G) 
and "Tarzan's N, Y, Adventure" 
(M-G) (reissues). Heavy kid trade 
helping this to sorso $11,000 in 6 
days. Last week, "Alias a Gentle- 
man" (M-G), $13,500." 

Jlitz (Loow's) (aoO; 44-76)— "Alias 
a. Gentleman" (M-G) (m.o.). TWn 
$1,500. Last week, "Let Us Live" 
(Col) and "Adam Four Sons" (Col) 
(reissues) $2,500. - 

Senator (Harris) (1,750; 44-76)— 
"Gentlanan's Agreement" (20th) 
(2d wk). Re-release date cashing in 
on Academy Award. Should do 
$6,500, exactly wliat it got last 
■we'ik, terrific for Holy Week. 

Stanley (WB) (3,800; 44-76) — 
"April Showers" (WB). Light musi- 
cal doing nicely via holiday trade, 
okay $18,000. May hold few extra 
days. Last week, "Night Song" 
(RKO), fair $13,000. 

Warner (WB) (2,000; 44-76) — 
"Miracle of Bells" (RKO). Sock 
campaign, including p.a.'s of Jesse 
L. Lasky, Russell Janney, Leo Car- 
rillo, Ruth Warfick and Charles 
Coburn, together with miner's 
preem in nearby coal'mining town 
of Library, Pa., all good for plenty 
of space. Adding up to slick $17,- 
000, and looks like a nicerun. Last 
week, "Robin Hood" (WB) (reissue) 
(m.o.), fine $d,000. 



^Winter' No Hot Tamak 
I&MplsJ9,000; Cooper 
TaU 19G, 'Eambr 14fi 

Minneapolis, March 30. 
faster week is bringing the Loop 
cmly one major newcomer, "If 
Winter Comes," somewhat a weak 
sister at the State. Otherwise it's 
second-runs, holdovers and reis- 
sues. "Unconquered" holds forth 
at Radio City on initial regular 
price run, shapes sturdy. The Or- 
pheum lias brought Jback "Bambl," 
to .cash in on juvenile trade this 
week.' "Call iJorthside" shapes big 
on inoveover at tite Century. An- 
other stretch of bad weekend 
weather that brought snow, sleet 
and IS above zero cold hurt. 
Estimates for This Week 
Gentnrjr (Par) (1,600; 50-70) 
Call Northside" (2()th) (m.o.). Rig 
$10,000. Last week, "10th Ave, 
Angel" (M-G), light $5,000, 

Gkq^ (Pat-) (1,000: 44)— "Joe 
P^owBk sCnockout" (Mono) and 
'Jigg^ Maggie in Society" (Mono) 
Li^ $3,500. - Last week, "Gay 
Ranchero" (Rep) and "Angel's Al 
ley." (Rep), $4,000, 

Lyric (Par) (1,000; 50-70)— "Sai 
gon" (Par) (3d wk). Still satisfac- 
tory $6,000. Last week, big $8,000, 
Radi« aty (Par) (4,400; S0-70)r- 
Uncooqaered" (Par). E^rst time 
at pop prices. Sturdy $19,000 for 
Gary Cooper starrer. Last week, 
C^l Northside" (20th). smadi 
$21,000. 

KKO-Orph^na- (RKO) (2,800; 
50-70):— "Bambi" (rkO) (reissue). 
Jove scale boosted to 25c for this 
onle whidb has the youngsters flock- 
ing iv. Smaslv $14,000. Last week 
"Secret Beyond Dooc" (U), $8,500, 
KKO-fte (RKO) (1,600; 50-70)— 
Foreign Correspondent" (Mast) 
and "Trade Winds" (Mast) (reis- 
sues). Satisfactory $7,000. - Last 
week, "Woman'4 Venseance" (U), 
mild $6,000. 

State (Par) (2,300; 50-70)— "If 
Winter Comes" (M-G). Moderate 
00. Last week, "GM T!sa" (WB) 
$87DOa 

Vptoim (Par) (1,000; 44-60)- 
"Time. for Keeps" (M-G). First 
naberun. Fair $4,000. Last week, 
"Captain Castile" (20th), $4,500. 

World (Mann) (350; 50-85) — 
"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (Oth wk). 
Good $2,500 after virile $2,«)0 pre- 
ceding <eantOt > . 



'Daughters' Takes Bow 
For Rousing $35MD.C 

Washington, March 30. 

Holiday weekend gave . town's 
flrstruns a badly needed shot in 
arm, with cold weather helping 
to drive tourists into theatres. Cap- 
itol getting lion's share o{ bonanza, 
with "Three Daring Dauj*iter4" 
plus vaude. "Gentleman's Agree- 
ment," at Loew*s Palace, also Is 
sock to pace sfraight-iilmers. 

' Estimates ttfr This Week 

Capitol (Loow's) (2,434; 44-80) 
—"Three Daring Daughters" ( M-G ) 
plus vaude. Smash biz, with film 
taking bows, at $35,QpO. Last week, 
"Weal Husband" (20th) plus vaude, 
thin $20,000. 

Columbia (Loew's) (1,263' 44-70) 
■ "Tarzan's Secret Treasure" 
( M-G ) ( reissue ) . Fine $8,500. Last 
\ivfeek, "Bride Frankensteia" (U) 
and "Sofa Frankenstein" (XJ) (re- 
issues ) , $10,000 in 9 days. 

Keith's (RKO) (1,939; 44-80)— 
"Senator Indiscreet" (U) {2d wk) 
(3 days) , and "I Remember Mama" 
(RKO) (4 days). Fine $1T.000,' 
with "Mama" doing sock weekend 
biz. Last week, "Senator Indis- 
creet" (U), solid $16,000. 

Metropolitan (WB) (1,183; 44-70) 
—"BUI and Coo" (Rep) and "Cali- 
forniari Skies" (Rep). Twin bill 
doing fine $7,000. Bulk of admis- 
sions paid by kids. Last week, 
"Saigon" (Par) (m.o.), $6,000. 

Palace (Loew's) (2,370; 44-74)— 
'Grentleman's Agreement" ' (20th ) . 
Sock $26,000 or better. Last week, 
"Bride Goes Wild" (M-G), $18,000. 

Warner (WB) -(2,15*; 44-74)— 
'April Showers" (WB). Nice $16,- 
OOQ. Last week, "Robin Hood" 
(WB) (reissue) (9 days), «oUd 
$16,000. 



San F^randsco, March 30. 

Rainy Easter Day helped trade 
here this session but it was not 
enough to overcome the slump dur- 
ing Holy Week. Plethora of hold- 
overs also is hurtingi Best new en- 
try is "April Showeis" which looks 
in for a big stanza at the Para- 
mount. "Naked City" shapes sturdy 
on second week in two houses. 
Estimates for Hiis WeA 

Golden Gate (RKO) (2,844; 60-85) 
—"Bishop's Wife" (RKO) (4ttt wk). 
Thin $13,000, Last week, $16,000. 

Fox (FWC) (4,651; 60-95)— "Gen- 
tleman's Agreement" (20th) (2d 
wk). Skidded to $12,500 in 6 days. 
Last week, okay $21, 500. 

Warfield (FWC) (2,656; 60-85)— 
"Sittmg Pretty" (20th) (2d wk). 
Held up to strong $17,500. Last 
week, soeko $20,000. 

Faramouttf (Par) (2,646; 60-85)— 
"April Showers" (WB). Big $25,000. 
Last week, "Robin Hood" (WB) (re- 
issue), $31,000.. 

St. Francis (Par) (1,400; 60-85)— 
"Saigon" (Par) <4th wk). Down to 
$7,500. Last week, good $9,500. 

Orphenm (Blumeofeld) (2,448; 
55-85)— "Naked City" (U) (2d wk). 
Hefty $14,000.' Last week, big 
$19,000. 

United Artists (Bluraenfeld) (1,- 
207; 55-85)-- "Sign of Ram" (Col) 
(3d wk). Okay $6,000 in 5 days. 
Last week, good $8,500. 
■ Esquire (Blumcnfeld) (952; 55- 
8.'))— "Naked City" (U) (2d wk). 
Strong $9,500. Last week, terrific 
$14,000. 

State (Par) (2,133; 60-85)— "Robin 
Hood" (WB) (reissue) (m.o.). Oke 
$9,500. Last week, "Frontier Mar- 
shal" (20th) arid "Belle Starr" 
(20th) (reissues), $9,000. 

Larkin (Roesner) (400; 65-85) — 
"Furia" (Indie) (2d wk). Hefty $4,- 
000. Last week, sock $4,400. 

United Nations (FWC) (1,149; 60- 
85)— "Sitting Pretty" (20th). Good 
$4,000 or near. Last week, "Meant 
for Me". (20th) (2d wk) (m.o.), 
$3,500. 



'Agreement' New Record, 
Denver, $24,000, 2 Spots 

Denver, March 30. 
"Gentleman's Agreement" will 
break the Paramount house record 
this week, and is also big at the 
Esquire. "Uncoaq;»eief shapes 
fine, at Denham. . 

Estimates for Thi« Week 
Denham (Cockrill) '(1,750; 35-70) 
—"Unconquered" (Par). Fine $14,'< 
000, and holds. Last week, "Sai- 
gon" (Par) (2d wk), solid $12,000. 

Denver (Fox) (2,525; 35-74)— "I 
Love Trouble" (Col) and "Bill and 
Coo" (Rep), day-date with Webber. 
Thin $13,000. Last week, "Scudda 
Hoo" (20th) and "Dock New Or- 
leans" (Mono), big $17,500. 

Esauire (Fox) (742; • 35-74)— 
"Gentleman's Agreement" (20th), 
day-date with Paramount Big 
$5,000, and moves to' Webber. Last 
week, "Scudda Hoo" (20th) and 
"Docks New Orleans" (Mono), fine 
$3,500. 

Orpheum (RKO) (2,600; 35-74)— 
"High Wall" (M-G) and "Sprmg- 
time" (Indie). Slow $12,500. Last 
week, "If Winter Comes" (M-G) 
and "Killer Dill" (SG), same. 

Paramount (Fox) (2,200; 35-74)— 
"Gentleman's Agreement" (20th), 
also Esquire. Record $19,000. 
Holds. Last week, "Black Narcis- 
sus" (U) and "Secret Beyond Door" 
(U), big $13,000. 

Bialto (Fox) (878} 35-74)— 
"Scudda Hoo" (20tb) and "Docks 
New Orleans" (Mono), after week 
at Denver, Esquire, Webber. Fine 
$3,500. Last week, "Ends of -Earth" 
(Col) .and "Let's Live Again" 
(20th) (m.o.), $3,700. 

Webber (Fox) (750; 35-74)—"! 
Love Trouble" (Col) and "BiU and 
CoO" (Rep), also , Driver. Thin 
$2,000. Last week, "Scudda Hoo" 
(20th) and "Docks New Orleans" 
(Mono), $4,00o: 



Vtsitine Hollywoodite*. who have been much in evidence in th* 
audience of "Joy to the World" since the legiter opened on Broadwav 
a couple of weeks ago, are getting a special, kick out of the show 
Written by Coast writer Allan Scott about a boy-wonder v.p. In charir* 
of production, it's full of "Insiders' " lines and business. All three slSm 
take place In the exec's office and the assorted characters are an 
carefully type-cast, providing a special source of amusement to thtuw 
who know their way through the studio jungle, 

Pteture people viewing th« shiow do a good bit of mental gymnastics 
of course, trying to figure exactly who Scott had in mind as the originalii 
of his ^aracters; ActuaUy, moat of them appear to be made up 4 
Wts and pieces of real people, with lots of characteristics of hidividuai 
Hollywoodites recognizable. Only one who's clearly unmistakable is " 
producer "Sam BLumenfeld," who has a son named Sam, Jr,, and gives 
out with a Goldwynlsm or two as he speaks. As played by Moiris 
CTanfovsliy, the interpretation of the part is sympathetic. 

Marsha Hunt, imported from Hollywood for the top fcmme role 
incidentally fared very well in the notices and is apparently rating 
high in audience response. She's second young femme Coast fugitive 
to ring up a personal buUseye on Broadway this season. Previously 
June Lockhari in "For Love oe Money" won aisle-sitters' plaudits 
and an Antoinette Ferry award Sunday (28). 

Death of Federal Judge John Bright last week necessitates appoint* 
ment of another jurist to the tliree-man statutory court, which retains 
jurisdiction of the Government anti-trust action against the majors 
Judge Bright, along with Judges Augustus Hand and Henry Goddard 
handed down the original decision in the suit and the decree that 
implemented the court's opinion. 

While the action is now before the U. S. Supreme Court on appeal 
the statutory court still t«m^s as a permanent body to consider modi-^ 
fication of the decree and contempt proceedings to enforce it. Hence, 
the U. S. circuit court which named the original makeup of the trio 
will designate another judge' to fill the vacancy. Judge Bright died hi 
Middletown, N. Y. last Wednesday (24) at the age of 63. He's been 
on the bendi since April, 1041. 

Edward Golden, currently in New York for confabs with United 
Artists, is having title trouble with "Texas, Heaven and Brooklyn," his 
second production for UA release. Wary of the current b.o. damper 
on pix with supernatural themes, Golden polled SO leadtaig exhibs on 
their reaction to the title and received an overwhelming nix. Film was 
taken from the novel, "Eddie and Archangel Mike." 

Next on Golden Productions' slate will be "What Every Bride Should 
Know," starruig Shirley Temple. It will be Aiade for Selznick Releasing 
Organization. . - 



GI baseball, Introduced into far-off lands during the war and the sub- 
sequent occupation, is figured by Metro as a plug for two of its pic- 
tures. Hitherto the American pastime meant- nothing in the foreign 
filin maii^ Hocsehide stories coming up oh Hie Metro lot are "The 
Story <tf' Monte Stmtton" anS "Jn the Good Old Summertime." 



TOIUMPM Tiff On P. R. 



Covtimnd from page 4 { 



PHILADELPHIA 

(Continued from page 13) 
(M-G) (3d wk). N6at $19,000 after 
$23,000 last week. 

Karlton (Goldman) (1,000; 50-94) 
— "Bambi" (RKO) (reissue). Mod- 
erate $8,000. Last week, "Bishop's 
Wife" (RKO) (6th Wk), solid $9,000. 

Keith's (Goldman) (1,300; 50-94) 
— "Gentleman's Agreement" (20th) 
(2d run). Great $11,000, helped 
by Academy publicity. Last week, 
"Ni.?ht Song" (RKO) (2d run), sad 
$4,000. 

Mastbaum (WB) (4,360; 50-94)— 
"Robin Hood" (WB) (reis.sue) (2d 
wk). Fair $16,000 after olte $28,- 
000 opener.' 

Pix (Cummins) (500; 50-94)— 
"Outlaw" (UA) (9th wk). Mild 
$5,000 after last week's $6,000. 

Stanley (WB) (2,950; 50-94)— 
"Naked City" (U). Smash .$40,000. 
Last week, "Smugglers" (EL), $15,- 
000. 

Stanton (WB) (1,475; 50-94)— 
"Albuquer,-ixn" (Par). Good $13,- 
000. Last w "k, "Became a Crim- 
inal" (WB), $9,500. 



member presented a list of bis 
company's top product -and 34 
films were agreed on. Titles of 
these were contained in the press 
release which went out the next 
day. 

' TOA committee was incensed at 
seeing the release in Monday's 
papers and called an emergency 
session that afternoon. It was dur- 
ing this huddle, TOA claims, that 
a copy of the release arrived 'With 
a note that the 34 films named 
were the ones compiled -at the 
TOA's request. TOA was not men- 
tioned, however, in the release.-^ 

Handout announced a variety of 
plans for nationwide ballyhoo of 
the "great days ahead." Tops 
among them was an idea for a 
trailer consisting of plugs for all 
the best pix coming up, regard- 
Jless'of company and without studio 
designation. « 

MPAA's Stance^ 
Thinking behind the MPAA 
group's announcement,' it was said 
by a spokesman^ was to broaden 
the campaign by getting the purely 
TOA label off of it. It was thought 
thaT if it were sponsored by tiie 
MPAA and the distribs, Allied and 
other indie thcatremen would co- 
operate, whereas they might not 
with a competitive exhib organiza- 
tion. - 

Gamble's group, on the other 
hand, wanted to keep control of 
the choice of the "super-pix" to be 
ballyhooed. They feared that the 
MPAA, by its very nature, would 
have to give a more-or-Iess even 
break »to each major company, 
with the result that some films un- 
worthy of the campaign tnight be 
included and take the edge off it. 
They pointed to some of the pix 
named in the MPAA release as 
proof of their contentibn. One of 
their ideas was to Iiave final selec- 
tion made by an exbtb panel. 

TOA had planned to issue the 
first story to the lay press to break 
next weekend on its campaign. 
Feeling now is that announcement 
has been blunted by the MPAA 
release and there' may be a shift 
in plans. 

The 34 FilniB 

List of 34 pix. approved for MPAA- 
campaign include six each from 
RKO and 20th-Fox; four each from 
Columbia, Metro, Paramount, Uni- 
versal and Warner Bros., and two 
from United Artists. They are: 

Columbia— "Lady from Shang- 
hai," "Man From Colorado." "Lulu 
Belle" and "AU the King's Men," 

Metro— "State of the Union," 



"The Pirate," "Easter Parade" and 
"Homecoming." 

Paramount & "Emperor Waltz," 
"Foreign Allah:," "Paleface" and 
"Dream Girl." 

RKO — "I Remember Mama," 
"Fort Apache," "Velvet Touch," 
"Good Sam," "Rachel and th« 
Stranger" and "Miracle of Bells.'* 
20th-Fox— "The Iron Curtata," 
"Green Grass of Wyoming," "Deep 
Waters," "Wails of Jericho,'^ 
Shamrock Touch" and "Lady in 
Ermine." . 

Universal— "All My Sons," "An- 
other Part of the Forest," "Mr. 
Peabody and the Mermaid" and 
"Tap Roots." 

United Artists— "Thne of Your 
Life" and "Arch of Triumph." 

Warner Bros.^ — "Winter Meet- 
ing," "Key Largo," "Romance of 
the High. Seas" and "Rope." 



Ang!o-U. S. Pix 



Canttnned from page • 



of a typical Hollywood buildup. 
Screenplay was by Philip Dunne 
("Forever Amber," "How Green 
Was My Valley") from the play 
by John, Galsworthy. William Perl- 
berg produced and Joseph L. 
Mankiewicz directed. 

"Phrst ^tentleman" was com- 
pletely produced by Columbia, but 
with an enth-ely English cast and 
technicians except for .Tean-Pierre 
Aumont. He rates as a secondary 
Hollywood name through appear- 
ance In a number of pix in this 
country. Reviewer says of the 
film: "With 20 minutes cut, it may 
find a place in prestige theatres in 
America.'' 

"Snowbound" is the second of a 
two-picture partnership deal be- 
twepn RKO and J. Arthur Bank. 
RKO put up part of the flnanemg, 
but had little to do with the pro- 
duction. It was made by a KanK 
unit, Sidney Box-Gainsborough, 
with all British- players. It's rated 
only for duals in the U. S. . 

New film pact provides tliat a 
principal means for thawing Amer- 
ican coin shall be U. S. production 
there, thus the great current ii^ 
terest. While plans arc going 
ahead for making films abroad, 
many execs hold the viewpoint 
that "no matter what you do to 
make them look like Hollywood 
they stilThave that forei<;n navor. 
It's "that foreign flavor" that dis- 
tribs say hurts a film's b.o. chances 
outside miajor U. S. cities. 



liMMit 




i9ii 




IS MY 




Potential 'DupKcation' Picture 

HHiOx the networks reporting a sudden surge of inquiries among 
• " r«4to clients m the matter of program duplication, the home audi- 
' titce picture this summer, certainly of a Sunday, is expected to be 
- flUite different from what it's been in the past. fc!3S and NBC, 
elipeciaUy, foresee good tidings for Its AM commercial operations 
. as well, as video, since duplicating clients may choose to pass up 
their hiatus privileges on radio rather than imperil their spots on 
. the TV schedule. 

The client queries take the dual form of (a) "is my show tele* 
vlsable?" and (b) "how much will it cost extra?" CBS and NBC 
. pre confident tliat the sponsors of practically every one of their 
Vtelevisable" programs will hop- on the duplication bandwagon, . 
providing James <5. Petrillo doesn't put too heavy a price on dupli- 
cating musicians. 

In their intra-mural discussions the two webs seem to have pretty 
well concluded that about the only program forms that won't take 
, duplicating are dramatic and news, these requiring their own 
' techniques. The one schedule of the week where the televisable 
factor is at a maximimi level is Sunday. If all the network clients 
Involved were to assent to duplication, ABC, CBS and NBC could 
, lump together enough programs of a musical plus audience par- 
ticipation nature to keep tiie home viewer occupied on that date 
from 2 to 11 p.m. without almost a break. Monday and Friday 
' 'nights are other good potentials from the duplicating angle. 

Following is a chart of the network commercial programs that 
could stand duplicating with the schedules, exciting Sunday, 
conHned to night-time hours: / 



■ ABO.. . CBS . 

,Si-m«l lf«t AuaitioTiH (.1-4:!i(» NW. Philh. 
<8-0) "Stop the Music" (4:45-.*;) Uirtu Klinw 



(0-«:a(» Pl'udenHttl 
<e:»(i-T) Percy IJViith 
<10:90-n) "StrlKe ft 
ElcU" 



. NBC 
(i!-a:S(i) nc.S Show 
(It-Ol.qO) .Munluittu^l 

■ Merrygrorouiid 
(9:SO*]0) Alburn^ ot 
2(usio 



. (7:10-.'1(») .Taek Smith 
<8,;il0-l») Arth. dodfiey 



Vamaar (»:IIO-10:SO> Boston (7:15-l!0) .ThcIc Sniiili 

Byniph. (D-lli.W We th<? r« »i>le 

tVMhHWdiiy <T:]S-K») Jack SmiUi 

. . . . • ' (8-8:.'il>) Anipr. Mclofly 

Hour ■ 
(S-»aO) Borflpn's ■ 

, (»;;iO-10) Hftrvf.sU'i; 

ll fhuwtey CT;BO-a) Bonty MorK«ii (7:15-30) jnpSr an Uth 

Friilay .(9:80-10) Break the (T:lS-30) Jack Stnlll) 

...... Bank...' .. 

■ I U<»-U> Bo»lng Bonta 

S«t«ni«y . ..... (lO-lOlSO) Prot. Qiilz (T;lB-30) Atoe Bur, ' 

rouKihs 
(»::«i-l(il VauKhn 

Monroe 
(10-10:30) I^t Alllk 



(7-7:15) Che-sterfleld SC 
(8:iKI-l») Pirentone 
(9-»:!IO) Telephone Hour 
<I0:itO-ll) Fred Waring 



(7-7:iri) Chesterfield SC 
(T-7:1S) Cliealcrfieldi gC 



(7-7 :ir.) 01uwter«eld_SC 



(7-7:ir>) Chesterfield SC 
(8-8:80) Cities Servieo 
(»-l»:Sa) Wiiltc Time 



JWI'SNIldS 




Raio WrHen Eipectd to Vote 
Strike as Admen Nix ERB Offer 



Big question mark that had the 
whole trade second-guessing re- 
solved itself over the past couple of 
days when Batten, Barton, Dur- 
stine & Osbom agency grabbed off 
the $10,000,000 XiacSsy Strike ac- 
count, and Sullivan, Stauffer, Col- 
well and Bayles got the PaU Mall 
business with its $2,000,000 in 
billings. 

In the wake of Poote, Cone & 
Belding resigning the $12,000,000 
American Tobacco business-rcon- 
sidered the most turbiilent account 
in the history of commercial radio 
— the tobacco outfit moved swiftly 
to line up new agency affiliations 
to make the IB^C-B divorce com- 
plete. Since Emerson Foote, F-C-B 
prez, announced last Thursday (25) 
that American Tobacco and the 
agency were parting company be- 
cause of "disagreements^" prticU- 



Glossary 



Here's what they mean: 

S-S^-B: Sullivan, Stauffer, 
Colweli & Bayles. 

B-B-D-O: Batten, Barton, 
Durstine & Osbom. 

F-C-B: Foote, Cone & Beld- 
ing. 

LS-MFT: Lucky Strike 
Means Fine Tobacco. 



Lets Hub, Bub 

Goodman Ace, who writes 
and co-stars with his wife, 
Jane, in the "mr. ace & JANE" 
CBS comedy, has scripted a 
scene for next Saturday's- (3) 
program in which two ulcers 
get into a conversation. One is 
named "Hub," the other "Les." 

It's strictly a trade laugh, 
one of the ulcers being Hub- 
bell . Bobinson, CBS program 
veepee, and the other Lester 
Gottlieb, CBS producer. 



(r>:nO-7:S<)) NBC Symph 
(»-l):30) Hit Parade 



Stations Balk as (Mo Charity 
^ws Now €o In for Giveaways 



Independent stations of New^ 

York are getting on tlieir collective 
ear over the multiplie time de- 
mands of various (;harity appeals, 
particularly since 'the latter have 
fallen victim to tlie current craze 
for cash contests and wholesale 
giveaways. 

It's bad enough, these broad- 
casters feel, tnat these fund-raising 
campaigns are stretched over 
Weeks of time and overlap one an- 
other in an almost continuous 
inrocession, that they aren't lumped 
Into one big overall community 
drive, and that radio, often with- 
out representation in planning the 
drives, is inevitably called upon to 
supply programming ideas and per- 
sonnel as well as air time. 
. But the uijection of contests and 
giveaways, it's felt, puts an added 
fiti-ain on an already taut situation. 
Aside from the likelihood some 
broadcasters see of such a tech- 
hic|ue lessening the public's desire 
to contribute to charity causes, the 
trend is cited as contributing 
nothing to improvement of a pr<^ 
sramming' picture already over- 
loaded with free cars, houses and 
trashing machines. 

The Heart Campaign has cur- 
rently under way a contest feature, 
*nd a similarly formulated cancer 
drive, slated to run five weeks, is 
impending. Additionally, now, the 
National Safety Council is .propos- 
ing a drive in which air time will 
be" sought to plug a prize contest. 

"I guess you could call it one 
(Continued on pi^ 40) 

MBS' Marts Vice Mower 

Chicago, March 30. 
Carroll Marts, account execu- 
wve, has been upped to business 
Wianager of Mutual's midwest 
Swision following the exiting of 
JJeVVilt Mower, midwest sales 
manager, and Bob White, account 
exec, who plan to launch their 
own program sales agency May 1. 

t Before entering sales last fall, 
rts was assistant to Ade Hult, 
!> veepee over midwest opera- 



No BBD&O Duplicating 

Ontiagency that has de- 
clared itself against dupUcat- ; 
ing of its AM programs over 
television is BBD&O. The pol- 
icy was decided on last week 
when the question came up of 
whether to recommend the 
dual treatment for the Fred 
Waring show (NBC) to Gen- 
eral Electric. Waring himself 
had ihdicated an interest in 
such a project. 

Attitude at iBBD&O is that 
a program which is not pur- 
posely built for television is at 
a disadvantage, particularly in 
the closeup, and that the effort 
to make it attractive to tele- 
viewers as well as radio listen- 
ers could result in vitiating the 
impact for the far greater au- 
dience. 



If WOVIfix Comes, 
Can H. Bess' WLIB 
BidBeFarBehy? 

Appointment of Herman Bess as 
commercial manager of WLIB, the 
Dorothy Thackerey-owned N. Y. in- 
die, has occasioned considerable 
eyebrow lifting in Gotham radio 
circles. Bess, who recently re- 
signed as WMCA (N. Y.) sales man- 
ager to apoly for purchase of the 
Bulova-owned WOv in New York, 
took up his new duties this week 
following the exit from WLIB of 
Alex LeftWich. Latter, formerly 
of Press Assn., was installed a few 
months back by Thackrey as sales 
manager and reportedly succeeded 
in hiking the station billings by 
.1)1,000 a week. 

Bess is currently awaiting FCC 
action on his application ior WOV, 
for which Ralph Wfeil and Arnold 
Hartley, the WOV managerial in- 
cumbents, are also bidding, and it's 
(Continued on page 40) 



cally every agency that doesn't 
haVe a . tobacco account figured in 
the LS/MFT speculation. 

JWT Nixes Aeoount 
It's reported J. Walter Thomp- 
son was offered the lucrative 
Luckies billings, represented in 
radio by tlie Jack Benny and "Hit 
Parade" shows, but brushed them 
off on the basis that the account is 
as much a Frankenstein as a bon- 
anza, with its attendant headaches. 
It's said, too, that there was some 
element of doubt among some^of 
BBD&O as to the wisdom of taking 
{he'-business into the shop, despite 
the $1,500,000 net (representing 
15% of the 10,000,000 bUlings). 
In view of the fact that it will 
(Continued on page 40) 



'LcNnd-Lease' Fw 
Skelton Sought 

Brown & Williamson, ^makers of 
Baleigfa cigarets land sponsors of 
the Red Skelton and "People are 
Funny" NBC shows, has sounded 
out network reaction to a "lend- 
lease" proposal for the Skelton 
Tuesday night comedy show. 

B. & W., an English corptyration, 
is anxious to drain as many Ameri- 
can dollars as possible out of the 
American market, and figures on 
saving about' $1,250,000 a year by 
"farming out" the Skelton show to 
another client for the remaining 
year's contract. Deal would be. 
similar to the one that was worked 
out by fen: Colgate on the Kay Ky- 
ser show and the present Standard 
Brands "lend-lease" Of Fred Allen 
to Ford Dealers. 

NBC 'execs say it's okay with 
them if B. & W. can come up with 
a reliable bankroller. 



Benny, Tarade/ 
'Story,' Back 
To Hucksters 



What happens to the Jack Benny 
and "Hit Parade" Lucky Strike 
shows and PaU Mall's "Big Stoiy" 
in the wake of Foote, Cone & Beld- 
ing resigning the American To- 
bacco account, and with the AT 
new agency affiliations, is some- 
thing occasioning considerable 
speculation within trade circles. 

It all hinges on how Vincent 
Riggio, who now has full control 
over tobacco operations, feels 
about the three-way network pro- 
gramming setup. If Riggio, as 
some expect, tries to inject some 
new elements of commercials into 
the Benny show that conflict with 
the comedian's own views, particu- 
larly as they apply to the kidding- 
the-commercials routine, it's figur- 
ed Benny wont take it lying down. 
The show's his own padcage, as 
is the coveted Sunday night at 7 
time on NBC, and the trade is 
aware that there, are plenty of 
bankroUers who would giv6 their 
eye teeth to acquire the consistent- 
ly high-rated air property at any 
cost. 

"Hit Parade" w a s the late 
George Washingttm Hill, Sr.'s idea, 
and his views about the musical 
have been shared by George Wash- 
ington Hill, Jr. But with the lat- 
ter's exit from the company 10 
days ago, giving Riggio the whip 
hand in the op^ation, speculation 
is that "anything cssx happen." 
Both Benmy and "Parade" will now 
operate out of the BBD&O shop. 

"Big Story," plugging the Pall 
Mall product, is the most recent 
of the American Tobacco shows, 
now rounding out two years on tlie 
air. In the 10-10:30 Wednesday 
night period on NBC, it's been 
getting a 12 or better rating, fol- 
lowing "Mr. District Attorney," 
which is considered a more than 
healthy payoff under its limited 
talent budget. "Story" will now 
come out of the. Sullivan, Stauffer, 
Colweli & Bayles shop, which has 
inherited the Pall Mall account. 



TONI GIVES 'NORA' 
TWO-NETWORK RD)E 

Chicago, March 30. 
Toni will bankroll "Nora Drake" 
on both NBC and CBS as a result 
of renewal with NBC today (30) 
of sponsorship of the 4Soap opera. 
Day timer was set to bow off, NBC 
April 26, after debuting on CBS 
April 12 as a sustainer until May 
10. 

Deal with CBS, including four- 
week free ride, is still on. Serial 
will be completely duplicated on 
the two webs, including cast and 
story line. Agency is Foote, Cone 
& Belding. 



As presaged last week, the ad 
agencies and sponsors have turned 
down the ofi'er of the Radio Writ« 
ers Guild to seek NLRB certifica- 
tion as part of an agreement oq 
the scope of negotiations for a ba- 
sic contract covering commercial 
scripting. The admen's answer 
was given Guild spokesmen Mon- 
day (29) by a delegation of agency 
men.. The whole situation will now 
be tossed to the Guild membership, 
meeting next Wednesday (7) in 
New York, Chicago and Hollywood. 

It's figured almost certain that 
the RWG members will vote. au- 
thorization of a strike, and that the 
c o u n c lis of the parent Authors 
League of America and the affili- 
ate Authors Guild, Dramatists 



GOP Pawwow or Lonis 
Bout? Y' Takes y Choice!- 
Bat Pditicos Stand Pat 

Washington, March 30. 

Arrangements committee for the 
G.O.P. national convention in 
Philly this June is headed for 
some Stiff competition in copping 
a radio-television audience for the 
big show. ; 

It seems the Louis-Wolcott re- 
turn match has been scheduled for 
June 23, third day of the conven- 
tion, with the bout competing with 
the politicos on the ether lanes. 

Committee Chairman Walter S. 
Hallanan got out a blast last Satur- 
day (27) asserting the G.O.P.'ers 
were standing pat on the Conven- 
tion dates— -just in- case anyone had 
any doubts about the matter. 

"The date for the Republican 
National Convention," said Hal- 
lanan, "was fixed almost one year 
ago, whereas the prize fight was 
scheduled veiy recently." 



Harbinger 

With a possible strike of 
commercial scripters in the 
offing, the Radio Writers 
Guild . was approached ,last 
week by a writing-producing 
couple who own one of titie to]^ 
program package firms. The 
pair expressed the intention of 
becoming Guild members, and 
asked that the necessary mem- 
bership blanks be sent for 
them to sign. ° 

Spokesman for the couple 
explained that they are not in 
sympathy with the agency- 
sponsor policy of Opposition to 
the Guild and that, in case of 
a strike, they intend taking all 
their shows oil the air for the 
duration. They don't expect to 
attend any Guild meetings, 
wh^re' their presence might 
embarrass members now in 
their enfploy, and they dotft 
want to know the Guild's con- 
fidential policies or plans. 



Guild and Screen Writers Guild 

will be asked to pledge support. 
Now that the matter of NLRB cer- 
tification has been clarified, there's 
little question of the affiliates vot- 
ing to stand by the radio scripters, 
as they elected to do during last 
year's showdown with the net- 
works. 

At Monday's session tile admc^ 
explained that even if the BWQ 
should seek NLRB certification, 
the sponsors and agencies would 
not cooperate on a definition of 
bargaining ^unit for election pur- 
poses, but would seek to establish 
tiieir own definition with iJbm 
Board. Guild officials point out 
th|it such a procedure would to 
prohibitively involved, even if all 
agencies and sponsors agreed on 
the same "definition." 

FCCGetsSidFor 
A8-N^o!kaiioii 

Washington, March 30. 
One of the first bids for an all-^ 
Negro owned and operated sta- 
tion was filed with the Federal 
Communications Commission last 
week by the Afro-American Broad- 
casting System. Company wants 
to use the 610 kc slot for a foil'' 
time kilowatter in Hopkins Parl^ 
111., but would program primarily 
for Chicago audience.-?. . ■ 

Outfit is headed by Dr. ClifiTord 
P. Kyle, Negro preacher, who 
makes frank disclosure to FCC 
that he was sentenced to jail fot 
alleged theft of some clothes at 
the age of 18 and "got religion" 
in the reformatory. Application 
shows that some 12,000 shares of 
Class B stock will be offered for 
public sale at a $1 par value- and 
some 1,000 subscribers are an- 
ticipated from the Chicago area. 
Proposed format is heavy on re- 
ligious stanzas (about eight hours) 
on Sundays, most of them sus- 
taining but a few to be labelled 
as Commercial. Kyle was given 
20% of the stock and job of gen- 
eral manager to compensate hinv 
for organizational and promotional 
work done on the application. 



C6 



Hiked FM Ustemng Cook B'casters 
ToFightwidiWeksonmneRide 



Washington, March 30. 
CBS and NBC ^day (Tues^ ■ 
filed statements wi*'', .fVV: 
?egardlnsr their official policies 
on AM-FM duplication. Both 
Mid they reauired amuates 
duplicating any 
ahows to duplicate aU «« them. 

Webs, however, were less 
definite about their P««cles of 
making programs available to 
wT&llated FM stations. 



Washington, March 30. 

FM broadcasters aren't ready to 
tanKle with the networks on their 
S*aif or none" orders to duplicate 
AM shows because avaUabillty of 
top net Pr?g™™« has already hiked 
t-M listening and sale of ^ sets. 
So says a poll of the" 444 FM out- 
lets on the air released here yes- 
terday (29) by the FIVi Assn. 

Survey, conducted over tiie past 
month, shows 84% of the FM'ers 
airing popular net shows for the 
first time. , , • 

Surprising feature of "if *MA 
survey is that only 46% of.the FM 
operators said they were required 
to air ,all Web stanzas or none on 
FM. About 40% said they were not 
forced to do so. It is pointed out 
here that all four webs are on 
record as requiring the "all or 
none" policy, but the poll- may 
have been conducted before the 
nets issued firm, orders Ito affili- 
ates. For example, NBC is not re- 
quiring 100% duplication . until 
May 1. . ^, 

Fact remains that some of the 
affiliates may be interpreting the 
• nets' wires as "orders" and others 
merely as "recommendations." 

Breakdown among^ the web af- 
filiates is as follows: for ABC, 
47% said they wfere required to 
duplicate all net shows, 27% said 
they were not; CBS, 84% said yes, 
16%, no; Mutual, only 5% yes and 
83% no; and NBC, 61% yes and 
11% no. . 

Most of the FM'ers felt any pro- 
test io the ''aU or- none'', policy 
would be "premature" at f)|ls ij,me. 
And, whether required or not, most 
of the affiliated outlets are dup- 
licating web shows. Survey showed 
that 939^ of ABC affiliates, 93% 
of Mutual, 74% of NBC and 72% 
4>f Columbia stations are on the 
network bandwagons. 

A roiniwity 21% of the FM'ers 
felt the nets' policy interfered 
«ith : local programming in the 
public interest. 

Over half of the respondents felt 
the Petrillo-web agreement . on 
duplication has boosted FM listen- 
ing, and 46% believed it was re- 

gonsible for increased, set sales 
tlieir areas. .< 



ABCO^teFIod 
Of Summer Shows 

It's summer show option time at 
ABC, and.the web has its 6dtday 
ho.oks on a~ number of - Coast dra* 
matic 'and variety packages as a re- 
spit of program veepee Charles 
(Bud) Barry's recent Hollywood 
, foray. Since he got back in Goth- 
am last week, the following stanzas 
ba^e appeared on the net's list of 
prospective strawhat airers: 

Radio Repertory Theatre, found- 
ad. several months ago by a group 
of Hlm stars, which would do a 

feries of dramas via Atthur Kurlan 
'rodnctions. 

A radio version of "Front Page," 
starring Dick Powell as Hildy 
Johnson,' negotiated via Dick Dorso 
of Century Artists, 

"I Love Adventure," a dramatic 
.series packaged by Carlton Morse, 
ereator of "I Love a Mystery" and 
*One Man's Family." 

The Donald O'Connor Show, 
With Gloria DeHaven getting sec- 
ond billing. (Barry says he still has 
faith in the possibilities of this 
comedy variety item and is having 
a new audition platter cut.) 

Jack Kirkwood and Ransome 
Sherman in a teamu'p as a comedy 
duo. Barry thinks a click format 
- can be evolved comboing the best 
talents of the two comics. 

Ommer's New Philly Show 

Philadelphia, March 80. 
Jack Creamer, who has been co*- 
d u c t i n g a "hints-to-housewives" 
t«le show on WPTZ, has been 
signed to do a daily women'is pro- 
sram on WPEN, ] 



Winchell in No. 1 Spot 

Walter Winchell has copped the 
No. 1 position in the Hooperating 
sweepstakes in the latest (March 
30) Top 15 tallies. His 29 rating, 
based on his audience pull March 
21 when he spoke from Washing- 
ton, is only a fraction of a point 
(0.7) behind his all-time high. 

The Winchell payoff is keyed to 
the nation's anxiety and stepped-up 
interest in the international situa- 
tion, with "the whole commentator 
cycle on the airlanes reaping in- 
creased audiences. 

Here are the latest ratings: 

Waiter Winchell.... 29.0 

Fibber & Molly 26.8 

Lux Theatre. 26.1 

Jack Benny 25.5 

Fred Allen .-24.0 

Bob Hope 23.4 

Bergen-McCarthy 23.4 

Amos 'n' Andy 23.3 

Red Skelton , ,.,,,.21.8 

My Friend Irriia.- 20.9 

Bandwagon 20.2 

Truth or Consequences. . . 20.0 

Godfrey's Talent Scouts 19.1 

Mr. District Attorney 18.5 

Duffy's Tavern .18.1 

CBSDocmnedtary 
Unit $ Re-Fonnat 

With the appointment of Dr. 
Philip Eisenberg, CBS staff psy- 
chologist, to the web's Documen- 
tary Unit as an associate of Robert 
P. HeUer, who heads the division, 
the Unit's programming schedule 
and executive functions are now 
scheduled for a re-format. 

Plan now, it's understood, is to 
do J.0 documentary productions a 
year,, five of them to be produced 
by Sam Ahelow, asst. chief of the 
Documentary Unit, and the other 
■Ave by Dr. Eisenberg. This will 
leave Heller free to oversee the 
entire operation. 

Ruth Ashton, originally, hired 
for the CBS news dept. by Paul 
White and later transfeirred to the 
Documentary Unit, is -exiting the 
Matter dept. und going into CBS 
television^ 

Next up on the Documentary 
Unit's -agenda is its unique hour- 
long look at the world of baseball. 
"Play Ball," with CBS sports di- 
rector Red Barber in the narrator's 
chair, will be radio's first full-scale 
study of the game. It's calendared 
for Sa):urday, April 17, 8-9 p.m. 

Show is being formatted as a 
"life and times" of Peewee Reese, 
Brooklyn Dodgers shortstop. Par- 
ticipants in the airer in addition to 
Reese himself will include his wife 
and mother, his Louisville high 
school , coach, . Ralph Kimmel; 
Dodgers prexy Branch Rickey, 
manager Leo Durocher, basetialL 
commissioner A. B. "Happy" 
Chandler, and a batch of oldtime 
ball stars, Honus Homsby, Harry 
Heilm'ann, Ted McGfew, ex-Dodg- 
ers scout now with the Pittsburgh 
Pirates, and Clark Griffith, owner 
Of the Washington Senators. 




KL2 sports Editor 

GLEN MARTIN 

Martin edits KLZ'g Saturday night 
"Sports? Extra" and, in addition, is 
a top announcer, heard dally assist- 
ing Lowell Watts, KLZ'a "Farm Re- 
porter." _ 
KLZ, DENVER 



WOR to Stagger 
Talent for Bigtime 
Strawhat Season 



There's a new summer-program- 
ming deal in the offiing at WOR, 
K. Y., and it springs from a feeling 
on the part of prexy Theodore C. 
Streibert that there is no reason 
why a station should emulate the 
networks' 13-week hiatus pattern 
and thus suffer a vacationtime 
rating slump. 

' As a result of. this conviction,- 
WOR is negotiating wow with its 
regular top stars to forego sum- 
mer«long leaves from the ether in 
favor of brief (say, four-week) 
vacations which would be stag-, 
gered so that station's program- 
ming picture would at no time be 
seriously disrupted. 

Studies have shown, Streibert 
points out, that only 50% of the 
drop in listening during the dog-^ 
days is due to people being on 
vacations, out of doors, etc.; the 
rest , of the rating sag is attribut- 
able to favorite programs to which 
the public is accustomed 'to dialing 
suddenly vanishing from the ain 

Ratings of WOR shows which 
stay on through the strawhat sea- 
son actually climb in the summer, 
owing to so many netwofk stanzas 
on hiatus, and it follows, Streibert 
feels, that the station's overall 
showing in the Hooper and Pulse 
st^es would be enhanced by keep- 
ing the program structure ' as 
nearly intact as possible. 

No set length of vacation is be- 
ing proposed to WOR talent, each 
case being negotiated separately, 
but' an effort will be made to 
spread -out the timen^ffs ii^ the 
manner of a vacation schedule in 
any business organization. 



Frm tk hodnction 



EVERARD MEADE MAY 
TEAM UP WITH WEAVER 

llverard Meade, who exited his 
executive post with American To- 
bacco - last week, is expected to 
join Young & Rubicam as assistant 
to Sylvester (Pat) Weaver, vice- 
prez and radio director. He was 
Weaver's aide when the latter was 
with American Tobacco, during the. 
regime of the late "George Washhig- 
ton Hill. 

The departure of Meade from 
AT followed the resignation of Hill, 
Jr., is v.p. and ad director of the 
tobacco firm, and- the announce- 
ment that the account would move 
from Foote.^Cone & Belding. 



Jackie Kelk Air Show 
Frank Cooper is putting together 
a new series for Jackie Kelk. It'll 
be titled "Dear Leo" and will be 
scripted by Lawrence Klee as situa- 
tion comedy growing out of the 
letters of a teen-ager who yens to 
be a detective. 
ABC will have Snst option on it. 



BENNETT ON OWN WITH 
$1,000,000 ACCOUNT 

» Victor A, Bennett,, who was^ a 
sales v.p. at WAAT, Newark, has 
opened up his ~, own 'advertising 
agency and his first account is the 
Longines - Wittenauer Watch Co. 
It's a $1,000,000 foundation. 

The switch is from the Arthur 
Rosenberg Co., which has serviced 
the timepiece maker for over 15 
years. A major portion of the 
budget goes for the half-hour re- 
corded symphony series and an- 
nouncements. 



RDG in N.Y. Nominates 

Lester O'Keefe, of the Blow 
agency, and Robert Lewis Shayon, 
of CBS, were nominated to succeed 
William Sweets as prexy of the 
N.Y. local, Radio Directors Guild 
(AFL), at a general membership 
meeting Monday night (29). 

Others nominated by a com- 
mittee headed by Ted Corday 
were: Tom Bennett and Mitchell 
Grayson, for vice president; Mau- 
rice Robinson and Charles Powers, 
for secretaiy* Ernest Ricca and 
Norman Sweetser for treasurer; 
Francis Buss and Charles Pola- 
check, for television representative 
on the local council; Don Gillis, 
Perry Lafferty, Bill Sweets, Betty 
Todd and Frank Telford, for coun- 
cil-at-large (two to be elected). 

Ballots will be mailed out witliin 
a few days. Election is calendared 
for May 3. 



lis NEW' YORK CITY ... 

Two Mutual execs, Hal Coulter and Jim O'Bryon, about to receive 

their diplomas from Arthur Murray Trade elated at Phil Cohen, 

N.Y. radio head of Sullivan, Stauffer, Colwell St Bayles, becoming a 
veepee. ... Robert Q. Itewts signed to do comedy narration for Pathe- 
Warners newsteels. . . Ted Steele, Benton St Bowles' director of radio, 
has a "Report on Television" comftig out in the May issue of American 

MeVciiry Bob (Believe It or Not) Ripley planes to San Francisco 

Friday (2) to take off for the Orient WNBC's Norman Brokenshire 

going to Pittsburgh Sunday (4) for ABC's "Theatre Guild" production ' 
of "Philadelphia Story." Rosemary Ricfe has a spot in the cast . , , 
John Griggs now a regular on "mr. ace & JANE." 

Secretaries of agency execs around town getting gag calls: "This is 

Mr. Riggio's secretary ..." Evelyne Seibold into the "Second Mrs. " 

Burton" cast Court Benson, Mary Patton and John Larkin joined 

"Lora Lawton" roster — Elaine Stritch and Alexander Scourby new to 

"Katie's Daughter" Gertrude Warner and Joy Hathaway added to 

"Stella Dallas". : . .Cathleen Cordell with "Evelyn Winters." 

Radio actor Louis Quinn going to England late in May. He'll then 
go to Italy to remain a year or more, taking advantage of the favorable 
monetary exchange . . . Next Tuesday (6) night's "Studio One" broad- 
cast will star Franchot Tone in Agnes Eckhardt's adaptation of Mitchell 
Wilson's novel, I'The Kimballs." Subsequent, undated shows will in- 
clude. Margaret Lewerth's adaptation of Pierre Andrezel's "The 
Angelic, Avengers," Len Peterson's adaptation of Richard Broolcs' "The 
Boiling Point," Vincent McConnor's adsptatioh of Hamilton Basso's 
"Sun in Capricorn,' .and John Carfield in the O'Connor-Quentin 
Reynolds adaptation of the latter's "lae Fable of Billy Ro§e.'.' Being 
scripted are Hugh Kemp's adaptati(^n of P. Scotf Fitzgerald's unfinished 
novel of Hollywood, "The Last Tycoon," and Howard Rodman's adapta« 
tion of Merle Miller's "That Winter." Fletcher Markel produces the 
series . . . Carl Stanton, Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample radio executive, 
leaves Friday (2) for Hollywood to line iip talent, orchestra, etc., for 
the four-week origination of the Jack Smith (Procter & Gamble) show 
from, that point, starting April ^6. Smith is going out to discuss a 
picture deal and also to confer w^h execs of Capitol Record, his label 
Affiliation,.' 

Henry Reichhold, Detroit Symphony prez, was slated td fly to Jackson- 
ville yesterday (Tues.) to see how the orch's tour is going. Possibility 
seems to be brightening that he'll again bankroll web airing of the 
symph, comes the fall, if not on ABC, perhaps on CBS or Mutual — 
Dick 'KoUmar unveiling his own "candid mike" wire recordings as a 
new feature on the "Dorothy and Dick" breakfast serial tomorrow 
(Thurs.) on WOR . . . .'Harry Goldstein, Detroit AFRA local prexy, was 
in town last week to report to the union's national board on the auto 
city situatiop. . . . John T. ZoUer of BBD&O's radio department engaged 
to Letitia Happer.. ..Theodore Wyncoop Goodman, writer-announcer 
of "Voice of America" airers via NBC shortwave, groom-to-be of Carol 
Davis. . . • 

Nan Lupo, WNJR commentator, off Monday (29) for ISurope to survey 
the food situation in England and * France. . ..Jerry Hausner, Coast 
actor, in town en route to London and continent. Hopes to do BBC 
shows during a three-month stay in the British capital ... CBS has . 
dropped its option on Ted Straeter's iiive-a-week musical series with 
the Mullen Sisters and a rhythm section. Web, however, is considering 
it for tele .... Radio Television Critics Circle meets tomorrow night 
(Thurs.) at the Park Ave. restaurant, N.Y. Last meeting before annual 
awards selections • . • . Alice YourijAan into lead role on "Forever Susan" 
when deal foi^ Lucille Ball to do the part on the Norman Frank package 
fell through. Show auditioned at Mutual yesterday (25) and goes on the 
air for the summer. , . .Cy Howard, producer of "My Friend Irma," was 
in town last week on professional-personal .business, planing back to 

the Coast last niabt CTues.) Torrey Steams has taken a . leave of 

absence from the Y & R publicity department to .work for the draft- 
Eisenhower movement .... Hallmark reported interested in the Ralph 
Bellamy-starring "Our Town" series as a possible-, replacement of * 
Reader^s Digeirt;. 

fN HOLLYW.OOD ... 

Frank Stanton sneaked into town wdth the missus and the CBS press 
boys were warned "no publicity." He didn't give them much help, 
however, by showing up at one of the night spots. Strictly a pleasure 
trip and didn't Want to foe botiiered With interviews. , . .Jack Benny is 
having his scripters writejn Bing Crosby for the April 4 broadcast ... 
Burns and Allen will do Their April 15 show deck-side on the Lurline, 
making its first voyage to Hawaii from San Francisco. . . .Bart Kellowes 
and Bill Kelso packaging "Ruggles of Red Gap" with Arthur Treacher, 
Edgar Buchanan, Maude Ebum and Frank Elliott in the leads. Fel- 
lowes recently bowed out as director of "Heart's Desire" .... John 
Seibert, NBC's television design engineer, checking up on the net's 
transmitter atop Mt, Wilson ... .Mike Kirk around for the Texaco 
washup on CBS and the new setup, sans Alan Young, on ABC. 

Sam Moore moved in as head writer of the Danny Thomas show after 
Al and Sherwood Schwhrtz .pulled out. He'll be aided by Jerry Seelen 

and two other typewriter wits Anita Colby, Bebe Daniels, Grade 

Allen and Bob Hope will' take over Louella Parsons' program while 
she's touring Europe for seven weeks this summer... Russ Pierce 
resigned as manager of the J. Walter Thompson office in San Francisco 
to set up his own shop .... Irene Ryan, Patsy Moran and Beverly Wills, 
daughter of Joan Davis, will cut a wax of "My Dear Miss Ryan," situa- 
tion comedy piece being packaged by Arthur Hutchinson and Charles 
Peiffer — Paul Warwick seemed more than casually interested in the 
availability of certain top comics for next season and the trade is won- 
dering why. . ..Those reports one hears in cocktail lounges about Al 
Jolson and Kraft parting company after this season have been ground 
under foot by those closest to the picture; He has been practically 
renewed for next season, say the Thompsonites Jack Creamer" with- 
drew Walter Tetley's "Peck'ff Bad Boy" for "The Kid on the Corner" 
so as not to run afoul juvenile delinquency campaigners. It's being 
readied for waxing. , 

Jimmy Saphier. makes it emphatic that he hasn't pitched Bob Hope 
to any client or agency, which might indicate that all's well again be- 
tween Hope and Charles Luckman . . . . Harlow Wilcox completed his 
first commercial fUms for television, a series of one-minute spots. He^s 
keeping his hand in video as a sideline to his many announcing chores. 

Mark Warnow's "Sound Off" has been moved again on ABC, the 

second time within two weeks. Army musical has been on three net-' 
works and every night of the week, getting a free ride as .a recruiting 
service. . . .Frank Ferrin beaming because his two shows, "Smilin' Ed 
McConnell" and "Lassie," given -renewals for 52 weeks firm. . . ; Mickey 
Rockford east for a few weeks to clean up some radio deals for MCA 

Stu Sherman planed in for cutting of the Roy Rogers audition 

record, which is intended for Quaker Oats. George Lowther, who 
wrote the script, also directed. 

IN CHICAGO ... 

Bill Meyers, sales promotion chief of WGN since 1945, switches to 
WGN-TV as tele salesman. Don Getz replaces on WGN 's staff. .- 
Harry Miller takes over as radio director of the Harry Atkinson ad 
agency. . . ."Tom Mix" makes its 1,000th network gallop April 2^ with 
(Continued on page 40) 





Pasd^tefBurri^Bider 

. Chicago, March 30. 

Burridge D. Butler, 80, ovmet of WLS, Chicago, KOY, Phoenix, 
jtTUC, Tucson, and puUishfer of the Prairie Farpier, died today 
(Tuesday) in the Santa Monica hospital. Phoenix, following a fall 
last Tuesday (23) at his Arizona winter home.' Rated as one of 
the outstanding pioneers in rural broadcasting as well as in that 
type of weekly, publication, Butler transmitted much of bis own 
colorful personality to the early programming days df WLS With- 
out appearing at the milce. 

Butler's philosophy, a& often expressed -to his radio organization 
in those days,, was that a station directing itself to farm audiences 
couldn't help but be suc^iessful so long, as it hewed to the line of a 
soundly operated farm paper. In other words, the audience should 
be thought of first, in terms of a neighborly community and second, 
as farin families and that the idea. of ^ service be the keystone of all 
phases .of programming. Butler did more than make WLS an ad- 
junct of his "Prairie Farmer"; he gave it a distinct personality 
all its own and kept it that way through its many ultra-prosperous 
years.. ■ 

Butler founded the newspaper in 1909 and also published papers 
in Omaha, Des Moines, Kansas City and St. Paul. He was also 
quite active in farmer organizations, and in the Boy Scout move- 

..ment. /. 

' The accident that led to his death was a fall while walking in 
his Arizona citrus grove. He wasn't found until an hour after- 
ward. 

ABC has been dickering for almost a year for the purchase of 
WLS, but with frequent breakdowns in the discussions. 



Half-as-kBg-T«nee:^Pm^y Code 
Goes OuHo Fidl NAB lUi(^ 



Washington, March. 3D. 

Half as long and twice, as punchy 
is. the way NAB execs describe the 
prqposed new, streamlined broad- 
casters' Code which was mailed 
out to all NAB members over the 
weekend. The standards will get 
another going over at the Associa- 
tion's May convention -in Los An- 
geles with the final nod or veto 
expected .at a post-Convention 
huddle of the new Board, skedded 
for May 19. 

NAB men expressed complete 
confidence this version of the Code 
will win kudos of broadcastefrs and 
adwuftisers alike. 

' Biggest changes over the original 
dr.'iiits are as follows: 

1. Former ban on dramatization 
of political broadcasts is lifted, 
provided all • such stanzas are 
dearly identified as political, 

2. Furor* over broadcaster!;' 
tights to editorialize and their 
obligations on airing, of pul^lic is- 
sues led to inclusion of new Code 
provi-^ion that "Time for .present.a- 
tion of public questions should be 
allotted with due regard to all 
other elements of balanced pro- 
gram schedules and to the degree 
1ft interest on the part of the pub- 
lic in the questions to be pre- 
sented." A broadcaster "should 
use his best efforts to insure fair 
presentation of those issues which 
concern the interest and welfare 
of the community." 

Eurther- language provides that 
controversial discussions be aired 
(Continued on pag(> 40) 

A€£ ta SWIGH SP&T 



Hiilip IVlArris is eyeing the Good- 
man Ace CBS comedy show for 
probable sponsorship. If deal jells, 
the "mr. ace & JANE" program, 
currently heard in the Saturday at 
7 period, will switch over to the 
Friday night at 10 time currently 
«Cupied by Philip Morris' Dinah 
ftnore-Harry James musical. 

Ciggi« outfit is transferring the 
Wwe-James combo to Tuesday 
Wfiht on NBC as replacement for 
«lUton Bcrle, which PM has can- 
jeileci out. Switchover becomes ef- 
fective April 2a. 

. Meanwhile, CBS reports several 
Jtllipr client nibbles for the Ace 
SHOW,, includtag General Foods. 



Chip GfF or Lowell 

I.«well Thomas, doing hi.s 
CBS news stint from the Mont 
Tremblant ski resort in Can- 
ada Monday night (29), lost his 
voice midway and paused, but 
couldn't recover it. After a 
moment, a younger voice took 
over and finished the stanza. 

It was Lowell Thomas, Jr., 
who happened to be standing 
at pater's elbow. 



ResentiDgliish.' 
M 




The Assn. of Education by Radio, 
wliose annual meetings have in the 
past been linked . with the Ohio 
State Institute, wants to branch out 
on its own and is mulling the es- 
tablishment of a three-day Insti- 
tute in New York for its member- 
ship comprised of educators in 
radio. 

AER officers met recently in 
N. Y. ■ and decided that it wasn't 
getting tlie recognition it deserved. 
Recent hearings in Washington on 
the Mayflower editorializing issue, 
at which tlie AER was conspicuous 
by its absence (outfit feels it was 
.given the brushl, Is said to have 
brought to a head the decision to 
"stand on Its own." 

Idea is not in(;endcd to supplant 
the Ohio State Institute, but feel- 
ing is it can serve a useful purpose 
in bringing educator-broadcasters 
togetlicr under its auspices for an 
annual New York meeting. Sim- 
ilarly, it is not intended as an en- 
croachment on the CCNY Confer- 
ence, which, its pointed out, 
directs ^major emphasis on the 
business-commercial facets .of 
radio. 



„.?''*^ Ballard's "Songwriting Ma- 
ctime Show" on WOR, N. Y., is gel- 
inf ^™P<^'1 after its April 17 air- 
It's simply a too expen.sive 
package (about $3,500 weekly) to 
Say7 * ^'^'^^ station 

Ballard win re-format the stanza 
s'," ,®">Phasis on sight Vather than 
t°""f and debut it as "a straight 
«age act" suUaMfe for lelcvlKiou 
5^jj^P«sonal appearances as well 



KYW, PhiUy, has 'SMne 
As Offensive to Negroes 

Philadelphia, March 30. 

Fiirlher playing of the platter 
"Shine" was banned Friday (26) 
by KYW, NBC's Philly outlet, fol- 
lowing reported ob.iections by 
Negro groups. 

In announcing the ban, program 
manager James P. Begley said the 
tune is "considered uncomplimen- 
tary by a segment of our listening 
audience, Of the many thousands 
of selection.^ available to this sta- 
tion, tliere is no reason to play any 
tune that pos-sibly could be con- 
sidered oJl'cnsive." 

KYW is owned by the Westing- 
house Corp. 



HIS i£D AS FGG 




A move to draft Clifford J. Durr 
for renomination to the Federal 
Communications Commision has 
been quietly gaining momentum in 
recent weekSf Durr's term expires 
June 30 and with President Tru- 
man expected to send in his desig- 
nations some time in April, it's 
considered likely that the "draft 
Durr" movement wiU crystallize • 
itself into a snowball of sentiment 
within the next two weeks 

The significant part of the whole 
"draft Durr" movement is the al- 
most complete reversal of expres- 
sion and opinion concerning the 
FCC's staunch liberal and stormy 
petrel by ass(^ted facets of the in^ 
dustry which not long ago were 
"dead set" against risidng another 
Durr appointment. Today they 
take the position that a continu- 
ance of Durr would give the FCC 
a much-needed balance, plus the 
contribution of an honesty and in- 
tegrity, that, it's opined, the radio 
industry must grasp in an ap- 
proadiing period of turbulence and 
uncertainty. 

One top exec, a web veepee, on 
the D. C; scene, whose opinion 
obviously reflects tlie 'network he 
represents . in' Washington, put It 
this way only last week: "With 
Durr on the FCC, at least we know 
we are dealing with an honest man, 
even if we don't argue about his 
politics." 

Reception Is Moot 

Just how receptive Durr himself 
is to the draft movement remains 
pretty much of a moot point. He's 
expressed a desire to return to 
Alabama and law practice, an 
ambition motivated not only by the 
frustrations, attending his "lone 
dissent" role but because of a more 
realistic viewpoint taken by other 
FCC members who have checked 
out — that it's tough sledding on 
$10,000 a year. Hovraver, the feel- 
ing is that, with sufficient industry 
support, he could be persuaded to 
accept a renomination. 

FCC chairman Wayne Coy is re- 
ported in favor of Durr's renomi- 
nation and has told intimates he 
will go to the- President on his be- 
half. President Truman, it's fig- 
ured, might find in a pi"o-Durr 
gesture the avenue to a slice of the 
liberal Democratic vote. 

Th^ Senatorial duo from Ala- 
1)ama wants Durr, but it's qiiesQon- 
able how much wei^t the two 
would carry with the President in 
view of the fact that they came out 
only last week in opposition to the 
Chief Executive. 

. Midwest broadcaster sentiment 
among even NAB die-hards is said 
to favor a new term for Durr and 
from labor (AFL, CIO), educator 
and ieven commercial segments of 
the industry have come expressions 
that may crystallize in favorable 
action, . 



Orte FMim Probe-nSans 
PiUic Heaiiiit-OB 1M Ridbrds 



No Favorites 

ABC network had a la'st- 
minute change of heart in con- 
nection with the new "Stop the 
Music" Sunday night show, 
and decided to "play it' 
straight." 

The hour program, which is 
slotted opposite the Edgar 
Bergen and Fred Allen shows 
on NBC, has a "mystery tune" 
for the grand giveaway payoff, 
and plan was to use the "signa- 
ture" tune of the Bergen show. 
It was figm-ed that, while 
everybody or nearly every* 
body — ^knows the melody, con- 
testants wouldn't be likely to. 
tab it by name, thus assuring 
a continuous run. 

Couple days before show 
preemed, ABC got qualms 
about plugging a rival show 
and called the thing oil, vrith 
a subsequent substitution. 



'RFD AMERICA' MULLED 
BY ALUS-CHALMERS 

"BFD America," the widely-ku- 
dosed farm show on Mutual, may 
move over to NBC in the Sunday 
2 p.m. slot being vacated by Inters 
national Harvester. (Latter is mov- 
ing over to Wednesday night CBS). 

AMis-Chalmers is reported inter- 
ested in picking up the tab on the 
Lou Cowan-packaged program, 
which was originally intended for 
sponsorship on Mutual by Ford 
Dealers, but which ■ subsequently 
fell through. If deal goes through, 
Allis-Chalmers would also continue 
it.s present sponsorship of the 
"Farm and Home Hour" strip, 

NBC is also mulling taking the 
show on a sustaining basis, if the 
A-C bankroUer negotiations fall 
through. 



Langf ord Vice Ring? 

Hollywood, March 30. 

A new Frances Langford mu- 
sical show is being considered by 
Phllco as summer replacement for 
Bing Crosby or second entry re- 
placing Burl Ives. 

Latter was recently given notice. 



Sad Saga of K&E 
AdMeiitraet' 
Gidmi Drake Deal 

Involved in the current negotia- 
tions between CBS and Kenyon & 
Eckhardt for a contract covering 
Galen Drake's services on ABC is 
the saga of, an agreentent which 
took the agency 10 months to dis- 
cover it didnt have. K&E is being 
relieved of its embarrassment, bu4 
the deal it's going to get from CBS 
will contain some clauses that the 
agency perhaps wouldn't have- had 
to ^accept from Drake's original 
management, 

When Ei&E bought Drake for 
the Kellogg morning spot on ABC 
about a year ago ft-om Fletcher- 
Wiley, owner of the Housewives' 
Protective League, there was an 
understanding that the latter 
would in due course submit a con- 
tract. Wiley hadn't liked the one 
the agency gave him and. he wanted 
to fix up one of his own. 

Wiley kept putting off the thing, 
and then came the the lairchase bf 
the Housewives' Protective League^ 
which included the ownership of 
the Galen Drake cognomen. After 
Drake had been in the ABC spot 
nearly 10 months K&E awoke to 
its predicament, What . aggravated 
the situation was the thi<eatened 
suit at about the same time of a 
west coast writer who alleged that 
Dr^e had misappropriated some 
of 'the former's material. Not only 
didn't the ag«ncy have an indem.- 
nifying clause in its contract^ — but 
it didn't have a contract. 

It was then that K&E turned to 
(Continued on page 40) 



%t Maoy AromHl Nr 

It may or may not come to tlic 
attention of the Southern Senators, 
and they may or may not care — 
but their three half-hours on Mu- 
tual in answer to the web's recent 
civil riglits series aren't being car- 
ried by WOK. N. Y. (which aii-ed 
the stanzas the Dixielanders are 
squawking about). 

Jest going the rounds is that the 
station didn't feel tliere are 
"enough southerners in New York 
to make it worth the time," But 
WOR's oflicial stance is that the 
Mutual documentaries were based, 
word for word, on the report of an 
"impartial" Presidential committee 
and therefore did not constitute a 
controversial scries requiring 
granting of equal time. 

It's doubted that there will be 
any serious squawk from the reply- 
ing senators, who, as one WOR exec 
pointed out, probably are concern- 
ed only with southern "home con- 
sumption" of their airers, anyyay. 



Washington^ March 30. 

A full-dress investigation — but 
not a public hearing—was ordered 
by the Federal Communicationt 
Commission last week on charges 
of editorializing the news on Dick 
Richards' KMPC, Hollywood, 
WGAR, Cleveland and WJR, De- 
troit, It was one of the first timea 
in its history that FCC has pub- 
licized the fact it is shipping out , 
government investigators— a mov* 
usually made on the q.t., pi-njimi- 
nary to calling a public hearing. 

The FCC said it was basing its • 
probe on complaints "and associ-^ . 
ated documents'^ filed witli it by 
the Radio News Club of Holly- 
wood. No reference was made to 
specific demands for hearings and/ 
or revocation-ofJicense proceed- 
ings against KMPC from the Amer- 
ican Jewish Congress and the 
national CIO. The government has 
not released letters of complaint 
from tlie Hollywood Radio News 
Club or from James Roosevelt, 
Chairman of the California Pemo* 
cratis State Committee. Both call- - 
ed for "investigati(m" but did not 
seek public hearings. 

Snowballing Mall 

Proof that; volume mail has start' ' 
ed to reach Wjishlngton on the 
KMPC fracas is seen in a multi- 
lithed formletter which FCC last 
week approved to handle protest ■ 
letters. An FtC official admitted 
that the Commission departed from 
its usual practice of keeping mum 
about on-the-spot investigations 
hece only because of . the magnitude 
of the issue and. ttte wide", pub- 
licity it has already received. Tbiee . 
FCC probers are due to leav*. 
town this week. (Witli this un-' 
usual advance notice, it was specu- 
lated they would find plenty of 
stripped files at the stations.). 
. •Meanwhile, a new kind of pro- 
test against socalled "editoilaluE- 
ing°' reached FCC last week from 
the deep South. F. W. tiew com- ' 
ed about broadcast of editorials 
and "defamatory aitid libelous re^' ' 
marks" by WGBA, Columbus, GrS. 
New told FCC that WGBA on three • 
occasions had broadcast statements 
"in the guise of newscasts" <ac- ■ . 
cusing him of committing seven 
^crimes imder state and federal 
statutes. New didnt enumerate 
any of the charges. 

When he sought time on the sir 
to reply. New said WGBA super- 
visor- A. E, Mickel reserved tho' 
right to edit his spiel and com-' 
niented it would be "vulgar" and 
"in questionable taste" for falm to 
answer the charges on the air. 



PRES. TRUMAN NIXES 
CBS 'TIMBER' SiOBES 

President Truman has decline4 
with thanks DBS' invitation to 
speak on the web's "Presidential' , 
Timber" series, which is teeing 
off tonight (Wed.) at 10:30 . 
with Harold Stassen .Hit the mite. 
The ch^f executive wired CBS . 
that "due to pressure of other •' 
duties" he was "unable to accept 
additional speaking engagements." - 

Sen. Robert Taft will be next 
week^s speaker, follo.wed probably 
by Earl Warren on April 14, al- 
though the California governor is . 
yet to wire acceptance. ■ Henry 
Wallace Jhas accepted, and wiU- 
take the air either April 21 or 28. 
Two others invited to air their : 
views, Gov. Thomas E. Dewey snd 
Gen. Douglas MacArthur, haven^^ 
yet been heard from. 



Dorothy Lewis has stepped into 
a new post at the United Nations' 
Department of Public Information. . 
as coordinator of. women's broad- 
casts. She'll take charge of plan- 
ning and promotion of femme pro- 
grams sponsored by the UN in its 
worldwide information service. 

Miss ; Lewis recently resigned 
from the NAB as coordinator of 
listener activity. She also foundedl 
the Assn. of Women BroadcAsUm. 



S8 



(HORTY BELL 
flth Mickey Roon«y, Joe Yule, 
John Hoyt, GH Stratton, Cava 
williums, Bert .Holland, Lou 
Krucman, Parley Baer, BUI Co<i> 
rad, Florence Halvp, Cy Feuef 
olroh; Bof) LeMondf aiiniouncer 
tVriters: Frederick Hazlitt Bren< 

nan, Bichar^ Carroll 
Producer >< Director: William N. 

Robson 
10 Mins.; Sun,, 9:30 p.ni. 
fiuataining 

CBS, from Hollywood 

"Shorty Bell" is something CBS 
describes as a "continuing novel." 
The n^w half-hour sustaining t>ro- 
f[ram, on which the network has 
t«portedly affixed a $10,000 spbn- 

forship price tag, stars Mickey 
[ooney in his first air series. In 
ihese days of cautious bankrollers, 
iliat's top coin on anybody's kilo-, 
cycles. But the program that 
preemed last Sunday (28) in the 
<;ream 0:30'10 nighttime segment 
isn't calculated to excite that kind 
Of commercial response. 

The sad truth is, even as a sus- 
tainer and with Rooney as nara^ 
Iwit,. "Shorty Bell" on the basis ot 
Chapter One wasn't far removed 
from ' the type of kid advehture 
|tuff that fills the daytime airlanes. 
In reviving this type" of wornout 
f onnula dressed up for radio in 
the guise of a "continuing novel," 
CBS stubbed an expensive toe. 

In luring names into the net" 
tvork.as part of its New Listen era 
in programming, CBS, despite a 
script assist from Frederick Hazlitt 
Brennan and Richard Carroll and 
a William N. Robson production, 
certainly hasn't found the answer 
here, 'fhe dramatic series is news- 
paper office stuff parlayed with 
$angsterd6m, and a 'glimpse of an 
upcoming love interest. Rooney 
is the. aspiring reporter (in the first 
chapter he was still a circulation 
truck driver, but just beginning to 
smell a stoty). Even setting aside 
this, outworn blueprint foi- adven- 
ture sagas, there was nothing par-< 
ticularly distinctive in the Breri- 
nan-CarroU .scripting, i 

Major .Witei*st; of course, is in 
Rooney as a radio personality, and 
somewhere along the line some- 
body forgot that radio is strictly 
an audio medium. Rooney as 
"Shorty Bell" was projected by a 
brash, hard, atonal Voice. . Yet 
.without those Metro cameras- 
grinding out the distinctive, visual 
characteristics that make up the 
. Rooney personality, all that was 
left was an unsympathetic, ones- 
dimensional portrayal. Frequently, 
loo, it was .an attempt at "early 
Cagney." , 

Allowing that a director is handi- 
capped in in introductory chapter 
through the necessity of setting the 
stage for all the characters, the 
fact remains that the tempo on the 
initial installment was too ' fast, 
lacking- proper pacing. Similarly, 
casting.,,, for.. .*adio must take 
Into consideration multi-timbered 
voices. In "Shorty" so many came 
of the same strident quality that 
I much needed color w^s lost. 
I Among those in support Of 
Rooney are Joe Yule (the pic star's 
father); John Hoyt, Gil Stratton. 
Lois Kern and Bert Holland. Cy 
Feuer. and. his orch. provide the 
musical, bridges. Rose. 

THIS IS OUR CITY 

IS mtns.; Sat., 10:30- a.m. 

Sustaining 

WKBW, Buffalo 

Art Simon, who recently took 
over as exec veepee of WKBW, de- 
serves credit for his efforts to face- 
lift the station with programs -of 
special significance. Although this 
one will probably not be hailed as 
exactly inspirational, it is almighty 
good try and one of the things for 
which Simon and the station 
should get top kudos. Extending 
tlie helping hand of radio in the 
cause of community uplift is some- 
thing Buffalo needs. 

"City," which is- co-sponsored 
with the Buffalo Board of Com^ 
munity Relations and the Buffalo 
National Round Table of Chris- 
tians and Jews, enlists the writing 
and acHng efforts of high school 
, teenagers on behalf of better inter- 
racial relations. Each high school 
is allotted a program dealing with 
the general thertie of tolerance and 
driving home the lesson »»f equality 
and fair play toward and among 
community nationalities and re- 
ligious groups. Strong appeal is 
made to local school pride with the 
historic background of each insti- 
tution stressed for its contributions 
to the cultural life of the city. The 
production being strictly original 
with the students, there are plenty 
of. amateurish touches in evidence, 
but the thing gains otherwise as a 
fesult of its unsophistication and 

Smtaniety. At least, the idea and 
atment is novel if not daring for 
# BuHTalo Statloit. Burt. 



REPORT CAR» 

With Franctaot Tbne,. Minerva 
Pious, Carol Goodncr, Michael 
Dreyfuss, Martin Wolfson, Hes- 

' ter Sondergaatdv Qeoffrey Bryant, 
John Sylvester, Bob Morgan, 
Kermit Murdock, Ed Latimer, 
Charles Penman • • ° 

Writer: Charles Monroe 

Director; Albert Ward 

Producer: Robert Heller 

Musical Director: Harry Sosnik 

60 Mins.;' Wed. (24), 10 p.m. 

Sustaining 

CBS, from N«W York 

Only onfe year old, the documen- 
tary program is the infant prodigy 
of radio. Its working concept of 
packing dramas with the stuff of 
reality has taken the industry a 
measurable way along the ro?id of 
fulfilling itself as a powerful edu- 
cational medium, It has in part 
unshackled radio's {sreative mind 
from the cllaims of commercialism, 
the surrender to superficiality and 
the onus of avoiding ,the mvrre ugly 
facts of life. In short, the docu- 
mentary has been the single cur- 
rent of fresh air to blow through 
that "sad saga of sameness." 

Launching its second year of op- 
eration, CBS' documentary unit lasi 
Wednesday (24) tackled the crisis 
in America's educational system. 
The results, unfortunately; were 
not wholly successful. The infor- 
mational point was slightly blurred 
by the program's failure. to fully 
assimilate its material. The dra- 
matic point was blunted by a tend- 
ency to substitute indignant 'but 
vague oratory for the living con- 
flicts. These shortcomings, how- 
ever, have to be ^matched against 
the program's terrifically complex 
job; 

"Report Card" tried to explore, 
the whole gamut of problems be- 
setting U. S. education. It touched 
upon the school system's decayed 
physical setup, its overcrowded 
classrooms, its underpaid teachers, 
and its outdated standards and 
techniques. Finally, it attempted to 
trace back the educational process 
into the. roots of ' society, and the 
world at large. ■ 

Compressing this data into a 
full-hour dramatic biography o| a 
small town teacher, the documen- 
tary, despite its seriousness and 
sincerity, had only a lukewarm 
touch. ; The script lost a sharp 
focus because too many facets of 
the problem 'were mirrored. There 
was a tendency to merely state 
some of difficulties without defin- 
ing them in a manncfr that would 
help lead to a solution. 

During the last 20 minutes, 
Franchot Tone, as the educator, de- 
livered a long oration which sum- 
marized all the virtues and defeats; 
of the documentary. The speech 
covered everything from war to 
marriage as being intimately linked 
up with the educational system. 
But in trying to do so nmch, it did 
too little in giving a specific answer 
to a specific problem. The speech, 
like ■the;^ program as a whole, 
seemed to be on the threshold of a 
new and radical insight on what's 
wrong with our- schools; but it 
never crossed over. 

As with its former programs, 
CBS' documentary unit shot the 
works in dressing the script with a 
superlative production. Carrying 
the whole session with his por- 
trayal of a broad-visioned educator. 
Tone delivered his lines with intel- 
ligence and sensitivity. The rest 
of the cast also performed excel- 
lently, while Harry Sosnik's musi- 
cal score contributed much to blend 
the -drama's loose structure into an 
integrated mood. Herm, 



Foreign Radio Reyiews- 



NOEL COWARD SHOW ' 
With Matbvani Orch., .Y i c t o r i a 
Campbell, Joyce Grenfell, Gra- 
ham Payne 
30 Mins.; 8 p.m. Mondays 
PHILLIP'S RADIO 
2 GB, Sydney 

As set this transcription show is 
not very good radio. It gives the 
impression that it's just a string 
of numbers thrown together with- 
out much care. Most of the fare on 
tap is dated, and that's not so very 
good for tlie fans. 

Noel Coward makes a few casual 
announcements as he introduces 
the various numbers. HiS: method 
of delivery is too clipped and off- 
hand. Star does one number, 
"London Pride." 

Numbers heard from Coward's 
troupe included excerpts f r o m 
"B i 1 1 e r S w e e t," "Conversation 
Piece" and other Coward shows. 
It's all straight stuff, short on com- 
edy, and so-so in presentation. 
■-This one will have to improve if 
it's to gain the ear of Aussie fdns. 

Rick. 



Foliow-ii|i09ninient; 

Rev. PJitriok tayton, C.S.C;, 
Impresario x>( "The Family Hour," 
provided for the faithful on MBS 
Sunday afternoon (28) an hour of 
Easter service that was even better 
progrpmwise than his reverential 
event of last Christmas Eve. This 
session was as star-loaded as the 
previous one, but the niusic it- 
self seemed to have a superior 
tonal and. emotional appeal. In- 
terpolated between scenes : from 
the "Pageant of the. Resurrection" 
and the recital of "The Rosary" 
were solos by Bing Crosby, Dennis 
•Day, Eileen Farrell and Christo- 
pher Lynch, the latter two orig- 
inating from New York and being 
the only exceptions to an all-Holly- 
wood cast. Ethel Barrymore, nar- 
rated the "Resurrection," and the 
others participating were Jimmy 
Durante, Irene Dunne, Fibber 
McGee and Molly, Lizbeth Scott, 
Bobby Driscoll, Pedro de Cordoba, 
Dan Daily, Marguerite Chapman, 
Ann Jamison, Loretta Young and 
Robert Ryan. Max Terr con- 
ducted the orchestra and choral 
group in Hollywood and Sylvan 
Levin did the batoning on the New 
York end. David Young's direc- 
tion was faultlessly smooth. 

SPECIAL AGENT 
With James Meighan, Lyle Sudrowr 
Margaret Draper, James Monks, 
Wendell Holmes, Mort . Law- 
rence; Chester Kingsbury, music 
Writer: Finis Farr 
Producer-Director: Herbert C. Rice 
m Mins.; Wed., 8 p.m. 
Sustaining . 
Mutual, from New York 

Mutual's newest private-eye is 
Alan Drake (James Meighan), in- 
vestigator for an insurance .com- 
pany, who's just as slick as any 
Sam Spa^le, Nick Carter, Charlie 
Chan or Falcon at rounding up 
murderers without the aid of the 
cops. In fact,, in his getaway se- 
quence last week (24), . special 
agent Alan Drake was informed by 
his sidekick (Lyle Sudrow) that the 
police had verified his suspicion 
that the victim's death was no ac- 
cident; otherwise Drake had no 
truck whatever with the bluecoats. 

Finis Farr's story had some sur- 
prisingly 'nice twists: a radio pro- 
ducer, in< need, of a $50,000 insur- 
ance payoff, fixes his partner-star 
actor's car so it appears to crash 
accidentally. When Drake ;finds 
the car's brakes were tampered 
with, and suspicion turns on the 
producer, latter produces a tran- 
scription he claims he cut on the 
sly when the actor, drunk, was 
telling how he was going to com- 
mit suicide, in just this wajf. The 
producer, meantime, has pushed 
the writer of- the show out a win- 
dow becausft the writer knew that 
the producer and actor were sim- 
ply running through a script when 
they cut the platter. Drake figures 
it all out, with the aid of some info 
from an actress who's been on the 
show, and nails the producer in a 
gun-drawing windup tussle. 

It's whodunit fare of generally 
acceptable, quality, neither apt to 
excite great attention nor rate 
particular criticism. Best that can 
be said is that it's a fair program 
of this type, handled with experi- 
ence in all departments. In the 
initialer, the cast gave some evi- 
dence of need for more rehear.sal, 
and sameness of some voices made 
identification difficult at moments. 
Mort Lawrence, in the brief role 
of the writer, turned In a particu- 
larly noteworthy stint, Doan, 



GENE MOORE TRIO 

With Gene Moore, Kenny White, 

Bill Gall 
Producer: Ken Heady 
Sustaining 

15 Mins.; 4:1S p.m., "Mon.-Fri. 
KCMO, Kansas City 

Trio of top instrumentalists is 
another entry in KCMO's. new pol- 
icy of live programming. Gene 
Moore, station's musical director, 
heads the group, alternating on or- 
gan, piano and squeezebox, with 
Kenny White 1o toot the clarinet 
and Bill Gall to strum, the guitar. 
Threesome is billed in "quiet" 
music, which is how it starts out — 
neatly arranged and planned. With 
three men like this, however, some 
improvisation is bound to creep ins 
and anything can happen in tile 
quarter hour. 

Trio have been at it on the air 
more than a month, and appears 
set for this spot. Coming along 
late in the affernoon like this, 
against soap operas and talking 
shows on other stations, outfit has 
a good chance to click. It's good 
music and easy listening ^t this 
time of day. Quin. 



FLOItSNCE PBtXCnKTV 
With Glenn JFord, guest . 
Writer: Miss Prlt<!hett 
Producer: Daucy Priteheil ' 
IS Mins;; Sat., 11:15 a.m. 
BERKELEY FURNITURE CO. 
WOR, N. Y. - 

Florence Prjtchett seems a con- 
siderably warmer and more re- 
laxed radio personality now than 
when she first took over her "Bar- 
bara Welles" cross-the-board stint 
on WOR last year. In this new, 
added sequence under her own 
name, which teed o^C last week- 
end (27); she carried « load of 
monolog with apparent ease, dis- 
pensing completely with the usual 
inane banter between femme gab- 
ber and male announcer, and even 
doing her own commercials. In- 
telligently handled, too. 

For the first 10 minutes or so, 
Miss Pritchett reeled off pert, 
frothy comments on the Easter 
fashions, Hollywood fllih dress de- 
signers' "flamboyant"" and "overly 
drainatlc'f creations, ChoUy Knick- 
erbocker''s wedding party, Marlene 
Dietrich's getup, the .fames Ma- 
sons' apartment, etc. Subjects 
were nicely segued and of definite 
appeal to the ladies who sit under 
hair dryers reading movie fan 
mags, which is a considerable seg- 
ment. '• 

Miss Pritehett's interview with' 
Glenn Ford, however, was rather 
too casual and unrehearsed.' Ford, 
a "by golly" guy without apparent 
pretensions, surely would have sub- 
mitted to more pertinent question- 
ing, with some angle in mind. 

Producer of the' show is Miss 
Pritchett's sister. Ditan. 



MEET MR. MUSIC 

With Harry' Groveal 

Producer: Ken Heady 

Writer: Barbara Draper 

25 Mins.; Mon.-Fri., IQ;3S pJB. 

AMBROSE & CO. 

KCMO, Kansas City 

This is basically just a way for 
an announcer to play a bunch of 
r'ecords and get.>in some leisurely 
chatter along the way. It's a rec- 
ord show, but hardly a disk jockey 
stint. Show is definitely stylized 
by the writing of Barabara Draper 
ahd Groves' lean-back-and-take-it- 
easy delivery^" ' i 

Idea is to put the emphasis on 
what the music does for the listen- 
er, instead of the usual attention 
in a jockey type of sliow dir-ected 
mainly at the music itself. So 
selections are almost wholly on the 
sweet side in keeping with the 
chatter, the time of evening and 
the product (wine). 

Station already has a pair of disk 
jocks and some other record shows^ 
So anything using platters needed 
a different approach, and this is it. 
Evei'ybody connected with the show 
seems to be pretty much hitting 
the intended niche. It sums up as 
a different record show, and a ses- 
sion of easy listening just before 
'bedtime. Quin, 

' Transcription Review \ 

♦♦^♦■^ ♦♦■♦♦4' 

THE GOLDEN DOOR 

With Arnold Moss, CarJ Swenson; 

Raymond' Edward Johnson, Rob- 
' ert Dryden, Will Geer, Bernard 

Lenrow, Edwin Jerome; L^Zir, 

music 
Writer: Ben Kagan 
Director: Frank Papp 
Producer: Ted Hudes 
15 Mins. 

The plea for the DP's is by now 
a familiar one, the facts of which 
must he known to most listeners. 
And yet, of course, it must be told 
over and over again, for it is yet to 
be answered. The program in 
question is another waxed drama- 
tization by the Citizens Committee 
on Displaced Persons and is slated 
to be carried by 43B stations from 
coast to coast. (WMCA and WttLI, 
in the N. Y. area aired it over 
last weekend.) 

It's an Easter fantasy, taking its 
title from the words on tlie base 
of the Statue of Liberty: "I lift 
my lamp be.side the golden door." 
The door is closed to DP 234 and 
he dies in a European detention 
camp. Ii} lieaven, he wants to be 
admitted to "the United States 
section,'' but has to stand examina- 
tion by the Founding Fathers — 
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jeffer- 
.son, et al. The Founding Fathers, 
upon investigating conditions be- 
low, admit DP 234 to their midst 
and conclude that America, once 
the haven of the oppressed, has for- 
gotten it was built to greatness by 
immigrants. 

Stanza h«s ^ excellent cast and 
grade A production quality in all 
respects. Doan. 



JUD YE SHALL FIND 

Vi'^JS' ^^Z"' Baxter. 
Arnold Moss, June Dupr«^ 

van Levin Orch 

Director: Earie MoGIII 

Writer; Ben Kagan 

SO MIns., Tues. «3), IQ p.™. 

YOUNG MEN'S CHkl^'riAN 

MBS, from New York 

A plea f6r peace, mutual under- 
standing and tolerance among na- 
tions is a bit unusual in these days 
when' war talk is predominant. In 
the Young Men's Christian Assn 
presentation of "And Ye Shall 
Find," Mutual presented an art- 
fully written and eloquent plea 
that runs counter to the general 
run of martial discussiohs. 

The essentials of good writing 
and superior enactments by a tal- 
tented name cast helped dispel the 
familiar peg upon which the story 
was built. The device of having a 
mysterious figure, probably a per- 
sonification of' the Diety, who 
makes appearances at crucial mo- 
ments only; was a familiar one, 
having been used , many times in 
both radio and legit, Nonetheless 
the strong, punchy lines, the sin- 
cerity of the .script and portrayals 
and timeliness of the show's mes- 
sage, made this infraction minor. 

The stoi-y dealt with an armless 
GI who gets mysterious visitations 
whenever there's a personal crisis 
Through these visits, he built up a 
philosophy that enabled him to live 
despite physical handicaps, and ul- 
timately developed to the point 
that he was unaware of his dis- 
ability and more concerned with 
the. state of the world. He seeks 
out the mysterious stranger, who 
makes a potent plea, which urged 
the good forces of the world to 
make an active fight to maintain 
amity among nations, 

Alan Baxter gave an excellent 
account of himself as the. troubled 
amputee, while Arnold Moss as the 
mysterious stranger, and Walter 
Abel as the narrator^ gave sincere 
and well-conceived portrayals. 

• Jose, ■ 



HEART SHOW 

With Ed Sullivan;, Milton Berle, 
Frances Faye, Monica . Lewis. 
John Sebastian, Ferruccio Taglia- 
vini, Steven Yager, Ray Bloch 
and orch.; Frank Gallop, an- 
nouncer 

Producer: Earle McGUl 

Writer: Allan Sloane 

30 Mins., Fri. (86), » p.m. 

Sustaining 

All N. Y. indie stations 

Show business turned out again, 
liberally «nd loyally, as usual, for 
another benefit— this time for the 
N. Y. Heart Fund. It was « tanique 
program— being the first time that 
all of New York's indie stations 
had been linked up for such a 
purpose. For another thing, NBC 
lent its studios for the production. 

It was also a very good variety 
program, more amusing and enter- 
taining than many a high-priced, 
sponsored production. Ed Sullivan, 
spark-plug in the Heart drive and 
chairman of its entertainment com- 
mittee, bad rounded up a fine 
array of talent, and served as 
associate emcee, otherwise modest- 
ly keeping in the background. 
Milton Berle, as mucho cuckoo 
emcee,' was in high spirits, and 
having as good a time with his gags 
as his studio and unseen audiencips. 
He was evidently deeply in sym- 
pathy with the cause, and the 
obvious adlibbing and asides were 
highgrade and titillating. 

Berle trotted out a roster of 
talent that included Frances Faye, 
singing "Scrub Me, Mama"; har- 
monicist John Sebastian, playing 
the Gypsy Dance from "Carmen"; 
Monica Lewis, crooning "It's Nice 
To Be Nice"; the Met's Ferruccio 
Tagliavinii singing "La Danza," and 
Ray Bloch and his orchestra for 
smooth background. Steven Yager, 
a GI who developed a heart condi- 
tion as result of being hit on Luzon, 
appeared briefly to admit he had 
given a full disability pension 
check to the Heart Fund— which 
was the tipoffi to the audience to 
do the obvious, something likewise. 

Program was entertaining, al- 
ways in good taste, with produc- 
tion and scripting on the high level 
of its performers. Bron, 

JUKE BOX jury: 

With Fred B. Cole, guests 
30 Mins.; Sat., 1 p.m. 
SUCIIARD CHOCOLATE 
WHDH, Boston 

This format calls for airing Of 
three new disks with three 'teen- 
age jurors passing out opinions and 
ratings with a "90" rating ringing 
the bell. Idea has been clicking 
plenty. 

Fred B. OoJe, whose two-ho>nr 
(Continued on page 40) 



•4^t§t0iaum'^^^ Wit: jjii' 




DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN 



|^pms«« Awat D. C Readnn To 
CErVs SiiAdi on TikA Taxes 



Washington, March 30. +• 
Xtie American Federation of Ba- 
StBh Artists has Hied a' written 
if»hini(^" with the Commissioner 
nf Internal Revenue, Social Se- 
curity- Rules & Regulations Di- 
vision, I'egarding social security 
(ieductions for performers appear- 
ing on the "We, the People" pro- 

fm. The union notes that for 
years the sponsor. Gulf, has 
niade such deductioHs, but that it 
Xtceatly notified some 1,200 AFRA 
inanherB that it was no longer do- 
ing so. , 

The AFRA brief calls attention 
to the decision of ttie N. Y. conrt 
of appeals in the Jay Velie-Ted 
Collins case of several yeans, ago 
to dispute the Gulf contention that 
actors hired for isingle broadcasts 
aM "independent contractors" and^ 
not "employees" Vithin the mean-- 
iitg of tlie social security regula- 
tions. It claims that AFRA per- 
fatmers on the Gulf series con- 
form to the "employee" definition 
(^having to follow orders and be- 
iig subject to discharge. 
' - According to union executives, if 
Gfflf succeeds in setting aside the 
SteiA security deduction setup 
oQier sponsors would follow suit, 
and' large amounts of social se- : 
curity funds would be lost an- 
nually. The AFRA oMcials also 
figtDce that in such circumstances 
sponiors might next try to do 
away with the 2.7% state unenr- 
ployment insnrance payments In 
New York. . 

Gulf's discontinuance of the so- 
cial security deductions - applies 
only to those hired for single 
shows, not to regularly employed 
musicians, writers and m.c, etc. 
Qt view of AFRA's arguments in 
the case, the revenue agency has 
called upon the oil concern for an 
"opinion" justifying its stand, 
ifack Xondon, of the' Jaife & Jaffe 
law Arm, wrote the AFBA brief. 

S06GSintChai|[es 
RcDHfe in Station 

. _ Chicago, Macdi 30. 

George £. Kagraham, veepee of 
Milwantee's new airer, WMAW, 
last week filed claim for $500,000 
Mainst the estate of the late Her- 
bert Uihlein, former director of 
ttt; Schlltz Brewing Co. In- 
graham's claim is based on an 
.agreement assertedly reached in 
1844,- whereby Ulblein was to 
establish a station with half in- 
vest going to Ingraham. 

Ingraham charges that following 
performance ' of services under 
terms of the agreement, he was 
derived of aU benefits "through 
^^et and default." Attorney 
^wfflcd A, Bandall, part owner of 
WMAW and executor of Uihlein's 
estate of $4,749,079, said the claim 
wwln be contested in the absence 
w a written agreement between 
mgraham and UMein. 



Wr« in It, Too' 

Walter WlncheU's sponsor 
has given him assurance he 
ca^L duck commercials any- 
time and not worry "because 
the Jergens Co. wants to. help 
you fight to stop a fight." 

Columnist - newscaster's 
March 21 broadcast, which got 
him the No. 1 HoOperating of 

29 (see tabulation) resulted 
in nearly 1,000 phone calls in 

30 minutes to the ABC in New 
York alone, according to the 
network's news veepee Tommy 
Velotta. This exceeds the num- 
ber of calls from all over the 
country, within an hour fMtow- 
ing a blood donor broadcast, 
which was Winchell's previous 
high. . 



^Bny Buys 'House' M 

■Jack Benny has bought from 
^Mmit Raymond Productions, for 
•a undisclosed sum, the "Holly- 
wood Open House" platter se- 
quence in which the comedian and 
WB troupe are guestars. Show is 
we one over which Benny's net- 
sponsor, American Tobacco, 
/ jaa its agency, raised a ruckus 
?y months ago, claiming Benny 

to t**® 

peal betweaa Benny and Kermit 
ttaymond permits the latter to 
Sontinufe playing the stansa until 
i tau,>f . the year where com- 
^raents are already made. 
' ftn* P''** for the disk, while 
"m.Jr®^**'*' was declared to be 
TOostantial." 

j.^ that the agency in- 
CJtt' the hassle over the show 
*M ipote. Cone & Belding. which 
^ JUst resigned Luckies billing. 

account now belongs to 
Ja5i^°' which is Ketmtt Bay* 
*^««S agency, too. 



CBSBeatsItsl 
Mari[ritli'47Net 
Of $5,920,104 

CBS sailed through 1947 with a 
steady financial keel, racking np a 
52-week net of {{15,920,104 com- 
pared to the previous year's 52- 
week net of $5,795,896. While rec- 
ord manufacturing operations con- 
tributed a heavy share of the prof- 
its, the slightly improved net was 
due exclusively to the broadcast 
phase, according to tiie bet's an- 
nual stockholder report. 

Columbia's record subsidiary 
profits dipped from $1,380,222 in 
1946 to $1,415,768 in 1947 as a re- 
sult of increased' labor costs and 
changed market conditions. Broad- 
cast profits, however, more than 
compensated with a $4,304,336 net 
for the year, surpassing the previ- 
ous year's profits by $588,662, Total 
taxes remained approximately the 
same with $4,700,000 in 1947 as 
against $4,660,000 in 1946. Cash 
dividends, however, fell off from 
$2.30 a share in 1946 to $2.10 in 
1947, with undistributed profits of 
$2,313,663 added to surplus. 

Gross income from sale of broad- 
cast facilities, talent, lines and rec- 
ords, less discounts, totalled $74,- 
261,645 for the year, a rise of 
$7,000,000 over the previous year. 
FCC's denial of the company's pe- 
tition for commercial color televi- 
sion resulted in a writeoff of fixed 
assets of $181,265. Bonuses to 303 
executives and k«y employees to- 
talled $257,404. 

In the important ewned sucplus 
bracket, CBS pushed up its iicld- 
ings to $23,527,892, a healthy ad- 
vance over last year's surplus of 
$20,792,311. Cash holdings showed 
little change, amounting to $7,077,- 
009 for 1947 as against $7,269,89» 
for 1946; U. S, bonds came to 
$3,846,101 With total current assets 
at $22,188,486; 

At tlie end of 1947, CBS network 
included 171 stations in U. S., 
as compared with 163 the year be- 
fore. Figure represents the high- 
est total of affiliates CBS has had 
in its 20 years of operations. 

WBNX License Renewed 

Washington, March 30. 

FCC today (30) dished out both 
good news and bad news to sta- 
tions in the New York metropoli- 
tan area. , 

WBNX was granted a regular li- 
cense renuwal. The Commission, 
which had earlier tabbed the 
indie's license for hearing on sev- 
eral programming charges, re- 
lented on a strong showing by the 
station that alleged abuses had 
been cleaned up. . 

At the same time, FCC denied 
a power boost to 5kw requested by 
WAAT, NewMk. The Commission 
said the hike, would cause interfer- 
ence with WE:BR, Bufifalo; WELI, 
New Haven, and other stations. 



syRvmiiL BiimE 

SEEN iPEili 

By DICK DOAN 

Radio institute days are upon 
the industry again, and there's a 
marked effort on the part of pro- 
moters of these powwows to hoist 
them out of their weU-wom 
grooves. It's cued ■ to a growing 
feeling that a battle tor survival 
is impending, with broadcasters in 
a^mood to brush off those conferv 
cnces which fail to inject more 
showmanship, constructive discus- 
sion and new ideas, abreast of de- 
velopments, into their agendas. 

No exception is Ohio State 
Univ.'s 18-year-old Institute for 
Education by Radio, which Keith 
Tyler is striving to keep In the 
forefront in the face of mounting 
industry disinterest, based on feel- 
ing that, in spite of awards, the 
event is an annual prdeal in which 
broadcasters getva' kickiiig^round 
"for the poor job' radio is doing." 
It's become an old stoty, with no 
ending. 

.Last year's attendance of broad- 
casters at the Ohio meet was off 
sharply in contrast to earlier years, 
and there's little evidence that 
they'll be flocking back for the 
1948 sessions, scheduled April 30 
through May 3, unless Tyler's ten- 
tative agenda, scheduled lor re- 
lease in a few days, turns up some 
unexpected and inviting prospects 
in the way of topics and talkers. 
In Mew York last week to round 
out panel rosters and sound out 
key industry people, Tyler indi- 
cated he had no plans for drastic- 
ally altering the crowded format 
,,which has provoked broadcaster 
gripes. But he evidenced a keen 
desire to inject more program ap- 
peal for broadcasters. 

Cott Promises Firewoite 

He tossed the opening session 
into the lap of Ted Cott, WNEW 
program veepee, who had planned 
to skip the meeting, with a chal- 
lenging invitation to bring in 
whom he wanted to sound off as 
they pleased. '' Cott promised him 
plenty of this-is-how-we-see-it talk, 

Tyler said he hoped to enliven 
the Sunday night dinner, tradi- 
tional highlight of the parley, with 
a round of pithy five-minute 
speeches by leadmg tradepaper, 
newspaper and magazme critics of 
radio.- The institute director, de- 
spite television's -sudden corner- 
turning, reported he had no plans 
for expanding last year's passing 
attention to video. 

Radio Directors Guild and Radio 
Writers Guild will conduct panels 
(Continued on page 41) - 

All-Negro Theatre Set For 
f FWA Preem Sat. (3); 
Audition 350 Aspirants 

Chester, Pa., March 30. 

All-Negro radio theatre, which 
station WPWA here has been prep- 
ping for months and has attracted 
wide interest, is about to make its 
air . debut. Initialer of the series, 
written and produced by Larry 
Menkin, and presenting aU-Negro 
casts, will hit WPWA's kilocycles 
Saturday (3), 6*6:30 p.m. 

Preem, starring De Vrieux Tom- 
linson, will be "Markheim, 1948," a 
radio adaptation, by Menkin, of a 
Robert Louis Stevenson story. Over- 
all series is titled, "One Out of 
Ten," and will utilize scripts by Joe 
RuscoU, Sidney Slon, Martin Sei- 
f ert, Mike Sklar and other Radio 
Writers Guild members in addition 
to Menkin. 

Station has been conducting 
twice-weekly auditions for the the- 
atre for the past 14 weeks and has 
had auditionecs and requests for 
auditions from such far-away points 
as Chicago, Seattle, Oidahoma, 
Texas, Florida, Louisiana and Mis- 
souri. More than 350 aspirants 
were auditioned, including students 
from Cheyney Univ., Lincoln Univ., 
Temple Univ„ Philadelphia and 
Morgan State College, Baltimore. 

Reporters from Negro newsr 
papers and magazines will come 
here to cover Saturday's preem. 



AFRA, Wdbs %ee on Cost-of-Livi^ 
Increases; Advertisers Ab Assoit 



Still a Great Story 

Goodyear's "Greatest Story 
Ever Told," which Vauiety 
kudosed in Showmanagement 
Awards a year ago, has been 
raking in the honors ever since. 
Latest comes from the City 
College of New York, which, in 
its annual awards to be con- 
ferred April 14, will hand one 
of two bronze plaques to Ray- 
show, Inc.; for creating the 
outstanding radio program of- 
1947 in "Greatest Story." 

Other plaque will go to 
WLW, Cincinnati, for "out-^ 
standing achievement in pro- 
motion in 1947." 



Double Everydiii^ 
ForHieWlnsder 

Hollywood, March 30. 

Double trouble brewed for CBS 
last week when its double spon- 
sorship of "The Whistler" blew off 
scalding steam and made the net- 
work see double through the haze. 
When the mist cleared the network 
had on its hands two separate 
programs to appease Household 
Finance, which sponsors the CBS- 
owned chiller east of the Roddes, 
and Signal Oil, tab taker-upper 
along the coast. * 

When the two clirats couldn't 
agree on how the script should be 
treated, CBS stepped in and order, 
ed two different yams ahd an .en- 
tire new production setup for each 
sponsor. Bill . Forman continues 
in the same role for the coftst and 
Bill Johnstone stalks through the 
eastern airing. William N. Rob- 
son holds production rein on the 
eastern segment and George Al- 
len throws cues for the west.. Even 
the music direction is in double, 
time, with Lud Gluskin for the 
east and 'Wilbur -Hatch tapping 
beat for the oiler. Everett Tom- 
linson contuiues» as script super- 
visor, with the writing still being 
farmed out to freelancers. 



BY KiyiSER-FRASER 

The fate that's been predicted 
for some time for Kaiser-Fraser's 
four-times-weekly "Newscope" on 
Mutual is finalfir a privately ac- 
knowledged fact. The ear manu- 
facturer is pulling the plug on 
Wendell Noble's "human" treat- 
ment of the news at the end of 
May. 

It's not a .case of the sponsor be- 
ing dissatisfied with the stanza, it's 
claimed, despite its lowly Hooper 
showing, but rather a matter of 
budget revision. (K-F a 1 so 
yanked its tab on DuMont's tele- 
vised "Bowes Amateur Hour," ef- 
fective last Sunday (28), despite an 
impressive .Hooper tolerating.) 

K-F isn't getting out of radio en- 
tirely, it's said, and is talking with 
Mutual about keeping the present 
Sunday night at 8:45 time and tak- 
ing on a week-night half -hour •be- 
ginning in the fall. In fact, K-P 
has been reported lately as looking 
at a number of shows, including a 
musical stanza with Phil Pavis con- 
ducting orch and 24-voice chorus. 
Latter package was auditioned for 
the car manufacturer last week. 

K-F agency is Swaney, Drake & 
Bement. 



NBC'S CANADIAN IMFOBT 

NBC has a new Canadian im- 
port, Harry W. Junkin, until re- 
cently program production direc- 
tor for Horace Stovin, Inc., station 
rep organization in Toronto. 

Junkin is on duty as a staff di- 
rector in the web's N. Y. head- 
quarters, but as yet has no show 
assignments. 



The American Federation of Ra- 
dio Artists and the networics have 
agreed on a cost-of-living increase 
covering both commercial and sus- 
taining shows and applying to ad 
agencies (and sponsors), package 
production firms and transcription 
outfits. 

The terms were okayed Monday 
afternoon (29) by t!ie admen and 
producing offices and were slated 
for approval at a special meeting 
last night (Tues.) of the AFRA na- 
tional board. Final acceptance by 
the AFRA membership will be 
taken up at union meetings in 
New York, Chicago and Los An- 
geles, prob^ibly within a week. 

Agreement is for two years and 
calls for a 7)^%- increase for staff 
announcers and sound effects men 
ove-' their present pay (which may 
or may not be scale). No actors 
or singers, and no freelancera get 
any increases. However, there is 
a cost-of-living clause stipulating 
that if the Department of Labor 
index rises 10 points above that of 
March 15, 1948, the union may re- 
open negotiations for a compen* 
sating wage boost. 



LilNffy Bows Oirt 




Washington, March 30: 
Federal Communications Com- 
mission hearing on the sale of 
ABC-owned WOOD, Grand Rapfds, 
was caficelled out' over the- week- 
end when Liberia Broadcasting 
Co., one of two contenders for the- 
outlet, dismissed its purchase bid. 
Hearing was skedded to open here 
yesterday (29); 

Liberty made an llthrhour plea 
for continuance ' of the hearing" 
Friday night (26) but when the 
Commission nixed, tills, the coin- 
pany< dropped out of the raiie. 
Principals -Were financially embai> 
rassed because a projected $350,« 
000 loan from the Woodmen cif th# 
World was withdrawn last week.- 
An earlier contract with. American 
had to be cancelled for lack oficasb 
last year. •: 

Move leaves the way open for 
FCC approval of the sale to pub* 
lisher-broadcaster Hany Bitaer's 
Grandwood Broadcasting CO. for 
$850,000. This will also ■ make 
broker Smith Davis happy since he 
will chalk up a $42,500 commission 
for finding' a buyer for ABC. Lib< 
erty was unwilling to pay Davis in 
the event FCO preferred it over 
Gi'andwood. . 



SOLONSRAPWE,' 
THEN VOTE $3,000,000 

Washington, March 30. 
Ciiticizing the State Depart- 
ment's operation of its worldwide 
information and education pro- 
gram. House Appropriations Com- 
mittee voted to cut the depart' 
ment's request for $5,120,000 to 
$3,000,000 to cover deficit expenses 
to June 30. Beginning July 1, thft 
budget appropriation for the in- 
formation service will be $28,000,- 
000, bulk of which will go for 
Voice of America" broadcasts. 
Committee report on the State 
Department, stated it "was not 
satisfied that the administration of 
the program has been of such a 
nature to secure the Idnd of re- 
sults which Congress is entitled 
to expect and desires to urge that 
the expansion and reorganization 
under the new law be accomplished 
at such a rate and. in such a man- 
ner as to insure a Sound and effec- 
tive program." 

House committee, during hear- 
ings recently, was specially critical 
of the manner in which tiie State : 
Department had turned over most 
of the program activities to the 
major networks, chiefly NBC and 
CBS. It was felt by committee 
members that insufficient supeiv 
vision was exerchsed over the pro« 
gram content. 



80 



Vqgneiday, March 31, 1948 



FCC Nidliiig Bigshots to Si»^^ 
On Pendnuse TV Eiqierbieids 



Washington, March 30. 
Fearful that the big radio en- 
trepreneurs win sit on their lower I 
television channels and do nothing 
for the next 10 years, the Federal 
Communications Commission is 
dishing out some straight talk to| 
industry execs. The word is to start 
experimenting now on the upstairs 
video slots so standards can be 
fixed for penthouse tele around 
1950. 

Twi FCC members have already 
sounded the warning >^Chairm&n 
Wayne Coy and George S. Sterling. 
Boll» say the first move is up to 
Industry but on the q.t. they are 
worried because the big guns in 
radio, once established on the low 
bands, show no disptfsition to break 
ground in the ultra-highs. For any 
pioneering BCA, GK, etc. may do 
will accrue to the advantage of 
those not now in tele. Columbia's 
recent move to absorb five tele as- 
i^^ments was looked au here as 
clue that liist big impetus for up- 
stairs television has been dissi- 
patedr (CBS has four video towns 
spotted, is reported vying with a 
pix company, Ed Pauley and others 
to buy Dorothy Thaclcrey's tele] 

. franchise in Los Angeles). 

.Coy told the Institute of Radio 
Engineers la^t week that he ex- 
pects all available tele assignments 
m the top 140 markets to be ex- 
hausted within the! next 12 months. 
To prepare for a "truly competi- 
tiv« liatioltwide" system for the 
next gelieratlon, he urged industry 
to start blassing a trail In the room- 
ier ultra-highs. FCC, he mourned* 
has not been provided with enough 
technical data to move ahead on 

. staadards. 



Tele Scraps on Tap 

Washington, March 30. 
The Federal Communica- 
tions Commission is hard 
pushed to keep abreast of the 
boom is tele applications. 
Hearings are in the offing in 
some 20 video-tigl»t towns, 
but FCC has ben able to fix 
dates for the sessions in only 
a dozen areias to date. 

Following is a tentative list- 
ing of upcoming tele scraps: 
Louisville, Ky: At>ril 9 in 
Washington. 

Detroit: March 30, further 
hearing in Washington. 

Wilkes-Barre, Pa.: April 1 in 
Wiikes-Barre. 

Cleveland: June 14 lii Cleve- 
land. . 

Harrisburgh: April 2 in 
Washington. 

Fall River; April 7 in Fall 
: River. . ' 

San Francisco: May 24 jo 
Frisco. 

Dallas: April 13-16. 
Boston: April 26,- in Boston.' 
Pittsburgh: May 17 In Pitts- 
burgh.. 
Allentown, Pa,: June 16. 
Reading, Pa.: May 24. 
Youngstown: June 14. 
Hartford: April 19. 
Miami: April 2S" .;. , 
Akron: "MajT 17. 



TebvisioB Revieir | 

PARSIFAIi , . „ . 

With Philadelphia Oroheatri, Norris 
Greer, Andrew Gainey. Thomas 
Schlppers. Norris West, others. 
Produeer: Ted Estabrook 
85 Mlns.. 4i:0S p.m. Fri. (26) 
WFIL-TV, ABC, PhUlyj 

In its first telecast of « major 
musipal program since lifting of 
the AFM ban on live music, WFIL 



New Deal by FCC on Bids for Cbnnel 
Shifts Stb Ire of Teie Boosten 



U. S. Rubber Co, sponsoring 20- 
minute variety show Tuesdays, 8 



TV presented "Parsifal," Wagner's p,m., over WFIL-TV. Philly, 
great consecrational stage festival Crisconl's Philadelphia Motor 
play, before a Wanamaker Store jcar Co. sponsoring 30-mmute 
audience of 15,000. sports quiis show, "Batter Up," on 

Relayed via ABC's tele network Mondays, 8 p.m., over WFIL-TV, 
to New York, Baltimore and lyash- phuiy, 

irtgton, the show brou^t a new Howard Clothes lias signed to 
musical experience to thousands. Ujj,^|g,j,jj ri^^sday night boxing 
The transmitted by TO l^^^^g^ by WABD, Du- 

came in clearly, was rich In texture jj^o^fa n. Y. outlet, Fifty-two 
and—because of good performancea contract, teeing o« next Tues- 
lost little of the exaltation and the ^spptisor 



NBC Wants Dual 



about $100,000. Agency, Redfleld- 
Johstone. 

Dodge Dealers Assn. of Greater 
Cincinnati sponsoring dugout In- 
terviews preceding the 34 Cincy 
Reds' home games to.be televised 
this season by WLWT. Red Thom- 
burgh, the station's sportscaster, 
will interview the players. Ac- 
count placed by Ruthrauff & Ryap, 
Cincy office. 



Pars'CelluloidNet' 
TV Plans S^ied 
As B casters Balk 



F-C^BAgcy.BowontWon't 

biitiirbifoiiightbiiB'way 
TY Show for kcky Strike 

Plans for the airing of "Tonight 
As Broadway" under American To- 
badeo's sponsorship will not be 
changed by the Foote, Conef & Beld 
ing ad agency's- "resigna;tion" of 
the Lucky Strike Account. At leiist 
tbif ii]<»t three shtfws in the series 
vill he handled by the agency un- 
der th6 agreement that F.C.&B, 
will continue with the Lucky 
Strike , biz until, a new agency af- 
fitatibn is made. 

Show preems as planned, conse- 
quently, next Tues^iy (6) over the 
CBS web with a direct pickup from 
the Alvin theatre, N/ Y„ of hack- 

tigft interviews, and scenes from 
e "Mr. Roberts"- legiter. 
. Final okay to the "Broadway" 
ibow was handed out- yesterday 
the International Alliance of 



drama of the score. 

Images on tho screen were sharp 
and well-lighted, and added con- 
siderably to the Bstiener's pleasure. 

Orchestral* excerpts glyen §hde)c 
tije bstow of Walter Bi*«*. h»el«d«d 
the Pc^ludei thfe Templatioh Scene 
from Act li, the Gtiod Frldny SpeU, 
Grall Scene from Acfi III vOnd 
I otiiers.. ; X 

Soloists were Norris Gteer, ten- 
I ori and Audreiw Gaihey, baritone. 
Thomas Schipperc was at the 
organ. Norrist West acted as nar- 
rator. The . choral ensemble in- 
cliided the • Robin Hood Pell 
Chorus, the Haverford College Glee 
Club, the Episcopal Acadeihy 
Chorus and the Ahtiphonal Choi* 
I of the First Baptist Church.^ 

WFIL-TV ehgineers used two 
[cameras, each equipped wWh four 
lenses, to bring the perfonjiance in 
from all angles, tphe tele audience 
I also saw the. famous pahttings, 

1 Christ Before Pfl^te wd Chrtet on 1 Hopes for the early establish- 
Calvaiy *y Michael de jMunkac^r. U^e^^^j ^ television "celluloid net- 
wWch hang belong the organ in uie L^orfc" through use of Paramount's 
Wanamaker Store. pwi* Itele flUa i^cb»der iu» cur^ 

hetaig s)9^ed hy the hrftadcasters. 
Despite the la^ that tiie I^r syis- 
tem has Xh^ead^^ been proved "Com- 
I mercialiy ready and that agencies 
Uaht} theu; clients are wilUng to go 
i. , ^ J, jx. 1 A. ahead with it, broadcasters have 
Benefif sbowS and the^ talent L^jj^ti ^1,^ j^^g h^pga y,at their 
components; a natural for TV Plch- own . ^sterns will be perfected 
, ups, had better watch themselves if g_™ 
dudes the representation of a the Easter Sunday telecasts are any „ , ^. , .. 
number of them In the spot field, criterion; The "brunch" from the • method, comprismg the 

Its policy on spot reppihg in video Monte Carlo, N. Y. niteiy, was »lnnn« .oi » hve tele show off the 
was anything but crystaiized, the emceed by Ed SulUvan on behalf »ce ^ a receivhig tube, has re- 
network explained. However, the of the Heart Fund, and late that Ported^ir^rawn plenty of agency 
markets it would like to have ^in night, at the Tony Perry Awards mterest. With networkmg facilities 
its tele rep list aire, it is under- fetej virtually the sane acts ia the presently Umited, sponsors had 
stood, pretty 'well settled; . . Same routines repeatbd. The Heart hoped to be able to record their 

show was videoed hy CBS and the shows on film and ship t^iem to 
le jjit shihdig was telecast by I Stations throughout the countiy. 
(Cohtlhued 0^^^ pa$e 38) 




RepforApates 

NBC has substanlaated a fear 
that has been agitating indie sta- 
tion reps f pr some time. The net- 
woric admitted last week that "its- 
television' plaiis for affiliates in- 



Tele Follow-llp 



Washington, March 30. i 
Television men have already 
started to bombard the FederS 
Communications Commission with 
protests against the agency's new 
procedure of handling requests to 
shift channels, to video-poor areas 
Procedure was announced last 
week in denying bid of the Yankee 
Network to use the No. 10 slot in 
Bridgepoift instead of Hartford. 

The Commission ruled that each 
shift of a channel can only tie 
made by amending its rules and 
leaving plenty of time for other 
bidders to make a pitch to use the 
channel, in the same town. Tele 
boosters point out that FCC has 
not followed this technique in 
spotting either AM or FM slots 
and argue it will delay establish* . 
ment of video in dozens of areas. . 

They also make the point thai : 
anyone wishing to delay establish* 
ment of tele In a town like Frisco ' 
or Boston has only to petition the 
FCC to nip off one of their slots 
for Bear Creek or some other . 
whlstlestop and nobody can get a 
channel in either town until the 
petition is disposed of. Same' 
point was made by Commissioners 
Robert Jones and Rosel Hyde who 
opposed the new procedure. 

Around a dozen similar requests 
to reallocate channels are hanging 
fire at FCC. And hot on the heels 
of the agency's, pronouncement 
last week, the Toledo Blade petl- ' 
tioned for addition of channels 10 
and 11 to the Toledo area. Action 
on bids in nearby towns may be 
delayed ^hile FCC considers the 
merits of the Toledo Blade's re-, 
quest. 

Boosters of the new plan at FCC 
admit it will delay rapid grants of 
tele stations in top markets but 
argue it is the only way of assur- 
ing all comers an equal crack at t 
freed channel. 



On the matter of compensation 
to affiliaties for network video ac 
counts NBC is tallcing in terms of 
30.% with the' line charge angle re- 
maining an open question until the 
American Telephone & Telegraph 
Co, has filed its rates and the FCC 
has approved them.- NBC expects 
to have the formula for its affiliate 
contract- -ready for submission to 
aflilates in another two weeks 

Despite, the fact that it snagged 
the spot representation, of the one 
and only station, WCAU-TV, Phila- 



CBS Ifikes Tele 
Hr. Rate to $700 



With the new studios of WCB&- 

LiiB .iiiieinauuuiu Auiouve ux i i (6SSr N. Y.) Scheduled to 

lieatrical Staee Emnlovees and P^'^P''**' ** signed to an | preem at the end of April, .the sta- 
neamcai. aiage *,-mpioyees ana | ^^4^^^^ ^^^^^^^^j, CBS asseri;s that jtion this vi/eek instituted an in- 

it has no intention of asking other 
Video -aiifiliat^i tO| consent to dual 
representation; This 
a definite policy. 

CB^' stations relations depart 
ment disclosed Monday (29) that it 



^e International Brotherhood of 
Electrical Workers. Both uniohs 
declared they would work hand- 
la-hand on this series of shows 
'. (Continued on page 38) 



Par has set a price on its system 
at 20c per foot, which would fix 
a price for a half-hour show of 
$840. 

Both NBC and DuMont, how^ 
ever, have been working on their 
ovm film transcribers and hope to 
wait until theirs ^e ready before 
permitting agencies or their clleiits 
to utilize the process. That will, of 
course, mean more income to. 
them. NBC and DuMont systems 
are based on Eastman Kodak pat- 
ents, which make possible record- 
ing- on 16m film but not on 35m. 



16 No Soap on TV 
Unless P&G Revises Its 
'49 Budget; Others Wait 

When Procter & Gamble com- 
pletes its 1949 advertising budget 
May 15 the .trade may get the first 
Inkling of interest on the part of 
the soap business in television. So 
far the soapers as a clan haven't 
made a single move in the direc- 
tion of the new medium. 

Like the cigaret field, the soap 
manufacturers make up one of the 
caglest groups in American busi- 
ness. They've always been imown 
to play 'em close to the chest for 
fear competitors may beat 'em to 
the punch. As a rule the soap 
bunch act like a pack of hares. It 
takes the overt action of one of 
them to find the other beelining 
toward the other's policy. 



creased rate schedule, with ttae p„ 3 ^,4^ j 

.charges upped for both studio and broadcaster* riaim thi>ir 

was given, as remol* shows. Rates are effective L^ds "^^gaUyS^^^ 

tomorrow U). . , neither has set a price on the 

New schedule calls for $700 per f ^^^^ ^ ^ ^ 

?.»»'.*»^-^'^-M'»«',f?„W5l.!? recorded the entire NBC Sym- 
phony show that was televised two 



llNION TANliliR STYMIrfl not .adopt a set formula for the previous rate of $400. No extra 

Viiivn iniiUMi """•M'W its TV affiliation deals but Instead charge is imposed for studio facili-i^..^. n„Mont ha^ h-pH 



Philadelphia, March 30. 
. Caught ,hi the middle of an 
•leventh-hour jurisdictional dispute 
between unions involved,- W'CAU- 
1?V this afternoon (Tues.) was 
forced to call off plans to televise 
the American Opera Co.'s produc- 
tion of "The Bartered Bride" to- 
night at the Academy of Music. 

Station had cleared pickup with 
the opera company and with the 
. American Federation of Musicians, 
but at the last minute the Academy 
stagehands, members of lATSE 
(AFL), refused to work with 
WCAU-TV's tele crews, who are 
members of the American Com- 
munications Assn. (CIO) and IBEW 
(AFL). Joseph Douglas, business 
manager of Local B, lATSE, said 
the. only conditions under which 
the stagehands would work was for 
the station to substitute AFL tech- 
nicians. Station pointed out that 
Its contract with the ACA pre- 
vented this. 

Referred by Douglas to. J. B. 
Bassen,. international lATSE rep 
in New York, WCAU-TV execs 
sought in vain to reach him today, 
^ally gave up and cancelled the 
telecast. 



fit each station." It explained that charge of $200 per hour for studio recentlv Both hone trdemo^^^^ 
the network would' operate oJi a rehearsal is to be made. Ah: time Jh^lm nubUclv soon andThive 
flexible policy in that regard since rate is broken down into different jf^JX forcomSal use somi 
.Oiere will be ,a lot of bidding for time segments, with five minutes "Tia^y""^^"^ 

'going for $200 and a one-minute'*""* montn. ±0 ottsei tne 

spot for $190. Film facilities are 
(Continued on page 38) 



quite a number of markets with 
but one or two video outlets 

CBS radio affiliates that go tele- 
vision, it was also revealed, are 
bound to aUgn themselves with the 
same network under the terms of 
their AM agreements. The net- 
work inserted in its standard af- 
filiate contract about five years 
ago a clause covering that very 
contingency. - • 



Trotting Race* for WPIX 

Following up on its pacting for 
exclusive television coverage- of 
professional hockey and basketball 
games next season, WPIX, the 
N. Y. Dally News' forthcoming 
video station, has signed to broad- 
cast the nightly trotting races 
from Roosevelt Raceway, West-i 
bury, L. I. Races were carried 
sporadically last year by WNBT 
(NBC, N. Y.). 

Contract also gives WPIX the 
right to film the races for subse- 
quent video transmission. Present 
plans call for the station to air two 
nights of racing weekly. 



BALTO'S WMAR 2D 



offset 

possibility of poor reception negat- 
ing the film quality, both broad- 
casters reportedly are using juiced- 
iip receivers which take a direct 
line feed. 

Par, meanwhile, has recorded a 

rRC Tffl 17 Alrlill I ATP number: . of Shows for agencies. 
Vw IliUli miUilAlli Pending clearance froin the broad- 
Continuing the accelerated casters, film at the present time Is 
tempo of its television networking retained by the agencies for their 
plans, CBS Monday (29) signed the record files and for pitches to other 
second aftlUation contract. in two potential sponsors. Par hasn't ex- 
weeks. New station inked is perienced any difficulty with un- 
WMAR-TV, owned and operated ions yet and doesn't anticipate any, 
by the Baltimore Sun, which took since it's willing to make conces- 
the air on Balto's Channel 2 last sions to the unions to get the sys^ 
October. CBS last week signed tern rolling commercially. 
WCAU-TV (Philadelphia) «8 the 



first aMliate on its chain. 

WMAR-TV is slate4 to feed tele 
broadcasts of the Pimlico races to 
WCAU-TV and WCBS-TV, the 
web's N. Y. outlet. Racing season 
from May 3-15 will be topped this 
year by airings of the Dixie Handi- 
cap May 8 and the Preakness on 
May 15. Balto station, meanwhile, 
is expected to be fed many of CBS' 
K. Y.-OrighiAted shows. 



Dennis James' Sports 

Reel for WCBS-TV 

Dennis James will be doubling 
over from WABD, Dumont outlet 
to WC6S-TV to do the commen- 
tary for the "Sports Album" which 
Schaefer's beer will , spot before 
the Brooklyn Dodgers games. 

It's a five-ndhute reel. 



SULLIVAN TO TEE OFF 
NEWS' miNGBOARD' 

WPIX, New York Daily News 
television station,, to be launched 
June 15, signed, one of Hs first 
shows last week. Program involves 
Ed Sullivan, News columnist, as 
m.c. Of a broadcast to be done from 
N. Y.'s Latin "Quarter nitery, to be 
called "Springboard to Fame." It 
will ride an 8:30 to 9 p.m. slot 
weekly. • " ' 

Idea of the broadcast, sold by 
Charlie Yates of Associated Book- 
ing Corp., Is a sort of amateur con- 
test, except that It will use profes- 
sional contestants similar to the 
Arthur Godfrey, CBS radio com- 
mercial. Weekly winner of the 
broadcast will be awarded a week s, 
booking at the L. Q. Lou Walters, 
operator of the nitery, will produce 
and own the package. » 



CWs Pump Room TV Show 

Chicago, March 30. 
Ernest Byfield, hotel chain opera- 
tor, signed a contract Monday (^!»' 
with WGN-TV for a half hour video 
show to originate from the Pun»P 
Room of the Ambassador East 
here. Program will consist 01 
celebrities and stars who happen 
to be m Chicago, and will go on 
Sunday evenings at 6:30 for a halt 
hour. , ,„ 

I Neither the name of the show 
nor the permanent emcee has been 
selected as yet, although honitace 
Byfield, who appeared on ' We me 
People" over CBS last night (Tues,), 
may officiate. 



miCEflSllHV 



PRICE WAR FOR VIDEO RELAYS 



TiDe4»-TDe Biairi for CU Tde 
Si^refflacy Looms n WCN hem 



gutrp batOe for Cbi's tele andi- 
ciice gpts uiuter w«y when WGN- 
Irti^ off Iwxe Apm 5. WBKB, 
Hp till now has bad no rival 
if IiM»l tde, is i^r^puring to meet 
^ competitor vith new equipuiient, 
go. enlarged staff, and several ptth- 
|M0ijning sntpriscs. AH agns 
Zfyit to a toc^-to-toe bnwl. 

pieUminaxT akinnishes WBKB 
lis lost five stiff eis and absorbed 
• 'lot of deftly tossed needles on 
fbe score of ontmoded eqcupmcnt. 

'*n> blunt the latter, station plans 
to instair new image oxthicoos and 
Kfdtching apparatus, along with 

'catpandcd film studio and cmitiol 
team faciUties. Included ace' its 
Ibvt 35m projectors. 

.. .. WBKB spofeesmca cunenttsr are 
gmarting at a recent statement of 
Carl J. Meyers, WGN-TV chief 
engineer, who said "Our equipment 
ia the first in Cbicaeo maldng use 
of Navy aad Army developments." 
b refutatimi if s pointed out that 
BiU Eddy.-WVIEB'k director, 
Inaded a radio and electronfcs 
fdtnol here for tttc TXtiiy throng 
nut the war< 

Hivnlry ha» been whetted re- 
curring rumors that WBKB will 
suspend operations wdm WGN-TV 
kicks oil. False, stmr is said to 
have reached some ad*ntbcrs. 
Source of rumor ankninnC al- 
though in one tnstaiiee it was 
traced to a tele serviccnnii. Dark: 
ittutterings of "arsudoteA cam- 
paign" have been heard' bat n 
proof is available. 

Chief battle, will eeator arooni 
prognmiining, with WCEN-TV nn- 
CfiMng hefty fntc Ahneadr 
ticedded are a varieijr show from 
foni» ByfieId-8 .plusih Pnnip Boom 
land an hour marioBctte strip to 
buekWBKB's kid hit, "Fnpi, KnUa 
and Ollie." Jim Anwdie is set. as 
emcee of an ambitions package for 

a major advertiser. _ 

Iiatest addition to WGN-TVs 
flaff is John McCSvcr. author of 
Ihe recent comedy. "AH Ganl Is 
Divided." He'll bead the script 
4epufntent WBKB meanwhile has 
Ifiiaei Joe Wilson, fonner ABC 
nmrtseaster, and Ross Davis, em- 
m-anttosnccr. 



VHSniM Take Over 

FoUoiffing Out genexal radio* 
to-television. ■ trend, thie na- 
"tion's yotmgtuft iimdio broad- 
casters wM soon enter th« 
video business. 

Prodne«r Noel Wesley has 
signed flie :i3r-s««F«ld Ctdlen 
Twinp, JaQr and Brace, who 
opetats m, one-watt: radio sla- 
tktn Id N.T.. Snr k siMws of 
tele shows. Kids are to. offer 
their "lEan in ,«he Streelf and 
some of the playlets they 
have written and staged over 
titcir o\m radio station. UBC. 
Wesley will then peddle the 
package to agencies and baroad- ^ 
casters. 

Wesley, a former Hollywood 
dance director, plans to pack~ 
age a gi:aup of yrhat he caBa 
"definite" ^tms for Tideo, 
folly rdiearsed. and xeadar for. 
airing for whatever qeonsor 
sedB Us SCTvlcei. 



llJ.iT.. m PILE 
SilLAR RIIIES 



For Bums ^w; 
K-f CaacelsOut 



CBS Opens 1st 
Video Clinic 

CBS' first nationwide tderiaion 
clinic opens today (Wed.1 at Uie 
Waldorf-Astoria,, N. T., with more 
than 200 key station execs from 
100 AM affiliates throogbout the 
country attending. AU-doy meet 
was called by the web to "teaaioie 
broadcasters far icmotcd from 
present key televi^ centers to 
piece together all the scattered 
fugments of television infomafion. 
Into a .comprehensible whole." 

Chief item on the agenda witi be 
discussions by experienced CBS 
-tele execs on how video stations in 
various sized cities can cq^erate 
. tnrofltably. Clinic is sehedbled for 
gWy one day but several days more 
have been kept open for baddies 
With station officials on: their in- 
dividual plans and problems 
■Oroup will be welcomed by CBS 
Pwz Frank Stanton, with tele vee- 
Sfu *^wrence lAwman following 
"ith an ontline of the shows to be 
MigSnated in the wb^s new N. Y. 
swdios, now under constnietimi in 
we Grand Cen&al 



Byron Nelson's Golf 

Pic Shorts fw Yinleo 

New television film paefcagc. fea- 
turing Byron Nelscm's instxucUon 
on golf techniques, is being readied 
joi- Video by legit psodncers Nor- 
«an and Irving Pincas. Series will 
comprise 13 35m shorts. 

ifihns have been sibU on both 
»)« courses and in studios, with 
«eison explaining his technique 
via actual demonstration and cx- 
Pianalo-y dialog. Package, tantn- 
tiveiy ^lod "Winning Goi:," is 
"ein -ufefl by the William Mox - 
*« agency. 



Polling a switch on the newly- 
tonnd practice (tf duplicating AM 
i^Hiia shows .into television, Ree- 
madc SatcgtvnMS is offering its 
Major Ifimras Amateur Hour tele 
sImw fwr dapiBeating on radio. 
Combined pwicc! to sponsors Is 
$13.<MW weekly. 

Eaiser-Itatser tossed in its bank- 
roiling sponge cm the show after 
Sunday (28)i night's airing over the 
DnSfont video mtib. Reason given 
was that the auto outfit had sufr 
fered recent financial setbacks be- 
use of the steel shoxtage but 
there was also reportedly a eladi 
of personalilics involved between 
the spcNBsoc and producerSL Vitb 
the new cftay on the use of live 
musicians on tele, the William 
Monls agency, which Is handling 
the idtow. is now attempting to line 
wp-a. single sptmsor to finance it on 
both radio and tele. 

Accordmg to'Beemack prez Lou 
Goldberg, the show will continue 
as a XDStain«' an the DuMont web 
until a new agNmsor is found. It 
win probably be oflfered to either 
ABC or Malaal for AM broadcast- 
ing, since neither net will have its 
SC.T. tele operalicm ready for at 
least aemaill nMHiths. 

Show pneemed under the K-F 
banner Jan. 18. Show is packaged 
W the original Major 3owes crew, 
which bandied tiae old radio pro- 
gram. Since paEeeming it on tele, 
K-F has sent. /tat a video sottnd- 
trud^ for a cxoss-enuntry tour in 
the hopes of reviving the old 
Bowes amatem' units for vaude. 
That idea, too, is now expected to 
be abandoned. 



Set Snwer httern 
For ffi^esl Tele Net 
?ii Kcrowave Rekf s 

Otlinneapolis, March 30. 

Completion of microwave relay 
stations from Chicago, bringing 
eastern Mevision network pro- 
grams to the_Twin Cities, is ex- 
pected by stenmer, Stanley Hub- 
bard, radio station KSTP president 
and ®!neral- maiiagcr, has told 
newspapers . here. 

Service will regpire from six 
to eight of the line^-sight stations 
between Chicago and Minneapolis, 
according to Hubbard. At the same 
time, Hubbard pointed out, KSTP 
is not waiting for completion of 
the co-axial cable network, which 
is scheduled for late 1949 or ■ 1950, 
but will rebroadcasl film flown 
hca:c, sudi as that s'^ot at the na- 
tional political party conventions. 



SHnNbwn Due Between Hm, Ra£o 
kterests on Perfmners' Pacts 



Washington, March 30. 

Stiff competition among com- 
mon carrier services for network- 
ing television shows loomed here 
today (Tuesday) following filing' 
by Western Union with the Federal 
Commnuicafigais Commission of 
pn^ceed rates for Its N. Y.-Phila- 
delpfaia. microwavo relays. WU's 
mimthly rate oE $4,700 foF an 
ei^it-Imor ' day. seven-day week, 
operation is some $700 over the 
America TetepiMwe and ICieie' 
emir's proposal 'for its , condaA^ 
caNe hot W0 Ins institated sev- 
Eend innovations which it hopes 
will make the overall charge to 
broadcasteis leas costly. 

Citief: itent in WUIs pitch for 
cheaper service is that its two re- 
lay systems are reversible; that is, 
a broadcaster can program shows 
in either direclioa .oa the same re- 
lay. Iir additiaa, the micro-wave 
Systran wi& inadw it posi^liilB fmr 
shows to he tcaasmitted from their 
points of origmaUon directly to 
the reception point. According to 
the WU praposids. no other ex- 
penses will be ittciirred in providr 
ing terminal loops, such as are 
required by the pbooe compangr's 
c;.ble. 

WU also claims that it can pro- 
vide a clearer picture, since its 
inicro-v(raves utilize a 4Ji mg band, 
whereas the co-ax uses noliyXT mg. 
WU's inonthly charMi^ of fjl|,700 is 
for 4 p.m. to midnight seven nights 
weekly. Additional hours on a 
contract basis are to cost $350 per' 
hour. For occasional use not con- 
tracted for on the muoddUy rate, 
the charge will be $25 per btmr. 
WU plans to have the relay service 
in operation before flie ptdSiBcat 
conventions tee off June 2X in 
Philadelphia and, hoges to -write 
contracts on a yearly basKs^ 

The new i^hone conqiaiiiy rate for 
eight4mur-a-day use per broad- 
caster is $35 per airline mile per 
month, some 25-30% under 
AT&'Ts original proposal. Hbe old 
rate was $40 per month. The sta- 
tion-connection charge, ftameais- 
$750 for fulltime users has 
been> pared to $500. E!adt 
hour of use over eight hours; ac day 
will cost a broadcaster $2 a day 
additional and anoHier $35 for 
each station connectiott. Where 
necessary to divide us^ of the 
cable between two tut more uass, 
the phone company has a separate 
rate card. For fbnrThonrs^daily,; 
the monthly charge will be f25 per 
airline mile and the statkm cm»- 
nection tab, $350. Each additifmal 
hour per day will be- charged at 
the rate of $2 per airline mile with 
an additional $60 per station con- 
nection. 

Compared with the cHiginal 
phqn^ company proposals; it was 
eatimaited a licensee wOl now pay 
sranething under $iMO a nMmth 
for ei^-bour use of the cable be- 
tween NevF York and FhiU^. The 
old charges would have hited this 
flgjire to something over $5,300. 

SHAW SAYS mY m 

Apparently more amenable to 
U. S. television than to its older 
brotlier, radio, Irish playwright 
George Bernard Shaw has given his 
okay for the Theatre Guild to stage 
his "Great Catherine" as its next 
venture on the NBC video wek 
NBC-TG contract was recently eac^ 
tended to the option date of Oct. I. 
vnth six more shows coining up. 
Date for "Catherine" hasnt yet 
been set. 

Shaw has been particularly unce- 
ceptive to offers from U. S- radio 
producers, only recently having 
turned down a request from Fred 
Allen to have "Man and Superman" 
adopted to Allen's particular brand 
of takeoiT. His concession to the 
Guild was reportedly made because 
of his long-standing friendship 
with Guild co-directors Lawrence 
LanRn'>r and Tl-''i-esa Helburn. 

"CRr'-rinc" a one -' -H-.r, whicli 
makfs it pos. ' '3 for the Guild to 
Without cutting. 



Femmes^ Beware! 

Jittery over the harm a bad 
image could do, talent agents 
are urging their femme per- 
sonalities to avoid getting 
themselves televised, unless 
they're wearing the requisite 
makeup. Main object of the 
warning is not the booked date 
but rather informal stuff, sueft 
as being scanned' at nightclab 
and oOier opoung^ 

Agents have accented the ad- 
vice for their charges on the 
Coast wheat this oBhand tdffi- 
vising of c e 1 e bs is far mace' 
freqfocnt Vtatk in the east. 



Old Two-a-Day 
Ktmd Seen 
brake Shw 



After several previous attempts, 
to revive vaudeville in its boxie 
format, televisicn will give -the; old 
two»»-day acts & nostalgic shot at 
the limeUght again in a show titled 
Talaee llheatre ti the Air." Pro- 
gram Is being packaged by lira 
Goldberg's Tobias Productions. All 
pmflts are to be channeled into the 
National Tarie^ Artists' welfare 
fund. 

Goldberg wiD. attempt to revive 
as much as possible -the atmos- 
phioe of the Palace, N. Y., where 
the theatre was the vaude'rs' mecca. 
^urvjong show will comprise- the 
slamialtd 10-12 acts, with the same 
pniKnm Mance-as that featured 
on the old Palaoe stage. Most of 
the acts will' be recruited from 
I among the iddtilmers, althou^ 
Goldbetg will attempt to line up 
cnnent nitery stars for guest shots;. 

Packager has already received 
written penmssian from the Asso- 
ciated. Actois and Artistes of 
America-to go ahead with the i^unr 
at whatever terms he can arraoge 
with the talent, pending the eslab- 
lisitmcnt of the 4A's wage scales 
for tde. Since the show is still in 
its preliminary planning stage, no 
station outlet has yet been set. . 



*- American Federation of Musi- 
cians' okay on the use of live mu- 
sic f (HT television may bring to a 
showdown the current disagree* 
ment among film and radio inter- 
ests over controlling the contract 
rights of performers. Because most 
of the fihn ctnnpanies still prohibit 
their stars from appearing on 
video, broadcasters will not be 
able to duplicate on tele those radio 
shows starring an artist under 
cmitract to a film company. 

Sntire tpiestion of performers* 
contrail inelnding the setting of 
video rates by the Associated^Act-* : 
or* and Artistes of America, is ex- 
pected to be brought to a head by 
the new AFM pact with broadcast- 
ers. All radio artists now work 
under the standard American Fed- 
ecatimi of Radio Ai-tists contract, 
iriudk applies only to "commercial 
btoadeasting'" and hence is not ap- 
idicaUe to video. Question of do- 
plication, consequently, has opened 
ioew rwohiems for APRA and, ac- 
cocding to esec secretary Gaorga 
Heller, is^now under consideration. 
Hriler dedared that AFRA would 
have to winrik out the problem but 
said the uniim would probably op« 
ctate under a separate setup for 
each, medium for the present. 
lUemt^Bep Angle 
Contracts between radio per« 
fonnecs and thrir talent reps or .ad 
agencies are another matter. Ac* . 
cording to Tonng & Rubicam at- 
torney liavid G. Miller, early pacts 
included tele rights with little or 
no increase in scale, since video 
i was stiU only a future possibility at 
' that time. With the advent of tele, 
I however, all such contracts now 
can fw edra money if an artist 
performs to both. Many radio stars, 
according to.])Iiller, ruled tele out 
of their contracts entirely, since 
they didnt want to risk losing out 
<m a bid finim a film company un- 
{Conlinned on page 3S) 



'AiOMT'FtnBtDueFor 
RcfkeWidi Fix, Scribes 
ftiFluasWdUsBoob 

Tielevised version of "Author 
Meets the Critics^ will andergo a 
sli^t change (rf format Sunday (4) 
ni^t. when producer Bfartin 
Stone for the first time will put a 
cnrrcitA firstran film on the spot, 
instead of using a new book as be- 
fore. 

FShn is Metro's "Search." cur- 
rent at the Victoria, N. Y. Be- 
cause the pieture's authtxr is in 
SwitMriand, Aline MacMahon, 
who's featured in the cast, will 
take over. ' N. Y. Sun film critic 
Eileon Creelman is to defend 
"Search," but Stone to date has 
found BO <me to oppose it, He's 
hoj^ng to get an officiial of the dis- 
placed persons bureau who wiR at- 
tack the film tor its concession to 
boxofiice via a socalled "Holly- 
wood ending." 

Substitution of a film for the 
usual book on trial is the first of 
several such ideas that Stone wants 
to incorporate into the show. He 
plans eventually to use the author 
of any creative Idea, such as play- 
-wrights, sculptors, painters, etc. 
He's already lined up the Hartmans 
to discuss their current Broadway 
letter. "Angel in the Wings," with 
writercomic Hank Ladd also slated 
to appear. That show has been 
tentatively set for April 18. "Au- 
thor" is aired over the NBC web- 
Sunday nights under General 
Foods' sponsorship with John K. WL 
McCaffery as permanent moder- 
•ator. ■ ■ 



ABCRfsumesTV 
AftoYearLap^ 

ABC tidejisifm will resume pro- 
duction of 'rideo shows April 11 fiHT 
the first time in more than a year. 
With UnZ-TV, its N. Y. outlet, stijl 
imd^ coostmction and not ex-" 
pected fo' take, the air before early 
smnmer. the web will do its pro- 
gramming in WFIL-T'V, recently- 
signcid' iStiEtiiate .in Philadelphia^ 
and WUXtcTVi Washington. Rea- 
son for the early resumption of 
production is to get a line on po- 
tential sponsors for, the budcUng 
network, as well as to give the 
Y. pFododitm crew a chance t4^ 
keep its hand in. 

ABC will traBerize its new pro- 
gramming activities today (Wed- 
nesday) in a special show produced 
in cooperation witii the Democratle 
Katiaaal Committee. Show, from 
5. to d p.ni., will originate in four 
different cities, with Demo p'lrty 
bigwigs priming their political 
slate from WFIL-TV (J'hiladel- 
lAia). WARD (DuMont, N. Y.), 
WMAR-TV CBaltimore) and 
WMALr-T'V (Washington). Show is 
believed, to mark the first time 
the Beli System's coaxial cable has 
been used for a single program, 
originating from four cities. 

To make certain that it would 
have .access to the N. Y.-Wasliing- 
ton coaxial cable for its new pro- 
grammuig 'setup, ABC called a 
meeting, of all east coast tele opera- 
tors in its famneolfice board room 
(CimUnued on page 3S) 



Joe Laurie's Tele Package 

Joe Laurie. Jr., of "Can You Top 
This" and Vabietv columnist, is 
packa^g' a vaude-type revue for 
televisloh prescmtation in the fall 
to be caUed "Joe Laurie, Jr.'s 
VauderiUe Album." Layout vrill 
be bunt around the vaude names 
of former years. 

Laurie will emcee the show if 
present radio commitments penoil* 




I 





*1 



























Prom coast to coast America's top Buifdort and DepartiKMnt Storfs ar#tyins in wltli MRt BL/INDINQl 
DillAM HOUSE... look at th* list of citi«» boMW/ «o*. lf tlioy Iir*liiiil4til«lii^ 
for tho first time a thrtm-way f/e-up between Real Estate BuiMeri. . .-Department Storei and Theotrtt 
Building and Real Estate Editor* of many papers are flOingforit I|i9»*f Many notlonoi adverfis«rs 
are planning separate campoinn* to ti«4n, both tMitioiicfl einil l«««ilv«*<i new liotpltol being built in 



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' UK U HK * " * . 
ItfaiBfiiafall ly.t. 

■■WiiMM Nhtrylaiid 
BM>«n MtnuMhinens 
IpniiffftaM MottackuMfrt 

WMWUMi MMMKkllMtIt 
OroMl tofiidt, Nhckigan 

Ot|>*lMi, Mtbroiha 
AiHmv, Miw Yerii 

P«r*l<m4, Or*«Mi 

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CliaMaMwfa, TcitMttt* 
MoKvliU, T«nMw»« 
NmMIU*. T«nn»»nt 
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!.•» Angeles is planningi t& buy the B(,ANDJflGS^DRlAM HOUSE in Bel Air andf rctfllfr it off te raise 
moiiiey..»tlie-Anterlcfin tegiim in OmulMi i»'«i|s».usfn9^thA.hovse for.a^^^ 

Heart Association in New York City is tying in... Keep in touch with the SitO office for daily de» 
veiopments. If you want further details on what's going on in your city^ write or wire at once to 
MtO, Beverly Hills, California* 




n*W i nSh |ln| #«t Allttr* o». 
' ttmi^mn^ Ittmptr 

Miii«M|wi*Cs 
TtM May Compttny 

'Wlw ftniK, furniture C» 
<.*v*M4H<» D«pt Sl^rv 
eMiTfa'i 

C**fna|>alitan li t 
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b»w«r'» l*w<o)Htr« Co 

MiH«r « aiioMdi 
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^^„RlCOproaue.on,t 



84 



FCC Bums at Bnishoff From FIA 
On Heaiiigs for Fax Broadcasting 



Washington, March 30. 
The Federal Communications 
Commission is burned 'up because 
the FM Assn. and FM broadcasters 
generally failed to show at the 
agency's recent hearings to fix 
commercial standards for facsimile 
broadca.sting. Big issue at the hear- 
ings, so far as the Commission was 
concerned, Was whether fax would 
"make or break" the struggling 
FM industry. But the FM'ers 
weren't on hand to give their side 
of the story. 

As a result, FCC toppers said 
here last week commercial fax 
standards may be a long time a- 
coming. One of a dozen tpugh 
questions now being ^aeksA around 
by Commission technicians is 
whether fax will stay p^t in the 
FM spectrum or be shifted to a 
spot outside the FM'ers territory. 
Here are some of the problems 
' plaguing the FCC: 

1. A score of lax experts -prom* 
ised it would provide a , quick 
means of revenue to revenue-poor 
FM operators but most of- tti^" 
admitted it might cut drasticajly 
into the boxoffice of oral FM pro- 
graHuning. For unless the govern- 
ment approves multiplexing — the 
simultaneous broadcast of fax and 
sound FM shows — whenever fax is 
sent, the FM sound track would 
have to go oif the air. 

Some of the witnesses fplt there 
were still some bugs to be worked 
out in multiplexing and recom- 



mended the fax-alone operation. 
Others plugged for multiplex but 
adnvitted it might degrade the 
high-fidelity of the FM sound pro- 
gram. Several PCC'ers made it 
clear this second-class FM pro- 
gramming would never get their 
vote. Only suggestion was tHat FM 
operators could schedule "talk" 
shows hot requiring high fidelity 
during hours fax was being multi- 
plexed on the sound channel. This 
conflicting testimony of the experi- 
menters has made FCC ultra-pau- 
tious on the fax issue. 

Petrillo Angle Again? 

2. The Petrillo-network agree- 
ment permitting duplication of 
AM-FM shows has both FCC and 
the ardent fax enthusiasts worried. 
Bennett Larson xA WCAU, Philly, 
pointed this up by declaring multi- 
plexing was his station's "only 
salvation;" CBS is requiring 100% 
duplication of all commercial web 
shows which means WCAU could 
not silence its oral FM transmitter 
to senS fax when web commercial 
sh6ws .are being aired. WFIIi, an- 
other lax experimenter, has a sim- 
ilar ukase from ABC which wants 
both web commercial and sustain- 
ing shows duplicated 100%. 

3. FCC men point out the po- 
tential danger of fax to sound FM 
on another count. Well over 40% 
of the FM licensees are newspaper 
publishers who are losing dough on 
their present FM schedules. They 
might consider fax a better way 




"Junior Jamhorep''' Juiititr^ 
ing Fran Ilarn.i—4:45 to 
5:15 daily — sponsored by RCA 
Victor ami y&i'x Aim Supply 



once upon 
a tiioe... 



... chiidren's) radio program)s were heard, but not 
seen. Today, in Detroit, tHe^'r«.both SEEN and 
LISTENED-TO by a wide-eyed audience of 
thousands, in their own homes, through WW J-TV, 
Detroit's only television station. For 75 minutes 
daiIy,WWJ-TV caters to -Jkids', whose enjiojnnent 
of these, programs has- been expressed through 
thousands of letters received from children and 
their parents. Naturally WWJ-TV is proud to 
add this success to its long list of program accon^» 
plishments during its first year of operation*. 



AliMiaf* AAi Sfofien WWJ 




riRST IN DrTROIT...Otvii*</aiiJOptraft((l>y THS DETROIT NIWlS 
N<i«(m«l frif>rM*iilohV«.< rw OEOItGf r. MOUtNGiny COMPANY 



Precarious FM'ers 

Washington, March 30. 

Precarious position of most 
FM operators is pointed up 
sharply by a check of FCC fig- 
ures on earnings and mortality 
of high-frequency outlets. 

By latest counts, not more, 
than a half-dozen broadcasters 
are In the black on their FM 
operations and all of these for- 
tunates are indies getting by 
with peanut-whistle setups. 

According to government' 
figures, over 150 requests for 
FM outlets have been with- 
drawn or dismissed 'since wffiP- 
end. About 60 of this total* 
represent grants or actual FM 
permits which have been 
turned back to FCC for one 
reason or another. More gloom 
is seen in the 58 bids to trans- 
fer FM stations or permits 
which have hit Washington in 
the past four months. 

Just how big a bite tele- 
vision is taking out of FM is 
also beginning to show lip 
here. Approximately 30 of Uk 
outfits dropping out of the 
race in the past two months 
entered bids for video opera- 
tion within a week of the time 
they backed out of FM. 



of getting revenue, it is pointed 
out, and use their FM channel for 
fax in preference to oral program- 
ming.. Newspaper operators who 
showed most enthusiasm for fax at 
the FCO hearings said they intend 
to develop it to supplement but 
not to compete with tbdr nevspa- 
pto' operations. 

4. Temper of the FCG toward 
the FM spokesmen who boycotted 
the hearing is seen itt a statement 
by assistant general (Uiivnsel Banry 
M. Plofldn. FMA made a brfei ap- 
pearance to present a resolution of 
its Board onKtsing assignment of 
FM idot» fi»r tlie ffixcbisive use of 
fax.» . .fc ■ 



Seatfle's KffiO Stirs' 
Nortliwesf onllnfier 
Stories, Against 

. SeattiCek March 30. 

Approximately 75% ot those lis- 
teners virriting in to "Dear Klro," 
weekly feature on lEIRO here, are 
against murder mysteries and 
crime Stories, with only 25% argu- 
ing that the showers are good en- 
tertainment. * 

On the con side, comments range 
frojny "Many youthful crimes Cited 
in today's press are duplicate pat- 
terns of crime dramas" to "For 
the love of Pete, can't we have 
somethtpg on the radio besides 
crime, murder and that hideous 
music that goes with it?" The pro 
side is a little more tesdistic, with 
typicial comments pointing out that 
those who are against the mys- 
teries don't have to listen to them, 
and others saying that the mys- 
teries are a refreshing change 
from "the racket of some female 
squawking or someone giving his 
viewpoints on changing the world. 
We certaiid$' need souetiiing to 
divert our minds from that." 

In any case "Dear Kiro" is get- 
ting -some pertinent comments 
from listeners on radio fare, and 
the CBS outlet is setting up some 
other controversial Subjects for the 
program, such as universal military 
training and daylight saving time, 
so the writers-in can have their 
say on tliese currently hot ques- 
tions. 



CBS has followed up its recent series of ads on the theme of "where 
when, and hov/ 99,000,000 people gather every week" with a brochure 
containing what it terans the facts to support statements made in those 
ads. The network cites copiously from the Neilsen Radio Index to 
bulwark its- claim that it "delivers listeners to advertisers at less 
cost tlian any other network," and in an appendix gently corrects NBC 
for 9ayiag that it, and not CBS, "is the most effective network " CES 
points oijt that NBC in calculating cost per 1,000 families overlooks the 
talent C09t lactor and in counting "Broadcast Measurement Bureau 
families" only, it actual families reached by "each program." 

In citing from the NBI, CBS does a little skipping around as to cip. 
cumscribed periods, TOiereas its cost per 1,000 families comparative 
breakdown Is based on the October, 1946-ApriI, 1947, span, as is its 
statiejuent thjat the "Lux Radio Theatre" averages more listeners per 
broadcast than any other program in radio, CBS picks one NRl week 
(Oct. 5-11, 1947) as the basis for the "Top Program Leadership" section 
in' the, brochure. That' section's highlight Is the statement that "among 
the top network programs in radio today, CBS leads with four out of 
the first five in the evening, and five out of the first five in the daytime 
in lowest cost' per thousand families actually reached." ' 
The nighttime p>s>gi'ams cited, numtiered from two on, are "Big 
Town," "My Friend Inna," "Inner Sanctum" and "Godfrey's Talent 
Scouts." The daytimers are "Big Sister," "Our Gal Sundav." "Ma 
Perkins,'' "Aunt Jenny"^attd ' Helta^owt," / 

. In . connection with the series of transcribed shows about venereal 
disease, which it's producing ior the U. S. Public .Health Service, the 
Columbia Univ. radio department ran into an odd situation on union 
waivers." At the college's reqviest, At&A, and the Radio Writers Guild 
eased their regulations to -permit unlimited repeat of all recordings 
vvitli payment (above-scale) for single performance. However, Petrilli 
i-uled that the musicians were, to work for nothing. At the college's 
instance that other talent was beinff paid a single fee and that it de- 
sired not to have to ask musicians to work gratis, Petrillo agreed to 
the single performance payment. As known in the trade, the AFM 
prez is a sensitive guy on the subject of germs and disease. 



Benton Si Bowles ad agency has leased the former Majestic Records 
studios on 40th street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, N.Y., including 
a spacious recording studio wi^ control panels, etc., but has no plans 
for getting Into tjie platter biss. It'a «3qpected the studio will be parti- 
tioned Into offices. . ' 

Present agency offices in N.Y. at 444 Madison ave. are crowded, but 
what departments will be moved to 40th street won't be determined 
untU B&B pr^ Clarence Qoshotn retunis £rom a vacaUcm ttip early 
in April. 



'Suspense' Goes Off But 
Returns for Auto-Lite 

Hollywood, March 30. 
Auto-Lite has bought "Suspense" 
from CBS as a replacement of the 
Dick Haymes show Thursday 
nights. The melodrama series, 
starring Robert Montgomery in a 
fuU-Iiaur Saturday nights, leaves 
the air temporarily after the April 
10 broadcast, though Montgomery 
bowed oif after last Saturday (27). 
The show will return next summer, 
when the current Haymes cycle 
ends, as a half-hour in the Thurs- 
day night spot. 

Whether Montgomery will be 
with the revived edition is uncer- 
tain. As of the moment, he and 
the sponsor have been unable to 
agree on money, the actor insist- 
ing on his present fee of $2,500 as 
m.c. and an additional $2,000 when 
he also plays the lead. 



Most representative body of New York radio, FM and television execs 
ever organized has been set up by Seymour Siegel, director ttf WNYC. 
as an overall planning board for radio coverage of New York city's 
Golden Anniversary. Serving on the panel are: James M. Gaines, 
WNBC; Nathan Straus, WMCA; Mrs. Dorothy Thackrey. WLIB; Theo* 
dore C. Streibert, WOR; Capt. WilUam G. 8. STtoch, WGBP; Ira Hirsi*. 
mann, WABF; Robert Coe, WPIX; Frank B. ifnllen. WNBT; harnme* 
W. Lowman, WCBS-TV; Lawrence PhiUips, WABD; Miss Edith Dick, 
WWHL; Elliott M. Sanger, WQXR; Ralph N. Weil, WOV; Ralph Breat, 
WGYN; Ted Cott, WNEW; Charles Baltin, WHOM; Murray B. Grabhom, 
WJZ; James D. Shouse, WINS; Herbert L. .Pcttey„WHN; Henry Green^ 
field, WEVD; Arthur Hull Hayes, WCBS; William I. Moore, WBNX, and 
Lilian S. Blake, WNYC. First highlight of the anni observance they'll 
map special coverage of is the "New York at Work" parade Slated 
June 12. . . 



POOR MAN'S BARGiUi IN 
€KEAWA)fS<lM^ 

Uutoal Itai! coin^ np with ttte 
pool; man's hiHegafai In giveaway 
stanzas, as well as proof positive of 
the height tb which listeners' give- 
away appetites have been whetted. 
Program is a two-man "sleeper" 
and the mail pull it showed on a 
two-week, late-at-night test has 
MBS programmers agog. 

The ^^w, called "Take a Num- 
bw," is 30 .mtoutes of pure give- 
away, with a dash of "answer Ham" 
technique for flavoring. Listeners 
are invited to send in questions, on 
any topic. Three hundred of the 
questions are pulled out of the bag 
and clipped to numbers, hung on 
a big board. Emcee Bob Shepard 
and a helper pick off numbers at 
random, read the attached ques- 
tions, and if Shepard can't an&wer 
a question, the sender gets a Car, 
washing machine or some other 
pi"ize. 

Web put the stanza on the line 
two Saturday nights at 10:30 and 
few major outlet's took it (WOR, 
N.Y., played it back 12:30-1 a.m.) 
but both editions drew in excess of 
10,000 letters apiece. As a result, 
the show is being pencilled into the 
Friday at 8 spot which Burl Ives is 
exiting April 9 and is being pitched 
up Jor sponsorship at $1,500 a 
week,-'-' •■■ .. ■ 

Stanza is padicaged hy Sam 
Levine and Bob O/bmroe. 




fnsin the. Ficoch Qtaitcr to 
tlie Gntf and South Iiooisiuia listenoa. 
Framdi!!^iHOd«ioiiwithciit»hoao»i 
New Orltmi inslilHtitm WDSU ha» 
developed a bigh quaKcy of ioiegrity; 
WDSU devocej pngram Imi ngilMfj 
ind otdasively to the Sc. loiiis Catbctol, 
tbc ImcfoatioiuU Ho»w, MOiMoe Intel* 
oni'onal Mt^m, Tulshe Uniwnitr. 
Union Siatioii,ibeitDa!cipilAuditotniiq, 
honle* and OpenH. 

WDSU'i dominate Hoo^ 
cntiog proves that heii- 
oring local iostiialioili 
creates high li»t«*et 
loyalty. 



UCHDS. 



NEW 
ORLEANS 



WDSU 



ABC 

AfliliaMi 



1280 kc 

.JOHN 81AIK a CO_ ttaimniilirtlm 



siwa 



kQMHl WANTED 

Sfandarci vaud* act wants tvlavision and radio osly. 
Panto-eharaettr comedian. Hot own sinfx. Will ac- 
cept parts*' 

BOX 2104 
c/o Variety, 1S4 W. 46th St., New Yoilc 19 



Wetoegday^ 'Maifch 31, 1948 



S9 



NBC TO muaw 

ON POLITICAL PICIUPS 

NBC coverage of the Demo- 
cratic and Republican political con- 
ventions in Philadelphia this sum- 
mer will be a closely integrated 
operation as far as the web's AM 
and television setups are con- 
cerned, with ^niultaneous pickups 
for the two mediums being ar- 
ranged wherever possible. 

Meeting was held during the 
past week in which blueprints were 
drawn for. close cooperation, such 
as pooling,.of information, etc., be- 
tween the hews and video divisions 
of the network. William Brooks, 
news veepee, and Carleton Smith, 
tele exec, will jointly oversee the 
coverage, giving the visual end of 
the operation equal footing with 
the aural. 

Total of at least 150 NBC per- 
sonnel is expected to be assigned 
to the two party conclaves. 



Natl School 
Network Seen 
StrongNeed 

Indicating a big stride forward, 
a' cross-sectional survey of educa- 
tional radio stations in the.U. S. 
reveals an average daily operating 
time of eight hours with presenta- 
tion of a wide variety of programs, 
Conducted for Indiana Univ.'s ra- 
dio department by George Wille- 
ford and H. J. Skomia, the survey 
covers 18 typical stations ranging 
•from public school to university 
management. -i 
Interest in a national educational | 
network ,wa» shovra to be wide- 
epcead, 14 out of the 18 stations 
voting affirmatively for its estab- 
lishment. Bemaining stations 

either failed to express an opinion I Buflfalo — Jack Medoff, vet Buf- 
on the network proposition or falo Evening News reporter, has 
thought it impractical at the pres- started new weekly civic and po- 
ent time. liiical commentary entitled, "Local 

Annual maintenance budgets'] Scene" over WBEN. 
tor the school stations range from 
a high of $57,000 to a low of $3,320. 
In many cases, however, students 1 
and faculty members participate in 
station operations on the cult with 
compensation in the form of time 
off. Station directors, where paid, 
■■ receive high salaries by academic 
standards with the average salary 
reaching $5;580. 

In way of equipment, 11 of the 
stations have at least one news I 
ticker in operation. Average num- 
ber of studios available to each sta- 
tion totals 3.2. Only three of the I 
Stations are currently equipped for 
television operations. 

Only half of the stations indi- 
ibated that their schedules were | 
coordinated with the school cur- 
riculums. Adult educational pro- 
gramming, however, is accented, I 
with 10 stations offering numerous 
airerf) for teachers, parents, uni- 
versity students and veterans. 
Music and talks approximately di- 1 
Vide the programming field for | 
most of the stations. 



Brotherhood BoKtops 

Proving that tolerance plugs 
pay off, Mutual's "Superman" 
airer irecently received a stag- 
gering load of mail in response 
to a contest built around the 
phrase: "AH men are created 
equal." Contest, which lasted 
only five days, pulled 941,673 
letters covering every state in 
the Union. 

Over 1,000 prizes were 
awarded, but the mail re- 
sponse was nonetheless spec- 
tacular in light of the fact that 
the giveawaysi had an average 
retail price of under $1. 



KICD Buyer on FCC Hot Seat; Found 
In$iamHocktoRadM^^ 

Washingtoh, Marcii 30. jown financial aicrangeinente 
False teistimony about his Undn- brought out his loan to Sandiers. 



cial resources has landed another 
broadcaster in hot water at the 
Federal Communications Commis- 
sion. FCC last week ordered Ben B. ! Hearing was due to open last Fri- 



The revocation order is the 
second to come from FCC within 
the month, on financial counts. 



Russ Emery to Hires Show 

^ Russ Emery, currently on the 
cross-the-board Crawford Clothes 
show on WNEW, N. Y., will suc- 
ceed Phil Hanna on the Hires Sun- 
day afternoon CBS show sj;arting 
April 25. He'll be backed by the 
Satisfiers, the vocal quartet that 
worked the Chesterfield show. 
Marty Goodman made the Emery 
deal. 

Hires show goes to a half-hour i station 



Sanders, owner of KICD, Spencer, 
la., to turn back his license effec- 
tive April 15 or prepare to defend 
it in a public heanng. 

Sanders recently bought the sta- 
tion, FCG pointed out, and at the 
time went on record as having a 
..net worth of $27,590. Commission 
later discovered that Sanders had 
gotten a personal loan of $19,000: 
from radio preacher J. Harold 
Smith in order to meet the pur- 
chase price. 

Sanders might have gotten by 
with the deal except for some pok- 
ing around by FCC attorneys on a 
bid Smith has on fire in 



day (26) on an order yanking the 
license of KGAR, Garden City, 
Kan. There, principal stockholder 
Al Pyatt had sworn he had a 
$36,500 bank loan which was in fact 
a personal loan. 



after the current 13-week cycle. I Knoxville, Tenn. The preacher's 



Don McNeilPs 'Pantry Pwrty' 
Chicago, March 30. 

Don McNeill Enterprises is out 
to peddle.its first radio package, a 
15-minute tape-recorded strip with 
Bob Murphy as emcee. Titled 
"Pantry Party," the show puts a 
twist on and participationers by 
conducting them at parties in pri-- 
vate homes. 



Court Tosses Out 1396 
Swagger Suit Vs. ABC 
In Cancellation of Show I 

A jury in the N. Y. district fed- 
eral court last week dismissed the I 
$139,000 damage suit filed by Prod- 
ucts Distributing Corp. against the 
American Broadcasting Co. Ver- 
dict also awarded the network its 
counter claim of $1,259 from PDC 
for monies due for unpaid time on 
the Swagger program, sponsored 
by the plaintiff. 

Siiit stemmed from the cancella- 
tion' of the PDC program heard 
nightly over WJZ, N. Y. It was 
ABC's contention that the program 
was instituted for the purpose of 
playing tunes published by the 
BMI licensed firms controlled by | 
Arthur Jarwood, one of PDC's of- 
ilcers. It was alleged that the pur- 1 
pose of the show was to play tunes 
published by Jarwood outfits for | 
collecting $48 per plug after num- 
ber had been played 150 times on 
the air. Program was cancelled 
after a 13-week period on the basis 
that the program plugged tunes 
far in proportion to their popu- 1 
larity. 

Jarwood subsequently filed suit I 
on the basis that cancellation of 
ihe program made it impossible for 
him to carry out his contracts with 
the ipanufacturers of Swagger and 
Carousel toiletries, • arrangement 
of which called for the manufac- 
turers to reimburse Jarwood to the 
extent of $4 for every $1 expended 
in plugging the products. 

Val Olttian's band played the 
show, which wasicancelled in Dec, 
' 1945. 



CARV GRANT 
lORtm YOUNG 



eek 



iiKO Radio P,ctur,t 



1^ 



^ the n^"^ 
homes ^ 

.WWAY K.GHTS 

10:30 



SECHET HEART" 
^«^id Bruce 

■ ■liil^iilMli 




M'CARTHY EXITS KWQ 
FOR FRISCO TV'POSTl 

San Francisco, March 30 
C. L. McCarthy, who for the past 
14 years has been president of 
KWQ, CBS local outlet, today an 
nounced his resignation to become 
general manager of Television 
California. McCarthy's resignation 
will become efliective April 1. 

The Brunton family has pur- 
chased McCarthy's interest In 
KWQ and according to Ralph R. 
Brunton, acting president, there 
will be no immediate replacement 
for McCarthy. 

Television California has applied 
.for a commercial television station 
m Frisco.on channel 11. 




THC 

GREGORY PBCK 
\ WASO BOND 



"THE 
OARIC MIRROR" 

l^m Ayres 



yftiversoi Jiifmmtfanor 



Si 



This i& mr. ace, advi&rtising man 
of sorrows— three of whom 
are shown in this picture. 



TMs Is Ken Roberts, a terribly 
frequent caHer at the Aces', 
• and a radio announcer to 
boot (which mr. ace would 
Iike,tQ do). 




These feet belong to a heel called Paul. 
Paul is mr. ace's brother-in-law. 
He's steadily unemployed, except for the 
Job he does on mr. ace's nerves. 



, And this is JANE, 
mr. ace's devoted little wife, 
who hblds him in 
the hollow of her head. 




They keep 
calling this 
show names 

Names like "the prize comedy package among the 
season's entrants" (Variety) . . ."a gladsome gift 
to network programming" (Billboard) ... 
"CBS' captivating number" (New Republic)... 
"Very, very, funny" (New York Herald Tribune) 
,. . and stuff like that. 

. But even those names don't do justice to our 
mr. ace and JANE. 

For how, after all, do you define the dimensions of 
big-time Radio laughter? How can you find a name for 
the gaiety of the audience-^ and of thei, sponsor, too 
—when Radio comedy is written and played by experts? 

One clue, of course, is that mr, ace and JANE are 
the same Goodman and Jane Ace of "Radio's earliest 
. and sharpest husband-and-wife program" (Time). 

Surely it's a surprise to' just about nobody thatvthis 
latest CBS-built program— written, produced and 
directed by Goodman Ace— is a hit. For it has all 
the action, situations and lines which make for really 
big audience laughs. It is expert new Radio comedy 
with all the "if* removed. 

So to listeners all over America. . . 
and to the advertiser now looking for a better program . .. 
CBS can offer no better advice than more name-ealling 
(from the N.Y; Post): 

"This is-bright, refreshing... Don't miss It..." 
It's on CBS, Saturday night at 7 $00, est. 

Columbia Broadcasting System 



ss 



RAM* 



*Tonite on B'way' 

■^~r. Continued Iroin page 30 



alone for the mutual interest of all 
concerned. No special fees or 
standby crews are to be required, 
and the two unions will swap jobs 
■whei-e necessary. 

It had been reported that the 
show would be switched from CBS 
to buMont, since the DuMoht tech- 
nicians are all members of lA, 
whereas the CBS crew belongs to 
the International Brotherhood of 
Electrical Workers. DuMont sales 
staff, in fact, had made a special 
pitch for the show on that basis 
but was turned down. Other two 
shows under the original contract 
haven't yet been set, with Gosch 
attempting to line up s musical 
now that live musicians are per- 
mitted' to appear on video: 

Gosch has signed as assistant di- 
rector Roland GtUett, former Brit- 
ish legit, film and BBC tele diree- 

F.Ci&B. tele veepee Ralph B. 
Austrian, meanwhile, is making a 
special pitch to other agency 
clients for viideo to compensate for 
loss of the Luckies' account. Next 
client to enter tele is expected to 
be Rheingold Beer. Several show 
Ideas have been made to the brew- 
ery recently and a final decision 
is expected this week. Aiistrian 
will head for Chicago immediately 
after the "Biroadway" prtem to 
huddle with execs of the agency's 
four major Chi accounts, as a fol- 
lowup to an exploratory trip he 
took several months ago. 



VedHyiiciay, Mmyh 31. 1949 



Times Spreads Spots 

For Wiiuiy's Secrets 

N. Y. Times, which owns WQXR, 
Gotham indie, . is buying a heavy 
schedule of spots on four other 
N..Y. stations as well as on its own 
outlet in a 10-day campaign in 
mid-April to plug the paper's pub- 
lication of Winston Churchill's war 
memoirs. It's believed possibly 
. the fijpst time the Times has gone 
outside its- own station to promote 
an editorial feature. 
' Spots, placed via St. Georges & 
Keyes agency, will run on WOR, 
\\rNBC, WNEW apd WHN in addi- 
tion to WQXR. 



iiiimi n'liilWfiiitnii 



Radfio yex-T(V & 1% Shows 



NIGHniME 



(Wec'fc Feb, 15-21) 



Cur. Prcv. 
Rank Rank 



TOTAL AUDIENCE* 

Cur. Points 
Program . Batinjr Change 



DAYTIME 

TOTAL AUDIENCE 



. 1 
2 
3 
4 
5. 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
10 
20 



1 
3 
7 
2 
6 
4 
S 
11 
5 
8 
12 
16 



Lux Theatre ....40.1 -}-3.2 

Amos 'n' Andy ......30.9 

My Friend Irma 30.9 -f ^.7 

Fibber McGee 30:3 — ZiS 

Truth or Conseq . ... ;28,9 -|-2.7 

Bob Hope 27.3 — -1.7: 

Godfrey Scouts 26.7 -1-1.0 

Fred Allen 26,6 -1-1.4 

Charlie McCarthy ..,2eJSI 

Fitch Bandwagon , . . .25.9 -^.2 

Life of Riley .ZS.e -f O.8 

Big Town 25.5 -f 1.8 

13 Duffy's Tavern 25.4 -1-0.6 

14 Mr. District Attorney 25.1 4-0.4 

.Tack Benny ... 24.8 -—0.6 

Screen GuUd Players 23.7 -f-1.2 

Red Skelton 23.7 -1-0.2 

Inner Sanctum 22.8 -1-1.5 

Blondie 22.7 .fl.« 

Your Hit Parade . . ... .22.4 —■■ 



Cur. Prcv. 
Bank Rank 

3 

'.4- 



Cur. Points 
Bating Change 

—0.2 



10 
NR 

18 
NR 
NR 



5 
6 
.7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 



Program 

4 Our Gal, Sunday. , , ,:i2.0 
15 My True Story ,11.9 4-1.4 

3 Arthur Godfrey 11.9 , —0.4 

1 Backstage Wife 11.5 —1.2 

2 Right to Happiness . . . 11:5 —0,9 
NR Wendy Warren 11.4 -fl.O 

10 Big Sister .U.2 -f 0.2 

12 Ma 'Perkins (CBS) .. ,11.1 -fO,2 

5 Stella Dallas ,10,9 —1.3 

7, When Girl Marries .. 10.* —1.0 

9 Rom. Helen Trent . . . 10.6 — 0.4 

14 Road of Life .-.10.5 —0.2 

NR Rosemary 10.4 -fO.6 

NR Aunt Jenny 10.2 -f-0,3 

6 Young Widder Brown . 10.2 — 1.7 



NR — ^Not ranked in top brackets on preceding repoirt. 
* Includes only once a week shows, 15-60 Mins. 



(Copyrisfat, 1948, A. C. Nielsen Co.) 



Tele Followups 



Continued from jpage 30 
DuMont. Jack Carter and Stan 



Fisher, for instance, were carbon 
copies of their daytime stints, and 
since it is reasonable to assume 
that the average TV fan tunes in 
on everything available, the haz- 
ards of repetition are obvious . . . 
Bennett Cerf proved himself ex- 
pert and well-poised over WNBT 
Sunday night, on "Author Meets 
Critic," more than holding his own 
before a rather severe attack on 
his $500,000 production cost dic- 
tionary. Obviously seasoned in 
front of the mike or inconoscope.the 
publisher-author gave a good ac- 
count of himself, second only tO' 
the equally personable and poised 
Johii K. M. McCaffery. 



<ible. Mai-y Alice Moore, Enid 
Markey, Anna Minot, -Viola Dean 
and the others . performed credit- 
ably, with John Forsythe, as 
Keith, the only one miscast. , 

Sobol handled his cameras well, 
with an assist from .technical di- 
rector Bill States. Bob Wade's 
three sets were good. 



Theatre Guild's presentation of 
"Stage Door" over the NBC web 
Sunday (28) night was the best y%t 
in an otherwise mediocre list of 
TG tele shows presented thus far. 
Script was capsuled into a 70- 
minute program from its Original 
Broadway threeracter, which made 
it difficult to build characteriza- 
tions of any in the cast except the 
leads. Otherwise, "Door" packed 
more life and movement than any 
previous TG offering, indicating 
the legit outfit may show improve- 
ment in its next series of six tele 
shows. 

Cast, working under the super- 
vision of Guild producer Theresa 
Helbum and NBC director Eddie 
Sobol, was good. Louisa Horton 
gave • htgbly.«ppeaUng and con-^ 
vincing portrayal of Terry and was 
given good support by ex-film actor 
Harvey Shephens as her vis-a-vis. 
Role of Kay, played neiatiy by 
Mary Anderson, wa.s insufficiently 
grounded to make her sufcide cred- 



r 



HIGHEST HOOPERS 
of all the local shows hi 
WASHlNCTOfll, D. €. 




Carter 



Singing ttor of "DATE WITH 
JERRY" 61) 50.000 watf 

WTOP-CBS 



«Ort.:D«e. 1947, 8.3, with 29% 
thart of audianc* atST PM Sotur- 
doyi, Show now followi th* N*w 
York Phtlhornibnic at 4:30 Sunday 
..•fltriioaii. 




Not missing a bet for a remote 
special event pro-am',. NBC and 
DuMont Video personnel had to be 
on tap at the unusually early hour 
of 12 (noon) to cover the annual 
Easter Sunday parade on Fifth 
Avenue. Maybe they shudda stood 
in bed — but then again, the boys 
could use the practice. 

Both programs alternated be- 
tween interviews of passing clothes 
horses and panning the cameras up 
and down the street to catch the 
crowd as a whole. The interviews, 
with a few exceptions provided, by 
Dennis James for DiMont, were 
the, usual order of palaver and 
giggling, while tlie crowd shots 
were okay if you like to look at 
meandering crowds. 

While Ben Grauer for NBC 
played his street interviews 
straight, James, decked, out in taUs 
and topper, tried to give them a 
slight twist. In fact, he almost 
turned his portion of the program 
into a circus. There weren't many 
authentic swells around so James 
made the most of the hoi-poUoi. 
The procession before his mike in- 
cluded a couple of bearded farmers 
from Connecticut, a French mod- 
iste with a ballyhoo-seeking retinue 
of models, the only canine bowler 
in the U. -S. and several other oddi- 
ties. It looked less like Easter than 
a sideshow. . 

And the ' hats? In the words of 
Kay Wister' for DuMont and Mary 
T.^u Hutchinson for N'BC, they 
were simply exquisite, gorgeous, 
stunning, adorable and just plain 
beautiful. -On the .^ideo screen,, 
they Indhsed ffice laA year's models. 



CBS TV Rates 

B Continued from page 30 ; 



cliarged -at the rate of $125 per 
hour. 

In addition, WCBS-TV has in- 
stituted sl standard charge of $800 
for remote pickups on' any show 
using standard equipment and 
crew. This charge is to be added 
to the time rate schedule, so that 
the complete cost of a one-hour re- 
mote show would be $l,5t)0. Quota- 
tions oh network shov/s; for either 
live studio or remote pickups, are 
to 'be made on request. 

Station has also broken down its 
time cliarges for the first time into 
including all other, is to be charged 
for at 60% of the A rates. In addi- 
tion, the station will allow dis- 
counts based on the frequency of 
shows, ranging from 5% lor a 13- 
.show contract to 15% for 208 or 
more shows. 

Glass A and Class B categories. 
Class A time includes the (> to 11 
p.m. segments Mondays through 
Fridays and 12 noon to 11 p.m. Sat- 
urdays and Sundays. Class B time, 

Salt Lake City — Paul Coburn 
has left the ICALL announcing staff 
to take over as director of sports 
at KLO, Ogden, starting April 17. 



TV Showdown 

Continued from page 31 ; 



der the film producers" nix oh per- 
mitting their stars to do video 
shows. ■ 

With the new AFM pact now 
opening, tele to many radio artists, 
Miller expressed the opinion that 
those performers under contract to 
an agency or client will be per- 
mitted to do video shows, so long 
as they don't work for a competing 
client. Advertiser who baidcrolls 
the star's radio show, in -fact, will 
probably have first refusal or op- 
tion on the star's services for video. 
Miller also cited the possibility of 
the fadio networks already having 
tied up the. tele rights of certain 
radio performers. 

Question of the establishment of 
minimum wages and working con- 
ditions by the 4A's for video, mean- 
while, is still pending. Tentative 
rates, which have been under dis- 
cussion by the 4A's tele committee, 
make no provision for dupUcation 
of radio shows into tele, indicating 
this factor too will now have to be 
included. Heller, who's, also chair- 
man of the committee, declared 
that the-scales would soon be ready 
for submission to the nets for ne- 
gotiation. 



ABC 

GOntlinued from page 31 



Alan Young Scrams Texaco 

Hollywood, March 30. 

Alan Young and Texaco parted 
company last week on the eve of 
the switchover of Gordon McRae 
from CBS to ABC. Jimmy Saphler 
agency requested more comedy 
time for Young and when it was 
refused asked for and received his 
release, effective immediately. 

On the Tony Martin show Young 
was given two spots for a total of 
10 minutes, which was eonsidefed 
inadequate for his talents on the 
new setup. Texaco wanted to main- 
tain the ratio and devote most of 
the program "no music, which 
brought the demand for an im- 
mediate and outright release. 



Monday (26) for the purposes of 
reallocating the cable schedule 
Still operating on a gratis experi- 
mental purpose, the cable has been 
split up for the last several months 
among CBS, DuMont and NBC 
pending FCC acceptance of the 
rates filed by the American Tele- 
phon» & Telegraph Co, in WashinB- 
ton this week. ? 

Under present AT&T plans, the 
webs have been meeting eveiy 
three months to allocate co-ax time 
Meet- originally scheduled for 
March, at wliich time the allocation 
was to have been set for April 
May and June, was postponed, be-^ 
caiise of the impending rates. With! 
ABC now ready to start program- 
ming again, that web was forced to 
call the meet. In addition to reps 
from ABC, CBS, DuMont and NBC, 
other stations represented included 
WATV (Newark), WPIX (Daily 
News, N. Y.), WOR (N. Y.), Yankee 
Network, WFIL-TV, WMAR-TV 
and WMAR-TV (Baltimore), 

ABC has reserved the 6-6:30 p.m. 
slot Sunday nights on WFIL-TV 
and. WMAL-TV for its program- 
ming. It will also pick up the 8- 
8:30 p.m. slot Thursdays and the 
9:30-10;30 segment Saturday nights 
on the same two stations. Shows 
will be programmed weekly, but 
definite plans for the teeoff pr»- 
gram haven't yet been set. Move 
marks the return of ABC to its pro. 
gramming operation last year, 
when it bought time on four differ- 
ent east coast stations. 

New production will be handled 
by either the staffs of the Washing- 
ton and Philly outlets, under the 
supervision of ABC national tele 
director Paul B. Mowrey, or by the 
WJZ-TV production staff. Latter 
includes Chuck Holden, Dick Gbg- 
gin,. Ralph ' Warren and Marshall 
Diskin, all recently added to the 
staff in various produotion capaci- 
ties. 



Topeka — Junior Chamber of 
Commerce has signed the "Ladies 
Be Seated" show for two pei-form- 
ances here April 9. The Tom 
Moore show on torn* will do its- 
regular broadcast originating over 
WREN at 2 pjn. The troupe wUl 
put on a special show in the Mu- 
nicipal Auditorium in the evening 
before a paid gate for the benefit 
of the Jaycecs. 



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40 



American Tobaeco 



Continued from page 25 j 



handle tucWes, BBD&O will re- 
linquish its Bfown & Williamson 
Kool cigaret account, 

Tliat the $2,000,000 Pall Mall ac- 
count (represented on the air by 
the Wednesday night "Big-Story' 
program on NBC), would be 
siphoned oft to a separate agency 
In a splitting up of the account, 
was considered a foregone conclu- 
Bion. That it went to S-S-C-B didn't 
come as a surprise to many in the 
trade. The Pall Mall bi? had been 
With Ruthrauff & Ryan until 
■hortly before the death two years 
4go of George Washington Hill, 
Sr., who turned it over to F-O-B, 



Riggio's Proxies 

There have been reports in 
some quarters that the Ameri- 
can Tobacco account will re- 
vert back to Foote, Cone & 
Belding ott the basis that 
George Washington Hill, Jr., 
who exited the tobacco com- 
pany 12 days ago as veepee in 
charge of advertising, can col- 
lect enough proxies among the 
stockholders to depose prexy 
Vincent Riggio. 

However, it's known that 
Riggio, now the kingpin in the 
multi-miUion dollar operation, 
has approximately 85% of the 
proxies to wave before the 
directorate at the April 7 
meethig of the boards 



However, the Sullivan-Stauffer- 
iBayles combo had pulled out of 
ll & R to set up the new S-S-C-B 
agency and these were the boys, it 
was figured, with the "in" on Pall 
Mall. - 

N. W. Ayer, which has figured 
prominently in the speculation as 
to wh6 will get Luckies, will take 
over all the video programming. 
tJp to now, It had shared the 
LS/MFT tele account with F-C-B. 

BBD&O, along with the Thomp- 
son outfit, is one of the few agen- 
cies with bigtime radio depart- 
ments equipped to cope with the 
intricacies of the American To 
bacco biz, 60% of which is chan 
neled into radio. (DurUig the 10 
■ yeahs that Foote had been in con- 
trol of the account, five years as 
prez of F-C-B and the previous five 




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years with the old Lord & Thomas 
regime, it occasioned hectic pe- 
riods of turbulence that frequently 
distorted operations and resulted 
in a parade of radio veepees and 
directors.) 

50% of N. Y. Billings 
Loss of the account shaves off 
more tlian 50% of the approximate 
$20,000,000 in billings on tlie books 
of the New York office of P-C-B 
and it's considered a foregone con- 
clusion that the office will be "cut 
to size." Tlie American Tobacco 
biz represented about 20% of 
FiC-B's total national billings of 
approximately $53,000,000, but it 
now puts Fairfax Cone's Chicago 
office, with (its approximate $38,> 
000,000 in billings, in a dominant 
position. The Tonl billings, cred- 
ited to the Chicago of^ce, although 
some of its programming originates 
out of New York, is now the agen- 
cy's top account. 

Thus the picture F-C-B now 
presents has been likened to a fat 
melon in the middle (Chicago), 
with two apples on either end (Don 
Belding's L. A. operation and 
Foote's N. Y. offlce,- with about 
$9;000,000 held by each). 

Since Foote will obviously make 
a determined bid to recoup at* least 
part of the lost billings and re- 
entrench himself in the radio pic- 
ture, it's expected that Douglas 
Coulter will stay put- as head of 
the New York radio operation. 
However; the exit of Steve Szufan, 
account exec on the American To- 
bacco biz, is believed, imminent and 
speculation is rife a» to the fate 
of the radio staff. 

Bunny'' CougMin, producer of 
"Hit Parade^" is expected to move 
to BBD&O at the ini^stence of 
Frank Sinatra. Hi lizard Marx 
will continue as Benny's producer 
in the new BBD&O setup, and Lee 
Strayhom, who has been looking 
after the cigaret commerdals and 
acting as liaison between the 
sponsor and the Agency, would also 
leave F-C-B lor the new affilia- 
tion. 

'General Disagreement' 

"General disagreement" with the 
company's executives over adver- 
tising policy was the way toote 
put it to a press conference last 
Thursday when he announced the 
agency was "resigning" the ac-; 
count. But it was an open secret 
that a conflict in personalities was 
involved. Ever since the death of 
Hill, Sr., it was regarded as inev- 
itable that eventually F-C-B would 
be out of the American Tobacco 
picture, awaiting only Vincent 
Riggio's jockeying for the domi- 
nant position which he acquired 
when George Washington Hill, Jr., 
and Everard Meade were deposed, 
and Riggio and his son were solidly 
entrenched at the helm. 

Riggio's feeling toward Foote Is 
said to date back to the days when, 
as -veepee in charge of sales, Riggio 
felt he was getting the brush as 
Foote carried on his dealings with 
the senior Hill. Riggio apparently 
bided his time, eventually effecting 
the executive reshuffle witiibi. .the 
tobacco company that gave bbn ab* 
solute control. 



previous weekend In Chicago, It it 
meant retaining the account, but 
that the directorate gave him a 
vote of confldene* amd agreed, in- 
stead, to give up the account. 

Foote's press conference last 
Thursday won the agency a good 
press and overall favorable com- 
ment both In and out of the trade 
on the basis that to wash up a 
$12,000,000 account for a principlu 
is a far cry from the itsnal pi^ac- 
tices applied to huckstering. It's 
known that several feelers tot new 
biz have already time in to the 
agency. 



Radio Reviews 

continnd tmm p«st ts ssssai 

"Carnival of Music" rates tops on 
WHDH, Herald-Traveler indie, lets 
the three kids air their opinions 
plenty ad lib. Besult is thef pull 
no punches with ttie disk doesn't 
click with them. Majority so far 
have shown -pretty good savvy. 
Lively discussions pop up on con- 
troversial topics such as Be-Bop 
and Stan Kenton. 

Final judge is whatever top mu- 
sical personality is in town at the 
time. He gives the professional 
viewpoint, usually backing up the 
kid jurors but with a more, techni- 
cal approach. At the end of show 
he picks best juror, who lugs home 
an album of records and a bundle 
of Suchard. 

Because of conflicting times of 
airshow and stage show at iBKO, 
where most of tte judges appear, 
most shows have been transcribed. 
Live show, however, drew over 500 
to N. E. Mutual Hall at appe'toince 
of Jack Smith as judge. Others 
who. have appeared are Stan' Ken' 
ton, Art Mooney, Msfl Hallet and 
Joan Edwards. £lie. 



EVENING TBMfi 

With Wanren Bracldey. Gerdom 

Seaman & Guest Choin 
30 Mlns.; Mon., 8:30 pjn. 
CATHOLIC RADIO GUILD 
WOKO.^ Albany 

Program, stemming from one 
presented last summer via WSNY, 
Schenectady, madcs a great im- 
provement over the ^Tamlly Ro- 
caiy" broadcasts started five years 
agon on WABY, Albany, by Father 
Patrick Peyton, who has since be- 
come' nationally ktaown as founder 
of "The Family Theatre" on Mutu- 
al. Recitation of the Rosary is still 
the basic idea, .but music, mu- 
sicians, script and production have 
been added to give the feature 
smoother cohesion, wider appeal 
and stronger listening pull. 

About 25 participate in the half- 
hour, choirs, soloists and some of 
the recitationists chan^ng weekly. 
Warren ^rockley, a talented Rens- 
selaer -Polytechnic Institute student 
who writes and produces the pro- 
gram and is one of the leaders in, 
the prayers, and Gordon Seaman, 
station musical director, are regu- 
lars. 

Bouncing "Tide" plug immedi- 
ately after the signoff should be re- 
spotted. It reflects commercialism 
on the heels of deep spirituality. 

Jaco. 



From The Production Centon 



Contlmied from page M ; 



title roler Curley Bradley marking his 10th anni as a kilocycle cowhnv 

Procter and Gamble launched a $50,000 Treasure Chest. conteS 

on its NBC soapers Monday (29) — "Ladies Be Seated" seats them in 
Des Moines April 12-16, in -co-operation with the Retail Merchant* 
Bureau — Ed Cunningham, of WMAQ spot sales, is new prez of NBC* 
Chi Athletic Assn ... Kit Carson, former WBRB producer, now livfaiS 
in Oklahoma, is tele lecturing at the University of Tulsa ' HmiS 
Grank, emcee of "Let's Have Fun," planed to Los Angeles last week 

to be at the bedside of his sister, critically ill Norton Jonathan 

formerly with Joseph Hicks' flack firm, has joined WJJD's sales staff 
— Bob Elson and Ernie Simon stage their "Old Gold Varietv Shnw" 
at the Melrose Park theatre' April 1. * ^ 

Merritt R. Schoenfeld, of Green Associates, and Sportscaster Harrv 
Wismer, huddling on future plans for "Leahy of Notre Dame" "np 
I.Q., Jr.," shifts from 4 to 4:30 spot on NBC April 17. . . .Peter Fox 
Brewing will bankroll a cross-the-board song series by Billy Leach 

starting April 5 on WBBM Mayor Kennelly is intrigued by that 

perennial puzzler— how to hypo Chi radio? Chic Showerman NBC 

veepee in charge of midwest operations, says "In practically 'everv 
instance where records have been available for comparison, the tele- 
vising of sports and theatrical events has led to increased attendance" 

Paul Gibson, Chi gabber of the Housewives' Protective League off 

to Arizona for a three-week vacash. Herb Lateau,^ producer of ''Na- 
tional Farm and Home Hour," has put h}s impression of the show on 
canvas. Painting will be presented to the bankroller, Allis-Chalmers 
.... Poll of 856 visitors at "Welcome Traveler" show reveals one out of 

five plans to buy a tele set during '48 "R.F.D. America" airs from 

Grand Forks, N. D., April 1 . Newscaster Bob Hurleigh orating at the 
Ladies' Auxiliary meet of the V.F.W. 



Sad Saga 

53 Continued (torn pag* m sss 

CBS. The agency submitted a 
memo it had received from Wiley 
containing a scale-up of prices for 
a period of five years. CBS agreed 
that this memo was sufficient to in- 
dl<»te'that Wiley- had intended to 
sign up his man for that term and 
It assured K&E that the agency 
would have an agreement protect- 
ing the Kellogg account for the 
full five years on any network it 
chose, but it would 'have to include 
the following two clauses: (1) 
Urake could not be held liable for 
bis material and (2) the person 
using the Drake pseudonym 
could be replaced providing the 
substitute is mutally satisfactory. 

K&E agreed to the stipulations 
and CBS expects to have the. 
agreenient ready for joint signa- 
turing within the coming week. 



Stations Ballc 

Continued from page is j 



Foote revealed to the press con- 
ference that he had volunteered to 
resign from F-C-fe at an agency 
board of directors meeting the 



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NAB Code 

, Coatioved tram page 27 



on programs. "specifically intended 
for that purpose" and clearly iden- 
tified as such. 

3. Old provisos on moppets' and 
crime programs have, been clari- 
fied in the new Code. New lan- 
guage on racing shows advises that 
regular and recurrent broadcasting 
in -advance of sports events of info 
relating to "prevailing odds, the 
eifect of which would be expected 
to encourage gambling, should Qot 
be permitted." (Like FCC, NAB 
thought better of cracking down 
on broadcast of prices paid at the 
track.) - 

4. Only major change on "adver- 
tising standards" is elimination of 
some 14 specific types of business 
formerly listed as "not acceptable 
for radio."* Only change in adver- 
tising time limits allows two min- 
utes and 50 seconds of plug in 25- 
minute shows after 6 p.m. Earlier 
limit was two minutes and 45 sec- 
onds. 

5. Language covering general 
program standards and business 
precepts has been drastically pared 
and included in a one-page creed. 
Creed expresses radio's aims in 
positive rather than negative lan- 
guage and was drafted largely by 
NAB'prexy Justin Miller. 

Kansq^ City— -John Crosier has 
joined KMBC-KFRM as local sales 
rep. 



of the. consequences of 'Truth or 
Consequences'," beefed an indie 
programming exec, "but it certain- 
ly makes radio the fall guy. You 
don't see the newspapers being 
asked and expected to carry the 
ball for these fund-raising contests 
— and yet you'll find the publishers 
represented on most' of the boards 
of directors of the organizations 
making the appeals," 

Despite abortive attempts in the 
past to establish a permanent op- 
erating body of N. Y. broadcasters 
to coordinate public service efforts, 
there's a growing feeling among 
some of the indie, execs as well as- 
in flagship quarters tliat the only 
answer to the problem is. a Greater 
New York radio committee to pre- 
sent a united broadcaster front to 
fund-raising time requests. 



Rnnyon's New Post 

Mellord R. Runyon, who re- 
signed as executive v.p. of Colum- 
bia Record Corp. about three 
months ago, has joined the Ameri- 
can Cancer Society with the title 
of director of field organization. 

Runyon, a former CBS v.p., 
wanted to get Jnto public service 
when he came out of the Navy but 
he was swayed into taking the 
CRC post. 



WOV-WLIB 

Continued from page 25 i 



been intimated that if Bess should 
lose out in his bid to^ake over the 
station, he" may negotiate a deal 
with Mrs. Thackrey for acquisition 
of WLIB. Latter station has been 
having a losing financial streak 
and Mrs. Thackrey, who also pub* 
lishes the N. Y. Post, has been 
mentioned at various times as in- 
terested in disposing of the New 
York station. 




^Central 
New England 



WTAG 



I worcesterI 



. Boston— Paul A. H«rd, of Me- 
thuen, is new chief engineer for 
WHAV, Haverhill. Was with 
WDEV, Waterbury, Vt., prior to 
service with the Navy, returning to 
WDEV and then to WCCM, Law- 
rence, before going with WHAV. 



MAMMOUTH GAG RLE 

•f Radio Writor For Set* 

Fretir, Hcko mXarial (or mdU or nl«l>t o'uk 
nutlnei. Arrangod A-Z. Tyiiical listingi: Ad 
llbi, art, benin, Mmmarelali, tathion, l»t»me 
t«««t, Insult), Im, pflltkt, ato; 

OPnirait Oflt. S'I2 Hcutl 




"I fbiy this £uy real deep— iie'a • nty 
beavy Wheatica eater!" ' 



Wedw^ * March 81, 1949 



41 



[ 



Radio Institutes 



Contimae* treu 2t ; 



- on tMit mipectivc fdiases of radio 
production, Tyler imnoimced. 

AwarenAW of a >»eed for hypoing 
Interest via showmanship tecji- 
'jpiques and controversial topics 
aeemi most keenly felt again this 
year, as it was last, by the City 
College of New York in mapping 
Its fourth annual radio and bust- 
iiess conference, scheduled April 
Jis-14. Here again, Cott will have 
a hand in whipping up tM fare, 
bicluding dramatization of Indusi- 
try problems, and he and CCNY's 
conference plotters are seeing to 
it that tele, for the first time, gets 
Aqual footing with radio on the 
ligenda. 

•What Can We Expeetr 
As enlivening elements, the 
roster of participants has been 
given jsuch names as Fred Allen, 
MOna Godfrey and Elissa Land!. 
CJott's opening session panel on 
"What Can We Expect From Radio, 
and Television?" will be peopled 
by Allen, Harold E. Fellows, man- 
ager of WEEI, Boston; Gerald O. 
Kaye, general sales manager of 
BrunO'N. Y.; Noran E. Kersta, NBC 
Oirector of tele operations; .Gordon 
Mills, manager of Kudner Agency's 
radio department; Paul Mowrey, 
AB.Cs tele director; Robert 
SChmid, Mutual veepee over sta- 
tion relations, and James D. 
_ Sbouse, president of Crosley. * 

Questions to be dramatized in 
skits starring Miss Landi include: 
Effect of new NAB code on radio 
commercials; how the competitive 
problems of AM vs. FM vs, tele- 
Vision will be met; plans to stimu- 
late written, objective reactions 
■from listeners; effect of the May- 
JliDwer Decision on political broad- 
casts; emphasis and time devoted 
to - programs other than sports 
events on tele. 

Godfrey will keynote the awards 
luncheon on the second day with a 
taU: on "Public Service Possibili- 
ties of Commercial Radio." Mutual 
ireepee Abe Schechter will moder- 
ate a "working session" panel that 
afternoon on "The Business Future 
of Radio and Television." Partici- 



pants will include Harry Bannister, 
manager of WWJ, Detroit; George 
C, Dibert, veepee of J, Walter 
Thompson agency; Bruce Dodge, 
radio production director, of the 
Blow agency; John S. Hayes, man- 
ager of WINX, Washington; Craig 
Lawrence, manager of WCOP, Bos- 
ton, and Noran Kersta. 

Other institutes and conferences 
in the offing include those of the 
Univ. of Georgia, Athens, next 
Tuesday and Wednesday (6-7) and 
the Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, 
in late summer. Summer institute 
sessions running over a period of 
weeks incladc Stanford Univ.'s, 
which NBC will co-sponsor for the 
sixth consecutive year. Directors 
will be Allen Miller, head of the 
Rocky Mountain Radio Council in 
Denver. 

Sample of the bypass being given 
many institutes by the webs is the 
recent one at the Univ. of Oklaho- 
ma, Norman, which drew a lone 
network exec who happened to be 
passing through. 

As of this week, it looked as 
though the Ohio meet will draw 
not more than one web veepee, and, 
perhaps no proxies, Mutual's Ed- 
gar Kobak, a standby of past years, 
being undecided whether he'll go. 
ABC's delegation of three or four 
will be headed by veepee Robert 
Saudek. Sterling Fisher, NBC's 
new manager of public aftairs and 
education, will head that web's 
party of five, including Judith 
Waller and William Drips from the 
Central division and Clarence 
Moore from KOA, Denver. CBS 
will send four, led by Lyman Bry- 
son, counsellor of public affair^i; 
Mutual will send Elsie Dick, direc- 
tor of educatjpnal and religious 
programs, and Dorothy Kemble, 
continuity clilef. 

Among those who've made the 
rounds of annual radio institutes 
and parleys, there is still the feel- 
ing uiat what the industry needs is 
one really good, all-out shindig of 
this nature. Talk of it has been 
raised in National Assn. of Broad- 
casters huddles, hut never got aityr 
where. ■ ■ 



. Spot Filibiuter* 

It's hard for Abe Schechter, 
Mutual news veepee, to be- 
lieve, but it loolts like the web's 
"Newsreel," which is built of 
wire-recorded news pickups, is 
teaching brevity to tradition- 
ally long-winded . Congress- 
men. 

Lately l^e news show's pro- 
ducers have been getting calls 
from various senators and 
representatives in Washington 
offering "40-second comments" 
on various legislative issues. 



'SCHOOL' DEFINITE FOR 
CBS' kOmk IN '49 

Davidson Taylor, CBS director of 
public affairs, last week confirmed 
to the network affiliates that 
"School of the Air" will return Oct. 
4 at 5-?:30 p.m. for its 18th year. It 
had been reported that the series 
might be dropped; 'Taylor sailed 
Saturday (27) on a bu^ness trip to 
Etttope. : 

CBS had been tindeclded about 
continuing "School" next season, 
as the series is tough on ratings 
late in the afternoon and no fave 
with local afifiliates, many of whom 
take it more or less under pressure 
to make character with the FCC. 

Upon Taylor's return from 
Europe the decision as to program 
plans for next season will be made. 
"School" went under supervision of 
Werner Michel recently, after be- 
ing under Leon Levine for seven 
years. Michel is recommending a 
new educational format with day- 
to-day sequencing in place of the 
traditional breakdown into five dif- 
ferent series — geography one day, 
music another, etc. 

The network has recalled Its 
earlier success with an educational 
series called "Wilderness Boad," 
and this may be the model in de- 
vising a new setup for 1948-49. The 
shows would be produced by 
Michel and directed by various 
CBS staffers, as before. 



San Antonio — A new quarter- 
hour weekly program heard each 
Saturday over KABC is titled "Ra- 
dio Newsreel" and is being spon- 
sored the Jordon iSatme Co. 



Say Hearst Radio Changed Hands 
Three fnnes Without Notice to FCC 



on 

A DST Casualty; Off May 1 

Hollywood, March 30. 

California daylight savings time 
claimed its first casualty with the 
'^Richfield Reporter," oldest news- 
cast on the Coast cancelling out on 
NBC because it loses its traditional 
10 p.m. time. DST moved it up an 
hour. Company officials declared 
a "tradition was broken" after 17 
years but didn't indicate whether 
they would seek another network 
or withdraw. • 

NBC is helpless since ' previous 
nine o'clock airers have been 
moved up. Richfield goes off May 
1. Efforts of Hixson-O'DOnnell 
Agency and Frank Berend of NBC 
proved unavailing. John Wald has 
been commentator for 11 years fol- 
lowing Sam Hayes into spot. 



Miller, Hopkins Grab Up 
Rights to Maris Yam; 
Harts Signed to Script 

Hollywood, March 30. 

Colin Miller, of Enterprise Pro- 
ductions, and Robert Hopkins, son 
of the late Harry Hopkins, have 
signed James and Elizabeth Hart 
to script a radio series -based ' on 
the,, experiences of Philadelphia 
lawyer Herbert L.* Maris, who has 
obtained freedom for more than 
300 convicts from unjust prison 
terms. The Harts will spend the 
week of April S with Maris in 
Philly formating the initial 13 
broadcasts. " 

Miller edged out Martin Gosch, 
who also was bidding, by planing 
to Philly to sign Maris after noting 
the radio possibilities in a story 
about the attorney in ^the January 
Readers' Digest. Miller-Hopldns 
rights cover radio, films and tele- 
vision. • 



Washington, March 30. 
Charge that control of William 
Randolph Hearst's radio properties 
has changed hands three times 
since 1937 without prior FCC ap- 
proval, climaxed the final day of 
hearing here Friday (26) on pitch 
of colunrnists Drew Pearson and 
Bob Allen to take over the channel 
held by Hearst's WBAL, Baltimore. 

Counsel for Pearson and AUeOj 
on another count, wrung from 
Hearst's general manager, Maj. E. 
M. Stoer, an admission that Marion 
Davies held an interest in the 
Hearst radio empirei Stoer ad- 
mitted Misi Davies, along, with 
Hearst's ■ five sons, owned a 15% 
beneficial interest. ■ Her participa- 
tion had never been disclosed in 
reports to FCC. . 

Cohn & Marks, counsel for Pear- 
son and Allen, claimed first illegal 
switch of control over the Hearst 
empire was made in 1937 when a' 
trust fund was set up tp save 
Hearst from financial collapse. The 
fund appointed fijrmer Judge Clar- 
ence J, Sheam of New York as 
voting trustee. 

In 1944--after an unsuccessful 
court suit bjr' Hearst— Sheam was 
paid off and resigned as voting 
trustee. Transfer of the assets to 
five Hearst. executives who became 
the new trustees "constituted a 
second illegal transfer of control" 
and addition of two new trustees 
and replacement of others since 
1945 -'has resulted in a third trans- 
fer,*' it was charged. 

Dempsey & Koplovitz, counsel 
for Hearst, declared the Commis- 
sion had full knowledge of these 
transactions in periodic reports 
filed by the Hearst stations. Oppos- 
ing lawyers claimed, however, that 
the radio act required FCC ap-i 
proval on all such deals, and de- 
manded a thorough investigation. 

Commissioner Rosel Hyde, who 
presided over the hearing, re- 
affirmed his refusal to call on pub- 
Usher Heairst for personal testi- 
mony on WBAL. 



fills call Is for YOU! 




' EVERY MORNING at 11:15, houscwivcs 
- (hundreds of thousands) stick close to 
;home^ leave the upstairs beds unmadei 
hwet around the telephone hoping for a 
call from WOR's "TELLO-TEST". Those 
yfho do, win cash for answering a ques-; 
ilion correctly. 

That's all there is to WOR's "TELLa 
TEST". That's all; just a formula so fuU 
of bite that it has piled up a 4.8 Hooper. 
JMighty good listening for a morning 
•iirer that you can buy, for — pennies, 
practically. 



YOUR COMMERCIAI. Neatest part of 
"Ifello-'Ifest" from where you stand, is the 
;way Bruce Elliot and Dan McCullough 
make the commercial part of the conver* 
l^ation. The .whole show (commercial 
Included) is like a friendly phone con- 
versation between a couple of pals who 
grew tip on the same block. - 

All right, gentlemen, we've called 
YOU. Why don't you give us a ring, 
NOW? About "TELLO-TEST"? Phone 
LOngacre 4-8000 and ask for Sales. 



heard by the most people 

where the most people are 




mutual 



IP 



imCVIiSTRAS-MfJjSIC 



Wednesday, Mhipch SI, 1948 



Jocks, Jukes and Disks 



By Ben Botlec 



Buddy Clark— "Spring in De- 
qember," "Talking to Myself" (Co- 
lumbia). Because of its superior 
charm and lyrical quality "Spring" 
sounds like the side that , will do 
the selling. Clark handles the 
Harold Home composition with his 
best brand of suavity and tender- 
ness. The other, ballad is also 
polished oif with professional 
iinosse, and the backing in either 
case, especially the strings on 
"Spring," is eStra special. 

Doris Day-^"tt's..the Sentimental 
Thing to Do," '"It's- a Quiet Time 
In drossbone County" (Columbia). 
The ballad section-is ably carried 
oil-, with the style in spots sound- 
ing a little like Peggy Lee's. "Sen- 
timental's*' arrangement la also 



My Favorite Five 

By GEORGE ClUBTIS 
(WGAN, Portland, Me.) 
"Begin the Beguine" (Artie* 
SRaw). 

"Deep Purplfe" (Larry Clin- 
ton). 

"Rhapsody in Blue" (Paul 
Whiteman). , » 

"Body and Soul" (Herb Jef- 
fries); , . 

"Stompin" at the Savoy" 
(teharlie Ventura Trio). 



heavily- lacquered with guitar. The 
humor of "Crossbone" cuts through 
the song recital with ample appeal, 
but the number just doesn't seem 
to jeir with the Day manner and 
personality. The comedy impact 
" flows, from the joint efforts of the 
chorus, sA unblllecl male character 
l«hd. the sound-effects man. 

Frank Sinatra — "Ever" Home- 
ward,^' "I've Got a Crush on You" 
(Columbia). "Homeward," which 
Sinatra does in "The Miracle of the 
3ells," may inean something in the 

■ Polish market, since the melody is 
of Polish origin and he, does a 
chorus in that language, twt Its 
chances of being a bellringer other- 
wise seem slim. PrQduetion-wise, 
that side is not good. On the other 
hand, the standard from "Strike 
Up the Band" finds the vocalist 

> pitching away with' plenty of 
. thythmic zip. For a change, the 
instrumental fanfare behind him Is 
Icept down to a" minimum with a 
fancy hand at the piano doing most 
i|>f the support. . 

Irving Fields and His Campus 
Trio— "Far Into the Night," "La 
'Ola Marina" (Victor). This pian- 

■ ist',s vigorous tonal style hits the 
jackpot in "Night," an adaptation 
from "The Pearl Fishers" into the 

' boleiro idiom. It's an exciting 
batch of melody ahd rhythm. Thfe 
coupling, a quaracha, just tags 

, along. 

Art Lund— "For Every Man 
There's a Woman;" "Sjome One 
Cares" (M-G-M). Lund will likely 
find the competition on "Woman" 
at this point a little tough, and it's 
dubious whether his freittmettt of 
the other torch passage will cut 

. much more of a swath. However, 
Johnny Thompson's accompani- 

^ ment merits a special nod. 

Fredd;y Martin Orch — "Jungle 
Rhumba," "The New Look;' (Vic- 
tor). Barclay Allen's piano paces 
the rugged instrumental .sweep of 
"Jungle," a novelty that coul(\ 
serve as a pinch of salt to the 
avet-^ge jock session. The smooth 
ensemble chanting' of ~ the Martin 
Men is the lone asset of the other 
side. 

Stan Kenton— "The Peanut Ven- 
dor," "Thermopolae" (Capitol). 
"Vendor," a current standby in 
Kenton's stage repertoire, has all 
the glamor and clanior of the Ken- 
ton insignia of ultra-modern jazz, 
spiced in this instance with bongo, 
cowbells and a liberal helping from 
Milt Bemhart's expressive trom- 
bone. As for the reverse grooving, 
the Persians could have blown the 
Spartans right out of that moun- 
tain pass with the help of those 

.wUd^ eerie chords from Kenton's 
brass section. Kenton is the first 
jazzman to haul in Greek history 
to make a point, although what 
that point is his version of Ther- 
mopolae doesn't make quite clear. 

* Johnny Mercer — "Hills of Cali- 
fornia," "Goofus" (Capitol). An 
odd combination this. On the 
"Hills" side, it's a balmy little 
exercise on a geographical theme 
between ' Mercer and the Pied 
Pipers, while the mate poses the 
gravel - voiced personality in a 
vaude routine around the oldtime 
novelty, trimmed with barnyard 



sound effects. Obviously geared 
for the rural trade. 

Jack Fina Orch.— "Piano Por* 
traits Boogie," "Samba Caramba" 
(M-G-M). The "Boogie" item rep- 
resents perhaps the flashiest, and 
most stimnlating piano perform- 
ances that the conductor-pianist 
has turned out under this label. 
With the string section riding "the 
melody, the boogie beat moves in 
mounting tempo to a sock finale; 
The samba also has a lot of spirit 
and Fina's , sparkling ivory tech- 
nique. A crack -item for program- 
ming. 

Sarah Vauchn — "The One 1 
Love," "What a Diff'rence a -Day 
Made" (Musicraft). Two bright 
samples of this stylist's sensitive 
phrasing. Each< of the standards is 
fused with warmth and embel- 
lished with a melodic byplay all 
her own. If there is any flaw about 
her. manner, it's her tendency tb 
overflourish the finil note or two 
of a song, as happens here with 
"Diff'rence." Ted Dale delivers a 
smart background for "Love." '^"' 

Beale Street Boys — ^"Teach Me, 
Teach Me, Baby," "Why Does 
It Have to Bain on Sunday?" 
(M-G-M). A standard -voOal group 
with a standout bit .of dose har- 
mony grooving on the comedy side 
In "Teach Me." It'is their number. 
The backing rates as a select seg- 
ment of mood sketching. . 

Mel Torme — "Do It Again," 
"Makin' Whopee" (Musicraft),' A 
pair of oldies that are given a new 
sheen by a vocalist who has the 
happy knack of treating each lyric 
with a distinct phrasing. In other 
woirds, it's -a case of fitting his 
technique ;and personality to the 
song, and not vice versa. His con- 
sistent meticulousness is the badge 
of a fine craftsman. 



Detroit Elects Jack Ferentz 

Detroit, March 30. 
. Jack Ferentz has ■ been unani- 
mously reelected president of the 
Detroit Federation of Musicians. 

Also unopposed for reelection 
were George Clancy, secretary- 
treasurer, and Edward Weitaer, 
vice-pj!«sidlent. , 



Maestro Slowed to Waltz 
In Mo. Mayoralty Vot« 

St. Louis, March 30. 
Jimrtiy Downey, maestro of a lo- 
cal dance band, finished a lame 
third in a race for nomination for 
mayor of Rlchm.ond Heights, a St. 
Louis County suburb. Downey, 
father of 10 children; tossed his 
hat into the ring on a one-plank 
platform; more playgrounds and 
recreational facilities for the kids 
dies. 

Without a campaign manage.r or 
committee, Downey found himself 
with 83 votes when the primary 
election returns were counted last 
week. Lee Dugan, administration- 
backed former city clerk, polled 
2,675 votes,- with the runner-up, 
Jack Oates, receiving 1,461. 

Phil Harris' Waxing 
Of 'Cards' LauiEches 
4-$tar Beef to AFN 

Hollywood, March 30. 

Bill McCall, Four Star Records 
head, is plenty miffed over RCA- 
Victor's-Phil Harris' waxing of "A 
Deck of Cards." McCall, who had 
the only version of "Cards'* 
(plattered by T. Rex Tyler) until 
Harris etched tune two weeks ago, 
took his complaint to Phil Fischer, 
in charge of recording for AFM, 
Local 47, who bucked it directly 
to James C. Petrillo, 

McCall stated that Local would 
have ordered Harris, a member of 
musicians' union, not to cut as it 
is an infringement on Petrillo's I'e- 
cording ban, Fischer's office, how- 
ever, asserted that McCall was m- 
formed that problem would have 
to go to the Fedetatidn for com- 
ment. 

Although Harris did record af- 
t?r the wax ban, action against 
him is. questionable as no Instru- 
ments were used and the maestro 
has not tooted in some time. A 
vocal quartet was used in the ses- 
sion. McCall, meanwhile, said 
that he would try to shame RCA 
into shelving the H.irris version of 
"Cards" and, if unsuccessful in 
this, would bring suit against Vic- 
tor, charging unfair competition^ ' 



Band Reviews 



LAWRENCE W£LK ORCBt <14> 
With Cathy O'Mara, Peter Nelson, 

Bob Cromer 
Hotel Roosevelt Grill, N. Y. 

With Guy Lombardo absent from 
the Roosevelt Grill, his traditional 
strongiiold, Lawrence Welk has 
mounted the podium in the interim 
with a highly listenable and dance- 
able combo, Outfit comprises three 
violin, three rhythm, four reed and 
four brass plus WeUt's occasional 
aceordion. 

Welk .^emphasizes the quieter 
motif, leaning toward standards 
sprinkled with frequent pop ballads 
and novelties. When caught last 
week outfit failed to program a 
single Latin tune despite the cur- 
rent popularity of rhumbas, sam- 
bas, etc., in the New York area. 
Group's sweet style is poihted up 
by liberal use of muted brass as 
well as a neat employment of 
clarinets. 

Ably fronting his men, Welk 
also throws in ■ a few accordion 
solos on his own, showing a nice 
mastery of the squeezebox. Vocal 
department is handled by a trio of 
warblers, -one femme and two 
males. Former is blond Cathy 
O'Mara, who has a pretty face and 
a fair voice, while others are Peter 
Nelson and Bob Cromer, Both pipe 
their chores in acceptable fashion. 

Gilb. 



CHUCK FOSTER ORCH (14) 
With MlUy Coury, Tommy Ryaji 
Menhlebach Hotel. K. C. 

Spring season is being wel-^ 
comed here with a new policy on 
bands, larger and more prominent 
crews being on the docket for the 
next couple of months. First to 
spark the change was Ted Weems 
early in March, and the Chuck 
Foster orch held -forth for a week. 
Biz was up somewhat In keeping 
with the increased outiay« but It 
was nothing startting. 

Music put out by Foster here 
shows a .stylized band, one. which 
leans heavily on the five reeds. 
This is Foster's own section, and 
sax-clarinet work is featured most 
of the way. There is also' some 
special work by the piano. Crew 
shows a wide variety in its catalog 
and a way of handling each that- is 
compelling.' Sidemen held d o w n 
the volume nicely, as required for 
this intimate room, without losing 



i^LlO Best Sellers on Coin-MachiiKs^t^^ 



March 27 



S"'^..*'**!.''^ style of the 

band. The instrumentation of four 
brass (three trumpets, one trotat 
bone), five reeds and tliree rhythm 
could easily swamp the room: FmI 
ter, however, fronts the band con- • 
tinually while getting in his own 
ace reed work. 

In the two singers, Milly CoUrv 
and Tommy Ryan, Foster has a 
couple of better young voices. Gal 
only recently joined the crew 
coming over from the Ray Bobbins 
orch, and carries her share of Uie 
rhythm and novelty songs in cred- 
itable style, Ryan has been witti 
the Foster band couple of seasons 
His baritoning on ballads and 
sweeter numbers is firstrate, Both 
are young singers and coming along 
nicely. Crew goes in for consider- 
able glee club work to round out 
the vocals, and Foster takes a turn 
now and then on a novelty tune. 

The Terrace Grill date for Foster 
was cut short to enable the band to 
make a March 27 opening at the 
Stevens, Chi, where orch is set for 
elglit weeks.. Quin. 

HENRY JEROME ORCH (11) 

With Dick Judge 

Green Room, Hotel Edison, N. Y. 

Booked for an eigUt-day stand 
in this street-floor spot for the 
transients, Henry Jerome's new 
combo Is said to be modeled after 
the band of the late Hal Kemp. 
However, on tiie basis of the style 
it .demonstrated when caught last 
week, the crew appears to be apii^ 
Johnny. Long's mode of playing. 

Every other number called for 
one of those mass vocals on the 
chorus which Long used years ago 
with his famed "Shanty in Old 
Shantytown." A litUe of this old 
hat goes a long way, Jerome, who 
led a smaller group off and on at 
Child's Paramount Grill, N, Y„ for 
years, enlarged his outfit several 
months ago to venture a stab at 
some better dates under MCA's 
guidance. 

Comprising four reed, four brass 
and three rhythm, band impresses 
as just fair aggregation at the mo- 
ment which may develop into more 
promising timber once its cliched 
techniques are cast aside. Leader 
is inclined to favor the oldies, but 
to his credit he mixes up the rhum- 
bas and ballads plus an occasional 
jnmp number. Vocals are supplied 
by Dick Judge, a capable warbler. 

Gilb. 



z. 
s. 



Nowis THE HOUR (») (Leeds) :.. { S?''S?:'.v.v;;.-.-.'.':SS 

MANANA (8) (Barbour-Lee) 



BEG YOUR PARDON (6) (Robbins) . 



Peggy Jbee . ,, . ..;>,>,. . .CopitW 
I Franci« CHig . . . » . . v * > < . .Btittet 
t Franfcie Carle , . . , ; . . .CoMiMM 
I i4ift Mooney. , , . , , , . . . M Q'M 
{^Upt»ic» String Band. . . .Mercury 
LITTLE WHITE LIES (3) (BVC) ; ■ DicK Haymes Decco 



4. FOUR LEAF CLOVER (10) (Rendck) 
5. 



:; 6. 

9, 
t 9. 



SABRE DANCE (5) (Leeds) I JT"^^ Hernwn-. ...... Columbia 

»u w/ "^pfgci^y Martin... ....Victor 

BUT BEAUTIFUL (3) (Morris) Bing Crosby Decca 

SERENADE OF THE BELLS (12) (Morris) , { ^^^^ ." .' i ' ""vf "or 

GOLDEN EARRINGS (14) (Paramount). ................... . [^^^^1 ^'^^ ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ■ cSbfa 



10. BALLERINA (19) (JeHe^on) , {K;%'XT.V.V,V,-.-.mSm 

Coming Up 

jWATlNEE (Morris) 

HAUNTED HEART (Williamson) : . . 

THOUGHTLESS (Feist) 

BIG BRASS BAND FROM RRAZIL (Morris) 



Vaughn Monroe . : Victor 

i Perry Como Victor 

{Jo' S toff or A .Capitol 

Buddy Kaije M-G-U 

Art Mooney. '. . . . : , , , , .. .M'G-M 



On the Upbeat 



TERESA (Duchess) - ( Andrei«s Sis-Haj/mcs. . . . ;Decco .. 

\\ ^ ■ ••••• \Vic Domone . . , , iWercury ■»- 

. . SHINE (l^apiro-B) , , ' ; Franhie. haine .. .". Mercury 

BECAUSE' (Chappcll) Ferry Como Victor 

t THOUSAND ISLANDS SONG (Morris) (Louis Prima 

' • I Freddy Martin Victor ; ; 

"" " ' ■ ' " " ■ ' " ' \ .ttarry Clinton . , Decca 

... .........i,. , , . .■ Art Mooney . , . . . , .M-G-M ' t 

yPerry Corrvo .Victor ■■ 

.......... ... , 4 .... . , , , . . . . . . , , ■ ^ jgy^^^y Clark .Columbia * 

fJo Stafford..:. .Capitol 

. . . . . . . , , , . ■ . , , , . I j3j„(jJj sfiorg Columbio 

^ IN LITTLE BOOK SHOP (BVC)' . ( Vausr/tn Monroe ., Vicfor 

V "" (Guy Lombardo...... Decca 

TELL ME A STORY (Laurel) i Sammy Kaye Victor 

■ I Ames Bros . Decca 

( Andrew's Sisters, . DecCo, 
. . .,, ... I jq^j^ Pastor . . . , i ... .Columbia 

■ yBuddy ClarK. > i .Columbia 

.... .... \pgggy J^gg COpltOl 

ST. LOUIS BLUES MARCH (W. C. Handy) rex Beneke Victor 

:: YOU CAN'T BE TRUE, DEAR (Biltmore) Ken Griffin Rondo 

TOOLIE OOLIE DOOLIE (Southern) '' \ Andrews Sisters Decca 

I Von Horton ....... . Continental 

IFigures in parentheses indicate numb ?r of weeks song has been in the Top 10,] 



; ; DICKEY BIRD SONG (Robbins) . . . 
: : BABY FACE (Harms) . ! , 

PIANISSIMO (Santly-loy) 

. . . ■ ■ •,■ . 

• ■ BEST THINGS IN LIFE (Crawford) 



RED WAGON (Leeds) .' 

i ALL DRESSED, BROKEN HEART (Marks) . 



New York 

Sammy Kayc's orchestra will not 
play the Astor Roof this year; other 
commitments will prevent it. Kaye 
had sought the final third of the 
Roof's season, but the Astor wanted 
him 6>r the second and they hadn't 
gotten together when other deals 
interfered. . Abe Lyman in N, Y. 
for several weeks I from Coast — 
BVC publishing "Guesst In the 
Nest,': written by Cherry Balaban, 
daughter of A. J. Balaban, and Bob 
Russell (Count Basle recorded) , . , 
Chesapeake Beach Park, Md., go- 
ing in for name bands this season 
. . .-Shorty Sherock band returns to 
the Arcadia ballroom. April 8, for 
four weeks and follows with Desch- 
ler-Wallick hotel, Cincinnati, May 6. 

Leighton Noble orchestra now 
booked by Mus-Art; he's at Mapes 
hotel, Reno . Bob Chester's initial 
release by Bullet Records out this 
week with "Just One More Chance 
and "Melancholy" coupled .. 
Lionel Hampton plays Roanoke, 
Va., April 8; Norfolk, 3; Richmond, 
10; on flr.st trip through south smce 
1941 ,. . Don Goins left Mu.sic Corp. 
of America to join Wayne Varnum 
agency . . . George Levy, of Leeds 
Music, to Florida for three weeks 
. . Milton Karle forced to side- 
track himself for several months 
on doctor's orders; Virginia WicKS 
takes over plugging of Carlos Gas- 
tel talent temporarily -. Jack 
Schiffman. moved from Repubuc 
Music .staff to Words & Music . . ■ : 
Manie Sachs out on road for week 
visiting distributors, dealers... 
Shep Fields held over at New 
Yorker hotel until May 4. , .lex 
Williams' "Artistry in Western 
Swing" Capitol disk a vocal dupu- 
cation of Stan Kenton's "Artistry 
in Rhythm". . Frank Sorrell^ or- 
chestra into Casa Marina hotel, 
Key West, Fla. 



Hollywood 

Earle Spencer and Mel Henkc 
have been signed by General Art- 
(Continued on page 47) 



•KcnEsnMS-BiPsic 



SLOW SERVICING SNAGS HITS 



Jack RdyUus Retivned to ASCAP 
Dnrector Board as Infie Piddisher 



'jack" Bobbins has toeen restored-f 
to. the director tmard of the Amer- 
ican Society of Composers, Au- 
thors and Publishers, along with, 
gcven incumbent writers and pub- 

'llshers who were up for reelection. 
iSobbins, who was replaced on the 
Ijoard by Abe Olman when he sold 
out his 26% interest in the Big 3 
to partner Metro over a year ago, 
w'as eltgiblfe for a spot on the 
tward because he had gone back 
into publishing via his J. J. Rob- 
bins & Sons iirm. 

That Bobbins would be elected 
oiver Dave Breyer and Sam Fox, 
named with Bobbins to fill the 
shoes of Johnny O'Connor, was a 
foregone conclusion. Bobbins had 
the weight of the major firms be- 
hind him due to his intense loyalty 
to ASCAP through the years. 
O'Connor ' himself -had advised 
ASCAP weeks back that he did not 
Wish to be considered a candidate 

s.-fysr reelectioHi' Sifter more than 10 
^6ars as a board member. 

Aside from Bobbins election, the 
balloting went according to , ex- 
pectations. Publishers Max Drey- 
fus, Donald Gray, Jack Mills, and 
writers. Gene Buck, Bay Hender- 
son, George W. Meyer and John 
Task^r Howard w»>e all returned 
to th«ir positions. 

Captol Gross Up, 
MNetlsDewn 

Capitol . Records financial report 
for 1946, Issued last week, spot- 
lighted a stor| similar to Decca 
Records' statement of last week — 
a Jump in gross businets and a 
drop in net earnings, due to in- 
creased expenses, expansion, etc. 
Gross for 1946 reached $14,510,200 
in round figures, a jump of $1,427,- 
400 over the previous year, but a 
letdown in net earnings from $741,- 
149^ to $318;528. . 

A good portion of the year's 
earnings, of course, are sunk into 
Inventory, representing the vast 

' amount bf recording- done by all 
companies to for^tall for a fair 
period the disk ban. in effect since 

■ Jan. 1. 



Pitt l-Niters Extended 
Beyond April Deadline 

Pittsburgh, March 30. 

One-night concert biz, which has 
been terrific here all season, will 
continue this year well into spring. 
Usually middle of April is the 
deadline but on . basis of takes 
turned* i»L here already by Spike 
Jonesy St^Q^Kenton and Illinois 
Jacquet-EUa Fitzgerald, Balph Har- 
rison, local booker and promoter, 
is going to chance the possible 
warm weather in May and play 
both Horace Heidt and Vaughn 
Monroe at 3,800-seat longhair capi- 
tal here, the Syria Mosque. . 

Heidi's gang comes in May 3 and 
Monroe 10 days later. Harrison's 
last promotion was the "Queen for 
A Day" show, wbich caused such, 
a furore among 7,000 women that 
sponsors refunded price of admis- 
sion to everybody -who asked for It 




Decca Cuts First Plidters of Either 
Bm; Andrews 'Saber/ 'Heartbreaker 



Ceflunaciiine-Radio, Held 
Ikeat' to Wired Music, 
In New York Unyeiling 

J. P. Seeburg will unveil a new 
combination coinmachlne iind ra- 
dio at a five-day showing at the 
Savoy-Plaza hotel. New York, be- 
ginning today (Wednesday), which 
some tradesmen feel represents a 
threat to wired-music services. 
New development, which will sell 
for $2,050 for commercial uses 
(there's a home counterpart for 
$1,500), will carry 100 records, 
either 10 or 12-inch, playing both 
sides of a disk. Automatic timers 
will start the machine going at a 
given hour, or cut it off and pick 
"P a pre-selected radio program. 

Where the threat to wired music 
services comes in is that the ma- 
chine can feed its output to two 
other location!^ aS: well as its own 
site, via telephone hookups. For 
example, an industrial user can 
JWe one machine to feed three 
bWdings reasonably close to one 
another. Seeburg has planned on 
WIS selling angle by establishing a 
Brogram director . who will supply 
DUyers with paced programs of 
oisks, which may or may not be 
interspersed with radio broadcasts. 
J'BS is televising part of the Savoy 
demonstration proceedings. 

Difference between the Seeburg 
iw Muzak's wired service is 
Jnat the latter is a lease proposi- 
tion whereas the Seeburg idea 
calls for outright purchase of the 
equipment, with the show-plan- 
njng an additional service, the 
wsks, of course, to be supplied by 
we buyers themselves. 



Vitacoustic Fdes 
182G in liabities, 
IW/iQ in As^ts 

Cliicago, March 30. 

Vitacoustic Becord Co. last week 
filed -a listing of its liabilities and 
assets before Judge Walter LaBuy, 
in Chi federal district court. 

Company, which has been oper- 
ating since Feb. 16 under Chapter 
111 of the Chandler Act, owes in 
excess of $182,000, and assets total 
$204,500. The largest, and the only 
big creditor listed under Schedule 
A-1 (creditors to whom priority is 
secured by the act), is the U. S. 
Government, which is holding Vita 
responsible for almost $15,000 in 
excise taxes, $252.95 in social se- 
curity, and $2,585.69 in withhold- 
ing. 

Two other major creditors are 
Perfection Plastics Co., of Pasa- 
dena, Cai„ firm's Coast distrib, 
listed in the summary for $14,400, 
and Jerry Murad's Harmonicats, 
whose recording of "Peg O* My 
Heart" was original reason for or- 
ganizing the -firm. Latter are on 
books for $14,600. In the case of 
Perfection, they hold securities 
totaling $3,300, and Long Island 
Plastics, eastern, distrib, whose 
bill amounts to $8,500, holds $1,400 
worth of securities. 

United Broadcasting is listed for 
almost $14,000, Majestic Records, 
$621, and Universal Recording, 
$9,000, are tlie subjects of contro- 
versy. Vita disputes United bill to 
the extent of $2,000, and the other 
two in their entirety. 

According to the last inventory, 
taken Feb. 1, 1948, Vita has a total 
of 156,900 records, valued at $42,- 
269.68, oh hand and at various dis- 
tributors. Inventory listed only 
Lloyd Garritt and Jack Buckley as 
officers and only holders of more 
than 25% of the firm's stock. 



CZECH REI^ TAKE OYER 
RECORDING INDUSTRY 

Washington, March 30. 

New Czech Gonimunist govern- 
ment hag just nationalized the 
phonograph and record industry, 
according to a broadcast from 
Prague, monitored here. 

The industry has been taken 
over by the Czechoslovak Ministry 
of Infoicmation, which figured "the 
production of records should not 
be separated from cultural aims, 
and that the close relation between 
the production of records and the 
radio must be observed." 



Barnet Buys Cocklailery 

Hollywood, March 30. 

Orch leader, Charlie Barnet has 
bought a cocktail lounge, Doll 
House, With Jimmy Brewster, 

Lounge will feature "behind the 
bar'* entertainment. 

Barnet will not be part of show. 



Perhaps the major problem con- 
fronting, major and minor disk 
manufacturers today is the serv- 
icing of distributors with hit rec- 
ords while they're still hits. Since' 
the hundreds of independent com- 
panies began a year or two ago in 
establishing what, the industry calls 
"overnight" clicks, the task of cut- 
ting, processing and shipping 
pressings has become a headache 
to the originating company as 
well as others seeking to hop on 
the sales bandwagon of a hit with 
versions of their own. 

This point is glaringly spotlight- 
ed in answers to a poll taken by 
Ymhetx among retail dealers in 
every section of the country. It's 
cited as the industry's No. 1 cause 
for aspirin among retailers. So 
rapidly has tlie business expandjed 
in the past few years and so sud- 
denly do some of the click disks 
that, formerly, ■ were confined to 
definite, regions break out into na- 
tional demand, that dealers are 
sometimes weeks behind: the de- 
mand, for a particular record. This 
causes a loss of a certain per- 
centage of potential sales which 
are never recovered and is often 
the basis of sharp irritatioln bc;- 
twfeen dealer and distributor. 

In many ways there isn't much 
corner-cutting possible in the 
method of getting finished press- 
ings to the consumer. There's still 
the physical restrictions on the 
making, processing, pressing aqd 
shipping of platters. And when 
a company presses in various sec- 
tions of. the country; there's still 
the problem of "transporting 
stampers, etc. 

Decca this week is doing one of 
the fastest jobs ever in getting out 
a hit. It cut the Andrews Sisters 
in Hollywood last Tuesday (23) on 
two hits (see separate story) and 
will have pressings atraUable the 
end of this week. ~ That's unusual 
speed. 

The bill of grievances, as re- 
vealed by the poll, is long and 
manifold but the thing that seems 
to irk the dealers most is that they 
can't keep up with the disk jock- 
eys. While some of the dealers 
poUed grant that the platt^-spin- 
ner has done much to stimulate in 
terest in records, the dominant 
contention of the complaining re- 
tailers is the fact that the jockeys 
get the releases .so far ahead of 
those who .,sell them that they're 
"played to death" before the re- 
tailer can cash in on 'them, 

A goodly percentage of tile deal- 
ers who raised this issue in their 
answers seemed to be of the. opin- 
ion that the trade as a whole would 
in ! due time get a bad kickback 
from the situation. One dealer re- 
marked that it was about time that 
the promotion and production de- 
partments of the manufacturing 
companies got together and bal- 
anced their operations. 

Among the other dominant 
peeves and suggestions aired by 
the dealers were: 

1. The buying public is begin- 
ning to show signs of resisting the 
one-price idea for all pop records, 
regardless of the standing of the 
artist. 

2. Some of the "B" sides kill the 
sale Of an "A" side. The public is 
turning choosey about the material 
on both sides of a platter, and* also^ 
resents the duplication of the same 
tune in successive albums put to- 
gether by the same company. 

3. Far too many releases, and 
too closely together, with the re- 
sult that the dealer tends to over- 
stock. 

4. Distributors in most cases 
don't stock ahead but wait until 
the orders have come in from 
dealers contacting the manufac- 
turer. 

5. Distributors overloading the 
dealer, or including unordered rec- 
ords and albums along with regu- 
lar orders Also flagrant substitu- 
tion. 

6. Ijong waits for replacements 
of broken or defective records in 
albums. 

7. Too mahy i-ecordings of the 

(C^ontiniied on page 48) 



Rate Recorders' Support 

Following are the two serv- 
ice queries in VARisnr's poll of 
record dealers and the sum- 
mary of their answers in terms 
of percentages: 

1. What record manufac- 
turer gives you the best adver- 
tising support? 

Victor , . . ■• 59% 

Columbia . . . . . . . 23% 

Decca ... . 9% 

Capitol 7% 

Others 3% 

100% 

2. What record manufac- 
turer gives you the best sales 
promotional material? 

Victor,,.,. ......53% 

Columbia 28% 

Capitol 9% 

Decca ......... . ... . 6% 

Othen ............. 4% 

100% 



KaniStiDTJis 
Widi Majestic Re 
Deai; Legal Moves 

. Chicago, March 30. 

Jack Kapp, president of Decca 
Becords, and Gene Tracey, head 
of . Majestic, have reopened con- 
versations concerning the possible 
purchase of the Idtter diskery, or 
a portion of its assets. Kapp and 
Tracey originally discussed a deal 
several weeks back, but broke oit 
talks when they couldn't get to- 
gether on financial arrangements. 

Meanwhile, Majestic's . affairs 
moved closer to outright bank- 
ruptcy^ Finn's attorneys last week 
petitioned federal referee in North- 
cm District court for a change from 
Chatter XI of the Chandler Act to 
Chapter X, which makes room for 
a bankruptcy petition, as against 
Chapter XI, which is a reorganiza- 
tion move. 

Majestic's affairs in New York 
were being, moved around, too. 
Company's lease on its offices and 
^studios has been taken over by 
Benton & Bowles ad agency, and 
the one or two people remaining to 
Iiandle loose ends moved to space 
in the Reeves Studios. Lee Sabin, 
artists and repertoire, parted with 
the firm due to rejuctance to listen 
to ideas of moving his now limited 
activities to Elgin, 111., home Office 
site. , ■ 

Majestic has advised N. Y. music 
publishers, to whom it owes roy- 
alty coin, that a general meeting of 
creditors will be held next week. 



- Decca Becords actually became 
the first major disk manufacturer 
to put music on records since the 
record ban applied by the Ameri- 
can Federation of Musicians last 
Jan. 1. Decca cut the Andrews 
Sisters in California last week, us- 
ing a harmonica group as back' 
ground to arrangements of "Sabre 
j&ance" and "Heartbreaker," and it's 
racing to get the pairing on the 
market. It should be released this 
week. 

Decca once before used har- 
monica men on a record. It did 
"Helen Polka" thusly several weeks 
ago in New York, but later decided 
not to release the disk. Decca ex- 
plained at that time that the cut- 
ting was in the nature of a test that 
hadn't- turned out as well as ex- 
pected. 

Two tunes the Andrews gals did 
are published by Leeds Music, 
headed by Lou Levy, manager of 
the trio and busband : of Maxine 
Andrews, Tunes have been getting 
increasing attention during ' recent' 
weeks, ' which caused the recording; 
On "Sabre" the trio .used;the vocal 
recently concocted to flt'the - mel* : 
ody. 

While other majors have made 
disks since Jan. 1, they were done a , 
capella — one by Columbia . using 
Buddy Clark, the ChariotecKS and 
16 additional voices, and another 
by RCA- Victor using -Phil Harris 
arid a vocal group. Victor cut this 
tune in Hollywood two weeks ago, 
and at the time it was made the 
company claimed Harris was simply 
putting a vocal to music recorded 
before the first of ihe year. ' 

Victor, incidentally, -is also sc : 
(Continued on page 49) ' 



EUNGTON(SAN$eilim) 
GEHING lOG IN LONDON 

Duke Ellington is going to Eng- 
land for a series of concerts, plus 
a date at the Palladium, London. 
But he Roes without his band since 
the British Musici.ans Union is 
adamant .against admitting U. SI 
musical organizations. Spike Jones 
and Dizzy Gillespie were recently 
denied admission after arrange- 
ments for dates had been com- 
pleted. 

Bllington's biggest bid is from 
the Palladium, which is handing 
hira $10,000 a week for four weeks. 
Prior to that, however, the pianist- 
maestro-composer will play con- 
certs in the provinces, starting .Tune 
7 for two weeks. He'll do the 
single dates and the Palladium in 
coihpany with two vocalists. Who 
the latter may be is not yet re- 
vealed. 

Ellington's band undoubtedly 
will lay off during its leader's trip 
abroad. 



Mex Deadlock 
Disk Prod. Ends 



Mexico City, Maxefa 23. ■ 
Disk production with Qieh^tras 
has resumed in Mexico after sus- 
pension for more than a year re- 
siilting from deadlocldng of the re- 
cording companies and the tootcrs 
on terms. Producers are Columbia, 
Victor, Peerless and AmpMon, 
whose investment- is figured at 
more than $19,000,000<(MCx) (about 
$3,000,000 U. S.). Besumption also 
includes singers. 

Peace pact, signed by these com- 
panies and the Sole Syndicate of 
Musical Workers (SUTM), allows 
the looters hourly pay of from 
$18 (Mex) ($3.60 U. S.) to $20 (Mex) 
($4 U. S.) plus 5% of wages as a 
fund for social benefits. 



Disker's London, N. Y. 
Offiees at Odds Over 
Dennis' TJD. Contract 

London Becords' New York and 
British offices are not in accord 
over whether Denny Dennis' re- 
cently signed contract to sing 
With Tommy Dorsey's orchestra 
will allow his recording with Dor- 
sey for BC A- Victor if and when 
the disk ban is lifted. Dennis is 
under a five-year contract to the 
British outfit for solo disks, and 
its N. Y. office emphatically denies 
that he wiU be aUowed to cut with 
Dorsey. On the other hand, Dennis - 
himself, who arrived in this coun- 
try last week to work with Dorsey, 
asserts he has full permission of 
London's top execs in Britain to 
cut with T.D. 

T.D's agreement with the singer 
specifically states that he will re- 
cord with the band. This term was 
made known to Dennis and the 
London execs before the contract 
was signed through the William 
Morris agency, and there isn't any 
question as to whether he has the 
permission of the London label. 



Elliot liawrenee's orch, "set to- 
return to the Pennsylvania hotel's 
Cafe Bouge May 24 for six weeks. 







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WeJaei Jay, Mmreh SI, 1948 




, . . to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II for their immortal 
words and music. For such soiigs as "The Surrey With The Fringe On 
Top," "Oh„ What A Beautiful Mornirf " and "People Will Say We're 
In Love." 

. , .to the Theatre Guild for making the presentation of Oklahoma! an 
outstanding achievement of the Ameridin stage. . 

. . . to Rouben Mamoulian for the sjkill and artistry displayed by his superb 
direction of the entire presentation. 

... to Agnes DeMille for the ingenuity and enchantment of her brilliant 
choreography. 

» . . to everyone who has contributed his talents to the tremendous success 
of the show ... for retaining its original freshness and vitality and making 
it typical of the real musical spirit of America!' 




THE GREATEST 
OF ORIGINAL-CAST 
SHOW ALBUMS 

0¥En 800,000 SOlO! 

(AND STIIL Smm ATWt RATt Of W0,009 SitS AYSAIt!) 



... for choosing Decca to record Oklahoma.' with the original cast. It's 
the largest selling show album in America. 

Decca pioneered in recording the musical shows America loves . . . 
sTiall continue to record them in the Decca way . . . just as they're heard on 
the stage . . . with the hit tunes ... and every word clearly spoken, easily 
understood. # » # 

We look forward to the tenth anniversary of wonderful Oklahoma.' 



■PMM' ''*it. VJS. tM. W;.«If«. Vttt* Untit, iix.: 



DECCA 

RECORDS 




46 



ORCHES'niAS-MVSIC 



NXCoi^FqllpwNew 
Crime,Detectiiig Trail 
With Morris Merly' 

The Morris Mtislc offices in New 
York was one of the stop's last week 
In the search by the District At- 
torney's office for clues to the 
motive for a street killing several 
weeks ago. Member of the D.A's 
staff spent considerable time with 
the Morris staff endeavoring to 
find what portion of the lyric of the 
Bong, "Tenderly." or what part .of 
Randy Brooks' Decca recording of 
it might, psychologically, have 
caused the homicide. 

It seems thai one .Santo Mon- 
teleone was picked xip by police for 
murdering a guy he never knew 
on NX's east side. He admitted 
the shooting but wouldn't give a 
reason. Police checked his past and 
found he spent hours listening to 
Brooks' disking at a cafe disk box, 
often playing it as much as 40 
times a day.. Ope night he walkcd* 
out of. the spot .to shoot ai guy 
named Bosario Salvo. 

Cop spent hours inrith the Morris 
staff digging into the lyric and disk 
and finally took copies of both back 
to the D.A.'s office for more listen- 
ing iii order to get a cluo. 

Morris office is being jokingly 
called Murdef, Inc., as a result. 
Several weeks ago a cafe patron 
shot to death a woman who played 
a recording pf "Civilization" too 
many tiines In succession. He 
killed her as she put another nickel 
in the machine. Morris also* pub- 
lishes "Civilization," 

Bobi Miller, president of Music 
Contact Employees Union, already 
at work preparing for outfit's an- 
nual gold tourney, which won't 
take pl^ce Utttil late Augu.st. 



"SUNRISI SIRENADI" 

DREAHT 
LULLABY 

OXFORD MUSIC CORP. 
lilf IroflidlWay 
N«wY*rk19,N.Y. 



BETAIL SHEET BEST SELLERS 



Survey o) retail theet 



music 

.sales, based on reportt obtained '■ 
from leading stores in 11 cities, 
and showing comparative sales 
ra^ng for this and last week. 



National 
'Bating 

This Last 
wk. wk. 



Week Ending 
Mar. 27 



Title 



Pnblisher 



s 



CO 



T 
O 
t 
A 
L 

• P 
O 
I 
N 
T 
8 



1 "Now Is the Hour" Leeds 



2 106 



2 "Four Leaf Clover" Remick 



2 3 2 



2 



3A 3 



"Beg Your Pardon". 



.Bobbins 



S 3 6 10 3 3 



102 



71 



3B 4 



"Manana" .77 .. Barbout^Lee . 3 

■ Morris ..... 5 
.4 



3 71 



7 "But Beautlfnl". 



5 "Serenade of the Bells" . . Morris 



6 49 



8 9 



46 



S "Ballerina" Jefferson 



6 



9 "Teresa" 



.Duchess 



7 



10 8 9 



9 9 



22 



8 12 "Hanissimo" 



.Santly-Joy . . . . 5 



8 7 



17 



15 



9 8 "Golden Earrings" Paramount .. 8. g 



11 



lOA 



"Pickey Bird Song"TT. . .Bobbins 



6 



8 



lOB 



"Best Things Are Free" . . Crawford 



10 



llA 



"Because" 



.Chappell 



IIB 11. "The Stars Kemember". .Harms 



How to Fall Inlo A 
Hit Record; WayneV 
Tale of Rondo 

Circumstances of the recordlH* 
by Jerry Wayne of the vocal to S 
Griffin's hit recording of «'S 
true. Dear" are unlqu* 
Griffiin, an organist, made thft 
Rondo label disk some time aeo 
originally aiming it as music to 
accompany Iceskaters in public 
rinks. Tune began to elicit interest 
from , the skaters under Griffin's 
treatment and it eventually came 
to the attention of Dave breve* 
Now-'Yorfc music publisher. ; 

Dreyer, aware that the tune 
could not be successful for him 
without a vocal," had Wayne dub 
a lyric onto the Griffin disk, and 
the words were, literally written 
while the singer waited to do the 
recordihg. Taken to a recording 
studio, Wayne was fitted with 
headphones into which was fed the 
organ solo, and he tried for some 
time to match words to music* 
Though the original cutting made 
no provision for a vocal and there 
was no break in the melody ti)^ 
allow a voice to slip in, in addltioh 
to which it was not in Wayne's key, 
the task was completed to evei!^* 
one's satisfaction. 

Recording has since create 
quite a stir in mid western cities,' 
and N. Y. disk jocks, Ted Husing 
for one, is beginning to find Uff" 
usual response to it. 



Mooney Burns As Stiiiif; 
Band Fiddles 'Baby Face' 

Art Mooney raised a laugh in 
the music business around New 
York last week by burning against 
the Kranz label's recording of 
"Baby Face" to the extent of con- 
sidering suing the company for 
copying his arrangement. . 

Mooney and M-G-M Records, for 
which he records, in the past have 
made no bones about the fact that 
they took the Uptown String 
Band's arrangement of "Four-Leaf 
Clover," originally launched by 
Kranz, and dupUcated It to make 
Mooney'g hit disk of the same taue. 
When .Mooney's "Baby Face" 
showed up and started to click, 
Kranz followed with its own ar- 
rangement, which Mooney felt 
Kranz and the String Band lifted 



$010 OVER 100,000 

And Stiff Going Strong 




Jly the FERKO STRING BAND 




■acktd by KELLY AMD HARRI«AN 
. A 2-Minuf* Novelty 

(PALI^ 109) 

. And Other Sma«)i ^y the 
' Ftrko String land 

BABY FACE Backed By 

Take Me Out to tlie Ball Game 



PALDA RECORD CO. 

8406 Lyons Ave, Philadelphia 42, Pa. 
Saratoga 9-4137 



(Weelfe BndiBfif Morch 25) 

London, Marbh 25. 
Tree in Meadow . . . Connelly 

Near You Wood 

Who's Kissing. ...... .Feldman 

Sweet Sixteen ....... Darewski 

Serenade Kassner 

Wintertime >Cinephonic, 

Serenade of Bells. . . . . .Morris 

Civilization* ........ .i . . . Morris 

Too Fat Polka. . . . . .P. D. & H. 

Old Postman , . F; D. & H. 

Peg O' My Heart. . Ascherberg' 
Make Up Everything. .Maurice 

'^ Second 12 

BlAssom Wedding Connelly 

Golden Sarrings. . . . .Victoria 
I'm Happy Here ........ Unit 

Coffee Song Southern 

And Mimi Connelly 

Little Old Mill Dash 

TeU Me Story. ..... . . . .Dash 

Sorrento Bicordi 

South America ..... .Feldman. 

Nice Know You Care. . . .Unit 

Gardeh in Bain . . , . .Coonelly; 
Never "Loved Anyone — Yale. 

Guy Lombardo to Try * 
Again at Boat 9^cord 

Miami Beach, March 30. 

Bandleader Guy Lombardo was 
forced to abandon his attempt to 
crack the American speedboat rec-. 
ord' because of engine trouble last 
week. The previous day, the nau- 
tical maestro broke a seven-year 
old Gold Cup mark when he pilot- 
ed his supercharged -Tempo VI at 
more than 113 miles-per-hour over 
a mile-course on Indian Creek. 

Lombardo declared he'll be back 
in June for another try at the U.S. 
record held since 1932 by Gar 
Wood with a run clocked at 124.9 
mph. 

Robbins' English Hit 

Jack Bobbins' recent switch to 
pop songs will include the publica- 
tion in this country of the English 
hitj "Shoemaker's Serenade." Rob- 
bies has completed a deal with the 
British Kassner firm to handle the 
tune here. 

Bobbins only recently decided to 
turn his new publishing outfit, 
formed after he sold out his inter- 
est in the Big 3 to Metro, into pop 
channels. He had been confining 
himself to educational and various 
other music phases. 



Hot Philly Election Battle, 
Four Candidates Take Aim 

Philadelphia, March 30. . 

A hot election battle for the 
presidency of Local 77, AFM, looms 
here with at least four avowed can- 
didates circulating petitions iii ad- 
v.ance of the local's nominating 
meeting on April 5. The scramble 
may produce several slates of can- 
didates for the huge local's posts 
of president and secretary. 

In addition to~ the. four seeking 
the top spot, observers said at least 
two more aspirants may be named 
at the nominating session. 

Known candidates now are Frank 
P. Liuzid, incumbent; Bomeo Celli, 
former president; Edward Spring- 
man, executive board member, and 
Charles McConnell, former musical 
contractor at the Earle theatre 
here. Guy A. Scola is the local 
secretary. 



Eberle's New Yorker Date 

Ray Eberle's orchestra gets . its' 
first crack at a major New York 
location when it follows Shep 
Fields' orchestra at the New Yorker 
hotel's Terrace Room. Eberle opens, 
May S. - 



"SLAP 'ER 
DOWN AGIN, 
PAW" 

CHOICE MUSIC. INC. 

Quret Bain«ro, Prof. Hsr. 
tl09 Sunact Blvd. 1576 Broadway 
Holly wm>d 40, Gal. New York. M.T. 
CIt«itvlrw 1-S'.!M COIwubas HMO 



AfiiWa/ HIT Paiode 

WINNERS OF NATIONAL POLL 
PITTSBURGH COURIER ^ 



Tfie 



RAVENS 



WATCH f OR REtBASe DAK 

9039 FOR YOU 
SEARCHING FOR LOVE 

NOW ON SAU ■ 

9042 TOGETHER 
THERE IS NO YOU 

9040 FOOL THAT I AM 

• BE I BUMBLEBEE OR NOT 
9038 SUMMERTIME 

WRITE ME A LETHR 
9035 OL' MAN RIVER 

WOULD YOU BELIEVE ME 

Charlie Vcntara 

9043 SOOTHE ME 
ELEVEN SIXTY 

29036 BLUE CHAMPAGNE 
SYNTHESISE 

Lilyann Carol 
and Charlie Vmlura 

70)9 PLEASE BE KIND 

HOW HIGH THE MOON 



Billy 



NOW ON SAU 



9041 ALL OF ME 

SHE'S GOT BLUES FOR SAU 

9097 GLOOMY SUNDAY 

IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT 

9030 TIME ON MY HANDS 

I LOVE THE LOVELINESS OF YOU 

9017 PRISONER OF LOVE 
ALL I SING IS BLUES 

9014 A COTTAGE FOR SALE ■ 

I LOVE THE RHYTHM IN A RIFF 




S'AfASW M'G'M^ec<^7^ 10156 





Currently ROXY, New York-— 4th Week 




47 



Bands at ^Hotel B.O.'s 



CMen. IMttl. 
tMt Cavera 
Week OaDato 
2,178 55,800 



1,575 
1,275 

825 
1,550 

900 



7,425 
6,500 
64,450 
3,150 
000 



Hotel' vLiTel 

■SSrColeman*.-.. Waldorf (400; $2) S6 

Writ Jurgens. ...... Pennsylvania ,(500; $1-|1.50) 8 

fihei) FieldB* New Yorker (400; $1-$1.50) 5 

Joimny Plnpappl»- -l^xington (300; $1-$1.50) 72 

«!f^nence Welk. . . . Roosevelt (400; $1-$1.50) 2 

j^ddyi Moreno.... .Commodore (400; $1-$1.50) l 

♦Don BichordS'Rob*. Lammret at Waldorf; Ice Show at New Yorker. 

Chicaffo 

■ Chicago, March 30. 

. gklnnar Enni> <Empb:c Room, Palmer House; 550; $3.90 min.-$l 
cover). Holy Week took its toll; 2,000 secohd^week. 

Serbifl Fldds (College Irni, Sherman; 650; $2-93.50 min.). Kay Starr 
luid Meade Lux Lewis opened Friday (26) after slow b.6. show with 
jTobtt Kirhy did only 1,700 last week, 

Chttck Foster (Boulevard Room, Stevens; 650; $3.50 min.-$l cover) 
}f0W ice revue policy opened Saturday (27). Sock 1,200 for night. 

Bay Morton (Maytair Room, Biackstone; 300; $3.50 min.-$l cover) 
Liicienne Boyer's debut offset slump oi Jimmy Savo's Anale Thursday 
OS)., Big 1.500. 

KJ^crce Olsea (Marine Room, Edgewater Beach; .700; $1.50-$2.50 
Gil Maison now heading revue. Okay 2,S00. 

Locatbii Jobs, Not Id Hotels 

(Chicapo) 

Tommy Garlyu (Aragon; $1^$1.15 adm.). Warm weather brought in 
great 12,200. 

' Del Gonrtney (Trianon; $1-$1.15 adm.). Fine d,800. 
Marty Ctoidd. (Chez Paree; $3.50 min.). Jack Cole Dancers, 
3lt(SA9 Green and Connie ISaiaes swell 3,000 Easter week, 
iitt Kaaiel (Eiaokhawk; SCO; $2.50 min.). New show. Okay 1,800. 



London Gramaphone's latest 
personnel and policy doings In- 
clude James P. Bray's appointment 
as a v.p., Joseph F. Hards' joining 
the organization to handle the full- 
range library service and the In- 
troduction of. Scottish records un- 
der the Beltona label. 

Basil Cornell and James Parks, 
who have worked in the New Eng- 
land area as disk jockeys and song- 
pluggers, have joined with Roger 
Barrett, musical director of WFEA, 
Manchester, N. H., to handle the 
distributorship of Exclusive Rec- 
ords for New Hampshire, Maine 
and Vermont. . 



Loupes («pyr^ht SiA VS. Ms 
May Be Settled Out of Court 



dn the Vjibeat 

Coiktlmied from page 42 Sm 

Ists Corp. . . .^Pete Johnson re- 
optioned at Brass Bail, Glendale, 
fiff four weeks . . . Eddy Howard 
'ft^ned at Aragon ballroom, Chi- 
cago, for eight weeks, Sunday (28). 
Jfovard orch takes off on one-niter 
imt through midwest and into west 
coast after Aragon siint ... Dick 
liSSaUe orch starts stint at Fair- 
mount hotel, San Francisco, open- 
ing April 20 . . . Nat Brandwyn 
outfit set for stand at Palace ho- 
tel,. San Francisco, commencing 
April 8. 

Garwood Van orch opens at Mark 
Hopkins fa($tel for hidef stay, start- 
ing April 20. , .J|mmy Zito band's 
option picked up for 12 weeks at 
Sherman's nitery,' San Diego . . . 
I'rankie Carle outfit playing week 



at Zantzen Beach, Portland, Ore., 
starting June 24 . . . 



Chicago 

Leon Barry takes over the. or- 
ganist post at the Trianon ball- 
room . . . Louis Armstrong opens 
at the Orchid Lounge, SpringAeld, 
April 13 . . . Fred Benson, Ray An- 
thony's manager, in Chi for . con- 
fabs with GAC. Reported that 
Frances Foster was added to. An- 
thony's band, and that Danny Kern 
replaced Ronnie Deauville . . , 
George Winslow set for two weeks 
at the Prom bajlroom, St. Paul, 
May 19, and makes his first Tria- 
non appearance June 1 to July 25 
.. . . Slam Stewart takes over the 
Blue Note April 12, co-starring 
with the Esquire All-Stars . . . 
Buddy Stewart, Kai Winding and 
the Ray Rodney Sextet opened at 
the Mayfair Club, Kansas City, 
for three weeks . 



Frank Dailey Win Fold 
Meadowbrook July 4 
For Rest of Summer 

Frank Dailey will close his Me» 
dowbrook, Cedar Grove, N. J., for 
the sunimer July 4. Competition of 
summer resorts and other summer 
activities are responsible for the 
decision. 

Until closing, however, Dailey 
has a string of top band names set, 
with the final period, from June 6 
to July 4, still in doubt. It was 
originally to have been filled by 
Elliot Lawrence, but that band 
goes into the . Pennsylvania hotel, 
N. Y., for six weeks opening May 
24. Dailey now has Frankie Carle, 
gets Louis Prima, April 6; Tony 
Pastor, April 27; Art Mooney, May 
11, and Tex, Benteke, May 27 to 
June 6. 

^ Combination of Carle and clear 
weather, plus the passing of Lent, 
incidentally, has gilven the Meadow- 
brook the first decent b.o. it has 
had all wintet*. Heavy storms which 
hit the N. Y. area since Xmas all 
but ruined the spot's biz^ Carle 
played to 400-odd Saturday (27) 
evening and 1,100 Sunday on mat- 
inee (4:30 to 6:30 p.m. tea' dance) 
and evening performances. 



Case instituted last year by Lon- 
gines-Wittnauer against variouit 
music publishers and Harry Fpx,: 
agent and trustee for pubs in 
mechanical royalty matters, may 
be settled out of court. There have 
been several conferences between 
the, priileipals during the past few 
weeks, and the case may never go 
to trial although there are publish- 
ers who would like to see the point 
ibvolved tested and settled once 
and for all. 

Suit involves the 2c statutory 
royalty allowed by the copyright 
law for popular recordings, but in 
this case Ixingines is seeking to 
apply tliat royalty principal to 
transcriptions, which were un- 
known when the. law was written 
in 1909, hence are not specifically 
covered. For years, the music busi- 
ness lias set its own : rates for 



Goodman's 7G Gross 
For 2 Coast Concerts 

Hollywood, March 30; 

Two weekend jazz sessions pro- 
moted by Gene Norman, with Ben- 
ny Goodman's sextet toplining, 
grossed over" $7,000, after taxes, at 
$3.60 top. Goodman got- 50% take^ 
paying oif all talent, 

Friday, in Buss auditorium, San 
Diefo, about $2,100 represented 
about an even break for Norman. 
On Saturday, Pasadena aud sellout 
hit nearly $5,000 for hefty profit. 



transcription royalties^ u s u a 1 ly - 
calling foi: 25c per-disk-p^-pep> 
formance for the use of the averv 
age tune, and 50c each for uses of 
more valuable standard copyrights, 
show tunes, etc. 

Last year, Longines pi:epared a 
series of transcriptions and for- 
warded to Fox a check for about $6 
to cover the royalties on the basis 
of 2c per use. Fox returned, the 
check and demanded tiie usual ' 
amount, - whereupon Longines 
launched an action in N. Y. federal 
court. 

£ver since the suit was launched, 
certain music business executives 
have been endeavoring to deter* 
mine who actually was behind the 
action. It was theorized that nei- 
ther Longines execs themselves, 
nor their attorneys, were suffi- 
ciently versed in music business 
af fiairs to pose such a situation. 
It was figured that ,some <attomey 
now involved in music biz 
prompted the Longines action, and 
tliis angle was -strengthened when 
the watchmaker's attorneys' papers 
were filed in preliminary moves in 
the suit. They were too well 
planned; it was opined, to hav^ 
been laid out by; attorneys not exn 
pected to hav6 ii full knowledge of 
the vast intricacies ot copyright 
problems. 



Satchmo for Carnegie 

Louis Armstrong's small orches- 
tra will take part in the Carnegie 
Hall, New York, Pops Concerts, 
which run from May 1 to June 6. 
Armstrong will be shown May 3. 

Trumpeter's group wiU be on a 
concert series at that time. May 1 
he works at the Music Hall, De- 
troit, -doing an 8:30 p.m. and mii- 
night performance and a single 
show there the following night (2). 
Following the Carnegie booking he 
does Rochester, Minn., Minneapolis 
and St. Paul May 8-9-10. 



Hiising: Doesn't Claim 
To 'Make' Tunes as Jock 

Ted Husing is one of the jfew 
disk jockeys who doesn't claim to 
"make" or "revive" any tunes. In 
fact, the WHN (N.Y.) platter-chat- 
terer gets "nary a rumble" about 
the artists or selections, since he 
does a different-type>show wherein 
the artists are grouped, such as a 
quarter hour of Crosby, the "girl 
friends" (thrusties),' "hoy frienda" 
(male singocs), etc. 
- Only exception has been the re* 
action to a Rondo disking of a 
German tune, "You Can't Be True 
Dear," by Ken Griffin (vocalized 
by Jerry Wayne.) 




48 



ORCHESTBAS^MVSl€ 



Vedneaday, March 31, 1948 



Glen Isle Gets 
$3B'castTax 

Glen Island Casino, New Ro- 
chelle, N. Y., was handed some- 
what of a setback last week by the 
New Rochelle local 6i the Ameri-, 
can Federation of Musicians, 
which instituted scales and broad- 
cast rules similar to those exer- 
cised by New York Local 802. 

To begin with, the Westchester 
County local slapped a $3 per man 
broadcast tax on iail radio remotes 
emanating from the spot, whiclj 
inevitably must restrict the num- 
ber of remotes per week. Fop* 
merly, a band could be asked to 
play ati unlimited amount. AFM 
rules demand that a spot owner 
uay the tax, but in the past the 
major Ipereentage of such coin has 
beett paid ,by the bandleaders 
themselves. ' ■ • ^ 
" After setting the broadcast tax, 
the New Rochelle local jumped 
scales irom $75 per man weekly to 
$103.50, a move that's likely to 
■ have a -sHsrp effect on bands yet 
to be booked for the Casitao's sed- 
son, which will open aroimd'May 
29. Like all other niteries and 
band location^ in the N. Y. area 
and elsewhere. Glen Island was 
last year a "weekend operation," 
i.e., it diid minor, biz midweek and 
holdout biz weekends. .If that biz 
facter is. expected to hold, it could,. 
In rela^on.to the increased scales, 
have a major- efiCect ,on the talent 
fiought^iip-.pl^ the spot. . ■ . 
' Undet isueh scales, the Casino, 
being; .. run- -this year again by 
Michael DeZutter, who last season 
fioM bis lease to maestro Shep 
Fief.'ds and' then bought it back 
again, wjU buy either a small band 
and 'tix to keep costs' down, or go 
into '.'.inot!eL expensive names than 
he did when last he ran the plaee. 
I{ ;h'e'\^o£/s irito a* large inedium- 
liatne. outfit his music costs would 
be topheavy under the new scale. 



Tibe No. I Folk Record 
of fhe Haflon 
1. TEXAS TYLER'S 

/'DECK OF 
CARDS" 

tmt star Beii'or^ 

AMERICAN MUSIC, INC. 

MOO ISiraaet Blva. 197« 'Bnwdwar 
Wbriwid M. Cal. N«w Torh K. Y, 
CkS's^vIdw t-tOM OOInmbM S-78M 



RETAIL DISK BEST SEUCBS 





Survey oj retail disk best 
sellers, based on reports ob» 
tained from leading stores in 
11 cities, and showing com- 
parative sales . ratin$f for thi< 
and last week. ' ' 




erty Music Shop) | 


>&-Ross) 1 


'ai 

■T 

1 


MS Cay—( Jenkins Music Co.) | 


enel's Mus. Shop) [ 


0 

' 1 

H 

f 


0 

0 

i i 


Kresge Co.) 1 


m-Clay) . ,L 


rt Leary) 


t 
0 

. ■ T 
A 


National 
Ratius 


Week Ending 


1 
I 


.3 
0 

"1 

1 


B 
1 

■ M 


"i 


r 1 

Ji CO 

5 a 
i ■ N 


m 
I 


1 

xt 
1 

& 


T 

i 


L 

P 
0 
I 

. N 


This Last 

wk. wk. Artist, Label, Title 


he 
1 


3 
0 


a 


i 

« 




CEI 

CO t 


i 1 








fit 


1 1 


PEGGY LEE (Capitol) 


1 


1 




2 


V 


2 




iO 




1 


90 


2 2 


ART MOONEY (M-G-M) 


.■■4 


« 






3 


6 , 




1 


1 . 




5Z 


3 3 


GRACIR FIELDS (London) 


2 




2 














2 


4fi 


4 5 


RING CROSBY (Decca) 


■ ' * ■ '■ 






1 


2 


1 . 










37 


5. 6 


FRANKIE LAINE (Mercury) 
"Shine" 




3 


. '. 






7 








4'' 


26 


6 15 


FREDDY MARTIN (Victor) 
"Sabre' Dance Boojsie" 










4 












23 




FRANCIS CRAIC^ (Btillet) 








3 




8 . 




• - 


1. . ii 22 


8 4 


FRANKIE CARLE (Columbia) 


>~'':' 




S 






- 






.. .. 17 


d 11 


MACKLIN MARROW (M-G-M) 
,"Sabre Dance" 






b ■ 


9 








— ! 




7 


18 


10 ., 


VAUGlfN MONROE (Victor) , 
"Ballerina" .• 


.7 






v.« 


4 












14 


11 l3 


FREDDY MARTIN (Victor) 
"Dickey Bird Sons" ; 








■ 




8 


10 . 


" z 








13 


12A . . 


KEN GRIFFEN (RondO) 

"You Can't Be True" 






8 








• 


' 4 




» ■ 


12 


12B 14 


STAN KENTON (Capitol) 






.9 








. 1 








12 


12C .. 


VAUGHN MONROE (Victor) 










7 












12 


13 16 


RING CROSBY (Decca) 


6 




■ . , 
















11 


14A 14 


ROSETTA HOWARD (Columbia) 
"Ebony Rhapsody" '. 


















■ • ■ P 




10 


14B 8 


WOODY HERMAN (Columbia) 














8 








10 


15A 9 


LES PAUL (Capitol) 






















9 


15B 10 


PERRY COMO (Victor) 






10 


7 














9 


15C .. 


TEX BENEKE - (Victor) • 










5 




8 .. / 








9 



FIVE TOP 




4 


■ 3 


f * 




''GOOD NEWS" 


"MILLER'S 


"ARTISTRY IN 


."GOES TO TOWN" 


NELLI^ lUrCHER, 


ALBUMS 


, Orig. Coil ' 


MASTERPIECE" 
Gltnn Milltr 


RHYTHM" 
Stan Kanlon 


1 Dorothy Shay j 


Capitol 




M-G-M 


YicloE 


Capitol 


I Columbia 






-1945- 

TILL THE END OF TIME 
WALKIN' WITH MY HONEY 

' -1946- 
FULL MOON AND I^MI^TV ARMS 
DON'T BE A BABY, BABY 

-1947- 
I'LL CLOSE MY EYES 
THE THINGS YOU LEFT IN MY HEART 



f-i94a- 

THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE 
THOUGHTLESS 

(And the Start of like BVOtiY KAYE QVmtET on M-G-M RECORDS) 

TOTALS 3,000,000 COPI ES--6,000,000 RECORDS 

Lyrics by BUDDY KAYI 

THANKS TO: Santiy-Jey, Rcpnblie, Barton, B-V-C, P«t«r Mourkc, Lewis, 
Rcmick and Nist— and to my co-writers— Tod Mossmon, Dick Manning, 
Howard Steiner. Billy Reid. Leighton-Taianni and Carl Lampl— M^-G-M 
Rocerds— and my wife. 



Disk 



Continued from 



Snag 

-om page 4J ^ ' 'I 



same tune under the same label; 
' Those concerned with the eco- 
i nomic side of the record business 
I may flnji food for thought in the 
I fact that 37% of the retailers re- 
{ ported that business was worse 
I than it was a year ago, though 47% 
pegged their business to be on tiie- 
up side. The summiary to the poll's 
query on .'the dealers^ business 
status as compared 'to a year ago 
ran:- about the same, 16%; a little 
better, 32%; much better, 15%; a 
little worse, 27%, and niluch worse, 
10%. 

The phase of the poll dealing 
with the proportion of sales on 
various disk classifications is illu- 
minating in especially one facet, 
and that is, the children's field. 
The fact that this type of record- 
ing averages $10 out of every $100 
taken in over the counter indicates 
that the demand for kid fare has 
undergone a huge advance in the 
past yea^ or two. Also that this 
end of the business has even 
greater possibilities than the trade 
as a whole of late has begun to 
suspect. An interesting sidelifiht 
on this angle of the dealer returhi^ 
was that, the proportion of kid rec- 
ord sales did not differ according 
to sections of the country. In other 
words, the ratios were higher in 
the larger cities, and suburbs, but 
the like relationship prevailed in 
the south and southwest as . much 
as it did in the north and north- 
west, 

The results of the question to 
dealers on the division of their 
sales in terms of types of records 
were as follows: 

Popular 59% 

Classical ....... . j , 20% 

Children's 10% 

Others .................... 11% 



M-G-M Disks M ay 
Jump Tap to 7Sc 

„T HoUywood, .March 30. 

M-G-M Records is expected to 
boost the retail price of its pjoduct 
in the near future to 75c f rom th^ 
current 60c. for its pop material 
During recent weeks, since Rca- 
Victor decided to jump its pop 
prices frdm eoc to 75c. to brlnK 
It in line with Columbia, Decca 
and Capitol, M-G-M has been hold- 
.ing back on increasing the tap for 
it.? own product in the hope that 
a lower price would help retail 
dealers solidify the label with 
customers and also provide a more 
attractive buy for coinmaqhine 
operators. 

However, In the past several 
weeks, top execs of M-G-M decided 

lulKl "^f^" «s against 
the 75c, asked by other companies 

i«<»t'»n8' M-G-M believes 
that if the public wants a particit- 
lar hit disk it doesn't matter 
whether the-cost is 6O0 or 75c As 
in the case of Victor, retail clerks 
weren't too concerned anywav 
with making price distinctioiw 
with customers and were charging 
75c. rather than the; official 60c. 
Add to that a suspicion among 
sales execs that the disk-buying 
public is wary of paying less for a 
disk than the standard labels ask, 
in the thought that the product is 
cheaper. 



Jakes SlnKged Out of Biz 

St. Louis, March 30. 
Jukeboxes in the Community 
Youth Center, Highwood, 111., have 
been "slugged" out of existence. . 

Last week the coin-operated 
music boxes were withdrawn from 
the Center by two companies that 
owned them because more than 
90% of the "take" was found to be 
metal slugs, 



The No. 1 Plug 
Make It Yours 

WHO 

WERE YOU 
KISSING 

(When You Kissed Me 
Last Night) 

BOURNE, WL 

799 Seventh Ave. 
New York 



Total ...100% 




?99SmNtHAV«.,NeWV<«K19,N V, 

' ' iHmHAf »Am. Q*" ftof> Mgc ^ 



Gnat MadMH Novelty— ReconlMi by 
Arthur Hedler (Victor) 
, Comarota (London) 

FIDDLE-FilDDLE 

MILLS MUSIC, INC. 
1619 Broodway New York 19. N. t. 



: Songs with Lan;est Ra^ KfAm 



' The iop 32 aotiQs of the week based on the copyrighted Audi- 
tace Cqverage In^ex Survey of Popular Music Broadcast Over 
■'fldio Networks. Published by the Office of Research, Inc., Dr, 
' 1 a, Pftttman, Director. 

Survey Week of March 10-25, 1948 

All. Dressed Up With a Broken Heart. Marks 

Baby Face ...■.<.. , Remick 

Ballerina ^ ^. ........ .Jefferson 

Beg Your Pardon , Bobbins 

Brass Band From Brazil— ♦"Angel In the Wings" . . . Morris 

But Beautiful— f'Road to Rio" Morris 

5lckey-Bird Son?— 1"3 Daring Daughters" Bobbins 

JIaster Parade Berlin ■ 

Feathery Feelln' ^ . . Beverly 

Cfolden Earrings — f'Golden Earrings" Paramount 

Haunted Heart— ♦"Inside USA" Williamson 

I'm a Coniln' a Courtin' Corabelle Dreyer 

I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover. ....... . v. . Remick 

Laroo Laroo Lilli Bolero Shapiro-B 

Lone Star Moon Advanced 

Love Is So Terriflc , Mellin 

Manana .' ,.Barbour-L 

Now is the Hour , .' Leeds 

Oobh Look-ff There, Ain't She Pretty ... . Leeds 

Passing Fancy : . . . BMI 

Pianissimo '. ■. Santly-Joy 

Saturday Date Southern 

Sat Night Central Park— ♦"Make Mine Manhattan" T. B. Harm? 

Serenade Of the Bells ; . Melrose 

tell Me a. Story * • Laurel 

Xeiosa . ' • < ' • ' • ■ • • .<»«...•••••••••••• ' I ■■> Duchess 

Tftottghtless • 

ToollB Oolie Oolie C. K. Harrw 

Treasure Sierra Madre '• Remick 

What'll IDo Jerlm 

You Turned the Tables On Me , Pox 

Vou Were Meant For Mer- t"You Were Meant" .... Mills 

The reemaininff 20. songs of the iceete, based on the copyrighted 
-Audience Cooerogft- Index' Swrtniv «/ Pojpulor Muaic Broadcast 
Over Jladio NcfworJcs; Publishied Whe Office of Research, Inc., 
Dr. John G- Peatmm, Direetm: ••.. *■■■ 

NA. -Fellow Needs a Girl— *" Allegro" Williamson 

A Tune For, Humming ' Paramount 

An Old Sombrero Shapiro-B 

: L Cutest Little- Hpd-HLeaded Doll . w . United 

Dreams' LuUabye Oxford 

' Fool That I Am , Mutual 

Hooray For IjOvo — t"Casbah" Melrose* 

How Lucky You Are Maurice 

I May Be Wrong '. ..... Advanced 

I Wish I Knew the Name Maurice 

I'll Never Say "I Love You" -. . . Mood . 

In a Little Book Shop - .' Triangle 

Man On the Carrousel' . Miller ' 

Matinee s . Morris 

My Gal Is Mine Oncte More . . ... Cravrford 

My Sin .■ Chappell 

.Sabre Dance Leeds 

Thousand Islands Song ......................... .Morris , 

With a Hey and a Hi and a Ho Ho Ho Bourne 

You've Changed . Melody Lane. 



* Le0it Mw^etfl, . t-IHlmusical. ' 



ORC1IESTIIAS.MIJSIC 



4» 



'' Lottis Bernstein in Florida on 
third trip south of season. Back 
to' New York in another 10 days. 



TELL ME 
STORY 



LAUREL MUSIC CO. 

161f Iroadway 
!N H«w York 

TOMMY VALANDO 



4 Ortof Two-Four Sfoittfartf 

I FEEL 
A SONG 
COMING ON 

Music by . . . 

^HHY McHVGH 

RoniNs 

Am«ri<o'» Ntw Imlrwmantal Hill 

FIDDLE-.FADDLE 

Ltroy Andonon 



Skyhigh Disk Saks Of 
Philly Non-Union Bands 

Philadelphia, March 30. 

Skyrocketing sales of recordings 
made hy Philly Mummers , non- 
union string bands, and the plug- 
ging of these platters by Philly ra- 
dio disk joekeys, has officials of the 
Philly local of the musicians' union 
doing a . bum. 

There's nothing the union can dp 
about this. Meanwhile, the Mum- 
mers bands are reaping a harvest 
with one band, The Ferko String 
agggregation, reportedly making as 
high as $13,000 in royalties on the 
record, "I'm Looking Over a Four 
Leaf Clover." . 



Decca Cuts 

Continued from pace 43 



File Suit Vs. Barn^ 

.HoUyisrood, MardiSO. 
Casa Manana, Inc. (Stillman 
Pond, Joe Zucca and Harry School- 
er) suit against Charlie Bamet, 
Bob Dawes, and Musicians Local 47 
has. beeii filed -, in Los Angeles 
muidcipal court. ' 

Casa Manana, which operates 
the Mardi Gca^ ballroom, now 
E>laying non-union crews, is suing 
Bamet and Dawes for $75,000 and 
Local 47 for $75,000 because Bar- 
net was yanked without warning 
when he still had two weeks to go 
on contract. Bamet and Dawes 
had previously fllbd suit against 
Mardi Gras, alleging payment was 
vdthheld on salaijr check given 
Bamet and crew. 



No Col, Records Deal 

Yet for Pub Rights 

Columbia Records has not com- 
pleted any deal for- the publishing 
rights to the tunes it has Iieen 
gathering for several years in its 
own Columbia Music catalog. Rec- 
ord manufacturer has been talking 
deals with various publishers but 
has not yet settled, on any prof- 
f erred arrangement. 

Meanwhile, Morris Music still 
holds a handful of melodies Co- 
lumbia tumedj over to it several 
weeks back. Among the items Mor- 
ris has is "Peculiar," released by 
Columbia as recorded by Buddy 
Clark. 

There are close to 150 copy- 
rights within the Colunibia catalog. 



PUB, WRITER GROUP 01 
FINAL PACT ADJUSm 

Attorneys for the Music Pnb' 
Ushers Protective Assn. and thai 
Songwriters Protective Assn. will 
meet later this week in New York 
to make final adjustments on the 
clarification of the language that 
will go into the new SPA-MPPA 
contract, now some 16 months 
overdue. 

Though there are one or two 
points remaining to bei settled by 
the two factions, neither of them 
at the moment deemed important 
enough to block a final agreement, 
the contract is being readied for 
submission to the membership «C 
both organizations. 



curing a version of "Heartbreaker," 
which it did not record before Jan. 
1. It is going to England again for 
a master. Joe Loss made it for the 
HMV label (Victor's English affili- 
ate), and the master is being 
shipped here. 

feapitol Records is said to be 
planning recording with Jack 
Smith. In the event the singer docs 
disk it's probable he will do a- 
capella versions of new pops. 

M-G-M Records is also figuring 
on going overseas for a recording 
it w&sn't able to get in before Jan. 
1. It has sent to EMI, English 
recorder with which the company 
has a working agreement, for the 
latter's master of "A Tree in the 
Meadow," new Shaphro^Bernstein 
song. 

M-G-M is not too clear on what 
English artist made the disk, but 
it wants to hear the recording. If 
It's decided that it is sufficiently 
well made to be abl0 to compete 
with U. S. artists, it's Ukely M-G-M 
wiu pi«s$ fhe 1^ yersipn in tiiis i 




aMMMNW^ 



uTiMMiMnHiirnnnnr^MMiflf 



Don't miss out on 
the first popular request* 
exploitation in the history 
of the music industry! 

^ wUh these great records 

JIMMY DORSEY Decca 

SID FISHER Vifacoustic 

HARRY JAMES , . ^. . . . . Columbia 

SAMMY KAYE Victor 

JOHN LAURENZ Mercury " 

BOB MANNING . . , Click 

GORDON MacRAE Capitol 
THE POUR TUNES Manor 





fWhen the radio ban on' A8CAP music was in ciTect iiarlc. in 1940, 
UnilerMand'* earned « great popularity even though restricted t» 
mnsic. machines and rcconiings. Ever since that date, the popular 
demand lias l>cen so high that the pufdishers have lieen forced lo eSiploil 
the song in this current promotion. 




Ui£. ' 1619 Broadway, N Y 19 



BO 



tteidt $ Boff Cdfosses for Loew $ Has 
Others Midlkg Return of St^eshows 



Fresh, potent attractions are 
capable of opening more circuit 
houses to stageshows than cur- 
rently on the books. Point 
illustrated recently with the Loew 
cfircuit's offer to Horace Heidt of 
eig^t full -week? throughout the 
country' That's more vaude than 
the chain has had in many years. 

The Heidt crew, whldi* recently 
played the Capitol theatre, N.Y., 
has taken two other Loew dates, 
one of which was Lioew's theatre, 
Richmond, and lias accepted a May 
date at the Midland,. Kansas City. 
In the mdunond date last week 
Heidt puUed ^,000, considfred a 
healthy figure for tbe iwuse. Vari- 
ous nme managers have beto in- 
quiring on tbe i^ossibiliQes of get- 
ting H^dt for dates in their areas. 
Hddt, however, was forced to turn 
them down since his radio conunit- 
ments make it necessary for him 
to be back on the Coast for the 
Phillip Morris talent finals. 

With mdre bands of that calibre 
and a sufficient number of new 
names, the bookers say that they 
could open" any number of houses 
to vanmu Liadk qt such attractions 
makes it improbable. iBoofcers de- 
clare nearly cveiytiifiag left with 
b.qf.; pull has rapeated 4drenits so 
frequently that their b.o. dran^t 
has' been drained. 3ut Hieidl;, is 
maUng his first theatre tour in 
sevetal ..years and has gained 



stature .via terrific publicity with 
his radio show* 

They Can Dream, Can't They? 

The bookers say that it would be 
unwise to gamble with' most packr 
ages maldng the rounds, as one un- 
wise choice would probably negate 
fuither receptivity for stageshows. 

Virtually every circuit has a 
large number of houses that would 
take a fling into stageshows, when 
there's an even chance of hitting 
a top gross. Tlie talent buyers, 
however, cannot find that kind of 
talent. 

In adcUtion to tbe Loew chatai, 
the RKO and Paramount houses 
are faced with the same situation. 
Howevpr, latter two circuits, fre- 
quently, take chances with- spot 
bookings throughout the country, 
with varied results. However, 
they'd all jump at a surefire gross- 
er, even thou^ there haven't been 
live sdiows 'in some situations for 
years. ' . 



JHDY I^GS 

F'mfo-Affalery 

■# ' • 
. ;• Cari^irffy , 

IMuiiiiM IMii 

fAIAMI 1IEA(»1 



RKO, Cincy, Sets Bands 

Cincinnati, March 30. 
' Kame bands dominate tlie 
schedule of stageshows for the 
ItKO -Albee theatre, which is book- 
ing on a spot -basis, during- April 
and May. • 

Art Mooney-s' ovth is due the 
week of April 15, to be followed 
by I^kie Carle's combo. Com^ 
a vaude Interruption the week, of 
April 29 with the . Mills Bros, top- 
phig. Horace Heidt and his crew 
appear the week of May 6, and 
Vaughn Monroe's orch lray 27. 

E.€. HITEKT FADIOCSiSft 

Kansas City, March 30. . 

The Pilot Club, a showboat an-* 
chored in the Missouri river on the 
Kansas side here, was padlocked 
last week by John J. TherotI; Wy- 
andotte County (Kans.) sheriff 
when the spot was declared a 
nuisance. 

Harvey J. IBmersoA, county 
judge, issued the order ending tiie 
10-year career of the nitery, on 
compliant of Harold H. tturdiag, 
county attorney. 




LAHORE aad VERNA 

DANCE SENSATIONS 

CUMENTLY 

eOTTILLiON ROOM 

WTEL PKRUE, HEW YORK 

ITHANn TO CHAKLIS READERl 



INTERNATIONML THEATMCAL CORP. 



CortaU O^. hm^on Bun 

Qlson &. Johnsoni's 'riUt at 
Prince's theatre, London, in 
"HeUzapopiHn' " will be cut short 
because of team's boukiitg at the 
Canadian 'INational Ealiibition in 
August. 

Comics went over originally to 
play a date at the Casino theatre, 
London, and subsequently decided 
to expand revue to legit pifg^mr- 
lions. , " 



Talent Skives Mims 
So Show Can Go On At 
Caniegie HaD, N.Y., Concert 

Performers came to tlie rescuer 
of the Saturday afternoon (27) con- 
cert at Carnegie Hall, N.Y., by 
waiving one-third of their salary to 
permit the ^ow to go .cm. Gross 
was so dismal that Victor RoccOi 
Araerican Guild of Variety Artists 
representative, demanded that pro» 
moter Barney Weinstein puti up 
$500 in addition to the . $1,500 
already posted with the union to 
guarantee salaries. - 

Apparently,' there was less than 
$500 in-tbe boxoffice. T^ent costs 
came to $2,tMH)i»> : « 

After a 45 mindCe delay,'' doors 
opened and* show, started about an> 
hour ; later than schedule. ' / 

Schedule of acts for the layout 
included lisa Kirk, Morey Anistfer-' 
dam, -Janet Sayre and Hotshots, AL 
.Melvm, Jack Carter, Helen Humes, 
Hsher & White, liou Fidds, IhAert 
Q. ILetris, Bella Snuro. iteith Gil- 
bert and Ckss FcuUIn and M«»ica 
Moore. 

While the acts will .probably 
make no clrl^u for the xemaiader 
of their salary, AGVA expects to 
get amounts due out of subaequent 
promotions of Weinstein. . 



NUTTOBOI^URM 

'iDimeapolis, March 30. 
Local cafes are going in' for 
name and personalis attiwetions 
in effort to bolster saggfaQt hnsi- 

ncss. 

For example, the Dome, one of 
the loop's leading such establish- 
ments, is }u8t finishing with the 
Page Cavanaugh Trio and is im- 
mediately foUo^^ng. them with the 
Joe Mooney Quartet. Latter last 
played Hotel Radisson Wiasae 
Room, one of town's two swaiddfist 
supper clubs. 



Poor Comedy Taste Mars 
Friars' Chevalier Lunch 

Following two clicko ribfests by 
the Friars, honoring Frank Sinatra 
and John Garfield at respective 
luncheons, with Milton Berle as 
"roastsoiaster," the one thrown for 
.Maurice Chevalier in New York 
last Thursday (25) missed Sre. 'Bie 
shindig was Just all right -when it 
should have been great because, 
even transcending the previously 
honored guests, there were two 
elements to be considered. The 
lesser of the two was Franco-Amer- 
ican, amity and the courtesy to a 
foreign artist; the truly domin;uit 
one was ttiat the show budness 
fraternal organization was faminr- 
ing one .of the greatest single-man 
entertainers extant, 

Therefore the true values should 
have been more judiciously ap- 
praised. And what emerged dom- 
inantly was a Johnny-one^note 
accent on French-postcard type of 
joke. 

Obviously the GalUc stat cued 
the Yank conception of rue Blondel 
hiunor< but it was belabored to the 
point of poor .taste. Despite this, 
however, Berle was again in fine 
fettle, with Bobby Clark, Garfield, 
Waiter Abel, Phil Silvers, Henny 
Youngman, Jerry Bergen, Carl 
Ravazza, Maxie Rosenbloom, Earl 
Wilson, Jack Carter, Dan Shapiro, 
Arthur Lesser, «t al. also on the 
dias, most of them doing their 
stuff. 

Rosenbloom topped Berle, who 
Was ribbing him for maltreating 
the language, when he observed, 
"Why do you want me to do, speak 
like Noel Coward and starve to 
death?" Clark's nifty was about 
the actor . who - was cremated and 
willed that 10% of his ashes foe 
thrown in liis agent's face. 

Thursday was a double-luncheon 
booking, since ttie Circus Saints & 
Sinners honored Bert Lytell as the 
"fall guy." The ex-'Equlty prez and 
present si. ''.erd of The Lam' ? 
got the usc-« going-over befor a 
.capaidty. turnout. . .... jibeL. > 



Acc^ on L'Miurc AGVA Switdies 
To Riraliy in Bekgation Slates 



Accent on th» internal affairs of 
the. American Guild of Variety 
Artists has transferred from the 
legal snarls resulting from the 
firing of Matt Shelvey* the union's 
former national administrator, . to 
the election of delegates. Voting 
tor delegates to the union's first 
constitutional convention, to be 
held at the Astor hotel, N. Y., 
May 7, is now the major issue 
among the membership. , 

As a result, two major slates 
have been formed in N. Y., with 
alliances in other cities being 
sought. One faction has been 
formed by Arthur Ward, oAetime 
executive secretary of the AGVA 
San Franqisco local. This slate 
consists of Ward, Henry Dnnn, Hal 
Sherman, Jimmy Hollywood, Cbar- 
lehe Harriilt George Rowland, 
Jerry Baker, Marty Barrett, Rus- 
sell Swann, Joe Smith, Margie 
Coates and Adam DlGitano. Other 
slate, which was formed by the 
program committee; ' is headed by 
Phil Irving, a former executive sec- 
retary of the N. Y. local. That 
lineup consists of Irving, Virginia 
Richmond, Jack Gttilfd^d; Ralph 
Shaw, Noel Hytowh, Phil Foster, 
Murray Lahe, Reiifee Wilde, Bob 
Sydney and Jon Ni<ihoIs. One slot 
is still to be Sited.' Y, will have • 
12 delegites to tb6, convention. 

The progrton committee has a)r 
ready made an alliance with Boii< 
ton membership. Among the Hub's 
nominees,' the committee is sup- 
porting Charlie Brett, mil Bayon, 
Ralph Morgan and John Ardolino. 
TMs group claims' to have the- 
backing of the Philadelphia mem- 
bership as well, although the Phllly 
branch racently adblpted a resolu- 
tion not xo parttd^t^ in the con- 
vention. . 

IProgram Conuntttee Platforoi 

The program committee has 
adopted a platform calling for 
amendments to the unemployment 
compensation laws, which would 
tiermlt a performer credit on work 
done in states other than that in 
widch he resides. Other planks in- 
dude passage of legislation which 
would permit an act to choose 
whether he shall be classified as 
an employee or independent con- 
tractor in order to qualify for so- 
cial security benefits. Other items 
include establishment of an ' in- 
surance, welfare and death benefit 
fund, maintenance of strict sani- 
tary conditions in dressing rooms, 
and elimination of all benefit 
shows. At a meeting Monday (29), 
the program jcommittce adopted a 
resolution asking that the first con- 
vention adopt union working con- 
ditions as well as a constitution. 
They win jdso fight to have the 
voting , procedure changed so that 



convention delegates will be voted 
upon on a branch basis instead of 
on a national basis, as is beino 
done for the first confab. 

Tlie Associated Actors and 
Artistes of America is still wotk, 
Ing upon a suggested constitution 
to be presented at the convention 
Viml draft is expected to be 
made at a 4A's meeting tomorrow 
(Thurs,). 

Last week also saw the resumn. 
tion of conferences between attor- 
neys for Shelvey and the 4A*s ."us- 
Oce Null, of the N. Y. supreme 
court, IS attempting to bring both 
parties together on a mutually 
agfeeable solution on the injmic. 
tioft suits brought by both sides 
Which would establish the rightful 
head of the union. The suggesUon 
that a mediator be appointed has 
already been nixed. 

Slate BnM. Into N.Y. Cap 

Slate Bros, have been signed for 
the Capitol theatre, N. Y., startitig 
April 8 to repli)ce Dean Martin smd 
Jerry Lewis, who open that niglit 
at.. Copacabana, N.Y. Former will 
be the only change »on the bill, 
which also includes Tex Beneke's 
orch .plus "Naked City" (U). 

Slates have .been signed for one 
week and options but are expected 
toirfay jar least tbacee weeks. 




OLYMPIA THf AWl 

MIAMI 




MoMKiaMM*^ 



H.^RRY A, ROMM 



MAGIC EQWHEiT 

FOR SALE 

to iietUe «tate. Orislwl m<>t.''SS,«M. 
Mnke H M t—aMe offer. WUIinm >'ar- 
tlMinN, ailmlnlstruiar. 910 Brnefcnin 
ni<lK.. W. Hevnath Strrct. Imi 

AMwlra M, tM. {TiloHy MSB). 



W &TE FO R 

that* 12 nominMs for Haw York delc^illM to 
AOVA CenvcntioH— ail cxiMriMeMl 
'■mow your prebfonn 



HENRY DUNN 
Ji/MMY HOLLYWOOD 
JOE SMITH 
ADAM Dl 6ITANO 
MARGIE COATES 
GEO. ROWLAND 



ARTHUR WARD 
RUSSaL SWANN 
HAL SHERMAN 
JERRY BAKER 
CHARLENE HARRIS 
MARTY BARRETT 



Thmy want you to have ... 

• HOSPITAUZATION • A LEGISMTIVE COMMITTtE 

• TO REOPEN THEAntCS AND 

• DiATH BENEFITS NITE CLUBS 

• MEMBERSHIP PARTICIPATION 

• AQVA'S OWN WEIFARE FUMV IN All AGVA' AlVAIIIS 



Thmy don't want you to havo , . . 

* ONE MAN RULE 

* ANY FORM OF TOTALITAMAN REGIME 



Vrtay eaday, Magch 81, 194S 



Pianist Held, on Murder 
Rap in Death of Singer 

Toronto, March 30. 
With death of his singing part- 
ner, ■ Mrs. Margaret (Micltey) 
Meredith, 23, Leslie Davidson has 
now been charged with murder 
instead of manslaughter. 

The 29-year-old piano accom- 
panist to the "former torch singer, 
allegedly shot her in the City 
Grill after she made, a phone call 
and refused to tell him whom she 
had spoken to. Davidson was ar- 
rested later in the evening while 
playing piano in the Blm Grove 
Club here. 



Reade Cyn Sets 
l-Ni 



Surrey Shows Biz Off 28% in Hotd 
Ifitary Rooms Due to 20% Tax Bite 

Chteago, March 30. "♦■ '. ' *— ^ — '"-^ 

nWo K. Bltel. managing director 
»f the Bismarck hotel here, last 
lek disclosed that a survey of 
Sand-dance rooms in 34 major 
SS showed a decline m patron- 
-of 27.5% during the first two 
rlfhQ of this year as compared 
"i^h 1946 wop is due to the 20% 
Ssement tax, according to Eitel, 
X predicts that, unless the levy 
ruftcd, most inns will shutter 
a,Ji> pntertaihmient rooms. 
*«^SweySaled that 4,828,670 
,Ss attended the 34 spfits in 
mfs against 3,969,393, or a de- 
JuSe of 18%, in 1947. During the 
Stwo months of the current 
S 244.060 fewer patrons were 
&d than in the same period 
om Individual declines in some 
Instances wen to 86%; , 
Incomplete figures for March 
•how that decUpe was accelerated. 
Dollar rfevenwe has not decreased 
In m same degree as covers, but 
K potated out that this is' mis- 
lead because rise in labor, food 
and entertainment costs have ne- 
cessitated higher prices. Due to m- 
creased costs, most spots are now 
operating at a Joss. 

Eitel claimed that the arausie- 
ment industry was discriminated 
against. In that, in -all other indus- 
tries, war-imposed levies have peeij 
removed. He asked that tax be 
reduced to 5% p«e-wafl«vel. 

Arca>i: Stttvey 
dtles and hotels surveyed were: 
Chicago — Bismarck, Blackstone, 
Congress, Drake, Edgewater Beach, 
Palmer House, Sherman, Stevens; 
Boston— Statler; Buffalo— Statler; 
Cleveland— Statler; Detroit— Stat- 
ler; Kansas City— Muehlebach; La- 
Porte, Ind.— Rumely; Los Angeles 
— Biltmore; Memphis — Peabbdy; 
Minneapolis '-^ Nicollet; New Or- 
leans— Roo^velt; New York- 
Commodore, Pennsylvania,- Roose- 
velt, Waldorf-Astoria; Peoria, 111.— - 
Pere Marquette; Rock Island, 111.— <■ 
Fort Armstrong; San Francisco— 
Ptilace, St. Francis; Sbrevepor^ 
; (Continued on pa^ 54) 



VAlJIIBianULB 



61 




FRANK MARLOWE 

Coming home after a 2 year sen- 
sational run o£ the Broadway Musi- 
cal "TopUtzky of Notre Dame" and 
on a personal appearance tour of ttie 
nation's leading theatres Including a 
repeat engagement at the Strand 
New York within 8 months. Opening 
Oriental Theatre, Chicago, April 8th.' 
Management: SINGER & TISHMAN 
Publicity: IRVING CAHN 



Shelvey May Launch Rival Vaude 
Umon Tied to Lewis' Mine Workers 



Jimmy Starr, Partners 
Win Concession Suit 

Los Angeles, March 30. 

Damages amounting to $9,921 
were awarded Jimmy Starr and his 
three fellow concessionaires at 
Slapsy Maxie's in their suit against 
Sam Lewis and Ben Blue, former 
owners of the nitery. Plaintiffs 
had sued for $75,000, charging the 
concessions had been sold out.from 
under them, 

Starr's partners in the venture 
were Ned Washington, Sisymour 
Chotiner and Ray Gruber. 



With five acts of vaude used by 
the Walter Reade circuit in several 
of its houses since last fall, the 
chain now represents a full week 
of time for performers with the 
addition of the loop's Congress 
theatre, Saratogk Springs, N.Y., to 
its flesh jpolicy, According to. a 
Reade spokesman vaude has def- 
initely proved a b.o. stimulus to its 
theatres in New Jersey and. upstate 
New York based upon results to 
date. 

Booked by AI and Belle Dow, 
acts are. grooved into the Oxford, 
Plainfield, N. J.; Majestic, Perth 
Amboy, N. J.; St. James, Asbury 
Park, and Broadway, Kingston, 
N.Y., besides the Congress. It's 
understood Reade may extend 
vaude to other- of his houses in 
the near future. The Dows also 
are booking several other stands 
including . Beacon theatre, N.Y.; 
Qayety, Montreal; Shubert, New 
Haven; Victory, Bayonne,>and are 
dickering with another indie, cir- 
cuit for possible playing time' in 
I nine more houses. 



BILLIE IN STRONG NX 
COMEBACK; 7G GATE 

Billle Holiday's comeback con-, 
cert at Carnegie Hall, Saturday 
(27 ) , indicates that her confiner 
ment at a federal hospital for near- 
ly a year hasn't dimmed her popu- 
larity or skill. On what is tradi- 
tionally considered one of the 
worst nights in show business, the 
eve before Easter Sunday, Miss 
Holiday drew a packed hall, with 
300 standees, who paid a record 
gate of $7,100, of which Miss Holi- 
day got a $2,500 cut. 

Response to her concert was so 
big that a repeat date tor April. 17 
was immediately booked.. 

Concert, which was presented 
under Ernest Anderson auspices, 
belied the fact that the sepia sing^ 
er had only 10 days to prepare 
for the date. Voice was in top form 
and her skill in handling an audi^ 
ence was evident at all times. 



Nerrett Heads 
Cincy AGVA 

Cincinnati, March 30, 
The snafued situation In the 
Cincy affairs of the American Guild 
of Variety Artists neared solution 
last week, with Fred Nerrett takmg 
charge of the branch. Prior to that, 
Benny Hurst and Al Wilson, who 
headed the office, first resigned 
from the Associated Actors and 
Artistes of America faction and 
aligned themselves with Matt Shel-^ 
vey, deposed AGVA head, who Is 
seeking to regain AGVA control. 

During the week, however, Wil' 
son broke away from Shelvey for 
undisclosed reasons. 

The situation here represents a 
series of intrigues and counter- 
intrigues. Hurst had been sent 
here by the 4A's to check up on 
Wilson. However, he resigned be- 
cause, he revealed, he felt his pres- 
ence in the union might prove em- 
barrassing because of a certain 
"situation" years ago. 



Matt - Shelvey; deposed national 
administrator of the .American 
Quild of " Variety Artists, " is re- 
ported forming an independent 
performers' union and affiliate ' 
with John L. Lewis' United Mine 
Workers District 50. Applicatipn 
for affiliation AVlth the Lewis vaatna 
is regarded as Shelvey's ace-inrthe^ 
hole If a decision adverse to hilu 
is handed down by Justice Null, of 
the N. Y. supreme court. Shelvey 
is seeking to enjoin the present 
AGVA administration from using 
the organization's funds, . 'While 
the administration Is pressing a 
counter-injunction suit seeking to 
enjoin Shelvey front representing 
hintself as b^ing afSllated with 
AGVA. 

Arthur Cowan, Shelvey's attor- 
ney, refused to deny or confirm 
the possibility of afBliating with 
Lewis. He merely said, "No 
comment." 

If application for a District SO 
tieup Is madp, another parallel to 
the 1939 situation win crop up. At 
that time, the Associated Actors 
and Artistes of America revoked 
the charter of the American Fed- 
eration of Actors. Ralph White- 
head, then the AFA head, sought 
to ^affiliate with the International 
Alliance of Theatrical Stage Em- 
ployees, but move was defj^ated. 

Affiliation > with Lewis would 
automatically separate the .variety 
field from affiliation with perform- 
ers in other fields. It's also re- 
garded that any move would not 
have the backing of either the 
AFL or CIO, inasmuch as Lewis 
recently stepped out of the AFL. 
The UMW maintains its District 
50 as a "'catch-aU" organization 
with which it can step into any 
field. • . 



Ann Thomas, radio and legIt 
actress, is not to be confused with 
the "Anne Thomas" .xefe)nred to in 
house review and New Acts sec- 
tions March IT.'' 



LEWIS' VAUDE BATES . 

Robert Q. Lewis, who heads an 
across ,» the - board comedy show 
over CBS, Is getting set for Vaude 
appearances. He's trying out an 
act at ProctorJs theatre, Yonkers, 
April 6, • 

He'll line up other one nightetv 
before hitting major houses. 




*At Last I Know How If Feels To Be 

A LATIN IN MANHATTANr' 




........:.ft«SSJ?iS?s^5»iWSW 



fTHANK 
YOU 
DARIO" 



HOPE TO SEE YOU IN THE FALL 




MENASHA SKULNIK 

Personal Mgt JACK KA LCHEIM, 1270 Sixth Ave., New York . 



VMrnSVUMM 



Dusting die Attie 



(For no other than nostalgic rea. 
jrorw theje Pdloce Wlla will be re- 
printed «orii week, and jor the cor- 
responding week; as they ortoinallu 
appeared in Varietv 2B ycors ooo.) 

PALACE, N. Y. 

(March Z9. 1923) 

Monday night's running order 
revealed a strange arrangement o£ 
a snappy and variegated bUL Lpng 
Tack Sam and his Chinese wteards, 
first billed to open and. thfen pro- 
grammed to dose, open Intermis- 
sion; (Sordon Dooley and Martha 
Morton, a light-comedy act in 
"one," closed the show, conilng on 
at 11:02 and holding in the mob 
until ir?20. Nahan Frank Sym- 
phony Orchestra Closed the first 
half and did 36 minutes, most of it 
wasted. And 'Four Casting Stars 
opened the show and stopped it. 

There were three iSiraisd neW' acts 
and several oljters .mvr fo Palace 
audiences. Tte' Ft^paaks Twi»s 
& Co., in tbeit vaudeville defout 
with HlchardKeehe; Emma Haig & 
Co., Long Tack Sam, a Palace 
stranger; Dooley Si Morton, ditto, 
and several others in the same po- 
sition. The- new bootdag. is^re- 




Attterict^i 
MitKiDtbiit' 




GEORGES 

GUEST 



RQBE»T COS 
SSe IffadiBon Are,, New Yark 
VA. S-M17 



SOMEIIY fATTER 

'Cor. All -Branehct ot'ThMltteal* 

FUN-MASTER 

"Th« Shew 8ii Gag Flla" 

Nos. 1 to 22 at $1 .00 ea. 
10 PARODIES for $10.00 

"Hew to J« aaJ&neM" 

$3.00 InelHAM 2 9ma I!Hm; 

Ssna for list M mtfteM. 3»«)M«le«, 
camedr mngs, mtaabid M H 'M« «3t- 
oats, (kits, eto. 

NO COWM 

PAULA SMITH 

. 300 W. Situ St., NCTT Twfc U 



sario of the Palace, whether by de- 
sign or fortuitous cpincidence, 
surely put vp ''^ ^ 
farhitisr as welt aii'th« worthwhile 
for this week. 

With that the WU was not a com- 
plete walkawaJ^ Franko. is un- 
fitted for vaudeville entirely, and 
the Fairbanks girls, past all haz 
ard as dancers, still took up some 
lengtliy spaces meant for laughs 
that i-esulted in dead gaps between 
their and Keene's brisk numbers. 
With the Fairbankses, Keene and 
Miss Haig it looked like a Music 
Box: alumnae reunion. Keene and 
Miss Haig were partners for sev- 
eral seasons, besides. 

The Four Casting. Stars, working 
on wide-apart horizontal bars and 
over nets, did some hair-raising 
double somersaults and flipflops in 
air to difficult and intricate hand 
jiolds, and with about half a house 
in . kept Martha Piyor off the Stage 
during three <or four introductory 
choruses. Miss Pryor, in a cloth of 
flilveJr dress with lace over the 
skirt (the . co$tum<» cost a pretty 
ttopiick!) revealed a bodice that 
was as daring as anything ever seen 
on, any stage, with a decollete V in 
jront and behind that would 
have shed to bJtre skin had it 
slipped from the waist up. Her 
southern ditties went well, but she 
should avoid the steaight ballad 
verse and chorus, as its gets hen 
out of the Kentucky accent and 
i^ils ttie illusion; 'tiven thbui^ she 
uses-tiw episode to support a wench 
version. Slie would also do lietter 
if she didn't have Bob Geraghty 
sing a piffling doggerel about how 
^od she is l>efore she comes on. 
She is good— better than the song 
about her. And that dress! . A ¥diol6 
libretto could be Icnodced. out 
aboujt that Miss Pryor took £ouc' 
bona Jide .bows, very. BtttMog in the 
ear]^ .spot and following a surprise 
opening sensation. 

Miss Haig, with GkM>rge Grifiin 
and a girl pianiste, stood up he-i 
yond a^thing she bad previously 
shown in vaudeville, iind estaii- 
lished herself immediately as h%v 
ing a big4ime «itry. 

Holmes and La JTere knocked 
the house for a^flodk of statues in 
the comedy Iiall of gloiy. Their 
material Is an uninterrupted suc' 
cession of wows, with the droU 
Holmes slamming In the points and 
Miss La Vere loading his artillery. 
The piano scene was a yell, and 
the finish left the audience ex-, 
hsusted. Nbibing Aoce «oiiId be 
desired &t a ^o-act that Holmes 
and La Yere delivered. ' 

Franko delayed the intemdssion, 
and it was rushed throu^, with 
almost no time to stretch, even the 
Topics being passed up and into 
Long Tack Sam's dizzy production 
the show tore. This world-poUsh^d 
Celestial has made good all over 
the globe. For years he has craved 
a spot at the Palace. A freak set 
of y "breaks"- landed him In the 
sweetest groove on a bill worthy 
«f his best. His troupe whizzed 
through a comparatively brief rou- 
tine. And with about baU the 
stuff that SfUtt does better thaq 
anybody else right now on earth 
itis offeriug.was a lousing bitl The 
finish saw th6 wbote cbminny at 
it, like a three-ring circus, with his 
marvelous bar spinner in the cen- 



ter of hit amazing web-wodcAV nqd 
hi^ gbrl twister holding tbe ends. 
His comedy icored and hit ftunt$ 
got canaotiadoi. It vas an unusiua 
get-ov^. 

Jade Norworth, with Dorothy 
Adfilphi. the red-haired pianiste 
who accompanied Bae Samuels 
anoztymously some seasons back. 
foUowed with a hearty reception 
and a far stronger and titter jou- 
tine than he bad when, he first 
broke in the combination late last 
year. The Fairbanlra Mddies did 
not get .a rotmd to app^strance, nor 
did Gordon Dooley and Martha 
Morton. . 

But the newest alliance of two 
royal vaudeville families worked 
up. Entering past H o'clock and 
with nothing to follow them, held 
the house in solid and got all' their 
laughs and took their Work with 
poise- and ease. Martha has grown 
to a fine, strapping gh:l, Injproving 
every day in stage sense and bea- 
tific appearance. Dooley makes of 
her a marvelous foil. Satn, Kitty 
and Clara Morton sat beside tliis 
reviewer, unnoticed by the sur- 
rounding seat-holders, while the 
youngsters talked of them and got 
their biggest, laughs at them. The 
sister ana -parents wiped their eyes 
as they lauded. And so did many 
another. ■ •■ 

It was a marvelous exhibition of 
personality, concentrating the hun- 
dreds without a program fluttering 
under tlie circumstances. Martha 
singWhanded held that: stage and 
tiiat audience at 11:18 with a. song 
aAd dancel. Surely that was A test 
<^ the Morton blood and bone, and 
like a Morton, ihe.went over the 
top. Two names so long beloved 
in vaudevlUe will go on; the new 
generation will carry them along 
as befits. Lait. 



CLAIM 

Mack Triplet* made an out-ofi 
court settlement last week in tiielr 
j(25,000 damage claim agelnst De 
Luxe records. . Suit claimed that 
the singers failed to get proper 
publicity on their platters. 

It was alleged that the Macks had 
an eight-side deal with De Luxe 
and recorded four, for which they 
were paid ^80 each.. They later 
did two more for-fZOO but allegedly 
were never paid. However,, law 
firm of O'Brien, Driscell, Raftery 
& Lawler, representing the Macks, 
claimed that major damage was 
done to the girls' tep by failure to 
sublidsie them as was guaranteed: 
in tbeip contract. 



0et Niteries Up Taint 
findgets^SliaTe Prices 



or 

Detrdt, March 30. 
The nitery war iis on. .i*ilfies. ace- 
being slashed and show budgets 
upped to lure patronage, 

Club Stevadora and The Ship 
started the bal\ rolling viih , pre- 
war prices and eight-act fiftor 
shows. 

Other bistro -epexatoirs are 
watching eiqperinwiit and feel tliey 
have to fall In line to meet stiff 
competition. 

The larger floorshows will mean, 
if all clubs adopt similar policy, 
work for about 200 acts weekly in 
this area. 

The Latin Quarter is expected 
to get its.Uqiior license this week 
and wni install floorshow with 
line of girls. 



VediiiHiid«y» Hbmk 81. 194B 



HuxmruEissEnu 

25G DAIAGE 



CW JVitery Ignores 

Slicing, Sets Ode 3 

Chicago, March 30. 

While manydowntown spots bjcb 
cutting budgets, and with business 
almost back to pre-war level, the 
Hag Doll, small northside nitery, 
has skidded the King Cole Trio, 
for a May 14 opening, at a report- 
ed $3.S0ft liar wec^. The trto will 
follow the lUjmand Scett ^intei, 
now completing a, 16-week engage- 
ment at SSO-seatoK 

Management ts also negotiating 
with Genial Amus. for an early- 
summer appearance by Nellie 
Lutoher. 



LniinYeiisEor 
More Acts 

British audiences are now shon- 
ping abound for the best entertain- 
mept -buys, according to Robert 
Nesbit, producer for Val Pamell. 
British chreuit opei«tor. who ar. 
lived in the U. S. last week to pact 
■an all'.Negro show for the Pallall 
dium, London: 

Audiencies, he declared, are nmr 
more selective and American per- 
formers, he said, give British box- 
office a terrific boost. Most of the 
native British acts, Nesbit said, 
were repeated,too often during the 
war. Talent comhig from the U.S. 
provides a fresh note to variety au* 
diences. 

'Commenting on the recent 
gagements of Danny Kaye at the 
Palladium. Nesbit declared that 
there probably will never be an. 
other performer who wQl again 
capture British imagination and 
goodwill as did Kaye. - Nesbit said 
Kaye could have sustahied top 
grosses at the Palladium indef- 
initely had he been able to stay* 




SaYoy Plaza, )i.Y., To 
Resume Talent A|Nil 6 

The Cafe Lounge of the Savoy 
Plaza hotel, N. Y., will resume 
shows after a lapse since 1941. Ini- 
tial bill starting April 6 wfll com- 
prise Johnny Thompson and Bar^ 
bara Barrie. The Jules Zdegler of- 
fice is booking. 

Tliis spot, which was- a war casu- 
alty, was considered a top show- 
case for talent. Hildegarde came 
to bigtime attention here. Lena 
Home played her first upper-crust 
date at the spot. 

Reopening of the Cafe Lounge 
virtually completes the roster of 
the carriage trade rooms that flour- 
ished just before the war. The 
only major spot that's missing is 
the Rainbow Roof, which is cur- 
rently operated as a cocktail 
lounge by the Union News Co. 



Sanmac Lake 

By Happy Benway 

Saranac Lake, N. Y., March 30. 
Frank Kaplan, steward of the. 
Will Rogers, . distributed palms on 
Pabn Sunday to infirmary patients 
who vt&K unable to attend dturch 
services. 

Walter Ronumlk elated over, be- 
ing upped for meals and mild ex- 
ercise. 

Ines Groething now permitted) 
outdoor exercise. 

Alice Dudley appointed assistont 
switchboard operator at the Rogers. 

Hugh (Tarney goi> his all-clear 
and left to resume work with Co- 
lumbia Bntadeasiing System play- 
house jnK. T. C. 

Seni Qkun,' author, ekayed for 
goJiome papers next month. 

Thanks to Joe McCartliy tor his 
untiring efforts in aiding the less 
fortunate of this colony. 

George Leyton, member of the 
downtown colony and head an- 
nouncer of radio station WNBZ 
for the past 18 months; rerigned 
to -take similar spot to Amsterdam, 
N. y., with station WTSS. 

Knitting fever has fait the In" 
firmary with males topping the list 
as outstanding needle pushers. G. 
Albert Smith, AL MichalsM and 
Garry Vandermasf received . prizes 
for their work in recent display. 

Benny Ressler to ^. Yt C. ioi a 
10-day furlough. He'U also arrange 
bookings for attractions to play 
this colony during the summer 
months under aegis of Chamber 
of Commerce. 

.The Great Grocini, magician, in 
to visit Carl Kessle ("The Amazing 
Mr, Ballantine") who's Sashing 
nifty clinic reports. 

Forrest "Slim" 6lenn upped tor 
meals and appomted downtown 
sliopper. - 
(nriite to ttuMK lAo an iU.) 




•t the MOnNT KOXAT. noTKT, 



3LAVBKT1<K AJSJI CI^YMAS, a pairaf 
nanelur HuMorilitt) with KNDUiSS 
MATK1UAI/ Md a I.AVGH-A-SIIN. 
BIB Typa BeUvery. 
,31i«y tetnidaoed tvr* new aanlians 
%«th were an IMHEDIATK BIT. 
Uatidi J. '4S, Tiie B«naa, At ~ 



aomm mw kkomni 




HELENE and HOWARD 

%MMiy DcMc* Aafics" 
STRAND, NEW YORK 

Dir.: MATTV ROaEN 




New Det. Nftery Opens 

Detroit, March 30. 

Sammy Sofferin opened his In- 
dian Room last week (22) in con- 
nection with his Wonder Bar and 
drew capacity crowd. 

Designed by architects Charles 
N. Agree, Inc., and Wright & 
Wright, its gold, red and fawn 
coloring gives an authentic Indian 
touch to the room. A large tele- 
vision screen has been installed 
for sports events. 

Opening show has Tonita and her 
South American Sextet, Frank 
Gagen's orch and singers Eilene 
Fay and Russ Wright, the, latter a 
full-blooded Indian to native re- 
galia. 



Vaude for RKO, Syracuse, N.Y. 
Syracuse, N. Y., March 30. 

Reviving » annual stageshow 
policy for spring; RKO-Keith's will 
bring Horace . Heidt orchestra- 
revue tor a week opening April 0.- 



AMRRieA*S TOP HEADUNE SINGING GROUP 



CwrrMHy 
LARRY rOTTH'S 
SUPEER CLIII I 
lloliy«r«ml( CM. 



All Major Netvrotha. 
Hwabca ■wut CfaiM. 
V. 8.. and €timil» 




RCA 

VICTOR 
I^AVORItEt 



1 



BOYS 



Personol nirectlon— VD KmKinnr 
. mx niKO BuUdlnc, Kow York 20. N. V. 



CIirTe S-93M 



.WOmD RENOWNED.MENTAUSTS 

VALDO and PRINCESS PAT 

WALTER WINCHEli Says: 

"VaMo ana PriMess Pot Startle." 



FmrMnal ReprmniaMvm: 
SAM and FRED ROMMNS 



nion*: Circle 4-21 44 



tTednceday, Marcli 8X, 1948 



SnnbreckMustPay 
C!aiins,5GFiiieOr 
Do 6 Mos, m Jjul 

Larry Sunbrocjc, promoter of 
rircuses and rodep thrill shows, is 
in double trouble again. The 
reoutedly stormy petrel of such 
promotions who allegedly has 
ilven the American Guild of Va- 
ncty Artists more headaches than 
there are aspirins, according to 
Dave Fox, assistant national di- 
rector of AGVA, was sentenced on 
a two-count conviction of violating 
the N, Y- st*t8 labor laws in the 
court of special sessions, N. ,Y., 
Monday (29), 

Ott #6 first count he, was fined 
•5 000 or six months in the work- 
house- «nd given until Friday (2) 
to get coin up or else; on the sec- 
ond he was sentenced to one year 
in the workhouse, which was sus- 
pended. He was also ordered by 
the court to use $6,500 cash bond 
to pay oS salary claims involved 
in the indictment, which according 
to the information filed by N. Y. 
attorney general's office, involves 
about $12,000 owed to employees 
since 1943, when Sunbrock, operat- 
ing- as Big Top; Inc., spotted an 
open->air circus ad.iacent to the 
Boxy theatre, N.Y., which proved 
a flop. 

' AGVA Also Cracks Down 
At about the same time Sun- 
brock was hearing the bad news 
in court, AGVA was taking unfair 
action against him for failing to 
post bond guaranteeing salaries of 
acts with his current show now in 
Baltimore. In addition to other in- 
debtedness, AGVA is holding Sun- 
brock responsible for salaries on 
cancelled contracts of the Reding- 
tons and Egony trio, who were to 
have joined the show in Jersey 
City prior to the Baltimore date, 
but didn't when union puUed the 
other acts' after Sunblock failed to 
post cash bond. 

A£VA Suspends Fme 
On Sepia Singer Who 



Portngnese Quota Setup 
Stymies Bid for U.S. Acts 

Lisbon, March 23. 
Interest recently expressed by 
Portuguese theatres and niteries 
in American and other foreign 
name talent has been dampened to 
some extent by a decree published 
by the government which restricts 
importation of acts. According to 
the new regulations licenses will 
only' be granted whep spots hire 
one Portuguese turn to every for- 
eign performer. ., 

Quota is relaxed for circuses in 
that only one Portuguese need be 
engaged for every four foreigners 
who appear in the same show;- Ex- 
cluded from the above restrictions 
are theatres here in Lisboti and 
Porto as well as first run film the- 
atres using stage shows. 



ss 



Nitery Date 



Dolly Dawn is heading the bill 
at Dlnty's Terrace Garden, Albany, 
which opened (27) after being: 
dark since New Year's. 

Nellie Lutcher goes into Red 
Feather, Hollywood, for three 
weeks, starting May 18 at a re- 
ported $1,7SQ per stanza. 

Lorette Trio opened in the Rain- 
bow Lounge of the Hotel Syracuse, 
Syracuse, N. Y., 'Tuesday (30). 

Zero Mostel into the Bachelor 
Club, Pittsburgh, tonight (Wed.) 
for a five-day engagement. 

Bernic« Parks into the Beverly 
Country Club, New Orleans, April 
■8. . ■ 

Joan Edwards, Glenn Rendez- 
vous, Newsport, Ky., April 2. 

Jack Durant pacted for the 
Flamingo, Las "Vegasj April 1. 



Actors, Theatre Men Seek Govt Aid; 
Lower Tax for Paris Vaude Houses 



Paris, March 30. 

Terrific slump in the number of 
vaude stands due to high taxes and 
generally unsettled economic con- 
ditions has caused both performers 
and operators to appeal to the gov- 
ernment for aid. Seriousness of 
the situation is pointed up by the 
fact that some 20 years ago there 
were about 80 theatres using flesh 
in the French capital wliile today 
there are practically none left with 
the exception of a few which oc- 
casionally present revues. ■ 

Talent, as well as the ops dis- 
cussed their problems with A. Jau- 
jard, head of the government's 



Fine Arts department, and followed 
this huddle with a meeting of the 
Vauders Protective Assn.' several 
days later. Conclave was held at 
the Capucines theatre with the 
house's owner, Mitty Goldin, pre- 
siding. Trend to revues has been 
i brought about by the fact that only 
la 14% tax applies to their grosses, 
while a 35% bite is in effect on 
vaude shows. 



Agent Sammy Burke sails to 
Europe,. April 14 on the Queen 
, Elizabeth to be on hand for the 
[May 3 opening of the Berry Bros. 
I at the Casino theatre, London. 
He'll be gone about six weeks. 



Claudia McNeil, sepia songstress, 
was ^adjudged "guilty of conduct 
unbecoming a member" in a hear- 
ing at American Guild of 'Variety 
Artists last week (25) and fined 
$150 .by union. Hawev«r, fine was 
suspended subject to good be- 
bavipr in the future. 

Singer was charged with having 
fssaulted Max Bernstein, deputy of 
the N. Y. local of AGVA, when he 
refused to okay her contract on 
current' date at the Red Rooster, 
Patchogue, L. I., because of being 
in arreitrrs on dues, persuant to 
regulations Of the union. Singer, 
« .hefty; gal, is alleged to have 
slugged him! Bernstein didn't care 
to make an issue of the affair but 
AGVA felt such actions called for 
disciplinary measures. 



ODT RELAXES BAN ON 
IU.TRAYELFORCIRCUS 

Washington, March 30. 
Rmgling Bros., Barnum & Bai- 
leys circus will open on schedule 
In Madison Square Garden April 7 
m a last minute relaxation of a 
government ban against railroad 
travel on coal-burning trains. At 
their winter quarters in Florida, 
circus execs received permission to 
nook on their special trains to reg- 
ular freight cars if it didn't mean 
curtailment of regular service, 
controls on railroad travel were 
"nposed by the Office of Defense 
transportation to counter effects 
w the coal strike, 
-.^"o^ier beueficiarv of the new 
"ur order was the Strates Show, 
c?rnival and circus operation, 
wmch is scheduled to open in 
washmgton, D. C, this week. They 
nooked on to a fruit train traveling 
"P from Florida. 



Oordon'i 'Happy' Unit 

Bobby Gordon, who originally 
piofluced the cafe package, "Fun 
wr Your Money," is slated to start 
fj show with the produc- 

"on of -Slap Happy." Layout will 
PW niteries. 

,„P<"^''lon has signed Eddie Hanley 
»r new unit. "Fun" unit is still 




JUST COMPLHEDt 

BOB CROSBY'S "CLUB 15" 
CBS • COAST TO COAST 



JUST COMPLETEDI 

"DOUBLE OR NOTHING" WITH WALTER O'KEEFE 
CBS • COAST TO COAST 



JUST COMPLETEDI 



•••••• 




SLAPSIE MAXIE'S IN HOLLYWOO^D . . . 
See whrt Hollywood Reporter hod to tbyl 



JUST COMPLETEDI 
ANOTHER MUSICAL SHORT FOR 
UNIVERSAL- INTERNATIONAL 
PiaURES, Inc. 



FLAME ROOM, HOTEL RADISSON 
MINNEAPOLIS • APRIL 16 



'op-nofch "^"^mji,,, ""."s 'o an 

'*^-''>'X%"'''-'C..,r„':; 



THOMAS p. SHEIL5 




54 



Chb Re?iews 



(BLACKSTONB HOTEL) 

Chicago, March 26. 
LucicJiue Boyer, Ray Motton 
Orch (ft) ; ewer 1, mmivnivv ?3.s«. 

Lucienne Boyer brought out the 
top-drawer cafe society to fill this 
swank, spot on Good Friday. It 
was obvious that most of the 
patrons were rusty on their basic 
French as there was running audi- 
ble translation and questioning. 
However, as the chnntcuse con- 
tinued din died down; this was 
also due in part o£ anger's switch- 
ing to a birfef synopsis before each 
number and Interpolation of Eng- 
lish' fcrics in several times. 

La Boyer, attractively draped 
in a blue evening gown, runs the 
gamut of emotions, from the wait- 
ing lover to the smart, gayful 
gamin. ItV alH soKd and pays off 
In applause dividends.. Her bosi- 
ness with a hanft-nUke in "Simite 
Story," in vrt^ch she wUi * 
ringsidiSf, Jwd tt* wwm «dMU«ii)g. 

Niumliews comprise "The Man I 
tove," "Too Many Memories," 
• Pigalle," and "Speak to Me of 
■Love." 

For her bowoff, she- does a spe- 
cial version of "Au Revior" lor ad- 
ditional plaudits. In xaost of her- 
numbers stngei is-accmapaoied by 
her violinist • eondoctar, . Waaak 
Tarvel^ «fi«t does an excellent job 
on seifiqg fbe mood, nunidy dra- 
matic.' He 4dso takes over Ray 
Mortotft iOBEh during her stint, 
Morton eontiiitues to keep dance 
floor cnniMl between, vhows. 

Zabc. 



would work; as hard on individual 
material as he does in fine ndmicry 
of other stars, the youth would be 
in the top drawer set, He starts 
strong with "Same Old Shillelagh" 
but bogs down with dated gags. 
Follows with .imprcsh of Eddie 
Cantor singing "Making Whoopee" 
and Jolson on "April Showers," 
then Jimmy Durante singing "You 
Got to Start Each Day With a 
Song" for nie« rettmisr, 

Marty Crould.orch does neat job 
in biicking show and on dance 
tunes. ■■• 

Don Chiesta's group handles the 
rhumba tunes. Adorabless repeat 
line numbers from pi-evious show. 

Zabe. 



(HOm, 1IEIdllONT--nUAZA> 

Georffie Price, PhyUis Arnold, 
ddie . Stone orcb, Costellonos 
fiui7iba Orch; ♦230 miitiniuTO. 



> there's apparently still one sure 
way of hypoing nitery biz— bring 
back an established oldtime)* and 
let him take aver. Belmont-Plaza's 
Glass Hat has .done that for its 
new show, brii^jlng in Georgie 
I^ce to giv^ out with the nostal- 
gia. With only one other, act on 
the bill, ' Price carries tbe slmw 
practically by himself. And he's 
pulling near-capacity attendance. ' 

Comedian fe^ (m tbe floor more 
than 40 mmtnes, selliog the same 
routine he's been doine ovier the 
years — and he could stay longer. 
His stage-presence, personality and 
ease of delivery transform the 
barnlike atmosphere of this essen- 
tially cold room into one of inti- 
macy. He stiU plays up his Gus 
Edwards days, imitates Jolson, Jes- 
sel', Cantor, et al., and sells the 
corn— but it' never becomes a drug 
on thi^ market. 

Other act is songstress Phyllis 
Ai-nold (New Acts). Uddie Stone's 
orch cuts the show well, except 
far a slight tendency towards too 
much volume. Stone's danjce music 
ranks with the best of the- hotel 
bands and he's capably spelled in 
that department by the Cast«Uanos 
rhumba crew. ' Stal. 



Chex Parec. Thi 

' Chicago, March 26. 
Jack Cole Dancers (6), Cotmie 
nainei, JftcHie Green, Chez Adm- 
ables (10)> Martif G9»ld Orch 
(1), Dem- Cliiesfa €tM«bo C5); 
$3.50.' Tmnhnim. 



(soEiLomnp) 

.Thejr're making lug <me* «Mit of 
little, ones this year, anMcding to 
indications in the current Lalin 
(flatter layout Added to the 
smooth and glib functioning of the. 
entire production at the LOu Wal- 
ters hoESiice, tite most distingiiish- 
atdc. factors in this show is the 
union «£ two standard acts into: a 
top c<Mnedy team, and tbe reunion 
of two pedtonners that bad previT 
ously Iwcffime separated. 

In Buddy Lester and Steve Con> 
dos, a significant merger bas been 
affected. The blending of Lester's 
talents with that of Condos (ex- 
Condos Bros.) bas resulted in an 
extremely funny pair. Toeetfaer 
they're not an oBieiail act, 
course, inasmuch as each jperfonair 
4e^r is. bougbt indrradoailly. bat onee 
aa stage Iheir 'owellent gagging 
and weII«<eaiKeived comedSy in^ 
cate long j^laying time together. 
More of ISb/aa in New Acts. 
, Other it«n of majjoir interest is 
the rennioit of the original person- 
nel of the Hermanos WilUamis trio. 
Several years ago, Louis Kuhn 
bnAe ' away trom this WBoap to 
fonntbe HennaBos.SanfaKtrioiiaid. 
Pablo Williamir •«iidbiMqiieittlr 
taught the act to two burly Latins 
with Amanda Williams retaining, 
the vocal spot. The Santos turn' 
didn't fare too well, and Williams' 
Latins were subGequently deported 
ior overstaying in this coontxy. 
Now the originals are togiether 
again, and knocking off their orie- 
inal acrobatic tango to cqrceBeBt 
salvost 

Other sewcMner aa the LQ lay- 
out is Jane Dulo, who bas-appeatetf 
locally in a variety of ibtiine rooms. 

Sh^' has smartly tailored material 
that can stand up in the smart- 
spotS)^ and a good delivery. How- 
ever, her attributes weren't too 
evident opening ntgfat. Laughs 
were scattered and came mainly, 
from the rear section of the room. 
But she'll do better as she goes 
along. 

Rest of the show continues to 
function smoothly. Corinne and 
Tito Valdez continue to hold their 
dance spot admirably, while Mu- 
riel King and Linda Lombard do 
wnell in the song sections, with Pir- 
oska and Patricia Adair hitting it 
well in. the terp spots. Vincent 
TraVtirs provides neitt showback- 
ing. . ^ " Jow^ 



spot, click with some banal gags. 
Act, whicli. employs a stooge fi'om 
the audience, is more suited for 
vaude houses than for a moderate- 
sized room such as the Ebony. Nev- 
ertheless, boys were well received. 
Joe Bailey delivers some okay 
vocals with the band. 

In the closer is Miss Carlisle. A 
sexy lass, she shows a captivating 
personality in throatily warbling a 
medley of her own tunes. "1 See 
Your Face Before Me" and "WaUt- 
in* By the Biver," among others. 
Completely uniuhitated, she cuts 
loose on the ivories with "Piano 
Boogie.'* another self-written coan- 
position. Her work is charged with 
a rare sense of timing and clearly 
shows she rates high among the 
top piano-warbling gals such as 
Haiiel Scott, Mary Lou Williams, 
et al. ■ . ■ 

Buster Harding's crew adequate- 
ly backs tbe show ^ile Jcftse Cur- 
hello's band supplies the xfanibba 
music. Benry- Le Tang, w4io did 
the choreography, rates a nod for 
hia mations. Gilb. 



New Aids 



Carlo Hatvary, Ruth Korda, 
SHza Ditpree, Rudi Beiron Orch; 
no minimum, no coven 



Reop^ping after a brief h&atos 
in. its opetatuBB, Golden Fiddle is 
ottering a tottdk of ffaat Old Wotld ■ 
cuisine and entertainment. Located 
noxtb of tbe Times Sqaaie area in. 
the 70'b, this atmosi^heric eafe is 
pitching' directly for the miroerous 
Continental expatriates located in 
that area. What they'll find here 
is a generous slice of stra^ and 
gypsy .fiddling dished up with In- 
Cunnal pleasantness. Size of the. 
mom cuts out customer hoofing. 

Carlo Hatvary opens tbe modest 
layout with vibrant baritone rendi- 
tions' of several Hungarian roman- 
tic numbers. He has good pipes 
which he handles in conventional 
fashion. Standout performer on 
the 'bUl is Rudi Baron, a remark- 
able trick fiddler, who solos several 
difficult numbers with sOck results. 
Baron can move out of the pre- 
liminaiyr events. * 

Best of the bill is comprised «t 
t\yo femme SingerS'.ln ffiflEereiil 
k^ys. Nitza Dnpree, seif-aecomped 
by a-mandotin, delivers nicely witb 
a series of Spamsh folk numbers, 
using a small voice to good advan- 
tage. Rutb Kwda, soprano, m^fisF 
ters okay with a couple of old bal- 
lads and semi-classical tunes which 
she bandies in a well-trained' oper>' 
atic style. Heriw. 



Current revue is a raiddly paced 
show that just misses ringing tbe 
b<!ll. While all the acts do sock 
jobs, routining of material, in some 
cases, is pocwr. Tigbteoing here 
and there would make for better 
results. 

Jack Cole dancers o^n and 
close. Having the ^cers. as 
opener sets u fast pa«x. Cole bas 
been revising his group and now 
has two boys and three girfe. Cole 
remains the spark of the outfit and 
Is .still the master of the faoke 
school of the modem dance with 
the jerky head movements, coy eye 
treatment, and the arm akimbo 
Style. Costuming is fre.sh and 
authentic. For closer Cole returns 
to do two West Indian patterns 
that are highly emotional in con- 
tent, depicting the struggle of 
young maidens. - Dance reaches 
frenzied state as Cole does a bent- 
knee slide chasing the girls. 

Connie Haines, petite songstress, 
pui-veys the standard pops for sock 
payoff. However, she doesn't dp 
too well on "Glocca Mon-a" but 
really cooks on "Someone to Watch 
Over Me* and "Sunny Side of the 
Stroet*' for solid sidvos. • 

If - Jackie Green, ctmiedian, 



Snmy Shows I 

Washington-Youree; South Bend — 
Hoffmann; St. Louis — Jefferson. 
Chaste, G^er; Wastaingtm, D. C. 
—Mayflower, Raleigh, Statler. 



f atHdb Ebony, HI. Y. 

Uiw' ' Mae Carlisle, Letms & 
WMte, ShoaerguA Baltnese Dan- 
cers (4), Pete Nugent, Tops & 
.Wtlda, Ebonettes (6), Joe Batley, 
Bmter Harding Orch (8), Jose 
Curbello Orch (12); minimttni $3 
weekdaysi $3,50 weekertds & hoCi> 
4avs. 



Despite the traditional damper 
Holy week annually casts upon the 
nite^ business, a revue topped by 
piam'st-singer Una Mae Carlisle 
managed to draw a fair amount of 
attendance following its pceem 
Thursday (25). And now With 
Lent out of the way this week, 
show's biz prospects are brighter. 

Chief fault of this show is its 
plethora of dancing. Produced by 
Dickie Wells, this colored-show 
bailiwick tees off with the sextet 
of gals doing a tepid terp routine. 
Tops & Wilda, veteran dance com- 
bo, follow with a spirited Lindy. 
Pete Nugent displays some smart 
footwork, and Shoaergud dancers 
score with a native Balinese dance. 
Quartet is composed of three wom- 
en and a lone male: In illustrating 
this classic gambol from the Ori- 
ent, group goes througli varied 
anatomical writiiing and twisting, 
but in general the overall result 
is considerably toned down com- 
pared with performances else- 
where. , 

Lewis and White, in the comedjr 



Byfield's. Cut Pitek 

Chicago; March 30. 

Ernest L. Byfield, head of the 
Sherman and Ambassador , hotels, 
Chicago, will cite the decline in 
grosses at the College Inn before 
the House Ways and Means Com- 
mittee in an effort to reduce or 
eliminate the 20% amuaement tax. 

ByBeld will submit figures show- 
ing a 40% decline in March from 
a mediocre February,, and A 60% 
dip from March of last' year. 

The Midwest Hotelmen's Assn. is 
campaigning to reduce tax from the 
current 20%^ to 10%. 



BVDDY LBS'TKR U 

CONDOS> 
Comedy, Danee 

Latin q»iarier, N. T. 

Buddy Lester and Steve Condos 
have been recognized as standard 
acts for several years, vrftb Lester 
having bit the taU cdin VP to $2,750 
week^. For more than a year, 
ttais pidr have been playing, dates 
together and have deviaed a com^ 
edy rootine that provides added di- 
mension to their individual talents. 
Together, they stand a chance of 
hitting tbe top toackets. 

Just as Dean Martin and Jmy 
Lewis fonned a comi^ team as 
the result of being booked on sev- 
eral bills together, and thus in- 
creiised their value to cafe and 
vaude operators, this team prom- 
ises to repieat the pattern. 

They have a series of well con- 
ceived zanyisms which hit with a 
heavy fanpact Lester, naturally 
carries the major share of tbe com'^ 
edy, but Condos' contriteitions are 
oimy too. . He bas developed nice 
sense of vocal .projectbni! and 
straights With e^nai fadlity. 
Withai, he does nojt- aegtect bis 
tetps, which are still strong and 
]etm carry the dance spot in any 
vauder or eafe. 

After Cottdoc^ dance turn, Lester 
takes over to combine new 4tem$ 
with some of bis oldies for top re- 
sults. His takeoff on the old vaude 
acts is devar and "Alaskn" number 
still goes oiver neatly, Jose. 

rmVJS ABKOIA 

Skager 

It Was. 

BcbMnt-Plan. N. T. 

This attractive bronet soogstiess 
has most of the attributes nceisaty 
forifae bigtime~-« «ood vmce, per- 
sonality, lotdES and showmanship, 
The rate thine tihat niiii^t keep her 
back is her wiy ckwe similarity in 
both appearance and styling to 
Ethel Merman. Resemblance In 
their voices is almost amazing and, 
wbOe Miss Arnold may not be try- 
ing to trade on the reputaticm of 
her more established confrere, her 
idioice of material Indicates she's 
fully Awaie of the siinilaiity. In 
factt one of her numbers is an an- 
nounced semi-tribnte to Miss Mer- 
man'a ability. 

Whether her playing up that 
similarity is 'good for lier is ex- 
tremely , doubtful. She'd be wiser 
to forget it and sell: herself on her 
own merits, which she demon- 
strates she can do. She tees off 
with "Show Business" (how rimilar 
can yon get?) and then evidences 
'^e quality of her own work with 
a feeling rendition of "Manhattan 
Towers." Merman tribute follows, 
with her closer being a reprise of 
"Show Bunness." Routine is well- 
set and tbe gal bas what it takes — 
if she forgets tlie Merman bosi' 
ness. Stol. 



Chwek and pm» 
«w this 

choice midtown 



include Spanish, 
Am^can tunes 
mixed clientele. 

Here at this 

bistro adiacent to Central Pa* 
Miss George does a fair delivery 3 
novelty, numbers such as "SqueeS 
Me," but her real forte lies in thi 
Urtino twies. She pipes "Chiu 
Chlu" with a neat sense of rhythm 
pnnetnattid by sotik salesman^ 
appropriate gestures] 
With further experience augnteid. 
ing her natural versatiUty, she m«v 
ultimately carve a niche for b«v. 
self in a Broadway musical. 

^ Gilb. 

TOM SCOTt 

SoBgS"'. . ■ 

12 Mhis. ' 

Hotel Pierre, N. Y. 

Tom Scott, making his class cafe 
debut at the Hotel Pierre's Co- 
tillion room, is a familiar name to 
concert audiences having made 
several appearances in New YoA's 
longhair emporia. He's an accwn- 
plished balladcer with a catalog of 
authmtic American folk - tuues 
which are projected with feeling 
and authority. Pipes, in the bt»ss 
baritone register, hit tbe au^ences 
nicd^ and are of the calibre that 
warrant encores. He provides own 
guitar accompaniment. 

In this tune groupings, he hi- 
eludes several spirituals, but these 
tunes do > not achieve the feeling 
that he gets out of his ballads. Th« 
spirituals lie does are unfandliar 
to the general run oS cafe audi* 
ences. But i»rimarlly, he's supetinr 
at ballads so that the splritttfl 
offerings are anti-climactic. 

Nonetheless, Scott is a good bet 
for arty cafes, and his clean est 
appearance would aid him in fill- 
ing a legit spot. Jose 



Miami Kstraa' Biz Dips 15% 
Miami Beach, March 30. 

Figures released Internal Rev- 
enue's collectors office here, 
showed a drop of approximately 
15% in nitery receipts for the past 
three montlis (height of season), 
as against last years figures. 

Based on collection of the 20% 
cabaret tax, it. was disclosed that 
Colonial Inn dropped from $36,000 
in '47 to $30,000 this year. ,One 
of tlie larger beach spots also 
.sagged, showing $22,000 as com- 
pared to a collection of $27,000 for 
the same' period in '47. 

"Juke joints" also, were noted 
as droppmg in payments against 
receipts. By "juke joints" the bu- 
reau office explained they meant 
any place, offering dancing or en- 
tertainment'SUbject to the govern- 
ment bite. 

Based on these estimates, which 
figure six times the amount of the 
tax, biz of one big spot dropped 
some $36,000 in February and an- 
other big spot $304)00. S«OTie ob- 
servers point to the no minimum 
policies adopted by several, as the 
reason for the drop. Others, sim- 
ply to ''too salaries and not 
enough business.'' 



HOCTOK «c BYSD 

Dance 

13 Mnn, 

Hotel Pierre, N. Y. 

Hoctor and Byrd, who have ap- 
peared in "Call Me Mister" , Im- 
press as being ideally suited for 
the class cafe circiiits. This youth- 
ful and clean-cut duo have a skill'* 
ful blend of tip and baUet nm» 
tined into neat commercial pat- 
terns. 

Most of their- efforts are concen- 
trated on tap work, but inter* 
spersed with thrir deating are 
good leaps, clever spins, and a 
savvy of what audiences want. 
They do some solo stints as well 
with the boy knocking off pleasing, 
tap designs, while the girl offers a 
tasty ballet sequence. The breakup 
into solo parts, gives the femme a 
chance to change costumes. 

The pair baring shown ability in 
legit mud cafes, could do weU in 
any visual entnrtainment medium. 

Josr. 



SHAinK COGAN 
'Singer 
laURns. 

Vinace TangilHunl, It. Y. 
' Newly -arrived in Manhattan 
fnun Detroit, wh«« she broke into 
club work, Sbaye Cogan is a 
btoaade beaut whose song styling 
elooely parallels "her looksi AppajP' 
cntly a youngster, rite has a weU- 
trained, middle - register voice 
which she nses capably. Best part 
of her work is her uniciue styling, 
evidencing conrideiable study. She 
projects extremely well in the 
ultra-intime Village Vanguard. 

Miss Cogan. sells both the dream 
stuff and faster tunes with equal 
facility. She oj^ens here wltli « 
touchy "Let's Keep It Casual" and 
then swings into a neat arrange- 
ment of "I Want a Little Boy." 
Closer is "It's ti»e Uttle Thmgs 
You Do That Count" for a good 
pace-changer. Choice of tunes is 
okay but selection of at least .one 
better-known smig would have lent 
: more impact to her work. 

Whether she can sell as well in 
a large room is questionable, but 
she's definitely pthned for the bet- 
ter-class intimate spotd. Stal. 



MEUtOSS COUnEKT 

Songs' , - ■ 
9 Mhis. 

Village Vangnard, N. Y. 

A sepia songstress with a &ir 
blues voice, Melrose Colbert is 
making her New York nitery 
preem here. Her styling is along 
standard lines, with her best work 
— some neat be-bop breaks— 
sounding like imitaticms of better- 
known, estaldisfaed thrushes. Her 
PVes arc extremely heavy and^ 
with her playing too close to the 
mike, sound overly voluminous. 

Choice of tunes could be im- 
proved on, since the first tlirce are 
all song at the same tempo. She 
partially negates the mood of 
"Dont Worry "Bout Me" by speed- 
ing the beat. "I Could Make You 
Care" is better, but her "Without 
a Song" loses punch since it main- 
tains the same rhythm. Best tune 
is "Sometimes I'm Happy," in 
which she wraps up a scat chorus 
with good results. Inclusaon of 
more be-bop would help build hW 



act. 



Stal 



BETTY GEORGE / 

Smgs 

C Bttna. 

n<Ml St. Merits. N. Y. 

Foarmerly a chirper for a string 
of name bapds including Glen 
Gray, Sam Donahue, et. al, Betty 
George is now striking out on her 
own as a single. She's a pleasant 
package whose dark-haired physical 
«^harms are further emphasized by 
smart gowning. Ber warbling con- 
veniently take^ in a wide range to 



.TACK PABKHK 
Juggler 

9 Mins^ 

Hotel Pierre, N. 

Jack Parker, 



on his first major 



eafe assignment in New York, im- 
ipresses with the fact that he's had 
considerable experience in 3uggi«^; 
ing. He's an excellent manipulator 
of Indian clubs and balls, display- 
ing expert execution of Intricate 
patterns. , i „f 

Parker infuses a nice brand oi 
humor into his work with frequeni 
departures from the standard jug- 
glhig designs. 

He's of youthful appearance ano 
can fill vaude stands neatly. 

.. ■ ■ JOSt' 



5S 



House Reviews 



Claii(te Tfiorrihill Orcfi (18) 
iBitft Gfcne Williams ond Frrtti Wftrt 
*en' Helenc & Hoicord, MorcV 
Vsterdam; "April ^^<^'[^ 
(VirB)( reriswed in, Varhstv 
Jlfflfch lO, '48.-^^ ^ 

This Is the week where there 
♦*n't much room for error, box- 
nfflce - wise. It doesn't matter 
what the theatre is, or whatever 
the entertainment— Easter Week 
Is Boing to do biz on Broadway 
Iven with a bill of nothing but 
Japanese acrobats. 

Now, of course, there's no af- 
finity between the current Strand 
bill and Jap acrobats. Claude 
Miornhill at the piano paces an 
entertaining band. Morey Am- 
sterdam has a rather disarming 
way of telling jokes. And Helene 
and Howard, a comedy dance team, 
gather their quota of laughs. An- 
<ither plus-factor Is the staging and 
lighting. It all aflds up to satis- 
factory entertainment, though 
there have been times when it's 
been much better. 
■ There arfe few bands with a flair 
for arrangements that Thornhill 
gives to this outfit. He's a self-ef- 
iacing maestro at the black-and- 
whites, and' there's never a mo- 
ment when his group's nine-brass, 
tour rhythm and five-reed combo 
Isn't contributing a full measure of 
entertainment. With the outfit are 
singers Gene Williams and Fran 
Warren, both of whom manage to 
win their share of attention, espe- 
cially the girl. 

Amsterdam skirts the. precari- 
ous with his gags, which, many of 
tiiem, are out of the nitery mold. 
But he's a funster who keeps 
punching all the time, an object 
lesson for the younger comics with 
too great a sensitivity to their sit- 
on-their-hands audiences. Amster- 
dam lilts clinkers with some of .his 
jokes, either because they're so 
old or so bad, but he's always 
punching whatever tlie reception. 
' . Helene and Howard are a mixed: 
pair with strong memories of the 
jpnd of act that the late Roy Rog- 
,jnah and Jeannti Lorraine ( now 
^torraine Rognan) did so well until 
the Lisbon Clipper crash of some 
years ago broke up the act. Helene 
especially is doing the- same kind 
of comedy biz done by the Rognan 
JSirl. They're an entertaining pair 
«n their own, however, but should 
tvoid duplication. Come to think 
'of it, though, there's hardly an act 
(iround that hasn't borrowed a lit- 
'tle here, a little there. 

This good-looking pair starts off 
doing straight- ballroom acros — 
and the lifts are pretty good, too>- 
then suddenly, they go into the 
comedy stuff that has for its 
clmcher finale a takeoff on jitter-. 

Capitol, Wash. 

— Woshinototi, MofcJi 27. 
^AToureen Cannon, The Hebonairs 
<5), Coley Worth 4 2\forci« Monn, 
JVedarri/s (3); "Three Daring 

. Holiday crowds who are swelling 
i-apltol grosses . current stanza, 
seem enthusiastic about vaude lay- 
out, though it is sans big name or 
showstppper. Quartet of acts is 
pleasant and mostly routine, 
n 1 m"^ Maureen ("Up in Central 
rark ) Cannon gets marquee bill- 
•"fc,Payees single out "The Debon- 
sira for headline attention. Group 
?:« . earbed in white-Oe-and 
Mils, have a hep act well-suited for 
anybody's stage, vaude or nitery. 
J-ombinlng terp and vocals, they do 
wo numbers, both on novelty 
lines. First, "No Worries, No 
.^ares,' is a round-robin with 
gestures, depending for effect on 
split-second Uming and coordina- 
Jsp' . . Second is the sure-fire 
Machine Age" number, with top- 

i*- P''^*ision dancing. 

Miss Cannon makes mild impres- 
sion with trio of ballads, "If This 
isn t Love," "Aintcha Ever Coming 
«aclt," and the "Finian's Rain- 
bow" hit, "That Great Come-and- 
J»et tt Day." Despite her Broadway 
"J«*8round, chantoosey lacks flare 
ana Showmanship necessary to put 
a tune across in a house this size, 
voice is pleasant but une:^citing. 

Coley Worth, with femme assis- 
tant Marci^ Winn, do okay in comic 
spot. With assorted inanities, in 
. song, dance, fiddle and gags. 
Always popular here, comic gets 
good share of laughs. 

Dredarrys, European trio of 
cyclists, raise curtain and payees' 



hair with soine truly daring stunt 
on a variety of wheels. Working 
solo and In various combos, eam 
does stunts right out of Ripley, like 
Jumping rope and twirling in air 
on bicycles. Big Top routine garn- 
ers, rousing reception. Lowe. 



State-Lake, Chi 

Chicago, JWorch 26. 
Kothrj/tfr Groi/son & Jahivnxi 
Johnston, Jan Murray, Rudy Car- 
denas, Castle Sisters (2), Henry 
Brandon Orch (18); "Aducntwres 
of Casanova" (EL). 



Although the emcee format of 
the '20s hasn't been exhumed as 
part of t"he current nostalgia (how 
nostalgic can you get? ) , "Jan Mur- 
ray proves that the form can be 
reapplied with punch. Comic's deft 
introes and entre-act yock sessions 
give -sustained drive to the layout. 

Castle Sisters' terp opener has 
them wearing mandarin jackets 
which they shed for two-piece 
briefies in tapping out standard 
routines fop okay returns. Black- 
garbed Rudy Cardenas repeats the 
stick, ball and hat manipulations 
that scored with Empire Room pa- 
trons here last fall. Hardworking 
juggler wins salvos. 

Johnnie Johnston turns in top 
vocal of "Old Black Magic." Sing- 
er's rewarding go at a Gershwin 
medley of five tunes is followed by 
banter in which Murray builds up 
a yen to croon. Familiar bit gets 
a better than average payoff with 
Murray supplying "yi's" in "S. A. 
Take It Away." Comic's interim 
stuff as a pappy whose kid spurns 
cereals is somewhat on the nitery 
side. 

Johnston switches from business 
suit to tux in fronting orch for 
Kathryn Grayson's trilling of an 
operatic aria and "Tales From the 
Vienna Woods." Both bring ample 
response, plus a bonus for "'Jeal- 
ousy." Johnston latches on for a 
girl-swain refrain and they close 
to brisk hand with dueting of "The 
Song Is You." Baxt. 



number enough to rack up too 
healthy a reception. Not that his 
turn isn't projected in apt manner. 
He does the recording hits he's 
identified with, tosses in some well 
turned yodeling and accomps sel2 
nicely on the guitar. 

Miss Bowan is an adept mimic, 
but her act, is presently consti- 
tuted, isn't lajjded with enough of 
commercial stuff to bring it into 
sock class. Idea of changing cos- 
tume and character before the aud 
is a good one. Best sequence in her 
series is the Gracie Fields bit, plus 
the Beatrice Lilliesh limnings. 

Balance of show is lair, Charles 
Carrer terns neat reception with 
juggling and balancing. Comedy 
ballroomology of Curry, Byrd and 
Leroy has been seen here before. 
Garner laughs with the drunk 
sequence. The Latinos work on 
the wires is standard, with the top- 
per the leap'through-hoop for boft' 
hand. , ^ 

Les Rhode and house orch. turn 
in usual competent job . on the 
backgrounding. Lary. 

Apollo, N. V. 

Lucky MilUnder Band (13) with 
Annisteen Allen, Paul Brecken- 
bridge. Bull Moos!^ Jackson; Tip & 
Toe, Gamer & Wilson, The Mar- 
tingales (2); "I Cover the Big 
Town" (Par). 



RKO. Boston 

Boston, March 26. 
John Calvert, Mayo Bros., 3 X- 
treems, Larry Flint hfmse Orch; 
"Panhandle" iMono). 



John Calvert's layout dominates 
this sparse stage bill,, the two acts 
teeing the show off proving okay 
but . not strong enough to warm 
up the audience. 

Mayo Bros., isolid performers, do 
a standard tap routine, finishing 
with a patter and aero stuff for 
good reception. Three X-treems, 
depending mostly on wide physical 
contra.st, horse around, do a few 
terp routines and wind with a 
comic ballet bit that gets cordial 
reception. 

Calvert does about five produc- 
tions, most of them sleight-of-hand 
gags with his Merry Maids of 
Magic lending decor. Standout is 
Calvert's work with the customers. 
He gets about 20 of them on stage 
for mass hypnotism which wows 
the stubholders. Finale is behead- 
ing with an electric .saw. 

First show caught the production 
off balance, Calvert's stage man' 
ager having planed out for emer- 
gency illness at home. Result was 
a couple of tricks failed to work 
and a couple of musical numbers 
got mixed up, but this only served 
to demonstrate Calvert's ' savoir 
faire in handling an unruly audi- 
ence and putting on a sock show 
despite handicaps. Addition to 
show is a trio of femmes, » violin- 
ist, pianist' and singer, who do an 
arty, musical number. Biz was off 
at opener, but picked up after 
Good Friday let-down. JSlie. 



Lucky Millinder band and col- 
ored revue -top the Apollo's cur- 
rent session. A fave here, Millin- 
der should keep the tickets busy. 
Opening day, -Good Friday, at- 
tendance was somewhat off but 
weekend had them standing up. 

Millinder's outfit; comprising 
three rhythm, five saxes, 5 brass, 
offer a varied routine that has 
audience whistling and stomping 
most of the time. After a siz- 
zling opener, Annisteen Allen, per- 
sonable songstress, neatly does a 
couple of rhythm tunes. The 
Martingales, ofay mixed team, fol- 
low and win enthusiastic reception 
for their slick acro-contortions. 
Their adagio routining lifts turn 
above stereotype routines of sim- 
ilar acts. 

Millinder, who fronts capably 
and energetically, waves his crew 
into a sweet arrangement of "Blue 
Skies" and a symphonic touch on 
"Sabre Dance" for additional ap 
preciation. In these he gives sev 
eral of the sidemen an inning for 
sock tootling that- help materially 
on the overall results. 

Garner and Wilson, male com- 
edy duo, take over for crossfire' 
gab that's plenty corny but it does 
very well here. They top gab with 
some solid hoofing and off to mce 
returns. Bull Moose Jajckson, 
flanked by three other sidemen 
billed as The Bearcats, go to town 
instrumentally on a trio of com- 
edy numbers, with the former 
handling vocals to nice returns. 
Paul Breckenbridge, other band 
vocalist, scores with his tenoring 
of a brace of ballads. Tip, Tap & 
Toe close and practically cop the 
show with their solid -standard 
hoofing, giving them everything in 
the book and walking off to heavy 
palm-whacldng. Edba. 



Variety Bills 



WEEK OF MARCH 31 



Numenilg In conneatlon with Mils below indicate opening jajr ef ahow. 
whether full or split week. 

I>et(er 111 purcntheBCB indlciiiefi clrrult: <I) Iiiilependviit ; (1.) l.oewi' 
(M) Moi«; (i>) raraimiiiiil; (H) IIKU;. (8) StoH; \W) Wnrnvr 



NEW YORK errs 

(.'lipttul (L) 1 

Tfix Beneku Ore 
Deun Martin 
.Terry liewis 

Muulo HiiH (1) 1 
Paul Haakon 
.Stephanie Antle 
Paul Franke 
A Andree & Bonnie 
Bellak & Elaine 
Rockettes' 
Corps rle Ballet 
Glee Olub 
Sym Ore 

rarauioiint (P) 31 

Kuddy Rlfih Bd 
Mills Bro^ 
i)e'an . MTiri>hy. 
The Colstorls ' . . 

Koxy (I) 31 
Art Mooney Ore 
Gain .Sis 
Betty .Bruce 
Al Bernie 
f^alioi Puppets 

fHtrnnd (W) 2 
Claude Thornhill 0 
Helene & ITowq^rd 
Morey Am.sterdam 
BRONX 
VVlMasor (I) 2-4 
Sqbby Jiollins 
Beau .Tenkina 
Skating: Macks 
Foran Sis ■ ■ . 

BROOKI.VN 
ilatbush (I) 2-4 
Morris &^ Ryan 
Wlltred Mae 3 
Gee & Whiz 
Don Hooton 

QUISRNS 
Jnmaloa (I) 31-3 
Tanit licao 
Malone & .Sharon 
Wllkle & Dare 
Tom Barry 
Milo & Moran 
Bert Gilbert • ■ 
(two lo (ill). 

BALTIMOni:- 
Hliipoilmnie (t) 1 
Pon Henry 3 , 
Mastern & Balling^ 
Clark Dennis .1 

Royal (1) X' 
Sugar C Robinson 
Alitchell & Gibson 
Roy Milton 
Rinnner Sis 
I) Del Ian Gate 
Johnny Vegal 

State (I) 1-S 
B & .T Peterson 
.T .Timae Co 
.Timmy Reynolds 
The Jades 
,4-7 
DeLeon Sis 
Kay DeWitt 
Ijee Steele' 
J Meyand & Kva 
BOSTON 

Keith's <R) 1 
Horace Heidt Ore 
CAMDEN 
Towers (I) 2-4 
Venti & "Ward 
Tune Tattlers 
Mary McCIanahan 
Milton Douglas 
The I^atinos 

cmcAGo 

state- rake (P) t 

S Henderson Bd 
Alan Carney 
Johnny Coy Co 
Oriental (I) 1 
Nellie Xtutcher 
Tito Ouizar 



Olynmpia, Miami 

. Miami, March i6. 
Elton Britt, Sybil Bowan, Curry, 
Boyd & Leroy, The Latinos, Chas. 
Carrer, Les Rhode House Orch; 
"Treasure of Sierra Madre" ( Wp ) . 

Oddly assorted layout h e.r e 
doesn't add up to consistent play- 
ing for the stubholders, who react 
in sporadic fashion. - 

Topliners Elton Britt and Sybil 
Bowan offer a complete contrast 
in variety, with the corn the "cow- 
boy" purveys a startling switch 
fi'om Miss Bowan's British music 
hall type of 'mimicry. 

Britt's. assortment of hillbilly 
and western songs are okay with 
those who like that stuff. At 
show caugl;it, that element didn't 



Nostalgic Turns Steal 
Show at NVA Benefit; 
Adds 8G to Welfare Fund 

Nostalgia ran rampant at the 33d 
annual benefit Of National Variety 
Artists at the Imperial theatre, 
N. Y., Sunday (28) night. Although 
far from a sellout despite slicing of 
top from .$25 to $15, there was 
plenty of "snow" dressing in the 
house to make it look like a sellout. 
When seat sales began to lag there 
was a hasty distribution "of ducats 
among indigent members of the 
NVA, who had a night of it thanks 
to Lou Handin, proxy, and Joe 
Verdi, ' chairman of the welfare 
committee, who also chairmanned 
the benefit. Hence it w^s nostalgic 
on both sides of the footlights. De- 
spite the lagging b.o., the 40-page 
souvenir program, studded with 
paid greetings from almost every- 
body who is anybody in show biz, 
bolstered the take for about $17,- 
000 gross, which should net the 
welfare fund of the NVA $8,000 
after tax bite, promotional ex- 
penses and Theatre Authority 15% 
nick is deducted, which accumula- 
tively Will amount to 50% of the 
gross. 

To be sure there were plenty dis- 
appointments in non-appearance of 
names programed failing to show, 
but nevertheless those who- did 
contributed their best to the three- 
and-a-half hour show, which was 
(Continued on page 58) 



narriaon, carroU 
,& Rosa 
Gaudsmtth Bros 
Carl Sands Ore 
OOI^UMBUS 
Pnlace (It) 5-7 
Woody Herinajn Or 
Don Cuniminga 
Berk & Hallow 
IIAKTi''OUD 
State (1)' 2-4 
Henry Bus«e Ore , 
.Martin Bros 
Georgie .Ruye ■ 
Acroinaniacs 
Vic Dainone 
Cieorifia Qibhs 

HOI.<VOKig 
Valley Arena (1) * 
only 

Bob Chester Ore 
Ann Russell 
Don Rice 
Ansoh Sis - 
.Soutliernaires 
-Tackie Cooper 
Lloyd & Willia v 
MIAMI 
Olyinphi (P) 31 
Chris & Cal 
Harvela : 
Phil Regan 
Artie. Dahn 
4 Evans 

NEWARK 
AfliiniH (I) 1 
.Toey Adarns 
Mark Plant 
Tony Cant.onerI 
Connie Halhes 
.Eddie Peabody 
Pat Rooney 

VATKRSON 
Miijestlo (I) 1-4 
Hicks & Berry 
Betty Percy 
Sonny .Sparks 
Yorke & Pierce 
Jim AVoner Trp 
8-7 

Gonzales Sis 
VaT Eddy 
Stan & Art Catron 
Bert Gilbert 
The Jades 

PHir.,A»ET.rHU 
' fiarman: (I) 1 

liew Fltiglbbons 
Bud Sweeney 
Detrlck & DInno 
Wayne Mai-lin 3 
READING 
RaJah (I) 1-3 
T.ouls Prima Ore 
Jane Wynn 
3 Honey Bros 
BOCKFOItn. 
Pulttce (I) 2 
Whiz Bang Kevue 
Johnny Ijaddie. Co 
Marvin Himmel 
l3oleman Clark Co 

2 Ashtons 

Pat McCattefy »• 
Paul Walker Ore 
SPRINGFIEl.n 
Court S<i (I> 1-4 
Hal .Sands Girls 
Coco Steve & Kddy 
Al Schcnk 
.rimmy Blair 

3 Harpers ^ 
WASHINGTOM 
Capital (T,) I 

Bowes Graduates 
VrOONSOCKEV. 
Capitol' (I) 4 only 
Herbe Sells 
Anthony Rogers 
I The Raymonds 
Fabian & Co 



BRITAIN 



BIRMINGHAM 
IHlipodrome <M> 29 

.1 Dancettes V 
Forsyt'he 

.Seauion & Farrell 

Van Dock 

Hutch 

Craftons 

Ted Ray 

Desmond & Marks 
Beryl Orde 
Decamp & Dodge 

Royal (M) 29 
Puss in Boots 
T.eo Franklin 
Rosalind Melville 
Krnest Arnley 
.timmy Godden 
Wheeler Sc Wilson 
Zena Dell 
.Gloria Day 

BlUGHl-ON 
HlpPQdroiue <M) 29 
Uarnond OTiis 
O & B Bernard 
Harry Bailey 
.Scott Sanders 
Roy & Ray 
Eve Drury Co 
Grafton Sis & 

.Taoqiles 
Henri Vaddcn Co 

CAKDIFE 
New Tlicatre (8) 29 
Sleeping Beauty 
Freddie Forbes 
Nita Crotf 
Phil Strickland 
Bert Murray 
BUlie Love 
Isabel Marden 
Bin Dunokley 
l.eon He Kikl 
Hamilton Robins 
Vilma De Boer 
Sidney Trevelyan 
Robs &■ Globe Gla 
Balmoral 4 
(Charles Ancaster 
Beaton's 12 Jlives 
CHI8WICK 

Empire (S) 29 
Merry Macs 
D & .T -O'Gorman 
Herschel Henlere 
Kathleen West 
Donald Stuart 
Bob Murray 
Hengler Bros 
riNSBl'^KY PARK 

Ximplre (M) 29 
Skating Royals 
B.orrah Minevitch 
Harmonica .Uasc'ls 
iSold & Cprdell 
Tovarlch Trp 
Roach & Royan 
Leslie Strange 
Ziska 

Sharpe Sr. Trls 
Doyle ICjda 

GI.AHGOW 
Aliiumhra CM) 29 
Ice Revue 
Cecilia College 

Kinpire (M) 29 
Trlnder Show 
Tommy Trindex 
Gan.1od Bros & 

.Tuanita 
6 Orlanders 
:WoodH & ..Tarr^t 
Bemand & .Pigeons 



Jerry Allen 3 
HAOKNRY 
Empire (S) 29 . 
Donald Peers 
Rosemary Andree 
Collison & Breen 
All Bey 
3 AberdonlSbPfl . 
Iris .Sadler 
Drage 

Vlvianne & Irene 
I..EBUS 

Empire (M) 20 
O'Doyle Bros & 

.lean 
3 Appletons 
Rlchm'an A .lacks'n 
.Rex Ramer 
Joe King 

Dick Henderson Jr 
Joe Loss Bd 

Koynl (M) 29 
Red Riding Hood 
Norma.!! Evans 
Margei'v Manners 
Percy Garside 
Betty Ma.riin 
Gray 

Austin & Worth 
UVBRPOOl; 
Empire (Sf) 29 

2 Redheads 
Jimmy James Co 
Tvonne Watts 
Wood . Harmer 
2 Valors 
Morton Sc Kaye 
Delya * . 

Scott & Foster ~ 
Dick Hendei'son ". ' 

LONDON 
Hippodrome (M) 29 
Vic Oliver 
Pat Klvkwood . 
Fred Emney 
Melflchrlmo Ore " 
Marilyn Ilightower 
Michael Bentino 
.Tulie Andrews 
.rean Carson 
Santigo Bd 
Pnlladiiim <M) 29 
Ma!'tha lfa.ve 
B Minevitch 
Harmonica Rascals 
Yost Royal Guard 
Peter CavanaKh 
M Eddie G^»y 
M % H Nesbltt 
G Warren & Jean 
S Baba Sc Rudsa 3 
J Billings Sr. Diana 
Olsen & Sea 'l.ion 

Sioll (S) 29 
Stars on Ice 

MANCIIESTEK 
Hippodrome (8) 29 
Buster Shaver 
Olive George & 
. Richa.rd 
Robin Richmond 
Oi'ga.!! Gdrs Siig ' 
Gaston Palmer 
Plerrotys : . 
Betty Jumel 
Norman Carroll 
Floyd Sc R'Nay 
Wright & Marlon 

I'alnve (M) 2» 
Dancing Years 
Barry Sinclair 
Nlcolette R,«eg 



Bllizabetb French 
NEWCASTLE 
Empire <M) 20 

Pioca.dllly llayride 
Nat Jackley 
4 Hurricanes ■ ; 
4 Pagolas ■ 
Marienno Lincoln . 
Jack Francois 

NOTTINGHAM 
Empire (M) 29 

Zio 3 

Alax Miller 
Alfred Thrlpp 
:! .rolcers 
Johnson Clark 
A, .1 l*owers 
Slcating Avalons' , 
Mariora . 
Mario Wilson 
SHEFrjK;l,D 

King's (M).29 
Thanks Memory 
ti H. Elliott ■ 
Oortle Gitana- 
Neliie "Wallace 
liUa. Shields 
Randolph Suttoil 
T O'Farrell 
Billy Dahvers 
.SlllOPlrilUS BCSH 

Empire (S) 29 
Arthur . Asltey 
Barna & Brook 
.Swain & Swing Sis 
Janet Brown 



Kect'e Bros Ik 

Annette 
Mills .Sis & 

Michael 
Bunny Doyle 
Cleet & Moroney . 
■ SOWTHSBA 

Kintt's <M> 2» 
Traveller's Joy 
Yvonne Arnaud 
Omn Victor: 

81INDEBI.AND 

Empire (M) 29 
On With Modley 
Albert Moc|.Iey 
J Cuny Co 
BUly West & 

Ha.rmony Boys 
Balaguer S 
. I.ynda Ross 
Bert Ltnaoh 
Highland Pipers- ■ 
5Sio Angels ■ . 
.Woitder Starlets 
WOOU GltEKN 

Empire (8) 29 
D" .Beiiih.irdt 
S Grappelly 
Freiich Hot 

Club r, 
George .Lacy 
George Noonan 
Michael O'Duflfy 
A Fontenay Co 
. Charles Caineron 
J.iaureys 
Belea Stone 



Cabaret Bills 



NEW YOBK CUT 



Bagatelle 

Dorothy Ross 

Blue .Ingei 
Uouglas Byng 
Ali.ce Pearce 
Marc Lawrence 
Delta Rhythm Bys 
Bills Larkin t 
Hal Cooke - 
Jane ■ Harvey ■ 
Cafe Sooletr 

(Downtovn) 
Tlmmle Rogeri 
Ginnle Fo\ireU 
Fats Plchon 
Cliff Jackson 
Kdmund . Hall Ore 

Bnulley's 
Dorothy Careless 
Vin. Roddie 
F Curbello Ore 

Cliina Uoll 
Katharine Chanc 
.rack SbO 
Laurie Long 
3 Cantons 
Matt Tuck 
Noro Morales 
J Fra^se " 

Vopataliana 
Martin & Lewis 
Vivian Blaine 
Betty Bonnie 
Ward ^Donovan 
M Durso Ore 
Alveres Ore 

Iceland 
Bo.vd Heath 
c & F Simpson 
tilnger Kinney ' 
Ben nibble Ore , 
Jack Ripley Line 

Hotel Edison 
AIvy West Ore 

No '1 Fifth Ave 
Patricia Bright 
Tony Craig 
Hazel Webster 
Downey & Fonvllle 
Hotel Belm't-PIaxa 
Georgie Price 
Bddle Stone Ore 
Machlto Ore 

Hotel BiltinoM 
Larry Green Oro 
o Turecftiijn Ore 
Hotel . Commodore 
Eddy Howard Ore , 
' Hotel Eexlngton 
Pineapple Ore 
Hotel New Forlier 
.shep Fields Ore 
.Marshal Beard 
Phil Romayno 
Terry Brent 
.lay Martin 
Muriel Pack 
.Tan ice Hamilton: 
Hotel Penneylvania 
Dick" Jurgens Ore 

Hotel Pierre 
Patricia Windsor ■ 
Laiitlrc & Verna 
Stan Fisher 
Van Smith Ore 
(ilias Reader Ore 
,Diamjond Horseshoe 
Mata & Harl 
f^horal Octet 
H Sandler Ore 
Alverez Mera . 
Juenger Ballet Une 

Hotel plAta 
Hild,egarde 
Joel Herron Ore 
Sa.lvatore GIoo 
Hotel Roosevelt 
Lawrence Welk Ore 
Hotel St Morif* 
Menconl Ore 

Hotel 8t Regie 
Dave Apollon 
Hal Saunders Ore 
Bvalyn Tyner 
Frances Maddux 
Laszlo & Peplto 

Hotel Tart . 
Vincent iMvex Orr 
Charlie Drew 



Blackhawli 

Art Kassel 
Gloria Hart 
.Shirley Lane 
Phil Mariquin, 
Cliez Puree 
Marty Gould Ore 
.laekie Green 
Jack Cole Dancers 
.Toe Kovac Orch 
Ohea/ Adorables 1! 
Coniiie Haines 
Hotel Blacketone 
Ray Morton Oro 
Iiucienne Boyer 

Hotel Blsmark' 
J .Sudy Ore 
B en no Delson O 
Tracy Sisters (2) 
Leonoro 
Georgie Gobel 
Paulens (2) 

Helsingi 
Al Morgan 
Bill Chandler Ore 
Alwite Sr. Blue 
Mike Young 
Guy Raymond . 



.."e« Clay 

Michael Durso Ors 
Fernando Alvarez O 

El Chl«0 
Fernando; Crespa 
Conde Luis 
Victoria Barcelo 
Rita & Rozino 
Los Pancbos 
Embawy 
BelmonCs 

Wigher & White < 
Louis : Varano Or« 
Jose Cartel' Ofo 

Harem 
Diosa Cosfello 
ijillBsa -Jayne 
.Tohn Elliot 
Dennis Sis 
Nevada Smith 
Desi Arnaz Ore ' 
Art Roman O 
, IIavana-.Wa<liM 
Joaquin GarajTT ' 
Pilar Gomez 
Vollta Argueso 
Taylor Line 
Saccaaaas Ore 

Hotel Warwick 
Alan MoPalge t 
Jftn August 

La Martlnlqi* : ■■. 
Jack Carter 
B\'ances Fa'ye 
Freddie Stewart 
Ralph Font Oro - 
Taylor Line 

Leon * XMW* 
Eddie Darl* 
Art 'Wahe» .Ore- 
Sherry BHttou 
Nils & NadyneS 
Lyda & Yannl 
Toby -Beano 
Peggy Palmer 
Dann.v Sullivan - 
Shepard Line , 
Old Raamanlim 
Sadie Banks 
Don Tannen „ • 
Bella Smaro 
Joe LaPorte Orf 
D^Aqulla Ore 

•Latin Qnarlcir 
Marion Manner*- : 
Buddy Lester • 
Hermanos Wme t i 
Steve CondoK 
Patricia Adair 
C & T Valdez 
Arthur Laurent . 
Bop Vivants 
Vincent Travery O 
Penthouse Olnll v 
Maxine Sullivan 
Ten Josefovits 

BaiMn Btca : 
Pierre: Cartier 
Judy Gershwin ; 
Mervyn Nelson 
Daphne Hellraah \ 
Franklin & Moor* 
Nermann Paris I ■ 
Wally Blacker 
Sptvy'i 

Spivy 

Mary McCarty 
Hayes Gordon 
Veraaiile* 
carl Brisson 
Bob Grant Ore 
PanchUo Ore.. 

VillnKe Bam. 
Pluto Peie 
Ka^/ Carole 
Cordano & CorillM;; 
Populalres 
Buccaneers Ore - . 
VillaKe Vimxaara 
Paula Drake 
Cedi-lo Wallace « 
Shaye Cogajn 
Melrose Colbert 
Don Frye ' . 

Wnldorf-^'storla 
Donald Richard* 
Lamouret - 
Emil Coleman Or* 
Misha Bort Or* 

CHICAGO 

H Edtcewatcr IBmeh 

Gil Malson . 
MyrtlL & PieauS : 
Georce Olsen Om 
Pr«*ton Lambert; 
Marian Fedele 
D Hlld Dbn«r* (tS) 

Hotel Rhermav 
Herble Fields Or« 
Kay Starr 
Sonny Howard 
Mead Lux Lewi* 
Carl Marx 
Glngle Nichols 

Palmer Honse 
Bklnnay Ennls Orc^ 
Rosalind Courtri*;M 
McCarthy & jpai*! 
C Kaly Dnors (47 
Lenora Edwin 

Hotel Steven* 
Chuck Poster Or* 
Rudy Richards . 
The FTestons (J>. 
.Tejin Arlen 
Mai Ian SBelmajl 
Manuel Del fSfk 
Jerry RehOeld 
SkatlnK BlvdeMiV 



86 



IJEGITI1MATB-470NCBIIT 



tt^e&Mwhiy, Mkidh 31, 194ft 



Vf est End B.O. Hits Stump; 'Bripdoon' 
^t Back; 'Happiest' 'Eyes' OK Bows 



London, March 30. 
Prince Littler has postponed 
staging the American hit musical, 
"Brigadoon," until next February. 
Originally production of the fan- 
tasy was scheduled for June and 
movebaclc is attributed to lack of 
a suitable theatre. 

Meanwhile, West End business 
has hit a sudden slump with show- 
(oUt ascribing the changed b.o. 
conditions to exceptionally mild 
weather, expected daylight saving 
time, and the general European 
uncertainty. Unaffected by dwin- 
dling patronage are "Oklahoma!", 
"Annie Get Your Gun," "Bless the 
Bride," "Starlight Koof," "Tup- 
pence" and "Together Again." 

Non-musicals including "Anna 
liucasta," "Edward, My Son," "I 
Bemember M a m a," "Present 
LaughteP'^ and "Relapse" are still 
outstanding despite the slide in at- 
tendance. Film theatres and retail 
stores, however, also have experi- 
enced a sharp drop in revenues. 

"Happiest Years of Your Life," 
a hilarious hew farce by new au- 
thor John Dighton, bowed Monday 
(29) at the Apollo theatre. Gen- 
erally well acted, the play was 
splendidly received. Plot revolves 
about an evacuated girls school 
vvhich is accidentally billeted upon 
a boys academy. Margaret Buther- 
' 'ford scores as 'th« headmistress. 
vjDark Eyes" jirerniered at the 
-Strand theatre last Wednesday 
(24) to an enthusiastic audience. 
Press was generally favorable, con- 
sidering the show as amusing non- 
* sense but well done. 'Priesented 
by Unnit & Dunfee, with pavis & 
Severn, of 'New York, associated, 
play is rated as having an «ven 
chance. 

Following calls for the piece's 
£04nthor, ISleaa Miramova (who 
wrote it with Eugenie Leonto- 
vitch), made a- short address from 
her box. Eugenia Delarova, Irina 
Baronova and Polly Bowles scored 
as the three Russian ballerinas' 
while YuL Brynner registered as 
Prince Nikolai. Charles Goldner 
ably- bandied the directiAn. 



Freedley Approached 
To Do Texas Fair Show 

• Dallas, Mlarch 30. 

Vinton Freedley has neen ap- 
proached to produce a new musical 
comedy to preem here next Oc- 
tober in connection with ' the an- 
nual state fair. , He's indicated in- 
terest, but is trying to find a suit- 
able script. If the idea jells, the 
producer would own the show and 
take it on tour, then to Broadway 
after the local run, 

As the Mary Martin company of 
"Annie Get Your Gun" .demon- 
strated" here last year, it's possible 
to pay off virtually, the whole liro- 
duction cdsfof a click musical on 
the profits from an engagement 
here in connection with the state 
fair. If Freedley decides not to 
do the show it may be produced 
locally, with advice and assistance 
from the American National The- 
atre & Academy office in New 
York. Jack Ro6enfieId heads the 
local jcommittee In chai^ of the 
project. 



Efs $19,300 Budg<^ 
For Wt : Ballads' 
Stirs Sharp Protests 

Preparation for Experimental 
Theatre's "Ballet Ballads," slated 
.to finale ET's season, started last 
week to the accompaniment of a- 
strong protest from Vinton Freed- 
ley to Cheryl Crawford over the- 
finances Involved. 

Miss Crawford, who is to pro- 
duce "Ballet" for ET, has set a 
production nut of $19,300. Freed- 
ley, as president of the. American 
National Theatre and Academy, 
which sponeors ET, declared the 
cost excessive; ' that ANTA tb''"— >■ 
fore' cannot underwrite the extra 
cmtUiy, adding that it's, doubtful 
'^Ballet", .oonies ^tl^in the scope of | 
Er. Lattieff is designisd to encour- 
age new ptaywrighting talent. 

At the start of the ET season 
subscription^ totaled $67,000 and it 
was decided to allot'$ll,000 for 
each of the six 'attractions. The 
number of shows to be done was 
then definite but only two plays 
to be presented were selected by 
the ET committee headed by Clar- 
ence Derwent; to whom Freedley 
also protested.- Latter insists that 
each attraction or unit will stick 
to its budgetary limit an4 if added 
money is used it must be financed i 
outside of ANTA. i 

It's* explained that It costs $6,000 
weekly to operate the Elliott thea- 
tre, where the ET shows are held. 
Production costs scheduled for 
"Ballet" indicate that expenses 



Coal ^Swihuk 
Ikeatms Met % 

The Metropolitan Opera Assn. 
pulled out of New York Monday 
(29) on the longest tour in its 
history, with its transportation 
sdtedule newly rearranged and 
threat of curtailment of the trip 
still hanging over the company's 
head due to the coal situation. 
Troupe is performing in Baltimore, 
Bichmond and Atlanta this week, 
and in Chattanooga, Memphis and 
Dallas next week. 
- Original railroading plans made 
up on' basis of special trains, had 
to foe revised; Special train to Bal- 
timore was cancelled, .five ears be- 
ing added to regular trains, and 
two special trains out of, Richmond 
were given up. Company" was split 
up this week, to meet in Memphis 
next week, wheirq group will total 
325. 

Going should be easy from Mem- 
phis, where oiiburners wiU, be 
used, company leaving for rest of 
trip in two special trains,^ one of 
seven sleepers and diner, other of 
11 sleepers. Twenty-three baggage 
cars will be used in all, in scat- 
tered assignments, depending on 
scenery needed in a particular city. 
Company is headed for the Coast 
for the first time in 40 years, with 
a two-week stop, in Los Angeles. 
Other new stops are Denver and 
Lincoln, Neb, The Met will skip 
Chicago this year, due to lack of 
time.' 

Minimum guarantee for a Met 
performance in various cities is re- 
ported at $16,500, with the Met fig- 
ured to profit at each^tand. In 



IMMffiQtG^fORlOTH 
ANNpCPNCBtTTWR 

SlgmtiM Romberg will 6tart his \ 
10th a^ual concert tour at the 
Mosque ttieatre, Newark, April 24. 
Pull route hasn't been lined up as 
yet by Harry D, Squires, but it's 
expected to last around four weeks. 

Romberg, in addition to his reg- 
ular tour, wiU be guest conductor 
at Robin Hood Dell, Philadelphia, 
July 8; Lewisohn Stadium, N, Y., 
July 10, and Hollywood Bowl, July 
14. 

'ABnie,"(Mu' 
'Boat' Top Rmid 

"Annie Get Your Gun," "Okla- 
homa," and "Show-Boat" were last 
week's top grossers among road 
shows, , ♦ 

"Annie," which has be^n out of 
Chicago for a month, established a 
new record in Cleveland by getting 
$64,000, and in one week in Roch- 
ester, N. Y., got $56,000. Two-week 
date in Pittsburgh concluded last 
Saturday (27); including Holy 
Week takings of $42,500 the gross 
was $85,500. Show is currently in 
Hershey, Pa., for a full week, few 
shows playing that community for 
eight performances. 

Rodgers and Hammerstein-pro- 
duced "Annie," authored by Her- 
bert and Dorothy Fields, with Irv- 
ing Berlin, will make four stands 
on the Way to the Coast, playing 
a full week in Richmond, Cincin- 
nati, Des Moines and Oklahoma 
City. Mtfsical is due on, the Coast 
May 3, splitting eight weeks be- 
tween Los Angeles and San Fran- 
'dsco.:.. 

"O Mistress Mine" and "Antony 
and Cleopatra" topped straight 
plays on tour last week, both get- 
ting close to $30,000 in Los An- 
geles and Baltimore, lespeetively. 



IStreetcar/ %dba1s,' CoDmand' 
Qd at 2d kaatd Ferry IKnner 



On Gmt Tn Protest 

Impresario Sol Hurok will re- 
ceive about $6,000 from the U. S. 
Government, as result of decision 
by Judge Vincent 'L. Leibell in 
N. Y. .federal court, last week (24). 
Money , represents . social security 
and unemployment insurance which 
the HUrok Attractions, Inc., paid 
the Government under protest 
from 1939 to 1942 for the Serge 
Jaroff Don Cossack chorus, which 
Hurok then managed . 

Government had insisted that 
employer-employee relations ex- 
isted l^etween Hiirok and Cossacks, 
while former elaimfed he had only 
a managerial contract and chorus 
was not his employee. He brought 
suit* against Collector of Internal 
Revenue and the Government for 
tax refund, and Judge Leibell or- 
dered the money retuined. It's 
understood the Government won't 
contest Judge LeibeU's decision. 



L.A., civic iproup headed by 
Charles H. Strub is guaranteeing 
14 performances at $22 ,000' each, as 
well as the transportation costs 
from Dallas to L.A. and thence to 
Denver. Most of Met regulars arc 
making the trip, including Lauritz 
Melchior and Helen Traubel. Lily 
Pons sang in Boston last week but 
isn't scheduled to make the long 
haul. Tour will end up in Roches- 
te- N. Y., May 17. 



Classics for Cpneert? 

Marc Daniels, who' staged a 
triple-bill of comedy scenes frdm 
Shakespeare and Mollere for re- 
cent Equity Library Theatre pres- 
entation, plans to arrange concert 
' bookinas for such a show- next fall 
other than settings call for more j^^'l winter. He may also set up 
money than used for other ET<«""» ^ show as a package to tour 
shows so far this season. Two f*''^*'lf ^ this summer. However, 
pianists engaged for six weeks are i^he latter would probably be more 
to be used during rehearsals, and if"*"^' would requue a name 
at least one ballet dance specialist 1 ™?; , . ' 

is being brpught on from Call-', .wife- Meg Mundy. is fea- 
fornia. itured m the New Stages produc- 

I tion of Jean-Paul Sartre's one- 



Fiftli attraction for ET will be 



actor, "The Respectful Prostitute,' 



"Six O'clock Theatre," a group of thu PnW isi v 

three playlets to be presented for . ^ " 

r^L''^*'**!?® ^^P'" Texas 'Claudia' 

ler is due m May. 



Tour 
Dallas, March 30. 
The Dallas Little Theatre Play- 
Mary Mason and Judith Abbott iers have just completed a IjOOO- 
have dropped their option on "Tlie ' mile tour with "Claudia." 
Piper's Song," John Scharm's anti- 1 The Hose Pranken play opened 
war fantasy, which they had in^ jherc in January and since then 
tended to produce tids spring, ' has toured five Texas cities. 



Green's Tartneis' Looks 
Moderate Snccess After 
JBritish Provinces Bow 

London, March' 22. 
Harry Green's "Partners in 
Crime," modernized -version of 
Montague Glass and Jules Eckert 
Goodman's "Potash and Perlmut- 
ter Detectives," done in New York 
some 20 years agn, has fidaally been 
staged by Firth Sbepfaard at the 
Pavilion, Bournemouth, prior to its 
London opening. 

Play, which stars ' Green, who 
also coproduced with Laurence 
Green, Shephard's- regular pro- 
ducer, was to have been staged 
late last year, but persistent hit. 
of "Fifty-Fifty," the - Shephard 
show which starred Green at the 
Strand theatre, held up produce 
tion, also causing Bud Flanagan, 
who was to have costarred. with 
Green, to re-form the "Crazy 
Gang" for Jack Hylton. 

"Gang," after eight months at 
the Victoria Palace, has proved 
such a hit' that Flanagan has had 
to forego the Green offer result- 
ing, in his having to go to New 
York to find someone to replace 
him. He managed to secure Bob- 
art Leonard, known in England as 
one of the creators of the "Perl- 
mutter" role, but Leonard died 
suddenly when\ due to' sail for 
England late last year. • 

However, Green has been for-* 
tunate in getting Julian Gold, a 
newcomer from the East Side, who 
made a name for Mmself early last 
year in "The King of Lampedusa," 
which despite being done in Yid- 
dish managed to attract the West- 
enders. Inclusion of Gold in cast 
has meant that Green has had to 
forego the "Potash" role, giving 
it to the former, with himself play- 
ing Perlmutter. 

Show starts at slow pace, but 
gains momentum in second act fail- }u 
ing to hold up in closing act, with ■ ^"'-'^ 
cast stepping on one another's 
lines. . But it seems obvious that 
it will improve with further play- 
ing, and by the time it has finished 
Blackpool, Manchester, Liverpool 
and Leeds, giving it five weeks in 
provinces, should be ready for West 
End showing end of April. 

Show is expected to go to the 
Savoy, but as Shephard's "Life 
With Father" is still doing good 
biz, it may be Staged at another. 
house, with Shephard claiming he 



Gte Aid to ^ty 
Of Actors 



At Equity's membership meeting 
last week in N. Y. it was expected 
that some criticism of alien actors, 
principally British, might be voiced 
from the floor, but no such re- 
marks were heard after Paul DuU- 
zell covered the issue in his quar- 
terly report. Executive secretary 
contended that' appearances of 
English actors over here* often 
helpeTl employm'ent rather than 
impaired it. He pointed out pro- 
ducers have abandoned some plays 
when unable to secure talent from 
abroad which they deemed vital to 
the desired performances. 

Dullzell said, too, that income 
from alien actors Is important p> 
Equity annually, since such talent 
pays the association 5% Of their 
salaries. Understood that one Eng- 
lish star paid over $18,000 during 
one season. Approximate total 
from alien actors during the past 
year was not set forth but Dullzell 
pointed out the almost Invariable 
compliance of the visitors when 
asked to participate in benefit' i»er- 
formances for ttieatiical chariUes. 



Shows Dne for D.C. 
Defer to Segregation, 
Set Alternate Theatres 

Although Marcus Heiman has 
given no indication . 6f intending 
to abandon the present racial 
segregation policy next season at 
the National theatre^ Washington, 
next season, numagers ane tenta- 
tively bootdng touring shows at 
that house for the fall and winter, 
However, they're also booking 
alternate theatres for those, same 
weeks. 

. Idea is to have playing time 
staked out for the admittedly de- 
sirable National iU case the segre- 
gation policy is rescinded. But if 
the policy is retained, as Heiman 
has repeatedly indicated he intends 
doing, the shows would be. routed 
to other cities, where the alter-^ 
nate time is set. Under the Equity- 
League of N. Y. Theatres contract, 
actors may not play the National 
next season if the segregation rule 
is still in force. 

As far as knovm, the only time 
the segregation policy has been 
waived at the National was during 
the run of "This Is the Army" 



According to those in the man- 
agement end of "Army" at that 
tifne, only a trifling number of pa- 
trons demanded refunds because 
of the mixed-seating arrangement. 
Similar situation occurred wben 
"Army" played the American, St. 
Louis, the only other segregation 
house in which it was booked. 



The time of the season fw 
Broadway awards rang in Sundte 
(28) evening when three plays cob. 
Sldered to be contenders for ton 
honors for 1947-48 were among • 
those cited at the second memorial 
Antoinette Perry dinner in the 
baUroonv of the Hotel Waldorf- 
Astoria, Supposedly, there are no 
bests in the Perry awards, referred 
to'-as "Tonys," but the implications 
were clear for "A Streetcar NmeA 
Desire" (Barrymore), "Mr 
Roberts" (Alvin) and "Command - 
Decision" (Fulton). The best-play' 
awards will come from different 
sources than the American Theatre 
Wing committee, which sponsored 
the Perry dinner and which chose 
25 theatre people for citation, 

Brock Pembertott, who intro- 
duced each winner, was one of 
five m.c.s, the others being Bert 
LyteU, Harry Hershfield, James 
Sauter and Hiram Sherman'. 
Femme contingent cited for dis- 
tinguished performances or meri- 
torious services received gold 
bracelets; the men got gold money 
clips. The event was broadcast by 
the Mutual network and telecast by 
DuMont. 

Actresses honored: Katherine 
Cornell ("Antony and Cleopatra")( 
Judith Anderson ("Medea") and 
Jessica Tandy ("Streetcar"). Actors 
cited; Henry Fonda ("Mr, 
Roberts"), Paul Kelly ("Command 
Decision") and BasU Rathbone 
("The Heiress"), Awards to new- 
comers: June Lockhari ("For l/m 
or Money") and James Whitmote 
("Command Decision"). For dls* 
tinguished musical performance: 
Grace and Paul Hartman ("Angel 
in the Wings"). For "spreading the 
theatre to the country whil«; 
originals are in New York:" Mary 
Martin ("Annie Get Your Gutt"! 
and Joe E. Brown ("Harvey"). 

For an "outstanding play," au- 
thors of "Mr. Roberts." Thomas 
Heggen and Joshua Logan, the 
latter also being cited for his di- 
rection Of that play. Cited as 
progi-essive theatre operatoraf 
Robert Dowling (City Investing 
Co.) and Paul Beisman, manager 
of the American, St, Louis. Other 
awardsr Vera Alien of the Theatre 
Wing, Experimental T h e a t re , 
George Gebhart "backstage tech- 
nician"), Robert Porterfield, for 
"development of regional theatre;" 
Mary Percy Schenk, for costumes 
in "The Heiress;" Horace Arm- 
istead, for designing "The Medium" 
setting; Jerome Bobbins, for stag- 
ing dances in "High Button Shoes;" 
Max Meth, conductor of "Finian's 
Rainbow" orchestra; George 
Pierce, backstage doorman (Em- 
pire). Cited, too, was the cast of, 
"The Importance of Being Emest,*' 
a last-season import 'from London, 
Meyer Davis conducted the or- 
chestra and James F. Reilly han- 
dled the seating arrangements, at- 
tendance approximating. 1,000. 



Ind]^.. Sets ^ Mrem 
Wks: of Operetta, Concert 

Indianapolis, March 30. 

A six-week season of summer 
opera and concerts at the Butler 
Bowl has been annoimced for 1948 
by the Indianapolis Theatre Assn. 
Series, epening July 10 and run- 
ning through Aug. 20, will include 
three weeks of operettas and three 
of concerts by the Indianapolis 
Symphony Orchestra under direc- 
tion of Fabian Sevitzky. Orches- 
tra's setup will include two per- 
formances of "Carmen" in English 
as grand finale. Operettas select^ 
ed are "Desert , Song," probable 
opener; "Vagabond King" and 
"Merry Widow i" 

Professional outdoor season was 
started here last summer, after 
several years of semipro entertain- 
ment in city parks, as feature of 
civic program observing 100th an- 
niversary of municipal charter- 
Indianapolis Theatre Assn., organ- 
ized for purpose several years ago, 
takes over from centennial com- 
mission this year. New setup starts 
with complete physical plant in- 
herited from centennial and about 
$00,000 in guarantees, none of 
which was called in first season. 



The George Spelvin Players, di- 
rected by Helen Morley Woodruff, 
concluded their se'ason in the 
has choice of three West End thea- \ Theatre-of-the-Sky atop 13-story 
tres. 'When whipped Into shape, ' beachfront Haddon Hall, Atlantic 
play has chance of moderate sue- I City, Saturd.ay night (27) with 

Rege. | "Male Animal," 



Caesar^s Notice to Morris 
Under contract to the William 
Morris office for about a year, 
comedian Sid Caesar lias served 
notice to the agency that he doesn i 
plan to renew; He's currenW. 
starred in "Make Mine Mttnnai- 
(an, ' Broadway musical hit. 

He's been dickering with Musu 
Corp. of . America. 



'(Nda.r Maps Period Repeat Dates 
On 6 way; Record 5th Year Feted 



"OWahoma!" winds up its fifth"' 
wear »t tb* St. James tonight (31), 
M unprecedented run on Broad- 
way for a musical, and the per- 
fimnance will be marked by the 
Theatre Gwild; which produced it, 
and Hodgers and Hammerstein. 
It was the authors' first coUabora- 

*'°'Oklahomat" will probably take 
to the road soon but plans call, for 
bringing it "^^^ *«> Broadway for 
ihnited dates every season or so. 

ijShe pieture rights have not been 
fiold and either the Guild nor the 
authors have evinced any desire t» 
make such a. deal. 

Draw of "Oklahoma!" on the 
toad is almost as fantastic as the 
Broadway run. Roadr-or "national" 
^...^ompany has bepn playing re- 
jl^ dates, with grosses equaling 
tlie figures of the original engage- 
ments. The N. y. show has been 
making a little money in recent 
months, while on the road it's a 
seal cleanup as indicated by last 
wsek's takings of $39,000 in San 
^Francisco, the profit being $10,000. 

It's estimated that betweeii' the 
two companies "Oklahoma!" has 
made approximately $3,500,000 in 
sflifehtly more than four years. 
Original company opened in the 
spring of 1943; the road show 
started in October of that year. 
Latter ha$ never layed oif and has 
. earned much more money than the 
^■^oadway- unit. 

. iteound .$60,000 was divided 
-Among the approximately 15 back- 
ers, mostly showmen, every five 
vTeeks for a period of around 
two years, when the original show 
was still up with the gross leaders. 
There are amazing figures concern- 
ing, ^de rights such as recordings, 
Imt md^:af 'that money goes to the 
' Authors rather than the manage- 
ment. 

. ' Reason for Success 
One reason for the success of 
"Oklahoma" is the care with which 
It has been managed. There have 
been many cast changes without 
affecting the' quality of the show. 
Freciuent ' rehearsals are . held. 
Changes in . the road show have 
been frequent, too, out-of-town 
boxoffices proving the quality of 
the performance. 

Lawrence Langner and Theresa 
Helbum, directional heads of the 
Guild, are said to have put some 
of their money into "Oklahomal" 
but more was needed during the 
tryout. There were so many head- 
aches attending to, the financing 
that Langner referred to the show 
as "Helburn's Folly?' That was 
revealed by Ward Morehouse ia 
bis N. Y. Sun column last week, 
after an interview with Miss Hel- 
bum. She probably had invested 
little money in the show, judging 
from the remark: '.'Had I put $10,- 

000 in it, I would have earned 
$250,000. 

"Those who bought in included 
Columbia Pictures, which invested 
$15,000; Max Gordon, the late 
Jules Brulatour, Marcus Heiman 
' and Lee Shubert. Those who de- 
^ined buying a. piece included 
Viirton Fre«!dley and Howard S. 
Cullman. 

Guild will have a party in cele- 
bratiDg the run at. the Plaza ho- 
tel tonight after the performance. 
A number of the original players 
will be on hand and several will 
appear in' the show this evening. 
Due to appear in it, too, is Agnes 
Be Mille, . whose ballets in "Okla- 
homa!" started a vogue in Broad- 
muMcal8. 'Bouben Mamoulian, 
Wfttt staged if, is reported due in 
worn the Coast for the celebration. 

Seek Pro Legit Interest 
In HVood Bowl Theatre 

_ Hollywood, March 30. 

Bespite J'udith Anderson's re- 
WSal to bring the Broadway pro- 
guetion of "Medea" to Hollywood 
«>wl Theatre Assn., subsidiary of 
-Hollywood Bowl Assn., the theatre 
K stall seeking the entrance of 
outside legit producers into Its 
activities for year-round operation 

01 it$ seasonal Pilgrimage Theatre. 
' ^ Theatre, situated opposite the 

«iwl on Cahuenga Pass, is slated 
^i, seasonal opening on July 9 
with the annual "Pil>»ri,mage Play," 
Mr a six to eight week run. How- 
ever, du-ectors want to extend that 
"^y^ and possibly build to a 12- 
jao ' U operation and are trying to 
• nterest professional legiters, 
•cnools and others to participate. 



Equi|^ to Hear 'AHegro' 
Chorus Charges Vs. Whyte 

Equity CouncU next Tuesday (6) 
will hear charges against Jerry 
Whyte. "Allegro" (Majestic, N.Y.) 
stage manager, and- bis assistant, 
Herman Kantor, brought by Chorus 
Equity's grievance committee. 
Charges, preferred by chorus 
members of "Allegro," claim 
Whyte bullied various talent, ridi- 
culed Equity, and demanded extra 
duties of chorus without pay. Ok- 
lahoma!" members . are involved in 
charges, too, Whyte handling latter 
show as welL 

Whyte denies charges. He re- 
portedly was involved recently in 
another controversy 'hrith an "Ok- 
lahoma!" cast member. 

Payoff Key to Exit 
Of Anderson 

Unless differences between 
Judith Anderson and the manage- 
ment of "Medea'* are dissolved the 
star will not tour in the revival hit 
next season. She has served notice 
of closing in it on May 29, when 
run-of-the-play contracts expire. . 

"Medea " produced by Robert 
Whitehead and Oliver Rae» new 
managerial duo, is the biggest suc- 
cess that Miss Anderson has. had 
on Broadway in years. It's under- 
stood she became dissatisfied when 
the drama was moved from the 
National to the Royale, where the 
grosses were smaller because of 
less capacity. 

Actress is ateo reported resentful 
of the management end of the 
show, which she feels is affecting 
her unfairly. Her contract is un- 
derstood to call for $1,000 a week 
tmtil the $75,000 nut is repaid 
after which she's in for 10% of the 
grbss. About 65% of the invest- 
ment was repaid early in the run, 
but the show waat't out of the red 
until last week, Its^ 21st. 

"Medea's" pace at the National 
was close to $30,000 weekly and 
while it, is still making money at 
the Royale, a managerial error In 
moving: from the original berth was 
evident. Switch was made in or- 
der to spot "Crime .and Punissh- 
ment," also revived by Whitehead 
and Rae, in the National, and that 
drama proved to be a costly flop. 
John pielgud first co-starred in 
"Medea" with Miss Anderson and 
Florence Reed, but withdrew to 
stage "Crime." 

The success of "Medea" was 
something of a surprise. Last 
week it grossed around $20,000 and 
was figured not only to play into 
warni weather but was regarded as 
a road cleanup. Dennis King, who 
replaced Gielgud, is co-starring 
with the Misses Anderson and 
Reed. Replacement of Miss An- 
derson for the road has not yet 
been considered^ 



N.YJttb Rep Swap 

Kx^^n though his Boston Reper- 
tory Theatre is only in the prep- 
aration stage, playwright Gerald 
Savory already sees the possibility 
of working out an exchange ar- 
rangement with the Jose Ferrer- 
Richard Whorf N. Y. City Centre 
Theatre Co. next season. 

Th%, idea would be for each 
troupe to play the other's theatre 
for an- engagement, presenting the 
top productions in its repertory. 



B'way 8 Holy Week Biz Tops Mardi 
But Grosses StiU Below UTiider Take 



B'way Mgr&,IA 
Contmiie Talb 



Broadway managers and the 
stagehands union huddled Monday 
(29) for their second session of 
resumed contract negotiations, 
with Thomas Shea, assistant to 
Richard Walsh, head of the Inter- 
national ■ Alliance of Theatrical 
stage Employees, again sitting in. 
At last week's confab. Shea pointed 
out that as the managerial League 
of New York Theatres had oifered 
a modified wage increase, it was up 
to the union. Local 1, to make a 
counter-proposal. 

Deckhands thereupon asked for 
a 10% boost for SB crewmen. MaI^ 
agers had proposed a variable tilt, 
highest being around 7%, which 
Would go to the lower-paid classi- 
fications. Showmen contend that a 
sliding scale would be more equita- 
ble because key workers such as 
iiymen would be getting nearly as 
much as department heads, whose 
present minimum is $112 weekly. 
The idea of the managers contrib- 
uting to a welfare fund,' for penr 
sion purposes, is ' understood to 
have been dropped. 

Managers seem to want the wage 
issue cleaned up, so the joint com- 
mittee can proceed clarifying rules 
that have caused friction season- 
ally for years. 



Kit ComeU Medaled For 
'Barretts' Front Tour 

Wasliington; March 30. 

Actress Katharine Cornell re- 
ceived the Army's Medal of Free- 
dom here last Friday. (26) for her 
wartime stint in "Barretts of Wim- 
pole Street." Show toured Italy 
and Prance, playing before thou- 
sands of war-front troops. 

Ma j. General T. B. Larkin, 
Quartemastec chief, who made the 
presentation, stated that award 
was given star on behaU of entire 
cast. Special commendation was 
given producer Guthrie McClintic 
and co-star Brian Aheme. 

Miss Cornell trekked in for the 
ceremonies from Baltimore, where 
she was appearing in -'-Antony and 
Cleopatra.'* 



ACTORS GET ONCEOVER 
FROM PSYCHOLOGIST 

As part of a psychology study 
being conducted by Syracuse 
Univ., interviews with .50 experi- 
enced Broadway actors are being 
conducted this week by Professor 
Sawyer Falk, president of the Na- 
tional Theatre Conference, and Dr. 
Herman Goldberg, psychologist of 
the college facultyi 

The interviews are intended to 
discover "whether certain person- 
ality traits tend to be highly de- 
veloped in actors." The q. and a. 
sessions, Monday (29) through to- 
day (Wed.) are being, held at 
Dazian's, N. Y, - 



Newsmen in Play CoIIab 

Cleveland, March 30. 
Two former Cleveland news- 
paper vmters are having their 
first play, "Fifth Wife," tried out 
by the Play House repertory com- 
pany in early May. Regine V. 
Kurlander, ex-columnist at the 
Plain Dealer, collaborated with 
Stephan Norbert Linek, ex-editor 
of the Hungarian Daily Szabadzag. 

It's a historical romance dealing 
with Katheryn Howard, the fifth 
{wife of King Henry VIII of old 
lEngliind. 



DOWNS ILLNESS NEARLY 
STALLS ^LDlTr BOW 

New Haven, March 30. 

Premiere of "Hold It!" at the 
Shubert last Thursday (25) came 
within a couple of injections and 
some fancy pills of not materializ- 
ing when Johnny Downs, playing 
the' lead, was hospitalized on his 
arrival in town for final rehearsals. 
Virus germ raised havoc with the 
lad but after a series of medical 
shots and tablets he was taken to 
the theatre four and a half hours 
before curtain time for his first 
look at jtettings, props, etc. Tiek- 
king back and forth between a cot 
in his dressing room and appear- 
ances on stage, he assimilated 
enough of the proceedings to go on 
for the opening, despite a fever 
of 102. With a nurse in attend- 
ance, he finished out the three^lay 
stand, although his dance routines 
were eliminated after' the Bxst 
performance. : ' 

Another noteworthy item lead- 
ing up to the opening of this mu- 
sical was the fantastic financing in- 
volved in the money end of the 
setup. Entire bankroll of ap- 
proximately $200,000 has been fur- 
nished by Anthony Farrell, 
wealthy industrialist of Albany, 
who has stated he will add another 
$50,000 if ' necessary to keep the 
show out for proper revision. An 
interesting sideliglit is the fact 
that for the past three years Far- 
rell has been a member of Alco- 
holics Anonymous, and he regards 
this association with s'^ow biz as 
a form of rehabilitation. 



iBer Play Eyed 
By John Garfield 

Closing Saturday (27) on Broad- 
way m "Skipiier Next to God" 
which he helped keep afloat be* 
cause- of drastic concessions on his. 
own salary ($250 weekly), John 
Garfield will likely be back in a 
play on Broadway next season. It 
looks Uke it'll be Arthur Miller's 
"Plenty Good "Mine," which EUa 
K$:an would direct. 

Garfield has just leased an apart- 
ment in New York, but with his 
wife and two children shortly re- 
turns to the .Coast for the Summer, 
in the interirti filming "Tucker's 
People" on an indlpendent deal. 
With bis family he would return in. 
August for the legiter. Meanwhile, 
he'll do a quickie trip to the Coast 
Ihis weeki returning in about 10 
days for preliminary shooting on 
"People," then back to the Coast 
to finish the pic. 

Between film commitments this 
summer, Garfield may do ".Skip' 
per" for two weeks, on the Coast, 
still under the joint sponsorship of 
Davis and ET. There's also a pos- 
sibility he'U tour In it next fall, if 
the Miller, play and other prospec- 
tive vehicles don't materialize. 

"Skipper" registered its best 
gross of the engagement in its final 
and 11th week, takings being 
quoted around $16,000. Closing per- 
formances were announced daily 
but 'some of the 38 persons in- 
volved, mostly actors, hoped' for 
a replacement for Garftetd up. to 
the finale. One name player wks 
ready to step into the drama but it 
was felt his b.o. lure wasn't strong 
enough. It was decided to close 
rather than chance red operation 
until a player of definite boxoffice 
appeal could be secured. 

Blevins Davis, who took over 
"Skipper" from Experimental 
Theatre and turned the profits of 
more than $17,000 over to the 
American National Theatre and 
Academy, proposes making a pic- 
ture of the play with Garfield. 



St. Loo Operetta Bked 
For Season Completed 

St. Louis, March 30. 

With the addition of Robert 
Stolz' e "Venus In Silk," Rudolf 
Friml's "The White Sagle" -and 
Richard Rodgers' "A Connecticut 
Yankee," the repertory of the 
Municipal Theatre Assjn. for the 
1948 al fresco season in the Forest 
Park Playhouse has been com- 
pleted. The: season tees off an 88- 
night rtm June 4 with an 11-night 
engagement of ' Hugh Abercrom- 
bie's "Auld Lang Sync," which will 
be. world preemed here. 

Other pieces to be p " i.sented are 
"Rio Rita," "Hit The nr. \," "The 
Three Musketeers," " fiibilee," 
"Sunny," "Sari" and "Un In Cen- 
tral Park," the lattw t'v run two 
weeks to close f -i. The 

addition of 2,000 -i bring 

the seating capacity tliu outdoor 
theatre to 12,000. 



BYE-YEAR FOR ELEQION 
OF EQUITY OFFICERS 

This will be a bye-year for the 
election of Equity officers, who are 
chosen for three-year terms. A 
third vice-president will be bal- 
lotted upon, however, replacement 
to fill the post left vacant during 
the season through the death of 
Dudley Digges. In addition 10 
councillors are to be chosen for a 
five-year term, as usual each year. 

Nominating committee of nine is: 
Philip Ober, Ralph Bellamy and 
Frank M. Thomas, Sr., named by 
the council: Paul Kelly, Lois Wil- 
son, Dickie Cummings, Neil Hamil- 
ton, Whitford Kane and Chester 
StrattoHi named by the member- 
ship. 



Broadway during Holy Week, 
which aided Saturday (27), started 
sporadically but picked lip to the - 
surprise of skeptical managers. It 
was the best weeic of March, the 
month starting with diving grosses. 
But business has not returned to 
the winter levels even with an 
upturn the past two weeks. Ob- 
servers of business trends were 
rather off balance in predicting a 
pre-Easter drop because advance 
sales -were not strong, except for , 
the standouts. 

Records show that the final Len- 
ten week was again okay, as it has 
been seasonally for a number of 
years, and it's possible that takings 
will ha.ve topped the current East- 
er week. 

There is little doubt that thO 
Federal income tax pressure ac- 
counted for the drop after Wash- 
ington's Birthday, and attendance 
possibilities for the balancer of 
spring, ace- anything but clear. 
N. Y. state tax payments due April 
15 won't help but that cannot 
affect many visitors hailing from 
localities wherei there is no such 
levy. 

Z Tryouts 

Two of the spring's four musi* 
cals, "Inside U. S. A." and "Hold 
It," are now trying out, and anoth- 
er brace Is in rehearsal, "Sleepy 
Hollow" aiid a revival of "Sally," 
"Inside" is booked into the Cen" 
tury and "Hold" is a possibility for 
the St. James, where "Oklahoma" 
has completed a five-year run and 
is slated for the road. "Sleepy" has 
not had a Broadway berth assigned 
it but isn't due until May when 
houses should be available. "Sally** 
is virtually sure of landing at tb« 
Beck. 

Eight of the current musicals 
are summer holdover possibUities, 
including last season's pair of- 
cIi(*Si "Piaian's Kahibow" (46th 
Street) and "Brigadoon" (Zieg- 
field), plus "Annie Get Your Gun" 
(Imperial), which is sure to better 
a two-year run. .Likely stayers of 
this season's clicks: "High Button 
Shoes" (Shubert), "Allegro" (Ma- 
jestic), "Make Mine Sd^mhattait" 
(Broadhnrst>; "Look, Ma, I'm 
Dancin" (Adelpfai) and "Angel ia 
The Wings" (Coronet). If aU stick 
Broadway will have an exception- 
ally strong musical lineup for sum- 
mer audiences: It is not definite, 
whether "My Romance" also trying' 
out will probably be held out until 
fall. 

Two dark spots on 45th street 
win be lighted upon the arrival oi 
"Cup of Trembling" at the Musi^ 
Box and "The Bats of Norway^ 
(from the Coast) at the Booth. Re- 
vival of "The Play's The Thing" is 
another straight play due this 
spring. 

Koad Better, Too 

Business out of town was offi- 
cially reported better, too, last 
week, and managers who layed off 
shows seemed, to have guessed 
'wrong. As there is no salary liabil- 
ity involved in keeping dark the 
week before Easter (nor Christ- 
mas) four or five attractions did 
not play, whilo one m^r musical 
had but a. two-day date. 

Philadeli^ia had no legit s&owi 
last week but three attractions 
opened against each other Monday^ 
when "Antony and Cleopatra," "In- 
side U. S. A." and "Harvey" bowed 
in. There were attempts to prevent 
the triple conflict. 



Freedley Honored 

Philadelphia, March 30. 

Vinton Freedley is slated to re- 
ceive the medal of achievement 
from the Philadelphia Art Alliance 
here tonight (30). The citation will 
be for the producer's work as pres- 
ident of the American National 
Theatre & Academy. 

The only other theatrical figure 
ever to win the award was the late 
Otis Skinner. 



NameBVayilesTo 



Peggy Wood, Brock Pemberbnt 
and others from the Broadway the- 
atre will give a series of lecture- 
demonstrations of legit techniqiies 
and problems for highschool stu- 
dents during April and May. 

Five admission -free sessions, 
under the general title, "Footlii^ 
in Your Eyes," will be given, at 
Textile High; N. Y. The dates will 
be April 10, 17, May 1, 8 and IS. 

Pemberton will explain the gen- 
eral purpose of the lectures— Miss 
Wood will talk on special prob- 
lems of the actor- Lucinda Ballard 
will discuss costume and scene de- 
sign. John O'Shaughnessy ■will 
speak on stage direction. Vernon 
Rice, drama staffer of the N. Y. 
Post, vniU explain play reviewing; 
and then, following a one-act play 
performance by professional actors, 
' will ad Ub criticism; of it 



5ft 



imivnMik'itit 



Wednesjitty, March 31, 194$ 



Deertrees Strawhat Set to Resune; 
Sircom Back to Dennis on 10th Stint 



Portland, Me., . Matt* 30. t 
The Deertrees theatre, Harrison, 
iHe,, operated as a strawhat several 
years ago hy the late Bela. Blau, 
may resume as a legit spot this 
summer. It's being sought by Rob- 
ert Fierman, young Broadway ac- 
tor-director. It's now run by the 
owner, Enrica Clay Dillon, in con- 
nection with het music school. 

House seats 450 and has unusu- 
ally good backstage facilities. 
There's- also an adjacent residence 
large enough to accommodate the 
company. The entire setup is 
understood to have cost $80,000 to 
build about 10 years ago, but the 
askuig terms for purchase or lease 
airt^nH known. . , . 

Fierman is in New York raismg 
money to take over the spot this 
summer. He's working through 
the American National Theatre & 
Ac&demy office, 

Sircom Back to Dennis 
Minneapolis, March 30. 
Arthur Sircom, one of Minne- 
apolis Civic. Theatre's directors 
and instructor in a dramatic school 
he^e, ireturns In directorial role to 
Richard Aldrich's Cape Playhouse 
strawhatter, Dennis, Mass., this 
summre for his 10th successive 
season. He's taking along as 
scenic designer Herbert Gahagan, 
who serves 4n similai; capacity for 
local Civic Theatre. 



Fibnite Gkts. Strawhat 
Hollywood, March 30, 

Douglas Dick, currently thesping 
for Hal Wallis at Paramounti is or- 
ganizing a legit troupe to tour east- 
em strawhat theatres during the 
summer with "Winterset" and "The 
Hasty Heart." , 

Bidk of the' cast wUl be rounded 
Vip in Hollywood, using resident 
ihespfi to fijll the .vacancies, Dick 
IvjCil direct as well as act. 



' .Fairhaven (Mass.) .Jmie 37 Bow 
'. I'airhaven, Mass., March 30. 
, Atothony Farrar's Fairhaven 
Svimnier Theatre will' open its third 
^easoii June 27 'at -the local Town 
Skill. He plans a IQ-week sched- 
ule, us 1 h g' guest stars, one. of 
Whom will hfs- Nina Pjescott, who 
debuted here and , was recently 
$igned by Wdtnet Bros., eftartiitg 
in the fall. 

The lease for Town Hall was 
signed by the Fairhaven board of 
■selectmen last week. * 



Bmttle Hall Btrawhat 
Under Way Early April 

. Cambridge, March 30. 

Brattle Hall theatre at Harvard 
Square, one of the pioneers in the 
summer theatre movement, will be 
one of first strawhats to open this 
season. Under new management of 
Franklin Trask, theatre will open 
April 19 with an all-Equity com- 
pany for a 20 week season.- 

Trask also operates a chain of 
five strawhats on Cape Cod. ' ^ 



Parisians Spring 
Cn^of Legits 

Paris, March 26, 
New crop of spring letters' is 
opening in Paris. Claude 'Vermo- 
rel's play of the French revolu- 
tion, "Thermidor," . is opening at 
Pigalle. At his Palais Royal, Jean 
de Letraz gets one of his risque 
farces, "Une Nuit Chez Vous, 
Madame" ("A Night with You, 
Madame"), with Suzanne Dehelly 
and Robert Murzeau In leads. At 
the Vieiix - Columbieri producer 
Atiet Badel has "La Ville Gardee" 
by Paul Catze, Jr., witth. sets by 
J. J. Philippon. 

Roger Ferdinand, Societe .des 
Auteurs prexy, who penned "J3," 
a satir^ on modern youthv has gitren 
it a sequel titled "They Are 20." 
Comedle Francalse is rehearsing 
Prosper Merimee's U90- year -old 
comedy, "Spaniards' in Denmark." 
Despite excellent acting, Jean 
Giono's "Road's End" at the Mar 
thurins is inauspicious for lack of 
entertainment. Rene Clair's French 
adaptation of "Born Yesterday" 1% 
coming at Henri Bernstein's Am- 
bassadeur theatre: 

Such hits as the revival «t the 
Marigny of the 100-year-old "Mind 
Amielie," "Little Cabin" and Sacha 
Guitry's "Lame Devil" are sold out 
for weeks in advance. Music balls 
win have . to get new revues if they 
are to.' interest the -tourist trade. 
Both Folies Bergere and Casino de 
Paris shows are about "two. years 
old. • 



Current London Shows 

London, March 30. 

{Figure shows weeks of run) 

"Anna Lucasta," Majesty's (22), 

"Annie Get Gun," Col's'm (43), 

••Bless the Bride," Adelphi (49). 

"Bolton's ttevue," St. Jas (3). 

"Burlesque," Princess (5). : 

"Carissima," Palace (3). ■ 

"Cltiltern Hundreds," Vaude (31), 

"Cockpit," Playhouse (7). 

"Dark Eyes," Strand (1). 

"Diamond LIl," Wales (10). 

"Edward My Son," Lyric (44). 

"Four, Five, SLx" Yorks (3). 
. "Gorbals Story," Garpick (7). 
. "Happiest Years," ApoUo (1) 

"Hidden Years," Fortune (10). 
■ "I Remember Mama," Aid. '(4). 

"Indift. Shepherd," Crit. (8). 

"Life WithJFather," Savoy (43). 

"Linden Tree," Duchess (33). 

"Mountain Air," Comedy (9). 

"Never Can TeU," Wyn. (26). 

"Oft Record," Piccadilly (44). 

"Oklahoma!", Drury Lane (48). 

"Outrageous," W. Garden (48). 

"Present Laughter," H'ymkt (50) 

"Relapse." Phoenix (9). . 

"Rocket to Moon," St. Mart. (2). 

"Starlight Roof,'? Hipp. (20). 

"Sweetest Lowest," Ambas. (100) 

"Together Again," Vic. Pal. (41).' 

••Tuppence," Globe (25). 

••Worm's Tlew," Whitehall (48). 

OPEN-AIR THEATRE 
SET FOR DENVER BOW 

' Denver, March 30. 
The Red Rocks theatre- has been 
completed just outside ' town; but 
won't begin operation before next 
fall, or possibly ther. summer of '49. 
It seats 7,000 and inuch of it is 
carved out of the mountainside. ' 

Project operated by a local 
group' called the Red Rocks Assn., 
is supposed to become- the "Salz' 
burg of Americai" but it hasn't 
been decided whether - to concen-; 
trate on opera, symphony musici 
operetta and musical comedy, or a 
combination policy. -One of the 
few specific possibilities mentioned 
is bringing Judith Anderson here 
in the summer of '49 to star in a 
production of "TOwer Beyond 
Tragedy," by Robinson Jeffers, 
adaptor of '.'Medea," in which she's 
now appearing on Broadway. 



hade StutF-Legit 



Taking Over N.M. Theatre 

Chicago, March 30. 

Ann Lee, currently touring with 
"O Mistress Mine," is taking over 
the El Theatre, Santa Fe, N. M 
iov, nine , weeks of professional 
istqck, starting July 9. Outside of 
several one-nighters, city has had 
no prb Stag^ fsore .since 1920. 

'Theatre, 350-seater, built by the 
Army, is being remodeled for, sum- 
mer opening. , 



Pasadena Sets Preem 
Of 'World' for May 

Pasadena, March 30. 
Judith Kandel's new play, "This 
Young World," .will .get its world 

fremiere May 5 at the , Pasadena 
layhouse, with Arthur Lubin as 
co-producer and Marcella Cisney 
as director. ' 

Play is set in a country school- 
house and calls for an all-juvenile, 
cast. 



NVA Benefit 



Continued from page 



t S5 " 



Zion Pickets 

ss Continued, from page Z s 

Evil," is playing. Cops kept the 
picket lines down to three march- 
ers and made them abandon one 
sign reading: "Money- for British 
-films means more bullets for 
•Bevins." 

At the Rialto where the demon- 
stration lasted two hours, theatre 
execs admitted "business may have 
been hurt." The group of picket- 
. ers denied affiliation with any or- 

fanization. Action was similar, 
owever, to the picket line against 
."Black Narcissus" last week at the 
Kenmore theatre in Brooklyn con- 
ducted by Irgun Zvei Leumi par- 
tisans. 

Picketeers also refused to dis- 
close whether they planned a sus- 
tained drive against British films 
in the U. S. Prospect of regular 
demonstrations has distributor 
Worrying, since it's openly recog- 
nized that sympathy with Zionists 
could put a heavy -dent in the b.o. 
X6celpts of U.K. pix. 



Set for "RecessionaF 

. Los Angeles, March 30. 
Edmond Angelo, legit producer, 
signed. Ann Richards to star in 
"Recessional," a new drama of 
modem New York by William Hurl- 
but.' • 

Play will be staged on the Coast 
before heading for Broadway. 



Protests have been made to the United Booking Office and thn 
League of Neiw York Managers by the Assn. of Theatrical Agents and 
Managers over a recent incident in which Larry Pawell, comnanv 
manager of "O Mistress Mine" (the Lunts), was allegedly slugged bv 
Arthur M. Oberfelder, who booked the show into the Broadway, Denver 
ATAM acted upon receiving a detailed report that Farrell sent to 
John C. Wilson, who presents the attraction, and was transmitted to 
the union by Eddie Knill of that office. What action, if any, is to be 
taken iias not been indicated but the "Denver story" attracted much 
Interest in show circles. 

Farrell stated that eight tickets, first claimed to be press passes 
by Obetfelder, were Involved. That number of chairs were placed in 
the orchestra pit at a matinee, and when the company manager asked ' 
a woman patron if she had purchased a ticket, she declared she did 
An argument resulted between Farrell and Oberfelder, who, according 
to Farrell, broke the manager's glasses and cut his forehead. It's 
reported that Oberfelder, who Farrell claimed had not accounted for 
the tickets, produced a pass for. half the . disputed admissions, then 
settled for four tickets. Alfred Lunt was angered at the treatment 
accorded the manager and is claimed to have stated he'd never play 
for Oberfelder again. 

Equity has issued an overdue warning to actors as to their rights ■ 
when motion pictures of stage plays are made during performances or 
otherwise. Every time a play is cameraed in whole or Jp&rt the actors' 
must be paid a week's salary. Last season, during the Broadway ^n-t' 
gagement of "Cyrano de Bergerac," a performance was shot or lOm 
without the cast's knowledge. Sometime later Jose Ferrer,' starred in- 
the revival, invited the cast to see the film. Several actors in the show 
asked Ectuity tmw about It, and Ferrer was. ordered to pay the players 
a'week's salary. Warning was issued on the theory that there may be 
similar instances. 

Plan to film plays or portions thereof for telecast purposes on the= 
Coast, so that studio casters may get a line on current Broadway per. 
formances, will come within the sgme Equity rule, a<itors to be paid an 
extra week's salary. • ^ 

Brock Pemberton, producer of "Harvey," and James Stewart, who 
stepped into the star part Monday (29) at the 48th Street, N. Y.,' 
provided a humorous half-hour for Jinx Falkenburg ^nd Tex McCrary 
during, their WNBC broadcast Sunday. (28) noon. Showman sent 
listeners. to the dictionat^r when he supposed he learned the part by 
the osmosis method when he appeared in stunt benefit performances 
of the play this winter and last summer after seeing the Mary Chase 
play about 1,000 times. Stewart told about a flop play he appeared' 
in before going to Hollywood. It was called "Journey into the Nighty" 
which lasted seven performances at the Shubert theatre in 193S. 
Action called for him to open a door; it was stucki and he nesxfy 
wrecked the scenery opening it. 

An oddity behind the toUr of the Dublin Gate Theatre in Canada 
during the last month has been that it's the first professional company 
to hit such cities as Kitchener, Sarhiia, Guelph, Hamilton and Brant- 
ford in more than 15 years. 

Because of the rush that preceded their tour under Brian Doherty, 
the cities were not prepared for the visits. Where thorough advertising 
was done, business was good. In other places, using small stages in 
highschool auditoriums and pic ° houses not fitted for stagings, the 
company suffered. A matinee in Samia, for instance, had 40 in the 
audience. 



Kid Theatre Survey 

The - American National Theatre 
& Academy is making a survey of 
children's thedtres in the U. S. 
When enough replies .are in (about 
200 liave been received so far) the 
info will be tabulated and issued 
in the form of a directory. 

Children's theatres , are those 
giving performances for kid audi- 
ences. The actors may be any age. 



Gotta Teacli 'Em 

SjB Continued from page 1 jgai 

their capacity of supply, have for- 
gotten how to sell. 

It's pointed out that in the days 
before the war clerks rarely al- 
lowed a customer to get out of a 
store with only one record, There 
were constant suggestions about 
this or that artist's previous rec- 
ords, albums, and everything ,elS6 
from needles to radios and combi- 
nations. Now they have been so ac- 
customed to simply filling orders 
there's little or no attempt, it's 
claimed, at forcing sales. Disk men 
feel that the art must be revived, 
that current .buying is much too 
selective to maintain sales figures 
of the past few. years. 

Slump that has hit the disk biz 
began a few weeks ago. Recorders 
figured Lent, etc., had a lot to do 
with it, but with the summer com- 
ing they do not expect an immedi- 
ate rebound. Last summer the 
diskers experienced the same sales 
drop but it didn't start until the 
season was well under way, and it 
was the heaviest the industry ex- 
perienced/in years< 



fastly paced -and sufficiently vari 
gated to dispel thie canard that' 
vaudeville is dead. Nostalgic fea 
ture of the show vras a reprise of 
a former Palaoe theatre bill such 
as might have been booked by 
Mark Murphy instead of Eddie 
Darling. Opening were the Lock- 
wells, sock rollerskating act, which 
set a fast pace for what was to fol- 
low. Then out walked the perennial 
Joe E. Howard to the greatest Ova- 
tion of the evening. The 82-year- 
old performer-composer, fully re- 
covered from recent accident, 
whammed' them with„ hit songs 
from his biopic, "Wonder Who's 
Kisstog Her Now," and had . the 
audience saengerbunding With him. 
Trey spot had an unbilled couple 
in the inevitable sketch, a briefle 
on the henpeeked guy who turns 
tough. "Senator" Ed Ford followed 
with a monologistic treatise on 
dames and the "new look" which 
had the femmes rolling in the 
aisles. For closer of this portion 
Frank Clinton & Co. contributed 
neat hocus-pocus topped by pro- 
ducing rose bushes out of thin air 
and tossing the blossoms into the 
audience. Entire layout was solid 
all the way. 

Further down on the bill Don 
Loring Rodgers, Eddie Miller, 
Geoffry O'Hara and "Senator" Ford 
teamed for takeoff , on the Sioux 
City Four, direct from Tony Pas- 
tor's. Quartet, garbed in gay 90s 
regalia, clicked" with harmonizing 
of favorite quartet numbers of that 
era to bring down the houscr again. 

Others contributing to the over- 
all success of the show were Guy 
Kibbee, Happy Felton, Irving Cae- 
sar, Jerry Lester, Harry Ilershfield, 
J. Scott Smart, Bobby Clark, Allen 
Prescott, Al Bemie and a host of 
others, including quartet of com- 
posers, Sammy Fain, Harry Arm- 
strong, Geoffry O'Hara and Leo 
Edwards doing piano takes on for- 
mer song hits. Sock clincher was 
the violin ensemble from Billy 
Rose's Diamond Horseshoe revue, 
"Violins Over Broadway," whose 
melodic contribs brought plenty 
salvos of appreciation. Russ Brown 
did a slick job of emceeing first half 
of show, with S. Jay Kaiii'man, who 
assisted Verdi in lining up^ show, 
taking oyer the l^st half. £dba. 



Baseball ticketseUers at the Polo Grounds and &bbet« field will 
get $7 per day and $9 on Sundays, the men getting $1 per day more 
than last season. Ticket men have a union covering both parks but 
it is not connected with the treasurers union, whose members staff , 
Broadway legit boxoffices and the racetracks. There is an inside union 
at the Yankee Stadium, ticket men there having a contract with the 
club's- management which expires at the end of the 1948 season.- 
Legit treasurers receive considerably higher pay than those at the 
ballparks but deydte tikore hours on- the job. 



Elaine Stritch, "Angel in the WingS" comedienne, still hasn't gotten 
a promised retraction from Time for misquoting her recently. Mag 
attributed to her a ' derogatory statement about democracy, having 
picked up portions of an interview she gave Seymour Peck, of the New 
York newspaper PM. It was subsequently explained that the correct 
statement was- in a' paragraph of type from another story, which was 
misplaced. Actress says she doesn't intend suing, but will ask again 
f or the retraction. • 



Harold Clurman's first piece as theatre critic of the New Republic,' 
is in the current (March 29) issue. Although .naturally (stace he's a 
noted director) stressing the staging phase of the shows he covers, he 
expresses striking appreciation of the real significance of the plays. 

Benno Schneider is officially credited with staging "Strange Bedfel- 
lows,", current on Broadway, though Jules Dassin assisted on the direc^ 
tion during th6 play's tryout. Dassin also directed thfe recently arrived- 
"Joy To the World" (Plymouth). 



Hitclicock-WB 

s Continued front page Z sS 

London, where he'll make the sec- 
ond of Transatlantic's films, "Un- 
der Capricorn," starring Ingvid 
Bergman. He said negotiations 
with Wartier Bros. ''"are now at an 
advanced stage, although no con- 
tract has been signed. Completion 
of these negotiations await my. re- 
turn from England." 

Actually, It has been learned, 
Hitchcock has a firm agreement 
with WB to make one picture a 
year for four years. Producer- 
director will have full control over 
story, stars and other aspects of 
the pix he makes. 

Hitchcock and Bem.stein were 
upset about the WB announcement 
because it gave the possible im- 
pression that Hitch was abandon- 
ing indie production In favor of a 
full-time deal on the Warner lot. 
Actually, he's planning to alternate 
between one for Transatlantic and 
one outside film. Deal with WB is 
non-exclusive and he can also work 
for any ^ther major. 

Transatlantic pards believed that 
no announcement was to be sent 
out. Another point that riled them 
was the idea convey^ by the state- 
ment that the producer^directoi: 
would go to work on the lot Jan. 1 



and his next pic after "Capricorn" 
would be for WB. Hitchcock, in his 
radiogram from the ship, declared; 
I will direct the third Transatlan- 
tic Picture, 'I Confess,' upon com- 
pletion of 'Under Gapricom'i^" 
Another director, he added, would 
make the fourth film, "Jack Shep- 
pard," story of the famous English 
highwayman. 

"Capricorn" and the unit's inir 
tial production, "Rope," now m the 
can and set for fall release, wiU 
be distributed by Warners. Both 
films are in Technicolor. * 



TV Syndication 

^ Continued from page I sB 

of operation. He noted, however, 
that the original $500,000 estimate 
for studio and transmission equip- 
ment had already been raised_ one- 
and-a-half times because of in- 
creased costs.' Flynn stressed thai 
the tele station and newspaper 
would be operated separately 
that no combined newspaper ano 
video time rates for advertisers 
would be set up. News has always 
prided itself, he said, on the taci 
that it has maintained a rigid ao 
rate with 'no price concessions w 
itstadvertisets. 



aii's3LegiteOkay;'SbwBoat'#/iG, 
'Biirle»|w'$lSm 'Job Loves' 19G 



Cihicago, U&vch 30. 
OAly three le||it attractions in 
town la«t week and all did good 

' fciainess. Coming in tliis week is 
Sie annual return of "Student 
Piince" at the Blackstone, April 1. 
OnUl April 12, when "Mtary Has a 
Utile" comes into the Studebaker, 
alene will be no new lighting of 
^hcatre signs. 

Katharine ConieU is atiU poa- 
iiHied in the Blackstone, beginnitig 

■ Antil 26. "High Button Shoe$" is 
4^atilbe Shubert May 3. Great 
Northern set l»ack its opening un- 
til April 19 due to non-dclivcry of 
■eating. b«t will bring in "My Ho- 
nance" then. 

fitfimat^B for l.ast VteA 
^Biurleaaue," Selwyn (3rd j»edK) 
ilfiOO; H33). Neat $18,00&. 

"Jalui Lovea Kair,'' Harris (1th 
week) (1,000; $3.71). Comedy b.o. 
keeps fine, even $19,000. 
. "Shaw Roat," Shuliert <4th week) 
(2,100; $C94). Bead show company 

finU terrific wtth selloat since 
iiesday; robust $40,900. 

Ii Boston 

Boston, Karch 30. 
Only one show was in town last 
week, "My Rwoianee" returning 
, for a second semester before bit- 
ting N, Y. Two entries this week. 
*T*ie First Vbcs. Fi>aser" at the 
Plymouth last night (29) for a 
fortnight, and "Hold It" at the 
Shubert tonight (30). Ahead are 
"Cup of Trembling" at the Colo- 
nial April 5; "Antony and Cleo- 
patra." Shubert, AprU 12; "Ifl^ 
Button Shoes," Opera House, April 
20, and D'Oyly Carte- Opera Co., 
Shubert, A]^ SKT. 

Estimate tor IWs JVedc 
; "My Romanee," ' Opera House 
(2d week) (3,000; $4.20). This 
one cliGlced downtown at the Shu- 
bert onHts first visit here and re- 
lumed before venturing in to New 
. ymk for a less profitable but still 
okay- estifiated $22,000 on its sec- 
md and final week. 



'Wiiideni<!i»'jiai€iii2d 
Sl Leo Week; 41fi M 

St Louis, Matich>30. 

Holy week didn't hurt "Lady 
Windermere's Fan" too much and 
b.o, of $13,500 for second week at 
the American wasn't too bad. Two 
weeks totalled $41,000. Gloria 
Swanson and Robert Alda have 
lead roles In "There Goes the 
Bride," which opened a single 
week engagement Sunday (28)! 

House i« scaled to $3.18 for this 
one, as against "Lady's" $3.81. 



mi' 40G, Frisco 

San Francisco,. March 30. 

"Oklahoma!" is doing a last sea- 
son repeater at the Curran with 
block-long ticket lines and all per- 
formances sellouts. Third week 
held to capacity $40,000. 

The Geary reopened' Monday 
<29) with "Varieties of '«," star- 
ring Michael O'Shea. Tonight 
<30) the long-«huttered TivoU will 
open with "Deep Are the Roots," 
with Rol>ert Warwick, Rose Hobart 
and Betsy Blair. 



lANA' REMEMBERED 
JHCELY (15G) ffi K.C. 

Kansas City. IMIarch 30. ■ 
Holy Week weekend made little 
difference here and "I Remember 
Mama" rolled up a pleasant .$15,- 
' 000 in four performances in the 
Music HaU, at $3.66 top. Recent 
legit presentations have a strong 
Norska flavor as "Song of Nor- 
way" opened a six-day run ln» the 
Muae Hall Sunday (28). 

"Mama" was third play «f the 
teason on Theatre Guild-American 
theatre Society schedule here. 

;Holdli!'l4V2Gm4,N.H. 

New Haven, March 30. 
Despite soso notices, premiere 
of "Hold It!" had 'em standing 
up for three out of four perfor- 
niMices. ' Result was a healthy 
♦J^^O take in four performances 
•t the Shubert last weekend (25- 

This week has premiere of re- 
wval of "Play's tlic Thing," Gil- 
nert Miller production starring 
Wui* Calhem, April 1-3. Other 
"WMn^i include "Red Mill," AprU 
»;10 and "First Mrs. Fraser" (Jane 
l;«wl) AprU 15-17. Opening of 
^eepy HoUow" Is penciUed for 
"fi^tea d of Apri l 29-lKfay 1. 

Shows io Rekearsal 

noHowV — Lorraine 



Ciirr»t Road Siows 

< March 29-April 10) 

"A Cup of TrembUiit" — Play- 
house, WiL (2-3); Colonial, Host 
(5-10). . 

"An bispector CalU" — Nafl, 
Wash. (29-10). 

"Annie Get Yonr Gnn"— Com- 
munity. Hershey (29-3); Mosque, 
Richmond <5-10). 

"Antony and Cleopatra"— For- 
rest, Philly (29-10). 

flallet Rnsse — ^Royal Alex., To- 
ronto (29-3); Erlaiiger, Buff; (4). 

"Blackouts of IS**"— El Capi- 
tan, L. A. (29-10). 

"Iffiiossam Time" — ^His Majesty's, 
Monfl, (29-3); Erlanger, Buff. (5-8); 
Aud., Hoch. (9-10). 

"Burlesftoe"— Selwyn, Chi (29- 
10)t> ■ . 

"Carousel"— Aud., Hartford (29- 
3); Nixon, JPitt. (5-10). 

"First Mrs. Fraser"— Plymouth. 
Bos. (29-10). 

^Harvey"— Locust, Philly (29- 
10). .■ ■"■y : 

*Harv*sr"— Forum, Wichita (29- 
30); Melba, Dallas 131-3); Majjestic, 
Ft. Worth (5-6); Music HaH, Hous- 
ton 18-10). 

"Hold It"— Shubert, Bol»t. (29- 
10). . 

"1 Remember Mama.*'-— Broad- 
way, Denver <29-31); Chief, Colo. 
Springs (1); Aud.,: Boulder (2); 
Aud.. Pueblo (3), 

"Inside V. 8. A."— «hubert 
Philly (29-10). 

"John Loves Mary"— Harris, 
Chi. (29-10). 

"Lady Windennere'a . Fan"— 
Mosque, Peoria (29); Orpheum, 
Davenport, (30); Iowa, Cedar 
Rapids (1); Pariiway, Madison (2- 
3); Cox, Cincy (5-10). 

"Mary Had a Little" — Erlanger, 
Biiff. (29-31); Town Hall, Toledo (1- 
3); Aud., L'ville (7-8); Aud., New^ 
ark (9); Weller, Zanesvllle (10): 

"3ly Somance" n— Opera Hse., 
Bost. (22-3); Cass, Det. (5-10). 

"O Mistress Mine" — Biltmore, 
L. A. (22-3); Aud., Pasadena (5); 
Aud., San Diego (6); Aud., Fresno 
<8r9); Aud, Sacramento (10). 

"Oklahoma!" — Curran, Frisco 
(29-10). 

"Private Lives" — ■ Nixon, Pitt. 
(29-3); Hartman. Col. ii-'J)', Eng- 
lish, Indpls. (8-10). 

"Show, Boat"— Shubert, Chi, (29- 
10). 

"Sonf of Norway" — Music Hall, 
K, C. (29-2); Aud., Topeka <3); 
Mem. Hall. Joplin (5); Conv. Hall, 
i'Tulsa (6); Home, Okla City (7-8); 
Forum, Wichita (9-10). 

"Student Prince"— O r p h e u m , 
Sioux City (29); KRNT, Des Moines 
(30-31); Blackstone, Chi. (1-10). 

"The Play's the Thing"— Shu- 
bert. N. Haven (1-3); Ford's, Balto. 
(5-10). 

"The Glass Menagerie" — Hanna, 
Cleve. (29-3); Town Hall, Toledo 
(5-7); Hartman. Col. (8-10). 

"The Bed Mill"— Aud., Worces- 
ter (29-30); Met., Prov. (31-3); 
Court, Spgfld. (4-6); Shubert, N. 
Haven (8-10). 

"There Goes the Bride"— Amer- 
ican, St. Louis (29-3); Davidson, 
MU. (4-'!'); Aud., La Crosse (8); 
State, Eau Claire (9); Aud., St Paul 
(10). ■ • 

"Tropical Uevue" — Cass, Detroit 
(29-3); Royal Alex., Toronto (5-10). 



• "Sally" (revival)— Hunt Strom- 



"erg, Jr., and William Bemey. 

*"High Button Shoes" (road)— 
Jvionte Proser and Joseph. Kipness. 
- "*ats of Norway" (Hollywood)— 
James Elliott and Cart Sshruer. 

"To TeU You the Truth"— New 

"tages, • 

Traub"'* by My Side"— -Arthur 
. ♦ Musical. '■ " 



Joaet 26G, D.C. 

Washington, March 30. 

Spike .fones and his "Musical 
Depreciation" gang are evidently 
what the doctor orders for sagging 
b.o. Second stanza at the National 
bettered first, With near-capacity 
take of $26,Q00, and SRO over 
weekend. 

Thomas ■ Mitchell in "An In- 
spector Calls" arrived Monday (28) 
lor a fortnight. "The Play's the 
Thing," starring Louis Calhern ami 
Faye Emerson, bows in April 12. 



BVay B.O. Variable, Mosdy OK; 
Joy' Hoprfnl 15^2^ Tdl' Qm 15G; 
Hofly' Up to 1^/^; 'k^ne' Mdts 



PU% Draws 



Kank Stare 



PhUadelphia, March 30. 

Philly had its first 100% dark 
week in a long time last week. 
However, there was considerable 
boxoffice activity in the tlu^e play- 
houses wldeb relighted last night 
(29). MaU order sale for "Inside 
U. S. A." at the Shubert was ter- 
rific from the start and so was the 
window sale when the b^o. opened. 
Management decided to stick an 
extra week on the local tryout 
which will give it a four-weeks' run 
here — unusual for a tryout. 

Sale for both "Anthony and Cleo- 
patra," with Katharine ConieU, at: 
the Forrest, and Frank Fay in 
"Harvey," at the Locust, was also 
very robust. WJth "Inside V. S. A." 
set for four weeks,' "Harvey" for 
seven, and "Hold It," new musical 
booked to follow Miss Cornell at 
the Forrest, April 12, for two, may- 
be tlirec weeks, Philly's legits are 
set for the month of April except 
for the Walnut, . \riueb still hasn't 
got a,bookinjg in si^t aiid may not 
get one. "The Winslow Boy" comes 
to the Forrest, May 3, and that 
house is due for other bookings at 
least up to the time of the two na- 
tional political conventions. 
Whether the Locust and Shubert 
have any remains to be seen. 



'JtfiNlE' 42i€ IN PITT; 
RECORD 8S€ FOR 2 MS. 

Pitt^HU-gh, Mard) 30. 

Second and last of Mary Mar- 
tin's two weeks in "Annie Get 
Your Gun" at the Nixon was 
around $42,500, almost the same as 
opening stanza. That $85,000 for 
the run is just about- the biggest 
figure any touring attraction has 
hung up here ancB the lu^ days 
of the late- 20's. At $5J20 top if s 
easily a record. 

Grosses don't represent complete 
capacity, however, because of 700 
seats in the second balcony. They 
just won't buy up there. 



'Bitter Sweet' Badtslides 
To $35,600 in Oetrok 

■ Detroit, March 30. 

Voly Week di^UlFums and snow- 
storm Saturday afternoon (27) put 
a noticeable dent in the only legit 
attraction in town— 4be Detroit 
Civic Light Opera Co.'s presenta- 
tion at Masonic Auditorium of 
"Bitter Sweet," featuring Norma 
Terris and Brian Sullivan. Gross, 
in comparison to' last week, took 
terrific backslide to' $35,000. 

Current attraction is 'Victor Her- 
liert's "Babes in Toyland." Kath- 
erine Dunham and her "Tropical 
Revue" came into the Cass Mon- 
day (29). "'Pick-UP Girl" was pen- 
ciled in for the Shubert-Lafayettc 
for a two-week run starting this 
week.' 



Business along Broadway during 
Holy Week was variable ; while 
grosses for some shows dipped, 
others improved and the general 
result much better than anticipated. 
Forecast was based on rather tepid 
advance sales and attxactions which 
improved, noticed the attendance 
snapped up on a day-to-day basis. 
Tenancy in the hotels was stronger 
than previous weeks, visitors evi- 
dently coming to the metropolis 
for the Easter holidays. Some box- 
offices reported Thursday -weak- 
ness, a development -'that is usual 
during spring and summer. 

-Gross for "Joy to the World" was 
promising the first full week, 
but "You Never Can TeU" is rated 
distinctly doubtful. Looki! like a 



$16,000, bigti for this dbrwua; h«)U3C' 
dark. * 

"Strange Bedfellows," Moroscb 
! 11th week) (C-935; $4.80). Fairly 

good for comedy, gross apprmd- 
mating $14,000; expected to stick 
through spring. 

"Streetcar Named Desire," Bar- 
rymore (17th week) (D-1,064; 
$4.80). Strong contender for sea- 
sonal awards; gross varies hardly 
at all and always close to $27,500. 

"Tbe Heiress," Biltmore (26th 
week) (D-920: $4.20). Picked up 
about the same measure of other 
{ hits that are under -winter levels 
and credited with $20,000 last 
week , •: 

"The Bespectfol Prostitnte," and 
■"The Happy Journey," Cort (2d 



run uptown for "Respectable Pros- week) (D-1,164; $4.20)- Should 
titute." "Icetime of 1948" con- i stay o* "with first full week 
eludes its season this week, while ' »n Broadway close to $18,000; 



"Skipper Next to God" closed last 
Saturday (27). 

Estimates for Last Week 
Kens: C {Comedy), D iDratna), 
CD (Comedy-Draim.), R (Remue),' 
M iMusical), O (Opervtta). 

"AUeent," Majestie (24tfa week) 
(M-1,695; $6). Major musical fig^ 



Pno-stie'' drama, is the draw. 
'*Thc Winslow Boy," Empire {22d 
week) (D-a.lOl; $4.80). Althou^ 
much under winter pace import 
slated through April; $11,000. 

.Revivals ■ ■ ■ 
D'Oyly Carte Opera Co., Century 
<13th week) (0-1,670; $4.80). Re- 
i peadng operettas under the ' gross 



ures to have virtuaUy^ earned back niarks of first shou^ngs but '"The 



its productioa eost; went up; $40,- 
300. 

:"Angci jn 'the Wings," Coronet 
(16th we^) <R-998; $4.60). Inti- 
mate revue making money right 
along and it too should soon be on 
the right side of the ledger; $25,000. 

"Annie Get Your Gun," Imperial 
(98tfa week) (M-1,472; $6.60) Visit- 
ors went for run musical -which im- 



Mikado" startiiig tumt week should 
be big; "Yeoman of Hie Guard" 
last week around $27,000. 

"Man and Snperman," Hudson 
(25th week) (CD-1,057; $4.80). 
Slated to play tfacougii May with 
long tour arranged for next sea- 
son; . Shavian success quoted 
around $22;000. 
"Macbeth," National {D-l,164>; 



proved and may extend into anoth- \ 80). Presented by Theabe. Inc. 
er summer; $39,OQ0 estimated. \ association with Bnan Poberty; 

ir , « r announced for eight weeks; opens 

"Bom Ytsstetday," Ly ccum ■onjajjt (31) 
m2th week) (C-9Mi$4^). On the <fMedea," Royalc (21st week) (D- 
bandwagon ateebmis that i_025; $4.80). Better last week, 
f^*^**^* takings appsnndnrabed $20,- 

$16 000; anqtber week of goodly ooo- re^i money fOT classic tragedi. 
profits. I «Y0a Never Can Tell*- Beck (ad 

"Brigad««n," Ziegfcld (55th; week) (C-1^14; $4.80. This Sliav- 
week) (M-1,628; $4.80). Improved ! ian comedy looks doubtful, aroMnd 
furtiier and was rated around'^ $15,000, helped by subscriptions; 
$37,,000{ best mark in a month asi "Sally," now rdheacsing, booked 
with other favorites. i follow. 

"CoauBUMl Occasion," Fulton ' 

(26th week) (D-968; $4.80). All male > iTiiinn< nmm « titw mnn. 
war play better along with the field Wmh dMAsH $30,500 
and scored neat gross around ; _ . ^ 

U. SEASON'S TAKE 

. 'Holy ''Week' made' m\iiiMt-a^ 'M' 
in local legit grosses^ {n^iicialEtily; 
not on the Ltmts, who opened at 
the BUtmore for a'twio-week stand- 
First frame of '^O Mistress BPne" 
registered a smash $30,500— top 
take of the year. 

Frame's other' opener, "AU My 
Sons," drew good notices and 



$17,000. 

"FiniaA's Kaiirilrow,'' 46tfa Street 
(6(Hfa w«A) aH:-l,31S; $6). Like 
other run clicks, takings went iqp- 
ward and the count ap^xtslraated 
goodly $36,000. 

"F«r Lave wr MwKey" MiUer <2Lst 
week) <C-940; $4.20). Among shoot's 
that didn't improve, Thursday (25) 
being offish and the count was 
around $12,500. 

"Harvey" 48tfa St <179th week), . - .. .„„.. 

(C-902; $4.20). Went over $14,000 j ™? «* ^ , J^^e 

and should top that figure starting H"®"- which flnaled Saturday at 
this week with James Stewart now' Coronet, limped out after a 



starring. 



disappointing stay. House re^ 



'Madbetk' 13G, (4), Mont'l 

Montreal, March 30. 

Local engagement of "Macbeth," 
with Michael Redgrave and Flora 
RobsoD, wliich opened last Tues- 
day '23) and closed Friday <26), re» 
suited in surprisingly good busi- 
ness for Ho3y Week. 

Play, offered here by Cllanadian 
impresario Brian Doherty, drew 
over $13,006-^ the His Majesty's 
for four evenings and two mati- 
nees, at a $3.98 top. Biz picked 
up strongly alter opening nighf s 
small audience. ]ieli>ed by very en- 
thusiatic reviews. 



Ballet Hmse 18G, Toronto 

Toronto. March 30. 

Despite Holy Week, Ballet 
KuKse de Monte Carlo did near 
capacity business of, $18,000 on 
first week of current fortnight's 
.stand at the Royal Alexandra. 

With heavy mail order advance, 
it's expected troupe vFill do about 
$23,006 on second week. 



High Button Shoes," Shubert kmdles tonigm (M 
(26th week) (M-1,387; $6). Takings i ^« Pf^?"**""* „ ^he GIms 
here vary only whei Uie number ?^enagene^^' resumes after a week's 
of stand^s is up or down and tile -1^5^?, indicating, 
gross is close to $38,000. extended run m prospect. 

"I c e t i m e • f 19 4 8," Center 1 Estimates for Last Week 
(R-2.994; $2.40). Final and 45th 1 "AH My Sons," Las Palmas (Ist 
week for skatimg revue; over' wk) • (388; $3). Looks like its in 
$30,000 last week and considerably for a good run. Wednesday open- 
more this week when matinees are ing, top 'Was boosted to $3.60. Take 
added. for first four days, very good 

"Joy to the World," Plymouth $2,600. 
(2d, week) ^ (CD-I ,063: $4.80). Ap- j "Blackouts of 1948," El Capitan 
proximated $15,500 first full week , '301st wk) (1,142; $2.40). Usual 
and should make the grade. i solid $17,000. ' „ , 

"Look Ma, I'm Dancin'," Adelphi | "Brooklyn, USA," El Patio (3d 
^9Ui week) (M-1,434; $4.80). One of j wk) (796; $2.40). Another okay 
number of shows liiat were parties i 
ularly strong Good Friday (26)' 



night; $37,500 estimated, 

"Make Mine Manhattan," Broad- 
hurst (11th week) (R-1,160; $6). 
Another hit musical where gross 
variations are immaterial, only dif- 
ference so far indicated by num- 
ber of standees; nearly $36,000. 

"Me and Molly," Belasco (5th 
week) (01,077; $420). Laugh show 
.should play into summer; has 
climbed around the $13,500 level 
and has goodly advance sale. 

"Mister Reberts," Alvin <6th 
week) (CD-1,331; $4.80). Easily 
tops all straight plays in point irf 
gross vcitli ticket demand not; top- 
ped; $34,500; limit of standees. 

"Oklahoma!" St. James (259th 
week) (M-1,505; $4.80). Hits tbe 
five year run mark tonight (31) 
which is Broadwt'.v's new record 
for mu,sica'r'- if i0..r»-^;). 

"Skipper Next to God," Play 
house. 



O Mistress Mine," Biltmore (Ist 
wk) < 1,636; $4.20). Upped scale and 
smash bi^ resulted in $30,500 takB. 
Theatre GuUd subscriptions kept 
it from hitting a possible $33,000. 

"the 'Weil," Coronet (3d wk) 
(255; $3;60). Finaled with dour 
$7,800 for two weeks and four days 
altho second full frame's $2,800 
was- slightly better than initial 
stanza. ' ' 



'ABtoi^30G,Jtt 

. Baltimore, March 30. 
"Antony and Cleopatra" wound 
up the American Theatre Society- 
Theatre Guild subscription season 
of five plays at Ford's here last 
week and set a: iieW house recoi!'4 
for non-musi^te with- ileariy 
$;iO;OOo. 

Overcame Holy week blues witb 
Closed last Saturday (27|; ' Capacity houses from the teeoff. 



•0 



VednTOday, March ai« 194|a 



Plays Out of Town 



Philadelphia, March 29. 

Afthtir 8i'liWartK praiJuclloTv ot ivvae In 
two Hftts. Slavs Bi'iilrlce tjiUin nivt Sm'ti 
HiiliiY • WiiKii-, Ai'Dmr Scliwnriz; lyrli'S, 
Bnwiu-it ftlpizi fiuggcsted by took, ,, "iDsiiia 
^-K.A.." liy John fiuntliw;: aKetvBra.-.AC' 
nnld Xuerbiii'li, Moss Hurt, Awolii .Hor- 
wUf iliiiicps ami riuislcdl . numVor* slageil 

ty lli-leii Tamli-la; sKptches tHrcfls"! 1>>- 
'.ilieii H oorton; prf>(loi'iI(viv dpalnned by 
„>nTu,il Ayres; coslumpsi Blwinov (.old- 
•mitli; orclWHti-ttUons, Koliert Jluasell n<;n. 
IMitl; poi.dui:tt)r, Jny BlacWoii; inddonuil 
musii- for datii-es, (Iciifvicvs Pilot. Ol'™^'} 
»i Shubfi't, Plilladeiphla, Mavcli 2», 'iT, 

V'asi''*Beatrlc6 I.IUifi, Jack Holey, Kajellis 
T.n'lns Herb fioHrlner, CaM Reiner, .lane 
1-iwrenre V.owia Nye, Beveriee Boaeraan, 
-WUliam 'r,e Mi.ssena, Jolm Xyevs, Joim 
Ikl.wney, Alfred Jiomini, Hilda Palmer, Bclu 
Victor, Valerie Betils, RatideH HenafWan. 
Kod Alexander, Rimaid I'lietwona, Ray- 
jound Stiiliens, Jack Cassldy, ^ellie Hill, 
Albert Eopw*!!, J. 0. »*i'Cora, 

There seems no reason why "In- 
«ide U,S.A." shouldn't turn out to 
be a Broadway hit. That doesn't 
niean it's ready now; U definitely 
is not. , 

Luckily, .the new revue has a 
counle of exceptional starsf Onp 
of them, Beatrice Lillie, gives out 
witii. everything she possesses; that 
Bisans just about tops in modern 
fooUight comedy. Miss Lillie lacks 
some of the priceless material she 
had in the Chariot revues and some 
of her earlier vehicles, but slue still 
dei^ionstrates there is only one Bea 
Lillie. 

A terrific first-night crowd here, 
Including a bunch from New York, 

■ gave her the biggest ovation a star 
has received hereabouts in years, 
and weren't disappointed by hers 
or Jack Haley's performances, al- 
though enthusiasm for the show it- 
self very noticeably lagged several 
tlmea during course of the show. 

• ^ "Inside U.S.A." is, as might have 




Musical 
Director 

"IIY 
ROMANCE" 



VING MERLIN 



been expected for this prccm, way 
overboard on length, with final 
curtain at' 11:40, but there's plenty 
to make an important revue. 
Naturally, the Jolin Gunther non- 
fiction yarn is just given a couple 
of mentions, As a matter of faot., 
only his title is used along with 
the idea of rambling over the coun- 
try to look into traits and condi- 
tions of the various .48 states. 
Nearly all of them , are mentioned 
at least in song, and 15 or more 
supply the settings for the sketches 
that Arnold Auerbach, Moss Hart 
and Arnold Horwitt have written. 

"A Song to Forget," first major 
skit, kids the pants off the trend 
of telling love stories of famous 
composers. With Miss Lillie as the 
"inspiration," and Chopin, Liszt 
ahd Tchaikovsky introduced; it has 
good laughs although.* flat end- 
i»g. "School for Walters," sug- 
gested by George S. Kaufmah and 
featuring Haley, also promises 
more than it fulfills. Haley's best 
is "Forty Winks," a\ jibe at mod- 
ern hotel comforts in Act n. , 

The two stars join notably only 
once, in "We Won't Take It Back," 
a moderate hit towards the end. 
Miss Lillie is a little out of her 
class in. "Atlanta," although doing 
it very neatly, but she is typical 
and at her best in a choral piece 
(Pittsburgh's the subject) and in 
"Better- Luck Next Time," which 
has the best tagline of all the 
sketches. 

Helen Tamiris has ; staged the 
dancing with distinction. Lemuel 
Ayres has done a corking job with 
the settings, and Eleanor Gold- 
smith's costumes are the last word 
in good taste ,and beauty. So are 
the gals Who wear the New Look 
gowns. 

In fact, there's all the taste in 
this show that used to be discerni- 
ble in the early Schwartz^Dietz col- 
laborations. Now that the former 
is a producer himself he has in- 
sisted on the same care and taste^ ! 
As for his score, "Rhode Island Is 
Fanjous for You" and "My Gal Is 
Mine Once More," which comes 
late in- 'proceedings, are potential 
hits, and a couple- of others have- 
chances. The, score is well above 
Average, with plenty of room to 
grow. 

/Fitst-'act finale is a country fair 
(Wisconsin) which gives opportu- 
nity for plenty of life and coloc; 



last-act finale is conventional, 
bringing out individual performers 
and allowing all to take bows. 
Tliis, however, is -cleverly intro- 
duced with a neat lyric by seven 
girls, all lookers, >vho apoIogiKe for 
closing show "so soon." 

Noteworthy in the big support- 
ing cast, although none have more 
than sporadic flashes, are Estelle. 
Loi'ing, Eric Victor (splendid in 
several dances), Valerie Betlis, who 
has the lead in "Tiger Lily," satiric 
ballet; John Tyers, who's tops in 
a couple of vocalSi' and Herb 
Shriner, who does a modest but 
elTective monolog. 

Show still needs plenty, but 
should get the necessary treatment 
during four weeks' stay here. 

Waters. 



patel, had been submitied in a 
screentest contest. ' • 

He' is on the verge of winning 
the contest, including a life-saving 
check for $5,000j when the decep- 
tion is discovered by the HoUy^ 
wood ' flacli engineeriiiig the protncf> 
tlon. Latter, however, has Involved 
himself in hot wat^r that forces 
him to carry pn the gag, Bobby 
gets stewed on the threshold of 
fame, but his girlfriend,' Jessica, 
saves the day by taking over for 
him and everything is J'ake, There's 
ho logical reason offered as to how 
qome Jessica can sub for Bobby 
'after his photo had been submitted 
'and he had ta|cen the screentest, 
but ap^taretitly. that stnall. detail 
comes uiidejt thfe heaid of inusical 
comedy book licen&«( 

Johnri}^ Downs, as Bobby, stepped 
from a hospItaVcot to play the pre- 
miere ^vithoy t a : dress rehearsal. 
He gave a good account of himself 
under the circumstances but left 
something to be desired i» the mat- 
ter of vocalizing. If this was merely 
a result of impaired physical con- 
dition and ; that situation can be 
reinedied with a return to health, 
then he "wiJl be okay for the role. 
As it.waSj owe ot his ma|,or assets,' 
id^ncing, Wits under wraps via irted- 
ico's ordersv As of the jopehing, 
Jean Darling doesn't fare too well 
as Jessica. Distinctly attractive as 
a blonde coed, her voice, though 
melodious, lacks the power to reg- 
ister solidly the click potentialities 
assigned to her. 

Larry Douglas, as a rival for 
Jessica's affections, presents the 
cast's sturdiest vocalizing* Ke 
leads several of ihe tunes, notably 
"Do#n the Well," with good pttect. 
Added' contributors to the stnghig 
division are Red fiuttOhS afld^Ada 
Lynne, who spark the comedy dlt» 
ties, "Fundamental Character" and; 
"Friendly Enemy," both of virhich 
get standout acceptance. These two 
also handle comedy chores, Buttons 
being good despite, a isoft-pedaliug 
of his basically burlesque -fortet 
while Miss Lynne . . reverses' that 

,,Mr9. Joilop Ruth saviiia proccdure by overdotag her emu- 

O'Brien Scoti ijandcra Uatlon of the Nancy Walker-Martha 

riBuXJi"'' Raye^ype of - rough comedienne, 



Hold Id 

New Haven, March 25. 

Sammy Ijanil)ert produiHion of muHlcal 
comedy in t-wo aots (1,0. scenes). Keaiurea 
.Tohnny Downs, Jean Bariini^, Red Butiotis, 
■Ada Ijynne, Larry Douglas, ■Patricia'* Wy- 
more,. Kenny RnifoU. Book, Matt Broolts 
and Art Arthur; niuste, (aerald .Marks; 
lyrics, Bam bin-ner. Direeted by Robert E. 
Terry; dances and mn.sical nunil>er3 staged 
by Michael ICidd; aettinRs, IQdward Gilbert: 
t'Ostupiea, .Tulia ^!ae; orcheatrattona, Uana 
Splalek .and Ted Royal; vocal an^angements,' 
Clay Warnlck; ballet acran^remants and 
sp-eeial niusie, IrJna Jurist; conductor. OenQ 
Salzec. Openpa at 'Shubert, New Haven, 
March 2S. '48; ?4,20 top, 

'W-ana Allison 
inson 



U>!lterett««, . 



rw-ana AUlBon 
(lloria Henson 
I Jahel Bethel 



'•••■••■Ipen'ny tlarroil 
■ • Iiathr.vMe Mylrole 

.|Helena Schurgot 

Rodney Trent Rob Shawley 

;Mrs. Simpkins. .Kulh Saville 

Mi; SImpklns.. Paul Reed 

Mrs. Blandl.'th. . . .'. .....Helen W'onael 

Mr. Blandish .Tom Bot^'man 
"Sarge" Denton,. ....... ... , Lurry . DoiXKlas 

Bobby ManviUe, .Johnny 0own8 

Brnle. . .. . .Frank- Stevena 

Ja:ck.-^ . . .Jaek. Warner 
Chuck. >Bob Kvans 
".Tudge" Rogerai .Kenny BuTtett 
Sid. . . . . . .. ...... .'. . . , , . . .Mia I/awsun 

Jeaslcit Dale. , ... Jean Darllnf^ 
Pamela Scott, .... . . .... .'.Fatrlcla Wymoro 

Millie Hendgrson. .-Ada. l^ynne 

Dean HubUell..- , Robed Noe 

Budd .....Budd . RoBers 

Bernle. Bob tBernard 

"Dinky" Bennett.. ........... .Red Buttons 

Paul.. .Patil l.ydny 

Oeorge Monopolls. . . . , . ..DoUKlns Chandler 

Penny. ..Penny L'^trroll 

Mr. .Tenkins .Jqhn Kane 

Joe.. .M . .Tom Bowman 

Charlie Blake , Pat McVey 

Headwalter.. .. ,,> . .•Paul Reed 



ATTENTION ALL STOCK AND 
AMATEUR COMPANIES 



"I REMEMBER MAMA" 

is now available for stock and 
amateur performances. All inquiries 
should be addressed in writing to the 
Rodgers and Hammerstein office, 
1270 Sixth Avenue, or to the office of 
Monica McCall, 457 Madison Ave- 
nue, New York. 



"JOHN LOVES MARY" 

is also available for stock and ama- 
teur perfoi'minnces ' but limited to 
areas away from possible playing 
time to be utilized by Rodgers and 
Hammerstein companies. All inquir- 
ies should be addressed in writing 
to the Rodgers and Hammerstein 
office, or to Charles Miller of MCA 
Artists Ltd., 745 Fifth Avenue, New 
York. 



Play Abroad 



»w Heifer «ioli«a 

. (Oiod's Assistant) 

Vienna,. March 12 

auenther Haentl pioduclhin or dramn' t. 
10 BC6na« by Hans MueHer-iSinimn 

Manker; music, Karl lludec; uostii'nes I'm 
Rolf. At Von«iheiilr», Vlennarilaa'h i'"' 

.loan Henr) Diunant,.;,.., ,, .Ej'nai n^,,t , 
Andre BIrnhaum, , Tl ™,w S'f 

Bertha von Butln er, lVmV''B«t':a"» 

Theatrical ' biography of Jean 
Henri Dunant, founder of the In 
ternational Red Cross, is a treat 
for lovers of historical subiects 
How it would go on U.S. stage or 
screen, however, is still a question 
Play is larded over with pessi- 
mism, and ending i.s a plea for 
pacinsm. It's all in blacic and 
white, with no shadings. Play 
Starts with Geneva ban leer 
Dunant's conversion to paciAsm' 
after the battle ot Solferino (1859) 
and his struggles to aid the 
wounded and prisoners-of-war on 
both sides, and his eventual land- 
ing in the poorhouse. It ends in 
modern times, on a darlc note. 

Drama is cinema-like in con- 
struction, with but one actual 
heart-rending scene. Ernst Deutsch, 
in the lead role, reveals the trag'i 
edy of the man whose name may 
be forgotten but whose concept 
lives on. Theodor Grieg, Mar- 
garete Pries, Egon Jordan, and 
Toni Biilcovics are also meritorious. 

Maass 



Reporters, v.. . « , . -j Sid I.tawson 

W ;. iHelena Schurjot 
Felix Dexter. .,..>.... ..Douglas Rtitherford 



While the premiere was some 
distance from a solidjeliclc. the as- 
sorted talents on display give evi- 
dence of containing, elements that 
can lift this one., out of the category 
of just another rah-rah tutteshow. 

Two major deficiencies stand out 
as of brealc-in performance. First 
is a book shortcoming that involves 
an incredible story angle pointing 
up the duping of a smart Holly- 
wood character by a trio of college 
boys. Authors are attempting to 
make the book more than merely a 
peg on which to hang songs and 
dances. Their success will be de- 
termined by the amount of plausi- 
bility with which they can Imbue 
the story's latter moments, 

Second letdown is a marked lack 
of voices to put over a generally 
good score. This objection is so 
pronounced It fails to convey the 
real merit of show's tune potential- 
ities. Oj:her liabilities are largely a 
matter oh correcting technical 
faults, such as lighting; separating 
the wheat from the chaif in con- 
fused portions, like a Hollywood 
ballet; removing certain amateurish 
bits, like a. movie mogul charac- 
terization and parts of a drunk 
scene that would be^more fitting In 
a highschool drama production. 
The injection of added comedy also 
is a hit requirement. 

On the favorable side, show has 
vitality in the persons of youthful 
■performers, a number of partic- 
ularly attractive ones on the femme 
side. There is colorful flash in a 
variety of sets and costumes, latter 
setting a wide play ranging from 
gaudy harem outfits to modem col- 
legiate attire. Two good comedy 
songs are well spotted to liven their 
respective acts one and two posi- 
tions. Novelty is introduced via an 
oarly stage-on-a-stage finale of a 
college-produced musical show. A 
sports production number adds a 
peppy fling and a boy-girl tap rou 
tine hits a high spot in that de- 
partment. 

Book opens-^-with a group ef col- 
legiate exGIs, who have just staged 
a campus, musical, being stymied 
on housing quarters. By pooling 
their resources, they negotiate for 
a fleet of trailers but wlien payoitt 
time comes, Bobby Manvllle, keeper 
of the bankroll, has lost it. In a 
frantic effort to retrieve the loss 
within the two-weeks grace period 
of the deal, Bobby, who had played 
the femme lead in. the musical, 
agrees to go through with a scheme 
in which his photo. In femme ap^ 



Other featured players are Patricia 
Wymore, a personality-plus eyeful 
who knows how to hoof, and IKenny 
Builett, who likewise shakes a tal- 
ented tap. ; ' 

Added hit parade .matetial from 
the score - includes "Buck in the 
Bank," "Always You," "Never- 
more," "So Nice Having You." 

Staging has paced the tempo at 
a fairly consistent trot, the dead 
spaces being more a matter of ma- 
terial than timing. Bone. 



I 


%y on 1 


bad 


way 



The Golden 



Associated- PlaywrlBlita production of 
draAia in three ads (IS scenes), by Daniel 
Rudaten. .Staged and designed by lUdward 
K, Mltljhell; costumca, George Htngli 
Sylvia Farnhain, jSliaibeth Donnelly, On 
de l.,oon: chor^gVaphy, Ana Nallft. At 
Henry Street playhouse, N. Y., March 25, 
'48; .jit. tSP. 

Blaine Meredith. Kchast Si»yera, Cbsrlea 
Paik, Robert Mcararie, James Harwood. 
Michael ICroy. Neville . Brand, DeWltl 
Drtiry; ,Tobn .Nation, Frank Haminertoni 
Hanna Qunther, Georg? Hlgglna, Biizabalh 
Donnelly, Herman Freedinafl, Herbert 
Cooper, Artliur Itranier, Bruce .Tewell, 
Michael Garrett, Florence Marcus, Gladys 
Bailln,. Alan l-evltt, Ula Paris, Henc Paul, 
Kcltli Thomas, Sylvan Buch, Frank I.,uias, 
Bernie Bpyar, William Jackcl, Rannle An- 
aelmo. P'htlip Vickers, .lohn Caruso, John 
Weston, Sylvia Spiegel, Cavmel flonssolPH, 
Aiaa Vasquez, Mildred Ijevipe, Phyllis 
tiamhut. 



sue****" 



VftO 



IK ■•RHklTm 

3 14)1 



II silk Slilit 



■MLORBEK 

Dim. A 



As the first production of their 
secon4 season, the Associated Play- 
wrights have come up with a hope- 
less klinker. "The Golden Falcon" 
is a romantic and sentimental ac- 
count of a Cossack Robin Hood of 
the 17th century. It's the kind of 
yarn that might have been suitable 
for an operetta of 20 years ago, or 
as the basis for an Errol Flynn 
swashbuckler. But It's painfully 
ill-suited to the modest production 
facilities of the. Henry Street play 
house or of a semi*pro organiza- 
tion such as Associated Play 
Wrights. 

The story covers the fabulous 
career of the quixotic Cossack who 
preys upon the lords, nobles and 
the nei^iboi-ing pashas, and strews 
his plunderings among the* per- 
secuted serfs. When, in deference 
to Cossack tradition, he kills his 
beloved Persian princess and leads 
his henchmen into battle, his heart 
is no longer in warfare, and he 
presently is captured by . the im- 
perial Russian army. 

This ingenuou.s tale, inter- 
larded with several Oriental and 
Caucasian dances, plus canned 
music backgrounds and scene 
bridges, is inadequately produced, 
awkwardly staged and poorly 
played. Habe. 




saftfri 



The 

NIW ERA TAYLOK-MADI 
ELECTRIC 

HAIREMOVER 

Si'lcntWoaMy cui-fdd lo- aoolho riitluT llwn miw 
the skin . . . proi'lslon grounil of W8lie»t 
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nlilu'PBnlriB. Qiilrklyj easily doalioil, 'fr 
tiulres no adjusting. DuraWo c«9a enweo 
a (Ino luathot pqutih makei Hl« Ne>^ .p" 
riiyloi'-Mado Elccttte H«l«inover a torn 
Posaesiilon. . 

$7.95 Post Prepdid 

Detigned for the smart Waman 
Sonil chiek or money orderly 

NEW ERA ENTERPRISES. Inc. 

I Vark Place, Itevt. V,.I*. T. N. 



SAMUEL FRENCH 

SiMCK 11*30 

Play, Brokt^FB and 
Authors' Rcprescnlalives 

sr. Went 45tli Slrect. New. X"'^,,. 
ir,2S Sunset Blvd., Holl»-wo«il *e, W"- 



II O T K I. ROOMS 

KooDi, bath and uliowof. ToloiilJorio. Ii'n)o> 
aln^lo and, p.gl) i loulile. 

Bosofl'' 



HOTEL ROSOFF 

147 W. AM 81. 
(Hi B'WW). BB. t-MM 



Restauraat 
Famou* 
on the 

PreMlM* . . , 




Courtti. Booka »iid Balds . 

Decision of the U. S. Supreme 
Court tossing overlJoard Monday 
a 64-year-old New York state 

: gw b^^8 the sale of InriS 
Xries of "WflOdshed, lust and 
Irime" Is seen directly affecting 
the situation in Philadelphia, 
where poUce recently raided stores 
ittd seized about 2,000 "obscene", 
books The Court itself noted that 
Its ruihig invalidates similar laws 
■ in Connecticut, Illinois. Iowa, Kan- 
..kis. Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, 

' MMsachusetts, Michigan, Minne- 
««tS. Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, 
, ^rth Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Penn- 
^Ivania, WasbinStttn and WiscoU' 
sin. 

fhe Justices voted 6-3 on the 
M«, which involved the arrest and 
ejoo iine.' of Murray Winters in 

, iffevf York City in 1943 on the 
ffyttee of selling and having 
possession of copies, of a mag calle^ 

r ''ifeadquarters Detective, True 
Cases from the Police Blotter." 
,, John S. Sumner, executive-secre- 
faty of the Society to Maintain 

~i!ubllc Decency (until recently 
called the N. Y. Society for the 

' , ^oppression of Vice) is~ also iig- 

-«i6d likely to be affected by the 
Court's 'decision, as he has been 

, .active for years in bringing arrests 

-.and seizur^raids involving "ob- 
scene" books and stage shows. In 

• the case of Winters, the Supreme 

• Court declared the 1884 law was 
too vague and "that an . honest dis- 

' t)ibutor of publications" might not 
.■^Hm' ''when he might be held to 
;i: |fii.ve- ignored such a prohibition." 
{ 1ft the recent Philly book-seiz- 
Wijres, the police were reluctant to 
' ieveal even the titles of the of- 
fending books, and refused to iden- 
' tify ■ the exact individuals or or-' 
ganizations whose complaints had 
caused the raids, Houghton, Miff- 
Ub, pubUsbor of "Raintree 
County," one of the titles confis- 
cated, has brought injunction pro- 
ceedings in the Philly. courts, with 
the active support of 'the Ameri- 
' -can. Booksellers Assn., the Ameri- 
can Book Publishers' Council, in- 
dividual publishers and local book- 
stores. Pending the local court's 
decision next Monday (5) on the. 
. injunction, Philly authorities have 
^agreed not to conduct -any more 
'c.taSf's. . . 

^ Oscar Hammerstein, 2d, Authors 
"lieagtie of America president, sent 

• the following wire to Mayor Ber- 
nard. Samuel, of Philadelphia: 

' ,"In the name of all American 
y.jpters whom we represent, and all 

• tnfe American readers whom they 
'iwe, we respectfully ask you to 
do something— and to do it with 

. . ill possible urgency— about the 
I grotesque antics performed by so 
Many jzealous Philadelphia poUce- 
' 5»en hi so many bewildered Phila- 
.uelphia bookshops. You roust 
gfirely know by now that the law 
has time and again d«cid6d agabist 
such senseless and indiscriminate 
' laidings. > ■ 

. "We can well understand Inspec- 
tor Ellis' hope of minimum pub- 
licity for those who promoted this 
Silliness and who n'ftw fear becom- 
ing a historical laughing stock. We 
ask you to understand to turn that 
action is a demonstration of 
all that is most stupid and out- 
rageous in American censorship 
nusadvehturcs, and that the sooner 
such^ medieval tactics are relin- 
Wuslied Oie better for all normal 
people." 

_ It was learned that, besides the 
«0S3 Lockridge best-seller, other 
nooks taken m the Philly raids in- 
ciaaed James T. Farrell's "Studs 
and "Young Studs Lonl- 
f™', William Faulkner's "Sanctu- 
f^A "Wild Palms," Erskine 
CaldweU's "Tobacco Road" and 
-'^""e Acre," Thoi-ne 
«M » / Passionate Witch," Har- 
^lobbms' "Never Love a 
SS?»Ser'' and CaM*r Willingham's 
Knd As a Man." 



ttollday's 350G Ad Revenue 

mS"^"^ 0* Holiday, 50c. travel 
, ^wly, will contain largest 
amount of advertising in mag's 
o^^.Z*^'^"*"* history, with 375 ad 
toiurans as against 369 editorial 
^oiumns Ad columns (close to 100 
«,«ff °* advertising) will repre- 
sent approximately $348,867 in 
rnr^?^*^'.^^ agamst $278,400 for 
2 AP"! issue. June, it's re- 
st«rt!.^' ^'^/^ Mag, which 

Bno nnn"^ ^^"""^^ above 
r,.rH "r.*'\..«*''''"'ati«n. with the 
Cur hs Publishing Co. trying to 
noicl same down. 

om^f^ are gohig toto 

^^^^h M UiL *4a issue, 

\vith $3,925 for a blackrand-white 



page, .and $2,040 for a half-iiage; 
$4,765 for a two-color page;' $5,760 
for a four-color page, and $7,450 
for a back cover. 
May '48 issue will be 174 pages 
^47 issue holds record with 
182 pages), and. will be the Paris 
package issue. Articles on Heart 
of Paris, Montmartre, Left Bank, 
Folies Bergere, etc., were written 
by Ruth McKehney, Julian and 
Anne Green, Joseph XVechsberg, 
Robert Sage, Ludwig Bemelmans 
and others. Mag also will, contain 
pieces on Mt. Vernon by Henry F 
imd Katherine Pringle; the circus, 
by Bill Ballantine; Banana Planta- 
tion, by David Dodge; vacation 
housing by George Nelson, etc. 



Luce's New-Style L. A. Daily 

New. type of .daily in the Los 
Angeles newspaper field is pro. 
jccted by Henry Luce, head of 
Time, Life and Fortune, with 
James Parton as editor. It's un- 
derstood more than $250,000 has 
been spent in the purchase of five 
neighborhood throwaways, with 
their newsprint allotments as basis 
for the new publication. Plan is to 
print a front page of national and 
foreign news, with an inside stnfEer 
containing local happenings' for 
each of the neighborhoods. 

Understood Parton has been 
working on the deal since he left 
the Luce publications' Hollywood 
bureau about two months ago. First 
edition is expected in late 'autumn. 



HarrisbuTff Teleeraph Folds 

Suspension of the 117-year-old 
Harrisbutg Telegraph, Harrisburg, 
Pa., and sale of its' name to the 
Harrisburg Evening News, effec- 
tive March 27, has been announced 
by Albert H.'StackpoIe, publisher. 

Stackpole pointed out that post- 
•war economic factors have grown 
increasingly burdensome, with the 
result '"a si^taining operation is 
difficult if not impossible." 

News features and comics ap- 
pearing in the Telegraph will be 
transferred to the Evening News 
and its morning edition, the Pa- 
triot. Stackpole has been retained 
by Edwin F. Russell, publisher of 
the Evening News and Patriot, as 
executive editor. 



Philly in Price Hike 

Piiiladelphia newspapers took a 
price hike over the weekend. The 
Inquirer (morning) and the Bul- 
letin (evening) jumped from three 
to five cents for the daily edition 
and from 12 to 15 cents for Sun- 
day. The Daily News (evening 
tabloid) also went from two cents 
to five. 

All three papers blamed the in- 
crease on upped pi:oduction costs. 



Timers Record Earnings 
Time, Inc., publishers of Time, 
Life, Fortune and Architectural 
Forum, hit an all-time mag earn- 
ing record in 1947 with a gross of 
$120,404,217 and a net of $7,432,- 
824: Gross represented a gain of 
$24,449,049 over 1946 totals and 
was compared to the $45,000,000 
gross in 1941. Earnings come to 
$7.73 per common share. 

Circulation figures for the com- 
pany's four publications were 
giv«i at 1,587.000 for Time, com- 
pared to 856,000 in 1941; 5,369,000 
for Life, a 63% increase over 
1941; a 55% increase over 1941's 
figure for Fortune and a 60% in- 
crease for Architectural Forum. 



Pant Denis" Show Biz Book 

"Your Career in Show Business," 
by Paul Denis (Dutton; $3) is an 
authoritative book written by the 
radio editor of the N. Y. .Post, 
whose background in all kinds of 
show biz writing amply qualifies 
him. 

Denis- was on the Vaudeville 
News, associate editor of the 
N. Y. Star, and in the same ca- 
pacity for 12 years on Billboard; 
also covered niteries, vaudeville 
and drama, assisting columnist 
Earl Wilson on the Post before he 
got his own radio column on the 
same slieet. This gives him a load 
of know-how and know-about all 
branches of the show biz, and 
Denis proves it in this book. 

He covers' every field: a tyro 
needs to know and much stuff that 
professionals should know. An- 
nouncing, acting, singing, design- 
ing, producing, bandleading, di- 
recting, agenting, managing, danc- 
ing, radio, television, films, rec- 
ords, music, night clubs, legit 
theatre, vaudeville, script vreiting, 
orchestras, costumingi lighting, 
publicity, advertising, frade and 



«1 



critical writins— be covers all 
these and does it well. 

Book includes a dozen illustira- 
tions of some top showfolk and a 
foreword by Abel Green, editor of 
Vahiety. Latter in itself covers 
more than some books do about 
the show biz. The book is a swell 
$3 worth for the amateur or the 
professional. Denis may not be 
able to tell you how to act, bat in 
this book he tells you: how to put 
your hand on the 'doorknob of 
show business, and" if the door ■ is 
opened how to stick your foot in, 
so they can't close it on you. 

Joe 'Laurie, Jr. 



Mencken's 'Variety' Plugs 
"Supplement II: The American 
Language," by H. L, Mencken 
(Knopf; $7.50), is the third and 
final volume of ^e series, cover- 
ing American spelling and pro- 
nunciation, slang and argot, etc., 
as carefully collected and edited 
by the sage of Baltimore since his 
first such book in 1936. Supplement 
I appeared two years ago and Sup- 
plement II is an entirely independ- 
ent work and very worthwhile, 
whether accompanied by the first 
two books or not. 

Again, Mencken kudoses Varietst 
for originating and propagating so 
many contributions to the Ameri- 
can language. Citing cross-indexed 
sources from this paper, by page 
number and issue, and embracing a 
wide assortment of wordage, 
Mencken credits this paper with 
pix, curbhopper. Zilch, jazz-band, 
flesh, flacky cow-wady, a large 
number of hepcat terms, pratfall 
(Ted, Pratt's piece in VjutnsTT, Nov. 
29, 1944), Joe Laurie, Jr.'s "Lefty's 
-Notebook" for others, crix, shotiiz, 
shifting verbs nouns into verbs, a 
whole string of ba(^tage terms 
(from ad curtain to strike, mean- 
ing dismantling a set), etc. 

One quote from Menclcen's new- 
est: "The stage, in its various 
forms, shares with the newspapers 
and the radio the burden of dis^ 
seminating neologisms in the Re- 
public, and its chief organ, Varxett, 
has probably set afloat more of 
them than any other single agency" 
. . . The N. Y. Daily News has gone 
a little beyond nite, alright, foto, 
fotog and fotographer in all of 
which the influence of Varusty 
seems to be quite palpable . . . 
meanwhile VAKirry and its imi- 
tators continue to generate and dis- 
seminate a large number of sim- 
plified spellings of their own, e.g., 
laff (laugh), ayem (A.M.), nabe (an 
abbreviation of neighborhood ex- 
tended to neighborhood movie), 
whodunit (a mystery story or 
folm), binrlesk and vodvil ..." 

Abel. 



SCULLY'S SCaiAPBOOK 



♦ ♦♦ » ♦»*♦♦♦♦ » ♦♦ » By Fr&nk Scully 



CHATTER 
Buck Herzog, Milwaukee Senti- 
nel's drama editor, paying his an- 
nual visit to Hollywood. 

Paid Kamey, Metro publicist, has 
sold an article' ou the Hamble- 
tonian to Blue Book mag. 

Richard English named- to repr«- 
sent the Screen Writers Guild oh 
the Authors' League Bulletin. 

Exclusive interview with George 
Bernard Shaw, written by Jean 
Dalrymple, to feature first issue of 
newly reorganized Theatre Arts 
mag. 

Edwin Schallert, L. A, Times 
columnist, will cover the Holly- 
wood beat -for the N. Y. Herald 
Tribune, replacing Thorton Dele- 

hanty. 

Metro homeoffice publicity di- 
rector Herb Crooker hit Pic maga- 
zine for the sixth time in the mag's 
April issue. New piece is titled 
'Ice Water Sailors." 

Simon and Schuster will publish 
a new low-priced editusn of "Mr. 
Blandings Builds His D r e a m 
House" to coincide with the re- 
lease of the picture. 

Richard Simon (Simon & Schu- 
ster) sailed to-Europe last week to 
stiidy sheet fed gravure processes 
in London; Amsterdam and Paris. 
He expects to be away about six 
weeks. 

David .Stern, 3d, just back from 
the Coast, where he adapted his 
'Francis" book for the screen, is 
working on more adventures of 
the talking mule, to be titled 
FIrancis G!oes to Washington." 

"Knife and Fork in New York," 
a guide to New York cafes and 
nightclubs authored by Lawton 
Mackall, former "Round the Town" 
editor of Esquire, will .shortly come 
oft the presses of Robert McBride 
CO. 

Hollywood writer-director Claude 
Binyon, cx-Vamety mugg, heard he 
is mentioned in the new H. L. 
Mencken book, "Supplement H: 
The American Language," and ob- 
serves "that for tlie first time in 
my life I'm buyibg a book to look 
u^an itstjcrisk." 



Bedside Manor, Hollywood, March 21, 

The Academy Awards delighted Mormor. She UsteQed to returns 
while seated by the fireside of Bedside Manor and knitting a red sock. 
Not for Moscow Joe, nor even Cardinal Spellman. It was for'me. 

Lest new readers cut in by asking what new author am I trying to 
introduce, let me explain that "Mor" is Norwegian for. Mama, and 
so "Mormor" simply means Mama's Mama. This is to distinguish her 
from Father's Mother who would be caljed "Farmer." You can see 
from this that it's a good deal less confusing than the way grandparents 
are tossed around in the Anglo-Saxophone race. 

It seemed to Mormor's 79-year-old Scandinavian ears that the show 
at the ShrinO : auditorium was practically a personal triumph, for 
didn't Celeste Holm win an Oscar for the best supporting role by 
an actress? And wasn't Celeste Mormor's sister-in-law's cousin's 
daughter? Moreover, didn't they dine together at Bedside Manor only 
two weeks before this great triumph of Cousin Celeste? 

Mormor explained to me that while this might seem confusing in 
English it was very dear in Norwegian because the Norwegian tongue 
is not as impoverished as ours. For instances when we refer to a 
cousin we have to make it clear by further explanations that it is a 
female or a male cousin, and the same goes for friends. But the 
Norwegians call a cousin like Celeste "kusine," but if Harold Stassen, 
for instance, were the cousin, he'd be refen-ed to as "fetter." 

The whole spectacle at the Shrine seemed to her to be as familiar 
as pattern knifing. For there was Jean Hersholt, president of tlve 
Academy, and after 40 years in America still talking an English with 
a Scandinavian accent that would, have been terrific in "I Remember 
Mama." There, 'too, was Rosalind Russell, and wasn't she maxried 
to Freddie Brisson, the son of Carl and Cleo Pedersen of Copenhagen? 

,„ No Seat For .JWonnor . 1, , 
: It seemed to Mormor that it was only yesterday on a previous 
visit she made from Oslo to Hollywood that Jean Hersholt carried 
her third grandchild over the threshold of Bedside Manor, and here 
he was now the big man of the evening before 6,000 people. 

But was it before 6,000? She had heard one man say over the 
radio that there were 500 empty seats. She had read the day before in 
Daiiy Variety that all but 65 tickets had been sold up to that time 
and that a sellout was certain. With the 6,200 seats jammed at $3.60 
to $12 the Academy was expected to exceed a gate of $87,000. So 
when she Iieard there were 5Q() seats which were going begging she 
looked at me and wondered why she had. ever believed me when she 
hinted that it mi^i be nice to see the Academy Awards, only to be 
told by me that there wasn't a chanCe, that the show was a sellout, 
I had further explained that I'm always ■ honored * in Hollywood by 
being passed up for things whose success are not in doubt. "Besides,". 
I told her, "you couldn't knit at the Shrine." 

When Mormor heard a scene from "The Farmer's Daughter" pro- 
jected over the air dhe asked, me what kind of dialect was that? I 
told her it was Swedish. She stopped her knitting, looked at me, - 
smiled, listened more atentively and shook her head. 

"Well," I said, "It's a sort of Minnesota Swedish. You remember 
Edgar Bergen in 'I Remember Mama?' Well, he says that Charlie : 
McCarthy, his dummy, can talk even a better Swedish dialect because 
it comes from further down the tliroat." 

This satisfied Mormor enough to go on with her knitting. I told 
her more of the story of "The Fanner's Daughter." • . . 

"It was called 'Katie for Congress'." 

"Oh,' so they changed that title too, likft 'I Remembec Mama'?" 

"Yes, they changed the title, Mormor, because' Dpre .Schary, wboi 
produced it for RKO, thought ther^ were more farmers' daughters 
than there were congresswomen and certainly more storieji alwut ; 
farmers' daughters than there were daughte'rs." 

"Is Loretta Young Swedish?" Mormor wanted to know. : - 

I had to assure her that she was not. 

Casting Against Type 

"Why didn't they get Ingrid. Bergman to play it?" Mormor suggested. 
"She's Swedish. I just heard her talk with Jean Hersholt out {he tadio. : 
She doesn't have to affect a Swedish accent." 

I had to explain to Mormor that Ingrid Bergman would not have 
been considered the type to play a Swedish' fanner's daughter in 
Minniesota, that acting is a matter of simulating all the colors on a 
Scotch plaid over the span of a year as proof of versatility, that playing 
Ingrid Bergman, Jean Hersholt, Celeste Holm, Viveca Lindfors, Signe 
Hasso, Sigrid Gurie and Edgar-Bergen in "I Remember Mama" would 
require no acting at all, though it might be a lot of fun for' those who 
are not interested in acting, but in entertainment. 

At this point Mormor hushed me up because shfe wanted to heafr 
more of the details of the Academy Awards as they were coming over 
our solid mahogany radio, 'one which fascinates Mormor because it looks . 
like a sewing table until you turn on the switch when, magicaUy, 
ttirough a mahogany veneer, appears the dial. - 

"Oh dear," she said, "I missed what that man said about 'The 
Farmer's Daughter'." 

"Well, whatever he said," I explained, "it -was a delightful story 
about a farmer's daughter, who leaves for the city to take up nurse's 
training, gets bilked out of her hard-earned, money and is foteed to' 
become a maid in a family where poUticaTriiower is passed from 
father to son without any interlopers such as were hinted at in 'State 
Of the Union.' The basic politics, however, were as dirty in one as the 
other,'only in the case of the farmer's daughter she not only cleans 
it up but gets elected to congress. And if you share my faith in 
democracy you'll agree it's more important to get a good congress 
than a good' president, because democracy rots- at the bottom long 
before it can be sold out at the top." 

Mormor thought that was a nice speech, but she still wanted to 
learn more about the girl who had defeated Freddie Brisson's wife 
with what Philip K. Scheuer of The L. A. Times said "was a smile 
and a Swedish accent." As you can see from Mormor's dissenting 
opinion Miss Young's accent wasn't very Swedish, nor for that matter 
very English, but it was pleasant. 

But her greatest, pride was reserved for Cousin Celeste. This is 
a broad term and likely to include about everybody south of Narvik. 
When little Alice Scully, Mormor's daughter, for instance, returned 
to Norway a year ago for her first visit in 17 years she had to pick 
up dropped stitches involving 35 first cousins. Even renewing acquidht- 
ances with old friends to that number would just about take up all 
of a three-month vacation, but when you realize that relatives ' are 
only the beginning you can see how tightly-knit those 8,000,000 Vik$Qgs 
are." 

, No Pace Like Holm's 

When Mormor arrived in New York alone, one of the first persons 
to contact her was Cousin Celeste and one of the first plays Cousin 
Celeste invited her to was "Oklahoma!" Mormor hasn't seen it yet, 
there being apjparently even more relatives in America than there 
are in Norway, but she has seen Celeste and now that Cousin Celeste 
is the proud possessor of a gold statue Mormor feels that she can 
return to Norway and assure all her cousins that Theodore Holm's 
little girl is even a bigger success, in Hollywood than Sonja Henie. 
And ever.ything looks fine for the future, because Celeste is not only 
married to Schuyler Dunnmg, an official of the American Airlines, 
but they have a one-year-old boy named Danny.. 

Well, that's Mormor's rosy view, but, remember what happened to 
Katina Paxinou, it is this mugg's hope that everybody will not act so 
delighted that nobody will think of offering Celeste such a jnenial 
thing as a job in pictures. After all, she's a cousin of tnine too, now. 



62 



CBUkTtWM 



Rube Rabinovitch out ahead of 
the touring "High Button Shoes." 

Sol Jacobson to handle Ballet 
Society publicity at City Center 
week of April 26. , , 

Eddie Elkort, of MCA tafe dept., 
jrecuperating. at Polyclinic hospital 
after an operation. 

Andrew S. Crichton, son of Cox' 

iier editor Kyle Crichton, to wed 
tlizabeth Greene in June. 

Henry G, MuUe commissioned to 
execute *He costumes of the road 
edition of "High Button Shoes." 

Building priorities stalling com- 
pletion of the Ted Husings' new 
Gramercy Park manse until fall. 

Harry Goldstein, Brandts' g.m., 
better after a week's siege with 
flu that kept him away from of* 
flee. . 

Nat C. Goldstone, agent-pro- 
ducer of "Casbah" (Universal) iit 
town; also U-I producer Chester 
Erskine. 

Film Exchange Employees 
Vldons, Local B-51, holding first 
annual dance May 23 at the Henry 
Hudson hotel. 

Al Cohan, radio contact in Uni- 
versal's flackery, is stepping out, 
Friday (2) and into WJZ on pro- 
motion work. 

Bert Lytell was the Circus 
Saints and Sinners target last 
Thursday at the Waldorf in "For- 
ever Hamber." ' 

C. Lawtoh Campbell, board 
chairman of the American Nation- 
al Theatre & Academy, back from 
West Indies stay! 

Eugen Sharin flew to London 
Monday (29) to arrange production 
here of Steven Vas' play, "Chil- 
dren of Vienna." 

Gian-Carlo Menotti planed to 
Coast Sunday (28) -for Metro di- 
rector-writer contract huddles, re- 
turning tomorrow (Thurs.). ' 

Harry M. Warner, currently in, 
N. Y. for WB board meetings,, etc, 
is getting his- stable set for the 
Kentucky Derby in early May. 

Ben' Kahnenson, Warner Bros^' 
vice-prexy over sales, returned to 
N. Y. Monday (29) after a week- 
long confab with studio execs. 
' Bill Danziger, who was specially 
engaged by Paramount to super? 
vise exploitation, of . "Uncon- 
quered,". has concluded the assiga-i 
ment.''' ■■ 

Peter Levathes, 20th-Fox shorts, 
sales manager, and 20th r^dio di^ 
rector Irving l^lahii, flew to Europe 
Friday (26), for a Cwo-weeks' jra- 
■ cation. ,. 

Paul E[ollister, RKO publicity 
chief, back from Coast over week- 
end. He stopped off in Arizona on 
way to N. Y. for preem of "Fort 
' Apache " ' 

ActrlsS'Singer Jean Bartel back 
from South American engagement, 
and then tp the Coast to visit her 
folks. She's the former "Miss 
America." 

'Composer and radio scrlpter 
John Jefferson Box engaged to 
marry comedienne Alice Pearce in 
the fall. He was formerly an RKO 
scenarist. v 

Allen Schnebbe's wife in Poly- 
clinic hospital with splintered an- 
'kle which required surgery. He's 
" niana^er of the Lyc&m ("Born 
Yesterday"). . , 

"Ssirah . Newmeyer resigned as 

Sublicity chief of the Museum of 
Eod6m. Art to write a book. Betty 
Chamberlain, present. Museum 
.staifer, succeeds, 

Mrs. Judith Sater, who served as 
Norwegian technical consultant on 
"I Remember Mama," sailed for a 
visit to Norway last week aboard 
the Stavangeif jord.. « 

Hank Senber to do Dallas al 
fresco operettja season p.a. chores 
this summer, with John L. Toohey 
taking over "Me and Molly" in 
Karl Bernstein's ofHce. 

Mrs. Jack L. Warner sailed to 
Europe last week to visit her 
daughter, Barbara, who's studying 
in Switzerland. Both are due to 
return within six. weeks. 

Marcel Pagnol may visit the 
U. S. some time this summer ac- 
cording to Leon Siritzky, theatre 
op and foreign film dis.trib, who 
sailed for France last week, 

Mrs. George (KB) Brown in 
town With daughter Peggy (Mrs. 
Bruce Kenny) following the mar- 
riage in Chi of her son. Brown is 
head of Par studio publicity. ■ 

John Garfield gave a fishhouse 
punch party for the company Sat- 
urday night ( 27 )t backstage at the 
Playhouse,, after the closing perr 
formahce of "Skipper Next to 
God." 

Hal Home becomes one of the 
youngest- show biz grandfathfers 
when his daughter Laurel (Mrs. 
Paul Allen) becomes -a mother 
(fhortly. The Aliens reside in 
Bevhills. 

Actors Danny Kaye and Richard 
Conte off to Hollywood on Friday 



(26) by plane but returned to La 
Guardia field when one of the four 
engines failed. They left on an- 
other plane, 

Allan Jones off to Britain last 
week accompanied by bl8 wifo, 
Irene Hervey. He's slated for a 
four-week stand at the London Ca- 
sino and is mulling a film appear- 
ance in England. 

Howard Bay will design the 
settings and Irene Sharaff will do 
the costumes for "Magdelena," 
new operetta being readied for 
Coast premiere before coming to 
Broadway in the falL • 

NBC's Norman Blackburn, from 
Hollywood, has Jack (ex-RKO) 
Goldstein's N. Y. apartment while 
the latter is getting set In the 
agency business on the Coast,- in 
association with Walter Kane. 

Nitery comic Georgie Price 
tossing special Sunday brunch 
benefit April 18 at the Glass Hat 
( Hotel Belmont-Plaza ) to raise 
funds for his television-for-crip- 
pled-children's-hospitals project. 

Dan Shapiro and Milton Pascal, 
who wrote some of the songs for 
'Follow the Girls," are doing the 
script for the "Can You Top This?" 
film shorts, which Carl L. Timin is 
produchig for Columbia i«Iease, 
Cecil Beaton sailed Saturday 

(27) on the Queen Elizabeth to: 
huddle with Sir Alexander Korda 
on the decor of the latter's forth- 
coming film, "Around the World in 
80 Days," which Orson Welles will 
direct. 

Richard Armstrong, representing 
the Minneapolis Civic Theatre, in 
town to book stars for two weeks 
of shows &t the Lyceum there dur- 
ing May. One bill may be "The 
Old Maid," with Miriam Hopkins 
and Lillian Gish. 

Lou Suritz, having given up the 
Majestic Records <Se~ Radio agency 
in N. Y., starts conmiuting to Al- 
lentown. Pa., where the Horlacher 
Brewery is situated. He's the new 
veepee in charge of sales and ad- 
vertising for the outfit. 

Carmina Cansino, 17-year-old 
member of the dancing Cansino 
family, and , Rita' Hay worth's ilrst 
cousin, signed to a. dancing role in 
the forthcoming Broadway revival 
of "Sally," being produced by 
Hunt Stromberg, Jr., and William 
Bemey. 

Jed Harris back from the Coast, 
where he talked to Jane Wyatt 
about taking over the femme lead 
in "The Heiress," If Wendy HiUer 
goes through with her decision to 
quit -the show May 31. There's 
also a possibility of Pamela Brown 
being imported from London to 
take over the role. 

Mii^am Goldina, Broadway 
actress who operated the Torch 
strawhat at Darien, Conn., last 
season, will be director of acting 
this summer at Bryn Mavirr. (Pa.) 
college. Fred Thon, who heads 
the college drama school, engaged 
her through the American Na- 
tional Theatrft.,and Academy. 



By Larry Solloway 

Copsey and Ayres joined Clover 
Club shovlr. 

Roy Sedley into Mother Kelly's 
tomorrow (1). 

' AbVott and Costello set to ap 
.pear at Variety Tent's convention 
here in mid-April. . 

Billy Rose and Eleanor Holm 
ended vacash .at Boca Raton and 
headed back to N. Y. 

Juanita Juarez, Zarco and Beryl 
and De La Roche dancers comprise 
bill at new Havana-Madrid. 

Sammy Kaye heading toward 
Texas on band route, after play- 
ing several dates while vacashing 
here, ' . 

' Arne Sultan, panto - recording 
comic, held over at .Bill Jordan's 
Bar of Music until late April, He's 
been at the spot all winter. 
. Guy Lombardo, bandleader who 
attempted to break Gar Wood's 
speedboat records on local Indian 
Creek course,^ wiU return for an- 
other try in June. 

Arthur Godfrey and the missus 
at the Kenilworth hotel for rest 
with the gabber commuting north 
via air for his weekl# broadcasts 
Flew here in own plane. 

Barry Gray begins regular com- 
mentators stint on WKAT (MBS) 
here on Sunday (4), at 7:15 . p.m. 
Does not affect his nightly disk^ 
jock stint from the Copa Lounge. 

Tony Martin nixed holdover at 
Beachcomber and will rest until 
Thursday (1), then head north. 
Ned Schuyler, operator of spot, 
tossed big shindig on his closing 
(Sunday-28), with Harry Hichman, 
Jimmy Ritz and Sophie Tucker 
Joining in the farewell. 



Rita Cave off to Paris a few 

days' talent scouting. 

"Burlesque" transfers to Gar- 
rick April 3, replacing "The Gor- 
bals Story." 

Frankie Howard, comedian on 
BBC's "Variety Bandbox" show, to 
star in a vaude show produced by 
Jack Payne. , 

Gerald Cooper, actor - musician 
who was director of the tiny Torch 
theatre in Knightsbridge, London, 
left around $646,000. 

"Royal Circle," starring Ralph 
Richardson and Meriel Forbes, set 
to replace "You Never Can Tell" 
at Wyndham's April 19. 

Adrienne Allen returning to the 
London stage when Peter Daubeny 
presents "Point to Point," a new 
comedy by Geoffrey Bevan. 

Val Parnell, managing director 
of Moss Empires, sails for New 
York on the Queen Mary March 
31 to gander legit aiid vaude 
shows. ■ 

Elspeth March (Mrs. Stewart 
Granger) plays Naomi in "Ruth," 
second short biblical film being 
made by J. Arthur Rank Organiza- 
tion at Elstree. 

Albert Lieven to fly to New 
York for a vacation April 12 follow- 
ing completion of his role in the 
Two Cities production, "Sleeping 
Car to Venice.'' 

David Wise replaced Andrew 
Cooper as director of the London 
Philharmonic Orchestra. He oc- 
cupied similar post with the Liver- 
pool Philharmonic Orchestra from 
1942-47. 

Ian Dalrymple's next production 
for Wessex Films is "Once a Jolly 
Swagntan,'' adapted from novel % 
Montagu Slater. Stars Renee Ash- 
erson. Dirk Bogarde and Bonar 
Colleano. ' 

Sir Alexander Korda is to film 
Walter Greenwood's play, "The 
Cure for Love,!' with Robert 
Donat, who starred in play in 1945, 
to play his original part as well as 
direct the film.* 

Athene Seyler reviving Atthiu: 
Wing Pinero's "Dandy Dick," at the 
Lyric, Hammersmith for the Easter 
season with Denys Blakelock, Owen 
Reynolds, Joan Young and Eric 
Messiter in leading roles. 

Leigh Stafford, despite being 
director Of two West End theatres, 
cannot find a house for his latest 
revue, starring Jessie Matthews 
and Tommy Fields (Grade. Fields' 
brother). Revue, "Maid to Meas- 
ure," toured the sticks for some 
time and then had to be aban- 
doned, with Stafford* recalling cast, 
telling them he has secured King's 
theatre. Hammersmith, London 
suburban house, to open April 7. 

Mexico Gty 

By D. L; Grahame 

Sales last year of Mexican 
branch of Encyclopaedia Britan- 
nica totaled $300,000 (U.S.). 

Pic actress Raquel Rojas (Janet 
Reisenfelth is honorary proxy of 
Ariierican colony's Wallace for 
President club. 

Mexico has approved an inter- 
national treaty banning import- 
export of racy mags, hitherto a 
considerable trade. 

Pic trade's own bank, the Banco 
Nacional Cineraatograflco, made 
loans, .credits and discounts total- 
ing $2,690,772 (U.S.) this year up 
to Feb. 29. 

Radio in Mexico is now directed 
for the Ministry of Communica- 
tions and Public Works by Miguel 
Pereya, radio engineer, who was 
appointed radio chief by President 
Aleman. 

Cinema construction continues 
apace here and in Vera Cruz state 
where a chain is completing a 
cinema each in the principal cities 
of the port of Vera Cruz, Jalapia, 
the state capital, Orizaba and 
Cordoba. 



center of city. Latter wUl be' the. 
first in Venezuela. 

Bolivar 'films announced sigfiing 
contract to fllm the doings of the 
Interamerican conference at Bo- 
gota for the record. Government 
will pay $30,000 (Colombian) for 
tlie job. 

Dramatization of "Dona Bar- 
bara" is being readied by the cul- 
tural division of the Ministry of 
Public Works. Novel was written 
by Romiilo Gallegos, president. of 
Venezuela, * . 



.WHneMday^ Mawh 31. 1949 



Eddie Golden in from< Holly- 
wood for confabs with Nat Nathen- 
son. ■, . 

Tony Martin will do two-week 
engagement at Oriental starting 
April 14. - 

Irving Berlin checked with bis 
local office head, Freddie KratHer, 
during stay in Chi. \ 

Joe Glaser, head off Associated 
Booking, making Chi his head- 
quarters this week. 

Joe E. Lewis, returning from 1 "guver Lining 
Florida to his home on Coast,' " Ronald Cn^t 



stayed over here for visits with 
friends. 

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello 
arrived over weekend to help pub- 
licity campaign on latest flltti, 
"Across the Country." 

Berle Adams, former veepee of 
Mercury Records, and Louis Jor- 
dan's personal manager, hore for 
Kay Starr's opening at the College 
Inn of the Hotel Sherman. 



, By Les Rees 

Russ Morgan "into Prom Ball- 
room for one-nighter. 

Mhmeapolis Symphony orch in 
season's final con.cert, 

Minneapolis Civic Theatre offer- 
ing "Ladies in Retirement." 

Kenny Adams, Universal sales- 
man, back after minor operation.' 

Ben Friedman, indie circuit 
owner, and missus in Palm Springs, 
Calif. 

Eddie Ruben,, indie circuit 
owner, and wife* vacationing in 
Honolulu. 

Melvin Arvin Trio and Gypsy 
Edwards in 65th week at Music 
Box nitery, a local long-run record. 

fiddle Garr topping Hotel Nicol- 
let Minnesota Terrace show with 
Dewey Sisters and Cecil Golley 
orch. 

Earl Perl^ns, Warners salesman, 
still hobbling as result of fractured 
ankle and ribs, but resuming 
duties. 

Northwest Variety club netted 
about $3,000 for charity fund from 
Minneapolis Lakeis-Flint profes- 
sional league benefit ba^^etball 
game. 



m 

Nelson Eddy wiU concert here 
April 5. 

Gene Autry brings his show 
here, April 10-11. 

Ed Kirby, ex-Army radio chief, 
to Nashville, Tenn. to take over 
his new WMAK. 

John F. Hardesty adds title of 
publicity director to his job as 
sales promotion chief for WOL- 
Mutual. 

"State of Union" will be press- 
preemed at Loew's Capitol AprU 7, 
under aegis of White House cone- 
spondents. . . . 



Caracas, Venezuela 

By. Dennis Landry 

Avila theatre now a firstrun 
house for showing of U. S. films 
with Spanish titles. 

Miguel Salvador Isava named 
manager of local office of 'Star 
Films, distributors. ' 

After a long and bitter debate 
the Venezuelan Congress voted 
not to broadcast its sessions. 

"Lovep of Lucrecia Borgia" 
yanked from Apolo and El Pinar 
after a strong campaign against the 
picture by the Catholic press. 

Rae Scott's all-gkl band, first 
femme group to play this city, 
completed a three-month run at 
the new El Nacional roof-garden. 

New theatres are to be built in 
the Carabobo and Chacao districts 
shortly, and a newsveel theatre in 



Atlantic City 

By Joseph W. Walker 

Clicquot's cafe show headed by 
Sheila Ryan and Jack Griffith. 

Babettes, top-fiight nightclub 
here, reopened Saturday night (27) 
with Benny Morris band. 

Vaughn Monroe band top attrac- 
tion at Steel- Pier for first show of 
season. Vaude was headed by 
Georgia Gibbs. 

Lauritz Melchior here last Sun- 
day night (28) in Convention Hall 
ballroom with symphony orch con- 
ducted by Ezra Rachlin, 



Hollywood 

John FoM in from Mexico 'ri*» 
Valll applied for.Americl*;*gr 
zenshlp papers. 

Philip Dorn leaves in July for . 
vacation in Holland. ^ * 
June Haver divorced Jimm,, 
Zito in Santa Monica, 

Monte Hale to Oklahoma on wr 
sonal appearance tour. '*«'r- 
Eddie Oliver left for Baltimrti* 
to join Hildegarde on tour. 

Smiley Burnette booked for ± 
tour of midwestern towns. ■ ^ ■ 

Phil Baker opens a new vandb 
unit in Chicago next week. ^ 
Edwin Knopf checked in »t 
Metro after a visit to London " 
Robert Ryan to lecture at tli» 
Dartmouth School of Screenwifc 

Darryl Zanuck to Sun Valley to 
oversee the lensing of "That Won. 
derful Urge." 

Louis B. Mayer and George Jes. 
sel to San Francisco for the Preu 
Club dinner. ' ^ 

Ray Bolger checked in at WiJru 
ners for Jack Donohne role M 
"Silver Lining." ^ 

Ronald Colman goes to England 
in May for the London precm of 
"A Double Life," 

Cyd Charisse dancing again for 
the first time since her knee in- . 
jury last summer,. / 

Col. Noval Bandhjr, india gov- 
ernment rep, study film tech« 
nique at Warners. 

Mich Kirby, Sonja Heme's 
skatmg partner, taking out hi« 
citizenship papers. 

Ilat Blumberg and J. Cheever 
Cawdin in town for Universal-In- 
ternational huddles. 

Henry Hathaway reported in 
good shape after surgery at Mayo 
Clinic, Rochester, Minn. 

Tim Holt resuming his rodeo 
tour in Oklahoma and Texas be- 
fore returning to RKO for two pie* 
tures. ■ ' . 

Spencer Tracy goes to England 
next flionth to see the stage per- 
formance of "Edward, My Son," 
his next Metro screen assignmeiit, 
Leading filmites will meet ^ 
Beverly Hills hotel tomorrow 
(Thurs.) to launch $2,500,000 
drive for Disabled American 
Veterans Service Committee. 



Paris 



Betty Box, of Rank organization, 
in Paris.. 

Carmen Amaya to play the 
Champa Elysees theatre. 

Comedie Francaise propping » 
London tour in June, also Brus- 
sels, Holland and Denmark: 

Douglas H, Schneider, director 
of U, S. Information Service, 
turing on "Sources of Public 
Opinion in U. S." with help of 
documentary shorts. 

Tentman Joseph ^Bouglione ar^ 
rested in Versailles on order of t 
south of France judge, charged 
with false usage of electrical cur* 
rent while in Villefranche du 
Rouergue. 

Conseil d'Etat, highest French 
court, turning down appeal of 
comedians Jean Herve, Berthe 
Bovy and Marie Ventura against 
Comedie Francaise for compelling 
them to retire after 20 years serv- 
ice, which is sj^atutory. 



Pittsburgh 



Montreal 



By Marc Thlbeault 
Benny Fields at Normandie 
Roof, 

El Morocco nitery again features 
line of Wally Wanger Girls. 

Broadway recruit' Martha Wright 
lauded for work at Samovar. 

Zanzibar cafe reported for sale 
after less than a year of operation. 

Back from Hollywood, Henri Le- 
tondal stars in Quartier Latin's 
new show. 

"Blossom Time" back at His 
Majesty's this week after a few 
years' absenoet 



By Hal Cohen 

Maxie Rosenbloom at Hunting 
and Fishing Club for run. 

Willie Shore follows Jackie Miles 
into the Carousel on April 5. 

First of "Carousel's"' two weeks 
at Nixon will be via subscription. 

Bert Saunders, old-time burley 
comic, filing in St. John's hospital. 

Organist Jean Allen into Magee 
hospital to undergo major surgery. 

Mrs. Dave Shanahan, wife Pf 
Nixon theatre treasurer, okay after 
an operation. 

Don Reid into Club Copa for 
second week of Joe Mooney Quar- 
tet's engagement. 

Fred Burleigh has picked Rum 
Gordon's "Years Ago" for his April 
show at Playhouse. , . 

Ella Fitzgerald and Mildred 
Bailey set fpr successive weeks in 
April at Club Copa.' 

Larry (Buster) Crabbe bringing 
his Aqua Parade to The Gardens 
for a run on May 11. „ 

Wilbert Fitsch, of KDKA on*^ 
named assistant concertmaster Oi 
Pittsburgh Symphony. W 

Harry Raueh here from N. i- 
for few days to cement press rela- 
tions for Young & Rubicam. 

IKS Curtaineers picked Marc 
Blitzstein's "The Cradle WiU.Rock 
for final production of year. . 

Florence Sando, femme commen- 
tator for WCAE, cast in Play- 
house's next show, "Years Ago. 



OBITUARIES 



CIIAIILES K. STEEN 

rharles K. Stern, assistant treas- 
of Loew's Inc., died after a 
wnrt attack Maucli 26 in his home 
it M Eiverside Driw,- Wew York. 
AJthoiigh not in the b«rt of health 
fppent^, he had been active and. 
Cn was at his office as usual the 
before his death. In excellent 
Sits upon arising, he was strick- 
In -at breakfast and died immedi- 
•telv! He was in the lite 70?s. . 

Born in Baltimore, he was asso- 
tiated in his youth with his father 
tathe latter's mercantile business. 
Bo* entered the motion picture in- 
dustry many years ago when he 
feined Alco Films. Later, he helped 
to organize Metro Picture Corp. In 
Msociation with Richard A. Kow- 
W William AUdnson. and Ed- 
ward M, Saunders- He was treas- 
urer of that company tm|ll its mcr- 
ger with Loew's, Jan- 1, isatt, when 
le twcame assistant treasarer 6f 
-flie new company. He continued in 
this position through the subse- 
fluent merger in 1924, of Loew- 
Hetro with the Goldwyn Co. and 
thfo Louis K, Mayer interests to 
form Metro-lSoJdwyn-Mayer, the 
pro^^cingfand disttibuUinggvabilt of 
y^oTttt**?*^ 

SOtviviog besideaJii^ wife Helen, 
aib>-twa inters, Mrs. Rose Eckstein 
awi Mrs. KUa Wint<swtir.li«tli «£ 
SewYoritCat y. . • • 

WAftnEN USMSM 

\rarren' Hymer. 42^ former film 
tciiae, died March 25 in Los Ange- 
1kSi4S<ineral Hospital after a long 
Oliuiss. Starting ids iilm career in 
1930 in "Up the Bivcr," he played 
a number of soft-hearted gangster 
roles until his tetiienieiit: 'sev^al 
years ago, *_ . — . - ' 



era! radio stations, died March 30 
in Phoenix, Ariz., whifcre he. main- 
tained his winter hpnte. 
Details in Radio ScetiOB. 



MRS. KEINA iNXASCO GEST 

Mrs. Beina Belasco Gest, widow 
of Morris Gest, and daughteF of 
David Belasco, died at her home 
in New York, March 23. 

Through association with her 
father and husband, both legit pro- 
ducers, Mrs. Gest was , familiar 
with all phases of show business 
and its people. Although chiefly 
interested in the business end of 
the theatre, she had ocpasionally! 
turned her hand to playwiiting, 
mostly one-acters. Probably best 
ks^wn. among these was "Sentence 
of Death," which toured the 
vaudeville circuits some years ago. 

Her father and husband are .said 
to have consulted hec. -frequently 
on iiilays, and Ote maintained a 
library of thousands of plays that 
had often consultiid by film and' 
Theatrical -producers. 

At her father's death, in 1931, 
Mrs. Gest inherited in trust the 
Belasco theatre, Y.. and $500,- 
OOQ in Government, bonds. She 
retained ownership: of the theatre 
untU its sales hi 193S for $350,000. 
Her husband died in IMSL 

VICTO* TKKMCE 

Victor Trerice, 40, .former con- 
cert pianist, was found dead March 
24 in his Greenwijch" ViUagCi N. Y., 
studio. Although gas was Sowing, 
from all jets of a smalL stove, po- 
Uce listed. death as "suspicious" 
when bod^ revealed bruises, pre- 
sumably tiie result (ME a beating. 
However, the . medical enminer's 
report after an autopsy listed as- 
phyxiation as eause of 



death. 




his stage debut In "CSrtaae." a play 
vritten by his father, John B. 
Hymer, His prominent motion pic- 
tuces included >"Littie Miss. Mark- 
er," "Born Reckless." "Up the 
River," "Goldie" and "|*eet John 
Dos." 

He was in the ^'Fox Movietone 
loilies of 1829," "The Gurl from 
Havana," "Men Without Women," 
"Charlie Chan Cacxies On," ^^he 
Spider" and ^^e itiiboly Garden." 

When Hymer was making $1,000 
a week in Hollywood in 1935 he 
Was the principal in a test case 
over a contract in which a ruling, 
of the California, Appellate Court 
decided that he was a "white^ollar 
worker" rather than a "laborer." 

Hit was twice nuuried. Ete was 
divorced Arom his first wife, UtS. 
Bemi Williams' Hmer, in 1931. 
Four years later he married Vhp- 
gminM^er, an actress. Hisfatbor 
Wd tnother survive. 

UEONABD S. SCHLESINGEK, 

Leonard S. Schlesinger, 42, pines 
of Warner Bros. Service C<wp., 
died March ,29 at Jefi-erson Hbs- 
Sital, Philadelphia, after a long.iU- 
ness. Starting in show business as- 
an usher in the Missouri theatre, 
St. Louis; at the age. of 14, Schies- 
tager moved up through each level 
theatre operation until five 
' Jff ^ .''ater, when, he was. named 
PUb-ad director of the theatre. 

^ter Warner Bros, took over 
pStouras operations in St. Louis 
w 1928, he remained there as book- 
er and buyer. Shortly after, he 
ShL?*,^® "^''^y zone manager in 
*™**elphia. In 1937, he was made 
Joseph Bernhard's assist- 
W« i« 9** WB homeoffice. Until 
a«i!Ir?"*«*'* >n the Navy, he was 
dW to Harry Kalmine" with 
'^^.sponsibility of the top 
ZZh^ shiowcases in New York. In 
nhnti^' ?f=hlesinger headed the 
Wotographic unit of the Bureau 
chAr„f^f Docks. had 

I^^?ol^" Seebee films. 
th» WD J? ' prexy -of 

Which ' « subsidiary 

Son™""^^^^ the theatres' con- 

'Mii! ^/I"^' ^}^^ former Rose Coyle, 

brothp.^'"^''^''^" °* 1936. and two 
wrothers, survive. 



BURRiDGE D. BUTLER 
*"»Per, publisher and owner of sev- 



Nevertheless,. police are stUl work- 
ing on a theory that he might have 
been attacked, and while uncon- 
scious the assailant may have 
turned on the gas to cover ttp his 
crime.. 

In recent years he had taught 
piano at bis studio duringLthe week 
and had spent .'his weekends with 
ills wife in Poughk»epsie. . , . . 

; JOHN JOSEPH CUSltT 

Johp Joseph Curry, 47, veteran 
film salesman, died March 29 of a 
heart attack in Los Ahgelei. . He 
had been with .Paramount sales 
forces for the past 31 years with 
his last assignment' in the Los 
Angeles- exchange. 

■Ironically, Cnny vims leadmg 
aU Paramount^ salesmen in the cur- 
rent cleanup sales contest being 
run by .the company when he sud-< 
denly cbllapsed.i Contest is to end 
April 4 and Curry's score will un- 
doubtedly win the first prize. He 
had led tlie contest since Its start, 
Jan. 3. 



CHARLES FARBOfCTON 
Charles . Farrington, 70, vaude, 
performer, died March 25' in New' 
Orleans. Bom in Liverpool, Eng- 
land, he made his stage debut 53 
years ago under the name of the 
"Jolly Englishman." He had pre- 
viously been associated with the 
Montague Robot Minstrels, a 
troupe famous in Great Britain. 

After traveling with the Barnum- 
Bailey Circus: a number of years he 
retired, and had been living in 
New Orleans. He leaves his wife, 
three sons, and a daughter. 



ward B. Marks Musie Corp.,' died in 
New York," March 23, He>had' been 

ill only a short time. 

A violinist-conductor, Lorre had 
been in the music business 35 
years, most of it spent in theatre 
pits of RKO and Loew houses 
around N. Y. Survived by widow, 
mother, sister, son and daughter. 

CHAVIiES ' G. MIIXJER » 
Charter- G, BadDBer, 6A; matiager 
of the Cincinnati 2ao from 1917 to 
1933, died March 21 at his home in 
West Chester, O., from a stroke. 
Cindnnatils siunmer opera, now in 
its 27th season, was started at the 
ZOo under MUter's guidance. 

Survived by his -wife, two' sons 
and two grandctuldreuw 



LEO A. BERNSTEIN 

Leo A. Bernstein, 59, owner of 
the Tip Top Gardens, Springfield, 
111,, and operator of the State and 
Southtown theatres in the same 
town in assodation with the Fris- 
ina Am us. Co., died March 15 in 
tiiat-city. 



MILTON BROWN 

Milton Brown, ~ 52, head of 
Metro's still^photographic lab, died 
urHoHSrwood, M$rcb 2Sk, He joined 
the oldrMetio coa^assr fn 1920 as 
a cutter andb mdstant director. 
Later. he became^a-'cameraman and 
publicist. 



Mother, 75. of.lS'altoa Lewis, Jr., 
radio commentator, died in Wash- 
ington, D, C„ March 24. , She was 
the"widow of Fulton Lewis, promi- 
nent D. C. attorney;. Another son 
and daughter survive her: 



Mother* 70, of Mrs. Alice Gor- 
bam, ad-publicity exec of Fox- 
Michigan theatre, died in Detroit, 
March 27. She leaves tliree sons 
and another daughter. 



H. C. VtjCVt 69; died in San An- 
tonio' on Man^ 21. He was asso- 
ciated with his nephew, Dick 
Jones, omier of the Kit Kat night 
ctnb. there. 



Father of Dick Robertson, band- 
leader-singer, died in West MiUord, 
N. J., Mardi 28. He was William 
Robertson/ over 70. 



Mother, 67, of Oscar Serlin, 
legit producer, died in Chicago, 
March 25. v • 



Fred Harris, 60, former head of 
Paramount's location department, 
died March 21 in Hollywood, 



Rank's Goal 

Continued froin page 6 . 



MARK A. SCHAFER 
Mark D. Schafer, 68, Cumber- 
land, Ind., vaudeville actor and 
singer the last 30 years, died March 
24 in Methodist hospital, Indian- 
apolis. He traveled with his own 
show troupe, known as the Ezra 
Buzzington Rustic Revelers. . 

His wife, a son, two daughters, 
mother, brother and sister survive. 



EBEN KERR 
Eben Kerr, 50, Warner music 
recorder, died in Hollywood, March 
26. He had been at Burbank for 
six years after 15 years with Para- 
mount. 



MAURICE LORRE 
Maurice Lorre, 59, head of the 
band and orchestra division of M- 



able to Hollywood's lavish musicals. 
However, seven or eight of pix t» 
be delivered this year will be in 
Teclmicolor. Rank expressed high 
hopes for such forthcoming re- 
leases as "Oliver Twist," "Blue 
Lagoon," '^Christopher Columbus," 
"Hamlet," "Scott of the Antarctic" 
and a two-hour Technicolor exclu-! 
sive on the Olympics. "Man of Two 
Worlds" and "London Town" will 
not be shown in the U. S., "because 
they're not suitable for the Ameri- 
can market," he stated. 

"We can make- the same class -of 
picture you make for less money 
because labor and materials are 
cheaper," he said, adding "you 
make them quicker because of 
teamworki but we are moving to- 
wards that goal, too." Just how 
much cheaper they can be made 
was expressed by Universal-Inter- 
national prexy Nate Blumberg, who 
attended the interview. He said it 
was one-third less, as evidenced by- 
comparative salaries of camera op- 
erators. The crew man earning 
$100 weekly here gets only $40 in 
England. 

Rank said the only actual deals 
he has made so far for U. St stars 
are with Bing Crosby and Fredric 
March, One deal he definitely won't 
sanction, however, he declared, is 
for "Great Expectations" star Jean 
Simmons to play in Cecil B. De- 
Mille's "Samson and Delilah," 
which the actress' recently said 
she'd like to make. Hank wouldn't 
elaborate oh this point. 

In addition to Rank , and Blum- 
berg, attendees at conference were 
Bill Goetz, production chief for 
Universal; Arthur Krfm, prez of 
Eagle Lion; Bryan Foy, EL produc- 
tion topper; Walter Wanger, who 
has a deal pending with EL; Robert 
S. Benjamin, prez of the Hank Or- 
ganization in the U. S., and Robert 
Purcell, aide to Robert R. Young. 

Simmons For 'Samson' . 
Cecil B. DeMille, Paramount 
producer, wants Jean Simmons, 
Btitisdi actress, for the siren sUnt 



in his next pic, "Swuson and Deli- 
lah." 

With 10 weeks of location Work 
on J. Arthur Rank's "Blue Lagoon" 
behind her in the Fiji Islands, she 
sailed for Britain . Saturday (27); 
Upon her arrival there production 
of ' interior scenes will be started 
on the pic at the Pinewood studio. 
Windup of "Lagoon" will find Miss 
Simmons cast in "Adam and JEve" 
opposite Stewart Granger. 



BIETHS 



Radio Split 

CsBtinued trom page I ; 



where' more and more coin previ- 
ously- earmarked, for radio is being 
siphonecUito tele shows and where 
program patterns are being evolved 
to permit for adaptability of new 
shows for simultaneous audio and 
visual broadcasting. And on the 
basis of the initial efforts made, 
such as NBC's televising of the 
Firestone show, to duplicate radio 
shows on television, it's recognized 



What's the Pay? 

With duplication of standard 
broadcasting shows on tele- 
vision already under way, 
question puzzling the trade is 
what kind of deal is in effect 
for 'musiciansi in view of the 
fact that James C. PetriQo 
and the webs have yet to 
establish rates. 

In the case of NBC picldng 
up Arturo Toscanini and the 
NBC Symphony Orchestra, 
which is heard sustaining on 
the network; it's reported the 
men agreed to a cuSo per'^ 
formance. In the case of the. 
Mondj^ night spmuiored Fire- 
stone show, the* musicians 
have agreed to video duplica- 
tion on a "retroactive basis," 
collecting their chips when a 
deal is consummated. That'll 
be the pattern for all commer- 
cial pickupsduring the interim 
period. . - 



that the time has already come to 
formulate new tegnniques that, may 
change the whole structure of ra- 
dio programming as talent and 
fwmats evolve a "middle ground" 
for their application to video. 
New Origination Pattern? 
There's talk that, in the wake of 
James C. Petrillo's "everything's- 
just-dandy" insofar as musicians on 
video are concerned, a new pattern 
for radio program originations ma;^ 
be established in coming months; 
with more and more musical shows- 
coniing out of New York rather 
than Hollywood,, as. negotiations, are 
made for their "doubling" into 
tele. 

That the Petrillo-network agree- 
ment provided the desired impetus 
for dupUcation of radio programs 
on t^viaon has been discernible 
from scratch. Despite the admitted 
.shortcomings of the Firestone 
sight-and-sound show, nevertheless 
a flock of other sponsors are al- 
ready talking deals with NBC. 
Cities Service wantS ''to duplicate 
its "Highways in Melody" on TV; 
so does the Telephone Hour bank- 
roller. And Chesterfield wants a 
simultaneous pickup of its cross- 
the-board "Supper Club" show. As 
soon as the webs and the American 
Federation of Musicians agree on 
the new "Tuxedo Bates" for the 
musickers, it's anticipated these 
and others will hop into tele, figur- 
ing they can master the necessary 
program techniques while there's a 
limited circulation of sets'. 

It's also revealed that the Ford 
Motor Co. has ambitious tele plans 
to supplement its radio splurge. 
One of • television's heaviest bank- 
rollers, with its nearly .$1,000,000* 
budget earmarked for baseball 
pickups on the "Ford Video Net- 
work" around the country, the Ford 
outfit is now contemplating moving 
in with a top-priced musical show 
and may be the first among the na- 
tion's heavy radio-TV bankroUers 
to go in.for btgtime musical video 
production. : 



Mr. and Mrs. David Wayne, son. 
New York, March 23. Father is 
in cast of "Mr. Roberts," at Alvin, 
N. Y. 

Mr. and Mrs. Karl Maiden, 
daughter, New York, March 23. 
Father is in "A Streetcar Named 
Desire," at the Barrymore, N. Y. 

Mr. and Mrs. Al Katz, son, Pitts- 
burgh, March 22. Father- manages 
Squirrel Httl theatre for WB. 

Mr. and Mrs. Fred Serrao, 
daughter. Pittsburgh. March 23. 
Fattier manages Circle theatre In 
New Kiensln'gton. ' ' - 

Mr. and Mrs. Joe Cook, Jr., son, 
Hollywood, March 24. Mother is a 
nitery singer, father a freelance 
actor. • , 

Mr. and Mrs. Ed Gardner, son. 
Santa Monica, March -25: Father 
is the radio comedian. 

Mr. and Mrs., Seymour Borde^: 
son, Chicago, March 22. He's RESO 
'sales manager in Chicago. 

Mr; and Mrs. Dale Morgan, 
daughter, Des Moines, March 21. 
Father is program director of 
KCBC, Des Moines. 

Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Hawk, 
daughter, London, March ^ 19, 
Father is an actor; mother is tlw 
former Todl Kroeck. ballet dancer. 

Mr. and Mrs. Jack Overman^ 
daughter, Hollywood, March 1& 
Father is a film actor. 

Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Bra- 
shear, daughter. Salt Lake City, 
Maich 21. Father is day news e<tt- 
tor of ICDYL hi that city. 

Mr. and' Mrs. David Weisman, 
daughter. New York, March 28, 
Father I9 a Metro publicist. 

Mr. and Mrs. Daye Cantor, 
daughter, Hollywood, March 28. 
Father is fiSO west "coast explol- 
tafion staifa. 



MARRIAGES 

Irene Cowan to Charles Eenuu 
Jr.; Pittsburg, March 19. Both 
are with WJAS; 

Dolores Semonsky to Tim^^f3to». 
rigan, Pittsburgh, March 20. 
Bride's in "Annie Get Your Gun." 

Marie DeGornio to Al' Aldbri^ 
Pittsburgh, March 20. He's a nitery 
entertainer. 

Jq Johnston to Joel Freeman. 
UoUywood, March 28. Both ai« 
assistant film directors. 

Jane New to Tommy Dorsey, At- 
lanta, March 27. Bride is a singeiy 
dancer; he's the orchestra leader 
and disk jockey. • 

Helen Hiett to Theodore WaUer, 
Pekin, 111., March 28. Bride, a for- 
mer NBC war correspondent and 
commentator, is an author and fo- 
rum director of the N. Y. BmitA 
Tribune. 

Patricia Page to Nikolas Nabo- 
kov, Harrison, N. Y., March 21, 
Groomc is a coiAposer. 

Elisabeth Valentine Strauss to 
Jacques Davidson, New YorICi 
March 25. Groom, a CBS short* 
wave announcer, is a son of sculp- 
tor Jo Davidson. 

Muriel Bienstock to Selig J. 
Seligman, Brooklyn, N.. Y., Mardi 
28. Bride is daughter of Nate 
Bienstock, financial adviser tft 
radio and literati; he's a Pan* 
mount Pictures exec. ' - ■ 

Mrs. Margaret Potter Owen to 
Dr; Robert H, Stevens, Baltimore, 
March 26, Bride is widow of Scott " 
H. Bowen and owner of radio sta* 
tions WIBX and WIBX-FM fa 
Utica, N. Y. 

Myrtle Barlow to W. J. Cammer, 
Dallas, March 28. He's Screen 
Guild branch manager in that city. 

Marie Antoinette Ellington to 
Nat (King.) Cole, . New York, 
March 28. She's former vocalist 
with Duke Ellington orcb, but not 
related to the maestro; he's head 
and iH-oducer of King Cole Trio. 

Marion De Leon to Jack Farket; 
New York, March 29. She's one 
of De Leon Sisters, djiihceis; he's 
a juggler. 



N. C Symph Drama 

RiBleigh, March 30. 

The Univ. of North Carolina 
Press is maldng plians to publish in 
June a symphonic drama, "Shout 
Freedom," which LeGette Blythe, 
Charlotte' newspaperman, is writ- 
ing to commemorate Mecklenburg's 
independence from Great Britain. 

The pageant, which will depict 
the early struggles for freedom in 
western North Carolina, including 
the old Mecklenburg area, will be 
given an outdoor production in 
Cliarlotte, beginning in -May. 



Tele Legiters 

— Comtinued fieim page 1 ^ 

would use top Broadway directors. 

The proposal calls for $1,500 per 
telecast to be tuictted over to ttte 
Actors Fund.. 

Bert Lytell has been named to 
supervise the telecasts, salary to 
be determined by him and tlis 
agency. It's probable he will ap- 
pear in some of the shows. Mlni- 
imiun salary to actors is to be $259 
weekly, inclusive of rehearsals, pay 
to Ite raised if the talent unions^ 
joint television committee estab- 
lishes a higher figure. Lytell Is 
former president of Equity. 

No sponsor has officially been 
set yet. It would be one of the 
most costly tele programs to date. 

Agreement between Equity and 
MCA extends for one year. ' 





EIMISf 
FlEtt ki 



ONI NITE STANft 

Ritini Nrformiiieil 





A@A»iM¥ @P Umm, PHI|ADiL!»HIA fAI'tii. f J 
SYMPHONY HAll. lOSTON CAPIIIi, HI 



CARNEQIE HALL 

Ticket* Now ©ii Sale at 
B©s« Office f1=20j 12,40^- p, |3.@9 



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lobby Tijik©r, Jr., for his grand aeeomiuniiment en th® piano. 
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